Robert the Monk’s Pope Urban II’s Call for Crusades

Robert the Monk’s Pope Urban II’s Call for Crusades

In Robert the Monk’s version of Pope Urban II’s Speech at the Council at Clermont, why would Urban II’s claim that the land of the Franks was “too narrow for its large
population” have been an important issue for the Crusaders? In what ways were the
Crusaders examples of international cooperation? What specific grievances does Urban II direct at the Muslims?

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Colorado State Western Civilization-From
Antiquity to the Age of Expansion
Margolf-Heineman
Robert the Monk, “Pope Urban II’s Speech at the Council of Clermont,” in Readings in European History, ed.
James Harvey Robinson, Volume 1 (Boston: Ginn, 1904), pp. 312-316. Adapted by Diane Margolf.
In the year of our Lord’s Incarnation one thousand and ninety-×ve, a
great council was celebrated within the bounds of Gaul, in Auvergne,
in the city which is called Clermont. Over this Pope Urban II presided,
with the Roman bishops and cardinals. This council was a famous one
on account of the concourse of both French and German bishops, and
of princes as well. Having arranged the matters relating to the
Church, the lord pope went forth into a certain spacious plan, for no
building was large enough to hold all the people. The pope then, with
sweet and persuasive eloquence, addressed those present in words
something like the following, saying:
“Oh, race of Franks, race from across the mountains, race beloved and
chosen by God,-as is clear from many of your works,-set apart from all
other nations by the situation of your country as well as by your
Catholic faith and the honor which you render to the holy Church: to
you our discourse is addressed, and for you our exhortations are
intended. We wish you to know what a grievous case has led us to
your country, for it is the imminent peril threatening you and all the
faithful which has brought us hither.10/29/2018 Chapter 9 Primary Sources 3 – WebCOM™ 2.0
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From the con×nes of Jerusalem and from the city of Constantinople a
grievous report has gone forth and has repeated been brought to our
ears; namely, that a race from the kingdom of the Persians, an
accursed race, a race wholly alienated from God, ‘a generation that set
not their heart aright, and whose spirit was not steadfast with God,’
has violently invaded the lands of those Christians and has
depopulated them by pillage and ×re. They have led away a part of the
captives into their own country, and a part they have killed by cruel
tortures. They have either destroyed the churches of God or
appropriated them for the rites of their own religion. They destroy
the altars, after having de×led them with their uncleanness . . . The
kingdom of the Greeks [e.g., the Byzantine Empire] is now
dismembered by them and has been deprived of territory so vast in
extent that it could not be traversed in two months’ time.
On whom, therefore, is the labor of avenging these wrongs and of
recovering this territory incumbent, if not upon you,-you, upon whom,
above all other nations, God has conferred remarkable glory in arms,
great courage, bodily activity, and strength to humble the heads of
those who resist you? Let the deeds of your ancestors encourage you
and incite your minds to manly achievements:-the glory and greatness
of King Charlemagne, and of his son Louis, and of your other
monarchs, who have destroyed the kingdoms of the Turks and have
extended the sway of the holy Church over lands previously pagan.
Let the holy sepulcher of our Lord and Savior, which is possessed by
the unclean nations, especially arouse you, and the holy places which
are now treated with ignominy and irreverently polluted with the ×lth
of the unclean. Oh, most valiant soldiers and descendants of10/29/2018 Chapter 9 Primary Sources 3 – WebCOM™ 2.0
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invincible ancestors, do not degenerate, but recall the valor of your
progenitors.
But if you are hindered by love of children, parents, or wife, remember
what the Lord says in the Gospel, ‘He that loveth father or mother
more than me is not worthy of me.’ ‘Every one that hath forsaken
houses, or brethren, or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or
children, or lands, for my name’s sake, shall receive an hundredfold,
and shall inherit everlasting life.’ Let none of your possessions retain
you, nor solicitude for your family affairs. For this land which you
inhabit, shut in on all sides by the seas and surrounded by the
mountain peaks, is too narrow for your large population; nor does it
abound in wealth; and it furnishes scarcely food enough for its
cultivators. Hence it is that you murder and devour one another, that
you wage war, and that very many among you perish in intestine strife.
Let hatred therefore depart from among you, let your quarrels end, let
wars cease, and let all dissensions and controversies slumber. Enter
upon the road to the Holy Sepulcher; wrest that land from the wicked
race, and subject it to yourselves. That land which, as the Scripture
says, ‘Øoweth with milk and honey’ was given by God into the power of
the children of Israel. Jerusalem is the center of the earth; the land is
fruitful above all others, like another paradise of delights. This spot
the Redeemer of mankind has made illustrious by his advent, has
beauti×ed by his sojourn, has consecrated by his passion, has
redeemed by his death, has glori×ed by his burial.
This royal city, however, situated at the center of the earth, is now
held captive by the enemies of Christ and is subjected, by those who
do not know God, to the worship of the heathen. She seeks, therefore,10/29/2018 Chapter 9 Primary Sources 3 – WebCOM™ 2.0
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and desires to be liberated and ceases not to implore you to come to
her aid. From you especially she asks succor, because, as we have
already said, God has conferred upon you above all other nations
great glory in arms. Accordingly, undertake this journey eagerly for
the remission of your sins, with the assurance of the reward of
imperishable glory in the kingdom of heaven.”
When Pope Urban had urbanely said these and very many similar
things, he so centered in one purpose the desires of all who were
present that all cried out, “It is the will of God! It is the will of God!”
When the venerable Roman pontiff heard that, with eyes uplifted to
heaven, he gave thanks to God and, commanding silence with his hand,
said:
“Most beloved brethren, today is manifest in you what the Lord says in
the Gospel, ‘Where two or three are gathered together in my name,
there am I in the midst of them’; for unless God had been present in
your spirits, all of you would not have uttered the same cry . . .
And we neither command nor advise that the old or feeble, or those
incapable of bearing arms, undertake this journey. Nor ought women
to set out at all without their husbands, or brothers, or legal
guardians. For such are more of a hindrance than aid, more of a
burden than an advantage. Let the rich aid the needy; and according
to their wealth let them take with them experienced soldiers. The
priests and other clerks [e.g., clergy], whether secular or regular, are
not to go without the consent of their bishop; for this journey would
pro×t them nothing if they went without permission. Also, it is not
×tting that laymen should enter upon the pilgrimage without the
blessing of their priests.10/29/2018 Chapter 9 Primary Sources 3 – WebCOM™ 2.0
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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 sacri×ce . . . shall wear the sign of the cross of the Lord on his
forehead or on his breast. When, indeed, he shall return from his
journey, having ful×lled his vow, let him place the cross on his back
between his shoulders. Thus shall ye, indeed, by this twofold action,
ful×ll the precept of the Lord . . ..”