Causes of The First Crusade
by In a meadow outside the cathedral at Clermont Ferrand, Pope Urban II preached his crusade sermon and started a world revolution that was to affect western society for 500 years. The crusades were part of the struggle between Muslims and Christians to control the Holy Land which centred on Jerusalem, the holiest city in the world, revered by Muslims, Christians and Jews. Several events and the political and religious climate at the time were the catalyst that caused the First Crusade.
The kings wanted to take back the power they had lost to the aristocracy during feudal times and the people who looked to them for protection and leadership wanted to reduce the privileges enjoyed by the nobility and give that power to a central government. They wanted an end to civil wars caused by the nobility and establish a greater measure of law and order.
The Preaching of Peter the Hermit
Peter the Hermit, was a native of Picardy in France. He had been commissioned by Pope Urban II to preach a crusade. Peter travelled through Italy and France preaching in churches, in streets and open fields to the crowded that flocked to him. He told them the sufferings of Christians at the hands of the infidels and described the profanation of the holy places to arouse their sympathy and indignation.
The Threat of the Turks
Meanwhile were advancing in the East and were now threatening Constantinople. Alexius Comnenus, the Greek emperor, asked the pope for urgent help to fight off the infidel and saying that if he didn’t get aid immediately, his capital and all its holy relics would soon fall into the hands of the barbarians.
Pope Urban II & the Council of Clermont
In 1095, Pope Urban II called a great council at the Church at Placentia, Italy to discuss the Greek appeal but nothing resulted from this. Another council was called later that year at Clermont, France. Urban chose France for the meeting so that it was in the home of the hot-tempered, war-loving Franks. Urban, an eloquent orator, was one of the chief speakers. He portrayed the humiliation and misery of the Christians in the East and described how the infidels were profaning the places made sacred by the presence and footsteps of the Son of God. Pope Urban II went on to detail the conquests of the Turks to that point, now they had Asia Minor in their possession, they were threatening Europe from the coast of the Hellespont. He did not talk about helping Alexius, westerners were not keen on the Byzantines. He promised them the Church’s blessing, the aid of god, and the certainly of being taking immediately into heaven for those who fell in the attempt.
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“It is the will of God”
“When Jesus Christ summons you to his defence,” exclaimed the persuasive pontiff, “let no base affection detain you in your homes; whoever will abandon his house, or his father, or his mother, or his wife, or his children, or his inheritance, for the sake of my name, shall be recompensed a hundred-fold, and possess life eternal.” The council cried out with one voice, “Dieu le volt! Dieu le volt!” meaning “It is the will of God! It is the will of God!” Thousands of those assembled immediately fixed the cross to their clothing as they vowed to set off for the Holy Land and defeat the infidel. The 15th August 1096 was the date set for the departure of the expedition. Almost all classes and nationalities of Europeans responded in a movement far greater and more varied than Urban may have expected. It is unlikely that anyone realized how well this call suited the needs and predisposition of the Europeans of the time. The First Crusade had begun.
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