The crusade vow (also crusading vow or crusader vow) was a solemn promise to God made before a representative of the Catholic Church legally binding oneself to undertake a crusade. The vow and its attendant privileges were among the defining features of a crusade, along with crusade indulgences.
The act of making a crusader's vow was often referred to as "taking the cross", since it was normal to sew a cross onto one's garments, a practice that began with the First Crusade in 1095.
The Crusade of 1101, also known as the Crusade of the Faint-Hearted, was launched in the aftermath of the First Crusade with calls for reinforcements from the newly established Kingdom of Jerusalem and to rescue the famous Bohemond of Taranto from Muslim captivity. Pope Paschal II, successor to Urban II (who died before learning of the outcome of the crusade that he had called), urged a new expedition. He especially urged those who had taken the crusade vow but had never departed and those who had turned back while on the march. The crusade was a resounding defeat of the West by the Seljuk Turks.
The Crusading movement was a major religious, political and military endeavour of the Middle Agesâbegan in 1095 when Pope Urban II, at the Council of Clermont, proclaimed the First Crusade to liberate Eastern Christians from Muslim rule. He framed it as a form of penitential pilgrimage, offering spiritual rewards. By then, papal authority in Western Christendom had grown through church reforms, and tensions with secular rulers encouraged the notion of holy warâcombining classical just war theory, biblical precedents, and Augustine's teachings on legitimate violence. Armed pilgrimage aligned with the era's Christocentric and militant Catholicism, sparking widespread enthusiasm. Western expansion was further enabled by economic growth, the decline of older Mediterranean powers, and Muslim disunity. These factors allowed crusaders to seize territory and found four Crusader states. Their defence inspired successive Crusades, and the papacy extended spiritual privileges to campaigns against other targetsâMuslims in Iberia, pagans in the Baltic, and other opponents of papal authority.
The Crusades fostered distinctive institutions and ideologies, having a great impact on medieval Europe and the Mediterranean. Though aimed primarily at the warrior elite through appeals to chivalric ideals, they depended on broad support from clergy, townspeople, and peasants. Women, despite being discouraged, were involved as participants, proxies for absent crusaders, or victims. Although many crusaders were motivated by indulgences (remission of sins), material gain also played a part. Crusades were typically initiated through papal bulls, with participants pledging to join by "taking the cross"âsewing a cross onto their garments. Failure to fulfil vows could result in excommunication. Periodic waves of zeal produced unsanctioned "popular crusades".
The Crusading movement was a major religious, political, and military endeavour of the Middle Ages, traditionally dated from 1095, when Pope Urban II, at the Council of Clermont, proclaimed an armed expedition by Western Christendom in support of Eastern Christians under Muslim rule. He framed it as a form of penitential pilgrimage, offering spiritual rewards. By then, papal authority had grown through church reforms, and tensions with secular rulers encouraged the notion of holy warâcombining classical just war theory, biblical precedents, and Augustine's teachings on legitimate violence. Armed pilgrimage aligned with the era's Christocentric and militant Catholicism, sparking widespread enthusiasm. Western expansion was further enabled by economic growth, the decline of older Mediterranean powers, and Muslim disunity. These factors allowed crusaders to seize territory and found four Crusader states. Their defence inspired successive Crusades, and the papacy extended spiritual privileges to campaigns against other targetsâMuslims in Iberia, pagans in the Baltic, and other opponents of papal authority.
The papal-sanctioned wars fostered distinctive institutions and ideologies, having a great impact on medieval Europe and the Mediterranean. Though aimed primarily at the warrior elite through appeals to chivalric ideals, they depended on broad support from clergy, townspeople, and peasants. Women, despite being discouraged, were involved as participants, proxies for absent crusaders, or victims. Although many crusaders were motivated by indulgences (remission of sins), material gain also played a part. Crusading campaigns were typically initiated through papal bulls, with participants pledging to join by "taking the cross"âsewing a cross onto their garments. Failure to fulfil vows could result in excommunication. Periodic waves of zeal produced unsanctioned "popular crusades".