When Pope Urban II “imposed the obligation” of “undertaking a military enterprise” to liberate the Holy Land, her churches and her peoples from the “abominable slavery” which they had been placed in by the Turks upon the Catholic peoples of Western Europe, he may not have fully understood the puissant effect he would make on the history of the world and the lives of thousands. Through his letters such as this one, written in December of 1095 to the people of Flanders, and his speeches such as that which was given at the Council of Clermont in Auvergne in November 1095, Pope Urban II can claim near sole credit for instigating and catalysing the First Crusade. Through his carefully chosen words and promises of spiritual remission for all those …show more content…
Among the twelfth century advocates of religious reform who levelled their attacks on the worldly commitments and wealth of the Church, none were more extreme than Arnold. His firm beliefs and record of acting on them attracted a religious following in the form of an order known as Arnoldists, the larger movement being called Arnoldism, condemned by the Church in 1184. The core tenet of this group, described by John of Salisbury as the “heretical sect of the Lombards”, was that no cleric, from the Pope down, should hold temporal power or own property - to do so invalidated all efficacy of sacraments performed which depended on the moral worthiness of the ministrant. Arnold’s strength in conviction of apostolic poverty, total poverty in imitation of the apostles, and scorn for those who did not share the same beliefs, led to Arnold taking some very strong public stances which, during his lifetime, was quite bold. John records some of the attacks in his writing, such as Arnold comparing that the college of the cardinals was “not the church of God, but a place of business and a den of thieves”, furthermore comparing them to the “scribes and Pharisees” of biblical