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Pope Urban II, a Frenchman from Reims, who had been educated at the same famous cloister of Cluny which had trained Gregory VII, thought that the time had come for action. The general state of Europe was far from satisfactory. The primitive agricultural methods of that day(unchanged since Roman times) caused a constant scarcity of food. There was unemployment and hunger and these are apt to lead to discontent and riots. Western Asia in older days had fed millions. It was an excellent field for the purpose of immigration.
當時在位的是教皇烏爾班二世。此人生于法國的雷姆斯，在格利高里七世受教過的著名的克呂厄修道院接受過教育。他想，現在是應該采取行動的時候了。當時歐洲的狀況不僅遠不能令人滿意，甚至稱其糟糕也不為過。由于依然采用原始的農耕方法（自羅馬時代一直未曾改進過），歐洲經常處于糧食短缺的危險狀態。大量的失業與饑荒蔓延，很容易引起民怨沸騰，最終導致無法收拾的動亂。而西亞自古以來就是豐足的糧倉，養活著成百上千萬人口，無疑是個理想的移民場所。
Therefore at the council of Clermont in France in the year 1095 the Pope arose, described the terrible horrors which the infidels had inflicted upon the Holy Land, gave a glowing description of this country which ever since the days of Moses had been overflowing with milk and honey, and exhorted the knights of France and the people of Europe in general to leave wife and child and deliver Palestine from the Turks.
于是公元1095年，在法國的克萊蒙特會議上，教皇烏爾班二世突然拍案而起，先是痛訴異教徒踐踏圣地的種種恐怖行為，接著又娓娓描繪這塊流著奶和蜜的圣地自摩西時代以來是如何滋養著萬千基督徒的動人圖景。最后，他激勵法國的騎士們和歐洲的普通人民鼓起斗志，拋開妻子兒女，去將巴勒斯坦從土耳其人的奴役中解放出來。
A wave of religious hysteria swept across the continent. All reason stopped. Men would drop their hammer and saw, walk out of their shop and take the nearest road to the east to go and kill Turks. Children would leave their homes to "go to Palestine" and bring the terrible Turks to their knees by the mere appeal of their youthful zeal and Christian piety. Fully ninety percent of those enthusiasts never got within sight of the Holy Land. They had no money. They were forced to beg or steal to keep alive. They became a danger to the safety of the highroads and they were killed by the angry country people.
不久，一股不可遏止的宗教歇斯底里地席卷了整個歐洲。理性的思想停止了。人們紛紛扔掉鐵錘和鋸子，沖出商店，義無返顧地踏上最近的道路，前往東方去殺土耳其人。連小孩子也吵著要離家去巴勒斯坦，以他們幼稚的熱情和基督徒的虔誠感化土耳其人，呼吁他們悔改。不過在這些的狂熱信徒中，90％的人連看一眼圣地的機會都沒有。他們通常身無分文，被迫沿途乞討或偷盜以維持生計。他們影響大路交 通的安全，往往為憤怒的鄉民所殺。
