Robert the Monk's account of Pope Urban II's crusade call

Robert the Monk's account of Pope Urban II's call to crusade

The Church was one of the most important institutions in some European states during the first centuries of the second millennium. Given the power that Popes held at the time, it had been common for them to abuse their position with the purpose of influencing Christians in acting in accordance with what the head of the church wanted from them. Pope Urban II's speech at Clermont in 1095 (as recounted by Robert the Monk) demonstrates that head of the church was unhesitant about using his power to influence individuals as a means to have Christians embark on crusade mission. Given their blind devotion to the Church and the fact that they were related to by the pope himself as some of the bravest and most essential individuals that could actually do something to stop or even to fight back the heathen advance, many of the Franks felt that they absolutely had to join the fight.

The very setting in which the pope put across his feelings toward the public was particularly impressive, considering the influential characters taking part at the meeting. People probably had a feeling of trust when looking at the ones standing before them, making it even more difficult for them to refuse getting engaged in warfare.

In order to attract the masses, the pope related to the territories conquered by the "heathens" as belonging to all Christians, thus meaning that every believer was responsible for freeing the invaded lands. One of the pope's main intentions was to put behind divergences between Constantinople and Europe, stressing the fact that the Middle Eastern land rightfully belonged to Christianity.

From a Christian perspective, everyone who would take up arms against invaders in the east would be absolved of their sins. Moreover, people were influenced in making crusades their foremost purpose in life, as the pope suggested that they had to abandon their previous dreams in favor of embracing a mission against God's enemies. The bottom line was that it was mandatory for people to put aside their miserable goals with the purpose of choosing a greater goal. Not only did the pope tries to influence people by appealing to their dedication to the Church, but he also used stories relating to Constantinople and Jerusalem with the purpose of emphasizing the fact that these lands were filled with riches.

It is very likely that people were influenced to such a degree by the pope's speech that they came to ignore the risks involved and the fact that they were actually dealing with war. Motivational speeches are very important in persuading the masses to do exactly as the ones in charge want them to. In spite of the fact that there were a series of reasons for which the pope was interested in sending European crusaders to the Middle East, some of the most important motives were relatively hidden from the public. Instead of being presented mainly with the fact that they had to fight Muslims because of political reasons, Christians were influenced to believe that the people they were fighting were against God and against Christianity as a whole, thus the reasons for which the Urban II urged them to engage in warfare saying "It is the will of God!" instead of saying "It is the will of our leaders!"