June 15
On JUNE 15, 1215, King John of England was forced to sign the Magna Carta, the Great Charter of the Liberties of England, but the story behind it is worth noting, and it is tied to Jerusalem.
Jerusalem had been a Jewish city since time of King David, around 1000 BC, and it had been a Christian city since Emperor Constantine, 313 AD.
Muslims under Caliph Umar took Jerusalem away from the Byzantine Christian Patriarch Sophronius and forced Christian and Jewish inhabitants to be second class citizens through "Jim Crow" type laws called dhimmi.
Christian pilgrims began to be harassed, massacred and crucified. In the 700's, Christians were banned from giving religious instruction to their children and displays of the cross were banned in Jerusalem. In 772 AD, Caliph al Mansur ordered Jews and Christians to be branded on the hand.
In 923, Muslims began destroying churches in Jerusalem. On Palm Sunday in 937, Muslims plundered the Church of Calvary and the Church of the Resurrection. In 1004, Fatimid Caliph al-Hakim bi-Amr Allah began a ten year persecution where thousands were forced to convert or die and 30,000 churches were destroyed. In 1009, Caliph al-Hakim ordered the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem destroyed.
In 1075, the Muslim Seljuk Turks captured Jerusalem from Arab Muslims. Gregory Bar-Hebraeus (1226-1286), a Syrian Orthodox Church leader, wrote how Seljuk Turkish Muslims initially treated Christian subjects tolerably, then:
"...having seen very much modesty and other habits of this kind among Christian people, certainly the Mongols loved them greatly at the beginning of their kingdom, a time ago somewhat short. But their love hath turned to such intense hatred."
Pilgrims returning from the Holy Land shared reports of Muslim persecution and cruelty toward dhimmi Christians.
Syria, Lebanon, Palestine and Egypt, which had all been Christian lands, were conquered by Muslims. Muslims conquered Sicily.
In 1057, the Norman adventurer Robert Guiscard took control of Calabria in the toe of Italy and fought against the Muslims of Sicily.
Italian city-states of Pisa, Genoa and Catalonia fought the Muslims who were raiding Majorca, Sardinia, Catalonia and the coasts of Italy.
In 1071, the Muslims delivered a major defeat to the Byzantine Christians at the Battle of Manzikert and took control of all but the coastlands of Asia Minor.
Cries were carried back to Europe, begging for help. Europe sent help, it was called the Crusades. By most numbering, there were nine major Crusades and numerous minor ones, continuing from 1095 till 1291 when Acre was finally captured by the Muslims.
The Crusades began when, in desperation, the Byzantine Emperor Alexius I Comnenus humbled himself and sent ambassadors to the Council of Piacenza in March of 1095, appealing for help from his religious rival, the Roman Catholic Pope. The seriousness of this appeal is underscored as it occurred just a few years after the Great East-West Schism between the Roman Catholic Church and the Byzantine Church.
Pope Urban II gave an impassioned plea at the Council of Clermont in 1095 for Western leaders to help their Byzantine Christians brethren, whom Muslims compel to extend their necks and then, attacking them with naked swords, attempt to cut through the neck with a single blow. (Robert the Monk, Medieval Sourcebook, Fordham University.)
With Spain exuberant after driving the Muslims from Toledo and Leon a few years earlier, the First Crusade began in 1097, led by Godfrey of Bouillon. It freed Iconium from the Muslims, though it was later taken back.
The First Crusade defeated Turkish forces at Dorylaeum and Antioch, and captured Jerusalem in 1099, holding it for nearly 100 years.
After the Muslims conquered Edessa, another crusade was called for by Bernard of Clairvaux in 1147. It was made up of French and German armies, led by King Louis VII and Conrad II.
In 1148, Muslim leader, Nur ed-Din, slaughtered every Christian in Aleppo. The Second Crusade failed to take Damascus and returned to Europe in 1150. Bernard of Clairvaux was disturbed by reports of misdirected violence, especially toward some Jewish populations.
In 1190, Pope Gregory VIII called for a Third Crusade. It was led by German King Frederick I, called Frederick Barbarossa (meaning Redbeard), who was the Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire. He was joined by Philip II of France and Richard I of England.
Frederick led 100,000 soldiers across Byzantium, driving out Muslims and temporarily freeing Iconium. He most likely would have freed Jerusalem and the surrounding area from Muslim domination had he not fallen off his horse while crossing the G�ksu River in Cilicia, Asia Minor. Being 67 years old and weighted down with heavy armor, he drowned in waist deep water and the Crusade went into confusion.
Richard the Lionheart assumed leadership of the Crusade and captured Acre, but due to rivalries, Philip II returned to France in 1191.
Richards troops came within sight of Jerusalem in 1192, but narrowly failed to drive out Saladin (1138-1193). Western resolve for the war diminished and political unrest back home increased from King Phillip II of France and from Richards ambitious brother John, who ruled England in his absence, as chronicled in the legends of Robin Hood.
This situation put Richard in the position of having to negotiate a hurried truce with Saladin, who, it was later discovered, was on the verge of defeat. Saladin captured Crusaders at Hattim, July 4, 1187, and ordered their mass execution. Saladin allowed Christians to leave Jerusalem only if they paid a ransom, but according to Imad al-Din, approximately 7,000 men and 8,000 women could not make their ransom and were enslaved. The vessel Richard sailed away on was shipwrecked, so he decided to travel with a party across Europe in disguise.
He was recognized near Vienna and captured by Duke Leopold V of Austria. The Holy Roman Emperor, Henry VI, imprisoned Richard at Dumstein. England had to place burdensome taxes on its populace to raise the kings ransom.
In 1197, Henry VI, the Holy Roman Emperor, was preparing for another crusade but died due to malaria. Once Richard was back in England, he ruled only a few years before being shot with an arrow during the siege of a castle.
His brother became the oppressive King John, who lost Britains claim to French lands. This caused Englands noblemen to surround John on the plains of Runymeade in 1215 and force him to sign the Magna Carta, a document which began the long process of limiting the arbitrary power of monarchs and guaranteeing rights of citizens.
The The Legend of Robin Hood speaks of Richard the Lionheart, so named for his courage in leading the Third Crusade in 1190AD to win back Jerusalem from the Muslims.
Though he did not retake Jerusalem, Richard made a truce with Saladin in 1192 AD for safe passage of religious pilgrims.
When approximately 15,000 inhabitants of Jerusalem could not afford ransom, Saladin sold them into slavery.
On Richard's return trip to England, he was captured by rival Duke Leopold of Austria, and spent three years in prison.
Legend has it Richard's loyal minstrel, Blondel, traveled from kingdom to kingdom, singing Richard's favorite song and heard Richard sing the second verse from the prison tower.
Freed by an enormous "king's ransom," Richard returned to England and took back the throne from his brother John.
Five years later Richard died in battle and John ruled oppressively in England.
The angry barons captured London and, on JUNE 15, 1215, surrounded King John on the plains of Runnymeade, forcing him to sign the Magna Carta.
This was the first time in history the arbitrary powers of a king were limited.
The Magna Carta ends:
"for the salvation of our souls, and the souls of all our...heirs, and unto the honor of God."
Hide Endnotes
Magna Carta. 1215. Benjamin Hart, Faith & Freedom - The Christian Roots of American Liberty (Dallas, TX: Lewis & Stanley, 1988), p. 17.
Brought to you by AmericanMinute.com
On JUNE 15, 1215, King John of England was forced to sign the Magna Carta, the Great Charter of the Liberties of England, but the story behind it is worth noting, and it is tied to Jerusalem.
Jerusalem had been a Jewish city since time of King David, around 1000 BC, and it had been a Christian city since Emperor Constantine, 313 AD.
Muslims under Caliph Umar took Jerusalem away from the Byzantine Christian Patriarch Sophronius and forced Christian and Jewish inhabitants to be second class citizens through "Jim Crow" type laws called dhimmi.
Christian pilgrims began to be harassed, massacred and crucified. In the 700's, Christians were banned from giving religious instruction to their children and displays of the cross were banned in Jerusalem. In 772 AD, Caliph al Mansur ordered Jews and Christians to be branded on the hand.
In 923, Muslims began destroying churches in Jerusalem. On Palm Sunday in 937, Muslims plundered the Church of Calvary and the Church of the Resurrection. In 1004, Fatimid Caliph al-Hakim bi-Amr Allah began a ten year persecution where thousands were forced to convert or die and 30,000 churches were destroyed. In 1009, Caliph al-Hakim ordered the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem destroyed.
In 1075, the Muslim Seljuk Turks captured Jerusalem from Arab Muslims. Gregory Bar-Hebraeus (1226-1286), a Syrian Orthodox Church leader, wrote how Seljuk Turkish Muslims initially treated Christian subjects tolerably, then:
"...having seen very much modesty and other habits of this kind among Christian people, certainly the Mongols loved them greatly at the beginning of their kingdom, a time ago somewhat short. But their love hath turned to such intense hatred."
Pilgrims returning from the Holy Land shared reports of Muslim persecution and cruelty toward dhimmi Christians.
Syria, Lebanon, Palestine and Egypt, which had all been Christian lands, were conquered by Muslims. Muslims conquered Sicily.
In 1057, the Norman adventurer Robert Guiscard took control of Calabria in the toe of Italy and fought against the Muslims of Sicily.
Italian city-states of Pisa, Genoa and Catalonia fought the Muslims who were raiding Majorca, Sardinia, Catalonia and the coasts of Italy.
In 1071, the Muslims delivered a major defeat to the Byzantine Christians at the Battle of Manzikert and took control of all but the coastlands of Asia Minor.
Cries were carried back to Europe, begging for help. Europe sent help, it was called the Crusades. By most numbering, there were nine major Crusades and numerous minor ones, continuing from 1095 till 1291 when Acre was finally captured by the Muslims.
The Crusades began when, in desperation, the Byzantine Emperor Alexius I Comnenus humbled himself and sent ambassadors to the Council of Piacenza in March of 1095, appealing for help from his religious rival, the Roman Catholic Pope. The seriousness of this appeal is underscored as it occurred just a few years after the Great East-West Schism between the Roman Catholic Church and the Byzantine Church.
Pope Urban II gave an impassioned plea at the Council of Clermont in 1095 for Western leaders to help their Byzantine Christians brethren, whom Muslims compel to extend their necks and then, attacking them with naked swords, attempt to cut through the neck with a single blow. (Robert the Monk, Medieval Sourcebook, Fordham University.)
With Spain exuberant after driving the Muslims from Toledo and Leon a few years earlier, the First Crusade began in 1097, led by Godfrey of Bouillon. It freed Iconium from the Muslims, though it was later taken back.
The First Crusade defeated Turkish forces at Dorylaeum and Antioch, and captured Jerusalem in 1099, holding it for nearly 100 years.
After the Muslims conquered Edessa, another crusade was called for by Bernard of Clairvaux in 1147. It was made up of French and German armies, led by King Louis VII and Conrad II.
In 1148, Muslim leader, Nur ed-Din, slaughtered every Christian in Aleppo. The Second Crusade failed to take Damascus and returned to Europe in 1150. Bernard of Clairvaux was disturbed by reports of misdirected violence, especially toward some Jewish populations.
In 1190, Pope Gregory VIII called for a Third Crusade. It was led by German King Frederick I, called Frederick Barbarossa (meaning Redbeard), who was the Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire. He was joined by Philip II of France and Richard I of England.
Frederick led 100,000 soldiers across Byzantium, driving out Muslims and temporarily freeing Iconium. He most likely would have freed Jerusalem and the surrounding area from Muslim domination had he not fallen off his horse while crossing the G�ksu River in Cilicia, Asia Minor. Being 67 years old and weighted down with heavy armor, he drowned in waist deep water and the Crusade went into confusion.
Richard the Lionheart assumed leadership of the Crusade and captured Acre, but due to rivalries, Philip II returned to France in 1191.
Richards troops came within sight of Jerusalem in 1192, but narrowly failed to drive out Saladin (1138-1193). Western resolve for the war diminished and political unrest back home increased from King Phillip II of France and from Richards ambitious brother John, who ruled England in his absence, as chronicled in the legends of Robin Hood.
This situation put Richard in the position of having to negotiate a hurried truce with Saladin, who, it was later discovered, was on the verge of defeat. Saladin captured Crusaders at Hattim, July 4, 1187, and ordered their mass execution. Saladin allowed Christians to leave Jerusalem only if they paid a ransom, but according to Imad al-Din, approximately 7,000 men and 8,000 women could not make their ransom and were enslaved. The vessel Richard sailed away on was shipwrecked, so he decided to travel with a party across Europe in disguise.
He was recognized near Vienna and captured by Duke Leopold V of Austria. The Holy Roman Emperor, Henry VI, imprisoned Richard at Dumstein. England had to place burdensome taxes on its populace to raise the kings ransom.
In 1197, Henry VI, the Holy Roman Emperor, was preparing for another crusade but died due to malaria. Once Richard was back in England, he ruled only a few years before being shot with an arrow during the siege of a castle.
His brother became the oppressive King John, who lost Britains claim to French lands. This caused Englands noblemen to surround John on the plains of Runymeade in 1215 and force him to sign the Magna Carta, a document which began the long process of limiting the arbitrary power of monarchs and guaranteeing rights of citizens.
The The Legend of Robin Hood speaks of Richard the Lionheart, so named for his courage in leading the Third Crusade in 1190AD to win back Jerusalem from the Muslims.
Though he did not retake Jerusalem, Richard made a truce with Saladin in 1192 AD for safe passage of religious pilgrims.
When approximately 15,000 inhabitants of Jerusalem could not afford ransom, Saladin sold them into slavery.
On Richard's return trip to England, he was captured by rival Duke Leopold of Austria, and spent three years in prison.
Legend has it Richard's loyal minstrel, Blondel, traveled from kingdom to kingdom, singing Richard's favorite song and heard Richard sing the second verse from the prison tower.
Freed by an enormous "king's ransom," Richard returned to England and took back the throne from his brother John.
Five years later Richard died in battle and John ruled oppressively in England.
The angry barons captured London and, on JUNE 15, 1215, surrounded King John on the plains of Runnymeade, forcing him to sign the Magna Carta.
This was the first time in history the arbitrary powers of a king were limited.
The Magna Carta ends:
"for the salvation of our souls, and the souls of all our...heirs, and unto the honor of God."
Hide Endnotes
Magna Carta. 1215. Benjamin Hart, Faith & Freedom - The Christian Roots of American Liberty (Dallas, TX: Lewis & Stanley, 1988), p. 17.
Brought to you by AmericanMinute.com
