Ryan Mynatt Mrs. Benton ENG 090 Argument Essay

Deus Lo Volt For centuries, the cryptic Roman Catholic Church has been the infallible dominion to millions of Christians. This infallibility has rarely been questioned; if one is next to an omnipotent being, who would dare question such authority? The first Crusade is an exceptional topic which was implemented by Pope Urban II. The lay Catholic public believed the Holy Crusades were invoked for mainly religious goals, but in actuality these wars were for the personal gain of the papacy and indemnity of Pope Urban II himself. Beatified Pope Urban II, who was the protegé of Pope Gregory VII, was born into the French aristocracy. He was head of state, next to God, and educated. This groomed his major god complex and intolerance of non-believing heathens. He wanted to expand papal ideology, authority, and leadership to southeastern Europe; and he cunningly executed his plan with a little side of “à la hidden agenda”. One might ask what this cached agenda was? It was, simply, one thing, the expansion of the Roman Catholic Church throughout the known world. And the pedantic Emperor Alexios I would unknowingly play a gargantuan role in this dance of lethal, religious bureaucracy.

One of the first responsibilities Pope Urban II felt implored to take on was healing the schism between the Roman Catholic Church and the Eastern Orthodox Church of the

Byzantine Empire. Alexios I wrote a letter of aid to Pope Urban II asking for help to seize Byzantium back from the Seljuk Turks. The Pope saw this as a reciprocated win: Pope Urban II would be able to send the malicious; murderous; and thieving European knights and peasants to fight on behalf of the Roman Catholic Church. If the knights and peasants did so, they would be resolved of all sins and allowed into Heaven. They were interfering with the Roman Catholic Church, so the Pope was happy to rid Europe of them. The Pope knew he could heal his universal Church by rescuing Byzantium. He knew the endless spoils of a universal church would make him more powerful and rich. After the Roman Catholic Church’s win in the Byzantine Empire, Pope Urban II knew that the recovering of the sacred religious sites of the Holy Lands would be of great use to the Roman Catholic Church. This would allow pilgrimage to these holy sites which would increase income for the church. Pope Urban II saw this as a perfect attempt to subjugate and convert the Muslim and Jewish population; therefore, allowing further taxable subjects, more tithes, and more land. Pope Urban II believed in the concept of “Katholikos”, which is from the Greek term of universal, where the Catholic Church gets its name; the concept means simply universalism. He demonstrated this by his desire and drive to propel the Roman Catholic Church to supremacy in the known world during the pre-renaissance era. The Pope, being a political animal, wanted to unite and control the Church in his favor for his own personal gain, and not for the well-being of his subjects.

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Hartley, B. "Clermont Council." Clermont Council. N.p., n.d. Web. 03 July 2012. . Andrea, Alfred J. Encyclopedia of the Crusades. Westport, CT: Greenwood, 2003.