Crusades The Crusades began in 1088 when Urban II preached the First Crusade at the Council of Clermont. The reason for such a mass following of people to leave their homes and travel to the Holy Land to fight is unknown. There are numerous plausible causes, which will be discussed in this paper. The reason the Pope preached the Crusades originally was the supposed threat of Muslim rule. In truth the Muslims and Christians in the Holy Land had lived peacefully for years, but the Pope was also a politician. Many believe that his motive was to gain political power by gaining control of all of the Muslim territor