Early Medieval Cultures Essay
Introduction
The history of both Islamic and Christianity has been around for many years and can be traced back to the ancient times between 632 and 1000 C.E. Since then, there were many conquests within both religions to spread their faith. In the Medieval, cultural advances constituted governing methods on local expertise and systems of administration. This essay provides a detailed analysis comparing the development of specific Islamic and Christianity locations between 632 and 1000 C.E in Europe.
Development of Islamic and Christian Between 632-1000 C.E.
The rise of Islamic religion took place within 100 years following the vision of Mohammed in the 7th-century C.E (McKay et al., 2017). The Islamic rulers (caliphs) and Kings shifted their administrative systems to Romans, which lead to the emergence of new entities in the political arena, including monks and local lords. During this time, many people within the Arabian Peninsula had converted and ruled by the Islamic caliphs. Islam then spread to North Africa, the Middle East, and Spain in the 8th century. On the other hand, Christianity occurred in 650 C.E., which was the end of the Late Frassetto, M. (2019(McKay et al., 2017). During this time the unified Roman empire did not exist, but Constantine power bestowed in Justinian and West strengthened the peoples’ belief in the Byzantine Empire, leading to the growth of Christianity.
The basis of Christianity was to praise God with three coeternal consubstantial persons, which are the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. However, the Islamic culture had the believe that there was only one God, and there was no comparison to him. This believe of only one God in the Islamic culture was so strong that it was evident in phrases that were printed on buildings and currency (Frassetto, 2019). This was the discontentment the Islam had towards the ideology of Christianity of having God in three divine persons.
As religion grew, the Medieval Culture constituted governing methods based on local expertise and systems of administrations. Leaders from both Islamic and Christianity religion turned out to teaching patrons who then taught people at newly established educational centers (Frassetto, 2019). These educational reforms that occurred reflect the aspirations and needs of leaders. Leaders from both religions supported education because it was an opportunity to create spread their political and social vision.
Christianity expanded as the Roman Empire expanded to the east to most part of Europe and further. Islam, with their conquest overtook many regions from North Africa moving further north taking over some Christian armies that were beaten down from other battles. During this period, the city of Damascus was overtaken by the Arabs Muslims from the Byzantine army in 634 C.E., a few years after the death of Prophet Muhammad (Tolan, Laurens, & Veinstein, 2012). This battle gave the Islamic culture a stronghold to spread Islamic in the middle east.
Conclusion
During the Early Medieval, Islamic and Christianity grew and spread their culture widely as many people converted to join either religion. Both religions brought from different cultures together as they exchanged skills and knowledge that led to innovation and later introduction of education. The culture of people in the Early Medieval reveal many things about their social life and values as evident from their art, education, architecture, and rituals.
The guidelines in this unit lesson helped me to use variety of methods to answer various questions about the past. I was able to use historical evidence to understand how both Islamic and Christianity spread. Objects and artifacts reflect how people lived in a specific times and places.
References
Frassetto, M. (2019). Christians and Muslims in the Middle Ages: From Muhammad to Dante. Lexington Books.
McKay, J. P., Hill, B. D., Buckler, J., Crowston, C. H., Wiesner-Hanks, M. E., & Perry, J. (2010). A History of Western Society, Volume 1: From Antiquity to the Enlightenment (Vol. 1). Macmillan.
Tolan, J., Laurens, H., & Veinstein, G. (2012). Europe and the Islamic world: A history. Princeton University Press.