The Call for a Crusade
Pope Urban II at Clermont
Council of Clermont, 27 November 1095
Robert the Monk
• Chronicler of the First Crusade
• Did not participate in the expedition
• Rewrote the Gesta Francorum at the request
of his abbot, who was appalled at the 'rustic'
style of the Gesta.
• NB: The Gesta was an anonymous chronicle
written around 1101 by somebody associated
with a Crusade leader, Bohemond of Antioch
Pope Urban II
• Pope: 1088 – 1099
• Faced competition from
a rival pope, Clement III
– installed and backed
by Henry IV
• Was unable to enter
Rome for much of his
reign
Clermont/
The Holy
Roman Empire
Alexios Komnenos
Byzantine Emperor (1081 – 1118)
Byzantine Empire (600 AD)
Byzantine Empire and the Arab Caliphate
(650 A.D.)
Byzantine Empire
(immediately prior to the First Crusade)