A Brief History of Christianity: Part Two – THE CRUSADES
HOW THINGS WORK - BOOK II SCIENCE & RELIGION – CONSIDERATION #160
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TUESDAY OCTOBER 29, 2024
“The history of Israel-Palestine conflict cannot be understood without its underlying emotional meanders. The emotional frameworks of the loss of Palestine for the Arab-Islamic world touched deep scars that go back to the Crusades…”
– Nayef Al-Rodhan
PREFACE
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According to Islam, in the year 610 AD the Prophet Muhammad received his first visit from the angel Jibril, or Gabriel, who over time shared with him the words of Allah. These visits resulted in the Islamic Holy Book the Koran. Islam becomes the third Abrahamic religion after Judaism and Christianity. However, Jews and Christians claim their heritage to Abraham through his second son Isaac; Mohammad claims his heritage to Abraham through his first son, Ishmael. After the death of the Prophet, Islam splits into two sects: Sunni and Shia. The birth of Islam changes the course of world history.
“Within only a few hundred years Islam had spread from its birthplace in the Arabian Peninsula to the borders of Europe…”
The rapid expansion of the new religion through trade, pilgrimage, and conquest threatened the West not only in terms of religion, but in terms of survival. Within only a few hundred years Islam had spread from its birthplace in the Arabian Peninsula to the borders of Europe; Spain in the West, and as far as northern India in the East. One of the ways Islam expanded was through Jihad, often interpreted by the West as “holy war.”
“The Muslim world had, prior to the crusades, already embarked on jihad - often translated as 'holy war' but meaning, more accurately, a 'striving' to both defend and expand Islam and Islamic territories.”
– The Crusades: Consequences & Effects (WorldHistory.com)
However, although Jihad is generally associated with the concept of holy war in the West, its connotations are far deeper and more complex in Islamic theology.
“Following the Prophet’s forced hijra (migration) from Mecca to Medina in 622 and the consolidation of his umma (community of believers), jihad took an activist sense dedicated to both defending and expanding the religion…
Consequently, jihad developed into conceptions of both inward and outward struggles. According to an often repeated (though not universally accepted) hadith, or recorded sayings of Prophet Muhammad, jihad could be a struggle against one’s sinful proclivities, also known as ‘greater jihad’, or a struggle against injustice, known also as ‘smaller jihad.’ Significantly, many references to jihad in the hadith collection Sahih al-Bukhari assume jihad to mean armed action.
The expansion of Islam during the Umayyad (661-750) and Abbasid (750-1258) dynasties gave rise to a conception of jihad as a form of warfare, related to the division of the world into Dar al-Islam (Abode of Islam) and Dar al-Harb (Abode of War). Jurists envisioned perpetual warfare between Muslims and non-Muslims until Dar al-Islam prevailed under the establishment of religiously legitimate Muslim rule, whereby Islam superseded other faiths and created a just socio-political order.
In this context, jihad developed offensive and defensive forms.”
– Robert Rabil (Contextualizing Jihad and Takfir in the Sunni Conceptual Framework)
The West’s reaction to the Muslim Jihad was a Holy War of its own called the Crusades. Both Islam and Christianity focused on the “holy” or religious association as the main focus of the war to justify its motivation.
“Throughout Islamic history, wars against non-Muslims, even when motivated by political and secular concerns, were termed jihads to grant them religious legitimacy. This was a trend that started during the Umayyad period (661–750 CE).”
Jihad – (Britannica.com)
“The Catholic Church had also created a new fast-track entry into heaven with the promise that crusaders would enjoy an immediate remission of their sins - military service and penance were intermixed so that crusading became an act of devotion.”
– The Crusades: Consequences & Effects (WorldHistory.com)
Although the West eventually loses control of the Holy Lands to Islam, the Crusades positively affected Western Europe and the Catholic Church in many ways. However, the division and resentment between Jews, Christians, and Muslims remains even today, particularly in the Middle East.
CONSIDERATION #160 – The Crusades
The fear of a quickly expanding new power called Islam led to a crisis in the “Christian” world. Islam became an existential threat to both Christianity and the West itself.
“Approximately two-thirds of the ancient Christian world had been conquered by Muslims by the end of the 11th century, including the important regions of Palestine, Syria, Egypt, and Anatolia.”
– Crusades: (Brittanica.com)
As Islam encroached into the very heart of Europe the spiritual and empirical power of “Rome” united to form a new religious army to counter the invading Muslims; a new order of Christian soldiers called Knights were recruited.
“In November 1095, at the Council of Clermont in southern France, the Pope called on Western Christians to take up arms to aid the Byzantines and recapture the Holy Land from Muslim control. This marked the beginning of the Crusades.”
– Crusades: (History.com)
The Pope’s call to arms in 1095 would ultimately lead to a multi-century war known as the Crusades. A “religious war” over who would rule the Holy Land and the Holy City of Jerusalem that entangled Jews, Christians, and Muslims in a long bloody war for its occupation. The scars from this encounter have never completely healed.
“The Crusades were a series of religious wars between Christians and Muslims started primarily to secure control of holy sites considered sacred by both groups. In all, eight major Crusade expeditions—varying in size, strength and degree of success—occurred between 1096 and 1291.”
– Crusades: (History.com)
“Their objectives were to check the spread of Islam, to retake control of the Holy Land in the eastern Mediterranean, to conquer pagan areas, and to recapture formerly Christian territories; they were seen by many of their participants as a means of redemption and expiation for sins.”
– Crusades: (Brittanica.com)
Regardless of their early victories, and even a brief occupation of Jerusalem, the Christians eventually lose the Crusades, and the Muslims maintain control of the Holy Lands, including Jerusalem. Ironically, despite the loss, Europe and the Catholic Church in many ways had gained significantly from the long encounter.
“While the Crusades ultimately resulted in defeat for Europeans and a Muslim victory, many argue that they successfully extended the reach of Christianity and Western civilization. The Roman Catholic Church experienced an increase in wealth, and the power of the Pope was elevated during the Crusades…”
– Crusades: (History.com)
Although the West had technically lost the war, they had slowed down the advance of Islam and survived as a civilization.
“There can be little doubt that the Crusades slowed the advance of Islamic power, although how much is an open question. At the very least, they bought Europe some much-needed time. Without centuries of Crusading effort, it is difficult to see how western Europe could have escaped conquest by Muslim armies, which had already captured the rest of the Mediterranean world.”
– Crusades: (History.com)
The Crusades changed both Western Europe and the Catholic Church significantly, ultimately paving the way for a new possible future. This new future included a new Renaissance leading to a new Age of Reason and the exploration of a New World.
“The death of many nobles during crusades and the fact that many mortgaged their land to the crown in order to pay for their campaigns and those of their followers also increased royal power. There was a decline in the system of feudalism, too, as many nobles sold their lands to fund their travels, freeing their serfs in the process.
Trade between East and West greatly increased. More exotic goods entered Europe than ever before… The Italian states of Venice, Genoa, and Pisa grew rich through their control of the Middle East and Byzantine trade routes, which was in addition to the money they raked in from transporting crusader armies and their supplies.”
– The Crusades: Consequences & Effects (WorldHistory.com)
Ironically, the expansion of Islam into other nations and territories as part of their religious and social expansion became part of Christianity as a form of Western Jihad or Holy War called “crusades.” The West, through Christianity, would aggressively and violently expand their own empire into new nations and territories. Like early Islamic expansion, Christianity would now be spread by the sword.
“Travel became more common, initially in the form of pilgrimage to the Holy Land and there also developed a thirst to read about such journeys which were widely published. The age of exploration had begun and would lead to the discovery of the New World where the concept of a crusade against non-believers was once more applied. Hernán Cortés, the conqueror of the Aztecs, claimed his followers were milites Christi or 'Knights of Christ' waging a guerra santa or 'Holy War'.”
– The Crusades: Consequences & Effects (WorldHistory.com)
These drastic changes in Europe and the Church eventually leads to the expansion of the West through the exploration and exploitation of a New World that gives birth to a new Western nation: The United States of America.
However, the Crusades are seen completely differently from the Muslim perspective.
“Among followers of Islam, however, the Crusaders were regarded as immoral, bloody and savage. The ruthless and widespread massacre of Muslims, Jews and other non-Christians resulted in bitter resentment that persisted for many years. Even today, some Muslims derisively refer to the West’s involvement in the Middle East as a ‘crusade.’”
– Crusades: (History.com)
“The legacy of the Crusades in the Muslim world is that a lot of Muslims think of where they are today in terms of Western encroachment. For some, the Crusades are seen not just as a medieval threat, but as a present one—a perpetual Western attempt to undermine Islam. It could be physical colonialism or cultural colonialism.”
– Why Muslims See the Crusades So Differently from Christians (History.com)
Today, over seven centuries after the Crusades, Jews, Christians, and Muslims are still entangled in conflict over the Holy Land and the Holy City of Jerusalem. The modern roots of this conflict reach all the way back to the Crusades. The ancient roots of this conflict reach all the way back to Abraham.
POSTSCRIPT
Not everything about the Crusades was positive for Catholicism. By the end of the wars, papal power had decreased, and the combination of money, power, and war had greatly corrupted the Church. It had also increased the tension between the Western and the Eastern Churches to the point of forever fracturing the “one universal” Church. However, by the end of the long series of brutal and savage wars the Western, or Catholic Church, had grown in size, stature, power, and corruption.
“The success of the First Crusade and the image that popes directed the affairs of the whole Christian world helped the Papacy gain supremacy over the Hohenstaufen emperors… However, with each new failed campaign, papal prestige declined, although in Spain and north-east Europe the territorial successes did promote the Papacy. Another negative consequence for many was the Church's official sanction of the possibility to purchase indulgences. That is if one could not or did not want to go on a crusade in person, giving material aid to others who did so reaped the same spiritual benefits. This idea was extended by the Catholic Church to create a whole system of paid indulgences, a situation which contributed to the emergence of the Reformation of the 16th century CE.
The crusades caused a rupture in western-Byzantine relations. First, there was the Byzantine's horror at unruly groups of warriors causing havoc in their territory. Outbreaks of fighting between crusaders and Byzantine forces were common, and the mistrust and suspicion of their intentions grew.
Although the parting of the ways between East and West began much earlier, 1054 is often viewed as the official date for the separation between Western Christians (Roman Catholics) and Eastern Christians (Eastern Orthodox). Several religious and political factors were at play in the division between Western and Eastern Christians, yet two stand out. First, the Western Church asserted that the pope’s authority extended over the entire church, including the East. The Eastern Church, however, rejected papal authority. Second, the Western church argued that the Holy Spirit proceeded from both the Father and the Son. The East said that the Holy Spirit proceeded only from the Father. These differences could not be overcome and thus the Eastern and Western churches parted ways.”
– THE 10 MOST IMPORTANT DATES IN CHURCH HISTORY (JourneyOnline.org)
After the Great Schism the Crusades only increased the tension and distrust between the Eastern and Western Churches; eventually making any possible future chance for reconciliation impossible.
“The Fourth Crusade and the downfall of Constantinople sparked the beginning of centuries of tension and discord between the Roman Catholic Church and the Eastern Orthodox Church. The Crusaders’ selfish decision to invade Constantinople against the Pope’s demands caused the tensions between the Christian sects to escalate into a painful rift, radiating problems even into the twenty-first century. In short, the Sack of Constantinople solidified the divide created by the Great Schism.”
– Ryan Martin (The Fourth Crusade and its Effect on the Roman Catholic and Greek Orthodox Relationship)
However, the corruption of the Church would lead to an even greater schism; the division and disintegration of the Roman Catholic Church itself. Martin Luther’s Protestant Reformation and Gutenberg’s printing press would challenge the power and papal authority of the Catholic Church. After the Crusades the Roman Catholic Church could no longer hold and maintain sole Christian authority in Europe, or the world.
Next week the Christian monopoly known as Roman Catholicism comes to an end…
HAPPY HALLOWEEN…
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