Note Byzantium held out against islam until 1453, fall of Constantinople.
A mere 40 years later, Columbus circumnavigated the globe. That made islam irrelevant, and it promptly collapsed.
Erstwhile conquerors were reduced to merely collecting "jizya." tax on Christians.
In the West, best warriors got lands to rule. As owners, they had incentives to make it more productive, care for peasants and share the wealth with the king.
But in islam, war heroes were rewarded by the iqta', temporary leases. With clock running, they were pushed to milk holdings as much and as fast as possible. That was self-defeating. Thus did islamic states become irrelevant, sinking into unproductive obscurity, where they remain.
Excellent article. Your comment on the Pentarchy brings to mind the depiction of the Pentarchy which is the Jerusalem cross. A central, large cross (Jerusalem) with smaller crosses in the four quadrants depicting the other centers. It has been a symbol of Christian unity for centuries.
As I tell people repeatedly when they give me the tired "slavery is due to Europeans", the actual word "slave" come from the name of my ancestral people, the Slavs. Nestled along the coast of the Adriatic my ancestors were subject to countless slavery raids from north Africa and what's now the "Middle East".
History that looks at all the facts. Well done!
Note Byzantium held out against islam until 1453, fall of Constantinople.
A mere 40 years later, Columbus circumnavigated the globe. That made islam irrelevant, and it promptly collapsed.
Erstwhile conquerors were reduced to merely collecting "jizya." tax on Christians.
In the West, best warriors got lands to rule. As owners, they had incentives to make it more productive, care for peasants and share the wealth with the king.
But in islam, war heroes were rewarded by the iqta', temporary leases. With clock running, they were pushed to milk holdings as much and as fast as possible. That was self-defeating. Thus did islamic states become irrelevant, sinking into unproductive obscurity, where they remain.
Incentives matter and islam got it wrong.
Excellent article. Your comment on the Pentarchy brings to mind the depiction of the Pentarchy which is the Jerusalem cross. A central, large cross (Jerusalem) with smaller crosses in the four quadrants depicting the other centers. It has been a symbol of Christian unity for centuries.
Thanks for more great work.
As the subtitle says … part 1 :-)
Thanks for sharing!
As I tell people repeatedly when they give me the tired "slavery is due to Europeans", the actual word "slave" come from the name of my ancestral people, the Slavs. Nestled along the coast of the Adriatic my ancestors were subject to countless slavery raids from north Africa and what's now the "Middle East".
Not to mention pagan Viking raiders who made a tremendous amount of money selling your ancestors in the Turkish slave markets.
And it is interesting that many people know the origin of the word, but are incurious about why that should be so.