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The Spark of the Crusades: Urban II’s Call to Arms
On the morning of November 27th, 1095, an event unfolded in a windswept field near the French town of Claremont that would alter the course of history for centuries. Pope Urban II, standing on a raised platform, summoned bishops, lords, knights, and churchmen from across Europe to deliver a provocative and exhilarating message: a call to arms to reclaim the Holy Land. His sermon would ignite the fervor of tens of thousands and mark the beginning of nearly two centuries of warfare known collectively as the Crusades.