had pushed in and were persecuting Christian pilgrims journeying to
Jerusalem. For centuries single pilgrims, small bands of pilgrims, and
sometimes large numbers led by priest or noble, had journeyed to distant
shrines, to Rome, and to the birthplace of the Saviour, [24] impelled by
pure religious devotion, a desire to do penance for sin, or seeking a cure
from some disease by prayer and penance. It was the spirit of the age.
Says Adams: [25]

A pilgrimage was ... in itself a religious act securing merit and
reward for the one who performed it, balancing a certain number for
his sins, and making his escape from the world of torment hereafter
more certain. The more distant and more difficult the pilgrimage, the
more meritorious, especially if it led to such supremely holy places
as those which had been sanctified by the presence of Christ himself.
For the man of the world, for the man who could not, or would not, go
into monasticism, the pilgrimage was the one conspicuous act by which
he could satisfy the ascetic need, and gain its rewards. A crusade was
a stupendous pilgrimage, under especially favorable and meritorious
conditions.

[Illustration: FIG. 57. A PILGRIM OF THE MIDDLE AGES
(From an old manuscript in the British Museum)]

The Mohammedan Arabs who took possession of the Holy Land in the seventh
century had treated the pilgrims considerately, but the Turks were of a
different stamp. In 1071 they had defeated the Eastern Emperor, captured
all Asia Minor, and had taken possession of the fortress of Nicaea (Map,
p. 183), near Constantinople. The Eastern Emperor now appealed to Rome for
help. In 1077 the Turks captured Jerusalem, and returning pilgrims soon
began to report having experienced great hardships. In 1095 Pope Urban, in