1095 CE
A transformative year in which Pope Urban II called for the First Crusade at the Council of Clermont, launching a movement that would reshape the relationship between Western Europe and the Islamic world for centuries.
The Call to Crusade
- Pope Urban II delivered a rousing speech at the Council of Clermont in southern France on November 27, calling upon the knights and people of Western Christendom to march east and recapture Jerusalem from Muslim control.
- Urban's call was partly a response to a plea from Byzantine Emperor Alexios I Komnenos for military assistance against the Seljuk Turks who had overrun much of Anatolia since the disaster at Manzikert in 1071.
- The pope promised spiritual rewards including the remission of sins for those who took up the cross, and the assembled crowd reportedly responded with cries of Deus vult, meaning God wills it.
- The Council of Clermont also addressed church reform matters including prohibitions against simony and clerical marriage, and proclaimed the Peace of God and Truce of God to limit warfare among Christians.
Governance & Power
- The Almoravid dynasty under Yusuf ibn Tashfin continued to consolidate control over Muslim Iberia, having crossed from North Africa and defeated Alfonso VI of Castile at the Battle of Sagrajas in 1086.
Climate & Environment
- Atmospheric carbon dioxide concentration was approximately 275 parts per million, as later confirmed by ice core analysis.
Population & Demographics
- World population is estimated to have been approximately 318 million.