The lord Pope went into the plains in Clermont and spoke to a congregation there. His speech served to insight and implore upon the Christians to take up arms and engage in a holy war with the Persians. The Pope did not mince his words in getting his message across. Further, he said that it was the will of God that the Christians go to war to rescue their counterparts in Jerusalem. This essay will focus on what the Lord Pope said that would move the Christians to engage in the said war.
At the beginning of his speech, the lord pope made the Christians aware of the imminent danger that was about to befall them. He informed them of the tragedy that had befallen their brothers and sisters-in -Christ in Jerusalem in the City of Constantinople. A race from the Persian Kingdom had attacked the city and depopulated it by pillage and fire. The people who did not die as a result were taken as captives by this ungodly race. This statement was arousing anger within the Christians of a race that was cursed by God to take over the faithful’s land.
The Persians had allegedly destroyed the churches or appropriated them for their own religion. The pope claimed that the Persians had defiled alters in the churches with their uncleanliness and then went ahead to destroy them. These statements were meant to infuriate the Christians and incite them into going to war with the kingdom that had taken over the Greek territory. It was meant to re-awaken that bond that binds all the Christians together and make them rise against their oppressors. The pope also informed the Christians that a huge chunk of the Greek territory had been annexed by the territory. He described the chunk as being so huge that it would take two months to transverse it.
The Essay on The Second Greco-Persian War and the Survival of Western Civilization
The second invasion of Greece occurred during 480-479 BC when King Xerxes I of Persia set out to conquer the Greek lands for his own. This invasion was nearly in direct response to the first invasion of Greece which occurred during 492-490 BC in which King Darius I, King Xerxes I’s father, sought to conquer the Greek lands but failed. These wars, especially the second Greek and Persian war (Greco- ...
The lord Pope appealed to the gathering to take up arms and rescue their brothers in Jerusalem. He went to great lengths to explain the kind of Gifts they would receive from the Lord for rescuing their fellow Christians from bondage. He promised them external life and remission of all their sins. He informed them that their sacrifices in leaving their loved ones behind to undertake the holy war would be compensated for by the Lord with external life and abundance (Fordham.edu)
The pope begged the Christians of Clermont to put aside their personal differences and unite against the common enemy that was the Persian race. He promised redemption even to the most wicked of them. It was like they were getting a second chance to make right things with their Lord. He called upon the low wage mercenaries to stop their trade and start killing in the name of the Lord.
He then went ahead to explain that the lord had chosen them for this undertaking. He pointed out their strength in arms and machinery. He made them feel that they were made for that purpose and they were the only hope for Jerusalem. This made them feel important and they started chanting that indeed “it was the Will of the Lord”
The speech that the pope gave that day was very touching and insightful. It appealed to all those who believed in the Lord to stop everything they were doing to engage in a holy war. The Persians in this case were the enemy that had to be expunged by all means. To give his argument weight, the pope claimed that God himself wanted the Holy war to be fought and would reward those who helped his children in Jerusalem abundantly.
Reference
Fordham.edu,. ‘Medieval Sourcebook: Urban II: Speech At Clermont 1095 (Robert The Monk Version)’. N. p., 2014. Web. 1 Jul. 2014.
The Essay on Pope John Paul 2 The Great Pope
... to Our Lord and in the total confidence in His mother, the most holy Madonna'. The Pope saw himself ... of the Jewish people, the Western Wall in Jerusalem. These acts paid homage to the victims of ... priests from neighbouring Czechoslovakia. In 1958 the Pope was made auxiliary Bishop of Krakow. In 1964 he ... Seminary in Krakow re-opened after the war the Pope continued his studies and he was ordained ...
