Category: Biblical Timeline Chart

Early Life

John XII was born in 936/937 AD where he recorded on the Biblical Timeline Chart with World History. He was a descendant of the powerful (as well as infamous) Theophylact family. Which included his great-grandmother Theodora, grandmother Marozia, and uncle John XI. According to the medieval chronicler Flodoard, he was the son of Alberic II, the duke of Spoleto by Alda, the daughter of Hugh of Provence after her father offered his daughter in marriage to Alberic in 936 as a way to pacify him. On the other hand, the Italian chronicler Benedict of Soracte asserted that John XII was the son of Alberic by his concubine.

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He was born in the Via Lata area of Rome between the Campus Martius and the Quirinal Hill. His parents named him Octavian (Octavianus) and his father compelled the Roman nobility to help his son be elected as pope upon the death of Pope Agapitus II. The young Octavian served as a cardinal-deacon of Santa Maria in Dominica on the Caelian Hill. When the old pope died on the 8th of November, 955 AD, the senior priests elected him as pope on the 16th of December in the same year.

The Young Pope

The 18-year old pope adopted the name John XI thereafter. He granted privileges to archbishops on the first few months of his rule. He also sent a letter to the German papal legate William of Mayence and exhorted him to condemn immoral people, as well as those who attacked the church. He then confirmed the possessions of the monastery of Saint Benedict in Subiaco on the condition that the monks and priests recite the Kyrie Eleison and Christe Eleison one hundred times for three days every week.

Wars and Blunders

In 960 AD, John XII tried to reclaim the former papal lands now occupied by the dukes of Benevento and Capua. He was not brought up as a warrior, but for some reason, he convinced enough Romans, Spoletans, and Tuscans to march south and wage war against the dukes. In response, the dukes of Benevento and Capua called on Gisulf I of Salerno to help them against Pope John XII and his army. The alliance the dukes forged was effective as the Pope and his army promptly turned back and returned to their territories when they heard that Gisulf had joined the war. John later tried to pacify Gisulf by proposing an alliance with him. The powerful prince of Salerno agreed to a treaty, but the terms of this agreement were never made public.

In 960, Berengar II of Italy attacked the Papal States which prompted John to ask the German king Otto I for help. The king had been promoted to the patrician rank before Berengar’s attack, and the pope’s envoys told Otto I to either come to Rome and help John XII or give up his patriciate. Otto decided to help John and marched with his troops into Italy on the 31st of January, 962 AD. When news of Otto’s arrival reached him, Berengar and his followers backed down, fled the city, and sought refuge in their castles.

The grateful pope crowned Otto as the Holy Roman Emperor on February 2, 962 AD at Saint Peter’s Basilica while Adelaide, Otto’s second wife, was also proclaimed as empress. This act bound Germany and Italy together into the Holy Roman Empire, and in return, Otto took an oath called the Privilegium Ottonianum. In this oath, Otto promised the papacy full independence in the papal lands and the freedom to collect taxes from these lands. Even though Italy had technically been folded into Germany after John proclaimed him as Holy Roman Emperor. John and the Italian nobility also promised their loyalty to Otto who made them promise to refrain from helping Berengar and his son Adalbert in the future.

Otto also requested for John to confirm the archbishopric of Magdeburg and make Merseburg a subordinate bishopric. John granted both of these requests. He also sent the pallium to Archbishop Frederick of Salzburg, as well as threatened the prelate Herold with deposition to stop him from saying Mass as per Otto’s request. Otto left Rome on the 14th of February, 962 AD.

Although Otto promised John full independence on the Papal lands, the young pope never really ruled these territories. John’s situation only worsened when he negotiated with Berengar’s son, Adalbert, behind Otto’s back—a massive miscalculation on his side. News of the pope’s violation of their agreement soon reached Otto. He returned to Rome to confront John in 963 AD (Otto also wanted to confront John after news of his indiscretions in the Lateran Palace reached the emperor). John was initially defiant. He prepared his troops to fight Otto, but when he realized his mistake, the pope packed all the treasures he could and fled the city with Adalbert to Tivoli.

Otto I’s Appointment of a New Pope

When Otto arrived in Rome, he told the people to refrain from electing a pope without his consent. He then assembled a council to condemn the fugitive pope, had him deposed, and appointed John XII’s successor, Leo VIII. The German kings routinely appointed priests in their own territories, but this was the first time the Holy Roman Emperor appointed a pope. Otto stayed in Rome to wrap things up and returned to Germany after three months. When he felt that it was safe to return, John showed up in Rome and condemned Leo VIII as an antipope. This annoyed Otto who immediately returned to Rome. John once again fled the city in fear of the king’s wrath. The deposed pope tried to reconcile with Otto, but died on the 14th of May, 964 at the age of 24.

Early Life

Pope Leo IV was the son of a man named Radowald (Radwald), a Roman who was of Lombard descent. He is recorded on the Biblical Timeline Chart with World History around 847 AD. The young boy was educated at the monastery of Blessed Martin in Rome where he grew up and became a devout follower of Christ. Pope Gregory IV later had him transferred to the Lateran Palace and ordained him as cardinal-priest of the Basilica of Santi Quattro Coronati on the Caelian Hill. He later had the same church renovated when he became pope and had the relics of the saints buried in the catacombs to be dug up and deposited inside the basilica.

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The sudden death of Sergius II on January 24, 847 left the pope’s throne vacant. The Cardinals hastily elected Leo as pope for fear that no one would lead them during a critical time when Saracen pirates attacked Rome. He became Pope Leo IV, and it was said that he accepted the election with a heavy heart. The Romans met the announcement of his election with jubilation. This annoyed the Frankish emperor Lothair as he was not consulted during the process. Leo VI was consecrated on April 10, 847 AD even without a letter of approval from Lothair nor his son, Louis II.

As Pope

The most important challenge Leo IV faced as a pope was the constant attack of the Saracen pirates. In 848 AD, he decided to counter this with an order to repair the city walls, watchtowers, and gates—a task which he personally supervised by going around on horseback or on foot. As an added precaution, he ordered for two watchtowers to be built on each bank of the Tiber river beside the Gate of Portus so each side could throw a chain to block incoming Saracen ships.

The Frankish king Lothair supported the construction of the fortifications, and he even sent some money to cover the cost of the repairs. Lothair himself suggested the fortification of Rome’s walls to the pope and he also sent additional soldiers to Italy to help defend the people against the Saracen pirates. Pope Leo IV ordered everyone—from the townspeople to the monastery workers—to help in building the fortifications of the city. The various inscriptions on the city’s walls showed that each section was built by different people in the Roman society.

The enclosed portion (which included the Vatican) was called Leonine City after it was finished in 852 AD. It was then blessed by the Pope, and the people celebrated its completion with a procession. It was just as well that they fortified the city walls as even before it was finished, the Saracens had stepped up their attacks in 849 AD. Luckily, the fleet of Amalfi, Naples, and Gaeta arrived in Rome just as the Saracens were preparing to attack the city. The arrival of the combined fleet at the harbor first made the Romans worried, but the commanders explained to Pope Leo IV that they were there to help the people defend the city. The Romans breathed a collective sigh of relief at the timely arrival of the allied fleet as the Saracens sailed into Rome the following night.

The Romans and their allies successfully defended the city and defeated the Saracens at the Battle of Ostia. A strong wind had separated the Saracen fleet while some of their ships were dashed on the shore; many of the Saracen sailors drowned, and some survivors were executed on the spot or were imprisoned. Others were hanged while some survivors were conscripted to work on the fortifications. The Battle of Ostia was an epic victory for Leo IV and Rome’s allies that it was immortalized later on by the Renaissance artist Raphael as a painting in the Apostolic Palace inside the Vatican.

Pope Leo IV also ordered that the mouth of the Tiber river be fitted with new gates and had the walls near it fortified. The Corsican refugees who were driven out of their homes when the Saracens attacked their island volunteered to serve the pope in exchange for protection. To this end, he gave them land to settle on, as well as cattle and vineyards for their loyalty. Moreover, he ordered the fortification of the Tuscan cities of Horta and Armeria and rebuilt the Centumcellae, the harbor city originally commissioned by Emperor Trajan. All these were done while he had St. Peter’s Basilica and the Lateran Palace restored and redecorated.

The New Kingmaker

In 850, Leo anointed Louis II of Italy (Lothair’s son) and crowned him as emperor. This ceremony was followed by a mass wherein Leo proclaimed Louis II as king of the Franks. The official title the new king preferred was Emperor of the Romans and not the Holy Roman Emperor. Louis departed from Rome after his proclamation. Both men remained on good terms with each for the rest of their reign. One of the most significant changes that occurred between these long-time allies was that the Frankish rulers now had a say in many church issues, such as the consecration of bishops in any town that was under the rule of the emperor.

The king of Wessex traveled to Rome in 853 AD on a pilgrimage with his young son, Alfred, in tow. It was said that Pope Leo IV anointed Alfred as King of Wessex while they stayed in Rome. This was later refuted as the young prince had three elder brothers and a letter from Leo showed that the boy was only anointed as consul. The prince later became the legendary King Alfred the Great who defended Wessex from the Vikings.

Relationship with Constantinople

The church in Rome and in Constantinople continued to drift apart after Pope Leo IV refused to accept a pallium (narrow circular band of cloth worn around the shoulders and usually conferred by a pope to an archbishop) sent by Patriarch Ignatius upon his accession in 846. The supposed sign of goodwill stung Pope Leo IV and worsened the already strained relationship between the two.

Death

Pope Leo IV died in 855 AD, but not before his last days were marred by the accusations that the pope conspired with the Greeks to overthrow the Frankish king Louis II. The charges were hurled against Leo by the magister militum called Daniel, but he was unable to prove them in front of the emperor. Leo was buried in the papal tombs of St. Peter’s Basilica on July 17, 855 AD.

The Byzantine Empire had a troubled relationship with the Papacy in Rome since Emperor Leo III’s controversial prohibition of the worship of icons (iconoclasm) in the middle of the eighth century. Pope Leo III’s appointment of the Frankish emperor Charlemagne as Holy Roman Emperor more than 60 years after Leo’s iconoclasm only intensified the tensions between them. As far as the rulers of Constantinople were concerned, Italy was still a part of the greater Roman Empire. Constantinople remained the true bastion of Christianity in Europe. A series of events that involved the troublesome Byzantine royal family, a couple of Patriarchs, and the Pope finally severed the cord between the Greek church in Constantinople from the Papacy in Rome in 867 AD. This event is recorded on the Biblical Timeline Chart with World History during that time.

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Photian Schism 863-867 (or Schism of Nicholas I)

Emperor Michael and the Patriarch Ignatius of Constantinople’s relationship was never great in the first place after the patriarch and Michael’s mother Theodora disapproved of his liaison with his long-time mistress Eudokia Ingerina (he was already married to another woman chosen by his mother at that time). Tensions rose when Michael became displeased with Ignatius after the latter refused the rite of communion to his uncle and regent, Bardas, in 858 AD. Bardas convinced Michael that Ignatius was involved in a plot against his rule, so the emperor ordered the patriarch to be deposed and exiled to the Prince Island. Michael then appointed the layman Photius as the new Patriarch of Constantinople on Christmas Day in 858. Ignatius, nevertheless, refused to abdicate nor acknowledge the appointment of Photius, while the Studion monks even continued to support him and refused to submit to the new Patriarch.

Photius sent a letter to Pope Nicholas I in Rome in an attempt to inform him of his appointment as Constantinople’s new patriarch and get him to break the insubordination of the Studion monks. When Nicholas heard of the conflict between the former and the newly-appointed Patriarch, he sent his legates (Papal representatives) to Constantinople to determine whether he should recognize Photius as Patriarch or not. The synod in Constantinople reached a decision: the legates recognized Photius’ appointment and confirmed the removal of Ignatius. Ignatius appealed to Nicholas to overturn the decision made by the legates and the pope, unhappy with the turn of events, excommunicated Photius at the Lateran Synod in 863 AD.

In 867 AD, Photius answered the excommunication with an encyclical (a letter of the Patriarch) addressed to the patriarchs of the East. The encyclical contained a list of the Byzantine complaints against the Roman Papacy, as well as an announcement of the deposition and anathematization (powerless as it was) of the Pope. He also announced that he considered the doctrines of the West heretical.

The Maya civilization in Southern Mexico centered around the present-day states of Campeche, Quintana Roo, Yucatan, and Chiapas. The Preclassic and Classic Periods marked the Maya civilization’s golden age in Southern Mexico when cities such as Calakmul and Palenque rose to prominence. Towns and villages that surrounded these major urban areas increased to accommodate the rapidly growing population during the Maya golden age. While divine rulers commissioned the construction of great palaces, monuments, and temples. The collapse of the Maya civilization in Southern Mexico is recorded on the Biblical Timeline Chart with World History during 850 AD.

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By 800 AD, the Maya civilization in Southern Mexico was on the brink of collapse which continued until the 12th century. The construction of massive palaces and stone monuments stopped during this period, while fewer hieroglyphic texts were inscribed in temples and palaces. Records of Kings the Maya considered divine disappeared while most of the people abandoned the major cities in the southern lowland region. The Postclassic Period marked the continued decline of the other Maya cities that somehow escaped the fate of their once-great neighbors.

Possible Reasons for the Collapse

Several events that occurred hundreds of years before the actual decline contributed to the eventual collapse of the Maya civilization in Southern Mexico. One of these long-term events was climate change, specifically the atmospheric shifts which caused a series of droughts in 760, 810, 860, and 910 AD. The southern lowland region was vulnerable to these droughts because:

* The areas on which they lived had fewer groundwater sources which made the Maya people more dependent on rainfall.
* The Maya used agricultural practices that needed more water to irrigate the fields.
* The conversion of land to farms which led to widespread deforestation and increase in temperature in the region (it made the weather warmer).
* The rapid growth of the Maya population.

Internal conflicts and rebellions also contributed to the collapse of the Maya civilization in Southern Mexico. Archaeologists found evidence of mutilation of the rulers’ stone monuments. The mutilators spared the representations of peasants which led to the theory that a rebellion led by the peasants exploded within their communities. The series of droughts and the elite’s exploitation of the peasants who were displaced from their land probably lit the fuse of this rebellion. In addition, the Maya kings instilled in their people a belief in their rulers’ divinity, and that they could alter the weather conditions whenever they wanted to bring rain on their parched lands. However, the droughts continued, and this failure became a sign that the gods had withdrawn their favor from their kings or that they were mere mortals after all.

The outbreak of yellow fever among the Maya people and their death from this disease could also be a factor for their decline between 800 and 1000 AD. The onset of this disease was linked to deforestation which drove out the animals from the forest who were the main carriers of the virus (monkeys and mosquitoes) and into the Maya communities. Other possible factors include foreign invasions and the changes in trade network which saw the rise of sea trade and the decline of inland trade routes. This favored the communities that lived near the coast, while the lowland Maya declined in importance after this shift in trade networks.

The reign of the Abbasid caliphs (although far from peaceful) was considered to be Islam’s golden age with its great advancement in science, mathematics, philosophy, and literature. The openness, flexibility, and economic stability that brought about these advancements were a sharp contrast to the stagnation of Europe’s Medieval Period. The use of mathematics, philosophy, and geometry are recorded on the Biblical Timeline Chart with World History during the 8th century AD.

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The factors that led to the Islamic golden age during the Abbasid era were:
*           A Hadith (reported sayings) of the Prophet Muhammad which states that, “The scholar’s ink is more sacred than the martyr’s blood.”
*           The vast East-West trade network which made the transmission of knowledge easier throughout the Abbasid empire.
*           The use of Arabic as common language (lingua franca) of the people which allowed for the easy exchange of ideas.
*           The arrival of paper from China and its widespread use in the Abbasid empire. Many Greek, Syriac and Latin texts were translated into Arabic and written on cost-effective and lightweight paper (compared to papyrus and parchment), which made the transmission of knowledge easier.
*           The establishment of the House of Wisdom sponsored by the caliph Harun al-Rashid and his son al-Mamun which made Abbasid Baghdad a haven for intellectual, artistic, and cultural pursuits.

Renowned Philosophers, Scientists, and Mathematicians of the Abbasid Period:

Philosophers

• Yaqub ibn Ishaq al-Kindi – first Arab Islamic philosopher.
• Muhammad ibn Zakariya al-Razi (Latin, Rhazes) – Platonist and writer of philosophical books.
• Abu Nasr al-Farabi – Neo-Aristotelian and writer of philosophical books.
• Rabiah Basri – Sufi ascetic.
• Abu Yazid al-Bistami – Persian Sufi.
• Mansur al-Hallaj – Persian mystic and teacher of Sufism.
• Junayd of Baghdad – Persian mystic and teacher of Sufism.
• Abu Ali ibn Sina (Avicenna) – wrote on metaphysics, ethics, and logic.
• Abu Al-Walid Ahmad ibn Rushd (Averroes) – leading Islamic philosopher who wrote commentaries on the works of Aristotle and Plato.
• Ibn Arabi – considered as the greatest Arabic philosopher; wrote commentaries on the Quran, Hadith, theology, and jurisprudence.
• Rumi – most popular Islamic philosopher and mystic

Mathematicians

• Abu Ali ibn Sina – wrote Kitab al-Shifa (The Book of Healing), an encyclopedia on different topics which included mathematics (divided into four subjects: geometry, music, arithmetic, and astronomy).
• Al-Khwarizmi – one of the directors of the House of Wisdom in Baghdad and considered as the father of modern algorithm (taken from his name) and Algebra (taken from his book Ilm al-jabr wa’l-muḳābala).
• Yaqub ibn Ishaq al-Kindi – developed spherical geometry and commented on the theory of parallels.
• Abu Bakr al-Karaji – Persian mathematician who freed algebra from geometric diagrams. Also wrote about algebra, computation of fractions, integers, and square roots.
• Al-Battani (Albategnius) – a leader of geometry, trigonometry, and astronomy in the Abbasid caliphate.
  Nasir al-Din al-Tusi – inventor of the Tusi-couple.

Astronomers

• Ibrahim al-Fazari (father) and Muhammad ibn Ibrahim al-Fazari (son) – translated the Indian astronomical text called The Sindhind and built the first astrolabe of the Abbasid era.
• Yaqub ibn Tariq – Persian mathematician and astronomer who wrote several books on astronomy.
• Habash al-Hasib al-Marwazi – developed astronomical tables and wrote books on astronomy.
• Al-Farghani – one of the earliest Islamic astronomers and wrote the Compendium of the Science of the Stars.
• Al-Nayrizi – Persian astronomer who wrote a treatise on the spherical astrolabe.
• Thabit ibn Qurra – Syriac astronomer and mathematician who developed the trepidation of the equinoxes

The Ancestral Pueblo built some of the most recognizable dwellings in North America which eventually became the hallmark of the American Southwest landscape and cultural heritage. One of the ancient ruins that dot the barren landscape of New Mexico is the Pueblo Bonito complex located in the Chaco Canyon National Park. Pueblo Bonito (or beautiful village in Spanish) was constructed around 825 AD by the Ancestral Pueblo people (Anasazi). These free-standing structures evolved from the pit-houses that were once popular during the Basketmaker Eras. The complex was rediscovered during the 19^th century, and excavations on the 2-acre site started in 1896 and ended only in 1927. The Pueblo Bonito in Chaco Canyon National Park, New Mexico is recorded on the Biblical Timeline Chart with World History between 915 – 1130 AD.

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The settlement of the Pueblo Bonito area started around 825-850 AD, and the first of the Great Houses was also constructed during this period. The largest Great House contained around eight-hundred rooms plus a number of kivas (rooms used for religious ceremonies), while a typical house in Pueblo Bonito only had as much as six rooms and a kiva. These houses were constructed in different geometric shapes, but some of the most predominant house were circular, rectangular, or oval in shape.

The Pueblo Bonito construction was divided into two stages: Old Bonito and Late Bonito. Old Bonito started around 825 AD and featured crude masonry, while the D-shaped plan of the Pueblo (with as much as 499 rooms) was completed around the Late Bonito period (1011 to 1126). The D-shaped Pueblo Bonito complex could support around 500 people at one time. Some of the rooms were used as administrative halls by the village leaders, storage rooms, and monuments. Construction of the Great Houses reached its peak during the eleventh century, but the number of Great Houses declined around 1130.

The Byzantine Empire was one of the longest-running empires in history and its influence on religion, as well as the arts, reached even into the most distant parts of its dominion. When Constantine the Great first established Constantinople as his capital in 330 AD, he also brought to the city his new-found religion: Christianity. It flourished in Constantinople and soon, numerous churches were built left and right to accommodate the increasing number of new converts to Christianity. The finest examples of Byzantine-style churches were mostly built during the time of the Emperor Justinian and included the Hagia Sophia, Hagia Irene, and Little Hagia Sophia (Church of Saints Sergius and Bacchus). Byzantine-influenced churches can also be found in Italy, Greece, Egypt, Armenia, and the Middle East. The worship of idols was later forbidden around 726 AD according to the Biblical Timeline Chart with World History.

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These churches hosted a number of magnificent decorations, such as mosaics and icons, which early Christians used during prayers, meditations, and mass. The icons, which came from the Greek word eikon and means “images,” were depictions of the divine and for the medieval Christians. These icons offered a way to the spiritual world. Byzantine artists frequently depicted Christ, the Virgin Mary, and numerous saints with common themes such as the Nativity, Christ’s crucifixion, and life (as well as death) of the Saints dominated the church art scene. Many medieval Christians worshiped the icons and attributed to them healing powers.

These icons were portrayed in different media such as wooden panels, gems, mosaic, ivory, and frescoes. Some were for personal use (such as icons used as jewelry) and framed wooden panels with tempera or encaustic paints; while some, such as mosaics and frescoes in churches, were for public use.

Emperor Leo III and Iconoclasm

The Byzantine Emperor Leo III authorized the widespread state-sanctioned iconoclasm (image breaking) years after the end of the Second Siege of Constantinople. The Hodogetria, an icon of the Virgin Mary holding the Infant Jesus, was paraded around the city by the Patriarch Germanos during the Arab invasion and was credited by the people like the one that helped lift the siege. As the man who led the defense of Constantinople, Emperor Leo was understandably annoyed by this, and he attempted to get rid of the people’s reliance on the icons in 726 AD.

One of the first casualties of the iconoclasm was Christ’s icon that was hung on the Great Palace’s Bronze Gate (Chalke Gate). Emperor Leo sent a group of soldiers to remove the icon, but a bewildered crowd attacked them and left one of the soldiers dead during the altercation. As punishment, the emperor had the mob arrested and fined, while some were tortured for the death of the soldier. The iconoclasm continued and spread to Greece where the people revolted when they learned of Leo’s decree, but the rebellion was immediately quashed. It had, however, already divided the people into two sides: the iconoclasts (icon-breakers) and the iconodules (those who favor icons).

The iconoclasm Emperor Leo started also reached Rome and his attempt at changing one of the church doctrines deeply angered Pope Gregory II. The pope sent a dismissive letter to the Byzantine emperor and admonished him to stop meddling in church doctrine. This issue further drove a wedge between Italy and the Eastern Empire, and when Gregory II died, his successor, Pope Gregory III, excommunicated the iconoclasts in 731 AD. Iconoclasm continued in the East, while Italy ignored Leo’s decree and continued the production of icons all throughout the Middle Ages. When Leo died in 741 AD his son and successor, Constantine V, became more iconoclastic than his father was.

Islam’s history in Africa started long before the Arab military conquest of the continent seven years after the death of Muhammad in 632 AD. During the years of persecution, the new Muslims fled across the Red Sea to make the very first migration (hijra) to Axum (in modern Ethiopia), and they sought refuge in the court of the Christian Axumite king Ashama ibn-Abjar. In December of 639 AD, Amr ibn Al-Asi led the very first military conquest of Africa from their base in Palestine. The Arab Muslim troops started the invasion in the Nile Delta, and Islam quickly spread throughout Egypt and most of North Africa during the next 50 years. By 700 AD, Byzantine Africa (Carthage), Maghrib, and Mauretania fell to the Muslims, and most of the North Africans (except for the Egyptian Copts) had converted to Islam which is where it is recorded in the Biblical Timeline Chart with World History.

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Arab Slave Trade

The Arabs had been involved in slave trade even before the rise of Islam in the peninsula and they continued this practice even after the death of Muhammad. For the eighth century Arabs, slavery was neither good nor bad—it was simply a natural part of the culture they grew up in, and various cities in the peninsula itself were station points for the slave trade. Muhammad did not abolish slavery in his lifetime, and Muslims consider servitude in a positive light when it is associated with God (servant of Allah). There was no explicit endorsement for the practice of slavery in the Quran, but neither was it forbidden in the Islamic world; passages in the Quran only laid down rules on how Muslims should treat their slaves, as well as when and how they should be freed.

Slaves were a part of life during much of Africa’s history and cities in Sudan, Egypt, Ethiopia, and Somalia were centers for slave trade as early as the reign of Thutmose III. The Arab slave trade was one of the oldest in history, and it preceded the Atlantic slave trade by at least eight hundred years. It rose to greater heights during the Muslim domination of North Africa around 700 AD. As the Arabs expanded their territories in North Africa, they acquired more captive slaves by military conquest and used the concept of jihad as justification.

Some of the captives were sold to buyers who used them as domestic servants while others were sent to work in the fields or herd their masters’ cattle. Some became soldiers, and many were prized either for their skills in wielding a weapon (bow and arrow, swords, etc.) or simply for their loyalty and obedience. Muslims were forbidden to enslave fellow Muslims, and they were only allowed to enslave non-believers and pagans. Non-Muslim slaves were allowed to convert to Islam, but they cannot return to freedom even after the conversion. The conversion of slaves to Islam was discouraged by Muslim authorities after some time as it narrowed down the pool of people that could be enslaved and it also reduced the taxes imposed to and paid by non-Muslims.

Muslims were also expressly forbidden to enslave Arabs, and the slave trade was especially prejudiced toward the black Africans (although Turks and Europeans were also captured and sold). They worked in places such as Ethiopia, Somalia, Mozambique, Sub-Saharan Africa, as well as distant Mesopotamia and Zanzibar. The large-scale slave trade in Africa flourished until its abolition in the 19th century, but small-time slave traders operated in some parts of Africa until the early years of the 20th century.

The End of the Visigoths

In 711 AD, a large group of North African Muslims and Arabs led by general Tariq bin Ziyad landed on the southern coast of Spain. First, they raided the villages which lined the Mediterranean coast, but as months passed they rampaged north until the campaign turned into an invasion. This alarmed the Visigoths who ruled Spain and they tried to defend their territory, but it was too late—the series of issues and civil wars that troubled the Visigoths exposed their vulnerability to the Muslim invaders. Spain was easily overpowered by the Muslims after the defeat and death of the Visigothic elite in the Battle of Guadalete. For the next seven years, Spain (except for the tiny kingdom of Asturias) was firmly in Arab hands. They named this new territory al-Andalus—the Land of the Vandals— this was their gateway to Western Europe. The Arabs soon entered France in 720 AD as recorded on the Biblical Timeline Chart with World History.

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Against Duke Odo the Great and Charles Martel

By 717 AD, the Arab-Berber troops marched north past the Pyrenees mountain range and established their presence in the Rhone Valley region of Southern France. This period marked the complete disappearance of the Visigoths as the dominant power in southern France. They were replaced by the stronger Arab-Berber army. The duchy of Aquitaine which was ruled by Duke Odo was all that stood between the Arab-Berber army and Western Europe. While the Arabs and Berbers were busy conquering territories in southern France, they also sent out spies to scout Odo’s territory.

Odo’s army and the Muslim troops met for the first time in the Battle of Toulouse in 721 AD. The Muslim troops were defeated by Odo’s army, and they limped back to Al-Andalus with fewer men. It was not until 732 AD that they tried once again to wrest Aquitaine from the Duke, and the Arab-Berber troops went into Aquitaine once again, but this time they were led by ‘Abd ar-Rahman Al-Ghafiqi. Odo and the Aquitaine troops ran out of luck; his forces were crushed, and he barely made it out of the battle alive. He sought refuge to the Merovingian territory of Charles Martel and swore his allegiance in return for fresh troops against the Arabs and Berbers. Charles Martel mobilized his army and together, they fought the Andalusian troops in the Battle of Tours-Poitiers on October 25, 732 AD. It was Charles who received more credit for the defeat of the Muslim troops in France, while Odo faded into obscurity. Throughout the 730s to the 750s, southern France served as the battle front between the Franks (under Charles and his son Pepin III) and the Andalusians until the Muslims were driven out completely from the Rhone Valley region.