Number of pages:2
Writing Style: MLA
Number of
sources: 3
Read Robert
the Monk's account of Pope Urban II's call to crusade found on the Internet
History Sourcebooks Project Why would Christians in the West be moved to embark
on a dangerous journey to fight in the Holy Land after hearing Pope Urban's
speech at Clermont?
Medieval Sourcebook:
Urban II:
Speech at Clermont 1095
(Robert the Monk version)
Urban II:
Speech at Clermont 1095
(Robert the Monk version)
This account of Urban
II's speech was written toward twenty-five years after Urban's visit to France
and does not claim to give more than a general idea of the pope's arguments
In the year of our
Lord's Incarnation one thousand and ninety-five, a great council was celebrated
within the bounds of Gaul, in Auvergne, in the city which is called Clermont.
Over this Pope Urban II presided, with the Roman bishops and cardinals. This
council was a famous one on account of the concourse of both French and German
bishops, and of princes as well. Having arranged the matters relating to the
Church, the lord pope went forth into a certain spacious plain, for no building
was large enough to hold all the people. The pope-then, with sweet and
persuasive eloquence, addressed those present in words something like the
following, saying:
"Oh, race of
Franks, race from across the mountains, race beloved and chosen by God, - as is
clear from many of your works,- set apart from all other nations by the
situation of your country as well as by your Catholic faith and the honor which
you render to the holy Church: to you our discourse is addressed, and for you
our exhortations are intended. We wish you to know what a grievous cause has
led us to your country, for it is the imminent peril threatening you and all
the faithful which has brought us hither.
From the confines of
Jerusalem and from the city of Constantinople a grievous report has gone forth
and has -repeatedly been brought to our ears; namely, that a race from the
kingdom of the Persians, an accursed race, a race wholly alienated from God, `a
generation that set not their heart aright and whose spirit was not steadfast
with God,' violently invaded the lands of those Christians and has depopulated
them by pillage and fire. They have led away ap art of the captives into their
own country, and a part have they have killed by cruel tortures. They have
either destroyed the churches of God or appropriated them for the rites of
their own religion. They destroy the altars, after having defiled them with
their uncleanness....The kingdom of the Greeks is now dismembered by them and
has been deprived of territory so vast in extent that it could be traversed in
two months' time.
"On whom,
therefore, is the labor of avenging these wrongs and of recovering this
territory incumbent, if not upon you, you upon whom, above all other nations,
God has conferred remarkable glory in arms, great courage, bodily activity, and
strength to humble the heads of those who resist you ? Let the deeds of your
ancestors encourage you and incite your minds to manly achievements:-the
greatness of King Charlemagne, and of his son Louis, and of your other
monarchs, who have destroyed the kingdoms of the Turks and have extended the
sway of Church over lands previously possessed by the pagan. Let the holy
sepulcher of our Lord and Saviour, which is possessed by unclean nations,
especially arouse you, and the holy places which are now treated, with ignominy
and irreverently polluted with the filth of the unclean. Oh, most valiant
soldiers and descendants of invincible ancestors, do not degenerate; our progenitors.,
but recall the valor of your progenitors.
"But if you are
hindered by love of children, parents, or of wife, remember what the Lord says
in the Gospel, `He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of
me', 'Every one that hath forsaken houses, or brethren, or sisters, or father,
or mother, or wife, or children, or lands, for my name's sake, shall receive an
hundredfold, and shall inherit everlasting life.' Let none of your possessions
retain you, nor solicitude for you, family affairs. For this land which you
inhabit, shut in on all sides by the seas and surrounded by the mountain peaks,
is too narrow for your large population; nor does it abound in wealth; and it
furnishes scarcely food enough for its cultivators. Hence it is that you murder
and devour one another, that you wage war, and that very many among you perish
in intestine strife.'
[Another of those
present at the Council of Clermont, Fulcher of Chartres, thus reports this part
of Urban's speech: "Let those who have formerly been accustomed to contend
wickedly in private warfare against the faithful fight against the infidel, and
bring to a victorious end the war which ought already to have been begun. Let
those who have hitherto been robbers now become soldiers. Let those who have
formerly contended against their brothers and relatives now fight against the
barbarians as they ought. Let those who have formerly been mercenaries at low
wages now gain eternal rewards. Let those who have been exhausting themselves
to the detriment both of body and soul now strive for a twofold reward"
See a complete translation of Fulcher's report of Urban's speech in Translations and
Reprints,
Vol. 1. No. 2.]
"Let hatred
therefore depart from among you, let your quarrels end, let wars cease, and let
all dissensions and controversies slumber. Enter upon the road to the Holy
Sepulcher-, wrest that land from the wicked race, and subject it to yourselves.
That land which, as the Scripture says, `floweth with milk and honey' was given
by God into the power of the children of Israel. Jerusalem is the center of the
earth ; the land is fruitful above all others, like another paradise of
delights. This spot the Redeemer of mankind has made illustrious by his advent,
has beautified by his sojourn, has consecrated by his passion, has redeemed by
his death, has glorified by his burial.
"This royal city,
however, situated at the center of the earth, is now held captive by the
enemies of Christ and is subjected, by those who do not know God, to the
worship the heathen. She seeks, therefore, and desires to be liberated and
ceases not to implore you to come to her aid. From you especially she asks
succor, because as we have already said, God has conferred upon you above all
other nations great glory in arms. Accordingly, undertake this journey eagerly
for the remission of your sins, with the assurance of the reward of
imperishable glory in the kingdon of heaven.."
When Pope Urban had
urbanely said thes and very similar things, he so centered in one purpose the
desires all who were present that all cried out, " It is the will of God!
I It is the. will of God 1 " When the venerable Roman pontiff heard that,
with eyes uplifted to heaven, he gave thanks to God and, commanding silence
with his hand, said:
"Most beloved brethren,
today is manifest in you what the Lord says in the Gospel, `Where two or three
are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them'; for unless
God had been present in your spirits, all of you would not have uttered the
same cry; since, although the cry issued from numerous mouths, yet the origin
of the cry as one. Therefore I say to you that God, who implanted is in your
breasts, has drawn it forth from you. Let that then be your war cry in combats,
because it is given to you by God. When an armed attack is made upon the enemy,
this one cry be raised by all the soldiers of God: 'It is the will of God! It
is the will of God!' [Deus vult! Deus Vult!]
"And ee neither
command nor advise that the old or those incapable of bearing arms, undertake
this journey. Nor ought women to set out at all without their husbands, or
brother, or legal guardians. For such are more of a hindrance than aid, more of
a burden than an advantage. Let the rich aid the needy and according to their
wealth let them take with them experienced soldiers. The priests and other
clerks, whether secular or regulars are not to go without the consent of their
bishop; for this journey would profit them nothing if they went without
permission. Also, it is not fitting that laymen should enter upon the
pilgrimage without the blessing of their priests.
"Whoever,
therefore, shall determine upon this holy pilgrimage, and shall make his vow to
God to that effect, and shall offer himself to him for sacrifice, as a living
victim, holy and acceptable to God, shall wear the sign of the cross of the
Lord on his forehead or on his breast. When, indeed, he shall return from his
journey, having fulfilled his vow, let him place the cross on his back between
his shoulders. Thus shall ye, indeed, by this twofold action, fulfill the
precept of the Lord, as lie commands in the Gospel, 'he that taketh not his
cross, and followeth after me, is not worthy of me."'
Source:
James Harvey Robinson,
ed., Readings in European History: Vol. I: (Boston:: Ginn and co.,
1904), 312-316
No comments:
Post a Comment