In this documentary report I shall look at the account of Urban II’s speech we are given by Fulcher of Chartres and assess it’s usefulness according to it’s likely reliability and it’s concurrence with the other accounts of Urban’s speech and the evidence we have from his letters. I shall first look at who Fulcher of Chartres was, as his role in society is important for understanding how he may have come to be aware of or present at the council of Clermont. A brief look at Fulcher will also provide an insight into what his opinions may have been and how this may colour his representation of the events. I shall also look at the message as we see it in Fulcher’s version of events and then at the overall view we are given from the evidence. I shall also look at the conclusions that ‘modern’ scholars have come to. Finally I shall look at the outcomes of this council and how much the outcomes reflect the aims we are told about in the accounts of the council of Clermont. Fulcher of Chartres was educated by the Church in Chartres and he travelled to the East in the entourage of Richard of Normandy and Stephen of Blois. He later followed Baldwin of Boulonge to Edessa when he broke away from the main body of Crusaders to found the first crusader state. He was appointed chaplain to Baldwin in 1097. He was present at the council of Clermont in 1095 and provides us with one of the most reliable sources for Urban II’s speech there. Fulcher’s version of Urban II’s speech focuses firstly on the reprimands issued by Urban to the People of France for their infighting; He quotes Urban as addressing the council as being “Urged by necessity... come into these parts as an ambassador with a divine admonition” . He reports the Pope as complaining to ... ... middle of paper ... ... Accounts of Eyewitnesses and Participants, (Princeton: 1921), 36-40 August. C. Krey, The First Crusade: The Accounts of Eyewitnesses and Participants, (Princeton: 1921), 42-43 Bongars, Gesta Dei per Francos, 1, pp. 382 f., trans in Oliver J. Thatcher, and Edgar Holmes McNeal, eds., A Source Book for Medieval History, (New York: Scribners, 1905), 513-17 Dana C. Munro, “The Speech of Pope Urban II. At Clermont, 1095”, The American Historical Review, Vol. 11, No. 2 (Jan., 1906), pp. 231-242 Dana C. Munro, "Urban and the Crusaders", Translations and Reprints from the Original Sources of European History, Vol 1:2, (Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania, 1895), 5-8 Fulcher of Chartres, A History of the Expedition to Jerusalem, 1095-1127, trans. Francis Rita Ryan, ed. Harold S. Fink, (Knoxville, 1969) http://www.crusades-encyclopedia.com/fulcherofchartres.html
The First Crusade is often cited as one of the most damnable consequences of religious fanaticism. A careful inspection of the circumstances and outcomes, however, will reveal a resultant political restructuring of Europe under the banner of Christendom. The purpose of this investigation is to investigate Pope Urban II’s motives in initiating the First Crusade, with a particular focus on the consolidation of the Western Church’s influence in Europe. Among the primary sources that will be consulted are the letter sent by Patriach Alexios of Constantinople to Urban, and an account of Urban’s speech at Clermont. Relevant excerpts from both of these primary sources, as well as contextual evidence and a wide array of historiography, will be taken
Cobb, Paul. "Introduction." Ibn Munqidh, Usama. Book of Contemplation Islam and the Crusades. New York: Penguin Books, 2008. xv-xlii.
It is amazing how much political and military supremacy the papacy position gained when the Crusades began. The First Crusade (1096-1099) was a military expedition initiated by Pope Urban the II to regain the Holy Lands in Jerusalem from the Muslim conquest. The Pope gave a speech requesting military action against Muslim takeover to the French people of Clermont. The speech eventually propagated to other nations for further recruitment. Urban’s political and military involvement helped regain the Holy Lands and save the Christian Crusaders souls. His famous speech changed the course of history in part because its dissemination was overly successful, and assembled over 40,000 Crusaders to do the will of God. Why was Pope Urban II so victorious in recruiting people for the First Crusade, and why was his influence so important?
Carleton- Munro, Dana. The Speech of Pope Urban II. At Clermont, 1095. The American Historical Review. 11. no. 2 (1906): 231.
What is a Crusade? How did a Crusader crusade? What caused him to seek “holy war?” Is a Crusade a Holy War or a Pilgrimage? Did a crusader only leave to find his own economic benefits? What caused the success of the first crusaders? These are some of the many questions that laid before me when I started my research. The crusading movements are such widely debated among the modern historian that they leave many readers confused about what actually caused the crusades, and what a crusade actually entails. In the coming pages I hope to give my reader something to ponder, understand, and acknowledge about it’s origins, and eventually lead my reader into the first crusading movement. Thus, the argument I intend to make examines the events in previous centuries, and the culmination of political and moral changes, as well as economic ones that occurred before Urban’s call for crusade. We will explore Feudalism, it’s war-centric society and how this caused Urban (as well as some Popes and religious figures before him) to seek a peaceable solution that would ensure safety for the clergy, the peasant, and the non-violent. Furthermore, Pope Urban sought to continue Pope Gregory's (and Cluniac) reform to solidify Papal authority over Christendom, and respond to years of Muslim raids along the Mediterranean and upper Italian Coastlines that threatened Italian unity. In effect, the first crusading movement represented and embodied the European culture, society, and ideologies of the time.
Robinson, John J. Dungeon, Fire, and Sword: The Knights Templar in the Crusades. New York: M. Evans &, 1991. Print.
McFall, J. Arthur. "Ill-Fated Crusade Of The Poor People." Military History 14.6 (1998): 26. MAS
Spanning from 1095 to 1212 C.E, the Crusades were an effort made by medieval Christians to regain their holy lands back from the Muslims. There were five crusades in total going in order from the First Crusade to the Children's Crusade. A few were effective in their own respects although these Crusades proved costly to the European Kingdoms as a result of large losses of life. This paper will explore these crusades and explain why some succeeded whereas others failed.
"The Crusades (Overview)." World History: Ancient and Medieval Eras. ABC-CLIO, 2011. Web. 12 Oct. 2011.
...f knighthood. The idea of the crusade, and the affiliated pilgrimage came to be regarded as temporary, adopted, migratory monastic life. Although none of the ideas of Robert, Guibert, and Baldric were new, in fact they were derived from the accounts of those who survived the first crusade, they romanticized the idea of the holy war and knighthood, making it more appealing to the common person, and more morally acceptable in religious circles.
Blackburn, Paul. trans. Poem of the Cid. ed. George Economou. (Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1991). Nelson2 "Some Comments on the Song of the Cid". Lynn H. Nelson. Nelson1 "The Song of El Cid". Lynn H. Nelson. Routledge, Michael. "Songs". The Oxford Illustrated History of the Crusades. ed. Johnathon Riley Smith. (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1997). Schneider, Joe P. "El Cid". The Catholic Encyclopedia.
Asbridge, T. (2010). Crusades: The War for The Holy Land UK. Simon and Schuster UK Ltd.
Rice, Eugene E. and Anthony Grafton. The Foundations of Early Modern Europe, 1460-1559. 2nd. ed. New York: W. W. Norton and Co., 1994.
Ullmann, Walter. A Short History of the Papacy in the Middle Ages. 2nd ed. New York City, NY: Routledge, 2003.