Urban II

(c. 1035 - 1099)

Born in the Champagne region of France, Odo of Lagery, a protégé of the reformer Pope Gregory VII, served as cardinal and bishop of Ostia before he became Pope Urban II in 1088. When the Turks banned Christians from entering Jerusalem, he saw an opportunity to strengthen his influence and sought to unite Christian Europe in his name. Though his project ultimately failed, he made one of the most influential speeches of the Middle Ages when he incited the Crusades with the declaration “God wills it.”