Science in the Middle Ages

Finally, the five year civil war is over and with a clear winner. Minamoto Yoritomo, the son of the magnificent Minamoto leader, Yoshitomo (who had died in 1160 in his own similar revolt) has organised and won the revolt against the Taira clan on behalf of the Minamoto family. On May 5th in 1180, Minamoto Yoritomo and Prince Mochihito began to gather alliances. By the very next month, Prince Mochihito had a bounty over his head and was forced to flee to a monastery in Mii-dera. After news of…

The picture on the right is the Giotto, Madonna and Child Enthroned, painted in Ognissanti Madonna for the congregation of the Ognissanti in Florence in 1310. It was commissioned by a dark religious request called the Humiliati, who were known for their modest, beggar way of life. To bolster themselves, and their congregation, the Humiliati worked in wool production. They were outstanding for utilizing workmanship to empower sentiments of commitment. On the other hand, the picture on the left is…

In the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, political and social structures were drastically altered by the concept that that humans can achieve, on their own, without having to rely on God. This concept is also known as humanism. During the Renaissance a man named Niccolo Machiavelli wrote The Prince. The Prince was a document that taught people at the time how they could achieve to gain power, A specific excerpt from chapter twenty-five of this document, “ I hold it true that Fortune is the…

As Islam grew from being a small Saudi Arabian religion to one of the largest conquering religions in the world in committed a lot of change through the christian based Europe. Before Islam had taken over the territory was mostly just nomadic tribes for a very long time. Islam reached Western Europe through Spain having crossed the Straits of Gibraltar from North Africa. From Spain, it spread across the Pyrenees until the Franks routed the Muslim armies at the Battle of Tours in 732. Islam…

West that still exist today. The Crusades was a war between Christians and Muslims to reclaim the Holy Land. The relationship between the religious group has not fully recovered in the 21st century. The Holy Land which is present-day Jerusalem in the Middle East continue to exist and the region remained entirely Muslims today like it was during the Crusades. The facts that people have difficulty believing about the…

Renaissance sparked creative ideas in art, education, and religion. Until the birth of the Renaissance the catholic church dictated what could and would be learned. New interest by scholars in Greek and Roman writing helped Europe emerge from the Dark Ages. Art caused people to to express how they felt through painting and literature. People such as Shakespeare, Leonardo da Vinci, and Filippo Brunelleschi used this inspiration to make amazing pieces of art. Shakespeare wrote poems and plays,…

brought Europe out of the middle ages. During the Middle Ages Europe was unsettled and fragmented. According to The Roots of Exploration packet, “Nations as you know them – France, Great Britain, and others – had not developed.” This explains that local rulers claimed most land and there wasn’t any unified law. Most people traveled very little. Roads and bridges were kept in bad condition. Nomadic tribes raided small empires and pillaged their riches. Overall the middle ages were a…

When one thinks of chivalry today, one might think of someone holding the door for a stranger, or pulling out a chair for someone, but what did chivalry mean back in King Arthur’s time? Throughout Sir Gawain and the Green Knight Sir Gawain demonstrated chivalry in 3 different ways. First, he bravely offered to take King Arthur’s spot in the Green Knights challenge. Secondly, he truthfully returned almost everything he was traded, up until the green girdle. Finally, Sir Gawain lived by the…

The Black Death is a high mortality rate disease, patient died within just one day after they first touch it. As Italy writer Giovanni Boccaccio described in his work The Decameron, “How many valiant men, how many fair ladies, breakfast with their kinfolk and the same night supped with their ancestors in the next world” (the Black Death and the Transformation of the West, 40.) What a tragic scene! Imagine there were numerous people died everyday, you will never know were the people lying on the…

Medieval Values and Architecture When taking a more in-depth look at Medieval values and their manifestation in physical buildings in their towns, there is a connection that is immediately evident. These manifestations go to show the deeper meaning of these buildings and windows, and the thought that the designer put into them. First, is the layout of medieval churches. These churches were a large part of the lives of Medieval people, serving as a center for religious services, funerals,…