Pope Blessed Urban II
![[illustration of Blessed Urban II]](saintu05.jpg "illustration of Blessed Pope Urban II, artist unknown, date unknown; if you have information on this image, please email me; please do not write to ask about the image")
- Memorial
- 29 July
- Profile
- Studied at Rheims, France.
Monk and prior at Cluny.
Assistant to Pope Saint Gregory VII, and helped in his reforms.
Bishop of Ostia.
Cardinal.
Papal legate to Germany.
As pope, he continued the reforms in the face of opposition by Holy Roman Emperor Henry IV and his anti-pope Clement III (Guibert of Ravenna); he was unable to move to Rome until 1093 when Clement was removed.
Urban concentrated his efforts in places that recognized him, such as southern Italy, Tuscany and the Lombard cities.
Urban summoned councils of whole populations to advertise and gain popularity for the reforms.
There were councils at Piacenza (1095), Clermont (1095), Rome (1097 and 1099), and Bari (1098).
At Clermont, Urban preached a sermon that started the First Crusade.
Urban condemned King Philip I of France over Philip's repudiation of his wife.
Without Urban's work, most of Gregory's reforms would have been vanished.
- Born
- c.1042 as Odo (or Eudes) of Lagery
- Papal Ascension
- 1088
- Died
- 1099
- Beatified
- 1881
- Canonized
- pending
