Pope Urban II facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Pope Blessed Urban II |
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| Bishop of Rome | |
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Pope Urban II depicted in a c. late 12th-century – early 13th-century miniature, now at the National Library of France
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| Church | Catholic Church |
| Papacy began | 12 March 1088 |
| Papacy ended | 29 July 1099 |
| Predecessor | Victor III |
| Successor | Paschal II |
| Orders | |
| Ordination | c. 1068 |
| Consecration | 20 July 1085 |
| Created Cardinal | 1073 |
| Personal details | |
| Birth name | Odo |
| Born | c. 1035 Lagery, County of Champagne, Kingdom of France |
| Died | 29 July 1099 (aged 63–64) Rome, Papal States, Holy Roman Empire |
| Previous post |
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| Sainthood | |
| Feast day | 29 July |
| Venerated in | Catholic Church |
| Beatified | 14 July 1881 Rome by Pope Leo XIII |
| Attributes |
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| Other Popes named Urban | |
Pope Urban II (born around 1035 – died July 29, 1099) was the leader of the Catholic Church. He was also the ruler of the Papal States from March 12, 1088, until his death. He was known by other names too, like Odo of Châtillon or Otho de Lagery.
Pope Urban II is most famous for calling the Council of Clermont. This meeting started a series of Christian military journeys known as the Crusades. He was from a noble family in Châtillon-sur-Marne, France. Before becoming pope, he was a leader at Cluny Abbey and a bishop of Ostia.
As pope, he faced challenges from an opposing pope, Antipope Clement III. He also dealt with disagreements among Christian nations. He worked to stop Turkish invasions into a region called Anatolia. In 1095, he began to encourage the First Crusade. He promised that anyone who fought to take back the Holy Land from Muslims would have their past sins forgiven. This promise also applied to those fighting Muslims in Spain.
The First Crusade did lead to the capture of Jerusalem. However, Pope Urban II died before he heard this important news. He also helped set up the modern Roman Curia. This is like a royal court that helps run the Church. He was later honored as "Blessed" by Pope Leo XIII in 1881.
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Becoming a Leader: Bishop of Ostia
Urban, whose birth name was Eudes (or Odo), was born into a family from Châtillon-sur-Marne. Around 1050, he started his studies at a school in Reims. He later became a leader at the Cluny Abbey.
Pope Gregory VII then made him a cardinal-bishop of Ostia around 1080. He strongly supported the Gregorian reforms. These reforms aimed to make the Church stronger and more independent. He was even considered one of the top three people who could become pope after Gregory VII.
After a short reign by Pope Victor III, Odo was chosen as pope in March 1088. This happened at a meeting of cardinals in Terracina.
Pope Urban II's Time as Pope
Challenges and Authority
From the very start, Pope Urban II had to deal with Antipope Clement III. Clement III was an opposing pope who controlled Rome. The previous pope, Gregory VII, had often disagreed with Emperor Henry IV over the Pope's power.
Emperor Henry IV had even taken Rome in 1084 and put Clement III in charge. Urban II continued Gregory VII's policies. He was firm but also flexible and good at diplomacy. He often traveled through northern Italy and France.
He held many important meetings, called synods, in places like Rome and Amalfi. At these meetings, he spoke out against buying church positions. He also spoke against kings choosing church leaders and against priests marrying. He supported the marriage of Matilda of Tuscany to Welf II, Duke of Bavaria.
He also backed Conrad of Italy in his rebellion against his father, Emperor Henry IV. Urban II helped arrange Conrad's marriage to Maximilla of Sicily. Her large dowry helped pay for Conrad's military efforts. He also supported Anselm of Canterbury, a religious leader. Urban II helped solve Anselm's problems with King William II of England. This helped him gain England's support against the opposing pope.
Urban II strongly supported the Church reforms of earlier popes. He even supported Anselm when he had to leave England. He also stood firm against King Philip of France. He supported his legate's decision to temporarily remove King Philip from the Church. This was because King Philip had married twice in a way that was not allowed by the Church. Urban II also encouraged traveling preachers. They helped spread Christian faith and ideas for reform.
Starting the First Crusade
Pope Urban II's plan for a crusade began to take shape at the Council of Piacenza in March 1095. There, he met with a representative from the Byzantine Emperor. The emperor asked for help against Turkish groups who had taken over much of Anatolia.
The Council of Clermont then met, with many bishops from Italy, Burgundy, and France attending. Most of the meetings happened inside the Clermont-Ferrand Cathedral.
On November 27, 1095, Urban II gave a powerful speech. This speech was given outside to a very large crowd. He called on nobles and common people to take back the Holy Land from the Seljuk Turks. This speech is what started the Crusades.
We don't have the exact words of Urban II's speech at Clermont. There are five different versions written down later, and they are all a bit different. Most of these versions were likely influenced by a history of the First Crusade called the Gesta Francorum.
One writer, Fulcher of Chartres, was at the Council. He started writing his history, including a version of the speech, around 1101. Another writer, Robert the Monk, might have been there, but his version is from about 1106.
To understand Urban's true reasons for calling the crusade, we can look at four letters he wrote himself. These letters were sent to people in Flanders, Bologna, Vallombrosa, and Catalonia. The first three letters were about getting support for the Crusades. They also explained the goals.
However, his letters to the Catalan lords asked them to keep fighting the Moors in Spain. He promised them the same divine rewards as fighting the Seljuks. These letters show Urban II's real thoughts about crusading. Still, the different versions of his speech have greatly shaped how people understand the Crusades.
Fulcher of Chartres's version of the speech says that God and Christ asked Christians to fight and reclaim their land. Robert the Monk wrote that Urban II said: "... this land which you live in is too small for your large population. It doesn't have much wealth and barely provides enough food. This is why you kill each other, fight wars, and often die from wounds. So, let hatred leave you, let your arguments end, let wars stop, and let all disagreements disappear. Go on the road to the Holy Sepulchre; take that land from the wicked people, and make it yours... God has given you great glory in battle. So, start this journey to have your sins forgiven, with the promise of endless glory in the Kingdom of Heaven."
Robert continued: "When Pope Urban had said these things, he influenced everyone present so much that they all shouted 'It is the will of God! It is the will of God!'. When the Pope heard that, he said: 'Dearest brothers, today you show what the Lord says in the Gospel: "Where two or three are gathered in my name, there I am among them." If the Lord God had not been in your spirits, all of you would not have shouted the same thing. Even though the shout came from many mouths, it had one origin. Therefore, I tell you that God, who put this in your hearts, has brought it out of you. Let this be your battle-cry in fights, because this word is given to you by God. When you attack the enemy, let all the soldiers of God raise this one cry: It is the will of God! It is the will of God!'"
In Fulcher of Chartres's account of the speech, there was a promise of forgiveness for sins for anyone who joined the crusade: "All who die along the way, whether by land or by sea, or in battle against the non-Christians, will have their sins forgiven right away. I grant them this through God's power that I have."
It is debated whether the famous slogan "God wills it" (deus vult in Latin) was actually used as a rallying cry during the Council. Robert the Monk says it was, but it might have been created later as a catchy slogan.
Urban II's own letter to the Flemish people confirms that he offered "remission of all their sins" to those who went to free the eastern churches. Unlike the speeches recorded by others, Urban's letters focus less on Jerusalem itself. He mentions Jerusalem only once as his main concern. In the letter to the Flemish, he writes that the Turks "have taken the Holy City of Christ... and sold her and her churches into terrible slavery."
In other letters, he talks about the crusaders' desire to go to Jerusalem, rather than his own wish for Jerusalem to be free. It was thought that Urban first wanted to send a small group to help the Byzantines. But after meeting with two important crusade leaders, he decided to gather a much larger force to retake Jerusalem. Urban II often spoke about freeing the Church as a whole, or the eastern churches, rather than just reconquering Jerusalem.
Historians still debate what Pope Urban's true reasons were. Some believe he wanted to reunite the eastern and western churches, which had split in 1054. Others think he saw this as a chance to gain more power as pope, since he was fighting against an opposing pope. A third idea is that Urban felt threatened by the Turkish conquests in Europe. He might have seen the crusades as a way to unite the Christian world against them.
The most important result of the First Crusade for Urban II was that Antipope Clement III was removed from Rome in 1097. This was done by one of the French armies. Urban II was then able to return to Rome.
Pope Urban II died on July 29, 1099. This was 14 days after Jerusalem was captured, but before he received the news in Italy. His successor was Pope Paschal II.
Efforts in Spain
Urban II was involved in the Iberian Peninsula (Spain and Portugal) from the very beginning of his time as pope. He had two main involvements there:
- He raised the See of Toledo to be the main church authority over all of Spain in 1088.
- He offered a special favor to Catalan nobles. This favor was for their efforts to "restore the state of the city of Tarragona."
Urban II supported the Reconquista, which were crusades in Spain against the Moors. Some historians believe Urban was worried that focusing on the East and Jerusalem would make people forget the fight in Spain. He saw the fight in the East and in Spain as part of the same crusade. So, he offered the same forgiveness of sins for those who fought in Spain. He also discouraged people from Spain from traveling east.
Support in Sicily
Urban II received important help in his conflicts from the Normans of Campania and Sicily. In return, he gave Roger I special rights. These rights included choosing bishops, collecting Church money before sending it to the Pope, and judging Church matters. Roger I became almost like the Pope's representative in Sicily. These were very unusual rights at the time. Popes were trying to stop rulers from having such powers elsewhere in Europe.
Honoring Pope Urban II
Pope Urban II was honored as "Blessed" in 1881 by Pope Leo XIII. His special day of remembrance is July 29.
See also
- House of Châtillon
- House of Natoli
- Beauvais Cathedral
- Milo of Nanteuil
- Concordat of Worms
- Gregorian Reforms
- Investiture Controversy
- Cardinals created by Urban II
