Onward Christian Soldiers Speech Analysis
Onward Christian Soldiers
While reading a version of the speech given by Urban II at Clermont in 1095, I wondered why a pope would want to start a war. So I did some research found a few reliable sources on the internet about the same speech and including my textbook. My objective in this paper is to find out why would any Christian be willing to go to war for a piece of property and or did the pope have an ulterior motive? As it turns out, that piece of property I was wondering about is actually the holy land called Jerusalem (the birthplace of their religion) to which Christians have been making the sojourn for centuries. Well, they did until the Seljuk Turks took over Jerusalem banned them from the city. As if that was not bad enough, now those same Turks want to invade and take over Constantinople as well as the rest of the Byzantine Empire. Fearing the worst Emperor Alexius I made a plea to Pope Urban II for help against the Turk’s proposed invasion (Pope Urban II). …show more content…
Pope Urban II interested in reforming and strengthening the Catholic Church, took that plea of help to a whole new level by attempting to unite all of the Christians in his plan to take back the holy land (Pope Urban II).
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
words. The news that the pope wanted to take back Jerusalem spread like wildfire. Thousands of Christians answered the call with the battle cry of “Deus vult!” and crosses cut from preachers cloaks affixed to their forehead/breast. Many of the Christian’s believed they were called to do God’s biding. However, not all of those who went on this first Crusade had the best intentions, greed of all kinds were on their minds. In the end, the Christian’s only won Jerusalem back by sheer numbers of them overtaking the Turks (Pope Urban II). In conclusion, I believe that Pope Urban II had an ulterior motive, to make a name for himself by returning Jerusalem to the Church. He lied to thousands of Christians, who in good faith thought they were laying down their lives to do God’s bidding (recover Jerusalem) while thinking of their ultimate rewards in heaven. Too bad the pope did not live long enough to hear or see victory. I think that is karma at it’s best.
Works Cited
“Ancient History: Sourcebook: Urban II: Speech at Clermont 1095 (Robert the Monk version).” Fordham University. Web. 17 Sept. 2015.
Kagan, Donald, Steven Ozment, Frank M. Turner, and Alison Frank. The Western Heritage Volume 1 (Custom Edition for Columbia College), Boston: Pearson, 2013. Print.
“Pope Urban II orders first crusades” History channel. A & E Networks. 2009. Web. 17 Sept. 2015
“The Council of Clermont (1095)” .The Latin Library. nd. Web. 17 Sept. 2015.
While reading a version of the speech given by Urban II at Clermont in 1095, I wondered why a pope would want to start a war. So I did some research found a few reliable sources on the internet about the same speech and including my textbook. My objective in this paper is to find out why would any Christian be willing to go to war for a piece of property and or did the pope have an ulterior motive? As it turns out, that piece of property I was wondering about is actually the holy land called Jerusalem (the birthplace of their religion) to which Christians have been making the sojourn for centuries. Well, they did until the Seljuk Turks took over Jerusalem banned them from the city. As if that was not bad enough, now those same Turks want to invade and take over Constantinople as well as the rest of the Byzantine Empire. Fearing the worst Emperor Alexius I made a plea to Pope Urban II for help against the Turk’s proposed invasion (Pope Urban II). …show more content…
Pope Urban II interested in reforming and strengthening the Catholic Church, took that plea of help to a whole new level by attempting to unite all of the Christians in his plan to take back the holy land (Pope Urban II).
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
words. The news that the pope wanted to take back Jerusalem spread like wildfire. Thousands of Christians answered the call with the battle cry of “Deus vult!” and crosses cut from preachers cloaks affixed to their forehead/breast. Many of the Christian’s believed they were called to do God’s biding. However, not all of those who went on this first Crusade had the best intentions, greed of all kinds were on their minds. In the end, the Christian’s only won Jerusalem back by sheer numbers of them overtaking the Turks (Pope Urban II). In conclusion, I believe that Pope Urban II had an ulterior motive, to make a name for himself by returning Jerusalem to the Church. He lied to thousands of Christians, who in good faith thought they were laying down their lives to do God’s bidding (recover Jerusalem) while thinking of their ultimate rewards in heaven. Too bad the pope did not live long enough to hear or see victory. I think that is karma at it’s best.
Works Cited
“Ancient History: Sourcebook: Urban II: Speech at Clermont 1095 (Robert the Monk version).” Fordham University. Web. 17 Sept. 2015.
Kagan, Donald, Steven Ozment, Frank M. Turner, and Alison Frank. The Western Heritage Volume 1 (Custom Edition for Columbia College), Boston: Pearson, 2013. Print.
“Pope Urban II orders first crusades” History channel. A & E Networks. 2009. Web. 17 Sept. 2015
“The Council of Clermont (1095)” .The Latin Library. nd. Web. 17 Sept. 2015.