Ap World History Chapter 1 Summary

A: According to the text, the conception or fear of an “Islamic World” is irrational because the “Islamic World” is tremendously diverse, culturally, and religiously, and some of the most intractable conflicts of recent times have been fought within the Islamic

It had very specific instructions and everything had to be done by protocol. It had to be read aloud and acknowledged by the natives. The Requirement stated that if rules were not followed and the natives would not yield to the Spanish authority then they would be warred upon. As said in Chapter 3, “It set the aims of warfare not as mere surrender, but as submission to the Catholicism and its legitimate representative, the Spaniards.” Thus, the spoken speech was focal point in Spanish conquest. “It “requires” that the indigenous peoples of the new world acknowledge the church as superior of the world and therefore consent to have priests preach to them.” The speech then goes on to give a written disclaimer that if anyone were to not follow these guidelines they were subject to death that they themselves brought upon them. The Spanish also used taxes as a form of submission and humiliation to conquer new worlds. This came from the influences of “jizya-inspired Moslem and Jewish tribute payments to Christian rulers.” Under Christian rule the wealthy communities paid in cash while the poorer communities paid in hard labor. Although, eventually, natives would merge into Spanish society they were never thought of as actual Spanish citizens they were thought of as subjects living under Spanish rule. Most of the Spanish Requirements were influenced by the Islam’s concepts of beliefs on conquering and taking over new people. The Spanish used

In order to fully comprehend the historical implications, it is necessary to first discuss the language which the quote uses and analyze how it applies to each of the three rebellions—more specifically, the

In Bartolome De Las Casas’s ‘A Short Account of the Destruction of the Indies’,De Las Casas brazenly criticizes the persecution of the inhabitants of the Americas by the Spanish colonizers- and makes it clear what he believes are the motivations behind their actions. De Las Casas effectively molds his language to provoke compassion towards the natives while establishing a feeling of animosity toward the colonizers. Making sure to not go as far as to alienate the king, he never argues for equal rights for the natives, but instead uses his positon as a priest to advocate for the saving of the natives lives to convert them to Christianity, and then uses this rationale to persuade the king to intervene.

Convinced of the superiority of Catholicism to all other religions, Spain insisted that the primary goal of colonization was to save the Indians from heathenism and prevent them from falling under the sway of Protestantism. The aim was neither to exterminate nor to remove the Indians, but to transform them into obedient Christian subjects of the crown. To the Spanish colonizers, the large native populations of the Americas were not only souls to be saved but also a labor force to be organized to extract gold and silver that would enrich their mother country. Las Casas’ writings and the abuses they exposed contributed to the spread of the Black Legend-the image of Spain as a uniquely brutal and exploitative colonizer. This would provide of a potent justification for other European powers to challenge Spain’s predominance in the New World.

Until the time of the crusades, Christians and Muslims had interacted at least on a surface level through trade activities. Christian Europe had been exposed to the wealth and knowledge of the Arabic world; however, with the movement to the crusades the attitude towards the Muslims shifted to one of religious intolerance. Recognizing that Roland deals with issues that are germane to the Europe of the crusades helps to establish the connection between the religious intolerance that had begun to surface in Europe and the events of the poem.

Hernan Cortes’s first encounter narrative, besides justifying his illegal trip to Mexico, displays the cultural and spiritual roles colonization played when he conquered the Aztecs. Cortes displays a very eurocentric outlook, “for they had left their native land so long ago and as I had only recently arrived from there, I would better know the things they should believe” (Cortes 58), the “native land” (Cortes 58) Cartes refers to is Europe. With this idea that Europe being the nucleus of the world signifies that Cortes has a cultural and religious duty to return these “long lost Europeans” back to the fold. Cortes having painted his view of the world creates a sense of belonging for him and all of Spain, in that since all life orginates in Europe all life and prosperity in the world is simply waiting to be plundered. He goes about this plundering by using Christianity as a moral justification for the colonization of the native population. He begins by destroying “idols”(Cortes 58) and setting up “images”, presumably of Christ, God, or The Virgin Mary, as they are superior to that of the natives and simply is what “they should believe”(Cortes 58) . This narrative of cultural and spiritual superiority is echoed in John Heckewelder’s retelling of the “Lenni Lenape”(Heckewelder 68) colonization myth wherein a group of Dutch missionaries visit the new world and are revered as God’s. Before they depart they distribute gifts among the natives of “beads, axes, hoes, and stockings” only to return on their second voyage to see the natives wearing them as “ornaments”(Heckewelder 70) wherein “the whites laughed”. Now Heckewelder’s purpose in relaying this oral tradition is very similar to Cortes’s it’s to display the cultural and spiritual superiority of the Christian in “helping” the natives for they are too stupid to help themselves. Where they differ is that in the “Lenni Lenape”(Heckewelder 68) tradition this colonization myth ,for me, serves as a warning to the tribe. For while Heckewelder’s original intention was most likely to display European superiority whether advertently or inadvertently it’s original intention was to serve as a warning where if the “Lenni Lenape”(Heckewelder 68) continued to allow the

The theory of ‘convivencia’ between Christians, Jews and Muslims is considered to be the period in Medieval Spain in which the three Abrahamic religions were able to coexist and live together peacefully. The notion of convivencia not only refers to the overall tolerance of Christians and Jews to be able to practice their religion in Al-Andalus, it also incorporates the idea of members of these three faiths sharing a common culture, a language and working towards advancing civilisation through poetry, literature and science. Historians who have studied this issue are largely divided on whether this time period really was as harmonious as it is commonly described. Historians such as Bat Ye’or highlight the lack of convivencia by placing emphasis on how leaders of Al-Andalus would enforce rules such as granting non-Muslims with the status of dhimmi, essentially making them second-class citizens which by today’s standards would undoubtedly lead to the theory of convivencia being somewhat unpersuasive. However, relative to this era, Islamic Iberia was the apex of religious tolerance, immensely surpassing the level of tolerance in surrounding nations and empires. Montgomery Watt goes as far to say that under Muslim rule, Jews and Christians were considered as “People of the Book” who were to be a

The court preacher, Hoe von Hoenegg, a very staunch advocate of Protestant success, knew the strength and impending power of Hapsburg influence in Europe. However, Hoe von Hoenegg refused to concede to the idea of alliance with Catholics. “Thus it would be forever a shame and unjustifiable if one should or would now, benevolently or willfully, surrender something from the true Church of God that could still be reserved for its benefit” (140). This, of course, was not what the Elector desired to hear, yet this memorandum or reminder did show those at the time the religious reasoning existing behind the war. Hoe von Hoenegg lists all that has been sacrificed by Protestants and urges that it cannot be in vain. However, this is not a revengeful statement; rather he insists that no one surrender what God Himself has given. Seemingly meant for public consumption this article will, as the introduction suggests, set a precedent for many to keep fighting at whatever cost. It would seem that even this far into war fervent religious reasoning still exists. The following documents will contrast this sentiment alluding to the conflicting motives and actions by all sides of this conflict.

Overall, there are a number of similarities in the two faiths’ treatment of minority religions. Still, an examination of Medieval Christians' inter-faith relations finds a history of religious diplomacy much more fragmented than that of the Muslims. In Christianity, tolerance and persecution were part of the ebb and flow of the passage of power from one ruler to the next, as well as the power struggle between the church and the state. On the other hand, Muslims had no such struggle; their church and state were one and the same. Unlike Christians, they did not have separate laws for the sacred and profane, the secular and religious. The passage of power from one Islamic ruler to the next rarely brought with it radical amendments in the treatment of infidels, although exceptions did exist.

Warrant: When we often think about the Islamic religion, we immediately relate the religion to violence.

Over a thousand years ago, Europe experienced one of its greatest periods of cultural enlightenment.Islam in Spain has had a fundamental presence in the culture and history of the nation. The religion was present inmodern Spanish soil from 711 until 1492 under the rule of the Arabs and Moors of al-Andalus.Islamic Spain was a multi-cultural mix of the people of three great monotheistic religions: Muslims,Christians, and Jews.For more than three centuries in Medieval Spain, Muslims, Jews and Christians lived together and prospered in a thriving multicultural civilization. Here, remarkable individuals of different faiths made lasting contributions in such areas as poetry, art, architecture, music, dining etiquette, science, agriculture,

The fall of the Byzantine Empire was more than just the end of a political and cultural entity, but the fall of the last remnant of the exalted Roman Empire, and for the Byzantines it heralded the end of the world. That is the historical context of Nicholas de Cusa’s “On the Peace of Faith”, written after the fall of the Byzantines and the massacre of Orthodox Christians on the orders of Sultan Mehmed II . This document is a product of the disbelief and can be considered a reactionary document that attempts to find a peaceful solution to the question of religious diversity. The structure and content of the document itself is a nod to Cusa’s background as a conciliarist priest and a participant in the Council of Basel . As out of place as it might have been with its message of religious toleration, the document reveals that the objective had less to do with actual toleration of diversity, and more with religious toleration through assimilation and conversion to Christianity .

At the first glance, Islam and Christianity appear to have nothing in common, however; as you go beyond the surface, they appear to have many similarities such as their beliefs of God, their beliefs of life after death, their holy scriptures, and their prayers. These religions, although are two entirely different beliefs, share a similar origin. Like many other religions, they both claim to be the one and only true way to God. In order to truly see and understand their similarities, one must date back to the rise and birth of Christianity and Islam. Throughout the course of this essay, I will compare the many facets that show the alikeness between these two growing religions.

An important aspect of Todorov's thesis is his well-supported claim that it was precisely the claim to European racial superiority that Christianity strongly reinforced and provided justification for the actions of the Spanish, even in its most severe manifestation. In fact, Todorov invokes the unimaginably horrible image of Catholic priests bashing Indian baby's heads against rocks, allegedly to save them from damnation to hell, which their "savage" culture would have otherwise consigned them to. The logic of this deed and others like them illustrates the destructive influence of Christianity in the Colonial project, which lies at the root of the hegemonic self-image of Western experience--first defined from the perspective of Columbus and Cortes.