Alexius, to his consternation, found the whole of the West on the march – toward him, toward Constantinople. Thousands upon thousand would set of for Jerusalem – most horseless with no ability to fight (for an overview of the make-up of this bunch, covering both glory and warts, see here). The heroic labour of buttressing the world against Antichrist, and of preparing for that dreadful hour of judgement. For any who cared to be spotless before God, this was an unparalleled opportunity.Ī whole new road to the City of God has suddenly opened up before the Christian people. Little did Urban expect that his call would be heeded not merely by fighters on horseback the crowds would shout “ Deus vult”: God wills it. All to fight an enemy that had already brought Constantinople to the brink. Jerusalem: a city with no strategic or military significance to take on such a journey would require five times the annual income of the average lord. “If any man sets out from pure devotion, not for reputation or monetary gain, to liberate the Church of God at Jerusalem, his journey shall be reckoned in place of all penance.” Which brings us to Clermont on 27 November, Urban would address the crowd of a few hundred in an open field with a message that would soon ring through Western Christendom: Let’s you and him fight! While this wasn’t the message brought to Urban, it certainly was on the mind of the Eastern emperor. He must go on the offensive a second Manzikert would be the end of the Church in the East.Īnd so it was, looking around for reinforcements that might offer him a reasonable prospect of success, while also remaining safely expendable, that Alexius’s gaze had turned towards the West. At Piacenza he would meet with diplomats from Constantinople, with a message from the Basileus, Alexius Comnenus.įinding the Turks engaged in infighting, Alexius thought the opportunity had come to capitalize on their squabbling. The year was 1095 the location of the assembly was the ancient town of Clermont in Auvergne.Īnd then there was the assembly that preceded this – Piacenza, just south of Milan and from which he traveled onward to France. This would be Pope Urban II, otherwise known as Odo of Châtillon. A month after his dedication of the major ecclesia, and Urban was presiding over his second council of the year: an even larger assembly of reform-minded bishops and abbots than Piacenza had seen.
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