Excerpts from Books and Wikipedia
"Alexius needed mercenaries--but Urban II transformed it into something new. . . In November of 1095, at Clermont in Western Francia, Urban II announced that it was not only time to help Byzantium in its battles against the Turks . . . But also time to recapture Jerusalem from the hands of Muslims . . . 'All who die by the way, whether by land or sea, or in battle against the pagans, shall have immediate remission of sins,' Urban promised." [Bauer; Medieval World, p. 654]