10 Historical Facts I Learned In 'Sword and Scimitar'
Reading Raymond Ibrahim’s ‘Sword and Scimitar’, I learned more historically than I was expecting to in each chapter, some of which left me embarrassed as to the gaps in my knowledge.
Saint John Cassian (W.Commons)
1. One of the main things that surprised me was the extent to which Christianity had permeated the ancient Middle East.
Roman Syria in 634 was ‘much larger than today and encompassed modern-day Israel, Jordan, and Palestinian territories. It was also profoundly Christian… Antioch, where the followers of Jesus were first called “Christian”, and Jerusalem… were in Syria.’
And so was Egypt; in the words of a Christian monk, John Cassian, who visited Egypt in the late 300s, ‘“the traveller from Alexandria in the north to Luxor in the south would have”’ heard, all through his journey in the desert, ‘“the sounds of prayers and hymns of the monks… from the monasteries and from the caves…”’
(Own image - Viking exhibition at British Museum)
2. What started the Viking raids on Europe in the mid-600s?
When the caliphate was unable to conquer Constantinople in the 700s, its demand for European slaves, especially for fair-skinned, fair-haired women, found an answer in a slave trade arrangement with ‘pagan Scandinavian pirates who shared Islam’s hostility for Christians.’
Roman portraiture fresco of a young man with a papyrus scroll, from Herculaneum, 1st century AD (W.Commons)
3. What made the Dark Ages dark?
The conquest of Egypt almost immediately stopped Europe’s ability to import papyrus, which meant literacy rates dropped back to pre-Roman levels, resulting in a European population that was largely illiterate, which led to an intellectual, cultural and, eventually, economic decline.
Charlemagne’s coronation by Pope Leo III (W.Commons)
4. How Charles the Great – Charlemagne – came to power:
The disunity that plagued Western Europe which had been without an emperor for over 300 years, made it vulnerable not only to Islamic attacks but invasions from other pagan peoples.
The crowning of Charles the Great as the first Holy Roman Emperor in 800 signalled the ‘“… moment modern history…”’ began. (‘Western Europe in the Middle Ages’ by Brian Tierney and Sidney Painter)
Quoting another historian, Henri Pirenne: ‘“Without Islam the Frankish Empire would probably never have existed…”’ (‘Mohammed and Charlemagne’)
‘The Capture of Jerusalem’ by Emile Signol
5. What was the motivation for the Crusades?
Contrary to popular belief, bloodlust and hatred were not what motivated the crusaders, but love, the kind of love exemplified by Christian self-sacrifice, what early Christian writers described as ‘agape’, from the Ancient Greek: “the highest form of love, charity… the love of God for [human beings] and of [human beings] for God” (‘A Greek-English Lexicon’ by Henry George Liddell).
They weren’t imperialists but resolute defenders of the Christian faith, each one risking ‘“his life, social status and all his possessions…”’ (‘The First Crusade: A Brief History with Documents’ by Jay Rubinstein), and the ones ‘“who took up the cross [were] those with the most”’ to lose (‘Crusades: The Illustrated History’ by Thomas F Madden)
One of those who sold all his properties before leaving for the Holy Land was ‘Raymond IV of Toulouse, whose resources were greater than those of most kings’; he died in the Holy Land.
Mosaic of Marco Polo, Municipal Palace of Genoa (W.Commons)
6. What impact did the crusades have?
The crusaders journeying to the Holy Land ignited ‘“the spirit of adventure”’ amongst Europeans; when the ‘“Venetian Polos… [travelled] as far east as… China, [they] fired the economic imagination which eventually led to the discovery of the New World.”’ (‘Military History of the Western World’ Vol.1 by JFC Fuller)
Registration of Christian boys for the devshirme, Ottoman miniature painting 1558 (W.Commons)
7. Who were the Janissaries?
Janissaries, or ‘yeniçeri’ (new soldier), were members of the Ottoman sultan’s elite infantry units.
Originally, they were European Christian boys, as young as eight, mainly from the Balkans, who were taken as slaves through the ‘devshirme’ (child levy) system; only ‘the handsomest and halest’ were taken, and fathers who tried to resist were ‘executed on the spot’.
The children, from noble and poor families, were forcibly circumcised, forcibly converted to Islam, and indoctrinated in jihad before being unleashed on Christians.
The draconian and dehumanising training system they were subjected to transformed them into ‘the most feared element of the Ottoman army’, fanatically loyal to the sultan, and who craved waging war on infidels.
The Battle of Kulikovo by Adolphe Yvon (W.Commons)
8. Russia and the Mongols:
Between 1237 and 1241, the pagan Mongols, or ‘Tatars’, swept through Russia, obliterating much of the country, destroying Moscow and Kiev, resulting in the deaths of two-thirds of the Russian population.
By 1300, the Mongols had embraced Islam, bringing an end to their former ‘religious tolerance (or indifference)’ to their Christian subjects and began persecuting them instead.
Internal conflict began to plague the Golden Horde (the Mongolian Great State) around 1359, and in 1380, Mamai, a powerful Mongol military commander, led his army of around 100,000 to face 50,000 Russians under the leadership of Grand Prince Dmitri Ivanovich of Moscow.
The opposing armies met at Kulikovo Field; Dmitri’s forces made full use of the terrain of rivers and forests, which gave them the advantage over the Tatar horsemen who relied on open ground to effectively deploy their ‘manoeuvring and flanking abilities.’
Despite being outnumbered, the Russians fought savagely, wanting revenge for years of Tatar persecution, and managed to rout the Mongols who fled the field.
After 150 years of oppression, the Russians, under Grand Prince Dmitri, were victorious against the Tatars, and, although they would not achieve full liberation for another century, they had succeeded in proving their persecutors were far from invincible.
Obviously, there is so much more information to do with this particular aspect of history, well worth looking into.
Columbus before the Queen by Emanuel Leutze (W.Commons)
9. What was the real reason for Christopher Columbus’ voyages?
The capture of Granada by the Spanish monarchs, Ferdinand and Isabella, did not signal the end of the war with Islam.
Their plans to launch ‘“a final and definite Crusade against Islam by way of the Indies”’ (‘The History of Spain’ by Lous Bertrand) was the impetus for the funding of Christopher Columbus’ voyage, except it led to him founding the New World.
Burning of the frigate Philadelphia in the Harbour of Tripoli by Edward Moran (W.Commons)
10. How did America get drawn into the jihad wars?
In 1785, two American ships, the Maria and Dauphin, were captured by Algerian pirates who enslaved the sailors.
The American ambassador to France, Thomas Jefferson, and John Adams, who was ambassador to England, met with Tripoli’s ambassador to Britain to try and secure the sailors’ release.
The ambassador informed them that infidels had to pay a ransom (‘jizya’) as most if not all Europe was doing at the time, much to the astonishment of the Americans.
While some had their misgivings, the majority of Congress agreed; as John Adams concluded: ‘“We ought not to fight them at all unless we determine to fight them forever”’ (‘Thomas Jefferson and the Tripoli Pirates: The Forgotten War That Changed American History’ by Brian Kilmeade and Don Yaeger).
The capture of more American ships resulted in the passing of the Naval Act of 1794 and the establishment of a permanent standing US naval force.
America began to pay the jizya until 1801 by which time it had built six war vessels; the US Navy warred with Tripoli until 27th April 1805 when America had its first victory as a nation.
Again, there’s so much more detail surrounding this that it deserves quite the deep dive of its own.
As much as I enjoyed the whole book, Chapter 8 about the Siege of Vienna is, without a doubt, my favourite chapter.
I discovered so much more information than what is my post about the Winged Hussars, which brings the siege and the battle to life.
The reason I haven’t included any of that is, the whole thing deserves to be read in full to do it justice.
If you want to find out more – and there is so much more to discover about those ‘fourteen centuries of war between Islam and the West’ – I would highly recommend getting yourself a copy of ‘Sword and Scimitar’; it is absolutely brilliant.