Western Civilization

1. Western Civilization Chapter 8 Early Medieval Civilization 600 - 900

2. Muslim Civilization • Originated among nomads of Arabian Desert • Arab world divided into tribes led by chiefs named Sheiks • Nomads or Bedouins were poor and depended on grazing of their animals, chiefly camels • Tribal raids common • Rigid lifestyles and customs • Practiced polytheism and worshipped nature gods

3. Mecca became a flourishing, cosmopolitan city along a trade route, a Haram • Bedouins usually went to Mecca annually to worship at the Kaaba that contained a black stone that was said to be from the Garden of Eden • Questions arose about the value of tradition when Bedouins encountered such a worldly city; change was the result

4. Kaaba

5. Muhammad • Was seen as a religious prophet • United the Arab world • Born in Mecca in 570 A.D. and was soon an orphan • Raised by relatives who worked in trade • Learned of other places and other religions through trade contacts • Became a business manager for a wealthy widow at age 20

6. Muhammad later married her • Became introspective in his 30s • Began to meditate in the arid mountains outside of the city • At age 40 he had a vision that said he was to be the messenger of God • From God’s revelations to him came the religion of Islam • Within a year he began preaching

7. Stressed the unity of God – Allah • Stressed the evils of worshipping false gods • There was to be a judgment day • Muhammad was told that he was the last and greatest of God’s prophets • All revelations were written down in their holy book called the Qur’an (Koran)

8. Qur’an

9. Humans were to worship using prayers of praise, seldom with prayers asking for things • The Qur’an was to be their guide for both their secular and religious lives • There was a beautiful and exotic afterlife for those who followed the Qur’an and suffering for those who didn’t • Islam was the name given to the faith; it means submission to God

10. Followers would be called Muslims • Muhammad brought the Arab world a religious vision that was not only new to the Arabs but that also gave them a historic mission to spread the true religion as revealed by Allah (God) • Besides articles of faith, there were duties required of all believers

11. 5 Pillars of Islam • There is only one God, Allah, and Muhammad is his messenger • Pray 5 times daily facing Mecca • Give of your wealth to the poor (zakat or tithe) • Fast during the month of Ramadan • If possible, once in a lifetime make a pilgrimage to Mecca, the Hajj

12. There were also strict rules regarding diet and other things: • No pork • No drinking or gambling • Demanded honesty and fair play • Have respect for others There was no church, no clergy, no sacraments, no images, and no statues

13. Muhammad ran into trouble with the people of Mecca when he said that those who worshipped more than just Allah were damned • His followers were ostracized and persecuted • In the meantime, Medina asked Muhammad and his followers to come there to mediate some dispute

14. On 24 September 622, Muhammad and his followers sneaked out of Mecca under the cover of darkness and went to Medina • This journey is known as theHejira and marked the beginning of the Islamic movement • He organized his followers from Mecca and Medina into a community that went beyond tribe or clan, called an Umma

15. Muhammad was the holy man and his family was now his Umma • When his control of Medina was certain, he went back to Mecca with 10,000 warriors and captured the city with very little bloodshed • Mecca was then considered the most sacred city • Islam began to spread throughout the Arab world making the Umma a supertribe open to all who accepted Allah and Muhammad as his prophet

16. Women remained subordinate to men; they could be equal in heaven but not before • Men could have up to 4 wives and could divorce them at will • Women were usually kept separate from men • In public women had to wear a veil that covered most of her face; only the eyes were uncovered

17. Islam did forbid female infanticide • Brides received a dowry from their husbands • Marriage was more of a partnership than a sale • Women did have inheritance and property rights • They also had protection from mistreatment in marriage

18. Spread of Islam • Islam was spread through raiding and warfare; all done in the name of Allah • Holy wars were called jihads • When Muslims took a town, the people had a choice – convert to Islam or pay a tax • Muhammad died in 632 leaving no clear successor and no direction concerning its leadership

19. Abu Bakr(632-634) was the 4th convert to Islam and Muhammad closest friend to whom he gave the title of Caliph; he became Muhammad’s successor • He died in 634 and a new successor was named • Umar (634-644) was the next caliph and had many problems with followers who wished to go their own way; launched a war of reconversion spreading Islam beyond the Arab world

20. Uthman(644-656) was the next leader of Islam and was killed • Ali (656-661) is thought to have had a hand in the death of Uthman • claimed authority to lead based on blood because he was Muhammad’s son-in-law and nephew • He was assassinated • His followers formed a dissident religious/political group called Shi’ites claiming a blood connection to Muhammad

21. Muhammad • Caliphs • Omayyads • Abbasids • Rival Caliphs in Spain, N. Africa, Syria, & India • Abbasids with help of Turkish mercenaries who made Abbasids their puppets

22. Omayyads • Center of power was in Damascus • Imperialists • Had a central court, bureaucracy, efficient tax system, and strong army • 632 – 750, Muslim world was dominated by Arabs • Resentment grew from non-Arab Muslims • This led to the overthrow of Omayyads in 750

23. Abbasid Power • Took power after Umayyads • Family of Persian origins • Their rise to power marked the end of Arab domination in Muslim world • Moved the capital to Baghdad • By 9th century Abbasid power declined • Rivals caliphs arose in Spain, N. Africa, Syria, & India • Abbasids regained power with help from Turkish mercenaries and became the puppets of the Turks

24. Economics • The wealth of the Muslim Empire exceeded that of the Byzantine Empire and the Germanic West • Trade was extremely important; trade routes throughout the empire and south through Africa • Wealth defined social class • There was mobility in society

25. Social Order • Mobility • Non-Muslims were tolerated but thought to be inferior and were taxed • Restrictions placed on women • Secluded from social life • Had to submit to the will of their husbands

26. Polygamy for men was legal • Men could divorce easily • Slaves had few rights • Behavior regulated by Qur’an and unified the Muslim world • Theologians, lawyers, and Philosophers reflected on their religion from their various perspectives

27. The result was an orthodox faith much more complex than the original message of Muhammad, however, rooted in his teachings • Adherents of the orthodox faith were called Sunnis • Shi’ites were those who insisted that the true religion was preserved by Muhammad’s blood descendants

28. All Muslims learned Arabic; the Qur’an was not translated into other languages • Muslims studied Greek philosophy and reconciled it with the Qur’an; this preserved Hellenistic culture • They took scientific information from the Greeks, Indians, Persians, Mesopotamians, and Egyptians and added to it

29. Mathematics – we use their numerical system with zero based on the Indian; combined Indian and Greek concepts to create algebra • Medicine – studied disease, dissected bodies, and experimented with drugs • Science – made advances in geography and physics • Poetry – used imagery and technical skill (Omar Khayyam)

30. Art – built mosques with minarets for individual prayer, palaces, tapestries, fabrics, leatherwork, paintings

31. Byzantine Empire • Suffered outside attacks from 6th to 10thcenturies • Persians, Bulgars, Muslims, and Slavs attacked at different times • 622 – 629 Emperor Heraclius recovered almost all the territory that had been lost • When Arabs kept pressing in, Heraclius couldn’t hold onto it

32. Arabs took large portions of the Byzantine Empire • By 700, the new boundaries of the Byzantine Empire took shape: the eastern Balkans and Western Anatolia (lost in 717) • They almost lost Constantinople, but Leo III and the “Greek Fire” made capture impossible

33. Leo then ruled until 741 • After his reign, succeeding emperors worked to fend off other attacks • There were external and also internal problems • In 867, a rough soldier named Basil I (r. 867-886) seized the throne, set up a Macedonian dynasty, and preserved the state

34. Internal Changes • Emperor did not always have strict control over all aspects of religion • An example of this is the monastery • From 6th century onward, there were many monasteries in the empire • In 11th century, there were 300 just in Constantinople • Monasteries were often wealthy and powerful • They possessed what they called miracle working religious images called icons

35. Religious Icons

36. These icons gave monasteries a power the emperor did not have • People venerated these icons • This led to the Iconoclastic Controversy that lasted from 726-843 • Leo III, the Isaurian issued an imperial decree forbidding this idolatry • He then ordered the destruction of all images of Christ, the saints, prophets, & others

37. Representations of all sorts, including mosaics in Hagia Sophia were destroyed as well as the religious art work of Justinian’s reign ( except for what was in Italy and on Mt. Sinai) • The Iconoclasts, image destroyers, mutilated, blinded, tortured, and sometimes executed those who tried to protect sacred images • Iconodules were those who protected, defended the icons

38. Outwardly, it was a religious issue based on the biblical commandment forbidding graven images • But it was really a conflict between Church and State • The monastic movement had achieved much wealth, power, and the respect of their followers • This was upsetting to the Emperors

39. A later empress, Theodora, allowed the images once again in 843 • These images once again regained their importance with the faithful

40. Struggles in Spain • Visigoths ruled in Spain until 507 when defeated by Clovis, a Frank • Afterwards, there were rebellions and more invasions by the Franks, Ostrogoths, Byzantines, and Muslims • Muslims invaded Spain in 711 and took much of the Iberian Peninsula • They ruled from Cordoba • Christians moved to the mountains called Asturias and attacked Muslims from there from 9th to 15th centuries

41. Italy • Had several Germanic groups, but the Byzantines and Muslims claimed various parts • Popes created their own state in the center • Lombards eventually took over much of Italy • 744 Charlemagne, a Frank, defeated the Lombards and took the Lombard crown for himself • He then guaranteed the land in the center of Italy for the Popes

42. The popes protected the people of central Italy • They justified their land there because of the Donation of Constantine • In the 320s, Constantine supposedly gave the pope the authority to rule Rome and the whole West

43. Britain • Was abandoned by the Romans • Was influenced by the Anglo-Saxons • 600, an Anglo-Saxon kingdom was established • It converted to Christianity • Celts, the original inhabitants, invaded in the first century but were confined to western areas of Cornwall and Wales and to the north in Scotland

44. Catholicism also reached the Celts • The best known story involves Patrick, son of a Roman official, who was captured and enslaved by pirates, taken to Ireland, freed, and eventually became a priest who took Christianity to Ireland

45. Carolingian Empire • Clovis and the Franks created the most effective of the early Germanic Kingdoms • In 7th century, some problems of rule emerged, but a Frankish family called Carolingian assembled talent and resources and took the lead • The greatest of their leaders was Charlemagne

46. Charlemagne

47. Reign of Charlemagne 768 - 814 • Charlemagne was the first great western European secular ruler • He was courageous, joyful, intelligent, had military prowess, and was devoted to family and Church • He was a successful military war lord • Defeated Lombard king in Italy & assumed the title King of the Lombards • Attacked Saxons in N.E. France • Fought Avars, Slavs, & Muslims

48. He never appeared to take land out of greed, but rather he was overpowering the “barbarians” and the “infidels” • He was saving his fellow Christians from the invading hoards • He appeared as the “strong right arm of God” • He gained great booty and used it to gain allegiance from his warriors

49. Charlemagne also tried to improve the quality of government • He considered the public well-being and the responsibility of the ruler • Greatly influenced by Christianity • Strove for right order, harmony, and justice • Wanted to direct his realm toward realizing God’s commands • Commanded his subjects to do good and avoid evil

50. Charlemagne claimed authority to command his subjects on all matters • He maintained a court made up of nobles and clergy • He was supported by royal lands, booty, tolls on trade, profits from coining money, and fines