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The Medieval Church · 27 November 1095; recorded later
The Sermon at Clermont
Pope Urban II · c. 1035–1099
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What it is
The appeal that launched the First Crusade, surviving only in five differing accounts written after the expedition succeeded, each shaped by knowing how it turned out.
Why it lasted
The most consequential sermon in European history, and a case study in how a text can be famous without anyone knowing what it said.
Where to read it
Public domain and free to read in full, though not held here. The archives below have it.
These open a search on each archive rather than a direct link, which is the honest way to point at an edition nobody here has checked line by line.
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