Worksheet

One Speech, Two Versions: The Call to Crusade

Grade 7 history: read about feudalism and manor life, then corroborate two medieval accounts of the 1095 speech that launched the First Crusade.

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Format: Interactive · Printable
Grade: Grade 7
Subject: Social Studies
Question types: Fill in the blank, Multiple choice, Matching, Circle the answer, Sorting, Short answer

About this worksheet

What students practice

Students describe the duties that tied kings, nobles, knights and serfs together in feudal Europe.
Students corroborate two accounts of the Council of Clermont and judge which details are most reliable.
Students explain how the Crusades and the Black Death changed medieval society.

How to use

Read the passage first, then have partners read one account each aloud and compare before answering the questions on their own.

Curriculum

C3 Framework standard covered

HIS.7.5

Describe feudalism, manor life, the Crusades and the Black Death in medieval Europe and how they changed society.

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One Speech, Two Versions: The Call to Crusade

Compare two accounts of Pope Urban II's speech and connect them to feudal Europe.

Feudal Europe

Read the passage. Then answer the questions.

Lords, Knights and a Call to the East

1After the Western Roman Empire fell, much of Europe had no strong central government, and raiders such as the Vikings attacked many coasts and rivers. Over time a system historians call feudalism grew up. A king granted land, called a fief, to a noble. In return the noble became his vassal, swore loyalty and promised to bring soldiers when the king called. Nobles in turn granted land to knights, who fought on horseback for their lords.

2Most people were peasants who lived on manors, farming estates run by a lord. Many were serfs. Serfs could not leave the manor without the lord's permission, worked his fields several days each week and gave him part of their own crops. In return they received a strip of land to farm and the protection of the lord's soldiers. A manor grew most of its own food and made most of its own cloth and tools, so its people bought little from outside.

3By the late 1000s, knights often fought one another in private wars, and church leaders tried to limit the violence. In the east, the Seljuk Turks, who were Muslims, defeated the Byzantine army in 1071 and took much of Anatolia. They also held Jerusalem, a city holy to Christians, Muslims and Jews. The Byzantine emperor Alexius I asked the pope to send soldiers.

4In November 1095, at a church council in Clermont, France, Pope Urban II called on Christians to march east. Thousands answered, including many peasants as well as knights. In 1099 the crusaders captured Jerusalem after a siege in which many of the city's Muslim and Jewish people were killed. Muslim writers such as Ibn al-Qalanisi of Damascus called the crusaders Franks and described them as invaders. Later Crusades went on for almost two centuries, until the last crusader city, Acre, fell in 1291.

5The Crusades brought changes at home. Italian port cities such as Venice and Genoa grew rich carrying crusaders and goods, and spices, sugar and silk became more common in European markets. Many nobles sold land to pay for the journey, and many never returned. Towns grew as trade grew. Then in 1347 the Black Death reached Europe and killed perhaps a third of its people, leaving manors short of workers.

Draw a line from each person to what he owed in the feudal system.

A noble who holds a fief from the king
A serf on a manor
A knight who holds land from a noble

A. Service on horseback in his lord's battles
B. Work on the lord's fields and part of his own crops
C. Loyalty and soldiers whenever the king called

Based on paragraphs 1 and 2, why might a peasant family in the 900s have accepted the hard duties of a serf?

A. Serfs got land to farm and protection from raids.
B. Serfs earned high wages they could save to buy land.
C. Serfs elected the lord and could replace him.
D. Serfs could move to a new manor whenever they chose.

Compare paragraph 2 with paragraph 5. Which change in how Europeans lived does the passage show?

A. More goods were bought and sold as towns and trade grew.
B. Most serfs were freed as soon as the Crusades began.
C. Knights stopped holding land in return for service.
D. Manors began to make more of their own cloth and tools.

Two accounts of Clermont

No one wrote down Urban's speech word for word while he spoke. Read two later accounts of it, adapted from English translations, and answer.

Account 1: Fulcher of Chartres
A French priest who was probably at Clermont and later went on the crusade himself. He wrote this part of his history around 1101, after Jerusalem had been captured.
"Your brothers who live in the East urgently need your help. The Turks have attacked them and conquered more and more of the lands of the Christians. I, or rather the Lord, urge you to persuade people of every rank, knights and foot soldiers, rich and poor, to hurry to help them. Let those who have been fighting against their own brothers and relatives now fight against the enemy. All who die on the way will have their sins forgiven."

Account 2: Robert the Monk
A French monk who said he was at Clermont. He wrote his history around 1107, when an abbot asked him to retell the story of the crusade.
"Jerusalem, the center of the world, is held captive by its enemies. Do not let your property or your families hold you back. This land you live in is crowded by your great numbers. It has little wealth and barely feeds those who farm it. That is why you quarrel and fight one another. Let your quarrels end. Take the road to the Holy Sepulchre for the forgiveness of your sins, take that land from the enemy and keep it for yourselves." When he finished, Robert writes, the crowd shouted together, "God wills it!"

Sort each idea by the account or accounts that include it.

Fellow Christians living in the East are under attack and need help.Jerusalem is held by enemies.Those who go will be forgiven their sins.The land at home is too crowded to feed its people.Christians at home should stop fighting each other.The crowd shouted "God wills it!"

Only Fulcher	Only Robert	Both accounts

Which part of Urban's message can historians be most confident about, and why?

A. The talk of Jerusalem, since the crusaders later captured it
B. The crowded land, since Robert wrote the longer account
C. The promise of forgiveness, since both accounts include it
D. The shout of the crowd, since it is the most memorable detail

Which account is more likely to be closer to Urban's actual words?

A. Robert's, since he knew how the whole crusade turned out
B. Fulcher's, since he wrote his account sooner after the council
C. Fulcher's, since he wrote it before the crusaders reached Jerusalem
D. Robert's, since a monk would remember a speech better than a priest

Underline the sentence from Account 1 that best connects to the request from Emperor Alexius I in paragraph 3.

Your brothers who live in the East urgently need your help.Let those who have been fighting against their own brothers and relatives now fight against the enemy.All who die on the way will have their sins forgiven.

Using paragraph 1, why might Robert's words about a crowded land with little wealth appeal to many knights?

A. Knights were paid by the pope, not by their lords.
B. Knights had already been promised land by the Turks.
C. Knights were serfs who wanted to leave their manors.
D. Knights lived on land granted by lords and hoped to win more.

Fulcher describes the crusaders as helpers of fellow Christians, while Ibn al-Qalanisi describes them as invaders. What best explains the difference?

A. One of them had never learned to read or write.
B. Each wrote from his own community's point of view.
C. They described two different groups of people.
D. One of them lived long after the Crusades ended.

10.

Robert wrote his account about years after the Council of Clermont.

11.

Claim: People answered Urban's call for worldly reasons as well as religious ones. Support or challenge this claim with evidence from both accounts and from the passage, and explain your reasoning.