Council of Clermont

A church council held in Clermont in 1095 where Pope Urban II urged Western Christians to aid the Byzantine Empire and undertake an armed pilgrimage to Jerusalem.

Pope Urban II: Pope from 1088 to 1099 who called for the First Crusade at Clermont in 1095. He presided over the council and delivered its call for an expedition.
Urban II's speech at Clermont: The sermon attributed to Pope Urban II at Clermont in 1095, urging an armed expedition to the East. The council’s most consequential act was the appeal preserved in accounts of this speech.
Fulcher of Chartres: A priest and chronicler who accompanied the First Crusade and wrote an account of its events. His chronicle records a version of Urban’s appeal at Clermont.
Crusade: A medieval expedition authorized by the papacy and associated with spiritual privileges for its participants. The council helped establish the movement later grouped under this broader term.
Alexios I Komnenos: Byzantine emperor from 1081 to 1118 who sought Western military aid against Turkish expansion. His appeal for aid helped prompt Urban II’s initiative.
Council of Piacenza: A church council held in 1095 where Byzantine envoys sought Western military assistance. Its appeal preceded Clermont and helped set Urban’s crusading initiative in motion.
Robert the Monk: A Benedictine monk who wrote a widely influential account of the First Crusade in the early twelfth century. His vivid retelling became a major source for the council’s remembered speech.
People's Crusade: An informal 1096 expedition of largely non-noble followers that preceded the main First Crusade armies. It followed the call but differed from the organized armies led by nobles.
Byzantine Empire: The medieval continuation of the Roman Empire, centered on Constantinople and governed by Greek-speaking Christians. The eastern Christian empire the proposed expedition was meant to assist.
Indulgence: A remission of temporal punishment for sins granted by church authority under specified conditions. Urban offered spiritual benefits to those who joined the expedition.

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