Christianity & Islam: the early years

 

     The 7^th century saw the former (united) Roman empire split into three entities – the “barbarian west” where Catholicism predominated, the Eastern Byzantine empire which was Orthodox, and the Muslim world which would soon stretch from Persia to Spain (south of Europe for the most part).  Christians in Muslim lands were dubbed “people of the Gospel” and were often obliged to pay the dhimmi tax.  It is not always easy to distinguish between the polemical caricatures of Muslims in Christian texts and historical reality.  Undoubtedly, there was sometimes religiously inspired violence against Christians in Muslim lands during this period, but there doesn’t seem to have been anything approximating “genocide” perpetrated against Christians once their lands had been conquered.  Three of the five historic Christian patriarchates – Jerusalem, Alexandria and Antioch – quickly fell into Muslim hands.

     Indeed, it was Muslim expansion and eventual incursions onto the continent, especially the Iberian Peninsula and Frankia, that would give rise to the concept of “Europe”.  Charles Martel, grandfather of Charlemagne, repulsed the Muslim armies at the battle of Tours in the 8^th century, preventing further Muslim encroachment.  The Iberian Peninsula would not be completely recovered for “Europe” until 1492.  The Roman imperial capitals would be targeted by Muslim forces early in the days of conquest.  Rome was sacked by Muslim raiders in the 9^th century and Constantinople suffered sieges by Muslim armies in the 8^th and 9^th centuries, though the Second Rome would hold out until the 15^th century.  Despite much misunderstanding and mutual hostility, some places, such as Babylon, became centres of Muslim-Christian cooperation, especially regarding education.

     English historian Tom Holland has suggested, in his book Millenium, that expectations of the eschaton at the turn of the second millennium provided some of the impetus for the crusades – if Jesus was to return to Jerusalem, better he finds it safely in Christian hands.  Pope Urban II preached the first crusade in 1095, and Jerusalem was captured in 1099.  It would be retaken by the Muslims under the leadership of Saladin in 1187.  “Taking the cross” was understood to be a form of pilgrimage, and a plenary indulgence was promised to all those who would kneel at the shrine of the Holy Sepulcher.  The crusades were also a way to remove troublesome, violence-prone knights from Europe and allow them to direct their energies toward killing the “enemies of Christ”.  Not that all victims of the European armies were Muslims; one crusade responded to the Constantinopolitan emperor’s plea for aid against a rival, only to discover, upon having restored him to the imperial throne, that he was unable to compensate them.  The crusaders responded by sacking the city and slaughtering many Jews in the process.  This debacle further worsened the relationship between the Christian West and East, and left Constantinople that much more vulnerable to Muslim attack.

     There were to be several crusades, including the infamous “children’s crusade”, which ended in thousands of naively pious Christian young people being sold to Muslims as slaves.  During the period of the crusades, some efforts were made to evangelize Muslims.  Francis of Assisi famously went to the Holy Land in the hopes of converting the Caliph of Egypt, and therefore ending the conflicts between Christians and the Saracens.  This bold-yet-naïve attempt would prove unsuccessful.  In the end, the Crusader-states in the Holy Land proved to be short-lived, despite the heroic reigns of figures like Baldwin IV of Jerusalem.  Like Charlemagne had experienced earlier, Baldwin would discover that not all great men are followed by people willing to follow their example (or develop a character that resembles theirs).  By the 14^th century, there were no remaining Crusader kingdoms in the Levant.  And the Byzantine capital would not survive the next siege… Once Constantinople had fallen, and while the Reconquista steadily progressed in Spain, Eastern Europe would experience Muslim incursions, which would be repulsed – in a manner reminiscent of Tours – at Vienna in the 17^th century.

     Since Islam considers itself to be somewhat of a synthesis of monotheistic religious faith, it was logical that they attempt to conquer the totality of Christendom in the name of Allah and his (final) prophet (though, if one were to remove the phrase “suffered…was crucified, died and was buried…the third day he rose…” from the Apostle’s Creed, Islam would agree to many of the creedal affirmations about Jesus – i.e. his virgin birth, his ascension and his return).  Though the crusades are often portrayed as examples of unprovoked, naked aggression on behalf of the Christian West (which, for many knights, they undoubtedly were), it is important to be cognizant of the attempted Muslim conquests of Europe in both the 8^th and the 16^th-17^th centuries.  That being said, I don’t consider the crusades to have been examples of “just wars”, neither do I believe that followers of Jesus should ever seek to avenge wrongs done to their ancestors.  While I am grateful that Europe remained in Christian hands, I do regret the (perhaps) irreparable damage done by the crusades to the image of Christianity in the Muslim mind.