Account for the success of the first crusade.

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Account for the success of the first crusade.

The first crusade was hailed as an unprecedented success by the historians of the day and indeed by contemporary historians. The reasons for this great success, if it can be called great at all, are many. From Pope Urban II's fiery call to arms, to the lack of preparation from the Turks, there are many causes for this success. Indeed the unquestioning faith of the crusaders, the quality of their leaders, and the allies which they procured during their journey were further factors in the success.

After receiving the request for military aid from the Byzantine emperor Alexius I, Pope Urban II seized upon this opportunity for him to reinforce Papal control and influence in the east and to unite the divided western Christian Europe. Through his highly charismatic sermon given on 27th November 1095 at the Council of Clermont, Urban was able to arouse great enthusiasm from the nobles and clergy present for a Holy War on the Muslims in the east. They then went out and spread the command of a call to arms from God to their diocese and to anyone they met. This created a huge