January 05, 2018 Friday
Bedtime Story
Dum Diversas: The Papal Call
Nicholas V intervened and indeed tried to
heed the call from the Byzantine Empire.
Now any charter or decree (akin to Islamic
fatwa) that is issued by pope of Roman Catholic Church is called papal bull.
The bull is derived from the Latin word
bulla which initially referred to seal made out from clay or from any of the
soft metals.
The decree that Nicholas V issued on June 18,
1452 in response to the call for help is called Dum Diversas or in English,
Until Different.
Just note what Dum Diversas proclaimed.
It authorized the King of Portugal Afonso V
who also ruled over large parts of North Africa the right to reduce “Saracens,
pagans and any other unbelievers” to “perpetual servitude”.
In short, it was a total unreserved call to
initiate a full-fledged crusade against the Ottoman Empire.
Just have a look what it said:
“We grant you [Kings of Spain and Portugal]
by these present documents, with our Apostilic Authority, full and free
permission to invade, search out, capture, and subjugate the Saracens and
pagans and any other unbelievers and enemies of Christ wherever they may be, as
well as their kingdom, duchies, counties, principalities, and other property…
…and to reduce their person to perpetual
servitude.”
You may find the term Saracens to be an
unfamiliar one.
The word Saraceni has its origin from the
Arabic word sariq which means “thief, marauder, or plunderer”.
After the early fifth century, Christian
writers used this specific word the same way as a Westerner would use an Arab
today.
But by the turn of the eleventh century,
Medieval Europeans used this word as today we would use the world Muslim or Islam
who were described as black-skinned in contrast to Christians illustrated as
light skinned.
In those days, the words “Muslim” or
“Islam” was not in fashion.
In short it was an open invitation for
Spaniards and Portuguese for a world-wide colonization since this decree was unlimited
in its geographical application.
Many historians consider this papal decree
to be the most important act that initiated and legitimized colonization by the
Medieval European states that would continue on for centuries later mostly for
economic exploitation.
It would have a far reaching impact later
to the psyche of European mind.
Yet as far as Constantinople and its siege
was concerned, Dum Diversas proved to be both too little and too late.
His call for help was not responded
enthusiastically and the pontiff failed to unite the Christian powers to come
to the aid of the city under siege.
Stay tuned to the voice of an average story storytelling
chimpanzee or login at http://panarrans.blogspot.com
Good night mon ami and my fellow cousin ape.
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Another great educator and a teacher that I am aware of is
Professor Subhashish Chattopadhyay in Bangalore, India.
While I narrate stories, Professor Subhashish an electronic
engineer and a former professor at BARC, does and teaches real mathematics and
physics.
He started the participation of Indian students at the
International Physics Olympiad.
Do visit him here:
All his books can be downloaded for free through this link:
For edutainment and English education of your children, I
recommend this large collection of Halloween Songs for Kids:
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