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Next, he absolutely barraged his audience
with the terrible atrocities the Muslims were
allegedly committing in their Holy Land. These
examples are numerous, though one of the most
harrowing claims they “circumcise the
Christians, and the blood of the circumcision
they either spread upon the altar or pour into the
vases of the baptismal fonts” (Peters 2). This was
a key factor, as it sparked an intense hatred at the
audacity of the Muslims. It gave the Christians a
reason to not just hate but absolutely despise
them, to feel the duty to stop them from ruining
the land that Jesus himself had lived on.
This second point leads directly to the
third, guilt. Pope Urban II made the audience feel
like it was their own personal responsibility to do
something about the crisis. The Fulcher of
Chartres documented that he bid them, “if you
permit them to do so, God will be much more
widely attacked by them” (Jones 71 ) Though it
may not be clearly apparent, Urban II was very
intentional in his wording. He personally
addressed each member of the audience by
saying “you,” (Jones 71 ) and by saying that God
would be attacked if they did nothing makes it
incredibly difficult not to feel guilty for choosing
to stay behind. “It was shameful that the tomb of
Christ should be in the hands of Islam”
(Armstrong, 1 ), he professed. Lastly, Urban
motivated them with gifts, dangling incentives in
front of their faces like candy. He promised the
crusaders the ability to bypass Purgatory and
make it straight to Heaven, promised them they
would come home as heroes, that land and
wealth would be waiting for them when they
returned. After a speech of this calibre, it was no
surprise that he was met with uproarious support.
Whether or not their perspective on Muslims was
accurate, embellished, or way off, that entire
crowd shared the exact same opinion by the time
Urban II was done. “Deus vult!” They cried,
“God wills it!” (Amstrong 3). The Bishop of
Lupoy stood up in his seat before Urban was
hardly able to finish, declaring that he would join
him and taking up arms, inciting hundreds to
immediately follow his example (Runciman 62).
It is speculated that Pope Urban II had three
main motives supporting his decision to answer
Alexius I Comnenus’ calls, despite their rather
turbulent relationship. Primarily, it was a wise
choice on religious grounds. As mentioned
previously, the Holy Land of Jerusalem, where
Jesus was crucified and resurrected, was under the
control of Seljuk Turks. These people were a
“warrior-like” (Jones 3) tribe that had converted to
Islam, adopting an extremist position of the faith,
essentially forming their own Muslim sect. The
Christians, however, were unaware of this division
within the Muslims, and believed them all to be
part of the newly powerful extremist sect. This
radical group occupied Jerusalem and would attack
anyone who attempted to come visit. Though this
may appear to be simply an unfortunate
inconvenience, it had serious ramifications on the
Christian Church. Up until that point, it had been
common for Christians to go on pilgrimages to the
Holy Land. There, they could visit the grounds that
Jesus himself had tread, strengthening their faith
and returning home spiritually anew. Now, the
Muslims would attack anyone who dared to attempt
and visit, making a pilgrimage incredibly
dangerous and near impossible. Guibert of Nogent
wrote that Urban was distraught to learn
“Christianity was established where now is
paganism” (Peters 1 3). By sending men over to
Jerusalem on an armed pilgrimage (Armstrong 59),
they might “destroy that vile race from the lands of
our friends” (Jones 70) and be able to resume their
safe, nonviolent pilgrimages. (Jones 71 ).
Pope Urban II’s second reasoning had to do
with the long-due reparations needed concerning
the Great Eastern Schism. During the time of
Urban’s papacy, what was left of the Roman
Empire was in shambles. Pope Urban II would
constantly have to deal with the complications the
Eastern Orthodox Church had presented. By
creating a second Church, the Christian Church was
thrown into a period of chaos and confusion, both
Pope and Antipope attempting to assume Peter’s
Primacy. Rome and Constantinople were constantly
at odds, the Byzantine Empire maintaining their air
of superiority as per usual. Pope Urban II realized
how rare the opportunity to amend the broken
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