Medieval perceptions evd Flashcards
Impact of crusades (Southern)
Made Christians aware that Islam was the most far-reaching problem in Medieval Christendom
Made religion and founder of Islam familiar concept in West for 1st time
Only one mention of name Muhammad in Medieval literature outside Spain and Southern Italy before this date
1100
Info about Muhammad Western writers inherited from Byzantines
Concerned Muhammad’s marriage to a rich widow, his fits, plan of general sexual license as instrument for destruction of Christendom
Early Western source with info on Muhammad, by Embrico of Mainz
Vita Mahumeti, poem of 1142 Based on oral testimony
Early Western source with info on Muhammad, by Guibert of Nogent
Gesta Dei per Francos, account of the 1st Crusade, completed by 1112 Based on oral testimony
Vision of Muhammad from early Western sources
Destroyed Church of Africa and East by magic and cunning
Success through authorising promiscuity
Details such as role of white bull which terrorised the population and finally carried the new law between its horns, or account of suspension of Muhammad’s tomb in mid-air by magnets, belong to folklore
Other elements such as Muhammad’s destruction by pigs during one of his fits, are from details of Byzantine tradition
Song of Roland (oldest manuscript 1125)
Defeat of a rearguard of Charlemagne’s army, under Roland’s command, in the Pyrenean pass of Roncesvalles in year 778 at hands of local Basque tribesmen
Reworked, enemy became Muslims of Spain
Treachery - Roland hero
Muslims incorrectly identified as ‘pagans’
Pagans untrustworthy, treacherous, cruel
Saracens idolaters 3 Gods - Tervegan, Muhammad, Apollo
Barons knew ‘pagan’ enemies were doughty fighters
Prester John… has entered Persia with a powerful army; has defeated the Sultan of Persia
fear of these events has caused the Sultan of Aleppo to switch from prepping to attack Christian army at Damietta to going to fight Prester John
Papal letter to Archbishop of Trier, March 1221
Pope Urban II preaches first crusade
1095
Orders given to Byzantine soldiers regarding Koran
gather up and burn it
States there was a mosque for the Saracens in Constantinople
Handbook of Constantine Porphyrogenicos
Mother’s disappointment at Digenes’ father, an Emir, for having abandoned her and his faith. Emir simply decides to return home - clearly doesn’t see religious barrier and his perceived betrayal as insurmountable barriers to a healthy filial relationship
One religion true and the other false - Digenes’ father had to convert to Christianity to marry his mother
Digenes Akrites (twice born border soldier), poem from around 1100
Bacon, Opus Majus, sent to Pope in 1267
‘there are few Christians’
Nobody to show unbelievers the truth
Aims of Christianity wrong - perverted by desire for domination
Wars unsuccessful
Even if had been a success would’ve been useless - too much territory and capture of people would’ve enraged them, making them impossible to convert
Preaching = the only way Christendom can be enlarged
Lack of equipment - nobody knows the languages
Philosophy only means to convert - must adopt this from unbelievers, Greeks and Arabs
Islam not negative role. Part of upward movement towards unity and articulateness
Mood of reports of travellers in East during 20 years after 1268
Optimism
Battle of Manzikert
1071 Allowed Seljuks to penetrate Asia Minor
Describes arrival of Western Christian knights in Constantinople
Thought was another barbarian invasion
Anna Comnene
1st Crusade successful
1099
Sultan reconquers Jerusalem
1187
3rd Crusade fails to win Jerusalem back
1190-2
4th Crusade sets up Latin domination in Constantinople till 1261
1202-4
5th Crusade
1218-21
7th Crusade (Louis IX’s crusade)
1248-50
Fall of Antioch
1268
Fall of Acre
1291
In camp after capture of Damietta, every night Saracens used to sneak in and kill the sleeping
Joinville, Life of Saint Louis, 1309
St Louis of France could relate to Muslims on equal footing - couldn’t have happened before
Joinville, Life of Saint Louis, 1309
Columbus and Prester John
Logbook: Sent people to look for Prester John on his arrival in South America
Origins of Prester John rumours
1145 bishop from Outremer’s visit to Pope
brought with him rumours from Armenian Christians in states at Cilicia and Commagene writing about the Mongols
Possible basis in fact - Seljuk ruler of Persia defeated in 1141 by Qara-Khitai Chinese kingdom
Pope Alexander III sent embassy to look for Prester John - never returned
1171
William of Rubruck sent on mission to find Prester John and enlist support in Christian crusade by Louis IX
1253-5
Describes social and religious customs such as felt doll over head of master of the table at celebrations called ‘the brother of the master’
William of Rubruck, account of his travels
Debate at Karakorum
30th May 1254
William of Rubruck faced by reps from Nestorian Christians, Buddists, Muslims, in debate
Joined forces to defeat Buddhists
Muslims close to Christianity - potential allies, intellectually if not militarily
Bacon read this accound then 1267 Opus Majus
Archaeological evidence of Mongol synchretism
Rock inscription near Karakorum, Turkey - high literary quality. Testifies to wide range of cultural and religious influences - Christianity, Islam, Zoroastrianism
Official courses instituted in Arabic at top unis such as Paris
1311-2 Council of Vienna
Thomas Gascoigne, 1450
Muslims don’t convert because of splits in Christianity and evil lives and ill faith
Conciliarist, Professor at Cologne, influenced by Raymond Lull, who was from Majorca
Nicholas of Cusa (1400-64)
1st translation of the Koran, for purposes of refutation of Islam’s intellectual content
Minimal glosses: Koran claims David 1st to fashion chain male, but holy scripture records Goliath was clad in mail
On orders of Abbot of Cluny Peter the Venerable in 1143
Translated by Robert of Ketton and Herman of Carinthia
New idea Islam could be learned from
Segovia and Cusa Suddenly aware of sheer scale of unbelievers
Islam close to dissolution
Similarity of Nestorians, Jacobites, Maronites, Georgians to Catholics - possibility of uniting
William of Tripoli, Dominican at Acre 1273, Tractatus de Statu Saracenorum
In every place and kingdom, except in Egypt and in Arabia… you will always find 30+ Christians for one Saracen
1283, Burchard of Mount Syon, German traveller, Dominican in Palestine 1274-84
Leader of Mongol embassy attended mass at St Peter’s, in Pope’s presence
1287
Fall of Acre - turning point
1291
It is much to be feared lest the Tartars receive the Law of Mahomet, for if they do this… the whole of Christendom will be in great danger
Raymund Lull, upon hearing of the fall of Acre
Raymund Lull, De Fine, 1305
Advocates learning of Oriental languages, both for peaceful proselytising and for use on Crusade, and proposes new crusading order, unifying all, with warrior king - only he shall be granted the Church’s tenth
John of Segovia to Nicholas of Cusa, 2 December 1454
Use of peace to wipe out Islam
Conversion by war doesn’t work
Benefits from public discussion on part of Christians in presence of the more important and wise Saracens
Cardinal Bessarion - instructions to crusade preachers, August 1463
Anybody trying to impede preachers will suffer ecclesiastical censures and legal remedies
Preachers can pick others and force them to preach
Preachers will exhort people to personally take the field against enemies of the cross if they can, or if they can’t they should send substitutes
Noticed Mongols turned to Islam much more readily than Christianity
Attributed this to the simplicity and flexibility of Islam
Nestorians no better than Muslims on the doctrine of the Incarnation
Attacks Muslim doctrine as lax, confused, irrational - no mention of closeness to Christianity
Ricoldo de Montecroce, in Baghdad 1291 Contra Legem Sarracenorum, c. 1300
Quotes Koran, but doesn’t mention Muhammad or Muslims without insulting epithets - pigs, beasts, etcetera
Semeonis, Irish Franciscan who travelled to Palestine 1323
Hopes of reuniting Eastern and Western Christendom
Rabban Bar Sauma, Syrian monk from China, visited Rome in 1287 to speak of reunification plans and possible Franco-Mongol alliance - sent by Arghun Khan. Visited Rome, Paris, hardly noticed.
John Wycliffe, De Civili Dominio, 1375
Weak in practical knowledge. No sign he knew any 13th Century travellers’ accounts of Islam
Explanation of Christianity
Receive friars kindly, furnish with safe conduct
Shocked you are laying waste to many lands indiscriminately
You have aroused anger of God
You will be punished if neglect to humble yourself
Bulls of Pope Innocent IV addressed to Emperor of the Tartars, March 1245
Sent to Tartars with Pope’s message in 1245. His narrative contains within it correspondence between Pope and Khan
Benedict the Pole
Come in person with your Princes to serve us
God has slain lands and peoples because neither adhered to the command of God nor the Khan
How do you know whom God absolves?
All lands have been made subject to me - who could do this contrary to the command of God?
Guyuk Khan’s Letter to Pope Innocent IV, 1246
Basing themselves in the tradition of the military orders. Assumption violence can’t possibly be ruled out
Lull, Bessarion
Cluniac reform
Late 11th Century. Soul more important so spiritual more important than temporal power
Close to reunification with Orthodox church
Council of Florence 1431
Asked emperor in Constantinople to send him 12 000 craftsmen to work on the Mosque of Damascus
Caliph al-Walid
Cultural exchanges between Christendom and Islam
Sandal to Islam
Abacus and paper to Christendom
Pirenne thesis
By taking over the Mediterranean and excluding others from participation in economic life the Muslims drove Western Christendom back upon itself
Denied access to the urbanised economy of the south, a Western European culture typified by the Kingdom of the Franks took shape which was ‘underdeveloped’, rural and feudal
Pirenne’s thesis turned upside down in Northern Europe
Pull of Islamic demands for goods, exchanged for dinars and dirhams. Thousands and thousands of such coins have been found deposited in Russian and Scandinavian coin hoards - numismatic evidence
Most marked urban growth took place at centres to which Scandanavian traders resorted and in which they settled: Rouen, Lincoln, York
10th/ 11th Cs - commercial interaction
Amalfi and Venice significant channels for inflow of goods from Islamic world
Founding of Fatimid Caliphate in Egypt
969
Fall of Tripoli
1289
Norman conquest of Sicily
1060
Norman conquest of Malta
1091
Conquest of Lisbon
1147
1050-1300
period of permanent hostility between Christianity and Islam However, necessity of diplomacy
Sang of crusaders ‘cleansing lands of enemies of Christendom’
Marcabrun, Christian troubadour, 1150
15 yrs prisoner of war in Aleppo. Learned language of his captors. Adopted much of the manner of life of the Arab world. Did nothing to make him more sympathetic to Muslim neighbours. Attacked Mecca pilgrims. Executed by Saladin for what would today be deemed war crimes
Reynald of Châtillon, prince of Antioch
Ambroise, The Crusade of Richard Lion-Heart, 1196
Bernard, spy, born in Syria. Returned from Babylon, had been spying on the enemy. Spoke Saracen language perfectly
Negotiating following capture of King Louis and other crusading leaders at battle of Mansourah spring 1250 Saracen addressed Louis in fluent French. Said he had been a Christian.
Louis didn’t want to speak to him anymore
Saracen believed he would go to hell and that Christianity was the best religion, but preferred to live here rich and at ease
Much good Christian advice, but all to little effect
Joinville, Life of Saint Louis, 1309
Gesta Francorum c. 1100-1101
Author conceded that ‘you could not find stronger or braver or more skilful solders’ than the Turks
Quoted Saladin’s maxims with approval, such as ‘you should never kill a man once you had shared bread and salt with him’
Joinville, Life of Saint Louis, 1309
King Richard became so noted for his daring exploits while overseas that when any horse belonging to a Saracen shied at a bush its master would say to it, ‘D’you think that’s King Richard of England?’
Joinville, Life of Saint Louis, 1309
Arabs distanced as unpalatable other - ‘No man ever grasps a plough-handle nor cultivates a tree… they rove continually… without fixed abodes or laws’
Ammanius Marcellinus, Roman historian of the 4th Century
Arabs distanced as unpalatable other - ‘No man ever grasps a plough-handle nor cultivates a tree… they rove continually… without fixed abodes or laws’
Ammanius Marcellinus, Roman historian of the 4th Century
King Richard became so noted for his daring exploits while overseas that when any horse belonging to a Saracen shied at a bush its master would say to it, ‘D’you think that’s King Richard of England?’
Joinville, Life of Saint Louis, 1309
Bede, Venerabilis Bedae Opera Historica, 720
‘they oppress the whole of Africa with their domination and, odious and hostile to all, they control the greater part of Asia’
Bede, Ecclesiastical History, 731
‘the very terrible plague of Saracens’
John of Damascus, Dialogue between a Saracen and a Christian, 8th Century
Muslim puts awkward questions to Christian on the nature of Christ, creation, free will, etcetera Christian parries questions so skilfully that Saracen went away, bewildered, nothing more to say
John of Damascus, On Heresies, 745
John 1st explained the biblical derivation of the Ishmaelites, then went on the castigate Muhammad as a false prophet who dribbled part of his teaching from the Old and New Testaments, and also from sayings of a heretic Christian monk
Wrote down ‘some ridiculous compositions in this book of his’
Regarded Christian community of his own day as dissemblers
‘they hide their faith, and they divulge to them [Muslims] what suits them’
Abū Qurrah, Palestinian monk, 750-825. Intellectual heir of John of Damascus
Covering letters from Patriarch of Constantinople, Nicholas Mystics
Letter sent as part of negotiation to free prisoners of war
Abbasid Caliph addressed as ‘the best of my friends’
Encyclopedia of philosophy organised under headings of Logic, Physics, Mathematics, Metaphysics - drawing extensively from Aristotle, Plato and Neoplatonists
Avicenna, Kitah ash-shira, 1027
Standard medical textbook for centuries, drew on works of Galen
Ibn Sina, al-Quanun (Canon of medicine), 1025
When the Venetians come to Pavia they are required to render annually to the master of the treasury a pound each of pepper, cinnamon, galingale and ginger
11th Century memorandum
Franks = enemies, ‘God confound them!’
However, worthy
In truce could be friends with Franks
Several casual references in Usamah’s memoirs to hunting and hawking expeditions, with Frankish friends
Bond with Frankish aristocracy
Work stands alone so uncertain how far we can generalise from it
Memoirs of Usamah ibn Munqidh, late 12th C, Emir of Shaizar in northern Syria
Gives a vivid and keenly interested account of his encounter with a fossil fish in Saida
Jean de Joinville, Life of Saint Louis, 1309
Italian merchants seizing opportunities of Outremer
Year before capture of Jerusalem, Italians extracted from new Norman prince of Antioch a warehouse in that city, 30 dwellings and a church, free of rents and taxes
Commercial Arabic terms in modern European languages
e.g. several terms for ‘customs’ in Romance languages derive from Arabic, such as adnana, dogana, douane
Changes to treatment of Christians under Abbasids
More open Islamic society closed off spheres of influence previously available
Potential for harshness constrained by need
Muslims of rural Outremer encouraged to stay and work the land Discrimination, restrictions on clothing
Courtly patronage encouraged intermingling of cultures
Normans of Sicily - cathedral of Monreale, completed 1189
Deported most of the remaining Muslim population from Sicily to Southern Italian mainland, where assimilated
Emperor Frederick II, 1223, in the wake of prolonged revolt
Obligation to emigrate from lands of unbelief
emphasised by Averroës
Status of Muslims in Christian Spain
- Mudejars generally lowly economic status, brick-layers etc 2nd class citizens
- no role in municipal administration
- Lower monetary penalties for crimes against them
- Muslims required to fall to knees when Host carried through streets in public procession
- Spanish municipal regulations requiring different days for Christians, Muslims and Jews in town baths
Entire population of Minorca enslaved upon its conquest on this date
1287
‘the moor is simply a dog’
King Sancho IV of Castile (1284-95)
Daroca, Aragon, 1311
Rumoured Christian girl named Prima Garsón having affair with Muslim neighbour named ‘Ali
Prima fled
‘Ali burned at the stake
Prima tracked down, med exam revealed she was a virgin so the pair innocent
Limits on inter-faith sexual relations in Christian Spain
Christian male and Muslim female - male disapproved of but woman punished
law decreed death penalty but unusually commuted to enslavement 4 condemned woman, only way of escape was by conversion to Chrstianity
Monks of Roda, 1356
Sleeping with Muslim women then shopping them to the authorities for illicit sex so that they were enslaved, then under privilege from the crown keeping them either for further gratification or sale
Islamic opinion supported Christian laws on sexual restrictions
1347, Mudejars of Valencia petitioned the king to confirm the death penalty without option of monetary compensation for Muslim women found guilty of sexual intercourse with non-Muslims
‘whether men or women, they shall not sleep with nor marry infidel’
Ysa Yabir of Segovia in 15th C book of instruction for Spanish Muslims
Marriage of Christian men to formerly Muslim women
One of Alfonso VI of Castile’s wives was princess Zaida, widow of governor of Córdoba, whose father was most powerful among rulers of the taifa states - Emir al-Mu’tamid of Seville
Dawn of recognition of religious pluralism
William of Auvergne, Bishop of Paris 1228-49 Chose words for Judaism and Islam e.g. Saracenism to highlight religious culture was different
Squadron of three dozen ships provided by Venetians, Pope Clement VI and Hospitallers of Rhodes
captured important harbour of Smyrna, held till 1402
1344
Led by Kind Sigismund of Hungary. Defeated by the Turks
1396
Ottomans took Egypt, Western Arabia and Syria from Mamluk rule
1517
devshirme
gathering
Merinids of Morocco crossed Straits and joined forces with Granada to mount invasion of Castile
1340 Defeated at battle of Rio Salado
Castilian capture of Algeciras
1344
Union of Peninsula monarchies
1474
War with Granada waged with earnest
1482
Philip the Good, Duke of Burgundy
father captured at Nicopolis. Proclaimed desire to crusade against the Turks all his life
Pope Pius II died 1464 at Ancona
leading in person what he hoped would be a crusade to recover Constantinople
Christian self-indulgence in food and drink and clothing made them soft
Muslims austere so strong
Christians divided, Muslims unified
Muslim = critic in the poem
Honorat Bouvet, Provençal monk
Est of Dominican friars
1220
Ramón de Peñafort, 1240
resigned generalship of Dominican order to devote himself to missions to Muslims
Founded schools for study of Arabic and missionary training biographer claimed 10 000 converts
Great schism
1378-1417
1st archbishop of reconquered Granada
Hernado de Talavera. Pupil of John of Segovia, who tried to put his ideas into practice
2 days after conquest of Constantinople
Muhammed II granted privilege to Genovese confirming status as protected subjects of the sultan
Geonese quarter continued to be across the Golden Horn in Galata
Number of Christian towns in 1500 with printing presses
over 100 Venice alone had 150
Muslims forbidden by Sultan to learn science of printing - capital offence
1515
Ibn Khaldun, Book of Lessons, 1377
Habitat has effects upon culture of people who lived in it
Observations confined to the Dar-al-Islam
Side note - heard rumours that philosophy and sciences flourishing in Christian Europe, ‘but God knows… what goes on in those parts’
16th C Western Christendom engagement with Islam
European collectors of Arabic manuscripts
Chairs in Arabic founded at European unis
Taste for Oriental fashions
F+I chose to dress for reconquest of Granada 1492 in Moorish costume
Henry IV of Castile, Isabelle’s half brother and predecessor, had also dressed like this
Moorish clothes and cosmetics high chic for Spanish nobility, as well as Moorish falconry, architecture
rumours that emir of Granada and Mamluk Sultan of Egypt plotting to poison wells of France and Spain, using Jews and Lepers as their network of agents
1321
Christian and Muslim blacksmiths of Segovia formed guild named after St Eligus, the patron saint of metalworkers
1484
Pope John XXII, 1326, concerning Spain
We have thought it worthy to concede those indulgences which in similar cases were accustomed to be given by the Holy See to those going to the aid of the Holy land
1099 after fall of Jerusalem
many campaign survivors threw away arms and armour and returned to Europe carrying only palm fronds they had collected as evidence of completed pilgrimage
Spanish shouldn’t join 1st crusade. Analogy between reconquest of peninsula and Palestine
Pope Urban II Successor Pashal II forbade Spaniards go to holy land
1123, bishops at 1st Lateran Council
found it possible to refer to those that took the cross either for Jerusalem of for Iberian peninsula as though both = of the same kind
1125, archbishop of Compostela
Just as the knights of Christ… opened the way to Jerusalem… so we should become knights of Christ and, after defeating his wicked enemies the Muslims, open the way to the Lord’s sepulchre through Spain
