Week 4 - Cathars and Caliphs Flashcards
formation of a persecuting society
Bob Moore
Rise of persecution of deviance in Europe 11-13th century
Reaction to challenges to authority
Not because medieval times were violent or Roman Catholic Church was evil
Persecution as a strategy of building (and protecting authority)
How is persecution linked to knowledge exchange?
ncreased works by non-Christian authors
Development of debate
Introducing doubt into knowledge, faith and political authorities
Reaction = policing boundaries more forcefully
Official, public and literature
Dark side of renaissance
Peter Abelard, 1115-17
Theological work by a philosopher
Aimed to reconcile contradictory biblical passages
Logic debate method
Used doubt as a way to come to truth in bible
Should doubt religious authority and truths and debate
Tried for heresy in 1140
Pursue, punish, purge
Deviant groups defined, pursued and punished: Jews, prostitutes, lepers, deviant christians and heresy
Linked to concept of preventing pr removing moral/spiritual pollution
Collaboration between secular and religious authorities
inquisition
Process of enquiry from 12th century
Identify religious deviants
Ask questions to guide them to knowledge of their error
Impose a penalty or cleansing
Remove or execute others
Institutional persecution - distorted, amplified, or fantasised prosecuted
defining Cathars
Rejected sacraments and church authority
Dualist - life as a struggle between light and dark, good men are perfect souls trapped within evil creation, despise creation and the physical world and body
Such points come from church records and inquisitorial trial documents - doubt the source?
Albigensian crusade 1209-1229
Another name for Cathars
Collaboration between papacy and French monarchy
Holy war and mass population displacement against Albigensian in South of France
Inquiry had become warfare
Talmud on trial, Paris 1242
Jewish convert to Christianity, Friar Nicholas Donin
Translated passaged of Talmud to French
Alleges they are blasphemies against christianity
Talmud found guilty
All copies were found and burned
King Louis IX declared only clerics should dispute with Jews, anyone else should kill them
Populist persecution
medieval cancel culture
Knowledge from unauthorised, non-Christian sources came under suspicion
meanwhile in the islamic world
Diversity is tolerated
Non-muslims have some legal status and protections
Protected status open to Jews and Christians - pay a tax for this protection, no military service, increased religious and legal autonomy, some discrimination
Can be elected into political positions - loyalty assured, could be used as scapegoats, figureheads of their communities
a golden age?
Ideal image of opportunity for Jews
Developed in contrast to history of their treatment in N Europe
Extrapolated from Al-Andalus across all Islamicate
Toleration was not same as equity
There may have still been outbursts of violence
islam and buddhism
Early knowledge of Buddhism came from Buddhists in senior positions in Baghdad
Encounters and conquests in Persia, Central Asia and Sind - more knowledge and more confusion
Was Buddha a prophet?
Was Buddhist teaching theistic or non-theistic?
Buddhists mainly considered among dhimmi like Christians and Jews
explaining different outcomes of encounter
Approach to exclusivity of religious truth - monotheistic religions all treat truth as exclusive but Christianity was more antagonistic
Legal developments - islamic law encompassed non-muslin communities, no status to non-Christians with Christian laws
Economic circumstances and rules - marginalisation of non-Christians or non-Muslims
Degree of social exclusion (mostly excluded Jews in Christian lands)
Development of political nationalism (seek to exclude non-Christians)
Moore summary
- Rise in persecution - due to exposure
- Authorities felt threatened by deviance groups including jews, prostitutes and lepers
- Christians believed they were the one true religion
- Authorities imposed restrictions to protect
- Created hierarchy to the divisions of Christianity
- Christians did not accept or welcomed Jews as Muslims did
- People began to doubt religion / politics - created instability
- More violence as a reaction
- Has more evidence
- Holistic approach
Hamilton summary
- Christians felt sympathy for Muslims on frontier
- Tried to make Saladin? ‘Christian Knight-like’
- Christian became more educated about the differences within Islamic groups
- Christians measured Islam by their own standards
- Due to popularity of Islamic literature Christians learnt more
- Concept of conversion however
- One-offs
The pope, the patriarch and kohen
Authored by Ibn Khaldun (Muslim sociologist and philosopher) in his ‘Muquaddimah’ which aimed to provide an early view of universal history
Contrast the authority structures of Judaism and Christianity with respect to the Islamic Caliphate, explaining such by referencing both historical development and theological ideals informing the internal interactions and attitudes of each of the respective religious groups.
Explains that the caliphate unites political and religious authority, while the respective positions of Kohen, Patriarch and Pope
Framed with an Quranic perspective - explaining why such fundamental difference exist to an audience that may not comprehend them
Extended discussion of the modifications to the Jewish belief system and Torah that early Christians made (discussion of the books of the Old Testament maintained) and subsequent consolidation of Christian theology
the study of oriental languages
Christians show great devotion, and specifically admirable and brave are the Christians who travel to other lands to spread the faith. People/places mentioned:
* Cumani - many baptized
* Maronites - previously controversial, now asking for Christian correction
* Tartars - prosperous conversion/mission
* Saracens - Christians study Arabic, proving successful as many have been baptized
* Prussians - recently subjugated to Christian rule many leaving pagan rites
Communication and language within the church reflects a very strict control and maintenance of image and belief.
* The name of God and the Holy Spirit are invoked consistently and terms of reverence are used repeatedly. Although this is undoubtedly an aspect of their faith, but also reads as performative out of fear for being seen as not pious enough etc.
Positive view of translation
