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Introduction to medieval European Christianity
Introduction to medieval European Christianity
Religion during the medieval times free essay
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A Vanished World: Muslims, Christians, and Jews in Medieval Spain is survey medieval Spain, where Christians, Jews, and Muslims once lived side by side and the Muslims were in charge. The book tries to lead the reader to the conclusion that there is indeed a historical precedent for the three major religions establishing a beneficially symbiotic relationship which may be an enduring lesson for coexistence. The author, Chris Lowney, is an ex-Jesuit and holds degrees in medieval history and philosophy. The book essentially begins with the year 711, when then thousand Moorish soldiers swiftly conquered most of the Iberian Peninsula, establishing Muslim rule over five million inhabitants and instituting a government that extended more or less equal
The Forgotten 500 told the miraculous story of the rescue of 500 almost all American airmen in Yugoslavia during World War II. These men bailed out of airplanes and landed behind enemy lines and defied all expectations by staying alive. To do this they had to hide from enemies for weeks or even months. That is what made this book very interesting because the Germans were always close by and if found, the men would all be killed. What kept these men safely in hiding was Yugoslavian Serb General Draza Mihailovic and his followers.
The Minoans society wasn't really an economic social society. In the archeological records, we find that the houses "poorer" parts of their towns were rather large and plush. Women were regarded rather highly in their society, many of their paintings are depictions of women. There is little evidence that they were war like, nor did they appear to go on military expeditions. This comes from the lack of weapons in the burial sites, there aren't any warrior tombs, nor are there paintings of war; which is something that was dominant in all other cultures at the time. They were mostly traders, as in merchants. They traded throughout Greece, Ionia, the Levant and Egypt. Their cities weren't strategically located, meaning
The Crusades were a number of military expeditions by Europeans of the Christian faith attempting to recover the Holy Land, Jerusalem, which was then controlled by the powerful Muslim Empire. In his book People of The First Crusade, Michael Foss an independent historian tells the story of the first Crusade in vivid detail illustrating the motives behind this historic event, and what had really occurred towards the end of the eleventh century. The Christian lands of Western Europe were slowly deteriorating from invasions of the North, and the passing of corrupt laws from within the clergy and the high lords. However, these were not the only challenges those of European Christian faith had to face. Islam strengthened after the conversion of the
The Book of Contemplation written by Usama Ibn Munqidh is an interesting look at the relationship between the Latin Christian and Muslim cultures. Ibn Munqidh wrote this book to record the events taking place in the twelfth century; most of his anecdotes in sections throughout the book refer to the Latin Christians – or Franks – and the interactions between them and Muslims. Ibn Munqidh told of his curiosity into the matter of Franks on their first encounters with Muslim customs. He acknowledged the preconceived notions people had of the Franks during this time and wrote down these interactions Muslims had with them; this included conversations over medicine and intelligence. When Franks have lived in the Muslim community for a while, however, there is far more respect given to them by the Muslims.
The naiveté of the main characters actions parallel the types of people that exist in society today. Such people strive for much more than they can realistically aspire to be with the belief of the possibility of success obscuring their perspective. On the other hand, people erring on the side of caution, or rather, pessimism, have a less biased opinion and thus mold their actions to better accommodate the possible adverse aftermath. Unfortunately for King Ferdinand and Queen Isabel, they had more in common with Don Quixote than the “Debbie Downers” of the world. Miguel de Cervantes alludes to the beginning of the gradual decline of Spain to point out that such optimism is prevalent in the everyday workings of society. During the late 1400s, the Spanish Monarchy, with the goal of spreading Christianity, outlawed the practice of Islam and Judaism, forcing followers of these “abominations” to flee. The grandeur of the aftereffects concealed the extent to which the so-called “Heretics” aided and catapulted Spain’s
All in all, this short selection of Usama’s writings does much to further the understanding of the effects on the crusades on many Muslims during this period, though since this was written by an affluent elite it does not describe much of the general populous’ experience. It also provides a good overview of the interactions between Muslims themselves. This was a time fraught with danger and division but Usama’s work shows that a common thread kept many together and preserved a civilization that still exists to this very day.
In conclusion, early Muslims had multitudinous connections with several religions as beneficial partners for trade, travel, and conquest. By analyzing each primary source, the benefits of having a relationship with different religions comes to light. Whether Muslims were interacting with Vikings, Jews, or Christians, establishing a friendly relationship allowed early Muslims to continue building stronger military forces, acquiring material goods, and avoid being raided by enemies. Each source provides different insight to how early Muslims thought and treated the religious groups they encountered.
Cohen, Mark R. (1994) ‘Under Crescent and Cross, the Jews in the middle ages’ Princeton: Princeton University Press pp 30-50
Maalouf’s main thesis in The Crusades Through Arab Eyes is that the crusades are a major part of history and have truly influenced every one of our lives. The second pa...
The Reconquista is commonly recognized as the time when the Christians rulers “retook” the Iberian Peninsula from the Muslims. However, the significant impact the Reconquista had on the Jews living in Iberia is often disregarded. How did the standard of living for Jewish communities residing in the Iberian Peninsula shift during Muslim rule in comparison to the Reconquista and Inquisition wherein the Jews were living under Christian rule? According to several sources, Jews were tolerated under Muslim rule as their culture thrived and various cities such as Cordoba, Granada, and Toledo had large as well as prosperous Jewish communities. This changed overtime as by the 1300s, when Christians began to rule most of Spain, prejudice against Jews became prevalent. As the years passed, bigotry began to increase, the outbreak of the Black Death contributed to this discrimination because many individuals blamed the Jews for the plague. Subsequently, this hatred gained momentum in the 1400s whereby the Spanish Inquisition resulted in an abundant number of Jewish victims.
Among some of the largest conflicts in the world stand the Crusades; a brutal conflict that lasted over 200 years and was debatably one of the largest armed religious conflicts in the history of humankind. Since this is so clearly an event of importance, historians have searched vigorously for the true answer as to why the crusades began. Ultimately, because of accusatory views on both the sides of the Christians and of the Muslims, the two groups grew in such hatred of each other that they began to act in deep discrimination of each other. Moreover, Christian motives seemed to be driven mostly by the capture of Jerusalem, the dark ages of Europe and the common-folks desperation for land, wealth, and a spot in heaven. What seems to be continually
The initial response of the inquisition was predetermined by the anti-Jewish judgment increased by the black plague in Spain. The lack of scientific development meant that Jews were blamed for the plague pandemic during 1347 to 1350. At the time the Jewish community was an important part of the Spanish economy, as the only moneylenders the King and Queen attempted to protect them. However, measures to stop the plague continually failed this further fuelled hatred towards the Jewish population. By 1492 King Ferdinand and Isabella created the Alhambra Decree that expelled Jews from their territories. They went into great detail to create a subtle form of propaganda, indoctrinating the public into believing Jews were a form of ‘disease’ that would infect good Christians. The converts that were left in the Iberian Peninsula became the main target of the inquisition. These converts called conve...
In the post-doctoral Cohen was in the search of whether or not there was a period of time were Jews, Christians and Muslims lived in peace under the control of the Islamic world. This event was called convivencia and occurred during the Golden Age. The region where this event took place was Spain. The convivencia was a controversial topic due to the differences in religion among the groups. Recent Spanish historians do not take for consideration the event of convivencia due to the disbelief that it actually occurred. Jewish historians have their side of the story where they argue that Jewish-Islamic relations during convivencia were harmonious. There are suggestions that this event of peace among these three groups was impossible based upon religious challenges. Each different version about convivencia has been influence by politics. Cohen was not only able to answer whether convivencia took place, but also demonstrated an extended background about each culture. Cohen emphasizes the roles that each group played during convivencia and the influences and contributions that each one contributed. In Islamic Spain there was a greater tolerance and freedom than anywhere else in that area. Jews and Christians had the option to pay a poll tax to be protected under the same rules as Muslims. Jews were protected from discrimination and had the right to be treated as any other Muslim. In contrast, with Christians-Jew relations there was an immediate social, economic and religious difference. Christians believed that they were superior to Jews. Relations between Christians and Jews were not as engaging as relations between Jews and Muslims. The main idea that kept Jews in a good social position was their influence in local economy. Many Jews...
This documentary touches on every aspect of what life was like in Islamic Spain and the significance of the events that occurred there. 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.
Tariq Ali uniquely puts into perspective the horrific tragedies behind the Spanish reconquest in his work, Shadows of the Pomegranate Tree, by capturing the history in the perspective of a Muslim family who lived in a village just outside of recently conquered Granada. He does this in order to expose the cruelty and intolerance of the Archbishop Xemenes de Cineros. Ali also uncovers the faults in not only Christianity, but also in Islamic ideology by having many character’s from the family Banu Hudayl debating and questioning Islamic beliefs which may parallel with the author’s own beliefs, or lack thereof. (Tariq) One of Ali’s strongest focuses however, was to expose the lack of urgency many Muslims felt after the fall of Granada. Many Muslim’s