Pope Urban II why did he call for a crusade ? would he call for one today?
The First Crusade
Pope Urban II (1088-1099, see art below) was responsible for assisting Emperor Alexus I (1081-1118) of Constantinople in launching the first crusade. He made one of the most influential speeches in the Middle Ages, calling on Christian princes in Europe to go on a crusade to rescue the Holy Land from the Turks. In the speech given at the Council of Clermont in France, on November 27, 1095, he combined the ideas of making a pilgrimage to the Holy Land with that of waging a holy war against infidels.1
Dr. E.L. Skip Knox gives a summary of the pope’s speech, which has been recorded differently in various sources: "The noble race of Franks must come to the aid their fellow Christians in the East. The infidel Turks are advancing into the heart of Eastern Christendom; Christians are being oppressed and attacked; churches and holy places are being defiled. Jerusalem is groaning under the Saracen yoke. The Holy Sepulchre is in Moslem hands and has been turned into a mosque. Pilgrims are harassed and even prevented from access to the Holy Land.
"The West must march to the defense of the East. All should go, rich and poor alike. The Franks must stop their internal wars and squabbles. Let them go instead against the infidel and fight a righteous war.
"God himself will lead them, for they will be doing His work. There will be absolution and remission of sins for all who die in the service of Christ. Here they are poor and miserable sinners; there they will be rich and happy. Let none hesitate; they must march next summer. God wills it!
"Deus vult! (God wills it) became the battle cry of the Crusader.
"The day after Urban’s speech, the Council formally granted all the privileges and protections Urban had promised. The red cross was taken as the official sign of the pilgrims, and Bishop Adhemar of Le Puy was chosen as papal legate and the spiritual leader of the expedition."2
The First Crusade was the most successful from a military point of view. Accounts of this action are shocking. For example, historian Raymond of Agiles described the capture of Jerusalem by the Crusaders in 1099:
Some of our men cut off the heads of their enemies; others shot them with arrows, so that they fell from the towers; others tortured them longer by casting them into the flames. Piles of heads, hands and feet were to be seen in the streets of the city. It was necessary to pick one’s way over the bodies of men and horses. But these were small matters compared to what happened at the temple of Solomon, a place where religious services ware ordinarily chanted. What happened there? If I tell the truth, it will exceed your powers of belief. So let it suffice to say this much at least, that in the temple and portico of Solomon, men rode in blood up to their knees and bridle reins.
Some of the results of the first crusade were not expected. Alexus I thought that the Byzantine territories would be returned to him and the Eastern Empire, but instead the European conquerors established four independent Latin kingdoms. In addition, three military orders (Hospitallers, Templars, and Teutonic Knights) came into power. The stated purpose of these orders was to protect pilgrims and holy sites.
The Jerusalem or Crusader’s Cross was worn by Godfrey de Bouillon, the first ruler of the Jerusalem after it was taken from the Moslems. Usually the symbol has four small crosses between the arms. The five crosses symbolize the five wounds of the crucified Jesus. The Crusader’s Cross can also be a single cross, as is shown in the art of St. Louis below.
Muslim armies had conquered much of northern Africa, Egypt, Palestine, Syria, and Spain, which had been some of the most heavily Christian areas in the world.
Thousands, and possibly millions, of Christians died during this drive to eventually bring the entire world under Islam.
The First Crusade was launched in 1095 by Pope Urban II to check the advance of the Muslims and regain control of the city of Jerusalem and the Holy Land.
If this defensive war was not fought then we would probably all be Muslim today.
I am sure that some atrocities were committed by individuals of both sides during this war but by most people’s judgment this was a just war.
The situation in the world is much different today and the Pope would not call for a crusade today.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_Crusade
With love in Christ.
February 18th, 2010 at 11:53 pm
He needed to fill his empty coffers. Yep, money.
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February 18th, 2010 at 11:58 pm
As noble as you have attempted to present it, it was for money and land. The catholic church is the single most profitable entity after oil. The Jews and Christians of Jerusalem have been on record and continue to agree that life under Muslim rule was by far better than that of the europeans, which did not even bathe. They were so uneducated they were killing Jews and Christians assuming their beards meant they were muslim. Peace loving christians really want nonchristians dead or converted. History prooves it and more often than not its dead not converted.
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February 19th, 2010 at 12:18 am
Muslim armies had conquered much of northern Africa, Egypt, Palestine, Syria, and Spain, which had been some of the most heavily Christian areas in the world.
Thousands, and possibly millions, of Christians died during this drive to eventually bring the entire world under Islam.
The First Crusade was launched in 1095 by Pope Urban II to check the advance of the Muslims and regain control of the city of Jerusalem and the Holy Land.
If this defensive war was not fought then we would probably all be Muslim today.
I am sure that some atrocities were committed by individuals of both sides during this war but by most people’s judgment this was a just war.
The situation in the world is much different today and the Pope would not call for a crusade today.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_Crusade
With love in Christ.
References :