Pope Urban II's Goals In Launching The First Crusade

Derived from the French word Crois, and the Spanish word Cruz, the words Cruzada and Croisée developed. Those two words mean “take up your cross”. This phrase, was said by Jesus to his disciples in Matthew 16:24. From those two words came the word Crusade. The Crusades were known as a series of battles launched by Europe against the Islamic religion to take back the holy land of Jerusalem. When the First Crusade was launched, Jerusalem churches were under the Muslim rule. When Pope Urban II was elected, he found himself the head of a reformed movement to win back the holy land of Jerusalem, and relieve churches of the Muslim rule. Emperor Alexius, the emperor of the Byzantine Empire, requested help from Pope Urban because the Muslims were killing his Christian people. Since the Muslims were in command of Jerusalem, the violent acts happening in the Byzantine Empire by the Muslims were happening in Jerusalem as well. The First Crusade, which was the most successful, was launched by Pope Urban II in 1095 when he was newly elected into papacy. Pope Urban II’s main objective in launching the First Crusade was not to take back Jerusalem, but an attempt

The first suggestion is that the Crusades were a movement to make the Pope the head of Christendom. Christendom is the universal Christian society. The second suggestion is that the overarching goal was relieving the eastern churches from the Muslim oppression. Another part of this suggestion is that taking back Jerusalem was only a small part of the goal. The last suggestion is that Jerusalem was never even part of the plan. Taking back Jerusalem may have been something that developed accidentally on the road to span Christianity. Pope Urban II’s objectives are consistently being questioned by