Timeline Wednesday 27 November 1095

Events on Wednesday 27 November 1095 1

• 1095 Council of Clermont -- Urban II launches the Crusade On 27 November 1095, Pope Urban II addresses a vast crowd at Clermont in southern France, calling on the knights of Christendom to march to the aid of the Eastern Christians and recover the Holy Land from the Turks. His speech -- reconstructed from several contemporary accounts -- promises remission of sins to all who participate and frames the campaign as a holy war. The crowd's response -- 'Deus lo volt!' (God wills it!) -- becomes the Crusade's battle cry. Urban's speech is the most consequential public address of the Middle Ages; his appeal launches the first of eight major Crusades over the next two centuries.