by Simon Black
Sovereign Man
On the November 27, 1095, Pope Urban II gave an impassioned speech at the Council of Clermont in central France, calling for Christian warriors to take up arms in a Holy War against the invading Seljuk Turks.
This was the start of the First Crusade. And over the next few centuries, several more would follow.
Soldiers from across Europe joined up and traveled great distances to fight in the Holy Land; quite often they were away from home for years at a time.
Eventually these fighters— and particularly the land-owning nobles— realized that they needed to arrange their business and personal affairs appropriately before leaving for war.