Council of Clermont

The Council of Clermont was a mixed synod of ecclesiastics and laymen of the Catholic Church, which was held from November 18 to November 28, 1095 at Clermont, France. Pope Urban II's speech on November 27 was the starting point of the First Crusade.

In 1095 Byzantine emperor Alexius I Comnenus sent envoys to the west requesting military assistance against the Seljuk Turks. The message was received by Pope Urban II at the Council of Piacenza. Later that year, in November, Urban called the Council of Clermont to discuss the matter further. In convoking the council, Urban urged the bishops and abbots whom he addressed directly, to bring with them the prominent lords in their provinces.

The Council lasted from 18 November to 28 November, and was attended by nearly 300 clerics from throughout France. Urban discussed Cluniac reforms of the Church, and also extended the excommunication of Philip I of France for his adulterous remarriage to Bertrade of Montfort. On November 27, Urban spoke for the first time about the problems in the east. He promoted Western Christians' fight against the Muslims who had occupied the Holy Land and were attacking the Eastern Roman Empire.

Included in measures passed at the Council was the Truce of God, which declared that it was not allowed for Christians to fight one another except on Mondays, Tuesdays, and Wednesdays. This measure was put in place in part to encourage Christians to go fight the enemy in the east instead.

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