and bishops of Christendom to join in an expedition to
push back Turkish armies that had occupied Asia Minor
and to help the Byzantine emperor restore Christian
control over the Levant. He further promised that partici-
pants in this expedition would receive spiritual rewards,
as well as a share in the conquests that they achieved.
The council adopted his proposals, which quickly
aroused a broad and enthusiastic response—probably
broader and more enthusiastic, indeed, than Urban had
anticipated. The pope devoted a great deal of time and
effort over the following months to spelling out the
implications of his proposal and refi ning arrangements
for its organization and implementation.
By the fall of 1096, crusaders from France, Germany,
and England were on the way to their rendezvous at Con-
stantinople. In Italy, Urban’s proposal aroused interest
at fi rst mainly among the restless Norman conquerors
of the south, who saw it as an opportunity to secure a
foothold in Byzantine territories; and the merchants of
a few maritime cities in the north, especially Genoa
and Pisa, who perceived that the venture, if successful,
might open up profi table commercial opportunities in
the Middle East.
After the initial bands of crusaders had departed,
Urban once more directed his attention to the implemen-
tation of church reform and endeavored to resolve the
issues that had put the papacy at odds with the principal
monarchs north of the Alps. Although he achieved some
successes, his program was still incomplete when he fell
ill in the summer of 1099. At the beginning of July, the
crusading armies that he had dispatched to the east had
taken the city of Jerusalem. News of this momentous
victory had not yet reached Rome when Urban died on
19 July 1099.
See also Gregory VII, Pope; Henry IV, EmperorFurther ReadingEditions
The Councils of Urban II, Part 1, Decreta Claromontensia, ed.
Robert Somervilie. Amsterdam: Hakkert, 1972.
Jaffé, Philipp. Regesta pontifi cum Romanorum, 2nd ed., 2 vols.
Leipzig, 1885–1888, Vol. 1, pp. 657–701. (Reprint, Graz: Aka-
demische Druck- U. Verlagsanstalt, 1956. Includes some of
Urban’s letters.)
Patrologia Latina, 151, cols. 283–558. (Texts of most of Urban’s
surviving letters.)
Critical Studies
Becker, Alfons. Papst Urban II (1088–1099), 2 vols. Schriften
der Monumenta Germanise Historica, 19. Stuttgart: A. Hierse-
mann, 1964–1988. Furhmann, Horst. Papst Urban II. und der
Standder Regularkanoniker. Munich: Beck, 1984.
Gossman, Francis J. Pope Urban II and Canon Law. Washington,
D.C.: Catholic University of America Press, 1960.
Kuttner, Stephan, “Brief Notes: Urban II and Gratian.” Traditio,
24, 1968, pp. 504–505.
——. “Urban II and the Doctrine of Interpretation: A Turning
Point?” Studia Gratiana, 15, 1972, pp. 53–86.
Somerville, Robert. “The Council of Clermont and the First
Crusade.” Studia Gratiana, 20, 1976, pp. 323–337.
——. “Mercy and Justice in the Early Months of Urban II’s
Pontifi cate.” In Chiesa diritto e ordinamento della “Societas
Christiana” net secoli XI e XII: Atti della nona Settimana
internazionale di studio, Mendola, 28 agosto–2 settembre- Milan: Vita e Pensiero, 1986, pp. 138–158.
James A. Brundage
URBAN II, POPE
Council of Clermont. Arrival of Pope
Urban II in France. Miniature from
the Roman de Godefroi de Bouillon.
- Ms. fr. 22495, fol. 15.
© Bridgeman-Giraudon/Art Resource,
New York.