The chapter on christendom has three main points: the West, the Byzantine Empire, and the crusades.
When referring to the West, Strayer describes it as the recently fallen Roman Empire and its evolution since the collapse. The West tried to clench its grasps around the crumbling empire, but the outward pressure was too great. As a result of its collapse, the West was very poor and "rural" compared to the wealthy Byzantines because the former Roman Empire was pillaged by germanic peoples and the Huns. The West lost its centralized rule, population declined by about 25 percent, and the germanic kingdoms rose to power. Through all of the hardships, the Catholic Church created stability, it modeled its hierarchy after the Roman Empire, and converted much of Europe's non-Christians (pagans). By 1100, approximately all of Europe was Christian and would lead to conflicts with the Muslims in the crusades.
The Byzantine Empire rose to prominence since the destruction of the Western Roman Empire through a strong military, leaders, and defenses. The Emperor Constantine became the first Christian emperor and set the precedent for the rest of christendom. The city, Byzantium was named in honor of Constantine and was called Constantinople. It was a built on the strait between the Black Sea and Mediterranean Sea. Also, Constantinople became the wealthiest and largest city in Europe because it had largely avoided the invasions from the Huns. Emperor Constantine was both the head of the church and emperor, acting as a role of caesar.
The Crusades or "holy wars" were authorized by the pope, giving participants an offered indulgence in return for swearing an oath to defend their faith. With the crusades came considerable cruelties, which included the slaughtering of many Muslims and Jews in Jerusalem in 1099. When thinking of crusades, most people make the assumption that the crusades were situated in modern day Israel. However, the Moors and Berbers had controlled the Iberian Peninsula. The pope called numerous crusades to reclaim the Iberian Peninsula.Overall, the crusades were not influential and did not have a lasting effect in the Middle East because the Muslims had reclaimed their "holy places" of worship.
Sunday
Chapter 7: Commerce and Culture
After reading chapter 7, three main "mechanisms" really were the focal points that Strayer emphasized: the spread of commerce and culture, human interaction, and societal change. The Silk Road was the major highway that linked trade between China and the Eastern parts of the Mediterranean. This was the most significant trading route discussed in the chapter because it transformed entire regions into formidable empires. The Silk Road was derived from the trading of silk cloth in China, which had a monopoly on the luxury good. It was in such high demand that it was used as currency and the Roman Empire devoted most of its resources in acquiring the luxury item. Western Africa also had a significant rise in commerce with the introduction of the camel, making the Sahara trek possible in about ten days. Lastly, the oceanic trade between India and Eastern Africa had a prominent effect on both regions. Some Indian merchants uprooted from India and settled in parts of Eastern Africa. Not only did commerce traverse from the Far East, but cultures spread as well. Christianity, Buddhism, Islam, and Hinduism were spread amongst trade routes as merchants exchanged beliefs and even technologies. Southern areas of India had been transformed into Christianity as they traded with Christians from Eastern Africa. The spread of Islam was particularly significant because it was universally accepted by Indian, African, and Asian traders as Muhammad shared their own occupation. Even some Buddhist monks in Burma had "regarded it as commercially useful to assume Muslim names." The rise of Islam was widespread along coastlines because of the interaction in human trade existed at these locations.
Human interaction was another mechanism that was a focal point in the chapter. Disease was the main subject that was related to human interaction and it was significant when major invasions changed the landscape of regions. For example, the Black Death wiped out tens of thousands of Byzantines around the time when The Mongols were invading parts of Asia and Arab lands. Small pox and measles also devastated areas along the Silk Road, largely due in part to the human interaction of trading.
Human interaction was another mechanism that was a focal point in the chapter. Disease was the main subject that was related to human interaction and it was significant when major invasions changed the landscape of regions. For example, the Black Death wiped out tens of thousands of Byzantines around the time when The Mongols were invading parts of Asia and Arab lands. Small pox and measles also devastated areas along the Silk Road, largely due in part to the human interaction of trading.
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