The Dark Ages
Marshall High School Mr. Cline Western Civilization I: Ancient Foundations Marshall High School Unit Five AE * Heirs of Rome: The Church and the Byzantines
• Islamic Development
• Another religion became dominant in the seventh century in an area known as Arabia.
• Islam is a monotheistic religion that became popular in the Middle East.
• Islamic nations did not separate church and state, but instead saw the two as completely intertwined.
• As Islam became popular and spread, Arabic rulers came into contact with Christians.
• Starting in 1096, Western Christians began to go east to battle their religious enemies in the Crusades.
• This led to Christian troops being reintroduced to classical texts that had been preserved by Easterners, a key ingredient of the eventual European Renaissance.
* Early Church Conflicts: Arianism and Iconoclasm
• Threat to the Church
• Every powerful group faces challenges from the outside, but they also have to watch for threats from within.
• This is true of the early Christian Church, which took roots in the Roman Empire in 312 AD in the form of Catholicism.
• Roman Catholicism was the dominant religion of the region for over half a millennium, though it faced threats from within itself during that time.
• We're going to look at two of those threats: Arianism and iconoclasm.
• Arianism
• The first threat to the church came in the 4th century AD.
• Although Catholic Christianity was growing in dominance among native Romans at the time, invading Germanic tribes, who moved into Roman territories from surrounding areas after being displaced by the Huns, brought with them a new form of Christianity called Arianism. * Early Church Conflicts: Arianism and Iconoclasm
• Arianism
• One of the key tenets of Catholic Christianity is the Holy Trinity - that the Father (God), the Son (Jesus) and the Holy Spirit are three aspects of the same divine being.
• On the other hand, Arianism is a form of Christianity in which believers thought that God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit were three separate entities. The name comes from Arius, who created the Arian belief system.
• Basically, Arian Christians believed that God never changed or grew.
• However, Jesus was born and grew like a human.
• His changing nature meant that Jesus was not God and couldn't be a divine entity.
• Instead, God created Jesus.
• The belief that the Holy Trinity were separate but formed from a similar substance is known as homoiousios. * Early Church Conflicts: Arianism and Iconoclasm
• Arianism
• The Catholic belief that all three pieces of the Holy Trinity were formed from the same substance is known as homoousios.
• This conflict spread throughout the Christian nation.
• Arianism was officially condemned after the issuing of the Nicene Creed, which reinforced homoousion as correct.
• But as Germanic tribes continued to invade the Roman Empire and converted to the Arian version of Christianity, eventually Arianism was even endorsed officially in some areas of the Empire.
• The conflict continued between Catholic and Arian Christianity in the Roman Empire until the popularity of Arian Christianity just died out (especially after many Germanic tribesmen reached Rome) and Catholicism became their dominant religion.
• At that point, Arianism was basically all but gone in the Roman Empire. * Early Church Conflicts: Arianism and Iconoclasm
• Arianism
• However, it continued to be popular among members of the invading Germanic tribes.
• This would continue to cause some problems with the native Romans up through the 5th and 6th centuries.
• However, tribesmen would eventually follow suit with the rest of the Romans, and those who remained in the Empire would convert to Catholicism.
• Iconoclasm
• Another conflict in the early church was that of iconoclasm, or the intentional destruction of a religious image.
• Conflicts of iconoclasm developed over concerns of how religious images were treated during worship.
• Some people were concerned that worship may become directed towards the image rather than the person or being that it represented. * Early Church Conflicts: Arianism and Iconoclasm
• Iconoclasm
• The basis of this concern is in the Ten Commandments mentioned in the Old Testament of the Bible.
• The Commandments forbid the worship of idols.
• Directing religious devotion to an image was interpreted by some as idol-worship.
• Iconoclasm was a problem in the Byzantine Empire, the inheritors of the Roman Empire, beginning in the 8th century.
• Like the Romans, the Byzantines were also Christians.
• Some in the empire grew distressed because there had been an increasing amount of religious imagery displayed.
• Earlier, an emperor had even included the image of Jesus on Roman coinage.
• Religious icons became the blame of the loss of military battles and economic decline. * Early Church Conflicts: Arianism and Iconoclasm
• Iconoclasm
• Muslims also had a history of iconoclasm, and their spread into Roman territory may have influenced natives to take up this practice.
• Icons were destroyed while at the same time the cross became a popular image for church decoration.
• The first person to lead an occurrence of iconoclasm was Emperor Leo III around 730.
• He believed the use of icons was to blame for his military losses to the Muslims.
• He also blamed it for the violent eruption of a volcano on an island called Thera.
• He felt these things were punishment from an angry God.
• Leo's son, Constantine V, advocated for a council to officially support iconoclasm. * Early Church Conflicts: Arianism and Iconoclasm
• Iconoclasm
• Constantine's successor, Leo IV, also fought for the destruction of icons.
• However, his wife undid much of his work because she was supportive of the use of icons.
• Another bout of iconoclasm was started by Emperor Leo V in 815.
• He also may have blamed icons for military defeats both while he was ruler and before.
• His successor, Michael II, reaffirmed the rulings of another major council held to justify the destruction of images.
• The actions of these leaders were not always supported by the pope, leading to conflict between the two leaders.
• This conflict over iconoclasm would lead to two great historical occurrences
• The crowning of Charles Martel as Holy Roman Emperor, and
* Early Church Conflicts: Arianism and Iconoclasm
• Iconoclasm
• Conflicts would continue between emperors and popes until the occurrence of the Great Schism between the Eastern and Western religion in 1054.
* The Post Roman Economy
• The Roman Empire
• For many years, Rome was the cultural capital of the world and sustained a huge empire through both military force and trade.
• Eventually, civilization declined and took Rome's once-great economy with it.
• This part of the unit will track the development of Rome's economy from its beginnings in agriculture to the height of the empire through its decline in the Dark Ages.
• We will begin by exploring the founding of Rome.
• Rome was founded by the first Roman king, Romulus, around 753 BC. * The Post Roman Economy
• The Roman Empire
• The city was formed by several tribes who united.
• The foundation of the economy of the city at the time was agricultural.
• Besides standard crops, Rome's agricultural products also included cloth and raw materials (like olives for oil and vineyards for wine).
• Farming the land in the area and using the Tiber River to assist with trade allowed the people there to flourish.
• Eventually, Romans developed roads.
• The roads created a new opportunity for trade and allowed the economy to thrive even more.
• As Rome became involved in conflicts surrounding the tribes, farmers became soldiers.
* The Post Roman Economy
• The Roman Empire
• Without farmers to work the land, wealthy Romans brought in slaves to handle agricultural tasks.
• As Rome's agricultural output grew, many products had to be shipped across the Mediterranean Sea to where other Roman cities were located.
• Eventually, the Roman economy became largely dependent on imports and exports.
• The Roman Empire expanded and grew so large that conflict began to occur more frequently within its borders.
• Eventually, civil conflict caused city life to deteriorate.
• By the third century AD, cities were full of sick and poor people.
• Wealthy estate owners hired their own troops to protect them from any disruptions. * The Post Roman Economy
• Rome in the Dark Ages
• Late in the fourth century, Rome began to experience increased threats from surrounding Germanic tribes.
• These tribes, like the Vandals, Goths, Franks, and Anglo-Saxons, were looking for land and being pushed out of their own by other groups like the Huns.
• These tribes moved into Roman territory by different means.
• Some were violent and unresponsive to native Roman culture (like the Anglo-Saxons), but some became assimilated, adopting many Roman practices (like the Franks).
• Around 410, Rome was overtaken by a Visigoth named Alaric.
• Visigoths were a tribe that came from southern Scandinavia.
• This marked the beginning of a change in the Roman economy. * The Post Roman Economy
• Rome in the Dark Ages
• Remember, up until this time, Rome's economy had shifted from its early years of being farming-based to becoming largely dependent on imports and exports to its surrounding territories.
• Additionally, a portion of all grain production was collected by the city to help feed the poor.
• As Rome came under attack from the Visigoths, Carthage, a major supplier of grain, was overtaken by the Vandals.
• This meant much of Rome's grain supply stopped.
• The low grain supply affected both Rome and the rest of Italy.
• Agricultural technologies involving water power and horse power were not yet adopted by the Romans because, until now, they had no need for it. * The Post Roman Economy
• Rome in the Dark Ages
• They had such a large population of slaves to create their products, especially grain, that no new technology was needed to increase efficiency.
• But now Rome's economy was in serious trouble.
• Not only was the populace experiencing an increasing distrust for its government and dealing with constant attacks from Germanic tribes and the growing Persian Empire - now Romans were having trouble feeding themselves.
• Roads, bridges, and ports were ignored and fell into disrepair.
• The troops were no longer supporting the economy by traveling throughout the empire and buying goods.
• Unemployment spread, and all people had to adapt to a changing society (including the invading Germanic tribesmen). * The Post Roman Economy
• Rome in the Dark Ages
• The priority of those who lived outside of cities became to sustain themselves rather than produce large quantities of goods.
• European Economy after the Roman Empire
• The declining Roman economy reflected the empire's status at the time.
• The Roman Empire, after numerous attacks from Germanic tribes and forces like the Persians, as well as the spread of disease, was falling.
• Persia eventually gained control over much of the empire, and trade became centralized around the Black Sea.
• After a period of economic decline, however, the remaining parts of the Roman Empire, now known as the Byzantine Empire, which was based in the East, experienced a long period of growth and expansion.
• However, Rome itself had long been overrun by conquering peoples. * The Post Roman Economy
• European Economy after the Roman Empire
• Other countries like Syria, Egypt, and Mesopotamia experienced a prosperous economy even after quickly coming under the control of the Persian Empire.
• Disease was less prominent in these areas.
• Meanwhile, Italy and areas once part of the Roman economy began to experience an economic upheaval with an increase in silver trade from Russia across the Baltic Sea.
• Then, after 800, attacks began again from raiding Vikings.
• Soon, Western Europe would see their political structure fail and be replaced by feudalism, in which a lord gives land to a vassal in exchange for protection.
* Mohammad and the Birth of Islam
• Pre-Islamic World
• Before the time of Islam, the Arabian Peninsula was populated by nomadic peoples who claimed to be the descendants of Noah's third son, Shem, and thus became known as Semites, or Semitic people.
• In this way, they shared a common connection with other Semitic peoples in the region, including followers of the Torah, or the Hebrews.
• It was also during this time that the Arab tribes who populated the region were caught in a struggle between the Christian Byzantine Empire, inheritors of the Roman Empire, and the Persians to the northeast, whose own empire was based on the religion of Zoroastrianism.
• Christianity, Judaism, Zoroastrianism, and many other faiths characterized the religious diversity in the region, and what is more, a mix of each could be found in the Arab population.
• Still, most Arabs were predominately polytheistic, following not one god, but many gods. * Mohammad and the Birth of Islam
• Pre-Islamic World
• The center of their worship was the city of Mecca, at a site known as the Kabba.
• It was here that over 300 statues and other idols were kept for worship by the various Arab tribes.
• Mecca was, even at a time before Islam, a center for Arab worship and devotion, as well as a place of religious pilgrimage known as the Hajj.
• The tradition and superstition around the Kabba in Mecca was already centuries old before the time of Islam, and many of the pagans believed it represented the connection between Heaven and Earth - not surprising given that at the center of the Kabba was a meteorite of unknown age that had fallen from the sky.
• Historians believe that at this time, Mecca was a city of peace, a place where no tribal disputes were allowed to be discussed, no warfare fought, and no weapons utilized.
• It was into this world that Islam's prophet was born. * Mohammad and the Birth of Islam
• Mohammed
• Mohammed was born into a world of polytheism and tribal disunity in the year of 570 AD in the city of Mecca.
• He lost both parents by the time he was six years old and was raised by one of his uncles.
• At the age of 12, Mohammed entered the family business, the caravan trade, and was off on what many believe were journeys to the outside world, including Syria, where he had contact with Christians, Jews, a host of other faiths, and peoples from all over the world who came to the region to trade.
• By the age of 25, Mohammed was married for the first time to a wealthy woman of 40 years of age, Khadijah, who was also in the caravan trade.
• Though he would marry an additional 10 times in his lifetime, it was through Khadijah's influence that Mohammed was exposed to a group of Arabs known as the Hanefites .
• What made this tribe unique was the fact they rejected idol worship and polytheism in favor of monotheism. * Mohammad and the Birth of Islam
• Mohammed
• Their religion was not fully formed - rather, they were influenced by both Judaism and Christianity - and they would often retreat to the solitude of caves for prayer and intense meditation, hoping to find a path to the one true God.
• It can be safely assumed that this tribe, along with the teachings of Judaism and Christianity, had a strong impact on Mohammed as he searched for his own answers to life and to God.
• By 610 AD, tradition tells us he had his first vision while meditating in a cave.
• Upon reporting this vision to Khadijah and the extended family, it was declared by the Hanefite elders that the vision was from God - the one true God, Allah.
• Mohammed was subsequently declared a prophet and embraced by his community as the last prophet in a long line dating back to the time of Noah. * Mohammad and the Birth of Islam
• Mohammed
• At first, few listened to Mohammed's teachings outside of his immediate group.
• As you can imagine, those engaging in idol worship held fast to their beliefs.
• But Mohammed persisted.
• For three years, he traveled and ministered to the population of Mecca and surrounding cities.
• His life was often threatened by those who did not warm to his message.
• But Mohammed persevered, and in 621 AD, during the annual Hajj, Arab tribes from Medina happened upon Mohammed and were so impressed with his teachings that they also recognized him as a prophet and joined his new religion. * Mohammad and the Birth of Islam
• Mohammed
• Still, these conversions were few, and Mecca proved to be an unwelcoming place for someone preaching the destruction of polytheism.
• After a year in the city, Mohammed fled with a small group of converts to Medina, where he was welcomed as both a prophet and political leader.
• He proved to be an effective leader, helping enrich his small group of followers by raiding the caravans of the polytheists, which was seen as a justifiable action until these groups submitted to the religion of Allah, at which time the raids would stop.
• The city of Mecca responded to these raids by sending 1,000 soldiers to punish the Muslims of Medina.
• In 624 AD, much to the chagrin of the Meccan leadership, the Muslims defeated their army, and the victory was used to strengthen Mohammed's position as a religious leader. * Mohammad and the Birth of Islam
• Mohammed
• It was also at this time that Mohammed changed the geographical orientation of Muslim prayers from Jerusalem to Mecca.
• But why?
• There were many reasons for the change, including the fact that the Jews had rejected Mohammed's claim to prophethood, as had the Christians.
• What is more, the Kabba was the center of Arab devotion.
• It may have been a misguided devotion before the arrival of Mohammed, or so the Muslims believed, but it was in Mecca that they believed God made Himself known, where their last prophet was born, and where he would spend the last days of his life. * Mohammad and the Birth of Islam
• Mohammed
• The wars between Islam and the Arabic infidels would continue as the tribal leaders of Mecca were bent on destroying the Muslims of Medina for reasons of profit, to end the attacks on their caravans, and to stop the teachings against their gods.
• In this war, victories by the Muslims were chalked up to the will and grace of Allah and defeats and setbacks to the lack of piousness of the Muslims.
• For the religion of Islam, both victory and defeat helped strengthen its hold on the faithful.
• Ultimately, the war came to an end and peace was signed.
• Mohammed and his Muslims were given permission to return to Mecca and worship at the Kabba once per year.
• The Kabba now ceased to be a place of idol worship for the Muslims and had become a place of religious devotion. * Mohammad and the Birth of Islam
• Mohammed
• Unfortunately, the peace would not hold, and Mohammed would lead a group of 10,000 strong to conquer Mecca once and for all, forcing the citizens to convert to Islam and destroying the idols inside the Kabba.
• Mecca, long the center of ancient Arab religion, would again be restored as the most important city in the Arab world - this time, the center of Islam.
• Based out of Mecca, Mohammed would lead his new religion.
• His followers would launch raids and attacks on cities in the surrounding areas that they viewed as potential threats to their newly acquired political, economic, and religious power.
• Islam provided a core of faithful soldiers, strategists, and leaders, and this led to repeated victories and conversions of the surrounding Arab tribes.
• Idols were smashed, and the words of the Qur'an soon replaced the prayers to the old gods.