Page 148 - Encyclopedia Of World History Vol V

urbanization 1925

decision was made to send an army to rescue Jerusalem
and the Catholic churches in the East from the Muslim Urbanization
Turks. In his sermon at Clermont, Urban II concluded his
remarks with the phrase “Deus vult!” (God wills it!).This rbanization is a process of population concentra-
slogan would later become the battle cry of the crusader. Ution. It involves not merely the increasing numbers,
Urban II’s initiation of the crusade movement is sig- size, and density of urban settlements; it is the source of
nificant in world history. The various crusades provided the new opportunities, attitudes, and lifestyles that trans-
the mechanisms for reopening the trade routes that united form entire societies as they diffuse to smaller places and
the civilizations of Europe and the Orient.Through these rural regions and stimulate the streams of migration that
routes many things flowed: paper, the compass, medi- produce further rounds of urban growth. Urbanization is
cines, spices, crops, cultural advances, and gunpowder. thus not merely a spatial process; it is the vital engine of
The First Crusade was successful in that Jerusalem fell to economic development and cultural change.
the crusaders in 1099. Urban II died on 29 July 1099,
fourteen days after the recapture of Jerusalem by the Classical Beginnings
Christian crusaders. Ironically, the pope’s death occurred There were several independent beginnings. Primary
before news of the event had reached Italy. urban generation occurred in a number of areas widely
Although the First Crusade was a military success, separated in both time and space: lower Mesopotamia at
some of the consequences were not anticipated by the least 5,000 years ago, the Indus valley 4,500 years ago,
Byzantine emperor, Alexus I. Instead of restoring Byz- the north China plain at least 3,000 years ago, Meso-
antine territories to eastern Catholic rule, the Roman america more than 2,500 years ago, the central Andes
Catholic conquerors established four independent Latin and Peruvian coast 2,000 years ago (although recent evi-
kingdoms. In addition, the Hospitallers, Templars, and dence places the age of the pyramids at Caral at 4,600
Teutonic Knights came into power as religious military years), and the Yoruba territories in West Africa and
orders, with the stated purpose of protecting the pilgrims incipiently in Zimbabwe 500 years ago. Diffusion from
and holy sites. already-urbanized societies also stimulated the rise of
The remains of Urban II were interred in the crypt of cities in a number of other areas: Korea and Japan, the
St. Peter’s, close to the tomb of Adrian I. Clearly, without Indian Deccan, southwest Asia and the eastern Mediter-
the efforts of Urban II, most of the Gregorian reforms ranean, and the western Mediterranean and Europe.
would not have succeeded. Urban II was beatified by Whether or not the megalithic complexes of Atlantic
Pope Leo XIII in 1881. Europe served as population concentration nuclei or were
freestanding ceremonial sites four and five millennia ago
H. Micheal Tarver and Carlos E. Márquez
is still a matter of debate.
See also Catholicism, Roman The characteristic sequence of cultural evolution began
with domestication of plants and animals and the emer-
gence of class-based societies, followed by the formation of
military and religious elites who gathered clans into states
Further Reading
and used their power to extract surpluses from village agri-
Coppa, F. J. (1999). Encyclopedia of the Vatican and papacy. Westport,
CT: Greenwood Press. culturalists. In such states there developed hierarchies of
Cowdrey, H. E. J. (2000). Popes and church reform in the 11th century. specialized institutions that exercised authority over terri-
Burlington,VT: Ashgate.
Levillain, P. (2002). The papacy: An encyclopedia. New York: Routledge. tory and maintained order within their populations.At the
Somerville, R. (1972). The councils of Urban II. Amsterdam: Hakkert. core of these states were monumental complexes, the focal