Exercise 1

From the early seventh to the mid ninth century, the Byzantine Orthodox Church was rocked by the Iconoclastic Controversy.  So heated did that debate become that, at various times, Iconoclasts and their supporters rose up, stormed churches, and destroyed any religious images they found.  What exactly was the nature of this controversy? With this question in mind, take a look at a few icons used by Orthodox worshippers: Jesus (6th century), John the Baptist (6th century), Saint Nicholas the Miracleworker (12th-13th centuries), and Crucifixion (undated).  What about these images do you think so offended the Iconoclasts?

Now read an excerpt from On Holy Images (c. 730) by John of Damascus, one of the most prominent early defenders of religious imagery.  When you finish, read the statement issued by the Iconoclastic Council of 754 condemning such imagery. As you examine these texts, consider the following questions: on what basis does John of Damascus defend icons as useful and theologically acceptable tools of devotion? on what grounds does the Iconoclastic Council denounce icons as theologically unacceptable?

Exercise 2

The creation of the Arab Muslim empire was one of the most impressive military and political feats in world history.  Advancing out of Arabia in during the 630s, by 661 the Arabs had overrun the Persian Empire and established Islam as one of the dominant religions of the medieval East.  Along the way, the Arab armies took the Egyptian city of Alexandria from the Byzantine Empire.  Read the following two accounts of the Conquest of Alexandria: how do the Christian and Muslim versions of the conquest resemble and differ from each other?  How did the two sides understand the significance of the conquest?

As you know, the Muslim regarded Christians and Jews as "Peoples of the Book." The Muslim Caliph Umar articulated the special relationship between Muslims and conquered Peoples of the Book through the Pact of Umar.  A later version, the Pact of Umar II, was directed specifically at Jews.  Compare these two versions of the pact: how do they resemble and differ from each other? does on people enjoy rights that the other does not? How might you account for any differences?

Muslim expansion did not stop with the conquest of Persia and parts of the Byzantine Empire.  As the map Muslim Expansion in the West illustrates, the Muslims pushed west through North Africa, then northward into Spain and France.  In 732, Frankish armies under Charles Martel (Charlemagne's grandfather) defeated the Muslims decisively at the battle of Poitiers/Tours, forcing the Muslims back into Spain where they remained until pushed out in 1492.  Read the following Muslim account of the Battle of Poitiers and some additional Muslim and Christian accounts: Battle of Poitiers II.  How do the Muslim and Christian accounts differ, and what do those differences suggest about how the two sides understood the significance of the battle?