Religion in the Ottoman Empire

            The Nomadic tribes of the Middle East were savage peoples. They were recruited to work for the Sultan in Turkey and they were taught manners, religion and war craft. They were transformed from nomads to respected generals serving the Holy Muslim Army in Constantinople under the name of Ghazis (or religious fighters). These nomadic peoples were the beginnings of one of the greatest empires to rule this world, The Ottoman Empire.

The Ottoman Empire started in the year 1299 and lasted until the year 1923, over 700 years of existence. They ruled their huge empire from Constantinople, which is in modern day Istanbul, Turkey. The founder of the Empire and one of its many Sultans was Osman I, hence the naming of the empire. He will start a long chain of powerful Sultans that will change the coarse of history for a long time to come.

            The Ottoman Empire was no doubt a Muslim Empire but one of its keys to success was religion itself. See, Islam didn’t only affect them in a spiritual and religious way it also affected their political issues, their rivals, their allies, their battle strategies, foreign affairs, religious tolerance, taxation, trade, education, prayer, economy but most of all it affected their everyday life. The way the Ottomans ruled and the systems they created to help them with issues pertaining to religion where such a success that one of the empire’s generals said: “I have had less problems with Jews and Christians than I have had with Muslims.”⁽¹⁾

            Ever since the introduction of the “Millet System” in the empire they have had no problems pertaining to religion or religious differences. This point was very important to the Ottomans because if they could secure the stability within the empire then they could focus on conquering lands abroad and gaining power amongst the other empires around the world. The Millet System essentially separated the different religions so that a person from that religion would dictate their social affairs, (such as marriage, divorce, inheritance etc.) but the top allegiance was always to the Sultan.

Another System pertaining to religion that was used to help the empire’s military strength was the Devshirme System. This system led to the formation of the most feared warriors of all time through children. Yes, Children. The Ottomans had the genius idea to take young children that were Christian or Jewish and teach them Islam and give them the best education available and teach them that their allegiance rests only with the Sultan and God. Once the children grew up they were trained to become warriors or great architects in the Royal Palace.

            Going back to their beginnings they took many of their ideas and philosophies from the Islamic faith. They ran their government based on the Islamic Shareea’ (code of Islamic rules and laws). Their warriors were taught Islam, even if they were Christian (this is because the Islamic Shareea’ prohibits soldiers from killing women, children and old men, there are also other laws pertaining to warfare that are different in the Islamic Shareea’ from Christianity and Judaism).

Furthermore, Islam changed the way that they saw the surrounding world. When the Ottomans occupied another nation with different cultures, religions or beliefs, the first thing they did was send one of their many scholars to the locals and he was to study and essentially live the same way those people lived. After a certain time the Sultan would call the scholar back to the palace and would inquire him about everything that he saw. If the Sultan liked (for example) a certain law that was being implemented before their arrival, he would include it in their code of laws (this also depended on the agreement of the change with the Islamic Shareea’).

            Religion also greatly affected the empire’s economy. Religion allowed the empire more taxes. The Islamic Shareea’ says that all people with different faiths living under Muslim rule are due taxation called cizya (or gizya); this was for the simple reason of protection. No non-Muslim was required to go to war for the Empire. On the contrary, all Muslim males (adults, that are healthy and have no sisters or parents to take care of) were required to go to battle for the empire. They also made a deal with the Christians and Jews pertaining to this rule of war. If they were to fight with the Holy Muslim Army (as Muslims – even if they are not actually Muslim) they (them and their families) would be relieved of the burden of the cizya (gizya).

            Continuing on in the field of the empire’s military (Askeri), one of the most important battles that the Empire took part in was during the Habsburg wars, specifically the battle of Lepanto. The battle of Lepanto was one of the empire’s greatest losses. Even though the Sultan, Ali Pasha, out numbered King Don John of Austria the empire lost that naval battle. This was a conflict of religions that lead to the end of Ottoman expansion to the west and was the turning point of the empire from being a great, prosperous, growing empire to a slowly but surely declining one.

            Ali Pasha commanded 230 galleys and 56 galliots. This was considered to be the grandest naval fleet ever to fight. But the European fleet, lead by Don John of Austria was composed of many different European armies. The Venetians were under the command of Agostino Barbarigo to the Left of the Real (the ship that Don John was in). The Genoese under Giovanni Andrea Doria were on the right and a reserve fleet led by Álvaro de Bazán was located behind the Real, bringing the number of Europeans to a grand total of 206 galleys and 6 gallasses. All of these European armies were under the name of the Holy League, while the Ottomans were under the name of The Holy Muslim Expansion. Both sides were fighting for God but only one side prevailed.

            After the capture of Sultana (the ship that Ali Pasha was on), the Sultan was publically executed in front of his loyal subjects. His head was cut off and displayed on a pole at the front of the ship and his subjects tied to that pole in a possession that didn’t allow them to look away from the bodiless head. This was morally scaring for the Ottomans because ever since they were children they were taught to always think highly of the Sultan and obey his commands. When he was executed (against the will of Don John) it left a mark in the Ottoman’s history that they would never forget for centuries to come. This execution marked the beginning of the end for the Ottoman Empire.

            The empire’s foreign affairs were greatly affected by Islam as well. Originally the Islamic Shareea’ prohibited a Muslim nation to fight against another Muslim nation. Some Sultans took it upon themselves to “bend” this rule and “join” other nations. Finally, through corruption and bribery the Sultan Mahmud II changed the Islamic Shareea’ for the first time in history. Mahmud II was later executed for this change in Shareea’ and his head was displayed on the main door of the city with a flag next to it saying these words: “Traitorous, non-believer not a Sultan. Allah Akbar (God is the greatest).”

            Also under the genre of foreign affairs, in battle all dead were respected. If the enemy troops (no matter what religion) allowed the Ottomans to collect and burry their dead they were allowed to do the same. If not the Ottomans would take the enemy corpses and display them on backs of donkeys or hanging off the back of carriages with horse manure. This nasty custom was later made illegal by vote of Islamic Council and agreement of the Sultan Suleyman The Magnificent.  This was because the Islamic Shareea’ specifically says that: “All corpses are allowed respect and traditional burial rights. Every Muslim man who dies in defense of himself, his family, his money or his country will not be washed or stripped of his armor or parted from his blade. (He is to be buried the way he is found, in bloody clothes, with his armor and his sward.) He shall be treated with mercy by the all merciful Allah and forever in paradise he shall be.”⁽²⁾

            In the spreading of religion to foreign lands, trade played a big role. The Silk Road was most famous for the goods that traveled its path but it was a main porthole for Islam to cross over into Asia. Since the discovering of the Silk Road Islam has spread heavily to Asia and specifically Afghanistan, India, Pakistan, Iran, Iraq, Azerbaijan, Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan. The spreading of Islam through the Silk Road was an accident. Traders from the Ottoman Empire would travel to Asia, using the Silk Road, to trade with the peoples of Asia. In their trading and dealing the people noticed their honesty and behavior and asked about them and eventually discovered Islam. This was a gateway into Asian countries such as Russia. The increasing Muslim population made it easier to conquer such nations.

            Coming to the closing curtain of the empire’s sensational performance for over 700 years amongst the other empires in the world, comes more war. Specifically World War II and I. World War I was an extremely traumatizing for the Ottomans, it turned their strong unified country empire into a bunch of feeble states. This put its military in critical condition. Finally, when World War II came it basically finished off the empire and left the banner of Islam dangling, without a savior. After World War II the empire was left to crumble. Once the empire finally came to a political, social and military standstill it finally surrendered to the modern world of Democracy and the Arab Republic of Turkey was formed, leaving the crescent on their flag as a reminder of their great Islamic Ottoman history.

The Ottoman Empire

Bibliography

(1) J. Shaw, Stanford, “History of The Ottoman Empire and Modern Turkey,” Page N/A.

(2) J. Nasir, Jamal, “The Islamic Law of Personal Status,” Page N/A

J. Nasir, Jamal. The Islamic Law of Personal Statues. London: Graham & Trotman Ltd., 1986

J. Shaw, Stanford. History of The Ottoman Empire and Modern Turkey. London: Cambridge University Press, 1977.

Youtube. “The Ottoman Empire: Empire of Faith – Part 1.” Last modified April 27, 2007. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ahtPb5cRAVQ.

Sephardic Studies. “History of The Ottoman Empire, an Islamic nation where Jews lived.” Last modified January 17, 2004. http://www.sephardicstudies.org/ottoemp.html.

Globaled. “Turkish Tolerance.” Last modified March 8, 2000. http://www.globaled.org/nyworld/materials/ottoman/turkish.html.

Wikipedia. “Mahmud II.” Last modified October 23, 2011. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mahmud_II.

BBC. “Religion, The ottoman Empire (1301 – 1922).” Last modified September 4, 2009. http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/islam/history/ottomanempire_1.shtml.

About.com. “Ottoman-Habsburg Wars: Battle of Lepanto.” Last modified N/A. http://militaryhistory.about.com/od/navalbattles14011600/p/lepanto.htm.

All About Turkey. “Suleyman The Magnificent.” Last modified December 24, 1999. http://www.allaboutturkey.com/suleyman.htm.

Conquistador Diary

25^th January 1519

We leave the port in Cuba, sailing towards the new island that the locals called Mexico. They spoke of great treasures and kings. I don’t personally think any Aztec could beat a civilized Spanish sailor with guns and horses.

We arrive on the beach in Mexico. The small village at that beach looked at us as if we had 4 eyes and two heads. All they did was look at us in amazement. It was almost like they had never seen other human beings before this very moment.

Oh, and the horses! They had those little scrawny Indians running with fear. All they did was mutter something about a man called Quetzalcoatl. All they did was look amazed. “Who the hell were these white dudes?”

I saw the chief of the village take his cousins’ beating heart right from his chest. It was brutal and cruel. After the supposed sacrifice to the gods they celebrated and rejoiced in the innocent bloodshed. I figure they would probably do the same to us if did not win the upcoming battle.

I brought 15 horses, 300 men and I am still trying to recruit soldiers from other rival Aztec tribes. My men where afraid and I couldn’t have them walking out on me at the last minute. I burned the ships. It was the only way to get them focused on what they had to do. Sounds brutal but it was only meant in pure battle strategy. 

Why Did Lutheranism Appeal to The Princes Of Northern Germany?

Lutheranism is believing in the teachings of Martin Luther that emphasize the cardinal doctrine of justification by faith alone. This also means that the christians would leave Catholicism and become Protestants. The princes of Northern Germany liked the ideas of Luther because they would eventually lead to the increase in their power and their increased wealth.

Martin Luther initially supported the princes from the start of his Protestant campaign. He shows his support by quoting the biblical quote saying, “render to Caesar”. This explains that the peasants shouldn't pay tithe to the pope and church, but instead pay taxes to their leaders or princes. Since the church only believes in the power of the Church if there were to be a Protestant revolt it would annihilate the other competitor for power therefore stirring up less chaos.

If the ideas of Luther were abided by the princes would take over the land previously owned by the church and grow ever more powerful. The princes also shut down the church's monasteries. In effect the princes become more wealthy and powerful.

With the input from Luther's ideas the princes gained more political power. After putting the church aside the princes were able to appoint their own ministers. This results in the government being greater and more powerful than the church.

Since the cancelation of the tithe to the church and popes, the princes now have an extra 10% of taxes that they can force upon their subjects. This means that there will be more tax money for the princes, thanks to no tithe or taxes going to the pope and church. This makes the princes much richer, therefore they have more power.

Finally, since the catholic teachings have been proven wrong by Martin Luther the pope was stripped from power and Jesus was put back at the top of the list. The mercy of god is to be achieved through faith not good words, bribes and indulgences. This made the catholics worry about going to hell.

How Was Europe Changed By The Crusades?

 I think that one of the biggest changes in Europe is the role, wealth and power of the Catholic Church. The people set off for the holy land in search of the blessings and benedictions of the Pope. At the same time the papacy was getting alot of land for very cheap or nothing at all. This gave the church the upper hand in the fight for power.

The other important change was the intellectual development of Europe. With the new ideas from the East that helped liberalize the European minds came a more secular environment. The return from the East with new foods, culture and ideas greatly influenced the learning in Europe and eventually resulted in the great intellectual outburst known as "the revival of learning" and the period of the "Renaissance".

Some other major changes were the social and political changes. The social changes were represented in the way people acted socially. Many stories of Knights and Chivalry garnished the already blooming intrest in poetry. As for the political changes in Europe they mainly revolved around the depreciation of the feudal system and furthermore to it's extinction. At the same time the many cities gained political advantages and independance at the expense of the crusading Barrens and Princes. The crusades gave the early German Christians time to acquire strength enough to push back the Mohammedan Invasion in the 15th century.

The economical impact on the feudal system in Europe was the main reason for many of the Kings and Knights to mortgage or sell their lands in order to raise money for the crusading expeditions. Also, the killing of thousands of Lords and Kings in the holy land lead to a prodigious amount of unowned estates and lands. These were either sold to the church for a fraction of the price or given to the papacy in the name of God.

The material development of Europe was mainly caused by the voyages of discovery to the East. The crusaders acquired great wealth from the products and goods that they brought back. This made many Western Europeans increase their demands for foreign products. This lead to the increase of trade, which lead to the creation of new trade cities, such as Venice, Pisa and Genoa. This also lead to the increase in ship architecture and ship building. Through the increased trade and crusades many new arts, technology and inventions that were previously unknown to Europe were introduced from Asia and the Middle East.

A reborn interest in the earth's many diverse cultures could have been a deciding factor in Columbus's decision to go to the Americas and Sir Mandeville's decision to explore the remote countries of Asia. Marco Polo was one of the best examples of the renewed geographical interest in Europe after the crusades.

In my opinion, the most important effect of the crusades on Eurpoe was the commerce. The crusades created a constant demand for trade, encouraged ship building, and brought many great ideas, foods and philosophies from the Middle East and Asia to the everyday people of Europe. The crusades opened up an entire new world of food, culture and sheer discovery to an old, dull, dark, damp English castle.