(born &circa; 1035, Châtillon-sur-Marne, or Lagery, or Lagny, Champagne, France—died July 29, 1099, Rome) Pope (1088–99).
The prior of a Cluniac monastery, he was made cardinal by Pope Gregory VII, whose reforms he furthered. Elected pope in 1088, Urban secured his authority against the antipope Clement III and strengthened the role of the papacy in the reform movement. He called for the First Crusade at the Council of Clermont (1095) in response to the appeal of Alexius I Comnenus, promoted the union of the Eastern and Western churches, and supported the Christian reconquest of Spain from the Moors.
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