Pope Urban II: Call to Crusade

Audience

The four authors envision slightly different audiences for Urban’s call to the Crusade. For Fulcher the audience is mainly clerical, for Robert and Guibert it is military, and for Baldric it is a mixture of the two, with each group having a distinct role to play in the coming campaign. Other evidence suggests that Urban addressed a large, primarily clerical audience at Clermont. Attending the council were at least thirteen archbishops, eighty-two bishops, and numerous abbots and other clergy. After speaking at Clermont, Urban went on a long preaching tour, spreading the message of the Crusade through much of France while avoiding areas controlled directly by King Philip I, who had been excommunicated at Clermont for adultery. Urban preached the cross at Limoges in December 1095, at Le Mans in February 1096, and at Nîmes in July 1096. He did not return to Italy until August 1096. By then crusaders were marching to the East.