Chapter 342 Shared Prophecy
Although Mohammed was impressed by Garys’s “miracle”, he was often confused and found it difficult to understand many of Garys’ ideas.

For example, when Gellis appeared in the monastery, he thought he would see Gellis display his power and directly subdue the monks who had gone astray.

But Gailis seemed to have no interest in subduing those fallen monks. Instead, he was obsessed with the monks’ discussions on scriptures all day long.

Although it is understandable why we need to discuss Muhammad, does a prophet really need to do such a thing?

As long as you show your strength, you can easily conquer the opponent.

It is not uncommon for Muslims and Christians to debate the scriptures.

The difference between the two is smaller and later than many people think.

Of course, when is a pagan, when is a misguided person, when is an atheist…

These are more about the conflicts of interest between various forces under the religious situation at the time, rather than rigidly sticking to the wording of doctrine.

Then Peter opened his mouth and said to them, “I have learned that God makes no distinction between people. In all nations he is pleased with those who fear him and do what is right.”
–
Acts 10:34-35

The relationship between the Church and Muslims. [God’s plan of salvation also includes those who recognize the Creator, and among them Muslims are the first, who claim to have the faith of Abraham and worship the only merciful God who will judge all nations in the last day, just like us].
–
Catechism of the Catholic Church, No. 841

Before the rise of the Ottoman Empire, which truly threatened the interests of Catholic countries in Western Europe, the Vatican’s attitude towards Muslims had always been ambiguous, except for the long-term war between Spain and Muslims.

It is rare to condemn someone with one blow, but it is also not something that will be easily admitted.

Compared with the polytheists in Northern Europe or Eastern Europe, Muslims are more like heretics who have gone astray.

In this era when the Reformation had not yet arrived, no one had actually uttered the words “heretics are more hateful than pagans.”

As for Muslims:
Do not dispute with the People of the Book, except in the best way, except those among them who are the wrongdoers. Say: “We believe in the Book that was revealed to us and the Book that was revealed to you; we worship the same God that you worship, and we submit to Him.”
–
The Qur’an, 29-46

In 610 AD, Muhammad claimed that he had received a revelation from God and called on his people to abandon polytheism and worship only God. However, Muhammad did not believe that he had founded a new religion.

According to Muslims’ self-interpretation, Islam is the faith revealed to mankind by the only God since the creation of mankind, and it is now merely a reaffirmation in the new era.

Muslims identify with the many prophets in the Jewish and Christian traditions, acknowledging that they were sent by the one true God to guide humanity out of error.

In the 15th century, in order to distinguish the Christianity taught by Jesus from later Christianity, Muslims began to use “the religion of the Messiah” (milla al-masīiyya) to refer to later Christianity.

By the time the Ottoman Empire was rising, Muslims’ name for Christianity changed from “the sect of Nansara” to “the religion of the Messiah.” The implicit meaning of this was that in the eyes of Muslims, Christianity gradually changed from a “sect” to an independent “religion.”

During the Seljuk Empire, Muslims never prohibited Christians from making pilgrimages to Jerusalem, and during the Kingdom of Jerusalem, Muslims were never prohibited from making pilgrimages.

Therefore, in this era, if you think that there are irreconcilable religious conflicts between Catholics and Muslims, you are really ignoring reality.

Whether it is the Crusaders or Jihad, they are all driven by real political and economic interests.

For Gellis, if he can prove his identity as a prophet, then he will not be limited to one sect and will inevitably have an impact on other Abrahamic religions.

But in Mohammed’s view, Gairis is not in a hurry to do so. Instead, he is turning his attention to marginalized groups.

Take the present for example, Garys asked Massena and others to come to his side, but he did not ask them to help him deal with the priests.

Instead, they were asked to conduct a survey of the rural areas near the monastery.

Farmers? Survey?
What exactly is being investigated?
Mohammed was not a pedantic person, but he was a little unsure about what Gairis meant by the peasant investigation.

Of course, with the presence of Paladins like Massena, the investigation can continue.

…Investigation on the monasteries and nobles’ encroachment on peasant land
Survey time: December 1200 BC

Investigation location: Cardia Military District, near the Monastery of Saint Barsanofius.

1. Background of the Survey The northeastern region of Anatolia is located at the border between the Roman Empire and the Seljuk forces, where wars are frequent and land annexation is serious.

For a long time, the power of local nobles has been growing. They have colluded with monasteries and seized wealth under various names, leading to the bankruptcy of self-cultivating farmers, the intensification of the trend of serfdom, and the strengthening of the manor system.

This survey was conducted to understand the nature of this phenomenon and its impact.

2. The Ways of Monastic Land Expansion

1. Deathbed atonement and land grabbing

The Monastery of St. Barsanofius enjoys extremely high religious prestige in the local area. Many believers, especially dying nobles and rich farmers, under the advice of the monks, “donate their land to God” in exchange for redemption of their sins.

2. Forging holy objects and miracles to induce donations

During the investigation, it was found that in the past twenty years, the Monastery of St. Barsanofius had claimed to have discovered “miracles” or “saints’ relics” five times, attracting pilgrims and encouraging believers to donate land in exchange for the grace of atonement.

He deliberately fabricated stories about the saints’ apparitions thirteen times, making the people in the surrounding villages believe that only by donating their land to the monastery could they obtain God’s protection.

3. Interest-free loans, a disguised form of land grabbing

Although Christianity prohibits lending at interest, monasteries often provide interest-free loans, but require land to be mortgaged.

Once the peasants were unable to repay, the monastery would confiscate their land and turn them into tenants or serfs.

Normally, it would not be difficult to repay an interest-free loan, but the monastery was located on the border with the Turkic forces, and the “Turks” often disrupted spring plowing and autumn harvests. In addition, the military service was heavy, so it was sometimes difficult to repay the loan.

4. Annexation in the name of “wartime protection”

The war between the Empire and the Seljuk Turks led to the looting of many villages. The monasteries used their strong fortifications to shelter peasants during the war, on the condition that they “temporarily” handed over their land to the monastery for management, or paid a “tithe”.

But it often happens that after the war, the “tithe” that was set was not cancelled, but instead continued to increase.

5. Monks and nobles formed an alliance to oppress peasants
The monasteries often joined forces with local noble manor owners, who would use force to force peasants to sell their land at low prices. The nobles would then donate the land to the monasteries, thus bypassing the imperial tax policy and achieving actual possession.

At the same time, the nobles’ private armies provided military support to the monasteries to suppress the rebels.

III. Impact of land annexation
1. Peasants became dependent serfs
The self-cultivating farmers who originally owned the land were often the backbone of the imperial military system, but they gradually lost their land due to the annexation of the nobility and monasteries.

Forced to work on the monastery’s land as tenants or farmhands.

The monastery forced tenants to pay about 40% of rent in kind and required them to provide a certain amount of unpaid labor each year.

In fact, this is closer to the Franks’ manor system than the traditional village community of the empire.

2. The Empire’s tax revenue decreased and its financial difficulties deepened

Since monasteries were nominally religious institutions, their lands were tax-exempt, which meant that the imperial government could not obtain tax revenue from them, further exacerbating financial difficulties. As the nobility transferred wealth through donations, the empire’s control over the local areas gradually weakened.

3. Regional conflicts increase and the ability to resist foreign invasion decreases

……

(End of this chapter)