Mohammedans. To Mecca each good Mohammedan tries to go at least once
in his lifetime, no matter how far off from it he may live; and toward
Mecca he always faces when he prays. There are always pilgrims, as
such travelers are called, wending their way to Mecca. The Mohammedans
worship in a temple called a _mosque_, but they also pray five times
each day wherever they may be. A man called a muezzin cries out this
time for prayer. He goes out on a little balcony on the minaret of the
mosque and calls aloud: “Come to prayer; come to prayer. There is but
one god and he is Allah.” Then, no matter who the Mohammedan is, no
matter where he may be or what he may be doing, even though he is in
the street or market-place, whether he is working or playing, he faces
toward Mecca, falls on his knees, bows his head and hands to the ground
and prays. Sometimes he carries a small rug called a prayer-rug with
him so that he may have something holy to kneel on when he prays.
[Illustration: Mohammedan praying.]
Many people liked this new religion. Those who believed in Islam were
known as Moslems, and before long, as I have told you, there were as
many Moslems or Mohammedans as there were Christians. At first the
Moslems tried to persuade others to join simply by talking to them and
telling them how fine their religion was, and how much better than what
they had already had. But very soon they began to _force_ others to
become Moslems whether they wanted to or not. Like the highway robber
who says, “Money or your life,” they gave every one a choice. “Money
or your life, or be a Moslem!” This may seem a strange way for people
to make others believe their religion, but the Moslems said that Allah
wanted all people to be Mohammedans, and didn’t want any one who was
not.
Mohammed only lived for ten years after the Hegira; that is, until 632.
But those who came after Mohammed went on with the new religion and
kept on conquering and making people Mohammedans with the sword.
The new leaders and rulers of the Mohammedans were called caliphs. The
second caliph was named Omar. Omar went on to Jerusalem and built a
Mohammedan mosque in the place where the temple of Solomon had stood.
This mosque which Omar built still stands to-day in the same place in
Jerusalem.
The Arabs, or Saracens, as they are also called, kept on northward
toward Europe and conquered and converted every one to Islam as they
went along. Those they could not convert they put to death. At last
they reached the City of Constantine, Constantinople, where the people
were Christians. This was the gateway from Asia to Europe, and the
Arabs tried to get by. But the Christians poured down red-hot tar and
burning oil from the walls of the city, and the Moslems had to stop.
They could get no farther. Again and again the Moslems tried to capture
the city, but without success. Finally, they had to give up trying to
get into Europe by this way.
Then they tried the opposite direction from Mecca, the long, long,
way round to Europe. Across Egypt they went with little difficulty,
converting every one to Islam. Further on still they kept going, along
the coast of Africa, conquering everything before them until they
reached the ocean. Then they turned north, took boats, and crossed
over the Strait of Gibraltar and marched on up into Spain. Farther and
farther on they went up into France. It seemed as if they would soon
conquer all of Europe and make the whole civilized world Mohammedan.
But finally, near the town of Tours in France, they met their match.
The king of France had a right-hand man named Charles who had been
nicknamed Charles the Hammer because he could strike such terrific
blows. Charles was called Mayor of the Palace, which merely meant that
he was the chief servant of the king, but he was much more able than
the king himself. In fact, the king was of very little account.
Charles the Hammer, with his French soldiers, went forth to meet the
Moslems, and near Tours he beat them so badly that they never attempted
to go farther. So Europe at last was saved from Islam and the Saracens.
This battle of Tours was in 732, just 110 years from the time of the
Hegira. The Mohammedan religion had only been started 110 years before;
yet in this short time the Mohammedans had conquered and converted the
whole of the country bordering the Mediterranean from Constantinople
all the way round the southern edge and as far up into France as Tours.
The people south and east of the Mediterranean are still Mohammedans
to-day.
44
Perhaps you have read the “Arabian Nights.” This is the story of
Arabian Days
The Moslems had tried to get into Europe by the front gate and failed.
They had then tried the back gate and failed.
Burning tar and oil had stopped them at Constantinople.
Charles the Hammer had stopped them at Tours.
So Europe was saved from the Moslems and from the Moslem religion of
Islam. Yet we may wonder what Europe would have been like if the Moslem
Arabs had conquered, for the Arabs were in many ways a great people,
and we have learned many things from them. Here are some of the things.
The Phenicians invented our alphabet, but the Arabs invented the
figures which we use to-day in arithmetic. 1, 2, 3, 4, and so on are
called Arabic figures. The Romans used letters instead of figures, V
stood for 5, X for 10, C for 100, M for 1000, and so on. Think how
difficult it must have been for a Roman boy to add such numbers as
IV
XII
+ MC
CXII
VII
----
They could not be added up in columns as we do. And when you think
of multiplying and dividing with Roman numbers, it seems almost
impossible, for example:
MCMCXVII
× XIX
Occasionally you may see Roman figures still used--on clock-faces, for
instance--but all the figures that you use every day in your arithmetic
and that your father uses at the bank or store or office are Arabic
figures.
Another thing:
The Arabs built many beautiful buildings; but these buildings look
quite different from those that the Greeks and Romans and Christians
built. The doors and window-openings, instead of being square or round,
were usually horseshoe-shaped. On the top of their mosques they liked
to put domes shaped something like an onion, and at the corners they
put tall spires or minarets from which the muezzin could call aloud
the hour for prayer. They covered the walls of their buildings with
beautiful mosaics and designs. The Mohammedans, however, were very
careful that these designs were not copies of anything in nature, for
they had a commandment in the “Koran” something like the Christian
commandment, “Thou shalt not make ... any likeness of anything that is
in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the
water under the earth.” Because of this commandment they never made
drawings or pictures of any living thing, neither of plants nor flowers
nor animals. They thought they would be breaking the commandment if
they did. So they made designs out of lines and curves without copying
anything from nature. These designs were called Arabesques, and
although they were not like anything in nature, they were often very
beautiful.
Still another thing:
In Arabia there grew a little bush on which were small berries with
seeds inside. The sheep seemed to like these berries and, when they ate
them, became very lively. The Arabs themselves tried eating the seeds
of these berries with the same effect. Then they made a drink out of
these seeds by roasting and grinding them and boiling them in water.
This was coffee--which the Arabs had discovered and which is now drunk
all over the world.
Still another thing:
The Arabs found out that when the juice of grapes or other fruits or
grains spoiled, or fermented, as we call it, a peculiar change took
place. Any one who drank this changed juice became greatly excited and
even crazy. They called the new thing to which these juices changed,
“alcohol,” and they were so much afraid of it and what it did to those
who drank it that they forbade every Mohammedan to drink anything
containing alcohol, such as wine, beer, or whisky. So the Moslems
not only discovered alcohol, but, believing it to be poison, they
prohibited its use. They have been prohibitionists, therefore, for more
than a thousand years, while all the rest of the world has been using
wine and beer and other drinks containing alcohol until the United
States only recently forbade their use in this country.
Still another thing:
Woolen cloth which people used for clothes was made from the hair of
sheep or goats. As it took the hair of a great many such animals to
make a very little cloth, woolen cloth was expensive. The Arabs found
out a way of making cloth from a plant, the cotton plant, which of
course was much cheaper. Then in order to decorate the cloth and make
it pretty and attractive, they stamped the plain cloth with wooden
blocks shaped in different forms and dipped in color. This printed
cloth that the Arabs had invented was called calico.
Still another thing:
The Arabs made swords and knives of such wonderful steel that the
blades could be bent double without breaking. The blades were said to
be so keen they could cut through the finest hair if floated on water,
a thing that only the sharpest razor will do, and yet at the same time
so strong that they could cut through a bar of steel. Such swords were
made in the East at a place called Damascus, which is in Arabia, and in
the West at a place called Toledo, which is in Spain; and these swords
and knives were known as Damascus or Toledo blades. Unfortunately, no
one now knows the Arab’s secret for making such marvelous blades. It is
what is called a lost art.
Near where Babylon once was the Arabs built a city named Bagdad. You
have heard of it if you have ever read any of the “Arabian Nights,”
for most of these stories were told about Bagdad. It was the eastern
capital of the Moslems. There at Bagdad the Arabs built a great school
that was famous for many, many years. At Cordova in Spain was the
western capital of the Moslems, and there they built another great
school.
[Illustration: Mohammedan veiled woman standing by Saracenic ornamented
arch.]
I might tell you many other things these people did--how they invented
the game of chess, of all games the one that needs the most thought;
how they made clocks with pendulums to keep time--people had no real
clocks before; how they started wonderful libraries of books; and so
on--but this is enough for the present to show you what intelligent
people they were.
The Arabs were not Aryans. They belonged to the Semite family, the
same family to which the Phenicians and Jews belong. The Arabs were as
clever as their cousins the Phenicians, who, you remember, were very
clever, but they were also as religious as their other cousins the
Jews, who, you remember, were very religious.
But the Moslems had peculiar ideas about women. They thought it was
immodest for a woman to show her face to men, and so every woman had to
wear a thick veil which hid her face all except her eyes whenever she
went out where there were men. With such a veil she could see but not
be seen.
But here are their two most peculiar ideas: they believed women were
only fit to be slaves to the men, and they thought that a man might
have as many wives as he wished all at one time!
So we may wonder, then, what Europe would really have been like if the
Moslems had conquered all the rest of the world at that time--if they
had left no country Christian--_if we were all of us Moslems to-day
instead of Christians_!
45
A Light in the Dark Ages
Europe had been “dark” for three hundred years. You know what I mean.
There were not enough “bright” people to make it light. Ignorant
Teutons had been ruling over the pieces of the old Roman Empire.
The Arabs were bright, but they were not in Europe.
But in 800 there was a very “bright light”--a man--a king--who by his
might and power was able to join the pieces of Europe together once
again to form a new Roman Empire. He was not a Roman, however, but a
Teuton, as you can tell from his name, which was Charles. He was a
grandson of that Charles the Hammer who had stopped the Moslems at
Tours, and he was called by the French name Charlemagne, which means
Charles the Great.
Charlemagne at first was king of France alone, but he was not satisfied
to be king of that country only, and so he soon conquered the countries
on each side of him, parts of Spain and Germany. Then he moved the
capital of his empire from Paris to a place in Germany called
Aix-la-Chapelle, which was more convenient than Paris to this larger
empire, and besides at Aix-la-Chapelle there were warm springs which
made fine baths, and Charlemagne was very fond of bathing and was a
fine swimmer.
Italy was then ruled over by the pope. But the pope was having a good
deal of trouble with some tribes in the north of Italy, and he asked
Charlemagne if he wouldn’t come down and conquer them. Charlemagne was
quite ready and willing to help the pope, so he went over into Italy
and easily settled those troublesome tribes. The pope was grateful to
Charlemagne for this and wished to reward him.
Now, Christians everywhere used to make trips to Rome in order to pray
at the great Church of St. Peter, which had been built over the spot
where St. Peter had been crucified. Well, at Christmas-time in the Year
800 Charlemagne paid such a visit to Rome. On Christmas day he went to
the Church of St. Peter and was praying at the altar when suddenly the
pope came forward and put a crown on his head. The pope then hailed him
“Emperor,” and as the pope at that time could make kings and emperors,
Charlemagne became emperor of Italy added to the other countries over
which he already ruled. These countries together were really about the
same as the western part of the old Roman Empire. So Charlemagne’s
empire was now like a new Roman Empire, but with this big difference:
it was ruled over not by a Roman, but by a Teuton.
Charlemagne started out an ignorant uneducated Teuton, but he was
not like most other Teutons who didn’t know they were ignorant and
didn’t care whether they were ignorant or not. He was anxious to know
everything there was to be known. He wanted to be able to do everything
any one could do.
In those days when the Teutons were ruling, few people had any
education, and hardly any one could read or write. Charlemagne wanted
an education, but there was no one in his own country who knew enough
or was able to teach him. In England, however, there was a very learned
monk named Alcuin. He knew more than any one of that time, and so
Charlemagne invited Alcuin to come over from England and teach him
and his people. Alcuin taught Charles about the sciences; he taught
him Latin and Greek poetry; he taught him the wisdom of the Greek
philosophers.
Charlemagne learned all these things very easily, but when it came to
the simple matter of learning to read and write he found this too hard.
He did learn to read a little, but he seemed unable to learn to write.
It is said that he slept with his writing-pad under his pillow and
practised whenever he awoke. And yet he never learned to write anything
more than his name. He did not begin to study until he was a grown man,
but he kept on studying all the rest of his life. Except for reading
and writing, he became, next to his teacher, Alcuin, the best-educated
man in Europe.
In spite of the fact that Charlemagne’s daughters were princesses, he
had them taught how to weave and sew and make clothes and cook just as
if they had to earn their own living.
Although Charlemagne was such a rich and powerful monarch and could
have everything he wanted, he preferred to eat plain food and dress
in plain clothes. He did not like all the finery that those about him
loved. One day, just to make his nobles see how ridiculously dressed
they were in silks and satins, he took them out hunting in the woods
while a storm was going on, so that he could laugh at them. That was
his idea of a good joke. You can imagine how their silk and satin robes
looked after being soaked with rain, covered with mud, and torn by
briers. Charlemagne thought it was very funny.
But although his tastes were simple in matters of dress, he made his
home a magnificent palace. He furnished it with gold and silver tables
and chairs and other gorgeous furniture. He built in it swimming-pools
and a wonderful library and a theater and surrounded it with beautiful
gardens.
At this time and all through the Dark Ages people had a strange way of
finding out whether a person had stolen or committed a murder or any
other crime. The person suspected was not taken into court and tried
before a judge and a jury to see whether he was telling the truth and
had done the thing or not. Instead he was made to carry a red-hot iron
for ten steps, or to dip his arm into boiling water, or to walk over
red-hot coals. If he was not guilty it was thought no harm would come
to him, or if he were burned it was thought that the burn would heal
right away. This was called _trial by ordeal_. It probably started
from the story told in the Bible of Shadrach, Meshech, and Abednego,
who, you remember, in the time of Nebuchadnezzar, had walked through
the fiery furnace unharmed because they had done no wrong. Strange to
say, though Charlemagne was so intelligent, he believed in the trial
by ordeal. To-day we have no such cruel and unfair way of finding out
whether one is guilty or not. Yet we say of a person who has a lot of
trouble that seems to be a test of his character, “He is going through
an ordeal.”
While Charlemagne was living, there was a caliph in far-off Bagdad
named Haroun, which is the Moslem spelling of Aaron. You may have heard
of him if you have read any of the “Arabian Nights,” for the “Arabian
Night” stories were written at this time, and Haroun is described in
them. Although Haroun was a Mohammedan, not a Christian, and though
he was ruler of an empire that hated the Christians, nevertheless he
admired Charlemagne very much. To show how much he thought of him, he
sent him valuable presents; among other things, a clock which struck
the hours, which you remember, was an invention of the Arabs. This was
a great curiosity, for there were then no clocks in Europe. People had
to tell time by the shadow the sun cast on a sun-dial, or else by the
amount of water or sand that dripped or ran out from one jar to another.
Haroun was a very wise and good ruler over the Moslems, and so he came
to be called “al Rashid,” which means “the Just.” Do you remember what
Greek was also called “the Just”?[3] Haroun used to disguise himself as
a workman and go about among his people. He would talk with those he
met along the street and in the market-place, trying to find out how
they felt about his government and about things in general. He found
they would talk freely to him when dressed in old clothes, for then
they did not know who he was but thought him a fellow-workman. In this
way, Haroun learned a great deal about his people’s troubles and what
they liked or didn’t like about his rule. Then he would go back to his
palace and give orders to have rules and laws made to correct anything
that seemed wrong or unjust.
[3] Aristides.
After Charlemagne died there was no one great enough or strong enough
to hold the new Roman Empire together, and once again it broke up into
small pieces, and “all the king’s horses and all the king’s men could
not put it together again.”
[Illustration]
46
Getting a Start
I once knew a boy who had a red birthmark on his arm. It was just the
shape of England on the map, and he used to call it “My England.”
England is just a little island.
It was quite an unimportant little island in 900 A.D.
England is still just a little island.
But it is now the most important island in the world!
About one hundred years after Charles the Great--that is, 900--there
was a king of England named Alfred. When Alfred was a boy he had a hard
time learning to read, for he did not like to study. In those days
many of the hand-written books made by the monks had pretty drawings
and letters made in bright colors and even in gold. One day Alfred’s
mother showed such a book to her children and promised to give it to
the one who could read it first. That was a game. Alfred wanted to win
the book, and so, for the first time in his life, he really tried. He
studied so hard that in a very short time he had learned to read before
his brothers and so he won the book.
When Alfred grew up, England was being troubled by pirates. These
pirates were cousins of the English--a tribe of Teutons called Danes.
The English had long ago become Christians and civilized, but their
cousins, the Danes, were still rough and wild. They came over from
their own country across the water, landed on the coast of England,
robbed the towns and villages, and then sailed back to their homes,
carrying off everything valuable they could lay their hands on--like
bad boys who climb a farmer’s fence and steal apples from his orchard.
At last the Danes became so bold that they didn’t even run away after
robbing the country; they were like the bad boys who stick out their
tongues and throw stones at the farmer who comes after them. The king’s
armies went out to punish these pirates, but, instead of beating, they
were beaten. It began to look as if these Danes, who were able to do
pretty much as they pleased, might conquer England and rule over the
English.
Once when things looked pretty black for England, King Alfred was
without an army. Alone, ragged, tired out, and hungry, he came to the
hut of a shepherd and asked for something to eat. The shepherd’s wife
was baking some cakes by the fire, and she told Alfred he should have
one if he watched them while she went out to milk the cow. Alfred sat
down by the fire, but in thinking about what he could do to beat the
Danes he forgot all about the cakes, and when the shepherd’s wife
returned they were all burned. Thereupon she scolded him roundly and
drove him off, not knowing that it was her king that she was treating
in this way, for he never told her who he was.
Alfred decided that the best way to fight the Danes was not on land but
on the water, and so he set to work to build boats bigger and better
than those the Danes had. After a while he had something of a fleet,
and the boats he built were bigger than those of the Danes, but they
were so big that they could not go into shallow water without running
aground. The Danes’ boats, on account of their small size, could go
safely close in to shore. In deep water, however, Alfred’s fleet was
very strong and powerful. This was the first navy that England ever
had. England’s navy is now the largest in the world, and Alfred the
Great was the one who started it more than a thousand years ago.
After fighting with the Danes for many years, Alfred finally thought
it best to make an agreement with them and give them a part of England
to live in if they would promise to stop stealing and live peaceably.
So the Danes did agree to this, and they settled down peaceably on the
land that Alfred gave them--and then became Christians. After that
there was no further trouble.
Alfred made very strict laws and severely punished those who did wrong.
Indeed, it is said that the people of England were so careful to obey
the law in his reign that one might leave gold by the roadside, and no
one would steal it.
Alfred also brought over learned men from Europe to show his people how
to make things and to teach the boys and girls and the older people how
to read and write. He is also said to have started a school that is
now one of the greatest places of learning in the world, a university
called Oxford that is now more than a thousand years old.
But Alfred not only built a navy and made wise laws and started schools
and colleges which the English had not had before; he did many other
useful things, besides.
He invented, for instance, a way of telling time by a burning candle.
You have heard how wonderful the clock, that which Haroun-al-Rashid
sent to Charlemagne one hundred years before was thought to be.
Although striking clocks are, of course, very common nowadays, it was
an extraordinary thing then when there were no clocks nor watches at
all in England. Alfred found out how fast candles burned down and
marked lines around them at different heights--just the distance apart
that they burned in one hour. These were called time-candles.