Primary Sources Of Historical Events Essay

“Fight in the name of God and in the ‘path of god’. Combat those who disbelieve in God.” The quote above is an excerpt from Matthew Gordon’s book, “The Rise of Islam”. Throughout the course of history, many religions have had a profound effect on western civilization. During the early 5th century a religion arose that had an extremely important impact on western civilization. The Arabic prophet Muhammad founded the religion known today as Islam. Violence, diplomacy, Arabic tradition, and public law played a vital role in the rise and conquest of Islam. These four key elements that fostered the rise of Islam helped establish one of the largest religions in western civilization.

6. What specific actions did Hammurabi take in his attempt to provide for the good order of society and the basic welfare of his subjects?

When a historian looks over a primary resource there are several questions that they need to think about before they can even begin to do an analysis of it. There are four important questions to be asked. These questions are, what kind of document is it, who wrote it, who the audience was intended for and why it was written, as well as where and when it was written.

According to Baldric's version of Pope Urban II's speech calling for holy war, the Pope's chief motive was to rescue or liberate Jerusalem from Muslim control, for the purpose of spreading Christianity (namely, Roman Catholicism.) Baldric wrote about the speech favorably, from a post-crusade perspective, biased by his support of the crusades and his knowledge of the victories achieved.

Historians have learned a great deal about the Crusades from chroniclers like William of Tyre and Ibn al-Qalanisi. Today, reporters and newscasters travel all over the world to report on international events, including conflicts. Reporters and world leaders use social media outlets like Twitter and Facebook to connect with the public. Imagine what we might know had there been access to television, cell phones, and social media in the 13th century.

In Document 1 the pope wrote, “ On whom therefore is the labor of avenging these wrongs and of recovering this territory incumbent, if not upon you?” This shows how the pope made the task to fight to win back the holy land up to all the christians. The pope used a certain zealousness to make the Christians excited about fighting in the Crusades. The Pope also went on to say “Accordingly undertake this journey for the remission of your sins, with the assurance of the imperishable glory of the kingdom of heaven.” The Pope told the christians that all their sins would be forgiven and they would go to heaven if they fought against the muslims to take back the holy land. This persuaded the christians to fight because they thought it was what god wanted them to do . The pope knew that by telling people this he would encourage them although some might’ve believed that it was what god really wanted them to do enough do that they would put their own life at risk to follow what god or the pope thought was

In his call at Clermont in 1095, Pope Urban II asked all fellow Christians to join in the aid of the Christians in the East that were then prone to Turkish attacks. Requesting that they all leave their lives and run to their aid, Pope Urban II explained how they would be doing all in the name of God. The Pope let all of the people know that they would all be greatly recompensed in following God's will and fighting for God and in doing so he further led the people to understand that any killing they would do would be forgiven since it was all to be in God's will. In addition, he insisted that if any were to die in this aid, they would all be

In addition to the horrors carried out by the Seljuk horde on Christians and their shrines, the Byzantines were also begging the pope to protect their empire from other Turkish tribes. Urban II's main incentive for answering this plea for help was not entirely contingent on the letter he received from the Holy Roman Emperor, but more so from the notion that the Eastern and Western sects of the church could be unified. Moreover, they might be fused under the Pope, granting him sovereignty over the entire Christian church. This Papal hope has been revealed to historians through, among other sources, the different accounts of his speech at Clermont. For example, Guibert of Nogent recalls the pope declaring: "And you ought, furthermore, to consider with the utmost deliberation, ..., that the Mother of churches should flourish anew to the worship of Christianity, whether perchance, [God] may not wish other regions of the East to be restored to the faith against the approaching time of the Antichrist" (Peters, Guibert of Nogent, 35). Unfortunately, the Holy Roman Emperor feared his throne was in jeopardy due to the large number of crusaders that arrived to drive out the Turks. He demanded that they press on towards the Holy Land, and for reasons that need not be discussed, strong ties with the Papacy were severed soon

Pope Urban called for the lords and knights who formed society’s military elites. Pope Urban was a good communicator, but what he said was a

The primary target of the First Crusade (and the intended target of many more crusades), preached by Urban II at the Council of Clermont in 1095, was Jerusalem. In the version of this sermon by Robert the Monk, Urban urges those present to admire rulers who “have extended…the territory of the Holy Church”, and to “enter upon the road to the Holy Sepulchre; wrest that land from the wicked race, and subject it to yourselves. That land which as

The two historical documents, Narrative of Lavinia Bell written by an anonymous author in the Montreal Gazette and the Letter to an English Abolitionist by James Henry Hammond, shared their strong opinions on the important issue of slavery. These documents were written in the 1800’s during an era of progressive changes. One can identify similarities and many differences in their opinions, motives, and goals for their writings. I believe Bell’s account was written to show the perspective of slaves’ brutal view, compared to Hammond’s letter justifying slavery and the rights of the slaveholders.

The Quran offers specific instructions for its followers which pertain to conversions of others and the results of believing in the Quran or not. The Quran states that the Islamic people either do battle with those who do not believe, or they must convert to Islam. It says that whoever obeys God and His Apostle (Mohammed) shall be brought to Paradise, but those who do not believe or follow their teachings will be punished. This means that if the Muslims did not engage in these wars with the Christians and others of non-Islamic faith they would be punished. These wars were brutal and merciless. The Muslims killed everyone in sight and took

At this time, and at the start of the crusades, the Pope had little real power over Christianity. Urban was hoping that the Crusades would help strengthen his power and possibly help religious beliefs become more a part of daily life among the general population in Europe. In General, the Crusades were seen as a way for the Pope to gain political power over the uncontrolled warrior class. Urban felt that the best way to unite followers is a Holy War, where Christianity is everyone’s standard.

Millions of Americans and people around the globe consider the terrorist bombings all over the Earth to be the work of cowards who can only execute such murderous acts because of the knowledge that they won't live to face the repercussions. However, while the actions of these people can never truly be justified, they are within the general spectrum of Islamic teachings. If these men believed that their faith was under attack by America, they raised the "sword" to defend it. As the Quran once again states, "Fighting is obligatory for you, much as you dislike it. But you may hate a thing although it is good for you and love a thing although it is bad for you. God knows, but you do not" (Van Voorst 312). Muslims are taught that any martyr who dies in defense of Islam has the rewards of life multiplied many times over waiting for him in Heaven. "Allah has given those who fight with their goods and their persons a higher rank than those who stay at home" (Sherif 166-168). However, the idea of martyrdom and a beautiful afterlife for martyrs is not exclusive to Islam, but present in many other religions, including Christianity. The teachings of Islam are not to blame for

“Surely, those who believe, those who are Jewish, the Christians, and the converts; anyone who (1) believes in GOD, and (2) believes in the Last Day, and (3) leads a righteous life, will receive their recompense from their Lord. They have nothing to fear, nor will they grieve” This is how Islam inculcates Muslims not to judge others, because obviously it’s the Lord who does that. Despite this verse and many other verses in Quran which promote for peace and love among humans, still people combine Islam with terror. I have seen many false allegations about Islam in the media. All that made me wonder, did I understand my religion wrong? What really interests me is whenever I look for the word terror on the internet; I find verses from