Pope Urban II (; – 29 July 1099), otherwise known as Odo of Châtillon or Otho de Lagery, was the head of the
Catholic Church
The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...
and ruler of the
Papal States
The Papal States ( ; ; ), officially the State of the Church, were a conglomeration of territories on the Italian peninsula under the direct sovereign rule of the pope from 756 to 1870. They were among the major states of Italy from the 8th c ...
from 12 March 1088 to his death. He is best known for convening the
Council of Clermont
The Council of Clermont was a mixed synod of ecclesiastics and laymen of the Catholic Church, called by Pope Urban II and held from 17 to 27 November 1095 at Clermont, Auvergne, at the time part of the Duchy of Aquitaine.
While the council ...
, which ignited the series of
Christian military expeditions known as the
Crusades
The Crusades were a series of religious wars initiated, supported, and at times directed by the Papacy during the Middle Ages. The most prominent of these were the campaigns to the Holy Land aimed at reclaiming Jerusalem and its surrounding t ...
.
Pope Urban was a native of
France
France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...
and a descendant of a noble family from the French commune of
Châtillon-sur-Marne. Before his papacy, Urban was the grand prior of
Cluny
Cluny () is a commune in the eastern French department of Saône-et-Loire, in the region of Bourgogne-Franche-Comté. It is northwest of Mâcon.
The town grew up around the Benedictine Abbey of Cluny, founded by Duke William I of Aquitaine in ...
and
bishop of Ostia. As pope, he dealt with
Antipope Clement III, the infighting of various
Christian nations, and the
Turkish invasions into Anatolia. In 1095, he started preaching for the start of the
First Crusade
The First Crusade (1096–1099) was the first of a series of religious wars, or Crusades, initiated, supported and at times directed by the Latin Church in the Middle Ages. The objective was the recovery of the Holy Land from Muslim conquest ...
(1096–1099). He promised forgiveness and pardon for all of the past sins of those who would fight to reclaim the
Holy Land
The term "Holy Land" is used to collectively denote areas of the Southern Levant that hold great significance in the Abrahamic religions, primarily because of their association with people and events featured in the Bible. It is traditionall ...
from
Muslims
Muslims () are people who adhere to Islam, a Monotheism, monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God ...
and free the
Eastern churches
Eastern Christianity comprises Christianity, Christian traditions and Christian denomination, church families that originally developed during Classical antiquity, classical and late antiquity in the Eastern Mediterranean region or locations fu ...
. This pardon would also apply to those fighting the
Muslims in Spain. While the First Crusade resulted in the occupation of
Jerusalem
Jerusalem is a city in the Southern Levant, on a plateau in the Judaean Mountains between the Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean and the Dead Sea. It is one of the List of oldest continuously inhabited cities, oldest cities in the world, and ...
and expulsion of the
Fatimids
The Fatimid Caliphate (; ), also known as the Fatimid Empire, was a caliphate extant from the tenth to the twelfth centuries CE under the rule of the Fatimid dynasty, Fatimids, an Isma'ili Shi'a dynasty. Spanning a large area of North Africa ...
, Pope Urban II died before he could receive the news.
Urban II also set up the modern-day
Roman Curia
The Roman Curia () comprises the administrative institutions of the Holy See and the central body through which the affairs of the Catholic Church are conducted. The Roman Curia is the institution of which the Roman Pontiff ordinarily makes use ...
in the manner of a royal ecclesiastical court to help run the church. He was
beatified
Beatification (from Latin , "blessed" and , "to make") is a recognition accorded by the Catholic Church of a deceased person's entrance into Heaven and capacity to intercede on behalf of individuals who pray in their name. ''Beati'' is the ...
by
Pope Leo XIII
Pope Leo XIII (; born Gioacchino Vincenzo Raffaele Luigi Pecci; 2March 181020July 1903) was head of the Catholic Church from 20 February 1878 until his death in July 1903. He had the fourth-longest reign of any pope, behind those of Peter the Ap ...
on 14 July 1881.
Bishop of Ostia
Urban, baptized Eudes (Odo), was born to a family of Châtillon-sur-Marne. In 1050, he began his studies at the nearby
cathedral school of Reims. He was prior of the
abbey of Cluny
Cluny Abbey (; , formerly also ''Cluni'' or ''Clugny''; ) is a former Benedictine monastery in Cluny, Saône-et-Loire, France. It was dedicated to Saints Peter and Paul.
The abbey was constructed in the Romanesque architectural style, with ...
, and
Pope Gregory VII
Pope Gregory VII (; 1015 – 25 May 1085), born Hildebrand of Sovana (), was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 22 April 1073 to his death in 1085. He is venerated as a saint in the Catholic Church.
One of the great ...
later named him
cardinal-bishop of Ostia . He was one of the most prominent and active supporters of the
Gregorian reform
The Gregorian Reforms were a series of reforms initiated by Pope Gregory VII and the circle he formed in the papal curia, c. 1050–1080, which dealt with the moral integrity and independence of the clergy. The reforms are considered to be na ...
s, especially as
legate in the Holy Roman Empire in 1084. He was among the three whom Gregory VII nominated as ''
papabile
( , , ; plural: ; ) is an unofficial Italian term coined by Vaticanologists and used internationally in many languages to describe a Catholic man—in practice, always a cardinal—who is thought of as a likely or possible candidate to be ...
'' (possible successors).
Desiderius
Desiderius, also known as Daufer or Dauferius (born – died ), was king of the Lombards in northern Italy, ruling from 756 to 774. The Frankish king of renown, Charlemagne, married Desiderius's daughter and subsequently conquered his realm. De ...
, the abbot of
Monte Cassino
The Abbey of Monte Cassino (today usually spelled Montecassino) is a Catholic Church, Catholic, Benedictines, Benedictine monastery on a rocky hill about southeast of Rome, in the Valle Latina, Latin Valley. Located on the site of the ancient ...
, was chosen to follow Gregory VII in 1085 but, after his short reign as Victor III, Odo was
elected by acclamation at a small meeting of cardinals and other
prelate
A prelate () is a high-ranking member of the Minister (Christianity), Christian clergy who is an Ordinary (church officer), ordinary or who ranks in precedence with ordinaries. The word derives from the Latin , the past participle of , which me ...
s held in
Terracina in March 1088.
Papacy
Struggle for authority
From the outset, Urban had to reckon with the presence of
Guibert, the former
bishop of Ravenna who held
Rome
Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...
as the
antipope
An antipope () is a person who claims to be Bishop of Rome and leader of the Roman Catholic Church in opposition to the officially elected pope. Between the 3rd and mid-15th centuries, antipopes were supported by factions within the Church its ...
Clement III.
Pope Gregory VII
Pope Gregory VII (; 1015 – 25 May 1085), born Hildebrand of Sovana (), was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 22 April 1073 to his death in 1085. He is venerated as a saint in the Catholic Church.
One of the great ...
had repeatedly clashed with the
Holy Roman Emperor
The Holy Roman Emperor, originally and officially the Emperor of the Romans (disambiguation), Emperor of the Romans (; ) during the Middle Ages, and also known as the Roman-German Emperor since the early modern period (; ), was the ruler and h ...
Henry IV over
papal authority. Despite the
Walk to Canossa, Gregory had backed the rebel
Rudolf of Rheinfelden
Rudolf of Rheinfelden ( – 15 October 1080) was Duke of Swabia from 1057 to 1079. Initially a follower of his brother-in-law, the Salian emperor Henry IV, his election as German anti-king in 1077 marked the outbreak of the Great Saxon Revolt a ...
, the duke of
Swabia
Swabia ; , colloquially ''Schwabenland'' or ''Ländle''; archaic English also Suabia or Svebia is a cultural, historic and linguistic region in southwestern Germany.
The name is ultimately derived from the medieval Duchy of Swabia, one of ...
, and again
excommunicated
Excommunication is an institutional act of religious censure used to deprive, suspend, or limit membership in a religious community or to restrict certain rights within it, in particular those of being in communion with other members of the con ...
the emperor. Henry finally took Rome in 1084 and installed Clement III in Gregory's place.
Urban took up Gregory's policies and, while pursuing them with determination, showed greater flexibility and diplomatic finesse. Usually kept away from Rome, Urban toured northern Italy and France. A series of well-attended
synod
A synod () is a council of a Christian denomination, usually convened to decide an issue of doctrine, administration or application. The word '' synod'' comes from the Ancient Greek () ; the term is analogous with the Latin word . Originally, ...
s held in
Rome
Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...
,
Amalfi
Amalfi (, , ) is a town and ''comune'' in the province of Salerno, in the region of Campania, Italy, on the Gulf of Salerno. It lies at the mouth of a deep ravine, at the foot of Monte Cerreto (1,315 metres, 4,314 feet), surrounded by dramatic c ...
,
Benevento
Benevento ( ; , ; ) is a city and (municipality) of Campania, Italy, capital of the province of Benevento, northeast of Naples. It is situated on a hill above sea level at the confluence of the Calore Irpino (or Beneventano) and the Sabato (r ...
, and
Troia supported him in renewed declarations against
simony
Simony () is the act of selling church offices and roles or sacred things. It is named after Simon Magus, who is described in the Acts of the Apostles as having offered two disciples of Jesus payment in exchange for their empowering him to imp ...
,
lay investitures,
clerical marriages (partly via the ''
cullagium'' tax), and the emperor and his antipope. He facilitated the marriage of
Matilda, countess of Tuscany, with
Welf II,
duke of Bavaria
The following is a list of monarchs during the history of Bavaria. Bavaria was ruled by several dukes and kings, partitioned and reunited, under several dynasties. Since 1918, Bavaria has been under a republican form of government, and from 19 ...
. He supported the rebellion of Prince
Conrad of Italy against his father and bestowed the office of groom on Conrad at
Cremona
Cremona ( , , ; ; ) is a city and (municipality) in northern Italy, situated in Lombardy, on the left bank of the Po (river), Po river in the middle of the Po Valley. It is the capital of the province of Cremona and the seat of the local city a ...
in 1095.
[.] While there, he helped arrange the marriage between Conrad and
Maximilla, the daughter of Count
Roger I of Sicily
Roger I (; ; ; Norse: ''Rogeirr''; 1031 – 22 June 1101), nicknamed "Roger Bosso" and "Grand Count Roger", was a Norman nobleman who became the first Grand Count of Sicily from 1071 to 1101.
As a member of the House of Hauteville, he parti ...
, which occurred later that year in
Pisa
Pisa ( ; ) is a city and ''comune'' (municipality) in Tuscany, Central Italy, straddling the Arno just before it empties into the Ligurian Sea. It is the capital city of the Province of Pisa. Although Pisa is known worldwide for the Leaning Tow ...
; her large
dowry
A dowry is a payment such as land, property, money, livestock, or a commercial asset that is paid by the bride's (woman's) family to the groom (man) or his family at the time of marriage.
Dowry contrasts with the related concepts of bride price ...
helped finance Conrad's continued campaigns.
Empress
Adelaide
Adelaide ( , ; ) is the list of Australian capital cities, capital and most populous city of South Australia, as well as the list of cities in Australia by population, fifth-most populous city in Australia. The name "Adelaide" may refer to ei ...
was encouraged in her charges of sexual coercion against her husband, Henry IV. He supported the theological and ecclesiastical work of
Anselm of Canterbury
Anselm of Canterbury OSB (; 1033/4–1109), also known as (, ) after his birthplace and () after his monastery, was an Italian Benedictine monk, abbot, philosopher, and theologian of the Catholic Church, who served as Archbishop of Canterb ...
, negotiating a solution to the cleric's impasse with King
William II of England
William II (; – 2 August 1100) was List of English monarchs, King of England from 26 September 1087 until his death in 1100, with powers over Duchy of Normandy, Normandy and influence in Kingdom of Scotland, Scotland. He was less successfu ...
and finally receiving England's support against the imperial antipope in Rome.
However, Urban maintained vigorous support for his predecessors' reforms and did not shy from supporting Anselm when the new archbishop of Canterbury fled England. Likewise, despite the importance of French support for his cause, he upheld his legate
Hugh of Die's
excommunication
Excommunication is an institutional act of religious censure used to deprive, suspend, or limit membership in a religious community or to restrict certain rights within it, in particular those of being in Koinonia, communion with other members o ...
of King
Philip I of France
Philip I ( – 29 July 1108), called the Amorous (French: ''L’Amoureux''), was King of the Franks from 1060 to 1108. His reign, like that of most of the early Capetians, was extraordinarily long for the time. The monarchy began a modest recove ...
over his doubly bigamous marriage with
Bertrade de Montfort
Bertrade of Montfort ( – 14 February 1117), also known by other names, was a Norman noble from the House of Montfort. She was countess of Anjou (10891092) through her first marriage to Fulk the Rude and then queen consort of France (109211 ...
, wife of the
Count of Anjou
The Count of Anjou was the ruler of the County of Anjou, first granted by King Charles the Bald, Charles the Bald of West Francia in the 9th century to Robert the Strong. Ingelger and his son, Fulk the Red, were viscounts until Fulk assumed the t ...
. (The ban was repeatedly lifted and reimposed as the king promised to forswear her and then repeatedly returned to her. A public penance in 1104 ended the controversy, although Bertrade remained active in attempting to see her sons succeed Philip instead of
Louis VI of France
Louis VI (1 December 1081 – 1 August 1137), called the Fat () or the Fighter (), was List of French monarchs, King of the Franks from 1108 to 1137. Like his father Philip I of France, Philip I, Louis made a lasting contribution to centralizing ...
.) Urban further authorised
itinerant preacher
An itinerant preacher (also known as an itinerant minister) is a Christian evangelist who preaches the basic Christian redemption message while traveling around to different groups of people within a relatively short period of time. The usage of ...
s such as
Robert of Arbrissel to spread the knowledge of Christian faith and promote the ideas of the reform movement, contributing to the mass phenomenon of spirituality at the end of the 11th century.
First Crusade

Urban II's movement took its first public shape at the
Council of Piacenza, where, in March 1095, Urban II received an ambassador from the
Byzantine Emperor
The foundation of Constantinople in 330 AD marks the conventional start of the Eastern Roman Empire, which Fall of Constantinople, fell to the Ottoman Empire in 1453 AD. Only the emperors who were recognized as legitimate rulers and exercised s ...
Alexios I Komnenos
Alexios I Komnenos (, – 15 August 1118), Latinization of names, Latinized as Alexius I Comnenus, was Byzantine Emperor, Byzantine emperor from 1081 to 1118. After usurper, usurping the throne, he was faced with a collapsing empire and ...
asking for help against the Turkish tribes who had taken over most of formerly Byzantine
Anatolia
Anatolia (), also known as Asia Minor, is a peninsula in West Asia that makes up the majority of the land area of Turkey. It is the westernmost protrusion of Asia and is geographically bounded by the Mediterranean Sea to the south, the Aegean ...
. The
Council of Clermont
The Council of Clermont was a mixed synod of ecclesiastics and laymen of the Catholic Church, called by Pope Urban II and held from 17 to 27 November 1095 at Clermont, Auvergne, at the time part of the Duchy of Aquitaine.
While the council ...
met, attended by numerous Italian,
Burgundian, and French
bishops
A bishop is an ordained member of the clergy who is entrusted with a position of Episcopal polity, authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance and administration of di ...
. All of the sessions except the final one took place either in the
Clermont-Ferrand Cathedral
Clermont-Ferrand Cathedral, or the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Assumption of Clermont-Ferrand (), is a Gothic architecture, Gothic cathedral and France, French Monument historique, national monument located in the city of Clermont-Ferrand ...
or in the suburban church of Notre-Dame-du-Port.
Though the council was primarily focused on reforms within the church hierarchy, Urban II gave a speech on 27 November 1095 at the conclusion of the council to a broader audience. The speech was made outside in the open air to accommodate the vast crowd that had come to hear him.
Urban II's sermon proved highly effective, as he summoned the attending nobility and the people to wrest the
Holy Land
The term "Holy Land" is used to collectively denote areas of the Southern Levant that hold great significance in the Abrahamic religions, primarily because of their association with people and events featured in the Bible. It is traditionall ...
, and the eastern churches generally, from the domination of the Seljuks. This was the speech that triggered the
Crusades
The Crusades were a series of religious wars initiated, supported, and at times directed by the Papacy during the Middle Ages. The most prominent of these were the campaigns to the Holy Land aimed at reclaiming Jerusalem and its surrounding t ...
.
No exact transcription exists of the speech that Urban delivered at the Council of Clermont. The five extant versions of the speech were written down sometime later and differ widely. All versions of the speech except that by
Fulcher of Chartres
Fulcher of Chartres ( in or near Chartres – after 1128; ; ) was a priest who participated in the First Crusade. He served Baldwin I of Jerusalem for many years and wrote a Latin chronicle of the Crusade.
Life
Fulcher was born . His appointment ...
were probably influenced by the chronicle account of the First Crusade called the ''
Gesta Francorum
''Gesta Francorum'' (Deeds of the Franks), or ''Gesta Francorum et aliorum Hierosolimitanorum'' (Deeds of the Franks and the other pilgrims to Jerusalem), is the name given to one of a family of Latin narrative accounts of the First Crusade. It ...
'' (written c. 1101), which includes a version of it. Fulcher of Chartres was present at the council, though he did not start writing his history of the crusade, including a version of the speech until c. 1101.
Robert the Monk may have been present, but his version dates from about 1106.
As a better means of evaluating Urban's true motives in calling for a crusade to the Holy Lands, there are four extant letters written by Pope Urban himself: one to the
Flemish (dated December 1095); one to the
Bolognese (dated September 1096); one to
Vallombrosa
Vallombrosa is a toponym which indicates both a forest and a ''frazione'', located within this forest, in the territory of the Reggello, Commune of Reggello, in the Metropolitan City of Florence, in the Italy, Italian region of Tuscany.
The villag ...
(dated October 1096); and one to the counts of
Catalonia
Catalonia is an autonomous community of Spain, designated as a ''nationalities and regions of Spain, nationality'' by its Statute of Autonomy of Catalonia of 2006, Statute of Autonomy. Most of its territory (except the Val d'Aran) is situate ...
(dated either 1089 or 1096–1099).
[.] However, whereas the three former letters were concerned with rallying popular support for the Crusades and establishing the objectives, his letters to the Catalonian lords instead beseech them to continue the fight against the
Moors
The term Moor is an Endonym and exonym, exonym used in European languages to designate the Muslims, Muslim populations of North Africa (the Maghreb) and the Iberian Peninsula (particularly al-Andalus) during the Middle Ages.
Moors are not a s ...
, assuring them that doing so would offer the same divine rewards as a conflict against the Seljuks. Urban II's letters, rather than the paraphrased versions of his speech at Clermont, reveal his thinking about crusading.
Nevertheless, the versions of the speech have had a significant influence on popular conceptions and misconceptions about the Crusades, so it is worth comparing the five composed speeches to Urban's actual words.
Fulcher of Chartres has Urban saying that the Lord and Christ beseech and command the Christians to fight and reclaim their land.
[Fulcher of Chartres' account of Urban's speech]
Urban II: Speech at Council of Clermont, 1095, Five versions of the Speech
(available as part of th
.
The chronicler Robert the Monk put this into the mouth of Urban II:
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 one another, that you wage war, and that frequently you perish by mutual wounds. Let, therefore, hatred 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 Sepulchre; wrest that land from the wicked race, and subject it to yourselves ..God has conferred upon you above all nations great glory in arms. Accordingly, undertake this journey for the remission of your sins, with the assurance of the imperishable glory of the Kingdom of Heaven.
Robert continued:
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!". When the venerable Roman pontiff heard that, esaid: "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.' Unless the Lord God had been present in your spirits, all of you would not have uttered the same cry. For although the cry issued from numerous mouths, yet the origin of the cry was one. Therefore, I say to you that God, who implanted this in your breasts, has drawn it forth from you. Let this then be your war cry in combats because this word is given to you by God. When an armed attack is made upon the enemy, let this one cry be raised by all the soldiers of God: It is the will of God! It is the will of God!"
Within Fulcher of Chartres's account of Pope Urban's speech, there was a promise of remission of sins for whoever took part in the crusade.
All who die by the way, whether by land or by sea, or in battle against the pagans, shall have immediate remission of sins. This I grant them through the power of God with which I am invested.
It is disputed whether the famous slogan
"God wills it" or "It is the will of God" (''deus vult'' in Latin, ''Dieu le veut'' in French) in fact was established as a rallying cry during the council. While Robert the Monk says so, it is also possible that the slogan was created as a catchy
propaganda
Propaganda is communication that is primarily used to influence or persuade an audience to further an agenda, which may not be objective and may be selectively presenting facts to encourage a particular synthesis or perception, or using loaded l ...
motto afterward.
Urban II's own letter to the Flemish confirms that he granted "remission of all their sins" to those undertaking the enterprise to liberate the Eastern churches. One notable contrast with the speeches recorded by Robert the Monk,
Guibert of Nogent, and
Baldric of Dol is the lesser emphasis on Jerusalem itself, which Urban only once mentions as his own focus of concern. In the letter to the Flemish, he writes, "They
he Turkshave seized the Holy City of Christ, embellished by his passion and resurrection, and blasphemy to say—have sold her and her churches into abominable slavery." In the letters to Bologna and Vallombrosa, he refers to the Crusaders' desire to set out for Jerusalem rather than his desire for Jerusalem to be freed from Seljuk rule. It was believed that originally that Urban wanted to send a relatively small force to aid the Byzantines, however after meeting with two prominent members of the Crusades Adhemar of Puy and Raymond of Saint-Guilles, Urban decided to rally a much larger force to retake Jerusalem. Urban II refers to liberating the Church as a whole, or the broadly "Eastern churches" specifically, rather than reconquering Jerusalem itself. The phrases used are "churches of God in the eastern region" and "the eastern churches" (to the Flemish), "liberation of the Church" (to Bologna), "liberating Christianity
at. Christianitatis (to Vallombrosa), and "the Asian church" (to the Catalan counts). Coincidentally or not, Fulcher of Chartres's version of Urban's speech does not explicitly reference Jerusalem. Instead, it more generally refers to aiding the crusaders' Christian "brothers of the eastern shore" and to their loss of Asia Minor to the Turks.
It is still disputed what Pope Urban's motives were, as evidenced by the different recorded speeches, all of which differ. Some historians believe that Urban wished for the reunification of the Eastern and Western churches, a rift caused by the
Great Schism of 1054. Others believe that Urban saw this as an opportunity to gain legitimacy as the pope as, at the time, he was contending with the antipope Clement III. A third theory is that Urban felt threatened by the Seljuk conquests in Europe and saw the crusades as a way to unite the Christian world into a unified defense against them.
The most important effect of the First Crusade for Urban himself was the removal of
Antipope Clement III from Rome in 1097 by one of the French armies. His restoration there was supported by
Matilda of Tuscany
Matilda of Tuscany (; or ; – 24 July 1115), or Matilda of Canossa ( ), also referred to as ("the Great Countess"), was a member of the House of Canossa (also known as the Attonids) in the second half of the eleventh century. Matilda was on ...
.
Urban II died on 29 July 1099, fourteen days after the
fall of Jerusalem, but before news of the event had reached Italy; his successor was
Pope Paschal II
Pope Paschal II (; 1050 1055 – 21 January 1118), born Raniero Raineri di Bleda, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 13 August 1099 to his death in 1118. A monk of the Abbey of Cluny, he was creat ...
.
Spain
Urban was involved in Iberia from the very beginning of his time as pontiff. Of his involvements in Iberia there were two main engagements, namely the:
* Elevation of the
See of Toledo to the status of
Primate over all Hispania in 1088
* Granting of an indulgence to Catalan nobles to "endeavor with all your
he Catalan nobles'help to restore the state of the city of Tarragona."
Urban here gave support to the
crusades in Spain against the
Moors
The term Moor is an Endonym and exonym, exonym used in European languages to designate the Muslims, Muslim populations of North Africa (the Maghreb) and the Iberian Peninsula (particularly al-Andalus) during the Middle Ages.
Moors are not a s ...
there. According to Chevedden, Urban was concerned that the focus on the east and Jerusalem would neglect the fight in Spain. He saw the fight in the east and in Spain as part of the same crusade so he would offer the same remission of sin for those that fought in Spain and discouraged those that wished to travel east from Spain. A similar line is taken by Erdmann, who views the conflict in Iberia as being premeditated by the
Mahdia campaign of 1087 conducted by Pope Victor III due to the granting of an indulgence.
[.] This campaign, Erdmann argues, was considered a success because of the elevation of the see of Pisa in 1092 in which Urban acknowledges the recent "triumph" of the Pisans over Saracen forces.
Sicily
Urban received vital support in his conflict with the
Byzantine Empire
The Byzantine Empire, also known as the Eastern Roman Empire, was the continuation of the Roman Empire centred on Constantinople during late antiquity and the Middle Ages. Having survived History of the Roman Empire, the events that caused the ...
, Romans and the
Holy Roman Empire
The Holy Roman Empire, also known as the Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation after 1512, was a polity in Central and Western Europe, usually headed by the Holy Roman Emperor. It developed in the Early Middle Ages, and lasted for a millennium ...
from the
Norman of
Campania
Campania is an administrative Regions of Italy, region of Italy located in Southern Italy; most of it is in the south-western portion of the Italian Peninsula (with the Tyrrhenian Sea to its west), but it also includes the small Phlegraean Islan ...
and
Sicily
Sicily (Italian language, Italian and ), officially the Sicilian Region (), is an island in the central Mediterranean Sea, south of the Italian Peninsula in continental Europe and is one of the 20 regions of Italy, regions of Italy. With 4. ...
. In return he granted
Roger I the freedom to appoint bishops (the right of
lay investiture), to collect Church revenues before forwarding to the papacy, and the right to sit in judgment on ecclesiastical questions. Roger I virtually became a
legate of the Pope within Sicily. In 1098 these were extraordinary prerogatives that Popes were withholding from temporal sovereigns elsewhere in Europe and that later led to bitter confrontations with Roger's
Hohenstaufen
The Hohenstaufen dynasty (, , ), also known as the Staufer, was a noble family of unclear origin that rose to rule the Duchy of Swabia from 1079, and to royal rule in the Holy Roman Empire during the Middle Ages from 1138 until 1254. The dynast ...
heirs.
Veneration
Pope Urban was
beatified
Beatification (from Latin , "blessed" and , "to make") is a recognition accorded by the Catholic Church of a deceased person's entrance into Heaven and capacity to intercede on behalf of individuals who pray in their name. ''Beati'' is the ...
in 1881 by
Pope Leo XIII
Pope Leo XIII (; born Gioacchino Vincenzo Raffaele Luigi Pecci; 2March 181020July 1903) was head of the Catholic Church from 20 February 1878 until his death in July 1903. He had the fourth-longest reign of any pope, behind those of Peter the Ap ...
with his
feast day
The calendar of saints is the traditional Christian method of organizing a liturgical year by associating each day with one or more saints and referring to the day as the feast day or feast of said saint. The word "feast" in this context does n ...
on 29 July.
[.]
See also
*
House of Châtillon
The House of Châtillon was a notable French family, with origins in the 9th century. The name comes from that of Châtillon-sur-Marne in Champagne, France, Champagne, where members of the family were tenants in a castle belonging to the Counts o ...
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Beauvais Cathedral
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Milo of Nanteuil
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Concordat of Worms
The Concordat of Worms (; ), also referred to as the ''Pactum Callixtinum'' or ''Pactum Calixtinum'', was an agreement between the Catholic Church and the Holy Roman Empire which regulated the procedure for the appointment of bishops and abbots i ...
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Gregorian Reforms
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Investiture Controversy
The Investiture Controversy or Investiture Contest (, , ) was a conflict between church and state in medieval Europe, the Church and the state in medieval Europe over the ability to choose and install bishops (investiture), abbots of monasteri ...
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Cardinals created by Urban II
Notes
References
Bibliography
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* Crozet, R. (1937), "Le voyage d'Urbain II et ses arrangements avec le clergé de France (1095–1096)" : ''Revue historique'', 179 (1937), 271–310.
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* Gossman, Francis Joseph (1960), ''Pope Urban II and Canon Law'' (The Catholic University of America Canon Law Studies 403), Washington, 1960.
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* Somerville, Robert (1970), "The French Councils of Pope Urban II: Some Basic Considérations", ''Annuarium historiae conciliorum'', 2 (1970), 56–65
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External links
Five versions of his speech for the First Crusadefrom Medieval Sourcebook
Urban's call for the 1095 crusade*
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Publications about Urban IIin the OPAC of the Regesta Imperii
{{DEFAULTSORT:Urban 02
1030s births
1099 deaths
11th-century French people
House of Châtillon
People from Marne (department)
Cluniacs
Cardinal-bishops of Ostia
Christians of the First Crusade
Diplomats for the Holy See
French popes
Benedictine popes
Christian critics of Islam
French critics of Islam
11th-century popes
Beatified popes
French beatified people
Benedictine beatified people
Popes
Cardinals created by Pope Gregory VII
Crusades
Beatifications by Pope Leo XIII
Burials at St. Peter's Basilica