The First Crusade Preached by Pope Urban II

Michael Streich

December 14, 2008

Pope Urban II proclaimed the First Crusade at the council of Clermont in France November 27, 1095. A holy endeavor to expel a people “enslaved by demons” would serve many purposes: the Seljuk Turks had successfully occupied the holy lands, once part of the Byzantine Empire. Since the pontificate of Gregory VII and the fateful Battle of Manzikert in which Byzantine forces were defeated, the eastern emperor had sent appeals to Rome for help. Now the pope would act, sensing an opportunity that went far beyond sending a few mounted knights.

 

A Mighty Army Serves Many Goals

 

Europe was a battlefield of incessant conflict and endless war. Uniting feudal factions against a common enemy would mitigate the likelihood of further wars and redirect resources and energy against the Muslims. “Let those who are accustomed to wage private wars wastefully even against Believers, go forth against the Infidels in a battle worthy to be undertaken…” Pope Urban II declared a plenary indulgence, the first of its kind, to those “struggling against the heathen.” To medieval man fearing the flames of purgatory, this was a powerful absolution.

 

A successful Crusade would greatly enhance the prestige of the papacy and perhaps even end the schism that had developed between the eastern and western Christian churches. And although Emperor Komnenus requested a comparatively smaller number of professional soldiers – mounted knights, Urban called upon all Christians: knights, footmen, “rich and poor,” and even “plunderers.” Although a mighty army, it would not be led by any kings of note; both Philip I and Henry VII had been excommunicated.

 

Immediate Rewards and Immediate Consequences

 

Landowning crusaders had their holding protected and guaranteed by the Church, lest interlopers attempted to steal their lands while the Lords were in distant lands fighting for Christ. Those taking up the cross had their debts forgiven. Since usury was forbidden, many of these debts had been incurred through Jewish money lenders.

 

The Jews in Europe, however, were not taken into account, even when crusaders began to slaughter them mercilessly throughout Europe, equating the Jews with the so-called Infidels they would soon encounter beyond the confines of Constantinople. Jews appealed to the church for help. Some courageous bishops opened their gates to Jews seeking asylum, yet many others turned a deaf ear to their cries.

 

Nicea would be liberated from Muslim control in 1097 and by 1099 the crusader army was at the gates of Jerusalem. The ensuring battle was a bloodbath as thousands were beheaded. Fulcher of Chartres recounts that, “If you had been there, your feet would have been stained up to the ankles with the blood of the slain. Not one of them was allowed to live. They did not spare the women and children.”

 

Legacy of the First Crusade

 

In March 2000, Pope John Paul II apologized for the sins committed in the name of the Church, including the Crusades. The First Crusade would lead to approximately 150 years of crusading activity both official and unofficial. A Peasant’s Crusade, led by Peter the Hermit, ended in whole scale slaughter beyond the safety of Constantinople while the ill-begotten Children’s Crusade ended when ship’s captains ferried the youths to North Africa instead of the Middle East, there to be sold as slaves.

 

The Crusade did not end the schism nor did it end Europe’s “private wars.” It did spur a new age of commerce and trade, a significant benefit that would help pave the way toward great prosperity for emerging Italian city-states.

 

Sources:

 

Fulcher of Chartres, Chronicle of the First Crusade, M.E. McGinty, trans. (Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 1941), pp. 15-17 and 66-69, in The Middle Ages, Vol. I: Sources of Medieval History, 5^th Ed., Brian Tierney, ed. (New York: McGraw Hill, 1992) pp.159ff.

 

See also:

 

Steven Runciman, A History of the Crusades, Volume I: The First Crusade and the Foundation of the Kingdom of Jerusalem (Cambridge University Press, 1951).

[First published in Suite101. Copyright Michael Streich. Written permission required for reprints of any kind]