page_title: Pope Urban II
hierarchical_section_title: Pope Urban II
caption_attribution_description: Deutsch: Denkmal für Urban II. auf der Place de la Victoire in Clermont-Ferrand. Sculptor&#160;: Henri Gourgouillon
context_page_description: Pope Urban II, otherwise known as Odo of Châtillon or Otho de Lagery, was the bishop of Rome and ruler of the Papal States from 12 March 1088 to his death. He is best known for initiating the Crusades.
  Odo was a native of France. He was a descendant of a noble family in Châtillon-sur-Marne. Reims was the nearby cathedral school where Odo began his studies in 1050.
  Before his papacy Odo was the abbot of Cluny and bishop of Ostia. As pope, he dealt with Antipope Clement III, infighting of various Christian nations, and the Muslim incursions into Europe. In 1095 he started preaching the First Crusade. He promised forgiveness and pardon for all of the past sins of those who would fight to reclaim the holy land from Muslims, and free the eastern churches. This pardon would also apply to those that would fight the Muslims in Spain. He also set up the modern-day Roman Curia in the manner of a royal ecclesiastical court to help run the Church.
  Pope Leo XIII beatified him on 14 July 1881.
context_section_description: Pope Urban II (Latin: Urbanus II; c. 1035 – 29 July 1099), otherwise known as Odo of Châtillon or Otho de Lagery, was the bishop of Rome and ruler of the Papal States from 12 March 1088 to his death. He is best known for initiating the Crusades.
  Odo was a native of France. He was a descendant of a noble family in Châtillon-sur-Marne. Reims was the nearby cathedral school where Odo began his studies in 1050.
  Before his papacy Odo was the abbot of Cluny and bishop of Ostia. As pope, he dealt with Antipope Clement III, infighting of various Christian nations, and the Muslim incursions into Europe. In 1095 he started preaching the First Crusade (1095–99). He promised forgiveness and pardon for all of the past sins of those who would fight to reclaim the holy land from Muslims, and free the eastern churches. This pardon would also apply to those that would fight the Muslims in Spain. He also set up the modern-day Roman Curia in the manner of a royal ecclesiastical court to help run the Church.
  Pope Leo XIII beatified him on 14 July 1881.
caption: Statue of Urban II in Clermont-Ferrand, France
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