1 00:00:05,240 --> 00:00:16,000 Speaker 1: Oh, lessons from the world's top professors anytime, anyplace, world 2 00:00:16,040 --> 00:00:22,120 Speaker 1: history examined and science explained. This is one day university Welcome. 3 00:00:33,199 --> 00:00:37,360 Speaker 1: This is half hour history Secrets of the Medieval World. 4 00:00:38,159 --> 00:00:42,440 Speaker 1: I'm your host, Mike Coscarelli. This week we continue with 5 00:00:42,519 --> 00:00:45,959 Speaker 1: the early medieval period. Before there were knights and shining 6 00:00:46,040 --> 00:00:49,999 Speaker 1: armor at Arthur's round table or tower in cathedrals, there 7 00:00:50,239 --> 00:00:57,320 Speaker 1: was Rome. And Rome was the center of everything until 8 00:00:57,360 --> 00:01:02,600 Speaker 1: it wasn't. So what happened? We'll let Chris take it 9 00:01:02,640 --> 00:01:12,120 Speaker 1: from here. Well, right away, we have to ask ourselves 10 00:01:12,760 --> 00:01:15,120 Speaker 1: did Rome fall? And I have to tell you that 11 00:01:15,160 --> 00:01:18,040 Speaker 1: I'm one of those historians who doesn't believe that Rome 12 00:01:18,120 --> 00:01:19,920 Speaker 1: fell because it makes it sound like there was a 13 00:01:20,000 --> 00:01:23,040 Speaker 1: light switch. Right, So Rome is going along, everything is fine, 14 00:01:23,080 --> 00:01:25,240 Speaker 1: and then along comes the year four seventy six, a 15 00:01:25,360 --> 00:01:27,360 Speaker 1: light switch goes off, and then we're in the dark 16 00:01:27,400 --> 00:01:31,200 Speaker 1: ages for a thousand years. Doesn't work for me, So 17 00:01:31,280 --> 00:01:35,360 Speaker 1: I am more apt to say to my students and 18 00:01:35,480 --> 00:01:40,320 Speaker 1: to you that Rome had a certain demise, and that 19 00:01:40,480 --> 00:01:46,840 Speaker 1: Rome transformed from one form into another form. After all, 20 00:01:47,040 --> 00:01:51,440 Speaker 1: why does the Roman Catholic Church speak Latin officially? Why 21 00:01:51,680 --> 00:01:55,640 Speaker 1: is the city of Rome so important to Catholicism and 22 00:01:55,720 --> 00:01:58,840 Speaker 1: to Christianity. There are historical reasons for that, and they're 23 00:01:58,840 --> 00:02:02,160 Speaker 1: all tied up with the Roman Empire. It's simply impossible 24 00:02:02,200 --> 00:02:06,120 Speaker 1: to talk about the Roman Empire without talking about Christianity. 25 00:02:06,800 --> 00:02:10,160 Speaker 1: So let's take that date of four seventy six and 26 00:02:10,320 --> 00:02:14,960 Speaker 1: move back a couple of centuries, and what we begin 27 00:02:15,080 --> 00:02:18,560 Speaker 1: to hear, what we begin to talk about, is not 28 00:02:19,240 --> 00:02:22,160 Speaker 1: a story of Rome where everything was fine and then 29 00:02:22,160 --> 00:02:25,880 Speaker 1: it begins to crumble, and then it crashes, and then 30 00:02:25,960 --> 00:02:30,680 Speaker 1: something else happens. That discontinuity between one period and another 31 00:02:30,720 --> 00:02:33,320 Speaker 1: period is really part of an older school of what 32 00:02:33,320 --> 00:02:37,919 Speaker 1: we call historiography. Historiography is the history of history. It's 33 00:02:37,960 --> 00:02:41,000 Speaker 1: the history of schools of thought. And the school of 34 00:02:41,120 --> 00:02:44,960 Speaker 1: thought that I subscribe to is more something called the 35 00:02:45,040 --> 00:02:48,720 Speaker 1: late Antique school. Now it's a rather unfortunate title because 36 00:02:48,720 --> 00:02:51,040 Speaker 1: as soon as you say late antique, you think of 37 00:02:51,080 --> 00:02:54,760 Speaker 1: the antique road show. And we don't mean that furniture. 38 00:02:54,840 --> 00:02:58,000 Speaker 1: We mean the ancient world, antique being another word for 39 00:02:58,040 --> 00:03:00,800 Speaker 1: the ancient world. And if any of you are really 40 00:03:00,840 --> 00:03:06,120 Speaker 1: interested in Peter Brown's biography of Augustine of Bo, Peter 41 00:03:06,280 --> 00:03:09,000 Speaker 1: Brown is an a historian of this period, and he 42 00:03:09,040 --> 00:03:11,920 Speaker 1: tries to look at Augustine of Hippo, who dies around 43 00:03:11,960 --> 00:03:14,600 Speaker 1: four twenty or four thirty, as one of these people 44 00:03:14,720 --> 00:03:20,080 Speaker 1: who is a late antique character. He's Christian, he's also Roman, 45 00:03:20,360 --> 00:03:23,359 Speaker 1: and he's in this transitional period. In fact, he writes 46 00:03:23,360 --> 00:03:26,120 Speaker 1: his great work City of God because the city of 47 00:03:26,240 --> 00:03:30,639 Speaker 1: Rome had been sacked, and so he wants to talk about, well, 48 00:03:30,680 --> 00:03:34,079 Speaker 1: what's next, what's going on in this transformation of time. 49 00:03:34,720 --> 00:03:37,440 Speaker 1: So once we begin to look at this period as 50 00:03:37,520 --> 00:03:40,680 Speaker 1: a longer period, the year that kind of becomes very 51 00:03:40,680 --> 00:03:44,440 Speaker 1: important is the year two ninety three when a particular 52 00:03:44,600 --> 00:03:49,400 Speaker 1: Roman emperor by the name of Diocletian decides that running 53 00:03:49,440 --> 00:03:53,480 Speaker 1: an empire the size of if you recall the continental 54 00:03:53,600 --> 00:03:56,800 Speaker 1: United States, it's just too big. And so what he 55 00:03:56,840 --> 00:03:58,680 Speaker 1: does is he draws kind of a line in the 56 00:03:58,760 --> 00:04:02,400 Speaker 1: sand and he breaks the empire up. It's not quite 57 00:04:02,440 --> 00:04:05,480 Speaker 1: a fifty fifty split, it's more kind of like a 58 00:04:05,520 --> 00:04:09,400 Speaker 1: two thirds one third split, and he says, we're going 59 00:04:09,440 --> 00:04:13,000 Speaker 1: to have two sections. We're gonna have a Western Empire 60 00:04:13,240 --> 00:04:17,320 Speaker 1: and an Eastern empire, and the Western Empire is gonna 61 00:04:17,480 --> 00:04:19,760 Speaker 1: stay centered in Rome, and we're kind of looking for 62 00:04:19,800 --> 00:04:24,000 Speaker 1: a place to use as a capital for the Eastern Empire, 63 00:04:24,040 --> 00:04:27,840 Speaker 1: and that's going to become Constantinople, a new city in 64 00:04:28,560 --> 00:04:31,440 Speaker 1: a few decades, and so east and west, and then 65 00:04:32,480 --> 00:04:36,000 Speaker 1: around three twelve there's a new emperor by the name 66 00:04:36,040 --> 00:04:40,080 Speaker 1: of Constantine the Great. Some people say Constantine, it doesn't matter. 67 00:04:40,440 --> 00:04:44,200 Speaker 1: And Constantine was kind of really fascinated with the Greek 68 00:04:44,240 --> 00:04:46,640 Speaker 1: east more than the Latin west. He thought that's where 69 00:04:46,640 --> 00:04:49,320 Speaker 1: the energy isn't and I want to build that other capital. 70 00:04:49,360 --> 00:04:52,800 Speaker 1: So he takes basically a village called Byzantium and he 71 00:04:52,880 --> 00:04:57,000 Speaker 1: builds it up into this huge city that he calls Constantinople. 72 00:04:57,040 --> 00:05:02,440 Speaker 1: And this is very, very kind of arrogance because Constantinople 73 00:05:02,920 --> 00:05:07,480 Speaker 1: is his name, Constantine and the word polus, which means 74 00:05:07,480 --> 00:05:11,000 Speaker 1: city state in Greek, and that's when you get Constantinople. 75 00:05:11,560 --> 00:05:16,760 Speaker 1: And he calls it a nova Roma, a new Rome, 76 00:05:17,520 --> 00:05:21,480 Speaker 1: and he moves there. Now there's an emperor in the west, 77 00:05:21,520 --> 00:05:24,080 Speaker 1: but he goes to the east, and because he's really 78 00:05:24,080 --> 00:05:27,600 Speaker 1: the really powerful guy, the energy of the empire, are 79 00:05:27,680 --> 00:05:31,240 Speaker 1: the resources of the empire begin to shift over from 80 00:05:31,320 --> 00:05:35,080 Speaker 1: west to east, and that leaves the city of Rome 81 00:05:35,720 --> 00:05:41,360 Speaker 1: kind of vulnerable. And what happens is that the edges 82 00:05:41,480 --> 00:05:47,080 Speaker 1: or the frontiers of the Latin West begin to move backwards. 83 00:05:47,160 --> 00:05:53,160 Speaker 1: Rome doesn't explode. Rome implodes. Rome suffers from something called hypothermia. 84 00:05:53,160 --> 00:05:55,360 Speaker 1: All right, God forbid that should happen to us. But 85 00:05:55,440 --> 00:05:58,320 Speaker 1: if you suffer from hypothermia, what happens is that your 86 00:05:58,320 --> 00:06:02,600 Speaker 1: body says, well, I can't live without my brain, without 87 00:06:02,640 --> 00:06:04,920 Speaker 1: my lungs, without my heart and my major organ. So 88 00:06:04,920 --> 00:06:07,840 Speaker 1: I'm going to draw blood away from my extremities. I 89 00:06:07,840 --> 00:06:10,039 Speaker 1: don't want to live without my fingers and toes, but 90 00:06:10,080 --> 00:06:13,520 Speaker 1: I can actually survive without that. So the blood comes 91 00:06:13,600 --> 00:06:15,960 Speaker 1: in to save the heart. And the heart, of course, 92 00:06:16,080 --> 00:06:20,040 Speaker 1: is the city of Rome. So Rome begins to kind 93 00:06:20,040 --> 00:06:25,640 Speaker 1: of creep inwards, and the city of Rome becomes vulnerable 94 00:06:25,800 --> 00:06:29,160 Speaker 1: because these other tribes from outside of Rome can get 95 00:06:29,160 --> 00:06:31,800 Speaker 1: closer and closer in the city of romas full of money, 96 00:06:31,800 --> 00:06:34,679 Speaker 1: and so the city of Rome itself is sacked three 97 00:06:34,680 --> 00:06:37,120 Speaker 1: times in a fifty year period, in four ten and 98 00:06:37,200 --> 00:06:39,760 Speaker 1: four forty five, in four seventy six, and there's the date, 99 00:06:39,920 --> 00:06:42,760 Speaker 1: and let's finally talk about four seventy six. Okay, So 100 00:06:42,800 --> 00:06:46,080 Speaker 1: there's an emperor on the throne in Rome, and his 101 00:06:46,240 --> 00:06:50,000 Speaker 1: given name is Romulus, and his title as Augustus Emperor. 102 00:06:50,360 --> 00:06:53,440 Speaker 1: And if you look back in Roman history, Rome had 103 00:06:53,440 --> 00:06:57,880 Speaker 1: been founded by twins called Romulus and Remus. So historians 104 00:06:57,920 --> 00:07:01,400 Speaker 1: in the seventeen and eighteen hundreds see a Romulus at 105 00:07:01,440 --> 00:07:05,560 Speaker 1: the very beginning, say about a thousand BC or BC, 106 00:07:06,080 --> 00:07:08,400 Speaker 1: and they see a Romulus in four seventy six and 107 00:07:08,440 --> 00:07:10,880 Speaker 1: they think this is great, this is bookends boom. Four 108 00:07:10,960 --> 00:07:12,840 Speaker 1: seventy six is the fall of Rome, and that begins 109 00:07:12,840 --> 00:07:15,960 Speaker 1: this kind of you know, the thesis of a line 110 00:07:16,000 --> 00:07:20,720 Speaker 1: in the sand. So what's happening is that as the 111 00:07:20,840 --> 00:07:24,880 Speaker 1: Roman Empire transforms in the west and the energy moves 112 00:07:25,040 --> 00:07:28,720 Speaker 1: to the east, power begins to shift from the western 113 00:07:28,760 --> 00:07:33,720 Speaker 1: capital of the city of Rome up north. And Clovis 114 00:07:34,240 --> 00:07:37,560 Speaker 1: rather unusual name, isn't it. Clovis converts in the year 115 00:07:37,640 --> 00:07:40,320 Speaker 1: five h three, and Clovis is pretty much a tribal 116 00:07:40,440 --> 00:07:44,520 Speaker 1: chieftain in the area of France and Germany modern France 117 00:07:44,520 --> 00:07:50,000 Speaker 1: and Germany, Germania and Gaul in Latin ideas, and that's 118 00:07:50,040 --> 00:07:52,400 Speaker 1: going to be an important moment for the PowerShift of 119 00:07:52,600 --> 00:07:56,760 Speaker 1: Christianity later on. And so there's really no western emperor, 120 00:07:56,800 --> 00:07:58,440 Speaker 1: So who's left in the city of Rome. But this 121 00:07:58,560 --> 00:08:01,760 Speaker 1: guy called the Bishop of Rome, who over time becomes 122 00:08:01,760 --> 00:08:04,680 Speaker 1: so powerful in a civil and a religious way that 123 00:08:04,720 --> 00:08:07,840 Speaker 1: we call him the Pope with all of what that means. 124 00:08:08,120 --> 00:08:10,840 Speaker 1: And then we have this notion of the barbarian invasions 125 00:08:10,840 --> 00:08:13,600 Speaker 1: coming in right now. A barbarian is a relative term. 126 00:08:13,680 --> 00:08:16,360 Speaker 1: Barbarian is is one of the one of those distinctions 127 00:08:16,360 --> 00:08:19,240 Speaker 1: between us versus them. And to put it in kind 128 00:08:19,240 --> 00:08:21,680 Speaker 1: of trite terms, but maybe terms that can help us. 129 00:08:21,800 --> 00:08:24,920 Speaker 1: If you live in Chicago, Cubs fans call white Sox 130 00:08:24,960 --> 00:08:29,320 Speaker 1: fans barbarians, and white Sox fans called Cubs fans barbarians. 131 00:08:29,360 --> 00:08:31,760 Speaker 1: They just you know, it's not us, So it's them. 132 00:08:32,199 --> 00:08:34,840 Speaker 1: And every culture dating back to the ancient Greek says, 133 00:08:34,920 --> 00:08:37,480 Speaker 1: anybody who doesn't know our language speaks like blah blah 134 00:08:37,480 --> 00:08:40,640 Speaker 1: blah blah blah. And that's where barbarians as a word 135 00:08:41,000 --> 00:08:43,640 Speaker 1: comes from. And these barbarians again, this notion that the 136 00:08:43,679 --> 00:08:47,600 Speaker 1: barbarians invade Rome because Rome is collapsing, Well, how many 137 00:08:47,600 --> 00:08:50,560 Speaker 1: of you would run into a burning building. I wouldn't. 138 00:08:50,840 --> 00:08:54,439 Speaker 1: So obviously, these tribes are coming into Roman territories because 139 00:08:54,560 --> 00:08:58,200 Speaker 1: Roman territories have things that they want, like aqueducts, like 140 00:08:58,560 --> 00:09:01,920 Speaker 1: clean running water, like the equivalent of flush toilets, not 141 00:09:02,080 --> 00:09:08,400 Speaker 1: quite like better nutrition, like better organization, safer streets, and 142 00:09:08,440 --> 00:09:11,120 Speaker 1: so these people begin to move in and they take 143 00:09:11,200 --> 00:09:15,200 Speaker 1: their own native Germanic culture and they marry it with 144 00:09:15,360 --> 00:09:18,080 Speaker 1: Roman imperial systems, and we begin to get the early 145 00:09:18,160 --> 00:09:22,080 Speaker 1: Middle Ages. And these people were probably pushed also. They 146 00:09:22,120 --> 00:09:24,200 Speaker 1: were going towards something that they wanted, but they were 147 00:09:24,240 --> 00:09:27,960 Speaker 1: pushed from behind by Attila the Hun who dies in 148 00:09:28,040 --> 00:09:30,480 Speaker 1: four fifty three, and the other Huns, and they may 149 00:09:30,520 --> 00:09:34,080 Speaker 1: have been pushed by other marauding tribes in China or Russia, 150 00:09:34,200 --> 00:09:38,320 Speaker 1: probably because of bad harvests, and so these people needed 151 00:09:38,360 --> 00:09:42,400 Speaker 1: to move forward to find food. That's after Rome in 152 00:09:42,440 --> 00:09:44,120 Speaker 1: the west. What's going on in the east, Well, that 153 00:09:44,160 --> 00:09:47,280 Speaker 1: little village of Byzantium has now been transformed into the 154 00:09:47,360 --> 00:09:52,520 Speaker 1: city of Constantinople, and there's an emperor in Constantinople, the 155 00:09:52,640 --> 00:09:56,600 Speaker 1: air of Constantine until the year fourteen fifty three. I 156 00:09:56,640 --> 00:09:59,760 Speaker 1: didn't make a mistake there, that's one four five three. 157 00:09:59,800 --> 00:10:03,040 Speaker 1: The emperor in Constantinople is going to claim to be 158 00:10:03,400 --> 00:10:06,600 Speaker 1: the heir of ju LEAs Caesar who is killed in 159 00:10:06,640 --> 00:10:12,600 Speaker 1: forty four BC, Augustus of Constantine until fourteen fifty three, 160 00:10:12,640 --> 00:10:15,680 Speaker 1: and the big one, early one in our period is Justinian. 161 00:10:16,040 --> 00:10:18,920 Speaker 1: Justinian has a very long reign from five to twenty 162 00:10:18,920 --> 00:10:23,480 Speaker 1: seven to five sixty five, has this ragin where he 163 00:10:23,800 --> 00:10:29,280 Speaker 1: is recreating Western learning in a Greek key or a 164 00:10:29,320 --> 00:10:33,280 Speaker 1: Greek riff, if you will, and this very close marriage 165 00:10:33,320 --> 00:10:36,880 Speaker 1: of church and state. Now, the context here is that 166 00:10:37,360 --> 00:10:41,600 Speaker 1: Justinian dies right before that Muslim push that we were 167 00:10:41,640 --> 00:10:45,240 Speaker 1: talking about. And again the Muslims kind of bounce off 168 00:10:45,240 --> 00:10:49,200 Speaker 1: of Constantinople after six thirty two and they go across 169 00:10:49,280 --> 00:10:52,360 Speaker 1: North Africa and over to the West because they can't 170 00:10:52,400 --> 00:10:57,360 Speaker 1: take over Constantinople until fourteen fifty three when Constantinople finally falls. 171 00:10:57,960 --> 00:11:01,480 Speaker 1: And there's a golden age of Byzantine history from about 172 00:11:01,720 --> 00:11:04,440 Speaker 1: eight fifty to about twelve fifteen. And it's when things 173 00:11:04,440 --> 00:11:07,200 Speaker 1: get a little tight there that the Eastern Emperor writes 174 00:11:07,240 --> 00:11:09,400 Speaker 1: a letter to the Western Pope and says, hey, I 175 00:11:09,480 --> 00:11:11,680 Speaker 1: need some help here. The Muslims are at my gates. 176 00:11:11,679 --> 00:11:14,640 Speaker 1: And that's one of the one of the impetus for 177 00:11:15,840 --> 00:11:19,920 Speaker 1: the Crusades. As we're going to see let's go back 178 00:11:19,960 --> 00:11:22,160 Speaker 1: to Justinian for a second. Had a fascinating wife by 179 00:11:22,160 --> 00:11:26,160 Speaker 1: the name of Theodora, and Justinian and Theodora really reigned 180 00:11:26,200 --> 00:11:32,079 Speaker 1: almost as partners, and Justinian inherited from Constantine this notion 181 00:11:32,160 --> 00:11:35,280 Speaker 1: of sacred kingship. Constantine saw himself. He called himself a 182 00:11:35,320 --> 00:11:38,880 Speaker 1: thirteenth apostle, a priest and king. And of course that's 183 00:11:38,880 --> 00:11:42,720 Speaker 1: a Christian version of the idea that the Roman emperor 184 00:11:42,920 --> 00:11:45,240 Speaker 1: was divine, and it goes back into history with this 185 00:11:45,400 --> 00:11:48,720 Speaker 1: very close relationship between say Pharaoh, who is divine, the 186 00:11:48,880 --> 00:11:52,640 Speaker 1: son of Ra and so as we're going to see 187 00:11:52,679 --> 00:11:56,959 Speaker 1: further down the line, this very uneasy relationship of what 188 00:11:57,200 --> 00:12:01,120 Speaker 1: kind of we call a theocracy, where the church and 189 00:12:01,280 --> 00:12:03,640 Speaker 1: the state are the same thing. They would have never 190 00:12:03,679 --> 00:12:09,600 Speaker 1: separated those words. Pitts an Eastern emperor versus a Western pope. 191 00:12:09,600 --> 00:12:13,520 Speaker 1: And Justinian is so fascinated by Rome that he redoes 192 00:12:13,560 --> 00:12:16,920 Speaker 1: the law code for his part of the empire. It's 193 00:12:16,960 --> 00:12:22,160 Speaker 1: called the Codex Justinianus. Again, he rather not humbly names 194 00:12:22,200 --> 00:12:24,600 Speaker 1: it after himself, and it's a revision of the Roman 195 00:12:24,679 --> 00:12:27,360 Speaker 1: law code. And then once he's got that, he starts 196 00:12:27,400 --> 00:12:30,480 Speaker 1: traveling west. He takes over southern Italy, he takes over Sicily, 197 00:12:30,520 --> 00:12:33,000 Speaker 1: and he's trying to now push the energy not from 198 00:12:33,080 --> 00:12:36,160 Speaker 1: west to east, as Constantine had done, but from east 199 00:12:36,440 --> 00:12:39,880 Speaker 1: to west. And Constantinople is going to remain this Eastern 200 00:12:40,080 --> 00:12:45,960 Speaker 1: jewel for years where royal authority was given as patronage 201 00:12:46,679 --> 00:12:50,840 Speaker 1: to thinkers and artists. And an example of that, the 202 00:12:50,880 --> 00:12:53,680 Speaker 1: most beautiful physical example of that is the Church of 203 00:12:53,960 --> 00:12:56,240 Speaker 1: Hagia Sophia, which has been a church and then a 204 00:12:56,320 --> 00:12:59,720 Speaker 1: mosque and back and forth several times. That's what's going 205 00:12:59,760 --> 00:13:03,840 Speaker 1: on in the east. Well, right now we're heading into 206 00:13:03,880 --> 00:13:09,480 Speaker 1: a short break. But when we turn Vikings plus what 207 00:13:09,600 --> 00:13:24,120 Speaker 1: it was like to live under Islamic rule, what's going 208 00:13:24,160 --> 00:13:27,040 Speaker 1: on way in the north. In fact, even those areas 209 00:13:27,040 --> 00:13:31,000 Speaker 1: in Scandinavia where Rome never showed up. And that brings 210 00:13:31,080 --> 00:13:37,120 Speaker 1: us to the vikings. A lot of people don't know 211 00:13:37,160 --> 00:13:39,280 Speaker 1: where to put the vikings. You think of the vikings, 212 00:13:39,280 --> 00:13:41,080 Speaker 1: and you think of cartoons, and you think of thor 213 00:13:41,200 --> 00:13:42,960 Speaker 1: and you say to yourself, but where does that go 214 00:13:43,120 --> 00:13:45,600 Speaker 1: in my chronology and my geography, And the answer is 215 00:13:45,640 --> 00:13:49,000 Speaker 1: it goes in the early medieval periods. Some of you 216 00:13:49,120 --> 00:13:53,360 Speaker 1: may have read these Vinland sagas. So the Vikings are 217 00:13:53,400 --> 00:13:56,920 Speaker 1: called the norse Men because they come from the north, 218 00:13:57,280 --> 00:14:00,240 Speaker 1: and so the north Men are the norse Men. And 219 00:14:00,280 --> 00:14:02,760 Speaker 1: that's really how they show up in the ancient sources. 220 00:14:02,800 --> 00:14:05,520 Speaker 1: They don't show up as the Vikings. And they start 221 00:14:05,560 --> 00:14:10,040 Speaker 1: moving around around eight hundred or around eight fifty, and 222 00:14:10,120 --> 00:14:13,440 Speaker 1: they start moving around in the summer, right because you 223 00:14:13,480 --> 00:14:16,120 Speaker 1: can't sail in the winter, so they move around in 224 00:14:16,160 --> 00:14:19,240 Speaker 1: the summer. And their raiding parties, the Vikings are hit 225 00:14:19,320 --> 00:14:23,000 Speaker 1: and run operations. They plunder, they strike, and they plunder 226 00:14:23,000 --> 00:14:25,960 Speaker 1: and they leave rather than settle. When they do settle, 227 00:14:26,000 --> 00:14:31,320 Speaker 1: they settle as staging posts for further raids, as opposed 228 00:14:31,320 --> 00:14:34,920 Speaker 1: to something that's more permanent. Now, some of those staging 229 00:14:34,960 --> 00:14:38,840 Speaker 1: posts naturally grew, but they were never intended to be permanent. 230 00:14:39,000 --> 00:14:43,000 Speaker 1: And so one example, way up in northeast Europe would 231 00:14:43,080 --> 00:14:48,200 Speaker 1: be on the eastern portion of England in the city 232 00:14:48,320 --> 00:14:54,000 Speaker 1: of York. York is actually a Viking or Norse word 233 00:14:54,160 --> 00:14:58,040 Speaker 1: for your vic jo r v i K, And the 234 00:14:58,080 --> 00:15:01,600 Speaker 1: city of York to this day takes its Viking heritage 235 00:15:02,120 --> 00:15:05,880 Speaker 1: very very seriously, and there's a your viccent there now 236 00:15:06,240 --> 00:15:08,840 Speaker 1: where there's been an archaeological dig and a recreation of 237 00:15:08,880 --> 00:15:12,760 Speaker 1: what the city or the village of Yorvic looked like 238 00:15:13,640 --> 00:15:16,400 Speaker 1: in that period. But when we think of the Vikings, 239 00:15:16,400 --> 00:15:21,360 Speaker 1: we think of cold weather, okay, but they actually also 240 00:15:21,560 --> 00:15:25,160 Speaker 1: did these strike and plunder raids in the Iberian Peninsula. 241 00:15:25,200 --> 00:15:28,880 Speaker 1: They didn't quite get into the Mediterranean too far because 242 00:15:28,920 --> 00:15:32,240 Speaker 1: of the way their ships were built, and bit by 243 00:15:32,280 --> 00:15:38,480 Speaker 1: bit they moved from England to Iceland, to Greenland and 244 00:15:38,680 --> 00:15:42,360 Speaker 1: all the way across North America into what is Canada's 245 00:15:42,400 --> 00:15:45,840 Speaker 1: Newfoundland around the year one thousand and Again that was 246 00:15:45,880 --> 00:15:50,080 Speaker 1: a smaller community, although what people say is the Viking 247 00:15:50,320 --> 00:15:54,480 Speaker 1: Well or the Viking Tower in Newport, Rhode Island certainly 248 00:15:54,640 --> 00:15:59,960 Speaker 1: is not, but it still draws tourists. There now one 249 00:15:59,960 --> 00:16:03,240 Speaker 1: other player. So we've had after Rome, we've had Byzantium, 250 00:16:03,400 --> 00:16:07,360 Speaker 1: we've had the Vikings, and now Islam. So to repeat, 251 00:16:07,480 --> 00:16:11,080 Speaker 1: Mohammed's birth is about the year five seventy a d 252 00:16:11,520 --> 00:16:16,240 Speaker 1: or ce. Even Muslim sources aren't sure about that. Everybody agrees. 253 00:16:16,280 --> 00:16:19,120 Speaker 1: He dies in six thirty two, about six ten, when 254 00:16:19,120 --> 00:16:22,880 Speaker 1: he's about forty years old. He receives the first revelation. 255 00:16:22,960 --> 00:16:26,080 Speaker 1: The angel Gabriel comes to him and says recite, there 256 00:16:26,160 --> 00:16:28,840 Speaker 1: is no God but Allah, and Mohammed is his prophet, 257 00:16:29,120 --> 00:16:32,040 Speaker 1: which is the first revelation, but it actually doesn't occur 258 00:16:32,600 --> 00:16:37,480 Speaker 1: in the first surah or chapter of the Koran, because 259 00:16:37,480 --> 00:16:41,840 Speaker 1: the Koran doesn't go chronologically, and so it's about two 260 00:16:41,880 --> 00:16:45,360 Speaker 1: thirds of the way through. And what Mohammed does is 261 00:16:45,360 --> 00:16:49,160 Speaker 1: he attacks local idol worship in Mecca, the area in 262 00:16:49,240 --> 00:16:52,200 Speaker 1: modern day Saudi Arabia, and Mohammed is very much like 263 00:16:52,240 --> 00:16:55,640 Speaker 1: Abraham was in the ancient Biblical times because he is 264 00:16:55,640 --> 00:17:01,360 Speaker 1: a monotheist surrounded by polytheists. And so he's thrown out 265 00:17:02,280 --> 00:17:05,600 Speaker 1: of Mecca in the year six twenty two in something 266 00:17:05,600 --> 00:17:08,680 Speaker 1: that shows up in the sources as the Heijira, and 267 00:17:08,760 --> 00:17:12,879 Speaker 1: he's thrown out of Mecca and he goes to Medina. 268 00:17:12,959 --> 00:17:15,799 Speaker 1: This happens to be year one of the Muslim calendar, right, 269 00:17:15,840 --> 00:17:18,399 Speaker 1: so we've had a change in the Christian calendar year 270 00:17:18,439 --> 00:17:20,960 Speaker 1: one of the Muslim calendar. We have an ancient Jewish 271 00:17:21,000 --> 00:17:24,359 Speaker 1: calendar as well. He dies in six thirty two and 272 00:17:24,479 --> 00:17:27,079 Speaker 1: in a one hundred year period that historians couldn't make 273 00:17:27,119 --> 00:17:30,559 Speaker 1: up if they tried. From six thirty two to seven 274 00:17:30,800 --> 00:17:35,279 Speaker 1: thirty two Islam begins its advance. Now there is a 275 00:17:35,280 --> 00:17:38,479 Speaker 1: lot of controversy about Islam's advance. A lot of people 276 00:17:38,520 --> 00:17:43,519 Speaker 1: say Islam advanced its faith at the point of a sword. Well, 277 00:17:43,800 --> 00:17:47,840 Speaker 1: Islam was spreading, and excuse me, but Christianity had spread 278 00:17:47,919 --> 00:17:51,879 Speaker 1: that way as well, And so there's notion that Christianity 279 00:17:51,919 --> 00:17:57,639 Speaker 1: spreads peacefully is not true in all cases, in all places, 280 00:17:57,679 --> 00:18:00,080 Speaker 1: at all times, and the same as true of Islam. Yes, 281 00:18:00,080 --> 00:18:02,760 Speaker 1: there were bloody encounters, but there were also encounters where 282 00:18:02,800 --> 00:18:05,920 Speaker 1: communities welcomed Islam. It was the dam dating force. Why 283 00:18:05,919 --> 00:18:08,760 Speaker 1: are you're going to fight against that tide? And they 284 00:18:08,800 --> 00:18:11,999 Speaker 1: cut deals with Islam in much the same way that 285 00:18:12,080 --> 00:18:15,199 Speaker 1: people deals with the Roman Empire. Come to town, we 286 00:18:15,280 --> 00:18:17,639 Speaker 1: will be loyal, but leave us alone to worship as 287 00:18:17,679 --> 00:18:20,439 Speaker 1: we wish. And so in six thirty two to seven 288 00:18:20,520 --> 00:18:23,679 Speaker 1: thirty two, Islam takes over the modern day Holy Land, 289 00:18:23,879 --> 00:18:27,280 Speaker 1: gets as far as Constantinople, but can't take over Constantinople 290 00:18:27,359 --> 00:18:30,999 Speaker 1: for another seven hundred years. Saudi Arabia and all of 291 00:18:31,000 --> 00:18:36,040 Speaker 1: those areas today like Kuwait and all of North Africa, 292 00:18:36,239 --> 00:18:40,800 Speaker 1: jumps the Iberian Peninsula Spain and establishes a capital in Kordeba, 293 00:18:40,919 --> 00:18:43,559 Speaker 1: And so there are a lot of places in the 294 00:18:43,639 --> 00:18:48,399 Speaker 1: United States and in fact around the world where Jewish, Muslim, 295 00:18:48,600 --> 00:18:51,399 Speaker 1: and Christian dialogue takes place, and a lot of these 296 00:18:51,439 --> 00:18:55,959 Speaker 1: programs are called Kordeba House or the Kordeba Program because 297 00:18:56,040 --> 00:18:59,240 Speaker 1: Kordaba becomes kind of an example of how the three 298 00:18:59,239 --> 00:19:02,759 Speaker 1: faiths could have coexisted. So it's they're stopped in the 299 00:19:02,879 --> 00:19:06,359 Speaker 1: East in the year seven eighteen by a Byzantine emperor 300 00:19:06,399 --> 00:19:08,760 Speaker 1: by the name of Leo the Third fighting against a 301 00:19:08,879 --> 00:19:13,959 Speaker 1: very very interesting Islamic general called Suleiman comes up in 302 00:19:13,959 --> 00:19:17,159 Speaker 1: the sources as Suleiman the Magnificent, and they're stopped in 303 00:19:17,199 --> 00:19:21,000 Speaker 1: the West in seven thirty two by Charlemagne's grandfather, who 304 00:19:21,040 --> 00:19:24,279 Speaker 1: was named Charles Martel. Now you can't open up a 305 00:19:24,320 --> 00:19:26,840 Speaker 1: phone book from that period of time if one did 306 00:19:26,879 --> 00:19:32,439 Speaker 1: exist and finds Martella Charles, because Martell is a Frankish 307 00:19:32,479 --> 00:19:36,679 Speaker 1: word for the hammer, kind of sounds like a mafia boss. 308 00:19:37,040 --> 00:19:39,919 Speaker 1: Charles the Hammer, And he's called the Hammer because he 309 00:19:40,040 --> 00:19:43,559 Speaker 1: was such a forceful fighter that running into him was 310 00:19:43,600 --> 00:19:47,679 Speaker 1: like running into a brick wall. Remember Stonewall Jackson from 311 00:19:47,679 --> 00:19:52,879 Speaker 1: the American South, And so everybody has to come together 312 00:19:53,119 --> 00:19:57,919 Speaker 1: under Charles's command to do what nobody had been able 313 00:19:57,919 --> 00:20:00,560 Speaker 1: to do for a hundred years, which is stopped the Muslims. 314 00:20:00,560 --> 00:20:03,759 Speaker 1: And in fact he does that at a battle on 315 00:20:03,840 --> 00:20:06,719 Speaker 1: a field between the two cities of Poitier and tour 316 00:20:07,080 --> 00:20:09,800 Speaker 1: It actually was closer to Poitier, but both of those 317 00:20:09,840 --> 00:20:14,080 Speaker 1: two cities claim to this day to have been the 318 00:20:14,320 --> 00:20:18,119 Speaker 1: spot where Charles Martell stopped the Muslim advance. Because of 319 00:20:18,119 --> 00:20:22,199 Speaker 1: tourism dollars, and Charles Martel has had a new life 320 00:20:23,280 --> 00:20:26,799 Speaker 1: in the last ten or fifteen years because of the 321 00:20:26,919 --> 00:20:30,280 Speaker 1: very politicized notion that some have that Islam is trying 322 00:20:30,320 --> 00:20:34,000 Speaker 1: to capture or take over Western civilization. So people who 323 00:20:34,000 --> 00:20:38,319 Speaker 1: are looking for some political character to say, oh, we 324 00:20:38,439 --> 00:20:42,600 Speaker 1: need to be like, they picked Charles Martell, an obvious 325 00:20:42,679 --> 00:20:50,000 Speaker 1: example of politicizing history. And so the Muslims fall back, oh, 326 00:20:50,359 --> 00:20:54,119 Speaker 1: from that area in Gaul, they go back over the Pyrenees, 327 00:20:54,159 --> 00:20:56,399 Speaker 1: and then the story of seven thirty two to fourteen 328 00:20:56,479 --> 00:20:59,480 Speaker 1: ninety two from the Christian perspective is called the ray 329 00:20:59,560 --> 00:21:04,519 Speaker 1: Konquista or the Reconquest, where Christianity is pushing down, down, 330 00:21:04,560 --> 00:21:09,159 Speaker 1: down down the Muslims and the big moment is Toledo's 331 00:21:09,239 --> 00:21:11,319 Speaker 1: fall in ten eighty five, and we'll see later that 332 00:21:11,359 --> 00:21:14,159 Speaker 1: it's the fall of Toledo in ten eighty five in 333 00:21:14,199 --> 00:21:17,239 Speaker 1: the West that makes the Pope say, well, if we 334 00:21:17,320 --> 00:21:19,759 Speaker 1: beat the Muslims there, maybe we can beat them in 335 00:21:19,800 --> 00:21:23,399 Speaker 1: the Holy Land. And the Crusading movement begins eleven years 336 00:21:23,479 --> 00:21:26,879 Speaker 1: later in ten ninety six. I want to spend a 337 00:21:27,000 --> 00:21:30,359 Speaker 1: moment talking about dynasties. Now again, you may think that 338 00:21:30,399 --> 00:21:33,159 Speaker 1: this goes against my notion that I don't want to 339 00:21:33,159 --> 00:21:37,200 Speaker 1: talk about names, dates, and places, But I do want 340 00:21:37,199 --> 00:21:42,879 Speaker 1: to talk about these dynasties because the dynasties from this 341 00:21:43,000 --> 00:21:48,280 Speaker 1: period remain important dynasties throughout history because they are centered 342 00:21:48,320 --> 00:21:52,719 Speaker 1: in cities that are still very important in history. And 343 00:21:52,800 --> 00:21:56,639 Speaker 1: so the first dynasty after Mohammad dies, Mohammed doesn't have 344 00:21:56,800 --> 00:21:59,600 Speaker 1: a son, he doesn't have a natural air, so it's 345 00:21:59,679 --> 00:22:02,840 Speaker 1: his son in law that takes over, and very quickly 346 00:22:03,239 --> 00:22:07,199 Speaker 1: Islam splits into Sunni and Shia, and there's also a 347 00:22:07,239 --> 00:22:10,879 Speaker 1: Sufi mystic movement that crosses over the two of them 348 00:22:11,199 --> 00:22:13,639 Speaker 1: in much the same way that Christianity splits into East 349 00:22:13,639 --> 00:22:16,519 Speaker 1: and West early on as well. And so you have 350 00:22:16,760 --> 00:22:19,679 Speaker 1: it takes a little while for dynasties to set themselves 351 00:22:19,760 --> 00:22:23,239 Speaker 1: up in these arrival dynasties, and the first major dynasty 352 00:22:23,399 --> 00:22:28,159 Speaker 1: is the Umayad dynasty, which is based in Damascus. Damascus 353 00:22:28,199 --> 00:22:31,199 Speaker 1: remains the capital of modern day Syria, and that's for 354 00:22:31,239 --> 00:22:34,399 Speaker 1: about one hundred years after Muhammad till about seven fifty. 355 00:22:34,719 --> 00:22:37,840 Speaker 1: And then the Abbasids, who are based in Baghdad, yes 356 00:22:37,959 --> 00:22:40,919 Speaker 1: that's Baghdad in modern day Iraq, which actually is not 357 00:22:41,040 --> 00:22:47,320 Speaker 1: far from ancients Babylon, and they basically control Islam, especially 358 00:22:47,320 --> 00:22:49,520 Speaker 1: in what we call the modern Middle East, from about 359 00:22:49,600 --> 00:22:53,879 Speaker 1: seven fifty to twelve fifty eight, and the power shifts 360 00:22:53,959 --> 00:22:59,440 Speaker 1: to Egypt in the capital of Cairo under the Fatimids 361 00:23:00,359 --> 00:23:02,840 Speaker 1: for a period of time within there, and then the 362 00:23:02,919 --> 00:23:06,080 Speaker 1: Mamluks take over from twelve fifty to about fifteen thirty. 363 00:23:06,080 --> 00:23:09,920 Speaker 1: It's in fact the mom Luks who take over Constantinople 364 00:23:09,919 --> 00:23:12,399 Speaker 1: in fourteen fifty three. And then the Ottomans. And folks 365 00:23:12,439 --> 00:23:15,199 Speaker 1: know the Ottomans from courses that you've taken if you 366 00:23:15,280 --> 00:23:18,359 Speaker 1: remember famous cartoons of the sick Man of Europe on 367 00:23:18,399 --> 00:23:22,519 Speaker 1: the eve of World War One. The Ottoman Empire is 368 00:23:22,919 --> 00:23:29,919 Speaker 1: that very corrupt decentralized, shaky organization that gets destroyed by 369 00:23:29,959 --> 00:23:34,119 Speaker 1: the imperial Western powers and gets chopped up officially in 370 00:23:34,159 --> 00:23:36,439 Speaker 1: the Treaty of Versailles, and in fact Europe in the 371 00:23:36,439 --> 00:23:38,959 Speaker 1: modern Middle East are still dealing with some of the 372 00:23:39,080 --> 00:23:43,479 Speaker 1: fallout from those decisions. How did Muslims live with Christians 373 00:23:43,560 --> 00:23:45,999 Speaker 1: and Jews? Well, you know, we don't want to again 374 00:23:46,159 --> 00:23:50,999 Speaker 1: use cartoon characters, but it is generally true that in 375 00:23:51,119 --> 00:23:54,359 Speaker 1: the medieval period it was better to be a Christian 376 00:23:54,520 --> 00:23:59,359 Speaker 1: or a Jew living under Islamic rule than a Muslim 377 00:23:59,520 --> 00:24:04,719 Speaker 1: or a Jew living under Christian rule, because Muslims didn't 378 00:24:04,760 --> 00:24:08,399 Speaker 1: have this notion that they needed to evangelize, that they 379 00:24:08,399 --> 00:24:12,399 Speaker 1: needed to convert everyone underneath them. And so let's use 380 00:24:12,399 --> 00:24:14,359 Speaker 1: an example from the Roman Empire. The Jews and the 381 00:24:14,439 --> 00:24:18,759 Speaker 1: Roman Empire was what was called a religio licta, a 382 00:24:19,040 --> 00:24:23,560 Speaker 1: permitted religion. That is, the Jews were left alone. Or remember, 383 00:24:23,600 --> 00:24:27,280 Speaker 1: the Jews are Monotheists and apollotheistic setting in the Roman Empire, 384 00:24:27,520 --> 00:24:32,280 Speaker 1: and Jews are allowed to practice their faith as long 385 00:24:32,320 --> 00:24:37,520 Speaker 1: as they pray to their God Yahweh for the safety 386 00:24:37,560 --> 00:24:42,200 Speaker 1: and security of the empire and pay tribute. Night's fancy 387 00:24:42,280 --> 00:24:45,799 Speaker 1: word for taxes, and so there is a measure of 388 00:24:45,919 --> 00:24:50,559 Speaker 1: tolerance toward Jews, and this happens a little bit with 389 00:24:50,679 --> 00:24:54,639 Speaker 1: Christians as well, but Christianity becomes persecuted in the Roman Empire, 390 00:24:55,080 --> 00:24:59,840 Speaker 1: as do the Jews later on. And so the notion 391 00:25:00,159 --> 00:25:03,919 Speaker 1: of Islam is that Islam goes into a culture and 392 00:25:04,080 --> 00:25:08,599 Speaker 1: it assimilates what's there, and it enculturates what's there. It 393 00:25:08,639 --> 00:25:12,679 Speaker 1: doesn't destroy the culture. It encounters the culture and says, 394 00:25:12,800 --> 00:25:15,600 Speaker 1: what can we marry here, which is precisely what the 395 00:25:15,679 --> 00:25:18,719 Speaker 1: Roman Empire had done when spreading north in Europe, and 396 00:25:18,800 --> 00:25:23,280 Speaker 1: precisely what Christianity will do in its best moments assimilate 397 00:25:23,320 --> 00:25:26,160 Speaker 1: and enculturate as well. And that's why some people who 398 00:25:26,199 --> 00:25:30,439 Speaker 1: are used to using the phrase pox Romana the Roman 399 00:25:30,520 --> 00:25:35,000 Speaker 1: peace have looked upon this period as a pox Islamica. 400 00:25:35,800 --> 00:25:40,000 Speaker 1: It's a controversial term, not everybody subscribes to it, but 401 00:25:40,159 --> 00:25:44,879 Speaker 1: by and large, if you paid your taxes and you 402 00:25:44,919 --> 00:25:48,480 Speaker 1: didn't cause trouble, you were allowed to practice your Christian 403 00:25:48,560 --> 00:25:51,040 Speaker 1: or Jewish faith. That is not to say that there 404 00:25:51,080 --> 00:25:55,520 Speaker 1: weren't the equivalent of what we call programs against Christians 405 00:25:55,560 --> 00:25:59,399 Speaker 1: and Jews under Islamic rule, but then again, there were 406 00:25:59,479 --> 00:26:04,560 Speaker 1: programs under Christian rule against Jews and Muslims as well, 407 00:26:04,600 --> 00:26:07,560 Speaker 1: So we have to tell the whole story. And so 408 00:26:07,760 --> 00:26:10,520 Speaker 1: there is no need for an Islamic Renaissance because there's 409 00:26:10,560 --> 00:26:14,560 Speaker 1: no Islamic Dark Age. Muslims are having these great advances 410 00:26:14,560 --> 00:26:18,240 Speaker 1: in medicine and math and exploration in the sciences. The 411 00:26:18,359 --> 00:26:29,159 Speaker 1: face of the Roman world has significantly changed. Next time 412 00:26:29,280 --> 00:26:33,199 Speaker 1: on Secrets of the Medieval World, the Renaissance and the 413 00:26:33,239 --> 00:26:41,239 Speaker 1: Renaissance men behind it, not just Da Vinci. Half hour history. 414 00:26:41,760 --> 00:26:45,319 Speaker 1: Secrets of the Medieval World from One Day University is 415 00:26:45,320 --> 00:26:48,920 Speaker 1: a production of iHeart Podcasts and School of Humans. If 416 00:26:48,919 --> 00:26:51,600 Speaker 1: you're enjoying the show, leave a review in your favorite 417 00:26:51,639 --> 00:26:54,959 Speaker 1: podcast app, and check out the Curiosity Audio Network for 418 00:26:55,000 --> 00:27:11,639 Speaker 1: podcasts covering history, pop culture, true crime, and more. School 419 00:27:11,639 --> 00:27:12,200 Speaker 1: of Humans