Pope Urban II: Father of the Crusades

Who was Pope Urban II? More than any mere human, he can be credited as the founder of the Crusades. With one speech, he changed Europe. He was born Otto of Liguri to a noble family. Elected Cardinal Bishop of Ostia around 1080, he was a central figure in the Gregorian reforms. On being elected Pope Urban II in 1088, he took the reforms to the next level, directing Europe's knightly classes toward a common goal in defense of Christendom. Pope Urban II was a man of subtlety and careful planning. He was more approachable, more diplomatic than Gregory VII, less inflammatory. He had farsighted goals for the Crusade and understood how it could be used to unite Western and Eastern Christians. From the records, he seems to have had no interest in using the Crusade to bring the Byzantine Church under Roman Catholic authority. Instead, he hoped to see the Western Christians simply helping the East. He never named any of the Western leaders of the First Crusade as overall commander because, as historian Thomas Aspridge notes, Urban wanted them to get guidance and assistance from the Byzantine Emperor Alexios I Komnenos. Urban expected the Crusaders to reinforce Byzantium. The records of Urban's speech emphasize the theme of the West aiding the East. We have heard, most beloved brethren, and you have heard what we cannot recount without deep sorrow, how with great hurt and dire sufferings, our Christian brothers, members in Christ, are scourged, oppressed, and injured in Jerusalem, in Antioch, and the other cities of the East. Your own blood brothers, your companions, your associates, for you are sons of the same Christ and the same Church, are either subjected in their inherited homes to other masters, or are driven from them, or they come as beggars among us, or, which is far worse, they are flogged and exiled as slaves, for sale in their own land. Christian blood, redeemed by the blood of Christ, has been shed, and Christian flesh, akin to the flesh of Christ, has been subjected to unspeakable degradation and servitude. The kingdom of the Greeks is now dismembered by them, and deprived of territory so vast in extent that it cannot be traversed in a march of two months. On whom, therefore, is the labor of avenging these wrongs and recovering this territory incumbent, if not upon you? Urban urged knights to abandon petty infighting, and instead unite against the enemies of Christendom. 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 now, and to be finished in victory. Now let those who, until recently, existed as plunderers, be soldiers of Christ. Now let those who formerly contended against brothers in relations rightly fight barbarians. Now let those who recently were hired for a few pieces of silver win their eternal reward. Urban noted the importance of Jerusalem as the city where Christ died, insisting that its holiness prompted Christians to liberate it. Most beloved brethren, if you reverence the source of that holiness and that glory, if you cherish these shrines which are the marks of his footprints on earth, if you seek the way, God leading you, God fighting on your behalf, you should strive with your utmost efforts to cleanse the holy city and the glory of the sepulcher now polluted by the concourse of the Gentiles. Urban's speech at Clermont-Ferrand in November of 1095 had a deep impact. His call to liberate Jerusalem spread across Europe, inspiring huge numbers to take the cross. The privilege that Pope Urban granted to Crusaders survives today. Whoever goes on the journey to free the church of God in Jerusalem, out of devotion alone, and not for the gaining of glory or money, can substitute the journey for all penance for sin. This is the famous crusade indulgence, which would be granted from then on by popes every time they called a crusade. Pope Urban II died in 1098, a year before the crusade he inspired captured Jerusalem from the Fatimid Egyptians. Today he has the title Blessed in the Roman Catholic Church. Thanks for watching. Please subscribe to this channel, Real Crusade History, on YouTube. Like this video, share it, and like the Facebook page, which you'll find linked in the about box. Also, if you like what I'm doing in terms of spreading among the popular culture, Crusade's history, please consider making a donation to my channel. It's very easy. There's just a little PayPal donation link at the very top of my YouTube channel. It's marked P, and it says donate. Really just one or two clicks, and it's very easy, safe, and secure. Just throw a few bucks into that, and help me make better and more videos about Crusade's history. Thanks.