Crusades, Reconquista, and Mongol invasions

Carl W. Ernst

Reli 180, Introduction to Islamic Civilization

Last time: Internal fractures of the post-caliphate world

1. Buyid Sultanate

2. Turks, especially Saljuqs

3. Fatimid Empire

4. Western Mediterranean: Almoravid Berber empire

2

External attacks on Muslim-ruled realms, 1100-1260

Crusader invasions by Frankish forces

Conquest of much of Andalus by armies of the Christian rulers of Northern Spain

Mongol (“pagan”) invasions throughout Nile-to-Oxus region (halted by Turkish armies in Egypt and India)

4 major Crusades, 2 sequels

First Crusade, 1096-1099

Only successful Crusade

Not requested by Eastern Christians; Alexius in 1095 asked Pope for soldiers

Mixed motives of “armed pilgrimage”

Hostility of Franks towards Byzantines

Fatimids offer alliance to Crusaders

1099 – Jerusalem captured, massacre

What is the role of religion here?

2nd and 3rd Crusades

Opponents of the crusaders

Zengis in Syria and Iraq capture Edessa

2nd Crusade (1147-49) fails to take Damascus

Weakened Fatimids play off Franks against Zengis, who conquer Egypt

Salah al-Din (Saladin, a Kurd) ends Fatimid rule

3rd Crusade (1189-1193) disappointing; Salah al-Din more admired than Richard

Ironies of CrusadesNo efforts at understanding

No unified “Muslim” resistance

4th Crusade sacks Constantinople 1204, permanent division between Latin and Orthodox Christians

Cecil B. DeMille’s “The Crusades”

Loss of Andalus (“reconquista” after the fact)

Berber empire of Almoravids

Almoravids (from al-Murabit, “related to the fortified sanctuary”): religious inspiration

Adopted Maliki school of law

Veiling issues with Berbers

2nd Berber empire: Almohads

Almohads (al-Muwahhidun, “Unitarians”), new movement rejecting previous Berber customs as pagan

Ibn Tumart on figurative interpretation of divine attributes; claims to be Mahdi

These claims rejected by caliph al-Ma’mun in 1230: Jesus as Mahdi

Pope declares crusade vs. Spain

Andalusian Muslims under Christian rule

El Cid

•“Al-Sayyid “Spanish•Realistic epic in comparison with “Song of Roland”

Royal style

Chivalry without borders(lecture tonight at 6 pm)

The Alcazar of Pedro the Cruel(1351)

Seville

Gateway of Pedro (detail)

Patio del Yeso

The motto of Granada:“There is no victor but God”

Christian arabesque

Arabic inscriptions for Sultan Don Pedro (1)

“Glory to our master, Sultan Don Pedro, may he be exalted!”

Arabic inscriptions for Sultan Don Pedro (2)

“Glory to our master, Sultan Don Pedro! May God aid and defend him!”

Toledo Synagogue interior

“Party Kings” (reyes al-taifas)

Collapse of Great Saljuqs

Brief revival of Abbasid caliphate

Khwarazm-Shah aims at empire

Isma`ili Imam at Alamut declares Resurrection (1164); successor becomes a Sunni

Mongols avenge an insult by invading (1219)

Chinggis Khan

• descendants in Iran – “Il-Khans” – become Muslims

• Destruction of caliphate, Assassins

• Artisans preserved