First Crusade First Crusade The First Crusade (1095–1099) was the first of a number of crusades that attempted to recapture the Holy Land, called for by Pope Urban II at the Council of Clermont in 1095. Urban called for a military expedition to aid the Byzantine Empire, which had recently lost most of Anatolia to the Seljuq Turks. The resulting military expedition of primarily Frankish nobles, known as the Princes' Crusade, not only re-captured Anatolia but went on to conquer the Holy Land (the Levant), which had fallen to Islamic expansion as early as the 7th century, and culminated in July 1099
Pope Urban V orders of the antipope Clement VII. The Western Schism caused the process to stop, but it was revived centuries later, and led to the beatification of Urban V on 10 March 1870 by Pope Pius IX. His feast day is celebrated on 19 December, the day of his death. This was decided upon by a General Chapter of the Benedictine Order held in 1414. Pope Urban V Pope Urban V (; 1310 – 19 December 1370), born Guillaume de Grimoard, was Pope from 28 September 1362 until his death in 1370 and was also a member of the Order of