CRUSADE BULL. — A pontifical document containing the favors, privileges, and indults granted to the kings of Spain for the faithful who took up arms or contributed alms toward the liberation of their country from the Muslims. The document, issued in the various forms of a bull, brief, or apostolic letter, continued to be called Bulla cruciatae down to our own day, because the earliest concessions were made in this form.
I. HISTORY
The first bull of the Crusade was that of Alexander II (1063) to Ramiro I of Aragon, who was besieging the Arab stronghold of Graus or Grados; there followed those of Urban II (1089) to the count of Barcelona, Berenguer Ramón II, engaged in the reconquest of Tarragona and serving as the model for the later bull (1095) of the same Pope for the great Crusade to the Holy Land; of Gelasius II (1118) to Alfonso I of Aragon, engaged in the conquest of Saragossa; of Callistus II (1122) for the resumption of the war against the Moors of Tortosa and Lérida; of Eugene III (1148) to Count Berenguer IV the Saint, for the conquest of Tortosa; of Innocent III (1212) to Alfonso VIII for the war that ended with the victory at Las Navas; of Gregory IX (1232) to King James I the Conqueror, for the liberation of Valencia; of Clement IV (1265) for the conquest of Murcia; of Benedict XII (1340) to Alfonso XI for the war against Abú 'l-Hasan, king of Morocco, who had invaded the peninsula; and especially those of Sixtus IV and Innocent VII (the dates do not agree) to Ferdinand V of Aragon and Isabella of Castile, his wife, for the reconquest of the kingdom of Granada. Once this had been accomplished and the armed struggle had ended with the definitive triumph over the Moors, the popes continued to grant and reconfirm the bull of the Crusade, assigning the offerings of the faithful to the reconstruction of devastated churches, the erection of new ones, and, in general, to works intended to restore worship. This they did not do in the form of a perpetual grant, but by constantly extending the bull of the Crusade and modifying it according to the times, down to the present day. There is consequently a long series of them, beginning with the one from the time of Leo X and continuing to the present. Particularly worthy of mention is Benedict XV, who, by apostolic letter of 12 Apr. 1915 (AAS, 7 [1915], pp. 557–569), confirmed and augmented the ancient favors, while adapting them more appropriately to present circumstances. Pius XI, then, by another apostolic letter of 15 Aug. 1928 (AAS, 21 [1929], pp. 12–21), defined certain points more precisely in order to adapt them to the new CIC.The privileges of the bull of the Crusade were enjoyed not only by Spaniards, but also by the inhabitants of regions that became subject to Spain (mission territories, the kingdom of Naples and Sicily, Latin America, Portugal), and they often continued to enjoy them even when they regained their independence (Naples and Sicily, for example, until 1906 [decree of the S. Congregation of the Holy Office of 5 Sept. 1906]; Portugal still today, although with various particular modifications).
II. CURRENT DISCIPLINE
Anyone in Spanish territory, including foreigners, may enjoy the favors granted in the bull of the C., provided that he has obtained the so-called “summary” and paid a fixed offering. The faculty remains in force even when, after fulfilling these conditions, the person happens for any reason to be abroad.The favors granted concern the acquisition of indulgences, dispensation from fasting and abstinence, the commutation of certain vows, the recitation of the Divine Office, dispensation from irregularities and impediments to marriage, private oratories, etc. The bull must be promulgated and published every year.