One of the Catholic Church leaders who urged Christians to go to the Middle East to fight against Muslims during the medieval era was Pope Urban II. In 1095, he delivered a sermon at the Council of Clermont, which initiated the First Crusade. Pope Urban II called upon Christians to take up arms and march towards the Holy Land to reclaim it from the Muslims. This marked the beginning of several successive Crusades, which lasted for several centuries, and resulted in significant political, social, and religious conflicts between Christians and Muslims in the region.
