Michael Prestwich in his book Medieval People courageously attempts to encapsulate in few pages the early life, as well as the contribution of the Pope Urban II in the reform of the Catholic church and the creation of the first crusades, yet he fails to quote the Pope himself with regard to his speech with the reference to the Christian Holy War against Islam. Such an important missing element demonstrates his prejudice toward Christianity.
In particular, Prestwich begins his brief chapter on the life of the Pope Urban II by recalling his contribution to the Crusades. Also, he provides an incisive background of the expansion of the Muslims and the Byzantine empire before the creation and the rise of the crusades. Specifically, he states that
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Even though that was not the case as he can be defined as the flame that lighted the hate between Christian and Muslim population. Specifically, Prestwich-based on his perspective of Christianity excludes such a significant element in order to hide the hypocrisy of the church, as such a preach was against the Christian doctrine. "But I say unto you, love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you." (Mathew 5:44) Parallel, it prevents the explosion of the church’s negative feelings toward Islam that are rooted even before the Arabs take over territories of the Holy Lands. The manipulation the Pope derived, easily tricked the Christian mass and lead them to a violent outbreak that suggested a hidden version of Christianity that would ultimately overtake the pseudo-compassion principles of God’s community.
In addition, Prestwich’s inadequacy to report the motifs as well as the people who influenced the pope in order to declare the Holy War, create uncertainty with reference to his capabilities as a noble historian. Also, it born questions of how credible is the historical data he has encountered throughout the