CHAPTER XX
THE SIGNIFICANCE OF THE CRUSADES
Outline: I.—The rise and spread of Mohammedanism. II.—Positive and negative causes of the Crusades. III.—Character and description of the Crusades. IV.—Results and influences of the Crusades. V.—Sources.
Mohammedanism,[476:1] like Judaism and Christianity, had its origin in the Semitic race. Its birthplace was in Arabia, a desert region. The time of its appearance was the seventh century, and its founder was Mohammed.
The condition of Arabia at Mohammed's birth (c. 570) must be understood in order to have an intelligent comprehension of this new religion. Politically the Arabs were united in a very loose sort of confederacy. The real government was in the hands of tribal chiefs. Although a prey to Greek and Persian influences, yet the hardy Arabians had never been conquered. They were divided into wandering tribes with practices and customs characteristic of tribal relations. Few cities were found among them and many of the conveniences of civilisation known to peoples of fixed habitations were lacking. Through trading, begging, and robbing these Arabs had
developed a cosmopolitan spirit and liberality. They monopolised the overland trading routes; carried on an extensive industry in raising sheep, horses, and camels; cultivated fruit-growing to some extent; and were very fond of holding great fairs at which their possessions were exhibited and bartering carried on. Educationally the Arabs were a very superior people. Arabia was the home of the alphabet and of numbers, and had developed a perfect language. The people had an intense love for poetry and the eloquence of their leaders was of high order. From the Greeks they had received a knowledge of the natural and abstract sciences. Of all the peoples therefore in western Asia the Arabs were perhaps the most highly civilised and the most progressive.
Complete religious liberty and toleration were permitted among the Arabs, hence Jews, Christians, Fire-worshippers, and Star-worshippers were found among them. The Jews were very numerous especially in Medina. The Christians found in Arabia were either the descendants of those heretical sects driven from the Roman Empire in the fierce controversies of the fourth and fifth centuries,[477:1] or monks and hermits who were still found there in large numbers.[477:2] But Christianity made little impression upon the Arabs. It appears in fact never to have fully satisfied any of the Eastern peoples—at least no branch of the Semitic race has ever taken kindly to it.
The Arabic religion was something of a mixture between monotheism and idolatrous polytheism. Every
house had its own idol and every tribe had its special deity, but above all these particular gods stood the universal god, Allah, by whom the holiest oaths were sworn, in whose name treaties were made, and yet who was worshipped least and last. Mecca was the religious capital, having been selected by Hagar and Ishmael, and was the home of the Kaaba, built by Abraham and his son Ishmael, containing the famous Black Stone.[478:1] A well organised priesthood, monopolised by the Koraish tribe, conducted worship and performed the sacred rites, which were accompanied by a rather elaborate ceremony. Great religious feasts were numerous, particularly in the "holy months." By the seventh century the Arabic religion was in a very low condition. It resembled the decrepid and effete Roman and Greek religions in the later days of their existence. There arose everywhere, consequently, a cry for reformation, or for a substitution, and this demand soon crystallised into a reform party, which rejected polytheism and preached asceticism while holding fast to a belief in Allah. It is quite possible that the members of this party received both their inspiration and their ideas from the Christian hermits. They were called the Hanifs or Puritans. This wide-spread desire for reformation indicates that Arabia was ripe for a religious revolution and that the times were ready for the great work of Mohammed.