Pope Urban II: Instigator of the Crusades

In the late eleventh century, Pope Urban II delivered a speech at the Council of Clermont that would change the world. In the presence of the Catholic nobility of the period, the pope sent out a call to all of Christendom to take up arms against the Muslims in Palestine, and to retake Jerusalem, the Holy City. While the text of his speech no longer remains, there can be little doubt that Urban II was a central force in the propulsion of the Crusades, which would alter the face of Europe, Asia and Africa.

Pope Urban II became pope in 1088, and remained in office until his death in 1099. He was centrally involved in the Gregorian reforms to Western church practice, as well as the incorporation of Sicily into Western Catholicism.

At the Council of Piacenza 1095, the Byzantine Emperor Alexios I Komnenos entreated military aid from the Pope against the Muslim Turks, who had conquered much of Byzantine Anatolia.

This incident was key in the pope’s decision to rally a Crusade. At the Council of Clermont in that same year, which was attended by the highest ranks of the nobility, Pope Urban II delivered a speech that was to have enormous consequences for three continents. He urged Christendom to retake Jerusalem for the church, and in particular to liberate the eastern church from Muslim rule. The pope also made clear that anyone who joined the Crusading armies would be pardoned for their sins.

The resulting Crusades were to last for hundreds of years, though Jerusalem remained under Christian rule for less than a century. Ironically, Pope Urban II died just days after the Crusaders captured Jerusalem, and before the news of its capture had reached Italy.

Comments

1. Biblical Studies Instructor
lswinford, 31.12.69

1. lswinford says:
Biblical Studies Instructor

There is a legendary text of Urban's speech that had circulated. I doubt they were his exact words, more like a pretty summary as a propaganda piece to conveniently circulate. William Safire's Lend Me Your Ears: Great Speeches of History gives a cleaned up version (http://books.google.com/books?id=bswaqsWzmo8C&dq=Urban+II&source=gbs_navlinks_s, pp. 83-84). This was a marshalling of effort and focus that became one of several pivotal points for Western civilization. The execution of the quest was performed with all the deft moves of a surgery performed with a hammer and crowbar. Undoubtedly there were many who approached these crusades with pious purposes, but obviously many were mere savage warriors given license to kill and plunder.

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	The Church of the Holy Sepulchre			Jerusalem: A Christian Pilgrimage Destination
	The First Crusade Begins			Jerusalem Besieged

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