Who are the Saracens in history. Middle Ages

The name of the Europeans was originally Arabs, then in general Mohammedans, non-Christians, against whom the Crusades were preached. Dictionary of foreign words included in the Russian language. Chudinov AN, 1910. SARACINS in the Middle Ages name ... ... Dictionary of foreign words of the Russian language

SARACINS - (ancient Saracens), Saracen, Saracen, husband. (source). 1. Ancient historians have a nomadic wild tribe in Arabia. 2. In the language of medieval chivalry and crusaders, Muslims in general. “They are leaving for a walk ..., amuse their right hand, a sarachin in a field to hurry.” ... Ushakov's Explanatory Dictionary

Saracens - (Saracens), nomads from the tribes living in the Syrian or Arabian desert; during the crusades, Christians were called. C. all Muslims. In the wake of the Islamic conquests, they invaded the Holy Land (Western Palestine) and penetrated the north into the territory. M. ... ... The World History

Saracens - (Saraceni, Σαρακηνοί) the people mentioned by Ammianus Marcellinus (see) and Ptolemy, who lived in Happy Arabia. This name, meaning originally a nomadic robbery tribe, was widespread by the Christians already in the early Middle Ages ... ... Encyclopedic Dictionary of F.A. Brockhaus and I.A. Efron

Saracens - pl. 1. The name of the Arab population of northwestern Arabia (from ancient historians). 2. The name of the Arabs, Muslims and some other peoples of the Middle East (in the countries of Western Europe during the Middle Ages). Efremova's explanatory dictionary. T.F. ... ... Modern explanatory dictionary of the Russian language by Efremova

SARACINS - Saracēni, Σαρακηνοί, the people mentioned by Ptolemy and Ammianus, who lived in the north of happy Arabia. This name, which originally meant a wandering, robber and warring tribe, was later used in a broader sense ... The Real Dictionary of Classical Antiquities

Saracens - a nomadic tribe in Arabia mentioned by ant. by the authors. The name "s." From the early Middle Ages, Byzantine was widespread. and Western Christians. writers on all Arabs, later on all Muslims ... The medieval world in terms, names and titles

saracens - Sarats iny, in, ed. ch. c in, and ... Russian spelling dictionary

Saracens - in ancient times Arab., Bedouin tribe that lived in the North desert. Zap. Arabia and the Sinai Peninsula (now a small Bedouin tribe called Savarke lives between the Suez Canal and Gaza). S. had contacts with Rome. substitute nicknames prov. Arabia. Byzantines and ... Ancient world. encyclopedic Dictionary

Saracens - (Greek sarakenoi), in ancient times an Arab, a Bedouin tribe that lived in the sowing desert. app. Arabia and the Sinai Peninsula (now a small Bedouin tribe called Savarke lives between the Suez Canal and Gaza). S. had contacts with Rome. governors of prov ... Dictionary of antiquity

Books

The Saracens and the Beautiful Alda, McDowell Edward, MacDowell Reprinted Sheet Music, Edward`Die Sarazenen & Die sch? Ne Ald ?, Op.30`. Genres: Symphonic poems; For orchestra; Scores featuring the orchestra; For piano 4 hands (arr); Scores ... Category: Jewelry Publisher: Muzbuka, Manufacturer: MuzbukaBuy for 779 UAH (only Ukraine)
Saracens ruled by the Aragonese kings. Study of the legal space of the XIV century. , I. I. Varyash, The modern world is facing such difficult problems as dialogue between European and Islamic civilizations, development of principles of interaction between European and Islamic legal systems in ... Category: Scientific literature Publisher:

And the Greek scientist I - II centuries. n. e. Ptolemy. A wandering tribe of robbers, Bedouins who lived along the borders of Syria.

Some authors, for example, Euthymius Zigaben, groundlessly associated the word "Saracens" with the name of the biblical Sarah.

Other meanings

A simulator for knights was also called a Saracen in the Middle Ages. The simulator in the classic version was a wooden torso of a person (actually a Saracen), holding a small shield in one hand, and in the other a chain or rope with a weighting agent (for example, a bag of sand) at the end. The torso was positioned to rotate freely on the pole. The knight's task is to hit the Saracen's shield with a spear at full gallop and manage to dodge the blow with the sack. The Saracens were often used in knightly tournaments as a separate competition.

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Notes

Literature

Musset L. Barbaric invasions of Western Europe. SPb., 2006.

Excerpt from the Saracens

(I talk about the Key of the Gods with the permission of the Wanderers, with whom I was lucky to meet twice in June and August 2009, in the Valley of the Mages. Before that, the Key of the Gods had never been openly spoken about anywhere and never).
The crystal was material. And at the same time, truly magical. It was carved from a very beautiful stone that looks like an amazingly transparent emerald. But Magdalene felt that it was something much more complicated than a simple gem, even the purest one. It was diamond-shaped and elongated, the size of Radomir's palm. Each cut of the crystal was completely covered with unfamiliar runes, apparently even more ancient than those that Magdalene knew ...
- What is he "talking about", my joy? .. And why are these runes not familiar to me? They are slightly different from those that the Magi taught us. And where did you get it from ?!
“It was once brought to Earth by our wise Ancestors, our Gods, to create the Temple of Eternal Knowledge here,” Radomir began pensively looking at the crystal. - So that he would help the worthy Children of the Earth to acquire Light and Truth. It was HE who gave birth to the caste of the Magi, Vedunov, Vedunii, Darin and the rest of the enlightened ones on earth. And it was from him that they drew their KNOWLEDGE and UNDERSTANDING, and from him they once created Meteora. Later, leaving forever, the Gods left this Temple to people, bequeathed to preserve and preserve it, as they would preserve the Earth itself. And the Key to the Temple was given to the Magi, so that it would not accidentally fall into the hands of the "dark-minded" and the Earth would not perish from their evil hand. So since then, this miracle has been kept for centuries by the Magi, and they pass it on from time to time to a worthy one, so that the random "keeper" does not betray the command and faith left by our Gods.

- Is this really the Grail, Sever? - I could not resist, I asked.
- No, Isidora. The Grail has never been what this amazing Smart Crystal is. It's just that people “ascribed” what they wanted to Radomir ... like everything else, “alien”. Radomir, all his adult life, was the Keeper of the Key of the Gods. But people, naturally, could not know this, and therefore did not calm down. First, they were looking for a Chalice that allegedly "belonged" to Radomir. And sometimes his children or Magdalene herself were called the Grail. And all this happened only because the "true believers" really wanted to have some kind of proof of the truth of what they believe ... Something material, something "holy" that could be touched ... (what, Unfortunately, it happens even now, after many hundreds of years). The "dark" ones invented for them a story that was beautiful at that time, in order to ignite the sensitive "believing" hearts with it ... Unfortunately, people always needed relics, Isidora, and if they were not there, someone simply invented them. Radomir never had such a cup, for he did not even have the "last supper" ... at which he allegedly drank from it. Prophet Joshua had the cup of the "Last Supper", but not Radomir.
And Joseph of Arimathea really once collected a few drops of the prophet's blood there. But this famous "Grail Chalice" was really just the simplest clay cup, from which all Jews usually drank at that time, and which was not so easy to find afterwards. The golden, or silver bowl, completely covered with precious stones (as the priests like to portray it) never existed in reality either during the time of the Jewish prophet Joshua, or even less so during the time of Radomir.

The idea of \u200b\u200bbygone days is somewhat distorted, because even direct witnesses perceived these events in different ways, depending on their own attitude towards each of the parties. What can we say about distortions and outright falsifications, which formed the basis of many of the evidence.

Conflict of interest in Europe

Europe has not always been Christian. This is understandable to those who know about the existence of pagans, who for millennia developed their culture on the continent, built cities and sacrificed people to the gods. Considering that the main and only witness to such cruelty of "barbarians" are Christians themselves, and most of the sources were written by them - you can not believe every word.

However, a certain level of cruelty really took place - which is typical for that era as a whole.

But after the victory over the pagans, a new problem arose - saracens... The Muslims who came from North Africa did not want to go home at all and even defeated a couple of Christian armies. After this, how not to kindle with righteous anger, not to gather a large army and not send the invaders to where they belong?

Sounds good, but between the first raid of the Saracens and the final victory of the Spanish rulers, something passed in the region of eight centuries, during which time the two cultures existed side by side, in contact with each other.

Who are the Saracens?

The very concept of "Saracen" arose in the pre-Christian era, they were mentioned by Ptolemy. And it was about nomads living in the territory of modern Syria and migrating along the coast. Over time, the definition became a household name, so they called every Muslim who decided to try his luck in the Iberian Peninsula. But it gave way to the word "Moor", which ousted it from historical sources and fiction.

The hatred of the invaders among the noble Europeans was so high that even the strike training simulator received exactly the same name. For centuries, the noblest and most wealthy people trained a horse attack, representing the same Saracens in the place of the defeated enemy.

True, even the wooden scarecrow had its own device for protection - a bag of sand was fixed on the side opposite to the shield, capable of knocking a gape rider off the horse who did not manage to evade after striking.

Why did Christians hate the Saracens?

Throughout the entire period of the occupation, Christians criticized Muslims:

For paganism: it was to this cluster of religions that the Saracens were attributed at first;
For willfulness and rebellion: the greatest number of philosophers and free-thinkers was precisely among the Arabs;
For depravitywhich is somewhat surprising considering current trends;
Per cruelty and belligerence.

For centuries, leading theologians refused to recognize the similarities between Christianity and Islam, referring it to paganism. Abrahamic origin was proved only a little later.

Medieval Europe was not at all like modern Europe, especially with regard to women and any manifestations of sexuality. Suffice it to say that even 2-3 centuries ago, Europeans were still discussing in all seriousness whether a woman had a soul and similar questions that seemed savage to a modern person.

The decoration of French or Italian noblewomen, in terms of the degree of closeness, did not differ much from the hijab. But the opportunity to have concubines and the idea of \u200b\u200bheavenly pleasures seemed to Christians too liberated.

How the Moors lived in Europe

Despite all the charges brought against the Saracens in their time, they:

For eight centuries they lived on the Iberian Peninsula;
Coexisted peacefully with the Christian population when circumstances required;
They did not execute people just for their religion, limiting themselves to taxes;
Introduced into European culture the desire for magic and everything unknown;
Anyone who converted to Islam was freed from slavery;
The Spanish Inquisition was not created on its territory and did not really know anything about it.

The fate of a Christian who was captured by the Saracens looked somewhat more rosy than a Muslim who was captured and Europeans. Of course, in history there have been massive persecutions and even reprisals, but all these are isolated cases or manifestations of extreme fanaticism observed on both sides.

It is worth noting that the whole fate of the Iberian Peninsula could have turned out completely differently if the campaign of 711 would have been less successful for the Saracens. Not all Muslims were eager to go to distant and unexplored lands, and 400 people took part in the first raid, their easy victory and impressive trophies did their job.

Tens of thousands of compatriots rushed to new conquests. After some time, the robberies turned into the seizure of land and the founding of their own cities or the conquest and occupation of already existing Christians. For the Moors, this was just another opportunity to expand the borders of their Caliphate, to further advance and acquire new possessions, together with subjects who were ready to pay taxes and participate in military campaigns.

How the Saracens influenced the formation of society

Peaceful coexistence at that time between Muslims and Christians was impossible - the degree of hatred was too high, and each side needed its own eternal external enemy, with whom one could fight for centuries and blame all problems on this large-scale confrontation.

If history had gone a little differently, perhaps modern civilization looked very different. Europeans hardened in numerous battles and did not acquire tolerance at all, which also influenced the period of the development of the New World.

Muslims, eternally involved in confrontation, have somewhat lost their positions as philosophers, scientists and free-thinkers, which negatively affected the speed of scientific progress and the race with European powers.

The deeds attributed to the Saracens do not always correspond to reality - your enemy must be denigrated and presented in the form of a wild beast, only then can you yourself show the proper level of cruelty.