“The Church had introduced the Peace and Truce of God, using spiritual sanctions to limit the violence that was endemic in Europe. This first real effort at civilising European society using non-violent means was initially proclaimed in 989 and persisted in one form or another until the thirteenth century. Pope Urban II (Pope 1088–99) conceived of another way to stop Christian killing Christian. He decided to direct the violence of European society on to another target – the Saracens. In Novembe...r 1095, he crossed the Alps to give what has been described as one of the most important speeches in European history, at the Council of Clermont, a synod of churchmen and laymen. He had called the synod to discuss a plea he had received from the Byzantine Emperor, Alexius I Komnenos (ruled 1081–1118), for military assistance against the new threat of the Seljuk Turks who were attacking Byzantium from the east. The Turks had initially plundered the Arab world, taking first Baghdad and then, in 1071, Jerusalem.MoreLessRead More Read Less
Read book A Short History of Europe: From Charlemagne to the Treaty of Europe for free
You can download books for free in various formats, such as epub, pdf, azw, mobi, txt and others on book networks site. Additionally, the entire text is available for online reading through our e-reader. Our site is not responsible for the performance of third-party products (sites).
User Reviews: