5. Facts and Stories Illustrative of Islam during this Period. a. The Greek Embassy to Bagdad. "In the beginning of . . . 917, two ambassadors from the Greek emperor . . . arrived in Bagdad on a mission to its caliph, bringing an abundance of costly presents. . . . The caliph, having appointed a day on which he would receive them, ordered that the courts and passages and avenues of his palace should be filled with armed men, and that all the apartments should be furnished with the utmost magnificence. A hundred and sixty thousand armed soldiers were arranged in ranks in the approach to the palace; next to these were the pages of the closets, and chief eunuchs, clad in silk and with belts set with jewels, in number seven thousand, — four thousand white, and three thousand black, besides seven hundred chamberlains; and beautifully ornamented boats of various kinds were seen floating on the Tigris hard by. The two ambassadors passed first by the palace of the chief chamberlain, and, astonished at the splendid ornaments and pages and arms which they there beheld, imagined that this was the palace of the caliph. But what they had seen here was eclipsed by what they beheld in the latter, where they were amazed by the sight of thirtyeight thousand pieces of tapestry of gold-embroidered silk brocade, and twenty-two thousand magnificent carpets. Here, also, were two menageries of beasts, by nature wild, but tamed by art, and eating from the hands of men: among them a hundred lions, each with its keeper. They then entered the palace of the Tree, enclosing a pond from which rose the Tree: this had eighteen branches, with artificial leaves of various colors, and with birds of gold and silver [or gilt and silvered] of every kind and size perched upon its branches, so constructed that each of them sang. Thence they passed into the garden, in which were furniture and utensils not to be enumerated; in the passages leading to it were suspended ten thousand gilt coats of mail. Being at length conducted before the caliph himself, they found him seated on a couch of ebony, inlaid with gold and silver, to the right of which were hung nine necklaces of jewels, and the like to the left, the jewels of which outshone the light of day." b. A Present made to a Spanish Caliph. In 937, a Spanish caliph received as a gift from a wealthy subject hundreds of pounds of coined and virgin gold; Indian aloes and aloe-wood of the finest quality; camphor, amber, and musk; thirty pieces of silk, painted and embroidered with gold; ten long mantles, lined with marten's fur, from Khorassan; a hundred sable-skins; raw and spun silk, woolen carpets and rugs; Arabian horses and suits of armor for men and horses; male and female slaves, the latter adorned with jewels, and having various musical instruments on which they could perform. STUDY ON 5. Make a list of the industries and arts that must have been known at Bagdad in 917. Compare the visit of the Greek ambassadors to Omar (p. 280), with their visit to this Caliph; what great change has occurred? With what countries must the Moors of Spain have had some commerce? From 5, and the Mohammedan names and works in 3, what adjectives will you apply to the civilization of Islam? B. STUDY ON CRUSADING PERIOD. Chief contemporary authorities: Monkish chroniclers, such as Ordericus Vitalis; soldier chroniclers, such as Joinville; laws of the period, canon and secular. Chief modern authorities accessible in English: Same as in preceding period: special for crusades, Michaud, Sybel, Cox. Questions on Map. - Compare the size of the divisions of Europe with the size of the modern divisions. What cause can you give for their number and comparatively small size at the opening of the twelfth century? What countries of Europe have positive natural boundaries? Which countries are badly defined by nature, and in which directions? Which countries will most easily become settled units, and why? 1. Chronological Summary of Leading Events, a. In general. 1096 ΤΟ 1099. First crusade (see p. 296) preached everywhere by the clergy and by special emissaries of the pope, notably Peter the Hermit. Men of all classes and sorts start in great disorder for the Holy Land after Peter the Hermit and other fanatical leaders; many perish by the way; in Germany they massacre the Jews; in Bulgaria, not being able to buy provisions, they devastate the country, carry off the flocks, burn the houses, massacre the inhabitants who oppose their violence. As soon as possible, organized forces of French and Germans, amounting to two or three hundred thousand warriors, under the lead of Duke Godfrey of Boulogne, Count Hugh of Vermandois, the French king's brother, -Raymond, Count of Toulouse, Aymer (Adhemar), bishop of Puy, set forth for Jerusalem. Their followers are largely knights, who mortgage or sell their lands to other knights, and largely to the Church. After crossing the Bosphorus they wage a constant war against the "infidel"; besiege and take Nikaia; Baldwin, brother of Godfrey, takes Edessa, and rules its territory as its king. The crusaders besiege Antioch, and after nine months gain it. Jerusalem is captured, and a promiscuous massacre of its inhabitants follows, during which the Jews are burned alive in their synagogues. Godfrey of Boulogne is chosen king of the Latin Kingdom of Jerusalem. Constant petty war in the East; on the fall of Edessa into the hands of the Moslem, a new appeal for help is made to Europe. 1099 TO 1145. |