History of the papacy (1048–1257) Pope Urban II (1088–99) speech at the Council of Clermont in 1095 became the rallying cry of the First Crusade. Unlike the previous millennium, the process for papal selection became somewhat fixed during this period. Pope Nicholas II promulgated "In Nomine Domini" in 1059, which limited suffrage in papal elections to the College of Cardinals. The rules and procedures of papal elections evolved during this period, laying the groundwork for the modern papal conclave. The driving force behind these reforms was Cardinal Hildebrand, who later became Gregory VII. The Investiture Controversy was the most significant conflict between secular and religious
History of the papacy (1048–1257) held the possibility of a reunion between the eastern and western Churches after almost four decades of schism, thereby strengthening the western Church in general and the papacy in particular. On November 27, 1095, Urban II made one of the most influential speeches in the Middle Ages at the Council of Clermont combining the ideas of making a pilgrimage to the Holy Land with that of waging a holy war against infidels. The pope called for a “War of the Cross,” or Crusade, to retake the holy lands from the unbelievers. France, the pope said, was already overcrowded and the