third theory is that Urban felt threatened by the Muslim incursions into Europe and saw the crusades as a way to unite the christian world into a unified defense against them. The most important effect of the First Crusade for Urban himself was the removal of Clement III from Rome in 1097 by one of the French armies. His restoration there was supported by Matilda of Tuscany. Urban II died on 29 July 1099, fourteen days after the fall of Jerusalem to the Crusaders, but before news of the event had reached Italy; his successor was Pope Paschal II. Spain Urban also gave support to the crusades in Spain against the Moors there. Pope Urban was concerned that the focus on the east and Jerusalem would neglect the fight in Spain. He saw the fight in the east and in Spain as part of the same crusade so he would offer the same remission of sin for those that fought in Spain and discouraged those that wished to travel east from Spain. Sicily Urban received vital support in his conflict with the Byzantine Empire, Romans and the Holy Roman Empire from the Norman of Campania and Sicily. In return he granted Roger I the freedom to appoint bishops (the right of lay investiture), to collect Church revenues before forwarding to the papacy, and the right to sit in judgment on ecclesiastical questions. Roger I virtually became a legate of the Pope within Sicily. In 1098 these were extraordinary prerogatives that Popes were withholding from temporal sovereigns elsewhere in Europe and that later led to bitter confrontations with Roger's Hohenstaufen heirs. Veneration Pope Urban was beatified in 1881 by Pope Leo XIII with his feast day on 29 July. See also House of Châtillon House of Natoli Beauvais Cathedral Milo of Nanteuil Concordat of Worms Gregorian Reforms Investiture Controversy Cardinals created by Urban II Footnotes References Bibliography Crozet, R. (1937). "Le voyage d'Urbain II et ses arrangements avec le clergé de France (1095-1096)" : Revue historique 179 (1937) 271-310. Gossman, Francis Joseph (1960. Pope Urban II and Canon Law (The Catholic University of America Canon Law Studies 403) Washington 1960. Somerville, Robert (1970). "The French Councils of Pope Urban II: Some Basic Considérations," Annuarium historiae conciliorum 2 (1970) 56-65. External links Five versions of his speech for the First Crusade from Medieval Sourcebook. Medieval Lands Project on Eudes de Châtillon, Bishop