The History of the Crusades (vol. 2 of 3)Michaud, J. Fr. (Joseph Fr.)
History
The History of the Crusades (vol. 2 of 3)
Michaud, J. Fr. (Joseph Fr.)
Crusades
After having condemned the new errors, and pronounced the anathemas
of the Church against all who strayed from the way of the faith, the
pontiff and the fathers of the council gave their attention to the
Christians of the East, and the means of promptly succouring the
Holy Land. All the dispositions expressed in the bull of convocation
were confirmed; it was decreed that all ecclesiastics should pay the
twentieth of their revenues towards the expenses of the crusade; that
the pope and the cardinals should pay the tenth of theirs, and that
there should be a truce of four years among all Christian princes.
The council launched the thunders of excommunication against all
princes that should molest the march of pilgrims, and against all
that should furnish infidels with provisions or arms: the sovereign
pontiff promised to direct the preparations for the war, to contribute
three thousand silver marks and to supply, at his own expense, several
vessels for the transport of the Crusaders.
The decisions of the council and the speeches of the pope made a
profound impression upon the minds of the western Christians. All the
preachers of the holy war were formally directed to recall the faithful
to a sense of penitence, and to prohibit dances, tournaments, and
public sports; to reform morals and to revive in all hearts the love
of religion and virtue. They were commanded, after the example of the
sovereign pontiff, to make the complaints of Jerusalem resound in the
palaces of princes; and to earnestly solicit monarchs and nobles to
assume the cross, so that the people might be induced to do so likewise.
The decrees concerning the holy wars were published in all the churches
of the West; in several provinces, particularly in the north, of
Europe, the prodigies and miraculous apparitions that had excited
enthusiasm at the period of the first crusades, again became common;
luminous crosses appeared in the heavens, and made the inhabitants of
Cologne and the cities in the vicinity of the Rhine believe that God
favoured the holy enterprise, and that the divine power promised the
defeat and ruin of the infidels to the arms of the Crusaders.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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