Why did Urban II want to launch the First Crusade? Flashcards
what are 4 reasons for why Urban II launched the First Crusade?
- To Aid Eastern Christians
- To Enhance Papal Power
- To Recapture Jerusalem
- To Curb/Redirect Christian Violence
what are 2 limitations to the theory that Urban II launched the First Crusade to aid Eastern Christians?
- By 1095 Manzikert was a distant memory. It had happened nearly 25 years earlier. There was no rush by the papacy to intervene after Gregory VII’s half-hearted attempt in 1074.
- Gregory VII had excommunicated Michael VII’s successors.
what is a limitation to the theory that Urban II launched the First Crusade to enhance papal power?
There is no mention of this motivation in any of the accounts of Urban II’s speech at Clermont (although this is hardly surprising).
what are 2 limitations to the theory that Urban II launched the First Crusade to recapture Jerusalem?
- Jerusalem had been in Muslim hands for 457 years by 1095 (since 638 AD) so it is not entirely convincing that the pope was in a major hurry to recapture it between 1070 and 1095.
- Urban II wrote to some would-be crusaders in Spain urging them not to travel to Jerusalem but to fight Muslims in their own lands.
what is a limitation to the theory that Urban II launched the First Crusade to redirect Christian violence?
The very fact that there were other outlets for Christian violence in Spain and Sicily could be used to suggest that this may not have been the crusade’s purpose as, in many respects, it was treated differently.
what long-term evidence is there that Urban II launched the First Crusade to aid Eastern Christians?
- Papacy were aware that the defeat at Manzikert 1071 had led to Christians in Anatolia coming under Muslim rule at the hands of the Turks
- 1074: Gregory VII had promised to bring military aid to Michael VII to help him avenge Manzikert but had failed to do so.
- 1090: Alexius I had begun to seek improved relations with Urban II which were poor due to papal excommunication of the successors of Michael VII. Urban II had responded positively.
which pope promised to bring military aid to Emperor Michael VII in 1074?
Gregory VII
which emperor did Pope Gregory VII promise military aid to in 1074?
Pope Michael VII
what immediate/recent events suggest that Urban II launched the First Crusade to aid Eastern Christians?
- Alexius I had sent a letter requesting aid to Urban II which he had received at Piacenza in March 1095
- Urban II’s desire to aid Byzantium through the crusade is referenced in his speech at Clermont in November 1095, most strongly in the version written by Fulcher of Chartres.
which account of Urban II’s speech at Clermont emphasises his desire to aid Byzantium?
the version written by Fulcher of Chartres
what long-term evidence is there that Urban II launched the First Crusade to enhance papal power?
- The investiture controversy continued through the 1070s-80s and undermined the pope
- The papacy aspired to heal the Great Schism (1054) in the 1070s-80s but in a manner that put the Western Church, and hence them, in as dominant a position as possible.
- Recapturing Jerusalem would have resulted in the possession of the Holy Sepulchre, increasing the pope’s power
why would the investiture controversy have encouraged Urban II to launch the First Crusade?
Popes looked for a means to defeat Henry IV and the milites Christi were one way of gaining military backing; (the crusade can be seen as an extension of this, as Christendom under papal control was the logical extension of Dictatus Papae.)
why would a desire to heal the Great Schism have encouraged Urban II to launch the First Crusade?
- The liberation of sees of the Pentarchy that were in Muslim hands (Antioch, Alexandria, Jerusalem) was a possible means to heal the shcism.
- An army of liberation may have helped to convince Eastern Christians to reconcile with the Western Church and acknowledge the supremacy of the papacy.
why would possessing the Holy Sepulchre have encouraged Urban II to launch the First Crusade?
Possession of this relic was in and of itself of great symbolic importance and would have done much to enhance the political and spiritual authority of the papacy over the rest of Christendom
what immediate/recent events suggest that Urban II launched the First Crusade to enhance papal power?
- The crusade was to be under papal authority in a direct challenge to the traditional view that only the H.R.E led combined Christian armies against a threat external to Christendom.
- The military weakness of Henry IV in the 1090s presented a perfect opportunity to assume the military leadership of Christendom.
what long-term issues and events suggest that Urban II launched the First Crusade to recapture Jerusalem?
- Jerusalem and Holy Sepulchre were central to Christian faith and the idea of restoring them to Christian control had never fully been abandoned.
- 1064-65: The Great German Pilgrimage to Jerusalem had been seriously disrupted by attacks from the Seljuk Turks.
- 1071: Jerusalem had fallen into the hands of the Seljuk Turks and they were far less tolerant of Christian pilgrims than the Fatimids had been.
why may Urban II have been motiavted to launch the First Crusade to recapture Jerusalem, specifically?
Control over the Holy City which was central to faith and one of the seats of the ancient Pentarchy would have greatly added to the prestige of the papacy.
why would the violence of the Great German Pilgramige have encouraged Urban II to launch the First Crusade?
- All pilgrimages from this point onwards through the 1070s-80s were at a heightened risk of attack and this was a growing problem up to 1095.
- It has therefore been argued that Urban II was partially motivated by a desire to restore and re-establish pilgrim routes to Jerusalem
what immediate/recent events suggest Urban II launched the First Crusade to recapture Jerusalem?
- Urban II’s desire to recapture Jerusalem, and the Holy Sepulchre specifically, is referenced in his speech at Clermont in November 1095, most strongly in the version written by Guilbert of Nogent.
- The growing apocalyptic expectation associated with the coming of the year 1100 made the recapture of the Holy City more urgent to the papacy than normal.
which version of Urban II’s speech at Clermont emphasises the desire to recapture Jerusalem?
Guilbert of Nogent
what immediate/recent events suggest that Urban II launched the First Crusade to curb Christian violence?
Urban II’s desire to limit violence between Christians and to redirect it against a common Muslim enemy is referenced in his speech at Clermont in November 1095, most strongly in the version written by Robert the Monk.
which version of Urban II’s speech at Clermont emphasises the desire to curb Christian violence?
Robert the Monk
what long-term evidence is there that Ubran II launched the First Crusade to curb/redirect Christian violence?
- Popes had long sought throughout the 1070s-80s (and earlier) to limit violence between Christians and seek alternative outlets for it.
- The popes all supported the Peace and Truce of God movements.
- Popes had been developing the concept of a Just War into a Holy War over centuries but this had increased markedly in the period before the First Crusade.
- 1031: Muslim al-Andalus had collapsed and since then Christian states in Spain had sought to expand over its former territory.
- Papacy allied with the Normans and supported their conquest of Sicily from its Muslim inhabitants in the 1070s
which previous holy wars suggest Urban II launched the first crusade to redirect christian violence?
The spanish reconquest and the norman conqeust of sicily
how did the papacy support the spanish reconquest?
- Papacy worked to emphasise the religious element of reconquest - which was not an intital spur - and encouraged participation from across Europe
- Pope Alexander II promised indulgence for those who fought for the Cross in Spain 1063
- 1073, new expedition organised by French noble, Ebles of Roucy and Pope Gregory VII invited princes of Christendom to join in it and declared Christian knights could enjoy the lands they conquered, while reminding the world that the Spanish kingdom belonged to the see of St Peter
- 1080, Gregory VII gave his personal encouragement to an expedition led by Guy-Geoffrey
- from 1087, Christian knights were urgently summoned to Spain to oppose the Almoravids and Pope Urban II gave his anxious support, telling intending pilgrims to Palestine to spend their moeny more usefully on the reconstruction of Spanisb towns rescued from Muslim ravages
how did the papacy support the norman conquest of sicily?
- 1059: Pope Nicholas II allied with Normans as he wanted to re-take Sicily for Christianity; this alliance continued up to and including Urban II
- Capture of Sicily was not fundamentally about religion, but Norman invaders, supported by papal encouragement and banners, were regarded by some and champions of the faith (troops took communion before battle and their efforts were sustained by visions of saints)
which city was captured in 1085 under the spanish reconquest?
toledo
which city was captured in 1072 under the norman conquest of sicily?
Palermo
