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In the year of our Lord’s Incarnation one thousand and ninety-five, a
great council was celebrated within the bounds of Gaul, in Auvergne, in
the city which is called Clermont. Over this Pope Urban II presided, with
the Roman bishops and cardinals. This council was a famous one on
account of the concourse of both French and German bishops, and of
princes as well. Having arranged the matters relating to the Church, the
lord pope went forth into a certain spacious plan, for no building was
large enough to hold all the people. The pope then, with sweet and
persuasive eloquence, addressed those present in words something like
the following, saying:

“Oh, race of Franks, race from across the mountains, race beloved and
chosen by God,-as is clear from many of your works,-set apart from all
other nations by the situation of your country as well as by your Catholic
faith and the honor which you render to the holy Church: to you our
discourse is addressed, and for you our exhortations are intended. We
wish you to know what a grievous case has led us to your country, for it
is the imminent peril threatening you and all the faithful which has
brought us hither.

From the confines of Jerusalem and from the city of Constantinople a
grievous report has gone forth and has repeated been brought to our
ears; namely, that a race from the kingdom of the Persians, an accursed
race, a race wholly alienated from God, ‘a generation that set not their
heart aright, and whose spirit was not steadfast with God,’ has violently
invaded the lands of those Christians and has depopulated them by
pillage and fire. They have led away a part of the captives into their
own country, and a part they have killed by cruel tortures. They have
either destroyed the churches of God or appropriated them for the rites
of their own religion. They destroy the altars, after having defiled them
with their uncleanness . . . The kingdom of the Greeks [e.g., the
Byzantine Empire] is now dismembered by them and has been deprived
of territory so vast in extent that it could not be traversed in two months’
time.

On whom, therefore, is the labor of avenging these wrongs and of
recovering this territory incumbent, if not upon you,-you, upon whom,
above all other nations, God has conferred remarkable glory in arms,
great courage, bodily activity, and strength to humble the heads of those
who resist you? Let the deeds of your ancestors encourage you and
incite your minds to manly achievements:-the glory and greatness of

King Charlemagne, and of his son Louis, and of your other monarchs,
who have destroyed the kingdoms of the Turks and have extended the
sway of the holy Church over lands previously pagan. Let the holy
sepulcher of our Lord and Savior, which is possessed by the unclean
nations, especially arouse you, and the holy places which are now
treated with ignominy and irreverently polluted with the filth of the
unclean. Oh, most valiant soldiers and descendants of invincible
ancestors, do not degenerate, but recall the valor of your progenitors.

But if you are hindered by love of children, parents, or wife, remember
what the Lord says in the Gospel, ‘He that loveth father or mother more
than me is not worthy of me.’ ‘Every one that hath forsaken houses, or
brethren, or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or children, or lands,
for my name’s sake, shall receive an hundredfold, and shall inherit
everlasting life.’ Let none of your possessions retain you, nor solicitude
for your family affairs. For this land which you inhabit, shut in on all
sides by the seas and surrounded by the mountain peaks, is too narrow
for your large population; nor does it abound in wealth; and it furnishes
scarcely food enough for its cultivators. Hence it is that you murder and
devour one another, that you wage war, and that very many among you
perish in intestine strife.

Let hatred therefore depart from among you, let your quarrels end, let
wars cease, and let all dissensions and controversies slumber. Enter
upon the road to the Holy Sepulcher; wrest that land from the wicked
race, and subject it to yourselves. That land which, as the Scripture
says, ‘floweth with milk and honey’ was given by God into the power of
the children of Israel. Jerusalem is the center of the earth; the land is
fruitful above all others, like another paradise of delights. This spot the
Redeemer of mankind has made illustrious by his advent, has beautified
by his sojourn, has consecrated by his passion, has redeemed by his
death, has glorified by his burial.

This royal city, however, situated at the center of the earth, is now held
captive by the enemies of Christ and is subjected, by those who do not
know God, to the worship of the heathen. She seeks, therefore, and
desires to be liberated and ceases not to implore you to come to her
aid. From you especially she asks succor, because, as we have
already said, God has conferred upon you above all other nations great
glory in arms. Accordingly, undertake this journey eagerly for the

remission of your sins, with the assurance of the reward of imperishable
glory in the kingdom of heaven.”

When Pope Urban had urbanely said these and very many similar
things, he so centered in one purpose the desires of all who were
present that all cried out, “It is the will of God! It is the will of
God!” When the venerable Roman pontiff heard that, with eyes uplifted
to heaven, he gave thanks to God and, commanding silence with his
hand, said:

“Most beloved brethren, today is manifest in you what the Lord says in
the Gospel, ‘Where two or three are gathered together in my name,
there am I in the midst of them’; for unless God had been present in
your spirits, all of you would not have uttered the same cry . . .

And we neither command nor advise that the old or feeble, or those
incapable of bearing arms, undertake this journey. Nor ought women to
set out at all without their husbands, or brothers, or legal guardians. For
such are more of a hindrance than aid, more of a burden than an
advantage. Let the rich aid the needy; and according to their wealth let
them take with them experienced soldiers. The priests and other clerks
[e.g., clergy], whether secular or regular, are not to go without the
consent of their bishop; for this journey would profit them nothing if they
went without permission. Also, it is not fitting that laymen should enter
upon the pilgrimage without the blessing of their priests.

Whoever, therefore, shall determine upon this holy pilgrimage, and shall
make his vow to God to that effect, and shall offer himself to him for
sacrifice . . . shall wear the sign of the cross of the Lord on his forehead
or on his breast. When, indeed, he shall return from his journey, having
fulfilled his vow, let him place the cross on his back between his
shoulders. Thus shall ye, indeed, by this twofold action, fulfill the
precept of the Lord . . ..”