The religions of Eastern Orthodoxy and Islam were both heavily integrated into their respective governments. The Caesar (and later, Patriarch) and the Caliph were religious as well as political leaders, and all officials also must adhere to the religion of the country. A prominent similarity between the way the two countries saw religion was that a schism came between two groups in both religions. However, the two countries' views on foreign religions were polar opposites.
Caesaropapism is a political system in which the head of the state is also the head of the church and supreme judge in religious matters. This was the case in the byzantine empire after 1054, when the Orthodox and Catholic churches split. The Patriarch of Constantinople
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It is designated in the Qur'an that the holy community, the Ummah, must have a caliph. The Caliph was bound within the restraints of the Qur'an, and may only have had control over what is predesignated in it, not having authority to interpret it. The Patriarch decides what the people of the empire learn about the religion. This allowed him to have a more complete power, he may have done whatever he wanted while still acting within the boundaries of the religion, since he decided what those boundaries …show more content…
In the Islam Caliphate, peoples that had been conquered converted willingly, in many cases. Muslims treated other religions very well, and did not mandate Islam. Some people even openly kept their original faith! According to the Qur'an, Jews and Christians are "people of the book," and are to be treated closer to equal with Muslims. There were, however a few downsides to being an outsider in a Muslim-controlled area. Non-Muslims were required to pay a special tax called the Jizya. The only way to avoid the Jizya was to become a Muslim. Non-Muslims could serve in the military as well as many other jobs without extra restrictions, but the role of government official was reserved for Muslim citizens. These restrictions were not oppressive, letting most people live comfortably without following Islam, but they were restrictive enough that many of the conquered peoples in the Islamic Caliphate converted to Islam completely by choice.
In the Byzantine Empire, most people also converted. However, those people converted for an entirely different reason. Christianity had complete power in the Byzantine Empire. All religions other than Christianity were condemned. There were no places of worship other than churches built throughout the entire country. Even Rome's pagan roots, the gods for which beautiful temples were built, were strictly forbidden for worship. As such, most of
Religion affected political hierarchy in many other civilizations; the Aztecs and China were two of the ones affected. One of the main differences would be that China followed more of a Philosophy kind of religion to determine the political hierarchy while the Aztec believed in gods. One of the main similarities would be how the emperors and the rulers achieve and keep their power.
Although Charlemagne and Julius Caesar lived very different lives; they had some similarities. Caesar was an important military leader who ruled as a Consul during the Roman Empire. Caesar wasn’t afraid to get what he wanted. He wanted control of Gaul and when Pompey told him to leave; he came back and defeated him. Charlemagne was also very focused on military conquests.
When someone hears the name George Washington, they instantly think of the one dollar bill, the first president, or the quarter. Some people might even think of Mount Vernon, Virginia, his favorite place because his name is associated with Mount Vernon. But, someone would never consider the fact that George Washington and his friends rebelled against their current world power and beat them in odds that were extremely poor to create one of the greatest world powers in history. Furthermore, when someone hears the name Julius Caesar, they would most likely think of the Shakespearean play, or the famous saying, “E tu Brute” which was said by Caesar when he saw Brutus stabbing him. But, someone would assume that Caesar’s death gave way to Rome’s first emperor, Augustus. Even though Julius Caesar may be well known for his great accomplishments, he is nothing compared to who George Washington was and what he did to change history. Julius Caesar did have many accomplishments which consisted of his climb up the military chain to become Rome’s first king in five-hundred years and his part in the famous triumvirate rule (Pompey, Caesar, and Crassus) that came to power in Rome some time after Caesar's first decrees (Julius Caesar Definition). One of his many failures includes the dividing of Rome’s upper and lower class which eventually led to his assassination. George Washington’s achievements includes the rebellion against the greatest empire in the current time era and the development of one of the most powerful empires ever created in history. His failures include many losses in battle and the rebellion against Great Britain. Although Julius Caesar may be known for his great ruling ability, he came no where close to the power an...
Roman Emperor Constantine I founded the Byzantine Empire in 330 CE as a continuation of the Roman Empire in the east. The characteristics of the empire led to the modern definition of “Byzantine,” which means “strangely complicated.” This was true, as in the Byzantine Empire was very chaotic, complex, and strange at times, but it was very massive and influential worldwide. The empire heavily influenced modern religion, laws, and engineering, making it worthwhile learning about the empire. Our ideas about laws and philosophy are borrowed from those of Justinian’s code, which was the main set of laws of the empire.
In the fifth century Barbarians collapsed the Roman Empire and Europe entered the Dark Ages. Around this time the Visigoths expanded their empire by heading for Spain. Upon arriving in Spain, the Visigoths encountered Jews whom they treated somewhat gently until the Visigoths converted to Catholicism; the Visigoths then overran Jews. Soon after, Muslims from North Africa known as Berbers decided to invade the Iberian Peninsula in hopes to take control of Spain and expand the Muslim reign, which they did. This sudden change in rule of the territory provided a sense of relief for all the people living in Spain. The reason for this was because the Muslims treated everyone equally so long as they abided by Muslim authority and paid taxes. After all, the Christians...
However, this was different compared to Constantine who converted to Christianity and evangelized people to convert to Christianity as well. Constantine ruled as emperor from 306-337 A.D. and was the first Christian emperor of the time and credited
As the greatest empire in the western world began to crumble one city at a time, the leader of the Roman Empire, Constantine, under pressure from external and internal sources moved the capital of Rome to Constantinople around 330 AD. The movement of the capital was after his conversion to Christianity in 312 AD, a growing religion throughout the empire despite being officially illegal. Constantine was not the devote saint that the church may speak of today, “from 312-320 Constantine was tolerant of paganism, keeping pagan gods on coins and retaining his pagan high priest title "Pontifex Maximus" in order to maintain popularity with his subjects, possibly indicating that he never understood the theology of Christianity” (Ferguson & Grupp, 1998). The first Christian Emperor claimed to have converted after a victorious battle with his brother and there are many that corroborate this story it appears highly suspicious to only promote Christian ideals and worship. Constantine was not even the Emperor that made Christianity the religion of the Roman people, but simply permitted religiou...
Many Muslim immigrants came to the United States of American as slaves from Africa during the 1500’s. Free Muslim immigrants started to arrive to the USA as early as the 16th century, more of them started to migrate to the United State after the Civil War. Many Muslims used refuge and education as an excuse to come to the United States and start a new life. The fact that dictators dominate most of the Muslim territories usually means that there are persecutions, violence, poverty and even wars. These events caused most of the Muslims to seek happiness and peace in the new world: United States. Education was also one of the reasons why Muslims decided to come to the United States. The universities, economic status, and political freedom that America had to offer attracted more than half a million foreign students. By 1965 there was about 150,000 Muslims that lived in the United States.
Constantine converted Constantine’s conversion to Christianity was a result of his victory in battle. Though Constantine encountered Christianity in 303 and some of his family members may have been Christians, it took him around 9 years later to convert. I will believe in thee and be baptized in thy name.” Clovis’ conversion would soon cause many changes to the church, though his commitment would not be as great. In addition to Constantine’s conversion to Christianity in Rome, he also affected the Roman church and state.
Tolerance started with the way the Qur'an forbade forced converts(World History 270). They had to let people continue to worship their own religions, could not make people worship Allah and the Qur’an. They were treated pretty nicely. After seeing the way people were treated, people would be much more open to switching religions. They did smartly restricted other religions to be spread. It helped them keep the numbers of Islam high because then the numbers of people converting to Christianity and Judaism was much smaller. Everyone could believe what they wanted to, if they wanted to worship something other than islam and keep their ancestral roots, they just had to pay taxes(Doc 5). When they paid their tribute they had to accept Islam too. But this was no small price for being guaranteed protection and not having to join the army. The Muslim Empire grew from the smart treatment of conquered people, bringing in the ideas of how friendly the Muslim culture
When someone hears the name George Washington, they instantly think of the one dollar bill, the first president, or the quarter. Some people might even think of Mount Vernon, Virginia, his favorite place because his name is associated with Mount Vernon. But, someone would never consider the fact that George Washington and his friends rebelled against their current world power and beat them in odds that were extremely poor to create one of the greatest world powers in history. Furthermore, when someone hears the name Julius Caesar, they would most likely think of the Shakespearean play, or the famous saying, “E tu Brute” which was said by Caesar when he saw Brutus stabbing him. But, someone would assume that Caesar’s death gave way to Rome’s first emperor, Augustus. Even though Julius Caesar may be well known for his great accomplishments, he is nothing compared to who George Washington was and what he did to change history. Julius Caesar did have many accomplishments which consisted of his climb up the military chain to become Rome’s first king in five-hundred years and his part in the famous triumvirate rule (Pompey, Caesar, and Crassus) that came to power in Rome some time after Caesar's first decrees (Julius Caesar Definition). One of his many failures includes the dividing of Rome’s upper and lower class which eventually led to his assassination. George Washington’s achievements includes the rebellion against the greatest empire in the current time era and the development of one of the most powerful empires ever created in history. His failures include many losses in battle and the rebellion against Great Britain. Although Julius Caesar may be known for his great ruling ability, he came no where close to the power an...
As the Imperial system gained hold, it was common practice for the Emperors to accept divine honors before their deaths. These living gods, in some cases, required sacrificial rituals as signs of loyalty and ingrained themselves with the older more traditional pagan gods. The requirement of a sacrifice to the emperor, as well as the forced belief in the complete pantheon became a significant source of conflict with early Christians. As Christians refused to worship the emperor as a god, persecution of the Christians and conflict with the cult was a constant source of strife. Emperor worship would continue until late in the western Empire until the reign of Constantine. In the early 4th century AD, Constantine either converted to Christianity or made it an acceptable part of Roman religion, eliminating the emperor deification altogether. Later Emperors such as Julian attempted to revive the old ways, but the deeply rooted Mithraism, and Christian cults combined were firmly set within Roman society. By 392 AD, Emperor Theodosius I banned the practice of pagan religions in Rome altogether and Christianity was, without question, the official religion of the state.
The world religions of Islam and Christianity may have their differences to the naked eye, but when you take a closer look into their histories similarities arise. They both went through transformations that had drastic impacts on the way they were controlled and the way that the religion was taught to the followers. Christianity and Islam have both experienced splits between their members due to the fact that followers thought that their beliefs were the correct way to practice the religion. While these transformations are long in the past, the splits that have occurred within each religion continue to have lasting effects on Islam and Christianity to this day.
This meant that in the eighth century especially, there was little to no motivation for the majority to convert. As a result, the majority of the Spanish population were non-Muslim. That isn’t to say that practitioners of religions other than Islam could continue as normal in the Arab-Islamic Spain. Non-Muslims in Islamic Spain were considered second-class citizens. There were Dhimmi Laws against those who didn’t follow the Muslim religion.
Although the two lived in completely different time eras, Julius Caesar and Abraham Lincoln shared many similarities. While reading about the life of Julius Caesar, I instantly thought about Abraham Lincoln, and how the two were so identical. Both held high positions in their respected governments but made choices that would eventually affect the rest of the world. These decisions were opposed by several civilians in which it sparked outrages and revolutions. So, it is most appropriate to compare these two icons.