Jerusalem.
Jerusalem.
Around the year 1217, led by King Andrew II of Hungary, the Fifth Crusade first went to the Holy Land and then to Egypt, but in the end failed. Frederick II of the Holy Roman Empire however, angry at the outcome of the fifth Crusade, led the Sixth Crusade. This Crusade succeeded in reclaiming the Kingdom of Jerusalem in 1228. The kingdom however was destroyed by civil war that made it vulnerable to Mulstim attack.…
In the late 11th century, before the First Crusade was preached, the Byzantine Empire in the east was quickly losing land to the Seljuk Turks in Asia Minor. These Turks had rapidly expanded throughout the Near East since the 1040’s, and were now engaged in a rivalry with the Fatimid rulers of Egypt. Both of these Muslim entities now had strong presences in the Holy Land and its surrounding regions, though the Seljuks had fallen into disunity and division by the 1090’s. One faction of the original group was in control of Jerusalem itself in 1095 when the Council of Clermont was held. Some Christians were offended by the idea of these Muslims having authority over what they knew as the “Holy Land”; The…
While at the Council of Clermont, the pope made this encouraging speech full of exaggerations about the Turks and what they were doing to Jerusalem to all that were in attendance (Ancient History). The pope encouraged all of the Christians with the exception of women, elderly, the feeble, and clergy (unless they had permission) to launch a crusade to take back the holy land in the name of GOD (The Council). In exchange for their service to the Lord our God, Pope Urban II made the following promises to those that chose to go on this endeavor: the absolution of their sins and everlasting life in heaven for their ultimate sacrifice (Ancient History). He asked those at the council to spread his…
It was launched on 27 November 1095 by Pope Urban II with the primary goal of responding to an appeal from Byzantine Emperor Alexios I Komnenos, who requested that western volunteers come to his aid and help to repel the invading Seljuq Turks from Anatolia. An additional goal soon became the principal objective—the Christian reconquest of the sacred city of Jerusalem and the Holy Land and the freeing of the Eastern Christians from Islamic…
Pope Urban II was born Otho de Lagery, sometime in 1042, as the second son to his family of Noble parents. He was from the Champagne region of France. This automatically meant that he was to be a part of the church. He was the head of the Catholic Church from 1088-1099. He had developed ecclesiastical reforms as a continuation of the reforms begun by Pope Gregory VII. Before he was Pope, he was a monk. Urban II eventually traveled to Rome where he would become the cardinal and bishop of Ostia. Urban II was elected pope in Terracina, south of Rome, on March 12, 1088. As pope, Urban II had active support for his policies and reforms. These groups included the nobility, the monks, and the bishops. Urban felt he had to…
In November 1095 Pope Urban II, letter called upon the knights of France to travel to the Holy. Land and liberate the city of Jerusalem and the Christians of the east from Muslim power—considered heathens and enemies of the Church. The response to Urban's appeal was astounding; over 60,000 people set out to recover the Holy Land and secure this reward and, in some cases, take the chance to set up new territories. Four years later, in July 1099, the survivors conquered Jerusalem by killing many people. While most of the knights returned home, the creation of the Crusader States formed a permanent Christian “colony” of sorts. In 1187, however, Saladin defeated them and brought Jerusalem back under Muslim control. The French actually held onto other…
Recently, Pope Francis appealed to world leaders to seek a new economic model to help the poor, and to shun policies that “sacrifice human lives on the altar of money and profit”. It was the second time during his trip to South America that Francis used a major speech to excoriate unbridled capitalism and champion the rights of the poor. He urged politicians and business leaders “not to yield to an economic model which is idolatrous, which needs to sacrifice human lives on the altar of money and profit”. Such eye raising statements to come from the pope which have even caught the attention of hopeful presidential candidates in the United States.…
Four gunshots reverberated throughout the crowded streets of Saint Peter’s Square, May 13, 1981. A shocked man looked down at his blood-stained once white robe. He was rushed to the Hospital while his would-be assassin, Mehmet Ali Agca was detained until arrested. Within four days of being shot, Karol Wojtyla, more commonly known as Saint Pope John Paul the Great forgave the man from his hospital bed and later went and visited Agca and personally forgave the man that shot him. Millions of people were shocked by the Holy Father’s choice to visit the man that wished him dead, but in doing so, the Pope wordlessly showed his followers what it means to love and forgive others. At the time Pope John Paul II was the spiritual leader of almost 60 million Roman Catholics. He had already acquired a reputation as being a charismatic leader. People came from all over the world to be inspired by his message--that of sacrificial…
In Jon Sweeney’s lecture and book, “ When Saint Francis Saved The Church”, he spoke about Francis leading a revolutionary life. There were two points that helped support with Francis leading a revolutionary life. Those points were friendship and poverty. Sweeney spoke about how important friendship and poverty was to Francis. These points helped with Francis learning what kind of person he would be and do with his life. The first point, Sweeney spoke about was friendship.…
During the Middle Ages the struggle of power between the monarchy and the church was an ongoing battle from the time of Charlemagne until the time of the Renaissance. I believe the Pope or high up church officials had more power over the king and in the eyes of the people.…
There are many accounts of that day in November, 1095. Some were written by monks, others by bishops, and even a few by warriors themselves. Historians are constantly asking, "What exactly did Pope Urban II say at the council of Clermont to persuade Christians to set forth on such a difficult venture as the Crusades?" One man, an early 12th century cleric named Fulcher of Chartres wrote perhaps the best historical chronicle of the events at Clermont and the speech of Urban II.<br><br>Fulcher begins his account with a prologue that states how blessed the journeymen of the Crusades were to take up such a conquest. He follows this by speaking on the Council of Clermont. Fulcher describes Pope Urban II and what he heard was happening to the Christians in the east. What comes next in Flucher's writing is a long speech, allegedly quoted from Urban II himself.<br><br>In the speech, Urban first lectures his fellow clergymen regarding problems in the church, saying that they should "set [themselves] right before [they] do others"1 Fulcher, 51. Urban II next, as according to Fulcher, declares the doctrine of the church and re-instates the idea of the "Truce"2 McGinty, 52. He also discussed various crimes for which the criminal would be excommunicated from the Church.<br><br>In Fulcher's third section, Urban speaks of the "evils" in the east. He says, "there is work to do, you must help your brothers living in the Orient, who need your aid for which they have cried out many times"3 Fulcher, 52. He gives word that these "brothers" (Christians) are being threatened by the Turks who must be pushed back to Persia. Urban will grant remission of sins for their services. In closing, Fulcher tells how Urban II presses on to say, " Let no delay postpone the journey"4 Fulcher, 53.<br><br>Fulcher of Chartres' account of what happened at the Council of Clermont is a great piece, full of detail. Fulcher obviously held Pope Urban II in high regard. Throughout his chronicle, he douses him…
These salient leaders were influenced by a chance at religious redemption, but a few were influenced by the possibility of new opportunity, money, power, and adventure. These royal and religious followers began to enter into Asia Minor from different directions in early May of 1097. This happened shortly after recent and harsh failures at Antioch in March of 1097. If these crusading armies did not attack the local Byzantines and Turks along the way, the Turks would not have been warned of their strategies and attempts to besiege Antioch. Towards the end of June, in the year 1098; these prestigious Crusaders gained control of the city, but shortly, not learning from their mistakes, they lose it again to their Turkish rivals. Due to the royal armies losing the city once again to the Turks, death, misery, and hunger prevailed among Crusaders, which resulted in the collapse of the crusading forces for a while. But shortly, after a major discovery, the army was back on its feet and regained its control of the…
The Islamic world in the early eleventh century was mostly ruled by a large group called the Turks. Many Turks served in the army and one powerful group called the Seljuks sought to overthrow Byzantine and other western civilizations. Once they had control of the Holy Land and Jerusalem, Christians were no longer permitted to travel to Jerusalem or any other religious sites. In hopes of stopping the continuous rule of the Turks, Pope Urban II called a council and was encouraged to create an army to head for Jerusalem. That army was created and told to start a “Holy War”, or crusade.…
The motive behind the crusades was the hunger for power and religious ideals and you can understand this to be concealed behind a façade…
Losing the Holy Land was too shameful for Christendom, so with the Pope's blessing, dozens of thousands of men marched toward Jerusalem under the three great kings. The Fourth Crusade (1201-1204) occurred shortly after the Third Crusade. Pope Innocent III succeeded to the papacy in 1198 and decided to launch a new crusade against the Egyptians who were now united and had Jerusalem under their control. The Third Crusade had severely hurt the hopes of reclaiming the Holy Land, but Pope Innocent III was determined to recover what he believed was Christian territory.…