Kat Cendana – Page 9 – Amazing Bible Timeline with World History

Posted on December 20, 2017August 19, 2018 by Kat Cendana — Leave a comment

Ethiopia Resists Colonization 1896

On May 1, 1896, Emperor Menelik II of Ethiopia and his army fought the Italian forces in the Battle of Adwa. The Ethiopians decimated the Italians and scored a spectacular victory by using rifles and bullets they had received from the Italian government. Ethiopia became the first African state to successfully resist European colonization and defend its independence. This event is recorded on the Biblical Timeline Chart with World History during this time.

Ancient Ethiopia

The Kingdom of Aksum was founded in AD 100 in the area now occupied by northern Ethiopia and Eritrea. Christianity first arrived during the 4th century and quickly spread throughout the kingdom. Since the Aksumite churches had strong ties with the neighboring Copts of Egypt (and their supposed belief in monophysitism), Rome was quick to brand the Ethiopians as heretics. As Islam spread throughout eastern and northern Africa, Aksum became increasingly isolated. Despite the isolation, the Ethiopians managed to develop their own unique brand of Christianity. It became the dominant religion throughout the kingdom’s existence.

In the late 13th century, the Solomonic Dynasty (whose heirs claimed direct descent from King Solomon and the Queen of Sheba) started to rule Ethiopia. For many centuries, the Ethiopian church maintained a relationship with Jerusalem. In 1441, the Ethiopians briefly broke their isolation by sending delegates to the Council of Florence. Jesuit missionaries first entered its borders in 1554 and again in 1603. The Jesuit interlude abruptly ended, and the kingdom remained in isolation until the Scramble for Africa in the 19th century. Because of its people’s fierce independence and its rulers’ willingness to match European cunning, Ethiopia became one of the two African states which escaped European colonization during the 19th century.

Ethiopia and Italy During the Age of Imperialism

For many centuries, the interior of the African continent was not as attractive to the Europeans as the Mediterranean coast or the Cape. This would change when missionaries and explorers (such as James Bruce, David Livingstone, and Henry M. Stanley) made the dangerous journeys into its interior. They brought back news of exotic people and mysterious places with plenty of resources. Eager to strike it rich, European colonial governments followed the path of the missionaries and explorers. King Leopold II of Belgium made the first move by claiming the Congo and by establishing Belgian colonies in the area in 1876. This pushed the French to claim a section of central Africa as its own. It was followed by other European powers, bringing about the mad Scramble for Africa.

In 1855, the Ethiopian Empire emerged from division and was united under the leadership Emperor Tewodros II of the Solomonic Dynasty. The kings who ruled the various Ethiopian provinces grudgingly acknowledged Tewodros as their overlord until his death in 1868. He was succeeded by the ruler of the province of Tigray, King Yohannes IV, as emperor of the Ethiopian Empire. The equally ambitious Menelik II ruled the province of Shewa in the south and proved to be Yohannes’s rival in the dominance of the Empire. To curb Menelik’s power, Yohannes first had him imprisoned for ten years before sending him back to his own domain.

The Scramble for Africa intensified during the reign of Yohannes and Menelik. Britain had South Africa and Zimbabwe and was extending its influence in Egypt and Sudan. France, meanwhile, had claimed Algeria, large areas of West Africa, as well as most of the islands in the Indian Ocean. In 1862, France signed treaties with the local rulers of Djibouti (later French Somaliland) to counter British presence in the Red Sea. Italy, a country that was united only in 1861, soon entered the race to acquire its own colony. The latecomer’s target was the Ethiopian Empire.

Italy’s first contact with the Ethiopian Empire was in 1869 when the Rubattino Shipping Company established a small trading port in Assab (present-day Eritrea). Realizing their potential, King Menelik then made overtures to the Italians and soon befriended them in exchange for arms. The Italian government soon took over the management of Assab in 1882 with some encouragement from Britain.

In 1885, Italy sent two military expeditions to Massawa in Eritrea. It soon became clear to Menelik that Italy had colonial ambitions of its own and it put him on edge. Emperor Yohannes, meanwhile, experienced firsthand Britain’s unreliability as an ally. The emperor had counted on the British to get rid of the Egyptian garrisons in the coast so Ethiopia could finally gain access to the Red Sea under the Hewett Treaty of 1884. But instead of entrusting it to Yohannes, the British authorities disregarded him and pushed Italy to occupy the coast to safeguard a portion of the Red Sea from the French.

To contain Italian colonial ambitions, King Menelik decided to set his grievances aside and swore allegiance to Emperor Yohannes so they could put up a united front. He also remained friendly to the Italians who were his main (if not only) arms dealer (a decision which proved prudent many years later). On January 26, 1887, both sides finally came to a head when Italian troops started heading west of Massawa and into the Ethiopian interior. Ras Alula, a governor under Emperor Yohannes, was able to hold the Italians back and rout them in the Battle of Dogali.

The loss at Dogali was a humiliation for Italy, but it stubbornly held onto its ambition to colonize Ethiopia. Menelik remained cordial with the Italians while he was consolidating power. During this time, he was also preparing for any eventuality by stockpiling Italian arms. In November 1888, however, Yohannes and Menelik had a falling out and war seemed inevitable. The Italian envoy Count Pietro Antonelli encouraged Menelik to escalate the hostility to a civil war and promised to supply him with rifles and bullets. In truth, Antonelli was counting on using the distraction so that Italians troops could occupy the highlands. The king saw through the scheme, but he cautiously allowed the Italians to continue meddling in Ethiopian internal affairs so he could stockpile arms.

The promised rifles did not appear until December of 1888. By then, the civil war had been averted when the Mahdists of Sudan declared war on Yohannes. The emperor died in battle in 1889 against the Mahdists, and (after some struggle with Yohannes’s heir) was succeeded by Menelik as emperor. The new emperor soon gained recognition from Italy in the Treaty of Wichale which both parties signed in 1899. In the Treaty, Menelik agreed to cede what is now modern Eritrea to Italy in exchange for money plus rifles and heavy artillery.

The First Italo-Ethiopian War

Little did the two parties realize that a mistake in translation would spark the First Italo-Ethiopian War in 1896. In the Italian document of the Treaty, Article 17 specified that the Italian government would serve as Ethiopia’s sole representative in its foreign affairs. This was contrary to the Amharic version which simply stipulated that Ethiopia could ask for assistance with the Italian government anytime. The mistake (deliberate or not ) was discovered when diplomatic letters to foreign governments were sent from Shewa when Menelik was crowned as emperor in late 1889. To his rage, he found that the foreign governments rebuffed him and told him to direct his letters to Italy as Ethiopia was now its protectorate. Emperor Menelik realized his mistake and was quick to disavow the Treaty in 1894.

A rift formed between the two countries formed because of the Treaty, but Italy still provided the emperor with arms to curry his favor. Little did they know that the same weapons would be used against them later on. Local elites who did not favor Menelik also resented Italy’s encroachment, so they decided to set aside their grievances and submit to Menelik. This allowed the emperor to consolidate power and strengthen his army to prepare for a war with Italy.

The First Italo-Ethiopian War started with skirmishes between the Tigray army led by Ras Mengesha and the Italian soldiers stationed in Eritrea in 1895. Ras Mengesha finally succeeded in luring General Oreste Baratieri and his troops into Ethiopia proper. The emperor then roused the anger of Ethiopians by declaring that the Italian troops and their Eritrean reinforcements were trespassing on their land.

On March 1, 1896, General Baratieri and Emperor Menelik’s troops finally met in Battle of Adwa. Baratieri was prepared to wait until Menelik’s troops became weak, but he was relentlessly harassed by the Italian Prime Minister Crispi’s nagging telegrams from Rome. The general also heard rumors that a more capable Italian commander was on his way to Adwa to relieve him. His ego now stung, he rashly decided to prove his skills by ordering his army to attack Menelik’s forces on February 29, 1896. By March 2, his badly outnumbered troops were routed by the Ethiopians. 4,000 Italian and 2,000 Eritrean soldiers died that day. Thousands more were either wounded or taken as prisoners of war by the Ethiopians.

Although the Ethiopian death toll was far lower than that of the Italians, Menelik dared not gamble his victory away and immediately retreated to Addis Ababa. After the humiliating defeat, Italy was finally forced to recognize Ethiopia’s independence. Prime Minister Crispi, on the other hand, was forced to resign from his position immediately after news of the fiasco reached Italy. Ethiopia became the only African country to successfully resist European colonization.

References:

Picture by: Unknown – Pankhurst, Richard. Ethiopia Photographed: Historic Photographs of the Country and its People Taken Between 1867 and 1935 p. 52, Public Domain, Link

Jones, A. H. M., and Elizabeth Monroe. A History of Ethiopia. London: Oxford University Press, 1962.

Marcus, Harold G. A History of Ethiopia. Berkeley: University of California Press, 2002.

Zewde, Bahru. A History of Modern Ethiopia, 1855-1991. 2nd ed. Oxford: James Curry, 2001.

Posted on December 20, 2017May 17, 2018 by Kat Cendana — Leave a comment

First African Baptist Church in America 1773-1775

The First African Baptist Church was organized by Reverend George Liele (Lisle) of Savannah, Georgia between 1773 and 1775. Liele was born into slavery in 1750 in Virginia. During his youth, he was transported to other parts of the colonies until he was sold to a Baptist deacon named Henry Sharp of Burke County, Georgia. His master later allowed him to attend a nearby Baptist church. He was baptized by Matthew Moore, the pastor of the Big Buckhead Baptist Church in Millen, Georgia. These events are recorded on the Bible Timeline Poster with World History during that time.

The Foundation of the First African Baptist Church

Lisle helped to convert some of the original members of the First African Baptist Church.

The future of the first African church in North America became uncertain. Liele’s friend David George also fled to Nova Scotia with his family and the Loyalists. The task of continuing Leile’s legacy was left to Andrew Bryan and his wife Hannah who had chosen to remain in Savannah. Bryan started preaching months after Liele’s departure and soon attracted a number of followers. A man named Edward Davis offered the preacher and his congregation a piece of land in Yamacraw where they could build a church and hold services. Bryan agreed, and his small congregation soon had a new home. Unfortunately, they were soon evicted from this location.

Since he was a slave, Bryan and his ministry encountered fierce opposition from the white community. He was forbidden to preach and was twice imprisoned for defying the order. He, his brother Sampson, and other members of their ministry were whipped for their defiance. They were finally released from imprisonment when Andrew’s master, Jonathan Bryan, intervened on their behalf. Jonathan Bryan then offered a barn on his property called Brampton so that Andrew Bryan and his congregation could worship without fear of harassment. The congregation agreed to occupy the barn as their makeshift church. This arrangement lasted for two years.

The prominent Baptist pastor Abraham Marshall and his colleague Thomas Burton visited the congregation in early 1788. The two men conducted an interview and examination of the congregation and its pastor. After finding their answers satisfactory, he then certified the church and its pastor on January 19/20, 1788.

With more than 500 members, Bryan and his flock agreed to rename the church to First African Baptist Church in 1790. The church was under the jurisdiction of the Georgia Baptist Association. By 1794, the First African Baptist Church, with the help of their white Baptist supporters, was able to buy a plot of land in Savannah and build a permanent church there. Pastor Andrew’s master died in 1795, so his children finally allowed him to buy his freedom for a sum of fifty pounds sterling. By the time he died in 1812, the First African Baptist Church already had more than 1,000 members.

References:

Picture by: KudzuVine – Own work, Public Domain, Link

Davis, John W. “George Liele and Andrew Bryan, Pioneer Negro Baptist Preachers.” The Journal of Negro History 3, no. 2 (April 1, 1918): 119. doi:10.2307/2713485.

Gates, Henry Louis, and Evelyn Brooks Higginbotham. African American Lives. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2004.

Love, Emmanuel King. History of the First African Baptist Church, From its Organization, January 10th, 1788, to July 1st, 1888: Including the Centennial Celebration, Addresses, Sermons, etc. Salem, MA: Higginson Book Co., 1998.

Posted on December 20, 2017August 21, 2018 by Kat Cendana — Leave a comment

Liberia Established by African-Americans

The country of Liberia was established by freed African-Americans with the help of the American Colonization Society (ACS) between 1821 and 1822. The country was established out of ACS’s desire to create a haven for freed blacks who faced discrimination in America. Later, Liberia became one of Africa’s first independent states and modeled its government after its foster parent, the United States of America. These events are recorded on the Biblical Timeline Poster with World History during that time.

The Free Blacks and the Foundation of the American Colonization Society (ACS)

During the early 19th century, thousands of free blacks flocked to the urban centers in the North to make a new life for themselves. Reverend Robert Finley, a Presbyterian pastor in Princeton, New Jersey, became concerned about the welfare of the free blacks who lived in the city. Although they had been freed, Finley realized that these people still lived in poverty and did not enjoy the rights and privileges of white men. In the South, on the other hand, many remained in slavery and continued to live in oppression.

While some late 18th and early 19th century thinkers advocated the assimilation of the blacks into the society, others—like Thomas Jefferson—proposed a different solution. He asserted that it was impossible for blacks and whites to live in peace, so he proposed to send the free blacks somewhere else. The idea quickly gained traction among some well-meaning abolitionists who genuinely saw it as a way to give the blacks a new start in life. Others only saw it as a convenient way to assuage their conscience and reassure themselves that they were doing the right thing.

To this end, Reverend Finley and his brother-in-law, the prominent Washington D.C. attorney Elias B. Caldwell, founded the American Colonization Society in 1816. They were later joined by prominent political personalities and wealthy men, such as Bushrod Washington, Charles Fenton Mercer, Henry Clay, General Andrew Jackson, and Colonel Henry Rutgers. Robert E. Lee’s uncles, the plantation owners Edmund Lee and Richard Bland Lee, were also members of the group.

The members’ motivations were as diverse as the men who joined the ACS. The Quakers genuinely believed that it was their duty to give the blacks a home where they could prosper and eventually spread the Christian message. Others saw the blacks’ presence and the discrimination they faced as reminders that the republic’s egalitarian philosophy applied only to its white citizens. Some (such as the Lee brothers) only wanted to get rid of the disaffected blacks for fear that they would one day rise up and rebel against their masters. Despite the differences in motivation, they all agreed that sending the free blacks to Africa would be a good plan. This project was later approved by President Monroe and funded by Congress through the Slave Trade Act of 1819.

The Foundation of Liberia

John Randolph was a well-known supporter of the American Colonization Society.

In spring of 1820, free blacks boarded the ship Elizabeth and sailed to Africa’s west coast. They were accompanied by the United States Navy, whose officers were commissioned to scout for possible locations on the Pepper Coast. The British government had established a colony for free blacks in Sierra Leone during the 1780s, so it was only sensible that the Americans would establish one near the area also. The new colonists tried to settle into Freetown but they encountered fierce resistance from the indigenous Temne people. They then coasted south to Sherbro Island but quickly found it unsuitable. They also tried the Ivory Coast but abandoned it when they found the place unfit for settlement.

In December 1821, the naval officers and crew came across Cape Mesurado. The colonists’ leaders, Navy Lieutenant R.F. Stockton and Dr. Eli Ayres, disembarked with the crew and approached King Peter of the De people. With the help of their Kru allies, the group started the negotiations to acquire the land which the De inhabited. King Peter hesitated but quickly made a decision to cede the land after Stockton threatened him with a pistol. The king then signed the treaty with the leaders of the ACS.

The first settlers left Freetown and arrived in Cape Mesurado in January 1822. They called their new home “Liberia” (or the “land of the free”) and called their new capital Monrovia after President James Monroe. The Baptist minister Lott Cary and fellow African-American Elijah Johnson became the de facto leaders of the settlers.

Life in early Liberia was not as rosy as the colonists initially envisioned. Malaria and yellow fever quickly killed some settlers, and there was the additional problem of living near the De people who felt that they had been cheated during the negotiations. The settlers—like the American pioneers—established farms which they protected with stockades. De warriors attacked the settlers in November 1822 but were easily repulsed with the help of a cannon and guns the settlers brought from America. The De made a second attempt but were thwarted with the help of British naval officers who happened to pass by the area.

The Liberians switched to trading after finding that farming was not lucrative. Their numbers increased when nearly 6,000 “recaptives” were resettled by the ACS in Liberia in the next 40 years. These “recaptives,” however, were segregated from the more influential American-born settlers. The settlers later spread along the coast, displacing indigenous peoples and slave traders alike. In 1839, an offshoot of the ACS called the Maryland State Colonization Society resettled free blacks in Cape Palmas. English was the commonwealth’s primary language, and it was ruled by an ACS-appointed governor.

The Liberian government finally declared its independence from the United States in 1847. Liberia became one of the two independent states (Ethiopia being the other) in Africa during the 19th century. The Republic of Liberia adopted a constitution and closely modeled its form of government after the United States. Liberia’s government is headed by a president, while the Senate and House of Representatives make up the country’s lawmaking body. Like the US, the country also has a supreme court.

References:

Picture by: John Wesley Jarvis – awFR66sTRSfCug at Google Cultural Institute maximum zoom level, Public Domain, Link

Fyfe, Christopher. The Cambridge History of Africa: from c. 1790 to 1870. Edited by John E. Flint. Vol. 5. London: Cambridge University Press, 1976.

Pham, John-Peter. Liberia: Portrait of a Failed State. New York, NY: Reed Press, 2004.

Starr, Frederick. Liberia: Description, History, Problems. Chicago, 1913.

Posted on December 20, 2017August 21, 2018 by Kat Cendana — Leave a comment

Britain Takes Cape Colony 1795

Europe and North America were plagued by revolutions and wars in the latter part of the 18th century. Cape Colony, a distance Dutch territory in Africa, was largely insulated from all the conflicts. This would change when France took the Dutch Republic and tried to disrupt British trade in India during the Revolutionary Wars (1792-1802). Eager to protect its lucrative trade, Britain decided to take Cape Colony in 1795. This event is recorded on the Bible Timeline with World History during that time.

The Colonization of South Africa

Dutch sailors bound for Asia were the first Europeans to venture into the Cape Peninsula to buy food from the Khoi herdsmen and farmers. The number of Dutch ships that sailed to and from Asia increased in the 17th century, so the need for meat and fresh vegetables also spiked. This compelled the Dutch East India Company to send Jan van Riebeeck and several Dutch farmers to establish farms in the Cape Peninsula in 1652.

The Dutch East India Company established restrictions on the amount of land that could be farmed by each Boer (Boere for plural). The company’s directors also maintained that the Cape would only be a way station for their ships. The arrival of additional Dutch settlers with their Malay and West African slaves in tow put a strain on the Cape’s resources. French Huguenots and Dutch immigrants later followed the Dutch settlers. It was not long before disagreement sparked between the neighbors.

Despite the restrictions placed by the Dutch East India Company, a number of Boere and their families left the Cape Peninsula and pushed northeast in search of land. They were later known as “Trekboere,” and later became the ancestors of the Afrikaners. These hardy people believed that the land was theirs by right because they were “chosen” by God. This belief, however, had a dark side. Armed with muskets and a sense of destiny, Boer families managed to kill and displace the indigenous Khoi and San peoples in search of land. They later encountered the Xhosa people who fiercely resisted the encroachment on their land. The Dutch (and later the English) and Xhosa people engaged in the Xhosa (Kaffir) War between 1779 and 1879.

The British Occupation 1795

A map showing the extent of the Dutch Cape Colony in 1795.

Cape Colony remained a backwater trade and farming town while Europe and North America were engulfed in wars during the latter part of the 18th century. The American (1776) and French (1789) Revolutions made naval wars and blockades on both sides of the Atlantic common. In 1792, Britain, the Dutch Republic, and their allies waged a war against France (the Revolutionary War). After defeating the Dutch Republic in 1795, however, France renamed the territory “Batavian Republic,” and began to occupy it.

The defeat of the Dutch Republic in 1795 and France’s ambition to disrupt the lucrative trade in India alarmed Britain. To combat France, the British war ministers then decided to seize the strategically important Cape Colony to secure the Indian Ocean passage. Nine British warships were dispatched to Cape Colony in the same year. On August 7, 1795, defeated the Dutch militiamen in the Battle of Muizenberg.

British colonists occupied Cape Colony until the country’s relations with France improved. In 1803, Cape Colony reverted to the Batavian Republic after France and Britain signed the Treaty of Amiens. The peace of Amiens, however, would not last as hostilities resurfaced in the same year.

British troops once again invaded Cape Colony on January 4, 1806. They easily subdued Dutch, French, and native troops in the Battle of Blaauwberg on the 8th of January, 1806. The Dutch troops held out for another week, but their leader, Lieutenant General Janssens, knew that defeat was inevitable. He capitulated on the 18th, and he and his troops were sent back to the Netherlands soon after. The British occupied Cape Colony until the Dutch ceded it to Britain in the Convention of London in 1814.

References:

Picture by: George McCall Theal – https://archive.org/stream/historyofafricas03thea/historyofafricas03thea#page/n374/mode/1up, Public Domain, Link

Fage, J.D. A History of Africa. London: Routledge, 1998.

Omer-Cooper, J.D. The Cambridge History of Africa: from c. 1790 to 1870. Edited by John E. Flint. Vol. 5. London: Cambridge University Press, 1976.

Oliver, Roland Anthony, and John Donnelly Fage. A Short History of Africa. Sixth ed. London: Penguin Books, 1988.

Posted on December 20, 2017August 25, 2018 by Kat Cendana — Leave a comment

Taiwan as Seat of Government of the Republic of China (ROC)

In 1949, Mao Zedong’s People’s Liberation Army drove Chiang Kai-shek and the Nationalists (Kuomintang or KMT) out of mainland China after nearly five years of civil war. The Kuomintang members fled the mainland and transferred the seat of government in the island of Taiwan. Although repressive at first, Chiang Kai-shek’s government turned Taiwan’s devastation around and transformed it into an economic powerhouse in Asia. These events are recorded on the Bible Timeline Chart with World History during that time period.

Taiwan’s Early Inhabitants and the Island as a Dutch Colony

Austronesian aborigines were the first known inhabitants of the island of Taiwan. They remained isolated from mainland China for thousands of years, but this isolation was occasionally breached by a few Chinese merchants who braved the dangerous waters of the strait, evaded pirates, and defied the Ming sea ban to trade with aborigines. Portuguese sailors en route to Japan were the first to sight the island of Taiwan in 1542, naming it “Ilha Formosa” (“Beautiful Island”). Despite its beauty, the Portuguese did not find the island attractive and did not make attempts to colonize it.

The Ming and Qing Dynasties

It was the Dutch who colonized the Pescadores and Formosa during the early 1600s. They were driven out by the Ming rebel leader Koxinga who then ruled Formosa until it was completely folded into the Manchu domain as part of Fujian. For many years, the Qing rulers ignored this island as it was considered an insignificant outpost. Han Chinese, however, started to cross the Taiwan Strait and settle in the island. As Han migrants slowly trickled in, the aborigines were forced to retreat to the mountainous areas of the southwest.

The Japanese Occupation

The perception that Taiwan is a distant and unimportant territory would change during the late 19th century when the island (along with Penghu) was ceded to Japan during the aftermath of the First Sino-Japanese War (1894-1895). Japan occupied Taiwan in 1895 and ruthlessly tamped down on any resistance by the Han Chinese.

Under Japan, Taiwan was spared from the upheavals that engulfed mainland China. It soon became industrialized, prosperous, and self-sufficient during Japan’s 50-year occupation. Ordinary Taiwanese benefited from the development of the territory, but there was no doubt as to who ruled the island. Taiwanese were often treated as second-class citizens, while Japanese migrants received most of the benefits. Universities were non-existent, and workers were limited to agriculture and industries. During the Second Sino-Japanese War (1937-1945), Taiwan was largely spared from the devastation that the mainland suffered. Japanese troops and officials evacuated the island in 1945 and were soon replaced by Nationalist forces.

The Republic of China

Chiang Kai-shek helped establish Taiwan’s reputation as an economic powerhouse.

Nationalist leaders, however, treated the Taiwanese as Japanese collaborators and soon became repressive. Taiwan’s economy collapsed, and the crisis was soon followed by widespread protests. The Nationalists responded with violence, killing thousands of Taiwanese in 1947. This repression only fueled anti-mainland Chinese sentiment in Taiwan.

Post-World War II China was racked with a civil war between Chiang Kai-shek’s Nationalists (KMT) and Mao Zedong’s Communists (CCP). Although the KMT had the better army and possessed modern arsenal, the Communists were able to capitalize on the people’s alienation from and resentment of the KMT to defeat them. By 1948, key cities north of the Yangtze were in the hands of the Communists. After realizing that he and his party had lost popular support, Chiang Kai-shek and his supporters left the mainland and fled to Taiwan in 1949. He transferred the Republic of China’s seat of government from Nanjing to Taipei and imposed a military dictatorship over the island.

This, however, was only the start of the 20th-century success story that is Taiwan. Chiang Kai-shek was able to do in Taiwan what he could only dream of in mainland China. He invited liberal Chinese supporters from the mainland to work in the KMT government in the island. With American support, the Kuomintang revitalized industries and slowly resurrected the economy during the 1950s and 1960s. Chiang also supported the improvement of higher education, and it was not long before Taiwanese students were flocking to the United States to seek postgraduate degrees. Many of them came back to Taiwan to work and contribute to the economy.

As the world slid into the Cold War and China became increasingly hostile to the United States, the American government decided to transfer military aid and development assistance to Taiwan. American missionaries also pulled out of the mainland and established missions, hospitals, and schools in Taiwan. The United Nations also recognized the government in Taiwan as the legitimate representative of China, rather than the one led by Mao in the mainland.

By the 1960s, Taiwan had established a reputation as an economic powerhouse. The country became the home of American and Japanese electronic manufacturing facilities. Steelmaking and petrochemical facilities appeared in the 1970s. These industries were quickly followed by automobile production and computer hardware facilities in the 1980s.

Chiang Kai-shek died in 1975 and was succeeded by his son Chiang Ching-kuo as president of Taiwan and head of the KMT. Under Chiang Ching-kuo, Taiwan inched toward political liberalization. He also abolished the martial law his father imposed on the island when the Nationalists first arrived. During his presidency, Taiwanese were allowed to travel to the mainland for the first time since the Japanese occupation and the Chinese Civil War.

References:

Picture by: Unknown – Fu Runhua, Zhongguo Dangdai Mingren Zhuan, Shijie Wenhua Fuwu She, 1948, p.1., Public Domain, Link

Fairbank, John King. China: A New History. Cambridge (Mass.): The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, 1994.

Roberts, J.A.G. A Concise History of China. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 2001.

Wright, David C. The History of China. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 2001.

Posted on December 20, 2017August 25, 2018 by Kat Cendana — Leave a comment

Russo-Japanese War 1904-1905

Between 1904 and 1905, Russian and Japanese forces fought in the destructive Russo-Japanese War. The conflict started when the Imperial Japanese Navy attacked the Russian Pacific Fleet on February 8, 1904. By the end of the war in 1905, Japan was the undisputed power in Manchuria and the Korean Peninsula. These events are recorded on the Biblical Timeline Poster with World History during that time.

The Fight for Supremacy in Asia

Despite its victory in the Sino-Japanese War and its annexation of Korea, Taiwan, and the Penghu Islands, Japan’s ministers still considered the Treaty of Shimonoseki a failure. The country tried to claim the Liaodong Peninsula, but Russia, Germany, and France (Triple Intervention) forced it to give up its claim. The presence of Russian troops in eastern Siberia definitely “helped” Japan in its decision to abandon the peninsula. Russia later forced China to lease Port Arthur which finally gave it a warm-water port in the Pacific. This move, however, only rubbed salt to Japan’s wounded pride.

When the Boxer Rebellion exploded in 1900, Russia and Japan both joined the Western coalition in response to the foreign community’s pleas for help. The Russian officials, however, refused to evacuate their troops from northern China even after the rebellion was quelled. Instead, it took advantage of the situation to establish a foothold in Korea and northern China. A fuming Japan appealed to the international community, but its ministers’ requests only fell on deaf ears.

Japan never forgot this humiliation. Over the years, the government poured resources to strengthen its army and navy. The government invested in heavy industries such as steelworks, railway networks, and shipbuilding. By the early 1900s, it was one of the wealthiest industrialized nations in Asia. Its military’s morale was also at an all-time high.

Britain and Japan became allies in 1894 to counter Russian presence in eastern Siberia. The alliance was solidified further in 1902. Discussions continued between the representatives of Japan and Russia, but Russia’s obstinacy only led to the breakdown of the negotiations in 1904. Japan was at the end of its rope.

The Russo-Japanese War

On the evening of February 8, 1904, the Japanese warships attacked the Russian fleet anchored at the harbor of Port Arthur. The torpedoes were able hit two battleships (the Tsarevich and the Retvizan) and a cruiser (the Pallada) until all three vessels sank. Japanese warships then blockaded the port, while the Russian crew scrambled to the mainland.

News of Japan’s unannounced attack on the Russian naval base shocked the international community. Russia scrambled to send reinforcements to Manchuria, but they were mostly defeated by the more mobile and adequately supplied Japanese troops. While Russian troops were engaged in combat on land, the naval fleet led by Admiral Rozhestvensky was on its way from its base in the Baltic to Asia. Passing through the Suez Canal was out of the question as it was held by Britain, so the fleet was forced to sail south to the Cape of Good Hope and enter the Indian Ocean there. The Russian navy, however, ran into trouble as most of the coaling and repair stations from Africa to China were held by the British.

Its target was to reach the Russian base in Vladivostok, but the fleet had to engage the Japanese warships led by Admiral Togo off the coast of Tsushima on May 27, 1905. Admiral Rozhestvensky made the fatal mistake of running directly into the Japanese blockade which was concealed by fog. The Russian fleet suffered a heartbreaking loss in just thirty-six hours of engagement. Most of the ships were sunk, while a few were either captured by the Japanese navy. A handful managed to limp to the Russian base in Vladivostok.

Loss and Compromise

Despite this spectacular victory, the Japan knew that the country could not go on a war of attrition against Russia. They had lost thousands of soldiers already and could not afford to lose more. After eighteen months of war, Japan’s ministers requested that President Theodore Roosevelt mediate between them and Russia. Russia, in the midst of a revolution itself, welcomed this reprieve and accepted the offer. On August 10, 1905, representatives of the United States, Russia, and Japan gathered in New Hampshire. Nervous of Japan’s newfound power and eager to contain it, President Roosevelt pressured Japan’s representatives to take whatever Russia proffered during the negotiations. The negotiations lasted until the end of August, and the treaty was signed on the September 5, 1905.

The terms included the annexation of Liaoning and Korea to Japan, as well as the promise that Russia would not attempt to interfere in Korean internal affairs. Japan also took the Russian South Manchuria Railway, and took over the lease of Port Arthur. Russia agreed to let go of the southern portion of the Sakhalin and the Kuril Islands in favor of Japan. Russian representatives, however, frustrated the Japanese negotiators when they stubbornly insisted that they would not pay an indemnity. The Japanese won the war, but the Russians were able to rout them in the negotiations.

The Japanese people, unaware of the cost of the war and the fact that the government could not afford to prolong the hostilities, felt that the Treaty of Portsmouth was another blow to their national pride. Protests and riots soon broke out when news of Japanese representatives’ compromise reached the people. The Japanese public heaped the blame on America when the reviled representatives informed their government of the events in Portsmouth and how President Roosevelt pressured them agreeing to the compromise.

Despite the existence of the Treaty of Portsmouth, peace remained elusive for both countries. Russia’s loss at the Battle of Tsushima fueled the 1905 Revolution and weakened the Romanov Dynasty. On the other hand, the humiliation brought by the treaty would lead to Japanese jingoism in the succeeding years.

References:

Picture by: http://andrewnz2.tripod.com/id41.html, Public Domain, Link

Meyer, Milton Walter. Japan: A Concise History. Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc., 2012.

Nish, Ian H. A Short History of Japan. New York: Praeger, 1968.

Perez, Louis G. A History of Japan. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 1998.

Posted on December 18, 2017October 27, 2017 by Kat Cendana — 1 Comment

Marco Polo in China

If Marco Polo had not stayed in China between 1274 to 1295, the world would not know much about Kublai Khan and his court. The son of the merchant Niccolo Polo, Marco joined his father and uncle at the young age of seventeen on a journey that would take him across the vast continent. Marco, his father, and his uncle Maffeo were welcomed by Kublai Khan in his court when they arrived in 1274/1275. The young man spent seventeen years in China until he, his father, and his uncle left in 1292. They arrived in Venice in 1295—several times richer than when they first left the Republic. It was Marco Polo’s knowledge of Yuan China which made him one of the most fascinating travelers of the Medieval Period. These events are recorded on the Bible Timeline with World History during that time.

Niccolo and Maffeo’s First Journey

Marco Polo was born in the Republic of Venice on September 15, 1254. He was the son of the wealthy Venetian merchant Niccolo Polo and the nephew of Maffeo. In the mid-1250s, the brothers Niccolo and Maffeo loaded their goods into a ship and sailed to Constantinople to trade. At that time, the Byzantine capital was ruled by the Latins and the Venetians also traded there. They spent a few years trading in Constantinople but left the city before the Byzantines regained the Empire from the Latins.

The two brothers sailed to the Crimean port city of Soldaia (modern Sudak) in 1260. They traveled to the encampment of Berke, the Khan of the Golden Horde, and gave him jewels as tribute. Berke Khan was pleased with the Polo brothers, so he rewarded them with additional capital and goods. Niccolo and Maffeo stayed in Crimea until they were forced to leave and trade somewhere else again in 1262.

They then went to Bukhara and made the dangerous journey across Asia to China. They arrived in Kublai Khan’s capital in Dadu/Khanbaliq around 1265 or 1266. The khan received and welcomed them at his court. The khan was interested in Europe and in Christianity, so he told them to go back to the continent. Before they left, Kublai told them to bring back 100 priests and the oil from the lamp of Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem. He also gave them a paizu (safe-conduct) which they could use while traveling in Mongol territory.

The brothers retraced their route from China to West Asia. They reached Acre in the Levant in 1269, but they learned that Pope Clement IV had died. They decided to return to Venice and wait for the election of the new pope. They docked in Venice in 1270, and Niccolo saw his son, Marco, for the first time. The boy’s mother died when he was six, and an uncle took him in until his father arrived. Marco Polo was around fifteen or sixteen when he met his father.

The Second Journey

Niccolo and Maffeo delivered Kublai Khan’s letter to Pope Gregory X in 1271. The pope, however, could only send two Dominican friars who were based in the Levant to the Khan. So Niccolo, Maffeo, and Marco sailed from Venice to Jerusalem in 1271. They met up with the two Dominican friars and took a bit of oil from the Church of the Holy Sepulchre with them. The two friars did not realize that the journey would be difficult, so they decided to turn back. The Polos were forced to continue the journey back to the Khan without the priests. It took them around three years before they could reach China.

Their original plan was to board a ship bound for China in Hormuz, so they followed the Tigris River until they arrived in the port city. But for some reason, they detoured and headed north to the desert instead of boarding a ship to China. They passed the Pamir Mountains (in modern Tajikistan) and arrived in the oasis city of Kashgar on the western edge of the Taklamakan Desert. They crossed the desert and entered China via Dunhuang in Gansu after thirty days.

In China

A mosaic of Marco Polo displayed in Genoa, Italy.

Marco Polo was fascinated with the unfamiliar customs and new things (such as asbestos) that he saw in Chinese cities. They continued to travel through the province of Gansu and pushed east to Shangdu, the Khan’s summer retreat. Kublai Khan’s messenger, however, went ahead and sent word that the Latins were coming to Shangdu. They arrived in Kublai’s summer palace around 1274 or 1275. The Khan welcomed them, but he was disappointed that the Polos failed to bring the 100 priests that they promised.

The Polos were not the first Europeans to visit the Mongols. John of Plano Carpini and William of Rubruck had been to Mongolia before them, although their missions were unsuccessful. This may have been due to their lack of charm as compared to Marco Polo. It was also possible that the previous Mongol rulers were not as welcoming nor as cosmopolitan as Kublai Khan.

Marco Polo was 20 or 21 years old when they arrived at Kublai Khan’s court in Shangdu (Xanadu). He mastered several languages including Uighur and Mongol during their journey. His mastery of these languages impressed Kublai Khan. He was also a keen observer and a good storyteller. His insights were so valuable to Kublai that he ordered them to stay in China until further notice.

Marco Polo at Kublai Khan’s Court

Kublai Khan, at that time, was at the height of his power. His army had chipped away at the Southern Song strongholds until its Empress Dowager surrendered Hangzhou to him. By 1279, any resistance from the Southern Song disappeared when the last brother of the emperor died after he drowned while on the run.

Kublai Khan was at Shangdu when the Polos arrived in China. Marco was impressed with its magnificence. Years after his stay in China, he recorded that the palace grounds was spacious and had wide courts. The palace walls were decorated with splendid paintings of people, plants, and animals. The Khan sat on a great and glowing throne on top of a platform while he held court.

The palace was surrounded by wide hunting grounds and lush parks. Deer and goats roamed the hunting grounds, while the khan kept leopards, lynxes, tigers, hunting dogs, falcons, and hawks. Kublai Khan allowed Marco Polo to roam the palace grounds whenever he wanted.

Marco Polo noted that Kublai Khan’s family, advisers, and attendants came with him when he went outside Shangdu to hunt. A large royal tent was reserved for him. Smaller tents, meanwhile, were set up for his four principal wives, twenty-two sons, and hundreds of courtiers. They feasted on delicious food every day even when the camp was far from Shangdu.

The Khan and his court returned to Khanbaliq/Dadu during the end of summer. The residents of his official capital lined the sides of the road and welcomed them upon their arrival. Kublai also allowed Marco Polo to live in his palace in Dadu. The young Venetian noted that it was larger and more magnificent than the royal palace in Shangdu. The feasts in Dadu were also more splendid than in Shangdu. Marco Polo once attended a feast where Kublai hosted as many as 40,000 noblemen and merchants.

When he had the chance to roam Dadu, Marco Polo noted that the capital was lively and full of merchants from all over China and Asia. He also had the chance to mingle with ordinary Mongols and Chinese. Marco learned the Chinese language during his stay in Dadu. He noted that even ordinary people received food and clothing from the tribute of linen, silk, and hemp given to Kublai Khan.

Road networks stretched across the Yuan Empire during the Khan’s reign. These roads were lined with trees that protected the travelers from the heat of the sun. Post houses also dotted these road networks. The post houses also served as lodges for merchants and other travelers. Marco Polo was surprised to see paper money and coal being used in China as both had not reached Europe during the 13th century.

Marco Polo as Kublai Khan’s Envoy

Marco Polo said that Kublai Khan appointed him as an envoy to the southern and southwestern provinces of China. He and his guards traveled south where they became victims of bandits. They reached Tibet where Marco marveled at the abundance of gold, cloves, ginger, cinnamon, and coral. He was also impressed at the size of the Tibetan mastiff.

They crossed into an uninhabited region of Tibet and into the province of Yunnan. The province was ruled by one of Kublai’s sons, and it was famed for the abundance of salt. Marco noticed that they did not use paper money, but they molded salt into bars and stamped these with Kublai’s seals. The people of Yunnan then used these salt bars as currency. They soon left Yunnan and came back north to Dadu.

The Return to Venice

The Polos stayed in China for seventeen years. They saw the Khan consolidate his power in China, Korea, and the Mongolian homeland. But they also saw his failures in the invasion of Japan and the death of his beloved empress Chabi and heir Zhenjin. They also saw the intrigues and schemes of Kublai’s advisers and sons in his court while the Khan gradually declined. The Polos were unsure that they would still enjoy the same privileges the moment the Khan died and his heir succeeded the throne.

So they made plans to leave before the Khan died. The Khan was dismayed when the Polos made their petition, and he did not allow them to leave his court. An opportunity arrived several years later when the Ilkhan ruler Arghun sent a message to Kublai Khan. Arghun’s favorite wife had died, so he requested the Khan to send a princess from his dead wife’s tribe who could take her place.

The Khan decided to send Princess Kokochin of the Bayaut tribe. However, the Persian envoys did not want to return to the Ilkhan capital of Tabriz overland because it was dangerous. They asked the Khan if they could travel by sea, and the Polos saw an opportunity to leave China. Since the Mongols were not used to traveling by sea, the Venetians volunteered to escort the princess to Persia. The Khan finally agreed to let the Polos go, and he also sent them letters to the rulers of Europe.

The party traveled south to Quanzhou (in present-day Fujian Province) where they boarded a ship bound for Persia in 1292. They made several stopovers along the way, including the kingdom of Champa (modern south and central Vietnam), Java, Sumatra, and Ceylon (Sri Lanka). They visited several ports in India where Marco met some Jews and Christians. After a difficult journey in the Indian Ocean, they finally reached Hormuz to deliver Princess Kokochin.

The Polos continued the journey throughout Persia via land. They traveled to the Black Sea port in Trebizond and from there they boarded a ship bound for Constantinople. From Constantinople, they reached Venice in 1295 via the Mediterranean. The Polos’ long adventure in Asia had ended, and they were finally home.

References:

Picture by: Salviati – http://urbanesalonanddayspa.com/15fa8o-marco-polo.org-cheap, Public Domain, Link

Atwood, Christopher Pratt. Encyclopedia of Mongolia and the Mongol Empire. New York, NY: Facts On File, 2004.

Buell, Paul D. Historical Dictionary of the Mongol World Empire. Lanham, MD: The Scarecrow Press, Inc., 2003.

Moule, A. C., Paul Pelliot, and Marco Polo. Marco Polo: The Description of the World. London: Routledge & Sons Limited, 1938.

Polo, Marco, and Noah Brooks. The Story of Marco Polo. New York: Century, 1897.

Odum, Justin. UW Departments Web Server. Accessed January 10, 2017. https://depts.washington.edu/silkroad/maps/marcopolo.html.

Posted on December 16, 2017October 26, 2017 by Kat Cendana — 17 Comments

Mansa Musa’s Pilgrimage to Mecca

More than sixty years after the reign of Sundiata Keita, one of his descendants rose to become the King of Mali. His name was Mansa Musa, and he was a devout Muslim. Mansa Musa’s pilgrimage to Mecca happened between 1324 and 1325. He brought a large entourage with him which impressed people everywhere they went. He spent a lot of gold in the cities they passed through on the way to Mecca. Because of his kingdom’s abundance of gold, Mansa Musa was known as one of the richest men who ever lived on earth. These events are recorded on the Bible Timeline Poster with World History during that time.

An African Adventure

Mansa Musa was born in 1280 in Niani, Mali. He was the grandnephew of the first king of the Mali Empire, Sundiata Keita. He was also the grandson and successor of Abu Bakr II who, out of curiosity, decided to explore the Atlantic Ocean. He ordered his people to build a fleet of ships and left the kingdom to the care of his cousin Musa. After bringing their provisions on board, King Abu Bakr II and his men sailed off west. They never returned, and Musa was proclaimed as the new Mansa (king) of the Mali empire in 1312.

Mansa Musa and the Journey to Mecca

Mansa Musa, ruler of the Mali empire in the 14th century.

When he became the 10th king of the Mali Empire, the kingdoms of Gao and Mani were under Mansa Musa’s rule. His reign was said to be the height of the Mali Empire. The Empire was rich because of the abundance of gold in the territory. Mali had a rule that all the gold mined in the empire should always be given to the king, and this was how Mansa Musa became as wealthy as he did.

He also wanted to travel, but his plan was to head east to Mecca instead of the Atlantic Ocean. After several years of planning, the king’s journey to Arabia finally started in 1324. His wife Inari Kanute, officials, soldiers, camel drivers, merchants, and slaves all joined him in the journey. From their homeland in Mali, Mansa Musa’s caravan traveled north and crossed the Sahara Desert into Egypt. The king’s caravan made a stopover in Cairo where Mansa Musa met the city’s governor.

Mansa Musa’s entourage impressed the governor of Cairo, but what really amazed him was the amount of gold the king and his people brought with them. Mansa Musa showered the Egyptian court in Cairo with gold, and the city would remember his generosity for many years. Unfortunately, the shopkeepers of the city tricked and overcharged Mansa Musa’s people whenever they shopped in their markets. The amount of gold he gave away to the people of Cairo was so large that its value went down for many years.

They continued the journey to Mecca after three months in Cairo. The journey to Arabia was full of danger and multiple mishaps. Those who were not killed by thirst or hunger in the desert died when they were attacked by bandits. They finally arrived in Mecca after many months. The group remained there for a while until Musa decided that it was time to return home. He and his companions retraced their steps in the coast of Arabia, and finally went back to Egypt. But this time, the great king had no money nor gold to give away as his treasures had run out. Sadly, he had to borrow money from Cairo’s moneylenders so that he and his people could go home.

Legacy of Mansa Musa’s Pilgrimage

Mansa Musa’s journey and his lavish spending in Cairo introduced his West African kingdom to Europe, North Africa, and West Asia. When merchants heard of his wealth, they organized caravans and traveled to make their fortunes in the Mali Empire. Egyptian and Moroccan merchants, in particular, traded more frequently in the empire. North African rulers also sent envoys to the Mali Kingdom after they heard of Mansa Musa’s incredible wealth.

References:

By Abraham Cresques of Mallorca – Catalan Atlas of the known world (mapamundi), drawn by Abraham Cresques of Mallorca. Online: www.henry-davis.com, Public Domain, Link

Conrad, David C. Empires of Medieval West Africa: Ghana, Mali, and Songhay. New York: Facts On File, 2005.

Levtzion, Nehemia. The Cambridge History of Africa, Vol 3 from c. 1050 to c. 1600. Edited by Roland Oliver and J.D. Fage. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1977.

Magill, Frank N., ed. The Middle Ages: Dictionary of World Biography. Vol. 2. Chicago: Fitzroy Dearborn Publishers, 1998.

Tesfu, Julianna. “Musa, Mansa (1280-1337) .” The Black Past: Remembered and Reclaimed. Accessed January 11, 2017. http://www.blackpast.org/gah/musa-mansa-1280-1337.

Posted on December 14, 2017October 26, 2017 by Kat Cendana — Leave a comment

Jews Driven from Spain and Sicily

Just like France, medieval Spain had a long history of hosting Jewish migrants. Many of them came to the Roman province after the Jewish revolt and the destruction of the Second Temple in AD 70. Although the Iberian Peninsula was conquered by the Muslims, Jews continued to live there in peace for more than 1,000 years. It was not until 1491-1492 that the Jews were driven from Spain and Sicily. Many of them converted to Christianity, while others left the peninsula for parts of Europe, North Africa, and the Ottoman Empire. These events are recorded on the Biblical Timeline with World History during that time.

The Spanish Inquisition

King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella of Spain.

In 1474, Henry IV’s half-sister Isabella became queen of Castile. She married Ferdinand of Aragon in 1469, which made them joint rulers of a strong Spanish realm. Their reign was marked with civil war with Isabella’s niece and rival to the throne Juana de Beltraneja. Juana was later defeated and was forced to enter a convent in Coimbra.

Between 1482 and 1492, Isabella and Ferdinand were occupied with the reconquest of Granada, the last Muslim stronghold in the peninsula. The Catholic monarchs’ zeal to keep Spain in Christian hands spilled over to the Spanish Jews. The conflict started because of the presence of the conversos or Jews who recently converted to Christianity. These new converts were viewed with suspicion by the “old Christians.”

Strangely, their downfall was brought about by Tomas de Torquemanda, a Dominican friar who himself was a grandson of a converso. He was appointed General Inquisitor, and he accused the Jews of corrupting “old Christians” to the king and queen. In 1483, the Jews were driven out of Andalucia and Seville. The Jews of Zaragoza in Aragon were also expelled three years later. The king and queen of Spain still continued to hire Jews as government officials despite the expulsions in some areas. It was also business-as-usual between ordinary Christians and Jews.

In 1491, the Spaniards captured Granada. A treaty signed by both parties assured the people—whether Jew, Christian, or Muslim—that they could freely practice their religion in Spain. This was overturned by the Alhambra Decree issued in March 13, 1492, and the Jews were ordered to leave Spain. The decree was announced in major cities in May, 1492, and they were allowed to stay for three months to prepare. The expulsion was extended to Spanish territories of Sicily, Sardinia, Menorca, and Mallorca.

The leaders of the Jewish communities tried to appeal to the king and queen, but to no avail. Many gave up, and 120,000 Jews went to Portugal but they were expelled there too. Thousands of those who remained in Spain converted to Christianity so that they would not be expelled. Others fled to North Africa, Italy, and the Ottoman Empire. The Jews who fled to North Africa were later called Sephardim which came from the word “Sepharad” which was the Hebrew word for Spain.

References:

Public Domain, Link

Halsall, Paul. “Jewish History Sourcebook: The Expulsion from Spain, 1492 CE.” Internet History Sourcebooks Project. Accessed January 11, 2017. http://sourcebooks.fordham.edu/jewish/1492-jews-spain1.asp.

Mackay, Angus. The New Cambridge Medieval History: 1415-1500. Edited by Christopher Allmand. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1998.

Roth, Norman. Medieval Jewish Civilization: An Encyclopedia. S.l.: Routledge Member of the Taylor and Francis Group, 2002.

Posted on December 12, 2017October 25, 2017 by Kat Cendana — Leave a comment

Jews Driven from France

Philip IV of France was nicknamed “the Fair” for his looks and not because of his character. Throughout his reign, the king fought wars with Edward I of England and Edward’s ally, the Count of Flanders. These wars required money, so he turned to get-rich-quick schemes that involved the imposition of special taxes on the church in France and confiscation of the properties of the Knights Templar. Jews were also driven from France in 1306 on the orders of Philip IV. He then seized their properties to fund his wars and pay off his debts. These events are recorded on the Biblical Timeline Chart with World History during that time.

The Jews in Gaul

It is not known exactly when the Jews came to the province of Gaul (France) when Rome ruled the area. Many of them fled to the region after the destruction of the Second Temple in AD 70 during the reign of Emperor Titus. In the years that followed, Jews from Palestine as well as from other regions joined the first waves of migrants in Gaul.

The number of Jews in Gaul during the early days of Christianity were modest. They enjoyed the freedom and other privileges of any other Roman citizens. Mass persecutions was unheard of, and they had freedom to worship. They were allowed to work in any jobs that they liked and were not restricted to banking and moneylending. They also mingled with the population freely as they did not dress differently from others.

Frankish Rule: Merovingian Period and Carolingian Domination

The Franks wrested a large portion of Gaul from the Romans during the fifth century. They practiced paganism at first, but they later became Christians when Merovingian king Clovis converted to the faith. Jews and Christians continued to live peacefully during the early days of Frankish rule.

The status of the Jews slowly changed during the reign of succeeding Frankish rulers. Over the years, Jews were not allowed to hold public offices. They were also forbidden to own Christian slaves, while Jewish-Christian marriages were also not allowed. They were also prohibited from working as tax collectors or as judges.

Their lives improved during the reign of the Carolingian king Charlemagne. The Jews of France were allowed to trade goods all over the Mediterranean and due to this they became prosperous. Their good situation in France attracted more Jews to the area. They were allowed to own slaves once again but were forbidden to sell them in other countries. However, their privileged position came with a price.

The Jews’ good fortune ended during the reign of Charlemagne’s son, Louis the Pious. Anti-Jewish clerics, such as Bishop Abogard and Archbishop Amulo, became dominant in Francia. Jews were sometimes accused of disloyalty to the Frankish rulers. The Carolingian Period was also the time when the Franks were hostile to the Jews because some of their ancestors took part in the crucifixion of Jesus. Some cities even had anti-Jewish riots which were sometimes led by bishops.

In 876, the bishop of Sens commanded the Jews and nuns of the commune to leave. Twenty-two years later, Charles the Simple assigned a part of the Jews’ income to the local church. Although there were incidents of conflicts, the Jews were still allowed to own farms, buildings, and vineyards. Some of them practiced medicine and became advisers to the kings and bishops. Many Jews were also bankers, moneylenders, and pawnbrokers.

Capetian Period

Hostilities against the Jews started in earnest during the Capetian Period. The Capetian king Philip II Augustus was involved in a fight against the French barons. Determined to hold on to the throne, he enriched himself at the expense of the Jews. In 1182, he drove them from his domain and confiscated their property. His strategy backfired when the Jews went to his rivals and served them instead. In 1198, he finally allowed them to return to his domain. But he controlled their banking business so that he could profit from them again in the form of taxes.

In 1215, the Fourth Lateran Council under Pope Innocent III made the situation of the Jews more difficult. The Council issued several decrees which limited what the Jews could and could not do. The canons included:

* Jews and Muslims must dress in a way that would distinguish themselves from Christians.

* They were prohibited from being seen in public during Palm Sunday. The rule also applied during Holy Thursday up to Black Saturday.

* Jews were forbidden to accept positions in public offices.

* They were not allowed to charge high interests for loans.

Unfortunately, the worst was yet to come.

During the reign of Louis IX, the Jews were nothing more than serfs in France. Their movement within France were restricted. They were not allowed to leave the royal domains without the overlord’s permission. They were also taxed whenever the king or baron liked.

In the Treaty of Melun in 1230, the French barons canceled all their obligations to repay the interests that they owed to the Jews. The barons agreed that all debts to Jews should be paid in three installments that would last until 1233 to ease their own burdens. The following year, Louis IX canceled one-third of all debts the people owed to the Jews. He also prohibited the Jews from lending with interest in 1254. As a result, the Jews could also not repay their own debts, so the crown seized their properties.

Apart from accusations of usury, rumors that Jews were involved in ritual murder began to spread in England and France. The persecution also carried over to religion when Talmudic manuscripts were burned in Place de Greve in Paris in 1242 or 1244. Other texts considered blasphemous or offensive to Christianity were also burned. In 1268, Louis IX’s brother Alphonse, Count of Poitiers, rounded up the Jews in his land and confiscated their property.

Philip IV the Fair

The Jews’ fortunes worsened during the reign of Philip IV the Fair. He became involved in wars with Edward I of England and the English king’s ally after he seized Gascony. The wars with England and Flanders were expensive, so he decided to impose a special tax on the church first. But he was not satisfied with the special tax on the church, especially after Pope Boniface VIII protested.

Philip saw that two of the richest sectors in France were the Knights Templar and the Jews. With the help of Pope Clement V, Philip arrested the knights and dissolved the Order. He also seized the wealth of the Knights Templar. He also secretly schemed to have the Jews expelled from France so he could seize their properties in January, 1306.

In July of the same year, the Jews were taken by surprise when thousands of them were arrested and imprisoned. While imprisoned, they were told that they should leave the kingdom and that they could only take a small amount of money plus the clothes on their back. The last Jew left in October 1306, and their properties were auctioned off by Philip IV the Fair.

References:

Picture by: Michaelsanders at English Wikipedia (Transferred from en.wikipedia to Commons.) [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

Aḥituv, Shmuel, and Yohanan Aharoni. The Jewish People: An Illustrated History. Edited by Shmuel Ahituv. London: A&C Black, 2006.

Benbassa, Esther. The Jews of France: A History from Antiquity to the Present. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1999.

Halsall, Paul. “Jewish History Sourcebook: The Expulsion of the Jews from France, 1182 CE.” Internet History Sourcebooks Project. Accessed January 11, 2017. http://legacy.fordham.edu/halsall/jewish/1182-jewsfrance1.asp.

Malamat, Abraham, and Haim Hillel Ben-Sasson. A History of the Jewish People. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1976.