Extra Credit 9: Points of Note from Pope Urbans Speech

Name:
Instructor:
Institution:
Speech
Date:
Points of Note from Pope Urban’s Speech.
Pope Urban’s speech at Clermont is one of the most influential speeches ever. It goes toe to toe with other famous speeches such as the one done by Adolf Hitler during the Second World War and that of Martin Luther King. It is a speech that brings to the fore just what a deadly combination it can be, when religious fanaticism meets religious propaganda. His call arose from the request of the Roman Emperor to save the Greek and Palestine regions from the grip of the Turkish Muslims, who were considered the enemies of Christianity. There are various things that are notable from the speech.
The speech is a call to war, more like a call to religious war, the first one ever made. The Pope knows very well that he is the head of the Christian religion by then. He knows that he wields absolute power over everyone, including the Emperor. It is somehow extreme that the Pope, in this speech, tries to elevate himself to the same level as that of Jesus Christ, or even God, when he says that those who come with any deformity contrary to religious law, ‘…with divine help, I will do my best to remove it…’(Fulcher of Chatres).
The Pope makes a rallying call to all the Christians from the West to go to the aid of those in the East, but falls just short of openly calling for war. According to the version by Robert Monk, 25 years later, the Pope calls upon the Franks and all the western Christians to rally against the Persians and other Arabs occupying Jerusalem and Istanbul, calling them ‘…an accursed race, a race utterly alienated from God….’ (Robert Monk).It is quite interesting to note that I the speech, the Pope cleverly avoids making it a clear call to battle, but subtly pushes the audience to purge it (Claire).