Papal bull
Please post your comments and suggestions for this article.
Comment by Margo Epperson on January 11th, 2009 at 9:28 am
What about Pope Urban II who issued a papal bull for the first crusade in 1095? He is not even on the list.
Comment by Robert Brooks on September 21st, 2011 at 9:24 am
Dear Margo Epperson,
Kindly forgive the lateness of this reply.
After some research on our part it does not appear that Pope Urban II issued a ”papal bull” ordering the First Crusade.
What was uncovered and offered here is our long overdue response to your question. At Council of Piacenza, in March 1095 Pope Urban II received ambassadors from Byzantine emperor Alexios I Komnenos. The Byzantine Empire had lost much of its territory in Asia Minor to the Seljuq Turks in the aftermath of the Byzantine-Seljuq Wars, and Alexios I hoped western knights could help him restore it. In November 1095, in what is regarded as one of the most effective single speeches in European history, Urban II’s sermon at the Council of Clermont summoned the attending nobility and the people to wrestle the Holy Land from the hands of the Seljuq Turks. Please refer to New World Encyclopedia’s article Urban II for excerpts from that sermon.
Thank you,
Robert Brooks
Managing Editor
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