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Medieval Sourcebook:
Urban II:
Speech at Clermont 1095
(Robert the Monk version)
This account of Urban II's speech was written toward twenty-five
years after Urban's visit to France and does not claim to give
more than a general idea of the pope's arguments
In the year of our Lord's Incarnation one thousand and ninety-five,
a great council was celebrated within the bounds of Gaul, in Auvergne,
in the city which is called Clermont. Over this Pope Urban II
presided, with the Roman bishops and cardinals. This council was
a famous one on account of the concourse of both French and German
bishops, and of princes as well. Having arranged the matters relating
to the Church, the lord pope went forth into a certain spacious
plain, for no building was large enough to hold all the people.
The pope-then, with sweet and persuasive eloquence, addressed
those present in words something like the following, saying:
"Oh, race of Franks, race from across the mountains, race
beloved and chosen by God, - as is clear from many of your works,-
set apart from all other nations by the situation of your country
as well as by your Catholic faith and the honor which you render
to the holy Church: to you our discourse is addressed, and for
you our exhortations are intended. We wish you to know what a
grievous cause has led us to your country, for it is the imminent
peril threatening you and all the faithful which has brought us
hither.
From the confines of Jerusalem and from the city of Constantinople
a grievous report has gone forth and has -repeatedly been brought
to our ears; namely, that a race from the kingdom of the Persians,
an accursed race, a race wholly alienated from God, `a generation
that set not their heart aright and whose spirit was not steadfast
with God,' violently invaded the lands of those Christians and
has depopulated them by pillage and fire. They have led away ap
art of the captives into their own country, and a part have they
have killed by cruel tortures. They have either destroyed the
churches of God or appropriated them for the rites of their own
religion. They destroy the altars, after having defiled them with
their uncleanness....The kingdom of the Greeks is now dismembered
by them and has been deprived of territory so vast in extent that
it could be traversed in two months' time.
"On whom, therefore, is the labor of avenging these wrongs
and of recovering this territory incumbent, if not upon you, you
upon whom, above all other nations, God has conferred remarkable
glory in arms, great courage, bodily activity, and strength to
humble the heads of those who resist you ? Let the deeds of your
ancestors encourage you and incite your minds to manly achievements:-the
greatness of King Charlemagne, and of his son Louis, and of your
other monarchs, who have destroyed the kingdoms of the Turks and
have extended the sway of Church over lands previously possessed
by the pagan. Let the holy sepulcher of our Lord and Saviour,
which is possessed by unclean nations, especially arouse you,
and the holy places which are now treated, with ignominy and irreverently
polluted with the filth of the unclean. Oh, most valiant soldiers
and descendants of invincible ancestors, do not degenerate; our
progenitors., but recall the valor of your progenitors.
"But if you are hindered by love of children, parents, or
of wife, remember what the Lord says in the Gospel, `He that loveth
father or mother more than me is not worthy of me', 'Every one
that hath forsaken houses, or brethren, or sisters, or father,
or mother, or wife, or children, or lands, for my name's sake,
shall receive an hundredfold, and shall inherit everlasting life.'
Let none of your possessions retain you, nor solicitude for you,
family affairs. For this land which you inhabit, shut in on all
sides by the seas and surrounded by the mountain peaks, is too
narrow for your large population; nor does it abound in wealth;
and it furnishes scarcely food enough for its cultivators. Hence
it is that you murder and devour one another, that you wage war,
and that very many among you perish in intestine strife.'
[Another of those present at the Council of Clermont, Fulcher
of Chartres, thus reports this part of Urban's speech: "Let
those who have formerly been accustomed to contend wickedly in
private warfare against the faithful fight against the infidel,
and bring to a victorious end the war which ought already to have
been begun. Let those who have hitherto been robbers now become
soldiers. Let those who have formerly contended against their
brothers and relatives now fight against the barbarians as they
ought. Let those who have formerly been mercenaries at low wages
now gain eternal rewards. Let those who have been exhausting themselves
to the detriment both of body and soul now strive for a twofold
reward" See a complete translation of Fulcher's report of
Urban's speech in Translations and Reprints, Vol. 1. No.
2.]
"Let hatred therefore depart from among you, let your quarrels
end, let wars cease, and let all dissensions and controversies
slumber. Enter upon the road to the Holy Sepulcher-, wrest that
land from the wicked race, and subject it to yourselves. That
land which, as the Scripture says, `floweth with milk and honey'
was given by God into the power of the children of Israel. Jerusalem
is the center of the earth ; the land is fruitful above all others,
like another paradise of delights. This spot the Redeemer of mankind
has made illustrious by his advent, has beautified by his sojourn,
has consecrated by his passion, has redeemed by his death, has
glorified by his burial.
"This royal city, however, situated at the center of the
earth, is now held captive by the enemies of Christ and is subjected,
by those who do not know God, to the worship the heathen. She
seeks, therefore, and desires to be liberated and ceases not to
implore you to come to her aid. From you especially she asks succor,
because as we have already said, God has conferred upon you above
all other nations great glory in arms. Accordingly, undertake
this journey eagerly for the remission of your sins, with the
assurance of the reward of imperishable glory in the kingdon of
heaven.."
When Pope Urban had urbanely said thes and very similar things,
he so centered in one purpose the desires all who were present
that all cried out, " It is the will of God! I It is the.
will of God 1 " When the venerable Roman pontiff heard that,
with eyes uplifted to heaven, he gave thanks to God and, commanding
silence with his hand, said:
"Most beloved brethren, today is manifest in you what the
Lord says in the Gospel, `Where two or three are gathered together
in my name, there am I in the midst of them'; for unless God had
been present in your spirits, all of you would not have uttered
the same cry; since, although the cry issued from numerous mouths,
yet the origin of the cry as one. Therefore I say to you that
God, who implanted is in your breasts, has drawn it forth from
you. Let that then be your war cry in combats, because it is given
to you by God. When an armed attack is made upon the enemy, this
one cry be raised by all the soldiers of God: 'It is the will
of God! It is the will of God!' [Deus vult! Deus Vult!]
"And ee neither command nor advise that the old or those
incapable of bearing arms, undertake this journey. Nor ought women
to set out at all without their husbands, or brother, or legal
guardians. For such are more of a hindrance than aid, more of
a burden than an advantage. Let the rich aid the needy and according
to their wealth let them take with them experienced soldiers.
The priests and other clerks, whether secular or regulars are
not to go without the consent of their bishop; for this journey
would profit them nothing if they went without permission. Also,
it is not fitting that laymen should enter upon the pilgrimage
without the blessing of their priests.
"Whoever, therefore, shall determine upon this holy pilgrimage,
and shall make his vow to God to that effect, and shall offer
himself to him for sacrifice, as a living victim, holy and acceptable
to God, shall wear the sign of the cross of the Lord on his forehead
or on his breast. When, indeed, he shall return from his journey,
having fulfilled his vow, let him place the cross on his back
between his shoulders. Thus shall ye, indeed, by this twofold
action, fulfill the precept of the Lord, as lie commands in the
Gospel, 'he that taketh not his cross, and followeth after me,
is not worthy of me."'
Source:
James Harvey Robinson, ed., Readings in European History: Vol.
I: (Boston:: Ginn and co., 1904), 312-316
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(c)Paul Halsall Jan 1996
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