Pope Urban At The Council Of Annotation Essay

In March 1095 Alexius II Comnenus, who was at the time emperor of Constantinople and the Byzantine Empire in Eastern Europe, sent emissaries to Western Europe requesting military assistance from Pope Urban against the Seljuk Turks in Constantinople. The exact words of the emissaries were not recorded but the message was received by Pope Urban II at the Council of Piacenza, and it was clear that European soldiers were wanted to serve in Alexius’s army. Later that same year, in November, Pope Urban called for a general church council at Clermont in France, in order to discuss the matter further. It was through a speech delivered by Urban at this council that the crusading movement was launched. In summoning the council, Urban asked for the bishops

and abbots whom he was addressing, to bring with them the prominent lords in their provinces. The Council began on November 18th and continued until November 28th, and was attended by an estimated 300 ecclesiastics from throughout France. Discussed at the council were Cluniac reforms of the Church, and also the expulsion of Philip I of France for his clandestine remarriage to Bertrade of Montfort. It was not until November 27th that Urban first spoke of Emperor Alexius’s difficulties in the East, but it was this speech which would become the main catalyst for the crusades by Christians in the years to come.
In modern times, there remains 6 main records of this speech delivered by Pope Urban at the Council of Clermont: the anonymous Gesta Francorum ("The Deeds of the Franks" c.

1100/1101), a document which influences all other recorded versions of the speech with the exception of that by Fulcher of Chartres. Other accounts include that by Robert the Monk, Baldric, archbishop of Dol and Guibert de Nogent. All of these accounts were recorded in relatively later periods than when the council took place and they all follow different literary traditions and as a result differ accordingly from one another. It is important also to note that not all those who recorded accounts of the speech were in fact present at the council. The 6th recorded source of the speech delivered at the council is a letter that was written by Urban himself in December of 1095 referring to the council. It can be said that this letter is perhaps more reliable than the other 5 composed speeches from the later sources, which tend to be laced with each individual authors' own views of crusading, because it is the most contemporary of the sources and also it was written by Pope Urban himself. Despite the variances in the accounts of the speech at Clermont, it is certain throughout that Pope Urban was urging for Western Christians to fight against the Muslims in Byzantium who were seen to be attacking the Eastern Roman

Empire.
Fulcher of Chartres (c. 1058-1128) began his chronicle of the speech at Clermont in the autumn of 1100, 5 years after the council had taken place, in a version that has not survived but which was spread to Europe during his lifetime. This version was completed around 1106 and was used as a source by Guibert de Nogent, a contemporary of Fulcher in Europe. A final account of the speech was written in 1127. Fulcher’s appointment as chaplain to Baldwin of Boulogne, who became King of Jerusalem in the same year Fulcher began writing his first account of the speech, suggests that he had been trained as a priest. Fulcher was part of the First Crusade as a member of the entourage of Count Stephen of Blois and Robert of Normandy, which made its way through southern France and Italy in 1096, crossing into the Eastern Roman Empire from Bari and arriving in Constantinople in 1097, where they joined with the other armies of the First Crusade. The details of the Council of Clermont in his chronicle suggest he attended the council personally. In Fulcher’s account of the speech, he writes about how Urban calls upon the “Sons of God to apply the strength of righteousness to another matter”, which concerns both themselves and God. Urban is recorded to have spoken of their “brethren in the East who are in urgent need of help as the Turks and Arabs have attacked them, and have occupied the lands of Christians”. There is no mention of Jerusalem in Fulcher’s account of the speech, which is a contrast to other sources, as Jerusalem is often mentioned to be under attack by Muslims, and therefore Western Christians must go to the East to reconquer the Holy City. This account does however cite the general need of the eastern Byzantine Empire for aid against Muslim attack. Fulcher’s account does mention the Will of God, which is a common theme found in the sources. Urban is recorded to have told the council that the “Lord beseeches you” and “Christ commands it”, which shows the power that the Devine played in the lives of people in the 11th century. Further to this point Urban speaks of the “remission of sins”, as a promise to those who “die by the way” of defeating the enemy. In this account there is an emphasis on the profanity of Islam, and in contrast the glorification of Christianity, as Urban is quoted to have repeatedly referred to Islam followers as a “vile race”, but the merit of Christianity is a just reason for a Holy War against these “barbarians”.
Robert the Monk’s account is written as though he were present at Clermont, but his account was written c.1116, almost 21 years after the Council had taken place.

There is no evidence that Robert took part in the crusade himself, but it is known that he was asked to write his chronicles of the events by Bernard the Abbot at Reims, as Bernard was revolted at the style in which the Gesta was written. Robert’s record of the speech portrays Urban to have called the French race to battle in the most classical style. The speech presents the appeal to the "race of the Franks" as a proclamation climaxing with Urban's call for orthodoxy, restructure and submission to the Church. Robert’s record writes that Urban urged Western Christians, poor and rich, to come to the aid of the Byzantine Empire in the east, because "Deus lo volt," ("God wills it"), the provoking cry with which Urban is to have ended his final address. Similarly to Fulcher’s account, Robert records that Urban promised remission of sins for those who went to the East, “Every one that hath forsaken for my name’s sake shall inherit everlasting life.” In contrast, Robert records Urban calling for the recapture of Jerusalem, which has been taken by “the wicked race”. This is possibly related to the timing of Robert’s writing of the account, as Jerusalem had indeed been recaptured by the Christians by 1116 as a consequence of the crusades which were in turn a consequence of Urban’s speech at the Council of Clermont.

Robert’s account emphasizes reconquering the Holy Land more than aiding the Eastern Christians, as was the original request by Alexius. This account places Jerusalem at the forefront of Urban’s speech, “this royal city, at the centre of the world, has been captured by His enemies.” It is possible to cite the intervening decades between the council and the time of Robert’s record, and the outcome events of the First Crusade as explanations for the shift in the emphasis within the speech. Again it is conceivably with the wisdom of hindsight that Robert writes as if Urban had advised that none but knights should go, not “the old or feeble, nor priests without the permission of their bishops.” Correspondingly there is a quote relating to women which echoes the portrayal of women in the 11th century under Christianity which places them as the property of the men in their lives.
While the exact details of their accounts of Pope Urban’s speech at Clermont differ, the records of both Fulcher of Chartres and Robert the Monk agree significantly on the main theme of the oration; Urban did call upon the Christians of Western Europe to travel eastwards to the Byzantine Empire to aid Eastern Christians in battle against the Muslim Turks. While is possible to ascertain that the reconquering of Jerusalem may not have been an element of the original speech, it is hard to argue that there was no scope for Urban’s words to be interpreted as thus, and that the outcome of the First Crusade were not a reflection of his sermon.