Pope Alexander II Research Paper

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.

In the first crusade the byzantine emperor was afraid of the Turks, Alexius I asked the roman church for help. he thought that eastern and western Christians should join forces and make the Turks moves from Anatolia and Palestine. This movement would be called a holy war or crusade. The pope whose name was Urban II, agreed to this plan for two reasons, the first reason was because he thought that combining the east and the west war against the Turks would reunite the eastern and western churches. The second reason was because he wanted to free Palestine and Jerusalem from Muslim rule

The Crusades were a series of holy wars that began in 1095 CE. These wars were fought between Christians and Muslims to gain control over the sacred land. The Turks moved into the middle east during the early part of the 11th century CE. Most of the Turks served the Islamic armies and would invade land rapidly using combat forces. This alarmed the Greek emperor and caused him to seek out Pope Urban II and ask for mercenary troops to confront the Turks. The Pope called a council and had 300 attendees to show up. During this council, the Pope made a plea to free the Holy Land, which received an enthusiastic response. After this, Pope Urban II promptly waged war against the Muslims and took armies of Christians to Jerusalem to try and

As The Pope states in the beginning of Document A," Although, O sons of God... to preserve the right of the church. " This statement shows how Pope Urban II believes that commanding the men to fight in the Crusades is Gods work. This idea is also supported when he states,"On this account I, or rather the Lord, beseech you as Christ's heralds... Moreover, Christ commands it..." After Pope Urban says these things

In Document 1 the pope wrote, “ On whom therefore is the labor of avenging these wrongs and of recovering this territory incumbent, if not upon you?” This shows how the pope made the task to fight to win back the holy land up to all the christians. The pope used a certain zealousness to make the Christians excited about fighting in the Crusades. The Pope also went on to say “Accordingly undertake this journey for the remission of your sins, with the assurance of the imperishable glory of the kingdom of heaven.” The Pope told the christians that all their sins would be forgiven and they would go to heaven if they fought against the muslims to take back the holy land. This persuaded the christians to fight because they thought it was what god wanted them to do . The pope knew that by telling people this he would encourage them although some might’ve believed that it was what god really wanted them to do enough do that they would put their own life at risk to follow what god or the pope thought was

Pope Gregory was a rare type of pope, he was one of seven popes to be elected acclamation which no longer occurs today. Although he was popular in Rome for a period of time, he was despised in parts of Europe. When Emperor Henry III passed away the strength of Germany had been weakened tremendously. Emperor Henry IV took over and had to contend with internal difficulties at only age twenty-three. Due to the difficulty, Henry IV had to come to terms of Gregory on political matters. Self-punishment was to be done on Henry to continue the friendship, and even took an oath of obedience, and promised support in the reforming church. This won the confidence of the pope, but was quickly betrayed when Henry defeated the Saxons. Henry attempted to reestablish his rights. Gregory replied to this with a letter which accused him of breaching his word and excommunicated Henry from power. Henry was not pleased to read this and replied to Gregory

Hoping that the Pope would accede to his wishes, Alexius looked to rectify the Turkish invasions. November of 1095 Urban II consented to Alexius' request and called all to aid of their fellow Christians who had been attacked by the Turks. Perhaps having various other reasons for aiding Alexius, the sole reason that seems to stand out is that of healing relations between the Eastern and Western Church which had been severed after the Great Schism. To what extent the Crusades were successful is debatable. Ultimately, however, the Crusades did not manage to heal the split between the Eastern and Western Church, but did manage to strengthen the Roman Catholic Church and simultaneously accelerated trade and gave huge economic gains to Western Europe. In other words, the Crusades were a successful failure.

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

However, Pope Urban II died before news of Christian victory in Jerusalem was able to reach Rome. Although he was not able to see the crusade through to its end, these accounts of his sermon revealed just how much power of persuasion religious leaders had at the time. They also showed that Pope Urban II saw the First Crusade as a war of liberation: liberation of the Eastern Christians and Jerusalem herself. While Crusaders, as a whole, may have initially embarked on this spiritual pilgrimage with good intentions, the waters were muddied when it came to the visceral intention of each person. As the crusade era continued, misunderstanding and hatred between the two religious groups grew. Some soldiers began to see the crusade as a quest for power, money, and personal status. The First Crusade quickly changed from Christian liberation and revival, to an intense battle between the crescent and the

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

Religion was one of the main reasons for the start of the First Crusade. Islam was growing and by the time of the late 11th century Islam occupied the areas of the Holy Land which were the foundations of Christian belief. Pope Urban 2nd made his speech November 1095 urging a military expedition to aid the Christians in the east. The Pope hoped that it would unify quarrelling in Europe and unite Europe through Christianity. The response that the Pope received was enormous. In the opinion of Jean Richard, who states that it was ‘problematic’ as it ‘set off shock waves that put

Pope Urban II’s first argument to justify fighting Muslims is that the Christian people have a responsibility to their God to regain the Holy Land, Jerusalem. This justification can be seen in this quote “… the Lord, beseech you as Christ’s heralds to publish this everywhere and to persuade all people of whatever rank… to carry aid promptly to those Christians and to

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.

This, though plausible, is a vague statement that could be easily said of any Muslim incursion into Christian territory. The point of this statement is that Urban II is concerned about the Muslim conquest of Christian lands and is trying to rectify the situation. It is also clear from this statement that the religion of the enemy, though a cause for concern, is not the focus of the speech, nor the armed endeavor he is planning. Pope Urban II is not rallying support to wage a holy war against Islam, he is asking that the lands of Christians that have been taken be restored to their original status. This message is reinforced by another quote form Urban, this one from Fulcher of Chartes, “the Turks, a race of Persians, who have penetrated within the boundaries of Romania... in occupying more and more of the lands of the Christians, have overcome them... and have laid waste God’s kingdom.” (Peter, 53) Here in this quote the message is the same. Arabs have invaded Christian lands and should be expelled from them forthright. He also makes reference to “God’s Kingdom,” reinforcing the Christian belief that God’s kingdom is both in Heaven and on Earth. Urban is calling upon the faithful to defend God’s earthly territories and the people that reside in them. As chronicled by Fulcher, Urban also urged the people in his speech by saying, “the Lord exhort you... to strive to help expel that wicked race from our Christian lands before it is too late.”