Monthly Archives: July 2022

Before the First Crusade to the Holy Land, the idea of religious war was tried out in Spain. The Christian kingdoms in the north were, from west to east (left to right): Galicia with two Atlantic borders; Castile and Leon, … Continue reading →

We traced earlier how the rise of the Pope’s power was tied to the military support of Charlemagne’s family. But after the land of the Franks broke up for the last time in an inheritance distribution, separate branches of the … Continue reading →

In 1055, Seljuk Turks took over governance of Baghdad. The Abbasid Caliph was still technically alive but powerless. Seljuk rulers spoke Turkish, Persian and sometimes Arabic, and often they used Islamic names like Muhammad. However, the old Arabic titles of … Continue reading →

By the beginning of the Middle Ages (6th cent.), Christians had a general understanding that all theological disputes should be solved by representatives of the five major Christian regions: Jerusalem, Antioch, Alexandria, Constantinople and Rome. After the fall of the Roman … Continue reading →

Before the year 1000, there’s no clear evidence of anti-Jewish actions. A small community of Jews had settled along the Rhine River in Roman days; there were some other small historic communities in parts of Roman France. Most of Europe’s … Continue reading →

You’ll remember that one of the early steps to pacifying the North was the deal the Franks made with Rollo the Dane to have land in exchange for peace. The Northmen who settled in Normandy were probably warriors who took … Continue reading →

After about 950, the nature of the Muslim world began to change profoundly. Each region had its own type of change. In Persia, there were nomadic Turks moving in, converting, ruling various regions, and often moving on toward the Middle … Continue reading →