Christian Response To Pope Urban II

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
Religious enthusiasm had spread from France to Northern Britain and other areas of the west at that time. Along with the expansion of extremely devout races such as the Normans came the spread of the pope’s influence across Europe. Christians were anxious to demonstrate their faith, and the crusade provided the perfect opportunity to combine the interests of the pope with the purposes of the lay people of Christendom. The ardent religious factor was one of many of the Christians’ show of faith. It was fulfilling what they felt as a religious duty, but also love and charity which was a part of being a Christian. Another was the idea of “punishing evil” which was the underlying reason for the crusade. And of course, the promise of the many “sin reprieves” promised by Urban II for the participants. In addition, the traditions of pilgrimages and Holy Wars were not new. Pilgrimages had been established long before with the idea of going to shrines and holy places as a show of the peoples’ faith. Pilgrimage was regarded as the primary method for the articulation of faith and