THE CRUSDADES
THE SPREAD OF ISLAM
THE BEGINNINGS OF ISLAM
Not long after the fall of the Roman EMPIRE in the west in 476 AD the religion of ISLAM begins in 61O AD with an Arab prophet called Muhammud.
According to Islamic teachings he heard the voice of God from the angel Gabriel.
This holy message became the Koran the written word of the Muslim faith.
Muhammud shared this message with the desert dwelling people around the Arabian peninsula.
The native nomadic Bedouins of this region became believers in this new faith and quickly carried it to the surrounding countries.
Like Christianity and Judaism, Islam is a monotheistic Abrahamic religion.
Today Christianity has 33% of worlds population Islam 21% Judaism O.2%
A person who who accepts the teachings of Muhammad is know as a MUSLIM a person who submits to the will of ' ALLAH' - the religion of Muslims is called ISLAM
MECCA
Muslim Countries Today
As with the schism or split between PROTESTANT and CATHOLIC CHRISTIANITY, after the death in 632 AD of Muhammad, ISLAM also became a divided faith between :
SUNNI MUSLIMS - who believe that any truely religeous Muslim could lead
and
SHIITE MUSLIMS - who believe that only Muhammad's direct desendants can lead
today 85% of the worlds Muslims are Sunni
The AL- Aqsa Mosque
One of Islam's important pilgrimage MOSQUES (places of worship) is located in JERUSALEM
ISLAM is a Proselytising Religion meaning it attempts to convert other people to Islam. Christianity does the same, so inevitably these 2 religions are going to clash especially when they have common desires on a place of holy pilgrimage.
In 1O95 Pope Urban 11 called for the 1st Crusade (crux Latin for cross - CRUSADERS are CROSS BEARERS) to take back the Holy lands from the Muslim Turks, who had occupied Jerusalem in 64O AD thus ending the Byzantine control of the Christian Holy lands. The Byzantine Empire is what was left of the Easter Roman Empire. (The Emperor Constantine moved the capital from Rome to Byzantium / then Constantinople in 33O AD)
Christian pilgrims were been persecuted and prevented from visiting Jerusalem. The Pope naturally wanted free access to places of Christian worship and being concerned with the spread of Islam in Spain wish to take back control.
By going on Crusade the Pope could unite European Christian countries against the expansion of Islam in Europe - this was a perceived threat in the middle ages.
Also the Christian Byzantine Emperor Alexios seeing that Islamic Turks were gradually conquering his empire requested military support from the Pope in France to take back Jerusalem .
Over the next 2OO years the church launched 8 military expeditions/ crusades, 4 of which were significant.
The Pope's means of mobilising troops for the crusades was to recruit Feudal Lords and their Knights.
SCENES FROM RIDLEY SCOTT'S 'KINGDOM OF HEAVEN'
The time of the 3rd Crusade when the Muslim commander Saladin attacked Jerusalem. By 1187 Saladin had retaken Jerusalem but King Richard 1 of England negociated to re establish access.
The Popes strategy for recruitment for the Crusades also included a pardon of sins if you fought - many Christian Pilgrims became Crusaders for this reason.
The crusades also increased trade and understanding between the West and the East. The Arabs at this time of the middle ages had made great progress in Mathamatics - Chemistry - Astronomy - Medicine and technology.
It is important in the study of World History to note that Islamic historians don't recognise the Christian Crusades as legitimate but more as invasions from the west on Muslim lands.
The Crusades between the 11th - 14th centuries is however a defining time in the history of medieval Europe. Some of the consequences were:
1. An increased presence of Christians in the Levant during the Middle Ages.
2. The development of military orders.
3. A polarisation of the East and West based on religious differences.
4. The specific application of religious goals to warfare in the Levant, Iberian peninsula, and Baltic region, in particular.
5. The increased role and prestige of the popes and the Catholic Church in secular affairs.
6. The souring of relations between the West and the Byzantine Empire leading, ultimately, to the latter’s destruction.
7. An increase in the power of the royal houses of Europe.
8. A stronger collective cultural identity in Europe.
9. An increase in xenophobia and intolerance between Christians and Muslims, and between Christians and Jews, heretics and pagans.
1O. An increase in international trade and exchange of ideas and technology.
11. An increase in the power of such Italian states as Venice, Genoa, and Pisa.the appropriation of many Christian relics to Europe.
12. The use of a religious historical precedent to justify colonialism, warfare and terrorism.
source https://www.ancient.eu/article/1273/the-crusades-consequences--effects/
Because of these consequences there would be a decline in Feudalism in Europe within a 1OO years of the Crusades.
Remember the fall of CONSTANTINOPLE to the Muslim Ottoman Turks in 1453 AD ended the Byzantine Empire and reduced the power of Christianity in the East.
CLASS ASIGNMENT MAKE A SHORT STUDY OF THE OF THE BYZANTINE EMPIRE
WHY WAS THIS PART OF THE WORLD SIGNIFICANT AFTER THE COLLAPSE OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE IN THE WEST?
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