----- Original Message ----- From: The Fool <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Monday, November 25, 2002 2:44 PM Subject: Re: stereotyping is evil, and why it must be eradicated
> > From: Richard Baker <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > > > The Fool said: > > > > > And just how many unholy wars did the Popes reside over during the > > > dark ages Mr. Catholic? > > We'll include medieval europe in that as well. > > > Not an awful lot, I would've thought. It seems to me that the main > > inter-religious wars during the Dark Ages in Europe were between > > Merovingian France and the Muslim armies in Spain and between Byzantium > > and the Muslim armies in Asia Minor and the Middle East. In both cases, > > the Europeans were fighting to defend against territorial conquest by > > outside forces. Furthermore, the Byzantines' religious leader wasn't > > the Pope but the Patriarch of Constantinople. (There were, of course, > > various heresies in late Roman times, but if I recall correctly most of > > the unpleasantness was before the collapse of the West and the start of > > the Dark Ages.) > > > > If you're talking about the Crusades, those happened when the Dark Ages > > had given way to the Medieval period, which was a time of commercial > > and technological (and artistic and philosophical) innovation. Medieval > > Europe might look primitive and nasty from our viewpoint but it was > > making great strides forward until the setback of the Black Death. > > The renasiance didn't happen until after the crusades, in which the > crusaders brought back with them a great deal of knowledge from the greek > and roman times. Which, FWIW, was preserved by Muslim Arabs when Christians burned the Library at Alexandria because its books were written by pagan Greeks. -- Ronn! :) Ronn Blankenship Instructor of Astronomy/Planetary Science University of Montevallo Montevallo, AL Disclaimer: Unless specifically stated otherwise, any opinions contained herein are the personal opinions of the author and do not represent the official position of the University of Montevallo. _______________________________________________ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
