Friday 12 July 2019

Pope Urban II on Muslims in 1095

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"They [the enemies of God] inhabit Asia, the third portion of the world, as their native soil... They hold Africa also, another quarter of the world, already possessed by their arms for more than two hundred years; which, on this account, I pronounce derogatory to Christian honour, because that country was anciently the nurse of celebrated geniuses, who by their divine writings, will mock the rust of antiquity as long as there shall be a person who can relish Roman literature; the learned know the truth of what I say. Europe, the third portion of the world, remains, of which how small a part do we Christians inhabit, for who can call all those barbarians who dwell in remote islands of the frozen ocean Christians, since they live after a savage manner? Even this small portion of the world, belonging to us, the Turks and Saracens oppress. Thus for three hundred years, Spain and the Balearic isles being subjugated to them..."

Pope Urban II, in a sermon in 1095, as reported by William of Malmesbury in his 'Gesta Regum Anglorum' ('Deeds of the English Kings'), consciously modelled on the Venerable Bede and completed in 1125. 

I doubt William knew his exact words but he may have spoken to people who were there. 

This was the start of the Crusades, strongly condemned by people like Lord Chesterfield as unprovoked wars, which they were. They were a Christian imitation of the Muslim jihad, or holy struggle, which had subjugated Asia and Africa (meaning the Middle East and North Africa), Spain and Portugal in the seventh century. 

Spain and Portugal were still subjugated when Urban II spoke and the infidels might have subjugated France too were it not for Charles Martel, who defeated them at the Battle of Tours. Muslims had sacked Rome in 856.

We know nothing much about the so-called 'righteous Caliphs' who conquered so much of the world for Islam after Mahomet's death but they were clearly Islamists. (We do not know for certain that their prophet existed but the circumstantial evidence that he did is, in my view, strong.)

Popes have changed a lot since 1125 and since 1571 when an alliance put together by Pope St. Pius V defeated the Turkish fleet at the Battle of Lepanto. Steve Bannon  and Matteo Salvini, I am sure, approve of St Pius V.



3 comments:

  1. This was the start of the Crusades, strongly condemned by people like Lord Chesterfield as unprovoked wars, which they were. They were a Christian imitation of the Muslim jihad

    And the West is still waging jihad against the Islamic world. We haven't learnt a thing. We still send young men off to die in pointless unjustified unprovoked wars in the Middle East.

    And was European colonialism any different from Islam's expansionary wars a thousand years ago? The only difference I can see is that the Muslims were inspired by religion while the European powers were inspired by pride and greed.

    Perhaps we're failing to notice the beam in our own eye?

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  2. Good points though European or certainly British colonialism did a huge amount of good as well as some bad. Mr and Mrs Clinton's hope for a borderless world could be the bad sort of imperialism.

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  3. Invader horde overruns the Pantheon in Paris demanding “papers and freedom for all”

    http://www.occidentaldissent.com/2019/07/12/barbarian-african-horde-storms-the-pantheon-in-paris/

    ReplyDelete