The political climate of Europe in the year 1095 CE was fragmented and bloody, despite the recent efforts of Pope Gregory VII to unite all Christian kingdoms under the banner of the Church, which came to be known as Christendom. England had been united by William the Conqueror 30 years earlier. The French nobility had been fighting amongst themselves for small estates. Italy was little more than a collection of city-sates, also fighting amongst themselves. Pope Urban had tried to stem the tide of fighting with his "Truce of God" which prohibited fighting from Sunday to Wednesday, and on any day if it involved "civilians" (i.e. monks, priests, women, merchants and laborers). [2] .

             To the East, the Byzantine Empire was being encroached upon by the Turks. The current Emperor, Alexius Comnenus, was desperate to preserve his quickly-disintegrating borders from the Turks, who were recent converts to Islam. Alexius appealed to Pope Urban in the west for aid.[2] Urban recognized this as a chance to get the perpetually fighting knights out of Europe, by allowing them to pursue their pastime in faraway lands that belonged to non-Christians.

             The Crusades were founded on a lie. In Pope Urban's speech at the Council of Clermont (1095 CE), he mentioned how the Turks who were accosting the Byzantine Empire to the East were committing horrible atrocities upon Christians. In truth, the Turks actually treated the Christians in the conquered territories fairly, although they badly mistreated the Arabs in the area. In the same speech, Urban derided the fighting that was commonplace amongst Christian Knights in Europe, and appealed to their religious convictions by stating that it was an act of evil to kill another Christian. Urban declared that it was "less wicked to brandish your sword against Saracens." [1] Politically, this was a smart move on Urban's part- European Knights (like warrior classes from other cultures) knew nothing but fighting, and their constant struggles had cost Christendom dearly in terms of blood and tears.