Editing First Crusade (section)

==Council of Clermont==
{{Main|Council of Clermont}}

[[File:Passages d'outremer Fr5594, fol. 19r, Concile de Clermont.jpg|thumb|[[Pope Urban II]] at the [[Council of Clermont]]. Illustration from a copy of [[Sébastien Mamerot]]'s ''[[Passages d'outremer|Livre des Passages d'Outremer]]'' ([[Jean Colombe]], {{circa|1472–75}}, [[Bibliothèque Nationale|BNF]] Fr. 5594)|alt=Pope Urban II stands in the center image, far back in the church at the Council of Clermont. The church members sit around the edges of the church, looking up at Urban. Between the church members are tens of common people, sitting or kneeling, also looking up at Urban. The church is packed full with people.]] The major ecclesiastical impetuses behind the First Crusade were the [[Council of Piacenza]] and subsequent [[Council of Clermont]], both held in 1095<ref>Duncalf, Frederic (1969). "[https://images.library.wisc.edu/History/EFacs/HistCrus/0001/0001/reference/history.crusone.i0022.pdf The Councils of Piacenza and Clermont] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230326032517/https://images.library.wisc.edu/History/EFacs/HistCrus/0001/0001/reference/history.crusone.i0022.pdf |date=26 March 2023 }}". In Setton, K., ''A History of the Crusades: Volume I''. pp. 220–252.</ref> by [[Pope Urban II]], and resulted in the mobilization of Western Europe to go to the Holy Land.<ref>Richard Urban Butler (1912). "[[wikisource:Catholic Encyclopedia (1913)/Pope Bl. Urban II|Pope Bl. Urban II]]". In ''Catholic Encyclopedia''. '''15.''' New York: Robert Appleton Company.</ref> Emperor Alexios, who worried about the advances of the Seljuks into his territory, sent envoys to the Council of Piacenza in March 1095 to ask Urban for aid against the invading Turks.<ref>Blumenthal, Uta-Renate (2006). "Piacenza, Council of (1095)". In ''The Crusades – An Encyclopedia''. pp. 956–957.</ref>
Urban responded favourably, perhaps hoping to heal the [[East-West Schism]] of forty years earlier, and to reunite the Church under [[papal primacy]] by helping the Eastern churches in their time of need. Alexios and Urban had previously been in close contact in 1089 and after, and had discussed openly the prospect of the reunion of the Christian churches. There were signs of considerable cooperation between Rome and Constantinople in the years immediately before the crusade.<ref>Blumenthal, Uta-Renate (2006). "Urban II (d. 1099)". In ''The Crusades – An Encyclopedia''. pp. 1214–1217.</ref>

In July 1095, Urban turned to his homeland of France to recruit men for the expedition. His travels there culminated in the ten-day Council of Clermont, where on 27 November he gave an impassioned sermon to a large audience of French nobles and clergy.<ref>Blumenthal, Uta-Renate (2006). "Clermont, Council of (1095)". In ''The Crusades – An Encyclopedia''. pp. 263–265.</ref> There are five versions of the speech recorded by people who may have been at the council ([[Baldric of Dol]], [[Guibert of Nogent]], [[Robert the Monk]], and [[Fulcher of Chartres]]) or who went on crusade (Fulcher and the anonymous author of the ''[[Gesta Francorum]]''), as well as other versions found in the works of later historians (such as [[William of Malmesbury]] and [[William of Tyre]]).<ref>"[https://web.archive.org/web/20200701022441/https://sourcebooks.fordham.edu/source/urban2-5vers.asp Urban II (1088–1099): Speech at Council of Clermont, 1095. Five versions of the Speech]". ''Internet Medieval Sourcebook''. Fordham University.</ref> All of these versions were written after Jerusalem had been captured, and it is difficult to know what was actually said versus what was recreated in the aftermath of the successful crusade. The only contemporary records are a few letters written by Urban in 1095.<ref>{{Cite encyclopedia|title=Papal letters|encyclopedia=The Crusades – An Encyclopedia|last=Maier|first=Christoph T.|date=|pages=931–932}}</ref> It is also thought that Urban also may have preached the crusade at Piacenza, but the only record of which is by Bernold of St. Blasien in his ''Chronicon''.<ref>Munro, Dana C. (1922). ''Did the Emperor Alexios I ask for aid at the Council of Piacenza, 1095?'' In, [https://catalog.hathitrust.org/Record/000599687/Home American Historical Review], XXVII (1922). pp. 731–733.</ref>

The five versions of the speech differ widely from one another regarding particulars, but all versions except that in the ''Gesta Francorum'' agree that Urban talked about the violence of European society and the necessity of maintaining the Peace of God; about helping the Greeks, who had asked for assistance; about the crimes being committed against Christians in the east; and about a new kind of war, an armed pilgrimage, and of rewards in heaven, where remission of sins was offered to any who might die in the undertaking.<ref>[[Dana Carleton Munro|Munro, Dana Carleton]]. (1906). [https://catalog.hathitrust.org/Record/011212737/Home The speech of Pope Urban II. at Clermont, 1095]. Reprinted from the [[The American Historical Review|American Historical Review]]. New York.</ref> They do not all specifically mention Jerusalem as the ultimate goal. However, it has been argued that Urban's subsequent preaching reveals that he expected the expedition to reach Jerusalem all along.<ref name="UPenn-Translations">''Urban and the Crusaders''. In [https://catalog.hathitrust.org/Record/006062805/Home Translations and reprints from the original sources of European history]. Dept. of History, University of Pennsylvania. Volume 1, No. 2. pp. 2–12.</ref> According to one version of the speech, the enthusiastic crowd responded with cries of ''[[Deus vult|Deus lo volt]]!''—God wills it.{{sfn|Tyerman|2006|p=65|loc=Summons to Jerusalem}}