All versions, except that in the Gesta Francorum, generally agree that Urban talked about the violence of European society and the necessity of maintaining the Peace of God; about helping the Greeks, who had asked for assistance; about the crimes being committed against Christians in the east; and about a new kind of war, an armed pilgrimage, and of rewards in heaven, where remission of sins was offered to any who might die in the undertaking.
Christopher Tyerman v svojo tezo vključuje oba argumenta: križarska vojna se je razvila iz cerkvene reforme in teorij o sveti vojni, bila pa je tudi odziv na konflikt krščanske Evrope z islamskim svetom na Bližnjem vzhodu.