According to Halshall in his Medieval Sourcebook, he represents the Pope’s speech in 1095 at Clermont; Urban had an appeal to a crusade where he addressed to the Christians; the Church leaders and members from all walks of life. During his speech, Urban addressed his audience as he delivered what was important speech of the Middle Ages, started the Crusades by appealing to all European Christians to battle Muslims to repossess the Holy Land. Current Middle East, the ancient Holy Land became a source of heated disagreement for European Christians. Halsall stated that Christians conducted pilgrimages to the cradle of their faith since the 6th century. Still, when the invaders (Turks) conquered Jerusalem, Christians were denied entry, but when the Turks conquered Jerusalem, they denied Christians access to the Holy City. On the Turks’ attempt to overrun the Byzantine Empire and take Constantinople, its Emperor, Alexius I, specifically requested help from Urban. This was after several appeals; it occurred at a crucial point in Urban’s career.
Urban capitalized on the chance to unify Christian Europe behind him as he fought the Turks for control of the Holy Land, thus increasing the papacy’s power. According to Halsall, Urban told his audience that this war was necessary because the Muslims had declared war against the European Christians. They were responsible for the harm and pain imposed on Christians through the murder of men, rape on women, demolishing Churches, and defiling their altars.
In conclusion of the papal power during the Middle Ages is that these sources have shown that by the eleventh century, the Pope, top Catholic Church leadership had the authority to decide who would be king in several locations and could organize an army to conduct wars. For decades after that, secular elites and the Church fought for dominance in Western Europe. Papal supremacy possesses absolute, universal, and supreme authority over the entire Church, which he can exercise unhindered at all times in the protection of souls through the divine union.
The versions represented in the messages of Urban’s speech had a significant impact on the Christians. The address inspired them and altered history by starting the first crusade to reclaim Jerusalem from Muslim Turks’ invaders (Halsall). Most European Christians were inspired by Urban’s sermon to go on perilous trips and fight in the crusade. I think the primary reasons they were motivated and convinced to fight were as follows: first, they believed it was their noble Christian obligation, Pope Urban guaranteed them forgiveness for their sins, and they felt obliged to protect Christianity, their sacred land, and other Christians (Halsall). The Pope told the populace that if you are obstructed by love for parents, children, or wife, to recall what the Lord teaches in the Gospel and urges them to fight and follow the will of God as scripted in the Holy Book. Through these messages, Christians learned of the harm the Turks imposed on Christians and their Churches by demolishing and defiling altars of the churches, inflicting pain through torture and murder of the Christian men, and raping their women. Finally, the messages were significant as they were for the unity purpose of the Christians.
In summary, the Pope’s appeal to his audience (Christians) to prevent the Turks from invading their Holy land and inflicting pain through torture and rape of their women was a call to fight for their rights against the ungodly. This was a unifying factor in bringing together the Christians, defending their Christianity, and saving other Christians. Nonetheless, the transcripts of Urban’s speech indicated that he was more concerned with freeing Jerusalem than with Constantinople.
Work Cited
Halsall, Paul. “Medieval Sourcebook: Urban II (1088-1099): Speech at Council of Clermont, 1095, Five versions of the Speech.” Fordham University. Published December of (1997).