Peter the Hermit | Page 9

thousand ecclesiastics, thirty thousand of the laity
came to the Council which had to meet, on account of its size, outside
the city wall.

[Sidenote: Ambassadors of Alexius Humble]
The tone of the Eastern emperors had long been so haughty that the
presence of their ambassadors at a Latin Council was a sufficient proof
of their humiliation. The pope seconded their requests and prayers with
all the force of speech and authority; yet the Council concluded nothing.
It seems probable that the astute pope passed the word that no
conclusion should be formulated, as he was not yet ready to indicate all
that was in his mind. It may well be that the danger to Constantinople
was not yet so evident to Alexius and to all as to indicate the hour for
absolute submission to the Roman authority.
[Sidenote: Italy not yet Roused]
[Sidenote: Opening of the Council]
It is more probable, however, that Urban could not yet command Italian
aid and unity. Commerce had so developed that religion, where it
interfered with it, could not command undivided allegiance. The
Italians, too, were near enough to know the limitations of Urban's
power, his failures and disgraces, and could not be summoned to action
as successfully as those who were farther away from knowledge of the
weakness of the papal grip. So the second Council met at Clermont in
Auvergne, and was equally weighty in the numbers attending and the
authority represented. "The cities and villages of the neighborhood
were so filled that tents and pavilions were erected in the meadows,
although the weather was very cold."[4]
Various matters of Church and social discipline were first considered
and determined. The purposed delay in reaching the real object of the
Council seemed to whet the appetites for the consideration of the
wrongs of the East. Enthusiasm grew to fanaticism, and a grand and
universal impatience of other topics finally brought the greater matter
before the body.
[Sidenote: Artful Delay]
The opening of the subject was had in the great square before the

cathedral. A throne had been prepared there for the pope, who
approached it followed by his cardinals and accompanied by Peter the
Hermit in the garb now known to the Christian world everywhere.
[Sidenote: Describes Sufferings of Christians]
Peter was put forward to speak first. His countenance was cast down
with humiliation, and his voice expressed his inward agony as he told
what he had seen of the sufferings of Christians at the scene of the
world's redemption. He told how they had been chained, beaten,
harnessed like brutes; how their bread had been taken away; how they
had been compelled to pay from the poverty of the pilgrim's wallet for
approach to the sacred shrines; how Christian ministers had, like their
Lord, known the rod, and met their death.
It is not needful to suppose that the growth of Peter's emotion, as he
told this tale of horrors, was simulated. In the cooler blood of to-day
the narrative stirs a sluggish heart. He ceased to speak because choked
with sobs.
[Sidenote: Urban's Great Speech]
The speech of Urban, who followed Peter, was one of the greatest ever
spoken in its effect on the history of the world. Delivered undoubtedly
in French, it survives only in ecclesiastical Latin. He was in France. He
wished to stir the French. He could not have moved them through an
interpreter as he moved them in his own tongue and theirs. He began in
the language of compliment.
[Sidenote: Urban Compliments Franks]
[Sidenote: Describes Desecration of Palestine]
"Nation beloved of God, it is in your courage that the Christian world
has placed its hope. Because I am well acquainted with your piety and
your bravery, I have crossed the Alps to preach to you.... You have not
forgotten that but for the exploits of Charles Martel and Charlemagne
France would have been under the rule of Mahomet.... Your fathers

saved the West from slavery. More noble triumphs await you. Under
the guidance of the God of Armies you will deliver Europe and Asia,
you will rescue the City of Jesus Christ from whence the Lord has
come to us. Whose soul does not melt? Whose bowels are not stirred
with shame and sorrow? The holy place has become not only a den of
thieves, but the dwelling place of devils. Even the Church of the Holy
Sepulcher has become a stable for cattle. Men have been massacred and
women ravished within those blessed walls. European Christians are
warring on each other when they ought to be rescuing their brethren
from the yoke, and from the unbeliever's sword."
[Sidenote: Offers Rewards for Crusading]
[Sidenote: Pathetic Closing]
[Sidenote: Further Appeals]
He appealed to every passion by captivating prophecies. "The wealth of
the unbelievers shall be yours. You shall plunder