Council of Vézelay facts for kids
On March 31, 1146, a famous French church leader named Bernard of Clairvaux gave a powerful speech at a place called Vézelay. He wanted to encourage people to join the Second Crusade, a big journey to help Christians in the Middle East.
Why the Crusade Was Needed
News from the Holy Land (lands in the Middle East important to Christians) worried people in Europe. Christian fighters had lost a major battle at a city called Edessa in 1144. Most of that area was now controlled by a group called the Seljuk Turks. The Christian kingdoms that had been set up during earlier crusades were in danger. Leaders from Armenia asked the Pope for help. The King of France, Louis VII, also sent messengers to ask for support.
About Vézelay
Vézelay is located on top of a hill, making it a good spot for a town since ancient times. In the 800s, a group of monks called the Benedictines were given land here to build a monastery. A legend says that around the year 1000, a monk brought special old items, like bones, believed to be from Mary Magdalene, to Vézelay.
In 1058, Pope Stephen IX said these items were real. This led to many people coming to Vézelay as pilgrims, and they still do today. Vézelay Abbey was also a main starting point for pilgrims walking the Way of St. James to Santiago de Compostela. This was one of the most important pilgrimage routes in the Middle Ages. All these visitors brought wealth and fame to the town.
The Big Event
In 1144, Pope Eugene III asked the French church leader Bernard of Clairvaux to preach about the Second Crusade. The Pope promised that joining this crusade would bring the same special forgiveness for sins that had been given for the First Crusade. A big meeting was called at Vézelay in 1146. Bernard spoke to the crowd on March 31. King Louis VII of France, his wife Eleanor of Aquitaine, and many other important leaders knelt down before Bernard. They wanted to receive the special cross badge that showed they were joining the crusade.
The crowd was so huge that a large platform was built on a hill outside the city. We don't have Bernard's exact speech, but people at the time said "his voice rang out across the meadow like a celestial organ." When Bernard finished, many people immediately wanted to join. They supposedly ran out of cloth to make the cross badges. Bernard is said to have taken off his own robe and started tearing it into strips to make more crosses. Others followed his example. He and his helpers were still making crosses as night fell.
Bernard was a very passionate person, but he was not someone who hated or harmed others. Sadly, just like with the First Crusade, the preaching accidentally led to attacks on Jewish people. A monk named Rudolf was encouraging massacres of Jews in places like Cologne, Mainz, Worms, and Speyer. Rudolf claimed that Jewish people were not helping financially to save the Holy Land. Bernard, along with the Archbishops of Cologne and Mainz, strongly opposed these attacks. So, Bernard traveled from Flanders to Germany to stop the problem and calm the angry crowds. He found Rudolf in Mainz and was able to make him stop, sending him back to his monastery.
The castle of Vézelay was too small for the huge crowds who came to hear Bernard's powerful speech. Bernard, with King Louis VII of France by his side (who wore the cross badge on his clothes), stood on a wooden platform. At the end of his speech, the whole crowd shouted loudly, "The Cross, the Cross!" They rushed to the stage to get the holy badge. Bernard had to scatter the badges among them instead of giving one to each person. The supply of badges quickly ran out. Bernard even tore up his own clothes to give to the eager people. For the first time, two of the most powerful rulers in Christian Europe, the Emperor and the King of France, joined the cause.
At first, there wasn't much excitement for this crusade from ordinary people, unlike in 1095. So, Bernard focused on explaining that taking the cross was a powerful way to get forgiveness for sins and receive God's grace. On March 31, with King Louis VII of France present, Bernard spoke to a massive crowd in a field at Vézelay. It was "the speech of his life." People at the time said "his voice rang out across the meadow like a celestial organ."
When Bernard finished, the crowd joined in huge numbers. They supposedly ran out of cloth to make crosses. Bernard is said to have thrown off his own robe and started tearing it into strips to make more. Others followed his example. He and his helpers were supposedly still making crosses as night fell.
Unlike the First Crusade, this new journey attracted many kings and queens, and important nobles. These included Eleanor of Aquitaine, Queen of France; Thierry of Alsace, Count of Flanders; Henry, who would become Count of Champagne; Louis's brother Robert I of Dreux; Alphonse I of Toulouse; William II of Nevers; William de Warenne, 3rd Earl of Surrey; Hugh VII of Lusignan; Yves II, Count of Soissons; and many other nobles and church leaders. But even more support came from regular people. Bernard wrote to the Pope a few days later, saying, "Cities and castles are now empty. There is not left one man to seven women, and everywhere there are widows to still-living husbands." This shows how many men had decided to join the crusade.
