Question

Pope Urban II launched the First Crusade in response to which of the following? A.the demands of the Holy Orders of Knighthood
B.Saladin's capture of Jerusalem and defeat of Richard the Lionheart
C.the Byzantine Emperor's plea for help against the Seljuk Turks
D.the visions of Nicholas of Cologne and Stephen of Cloyes

Answer 1

The holy orders of knighthood, such as the Templars or the Hospitallers, didn't really have as much clout prior to the Crusades in which they made their names by providing protection for pilgrims on the way to the Holy Land and a place for crusaders (and rich nobles) to make a name for themselves. So (A) is out. The First Crusade also occurred nearly a fifty years before Saladin was even born, so (B) is definitely out. And the Nicholas of Cologne's "crusade" happened more than a century or so after the First Crusade had even finished, so (D) is out.

The only answer that makes sense is (C). The Byzantine empire, at this point in history, was already on the decline and its forces could no longer fight the rising threat of the aggressive expansion mounted by the Muslim powers in the region to its trade routes. So they did the next best thing -- ask for help -- which Europe took as an invitation to go and wage a mega war to not only to shore up the Byzantines (who were being blamed for their poor defense of the Holy Land) but to seize the Holy Land back from the Muslims who they felt were infidels.