Violence has been in decline for long stretches of time, and today we may be living in the most peaceful era in our species existence. The decline in violence has not been steady, it has not brought rates of violence to a complete halt, and it is not guaranteed to continue. But in this essay, Steven Pinker persuades us that is a persistent historical development visible on scales from millennia’s to years, from wars and genocides, to the treatment of children and animals.…
The early Middle Ages, during which the Germanic conquest of western Europe took place, were characterized by rampant warfare, localized government, and relative isolation from bordering societies. Between 800CE and 1200CE, however, the emergence and evolution of settled agriculture across Europe demanded peasant collaboration and adherence to contractual agreements within the manorial system. This movement towards a society of mutual cooperation and legal order was also encouraged by the necessity for defensive warfare against an influx of foreign invaders and the revival of commerce towards the conclusion of the high Middle Ages. Economic life often dictates which ideas are able to penetrate societies, and it was not until…
Although the book Ender's Game shows how a young boy can become a powerful leader, the book also refers to many human rights issues. This book is set in the future where the world is full genies children. The use of these children is what poses controversy such as, child neglect, child abuse, and violence. The issues referred to in this book are not unknown in today’s world and effect many countries. Violence is an issue that many people find to be the cause of different problems in growing children.…
Many events and conflicts in history have arose based on its root in extremism. Throughout history, paranoia implemented by the church and enforced by the court has caused citizens of specific societies to go into hysterics, and has caused them and their governments to commit extreme acts of injustice. The Heretic’s Daughter takes place in 17th century Massachusetts and tells the story of the Carrier Family. The Carrier Family, including Martha, Thomas, Richard, Andrew, Tom, Sarah and Hannah Carrier face many challenges during this time period which force them to experience extremism that lead to Martha Carrier’s death.…
Introduction The period between the late Middle Ages and the Early Modern is a significant transition time in Europe. In 1955, Michael Roberts, who is a famous British historian, raised the concept of military revolution in his report ‘The Military Revolution, 1560-1660’. Since then, there was a study upsurge of the military revolution in academia. Many historians believe in military technological determinism that during the late Middle Ages, the so-called ‘gunpowder revolution’ led a dramatic change of battlefields in Europe, and it has a profound influence on the European social history.…
Violence is a behavior that involves physical abuse, intended to hurt or cause damage to others. Many people use violence because it is in the nature of humanity, and it is something that is released when people feel anger. The novel Ender’s Game by Orson Scott Card, has a drastic amount of violence throughout most of the novel. Children are trained at a battle school to defeat an alien race that caused damage to humanity in the past. It is shocking to adults that such a book is claimed to be a children’s book.…
Tudor England and Tudor Crime and Punishment. Crimes committed in the 15th and 16th century were met with violent and cruel punishments. Many of the punishments and executions of the Tudor period were witnessed by many hundreds of people. The poor Tudors treated such events as exciting days out. It was common practise for royalty and nobility to be subjected to this most public form of punishment or execution for their crimes.…
When looking at the Life of St. Louis by Joinville there are many similarities present between this text, and texts such as Einhard’s Life of Charlemagne and Guibert of Nogent’s Memoirs. In Joinville’s text he almost copies many of the attributes that are given to Charlemagne, but modifies them in such a way that makes St. Louis seem more down to earth. In the case of Guibert of Nogent’s text, there is a major similarity in how the world for these individuals is seen through a religious lens. Since both individuals can not explain what is happening fully they interpret it as an act of God or an acts of demons, which shows that sanctity is something that plays a major role in their lives.…
In the Dark Ages of the world, all people needed security and shelter from the craziness of the everyday life, with wars and battles being fought, as well as constant shifts of power. What the people found would be their home and refuge would be castles, giant buildings built for the defense of all inside. Over time, as technology advanced, these sturdy and reliable structures became more and more brawny and elegant over the centuries, until they ceased to be used…
Medieval culture has always fascinated us so while searching through conflict and compromise topics we came across some of the bloodiest battles in European history The Wars of the Roses was a medieval battle between the York and Lancaster clans. In order to conduct our research we went to several libraries which provided information and secondary sources. Additionally we also found websites containing the family trees, ancient timelines, major battles, events and people along with “The Cely Archives” a series of archives that were a crucial contribution to our primary source.…
The two categories of violence in literature are the specific injury that authors cause characters to visit on one another or on themselves, and the narrative violence that causes characters harm in general. The first type is character-on-character violence, and it is when one character harms another or themselves. The second type is when the author introduces violence to advance plot and are ultimately responsible. These are normally accidents in text. In The Outsiders, Dally is shot by the cops when they see he is holding a gun which happens to be empty.…
In The Prince, Machiavelli writes on how a prince is to take power and how to maintain his position (Ryan, 2012, p.364). The concept of virtù is introduced, as an essential component that a prince must possess. It could be translated as the ability, quality or determination that secures political success (Ryan, 2012, p.375). Machiavelli finds an example of a virtuous prince in Cesare Borgia, described as a skillful leader who was only defeated by the negative effects of fortuna (Ryan, 2012, p.371). On the other hand, Agathocles is presented as a tyrant, whose form of ruling was dishonorable.…
Violence and Diplomacy: The Success of an Empire As I am reading this book, I can see that very easily that violence and warfare had a major part in the overall rise of Islam. As per usual, back in the days in order to be wealthy, you had to own land, and to own land you either had to purchase it, or take it by force. Since money was no easy thing to come by, force was usually the easier option. There are three examples that stand out to me on this topic and the main one is that anyone who refused to convert to Islam were condemned to die. Second extortion was very important to the rise of Islam especially in the Tabuk Crusades, as it introduced a new way to conquer lands without losing followers or money.…
War stories often graphically describe violent events to immerse the reader in the action of the actual fight. Despite this, there is always an underlying reason as to why the author uses that scene in particular. Those brutal incidents that make it to the pages of the book are significant to the message that the writer wishes to present to the reader. This violence is not always limited to battles. One particularly vicious scene in The Things They Carried is when Curt Lemon is killed and in retaliation, Rat Kiley, his best friend, viciously kills a baby water buffalo (75-76).…
In “A History of Violence,” Steven Pinker argues that violence continues to diminish. Pinker goes as far back as biblical times to prove evidence of our vicious past. He even analyzes murder rates from present day compared to the fourteenth century to find the present day completely outnumbered. Kings and Queens of sixteenth-century Paris watched cats being strangled and burned for entertainment. All examples from this essay show the violence that mankind was once accustomed to.…