Show simple item record

dc.contributor.authorCasta, Stephen
dc.date.accessioned2017-12-07 19:47:08 (GMT)
dc.date.available2017-12-07 19:47:08 (GMT)
dc.date.issued2017-12-07
dc.date.submitted2017-11-20
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/10012/12684
dc.description.abstractThis thesis explores perceptions of earthquake causality in the accounts of twelfth-century Syria and the ways that medieval views of natural disasters influenced historical writing. Examining the perceived causes, effects, and significance of cataclysmic seismic events provides insight into shared elements of faith perspectives, the role of nature in medieval worldviews, and how chroniclers framed accounts of natural disasters to reflect their religious and political prejudices. Medieval writers believed that natural phenomena were indicative of important world events and imbued with spiritual significance. Chroniclers perceived earthquakes as omens of future disaster or the apocalypse, and associated them with a need for repentance due to their belief that seismic disasters were divine punishment for moral failings. In addition, Christian and Muslim sources utilized these perceptions on divine causality to criticize the failings of political leaders and rival religious communities. These patterns of portrayal possess great significance in the context of the major conflicts and cultural convergences in the twelfth-century Near East. In addition to the theological perspectives and political criticism present in the sources, terrestrial and astrological explanations for earthquakes were prevalent in the twelfth century and often used to complement, not disprove, perceptions of divine causation. Apocalyptic sentiment and crusading spirituality also influenced portrayals of earthquakes, particularly in the Christian sources. These intellectual patterns are evident in earthquake accounts from the period irrespective of religious and cultural differences, but were firmly grounded in the political realities of the Levant during the Crusades. The sources’ methods of portraying seismic disasters, therefore, provide important insight into the worldviews of medieval chroniclers and the broad effects of earthquakes amidst the complex dynamics of twelfth-century Syria.en
dc.language.isoenen
dc.publisherUniversity of Waterlooen
dc.subjectCrusadesen
dc.subjectEnvironmental Historyen
dc.subjectMedieval Historyen
dc.subjectEarthquakesen
dc.subjectNatural Disastersen
dc.subject.lcshCrusadesen
dc.subject.lcshMiddle Agesen
dc.subject.lcshHuman ecologyen
dc.titleNatural Disasters and the Crusades: Framing Earthquakes in Historical Narratives, 1095-1170en
dc.typeMaster Thesisen
dc.pendingfalse
uws-etd.degree.departmentHistoryen
uws-etd.degree.disciplineHistoryen
uws-etd.degree.grantorUniversity of Waterlooen
uws-etd.degreeMaster of Artsen
uws.contributor.advisorBednarski, Steven
uws.contributor.affiliation1Faculty of Artsen
uws.published.cityWaterlooen
uws.published.countryCanadaen
uws.published.provinceOntarioen
uws.typeOfResourceTexten
uws.peerReviewStatusUnrevieweden
uws.scholarLevelGraduateen


Files in this item

Thumbnail

This item appears in the following Collection(s)

Show simple item record


UWSpace

University of Waterloo Library
200 University Avenue West
Waterloo, Ontario, Canada N2L 3G1
519 888 4883

All items in UWSpace are protected by copyright, with all rights reserved.

DSpace software

Service outages