Pope Urban II
Born Odo (or Odon, or Eudes) of Châtillon-sur-Marne, or Odo of Lagery or Lagny, Pope Urban II developed most of the reforms of Gregory VII and helped turn the papacy into a strong political entity. At the Council of Clermont in 1095, he made a speech calling for all Christian knights to take back the Holy Land from the Turks, thus launching the First Crusade.
Important Dates
Elected Pope: March 12, 1088
Speech at Council of Clermont: Nov. 27, 1095
Died: July 29, 1099
From Your Guide
Dark Legacy
A brief introduction to Urban's role in the origins of the First Crusade.
On the Web
Catholic Encyclopedia: Pope Bl. Urban II
Thorough biography by R. Urban Butler.Encyclopedia Britannica: Urban II
Thorough biography by R. Urban Butler.Pope Urban II - 1042-1099
A brief biography is followed by two versions of the Clermont speech and some proposed motivations for calling the Crusade, by Stephen Dafoe at his Templar History site.
Primary Sources
Council of Clermont: Five Versions
Five versions of the speech, plus a letter of instruction, in modern English translation. Provided by Paul Halsall at his Medieval Sourcebook.Pope Urban's Legislation at Clermont
Modern English translation provided by Professor Timothy Reuter, University of Southampton.Pope Urban's Legislation at Piacenza
Modern English translation provided by Professor Timothy Reuter, University of Southampton.Speech at Clermont 1095
The version by Robert the Monk, from Readings in European History, provided by Paul Halsall at his Medieval Sourcebook.
In Print
The links below will take you to a site where you can compare prices at booksellers across the web. More in-depth info about the book may be found by clicking on to the book's page at one of the online merchants.
Papst Urban II. (1088-1099)
by Alfons BeckerPope Urban II : The Collectio Gritannica, and the Council of Melfi (1089)
by Robert Somerville, Stephan KuttnerLives of the Popes: The Pontiffs from St. Peter to John Paul II
by Richard P. McBrienChronicle of the Popes: The Reign-by-Reign Record of the Papacy over 2000 Years
by P. G. Maxwell-Stuart
Related Resources
The Papacy
Index of sites regarding the Popes and the political entity of the Papal States, their impact on medieval culture, and the schisms they endured and overcame.The Crusades
The religious wars, the people who fought them, and the ideologies that drove them.
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