"Anyone who believes that a man or woman is a witch, as pagans do (...), and burns the person because of this, shall be put to death." -
Charlemagne's royal decree to the recently converted Saxons (between 775-790 AD).
Despite stereotypes, not a Medieval phenomena. To them, witches were a myth, like to us today.
The witch frenzy arrives in Europe at the very end of the Middle Ages, at the verge of the Renaissance, when Europe rediscovers ancient Roman texts & laws that made mention of them.
Sep 13, 2020 • 22 tweets • 4 min read
The clash between West and East: Frankish Europe meets Seljuk Asia.
What did the Franks, as all western Europeans called themselves, think of this new enemy, the Turks?
Bitter enemies, worthy rivals. The idea of Crusade, and the eventual rise of the Ottomans. [Thread.]
The Turks of the Asian steppes were already known to the Romans, to the Arabs, before the year 1000.
There were Turkish slaves and mercenaries in Baghdad, in Constantinople. But their tribe becomes important in history in the 11th century under a dynasty that is not yet that...
