Circling the Mediterranean: Europe and the Islamic World (Volume B)

History and Nation

Roman Rule of Judea

“Christianity”

Constantinople

• “obedience”

• Prophet Muhammad• Ca. 632 C.E.

• monotheism

• Shi’a, Sunni Islam

Islam

Spread of Islam

Islam: Articles of Faith

Sunni Muslims• God’s oneness• angels• four books• messengers

(prophets)• days of judgment and

resurrection• destiny

Shi’a Muslims• God’s oneness• justice• prophethood• day of judgment• caliphate

(leadership)

Abbasid Empire

Mongol Invasion

• Baghdad, 1258• Ottomans, 1453• Arabic language• al-Andalus• Persian influence• Shahnameh,

Ferdowsi

• cultural elite = new converts from Christianity

• linguistically and religiously diverse

• languages: Turkish, Arabic, Persian

• nomadic origins resigned to character tales

• slave-based political and military elite

• feudal army

• religious tolerance did not mean equality

Ottoman Empire, 1300 C.E.

Mi’raj

The Thousand and One Nights

Mappamundi

Crusades

• First Crusade, 1095• Latin Kingdom of

Jerusalem• economic

opportunities• anti-Semitism• Song of Roland

• epic

• romance

• Beowulf

• Ferdowsi, Shahnameh

• Chrétien de Troyes

• Marie de France

• French and Italian as literary languages

Literary Developments

Petrarch

Frame Narrative

• accuracy, truth value

• descriptive elements

• writer’s impressions, personal values

• versus travel guides

Travel Literature

“They would have wild elephants and lots of unicorns that are no smaller than elephants: they have hair like buffalo and feet like elephants, with a very thick, black horn in the middle of the forehead. And I tell you it doesn’t do harm with its horn but with its tongue” (p. 815).

Marco Polo

• merchant guide• prison writing• French-Italian

vernacular• Silk Road• Kublai Khan

John Mandeville

• synthesist work• Classical influence• Sumatra• nudity, marriage,

property

Europe, North Africa, Arabia, Asia Minor & Western Central Asia

Europe

In 382 Saint Jerome was commissioned to produce:

a. a common prayer bookb. a Latin Biblec. a translation of Plato’s workd. a synthesis of Greek philosophy and Christian doctrine

Test Your Knowledge

Which of the following were recognized as capital cities in the Roman Empire under Constantine?

a. Rome and Constantinopleb. Cairo and Damascusc. Persia and Europed. Athens and Constantinople

Test Your Knowledge

What text is central to the Islamic faith?

a. the Qur’anb. Muhammadc. Allahd. the Latin Vulgate

Test Your Knowledge

Which of the following is NOT a frame narrative?

a. The Thousand and One Nightsb. Decameronc. Mi’raj-namehd. Canterbury Tales

Test Your Knowledge

Which of the following was pivotal in helping to solidify the idea of “the West”—i.e., of Christian Europe—during the Middle Ages?

a. the fall of the Ottoman Empireb. the discovery of Americac. the Crusadesd. the sack of Rome

Test Your Knowledge

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The Norton Anthology Of World Literature.

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The Norton Anthology

Of World Literature