The Crusades: Pope Urban's Speech

Today the students read and analyzed Pope Urban II's famous speech at Clermont, during which he asked the Europeans to embark on a journey to Jerusalem to reclaim it from the Turks.

Here are some of the responses to my questions about the speech.

In his speech at Clermont, why did Pope Urban II refer to himself as "we" rather than "I"?

Natalie, Seppi, Isabella C., and Jago: The Pope was talking on behalf of all Christians. He was trying to make the Franks feel like a team.

Lisa, Marin, Lia and Sami: He didn't want the people listening to the speech to set him apart from themselves. He wanted the illusion that he is just one of them and that they are all one.

Gardiner, Cole, Dawson, and Leah: The Pope wanted to connect with everyone. The word "we" is more convincing than "I". Also, he was referring to God and himself.

Why might a historian prefer to read the transcript of Pope Urban's speech, rather than reading another historian's book that summarized the speech?

Stewart, Zach, Sam, and Gresh: A historian would rather read the actual speech because he would rather come to his own conclusions. He might also want to read the actual words to see exactly which words prompted the soldiers to go on such violent Crusades.

Lisa, Marin, Lia and Sami: If another historian puts Pope Urban's speech into his own words, the details could be changed. This way, it's more reliable.

Sophie M., Lucas M., Emma and Julia: Pope Urban's speech is more precise, more authentic and more meaningful than just a summary of the speech. [Wow: that is a triple dose of salsa: precise, authentic and meaningful are fantastic vocabulary words!]

Why did Pope Urban include quotes from the Bible in his speech?

Ariana, Rosalie, Bertie, and Alex: The Pope uses quotes from the Bible to motivate the Christians to fight for God, and also to show that there's textual evidence for his arguments.

Sophie M., Lucas M., Emma and Julia: Using the quotes from the Bible cleans up the images and makes it like these words and ideas were from God, rather than just from him.