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 chest”-Pope urban II (Directed at the Crusades)
Pope Urban II was a famous pope who initiated the crusades in 1095. Urban II was the pope who influenced many European and French people to join him on his crusade to win back the Holy Land. This essay will prove why the pope changed Europe for the better and what impact he had on the crusades.
Pope Urban II was born in 1035 in France. He was born into a wealthy, noble family. From a young age Urban was taught leadership skills
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These people stretched from Christians to French noblemen. Urbans best known speech was delivered on November 27th 1095 in the Council of Clermont. This speech was directly aimed at the French and talked about bringing peace to Christendom. The speech touched the hearts of many with more than 60,000-100,000 French people willing to help Urban fight to get the holy land back. During his great speech he exaggerated the “Anti-Christian” acts that the Muslim people were taking part in. He also said “All who die by the way, land or by sea, or in battle against pagans, shall have immediate remission of sins”-Urban ii. Everybody believed him because he was the almighty pope. Urban’s death influenced many catholic Europeans to look down upon Muslims with disgust and hatred. Robert the monk said “When Pope Urban had said these things in his urbane discourse, he so influenced to one purpose the desires of all who were present, that they cried out "It is the will of God! It is the will of God!” This quote points out how influential the pope was. Even though Urban’s death was unspecified, many Europeans believed that the Muslims had something to do with it. The pope’s influential power had a great effect on medieval Europe as It changed the way Christians viewed and treated the …show more content…
In 1035 he was born into a wealthy family. This put a lot of pressure on him. Urban began his education in a cathedral school at Reims, in North-Eastern France. At the age of twenty, the pope took the position of archdeacon in the diocese of Reims. The pope upheld this position for approximately 12 years. In 1080 Pope Gregory VII announced Urban as the cardinal-bishop of Ostia. This gave the Pope a large following which would help him later on, when the crusades were taking place. The current Pope at the time sent Odo on missions. During one of these missions in Germany, Odo was help captive (1083-1084). Urban’s early life was a vital part of him. If none of this were to happen, he may not have gotten the chance to change Medieval Europe for the