With the goal of Jerusalem, the author states the main theme of the First Crusade was liberation; liberation of the Christians under Muslim control and liberation of the birthplace of Jesus Christ. With this banner, Urban cultivated his message of a Crusade as the ultimate pilgrimage. It would be a journey to the root of Christianity where the Savior was born and the participants would receive complete remission of their sins. With this message, the laity had a remarkable opportunity to do something meaningful and improve their lives. In defending the church, they could receive martyrdom status and have a distinct path to salvation originally reserved exclusively for the clergy. Urban emphasized the importance of the vow and granted indulgences to anyone who served. The Crusade was both the ultimate pilgrimage and the chief penance to receive complete absolution of sins.

Urban II directed his message for a Crusade primarily to the French, and Riley-Smith argues that this event heightened enthusiasm for the expedition. Urban played on Frankish romanticism and compared his cause to that of Charlemagne in his preservation of Christianity against the Muslims. Themes of Christian heroism against the pagans in the battle for faith were seen in the pope’s message. The Crusade became a religious venture with enthusiastic support.

One of the final components of the successfulness of Urban’s message was that it was the right one at the right time. Riley-Smith states that Urban received the perfect opportunity to proclaim his plan when the Greeks asked for assistance against the invading Turks in 1095. By this time, a general consensus was already held among the public that Muslim invasions needed to be repelled in the East. The author argues that this consensus combined with the emerging prestige of the reform papacy in a period of weak European governance allowed Urban to establish a political foothold and present the Crusade effectively

Riley-Smith argues that throughout the Crusade, the crusaders were motivated chiefly by religion. He attributes the amazing response to the Crusade to religious piety and condemns the notion of selfish knights who wanted to exploit the opportunity. He believes the knights risked their life out of piety and saw the Crusades as the ultimate form of penance to rid guilt from their souls. Throughout the march, Riley-Smith states, the crusaders were motivated with ideals of pilgrimage, visions of warrior saints, relics, and the possibility of achieving martyrdom. Their successes in Jerusalem only emphasized these attitudes. Riley-Smith concedes that distortions in the religious message existed as exemplified by the extremists that massacred the Rhineland Jews, however, he argues that this was not the view of the majority. The crusaders, despite all their traumatic and weakening experiences, were still able to achieve amazing success. As a result, Riley-Smith states, the crusaders truly believed their achievements were miraculous; the will of God Himself.

Riley-Smith states the historical picture in the aftermath of the First Crusade’s success was distorted and mythicized by Western intellectuals, mainly Robert the Monk, Guibert of Nogent and Baldric of Bourgueil. These three men, according to the author, were chiefly responsible in romanticizing the Crusade and transforming its historical reality into legend. Their interpretation painted the picture of the crusaders as a “military monastery” (2) that miraculously achieved God’s will through justified holy war against the enemies of Christ. These thinkers consolidated the Crusade ideology and provided the framework that would be used to justify further crusading campaigns.

Jonathan Riley-Smith is a tremendous historical writer. His knowledge of the topic of the First Crusade is demonstrated in his apt analysis of historical sources. His discussion is easy to comprehend and he provides the reader with necessary names, dates, maps and a timeline that all help to present a clear historical picture. To support his arguments, he researched many primary sources of the times with a fresh perspective, mainly letters from popes and crusaders. With these sources, the reader is able to comprehend the emotional state of the key players in the Crusade from Urban II and to the crusaders themselves. Riley-Smith’s use of these sources can be trusted because of his leading expertise on the subject. He uses numerous quotes throughout the book to support his contentions coherently. Riley-Smith’s thesis is constantly reinforced and his message is clear: that the idea of crusading was established by the overwhelming religious response and success of the First Crusade which was mythicized into legend and used as justification for further holy wars against the enemies of God.