The Influence of Pope Urban II

For the King of the Franks, the church provided the means to accomplish the expansion and reformation of his empire. For the Holy Roman Church, Charles provided protection from invaders and new possibilities for missionary work. The blessing of the church helped to unify and strengthen the resolve of the Frankish people as they withstood or conquered the heathen Viking and eastern Germanic tribes. The fact that Charles was Christian and was backed by the Catholic church must have certainly helped keep other christian powers from allying with these barbarians. For Rome, there were suddenly new peoples to convert, and keep from direct opposition to the The Great Christian Emperor.

War and Military conquest was also apart of the society during this point in the High Middle Ages. Military conquest was important because it rewarded the individual with wealth and power. On the other hand the society was also a Christian one, and therefore the people that went to war had to come to grip with what they were doing. In closing, despite the Church’s attempt to have full control over the rulers of Western Europe, it was impossible to do so. Therefore, the Church came up with the concept of chivalry, which was an attempt to reconcile war and peace.

Leo the Great set new standards for the bishop of Rome and left poeple to really revere those who took on the role. There were things that hindered the strength of the papacy, such as Caesero Papism. Justinian was a prime example of this and as an emperor practicing it, he gave himself rights and powers in the Church which were really not his to have. He established things like the Justinian Code, which in some ways benefited the Church as a whole but at the same time, did not. It led to rampant persecutions of other religions which is anything but Christian like.

Urban II decided to use the opportunity to take the Holy Land and called for Christians to form a militia to free the Holy Land. The Second Crusade attempted to take Damascus and protect the Crusader States. The Crusades failed to keep lasting control of the Holy Land but the Crusades do represent a shift in political power in Europe. The conflict between Pope Gregory VII and Emperor IV demonstrate the church coming into power of influence but the Crusades demonstrate the Pope’s new political power in calling for war to achieve their own ends. Urban II had several reasons for calling for the first Crusade.

The Crusades were one of the most prominent events in Western European history; they were not discrete and unimportant pilgrimages, but a continuous stream of marching Western armies (Crusaders) into the Muslim world, terminating in the creation and eventually the fall of the Islamic Kingdoms. The Crusades were a Holy War of Roman Christianity against Islam, but was it really a “holy war” or was it Western Europe fighting for more land and power? Through Pope Urban II and the Roman Catholic Church’s actions, their proposed motivations seem unclear, and even unchristian. Prior to the Crusades, Urban encouraged that Western Europe fight for their religion but throughout the crusades the real motivations shone though; the Crusaders were power hungry, land coveting people who fought with non Christian ideals and Morales. Both the Crusaders and the Muslims wanted power.

In the later Donation of Pepin one can see this play out as such. For one Pepin is referred to as, “most Christian King of the Franks” . His name is proven worthy when it is said that he refused to give up his lands because they belonged to the church (pope). He also affirmed his choices of seeking lands with war in that it was for the church and forgiveness of sins. It is hard to amount Pepin’s direct example of how Pope Stephen II outlined the way in which he should rule to anything else because it aligns so exactly.

The Crusades were the first tactical mission by Western Christianity in order to recapture the Muslim conquered Holy Lands. Several people have been accredited with the launch of the crusades including Peter the Hermit however it is now understood that this responsibility rested primarily with Pope Urban II . The main goal of the Crusades was the results of an appeal from Alexius II, who had pleaded for Western Volunteers help with the prevention of any further invasions. The Pope’s actions are viewed as him answering the pleas of help of another in need, fulfilling his Christian right. However, from reading the documents it is apparent that Pope Urban had ulterior motives for encouraging engagement in the war against the Turks.

When the papacy finally had the power to help these churches, men had a clearer view of what must happen and that was to free the Holy Land from these infidels (p. 102). The papacy went on a recruiting mission that would turn into a crusade and gathe... ... middle of paper ... ...ne could look at it both ways, but the crusades took place for personal gain and conquest. Medieval Europe wanted revenge for when the Moslems took over Spain and parts of Italy (p. 112). As the Moslems were ousted out of Italy, the Europeans launched campaigns against North Africa shortly afterwards, then later to the Holy Lands (p. 112). Another important point is that Jerusalem holds a great economic and demographic expansion to the East (p. 113).

The First Crusade was a military invasion with the idea of spirituality used to help guide and influence the crusaders. When examining the events that took place over the time period of the First Crusade, there is clear evidence of this being a military campaign. Evidence from when Alexius I, the Byzantine emperor, asked Pope Urban II for help, all the way through the conquering of Jerusalem. There are significant examples during these events that recognized that the majority of the actions that took place had a military influence behind them. Spirituality was just a thin cover that was used to encourage the crusaders.

The archbishops appoint bishops authority in their territories. As the Catholic Church’s authority increases during this time, it also comes with consequences. This system of archbishops and bishops are great for the Church, but Charlemagne uses them as royal agents, which is part of royal policy. Furthermore, Charlemagne makes reforms in education in order to further improve the Church; he sets up a system which strengthens the priesthood by setting up bishop schools. These reforms indicate “a lack of division between religious and secular affairs” (Charlemagne p.131).