2026 Living World Religions Complete Practice Test 1 by Monte Cox

The main idea is distinguishing between the Pope’s call to crusade and the moment the organized expedition actually began moving toward the Holy Land. The official start date is when the principal, organized army set out from Western Europe. That departure happened on August 15, 1096, after the call at Clermont in 1095 inspired many to join, and after the earlier, chaotic People’s Crusade had already left and largely failed. The other dates don’t mark the organized mobilization: April 8, 1095 is before Urban II’s call, September 1, 1096 comes after the start, and June 15, 1097 occurs well into the campaign. So August 15, 1096 is the moment historians typically treat as the Crusade’s official start.