'He that does not carry his cross and come after me is not worthy of me': The evolution of Christo-mimesis in Iberian crusading rhetoric (c. 1095--1187)

This project explores uses of Christo-mimetic crusading rhetoric by the papacy and Iberian authors from 1095 until the fall of Jerusalem (1187). Starting with Urban II's (1088–99) address at the Council of Clermont (1095), the papacy upheld that salvific warfare served as a genuine emulation of Christ. But, beginning with the election of Eugenius III (1145–53), the nature of papal crusading rhetoric changed as he strove to pluralize the number of acceptable crusading theaters by deemphasizing Christo-mimesis in his calls to arms. In so doing, he directed crusaders not to fight their way to the earthly Jerusalem, but to the heavenly one. However, Iberian writers appropriated only those rhetorical elements they deemed most useful for propagating armed pilgrimage on the peninsula. As such, they exhibited not only an awareness of pontifical language, rhetoric and policy, but a willingness to adopt or challenge it in their efforts to validate peninsular crusades.