One 15-minute break at 8:00; roll taken before dismissal at 10:00 pm.
Connect on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gmicksmith
To join our Slack HUM 111 group: send me your email address so I can invite you to Slack.
Blackboard is not smart enough to reveal email addresses.
For example: gmick.smith@strayer.edu
https://hum111.slack.com/
How have you used the Orai app?
https://www.oraiapp.com/
How about trying it for the Discussion?
Boost Linguistics
The Boost Editor improves language communication that is written by students.
Sign up at:
boost-ling.com/boost-text-editor/
In order to do this you can access Boost at boost-ling.com/boost- text-editor/
There you’ll be able to copy and paste any text (email, article, assignment, blog, etc.) and improve the language for the emotion of JOY.
http://boost-ling.com/app/
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B63nNuIP9mzpLXN3RER4cXlvN28/view
strayer.edu analysis
Alternative presentation site:
haikudeck.com
Tools:
https://elearningindustry.com/18-free-digital-storytelling-tools-for-teachers-and-students
Some tools (like Google StreetView, which has been used to verify geographical data) are fairly well-known. Others, like Google’s Public Data Explorer are a bit more obscure. This can be a “hidden gem” in Google’s toolkit.
https://www.google.com/publicdata/directory
My Maps
Sure, the ever-present Google Maps is what gets you from point A to point B when you’re out of town, but My Maps is an alternative for building a map-based infographic. See one example here, in which the New York Times mapped out the country’s uninsured in 2013.http://www.nytimes.com/newsgraphics/2013/12/18/uninsured-map/
StreetView
Download the StreetView app on your phone and use it to create immersive images. We’re giving it a whirl next time we visit one of those spiffy new offices companies are always announcing. Might not be exotic destinations like Taiwan’s Yushan North Peak or Chile’s Los Alerces Trail, but the whole point is making stories more ~immersive~.https://www.google.com/streetview/
Public Data Explorer
Code for Philly folks likely know all about this one. It’s an online dashboard for exploring multiple sources of publicly available data “without opening a spreadsheet,” Think unemployment data, broadband penetration or minimum wage through history.https://www.google.com/publicdata/directory
Google Images
We know, we know. You’ve likely been using Google Images since the sixth grade, but one use of it in particular is very timely: to verify an image’s true origin, perform a reverse image search.Not one of these tools require a master’s degree to use. It’s about figuring out what is valuable to you.
https://images.google.com/?gws_rd=ssl
Review
What else can be said about Chinese Buddhism?
Chinese Buddhism has shaped Chinese culture in a wide variety of areas including art, politics, literature, philosophy, medicine, and material culture.
The translation of a large body of Indian and Nepalese Buddhist scriptures into Chinese and the inclusion of these translations together with works composed in China into a printed canon had far-reaching implications for the dissemination of Buddhism throughout the Chinese cultural sphere, including Korea, Japan, Ryukyu Islands and Vietnam. Chinese Buddhism is also marked by the interaction between Indian religions, Nepalese religion Chinese religion, and Taoism.
Various legends tell of the presence of Buddhism in Chinese soil in very ancient times. Nonetheless, the scholarly consensus is that Buddhism first came to China in the first century CE during the Han dynasty, through missionaries from India.
Buddhist monks at Jintai Temple in Zhuhai, Guangdong, mainland China.
Mahāyāna Buddhism was first widely propagated in China by the Kushan monk Lokakṣema (Ch. 支婁迦讖, active c. 164–186 CE), who came from the ancient Buddhist kingdom of Gandhāra. Lokakṣema translated important Mahāyāna sūtras such as the Aṣṭasāhasrikā Prajñāpāramitā Sūtra, as well as rare, early Mahāyāna sūtras on topics such as samādhi, and meditation on the buddha Akṣobhya. These translations from Lokakṣema continue to give insight into the early period of Mahāyāna Buddhism. This corpus of texts often includes emphasizes ascetic practices and forest dwelling, and absorption in states of meditative concentration.
Mahayana (Sanskrit for "Great Vehicle") is one of two (or three, under some classifications) main existing branches of Buddhism and a term for classification of Buddhist philosophies and practice. The Buddhist tradition of Vajrayana is sometimes classified as a part of Mahayana Buddhism, but some scholars may consider it as a different branch altogether.
According to the teachings of Mahāyāna traditions, "Mahāyāna" also refers to the path of the Bodhisattva seeking complete enlightenment for the benefit of all sentient beings, also called "Bodhisattvayāna", or the "Bodhisattva Vehicle". A bodhisattva who has accomplished this goal is called a samyaksaṃbuddha, or "fully enlightened Buddha". A samyaksaṃbuddha can establish the Dharma and lead disciples to enlightenment. Mahayana Buddhists teach that enlightenment can be attained in a single lifetime, and this can be accomplished even by a layperson.
The Mahāyāna tradition is the largest major tradition of Buddhism existing today, with 53.2% of practitioners, compared to 35.8% for Theravada and 5.7% for Vajrayana in 2010.
In the course of its history, Mahāyāna Buddhism spread from India to various other South, East and Southeast Asian countries such as Bangladesh, Nepal, Bhutan, China, Taiwan, Mongolia, Korea, Japan, Vietnam, Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore. Major traditions of Mahāyāna Buddhism today include Chan Buddhism, Korean Seon, Japanese Zen, Pure Land Buddhism, and Nichiren Buddhism. It may also include the Vajrayana traditions of Tiantai, Tendai, Shingon Buddhism, and Tibetan Buddhism, which add esoteric teachings to the Mahāyāna tradition.
Where exactly is Hinduism and Buddhism typically practiced today?
Did the Buddha reunite with his family after Enlightenment?
No, we have no evidence, and all biographical details of the Buddha are sketchy, but we have no evidence that he reunited with his family. His death though is celebrated.
According to the Mahaparinibbana Sutta of the Pali canon, at the age of 80, the Buddha announced that he would soon reach Parinirvana, or the final deathless state, and abandon his earthly body. After this, the Buddha ate his last meal, which he had received as an offering from a blacksmith named Cunda. Falling violently ill, Buddha instructed his attendant Ānanda to convince Cunda that the meal eaten at his place had nothing to do with his passing and that his meal would be a source of the greatest merit as it provided the last meal for a Buddha. Mettanando and von Hinüber argue that the Buddha died of mesenteric infarction, a symptom of old age, rather than food poisoning.
The precise contents of the Buddha's final meal are not clear, due to variant scriptural traditions and ambiguity over the translation of certain significant terms; the Theravada tradition generally believes that the Buddha was offered some kind of pork, while the Mahayana tradition believes that the Buddha consumed some sort of truffle or other mushroom. These may reflect the different traditional views on Buddhist vegetarianism and the precepts for monks and nuns.
Waley suggests that Theravadins would take suukaramaddava (the contents of the Buddha's last meal), which can translate literally as pig-soft, to mean "soft flesh of a pig" or "pig's soft-food", that is, after Neumann, a soft food favoured by pigs, assumed to be a truffle. He argues (also after Neumann) that as "(p)lant names tend to be local and dialectical", as there are several plants known to have suukara- (pig) as part of their names, and as Pali Buddhism developed in an area remote from the Buddha's death, suukaramaddava could easily have been a type of plant whose local name was unknown to those in Pali regions. Specifically, local writers writing soon after the Buddha's death knew more about their flora than Theravadin commentator Buddhaghosa who lived hundreds of years and hundreds of kilometres remote in time and space from the events described. Unaware that it may have been a local plant name and with no Theravadin prohibition against eating animal flesh, Theravadins would not have questioned the Buddha eating meat and interpreted the term accordingly.
According to Buddhist tradition, the Buddha died at Kuśināra (present-day Kushinagar, India), which became a pilgrimage center. Ananda protested the Buddha's decision to enter Parinirvana in the abandoned jungles of Kuśināra of the Malla kingdom. The Buddha, however, is said to have reminded Ananda how Kushinara was a land once ruled by a righteous wheel-turning king and the appropriate place for him to die.
The Buddha then asked all the attendant Bhikkhus to clarify any doubts or questions they had and cleared them all in a way which others could not do. They had none. According to Buddhist scriptures, he then finally entered Parinirvana. The Buddha's final words are reported to have been: "All composite things (Saṅkhāra) are perishable. Strive for your own liberation with diligence" (Pali: 'vayadhammā saṅkhārā appamādena sampādethā'). His body was cremated and the relics were placed in monuments or stupas, some of which are believed to have survived until the present. For example, The Temple of the Tooth or "Dalada Maligawa" in Sri Lanka is the place where what some believe to be the relic of the right tooth of Buddha is kept at present.
According to the Pāli historical chronicles of Sri Lanka, the Dīpavaṃsa and Mahāvaṃsa, the coronation of Emperor Aśoka (Pāli: Asoka) is 218 years after the death of the Buddha. According to two textual records in Chinese (十八部論 and 部執異論), the coronation of Emperor Aśoka is 116 years after the death of the Buddha. Therefore, the time of Buddha's passing is either 486 BCE according to Theravāda record or 383 BCE according to Mahayana record. However, the actual date traditionally accepted as the date of the Buddha's death in Theravāda countries is 544 or 545 BCE, because the reign of Emperor Aśoka was traditionally reckoned to be about 60 years earlier than current estimates. In Burmese Buddhist tradition, the date of the Buddha's death is 13 May 544 BCE. whereas in Thai tradition it is 11 March 545 BCE.
At his death, the Buddha is famously believed to have told his disciples to follow no leader. Mahakasyapa was chosen by the sangha to be the chairman of the First Buddhist Council, with the two chief disciples Maudgalyayana and Sariputta having died before the Buddha.
While in the Buddha's days he was addressed by the very respected titles Buddha, Shākyamuni, Shākyasimha, Bhante and Bho, he was known after his parinirvana as Arihant, Bhagavā/Bhagavat/Bhagwān, Mahāvira, Jina/Jinendra, Sāstr, Sugata, and most popularly in scriptures as Tathāgata.
What type of Buddhism created warrior monks?
Sōhei (僧兵?, "monk soldiers", "warrior monks") were Buddhist warrior monks of both medieval and feudal Japan. At certain points of history they held considerable power, obliging the imperial and military governments to collaborate.
The prominence of the sōhei rose in parallel with the ascendancy of the Tendai school's influence between the 10th and 17th centuries. The warriors protected land and intimidated rival schools of Buddhism, becoming a significant factor in the spread of Buddhism and the development of different schools during the Kamakura period.
The sōhei shared many similarities with the European lay brothers, members of a monastic order who might not have been ordained. Much like the Teutonic Order, the warrior monks of Germany, and the crusading orders, sōhei did not operate as individuals, or even as members of small, individual temples, but rather as warriors in a large extended brotherhood or monastic order. The home temple of a sōhei monastic order might have had several, if not dozens or a hundred, smaller monasteries, training halls, and subordinate temples connected to it. A famous sōhei monastery is the Enryaku-ji on Mount Hiei, just outside Kyoto.
What type of Buddhism created warrior monks?
Sōhei (僧兵?, "monk soldiers", "warrior monks") were Buddhist warrior monks of both medieval and feudal Japan. At certain points of history they held considerable power, obliging the imperial and military governments to collaborate.
The prominence of the sōhei rose in parallel with the ascendancy of the Tendai school's influence between the 10th and 17th centuries. The warriors protected land and intimidated rival schools of Buddhism, becoming a significant factor in the spread of Buddhism and the development of different schools during the Kamakura period.
The sōhei shared many similarities with the European lay brothers, members of a monastic order who might not have been ordained. Much like the Teutonic Order, the warrior monks of Germany, and the crusading orders, sōhei did not operate as individuals, or even as members of small, individual temples, but rather as warriors in a large extended brotherhood or monastic order. The home temple of a sōhei monastic order might have had several, if not dozens or a hundred, smaller monasteries, training halls, and subordinate temples connected to it. A famous sōhei monastery is the Enryaku-ji on Mount Hiei, just outside Kyoto.
Rephrased, the theology is different, however, there are profound similarities: for example, ritual washing or ablution.
Judaism
In Judaism, ritual washing, or ablution, takes two main forms. A tevilah (טְבִילָה) is a full body immersion in a mikveh, and a netilat yadayim which is the washing of the hands with a cup (see Handwashing in Judaism).References to ritual washing are found in the Hebrew Bible, and are elaborated in the Mishnah and Talmud. They have been codified in various codes of Jewish law and tradition, such as Maimonides' Mishneh Torah (12th century) and Joseph Karo's Shulchan Aruch (16th century.) These customs are most commonly observed within Orthodox Judaism. In Conservative Judaism, the practices are normative with certain leniencies and exceptions. Ritual washing is not generally performed in Reform Judaism.
Christianity
Ablution, in religion, is a prescribed washing of part or all of the body or of possessions, such as clothing or ceremonial objects, with the intent of purification or dedication. In Christianity, both baptism and footwashing are forms of ablution. In liturgical churches, ablution can refer to purifying fingers or vessels related to the Eucharist. In the New Testament washing also occurs in reference to rites of Judaism part of the action of a healing by Jesus, the preparation of a body for burial,[Acts 9:37] the washing of nets by fishermen,[Lk. 5:2] a person's personal washing of the face to appear in public,[Matt. 6:17] the cleansing of an injured person's wounds,[Acts 16:33] Pontius Pilate's washing of his hands as a symbolic claim of innocence[Matt. 27:24] and foot washing,[Jn. 13:5-14] [1 Tim. 5:10] now partly a symbolic rite within the Church.[5] According to the Gospel of Matthew, Pontius Pilate declared himself innocent of the blood of Jesus by washing his hands.[Matthew 27:24] This act of Pilate may not, however, have been borrowed from the custom of the Jews. The same practice was common among the Greeks and Romans.
Why was the Hagia Sophia built?
Born out of riots
The story of the construction of the Hagia Sophia began in A.D. 532 when the Nika Riots, a great revolt, hit Constantinople. At the time Emperor Justinian I had been ruler of the empire for five years and had become unpopular. It started in the hippodrome among two chariot racing factions called the blue and green with the riot spreading throughout the city the rioters chanting “Nika,” which means “victory,” and attempting to throw out Justinian by besieging him in his palace.
“People were resentful of the high taxes that Justinian had imposed and they wanted him out of office,” said University of London historian Caroline Goodson in a National Geographic documentary. After moving loyal troops into the city Justinian managed to put down the rebellion with brute force.
In the wake of the uprising, and on the site of a torched church that had been called the Hagia Sophia, a new Hagia Sophia would be built. To the ancient writer Paul the Silentiary, who lived when the cathedral was completed, the building represented a triumph for both Justinian and Christianity.
“I say, renowned Roman Capitol, give way! My Emperor has so far overtopped that wonder as great God is superior to an idol!” (Translation by Peter Bell, from the book "Three Political Voices from the Age of Justinian," Liverpool University Press, 2009).
Dr. Smith's resources on Islam.
https://www.librarything.com/catalog/gmicksmith&collection=-1&deepsearch=islam
PART TWO THE MEDIEVAL WORLD AND THE SHAPING OF CULTURE 200 CE–1400 246
9 The Rise and Spread of Islam A NEW RELIGION 289
The Prophet Muhammad 291
The Qur’an 292
The Hadith 293
The Hijra and Muslim Practice 293
The Spread of Islam 298
Works of the Umayyad Caliphs: The Great Mosque of Damascus 299
Images in Muslim Art 300
Islam in Africa and Spain 300
Islamic Africa 301
Islamic Spain 304
The Arts of the Islamic World 308
Music in the Islamic World 308
The Art of the Book 309
The Sufi Tradition 310
READINGS
9.1 from the Qur’an, Surah 47 315
9.1a from the Qur’an, Surah 76 292
9.1b from the Qur’an, Surah 5 293
9.2 from the hadith 293
9.3a from the Sunjata (12th century) 302
9.3b from the Sunjata (12th century) 304
9.4 Judah Halevi, “My Heart Is in the East” 306
9.5 from Nezami, Haft Paykar, “The Tale of the Black Princess” (1197) 310
9.6 “Tale of the Fisherman and the Genie” from The Thousand and One Nights (ca. 800–1300) 315
9.7a from Jami, “Seduction of Yusuf and Zulaykha” (1483) 311
9.7b from Jami, “Seduction of Yusuf and Zulaykha” (1483) 312
9.8 from Rumi, The Divan of Shams of Tabriz (ca. 1250) 317
FEATURES
CLOSER LOOK The Bismillah and the Art of Calligraphy 294
CONTINUITY & CHANGE The Islamic Heritage 313
10 Fiefdom and Monastery, Pilgrimage and Crusade THE EARLY MEDIEVAL WORLD IN EUROPE 319
Anglo-Saxon Artistic Style and Culture 321
Society, Law, and Family Life 321
Beowulf, the Oldest English Epic Poem 323
The Merging of Pagan and Christian Styles 325
Manuscript Illustration: Blending of Anglo-Saxon and Christian Traditions 327
Carolingian Culture and the Frankish Kings 328
The Song of Roland: Feudal and Chivalric Values 330
Promoting Literacy 332
The Medieval Monastery 333
The Ottonian Empire 337
Capetian France and the Norman Conquest 337
The Romanesque: The Pilgrimage Church and the Monastic Abbey 338
Cluny and the Monastic Tradition 345
The Cistercian Challenge 347
The Crusades 347
Krak des Chevaliers and the Medieval Castle 349
Eleanor of Aquitaine and the Art of Courtly Love 350
Troubadour Poetry 350
The Romance: Chrétien de Troyes’s Lancelot 352
READINGS
10.1a–d Beowulf, trans. Burton Raffel 323–325
10.2 from Caedmon’s Hymn 326
10.3 Song of Roland 331
10.4 from Hildegard of Bingen, Scivias 357
10.4a from Hildegard of Bingen, Scivias 335
10.5 from Pope Innocent III, On the Misery of the Human Condition 345
10.6 from the Gesta Francorum (Deeds of the Franks), “The Fall of Jerusalem” 358
10.7 Bernard de Ventadour, “The Skylark,” verses 1–4 and 7 351
10.8 Comtessa de Dia’s “Cruel Are the Pains I’ve Suffered,” from Lark in the Morning: The Verses of the Troubadours 351
10.9 from Marie de France, Bisclavret (The Werewolf) 359
10.10 from Chrétien de Troyes, Lancelot 353
FEATURES
CLOSER LOOK The Bayeux Tapestry 340
CONTINUITY & CHANGE Toward a New Urban Style: The Gothic 354
Week 5 Explore
Muslim Structures and Pilgrimage
- Chapter 9 (pp. 288-295, 306-308), Dome of the Rock, Hajj, calligraphy, art (pp. 274-7), Christian mosaics in Ravenna; review the Week 5 Music Folder
- National Geographic on the Hajj at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jM81wroj_MQ Mecca | National Geographic, 3:45 https://youtu.be/jM81wroj_MQ
- Walking tour of Jerusalem's Dome of the Rock and structures around it at http://www.saudiaramcoworld.com/issue/200901/al-haram/tour.htm. (Focus on what you wish; the entire tour is lengthy)
- http://archive.aramcoworld.com/issue/200901/al-haram/tour.htm
- Chapter 10 (pp. 338-345), Medieval Christian pilgrimage and Romanesque cathedrals; review Week 5 Music Folder
- Video about Christian pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LCDUl04lfLs
- Martin Sheen and Emilio Estevez talk about a pilgrimage on film: http://www.npr.org/2011/10/05/141077667/father-and-son-take-a-spiritual-journey-in-the-way
- Routes of Santiago de Compostela in France (UNESCO/NHK), 2:56
Santiago de Compostela was the supreme goal for countless thousands of pious pilgrims who converged there from all over Europe throughout the Middle Ages. To reach Spain pilgrims had to pass through France, and the group of important historical monuments included in this inscription marks out the four routes by which they did so. Source: UNESCO TV / © NHK Nippon Hoso Kyokai URL: http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/868/
https://youtu.be/LCDUl04lfLs
HUM111 Music for Week 5
In this week's readings (chaps. 9-10), there are several musical compositions mentioned. These (or decent equivalents) can be found on YouTube. Watch and give them a listen. Here below is some background and description of each--and the link to the YouTube (and sometimes other helps).
- Traditional: Sunjata (chap. 9, pp. 302-304)
See http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ivT3Oxjiqu0. (Alternatively, see a short version at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oQP4gM5Na54 and a long version at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pmRqyhXgmG4).
Symphony Of Koras- Sunjata, 9:10Ashkenaz presents the East Bay premiere of Symphony of Koras, featuring an "orchestra" of musicians playing the kora, the 21-stringed West African harp. It is the only known kora orchestra in the United States, and its only previous concert was at small Mill Valley theater last year. The orchestra -- seven international kora players who live in the Bay Area -- includes Senegalese singer-dancer Ousseynou Kouyate in a two-part show, the first half a concert for listening, followed by the orchestra playing music for dancing. The kora is traditionally a solo instrument played by a griot, and even in Africa groups of kora players are usually assembled only for large family or state events. Although several of the Symphony of Koras players have performed at Ashkenaz in various African and world groupings, they've never played in an all-kora ensemble. Anthropologist, kora player, and director of the Symphony of Koras Suzanne Chevalier explains: "I had a djembe (drum) player from Africa here some years ago, and I wanted another instrument for accompaniment. I invited Daniel Berkman to play kora. When I returned to Gambia (Chevalier studies elephants there, and has also devoted time to collecting African sacred music), I began taking kora lessons." Three years ago at a local concert, Senegal native Solo Cissokho asked Chevalier to assemble an orchestra of the instruments for his next Bay Area visit. That led to the Mill Valley concert, where the audience gave an enthused standing ovation. And now, the Symphony of Koras plays at Ashkenaz. The kora has a thousand-year history, beginning in the kingdom of Mali as the accompanying instrument for griots, musicians who preserve and sing the histories of their people. It is a classical instrument with a classical repertoire. There are 150 pieces that all kora players learn, and selections from that repertoire are what Symphony of Koras play together. Ousseynou Kouyate was a member of the National Ballet of Senegal for seven years before moving to Berkeley with his twin brother Assane and starting their colorful music/dance band Djialy Kunda Kouyate (now known as Sekhou Senegal), using such indigenous instruments as the kora and balafon. Kouyate is a descendant of griots who carries on age-old traditions. He has performed in various world music collaborations at Ashkenaz with such musicians as fellow African star Solo Cissokho and Cajun-zydeco fiddler Tom Rigney. Last year he was featured in the African world dance band Makuru. www.sekhousenegal.com Born in Gambia, raised in Mali, singer and kora master Karamo Susso grew up in a compound of griots, next door to Toumani Diabate. His uncle was Ballake Cissoko. Susso was playing kora and performing before he was big enough to hold the instrument. He has since gone on to perform with many of Africa's top stars. www.myspace.com/karamosusso On her own, vocalist, multi-instrumentalist and acupuncturist Unity Nguyen blends ancient Vietnamese and African folk traditions, interweaving them with jazz, funk, and other global influences. She specializes in the kora and the Vietnamese dan tranh (16-string zither). www.unityhealinghands.com San Franciscan Daniel Berkman studied kora while a member of Djialy Kunda Kouyate and began exploring the use of electronics with the instrument to create what he calls "21st century Ambient African Kora." Steve Pile is an American-folk-blues singer-songwriter and guitarist who has also worked with and recorded kora players here and in Gambia. Gordon Hellegers studied with Madou Sidike Diabate and accompanies him in concerts. He built his own kora while traveling in Mali. Joshua Caraco is the newest convert to playing kora.
https://youtu.be/ivT3Oxjiqu0
Shorter version
SUNDIATA - THE HERITAGE OF THE GRIOT 6:03mns, 1:09
This is the story of Sundiata, the legendary king of the 13th century kingdom of Mali in West Africa. Sung by a genuine griot (traditional oral historian)playing the kora, with a drummer, and illustrated with colorful paintings. Written by: Kenny Mann; Narrator: Afemo Omilami; Griot: Morikeba Konyate; Drums: Oginga Love; Paintings: Vern Edwards. This video is not for sale. Produced for Harcourt Brace Jovanonitch.
https://youtu.be/oQP4gM5Na54
Traditional music of West Africa, and a traditional epic of West Africa: Read carefully in Chapter 9 (pp. 302-304) about the importance of the epic story of Sunjata (=Sundiata or Sundjata), a hero of the Mandinka people and founder of the Mali empire in the 1200s AD. His deeds have been widely told and sung by griots in West Africa for many centuries. Sunjata had been crippled as a child and his mother cruelly ridiculed because of it. Sunjata overcame these burdens to become a great hero and leader. See summary at http://web.cocc.edu/cagatucci/classes/hum211/CoursePack/coursepackpast/sundjata.htm#Summary . For the story in English translation, see http://www.bu.edu/africa/files/pdf/SUNDIATA1.pdf .
http://web.cocc.edu/cagatucci/classes/hum211/CoursePack/coursepackpast/sundjata.htm#Summary
Most in Mali in this time, including Sunjata himself, practiced indigenous West African religions, but Islam was starting to spread. Sunjata’s grandson, Mansa Musa (p. 302), would be Muslim and become Mali’s most renowned ruler.
http://web.cocc.edu/cagatucci/classes/hum211/CoursePack/coursepackpast/sundjata.htm#Summary
Most in Mali in this time, including Sunjata himself, practiced indigenous West African religions, but Islam was starting to spread. Sunjata’s grandson, Mansa Musa (p. 302), would be Muslim and become Mali’s most renowned ruler.
- Andalusian music from Nuba ‘al’istihlal (chap. 9, p. 308). This music is from Muslim Spain. Signficant parts of spain were under Muslim rule (pp. 304, 307, 679) from 711 CE until the last Muslim stronghold of Granada fell in 1492, and chapter 9 describes some of the rich musical developments there. On p. 308 you read a description of the word oud and also of the development of the “guitar” (the word “guitar goes back to India’s Sanskrit language as well as to Persian and Greek--an ancient Greek stringed instrument was the kithara ). But the modern instrument of the guitar seems to have evolved through a line of stringed instruments developed in North Africa and Spain. See and hear at:
-
- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yFfHA8v9GJg (instrumental: oud and guitar) Juan Martin ft. Abdelsalam Khair - Evocacion De Damasco A Cordoba, 9:43
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yFfHA8v9GJg
https://youtu.be/yFfHA8v9GJg
and
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jJ3mfWhEmt4 (Nuba ‘al’istihlal) - Música Andalusí - Núba Al-Istihlál, 16:16 Intérpretes/Performers: Ustad Massano Tazi Imágenes/Images: Miniaturas islámicas medievales (Varios países) / Ancient islamic illuminations (different countries) https://youtu.be/jJ3mfWhEmt4
- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yFfHA8v9GJg (instrumental: oud and guitar) Juan Martin ft. Abdelsalam Khair - Evocacion De Damasco A Cordoba, 9:43
-----------------------------
- Listen to a traditional Gregorian chant, a neumatic chant as described on p. 336 (chap. 10): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FS_AjMPqy04 . https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FS_AjMPqy04
- Old Roman Catholic Chant - Dixit Dominus Domino meo, 2:52
Dixit Dominus Domino meo: Sede a dextris meis, donec ponam inimicos tuos scabellum pedum tuorum. The Lord said unto my Lord: Sit thou on my right hand, until I make thine enemies thy foot-stool. Category People & Blogs License Standard YouTube License Music "Messe de minuit [ca. 1071]: Graduel: Tecum Principium" by Luc Terrieux, Frederic Tavernier-Vellas, Jean-Christophe Candau, Jean-Etienne Langianni, Malcolm Bothwell, Marcel Peres
https://youtu.be/FS_AjMPqy04
This is traditionally called Psalm 109 (the Latin Vulgate has slightly different numbering; in Protestant Bibles it is Psalm 110). See full text of the Latin lyrics with english transaltion at:
http://www.artemusica.us/repertoire/handels-dixit-dominus/lyrics-of-dixit-dominus/.
Not found
Here is a similar chant of the same type:
Alleluia Pascha Nostrum
-
- http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xyiqf5_alleluia-pascha-nostrum_music (for Latin text and English translation, see http://www.columbia.edu/itc/music/ito/history/plainchant_text.html)
- http://www.columbia.edu/itc/music/ito/history/plainchant_text.html ALLELUIA 0:00 Soloist Alleluia. Alleluia. 0:38 Chorus Alleluia. Alleluia. VERSE 1:18 soloist Pascha nostrum immolatus est, Christus. Christ, our Passover, has been sacrified for us. ALLELUIA 2:30 Chorus Alleluia. Alleluia. ALLELUIA PASCHA NOSTRUM, 2:10 versetto alleluiatico di Pasqua. Testo 1 Cor. 5,7. Modo V. Voce: Guya Valmaggi. Dal CD RV 018, ALLE SORGENTI. Registrato nel'antico santuario di Valliano. - Gospel Experience - (Re)Discover the Gospel greatest songs - Gospel Experience is the channel dedicated to offer you the best Gospel music experience in high quality audio. Find your favorite artists and subscribe for free to stay connected to our channel and easily access our video updates! http://dai.ly/xyiqf5
Read carefully chapter 10 (pp. 335-336) about neumatic chant and then give a listen to this musical chant. (Alleluia Pascha Nostrum= Hallelujah, Christ our Passover; based on 1 Cor. 5:7). This is an adaptation of plainchant or neumatic chant from the medieval church.
- Kyrie Eleison, Cunctipotens genitor Deus (chap. 10, p. 336)
-
- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PXBQWxI_J4o Kyrie Eleison (Cunctipotens Genitor Deus), 3:38 Daniel Saulnier- Director Conservatorio de Celaya, Guanajuato Pascua 2010 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PXBQWxI_J4o
Read p. 336 (in chap. 10) carefully and then listen to this. This is an example of a melismatic chant in which some syllables are extended and sung with many notes. Kyrie Eleison Cunctipotens genitor Deus ("Lord, have mercy, all-powerful Father, God") is sung here in melismatic form.
- O successores (chap. 10, p. 336) Hildegard of Bingen
-
- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YfCmHuz5oTk (for text and translation, see http://www.mhhe.com/socscience/music/kamien/student/olc/40.htm )
Hildegard of Bingen (1098-1179)
O Successores (You Successors)
CD 1, Track 46
This example of Gregorian chant is notated in the manuscript as a single melodic line, without accompaniment (monophonic). However, in our recording the performers have added a drone accompaniment. A drone consists of one or more long, sustained tones accompanying a melody. In O successores, two simultaneous sustained notes at the interval of a fifth are played on a fiddle, a medieval bowed string instrument. It may well be that such an accompaniment accords with medieval performance practice.
46) Low register O successores fortissimi leonis You successors of the mightiest lion inter templum et altare— between the temple and the altar— dominantes in ministratione eius— you the masters in his household— :40 Melody rises
and fallssicut angeli sonant in laudibus, as the angles sound forth praises et sicut adsunt populis in adiutorio, and are here to help the nations, 1:15 vos estis inter illos, you are among those qui haec faciunt, who accomplish this, sempter curam habentes forever showing your care 1:44 Climax on officio,
long descent on agniin officio agni. in the service of the lamb.
http://www.mhhe.com/socscience/music/kamien/student/olc/40.htm
Sequentia - O Successores, 2:09
https://youtu.be/YfCmHuz5oTk
Read p. 336 (in chap. 10) carefully. Then give this a listen; the composition of this chant is attributed to the great Hildegard of Bingen (see pp. 333-5), who lived ca. AD 1098-1179) and was renowned as a writer, composer, and scholar. This chant, as described on p. 336, is more complex in form than those in the previous two music selections above.
- Alleluia, Dies Sanctificatus (chap. 10, p. 347; compare chap. 12, p. 417) Leonin (this selection was also in Week 6; it is discussed in both chapters 10 and 12)
-
- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wBs-qf8AUCc (for text and translation, see http://williamhawley.net/scorepages/alleluiadies/alleluiadiestxt.htm ) http://williamhawley.net/scorepages/alleluiadies/alleluiadiestxt.htm Allelúia, allelúia. Díes sanctificátus illúxit nóbis: Veníte géntes, et adoráte Dóminum: Quía hódie descéndit lux mágna súper térram. Allelúia. Alleluia, alleluia. A holy day has dawned for us: Come, ye people, and pray to the Lord: For today the great Light has descended on earth. Alleluia. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wBs-qf8AUCc Alleluia: Dies Sanctificatus, 4:29 The mystery of the Incarnation of the Word lies at the heart of the Christian faith. It is celebrated just after the longest night of the year, when (in the northern hemisphere) the days begin to lengthen until we reach the summer solstice, which is associated with the figure of John the Baptist. To celebrate this moment, the Church deploys an exceptional virtually uninterrupted liturgical cycle in which the usual Offices are interspersed with four Masses. The music is that of the ancient chant of the Church of Rome, one of the oldest repertories of which traces have remained in the collective memory of mankind. Up to the thirteenth century this repertory accompanied the papal liturgy. It disappeared with the installation of the papacy in Avignon, and sank into oblivion. Rediscovered in the early twentieth century, it aroused little enthusiasm among musicians, and only began to be studied properly, first from the liturgical, then from the musicological perspective, in the second half of the century. At this time, to distinguish it from Gregorian chant, it was named Old Roman chant. Old Roman chant occupies a central position in the history of music. It is the keystone which gives meaning and coherence to what ought to be the musical consciousness of Western Europe and far beyond. For, looking back to the period before, it gives us the key to the filiation between the chant of the Temple of Jerusalem and the heritage of Greek music. Through the magic of music, sung texts become icons. Time is deployed with sovereign slowness confers on the sound a hieratic immanence in which time and space are united in a single vibrant truth.
- https://youtu.be/wBs-qf8AUCc
Read p. 347 (in chap. 10) carefully; also glance ahead at p. 417 (in chap. 12). Then consider the term polyphony (two or more lines of melody) as you listen to this, as well as the other terms suggested. This selection is a partricular form called “melismatic”. The composer (Leonin) worked in the Notre Dame Cathedral (Paris) in the late 1100s AD. Alleluia, Dies Sanctificatus (="Hallelujah, A Holy Day") is a chant normally sung at Christmas. This was one of the polyphonic chants in Léonin’s Magnus Liber Organi (his “Big Book of Polyphony”!). You can see how chant is developing even further from those examples in the earlier works above.
- Can Vei La Lauzeta Mover (chap. 10, pp. 350-351) = "When I see the skylark beating..."
-
- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jkp2GHBRUiQ or https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2l-H6eG2SsY (our book has a partial translation on p. 351; see text and a different translation at http://faculty.goucher.edu/eng240/troubador_and_trobairitz_love_lyrics.htm )
- ]
Sample Troubador Love Lyric
Bernart de Ventadorn (?1130-?1200), “Can vei la lauzeta mover” [“When I see the lark beat his wings”]When I see the lark beat his wingsfor joy against the sun's ray,until he forgets to fly and plummets down,for the sheer delight which goes to his heart,alas, great envy comes to meof those whom I see filled with happiness,and I marvel that my heartdoes not instantly melt from desire.Alas, I thought I knew so much about love,and really I know so little,for I cannot keep myself from loving herfrom whom I shall have no favor.She has stolen from me my heart, myself,herself, and all the world.When she took herself from me, she left me nothingbut desire and a longing heart.Never have I been in control of myselfor even belonged to myself from the hourthat she let me gaze into her eyes-that mirror that pleases me so greatly.Mirror, since I saw myself reflected in you,deep sighs have been killing me.I have lost myself, just ashandsome Narcissus lost himself in the fountain.I despair of women,no more will I trust them,and just as I used to defend them,now I shall denounce them.Since I see that none aids meagainst her who destroys and confounds me,I fear and distrust them allfor I know well they are all alike.In this my lady certainly shows herselfto be a woman, and for it I reproach her,for she wants not that which one ought to want,and what is forbidden, she does.I have fallen out of favorand have behaved like the fool on the bridge;and I don't know why it happenedexcept because I tried to climb too high.Mercy is lost, in truth,though I never received it,for she who should possess it mosthas none, so where shall I seek it?Ah, one who sees her would scarcely guessthat she just leaves this passionate wretch(who will have no good without her)to die, and gives no aid.Since with my lady neither prayers nor mercynor my rights avail me,and since she is not pleasedthat I love her, I will never speak of it to her again.Thus I part from her, and leave;she has killed me, and by death I respond,since she does not retain me, I depart,wretched, into exile, I don't know where.Tristan, you will have nothing from me,for I depart, wretched, I don't know where.I quit and leave off singingand withdraw from joy and love.
Bernart is one of the most famous troubadors, but he is but one among many who wrote in this convention-challenging style about secular erotic attraction among unmarried persons. The last stanza of typical troubador lyrics, like this one, addresses a specific friend or the Beloved her-/himself, by means of a coded nick-name called a "senhal," in this case, "Tristan," an allusion to the great medieval love story, "Tristan and Isolde."Women wrote these love lyrics, too, and they were called "troubaritz" in the Provencal dialect of French in which all these poems were composed. For examples of the trobairitz' poetry, see Magda Bogin's full collection in the Library Collection, or click here for the original Occitan text and an English translation of a poem by the Comtesse de Dia:- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2l-H6eG2SsY 6:35 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jkp2GHBRUiQ Bernart de Ventadorn: Can vei la lauzeta, 5:17 https://youtu.be/jkp2GHBRUiQ
Read pp. 350-351 in chap. 10. This is a secular troubador song about a romantic love but now lost in rejection. The troubador who originally composed this in the late 1100s AD was Bernard de Ventadour. Can Vei La Lauzeta Mover (="When I see the skylark beating" its wings) is here done in a traditional style for a sad song such as this.
- A chantar http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4NACeUqS2D4 (chap. 10, p. 351) Beatriz de Dia (for original language, see: http://www.recmusic.org/lieder/get_text.html?TextId=46209; see English translation at http://el-hydra.blogspot.com/2011/03/chantar-mer.htm; added note: Reading 10.8 on p. 351 is a translation of lyrics of a different song by Beatriz, one for whom the music does not survive, though some have tried anyway)
Read p. 351 in chap. 10. The title A chantar simply means "A Song". This one was done by a female troubadour (Beatriz de Dia) of the late 1100s AD.
Comtessa Beatriz de Dia - A chantar m'er de so qu'eu no volria (English lyrics), 14:45 Music and lyrics by Beatriz de Dia, (born c. 1140 - flourished circa 1175, Provence), was the most famous of a small group of trobairitz, or female troubadours who wrote courtly songs of love during the twelfth and thirteenth centuries. Performed by Clemencic Consort Singer, Pilar Figueras Picture, The hunt of the unicorn
https://youtu.be/4NACeUqS2D4
Muhammad recites, the 5 pillars are established. Islam's dynamic spread in the 7th Century.
/div>
The 7-Day Stare: Charles Martel defends Christian Europe and starts a dynasty.
Click the image below to learn more about the Norman Conquest.
William the Conqueror and the bloody scramble for England.
Click the image below to learn more about the Crusades.
Why did the crusades begin, and what did they achieve?
9 The Rise and Spread of Islam
A New Religion
THINKING AHEAD
9.1 Outline the principal tenets of the Muslim faith.
9.2 Explain the rapid spread of the Muslim faith.
9.3 Describe Islamic culture in both Africa and Spain.
9.4 Explore the importance of calligraphy in Islamic art and explain how the other arts reflect its emphasis on abstract rhythms of pattern and repetition.
MUHAMMAD
What are the principal tenets of the Muslim faith?
Islam FisherBriefPPT_Ch10.ppt
List of Killings Ordered or Supported by Muhammad
http://wikiislam.net/wiki/List_of_Killings_Ordered_or_Supported_by_Muhammad
Witness (Shahadah): The repetition of the shahadah, or “witness,” which consists of a single sentence, “There is no God but Allah; Muhammad is the messenger of Allah.”
Prayer (Salat): The practice of daily prayer, recited facing Mecca, five times each day, at dawn, midday, mid-afternoon, sunset, and nightfall, and the additional requirement for all men to gather for a noon prayer and sermon on Fridays.
Alms (Zakat): The habit of giving alms to the poor and needy, consisting of at least one-fortieth of a Muslim’s assets and income.
Fasting (Sawm): During the lunar month of Ramadan (which, over a 33-year period, will occur in every season of the year), the ritual obligation to fast by abstaining from food, drink, medicine, tobacco, and sexual intercourse from sunrise to sundown each day.
Pilgrimage (Hajj): At least once in every Muslim’s life, in the twelfth month of the Muslim calendar, the undertaking of a pilgrimage to Mecca.
Islam Notes.jpg
- Qur’an
References on the Qur'an: http://www.librarything.com/catalog/gmicksmith&collection=-1&deepsearch=Quran+Koran
- Spread of Islam
Islamic Imperialism: A History by Efraim Karsh, Yale University Press (2007), Edition: Updated Ed, Paperback, 304 pages: http://www.librarything.com/work/837890/summary/33242772
References on the spread of Islam: http://www.librarything.com/catalog/gmicksmith&collection=-1&deepsearch=Jihad
The Kaaba
In her book, Islam: A Short History, Karen Armstrong asserts that the Kaaba was at some point dedicated to Hubal, a Nabatean deity, and contained 360 idols that probably represented the days of the year.
In the history of religions, Mircea Eliade developed the notion of the axis mundi (also cosmic axis, world axis, world pillar, columna cerului, center of the world, world tree), and in religion or mythology, it is the world center or the connection between Heaven and Earth. As the celestial pole and geographic pole, it expresses a point of connection between sky and earth where the four compass directions meet. At this point travel and correspondence is made between higher and lower realms. Communication from lower realms may ascend to higher ones and blessings from higher realms may descend to lower ones and be disseminated to all. The spot functions as the omphalos (navel), the world's point of beginning. Numerous sites have been noted in Africa, the Middle East, Australia, The Americas, Europe, and Asia. The Kaaba is one such site.
9 The Rise and Spread of Islam A NEW RELIGION 289
The Prophet Muhammad 291
MUHAMMAD
What are the principal tenets of the Muslim faith?
Born in Mecca in about 570 to a prominent family that traced its ancestry back to Ismael, son of Abraham, Muhammad was orphaned at age six and received little formal education. He worked in the desert caravan trade, first as a camel driver for his uncle, and then, after marrying a wealthy widow 15 years his senior, as head of his wife’s flourishing caravan firm. At the age of 40, in 610, he heard a voice in Arabic—the archangel Gabriel’s, as the story goes—urging him, “Recite!” He responded, “What shall I recite?” And for the next 22 years, he claimed to receive messages, or “recitations,” from God through the agency of Gabriel. These he memorized and dictated to scribes, who collected them to form the scriptures of Islam, the Qur’an (or Koran), which means “recitations.” Muhammad also claimed that Gabriel commanded him to declare himself the “Seal of the Prophets,” that is, the messenger of the one and only Allah (the Arab word for God) and the final prophet in a series of prophets extending from Abraham and Moses to Jesus.
At the core of Muhammad’s revelations is the concept of submission to God—the word Islam, in fact, means “submission” or “surrender.” God, or Allah, is all—all-powerful, all-seeing, all-merciful. Because the universe is his creation, it is necessarily good and beautiful, and the natural world reflects Allah’s own goodness and beauty. To immerse oneself in nature is thus to be at one with God. But the most beautiful creation of Allah is humankind, which God made in his own image. Like Christians, Muslims believe that human beings possess immortal souls and that they can live eternally in heaven if they surrender to Allah and accept him as the one and only God.
Muslims, or practitioners of Islam, dedicate themselves to the “five pillars” of the religion:
Witness (Shahadah): The repetition of the shahadah, or “witness,” which consists of a single sentence, “There is no God but Allah; Muhammad is the messenger of Allah.”
Prayer (Salat): The practice of daily prayer, recited facing Mecca, five times each day, at dawn, midday, mid-afternoon, sunset, and nightfall, and the additional requirement for all men to gather for a noon prayer and sermon on Fridays.
Alms (Zakat): The habit of giving alms to the poor and needy, consisting of at least one-fortieth of a Muslim’s assets and income.
Fasting (Sawm): During the lunar month of Ramadan (which, over a 33-year period, will occur in every season of the year), the ritual obligation to fast by abstaining from food, drink, medicine, tobacco, and sexual intercourse from sunrise to sundown each day.
Pilgrimage (Hajj): At least once in every Muslim’s life, in the twelfth month of the Muslim calendar, the undertaking of a pilgrimage to Mecca.
The five pillars are supported by the teachings of the Qur’an, which, slightly shorter than the New Testament, consists of 114 surahs, or chapters, each numbered but more commonly referred to by their titles. Each begins, as do most Muslim texts, with the bismillah, the first word of the sacred invocation bismillah al-rahman al-rahim, which can be translated “In the name of Allah, the Beneficent, Ever-Merciful” (see Closer Look, pages 294–295). When, after Muhammad’s death in 632, the Qur’an’s text was established in its definitive form, the 114 surahs were arranged from the longest to the shortest. Thus, the first surah contains 287 ayas, or verses, while the last consists of only 3. The mandatory ritual prayer (salat) that is performed five times a day consists of verses from Surahs 2, 4, and 17.
The Qur’an 292
As the direct word of God, the beauty of the Qur’an’s poetry rises above what any worldly poet might create, even though in pre-Islamic Arabia, poetry was considered the highest form of art. The beauty of the poetry inspired the creation of many beautiful editions of the work (Fig. 9.4) and, as we shall see, the art of calligraphy. But unfortunately, the beautiful, melodic qualities of the Arabic language are completely lost in translation, a fact that has helped to inspire generations of non-Arabic-speaking Muslims to learn the language. Almost all Muslims regularly read the Qur’an in Arabic, and many have memorized it completely. Translations of the Qur’an are problematic on another, more important level. Since the Qur’an is believed to be the direct word of God, it cannot be modified, let alone translated—a translation of the Qur’an is no longer the Qur’an. Nevertheless, something of the power of the poem’s imagery can be understood in translation. Consider a passage describing paradise from the Surah 76, known as “Time” (Reading 9.1a):
Stop 4:40
https://youtu.be/C-XUwD9XFuU
Not enough time to play in class but recently some have criticized Islam.
The Quran Reloaded: Atheists Read the Quran #1, 21:22
It's finally here! Hugo and Jake take their first steps in their newest attempt to get themselves killed. Donate- www.patreon.com/tbr Hugo's Twitter- @HugoReloaded Jake's Twitter- @BibleReloaded TBR Logo Created By- Chris Cheape aka CheapeOne Front End/Back End Logos and Buttons Created by- Iskander Aminov aka @Izzy_IRA Theme Song- "Hugo and Jake" Written, performed, and sung by- Dorian Silk Download the Theme Song Here- https://soundcloud.com/mcityhoods/hug... Lyrics- https://www.evernote.com/shard/s85/sh... Dorian's Twitter- @DorianSilk
https://youtu.be/y_qd__gTNWU
The Hadith 293
In addition to the Qur’an, another important source of Islamic tradition are collections of hadith, meaning “narratives” or “reports,” which consist of sayings of Muhammad and anecdotes about his life. The story of Muhammad and the Black Rock of the Kaaba comes from the hadith. The hadith literature was handed down orally, as was common in Arab society until about 100 years after Muhammad’s death, when followers began to write the sayings down (Reading 9.2).
African American slavery and Islam, the truth not told, 8:47
Slave trade of black Africans by Muslims, the untold history and story. Islamic history is the world's primary driving force behind black African slavery. The Islamic black slave trade engendered brutality, sexual concubine of women, and elicited an extremely high death toll during the slave transports. The Islamic slave trade comprehensively dwarfs any other slave trade in recorded human history.
https://youtu.be/idqJ1hn76Ek
Quran
Quran (33:50) - "O Prophet! We have made lawful to thee thy wives to whom thou hast paid their dowers; and those (slaves) whom thy right hand possesses out of the prisoners of war whom Allah has assigned to thee" This is one of several personal-sounding verses "from Allah" narrated by Muhammad - in this case allowing a virtually unlimited supply of sex partners. Other Muslims are restricted to four wives, but they may also have sex with any number of slaves, following the example of their prophet.
Quran (23:5-6) - "..who abstain from sex, except with those joined to them in the marriage bond, or (the captives) whom their right hands possess..." This verse permits the slave-owner to have sex with his slaves. See also Quran (70:29-30). The Quran is a small book, so if Allah used valuable space to repeat the same point four times, sex slavery must be very important to him. He was relatively reticent on matters of human compassion and love.
Quran (4:24) - "And all married women (are forbidden unto you) save those (captives) whom your right hands possess." Even sex with married slaves is permissible.
Quran (8:69) - "But (now) enjoy what ye took in war, lawful and good" A reference to war booty, of which slaves were a part. The Muslim slave master may enjoy his "catch" because (according to verse 71) "Allah gave you mastery over them."
Quran (24:32) - "And marry those among you who are single and those who are fit among your male slaves and your female slaves..." Breeding slaves based on fitness.
Quran (2:178) - "O ye who believe! Retaliation is prescribed for you in the matter of the murdered; the freeman for the freeman, and the slave for the slave, and the female for the female." The message of this verse, which prescribes the rules of retaliation for murder, is that all humans are not created equal. The human value of a slave is less than that of a free person (and a woman's worth is also distinguished from that of a man).
Quran (16:75) - "Allah sets forth the Parable (of two men: one) a slave under the dominion of another; He has no power of any sort; and (the other) a man on whom We have bestowed goodly favours from Ourselves, and he spends thereof (freely), privately and publicly: are the two equal? (By no means;) praise be to Allah.' Yet another confirmation that the slave is is not equal to the master. In this case, it is plain that the slave owes his status to Allah's will. (According to 16:71, the owner should be careful about insulting Allah by bestowing Allah's gifts on slaves - those whom the god of Islam has not favored).
There are also numerous Hadiths (tradition about Muhammad) advocating slavery.
Hadith and Sira Sahih Bukhari (80:753) - "The Prophet said, 'The freed slave belongs to the people who have freed him.'"
Sahih Bukhari (52:255) - The slave who accepts Islam and continues serving his Muslim master will receive a double reward in heaven.
Sahih Bukhari (41.598) - Slaves are property. They cannot be freed if an owner has outstanding debt, but they can be used to pay off the debt.
Sahih Bukhari (62:137) - An account of women taken as slaves in battle by Muhammad's men after their husbands and fathers were killed. The woman were raped with Muhammad's approval.
Sahih Bukhari (34:432) - Another account of females taken captive and raped with Muhammad's approval. In this case it is evident that the Muslims intend on selling the women after raping them because they are concerned about devaluing their price by impregnating them. Muhammad is asked about coitus interruptus.
Sahih Bukhari (47.765) - A woman is rebuked by Muhammad for freeing a slave girl. The prophet tells her that she would have gotten a greater heavenly reward by giving her to a relative (as a slave).
Sahih Bukhari (34:351) - Muhammad sells a slave for money. He was thus a slave trader.
Sahih Bukhari (72:734) - Some contemporary Muslims in the West (where slavery is believed to be a horrible crime) are reluctant to believe that Muhammad owned slaves. This is just one of many places in the Hadith where a reference is made to a human being owned by Muhammad. In this case, the slave is of African descent.
Sahih Muslim 3901 - Muhammad trades away two black slaves for one Muslim slave.
Sahih Muslim 4345 - Narration of a military raid against a hapless tribe trying to reach their water hole. During the slaughter, the women and children attempt to flee, but are cut off and captured by the Muslims. This story refutes any misconception that Muhammad's sex slaves were taken by their own volition.
Sahih Muslim 4112 - A man freed six slaves on the event of his death, but Muhammad reversed the emancipation and kept four in slavery to himself. He cast lots to determine which two to free.
Sahih Bukhari (47:743) - Muhammad's own pulpit - from which he preached Islam - was built with slave labor on his command.
Sahih Bukhari (59:637) - "The Prophet sent Ali to Khalid to bring the Khumus (of the booty) and I hated Ali, and Ali had taken a bath (after a sexual act with a slave-girl from the Khumus). I said to Khalid, 'Don't you see this (i.e. Ali)?' When we reached the Prophet I mentioned that to him. He said, 'O Buraida! Do you hate Ali?' I said, 'Yes.' He said, 'Do you hate him, for he deserves more than that from the Khumlus.'" Muhammad approved of his men having sex with slaves, as this episode involving his son-in-law, Ali, clearly proves. This hadith refutes the modern apologists who pretend that slaves were really "wives." This is because Muhammad had forbidden Ali from marrying another woman as long as Fatima (his favorite daughter) was living.
Abu Dawud (2150) - "The Apostle of Allah (may peace be upon him) sent a military expedition to Awtas on the occasion of the battle of Hunain. They met their enemy and fought with them. They defeated them and took them captives. Some of the Companions of the Apostle of Allah (may peace be upon him) were reluctant to have intercourse with the female captives in the presence of their husbands who were unbelievers. So Allah, the Exalted, sent down the Qur’anic verse: (Quran 4:24) 'And all married women (are forbidden) unto you save those (captives) whom your right hands possess.'" This is the background for verse 4:24 of the Quran. Not only does Allah give permission for women to be captured and raped, but allows it to even be done in front of their husbands. (See also Muslim 3432 & Ibn Kathir/Abdul Rahman Part 5 Page 14)
Abu Dawud (1814) - "...[Abu Bakr] He then began to beat [his slave] him while the Apostle of Allah (pbuh) was smiling and saying: Look at this man who is in the sacred state (putting on ihram), what is he doing?" The future first caliph of Islam is beating his slave for losing a camel while Muhammad looks on in apparent amusement.
Ibn Ishaq (734) - A slave girl is given a "violent beating" by Ali in the presence of Muhammad, who does nothing about it.
Abu Dawud 38:4458 - Narrated Ali ibn AbuTalib: “A slave-girl belonging to the house of the Apostle of Allah (peace_be_upon_him) committed fornication. He (the Prophet) said: Rush up, Ali, and inflict the prescribed punishment on her. I then hurried up, and saw that blood was flowing from her, and did not stop. So I came to him and he said: Have you finished inflicting (punishment on her)? I said: I went to her while her blood was flowing. He said: Leave her alone till her bleeding stops; then inflict the prescribed punishment on her. And inflict the prescribed punishment on those whom your right hands possess (i.e. slaves)”. A slave girl is ordered by Muhammad to be beaten until she bleeds, and then beaten again after the bleeding stops. He indicates that this is prescribed treatment for slaves ("those whom your right hand possesses").
Ibn Ishaq (693) - "Then the apostle sent Sa-d b. Zayd al-Ansari, brother of Abdu'l-Ashal with some of the captive women of Banu Qurayza to Najd and he sold them for horses and weapons." Muhammad trades away women captured from the Banu Qurayza tribe to non-Muslim slave traders for property. (Their men had been executed after surrendering peacefully without a fight).
Umdat al-Salik (Reliance of the Traveller) (o9.13) - According to Sharia, when a child or woman is taken captive by Muslims, they become slaves by the mere fact of their capture. A captured woman's previous marriage is immediately annulled. This would not be necessary if she were widowed by battle, which is an imaginary stipulation that modern apologists sometimes pose.
The Qur'an:
Qur'an (4:34) - "Men are the maintainers of women because Allah has made some of them to excel others and because they spend out of their property; the good women are therefore obedient, guarding the unseen as Allah has guarded; and (as to) those on whose part you fear desertion, admonish them, and leave them alone in the sleeping-places and beat them; then if they obey you, do not seek a way against them; surely Allah is High, Great."
Qur'an (38:44) - "And take in your hand a green branch and beat her with it, and do not break your oath..." Allah telling Job to beat his wife (Tafsir).
From the Hadith: Bukhari (72:715) - A woman came to Muhammad and begged her to stop her husband from beating her. Her skin was bruised so badly that she it is described as being "greener" than the green veil she was wearing. Muhammad did not admonish her husband, but instead ordered her to return to him and submit to his sexual desires. Bukhari (72:715) - "Aisha said, 'I have not seen any woman suffering as much as the believing women'" This is Muhammad's own wife complaining of the abuse that the women of her religions suffer relative to other women. Muslim (4:2127) - Muhammad struck his favorite wife, Aisha, in the chest one evening when she left the house without his permission. Aisha narrates, "He struck me on the chest which caused me pain." Muslim (9:3506) - Muhammad's father-in-laws (Abu Bakr and Umar) amused him by slapping his wives (Aisha and Hafsa) for annoying him. According to the Hadith, the prophet of Islam laughed upon hearing this. Abu Dawud (2141) - "Iyas bin ‘Abd Allah bin Abi Dhubab reported the Apostle of Allah (may peace be upon him) as saying: Do not beat Allah’s handmaidens, but when ‘Umar came to the Apostle of Allah (may peace be upon him) and said: Women have become emboldened towards their husbands, he (the Prophet) gave permission to beat them." At first, Muhammad forbade men from beating their wives, but he rescinded this once it was reported that women were becoming emboldened toward their husbands. Beatings are sometimes necessary to keep women in their place. Abu Dawud (2142) - "The Prophet (peace be upon him) said: A man will not be asked as to why he beat his wife." Abu Dawud (2126) - "A man from the Ansar called Basrah said: 'I married a virgin woman in her veil. When I entered upon her, I found her pregnant. (I mentioned this to the Prophet).' The Prophet (peace_be_upon_him) said: 'She will get the dower, for you made her vagina lawful for you. The child will be your slave. When she has begotten (a child), flog her'" A Muslim man thinks his is getting a virgin, then finds out she is pregnant. Muhammad tells him to treat the woman as a sex slave and then flog her after she has delivered the child. Ibn Ishaq/Hisham 969 - Requires that a married woman be "put in a separate room and beaten lightly" if she "act in a sexual manner toward others." According to the Hadith, this can be for an offense as petty as merely being alone with a man to whom she is not related. Kash-shaf (the revealer) of al-Zamkhshari (Vol. 1, p. 525) - [Muhammad said] "Hang up your scourge where your wife can see it" | |
Additional Notes: Some contemporary Muslim apologists often squirm over this relatively straightforward verse from the Qur'an (4:34) - which actually give men the right to beat their wives if they even have a "fear" of disloyalty or disobedience. Their rhetorical aerobics inspired us to write a separate article: Others are not nearly as squeamish. Sheikh Yousef al-Qaradhawi, one of the most respected Muslim clerics in the world, once made the famous (and somewhat ridiculous statement) that "It is forbidden to beat the woman, unless it is necessary." He also went on to say that "one may beat only to safeguard Islamic behavior," leaving no doubt that wife-beating is a matter of religious sanction. (source) Dr. Muzammil Saddiqi, the former president of ISNA (the Islamic Society of North America), a mainstream Muslim organization, says it is important that a wife "recognizes the authority of her husband in the house" and that he may use physical force if he is "sure it would improve the situation." (source) Sheikh Dr. Ahmad Muhammad Ahmad Al-Tayyeb, the head of Al-Azhar, Sunni Islam's most prestigious institution says that "light beatings" and "punching" are part of a program to "reform the wife" (source). Dr. Jamal Badawi endorses corporal punishment as "another measure that may save the marriage" (source). He isn't clear on how striking a woman will make her more inclined toward staying with her assailant, unless the implication is fear of a more serious beating if she leaves. Egyptian cleric, Abd al-Rahman Mansour, said in a 2012 televised broadcast that in addition to discouraging the wife from filing divorce, beatings would inspire the wife to "treat him with kindness and respect, and know that her husband has a higher status than her." (source) During Ramadan of 2010, another cleric named Sa'd Arafat actually said the woman is "honored" by the beating (source). No one else seemed terribly surprised by this. An undercover report from progressive Sweden in 2012 found that 60% of mosques there actually advised beaten women not to report the abuse to the police. These women were also told that they must submit to non-consensual 'sex' with their husbands. (source) In the birthplace of Islam, about half of Saudi women are beaten at home. "Hands and sticks were found to be used mostly in beating women, following by men’s head cover and to a lesser extent, sharp objects." (source) According to Islamic law, a husband may strike his wife for any one of the following four reasons:
Any of these are also sufficient grounds for divorce. Respected Quran scholars from the past interpreted verse 4:34 with impressive candor. Tabari said that it means to "admonish them, but if they refused to repent, then tie them up in their homes and beat them until they obey Allah’s commands toward you." Qurtubi told wife-beaters to try to avoid breaking bones, but added that "it is not a crime if it leads to death." (source) Muslim apologists sometimes say that Muhammad ordered that women not be harmed, but they are actually basing this on what he said before or during battle, such as in Bukhari (59:447), when Muhammad issued a command for all the men of Quraiza be killed and the women and children taken as slaves. (Having your husband murdered and being forced into sexual slavery apparently doesn't qualify as "harm" under the Islamic model). But, in fact, there are a number of cases in which Muhammad did have women killed in the most brutal fashion. One was Asma bint Marwan, a mother or five, who wrote a poem criticizing the Medinans for accepting Muhammad after he had ordered the murder of an elderly man. In this case, the prophet's assassins literally pulled a sleeping infant from her breast and stabbed her to death. After taking Mecca in 630, Muhammad also ordered the murder of a slave girl who had merely made up songs mocking him. The Hadith are rife as well with accounts of women planted in the ground on Muhammad's command and pelted to death with stones for sexual immorality - yet the prophet of Islam actually encouraged his own men to rape women captured in battle (Abu Dawood 2150, Muslim 3433) and did not punish them for killing non-Muslim women (as Khalid ibn Walid did on several occasions - see Ibn Ishaq 838 and 856). In summary, according to the Qur'an, Hadith and Islamic law, a woman may indeed have physical harm done to her if the circumstances warrant, with one such allowance being in the case of disobedience. This certainly does not mean that all Muslim men beat their wives, only that Islam permits them to do so. |
Today, we see videos of Islamic State members at one of the caliphate's sex slave markets.
A price list was released setting the rate Yazidi and Christian girls between ages 10 and 20 at $130. Women between the ages of 20 and 30 were being sold for $86; a 30 to 40 year was being sold for $75 and 40 to 50 year old women were listed for sale at a price of $43. The price list began with these words: "In the name of Allah, most gracious and merciful. We have received news that the demand in women and cattle markets has sharply decreased and that will affected Islamic State revenues as well as the funding of the Mujaheddin in the battlefield. We have made some changes. Below are the prices of Yazidi and Christian women."
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2818598/Footage-shows-ISIS-fighters-attending-slave-girl-market.html#v-3872042561001
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2818598/Footage-shows-ISIS-fighters-attending-slave-girl-market.html
The Hijra and Muslim Practice 293
In 622, Muhammad was forced to flee Mecca when its polytheistic leadership became irritated at his insistence on the worship of only one God. In a journey known as the hijra (or hegira, “emigration”), he and his followers fled to the oasis of Yathrib, 200 miles north, which theyrenamed al-Medina, meaning “the city of the Prophet.” Here Muhammad created a community based not on kinship, the traditional basis of Arab society, but on common submission to the will of God. Such submission did not need to be entirely voluntary. Muslims were obligated to pursue the spread of their religion, and they did so by means of the jihad, the impassioned religious struggle that could take either of two forms: a lesser form, holy war; or a greater form, self-control over the baser human appetites. In order to enforce submission, Muhammad raised an army of some 10,000 men and returned to Mecca, conquering the city and destroying the idols in the Kaaba, with the exception of the Black Stone. Confronted by a Muslim army defined by both piety and zealotry, soon the entire western region of Arabia came under Muslim sway.
The community of all Muslims would come to be known as the Umma. This represented such a departure from tradition that its creation required a new calendar. Based on lunar cycles, the Muslim year is about 11 days shorter than the Christian year, resulting in a difference of about three years per century. The calendar began in 622 ce. Thus, in the year 2013, the Muslims celebrated the start of their year 1434.
Hijra to Europe
Ayaan Hirsi on the Islamization of Europe, Immigration Jihad and the Impotence of the West, 3:15
Ayaan Hirsi Ali, ardent defender of Western civilization against Islamic supremacism, New York Times bestselling author, former Dutch MP and recipient of The New Criterion’s fourth annual Edmund Burke Award for Service to Culture & Society argues that Islamic supremacists are using immigration or the Islamic concept of the ‘hijra’ as a means of Islamizing Europe while Europeans refuse to assimilate Muslims or defend their culture against those purposefully seeking to destroy it, during an in-depth interview for The New Criterion by Ben Weingarten, commentator and Founder & CEO of ChangeUp Media. For more from The New Criterion’s April 2016 ‘Edmund Burke Award’ gala and other compelling content, check out The New Criterion’s YouTube channel at http://www.youtube.com/user/TheNewCri....
https://youtu.be/U2gNs_w3tZQ
The Spread of Islam 298
Why did Islam spread so rapidly?
Following the death of the Prophet in 632, the caliphs, or successors to Muhammad, assumed political and religious authority. The first two caliphs were Abu Bakr (r. 632–34) and Umar (r. 634–44), both of whom were fathers to two of Muhammad’s wives. Waiting in the wings was Ali, the Prophet’s cousin, second convert to Islam (after the prophet’s wife Khadija), and husband of Fatima, Muhammad and Khadija’s daughter. But when Umar died in 644, disciples responsible for choosing the new caliph, among them the two leading candidates for caliph, Ali and Uthman, a member of the Ummayad clan of Mecca, passed over Ali and selected the 70-year-old Uthman (r. 644–56). When Uthman was assassinated in 656, victim of an Egyptian revolt, Ali (r. 656–61) was finally named caliph, but over the objections of the Umayyad clan. In 661, Ali was assassinated by a rival faction, led by Muawiya, Uthman’s cousin, that opposed Ali’s rise to power, blaming him for refusing to avenge Uthman’s death. A more conservative group, the Kharijites, supported the assassination of Ali on grounds of his moral weakness. Muawiya (r. 661–80) became caliph, establishing the Umayyad dynasty, and moving the Caliphate from Medina in Arabia to Damascus in Syria. (This tension between Ali’s followers and the Ummayad caliphs exists to this day. Those who believe that only descendants of Ali should rule are known as Shiites [Shi’a, or “followers of Ali”], and they live largely in Iran and Iraq. Another group, known as Sunnis, who today represent the vast majority of Muslims, believe that religious leaders should be chosen by the faithful. These two groups continue to vie for power in present-day Islam, especially in Iraq. The more conservative Kharijites still survive in Oman and North Africa.)
Early Arab Conquests | 3 Minute History, 4:52
Covering the conquests during the Rashidun Caliphate. I will probably do a separate video on the First Fitna. Thanks for the 15,000 subs. And thanks to Xios, Alan Haskayne, Lachlan Lindenmayer, Derpvic, Seth Reeves and all my other Patrons. If you want to help out - https://www.patreon.com/Jabzy?ty=h
https://youtu.be/cXm0D63QepE
How many times Muslims invaded Europe vs. Europeans invaded Muslim countries? 3:43
Historical facts and Comparisons: How many times Muslims invaded Europe vs. Europeans invaded Muslim countries. Islamics Launched their Crusades in 630 A.D. Western Crusades started in 1095 A.D. to Stop Muslim Invasion. Crusades were a defensive action against the forcible expansion of Islam into territories that had been part of Christendom for centuries. The Crusades were started by the Muslims in the year 630 A.D. when Muhammad invaded and conquered Mecca. Later on, Muslims invaded Syria, Iraq, Jerusalem, Iran, Egypt, Africa, Spain, Italy, France, etc. The Western Crusades started around 1095 to try to stop the Islamic aggressive invasions. Islamic Crusades continued even after the Western Crusade. Islam has killed about 270 million people: 120 million Africans*, 60 million Christians, 80 million Hindus, 10 million Buddhists, etc. http://factreal.wordpress.com/2010/02...
https://youtu.be/c7y2LRcf4kc
Works of the Umayyad Caliphs: The Great Mosque of Damascus 299
The departure of the Umayyad caliphs from Medina to Damascus required them to build a new mosque in Damascus (Fig. 9.8). Originally, the Muslim community in Damascus shared the site with the Christian community, who worshiped in a Byzantine church enclosed inside a walled compound. But by 705, the Muslim community had grown so large that radical steps had to be taken to accommodate it. During the reign of Abd al-Malik (r. 685–705), the Dome of the Rock (see Fig. 9.1) had been completed, and his son, al-Walid (r. 705–15), was responsible for the construction and decoration of the Great Mosque in Damascus. One large section of the original interior decoration survives—a glass mosaic landscape in the covered walkway surrounding the courtyard. The mosaics were probably the work of Christian Byzantine artisans brought to Damascus by al-Walid. Rising in improbable scale above the walkway is an expanse of colonnaded pavilions, towering trees, and arched bridges (Fig. 9.9). It has been suggested that this is the Paradise promised by the Prophet in Surah 76 of the Qur’an (see Reading 9.1a, pages 292–293), but it may be, instead, that this landscape was designed as simply an attractive decorative addition.
The Umayyad Mosque - Great Mosque of Damascus filmed by a drone, 1:41
The Umayyad Mosque, also known as the Great Mosque of Damascus, located in the old city of Damascus, is one of the largest and oldest mosques in the world. It is considered by some Muslims to be the fourth-holiest place in Islam.
https://youtu.be/Y0-THsw4RLc
Images in Muslim Art 300
It is worth noting that human figures are notably absent in the Great Mosque’s mosaic decoration. Neither are there any animals. In fact, Muslim religious architecture is so notably free of figurative decoration that many people, even some Muslims, assume that representations of “living beings” are forbidden in Islam. The Byzantine emperor Leo III (see Chapter 8) attributed the successes of the Muslim armies to their ban on human figures in their mosques. The following admonition from the Qur’an (5:92) is often cited by Muslims who worry about the role of image-making in Muslim art and decoration: “O believers, wine and arrow-shuffling idols and divining arrows are an abomination, / some of Satan’s work; then avoid it.” But, it can be argued, “idols” here refers to pagan idols of the kind the Prophet eliminated from the Kaaba in Mecca. Also, at the time, Muhammad had allowed a painting of Mary and the infant Jesus to remain in the building. The hadiths, however, also supported those who opposed image-making. There the Prophet is reported to have warned, “An angel will not enter a house where there is a dog or a painting.” Likewise, the Prophet claimed that “those who make these pictures will be punished on the Day of Judgment by being told: Make alive what you have created.”
Some religious scholars believed that the ban on representation applied only to “living” things. Thus, the depiction of Paradise, as on the walls of the Great Mosque of Damascus, was acceptable, because Paradise is “beyond the living.” Such thinking would also lead the Muslim owner of a Persian miniature representing a prince feasting in the countryside to erase the heads of all those depicted (Fig. 9.10). Such an act is closely related to Byzantine iconoclasm, as no one could presume to think that figures without heads could possibly be “alive.” In fact, as we will see, Muslim artists in Persia took great delight in illustrating literary texts, creating scene after scene depicting people in various forms of action, including lovemaking. Their freedom to do so is partly explained by their distance from more conservative brands of Arabian Islam, but also by their belief that they were not illustrating “living beings” so much as fictive characters.
Why Are Pictures of Muhammad Forbidden In Islam? 3:27
The French offices of Charlie Hebdo were recently attacked by extremists over the magazine's controversial illustrations of the Muslim Prophet Muhammad. Why are depictions of the spiritual figure prohibited in Islam? Learn More: What Muslims Really Believe About Cartoons Of Muhammad http://thinkprogress.org/world/2015/0... Q&A: Depicting the Prophet Muhammad http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/4674864.stm "Why the depictions have caused such offence." The Story of a Picture: Shiite Depictions of Muhammad https://openaccess.leidenuniv.nl/bits... "In spite of the relative prohibition of graphic representation of living beings, especially members of the Prophet's family,1 as expressed by religious authorities in the Islamic world, colourful paper prints showing Ali, son-in- law of Muhammad, and his sons Hassan and Hussayn, even the Prophet himself, are not rare in contemporary Iran." Egypt Bans Movie 'Exodus' http://www.cnn.com/2014/12/27/world/m... The Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of NY: A History of the Courthouse https://www.nycourts.gov/history/lega... Placement of the original 1955 exterior sculptures. Images of Muhammad, Gone for Good http://www.nytimes.com/2006/02/12/wee... 1955, 1974, and 1977 incidents explained. Why Islam Does (Not) Ban Images of the Prophet http://www.faithstreet.com/onfaith/20... "Contrary to popular belief, Muslim artists over the centuries produced works of devotion, illuminated by faith, and imbued with a deep sense of love." Watch More: What's the Difference Between Sunni and Shia Muslims? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5KLvj... Subscribe to TestTube Daily! http://bitly.com/1iLOHml _________________________ TestTube's new daily show is committed to answering the smart, inquisitive questions we have about life, society, politics and anything else happening in the news. It's a place where curiosity rules and together we'll get a clearer understanding of this crazy world we live in. Watch more TestTube: http://testtube.com/testtubedailyshow/ Subscribe now! http://www.youtube.com/subscription_c... TestTube on Twitter https://twitter.com/TestTube Trace Dominguez on Twitter https://twitter.com/TraceDominguez
https://youtu.be/O2P7cUYFwoc
What if an American drew Mohammed (such as in this case a former Muslim cartoonist)?
Mohammed cartoon contest organizer: I'm anti-Jihad, 2:07
American Freedom Defense Initiative President Pam Geller defends holding a Prophet Mohammed cartoon contest that led to a shooting in Garland, Texas.
https://youtu.be/w0hF9fyM1Ok
Islam in Africa and Spain 300
How would you characterize Islam in both Africa and Spain?
Scholars once believed that the rapid expansion of Islam was entirely due to the determination of the faithful to convert new followers to the faith, but overpopulation of the Arabian peninsula probably also played a role. If faith offered the excuse, the practical result of Islamic expansion was the acquisition of new territories and the wealth they brought with them.
Islamic Africa 301
The Muslim impact on the culture of North Africa cannot be overstated. Beginning in about 750, not long after Muslim armies had conquered most of North Africa, Muslim traders, following the trade routes created by the Saharan Berber peoples, began trading for salt, copper, dates, and especially gold with the sub-Saharan peoples of the Niger River drainage. Gradually they came to dominate the trans-Saharan trade routes (Map 9.3), and Islam became the dominant faith of West Africa. By the ninth century, a number of African states existed in the broad savanna south of the Sahara desert known as the Sudan (which literally means “land of the blacks”). These states seemed to have formed in response to the prospects of trade with the Muslim and Arab world. Ghana, which means “war chief,” is an early example, and its name suggests that a single chieftain, and later his family, exerted control over the material goods of the region, including gold, salt, ivory, iron, and particularly slaves. Muhammad accepted slavery as the just spoils of war, although no Muslim was ever to enslave another Muslim. Between the ninth and twelfth centuries, the slave trade grew from 300,000 enslaved to over a million, and it was so lucrative that the peoples of the Sudan, all eager to enslave each other for profit, were constantly at war. (There is some reason to believe that many African converts to Islam were initially attracted to the religion as a way to avoid becoming slaves, since the faithful were exempt from servitude.) Finally, the empire of the Mali people subsumed Ghana under the leadership of the warrior-king Sunjata (r. 1230–55) and gained control of the great trade routes north out of the savanna, through Timbuktu, the leading trading center of the era.
Islamic Spain 304
Like Islamic Africa, Islamic Spain maintained its own indigenous traditions while it absorbed Muslim ones, thus creating a distinctive cultural and political life. In 750, the Abbasids, a large family that claimed descent from Abbas, an uncle of Muhammad, overthrew the Umayyad caliphs. The Abbasids shifted the center of Islamic power from Damascus, where the Umayyads had centered their power, to a magnificent new capital in Iraq popularly known as Baghdad. In the middle of the ninth century, they moved again, to the complex at Samarra (see Fig. 9.5), 60 miles farther up the Tigris, probably in an attempt to seek more space to build palaces and mosques. Meanwhile, Spain remained under Umayyad control, initially under the leadership of Abd ar-Rahman (r. 756–88), who had escaped the Abbasid massacre of Umayyads in Syria in 750, arriving in Córdoba in 756. For over three centuries, the Spain he encountered had been controlled politically by a Germanic tribe from the north, the Visigoths, who had become Christian. But some 45 years earlier, in about 711 or 712, these Christian Visigoths had been defeated in southern Spain by a force of invading Muslim Arabs and Berbers. Gradually, Abd ar-Rahman solidified Muslim control of the region, first in Córdoba, then in Seville, Toledo (the former Visigothic capital), and Granada.
Under Siege? Spain Resists Islamic 'Invasion' - CBN.com, 5:00
The Koran instructs Muslims to conquer the whole world for Islam. It happened 1,300 years ago in Spain -- and some say it's happening again... The Christian Broadcasting Network CBN http://www.cbn.com
https://youtu.be/b4_lRpXjMmg
The Arts of the Islamic World 308
How do Islamic music, book design, narrative, and poetry reflect calligraphy’s emphasis on abstract rhythms of pattern and repetition?
Between the eighth and thirteenth centuries, the Islamic world, from Baghdad in the east to Córdoba in the west, developed artistic traditions and practices compared to which the arts in Western Europe simply paled. With the same technical virtuosity that the architects at the Alhambra employed, Islam’s musicians, bookmakers, illustrators, and poets crafted beautiful works of complex abstract design. Calligraphy, as we have seen (see Closer Look, pages 294–295), was perhaps the highest form of artistic expression, but by its very emphasis on abstract rhythms of pattern and repetition, it greatly influenced music, book design, narrative, and poetry.
Promoting Arts of the Islamic World Reinstallation BrooklynMuseum, 1:50
A quick tour of the behind-the-scenes goings on at the Brooklyn Museum as we work to reinstall the Arts of the Islamic World. The gallery re-opens on June 6, 2009.
https://youtu.be/3_c-0t6UgUU
Music in the Islamic World 308
Music was central to Islamic culture. Though Muhammad and his followers initially viewed music with some skepticism, believing that it distracted the faithful from their true purpose, within a century of his death, Muslim worship had become a highly musical event. In the call to prayer, each of the call’s seven phrases is sung, with a long pause between each phrase and each phrase becoming more melodic than the last. In the daily prayer service and on holy days, verses from the Qur’an are chanted and special songs are sung.
Maher Zain - Palestine Will Be Free | ماهر زين - فلسطين سوف تتحرر | Official Music Video, 5:39
Check Out Maher Zain's New Album "One": https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list... Order from iTunes/Amazon now: http://smarturl.it/MZOne ©2016 Awakening Records - Maher Zain - Palestine Will Be Free | Official Music video from the album"Thank You Allah". Watch entire album videos: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list... To buy the album (iTunes, Amazon... etc): http://www.maherzain.com/store This is the first time an animated peace music video has been produced on Palestine: "We are recognized as pioneers and constantly pushing the bounds of creativity and innovation. This animated music video for our new star artist Maher Zain is just another step in that direction and certainly not the last", said Bara Kherigi, Director of Awakening Records. Destined to be an international success, the video features the story of a young brave Palestinian girl who never loses hope for a better future despite the harsh realities surrounding her. ------- Connect with Maher Zain: Website: http://www.MaherZain.com Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/MaherZain Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/MaherZain Instagram: http://instagram.com/MaherZainOfficial YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/MaherZainOffi... -- Download Maher Zain Mobile App: Android: http://bit.ly/MZApp iOS: http://apple.co/1TP9GWE -- Connect with Awakening Records©: Official website: http://www.awakening.org Official Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/awakeningrecords Official Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/AwakeningRec Subscribe to our official YouTube channel: http://bit.ly/YTAwkSubscribe ------------------------- Lyrics: We keep telling each other That this day will be Will be the last and tomorrow We all can go home free And all this will finally end Palestine tomorrow will be free Palestine tomorrow will be free No mother, no father to wipe away my tears That's why I won't cry I feel scared but I won't show my fears I keep my head high Deep in my heart I never have any doubt That Palestine tomorrow will be free Palestine tomorrow will be free I saw those rockets and bombs shining in the sky Like drops of rain in the sun's light Taking away everyone dear to my heart Destroying my dreams in a blink of an eye What happened to our human rights? What happened to the sanctity of life? And all those other lies? I know that I'm only a child But is your conscience still alive? I will caress with my bare hands Every precious grain of sand Every stone, and every tree 'Cause no matter what they do They can never hurt you 'Cause your soul will always be free Palestine tomorrow will be free Palestine tomorrow will be free Lyrics: Maher Zain & Bara Kherigi Melody: Maher Zain Arrangement: Maher Zain & Hamza Namira © Awakening Records 2009 -- Awakening Records is a subsidiary of the UK-based Awakening Worldwide that has operational offices in both United States of America (USA) and Egypt. Awakening Records currently represents five artists: Maher Zain (Sweden), Hamza Namira (Egypt), Mesut Kurtis(Macedonia), Raef (USA), and Harris J (UK). (Previously Sami Yusuf & Irfan Makki among others).
https://youtu.be/foSbqLi6U10
The Art of the Book 309
Sometime in the eighth century, the art of papermaking was introduced into the Arabic world from China. The process involved extracting cellulose pulp from any of a number of plants, suspending the pulp in water, catching it on a fine screen, and then drying it into sheets. By the first years of the ninth century, most official documents in Baghdad were executed on paper, and soon afterward books, which were more affordable than parchment manuscripts, began to increase in number. Calligraphers and artists created not only scholarly treatises but also romances, epics, and lyric poetry, and most Abbasid cities soon boasted special booksellers’ markets. As Jonathan M. Bloom notes in his history of papermaking in the Islamic world, Paper Before Print, “Paper … became the prime medium of memory.” Bloom suggests that although scholars have long recognized “the major achievements of intellectual life under the Abbasids … these achievements were not accidental. Rather, they were tied to the introduction of paper: they were a product of both increased intellectual curiosity—itself fostered by the growth of learning made possible by the explosion of books—and attempts to exploit the potential applications of paper.” It is likely that the West did not produce paper in any sufficient quantity for another 500 years—until the invention of the printing press—because of its comparative lack of interest in the written word. The richest library in the West by the mid-fourteenth century, for instance, was the college library of the Sorbonne in Paris, which boasted some 2,000 volumes. By contrast, a single tenth-century Andalusian scholar, Ibn Hani al-Andalusi, reputedly owned a private library of some 400,000 volumes. Muslim culture, in turn, was slow to adopt the printing press because it so valued the art of calligraphy.
Beautifully Crafted Digital Art, Quran Ayat and Islam, 1:22
https://youtu.be/XuopatZvXq8
The Sufi Tradition 310
After the 1258 fall of Baghdad to Mongol invaders—the conquering Mongols would themselves become Muslim—the art of bookmaking shifted to Persia, where a thriving literary culture, exemplified by the poetry of Nezami, already existed. Particularly at the provincial capitals of Shiraz and Herat, home to a number of important Persian poets and painters, the art of the book became associated with the mystical practices of the Sufi orders. Sufism (from the Arabic word for “wool,” suf, a reference to the coarse woolen garments worn by Sufi practitioners) embraces a wide range of mystical practices. All of them share a belief in attaining visionary experience and divine inspiration by means of trances achieved in the intense experience of music, poetry, and dance. Thus, the ecstasy of the wild, whirling dervish dance (the Persian word for a Sufi or Muslim mystic is darvish) represents the path of the soul as it moves closer to God (Fig. 9.18). The great Sufi poets—Sa’di (ca. 1213–92), Rumi (ca. 1207–73), and Jami (1414–92) among them—emphasize the pursuit of the beautiful, often in the form of a beautiful woman or, in the case of Rumi, a beautiful man. However, such a pursuit is an allegory for, or figurative representation of, the pursuit of the beauty that is God.
Islamic Mysticism: An Introduction to Sufi Islam, 6:23
An introduction to the history, practices, and beliefs of Sufi Islam. Sufism, or tasawwuf in Arabic, is practiced by many Muslims around the world, both Shia and Sunni, as a personal, mystical, or esoteric path to God. The video includes poetry by Mawlana Rumi and Ibn Arabi, and Mevlevi whirling dervish performances. Produced & Directed by Aleem Karmali Written by Karim Gillani www.karimsangeet.com www.crescentproductions.com Become a Facebook fan: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Aleem-K..
https://youtu.be/1EQtaQYpzTw
READINGS
9.1 from the Qur’an, Surah 47 315
9.1a from the Qur’an, Surah 76 292
9.1b from the Qur’an, Surah 5 293
9.2 from the hadith 293
9.3a from the Sunjata (12th century) 302
9.3b from the Sunjata (12th century) 304
9.4 Judah Halevi, “My Heart Is in the East” 306
Krinis, Ehud. (translated from Hebrew by Ann Brener and Tamar Liza Cohen), God’s Chosen People: Judah Halevi’s Kuzari and the Shīʿī Imām Doctrine. (Cultural Encounters in Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages): Turnhout, Belgium: Brepols, 2014. Pp. 352. $111.00. ISBN-13: 978-2503543963.
Reviewed by G. Mick Smith, PhD
Strayer University
gmick.smith@strayer.edu
Krinis addresses medieval Jewish interaction within an eleventh and twelfth-century Jewish-Andalusian intellectual world. Judaism posits "chosenness" as the belief that the Jews via descent from the ancient Israelites are the chosen people of God by virtue of their unique covenant with God. The idea of the Israelites directly chosen by God is found most pointedly in the Book of Deuteronomy and as developed in the related notion in the Hebrew Bible using related terms and phrases such as a "holy people". Nonetheless, Krinis attempts to show that it is Shia influence and not the Jewish tradition that dominated Judah Halevi's Kuzari.
Krinis' volume is characterized best as a study in the history of ideas and traces how Halevi (c. 1075 – 1141), the Spanish Jewish physician, poet, and philosopher, incorporated notions of the Imam doctrine from the Shi'ites. Although he is borrowing ideas, in an ironic twist of elucidation, Halevi proves the necessity of Judaism in his work. His major work, Kuzari, relies on the Shi'ia Imam doctrine while appropriating the idea of the chosen people but as referring to the Jewish people as the chosen ones (p. 4).
From 19th Century research until today, the Kuzari has been viewed as anti-philosophical or rationalist and therefore simply typifying its era as characteristic of other works in its day. Most interpreters then, before Krinis, viewed the Kuzari as trendy and embedded in its direct philosophical roots, rather than original and related to Shia thought. This is not to suggest that all interpreters viewed the Kuzari as confined in its philosophical affinities but Ignac Goldhizer and Shlomo Pines interestingly identified traces of Shia thought preceding Krinis.
Krinis presents a unique perspective though in claiming that Halevi appropriated the Imam doctrine of Mohammed's Shia followers. This critical split in the question of succession among the followers of Islam, for Halevi at least, led him to this central connection between the Shia successors and Halevi who creatively and selectively picked appealing ideas from the hadith and other texts.
Krinis' argument then rests on the circumstantial evidence of familiarity between Jewish writing and Shia literature. Krinis' method here is to perform a textual analysis to reveal Halevi's acquaintance and depth of influence or affinity for Shia writers. Krinis' claim, which requires analysis, is to weigh the scope of influence and, most importantly, "the formulation of the central ideological position of this treatise--the idea of the chosen people" (p. 32).
The idea of the chosen people requires elucidation. There at least two ways to interpret the notion. An afrad is defined herein as a unique individual, or a series of individuals throughout history; or, the concept may refer to a collective group. In the Kuzari this could refer to chosen and successive individuals from Adam to Jacob, and in the second example, the word refers to the Twelve Tribes of Israel.
In Shia thought, there are two models for the principle of meta-historical continuity: the spiritual, universal model, and the material, particularist model. The spiritual universal model is identified with the Shia concept of prophetic legacy wherein the tradition "is transmitted and handed down in a straight line of God's chosen prophets and 'successors' from the very beginning of history" (43). This chain of transmission consists of leading figures representing four unique periods in time: the early progenitors--Adam to Abraham; the Israelite era--Isaac to Zachariah; the Christian period--Jesus until Mohammed; and, the Islamic period--Mohammed as transmitted through the Imams. In this prophetic legacy model, there is a continuing presence of the universal, monotheistic religion throughout the course of history. The legacy of monotheism is thus preserved and transmitted by chosen individuals until the idealized Islamic period.
The second model, the material particular, is expressed by the primordial concept known as Mohammed's light. In this way, the primordial light is projected into the historical record in the form of a hidden light dwelling in human semen, and transmitted hereditarily from the loins of men into the wombs of women. This direct family lineage ultimately triumphs in the birth of Mohammed and the Imams. This model, analogous to the first, is based on three different stages: the progenitors from Adam to Abraham, the Arabic era from Ishmael to the immediate forefathers of Mohammad and Ali, and the final stage, which is that of Mohammad and the Imams. This latter model emphasizes Arabic superiority in the lineage of the chosen.
In Shia literature, the discrepancy between the model of prophetic legacy and the model of primordial lights, is often subdued and not explicit, so that the distinctive features of both models often converge considerably. In any case, in the Kuzari aspects of both Shia models are highlighted by Halevi's exposition of his salient, unique individuals model.
The key idea is that the transmission of the chosen characteristics, similar to an inheritance as that of a father to a son, is exemplified by the unique possession of the historical caliphate. In him and in historical concreteness, the caliph inherits the land of Israel, knowledge is transmitted through succession, and is the most virtuous of humans. Although there are differences between the afrad unique individuals and the Shia models of continuity (71) the afrad model is itself an adaptation of patriarchal precedent.
The question to consider is why Halevi diverged from a Jewish cultural model, as that of the three patriarchs, and replace the chosen people model with a disparate patriarchal model so completely foreign to canonical rabbinic literature? The traditional Jewish sources limit the chosen lineage at a point in middle history but in Halevi's Kuzari a full and complete linkage blossoms between the beginning of history and the emergence of the chosen group. Closely examining the Kuzari reveals that the unique individuals model is based in principle on Shia terminology, concepts, and thought patterns. The answer to Halevi's question then relies on the evidence that Krinis can accumulate to demonstrate his evidence. Krinis' claim is that the Shia doctrine of primordial chosen-ness is in the Kuzari. Unique individuals in the Kuzari are the appropriate ones who inherit the land and are "the progenitor of the election-determining entity for all who followed" (103).
Historically then, God's Proof, or the term Hujja, represents that Shia individual who is the ultimate authority, claim, evidence, or proof of a polemical argument during an historical time period. God's chosen individual as proof gave way to an entire collective serving as God's evidence in history as the Chosen People.
Also, there are features of hierarchism in the Kuzari as borrowed from Shia thought. There is a holistic, hierarchical distinction between the chosen and the non-chosen as well as the People of God as opposed to other nations which can be attributed to Shia thought. Superhuman attributes of these chosen divine humans are on the upper level of the hierarchy. There is a shift in emphasis from the prophet-messenger type, as reflected in the Quran to the divine human type, which is demonstrated in a plethora of Islamic literature: hadith, sira, literature, dogmatic treaties, mystical treaties, and so forth. Another aspect of Shia thought in particular should be noted and that is the issue of mediation. The God of mediation, in Islamic monotheism, is non-personal, non-interventionist, and non-revelatory. The Shia divine order in the Kuzari results in "inserting Shia terms and perceptions into frameworks of a philosophical basis" (p. 223).
In conclusion, Krinis is to be commended for pointing out the creative maneuver of Halevi who transformed the intended group of recipients from descendants of Mohammed to Jews; during a time of Arabic literary vibrancy Halevi strengthened the view that the Jews of Israel are the Chosen People. Krinis provides a sound summary: "the originality of the Kuzari is manifested, first and foremost, in the unique ability of its writer to borrow terms and motifs from a variety of worlds and to weave them together into a significantly unified ideological frame, one which is manifestly original and completely his own" (313). On the other hand, the drawbacks of the volume are not to elaborate upon Jewish tradition and the liveliness of Judaic thought that is part and parcel of the Kuzari. Krinis' work might be richer with a more of a nod in the direction of Judaic thought. Finally, one minor corrective should be mentioned: "is" should be it (172).
9.5 from Nezami, Haft Paykar, “The Tale of the Black Princess” (1197) 310
9.6 “Tale of the Fisherman and the Genie” from The Thousand and One Nights (ca. 800–1300) 315
9.7a from Jami, “Seduction of Yusuf and Zulaykha” (1483) 311
9.7b from Jami, “Seduction of Yusuf and Zulaykha” (1483) 312
9.8 from Rumi, The Divan of Shams of Tabriz (ca. 1250) 317
FEATURES
CLOSER LOOK The Bismillah and the Art of Calligraphy 294
CONTINUITY & CHANGE The Islamic Heritage 313
10 Fiefdom and Monastery, Pilgrimage and Crusade THE EARLY MEDIEVAL WORLD IN EUROPE 319
THINKING AHEAD
10.1 Describe what Anglo-Saxon art and literature tell us about Anglo-Saxon culture.
10.2 Discuss Charlemagne’s impact on medieval culture and the legacy of his rule.
10.3 Define the Romanesque and its relation to both pilgrimage churches and the Cluniac abbey.
10.4 Examine the motivations for the Crusades and appraise their outcome.
10.5 Explain the courtly love tradition as it manifests itself in the literature of the period.
Anglo-Saxon Artistic Style and Culture 321
What can we learn about Anglo-Saxon culture from its art and literature?
A purse cover from the Sutton Hoo site (Fig. 10.2) is a fine example of the artistic style of this non-Christian Germanic culture. It is a work of cloisonné, a technique in which strips of gold are set on edge to form small cells. The cells are then filled with a colored enamel glass paste and fitted with thin slices of semiprecious stones (in this case, garnet). At the top of the purse cover shown here, two hexagons flank a central motif of animal interlace. In this design, two pairs of animals and birds, facing each other, are elongated into serpentine ribbons of decoration, a common Scandinavian motif. Below this, two Swedish hawks with curved beaks attack a pair of ducks. On each side of this design, a male figure stands between two animals. This animal style was used in jewelry design throughout the Germanic and Scandinavian world in the era before Christianity. Notice its symmetrical design, its combination of interlaced organic and geometric shapes, and, of course, its animal motifs. Throughout the early Middle Ages, this style was imitated in manuscripts, stone sculpture, church masonry, and wood sculpture.
In many ways, the English language was shaped by Anglo-Saxon traditions. Our days of the week are derived from the names of Saxon gods: Tuesday and Wednesday are named after two Saxon gods of war, Tiw and Woden. Thursday is named after Thor, the god of thunder, and Friday after Frigg, Woden’s wife. Similarly, most English place-names have Saxon origins. Bury means fort, and Canterbury means the fort of the Cantii tribe. Ings means tribe or family; Hastings is where the family of chief Haesta lived. Strat refers to a Roman road; Stratford-on-Avon designates the place where the Roman road fords the River Avon. Chester means Roman camp, as in Dorchester; minster means monastery, as in Westminster; and ham means home, as in Nottingham.
Anglo-Saxon Britain, 2:22
See how the Angles, Saxons, and Jutes competed over domination of England while also dealing with Vikings.
https://youtu.be/GhQIT85wobE
Society, Law, and Family Life 321
The survival of Anglo-Saxon names in modern English suggests the degree to which this culture dominated even medieval English life. Earlier Anglo-Saxon culture revolved around the king and his thanes (lords). The king possessed his own large estate, as did each of his thanes, and the king and his retinue moved continually among the estates of the thanes, who owed hospitality and loyalty to the throne. Aside from these few powerful persons, feudal society was composed of peasants. Some were ceorls, or churls, free men who owned farms of 90 to 100 acres. Others rented land from the thanes, usually in lots of 20 acres. They paid their lords in goods—sheep or grain—and worked his fields two or three days per week. All employed serfs (day laborers) and thralls (slaves), often captives of wars. (Evidence suggests that by the eighth century, the Anglo-Saxons were routinely marketing slaves abroad, in France and Rome particularly.) Runaway slaves were punished by death, as were those convicted of disloyalty to their thanes.
Anglo-Saxon law was based on the idea of the wergeld, or “life-price” of an individual. A thane’s value was roughly six times that of a churl, and a thrall had no value at all. If a thane were killed (or injured), his family (or in the case of injury, he himself) was entitled to be compensated at the highest fixed rate. But a thane could kill or injure a thrall with no wergeld due at all. The wergeld for men and women was identical, although a pregnant woman was worth as much as three times the usual rate, and a woman’s potential as a bearer of children could raise her value even if she were not pregnant.
The medieval fief averaged from 3,000 to 5,000 acres and included one or more manor houses occupied by the lord. The manor house was surrounded by a small village that included as many as 50 families, a common mill, a wine press, an oven, and a church. Surrounding the village were fields and pasture. Oats, corn, barley, wheat, and rye were the largest crops, and over time, serfs developed the heavy-wheeled plow for cultivating sandy soil and the moulboard plow for plowing clay soils. The tandem four-oxen harness helped them in their work (Fig. 10.3). They also learned to offset soil depletion by crop rotation, allowing one-third of their fields to lie fallow each year to recover their fertility.
The Anglo-Saxons in Britain, 4:49
For over 600 years the Anglo-Saxons were settled in Britain replacing many of the Roman stone buildings with new buildings of their own. At the same time they brought Christianity to the country. The reign of the Anglo-Saxons came to an end in 1066 but they will be remembered not only for the vast political change they brought with them but for the amazing craftmanship and ornate artifacts and Jewellery that they left behind. They certainly earned their place in history !!
https://youtu.be/Vzxiz3Kw9eI
Beowulf, the Oldest English Epic Poem 323
This rigidly hierarchical society is celebrated in the oldest English epic poem, Beowulf. In the poem, a young hero, Beowulf, comes from afar to rid a community of monsters that have been ravaging it. A treasure very much like that found in the Sutton Hoo ship burial is described just 26 lines into the poem, when the death of the Danish king Shild is described (Reading 10.1a).
A Tribute to a Hero: Beowulf, 1:56
"Beowulf is a legendary Geatish hero and later turned king in the epic poem named after him, one of the oldest surviving pieces of literature in the English language" This is a Tribute to him, Beowulf. The Music used: Beowulf Main Title - Alan Silvestri. What We Need Is a Hero - Alan Silvestri.
https://youtu.be/gpkKPqcK7AE
The Merging of Pagan and Christian Styles 325
Whatever Beowulf’s relation to Christian tradition, it is easy to see how the poem might have been read, even in its own time, in Christian terms. Other clearly Christian poems survive from the era, among them The Dream of the Rood, in which a poet recounts his dream of a conversation with the wooden cross (the rood) upon which Jesus was crucified. Jesus is portrayed as if he were a Germanic king willing to die, like Beowulf, for the greater good. Another is the short poem known as Caedmon’s Hymn, written by the Anglo-Saxon monk, Caedmon, probably in the 670s or 680s (Reading 10.2). It is the only surviving text of what was reportedly a large body of vernacular religious poetry by Caedmon. Tradition holds that the monk was unable to sing, but one night he heard himself singing his poem in a dream, and he miraculously awoke with the ability to sing it. So that you can see how remote the Anglo-Saxon is from the English translation, here is the original text following the translation.
King Beowulf about Christianity, 1:06
https://youtu.be/liN10C_cXjc
Manuscript Illustration: Blending of Anglo-Saxon and Christian Traditions 327
In 601, Gregory sent Augustine a letter urging him not to eliminate pagan traditions overnight, but to incorporate them into Christian practice: “For it is certainly impossible to eradicate all errors from obstinate minds at one stroke, and whoever wishes to climb a mountain top climbs gradually step by step, and not in one leap.” This is one reason that the basic elements of the animal style, evident in the purse cover from Sutton Hoo (see Fig. 10.2), appear in a manuscript page from the Lindisfarne Gospels, designed by Bishop Eadfrith of Lindisfarne in 698 (Fig. 10.6). Notice particularly how the geometric grids in the border decoration of the purse cover are elaborated in the central circle of the Lindisfarne carpet page (a descriptive term, not used in the Middle Ages, that refers to the resemblance between such pages and Turkish or Islamic carpets). The animal interlace of the purse cover reappears in the corner designs that frame the central circle of the carpet page, where two birds face outward and two inward. And the beasts that turn to face one another in the middle of the purse cover are echoed in the border figures of the carpet page, top and bottom, left and right. The pre-Christian decorative vocabulary of the Sutton Hoo treasure, created to honor a pagan king, has been transformed to honor the Christian conception of God.
This carpet page is an example of a Celtic cross. Legend has it that while preaching to a group of the soon-to-be converted, Saint Patrick had been shown an ancient standing stone monument with a circle carved onto it, symbolic, he was told, of the moon goddess. Patrick reportedly made the mark of a Latin cross through the circle and blessed the stone, thereby making the first Celtic cross. The story is probably only a legend—the circle with a cross through it antedates Patrick’s arrival in Ireland, where it probably symbolized, in pagan culture, the sun and moon, male and female, unity and balance in all things—but the legend speaks to the syncretism (the combining of different practices and principles) of the age.
The Lindisfarne Gospels, 4:43
https://youtu.be/fquuIZCiwIE
Carolingian Culture and the Frankish Kings 328
How did Charlemagne change medieval culture and what was his legacy to the Frankish kings?
Although England was slow to Christianize, the European continent was not. Christianity was firmly established in 732, at Poitiers, France, just south of Tours in the Loire Valley. There Charles Martel, king of the Franks, defeated the advancing Muslim army, which had entered Spain in 711 and had been pushing northward ever since. The Arabs retreated south, beyond the Pyrenees, and settled into Spain. The Franks were one of many Germanic tribes—like the Angles and Saxons in England—that had moved westward beginning in the fourth century ce. Most of these tribes adopted most of the Christian beliefs of the Roman culture they conquered, most notably the Ostrogoths in Italy, the Visigoths in southern Gaul (France) and Spain, the Vandals in North Africa, and the Franks, who controlled most of present-day France. Unlike the other Germanic tribes, the Franks were Orthodox, or Catholic, Christians, the result of the conversion in 496 of Clovis (ca. 466–511). Clovis was the founder of the first Frankish dynasty, the Merovingians. Within a hundred years, the Franks would come to control most of western Europe.
The Carolingian Renaissance in Three Minutes, 2:59
Outside of European specific courses or books, the time period between the fall of Rome and the High Middle Ages is usually glossed over. It is almost as though pop culture history says, "And then Romans fell and then there were knights and Vikings." This ignores the noteworthy achievements of the people who lived during the time period after the Fall of The Western Empire in what is now called Late Antiquity.
https://youtu.be/ed8kyeGcBI0
Charles Martel’s Final Moorish War and the Great Berber Uprising in Spain, 733-741, 5:29
http://www.realcrusadeshistory.com For the full series: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list... This episode kicks off Part II of the Complete History of the Crusades Series: Christendom's Crucible: Survival, Endurance, Rebirth. This episode deals with Charles Martel's final battle with Islam, as well as the Berber uprising in Spain that destabilized Muslim Spain, giving the Christians in the north time to consolidate and even begin to expand. Watch the full series: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list... Donate to support Crusades history: https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr... Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Real-C... Twitter: https://twitter.com/CrusadesHistory
https://youtu.be/ddJuvPgtnbM
The Song of Roland: Feudal and Chivalric Values 330
Charlemagne’s military might was the stuff of legend. For centuries after his rule, tales of his exploits circulated throughout Europe in cycles of poems sung by jongleurs, professional entertainers or minstrels who moved from court to court and performed chansons de geste (“songs of heroic deeds”). The oldest of these, and the most famous, is the Song of Roland, a poem built around a kernel of historical truth transformed into legend and eventually embellished into an epic. Four thousand lines long, composed of ten-syllable lines grouped in stanzas, it was transmitted orally for three centuries and finally written down in about 1100, by which time the story of a military defeat of little consequence had become an epic drama of ideological importance. The jongleurs sang the poem accompanied by a lyre. The only surviving musical notations to the poem are the letters AOI that end some verses. The exact meaning of this phrase is unclear, but it probably indicates a musical refrain, repeated throughout the performance. Most likely, the poem was sung in a syllabic setting, one note per syllable, in the manner of most folk songs even today. Its melody was probably also strophic—that is, the same music repeated for each stanza of the poem.
Song Of Roland
'For who will lead my armies with such strength, When he is slain, that all our days us led? Ah! France the Douce, now art thou deserted! Such grief I have that I would fain be dead.'
In 778, the rearguard of Charlemagne's retreating army was ambushed in the Pyrenees and defeated.
The battle of Roncevaux became the inspiration for songs and poems celebrating deeds of valour in the face of overwhelming odds.
In the mid 12th century, part of this great retelling of heroic deeds was The Song of Roland, the earliest surviving work of Old French and one which shows a chivalric, knightly society in full flower.
It is a celebration of heroism, of feudalism and of the Franks and their love of 'France the Douce'.
Roland, most valiant of knights, is in command when the Saracens attack, directed by the traitor Ganelon.
Although Roland's friend Oliver begs him to blow his olifant and recall the main part of the army, Roland refuses.
A small force of Franks makes a last stand against 400,000 Saracens, and, one by one, the brave warriors fight to the death.
At last, Roland blows the horn and Charlemagne gallops to the rescue -- but the king is too late to save his valiant paladins, and can only avenge their deaths.
With its focus on honour and the feudal obligations between lord and vassal, the poem is a rich evocation of a vanished age.
Yet its depiction of its soldiers, their trust in one another, their capacity for heroism and their grief for their fallen comrades, resounds through the centuries.
Promoting Literacy 332
Across Europe, the Church had traditionally served as the chief guardian of culture. In its monastic centers, the Roman love of learning had been maintained, especially in the manuscripts transcribed by monastic copyists. But literacy was anything but widespread. Charlemagne sought to remedy this situation at his court at Aachen (present-day Aix-la-Chapelle), which soon attracted leading scholars and artists, whose efforts Charlemagne rewarded handsomely. Chief among these was an Englishman, perhaps even of Anglo-Saxon origin, Alcuin of York (735–804), who in 782 became head of Charlemagne’s court school. One of the foremost grammarians and theologians of the period, Alcuin served as Charlemagne’s personal tutor.
Early Medieval Europe - Charlemagne and the Carolingian Renaissance
Carolingian Renaissance is a cultural and intellectual revival and the first of three medieval renaissances, which started during the reign of Charlemagne in the late 8th century.
When Charlemagne takes power, the ancient schools of the Roman Empire are long gone.
Culture took refuge in monasteries. children for the monastic life we learned there.
At the same time, the clergy and laity are increasingly uneducated.
In 789, in a broad program of reforms, Charlemagne entrusted the teaching of the Church, demanding that each monastery every bishopric opened schools to teach reading to children from books carefully corrected.
The program covers the basic skills, reading (of course Latin), writing and arithmetic.
But also singing for church services and "notes", a kind of shorthand for the future chancery employees.
Emperor's objectives are clear: the practice of religion and the execution of administrative tasks.
Charlemagne knew that it is necessary that the clergy be educated and provided with correct versions of the sacred text in order to evangelize and mentor populations.
It is also aware of the importance of writing to govern and unify the various territories of the empire.
Administrative staff must know how to read and to interpret his orders write to write reports.
The language, Latin, must be pure in order to be understood by all.
But Charlemagne's efforts are not always followed up.
On several occasions, it must renew its instructions on schools.
His successor, Louis the Pious, also legislates a lot in this area.
The cultural level of the clergy increases, timidly under Charlemagne and more markedly throughout the ninth century.
Many cultural centers bloom throughout the Empire and the Carolingian scholars write correct Latin which will remain for centuries the international language of religion and culture.
However, the population remains outside of this cultural renaissance: the majority is expressed in Germanic or Romance language; she does not understand Latin and has no opportunity to consult books, extremely rare items at the time.
If schools providing elementary knowledge remain unevenly distributed across the Empire, many centers of study are developed however in the Palace of the Emperor or in large monasteries and bishoprics.
Harking back to ancient times, these institutions organize education in two levels: the trivium grouping three humanities (grammar, dialectic and rhetoric), followed quadrivium devoted to scientific disciplines (arithmetic, geometry, music and astronomy).
These seven are the liberal arts disciplines.
This organization studies the basis for school and university education during the Middle Ages.
In these schools, we rediscover the authors of Latin Antiquity, one learns to read the Bible and the great theologians of the first centuries.
The renewal of the studies also concerns sciences, be it astronomy or medicine.
Led by recognized scholars as Alcuin Theodulf or Rabanus Maurus, these centers provide training of the intellectual elite and the cultural revival of the Carolingian period.
It is a meeting of the teachers came from all backgrounds, who bring with them their knowledge and culture, at the crossroads of ancient and Byzantine tradition and the franc and German heritage.
It was here that merges the ninth century, this patchwork behind Western culture.
Facts You Didn't Know About Charlemagne, 4:10
https://youtu.be/ibeJX9Or67U
The Medieval Monastery 333
The monastery was a central part of Carolingian culture, arguably its most important institution. Before the Carolingian era, monastic life varied widely across Europe. In Italy, the rule of solitude (the Greek word monos, from which monasticism derives, means “alone”) was barely enforced, and life in a monastery could be positively entertaining. If, in Ireland, more austere conditions prevailed, still the lively intellectual climate of the monastery attracted men and women seeking a vocation. Even from monastery to monastery, different conditions and rules prevailed.
Charlemagne imposed on all monasteries in the Frankish kingdom the rule of Benedict of Nursia, an Italian monk who had lived two centuries earlier (ca. 480–547). The Rule of Saint Benedict defined monastic life as a community of like-minded individuals, all seeking religious perfection, under the direction of an abbot elected by the monks. Monks were to live a family life in the pursuit of religious perfection. They were to possess nothing of their own, accepting worldly poverty. They were to live in one place and not wander, guaranteeing the community’s stability. And they were never to marry, acknowledging their chastity. Each day was divided into eight parts, the horarium (from the Latin hora, “hour”). The horarium is the daily prayer schedule of liturgical praise called the Divine Office (the word Office comes from the Latin officium, meaning “duty”), marked by recitations of the psalms and the chanting of hymns and prayers at eight specific times of the day, from early morning until bedtime. Between services, the monks studied, worked, and ate a light breakfast and heartier dinner. They lived by the motto of their order: “Pray and work.”
Making History - Medieval Monastic Clergy, 5:49
Life in the monasteries in Medieval Europe was much more difficult than modern film depicts it to have been.
https://youtu.be/a_oeKXEMpsY
The Ottonian Empire 337
Charlemagne’s empire dissolved in 843 when his son Louis the Pious (r. 814–40) divided the kingdom among his own feuding sons: Lothar, the eldest of the three; Louis the German; and their half-brother, Charles the Bald. To the east, Louis the German ruled most of what is today Germany and Austria. To the west, Charles the Bald ruled most of what is now France. And between the two was Lothar, whose kingdom extended in a narrow band from the North Sea to Italy. When Lothar died in 855, his kingdom was partitioned among his three sons. With this middle territory thus weakened, Charles the Bald to the west and Louis the German to the east began to fight over it, a contest between the German and French Frankish kingdoms. By the end of the tenth century, two powerful kingdoms—one German, the other French—had emerged.
Heinrich the Fowler, 2:01
A moving epic tale of Heinrich the Fowler and the Ottonian Empire.
https://youtu.be/vOsNpD4IjMw
Capetian France and the Norman Conquest 337
To the west of the Ottonian Empire, the Frankish territory formerly controlled by Charles the Bald was invaded in the middle of the ninth century by Normans—that is, “Northmen”—Viking warriors from Scandinavia. The Viking onslaught was devastating, as they plundered and looted across the north European seas, targeting especially isolated but wealthy monasteries such as Lindisfarne, which they had attacked even earlier, in 793. The Viking invasions fragmented the former empire and caused nobility, commoners, and peasants alike to attach themselves to anyone who might provide military protection—thus cementing the feudal system. By the tenth century, they had raided, explored, and settled territories from North America, which the explorer Leif Eriksson reached in about the year 1000, to Iceland, Greenland, the British Isles, and France. In France, they besieged Paris in 845 and gained control of the lower Seine Valley. In 915, the Frankish king Charles III (r. 893–923) was forced to grant the Norse leader Rolf, or Rollo, permanent control of the region. Rollo became the first duke of Normandy.
Norman Conquest of England | 3 Minute History, 3:29
https://youtu.be/tc92zC0P0Iw
The Romanesque: The Pilgrimage Church and the Monastic Abbey 338
How does the Romanesque style manifest itself in both pilgrimage churches and the Cluniac abbey?
Throughout the Middle Ages, it was customary for Christians to go on religious pilgrimages to holy places or sites containing sacred objects. People believed that their prayers for forgiveness, healing, fertility, or anything else would have a better chance of being fulfilled if they were able to get physically close to a holy object, person, or site. The pilgrimage was also an act of piety, demonstrating the pilgrim’s faith, and, in part, an act of penance. As Europe became increasingly urbanized, worsening hygienic conditions spread disease. Believing that disease was related to sinfulness, pilgrims sought to atone for their sins, saving themselves from sickness and contagion on earth and perpetual damnation in the afterlife.
Episode 2: A White Garment of Churches: Romanesque and Gothic Art part 2, 5:46
Romanesque art and architecture were shaped by two powerful forces: pilgrimage and the monastic movement. Later, Gothic cathedrals were filled with divine light. Featured: Basilique, Sainte-Marie-Madeleine in Vézelay, the sculptures of Gislebertus, Paray-le-Monial, the cathedrals at Chartes. "Episode 2: A White Garment of Churches: Romanesque and Gothic Art." Art of the Western World. Presented by Michael Wood. Dir. Geoff Dunlop et. al. WNET/Thirteen, 1989. DVD.
https://youtu.be/RLjXFBsHhBY
The Bayeux Tapestry
The Bayeux Tapestry - Seven Ages of Britain - BBC One, 4:56
The Bayeux Tapestry. The BBC's David Dimbleby describes the historical significance of the Bayeux Tapestry for his forthcoming BBC One Series, Seven Ages of Britain. http://www.bbc.co.uk/history http://www.bbc.co.uk/bbcone
https://youtu.be/F8OPQ_28mdo
Cluny and the Monastic Tradition 345
One of the most influential of the Romanesque pilgrimage churches was the Abbey of Cluny. Like Charlemagne’s Saint Gall (see Fig. 10.12), Cluny, founded in about 910, was a reformed Benedictine monastery. The Cluniac order enjoyed a special status in the Church hierarchy, reporting directly to the pope and bypassing all feudal or ecclesiastic control. No secular ruler could exercise any control over the monastery (the origin of our modern insistence on the separation of Church and State). Furthermore, the Cluniac order insisted on the celibacy of its monks and nuns—the Church was to be their only lord and spouse. Celibacy was not the rule elsewhere, and was not officially imposed on Catholic priests until 1139.
Perhaps the most important role of the Cluniac order was its sense of culture as something wider than local traditions. Its monks preserved and translated Classical texts. They rediscovered, particularly, Greek and Roman antecedents. The plan of their church mimicked Old Saint Peter’s in Rome. They were lovers of knowledge and of beauty (both considered chief attributes of the Almighty), and of Classical means of representation. The naturalism we associate with Greek and Roman art gradually began to find favor once again.
Cluny Abbey, 7:15
Cluny Abbey, dedicated to St Peter, is a former Benedictine monastery built in the Romanesque style, with three churches built in succession from the 10th to the early 12th centuries. Cluny was founded by William I, Duke of Aquitaine in 910. The establishment of the Benedictine Order was a keystone to the stability of European society that was achieved in the 11th century. In 1790 during the French Revolution, the abbey was sacked and mostly destroyed, with only a small part of the Abbey surviving. Today, there remain only the buildings built under the Old Mode as well as a small portion of Cluny III. Only the southern transept and its bell-tower still stand; the ruined bases of columns give an idea of the size of the rest of the church. The surviving structure represents less than 10% of the floor area of Cluny III, which was the largest church of Christendom, until the construction of St. Peter's Basilica in Rome, five centuries later. The abbey has sheltered, since 1901, a forming center of the �cole nationale sup�r-ieure d'arts et m�tiers (ENSAM) of the engineers of the Art-and-Trades.
https://youtu.be/PgJBEWq5Ues
The Cistercian Challenge 347
Not everyone supported the richness of the Cluniac liturgy and its accompanying music, art, and architecture. From the point of view of Bernard, abbot of Clairvaux, such artistic excess—in other words, beauty—was an affront to the monastic mission. Chief spokesperson for a new order of Cistercian monks, Bernard of Clairvaux (1091–1153) advocated a rigorous application of the Rule of Saint Benedict. Cistercians were to be self-sufficient, living off their own cultivation of the land (this proved impossible in practice). They were to live a simple life of self-imposed poverty symbolized by the undyed wool of their habits. And their plain, undecorated churches stand in stark contrast to the grandeur and opulence of the rest of Romanesque architecture. Can it be, Bernard asks in his Apologia for Abbot William, that the riches of such large and sumptuous churches as Cluny and others are meant to stimulate financial donations to the Church? Is it really true, he asks, that if “their eyes are feasted with relics … their purse strings are loosed”? Bernard is denouncing not beauty itself, but the use of beauty for monetary profit. He also objects to the fact that it distracts attention from prayer. The Cistercians belong to a long tradition of thought that challenges the role of art in religion, extending back to the early years of Islam and the iconoclasts in Byzantium, although they do not oppose the use of imagery. They simply discourage using imagery in an ostentatious way.
SAINTS SPEAK: St. Bernard of Clairvaux (Holy Repentance), 4:32
From heaven, in his own words, St. Bernard shares how sin damages the image of God on our soul, but through confession, it is restored.
https://youtu.be/Z-PGHetVx7Y
The Crusades 347
Why did the Crusades occur and what, if anything, did they accomplish?
On November 25, 1095, at the Council of Clermont (present-day Clermont-Ferrand), Pope Urban II (papacy 1088–99) preached the First Crusade. The pope had received his training as a monk at Cluny, under the direct tutelage of Hugh de Semur. What motivated the First Crusade is difficult to say. We know that throughout Christendom there was a widespread desire to regain free access to Jerusalem, which had been captured by the Arabs in 638. In part, however, the aim was to bring peace to Europe. Because of the feudal primogeniture system, by which the eldest son in a family inherited all of its property, large numbers of aristocratic younger brothers were disinherited and left to their own devices. They had taken to feuding with one another (and with their elder brothers) and raiding other people’s land. The Crusades organized these disenfranchised men with the promise of reward, both monetary and spiritual: “Jerusalem,” Urban preached, “is the navel of the world; the land is fruitful above all others, like another paradise of delights. … Undertake the journey [also] for the remission of your sins, with the assurance of the imperishable glory of the kingdom of heaven.” The pope also presented the Crusades as a Holy War:
♘ Islamic Jihad vs. Catholic Crusades (very telling), 2:57
Thanks to Bill Warner, Director, Center for the Study of Political Islam for the stats.
https://youtu.be/O6l33XvZDuE
Krak des Chevaliers and the Medieval Castle 349
Krak des Chevaliers (Fig. 10.26), in northern Syria, was first occupied by Crusaders in 1109, and, beginning in 1142, it was occupied by the Knights Hospitaller, whose mission was to care for the sick and wounded. During the Crusades, it was besieged 12 times, finally falling to Berber invaders in 1271.
Krak des Chevaliers was modeled on the castle-fortresses built by the Normans in England and northern France. When the Normans arrived in England in the twelfth century, they needed defenses against the Saxons. To provide protection, they built mounds, or mottes, topped with a wooden tower, or keep (see Fig. 10.15). Beginning in 1078, stone castles gradually replaced these wooden fortifications (Fig. 10.27). The sheer weight of the stone keep required that it be built on solid ground. So, unless a natural hill presented itself, the motte (the mound on which the older wooden towers had been built) was eliminated. Now the keep served as the main residence of the lord and included a main hall, a chapel, and a dungeon. Workshops, kitchens, and storehouses surrounded the bailey. Most stone castles had a well for fresh water in case of siege, a great advantage over the aqueduct supplying Krak des Chevaliers.
Krak des Chevaliers, 3:12
Subtitles in EN & GR - Υπότιτλοι στα ελληνικά και αγγλικά Krak des Chevaliers is a Crusader castle and one of the most important preserved medieval castles in the world.
https://youtu.be/0SVci8ZvaLk
Eleanor of Aquitaine and the Art of Courtly Love 350
What is courtly love and how does it manifest itself in the literature of the period?
In the Second Crusade, Eleanor of Aquitaine (ca. 1122–1204) accompanied her husband, King Louis VII, into battle in the Middle East, along with 300 ladies of similar mind, all dressed in armor and carrying lances. Her intent was to help the sick and wounded. The women, most of whom eventually returned safely to Europe, never engaged in battle, but theirs was an act of uncommon personal and social bravery. They were widely chided by contemporary commentators, but their actions underscore the changing role of women in medieval society.
Eleanor was, by all accounts, fiercely independent, so much so that, in March 1152, Louis had his marriage to her annulled, technically on the grounds that they were related by blood, but in reality because he suspected her of adultery. Eleanor lost no time in reestablishing her position—just eight weeks after the annulment from Louis, she married Henry of Anjou, soon to be King Henry II of England. Together they had eight children, including the future English kings, Richard the Lion-Hearted and John, but Eleanor’s relationship with Henry was anything but easy. Henry cheated on her and treated her abusively, until she finally abandoned England for France in 1170. From Poitiers, in 1173, she encouraged her three surviving sons, Richard, John, and Geoffrey, to rebel against their father, and Henry ultimately responded to her meddling by bringing her back to England in 1179 and keeping her under house arrest until his death in 1189.
In the decade that she lived at Poitiers, Eleanor and her daughter by Louis VII, Marie, countess of Champagne, established that city as the center of a secular culture and literary movement that celebrated the art of courtly love. This was the time in which the great oral poems of the first millennium—poems like Beowulf and Song of Roland—were first written down. Furthermore, over 2,600 poems survive as texts composed by the troubadour poets of Eleanor’s own day, and some of these survive with the accompanying music for the poems as well.
Medieval Queens of England: Eleanor of Aquitaine, 4:37
Eleanor of Aquitaine This is part of my "Medieval Queens of England" series, in which I write a short biography of the Queens of England from Matilda of Flanders to Elizabeth I. Enjoy! Video made by me. I do not own the photos or music. Music: "Rachel's Song" by Vangelis
https://youtu.be/X46-14q-dQ0
Troubadour Poetry 350
Troubadour poetry originated in the south of France, in Provence, the area around the lower Rhone Valley, and slightly later spread north (the Northern poets are sometimes called trouvère poets to distinguish from their Southern forebears—and far more trouvère music survives than troubadour). The troubadour poets, most of them men, though a few were women, usually accompanied themselves on a lyre or lute, and in their poems they can be said to have “invented” romantic love as we know it today—not the feelings and emotions associated with love, but the conventions and vocabulary that we use to describe it. The primary feeling is one of longing, of a knight or nobleman for a woman (usually unattainable because married or of a higher status), or, when the troubadour was a woman—a trobairitz—the reverse. Thus, to love is to suffer, to wander aimlessly, unable to concentrate on anything but the mental image of the beloved, to lose one’s appetite, to lie sleepless at night—in short, to give up life for a dream. There was, in addition, a quasi-religious aspect to courtly love. Recognizing that he is beset by earthly desires, the lover sees his ability to resist these temptations and rise above his own base humanity as evidence of his spiritual purity. Finally, in the courtly love tradition, the smitten knight or nobleman must be willing to perform any deed to win his lady’s favor. In fact, the loyalty that he once conferred upon his lord in the feudal system is, in courtly love, transferred to his lady (who is often, in fact, his lord’s wife), as the scenes on a jeweled twelfth-century casket make clear (Fig. 10.28). If the courtly love tradition reduced women to little more than objects of male desire, in some measure it also allowed them to share in the power enjoyed by their husbands. The thirteenth-century poet Guiraut Requier wrote that four ranks of musicians existed. The lowest was the jongleurs, musicians who not only sang but also engaged in acrobatics, animal tricks, and other like entertainments. Minstrels were next on the ladder, full-time musicians of lesser station than troubadours because they did not write their own material. The troubadours composed their own music and lyrics and performed their own songs, most often at court. The highest rank of musician was doctores de trobar (trobar means “to invent” and is the root of troubadour), the most outstanding composers of the day.
Music History: Troubadours, 2:23
Watch more at http://educator.com/music-theory/musi... Other subjects include Music Theory, Music Editing Software, as well as Math, Science, Language, and Computer Science. -All lectures are broken down by individual topics -No more wasted time -Just search and jump directly to the answer
https://youtu.be/eoVb9PZp0oM
The Romance: Chrétien de Troyes’s Lancelot 352
Because the poetry of the courtly love tradition was written in the vernacular—the common language of everyday life—and not in the Latin of the highly educated, a broader audience was able to enjoy it. And longer forms, like the Song of Roland, also began to circulate widely, some of them in prose. A remarkable example is the work of Marie de France. Though born in France, she wrote in the English court, and in the late twelfth century, she published a collection of over 100 Fables, many of which were her own. Marie also published another collection of 12 Lais, folktales that deal, in a variety of forms and lengths, with matters of love. A lai was technically a short romance that combined supernatural elements and the courtly love tradition; typically they were sung by minstrels, accompanied by a harp or lyre. In Bisclavret (see Reading 10.9, pages 359–361), she tells the story of a werewolf who is unjustly betrayed by his “loving” wife but ultimately saved by a more loving king.
One of the most popular works of the day, Chrétien de Troyes’s Lancelot, appeared around 1170. Centered on the adventures of Lancelot, a knight in the court of the legendary King Arthur of Britain, and focusing particularly on his courtly love-inspired relationship with Guinevere, Arthur’s wife, the poem is an example of the medieval romance. The term “romance” derives from the Old French term romans, which referred to the vernacular, everyday language of the people as opposed to Latin. The medieval romance was designed to entertain a broad audience with stories of adventure and love, while it pretended to be an actual historical account of Charlemagne, King Arthur, or Roman legend.
Excalibur -- Lancelot & Guinevere, 5:00
Excalibur is a 1981 dramatic fantasy film directed, produced and co-written by John Boorman that retells the legend of King Arthur and the knights of the Round Table. Lancelot is King Arthur's most valued Knight of the Round Table , however things change when he falls for Guinevere , bride of King Arthur.
https://youtu.be/G-wylX3P-Ew
READINGS
10.1a–d Beowulf, trans. Burton Raffel 323–325
10.2 from Caedmon’s Hymn 326
10.3 Song of Roland 331
10.4 from Hildegard of Bingen, Scivias 357
10.4a from Hildegard of Bingen, Scivias 335
10.5 from Pope Innocent III, On the Misery of the Human Condition 345
10.6 from the Gesta Francorum (Deeds of the Franks), “The Fall of Jerusalem” 358
10.7 Bernard de Ventadour, “The Skylark,” verses 1–4 and 7 351
10.8 Comtessa de Dia’s “Cruel Are the Pains I’ve Suffered,” from Lark in the Morning: The Verses of the Troubadours 351
10.9 from Marie de France, Bisclavret (The Werewolf) 359
10.10 from Chrétien de Troyes, Lancelot 353
FEATURES
CLOSER LOOK The Bayeux Tapestry 340
CONTINUITY & CHANGE Toward a New Urban Style: The Gothic 354
Question 1: Multiple Choice
- What does the Arabic word masjid mean?
Given Answer: Place of prostrationCorrect Answer: Place of prostration
Question 2: Multiple Choice
- Why in the Qur'an are Muslim women advised to dress modestly?
Given Answer: To avoid harassmentCorrect Answer: To avoid harassment
Question 3: Multiple Choice
- Why did Mohammad allow Muslim men to have up to four wives?
Given Answer: To provide protective charityCorrect Answer: To provide protective charity
Question 4: Multiple Choice
- What does the word Islam mean?
Given Answer: SubmissionCorrect Answer: Submission
Question 5: Multiple Choice
- Why is the Muslim year shorter than the Christian year?
Given Answer: The Muslim year is based on lunar cyclesCorrect Answer: The Muslim year is based on lunar cycles
Question 6: Multiple Choice
- What in the Abbey Church of Sainte-Foy made it a popular pilgrimage destination?
Given Answer: The relics of a martyred child who refused to worship pagan godsCorrect Answer: The relics of a martyred child who refused to worship pagan gods
Question 7: Multiple Choice
- What advantages did feudalism offer the fiefs?
Given Answer: Use of land and protectionCorrect Answer: Use of land and protection
Question 8: Multiple Choice
- What medieval cult is connected to the courtly love literature?
Given Answer: The Cult of the VirginCorrect Answer: The Cult of the Virgin
Question 9: Multiple Choice
- What advantages did feudalism offer the nobles?
Given Answer: Military support and goods or produceCorrect Answer: Military support and goods or produce
Question 10: Multiple Choice
Why does Beowulf travel from Denmark to Sweden? | |||||
|
Question 1: Multiple Choice Correct Why in 610 CE did the Archangel Gabriel first visit Mohammad? Given Answer: Correct To deliver messages from the one and only God Correct Answer: To deliver messages from the one and only God out of 4 points Question 2: Multiple Choice Correct Why is the Kaaba significant to Muslims today? Given Answer: Correct It represents the physical center of the planet and universe Correct Answer: It represents the physical center of the planet and universe out of 4 points Question 3: Multiple Choice Correct Why did the Spanish Jews welcome the Muslim invasion? Given Answer: Correct The Visigoth rulers had persecuted them Correct Answer: The Visigoth rulers had persecuted them out of 4 points Question 4: Multiple Choice Correct Why did Mohammad allow Muslim men to have up to four wives? Given Answer: Correct To provide protective charity Correct Answer: To provide protective charity out of 4 points Question 5: Multiple Choice Correct What does the word Islam mean? Given Answer: Correct Submission Correct Answer: Submission out of 4 points Question 6: Multiple Choice Correct Why in 1066 did William of Normandy invade England? Given Answer: Correct To make good Edward's promise that William would be England's next king Correct Answer: To make good Edward's promise that William would be England's next king out of 4 points Question 7: Multiple Choice Correct What pilgrimage destination was most difficult to reach? Given Answer: Correct Jerusalem Correct Answer: Jerusalem out of 4 points Question 8: Multiple Choice Correct Why is Beowulf considered an English poem even through its events take place in Scandinavia? Given Answer: Correct It is written in Old English Correct Answer: It is written in Old English out of 4 points Question 9: Multiple Choice Correct Why was the courtly love poetry written in the common language instead of Latin? Given Answer: Correct More people would be able to enjoy it Correct Answer: More people would be able to enjoy it out of 4 points Question 10: Multiple Choice Correct What was the main task of Christian missionaries in England? Given Answer: Correct To transfer the people's allegiance from their king to God Correct Answer: To transfer the people's allegiance from their king to God
Question 1: Multiple Choice Correct Why did Mali's Mansa Moussa cause the value of gold in Egypt to fall in 1334? Given Answer: Correct He distributed so much gold to the poor Correct Answer: He distributed so much gold to the poor out of 4 points Question 2: Multiple Choice Correct Why perhaps were conquered Africans eager to convert to Islam? Given Answer: Correct To avoid enslavement Correct Answer: To avoid enslavement out of 4 points Question 3: Multiple Choice Correct Why does a mosque feature a qibla? Given Answer: Correct To indicate Mecca's direction Correct Answer: To indicate Mecca's direction out of 4 points Question 4: Multiple Choice Correct Why in the Qur'an are Muslim women advised to dress modestly? Given Answer: Correct To avoid harassment Correct Answer: To avoid harassment out of 4 points Question 5: Multiple Choice Correct Why in 610 CE did the Archangel Gabriel first visit Mohammad? Given Answer: Correct To deliver messages from the one and only God Correct Answer: To deliver messages from the one and only God out of 4 points Question 6: Multiple Choice Correct Why did Charlemagne admire the monastery of St. Gall? Given Answer: Correct Its functional, orderly arrangement Correct Answer: Its functional, orderly arrangement out of 4 points Question 7: Multiple Choice Correct What in the Abbey Church of Sainte-Foy made it a popular pilgrimage destination? Given Answer: Correct The relics of a martyred child who refused to worship pagan gods Correct Answer: The relics of a martyred child who refused to worship pagan gods out of 4 points Question 8: Multiple Choice Correct What advantages did feudalism offer the nobles? Given Answer: Correct Military support and goods or produce Correct Answer: Military support and goods or produce out of 4 points Question 9: Multiple Choice Correct What literary work describes a scene similar to the Sutton Hoo discovery? Given Answer: Correct Beowulf Correct Answer: Beowulf out of 4 points Question 10: Multiple Choice Correct What medieval cult is connected to the courtly love literature? Given Answer: Correct The Cult of the Virgin Correct Answer: The Cult of the Virgin
Question 1: Multiple Choice Correct Why does a mosque feature a qibla? Given Answer: Correct To indicate Mecca's direction Correct Answer: To indicate Mecca's direction out of 4 points Question 2: Multiple Choice Correct Why do Muslims believe that the Qur'an cannot be translated? Given Answer: Correct It is the direct word of God Correct Answer: It is the direct word of God out of 4 points Question 3: Multiple Choice Correct Why was Mecca important to the Bedouin traders? Given Answer: Correct It had natural springs Correct Answer: It had natural springs out of 4 points Question 4: Multiple Choice Correct Why does Scheherazade in The Thousand and One Nights tell her husband a story each night? Given Answer: Correct To prevent execution the next morning Correct Answer: To prevent execution the next morning out of 4 points Question 5: Multiple Choice Correct Why was Islam able to spread so quickly after Muhammad's death? Given Answer: Correct A long war had exhausted the Byzantine and the Persian empires Correct Answer: A long war had exhausted the Byzantine and the Persian empires out of 4 points Question 6: Multiple Choice Correct Why did Pope Leo III crown Charlemagne the first Holy Roman Emperor? Given Answer: Correct For Christianizing the people of his vast empire Correct Answer: For Christianizing the people of his vast empire out of 4 points Question 7: Multiple Choice Correct Why in 1066 did William of Normandy invade England? Given Answer: Correct To make good Edward's promise that William would be England's next king Correct Answer: To make good Edward's promise that William would be England's next king out of 4 points Question 8: Multiple Choice Correct Why was the Book of Kells moved from Iona off the Scottish coast to Kells in Ireland? Given Answer: Correct To protect it from Vikings threatening the Scottish coast Correct Answer: To protect it from Vikings threatening the Scottish coast out of 4 points Question 9: Multiple Choice Correct Why did Europe's Christians embark on pilgrimages? Given Answer: Correct To atone for their sins Correct Answer: To atone for their sins out of 4 points Question 10: Multiple Choice Correct What pilgrimage destination was most difficult to reach? Given Answer: Correct Jerusalem Correct Answer: Jerusalem
Question 1: Multiple Choice Correct Why do Muslims decorate their mosques without figurative images? Given Answer: Correct Mohammad warned that image makers would face punishment at Judgment Correct Answer: Mohammad warned that image makers would face punishment at Judgment out of 4 points Question 2: Multiple Choice Correct Why did the Spanish Jews welcome the Muslim invasion? Given Answer: Correct The Visigoth rulers had persecuted them Correct Answer: The Visigoth rulers had persecuted them out of 4 points Question 3: Multiple Choice Correct Why does a mosque feature a qibla? Given Answer: Correct To indicate Mecca's direction Correct Answer: To indicate Mecca's direction out of 4 points Question 4: Multiple Choice Incorrect Why does an author use a framing tale? Given Answer: Incorrect To function as narrator Correct Answer: To unite different stories out of 4 points Question 5: Multiple Choice Correct Why does Scheherazade in The Thousand and One Nights tell her husband a story each night? Given Answer: Correct To prevent execution the next morning Correct Answer: To prevent execution the next morning out of 4 points Question 6: Multiple Choice Correct Why was the courtly love poetry written in the common language instead of Latin? Given Answer: Correct More people would be able to enjoy it Correct Answer: More people would be able to enjoy it out of 4 points Question 7: Multiple Choice Correct Why did Charlemagne admire the monastery of St. Gall? Given Answer: Correct Its functional, orderly arrangement Correct Answer: Its functional, orderly arrangement out of 4 points Question 8: Multiple Choice Correct What in the Abbey Church of Sainte-Foy made it a popular pilgrimage destination? Given Answer: Correct The relics of a martyred child who refused to worship pagan gods Correct Answer: The relics of a martyred child who refused to worship pagan gods out of 4 points Question 9: Multiple Choice Incorrect Why in 1066 did William of Normandy invade England? Given Answer: Incorrect To seek revenge on Harold of Wessex for invading Normandy Correct Answer: To make good Edward's promise that William would be England's next king out of 4 points Question 10: Multiple Choice Correct What was the main task of Christian missionaries in England? Given Answer: Correct To transfer the people's allegiance from their king to God Correct Answer: To transfer the people's allegiance from their king to God
Question 1: Multiple Choice Correct Why does an author use a framing tale? Given Answer: Correct To unite different stories Correct Answer: To unite different stories out of 4 points Question 2: Multiple Choice Correct Why does a mosque feature a qibla? Given Answer: Correct To indicate Mecca's direction Correct Answer: To indicate Mecca's direction out of 4 points Question 3: Multiple Choice Incorrect Why was the Kaaba significant to the Bedouins? Given Answer: Incorrect It marked their trade route's midpoint Correct Answer: It housed images of their gods out of 4 points Question 4: Multiple Choice Correct What does the word Islam mean? Given Answer: Correct Submission Correct Answer: Submission out of 4 points Question 5: Multiple Choice Correct Why do Muslims decorate their mosques without figurative images? Given Answer: Correct Mohammad warned that image makers would face punishment at Judgment Correct Answer: Mohammad warned that image makers would face punishment at Judgment out of 4 points Question 6: Multiple Choice Correct What pilgrimage destination was most difficult to reach? Given Answer: Correct Jerusalem Correct Answer: Jerusalem out of 4 points Question 7: Multiple Choice Correct What advantages did feudalism offer the fiefs? Given Answer: Correct Use of land and protection Correct Answer: Use of land and protection out of 4 points Question 8: Multiple Choice Correct What effect was the space created by the Romanesque churches' barrel vaults designed to produce for the pilgrims? Given Answer: Correct Raise their eyes and direct their thoughts toward heaven Correct Answer: Raise their eyes and direct their thoughts toward heaven out of 4 points Question 9: Multiple Choice Correct Why does Beowulf travel from Denmark to Sweden? Given Answer: Correct To kill the monster Grendel Correct Answer: To kill the monster Grendel out of 4 points Question 10: Multiple Choice Correct What architectural feature especially distinguishes a Romanesque church? Given Answer: Correct Barrel vaults Correct Answer: Barrel vaults
Question 1: Multiple Choice Incorrect Why did Mohammad leave Mecca for Medina in 622? Given Answer: Incorrect The Archangel Gabriel told him to flee Correct Answer: Mecca's leadership was displeased with him out of 4 points Question 2: Multiple Choice Correct Why does Scheherazade in The Thousand and One Nights tell her husband a story each night? Given Answer: Correct To prevent execution the next morning Correct Answer: To prevent execution the next morning out of 4 points Question 3: Multiple Choice Correct Why does a mosque feature a qibla? Given Answer: Correct To indicate Mecca's direction Correct Answer: To indicate Mecca's direction out of 4 points Question 4: Multiple Choice Correct Why did the Spanish Jews welcome the Muslim invasion? Given Answer: Correct The Visigoth rulers had persecuted them Correct Answer: The Visigoth rulers had persecuted them out of 4 points Question 5: Multiple Choice Correct What does the Arabic word masjid mean? Given Answer: Correct Place of prostration Correct Answer: Place of prostration out of 4 points Question 6: Multiple Choice Correct What literary work describes a scene similar to the Sutton Hoo discovery? Given Answer: Correct Beowulf Correct Answer: Beowulf out of 4 points Question 7: Multiple Choice Correct What leads to Roland's death in the Song of Roland? Given Answer: Correct His sense of pride Correct Answer: His sense of pride out of 4 points Question 8: Multiple Choice Incorrect Why did Pope Leo III crown Charlemagne the first Holy Roman Emperor? Given Answer: Incorrect For building the monastery at St. Gall, Switzerland Correct Answer: For Christianizing the people of his vast empire out of 4 points Question 9: Multiple Choice Correct What advantages did feudalism offer the nobles? Given Answer: Correct Military support and goods or produce Correct Answer: Military support and goods or produce out of 4 points Question 10: Multiple Choice Correct What is the meaning of the old French romans, from which "romance" derives? Given Answer: Correct Everyday language Correct Answer: Everyday language
HUM 111 Week 5
HUM 111 Week 5
Review:
Where exactly is Hinduism and Buddhism typically practiced today?
By what practice do Christians honor their holy sites that was later imitated in Islam?
What is neumatic chant or plainchant? (Cf. chapter 10, pp. 335-336)
Read p. 336 (in chap. 10) carefully and then listen to this. What is a melismatic chant?
What woman composer was respected as a composer in medieval Catholicism?
What is at the heart of the Christian faith?
What are the principal tenets of the Muslim faith? And, what do we know about the historical Muhammed? How did Muhammed deal with opposition?
In the history of religions (according to Mircea Eliade) what Islamic pilgrimage site is an axis mundi?
What does the Qur’an say about slaves and women?
What is the hijra to Europe?
Why does at least one European country have to resist invasion?
How do you compare the times that Muslims invaded Europe vs. the number that Europeans invaded Muslim countries during the Medieval era?
What had traditionally served as the guardian of culture?
Who remedied the illiteracy of the era and attracted scholars and artists?
Who stopped the Islamic advance into Europe?
Who are the Anglos during the Norman Conquest of Europe? Who are the Saxons, Vikings, and Jutes?
What are the achievements of the Carolingian Renaissance during Late Antiquity?