French    German    Spain    Italian    Arabic    Chinese Simplified    Russian

Western Civilisation

Until the advent of materialism and 19th c. dogma, Western Civilisation was  superior to anything Islam had developed.  Islam has not aided in the development of the modern world; in fact civilisation has only been created in spite of Islam.  Proof of this resides in the 'modern' world and the unending political-economic and spiritual poverty of Muslim states and regions.  Squatting on richer civilisations is not 'progress'.  Islam is pagan, totalitarian, and irrational.   

Back     Printer Friendly Version  

Tuesday, November 4, 2014

Bookmark and Share

The Birth of the West: Rome, Germany, France, the Creation of Europe in the 10th Century P. Collins

So much for the myth of Al-Andalus and 'tolerant' Moslem Spain

by Ferdinand III


An insightful look into 10th century Europe. It is my contention that by 900 AD Europe was the richest, best-fed, best-educated and most agriculturally productive geographic entity in the world. It was 'Christendom' which formed the modern world, developed technology and science, and allowed freedom to come to the fore of the political-economy. Free-will, free-association, freedom of speech, free assembly, and the mandate to use rationality only arose in Christendom – no where else.


Collins would likely agree with this assessment. Some interesting facts from the 10th century on why and how Christendom saved the world.


in the tenth century probably less than 25 percent of European land was owned by the church and monastic orders and that kings and magnates controlled 40 percent or more. Ordinary people owned about 30 to 35 percent, but the constant insecurity and chaos meant that they were still subservient to the local strongman because they needed his protection.


The Secular state was always more powerful than the Church and incessantly desired its subservience to state power.


Italy seems to have been an irresistibly attractive prize for the Germans. It was not only the warmer climate and brighter light, the economic prosperity and the developed resources, particularly in northern Italy, that attracted them. It was also the influence the emperors could exercise over the papacy, which indirectly gave them even more power over the church in Germany.


and: retaining their educational role, monasteries in the ninth century had become increasingly secularized owing to their social and economic clout. Patrick J. Corish points out, “They became associated with the established major dynasties, and in consequence became centers of secular power.....Monastic armies fought with kings and against kings.


Yet the benefices of monasticism, Church technological developments, public and court schools, medicine, hospitals and even the idea of peace-days in which war was outlawed, all added magnificently to the heritage and expansion of Christendom.


Irish monks who “saved civilization” and learning in the West, a project that continued through the Carolingian period and on into the tenth century. The ability to reform itself was one of monasticism’s great strengths, and one of the great reforms of Western monasticism emanated from the monastery of Cluny in southern Burgundy and spread across Western Europe in the tenth and eleventh centuries.


Irish monks preserved Latin and Greek learning well before the great days of Muslim al-Andalus, and these same monks, from the seventh century onward, spread that learning and culture across Continental Europe and England via their missionary work.


And what of the poverty of the Moslem-fascist political project in Spain?


In traditional Islam there was no clear separation of what today we would call religion and the state. The key question of who should lead the community was left unanswered. At first the caliphs saw themselves as the successors of Muhammad. They claimed “to be khalifat all?h....vice regents of God. They assumed the protection and endowment of Muslim worship, the organization of mosques and the defence of the pilgrimage. They claimed authority in legal and doctrinal...


Islam, isolated and convinced of its own superiority, felt it had nothing to learn from Christian Europe. We will return to this knowledge transmission when we consider Gerbert of Aurillac. All of this suggests the need for a more nuanced appreciation of al-Andalus. In the end the greatness of Moorish Spain was something of a mixed blessing.


al-Andalus simply wasn’t the kind of tolerant paradise that Lewis imagines, especially for Christians. It was a highly stratified society with a strict demarcation of roles, including for a period the wearing of identifying badges for Jews and Christians. Mozarabic Catholics were cowed, second-class citizens in what had originally been their own country.


Catholics and Jews were constantly reminded of their second-class status. They were dhimmi, “protected ones,” or “people of the book.” Dhimmi were granted a special residential status to live in Muslim-dominated countries in return for paying jizya, a poll and land tax. Generally, there was no outright persecution of Christians until the time of the vicious dictator al-Mans?r (976–1002).


the hadith (sayings ascribed to Muhammad) says, as “the one who fights for the faith of Allah” than of actually gaining territory. Over the course of Abd al-Rahm?n’s campaigns against the Christians, he achieved some victories. One Moorish chronicler says that after a battle in July 920 at Valdejunquera, southwest of Pamplona, there were so many heads of the Christian dead to take back to Córdoba to set up around the city walls that the mule trains could not carry them.


And, Al-Andalus was far from an open, tolerant society even for Muslims.

Anyone who has studied the disaster of Moslem Spain – the millions killed, dispossessed, or taken as sex chattel; the forcible conversions, the endless raids against Infidels, obscene taxes on non-Moslems, the lies about how large or grand Cordoba was; knows the above to be true. The Reconquista which was effectively over in 1250 except for the statelet of Granada which paid a ransom to survive, is one of the greatest epics in Western history.

At least Collins has the intelligence and factual confidence to impart the truth. 


Article Comments:

Related Articles:

Books Reviewed


12/10/2023:  EurArabia and EU Dhimmitude

11/5/2023:  The Palestinian Delusion, by Robert Spencer

9/4/2023:  'The Templars', by Michael Haag

8/27/2023:  The Crusades, Christianity, and Islam, Jonathan Riley-Smith (2008)

7/30/2023:  Simon Webb: ‘The Forgotten Slave Trade; The White European Slaves of Islam’

7/5/2023:  Scanderbeg: A History of George Castriota and the Albanian Resistance to Islamic Expansion

6/29/2023:  Defenders of the West. Raymond Ibrahim. Another must-read.

6/21/2023:  A must read book, Raymond Ibrahim’s ‘Sword and Scimitar’.

5/29/2023:  Judith Herrin, ‘Byzantium. The Surprising Life of a Medieval Empire’.

5/26/2023:  Review: 'Byzantium and the Crusades', by Johnathan Harris.

5/18/2023:  Johathan Harris, The Lost World of Byzantium

5/13/2023:  History of the Byzantine Empire, Sir Charles Oman, 272 pages, 2018

11/7/2022:  Christopher Dawson 'Religion and the rise of Western culture'

8/26/2022:  Power and Persuasion in Late Antiquity. By Peter Brown

4/14/2022:  Henri Pirenne, 'A History of Europe: From the Invasions to the XVI Century'

1/22/2022:  ‘Through the Eye of A Needle’ by Peter Brown

11/28/2021:  Peter Hammond: Slavery, Terrorism and Islam. Exposing the moon cult and Jihad

11/14/2021:  The Rise of Western Christendom: Triumph and Diversity, A.D. 200–1000. Peter Brown.

10/4/2021:  Henri Pirenne: Mohammed and Charlemagne

9/27/2021:  Henri Pirenne: Mohammed and Charlemagne. Rome never 'Fell'. It was replaced.

8/9/2021:  The Catholic Enlightenment, Ulrich L. Lehner. Nicholas Bergier, defender of the Church.

8/8/2021:  The New World Order, by A. Ralph Epperson

7/15/2021:  The Catholic Enlightenment, Ulrich L. Lehner. From the 16th century to Pope Francis.

7/9/2021:  The Catholic Enlightenment, by Ulrich L. Lehner

3/29/2021:  The Clock and the Camshaft, J. W. Farrell

3/20/2021:  Bearing False Witness, by Rodney Stark, #2.

3/17/2021:  Bearing False Witness, by Rodney Stark, #1.

2/5/2021:  ‘Slavery, Terrorism and Islam’ by Peter Hammond

1/27/2021:  Emmet Scott 'The Impact of Islam' and the mythical Golden Age of Muhammadan Spain

1/24/2021:  The Impact of Islam, by Emmet Scott (part two)

1/20/2021:  The Impact of Islam, by Emmet Scott (part one)

11/20/2020:  The Light Ages: A Medieval Journey of Discovery, by Seb Falk. Science and sphericity.

11/11/2020:  The Light Ages: A Medieval Journey of Discovery, by Seb Falk

10/16/2020:  The Age of Plunder, by W. G. Hoskins

10/11/2020:  Michael Wood's 'In Search of The Dark Ages'. Plenty of light, the basis of civilisation

9/8/2020:  The Glory of the Crusades, Steve Weidenkopf (2014)

8/5/2020:  C.S. Lewis and 'The Abolition of Man' by Steve Turley

12/18/2019:  The Palestinian Delusion: The Catastrophic History of the Middle East Peace Process, Robert Spencer

12/11/2019:  Islam: Religion of Peace?: The Violation of Natural Rights and Western Cover-Up, Fr. Portella

11/25/2019:  2030: Your Children's Future in Islamic Britain, by David Vincent

4/28/2016:  History of the Catholic Church from the Renaissance to the French Revolution - James MacCaffrey

2/24/2016:  Morris Bishop, 'The Middle Ages'

11/6/2015:  “Medieval Lives” by Alan Ereira, Terry Jones and the 'other side' of the Monkish orders

11/6/2015:  Medieval Lives by Alan Ereira, Terry Jones

8/18/2015:  Dr. Robert Morey, 'Islam Unveiled' – The Real Desert Storm

8/16/2015:  R. A. Morey, 'Islam Unveiled', 1991

1/18/2015:  Ataturk in the Nazi Imagination, by Stefan Ihrig

11/28/2014:  The poorly named Enlightenment - James Hitchcock, History of the Catholic Church

11/27/2014:  Michael Coren's 'Hatred: Islam's war against Christianity' Read it.

11/20/2014:  "The Catholic Church and Science" by Benjamin Wiker

11/14/2014:  Michael Coren: 'Hatred; Islam's war on Christianity'. Stating the obvious.

11/11/2014:  Collins and Christian-Catholic Culture in the West

11/4/2014:  The Birth of the West: Rome, Germany, France, the Creation of Europe in the 10th Century P. Collins

7/25/2014:  James Hitchcock, The History of the Catholic Church

7/19/2014:  William Muir, 1868, 'Life of Mahomet' - the madness revealed

6/30/2014:  Garwood: 'Flat Earth' - a belief only held by atheists and evolutionists

5/1/2014:  How the West Won: The Neglected Story of the Triumph of Modernity by Rodney Stark

4/23/2014:  The Victory of Reason: How Christianity Led to Freedom, Capitalism, + Western Success - Rodney Stark

3/31/2014:  John Freely: 'Before Galileo', Kuhn and the real history of real science.

3/25/2014:  John Freely: 'Before Galileo', Diophantus to Bradwardine, review 2

3/15/2014:  Book Review: John Freely and 'Before Galileo'

2/19/2014:  Christianity, Islam and Atheism by William Kilpatrick (2)

2/18/2014:  Christianity, Islam and Atheism by William Kilpatrick

6/28/2013:  Raymond Ibrahim 'Crucified Again: Exposing Islam's New War on Christians'

4/24/2013:  Evangelical Catholicism: Deep Reform in the 21st-Century Church by George Weigel

4/21/2013:  Robert Spencer: 'Moslem Persecution of Christians'

4/13/2013:  Book Review: Islam: Evil in the name of God

3/31/2013:  The Triumph of the Risen. The Truth of Christianity.

1/12/2013:  Book Review 2: God and Reason In the Middle Ages, by Edward Grant

1/7/2013:  Book Review 1: God and Reason In the Middle Ages, by Edward Grant

1/3/2013:  The Early Middle Ages 400-1000, Editor Rosamund McKitterick, Short Oxford History of Europe

12/17/2012:  Heresy: Ten Lies They Spread About Christianity, by Michael Coren

12/10/2012:  Medieval Technology and Social Change, Lynn White Jr., Oxford Press, 1968

11/29/2012:  Book Review: Preachers of Hate: Islam and the War on America, Kenneth Timmerman

11/28/2012:  Book Review: Islamophobia, by Robert Spencer.

11/25/2012:  Part 2: The Gies' - Cathedral, Forge and Waterwheel, Review

11/23/2012:  The Gies': Cathedral, Forge and Waterwheel, Review.

11/13/2012:  Book: The cult of the Moon God, by Brian Wilson

10/31/2012:  Review 2: Islam Dismantled, Sujit Das, Ali Sina

10/29/2012:  Book Review 1: Islam Dismantled by Sujit Das, Ali Sina

9/22/2012:  Book Review: Michael Coren, 'Why Catholics are Right'.

9/3/2012:  Book Review, Why the West is Best, by Ibn Warraq, Part Two

8/29/2012:  Book Review, Why the West is Best, by Ibn Warraq, Part One

6/12/2012:  Book Review: Poitiers AD 732, Charles Martel turns the Islamic tide. David Nicolle.

6/6/2012:  Review 2: Diane Moczar, Islam at the Gates, How Christendom defeated the Ottoman Turks

5/31/2012:  Review 1: Diane Moczar, Islam at the Gates, How Christendom defeated the Ottoman Turks

5/26/2012:  The Early Middle Ages 400-1000, Editor Rosamund McKitterick, Short Oxford History of Europe

4/13/2012:  Review, Emmet Scott: 'Mohammed and Charlemagne'

4/10/2012:  Henri Pirenne, 'Mohammed and Charlemagne' – Part 2

4/7/2012:  Book Review: Henri Pirenne, Mohammed and Charlemagne – Part One

1/29/2012:  Andrew Wheatcroft's, 'The Enemy at the Gate'

1/22/2012:  Book Review: Defenders of the Faith, by James Reston Jr.

1/11/2012:  Book Review: Norman Berdichevsky, 'The Left is not always Right'

12/10/2011:  Book Review, Nigel Cliff's 'Holy War' – good but flawed.

11/7/2011:  'How Civilizations Die', D. P. Goldman, 2011, 270 pgs.

10/21/2011:  'Religion and the Rise of Western Culture' – Christopher Dawson [Kindle Edition]

9/29/2011:  Book Review: Bynum's 'Allah is Dead'

9/16/2011:  Middle Age Dynamism

8/13/2011:  Malise Ruthven, 'Islam in the World' and the Kabaa-Hajj paganism.

8/12/2011:  EJ Brill and the Ka'ba

8/11/2011:  F.E. Peters and the pagan origins of the Kabaa Shrine

7/14/2011:  Benjamin Walker, Foundations of Islam: The Making of a World Faith 

4/12/2011:  Martin Gilbert: 'In Ishmael's House: A History of Jews in Muslim Lands', part 3.

4/6/2011:  Martin Gilbert: 'In Ishmael's House: A History of Jews in Muslim Lands', part 2.

4/3/2011:  Review part 1: Martin Gilbert 'In Ishmael's House'. A History of Jews living in Muslim lands.

3/31/2011:  Book Review: Susan Bauer, 'The History of the Medieval World'

3/24/2011:  Book Review: Empires of the Sea, by Roger Crowley. [The Final Battle for the Mediterranean]

3/22/2011:  Book Review: Will Israel survive? By Dr. Mitchell Bard, expert on Israel's political-economy.

3/20/2011:  Book Review ‘The Great War for Civilization', by Robert Fisk

3/18/2011:  Book Review: Bruce Bawer's “Surrender: Appeasing Islam, Sacrificing Freedom”, Doubleday, May 2009.

3/15/2011:  Book Review: World War IV and Beyond, by Richard Hobbs.

3/11/2011:  Alan Dershowitz's: 'The Case for Israel.'

3/5/2011:  Leaving Islam, by Ibn Warraq

2/18/2011:  Review part 2: D. S. Margoliouth, 'The Early Development of Mohammedanism', 1913.

2/12/2011:  Review: D. S. Margoliouth, 'The Early Development of Mohammedanism', 1913.

12/21/2010:  Robert R. Reilly, 'The Closing of the Muslim Mind'. The Communal Fascism of Islam.

12/19/2010:  Robert R. Reilly, 'The Closing of the Muslim Mind'.

10/22/2010:  Rodney Stark, 'For the Glory of God'

10/20/2010:  Andrew McCarthy, 'The Grand Jihad, How Islam and the Left Sabotage America'.

10/18/2010:  Book Review: 'The Dhimmi. Jews and Christians under Islam.' Bat Ye'or.

10/8/2010:  Jamie Glazov: 'United in Hate'. Indeed they are. The Leftards and Muslims that is.

8/31/2010:  'The Stealth Jihad: How Radical Islam is Subverting America without Guns or Bombs', Robert Spencer

8/9/2010:  Amil Imani: Iranian and former-Muslim writes about the pagan savagery that is Islam.

7/15/2010:  Book Review: Baran's 'The Other Muslims: Moderate and Secular'. A fantasy novel.

6/29/2010:  Serge Trifkovic: 'The Sword of the Prophet'. Jihad, Jihad and endless Jihad.

6/28/2010:  Serge Trifkovic: 'The Sword of the Prophet'. The Madness of Muhammad.

6/5/2010:  Review, 'Medieval Civilization 400-1500' by Jacques Le Goff.

5/31/2010:  Fregosi and Islam's endless Jihad.

5/27/2010:  Book Review, 'The Civilization of the Middle Ages', by Norman Cantor, 1993.

5/21/2010:  Book Review: 'Islam's Black Slaves', by Ronald Segal, 2001.

5/9/2010:  Book Review: 'Race and Slavery in the Middle East.' by Bernard Lewis, 1990.

5/6/2010:  Book Review: 'Slavery in the Arab World', by Murray Gordon, 1987.

5/5/2010:  Book Review: R. C Davis; 'Christian Slaves, Muslim Masters', 2004 edition.

5/1/2010:  Book review: The Complete Infidel's Guide to the Koran, by Robert Spencer.

4/28/2010:  Book Review; Thomas Cahill, 'Mysteries of the Middle Ages', 317 pages.

4/9/2010:  Book Review: 'The Islamic Anti-Christ', Joel Richardson, 2009, WND Books.

3/26/2010:  Book Review: Wafa Sultan, 'A God Who Hates'. 2009, 244 pages.

3/19/2010:  Book Review: Brigitte Gabriel, “They Must be Stopped”. 2009. 240 pages.

3/1/2010:  Book Review; M. A. Khan “Islamic Jihad: A Legacy of Forced Conversion, Imperialism and Slavery”

2/22/2010:  Book Review: 'Defeating Political Islam' by Moorthy Muthuswamy

2/13/2010:  'Holy Warriors' – the Arab devastation of the Mediterranean

2/10/2010:  Henri Pirenne and why the 'Dark Ages' occurred.

2/20/2009:  Book Review: 'The Great Arab Conquests', by Hugh Kennedy.

1/22/2009:  Book Review - 'Chasing a Mirage' by Tarek Fatah. [2008, Wiley and Son, 410 pages.]

6/15/2008:  Book Review: 'Islamic Imperialism – A History.' By Efraim Karsh.

1/7/2008:  Book Review: Ed Husain, 'The Islamist'

11/22/2007:  Book Review: 'The War of Ideas: Jihadism against Democracy', by Walid Phares

10/16/2007:  Robert Spencer's superb book: 'Religion of Peace: Why Christianity is and Islam isn't'

9/21/2007:  Book Review: 'Infidel' by Ayaan Hirsi Ali- a Somalian-Dutch Muslim Apostate

5/2/2007:  Book Review: Islam The Arab Imperialism, By Anwar Shaikh

4/9/2007:  Book Review: ‘Religion of Peace? Islam’s War Against the World’, by G.M. Davis

2/12/2007:  Book review – ‘The Truth about Mohammad’, by Robert Spencer

2/11/2007:  Book review of 'Because they hate' by Brigitte Gabriel