Pope Urban II

Gird yourselves, everyone of you, I say, and be valiant sons; for it is better for you to die in battle than to behold, the sorrows of your race and of your holy places. Let neither property nor the alluring charms of your wives entice you frol going; nor let the trials that are to be borne so deter you that you remain here.

But if you are hindered by love of children, parents, or of wife, remember what the Lord says in the Gospel, 'He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me', 'Every one that hath forsaken houses, or brethren, or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or children, or lands, for my name's sake, shall receive an hundredfold, and shall inherit everlasting life.'

But if you are hindered by love of children, parents, or of wife, remember what the Lord says in the Gospel, 'He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me', 'Every one that hath forsaken houses, or brethren, or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or children, or lands, for my name's sake, shall receive an hundredfold, and shall inherit everlasting life.'

Deus vult! (God wills it!)

Let those who have been accustomed unjustly to wage private warfare against the faithful now go against the infidels and end with victory this war which should have been begun long ago.

The land which you inhabit is too narrow for your large population; it scarcely furnishes food enough for its cultivators. Hence it is that you murder and devour one another.

Let none of your possessions detain you, no solicitude for your family affairs, since this land which you inhabit is everywhere shut in by the sea and surrounded by mountain peaks.

If you must have blood, bathe in the blood of the infidels.

The Turks, a race of Persians, have taken the Holy Land; they circumcise Christians and pour the blood from the circumcision on the altars or into baptismal fonts.

You are called shepherds; see that you do not act as hirelings.

The way to the Holy Sepulchre is now open, a way which was closed before.

Let those who go not put off the journey, but rent their lands and collect money for their expenses.

Whoever shall set out on this journey out of devotion alone, and not for gain or honor, shall be absolved from all sin.

Let those who have been accustomed unjustly to wage private warfare against the faithful now go against the infidels and end with victory this war which should have been begun long ago. Let those who for a long time, have been robbers, now become knights.

You should shudder, brethren, you should shudder at raising a violent hand against Christians; it is less wicked to brandish your sword against Saracens [Muslims]. It is the only warfare that is righteous, for it is charity to risk your life for your brothers.

Oh, race of Franks, race from across the mountains, race chosen and beloved by God as shines forth in very many of your works... We wish you to know what a grievous cause has led us to your country, what peril threatening you and all the faithful has brought us.

From the confines of Jerusalem and the city of Constantinople a horrible tale has gone forth and very frequently has been brought to our ears, namely, that a race from the kingdom of the Persians, an accursed race, a race utterly alienated from God, a generation forsooth which has not directed its heart and has not entrusted its spirit to God, has invaded the lands of those Christians and has depopulated them by the sword, pillage and fire.

They destroy the altars, after having defiled them with their uncleanness. They circumcise the Christians, and the blood of the circumcision they either spread upon the altars or pour into the vases of the baptismal font.

When they wish to torture people by a base death, they perforate their navels, and dragging forth the extremity of the intestines, bind it to a stake; then with flogging they lead the victim around until the viscera having gushed forth the victim falls prostrate upon the ground. Others they bind to a post and pierce with arrows. Others they compel to extend their necks and then, attacking them with naked swords, attempt to cut through the neck with a single blow.

What shall I say of the abominable rape of the women? To speak of it is worse than to be silent.