Some historians think that he had sketched out most of the details before starting his tour, right down to the crusaders’ adoption of the sign of the cross.
Urban had certainly planned his enterprise in advance, having discussed it with some of France’s most powerful magnates. Yet the nuances of this extraordinary historical moment remain shrouded in mystery, and even Fulcher’s account of Urban’s words – one of six versions written by various chroniclers, most much later – only tells part of the story. Urban’s address at the Council of Clermont, the moment that triggered the First Crusade, has gone down as perhaps the most influential speech in history.
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