| Abstract | Paper -a:
A much-neglected area of both Iberian and maritime history is the 12th-century struggle between Crusaders and the Muwahid (Almohad) emperors for control of the Atlantic Ocean. This paper provides a brief history of the emperors' conduct and policies in Iberia during the Crusades, outlining such consequences as regime change and military innovation. Its focus is a multidsciplinary case study analysis of the Emperor's loss of Silves (Xelb) in 1189 AD (585 AH) from both the Crusader and Muwahid perspectives, using a newly-rediscovered key eyewitness account called De itinere navali and modern sources in numerous languages.
Paper -b:
The Syriac Church of the East has a unique history as a minority religion in Persia. It was organizationally and doctrinally distinct from the Latin and Byzantine churches, and for the first millennia of its existence spread from its homelands in Iraq and Persia along trade routes to India and China. After Syriac Christianity was first declared a sanctioned religion in China in the 7th Century, and then expelled in the 9th century, it spread among the steppe tribes that were to form the key support for the Mongol Empire in the 13th century. Within its Persian homelands, it fell under the successive rule of the Parthians, Sasanians, Umayyads, Abbasids and Il-Khans. Focusing particularly on the Mongol period, this paper explores the series of adaptive strategies the Church of the East employed to maintain cohesiveness as a minority faith. The Church of the East variously attempted to ingratiate itself with the regime in power, reach out to other Christian sects on an ecumenical level, and cultivate relationships with influential outside powers. During the last half of the 13th century, these strategies were challenged for a number of reasons. While ecumenical relations were generally successful, the Church found itself less able to negotiate shifting priorities at court as the Il-Khans began a process of conversion to Islam. In addition, outreach to the courts of Latin Europe proved fraught with misunderstanding and ingrained cultural prejudice, often on both sides.
Paper -c:
Alfonso X had to deal with two different kinds of empires. The Hispanic empire, as defended by his forefathers, and the old Germanic empire, being himself a candidate to sacred throne. Were those empire ends or tools? And what did crusade had to do with both of them, his policy and his context?
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