View source for Deus vult

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{{short description|Western Christian motto associated with the Crusades}}{{italic title}}
[[File:GA_Ordre_du_Saint-Sépulcre.svg|thumb|"Deus lo vult" is the motto of the [[Order of the Holy Sepulchre (Catholic)|Order of the Holy Sepulchre]] (1824).|240x240px]]
'''''Deus vult''''' ({{langnf|la||God wills it}}) is a [[Christianity|Christian]] motto historically tied to ideas of [[divine providence]] and individual interpretation of [[Will of God|God's will]].<ref name="Molloy2017">{{cite book |last1=Molloy |first1=Michael |title=The Christian Experience: An Introduction to Christianity |date=6 April 2017 |publisher=[[Bloomsbury Publishing]] |isbn=978-1-4725-8285-0 |language=English |quote=In Europe, Christians were convinced that God wanted them to bring the whole region back into the originally Christian fold. Their motto was Deus vult (God wills it).}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=Definition of Deus Vult|url=https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/Deus%20vult|website=[[Merriam-Webster]]|language=en}}</ref> It was first chanted by [[Catholics]] during the [[First Crusade]] in 1096 as a rallying cry, most likely under the form '''''Deus le veult''''' or '''''Deus lo vult''''', as reported by the ''[[Gesta Francorum]]'' ({{Circa|1100}}) and the ''[[Historia belli sacri|Historia Belli Sacri]]'' ({{Circa|1130|lk=no}}).{{Efn|Manuscripts of ''Gesta Francorum'' variously have ''Deus le volt'', ''Deus lo vult'', as well as the "corrected" forms ''Deus hoc vult'' and ''Deus vult''. Hagenmeyer (1890) cites Barth: "Barbaro-latina vulgi exclamatio vel et tessera est. Videri autem hinc potest, tum idiotismum Francicum propiorem adhuc fuisse latine matrici".|name=|group=lower-alpha}}<ref name="Molloy2017"/> 

In modern times, the Latin motto has different meanings depending on the context. While it has been associated with nationalist ideologies in modern contexts, others interpret it as a historical expression of faith and dedication to divine purpose.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Portnykh |first=Valentin |date=July 1, 2019 |title=God Wills It! Supplementary Divine Purposes for the Crusades according to Crusade Propaganda |url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/journal-of-ecclesiastical-history/article/abs/god-wills-it-supplementary-divine-purposes-for-the-crusades-according-to-crusade-propaganda/82C0D0915ECC40C6DCA41742901C7AAF |journal=The Journal of Ecclesiastical History |language=en |volume=70 |issue=3 |pages=472–486 |doi=10.1017/S0022046918002610 |issn=0022-0469|url-access=subscription }}</ref> It has been used as a [[metaphor]] referring to "[[Will of God|God's will]]",<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Agnew|first=John|date=2010|title=Deus Vult: The Geopolitics of the Catholic Church|journal=Geopolitics|volume=15|issue=1|pages=39–61|doi=10.1080/14650040903420388|s2cid=144793259|issn=1465-0045}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|last=Gomez|first=Adam|date=2012|title=Deus Vult: John L. O'Sullivan, Manifest Destiny, and American Democratic Messianism|journal=American Political Thought|volume=1|issue=2|pages=236–262|doi=10.1086/667616|s2cid=153831773|issn=2161-1580}}</ref> by Christians throughout history, such as the [[Puritans]],<ref name="Mahan1972"/> or as a motto by [[chivalric order]]s such as the [[Order of the Holy Sepulchre (Catholic)|Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem]].<ref name=Kim2018>{{cite web |last1=Kim |first1=Dorothy |title=The Alt-Right and Medieval Religions |url=https://berkleycenter.georgetown.edu/responses/the-alt-right-and-medieval-religions|publisher=Georgetown University [[Berkley Center for Religion, Peace, and World Affairs]]|date=November 5, 2018}}</ref> In the 21st century, [[Christian nationalism|Christian nationalist movement]]s, as well as [[Christian right]] and [[far-right]] groups, have adopted the motto as a catchphrase.<ref name="Arnold2023">{{cite journal |last1=Arnold |first1=Kate |title=Pop and the 'Palästinalied': a crusade song revived at the turn of a new millennium |journal=Crusades |date=2 January 2023 |volume=22 |issue=1 |pages=115–126 |doi=10.1080/14765276.2023.2189386|doi-access=free|quote=''Deus vult'' (‘God wills it’ – the supposed acclamation following Urban II’s speech at Clermont and the battle cry of crusading armies as described in the ''Gesta Francorum'') is a ubiquitous meme, encapsulating a perceived ‘clash of civilisations’ (discussed further below). The song’s popularity with the Christian right and alt-right communities can be linked to the growth of the internet and the ensuing ease with which content can be disseminated, but it should also be set against the background of political and sociocultural developments since the 1990s. }}</ref> [[Medieval studies|Medievalist]] scholars have criticized this use as harmful and historically inaccurate.<ref name=Ulaby/>

== Meaning and variants ==
The phrase appears in another form in the [[Vulgate]] translation of [[Books of Samuel#2 Samuel|2 Samuel]] 14:14 from the [[Bible]]: ''nec vult Deus perire animam'' ("God does not want any soul to perish").<ref name="JacobsSchmauk1888">{{cite book|last1=Jacobs|first1=Henry Eyster|last2=Schmauk|first2=Theodore Emanuel|title=The Lutheran Church Review, Volumes 7–8|year=1888|publisher=Alumni Association of the Lutheran Theological Seminary|language=en|page=266}}</ref><ref>Vulgate, Regum II, 14:14</ref>

The variants ''Deus le volt'' and ''Deus lo vult'', incorrect in [[Classical Latin]], are forms influenced by [[Romance languages]]. According to [[Heinrich Hagenmeyer]], the personal pronoun 'le' (or 'lo') was very likely part of the original motto as shouted during the [[First Crusade]] at [[Amalfi]], since both the authors of the ''[[Gesta Francorum]]'' and the ''[[Historia belli sacri|Historia Belli Sacri]]'' report it''.<ref name=":3">{{Cite book|last=Hagenmeyer|first=Heinrich|url=https://archive.org/details/anonymigestafra01hagegoog|title=Anonymi gesta Francorum et aliorum hierosolymitanorum|date=1890|publisher=C. Winter|language=la}}</ref>'' Later variants include the [[Old French]] ''Dieux el volt'' and the Classical Latin ''Deus id vult'' ("God wills it") or ''Deus hoc vult'' ("God wills this").<ref>{{Cite book|title=Le Monde, histoire de tous les peuples ...|date=1844|publisher=Imprimerie de Béthune et Plon|pages=[https://books.google.com/books?id=e4caAQAAIAAJ&pg=RA1-PA327 p. 327] (see bottom right note)|no-pp=y|language=fr}}</ref><ref>Mrs. William Busk, ''Mediaeval Popes, Emperors, Kings, and Crusaders, Or, Germany, Italy, and Palestine, from A.D. 1125 to A.D. 1268'', Volume 1 (1854), [https://books.google.com/books?id=9CJMAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA15 15], [https://books.google.com/books?id=9CJMAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA396 396].</ref>

==History==

=== First Crusade ===
The battle cry of the [[First Crusade]] is first reported in the ''[[Gesta Francorum]]'', a [[chronicle]] written {{Circa|1100|lk=off}} by an anonymous author associated with [[Bohemond I of Antioch]] shortly after the successful campaign. According to this account, while the Princes' Crusade were gathered in [[Amalfi]] in the late summer of 1096, a large number of armed crusaders bearing the sign of the cross on their right shoulders or on their backs cried in unison "Deus le volt, Deus le volt, Deus le volt".<ref>
''Deferunt arma ad bellum congrua; in dextra vel inter utrasque scapulas crucem Christi baiulant; sonum vero 'Deus le volt', 'Deus le volt', 'Deus le volt'! una voce conclamant''. ''Gesta Francorum'' IV.1 (Hagenmeyer (1890), [https://archive.org/stream/anonymigestafra00hagegoog#page/n167/mode/1up p. 151].)</ref> Medieval historian [[Guibert of Nogent|Guibert de Nogent]] mentions that "Deus le volt" has been retained by the pilgrims to the detriment of other cries.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Hablot|first=Laurent|title=Les paysages sonores: Du Moyen Âge à la Renaissance|date=2018|publisher=Presses universitaires de Rennes|isbn=978-2-7535-5586-0|pages=[https://books.google.com/books?id=3ztjDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA161 p. 161]|no-pp=y|language=fr}}</ref>

The ''[[Historia belli sacri]]'', written later {{Circa|1131|lk=no}}, also cites the battle cry.<ref name=":3" /> It is again mentioned in the context of the [[Siege of Antioch|capture of Antioch]] on 3 June 1098. The anonymous author of the ''Gesta'' was himself among the soldiers capturing the wall towers, and recounts that "seeing that they were already in the towers, they began to shout ''Deus le volt'' with glad voices; so indeed did we shout".<ref>''Gesta Francorum'' 20.7, Hagenmeyer (1890), 
 [https://archive.org/stream/anonymigestafra00hagegoog#page/n320/mode/1up p. 304]; some manuscripts also mention cries of  ''[[kyrie eleison]]''.</ref>

=== Robert the Monk ===
[[Robert the Monk]], who re-wrote the ''Gesta Francorum'' {{Circa|1120|lk=no}}, added an account of the speech of [[Pope Urban II]] at the [[Council of Clermont]] in 1095, of which he was an eyewitness. The speech climaxes in Urban's call for orthodoxy, reform, and submission to the Church. Robert records that the pope asked Western Christians, poor and rich, to come to the aid of the Greeks in the East:

<blockquote>When Pope Urban had said these and very many similar things in his urbane discourse, he so influenced to one purpose the desires of all who were present, that they cried out, 'It is the will of God! It is the will of God!' When the venerable Roman pontiff heard that, with eyes uplifted to heaven he gave thanks to God and, with his hand commanding silence, said: Most beloved brethren, today is manifest in you what the Lord says in the Gospel, "Where two or three are gathered together in my name there am I in the midst of them." Unless the Lord God had been present in your spirits, all of you would not have uttered the same cry. For, although the cry issued from numerous mouths, yet the origin of the cry was one. Therefore I say to you that God, who implanted this in your breasts, has drawn it forth from you. Let this then be your war-cry in combats, because this word is given to you by God. When an armed attack is made upon the enemy, let this one cry be raised by all the soldiers of God: It is the will of God! It is the will of God!<ref>Robert the Monk: Historia Hierosolymitana. in [RHC, Occ III.]
Dana C. Munro, "Urban and the Crusaders", Translations and Reprints from the Original Sources of European History, Vol 1:2, (Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania, 1895), 5-8 ([https://sourcebooks.fordham.edu/halsall/source/urban2-5vers.html#robert Medieval Sourcebook]).</ref></blockquote>

Robert also reports that the cry of ''Deus lo vult'' was at first shouted in jest by the soldiers of Bohemond during their combat exercises, and later turned into an actual battle cry, which Bohemond interpreted as a divine sign.<ref>Hagenmeyer (1890),  [https://archive.org/stream/anonymigestafra00hagegoog#page/n167/mode/1up p. 151], note 10, citing Historia Regum Francorum mOnast. S. Dionysii (ed. Waitz in Mon. Germ. SS. IX p. 405), and for battle cries of the crusaders in general: Ekk. Hieros. p. 90, 234; Röhricht, ''Beiträge'' II, 47.</ref>

Tyerman, writing in 2006, suggests that the cheering at Urban's speech was "probably led by a papal [[claque]]".<ref>{{Cite book |last=Tyerman |first=Christopher |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/71189881 |title=God's war : a new history of the Crusades |date=2006 |publisher=Belknap Press of Harvard University Press |isbn=0-674-02387-0 |location=Cambridge, Mass. |pages=65 |oclc=71189881 |quote=During the speech, chanting of the slogan 'Deus lo volt', probably led by a papal claque, established the participation of the congregation in the ritual as well as symbolizing the correct submissive acceptance of divine guidance.}}</ref>

==19th- and 20th-century uses==
''Deus lo vult'' is the motto of the [[Order of the Holy Sepulchre (Catholic)|Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem]], a Roman Catholic order of chivalry (restored 1824).<!--the heraldic motto might already date to its recognition in 1693, but this needs research/evidence--><ref name=":4">{{Cite book |page=65 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=r5caAAAAYAAJ |title=Tuitio Europae: Chivalric Orders on the Spiritual Paths of Europe : Proceedings of the Conference "The Spiritual Paths of Europe--Crusades, Pilgrimages, and Chivalric Orders"|location=[[Turku]]|date=November 29, 1997|editor1=Luigi G. De Anna|editor2=Pauliina De Anna|editor3=Eero Kuparinen |publisher=[[University of Turku]]|isbn=9789512913008}}</ref>

Admiral [[Alfred Thayer Mahan]] (1840–1914), a [[Episcopal Church (United States)|Protestant Episcopalian]], used the expression for his argument of the dominion of Christ as "essentially imperial" and that Christianity and warfare had a great deal in common: {{"'}}Deus vult!' say I. It was the cry of the Crusaders and of the Puritans and I doubt if man ever uttered a nobler [one]."<ref name="Mahan1972">{{Cite book|chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/unilateralforcei00maha/page/12|title=Unilateral Force in International Relations|last=Mahan|first=Alfred Thayer|publisher=[[Garland Publishing]]|year=1972|isbn=9780824003487|editor1-last=Karsten|editor1-first=Peter|location=New York|page=[https://archive.org/details/unilateralforcei00maha/page/12 12]|chapter=Some Neglected Aspects of War|oclc=409536|author-link=Alfred Thayer Mahan|editor2-last=Hunt|editor2-first=Richard N.|chapter-url-access=registration}}</ref>

When [[Adolf Hitler]] staged the Munich [[Beer Hall Putsch]] in November 1923, [[Houston Stewart Chamberlain]] wrote an essay for the [[Völkischer Beobachter]] entitled "God Wills It!" calling on all Germans who love Germany to join the ''putsch''.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Field |first1=Geoffrey G. |title=The Evangelist of Race |year=1981 |publisher=Columbia University Press |location=New York |isbn=978-0-231-04860-6 |page=439}}</ref>

The [[1st CCNN Division "Dio lo Vuole"]] ("God wills it") was one of the three [[Italian Blackshirts]] Divisions sent to Spain in 1937 during the [[Spanish Civil War]] to make up the "[[Corpo Truppe Volontarie]]" (Corps of Volunteer Troops), or CTV.<ref>de Mesa, José Luis, El regreso de las legiones: (la ayuda militar italiana a la España nacional, 1936-1939), García Hispán, Granada:España, 1994 {{ISBN|84-87690-33-5}}</ref>

In 1947, [[Canadians|Canadian]] [[prelate]] [[George Flahiff]] used the expression ''Deus Non Vult'' as the title of an examination of the gradual loss of enthusiasm for the crusades at the end of the 12th century, specifically of the early [[criticism of the crusades]] by [[Ralph Niger]], writing in 1189.<ref>{{cite journal | doi=10.1484/J.MS.2.306566 | title=Deus non Vult: A Critic of the Third Crusade | date=1947 | last1=Flahiff | first1=George B. | journal=Mediaeval Studies | volume=9 | pages=162–188 }}</ref>

==Adoption by right-wing groups as slogan==
{{Integralism}}
''Deus vult'' has been adopted as a slogan by a variety of [[Christian right]] and [[Christian nationalist]] groups,<ref name="Arnold2023"/><ref name="Sturtevant2019"/> as well as [[alt-right]] and [[white supremacist]] groups.<ref name=Kim2018/><ref name=Ulaby>{{cite news |last1=Ulaby |first1=Neda |title=Scholars Say White Supremacists Chanting 'Deus Vult' Got History Wrong |url=https://www.npr.org/2017/09/04/548505783/scholars-say-white-supremacists-chanting-deus-vult-got-history-wrong |publisher=NPR|work=[[All Things Considered]]|access-date=25 July 2019}}</ref> This usage was disseminated widely online,<ref name=Ulaby/> through hashtags and [[internet memes]].<ref name=Kim2018/> Crusader memes (such as an image of a [[Knights Templar|Knight Templar]] accompanied by the caption "I'll see your jihad and raise you one crusade") are popular on far-right internet pages.<ref name=":2">{{Cite magazine|last=Jones|first=Dan|date=10 October 2019|title=What the Far Right Gets Wrong About the Crusades|url=https://time.com/5696546/far-right-history-crusades/|access-date=2019-11-25|magazine=[[Time (magazine)|Time]]|language=en}}</ref> It is one of several pieces of Crusader imagery used by groups characterized in ''The Washington Post'' as far-right [[Christian nationalist]]s and [[dominionism|dominionists]].<ref name="Sturtevant2019">{{cite news |last1=Sturtevant |first1=Paul B. |title=What politicians mean when they call the border wall 'medieval' |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/outlook/2019/01/22/what-politicians-mean-when-they-call-border-wall-medieval/ |newspaper=[[The Washington Post]] |access-date=18 March 2022 |language=English |date=22 January 2019 |quote=In the same vein, far-right Christian nationalists and Dominionists employ Crusader imagery. But only some of those who use Crusader imagery do so to express extreme Christian ideology.}}</ref> One perspective is that racist movements co-opt the slogans and iconography of the European medieval period, to evoke a fantasy of a "pure" white European heritage, a nostalgic view that is historically inaccurate, and has been denounced by [[Medieval studies|medievalist]] scholars{{who?|date=November 2024}} as a gross distortion of history.<ref name=Kim2018/><ref name=Ulaby/>{{Dubious|date=November 2023|reason=Dubious, quite off-topic and both sources don't say that}}

The "Deus vult" slogan has been used by perpetrators of [[right-wing terrorism]]; it was repeatedly used by the perpetrator of the 2017 [[Quebec City mosque shooting]]<ref>{{cite journal|title=Memory and far-right historiography: The case of the Christchurch shooter|url=https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/17506980211044701|author=Phillip Stenmann Baun|journal=Memory Studies|date=August 2022|volume=15|issue=4|pages=660–665|doi=10.1177/17506980211044701 |s2cid=240589056 |url-access=subscription}}.</ref> and was one of the tattoos on the body of the perpetrator of the [[2023 Allen, Texas outlet mall shooting]].<ref>{{cite web |author=Aric Toler|url=https://www.bellingcat.com/news/2023/05/09/tracing-the-odnoklassniki-profile-of-the-texas-mall-shooter/ | title=Tracing the Odnoklassniki Profile of the Texas Mall Shooter | date=9 May 2023|work=[[Bellingcat]]}}</ref> ''Deus Vult'' was among the slogans and symbols used during the [[Unite the Right rally|violent far-right riot in Charlottesville, Virginia in 2017]].<ref name=":1">{{cite news|author=Staff|date=18 August 2017|title=Deconstructing the symbols and slogans spotted in Charlottesville|newspaper=The Washington Post|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/2017/local/charlottesville-videos/}}</ref>

The slogan, as well as other [[Knights Templar]] imagery, has also been associated with far-right subgroups in the U.S. that merge Christian nationalism with [[gun culture in the United States|gun culture]]; a [[Florida]] gun manufacturer engraved the slogan on its "Crusader" model of [[AR-15-style rifle]].<ref>{{cite web|author=Thomas Lecaque|url=https://religiondispatches.org/christian-nationalists-and-the-holy-gun-crusade/ | title=Christian Nationalists and the Holy Gun Crusade | date=7 June 2022|work=[[Religion Dispatches]]}}</ref> The motto is also used by Christian nationalist groups in Europe; the phrase was portrayed on large banners carried by unspecified groups characterized by ''The Guardian'' as far-right marchers in 2017 in [[Warsaw]], [[Poland]].<ref name="Sturtevant2019"/><ref name=":5">{{Cite news|last=Guardian agencies in Warsaw|date=13 November 2017|title=Polish president condemns far-right scenes at Independence Day march|language=en-GB|work=[[The Guardian]]|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/nov/13/polish-president-condemns-far-right-scenes-at-independence-day-march|access-date=2019-11-16|issn=0261-3077}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.timesofisrael.com/polish-president-sharply-condemns-weekend-nationalist-march/|title=Polish president sharply condemns weekend nationalist march|last=Gera|first=Vanessa|date=2017-11-14|website=[[Times of Israel]]|language=en-US|access-date=2019-11-25}}</ref>

Often white supremacists will use the [[Jerusalem Cross]] in association with the term "Deus Vult".<ref name=Poynter>{{cite web| url=https://www.poynter.org/reporting-editing/2024/pete-hegseths-tattoos-deus-vult-jerusalem-cross-extremist/| title= Did Pete Hegseth’s tattoos bar him from National Guard service in 2021?|first1=Sara|last1= Melais|website= Poynter| access-date= January 16, 2025}}</ref> Tom Hill, president and executive director of the Center for Peace Diplomacy, said that these two symbols "when used in combination . . . are 'an invocation of the claim that crusader violence and its atrocities (including the massacre of civilians) was legitimate.'"<ref name="Poynter"/> “It is this bloody, militant intent that comes first when seeking to understand its current usage as a symbol for those pledging their allegiances in contemporary politics — and this is why it has been appropriated by the so-called ‘alt right,’” Hill said.<ref name="Poynter"/>

== Other Uses ==
[[Pete Hegseth]], a retired Major in the Army National Guard and part-time [[Fox News]] contributor who serves as the 29th [[United States Secretary of Defense]], has the motto tattooed on his biceps (along with a Jerusalem Cross on his chest).<ref>{{Cite web |date=2024-11-16 |title=Trump cabinet nominees battle misconduct claims and controversy |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cgl48r2wnx1o |access-date=2024-11-16 |website=BBC News |language=en-GB}}</ref>

==See also==
{{Portal|Christianity}}
{{wiktionary|Deus vult}}
* ''[[Ad maiorem Dei gloriam]]'', "for the greater glory of God"
* ''[[Besiyata Dishmaya|Be'ezrat Hashem]]'', "with the help of Heaven"
* ''[[Deo volente]]'', "God willing"
* ''[[In hoc signo vinces]]'', "in this sign, you will conquer"
* ''[[Inshallah]]'', "if God wills," and ''[[Mashallah]]'', "what God has willed"
* ''[[Takbir|Allāhu akbar]]'', "God is [the] greatest"
* ''[[God works in mysterious ways]]''
* [[Churches Militant, Penitent, and Triumphant]]
* [[Divine retribution]]
* [[Just war theory]]
* [[Muscular Christianity]]
* [[Palästinalied]], a Christian hymn sung by Crusaders 
* [[Will of God]]
* ''[[Jai Shri Ram]]'', Hindu expression, translating as "Glory to Lord Rama"

== Notes ==
<references group="lower-alpha" responsive="1"></references>

==References==
{{reflist|2}}

== Bibliography ==

*B. Lacroix, "Deus le volt!: la théologie d'un cri", ''Études de civilisation médiévale (IXe-XIIe siècles). Mélanges offerts à Edmond-René Labande'', Poitiers (1974), 461&ndash;470.

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[[Category:Anti-Arabism in Europe]]
[[Category:Anti-Islam sentiment]]
[[Category:Internet memes]]
[[Category:Latin religious words and phrases]]
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[[Category:Crusades]]
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[[Category:Religious formulas]]
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