Pope
Urban II Calls The First Crusade, 1095
Speech at Council of Clermont, 1095,
according to Fulcher of Chartres
Most beloved brethren: Urged by necessity, I, Urban, by the permission
of God chief bishop and prelate over the whole world, have come into
these parts as an ambassador with a divine admonition to you, the
servants of God....If you wish to
be the friends of God, gladly do the things which you know will please
Him. You must especially let all matters that pertain to the church be
controlled by the law of the church. And be careful that simony does
not take root among you, lest both those who buy and those who sell
[church offices] be beaten with the scourges of the Lord through narrow
streets and driven into the place of destruction and confusion. Keep
the church and the clergy in all its grades entirely free from the
secular power. See that the tithes that belong to God are faithfully
paid from all the produce of the land; let them not be sold or
withheld. If anyone seizes a bishop let him be treated as an outlaw. If
anyone seizes or robs monks, or clergymen, or nuns, or their servants,
or pilgrims, or merchants, let him be anathema [that is, cursed]. Let
robbers and incendiaries and all their accomplices be expelled from the
church and anthematized. If a man who does not give a part of his goods
as alms is punished with the damnation of hell, how should he be
punished who robs another of his goods? For thus it happened to the
rich man in the gospel [Luke 16:19]; he was not punished because he had
stolen the goods of another, but because he had not used well the
things which were his.
You have seen for a long time the great disorder in the world caused
by these crimes. It is so bad in some of your provinces, I am told, and
you are so weak in the administration of justice, that one can hardly
go along the road by day or night without being attacked by robbers;
and whether at home or abroad one is in danger of being despoiled
either by force or fraud. Therefore it is necessary to reenact the
truce, as it is commonly called, which was proclaimed a long time ago
by our holy fathers. I exhort and demand that you, each, try hard to
have the truce kept in your diocese. And if anyone shall be led by his
cupidity or arrogance to break this truce, by the authority of God and
with the sanction of this council he shall be anathematized.
After these and various other matters had been attended to, all who
were present, clergy and people, gave thanks to God and agreed to the
pope's proposition. They all faithfully promised to keep the decrees.
Then the pope said that in another part of the world Christianity was
suffering from a state of affairs that was worse than the one just
mentioned. He continued:
Although, O sons of God, you have promised more firmly than ever to
keep the peace among yourselves and to preserve the rights of the
church, there remains still an important work for you to do. Freshly
quickened by the divine correction, you must apply the strength of your
righteousness to another matter which concerns you as well as God. For
your brethren who live in the east are in urgent need of your help, and
you must hasten to give them the aid which has often been promised
them. For, as the most of you have heard, the Turks and Arabs have
attacked them and have conquered the territory of Romania [The
Byzantine Empire] as far west as the shore of the Mediterranean and the
Hellespont, which is called the Arm of St. George. They have occupied
more and more of the lands of those Christians, and have overcome them
in seven battles. They have killed and captured many, and have
destroyed the churches and devastated the empire. If you permit them to
continue thus for awhile with impurity, the faithful of God will be
much more widely attacked by them. On this account I, or rather the
Lord, beseech you as Christ's heralds to publish this everywhere and to
persuade all people of whatever rank, foot-soldiers and knights, poor
and rich, to carry aid promptly to those Christians and to destroy that
vile race from the lands of our friends. I say this to those who are
present, it meant also for those who are absent. Moreover, Christ
commands it.
"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. O what a
disgrace if such a despised and base race, which worships demons,
should conquer a people which has the faith of omnipotent God and is
made glorious with the name of Christ! With what reproaches will the
Lord overwhelm us if you do not aid those who, with us, profess the
Christian religion! Let those who have been accustomed unjustly to wage
private warfare against the faithful now go against the infidels and
end with victory this war which should have been begun long ago. Let
those who for a long time, have been robbers, now become knights. Let
those who have been fighting against their brothers and relatives now
fight in a proper way against the barbarians. Let those who have been
serving as mercenaries for small pay now obtain the eternal reward. Let
those who have been wearing themselves out in both body and soul now
work for a double honor. Behold! on this side will be the sorrowful and
poor, on that, the rich; on this side, the enemies of the Lord, on
that, his friends. Let those who go not put off the journey, but rent
their lands and collect money for their expenses; and as soon as winter
is over and spring comes, let hem eagerly set out on the way with God
as their guide.
Source: https://sourcebooks.fordham.edu/source/urban2-5vers.asp