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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 b ....

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.... practically guaranteed a place in heaven. Other crusaders went in search of gold and riches that they would take after plundering the Jewish and Muslim villages. Many younger sons of aristocrats went in search of land because their older brother had inherited the family’s land. An additional reason for men and women to go fight may have been pride. “Keeping up with the Jones’s” is not a new concept. Many people may have felt pressured to join the crusades along with their neighbors and after committing to go one could not turn back with the penalty of excommunication. The crusades also created business for maritime c ....