Ottoman conquests helped cause the secularization of Western history

Evidence

In the spirit of Renaissance humanism, the Ottoman ascendancy was interpreted in Christian Europe in secular terms. Unlike in the preceding periods, events in the Orient as elsewhere could now be painted with the hues of human conflict rather than of the apocalyptic imagination. Indeed, the Muslim advance may actually have been not only the object, but also in large measure a cause of this overall secularization of history, which was part of “the primary event of modernity; the affirmation of the powers of this world, the discovery of the plane of immanence.” For if history was governed by God alone then how could one explain the enormous conquests of the Islamic foe? — Ivan Davidson Kalmar, Derek Penslar, Orientalism and the Jews, 109 (#corroborates, via linked claim)

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: Ottoman successes helped secularize European historical thought.; European secularization of history was partly caused by the Muslim advance — Ivan Davidson Kalmar, Derek Penslar, Orientalism and the Jews, 109; European secularism emerged by externalizing religious violence through colonialism (+2 more)

Broader Connections

• Ottoman successes helped secularize European historical thought. #corroborates (0.97)
• European secularization of history was partly caused by the Muslim advance #corroborates (0.95) — Ivan Davidson Kalmar, Derek Penslar, Orientalism and the Jews, 109
• European secularism emerged by externalizing religious violence through colonialism #complicates (0.78)