Pope Urban II's call to crusade
Lesson details
Learning outcome
I can explain why Urban II encouraged Christians to go on crusade.
Key learning points
- Pope Urban II led the Roman Church in the late 11th century.
- Urban II faced a number of challenges whilst he was pope.
- Urban II called a Church council to Clermont in 1095, partly to discuss the Seljuk invasion into the Byzantine Empire.
- Urban II called upon Western European Christians to go on crusade against the Seljuk Empire.
- Many people were eager to go on crusade.
Keywords
Pope - the pope is the head of the Catholic Church
Church - the Church is the organisation of the Christian religion
Crusade - a crusade is a military expedition against a group considered by the papacy to be an enemy of the Church
Common misconception
Records of speeches from previous time periods are accurate representations of what these people actually said.
Accurate recording of speeches was not a priority for many historians or record keepers up until fairly recently. It was seen as acceptable to put words into the mouths of past people based on what happened after or to reflect present sensibilities.
Teacher tip
Give students different versions of Urban's speech and ask them to look for similarities and differences between them. Students can then assess what they think Urban might have actually said in his speech.
Content guidance
Depiction or discussion of sensitive content
Depiction or discussion of violence or suffering
Supervision
Adult supervision recommended
Licence
Lesson video
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Prior knowledge starter quiz
6 Questions
Q1.Who was excommunicated after disagreeing with the Pope about who should appoint the next bishop of Milan?
Q2.The action of officially excluding someone from participation in the sacraments and services of the Christian Church is known as ...
Q3.Which Roman emperor declared that Christianity was to be granted the status of an acceptable religion in the Roman Empire in 313 CE?
Q4.What was the name of the kingdom carved out for the pope in central Italy in 754 CE?
Q5.This keyword is the organisation of the Christian religion.
Q6.Starting with the most important, sort the following in the order of hierarchy in the Catholic Church.
Assessment exit quiz
6 Questions
Q1.A military expedition against a group considered by the papacy to be an enemy of the Church is known as a .
Q2.Select the problems that Pope Urban II had to deal with when he became pope.
Q3.Who did the Byzantine Empire ask Pope Urban II for help fighting against in 1095?
Q4.In which of the following areas did Pope Urban II called for a crusade?
Q5.What happened on the final day of the council in Clermont in November 1095?
Q6.How did thousands of people in Western Europe respond to the pope's call for crusade in 1095?
To help you plan your 7 history lesson on: Pope Urban II's call to crusade, download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs...
To help you plan your 7 history lesson on: Pope Urban II's call to crusade, download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs.
The starter quiz will activate and check your pupils' prior knowledge, with versions available both with and without answers in PDF format.
We use learning cycles to break down learning into key concepts or ideas linked to the learning outcome. Each learning cycle features explanations with checks for understanding and practice tasks with feedback. All of this is found in our slide decks, ready for you to download and edit. The practice tasks are also available as printable worksheets and some lessons have additional materials with extra material you might need for teaching the lesson.
The assessment exit quiz will test your pupils' understanding of the key learning points.
Our video is a tool for planning, showing how other teachers might teach the lesson, offering helpful tips, modelled explanations and inspiration for your own delivery in the classroom. Plus, you can set it as homework or revision for pupils and keep their learning on track by sharing an online pupil version of this lesson.
Explore more key stage 3 history lessons from the The Crusades: did Europeans go on crusade to capture the 'holy land'? unit, dive into the full secondary history curriculum, or learn more about lesson planning.