Dating back to the 11th century, The Crusades can arguably be seen as one of the most pivotal events in religious history. What lead to the development of the crusades though? Several acts of influence and persuasion helped create a large following of support to partake in these controversial events. With the main source of influence sprouting directly from the popes and those of the church affiliated directly under the pope during this time period, they were able to gain a large amount of support from the people of their religion by promising forgiveness of sins as this would be seen as a command from christ. Along with these promises for the remission of sins, Pope Urban II goes on to portray the other religions as gruesome races who have …show more content…
These speeches would account for the mass following of the Christian faith to unite under the pope and follow his commands. Pope Urban II preached On this account I, or rather the lord, beseech you as Christ’s heralds to publish this everywhere and to persuade all people of whatever rank, foot-soldiers and knights, poor and rich, to carry aid promptly to those Christians and to destroy that vile race from the lands of our friends. I say this to those who are present, it meant also for those who are absent. Moreover, Christ commands it. As seen in this speech, Pope Urban II begins to recruit those of the Christian faith to take part in these battles by claiming that not only does he command it but “Christ commands it.” Urban II demonstrates his influential strength throughout this speech by affiliating his desires to go to war with the central idea of Jesus Christ expecting those of the Christian faith to follow along side the Pope. The pope goes on to tell the people of the Christian faith that their brethren in the east are facing attacks by other religions and that it is the Christians duty to “destroy that vile race.” In order to gain the true support of the Christian people, Pope Urban II goes on to preach
On November 27, 1095, Pope Urban II gave a supposedly important speech at the end of a church meeting in Clermont, France. In it he had called upon the nobleness of the Franks, to go to the East and assist their Christian “brothers”, the Byzantines, against the attacks of the Muslim Turks. He also apparently encouraged them to liberate Jerusalem, the most sacred and holy city in Christendom, for the Muslims had ruled it since taking it from the Christian Byzantines in A.D. 638. The Crusades were a series of wars between Christians and others to take back Jerusalem.
According to Baldric's version of Pope Urban II's speech calling for holy war, the Pope's chief motive was to rescue or liberate Jerusalem from Muslim control, for the purpose of spreading Christianity (namely, Roman Catholicism.) Baldric wrote about the speech favorably, from a post-crusade perspective, biased by his support of the crusades and his knowledge of the victories achieved.
According to Dana C. Munro, the first crusades began under the papacy of Pope Urban II. From whom delivered a speech in 1096 at the Council of Clermont that led thousands to take up the cross. It is from that moment on the Popes always felt the crusades were their task and under their inspiration believing that the crusades were God’s work and they were His agents. Let us consider the words of Pope Urban II according to Fulk of Chartres, “I speak to those who are present, I shall proclaim it to the absent, but it is Christ who commands. Moreover, if those who set to thither lose their lives on the journey, by land or sea, or in fighting against the heathen, their sins shall be remitted in that hour; this I grant through the power of God vested in me. ”
For 200 years from the eleventh century to the twelfth century (1091-1291) a war between Christians (which is the most popular religion at this moment) and the Muslim religion fought to get back the Holy Land. Byzantine Empire were losing against the Muslim. The Byzantine Empire called the Pope for aid, he decided he would help only because they were Christians. This was a barbarous act that caused the death of an abundance amount of people and the eradication of many things. That is why The Crusade had a negative effect of the world even to this day, a big stain. One of the most impactful events that left a mark was the killing of many innocent people during that time. In Doc 1 it states “In Europe, crusaders sometime turned their fury against
Urban II speech cast himself as a priest of high authority. He also cast himself as having the authority because God has given it to him. “on this account, or rather the Lord, beseech you” this statement shows that he sees himself as a person that God has appointed to carry out tasks to his [God’s] people. This authority and tone would strengthen the papacy’s position in the church hierarchy because the speech shows that Urban II thought that he had the power to forgive a person’s sins. It also showed that the papacy strengthens in authority because they were persuasive and
The First Crusade was called in 1095 by Pope Urban II in November. It was here that the Pope made a proposal: “Whoever for devotion alone, but not to gain honour or money, goes to Jerusalem to liberate the Church of God can substitute this journey for all penane” (Phillips, 21). Pope Urban II saw the first crusade as a chance for knights to direct their energy towards a spiritually rewarding experience, namely the recovery of the Holy City of Jerusalem from Islam. Knights were told that in return for their efforts their sins
In his call at Clermont in 1095, Pope Urban II asked all fellow Christians to join in the aid of the Christians in the East that were then prone to Turkish attacks. Requesting that they all leave their lives and run to their aid, Pope Urban II explained how they would be doing all in the name of God. The Pope let all of the people know that they would all be greatly recompensed in following God's will and fighting for God and in doing so he further led the people to understand that any killing they would do would be forgiven since it was all to be in God's will. In addition, he insisted that if any were to die in this aid, they would all be
The Pope had all of the power and that led to mass amounts of people going to war for the Pope. In document 4 by the Islamic leader, Saladin, he states that his people should try to retake Jerusalem to get back their holy land and to please God. The people are trying to please their gods and to give their homage to their god. That would show a religious view for the Crusades and their brethren. Document 5 by the Jewish chronicler, Solomon bar Samson, shows that there was a religious aspect to the Crusades, mind it be extremism. The crusaders would see a pack of Jews on the way to the Holy Land and they would give the Jews two choices: 1. they could kill them to avenge the death of Jesus Christ or 2. They could incorporate them into their faith and acknowledge the offspring of promiscuity. Document 7, an excerpt from “In Praise of the New Knighthood” by St. Bernard of Clairvaux, tells of the two-fold war that was being fought by the Knights Templar and the Knights Hospitallers. It was a normal killing people war, and it was a spiritual war. You are protected by the armor of faith and an armor of steel. Next, I would have liked a document from Pope Nicholas IV about how the Crusades had to stop. That would have filled in the ending to the story of the Crusades.
The age leading up to the first crusade is detailed by many current historians, as well as Pope Urban II, as a time period where inhabitants "rage[d] against [their own] brothers and cut each other [to] pieces" (Peters, Baldric of Dol, 31) for economic and social advancement. In spite of these references, many people today believe that the Pope instigated the crusades for the sole reason of reclaiming Jerusalem. However, other motivations such as supplementary religious factors and the chance for economic, social, and political gain also played major roles. These motivations were not experienced supremely by the Pope; in fact he needed to instill these inspirations in all Christians to evoke their will to fight. The holy land had long
During his letter he talks about how the council assembled and how Pope Urban II exhorted all to resume the powers of their faith and arouse in themselves a fierce determination to overcome the machinations of the devil, and to try fully to restore Holy Church, cruelly weakened by the wicked, to its honorable status as of old. He also stated that another tribulation not less but greater than that already mentioned, even of the worst nature, was besetting Christianity from another part of the world. If you allow them to continue much longer they will conquer God’s faithful people much more extensively. Therefore, he urged the people, as heralds of God, to go out and exterminate this vile race from our lands and to aid the Christian inhabitants in time. I believe this connected back to having faith and what caused Christianity to become important during medieval Europe. As God’s people, they came together as one in order to fight for their freedom. They had faith that if God brought them through theirs then they should be able to come together and do the same for their fellow Christians with the guidance of the
Urban’s speech focused on recruiting individuals to go on the First Crusade to reclaim Jerusalem. Two sources, Fulcher of Chartres and Robert the Monk, document Urban’s influential speech. The two records have different tactics on how to convey the main idea of the original speech: there must be protection of Christianity in the Holy Land against Muslims.
The Crusades were the first tactical mission by Western Christianity in order to recapture the Muslim conquered Holy Lands. Several people have been accredited with the launch of the crusades including Peter the Hermit however it is now understood that this responsibility rested primarily with Pope Urban II . The main goal of the Crusades was the results of an appeal from Alexius II, who had pleaded for Western Volunteers help with the prevention of any further invasions. The Pope’s actions are viewed as him answering the pleas of help of another in need, fulfilling his Christian right. However, from reading the documents it is apparent that Pope Urban had ulterior motives for encouraging engagement in the war against the Turks. The
The crusades were a series of religious wars that though they took place centuries ago, they are still often discussed today. The crusades were a religious war between the Christian and Muslim states that lasted years. “The Byzantine Empire, which had thrived spread over the coastal areas of the Mediterranean…now found itself increasingly challenged by the navies and pirates of Isla. The contest between these two sides were to generate seeds of the first Crusade” (Paine 8-9). Some claim that the Crusades offered nothing but a negative impact to western civilization, however, that may not be the case. On the contrary, the Crusades provided a positive short-term and
Late in the year of 1095 Pope Urban announced on Tuesday, November 27 that he would hold a public session to make a great announcement. This was the beginning of what was to be the First Crusade . After having painted a real grim or somber picture the Pope made his appeal. He thought that western Christendom should march to the rescue of the East. Rich and poor alike should go and they should leave off slaying each other and instead fight a great war. Supposedly they thought it was God will and that God would lead them and Take care of them. During his speech Cries of "Dues le wolt! -- "God wills it!" - Interrupted his speech. Just after the Pope ended his speech the bishop of Le Puy fell to his knees and asked permission to join the "Holy Expedition." Hundreds crowded up to later follow his example.
Going against modern day religious beliefs, in 1095AD the Christians went to war to claim the holy city of Jerusalem, massacring the Muslims in a bloody attempt to worship their God. Pope Urban II’s speech at Clermont inspired by claims made by the Byzantium Emperor encouraged the Christians to partake in the First Crusade in an attempt to liberate Jerusalem. The religious and economic factors were the most relevant to cause this crusade, with some influence from desired political gain and little from social factors unrelated to religion. The immediate consequences were positive for the Christians and negative for the Muslims, but the First Crusade launched an ongoing conflict between the Christians and Muslims which had positive and negative consequences for both sides. There are a number of relevant modern sources which examine the causes and consequences of the First Crusade, but, while there are many medieval sources, they do not explicitly discuss the causes and consequences of the war. In order to fully comprehend the First Crusade, it is necessary to analyse the religious, economic, and political factors, as well as the short-term, long-term, and modern consequences.