Islam+and+Christianity



World Religions

Religion was spread by the forces of cultural diffusion, including military power, trade, missionary conversions, and migrations. Encounters between different religious groups led to conflict, such as the Crusades and tensions within the Christian Church. At other times the spread of religions went unchallenged, such as the spread of Buddhist philosophy and the Hindu religion.
 * What forces of interacti****on led to the spread of world religions?**

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 * The Medieval Church **[[image:Screen_shot_2010-05-23_at_6.27.30_PM.png align="right" caption="Spread of Christianity in Europe"]]

Religious journeys were far from being the sole method used by medieval Christians to show their steadfastness to their beliefs. In medieval times, the Church's teachings were a focus of everyday life. For centuries, Christian missionaries spread the Word across Europe, and eventually, the region was dominated by the Roman church. The everyday lives of Christian Europeans were influenced by their religion, and the hierarchy of the Church soon wielded formidable economic and political authority.

The early Middle Ages brought monastic life to worldly people. Men and women became monks and nuns, making the decision to devote their whole lives to spiritual aims.
 * Monasteries and Convents **

**Service and Scholarship** Monasteries and convents frequently furnished rudimentary health and academic services, since hospitals or schools were not yet in existence. They provided food and shelter to those who needed it, particularly to Christians making pilgrimages. Quite a few monks and nuns came to be missionaries, spreading Christianity in western and central Europe.

The art of study was kept alive by monasteries and convents. Monks and nuns labored to reproduce Greco-Roman literature from the library. The church’s language, Latin, was taught and written by educated monks and nuns.

The Church extended and accumulated its power over Europe throughout the early Middle Ages; likewise, the strength of many rulers also increased. This led to the eruption of hostilities between worldly leaders and Church functionaries, the most drawn out and ruinous of which was a clash between popes and Roman rulers.
 * The Holy Roman Empire and the Church **

Charlemagne ruled most of present-day France and Germany, wresting their control in the early Middle Ages. With his death came the dissolution of his empire into several, discrete states. The dukes of Saxony, in due course, succeeded in increasing their power over adjacent German lands. One duke, Otto I of Saxony, was enthroned as King of Germany in 936.
 * The Holy Roma ****n Empire **

**O****tto I Becomes Em****peror** Otto I took a close interest in Church affairs, just as Charlemagne had. He gave high-ranked government positions to bishops. He also assisted the pope in the defeat of disobedient Roman nobles by the means of sending an army into Italy. These actions prompted an appreciative pope to crown Otto emperor in 962. The title of Holy Roman emperor originated amongst his successors -- "holy" as a reference to who they were crowned by, and "Roman" because they consider themselves heirs to the ancient Roman emperors.

**Emperors Struggle for Control** German emperors declared their rule over the majority of Europe. The rightful rulers of these territories were, in fact the emperor's subjects, hundreds of nobles and Church functionaries which German emperors were never fully able to control.

Another challenge that the emperors stood was papal confrontation. In similar fashion to other rulers, the Holy Roman emperors tended to avoid the pope and appoint the bishops and abbots of their domain. Concurrently, popes attempted to prevent such trespasses in the Church.

Henry IV became king of Germany in 1054, only to be promoted to as the Holy Roman emperor. Gregory VII was the current pope. In the time of their reigns, disputes between religious and secular leaders arose.
 * The Feud Between Pope and Emperor **

**Gregory VII Causes Controversy** Pope Gregory VII, who made many theological improvements, gained the respect of many medieval Europeans; contrarily, these changes also kindled dislike and scorn. To ensure the Church's self-rule from profane rulers, Gregory banned lay investiture, a practice under which the emperor or a lay individual could "invest," or entrust, a bishop with the ring and personnel symbolic of their capacity or office. This way, the right to consecrate a bishop lay solely with the pope.

**Henry IV Responds** Henry IV, the Holy Roman emperor, took the ban of lay investiture very poorly. He was insistent that the land bishops held were royal fiefs, or estates of land, owned with the condition of royal service. Being who he was, Henry believed he had the right to "invest" in these bishops the emblem of office. This rivalry exuded more and more violence as the two traded increasingly abusive notes. At the same time, Henry was further undermined by rebellious German princes' supporting the pope.

**The Struggle Intensifies** In 1076, Henry was excommunicated from the Church by Gregory, and his subjects were freed. Then, the pope scoured the north for prospective emperors. Beset with rebellion, Henry had no choice but to make peace. He went about this by submitting himself to the pope as a repentant sinner. Gregory saw through this guise, but, as a priest, he was obligated to give forgiveness to confessed transgressors. The order of excommunication was withdrawn, and Henry returned with a vengeance to Germany to once again suppress his rebellious nobles. He organized his revenge on Gregory by taking troops to Rome and using them to drive out the pope.

**A Compromise: The Concordat of Worms** The issue of investiture persisted for nearly fifty years. In 1122, the Concordat of Worms, a treaty stating that the Church had the exclusive ability to appoint priests, was finally accepted by both sides. Nevertheless, bishops and priests could still be bestowed with fiefs.

Despite the conclusion of the investiture dispute, popes and emperors were still at odds. Determined German emperors ruling in the 1100s and 1200s set out to control Italy, but in doing so, they sparked conflict with popes and affluent northern Italian cities.
 * The Struggle for Italy **

**German Emperors Try to Subdue Italy** The Holy Roman emperor Frederick Barbarossa I, also known as "Red Beard," aspired to establish a kingdom reaching from the Baltic sea to the Adriatic. He relentlessly struggled to conquer the prosperous cities of north Italy, but was met with equal force. Barbarossa met his match when the pope decided to band together with the wealthy cities in the Lombard League. Even so, Barbarossa was successful in organizing a wedding ceremony for his son, Henry, and the Sicilian heiress, Constance. This further intertwined German and Italian politics. Southern Italy was where Barbarossa's grandson, Frederick II, grew up. Skilled, but self-centered, he worked hard to reach his goals, which often placed him in constant, ineffective conflicts with several popes. He shared his grandfather's goal of conquest and like Barbarossa, he failed.

<span style="font-family: 'Arial Black',Gadget,sans-serif;">**Effects on Germany and Italy** German nobles became more self-determining in Frederick II's absence, transforming the Holy Roman Empire into a bricolage of feudalistic provinces. Because of this disunity, Germany had 600 years to go until they were able to achieve the status of nation-state. Likewise, Italy and Sicily had centuries of turmoil to deal with. The papal office called on France to depose Frederick's successors. Two centuries of pandemonium and Spanish-French conflict was caused by a rebellion against French governance in Sicily. Italy's once-great cultural center was falling apart.

The Church's political peak was arrived at in the 1200s. Reformists like Gregory VII maintained the right to drive out secular rulers, and papal power was increased thereon due to the efforts of his heirs. <span style="font-family: 'Arial Black',Gadget,sans-serif;">**Papal Supremacy** Taking office in 1198 was the influential Pope Innocent III. His superior status brought him the claim to dominance over all other leaders. He insisted that the pope stands "between God and man, lower than God but higher than men, who judges all and is judged by no one." Innocent III went up against every powerful ruler of the period, and typically succeeded. When King John of England had the nerve to avoid the pope and ordain an archbishop of Canterbury, the king was excommunicated by Innocent and his kingdom was interdicted. Identical actions were taken in response to Philip II's felonious attempt to annul, or revoke, his marriage.
 * <span style="color: #ff0000; font-family: 'Arial Black',Gadget,sans-serif; font-size: 140%;">Church Power Reaches Its Height **

Innocent -- with Philip II's help -- initiated the Cathar Crusade in 1209. The Albigensians of southern France, Innocent's rival, were a religious sect considered by the Church to be heretical because they opposed core Catholic practices and beliefs. Many Western European knights participated in the massacre of tens of thousands of people in this Crusade. Internal papal power, the expansion of the Papal States, religious court practice, and the method of the nomination of Church officials were all focuses of Innocent's improvements. Eventually, he formed a council to warrant the pope's newfound level of authority.

In 1096, a series of Christian-Muslim conflicts, the Crusades, began in the Middle East for control of lands. Throughout the next two centuries, Western Europeans flooded into the Middle East, and through their newfound knowledge of the world, catalyzed domestic change.
 * <span style="color: #0000ff; font-family: 'Arial Black',Gadget,sans-serif; font-size: 150%;">The Crusades And the Wider World **

Western Europe was coming out of a period of isolation in 1050, just as other civilizations had long ago. Extending from modern Spain to India was a gifted society born from the religion of Islam; their ideas and goods scattered further by Muslim intellectuals and traders.
 * <span style="color: #ff0000; font-family: 'Arial Black',Gadget,sans-serif; font-size: 140%;">The World in 1050 **

The Byzantine empire -- the former eastern Roman empire -- was, overall, vigorous and concerted. In this period, the Byzantine were overrun by the Seljuk Turks. The Turks converted to Islam after their migratory journey from Central Asia to the Middle East. By 1071, many Byzantine lands in Asia Minor (present-day Turkey) had already been conquered by the Seljuks. Also under the Turks' power was the Holy Land, or Jerusalem and various other locations in Palestine (contemporarily, Israel), where Jesus is believed to have lived and preached. The region had been controlled by other Muslim parties in the past, but the invasion by the Seljuk was a threat to the Byzantine empire, as Christian pilgrims were unable to enter the Holy Land.

<span style="font-family: 'Arial Black',Gadget,sans-serif; font-size: 140%;">** The Crusades ** Pope Urban II was fervently requested for Christian knights to help the Byzantine emperor, Alexius I, combat the Muslim Turks. Despite the bad blood between Byzantine emperors and Roman popes, Urban consented. media type="file" key="The_First_Crusade_Begins_in_Europe_.mov" align="left" width="330" height="330" <span style="font-family: 'Arial Black',Gadget,sans-serif;">**Called to War** In 1095, at the Council of Clermont, Urban gave bishops and nobles a call to arms. "From Jerusalem and the city of Constantinople comes a grievous report. An accursed race . . . has violently invaded the lands of those Christians and has depopulated them by pillage and fire." To remedy this, Urban incited a crusade.

Thousands of knights started to the Holy Land by 1096. Armies of ordinary men and women were also roused to journey and fight by devoted ministers, but a negligible amount never came home. Crusaders were motivated by wealth and land. Other ulterior motives included adventure or flight from domestic problems at home.

However, the pope had slightly purer motives. His reasons all had to do with mending disunity. The two branches of Christianity had been split in two after theological and authority conflicts; Urban hoped to fix this by increasing his power and, by engaging in the Crusades, give the Christian knights a new purpose: fighting Muslims.

<span style="font-family: 'Arial Black',Gadget,sans-serif;">**Fighting a Losing Battle** These goals were nearly met with the First Crusade. In 1099, after a violent offensive, Christian knights captured Jerusalem. Celebration came with the slaughter of Muslim and Jewish citizens. For over 200 years into the future, the Crusades intermittently continued. The four crusader states were born from the division of the captured lands; these Christian states were always in danger of destruction brought by the Muslims, which brought on further crusades. The Muslims invaded Jerusalem in 1187.

Salah al-Din, better known as Saladin, was the conqueror. The Third Crusade brought failure in the Europeans' venture to take Jerusalem, but subsequent to negotiations, Christian pilgrims were allowed back into the holy city.

In North Africa especially, Europeans organized additional crusades against the Muslims; defeat was the end result. The Fourth Crusade brought Urban's worst nightmare: infighting. In 1204, after siding with Venetian merchants to defeat their Byzantine rivals, the crusaders seized and pillaged the Byzantine capital, Constantinople.

In the meantime, the crusaders states were overwhelmed by the Muslims. The last Christian outpost, Acre had been invaded by 1291, and, taking after the crusaders actions of previous years, the triumphant party indiscriminately killed their enemies. The only difference was that the fatalities were Christians.

<span style="font-family: 'Arial Black',Gadget,sans-serif; font-size: 140%;">** The Impact of the Crusades ** The Crusades' legacy was that of virulent religious intolerance, leading to the commission of hateful acts in the name of both Christianity and Islam in the Middle East. Crusaders sometimes took their religious fury out by exterminating entire Jewish communities.

When the Crusaders arrived, the Middle East was full of political conflict, but, under Saladin, these various Muslim regimes gathered for combat, therefore joining together the area from Egypt to Syria. Despite the Europeans' loss, daily life back home was still impacted, particularly through the pace of which change was taking place.

<span style="font-family: 'Arial Black',Gadget,sans-serif;"> Europeans had an appetite for Byzantine extravagances. So unsurprisingly, with the return of the crusaders, came an abundance of Middle Eastern cloth, spices, and perfumes to Europe. which revitalized the economy.
 * European Economies Expand**

The fleets of ships that had been used to transport crusaders were instead used to trade items like sugar, cotton, and rice with the Middle East.

The money economy was further strengthened by the Crusades as well. Because nobles needed money to fund this trip, peasants were permitted to pay money for rent as opposed to grain or labor.

<span style="font-family: 'Arial Black',Gadget,sans-serif;">**Effects on Monarchs and the Church** Monarchs also benefited from the Crusades. In order to support the knights, they were allowed to charge taxes and some rulers, such as Richard I the Lion-Heart and the French king Louis IX, gained respect by leading Crusades.

Papal power was brought to its short-lived highest point by enthusiasm for the Crusades. Popes soon bitterly fought with monarchs. Things did not go as Pope Urban had wished, as the split between the Roman and Byzantine churches still existed; rather, because the crusaders plundered Constantinople during the Fourth Crusade, the Byzantines' hatred grew.

<span style="font-family: 'Arial Black',Gadget,sans-serif;">**A Wider Worldview Evolves** Christian contact with Muslims led to the discovery of unknown regions and the exploration of India and China by a few curious Europeans.

Marco Polo, a young Venetian, along with his merchant father and uncle set out for China in 1271. Polo returned to Venice after many years in China to write a book about what he had learned, but some Europeans were uncertain about his adventure to China. Unfathomable to them were postal services operated by the government and homes heated by black stones (coal).

Adventures such as this broadened European horizons, bringing them out of the isolation they had experienced since the fall of Rome. media type="file" key="Legacy_of_the_Crusades_.mov" align="center" width="360" height="360"

<span style="font-family: 'Arial Black',Gadget,sans-serif; font-size: 140%;">** The Reconquista ** The Iberian peninsula in particular housed the crusading spirit still burning subsequent to the Europeans' Acre defeat. Much of present-day Spain had been conquered by the Moors, or North African Muslims, in the 700s. Slowly, but surely, several small Christian kingdoms in the north campaigned to take over Muslim lands. This operation was dubbed the Reconquista, or "reconquest."

<span style="font-family: 'Arial Black',Gadget,sans-serif;">**Christians Conquer** **Spain** The year 1085 brought the Christian warriors' first true triumph in the conquest of Toledo. Christian forces moved southward for the next 200 years, leading to the establishment of their kingdom of Portugal by 1140 and Christian dominance over the Iberian Peninsula (except for Granada) by 1300. Unaffected, Muslim powers helped shape the arts and literature of Christian Spain. Ferdinand of Aragon and Isabella of Castile's marriage formed the cooperative country of Spain in 1469, and with their combined strengths, they were able to conquer the Muslim fortress of Granada in 1492, which completed the Reconquista.

<span style="font-family: 'Arial Black',Gadget,sans-serif;">**Spain Expels Non-Christians** Ferdinand and Isabella wished for unity on their peoples. Isabella was determined on political as well as religious unity. Spanish Christians, Jews, and Muslims were able to live quite peacefully, worshipping as they wished, under Muslim control, but liberality was ended by Isabella. Isabella commenced a fierce crusade, an activity which the Inquisition, a religious court meant to try heretics, supported. Alleged nonbelievers were generally those of Jews and Muslims forced to convert to Christianity. If convicted, secular authorities took over discipline, generally constituted by being burned at the stake.

The desired religious unity was accomplished, but at the price of 150,000 refugees, mostly skilled, intelligent Muslims and Jews who had had a profound effect on the Spanish’s culture and economy.

<span style="font-family: 'Arial Black',Gadget,sans-serif; font-size: 150%;">** Shaping Eastern Europe **

<span style="font-family: 'Arial Black',Gadget,sans-serif; font-size: 140%;">** Geography Shapes Eastern Europe ** Eastern Europe: to the west, Central Europe; to the east, Russia. This region is home to the Balkan Peninsula, whose rivers transported both goods and cultural influences.

<span style="font-family: 'Arial Black',Gadget,sans-serif; font-size: 140%;">** Migrations Contribute to Diversity **

<span style="font-family: 'Arial Black',Gadget,sans-serif;">**Ethnic Groups Settle in Eastern Europe and the Balkans** Eastern Europe’s cultural diversity can be attributed to its geography, as many different ethnic groups were heartened by the effortlessness of relocation to find new homes. Several groups nearby also worked to influence the region, and as a result, Eastern Europe is a melting pot of dialects and societies.

<span style="font-family: 'Arial Black',Gadget,sans-serif;">**Christians and Muslims Influence the Region** Eastern Europe was a pooling of religious and cultural influences. Orthodox Christianity and Byzantine culture were brought to the Balkans by missionaries from Byzantium. Poland and other areas underwent romanization by German knights and missionaries. Islam was introduced to the Balkans in the 1300s when the Ottomans invaded.

<span style="font-family: 'Arial Black',Gadget,sans-serif;">**Jewish Settlers Migrate to Poland** In Western Europe, there were prosperous Jewish communities and some educated Jews even possessed important directorate and scholastic positions, but Christians frequently blamed the Jews for calamity and misfortune. Christians sometimes assaulted their communities, especially violently during the plague and the Crusades. Due to this persecution, the Jewish people took flight to Eastern Europe -- Poland, in particular -- where, in 1264, Prince Boleslaw of Cracow issued a decree that they and their rights be protected.

<span style="font-family: 'Arial Black',Gadget,sans-serif; font-size: 150%;">** The Rise of Islam **

<span style="font-family: 'Arial Black',Gadget,sans-serif; font-size: 140%;">** Muhammad Becomes a Prophet ** In the Arabian Peninsula, the Muslim religion and it’s followers emerged. Mecca, a center of commerce and spirituality, became Muhammad’s birthplace in 570 A.D. This man worked with the Bedouins, a nomadic people, and eventually, he prospered as a shopkeeper and married Khadija at 25. He became known for trustworthiness in business and family dedication.

<span style="font-family: 'Arial Black',Gadget,sans-serif;">**Muhammad Becomes God's Messenger** Muhammad frequently contemplated the sins of Meccan society, especially avarice. As per Muslim tradition, an angel appeared to Muhammad and commissioned him as Allah’s prophet. <span style="font-family: 'Arial Black',Gadget,sans-serif;"> The Hijra: A Turning Point Some paid attention to Muhammad’s teachings, but there were those who wished him harm. He and his disciples fled to Yathrib (later, Medina) from Mecca in 622 on a journey known as the hijra. Thousands in this town converted to Islam, which resulted in powerful, yet tranquil villages, letting the Muslims defeat bloodthirsty Meccans. Eight years after the hijra, Muhammad returned to Mecca, and devoted the Kaaba to Allah, transforming into the the holiest Islamic site in existence. He died two years later, but not before recording what is believed to be the direct word of Allah, the Quran, something all Muslims study to learn about how to live well.

<span style="font-family: 'Arial Black',Gadget,sans-serif; font-size: 140%;">** Teachings of Islam **

<span style="font-family: 'Arial Black',Gadget,sans-serif;">Muslims Study the Quran To Muslims, the Quran contains the sacred word of God as revealed to Muhammad. It is the ﬁnal authority on all matters discussed in the text. The Quran teaches about God’s will and provides a guide to life. Its ethical standards emphasize honesty, generosity, and social justice. It sets harsh pemedia type="file" key="The_Five_Pillars_of_Islam.mov" align="right" width="300" height="300"nalties for crimes such as stealing or murder. According to the Quran, each individual will stand before God on the ﬁnal judgment day to face either eternal punishment in hell or eternal bliss in paradise.

<span style="font-family: 'Arial Black',Gadget,sans-serif;">Muslims Follow Duties Muslims do not believe priests to provide necessary mediation between the people and their god. They simply congregate to pray in mosques. The Five Pillars of Islam are their charges: to act as a missionary, pray five times everyday, give alms, fast during Ramadan, and make the pilgrimage, or hajj, to Mecca. Exertion in Allah’s employ, or jihad, is another duty.

<span style="font-family: 'Arial Black',Gadget,sans-serif;">"People of the Book" Because Muslims believe that they worship the same God as Jews and Christians and study God’s earlier revelations, Muslims call the two groups “People of the Book,” so, Muslim societies generally allow them religious freedom.

<span style="font-family: 'Arial Black',Gadget,sans-serif; font-size: 140%;">** Islam: A Way of Life **

<span style="font-family: 'Arial Black',Gadget,sans-serif;">Sharia - Islamic System of Law Daily life in Muslim society is helped along by the Sharia, a collection of laws that expounds on the Quran in order to apply it to legal situations.

<span style="font-family: 'Arial Black',Gadget,sans-serif;">Impact of Islam on Women Under their religious text, Muslim men and women are equal, but play different societal roles. There is some regional variation as the interpretation of the women’s responsibilities and privileges differently, and in certain areas, the practices of conquered peoples, such as upper-class women wearing veils, were adopted.