Surprisingly the Prophet Muhammad (570-632) lent a hand to reformation as did the Black Death, again albeit unwittingly. Mohammed’s home town Mecca was on one of the few caravan routes (the freeways or motorways of their day) between Europe and the African Continent. It is highly probable that he met missionaries of the Jewish faith and the Christian faith when they were en route to and from Africa, this can be inferred from the traces of Judaism and Christianity found in the Qu’ran.
Spreading the Word
From 632-700 Islam spread at a tremendous rate through Northern Africa and the Middle East. Christianity was teaching ‘turn the other cheek’ and Islam was saying respect people of the book (followers of Judaism or Christianity) but kill all infidels who oppose you and you shall be rewarded (But when the forbidden months are past, then fight and slay the Pagans wherever ye find them, and seize them, beleaguer them, and lie in wait for them in every stratagem (of war)...from Qur'an 9:5; Fight those who believe not in Allah nor the Last Day, nor hold that forbidden which hath been forbidden by Allah and His Messenger, nor acknowledge the religion of Truth, (even if they are) of the People of the Book...from Qur'an 9:29). Furthermore it says it is honourable to die in battle in the name of Allah. So the young men were eager to take up arms for their cause rather than turn the other cheek which in all fairness seems like a lame way to ensure one name of the guest list to heaven. Men fought for their religion, the prospect of booty and because their friends and fellow tribesmen were also doing it.
Since the dawn of time man has always needed a common enemy. Be it the tribe next door, a neighbouring school, another football team. Europe had to varying degrees been united and led by the Carolingian and Merovingian Dynasties but this had largely stopped by about the year 1000 and Europe has not been united since until the foundation of the European Community in the latter part of the 20th Century.
The Muslims in Europe
The Muslims had been in Europe since 711 when North African Moors invaded the Iberian Peninsula. They had even managed to progress as far as Tours in central France, less than 200 km from Paris, where they were defeated by Charles Martel who was the grandfather of Charlemagne.
Following the demise of the Carolingian and Merovingian Dynasties at the turn of the first millennium, the socio-political wrangling in Europe led there to be a proliferation of Fiefdoms and duchies although there was a relative peace and stability. Successive Popes were trying to organise and give a cohesive structure to the church as well as to unify it and give it a practical purpose.
In 1076 the Muslims had captured Jerusalem where Jesus had spent most of his life. In 1096 Pope Urban II decided to unite and focus the vagabonding restless military might of Christian Europe and sent them on a crusade to recapture the Holy city of Jerusalem. There were many atrocities committed by both sides in the conflict (indeed rare is the conflict where this is not the case). There were 9 crusades in all (if one includes the ‘children’s crusade’ of 1212) over the next 200 years with varying measures of success, failure and even catastrophic failure.
From around the time of the last crusade in 1270 Spain was more or less a Muslim colony although it seems that the Moors and Spaniards lived in relative peace and harmony. In 1469 Ferdinand of Aragon (1452-1516) and Isabella of Castile (1451-1504) married and in 1479 they managed to unite Aragon and Castile unifying Spain. Together they reformed much of the Spanish administrative system and by 1492 Spain was once again a Catholic country after retaking Grenada the last Muslim stronghold.
The Outcome
1492 also saw the official discovery of the Americas which again had its own affect on the reformation which was to come shortly. The newly emerging Catholic Spain wanted to purge itself of any non-catholic practices which had been reported amongst the Jewish and Muslim converts to Catholicism and after successive negotiations with the pope obtained permission to hold inquisitions which were under the control of Spain (the monarch) and not the church (the Pope). The Spanish inquisition was born in 1478.
The negotiations amounted to bribery for Ferdinand was threatening to withhold military support for Pope Sixtus IV against the Ottoman/Turkish (Muslim) Empire which was threatening Christian Europe in the east.
So the Spanish Inquisition had at least two main effects. It stopped any reform ideas from taking hold in Spain and it committed Ferdinand and his troops to defend Europe against the Turkish Empire in the West.
Source:
Hugh Kennedy, The Armies of the Caliphs: Military and Society in the Early Islamic State, 2001
