W, Jan, 26

Wednesday, January 26, 2011 Important Dates:

4:25 PM CSU 5525 ... 

Today's Topics: Important People:

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Lecture Topic:
During the lecture, take notes here.
Malaterra, Geoffrey: The Deeds of Count Roger of Calabria and Sicily and of Duke Robert Guiscard (his
brother)

1. What's motivating the Normans to do what they're doing?

-to protect their own inheritance, for each of the 12 sons (GREED)
-the father (Tancred) did not have enough land to divide among his sons
-the problem of primogeniture -- the law by which you pass your inheritance to the
eldest son… and the younger sons have no land upon which to raise families
-since their father will not provide any land / money, so they have to go find it
themselves
-to protect their name and familial ties (HONOR)
-the younger siblings are seeking to "live up," in a sense, to the older brothers
(proving their own manhood--powerful in combat and successful in war)
-going to war is a family affair
-to protect their own personal souls--seeking salvation through personal meritorious
behavior (i.e., conquering Sicily and liberating it from the unbelievers) (RELIGIOUS
DEDICATION)
2. What's the role of the papacy and the Greeks?
-Pope Leo IX doesn't see the Normans in a good light, but falsely believes they are
cowardly and is overrun; he wants to go and acquire land from the Greeks during this
conquest
-originally the Pope invites the Normans to conquer the Greeks, but switches his mind; he
is playing both sides to eventually capture the land, justifying such a principle by saying
the land originally was owned by the Roman Church
-the pope is allied with Greeks, but betrays them quietly to the Normans --> betrays the
Normans to overthrow the Greeks

-as the head of a paid army, offered Norman conquests if he (Leo IX) helped the Apulians
conquer the Normans
-the Normans overrun his army, but once they discover he is the Pope they pay him
reverence and he rewards their devotion
-the Greeks are a challenge to the Normans
3. If Malaterra is writing this as a member of the Court, what he does he want you to think about
the Normans?
-as a Benedictine monk, he followed the ideology of the pope How do we move from this political mind
-Normans, in their attempt to overthrow the pope and generally challenge the authority of into a religiously motivated warfare?
those in control in the Italian peninsula, were to be seen in a negative light
-wants us to believe that Normans were brave; but untrustworthy, unreliable, and
heathens

*he is writing five years after the call for the Crusades, so the ensuing ideology has tainted
his opinions

bin Buluggin, 'Abd Allah: "Warfare in Eleventh-Century Spain (Al-Andalus)" in The Tibyan
1. What are the motivations of warfare?
A. Christian motivations
-the Muslims are not paying taxes
-why are they supposed to pay taxes in the first place?
-this is a period of Christina expansion within Spain prior to the Crusades
-the Muslim kingdoms within Spain are weak enough at this time the
Christians can extort taxes from them in exchange to not be invaded
-Alphonso VI invades in order to take the taxes (economic, not foundationally
religious motivation)
-this is a violation of the feudal order (the Muslims are supposed to be vassals)
-he makes no religion delineation between a Muslim and Christian king*
B. Muslim motivations
-warfare becomes religious, using the ideology for the purposes of unification and
creation of a larger army
-has a lot to do with the problems o feudal sovereignty, but borrows some
motivation from religion (political, with religious overtones)
-the term jihad is used as a defensive mechanism against the Christians and

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 uniting the multitude of different Muslim bodies into a singular body against
any and all non-Muslim aggressors
-religion justifies the outcome of battles
-victory = a just and proper relationship with Allah
-loss = an unjust action has caused Allah to move against them

-the quality of faith for the Muslim determines their success in battle
-stronger Muslims attempted to preserve the law of Allah within the natural
world by obeying the will of Allah
-people can hurt their salvation by not doing the proper things, but
people can't ensure their salvation by doing the right things or not
-conflict pre-Crusade era is notsimply motivated by two groups attempting to kill the
infidel; there are more complex issues at stake

2. What are the relationships among the Muslim states themselves?

-divided by different kingdoms
-divided by different religious practices

*The Muslims and the Christians see each other as equals within the realm of politics.

Understanding the nature of states and kingdoms pre-Crsusades

-Visigothic (German) kingdom in the Iberian peninsula
-settled there after the fall of the Roman Empire
-Frankish (German) kingdoms in modern France / Germany
-East Roman Empire (Italy, Turkey, Black Sea coast, northern coast of Africa)
-Sassanid Empire in modern-Iran/Iraq
-Arab Caliphate
-how did this one move into the West to establish it's own kingdoms?
-partly by luck:
-the Byzantines and the Sassanids had been at war, and both empires were
militarily weak
-the western half of the empire had suffered numerous invasions and had
degenerated into powerful but small kingdoms
-the Byzantine Empire was mired in religiously motivated civil war (three
different versions of Christianity were vying for power)
-through stages, between 635-750:
1. Arabian peninsula
2. through North Africa, Pakistan, and part of India
3. all of North Africa and Spain, and most of India
-problem: Muhammad left no clear lines of succession
-was OK for the first 4 leaders
-afterwards a new family took power in 661 (birth of Shi'ites and Suunis
-Umayyad Caliphate (stage 3)
-important because of their expansionary policy: to conquer as much as possible
-important because the capital of Islam moved from Mecca to Damascus
1. more centrally located,
2. trade w/ the Silk Road,
3. allowed for the set up of a new centrally political area not tied to the old
traditions
-important because they adopt a policy of incorporation of both Christians and Jews into
the Muslim world
-no new churches could be built, no proselytization
-no public practice of religion
-no inter-marriage between Muslims and Christians
-a mandatory poll tax
-local laws and religions were tolerated (except pagans) provided they did not
violate Muslim law
-could engage in economic activity provided it did not destabilize political order

-Problems:
-when they moved into Spain in 711, they are quickly able to overthrow the local
Christian kingdom (the Visigoths), which was suffering from political instability
-decided to continue the conquest into France
-in 732 at the Battle of Tours, Charles Martel (leader of the Franks) forced the
Muslims back into the Iberian peninsula
-by 756, the Muslims control nearly all of modern Portugal and Spain
-for nearly 400 years pre-Crusades, the Muslims have been living and trading with
European / Christian kings

-the Umayyad Caliphate collapses in 780 and fragments to nearly 1100

-in 780, a new caliph (political head) arises-- one in Spain, one in Baghdad (moved from
Damascus)
-simultaneously, the Carolingian Empire is arising between 770 and 814 through Charlemagne

-in 810, Charlemagne invaded Spain to go to war against the Muslims on RELIGIOUS PRINCIPLES

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 -in 810, Charlemagne invaded Spain to go to war against the Muslims on RELIGIOUS PRINCIPLES
-this leads to the creation of the Spanish Marches (politico-religious buffer states)
-three zones in the Iberian peninsula: the old Christians in the northwest, a French-
Christian establishment in the northeast, the Muslims in the South

-politically, Charlemagne creates the Spanish marches to defend his empire

-religiously, in 790, Beatus of Liebana writes the Commentary on the Apocalypse
-here, a Christian mentality emerges associating the emergence of Islam with the
time of the anti-Christ
-there becomes a movement and expectation that the Anti-Christ is going to come
and the Second Advent of Christ is coming soon
-culturally, a mentality arises that the good Christians need to prepare the
world for the return of Christ
-this doesn’t take a political leap until the Crusades
-metaphorically, Biblical language is used to create mentality and justification
for warfare in response to specific political situations of the day

-a Viking, Rollo, in the 10th C., was given territory in modern-day Normandy
-he became a duke, and a vassal to the king of France
-the King of France is using these Vikings to defend against invasions from other Vikings

-Duke William of Normandy, in 1066, was in a very advantageous position

-during a crisis as to who should be king, he invades England to claim the throne for himself
-he writes a letter to the Pope asking papal permission to invade England--grants him political and
religious authority to conquer new land
-becomes king of England, but remains Duke of Normandy (and his vassalage in Normandy to the
King of France DOES NOT extend to his territory in England)

-the Normans are also in Italy, which is very divided in the year 1000
-Sicily is controlled by Muslims
-Norman mercenaries would fight for either the papacy or the Greeks in Italy depending on who
would give them the most money and/or privileges
-in 1053, the pope decides he would no longer rather work with the Normans and wishes to wipe
them from the face of the earth, but is defeated in battle and made prisoner
-upon his release, the Normans demand certain privileges
-Robert and Roger want the authority to conquer all the territory in the south of Italy held
by the Greeks and the Arabs, and the ability to hold all of it in their own name without
interference by the pope
-the pope agrees, as long as they come to his assistance when the pope ever comes
under physical threat
-this creates a political connection between the Italian Normans and the papacy
I.E., when the pope calls for a Crusade because he feels religiously threatened,
the Normans will come, albeit with mixed baggage and feelings
-HOWEVER, when the Normans capture Greek territory in Greece, they don't have
to give the land back to the Pope

The Pilgrim's Guide

-is this really a guide?
-it offers practical advice for pilgrims going on pilgrimage
-on the other hand, there are no maps (WTF)
-the literacy rate is approximately 5%, and no printing presses: who is reading these?

-going on pilgrimage creates a personal religious experience

-pilgrimage is, for Christians, an opportunity to absolve oneself of sins

-maps are never developed for the pilgrims

-the mental images are more important than the physical location of the areas important
to the Crusade

Summary
After the lecture, summarize the main points of this lecture topic.
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