It is a lengthy and complex topic, and despite omitting some important details, it still expanded on few pages. Because of its length, I thought it is better to post it as an article than a comment.
Why Renaissance started in Europe and not anywhere else in the world?
Bright and inquisitive minds are born everywhere in the world, but enriched and challenging environment makes them shine brighter. This knowledge and opportunity rich, and curiosity satisfying environment always attracts the greatest minds both from near and afar. House of Wisdom during Golden age of Islam, and 12th century of network of universities in the Europe created that environment which was unrivaled anywhere else in the world.
If we look at the chronological historic perspective of European Renaissance, and what was happening in the rest of world during that period, it will shed the light that Europe was the natural place for Renaissance.
European Renaissance in general is considered the revival of art, literature, science and other sphere of knowledge from 15th century to 17th Century which later transformed into modern world. The exact time period of Renaissance is debatable.
The foundations of the European Renaissance were laid down during the Classic Greece period which lasted during the 5th and the 4th century BC. This period gave birth to Athenian Democracy that became the backbone of Western Civilization, and produced such giants as Socrates, Plato and Aristotle who made fundamental and ground breaking contributions to western philosophy, ethics, literature, architecture and other spheres of knowledge. The classic period ended with the death of Alexander the Great in 323 BC.
The Classic Period was followed by Hellenistic period and during this period times the Greek civilization influence was at its peak, but decadence has started. This period is also referred to as decadence or transition period. Hellenistic period ended with the emergence of Roman Empire in 31 BC.
The Greek civilization had a great impact on Roman Empire, and during Roman Empire Greek and Roman influence spread over large part of the world. The Roman period ended in the West in 476 AD with the fall of Rome. It fell victim to internal fighting and outside invasions. The Western Europe was in full decay at this time. The Eastern Roman Empire comparatively had more lasting power and did not start to decline until 610 AD, and eventually fell to Ottoman Empire in 1453 AD with the surrender of Constantinople.
When Heraclius took reins of declining Eastern Roman Empire in 610 AD, a Muslim community was being born in Mecca that will change the landscape and cultural makeup of the world for all the time to come. Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) received the first revelations of Quran in the same year, 610 AD. Within decades the Muslims conquered large territory from Egypt and Syria to Cordoba and Cicely, and ushered in the Golden Age of Islam. The Golden Age of Islam began with the establishment of House of Wisdom by Caliph Harun-Rashid in 786 AD. Muslim scholars made significant contributions in areas of philosophy, mathematics, algebra, literature, cosmology, science sand other disciplines of knowledge. Scholars from all over the world were welcomed to translate Greek and Latin work into Arabic. This golden era produced great Muslim scholars and philosophers like Al-Farabi , Averroes and Avicenna. Al-Farabi and Averroes influenced modern day thought of reasoning above revelation and secularism. Al-Farabi was called ‘second teacher’ after Aristotle and Averroes was called ‘founding father of modern secularism’. Avicenna wrote ‘The Cannon Of Medicine’ which was later taught in Medieval universities as a text book as late as 1650. His writings on metaphysics and theory of knowledge influenced the thought of Thomas Aquinas ,Albertus Magnus and other western scholars. This period also produced another great scholar, Al-Ghazali, who successfully challenged the Islamic Neoplatonism philosophy advocated by A-Farabi and reversed its course. The Golden age ended in 1258 AD, when Mongols invaded and sacked Baghdad
During the 16th and 17th century the Ottoman Empire was at its peak, but not much was contributed in the sphere of knowledge except in navy warfare and architect. The Ottoman Empire started to decline from this point.
The modern European Renaissance in essence began in 12th century which was the period of Crusades, building of Universities, building of new towns and recovery of Latin, Greek science and philosophy with Arabic additions.
Robert Luis argues in his book, Renaissance and Renewal in the 12th Century, that the scenario changed during the 12th century. The increased contact with the Islamic world and Muslim dominated Spain and Sicily, the Crusades, as well as increased contact with Byzantium, allowed Europeans to seek and translate the works of Classic Greek and Islamic philosophers and scientists.
During this period the development of universities in Europe provided the infrastructure to expand and propagate the knowledge by making these texts the core of curriculum. Special emphasis was placed on scientific texts that help to create scientific communities for the future. These universities laid the foundations for later resurgence in artistic literary movement of Italian Renaissance of the 15th Century and scientific developments of 17th century.
The fall of Constantinople in 1453 AD at the hands of Turks led to migration of Greek scholars and texts to Italy, and Spanish inquisition of 1501 forced many Jewish, including many scholars, to migrate to Europe and North America. The Europe already had infrastructure of universities, laid in the 12th Century, and was ready to absorb and nurture this influx of scholars. Once Renaissance had started, it was able to attract bright minds and scholars from other parts of the world.
While the Renaissance was taking place in the West, the Muslim lands were in decay and falling victim to Mongols’ destructive invasion and Western colonialism. Much of Asia and Africa has also fallen to colonialism. Canada and Australia were colonial lands during the 18th and 19th century, but they fared better because they were of European decent and brought some of the new knowledge with them. These colonies were not treated the same way as Asian, Middle East or African colonies.
Russia was busy with its internal strife, except during Elizabeth’ reign in the 18th century Russian culture began to emerge and University of Moscow and Academy of fine arts was established. It was not much as compared to what was taking place in the Western Europe, but it helped modernize Russian Culture and produce eminent scientist and scholar like Mikhail Lomonosov.
Like Russia, China was also busy in its internal strife, and foundation of modern China was laid by Den Xiaoping after Mao Zedong’s death in 1976.
Japan was under the influence of Chinese culture until 19th century, when it started to modernize itself on western model. Japan made significant economic progress after 1955 and became economic power house.
European migration started to USA territory in 17th Century, the time when European Renaissance was already in full swing. USA got Independence in 1776. It benefitted from the knowledge of European immigrants and started developing institutions of knowledge with research capabilities early on. It established Harvard University in 1636. USA gradually developed colleges and universities all over the country as it built new towns and cities, but gained un-rivaled prosperity after WWII and started to attract the best and brightest minds from all over the world.
Concluding thoughts;
By looking at chronological history, the Europe was the only logical place left for modern Renaissance because after Golden Age of Islam ended in 1258 by Mongols’ invasion. Europe has already built network of universities in the 12th century and acquired lot of classic Greek and Latin work as well as Muslim scholar’s work. It was not only ready to nurture the great inquisitive minds but also ready to spread the knowledge to public at large. During this time nothing much was happening in the rest of the world except some sporadic inventions. At this time, the only place where network of organized institutions of knowledge were in place to serve both the academic scholars and public at large, was Europe.
The natural next question is; why Golden Age of Islam did not have longer durability while European Renaissance was able to transform itself into modern world ?
During the Golden Age of Islam, the knowledge was mostly limited to academic circles and only in few large cities. There was no network of universities to expand the advanced knowledge to public at large. The education was limited to schools attached to Mosques. The public at large was not much educated to appreciate the Islamic philosophy works of Al-Farabi , but the work of Al-Ghazali resonated with them because it was in their familiar territory and did not require much knowledge to understand it; and it was at their understanding level. Al-Ghazali successfully advocated forgetting about Islamic philosophy, going back to basics of Islam and bringing orthodox Islam closer to Sufism.
When Mongols destroyed big cities, they also destroyed what was the source and heart of advanced progressive learning. Nothing much was left to re-emerge both in the cities as well as in poorly educated public. Mongols were un-educated, and as Mughal rulers they never paid attention to building Universities. Ottoman Empire did not do better either, except sporadic scientific contributions and building beautiful mosques and palaces like Mughal rulers. Then colonial period started, eliminating any chance of renewal.
By Contrast, since 12th century the Europe, and later the entire West, built universities and advanced academic institutions in most of the cities to attract and nourish bright minds as well as spread the knowledge to public at large. When the knowledge is wide-spread and integrated into societal culture at large, it has durability and is impossible to take away.
The Renaissance has transformed itself into modern world and is spreading from West to the rest of the world, but Muslim lands are still struggling to embrace it.
Refrences;
- The “Classical Age” is “the modern designation of the period from about 500 B.C. to the death of Alexander the Great in 323 B.C.”Thomas R Martin, Yale University Press, 1996
- Green, Peter (2008). Alexander The Great and the Hellenistic Age. London: Orion
- Heather, Peter. The fall of the Roman Empire. A new history. Pan Books, 2006.
- GEOFFREY VILLEHARDON(1963). “The Conquest of Constantinople”.Chronicles of the Crusades (translated by Margaret R. Shaw). Penguin Classics.
- Angold, Michael (1997). The Byzantine Empire, 1025–1204: A Political History. London: Longman. .
- Matthew E. Falagas, Effie A. Zarkadoulia, George Samonis (2006). “Arab science in the golden age (750–1258 C.E.) and today”, -. Sack of Baghdad
- Short History of Islam by Karen Armstrong
- ‘Golden Age of Islam’ article by Namit Arora
- Robert Robert Louis Benson, Giles Constable, Carol Carol Dana Lanham, ed. (1991). Renaissance and Renewal in the Twelfth Century. Harvard University Press.
- Burke, P.,The European Renaissance: Centre and Peripheries1998)
- Reisman, D.Al-Farabi and the Philosophical CurriculumIn Adamson, P & Taylor, R. (2005). The Cambridge Companion to Arabic Philosophy. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
- Janssens, Jules L. (1991). An annotated bibliography on Ibn Sînâ (1970–1989): including Arabic and Persian publications and Turkish and Russian references. Leuven University Press.
- “Averroes.” By Individual Philosopher-com. Retrieved2012-10-13.
- Watt, W. Montgomery (1953). The Faith and Practice of Al-Ghazali, London: George Allen and Unwin Ltd
- Education during Golden Age of Islam;-Metaexistence Education Institute
- Wikipedia
Fayyaz Sheikh
The condensed history of the world presented above helps to see the big picture which is exactly what we are trying to do – to see why only Europe and not the other parts of the world! In the concluding section Fayyaz Sahib has focused on education and network of universities. He also blamed Mongols for sacking the Muslim center of education or House of Wisdom. It is rather hard to say that education didn’t matter but what was stopping others to build network of universities – and that is what is not addressed and an excuse of Mongols throwing the spanner in the works hinted at. Vikings, Goths and Huns weren’t kind to Europe either. Knowledge passed through to Europe by House of Wisdom translating that (Greek) for Europe, so why the translator’s didn’t benefit first?
Renaissance is supposed to be the flowering of the art and culture. Now if education was the catalyst then why education didn’t spread in other parts of the world. What we still shy away from is scrutinizing the role of dogma/religion. Fayyaz Sahib brought up Mughals building mosques and Taj Mahal and palaces but would not say boldly that they couldn’t think about promoting art for anything other than mosques and graves. The thought of worldly pleasures through art and paintings and poetry was not of importance, why, because of dogma. What I gather from various writings on Renaissance is what I already shared earlier, that the weakening grip of clergy telling life here and right now was only transitory, was the main reason for not allowing any pleasure, physical or intellectual. How that grip weakened in Europe has to be the reason for freedom of thought and expression. Chronology also shows what preceded Renaissance – failure of priests and orthodox kings in “The wake of Black Death” and their narrative of sinful life got exposed and this coinciding with explosion of education, luck of Europe having great artists appear at that time, all played a part. The great intellectuals of House of Wisdom couldn’t transform East because the religion’s grip on politics and every day life was strong, meaning again that the real shackles restricting freedom of thought and expression was heavy hand of doom and gloom clergy in the East. China and Russia part of the world was barbaric and living in fear and poverty far from arts and culture … I guess (I read few books on China recently including the classic, The Good Earth, watched serial Kublai Khan as well) and am inclined to blame brutality of that region just about same as the hell fire in afterlife for any indulgences, preached by religion in the West and Middle East.
Babar
This comment is on Babar Mustafa’s comment.
Babar Mustafa comments are pleasure to read because his style is analytical as well as critical.
For some affiliates it may cause a feeling of onslaught, but intellectually it can be very helpful for TF USA stated goals to achieve.
“Intellectual empowerment thru sharing of ideas ……… and few others”.
Babar Mustafa has a tendency to dissect a statement to its basic ingredients.
I got the impression that Babar Mustafa puts major responsibility of Muslims backwardness on Religious Dogma.
As the discussion progresses we will see how far this point of view is valid. Let us hear from other affiliates, what they think about this article about Renaissance.
When I was reading this comments, Babar Mustafa attributed some inferences to Fayyaz Sheikh. On the first read I was not able to detect in the article what Babar Mustafa saw.
Right now I will defer my judgment till the discussion advances to higher stages.
Marwan Majzoob!
January 13th, 2015.
Excellent and precise description of a very complex situation by Fayyaz Sheikh.
It has covered almost all the bases related to Renaissance in Western Europe.
The posting tells us how much intellectual effort has been invested into this endevor.
I wish Fayyaz Sheikh would have mentioned all the references (books, magazines, visited as references) but that is not a problem. Fayyaz Sheikh can share that information as a comment.
Why references are necessary?
Because other people can access the same source and derive their own conclusions.
It happens quite often that two persons may read the same book/article and may derive different conclusions. But these differences are the reasons for intellectual enrichments.
Fayyaz Sheikh did a great job by putting together the chronological description of Renaissance.
He has covered all major areas of civilizations with time reference (Approximate years).
The exact mentioning of time periods helps a lot in intellectual analysis. The concept of Zeitgeist hovers around us all the time.
After first read, I got the impression that Fayyaz Sheikh is overly sympathetic towards Islamic Golden age. I got the impression that he was almost equating Greek Golden Period/Age with Islamic Golden Period/Age.
That’s perfectly OK. This way the intellectual discussions are expanded.
I read somewhere that Islamic Golden Age was not because of Islam, it was in spite of Islam.
But these are intellectual positions which thinkers take after necessary reflections and delibrations.
This posting primarily deals with what happened. Secondarily it also deals with why it happened.
I personally feel that “WHY” part needs further investigations. That is the collective responsibility of all TF USA affiliates to participate in this discussion.
Ask their children/grandchildren to read this posting by Fayyaz Sheikh and write critical comments on this topic/article.
“O this is a great article” is not a critical comment. It is just a statement of fact.
A critical comment is:
“O, I read the article, I liked this point because ……….”.
“O, I read the article, I disagree with this point because ………”
What follows ‘because’ makes a comment critical and it is not easy. Because it is not easy, hence it is empowering and needed for the intellectual growth of any individual.
Let us start the discussion.
In this comment I made only one critical statement where I slightly disagreed with Fayyaz Sheikh.
Which is that statement?
You tell me in your next comment.
Marwan Majzoob!
Very well written and well researched article. So essentially, as I had stated in my previous comment it does take a few giants to ignite a renaissance (I am now using it as a generic phenomenon) and a critical mass of the population that embraces their ideas and spreads it over a region. The same thing seems to have happened in different parts of the world at different times. The answer to why the current state of Muslims is what it is, is apparent from this analysis. We may have had our few giants but we never had the critical mass of people ready to embrace their ideas, nor the political or religious leaders to facilitate the spread of change..
Comment by F. Sheikh
References for the main article are at the end of the article.
In a topic like this, fragmented comments without time specific chronological historic basis or perspective, and its relevance to renaissance, make it harder to evaluate their importance, relevance and its impact on Renaissance. Comments by Babar Sahib are great, but it will be helpful for discussion if they are placed in specific time and palace with chronological historic perspective, basis, and how they impacted renaissance. The main topic is the renaissance and not the dogma. I know our friends love to talk about dogma, and Majzoob Sahib has brought it up in his comments.
“Role and impact of religion on Golden age of Islam and Renaissance” is an interesting but a separate and big topic. I can make a brief comment. Religion did not stop the Golden Age of Islam or the European renaissance. Crusades were still taking place during the 12th century renaissance when network of universities was being built and House of Wisdom was built when Islam was at its peak. Some religious leaders created hurdles in the way, but they were not able to stop it. The Church was in charge even long after the 17th century Renaissance. The Catholics believed in one Kingdom of earth and heavens, hence one ruler, the Pope. The renaissance had influenced Catholic hierarchy. In 1517 AD, Martin Luther advocated the doctrine of two separate kingdoms of earth and heaven and sowed the first seeds of separation of State and Church. In 1632 John lock and other progressive thinkers advocated the same, and that lead to adoption of separation of state and church by the West in later decades.
Overall it was the renaissance that gradually influenced the Church and not the other way around. It is possible if Islamic Golden era had continued, it might have led to separation of state and church in Muslim lands. It illustrates another important aspect, answer to one of the 4Q, it is not the separation of state and church by itself, but it is the process and progress by education that ultimately leads to this end, which is more important. Muslim lands first have to go though this process of education that will lead to this end, separation of state and church. It is a long strenuous walk. Off course once a nation reaches at this mile stone, then it is easy to embrace the modern world.
References for the original main article;
1. The “Classical Age” is “the modern designation of the period from about 500 B.C. to the death of Alexander the Great in 323 B.C.”Thomas R Martin, Yale University Press, 1996
2. Green, Peter (2008). Alexander The Great and the Hellenistic Age. London: Orion
3. Heather, Peter. The fall of the Roman Empire. A new history. Pan Books, 2006.
4. GEOFFREY VILLEHARDON(1963). “The Conquest of Constantinople”. Chronicles of the Crusades (translated by Margaret R. Shaw). Penguin Classics.
5. Angold, Michael (1997). The Byzantine Empire, 1025–1204: A Political History. London: Longman. .
6. Matthew E. Falagas, Effie A. Zarkadoulia, George Samonis (2006). “Arab science in the golden age (750–1258 C.E.) and today”, -. Sack of Baghdad
7. Short History of Islam by Karen Armstrong
8. ‘Golden Age of Islam’ article by Namit Arora
9. Robert Robert Louis Benson, Giles Constable, Carol Carol Dana Lanham, ed. (1991). Renaissance and Renewal in the Twelfth Century. Harvard University Press.
10. Burke, P., The European Renaissance: Centre and Peripheries 1998)
11. Reisman, D. Al-Farabi and the Philosophical Curriculum In Adamson, P & Taylor, R. (2005). The Cambridge Companion to Arabic Philosophy. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
12. Janssens, Jules L. (1991). An annotated bibliography on Ibn Sînâ (1970–1989): including Arabic and Persian publications and Turkish and Russian references. Leuven University Press.
13. “Averroes.” By Individual Philosopher-Philosophybasics.com. Retrieved 2012-10-13.
14. Watt, W. Montgomery (1953). The Faith and Practice of Al-Ghazali. London: George Allen and Unwin Ltd
15. Education during Golden Age of Islam;-Metaexistence Education Institute
16. Wikipedia
The reading list of dr Fayyaz is impressive and covers diverse points of
view. As he notes there are many factors that defy orderly and
chronological explanations. I would like to add one to the list. How the
diverse social, religious and tribal forces combine to create a force for
both positive and negative directed change.
Civilizations like the solar system require a central nexus that feeds and
supports the planetary system of other factors. When the center is more
cohesive it raises or lowers all other boats of progress. The great
religions of the world have been such forces. Christianity defined the
west and Islam wide swaths of the Mediterranean, North Africa and South
Asia. Diversity and acceptance of pluralism have been fought over
centuries. The challenges to the basic tenets of the roman church gave
rise to diverse religious and social philosophies which took violence over
generations to establish. Religion became a centripetal force that spewed
out to diversify both thought and belief. Renaissance was one fruit of
that messy pollination.
Islam on the other struggled from its very start with the divergent Sunni
and Shia divide that remain unresolved to this day. The differences were
muted during the great rush of fervor and momentum that brought Muslims knocking on the borders of Europe and establish great Turkic, Arabian, Persian and Indian empires.
When the forward momentum stopped, the religious differences became part of the centrifugal forces that turned
societies within.
The world of Islam lost its outward trajectory for
several generations. The differences have emerged in the last generation
into bloody conflicts of new and old ideas.
It is a chronology that the west underwent some time ago but a daunting
reality that is impacting modern Muslim worldview. The age of Renaissance in Islam has just begun.
Nasik Elahi
Keeping the question in mind, “why the Renaissance in Europe …and not anywhere else” I found Fayyaz Sahib’s focus on education a little drifted because education wasn’t unavailable to the rest of the world, if Europe could acquire education the rest of the world could too and the rest of the world did. I am focusing on what was holding back Europe from the flowering of art and literature until then, and what still holds back the East. I come up with; very strong hold of dogma in Europe, and when that weakened, Europe shifted gears. East is still in the tight grip of dogma (note that education is quite easily available in the East too now).
The chronology of Renaissance is 14th to 16th century (yes, a brief 12th century of Renaissance is talked about too) and a very big catastrophe known as Black Death happened in Europe from 1346 to 1353 (middle of 14th century) coinciding with beginning of Renaissance and its not the disease itself or the decimation of 40% population that directly triggered a change in Europe, its the weakening of strong religious authority that resulted from the inability of the Church to provide relief and failure of its narrative of Black Death – sinful life bringing wrath of God. By no means it was the only factor. As the incidences of the plague began to decline in the early 15th century, Europe’s devastated population began to grow. The new demand for products and services also helped create a growing class of bankers, merchants and the skilled artisans. In the leaner years of 14th century wealthy found few promising opportunities for their earnings and instead chose to spend more on culture and art (this from an article on Wikipedia). Also between 12th and 15th century Ottomans conquered Byzantines (by 1453) sparking the Byzantine scholar’s migration to Italy and of course the translated Greek knowledge from Arabs flowed in too.
If education was the main factor then by now with easy access to all the European and American universities and because of Internet transforming the world into a global village something like Renaissance would be experienced in the East too but no, in our part of the world great sculptures are blown up with bombs declaring as blasphemous (ref. Afghans blowing up Buddha statues of Bamiyan), in Pakistan I think a woman’s photograph on the national identity cards is still forbidden …for being a sin of some kind (my knowledgeable Muslim scholars will know better)… forget about nude art or sculptures, and remove this portion of art from the European art and how much art we will be talking about? I don’t think I will find Mona Lisa in Burqa much appealing aesthetically. I better stop here.
Babar
Comment by Fayyaz
I was hoping Majzoob Sahib would have jumped in by now but he is silent so far. It is hard job to explain everything on the basis of dogma, Black Death, and at the same time eliminate “education” as the determining factor. Babar Sahib has made good arguments, but they are not supported by historic facts. The Dark Death of 14th century inspired new art and architecture depicting sadness and horror of the times. It also increased the demand for labor, merchants, bankers and professionals. To meet these demands, new universities were built for “training and education”, but it was the continuation of the process that started in 12th century Renaissance, and not the beginning of the process.
Babar Sahib’ comments raise some intriguing questions, which Majzoob Sahib can also include in his upcoming article. The following comments by Babar Sahib;
“ I found Fayyaz Sahib’s focus on education a little drifted
because education wasn’t unavailable to the rest of the world, if Europe
could acquire education the rest of the world could too and the rest of
the world did. “
“ I am focusing on what was holding back Europe from the
flowering of art and literature until then, and what still holds back the
East. I come up with; very strong hold of dogma in Europe, and when that
weakened, Europe shifted gears.”
“decimation of 40% population that directly triggered a
change in Europe, its the weakening of strong religious authority that
resulted from the inability of the Church to provide relief and failure of
its narrative of Black Death”
Questions:
1- If education is not the DECIDING factor to loosen grip of dogma, then what is the most potent weapon to loosen this grip?
.
2- If education and knowledge (philosophy, science, art etc) are not the determining factors at the heart of Renaissance, then what was Renaissance all about?
3- If rest of the world did acquire education then why so much illiteracy in the world, especially East ? Let me guess! Dogma! How to loosen the grip of dogma without education?
4- During the plague, the religious fervor and superstition actually increased and not decreased. See two excerpts from Wikipedia. The last sentence of the Religious section is worth noting:
“Reformers rarely pointed to failures on the part of the Church in dealing with the catastrophe.[40]”
Persecutions;
Renewed religious fervor and fanaticism came in the wake of the Black Death. Some Europeans targeted “groups such as Jews, friars, foreigners, beggars, pilgrims”,[30] lepers[30][31] and Romani, thinking that they were to blame for the crisis.
Differences in cultural and lifestyle practices also led to persecution. As the plague swept across Europe in the mid-14th century, annihilating more than half the population, Jews were taken as scapegoats, in part because better hygiene among Jewish communities and isolation in the ghettos meant in some places that Jews were less affected.[32][33] Accusations spread that Jews had caused the disease by deliberately poisoning wells.[34][35] European mobs attacked Jewish settlements across Europe; by 1351, 60 major and 150 smaller Jewish communities had been destroyed, and more than 350 separate massacres had occurred.
According to Joseph P. Byrne, women also faced persecution during the Black Death. Muslim women in Cairo became scapegoats when the plague struck.[36]Byrne writes that in 1438, the sultan of Cairo was informed by his religious lawyers that the arrival of the plague was Allah’s punishment for the sin of fornicationand that in accordance with this theory, a law was set in place stating that women were not allowed to make public appearances as they may tempt men into sin. Byrne describes that this law was only lifted when “the wealthy complained that their female servants could not shop for food.”[36]
Religion
There was a significant impact on religion, as many believed the plague was God’s punishment for sinful ways.[37] The Church lands and buildings were unaffected, but there were too few priests left to maintain the old schedule of services. Over half the parish priests, who gave the final sacraments to the dying, themselves died. The Church moved to recruit replacements, but the process took time. New colleges were opened at established universities, and the training process sped up.[38] The shortage of priests opened new opportunities for lay women to assume more extensive and more important service roles in the local parish.[39]
Flagellants practiced self-flogging (whipping of oneself) to atone for sins. The movement became popular after the Black Death. It may be that the flagellants’ later involvement in hedonism was an effort to accelerate or absorb God’s wrath, to shorten the time with which others suffered. More likely, the focus of attention and popularity of their cause contributed to a sense that the world itself was ending and that their individual actions were of no consequence.
The Black Death hit the monasteries very hard because of their proximity with the sick who sought refuge there. This left a severe shortage of clergy after the epidemic cycle. Eventually the losses were replaced by hastily-trained and inexperienced clergy members, many of whom knew little of the rigors of their predecessors. Reformers rarely pointed to failures on the part of the Church in dealing with the catastrophe.[40]
Fayyaz
I agree with Dr. Sheikh. Education had to have played a major role; That’s the critical mass of “sane, intelligent & educated” population that I referred to in my earlier comment. There had to be that crucial part of the population that had the smarts to embrace the Renaissance. Isn’t education what we advocate to improve the lot of current day Muslims? The Afghans who blew up the statues would not have done so if they were educated. And if decimation of a population is a reason for a renaissance, Afghanistan, where thousands have died in the last few decades, should have been at the forefront of a renaissance.
If I am allowed to use my ex-Marine Engineer’s analogy, I might be able to explain better the difference between how I am looking at Renaissance (being exclusive to Europe) and how Fayyaz Sahib is looking at it. We are both right to some extent. Fayyaz Sahib is looking at the main engine of the ship which propels the ship forward and I am looking at the ship’s hull frictional resistance (barnacles and roughness) and the winds and currents against it. The ship that comes out of dry dock after sand blasting the hull and new paint on the hull’s underwater area gains more speed with low fuel consumption.
Education’s part can not be eliminated or diminished but when the resistance is very strong its hard to make progress. Main propulsion was education and scientific knowledge but the resistance from the dogma was strong keeping masses in fear of worldly pleasures, equating art to vulgarity, stressing on blind faith (discouraging R&D and crediting God for running day to day life and catastrophes).
Fayyaz Sahib actually did me a favor by narrating how a second witch hunt had started to find sinners responsible for the Black death plague, Jews were easy target once again, priest’s “business” flourished by being in demand, people rushed to churches. Enema became the cure of popular choice to be clean and improve hygiene (not prescribed by clergy I think). So the religious activity surged only to be seen as utter failure finally when the rodents were found as the source (and not the sins). When people found the real culprit and priests themselves falling victim to the plague, the fear mongering ended. That is the what I would call cleaning the hull .
Many ships may have the main engines of equal power but the one with less resistance
will gain speed and surge ahead.
I am sure higher education will eventually clean the hull from barnacles too and just like ships the faster and guaranteed method is of physically cleaning by scraping and sand blasting.
To answer the question number 1 and 3 (about how to loosen grip of Dogma) above, I would invoke situation in Pakistan; We tried educating extremists, we held Jirgas, negotiations round after round and it didn’t work because what we had there more accessible, was madrassas for the tribal instead of regular schools where more extremists were being churned out than schools, brain washed with jihad – thanks to dogma. Remedy now seems only annihilation, Zarb e Azb!! We couldn’t wait for real education finally reaching to new generations as dogma guardians kept burning and demolishing them…our ship could not make headway because of this stiff resistance courtesy dogma. The Turkish ship or Malaysian ship is picking up speed because their hull is rather not that roughened by dogma (Turkey seems to be slowing down too…ISIS is right at their doors)….In Turkey I can say Ataturk took his ship to dry docks a while back.
On Question number 2 about what Renaissance was if not education; I would say it again, it was the interest without fear of dogma (finally) in the real world around them, and the joy of art, paintings, poetry, small pleasure of life here and now, not church’s hold forbidding this and that for the better afterlife or hereafter – Capital One’s earned miles !
On Question 4, I already thanked Fayyaz Sahib, the religious fervor proved to be the light from a supernova, emitted from a dying star — the last surge of flame before it is extinguished.
By the way, if we look at the time line of history, what follows Renaissance is the Reformation (1500 – 1600)…calls for church to end abuses etc. Isn’t it a confirmation that religious doctrine was exposed and disliked?
Babar
P.S. Tahir Sahib’s comments are awesome, he should write more, his writing is very delightful.
Comment by F. Sheikh in Response to Babar Sahib
Following comments by Babar Sahib;
“So the religious activity surged only to be seen as utter failure finally
when the rodents were found as the source (and not the sins). When people found the real culprit and priests themselves falling victim to the
plague, the fear mongering ended.”
Again the conclusion that” fears mongering ended” is not based on historic facts. The fear mongering and hold of religion continued. Black Death did not loosen the religion’s grip. About a century after Black Death, in 1517 Martin Luther, influenced by the Renaissance and outraged by the selling of indulgences by Pope, challenged the Pope. This was the first crack and loosening of the grip of Church. See following paragraph about Martin Luther in Wikepedia, No mention of Black Death, essence of Babar Sahib’s recurrent arguments.
“It was Luther who in October 1517 published the 95 Theses, challenging papal authority and criticizing its perceived corruption, particularly with regard to instances of sold indulgences.[note 1] The 95 Theses led to the Reformation, a break with the Roman Catholic Church that previously claimed hegemony in Western Europe. Humanism and the Renaissance therefore played a direct role in sparking the Reformation, as well as in many other contemporaneous religious debates and conflicts.”
Babar Sahib’s following comment;
“ We tried educating extremists, we held Jirgas, negotiations round after round and it didn’t
work because what we had there more accessible, was madrassas for the
tribal instead of regular schools where more extremists were being churned out than schools, brain washed with jihad – thanks to dogma.”
In the above paragraph Babar Sahib is making arguments from both sides. In First sentence he is saying “We tried Educating extremists” suggests education did not work, ( although negotiation is hardly education) but then in rest of the paragraph he is arguing that lack of formal education is churning out Talibans that are beholden to Dogma.
This also contradicts his prior arguments that whole world is educated.
I think we have made enough arguments on this aspect of Renaissance. Babar Sahib can make the final argument. Ironically, as a Humanist, Babar Sahib should have been the one making the arguments that I was making, but I guess Black Death and Dogma had a stronger grip that did not leave much room to wiggle. Thanks Babar Sahib for making the discussion informative and enjoyable.
I want to thank and congratulate Mr. Sheikh for his hard work and in-depth analysis of the topic. Of course, this is a very interesting topic and many have written and many will continue to express their views. In addition to Mr. Sheikh excellent presentation, I want to add a few points to the panel and seek their opinion for the validity of these points.
1) Mediterranean subtropical climate: It is neither too hot nor too cold, a pleasant weather throughout the year
2) Shipbuilding and maritime activities: The lands in this area have long coastlines, which helped in the development of shipbuilding and maritime activity. This helped in the search for new lands and people thus advancing the growth of knowledge.
3) The peaceful and compassionate nature of Christianity: The extraordinary love and forgiveness in this religion created a stable society. Christianity also supported and promoted arts, sculpture, painting and music. It is true that later on, the Church opposed some scientific theories, but the benefit of this religion out weighs the negatives. The result was extraordinary contribution to arts and music
I will be grateful if somebody could shed some light on these points. Thanks,
Zaki Sabih
Thanks Zaki Sabih Sahib for the comments and great questions. Mirza Ashraf Sahib added wonderful article on the same subject. I agree with the comments by Amin Shoeb Sahib.
The geographic blessings may give slight advantage, but it is not the determining factor in the nation’s enrichment in education and cultural values. Unfortunately this blessing has even turned into a curse for some oil rich countries who became lazy and arrogant with free wealth.
As Shoeb Sahib pointed out Christianity was not always as tamed and as peaceful as present day. Reformation of Christianity started by Martin Luther in 1517 that later transformed into separation of state and church in 18 century. Bible has violent verses on blasphemy, as below, but they are considered relic of the past and not relevant today.
The best-known passage on this is Leviticus 24:16 : “Anyone who blasphemes the name of the Lord is to be put to death. The entire assembly must stone them. Whether foreigner or native-born, when they blaspheme the Name they are to be put to death.” ( Fareed Zakaria in Washington Post).
Mirza Sahib has written about renaissance in Islam, let us hope such a renaissance starts in Islam.
But many of our atheist friends would argue that any role of religion is a suspect at best, and no role of religion, whether Islam, Christianity or Judaism, is the best solution.
Climate can very well be a factor at least as far as Italy is concerned, but not for the rest of Europe.. I think Jared Diamond has made the argument that the nations that have thrived have done so because of where they are located on the globe (along with things like natural resources etc.); the converse being the reasons why nations fail. Of course, in a book titled “why nations fail” the opposite view is given; that it is the people who make the country great.
As far as Christianity, I’d say it was not as “peaceful and compassionate” or as amenable to change as it is today, though probably better than some religions today.
I completely agree with Shoeb and Fayyaz Sahib above about the role of geography (I am a big fan of Jared Diamond myself) and about the Christianity behind the “Turn the other Cheek” propaganda.
Ref Fayyaz Sahib offering me the final word, I have to thank him for his patience and magnanimity of not attacking personally and sticking to the main topic. I don’t discard the role of education and perhaps my analogy of education being the “main propulsion engine” didn’t explain well. I couldn’t explain well what the drag was, despite the education, and how I think it weakened and allowed the education to work resulting in Reformations soon after the Renaissance, and finally separation of state and religion.
My bad for using the word “ended” in regards to the hold of the religion – it weakened, or I should have said “it was the beginning of the end”, and the realization that there is real life here and now and the dark side of religion be dealt with.
I do not have any problem with the bright side of any religion including Islam but the exploitation of it (religion) must end and then only the progress is possible.
Babar