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 a stirring address to the Council of Clermont (France), issued a call to the lords, knights, and foot soldiers of western Christendom to cease destroying their fellow Christians in private warfare, and to turn their strength of arms against the infidel and rescue the Holy Land. The journey was to take the place of penance for sin, many special privileges were extended to those who went, and those who died on the journey or in battle with the infidels were promised entrance into heaven. [26] nobles and peasants, filled with a desire for adventure and a sense of personal sin, no surer way of satisfying either was to be found than the long pilgrimage to the Saviour's tomb. In France and England the call met with instant response. Unfortunately for the future of civilization, the call met with but small response from the nobles of German lands.