Instead of seeking riches and conquest, the Crusaders risked life and limb to rescue Christians whose land and homes had been overrun by Muslim invaders. Even Christian pilgrims who visited the region risked their lives to worship in the Holy Land. For example, thirty years before the First Crusade, a group of 7,000 peaceful German pilgrims were viciously massacred.125 This, among other events, prompted Pope Urban II to call the First Crusade. In a speech he gave in 1095 the pope said: Let those who for a long time have been robbers now become knights. Let those who have been fighting against
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