One of the Byzantine Emperor Leo III the Isaurian’s lasting legacies was his imperial policy of iconoclasm or the rejection and destruction of religious icons—a policy that became so controversial it later earned him a threat of excommunication from the Pope and some violent riots in Byzantine cities. This was later restored by the Second Council of Nicaea during 787 AD according to the Bible Timeline with World History.
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Emperor Leo III instituted iconoclasm because of three primary reasons:
He was familiar with the second commandment laid out in the Old Testament which forbade the worship of images. Perhaps he was also influenced by Islam’s prohibition of the worship of images since he grew up in a region with a sizable Muslim population.
The inhabitants of Constantinople credited the Virgin Mary (or particularly, her icon) as the one who helped repel the Arabs during the Siege of Constantinople.
Leo took the earthquake that occurred near the island of Thera as a sign that God was angry with him and his people for their worship of icons, so he commanded his soldiers to remove the icons in his domain.
“Map of the Byzantine Empire with its themes ca. 717”
The Second Council of Nicaea
His son and successor, Constantine V, followed in his father’s footsteps and punished those who continued to worship icons. When Constantine died, his last wife and empress consort Irene of Athens stepped in to served as regent for her young stepson Leo IV. Constantinople still seethed from the iconoclastic controversy during her reign. In 786 she assembled a council in the city to settle the argument once and for all. But then a group of iconoclastic soldiers broke the council up, so she was forced to assemble the meeting in 787 in the city of Nicaea.
Up to 300 bishops and high-ranking clergymen attended the Second Council of Nicaea (the Pope sent his own representatives or legates). They met in eight sessions for more than one month. The council clearly drew the line between what was allowed and what was not when dealing with religious images. Pictorial representations of God, Jesus, the Virgin, and saints were allowed. However, these images should only be venerated, not honored with adoration, which was reserved only for God. The council also condemned the iconoclasts and issued twenty-two canons which the Frankish Holy Roman Emperor Charlemagne rejected (he then convoked his own Synod of Frankfurt in 794). The Byzantine emperors who succeeded Irene continued the policy of iconoclasm despite the ruling of the Second Council of Nicaea.
Pope Stephen IV (V) was one of the popes whose reign was extremely short. He is recorded on the Bible Timeline with World History between 816 – 817 AD. He was the elected pope from the death of his predecessor, Pope Leo III, in June of 816 AD up to his own death six months later. He was the son of a Roman named Marinus. He descended from a noble family which produced three popes, including himself, Sergius II, and Adrian III. All his life, Stephen was groomed to be a pope as he grew up in the Lateran Palace under the papacy of Pope Adrian I; Pope Leo III later ordained him as sub-deacon.
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The senior priests immediately elected him as pope as soon as the news of Leo’s death reached them on the 12th of June, 816 AD, and Stephen’s consecration occurred ten days later. Since his rather hasty election was done by the senior priests so that no one—not even the Charlemagne’s heir and now Holy Roman Emperor Louis the Pious—would interfere with their choice of pope. Nonetheless, they were eager for Louis to acknowledge their choice of a pope (and for the emperor to continue as the Pope and the Church’s protector), so Stephen’s first task upon his consecration was to assure Louis of the Romans’ loyalty. He compelled the Romans to take an oath of loyalty to Louis. Stephen also sent the emperor a letter to inform him of his election.
“Pope Stephen IV (standing first on the right) crowns the emperor Louis the Pious”
Coronation of Louis the Pious
Bernard, King of Italy, accompanied Pope Stephen to meet Louis the Pious in the city of Rheims. They were warmly received upon their arrival in October, 816 AD. Just like his predecessor Pope Leo III and Charlemagne, Pope Stephen anointed Louis as the Holy Roman Emperor and placed Emperor Constantine’s alleged golden crown upon his head during the mass. He also proclaimed the emperor’s wife Ermengarde as Augusta during the same ceremony.
Louis returned the courtesy and sent gifts to the Pope including a part of an estate he owned called Villa Vendopera. Stephen also asked the Emperor to pardon the exiled men who attempted to mutilate Pope Leo III and for them to accompany him on his return to Rome. The Holy Roman Emperor granted his request and Stephen’s entourage reached Rome before the end of November.
Pope Stephen died on the 24th of June, 817 AD and was buried in St. Peter’s Basilica.
An antipope is a person who claimed the title of the pope but was not elected as one by the relevant council. He may also be a person elected as one but in opposition to the legitimate pope. Many of these antipopes received the support of cardinals and sometimes, by kings who used them for political purposes. Chrisophorus usurped the chair in 903 AD, where he is recorded on the Bible Timeline with World History.
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The 3rd-century theologian Hippolytus of Rome was considered as the first antipope after he headed a group of dissenters against Pope Calixtus I. According to the church historian Eusebius, a priest named Natalius became a bishop of a group considered as heretical during the reign of Pope Zephyrinus around 200 AD. Natalius received a salary of 150 denarii from the group, but he did not last long in his papacy after he was “scourged by holy angels, and punished severely through the entire night.” Natalius returned to Zephyrinus and begged his forgiveness after this episode. Novatian, another 3rd-century priest, and theologian was considered as one of the first well-known antipopes after he had a falling out with Pope Cornelius between 250 to 251 AD.
“Antipope Christopher”
The Usurpation of Antipope Christopher
Christopher was the son of a Roman citizen named Leo, but there was no other available information about his background beyond his father’s name. Before he became a pope (or considered an antipope), he served as a cardinal of St. Damasus under the Pope Leo V, who was removed from his office and imprisoned in October of 903 AD. The pope died in the same year, and Christopher was proclaimed as the new pope from October, 903 AD until January, 904 when he was deposed by Pope Sergius III.
Roman Catholic historians were divided whether Christopher, indeed, was the legitimate pope or not. His name, however, appeared in all major lists of official popes and his portrait sat alongside other popes in the Basilica of St. Paul. Images of Christopher were also painted on frescoes in the church of San Pietro a Grado in the city of Pisa. While his successors also acknowledged him as a pope. It was only in the 20th century that Christopher was officially removed from the Annuario Pontificio or list of popes.
According to 11th century Roman Catholic scholar Hermann of Reichenau, Christopher was compelled to resign from the position in 904 AD, while the Italian priest and scholar Eugenius Vulgaris wrote that Sergius III ordered Christopher’s imprisonment and murder.
The Frankish king Charlemagne accomplished much during his 46-year reign (768-814 AD – which is where he is recorded on the Bible Timeline with World History). He not only subdued the Franks’ neighbors in northern, western, and eastern Europe to enlarge the Frankish empire but also helped restore the remnants of the Western Roman Empire after he was crowned its Emperor (Imperator) and Augustus. One unfortunate event in Rome, which involved Pope Leo III, would lead to Charlemagne’s rise as the most powerful man in Europe and protector of the Christian Church as Holy Roman Emperor.
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The Roman Leo III succeeded the deceased Adrian as pope in 795 AD. Upon his election, he sent the Frankish king Charlemagne the keys of the Confession of St. Peter and the banner of the city of Rome. Charlemagne was undoubtedly the most powerful man in Europe and the gifts meant that Leo had put his trust in the Frankish king as his protector. Charlemagne answered this with a congratulatory letter and treasures from the booty the king seized from the Avars in Pannonia which Leo added to the Holy See’s wealth.
“Statue of Charlemagne by Agostino Cornacchini”
On April 25, 799 AD, relatives of the deceased Pope Adrian plotted to gouge out the eyes and cut off the tongue of Pope Leo III while he was on his way to the Flaminian Gate during the procession of the Greater Litanies. Perhaps they wanted revenge or were driven by ambitions (the real motivation behind this act was never established), but it was clear that they wanted to make the pope unfit for the priesthood by mutilation (Leviticus 21:16-23). The plot to mutilate Leo did not succeed, and he escaped to the monastery of St. Erasmus with cuts on his face but with his eyes and tongue unharmed.
He stayed in the monastery for a few months and then fled with his supporters to the Frankish territory of Paderborn where Charlemagne met him. Leo made Paderborn his temporary home, but he returned to Rome a few months later accompanied by Charlemagne’s envoys and guards. The king’s envoys arrested the people who tried to mutilate Leo, and they were exiled to France after their trial. Charlemagne visited Rome in 800 AD and on the 25th of December in the same year, both Leo and the king attended the Christmas Mass in St. Peter’s Basilica. Leo got up and crowned Charlemagne as Imperator (Emperor) Augustus while the king knelt at the Confession of St. Peter—an act which meant Leo relied on and trusted the most powerful man in Europe at that time to be his protector. Charlemagne, as Holy Roman Emperor, also became the protector of the Church and Christianity in Europe. With this act, Pope Leo severed the ties of the Byzantine authority from the Roman Catholic church.
Perhaps the Toltec people arrived in Tula peacefully. However, the same could not be said of their departure from the city after less than a century nor of their arrival in the ancient Maya city of Chichen Itza around the end of the 10th century AD which is where it is recorded on the Bible Timeline with World History.
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Located in the Yucatan Peninsula, the powerful Maya city of Chichen Itza somehow escaped the civilization’s collapse in 800 AD and continued to dominate the region from its foundation in 800 until 1000 AD. Its rulers dominated the Maya lowland regions at the height of the city’s power. It was probably one of the largest Maya city-states at that time. The city covered an area of about 5 square kilometers which was dotted with magnificent Puuc style buildings of which the highlight was the massive Maya temple called El Castillo.
“The Sacred Cenote.”
Just like other Mesoamerican peoples, religion played a great part in the life of the Maya people of Chichen Itza. They worshiped the god Kukulkan, the Maya version of the Central Mexican god Quetzalcoatl who was revered by the Toltec people. The Maya of Chichen Itza also considered a nearby sinkhole known as the Sacred Cenote as the home of the rain god Chaac. They threw jewelry, ceramics, and even captives as sacrifice to this deity. But Maya’s political and religious domination ended after the mysterious destruction of Tula and the Toltec migration into the Yucatan peninsula.
The Toltec flourished in Tula since their mysterious arrival less than a century before but around 1050 AD. The magnificent city burned down and most of the structures were destroyed. The Toltec refugees streamed out of the city, and some groups traveled south into the Valley of Mexico while others continued south to the Yucatan peninsula where they finally reached the frontiers of Chichen Itza. Toltec warriors besieged the city, descended on its population violently, and seized the throne from its Maya rulers. Some of the citizens were killed on the streets during the invasion, while others were captured and thrown into the water of the Sacred Cenote as sacrificial offerings. The Toltec constructed a tzompantli (a skull rack or platform which contained the heads of their enemies), a Chacmool (a reclining stone figure with raised knees and flat middle where they laid out sacrificial offerings), and a temple to honor the supreme Plumed Serpent, Quetzalcoatl.
References:
Picture By Ekehnel (Emil Kehnel) – Own work, CC BY 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=3665953
Coggins, Clemency, and Orrin C. Shane, eds. Cenote of Sacrifice: Maya Treasures from the Sacred Well at Chichén Itzá. Austin: University of Texas Press, 1984.
McKillop, Heather Irene. The Ancient Maya: New Perspectives. Santa Barbara, CA: ABC-CLIO, 2004.
Miller, Robert Ryal. Mexico: A History. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1985.
The Great Western Schism (1378-1417) was the period when three different men all claimed to be the rightful pope. During the early years of the schism, only rival popes existed. The first one, Pope Urban VI, lived in Rome, while the second pope, Clement VII, lived in Avignon. It was not until 1409 that a third pope was elected in Pisa. The reign of the three popes only ended in 1417 after the Council of Constance elected Pope Martin V. These events are recorded on the Bible Timeline with World History during that time.
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Pope Clement V was elected in 1305 amid great controversy. He was known as a puppet of Philip IV of France, and he was famous for settling the papal seat in Avignon rather than in Rome. All six popes who succeeded Clement V lived in Avignon. This period was marked by the decline of papal authority after the popes were accused of various sins, such as simony, abuse of indulgences, and scandalous behavior. The 14th-century popes lived in wealth and security in Avignon. Many Europeans, meanwhile, dealt with the Great Famine, the Black Death, and wars between their monarchs. Rome and its churches also crumbled during the Avignon Papacy.
Conflicts in Italy and the Domination of the House of Visconti
The Italian peninsula remained a hotbed of violence throughout the 1360s and 1370s. Pope Urban V lived in Rome briefly, but he got fed up with the violence that he was forced to return to Avignon. He died in 1370 and was succeeded by Pope Gregory XI in the same year. The new pope, just like Urban V, was not equipped to handle the partisan violence in Italy. His most formidable enemies were the notorious Visconti brothers who ruled Milan. Bernabo Visconti himself took the city of Bologna which was a part of the Papal States. Gregory knew he would lose the Papal States if he did not return to Rome.
The bloody war that flared up between the pope’s faction and the House of Visconti went on for several years. Pope Gregory XI finally went to Rome in 1377 to sue for peace, but he did not live to see the end of the war. He died in Rome on March 1378 which marked the end of the Avignon Papacy.
The Great Western Schism (1378-1417)
The announcement of the election of Pope Martin V at the Council of Constance.
The College of Cardinals in Italy immediately assembled to elect Gregory’s successor. The college was made up of French and Italian cardinals, but the Italians maneuvered one of their own to be elected. They succeeded in electing Pope Urban VI (Bartolomeo Prignano), but his election was disputed by the French cardinals. The disgruntled French cardinals left Rome and announced Pope Urban VI deposed. They also elected an equally notorious former papal legate named Robert of Geneva as Pope (antipope) Clement VII. Robert was the leader of the massacre in the city of Cesena during the reign of Pope Gregory XI. He went to France and lived in Avignon during his reign from 1378 to 1394.
European Christians now had two popes: one who lived in Rome and one in Avignon. Naturally, European monarchs also took sides in this issue. Clement VII was backed by France, Aragon, Castile, Scotland, and Naples. Urban VI, meanwhile, was supported by the Holy Roman Empire, England, Venice, and Flanders.
The new pope in Rome, however, was known to be petty and cruel. His relatives were accused of enriching themselves at the expense of the papal office. The pope suspected his cardinals of scheming to depose him, so he had them imprisoned and tortured. Urban VI died in 1389, while his rival, Clement VII reigned until his death in Avignon in 1394. Clement VII fared no better than Urban VI as his court in Avignon was also accused of simony.
Urban VI was succeeded by Boniface IX in 1389, while the Spanish cardinal Benedict XIII was elected as the new pope in Avignon in 1394. Proposals were made over the years to end the Western Schism. Some people suggested that both the Avignon and the Roman popes should resign so that a new pope would be elected. Others, meanwhile, wanted a higher general council to take over the decision-making from the popes. Both popes rejected these suggestions.
From Two to Three Popes
Pope Boniface IX died in 1404, and he was succeeded by Innocent VII in Rome. He ruled for nearly two years until he died in 1406. Gregory XII succeeded him in the same year, but the cardinals were tired of the divisions within the church. In 1409, a group of cardinals from Avignon and Rome went to Pisa and elected another pope. He took the name Alexander V, and he ruled until his death in 1410. Three popes now claimed the vicarship of God in Avignon, Rome, and Pisa.
The Pisan pope Alexander V was succeeded by John XXIII. The Holy Roman Emperor Sigismund of Luxembourg was anxious to end the division. In 1414, he compelled John XXIII to assemble an ecumenical council at Lake Constance to resolve the issue once and for all. Cardinals, abbots, bishops and other church leaders attended the council in 1414. Scholars, envoys, merchants, and everyone in between also attended the crowded Council of Constance.
The council tackled two problems: the heresies of John Wycliffe and the Great Western Schism. Although John Wycliffe died in 1384, his ideas still lived on in the influential Bohemian priest Jan Hus. The priest was summoned to Constance after the Holy Roman Emperor Sigismund promised that he would not be harmed. Jan Hus arrived in Constance, but he was soon thrown into prison by the College of Cardinals. The council declared Jan Hus a heretic after he languished in prison, and he was executed in 1415.
Meanwhile, John XXIII saw that his situation was hopeless and that he would not remain as pope any longer. He left the council and was immediately deposed by the cardinals. Gregory XII offered to resign if the council would depose the Avignon pope Benedict XIII. The Holy Roman Emperor and the King of Aragon supported the deposition of Benedict XIII to put an end to the Western Schism. The 39-year division of the Catholic Church officially ended in 1417 when Martin V was enthroned as the new pope.
Izbicki, Thomas M., and Joelle Rollo-Koster. Companion to the Great Western Schism (1378-1417) (Brill’s Companions to the Christian Tradition, v. 17). Brill Academic Publishers, 2009.
Kidner, Frank L., Maria Bucur, Ralph Mathisen, Sally McKee, and Theodore R. Weeks. Making Europe: The Story of the West. Independence, KY: Wadsworth Cengage Learning, 2014.
Locke, Clinton. The Age of the Great Western Schism. New York: Christian Literature Co., 1896.
McCabe, Joseph. A history of the popes. London: Watts & Co., 1939.
Procter, George. The History of Italy, From the Fall of the Western Empire to the Commencement of the Wars of the French Revolution. London: Whittaker & Co., 1844.
The collapse of the Umayyad Caliphate ushered in the golden age of the Abbasid Dynasty. This era produced greater advancements in arts, science, and architecture. Damascus was the political, commercial, and cultural center of the Umayyad Dynasty. However, when the Umayyad family was ousted from power and the Abbasids rose to prominence, the center of the Muslim world shifted from Damascus to Baghdad. The city of Samarra briefly rose to prominence between 836-892 AD when it was made the capital of the Abbasid Empire by Caliph Al-Mu’tasim. Only to be abandoned during the waning years of the Abbasids in the 10th century. The rise of architecture and science is recorded on the Bible Timeline with World History around 900 AD.
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The Abbasid legacy in architecture was showcased in different structures built during this period. However, the magnificent mosques and palaces (qasr) reflected more of the Abbasid touch than any other structures. The Abbasid workmen in Mesopotamia and the Levant made use of materials widely available in the area. Such as cheap mud-bricks (air-dried) or more expensive baked bricks for walls, which were then finished with gypsum plaster or stucco revetments to protect the surface. Beveled geometric or vegetal patterns on glazed tile mosaics (later known as “Arabesque” pattern) decorated the walls of the mosques and palaces. Intricate calligraphy and image representations painted on walls were also common during this era.
Mosques came to define Islamic architecture. The construction of these structures was in full swing during the Abbasid era. The most important architectural elements present in mosques are the courtyard (sahn), the niche constructed in the direction of Mecca (mihrab), the tower (minaret), the dome (qubba), and the pulpit (minbar). The hypostyle and four-iwan were two of the most popular mosque architectural styles during the Abbasid period. The centrally-planned mosques came later during the Ottoman period. Mosques were more than places of worship, and prayer as the structures also served as learning centers (madrasa) for the Muslims, as well as soup kitchens for the poor.
Secular structures such as palaces, tombs, caravanserais, warehouses, bridges, and markets were also built during the Abbasid period. Only a few of these would survive into the modern times. Unlike mosques, these structures were not as heavily maintained throughout the years and some, including the city of Samarra, were simply abandoned.
“Great Mosque of Kairouan”
Structures Built During the Abbasid Period
The Great Mosque of Kairouan – Kairouan, Tunisia, 836 AD
The Great Mosque of Cordoba – C贸rdoba, Spain, 785 AD
Jawsaq al-Khaqani Palace – Samarra, Iraq, 836 AD
Al-Mutawakkil Mosque and Malwiya Tower (Spiral Minaret) – Samarra, Iraq, 851 AD
Al-Rafiqa (City Walls of Ar-Raqqa and Baghdad Gate) – Ar-Raqqa, Syria, 908 AD
Bab al-Amma or Dar al-Khalifa – Samarra, Iraq, 836-837 AD
Hirakla, Qasr al-Salam, and Al-Qadisiya – Ar-Raqqa, Syria, between 796 to 808 AD
Ibn Tulun Mosque – Cairo, Egypt, 884 AD
Nine-Domed Mosque (Masjid i-Tarikh) – Balkh, Afghanistan, 9th century
Niyariz (Neyriz) Mosque – Neyriz County, Iran, 973 AD
Mosque of Bab Mardum – Toledo, Spain, 999 AD
Mosque of Bu Fatata – Sousse, Tunisia, 838-841 AD
Science
The economic prosperity and political stability during the early years of the Abbasid Caliphate brought about a golden age not just for architecture, but also for science. Mathematics, engineering, astronomy, chemistry, and technology all flourished during the Abbasid era. One of the most important legacies of the Islamic Golden Age was in the field of medicine. Prominent Greek physicians such as Galen, Hippocrates, and others greatly influenced the Abbasids who came across Greek texts and had them translated into Arabic. Some of the most prominent physicians and medical writers who rose during this period were Yuhanna ibn Masawaiyh who performed some of the first dissections on human corpses (then prohibited in medieval Europe because of religious reasons) and al-Razi who identified the differences between measles and smallpox.
Al-Zahrawi conducted the first known surgeries on the human body, while the Central Asian ibn Sina (Avicenna) went on to become the leading authority in medicine for hundreds of years. The first known hospital in the Muslim world was established in Damascus during the Umayyad era. The Abbasids continued the medical tradition and built another in Baghdad when they came to power. Other groundbreaking discoveries were also made in surgery, ophthalmology, hygiene, bacteriology, and other branches of medicine during the Abbasid period.
References:
Picture By MAREK SZAREJKO from CLONMEL, IRELAND – POLAND – Flickr, CC BY-SA 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=11070328
Blair, Sheila. “Islamic Architecture – Abbasid Period 芦 Islamic Arts and Architecture.” Islamic Arts and Architecture. March 12, 2011. Accessed August 24, 2016. http://islamic-arts.org/2011/architecture-of-the-abbasids-iraq-iran-and-egypt/.
Bloom, Jonathan, and Sheila Blair, eds. The Grove Encyclopedia of Islamic Art and Architecture. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2009.
Falagas, M. E. “Arab Science in the Golden Age (750-1258 C.E.) and Today.” The FASEB Journal 20, no. 10 (2006): 1581-586. Accessed August 24, 2016. doi:10.1096/fj.06-0803ufm.
The houses of the Ancient Pueblo people were some of the most advanced and spectacular among the Native North Americans of the same era. The Ancient Puebloans constantly moved around the Four Corners area during the Archaic Era to hunt and gather food. These ancient nomads were still on the move most of the time during the Early Basketmaker II Era, but they periodically took shelter in caves during winter or camped out whenever the weather allowed it. During the Late Basketmaker II Era, the Ancient Puebloans started small-scale cultivation of squash and corn. As a result, the Ancient Puebloans switched from nomadic to the sedentary lifestyle which necessitated the construction of the earliest shallow pit-houses. The construction of circular rooms is recorded on the Bible Timeline with World History between 900 and 1100 AD.
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“Large circular depression outlined by a stone wall. The bottom is flat and grassy, and has a collection of rectangular stone foundations and smaller circles of stone. A great sandstone cliff towers in the background, and beneath the cliff are other stone foundations that are larger and higher.”
Deep pit-houses and above-ground homes increased during the Basketmaker III Era. These circular, oval, or rectangle dwellings were clustered together in three to five pit-houses and were made by digging a hole on the ground. The pit-house was supported by timber posts and beams, which were then covered with woven mats and brush as roofing materials. The soil dug from the pit and placed on the roof served as additional insulation for the house. The first above-ground rooms also appeared during this period.
The villages became larger during the Pueblo I and II Era when pit-houses evolved into “pueblos” or above-ground structures with adjoining rooms. These structures were initially used for storage as families preferred the comfort of the pit-houses, but Ancient Puebloans gradually moved into these pueblos and converted the pit-houses into kivas (circular, oval, or semi-circular rooms used for religious ceremonies). Larger pueblos dominated the landscape over the years, but these gradually gave way for cliff dwellings preferred by the Ancient Puebloans during the Pueblo III Era.
The Umayyad Caliphate was on the brink of collapse during the reign of the caliph Yazid II up to the short-lived rule of Ibrahim. All four caliphs who ruled before Ibrahim died either from illness or violence, while Ibrahim himself was deposed by General Marwan bin Muhammad in 744 AD. Peace remained elusive for caliph Marwan as the Byzantine emperor, Constantine V, attacked the coast of Syria and defeated the Arab navy in 747 AD. The Abbasid Caliphate in Baghdad later occurred around 850 AD according to the Bible Timeline with World History.
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The Umayyad rulers had been deeply unpopular for some time, and the naval defeat only added to Marwan’s demise. Two discontented factions rose in Khorasan and rebelled during the last years of Umayyad rule: the Shi’at Ali (Party of Ali) who believed that a descendant of Ali (Muhammad’s son-in-law and cousin) was a more suitable replacement to Marwan and the Hashimites who were willing to appoint anyone from Muhammad’s clan, the Banu Hashim. The Hashimites voted one of the most prominent Banu Hashim clansmen, Abu al-Abbas, as their leader in 749 AD and assembled a large army to support him in ousting Marwan.
The conscripted army led by caliph Marwan and Abu al-Abbas’ rebel troops met in battle near the Tigris river in 750 AD. The battle resulted in the Umayyad recruits’ total defeat, and Marwan was forced to flee to several Middle Eastern cities until he finally reached Egypt. Abu al-Abbas’ assassins caught him hiding inside a Coptic church in Egypt and killed him; they later sent his decapitated head sent to al-Abbas in Kufa.
A massacre of the remaining members of the Umayyad family ensued after Marwan’s defeat. 20-year old Abd ar-Rahman survived after he hurriedly left Damascus with his brother and their Greek servant. They tried to flee into the Persian territory, but the assassins sent by Abu al-Abbas caught them near the banks of the Euphrates. The brothers and their servant jumped into the river to escape the assassins. His brother swam back to the bank after the assassins tricked him and was killed on the spot. The survivors continued their journey east but abruptly turned west toward Egypt and eventually to Ifriqiya. Back in Kufa, Abu al-Abbas invited all the remaining members of the Umayyad clan to a banquet as a sign of his goodwill and to offer amnesty. But the new ruler had all of his Umayyad guests killed as they feasted, and the festivities continued as before. The purge of Umayyads was finally complete. This cruelty earned Abu al-Abbas the title of al-Saffah or “the Slaughterer.”
Rise of the Abbasid Dynasty
Four years after his accession as caliph and the purge of the Umayyads, Abu al-Abbas died. This left the caliphate to his brother al-Mansur. The first Abbasid ruler governed from Kufa (modern-day Iraq), but al-Mansur moved the capital to Baghdad for one practical reason: it was the center of the trade route that crisscrossed the Euphrates and Tigris, as well as the caravan route from Syria and Egypt.
Meanwhile, ar-Rahman had arrived in the province of Al-Andalus (Spain) and declared himself the Emir (Prince) of Cordoba after he defeated Governor Al-Fihri. Ar-Rahman’s victory made Al-Andalus independent from the Abbasid caliphate in Kufa, and al-Mansur tried to reclaim the territory when news of ar-Rahman’s conquest reached him. He sent a sizable Abbasid army into the peninsula, but the new Emir of Cordoba and his troops defeated them in a battle in Seville.
The Abbasid caliph realized that Al-Andalus was not worth the trouble and focused instead on getting rid of enemies from within his empire. He ordered the massacre of prominent Shi’a leaders for their refusal to support his brother, the deceased al-Abbas, and those who dared rebel against his rule (as well as those suspected of dissent) were brutally punished. One good thing that he did was to take Baghdad out of the periphery and into the center stage of the Islamic world after he made it the capital of the Abbasid caliphate. Damascus reminded him too much of the Umayyads, and the city was too close for comfort to the Byzantines who had defeated the Arab navy less than forty years ago during the Second Siege of Constantinople. It was also too far from Persia where the Abbasid rulers had a strong power base and solid support from prominent Persian families.
It was said that the caliph traveled north to Mosul by following the banks of the Tigris in search of his new capital, but then ruled out the city because of the difficulty of transporting supplies. He chose the ancient city of Baghdad (then a Persian Hamlet) as his new capital in 762 AD for two reasons: the city was far from Kufa where Arab garrison troops and Shi’ites constantly rebelled, and during the eighth century, it was near the banks of Tigris which made the land very fertile. For Al-Mansur, it was perfect, and it was only second to the Byzantine capital in glory during the Medieval Period.
Al-Mansur had ordered his men to start the construction of the walls of the Round City of Baghdad (Madīnat as-Salām) when the descendants of Ali rebelled in Hijaz and Basra, but both were quickly quelled after the death of the Shi’ite leaders. As much as 100,000 men worked to build the walls of Madīnat as-Salām. B y 763 AD, the offices of Public Offices as well as the treasury were inside the new city instead of at Kufa. It took another three years before the construction of Madīnat as-Salām was finished.
In 775, al-Mansur traveled to Mecca for a pilgrimage, but he fell from his horse before he entered the city and died immediately. Al-Mansur reigned as the Abbasid caliph for twenty-two years and succeeded by his son, Muhammad bin Mansur (nicknamed al-Mahdi). The elder al-Mansur’s reign was characterized as gloomy and harsh, while al-Mahdi’s was the exact opposite. He also traveled to Mecca and visited his father’s grave, but he first needed to suppress a new revolt led by an “Al Muqanna” or the Veiled One. It was almost immediately quelled, and Al Muqanna was forced to take poison after he was cornered by al-Mahdi’s troops.
“One Thousand and One Nights is a collection of Middle Eastern and South Asian stories and folk tales compiled in Arabic during the Islamic Golden Age. It is often known in English as the Arabian Nights”https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/One_Thousand_and_One_Nights
Harun Rules from Baghdad
Al-Mahdi also led an attack against the Byzantines in 780 AD with the help of his younger son, Harun, who was supported by his loyal Barmakid tutor Yahya bin Khalid. Harun became al-Mahdi’s favorite and preparations were underway to proclaim him as caliph when his father died by poisoning in 785 AD. The role of caliph fell to the older son, Musa. He was immediately tested when Shi’ites once again rose to rebel. The revolt was quashed, and Musa was about to proclaim his son as the next caliph when his own ambitious mother had him smothered in his sleep by the servants. Harun, his younger brother, became the caliph in 786 AD and took the title ar-Rashid (the Righteous). The new caliph immediately appointed Yahya as the chief minister which was a smart move as the Barmakid tutor helped him quash rebellions from within and guided him to victory against the Byzantines. Under Harun and with the guidance of Yahya, the Abbasid caliphate became a mighty force in the Middle East.
The prosperity of the caliphate was Harun’s primary concern, so he moved the capital from Baghdad to Ar-Raqqa where Arab merchants could be nearer to and take advantage of the profitable trade with the Khazars and Scandinavians who had ventured south. He also established a good diplomatic relationship with the powerful Frankish king Charlemagne and Harun even gifted him with an Asian elephant which the king took with him on a campaign against the Scandinavians. Harun became one of the richest men of the land (if not the richest), and his legendary wealth and personality became the inspiration for the Arabian Nights.
When the Tibetans threatened the Abbasids’ eastern frontier, Harun acted immediately and ordered additional fortifications for the border. His troops also overpowered the Byzantines and forced Nikephoros I to send a hefty tribute for peace—a sizable annual sum that added to his legendary wealth. But all was not well within the caliphate after Harun saw that Yahya had become popular among the people. He had the chief minister thrown into prison and the rest of the Barmakids stripped of their positions and properties. Yahya died in prison in 805/6 and his family, as well as their followers, never regained their affluence.
Harun and his troops traveled to Khorasan in 809 AD to quash a rebellion in the area, but he never arrived at his destination. The caliph died at a town called Tus and left behind a fortune that made him one of the richest men on earth during the Medieval Period. But Harun’s death would herald the long decline of the Abbasids after his sons, al-Amin and al-Mamun, fought for the right to rule the caliphate. Harun’s confusing succession arrangement sparked the row between the two brothers and the conflict escalated into full-blown war in the same year. Al-Mamun besieged Baghdad until his brother was forced to flee from the city, but was caught and killed by assassins near the Tigris river. Al-Mamun was now free to rule as Caliph of Abbasid Baghdad, but his rule would be challenged by the other prominent dynasties of the Islamic world.
Decline
During the early years of the 10th century, the Abbasid caliphs became mere figureheads for Turkish kingmakers in Baghdad and Samarra, while patches of Islamic lands were ruled by different families. It included the Fatimid Dynasty of North Africa, the Shi’a Buyid Dynasty that held the real power in Baghdad, the Samanids in greater Persia, the Saffarids in the south, and the Hamdanids in Aleppo. The Abbasid Dynasty continued to rule as caliphs (this time, in name only) from Baghdad until the rise of the Seljuk Turks in the 11th century.
Buddhism in Japan came by way of the Kingdom of Baekje (present-day South Korea). Buddhist monks had visited Japan before the sixth century AD. However, it was only during the tumultuous period of the wars between the Korean kingdoms of Baekje, Silla, and Goguryeo that Buddhism became Japan’s state religion. This occurred around 527 AD according to the Bible Timeline with World History.
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During the middle of the sixth century, King Seong of Baekje decided to retake the land in the Han river valley that once belonged to his kingdom but was conquered by Goguryeo many years back. He sent an offer of alliance to the king of Silla, as well as the Gaya confederacy, to help him wrest the valley from the kingdom of Goguryeo. The leaders of the two kingdoms agreed to help the Baekje army drive out the Goguryeo troops, but the king of Silla betrayed King Seong and switched sides to the king of Goguryeo. They drove the king of Baekje and his troops out of the Han river basin and occupied the area themselves.
Enraged that his plan had backfired and his efforts came to nothing, the king of Baekje reconsidered his strategy. He already made an alliance with the Southern Liang, as well as the Eastern and Western Wei dynasties of China, but he needed a powerful ally in the distant east to counter Silla and Goguryeo. To this end, he prepared gifts—a golden statue of Buddha and some Buddhist texts—and sent them to the Yamato ruler in Japan (then called the land of Wa); these gifts arrived in 552 AD.
“Rock cut seated Buddha statue”
Kimmei, the Tennō or Heavenly Sovereign of the Yamato polity, called together the clan leaders who were under his rule to discuss whether he should accept the gifts from Baekje or not. Some clan leaders opposed the acceptance of the gifts because they were suspicious of any foreign influence especially on their religion, but the leader of the Soga clan convinced Kimmei to accept the gifts. Kimmei accepted the gifts King Seong sent to him and in return, he sent some troops to help the King of Baekje. However, the offensive King Seong launched with the help of the Japanese troops ended only in disaster; he was killed in battle against King Chinhung of Silla who then conquered a large tract of Baekje territory to enlarge his own.
News of the disastrous battle in the Korean peninsula reached Japan which made the Tennō reconsider his earlier decision of accepting the gifts sent by the unfortunate king of Baekje. He regretted his decision later when an epidemic swept the capital, a sign that he took as the old gods’ punishment for his acceptance of Buddhism. Fearful of the gods’ wrath upon the land, Kimmei had the statue of Buddha thrown into a canal and ordered the destruction of the Buddhist temple. But his efforts to stop Buddhism from spreading in Japan were too late; many people had already adopted the teachings of Buddha although Shintoism was still widely practiced.
Prince Shotoku and Buddhism as State Religion
Japan descended into a brief, tumultuous period when the Soga clan leader Soga no Umako had the emperor—and his nephew—Sushun assassinated. Emperors Kimmei, Bidatsu, and Yomei were long dead by then, and no one else was fit to rule Japan at that time. He convinced Kimmei’s daughter and Bidatsu’s widow, Princess Suiko, to accede the throne now that Emperor Sushun was dead. Hesitant at first, Suiko eventually accepted the offer but Sugo no Umako also appointed emperor Yomei’s son, Prince Shotoku Taishi, as coregent.
Prince Shotoku was famous for his capable administration of the land, sound foreign policies, and reorganization of the government appointment system from inheritance to meritocracy. He also issued Japan’s Seventeen-Article Constitution (Jushichijo no Kempo) and was known as one of Japan’s first statesmen. Shotoku Taishi and Suiko Tenno were both devout Buddhists, but the prince was credited as the one who made Buddhism the state religion in 594 AD—a year after he was proclaimed as coregent. The construction of Buddhist shrines all over the Yamato polity and the arrival of Buddhist priests from the Korean peninsula continued to increase during the joint rule of Empress Suiko and Imperial Prince Shotoku Taishi.
