Comparative Essay Sample: Medieval Europe and the Islamic Caliphates

The civilizations of Medieval Europe and the Islamic Caliphates were a very important part of the 600-1300’s. Originating in the Middle East, the Islamic Caliphates’ ideas spread throughout the world, which makes this civilization so important. This was a very important period because it paved an alternative path for life. Although they were both major parts of advancement in life, the Islamic Caliphates were far more civilized than medieval Europe because they included and treat women like citizens and a part of society. They also had advanced technology. For example, they had advancements in math, science, medicine, and much more. Finally, they had a unique way of making art which kind of paved the path for architecture. During the Middle Ages, the Islamic Caliphate was more civilized than Medieval Europe because of intellectual, cultural, and economic advancements. The Islamic Caliphates were way more civilized because they included women in their everyday society. It is very important that they did this because most societies back then treated women more like property, but the Islamic principle helped improve women’s lives. For example, the Quran lets women keep and own property, which they owned before being married. Women were treated very well for this time in history, as they could also take part in public religious ceremonies, politics, and they could even travel! Women were much included in Islam’s society during the middle ages. This makes the Islamic Caliphates very civilized because back in the middle ages, treating women with respect and like a human wasn’t even thought of in most places. This is very important that we acknowledge how they treated women because it shows how civilized they really were. The difference between the Islamic Caliphates and Medieval Europe was that although Medieval Europe gave some rights to women, they didn’t treat them as well as the Islamic Caliphates did because the peasant women weren’t even allowed to travel outside their manor and or town.

Another way the Islamic Caliphates were absolutely more civilized is because they were more advanced. Some things they had advancements in were math, science, medicine, and many more departments. For instance, they had advancements in science from a man named Physician al-Razi who wrote medical books that were later translated into Latin. Some books that he wrote were a medical reference encyclopedia, the Comprehensive Book and Treatise on Smallpox, and Measles. Having these books, it let them have access to many medicines and the smallpox vaccination. This proves that they were being advanced in the medical department. By translating these medical books to Latin, the books also spread around the world and definitely helped other doctors that were especially from other parts of Europe. I know it sounds like they were already advanced enough, but the Islamic Caliphates were also advanced in math. A mathematician, Al-Khwarizimi was an enormous influence on their culture because he was the “father of algebra.” He wrote a textbook based on an Indian source that helped Muslims to also adopt the Arabic Numeral. Just like the medicine books, they also translated these math textbooks into Latin, which helped the spread of the Arabic Numerals through Europe. It’s important that they translated the textbooks and books into Latin because most of Europe spoke Latin during the Medieval ages. This validates that the Islamic Caliphates were advanced in mathematics because they actually were very invested in math and cared a lot for it. These advancements still affect people today because without these people, math wouldn’t be a thing and medicine wouldn’t be as advanced as it is today.

Finally, they were more civilized because they were creative and had a new way of doing art. When I say a new way of doing art, I mean they weren’t like the Greeks and Romans and did not make an art of the human form. Instead of depicting human art, Islamic art created complex geometric patterns to decorate the buildings, which made them have to master algebra to make these patterns. This conveys that Islamic art differed from other art, as it didn’t have nude sculptures of bodies and instead had shapes and patterns that included the mastering of algebra. Because of Islamic art, there were new opportunities to create complex designed buildings. Mosques are a great example of this complex architecture. The walls and windows of most mosques have many unique designs made of all different shapes and colors. This shows that art was a very important piece to Islamics because it definitely helped shape their culture and the creation of their art and architecture itself.

Medieval Europe is way more civilized than the Islamic Caliphates because their towns were advanced for its time. For a town or civilization in the middle ages, Medieval Europe had many buildings and just an all-around highly functioning society. These towns mostly comprised a church, a priest’s house, a mill, a village, a few fields, and woodlands. This proves that Medieval Europe’s towns were definitely advanced for their time as it looks like a town we would see today. 

However, the idea of Medieval Europe being more civilized is incorrect because, although they had delightful towns, the Islamic Caliphates had a high level of citizenship and scholarship.