The importance of the Crusades to European history is difficult to overstate. You can drawn links between this movement and the Renaissance, the Reformation, the Age of Exploration, and the collapse of the Byzantine Empire, among other things. But in the short run, at least, it’s fair to say they were a waste of lives … Continue reading Today in Middle Eastern History: The Siege of Antioch ends, kind of (1098)
Category: history
Today in European history: the Fall of Constantinople (1453)
The Ottomans were not the first Islamic power to threaten the Byzantine Empire, and in fact the empire was by 1453 a hollowed out husk of its former glory. Successive waves of Turkish and Mongolian invasions had taken almost all of Anatolia out of Byzantine control, and the Ottomans had by this point conquered much … Continue reading Today in European history: the Fall of Constantinople (1453)
Islamic History, Part 20: the Islamic Opposition and the Abbasid Revolution (705-750), Part II
Islamic History Series before you read this, first read part I As I said earlier, the Umayyads were able to operate on a religious level in their claim on authority primarily because they were the symbolic embodiment of the communal unity that Muhammad had established decades earlier. What it meant to be a "Muslim" still … Continue reading Islamic History, Part 20: the Islamic Opposition and the Abbasid Revolution (705-750), Part II
Islamic History, Part 19: the Islamic Opposition and the Abbasid Revolution (705-750), Part I
Islamic History Series (this got really out of control long, so I split it into two pieces; part II is here) The Arabic word dawlah means "state" in modern parlance, and prior to the rise of the modern nation-state it was often used to describe dynasties. Its root (dawala) is a verb that means "to … Continue reading Islamic History, Part 19: the Islamic Opposition and the Abbasid Revolution (705-750), Part I
Islamic History, Part 18: the conquest of Iberia (711-759)
Islamic History Series In contrast the decline of the Umayyad Dynasty in Syria, a period that I'm sure was as confusing for you to read about as it was for me to write about (imagine living through it), the conquest of Spain is considerably more straightforward, and takes place at a time when the rest … Continue reading Islamic History, Part 18: the conquest of Iberia (711-759)
AFRICAN-AMERICAN HISTORY MONTH: Islam and the American Slave Experience
Hey, I’ve moved! If you enjoy this post you can find more of my writing at Foreign Exchanges, a Substack newsletter covering a variety of topics in history and foreign affairs. Check it out today and become a subscriber! As we approach the end of African-American History Month, I thought it worth discussing the one … Continue reading AFRICAN-AMERICAN HISTORY MONTH: Islam and the American Slave Experience
Islamic History, Part 17: the later Umayyads (705-750)
Islamic History Series The Umayyads didn't have a very long run as top muckety-mucks in the Islamic World, less than a century even, if we start their dynasty with the beginning of Muʿawiyah I's reign in 661 (and I'm not sure how you could start it any earlier). When you look at the list of … Continue reading Islamic History, Part 17: the later Umayyads (705-750)
Happy Presidents Day: Teddy Roosevelt and the Perdicaris Affair (1904)
Hey, I've moved! If you enjoy this post you can find more of my writing at Foreign Exchanges, a Substack newsletter covering a variety of topics in history and foreign affairs. Check it out today and become a subscriber! President's Day here in the US brings with it a number of anecdotes about the bygone … Continue reading Happy Presidents Day: Teddy Roosevelt and the Perdicaris Affair (1904)
Islamic History, Part 16: the Caliphate of Abd al-Malik (685-705)
Islamic History Series So the messy fallout of two civil wars (or two halves of the same civil war, if you prefer) is behind us, and now we come to probably the most important of the Umayyad caliphs, ʿAbd al-Malik b. Marwan, who took the throne after the death of his father in 685. ʿAbd … Continue reading Islamic History, Part 16: the Caliphate of Abd al-Malik (685-705)
Abdullah Azzam: The Unmentioned Founding Father of al-Qaeda and Hamas
Hey, I've moved! If you enjoy this post you can find more of my writing at Foreign Exchanges, a Substack newsletter covering a variety of topics in history and foreign affairs. Check it out today and become a subscriber! I would guess that most people who know the name "Abdullah Azzam" today know it as … Continue reading Abdullah Azzam: The Unmentioned Founding Father of al-Qaeda and Hamas
The Foreign Exchanges Companion 