Transcript Crusades, Reconquista, and Mongol invasions

Crusades, Reconquista,
and Mongol invasions
Carl W. Ernst
Reli 180, Introduction to Islamic Civilization
Review: Internal fractures of
the post-caliphate world
1.
2.
3.
4.
Buyid Sultanate
Turks, especially Saljuqs
Fatimid Empire
Western Mediterranean: Almoravid
Berber empire
2
External attacks on Muslimruled realms, 1100-1260
Crusader invasions by Frankish forces
Conquest of much of Andalus by armies
of the Christian rulers of Northern Spain
Mongol (“pagan”) invasions throughout
Nile-to-Oxus region (halted by Turkish
armies in Egypt and India)
4 major Crusades, 2 sequels
First Crusade, 1096-1099
Only successful Crusade
Not requested by Eastern Christians;
Alexius in 1095 asked Pope for soldiers
Mixed motives of “armed pilgrimage”
Hostility of Franks towards Byzantines
Fatimids offer alliance to Crusaders
1099 – Jerusalem captured, massacre
What is the role of religion here?
2nd and 3rd Crusades
Opponents of the crusaders
Zengis in Syria and Iraq capture Edessa
2nd Crusade (1147-49) fails to take
Damascus
Weakened Fatimids play off Franks
against Zengis, who conquer Egypt
Salah al-Din (Saladin, a Kurd) ends
Fatimid rule
3rd Crusade (1189-1193) disappointing;
Salah al-Din more admired than Richard
Ironies of Crusades
No efforts at
understanding
No unified
“Muslim”
resistance
4th Crusade
sacks
Constantinople
1204, permanent
division between
Latin and
Orthodox
Christians
Cecil B. DeMille’s “The
Crusades”
Loss of Andalus (“reconquista”
after the fact)
Berber empire of
Almoravids
Almoravids (from alMurabit, “related to the
fortified sanctuary”):
religious inspiration
Adopted Maliki school of
law
Veiling issues with
Berbers
2nd Berber empire: Almohads
Almohads (al-Muwahhidun, “Unitarians”),
new movement rejecting previous Berber
customs as pagan
Ibn Tumart on figurative interpretation of
divine attributes; claims to be Mahdi
These claims rejected by caliph alMa’mun in 1230: Jesus as Mahdi
Pope declares crusade vs. Spain
Andalusian Muslims under Christian rule
El Cid
•“Al-Sayyid” in
Spanish
•Realistic epic
in comparison
with “Song of
Roland”
Royal style (ceiling mural from
Granada)
Chivalry without borders
(also Granada)
Seville
The
Alcazar
of Pedro
the Cruel
(1351)
Gateway of Pedro (detail)
Patio del Yeso
The motto of Granada:
“There is no victor but God”
Christian arabesque
Arabic inscriptions
for Sultan Don Pedro (1)
“Glory to our master, Sultan Don Pedro, may he be exalted!”
Arabic inscriptions
for Sultan Don Pedro (2)
“Glory to our master, Sultan Don Pedro! May God aid and defend him!”
Toledo Synagogue interior
“Party Kings” (reyes al-taifas)
Collapse of Great Saljuqs
Brief revival of Abbasid caliphate
Khwarazm-Shah aims at empire
Isma`ili Imam at Alamut declares
Resurrection (1164); successor
becomes a Sunni
Mongols avenge an insult by invading
(1219)
Chinggis
Khan
• descendants in
Iran – “Il-Khans”
– become
Muslims
• Destruction of
caliphate,
Assassins
• Artisans
preserved