Medieval History - University Historical and Philosophical studies

What were the main causes of population decline in England from the beginning of the fourteenth century?

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of the wealthy and the monks who kept detailed records which although useful is frustrating as they are hardly likely to be representative of the population as a whole. Though they are useful as a guide, if their death rate increases it is likely the rest of the countries did too though by what rate it is difficult to know. Hatcher describes the sources as "hard to win and treacherous to interpret."2 The best quality sources are monastic records whose problems I have already described.

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A Critical Analysis of the Sack of Limoges (1370) according to Jean Froissart

was just Le Bel recited and what was added by Froissart from his own knowledge or his other sources.4 He used and relied upon the 'reminiscences' of the knightly group of men from both England and France as well as possibly using heralds such as Sir John Chandos who compiled a life of the Black Prince.5 He also had the benefit of meeting the Black Prince and being with him at certain points of his life, such as in the winter of 1366, in Aquitaine.6 Curry has written on Froissart that 'there has been much academic debate over the nature, sources and reliability of his works.'7 However this surely is an issue for any chronicler of the time.

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What impact did the Scandinavian settlement have on pre-Conquest society and economy in England?

AD suggesting that it was still considered as a part of Alfred's vision for England and just in invaders hands.3 There were four phases of the Viking raids and subsequent settlement; the first was sporadic raids and looting from 789 to 864 AD; the second was the permanent colonisation between 865 and 896 AD; the third, the extortion of tribute (chiefly from Wessex) from 980 to 1012 AD and finally the forth was the political conquest between 1013 and 1066 AD.4 The settlement had a direct impact on these third and forth phases.

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Who were the winners from the interdict dispute of 1206-1214, and who were the losers?

An interdict from an spiritual point of view is "to cut off authoritatively from certain ecclesiastical functions and privileges"2. In terms of the interdict dispute that took place between 1206 and 1214 many different functions and privileges were rescinded an example of one of these functions is the development of churches, any construction was crushed under the influence of the interdict. In order to counter this "disgrace3", John retaliated by punishing any clergyman who rejected the celebration of divine service by confiscating their possessions, John was then excommunicated in November 1209. Whilst this feud took place Stephen Langton and the other bishops under threat moved to France to seek refuge.4 Pope Innocent III is a renowned papal leader who

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Effects of the Fourth Lateran Council on Germany. The pope administered legates to each nation in Europe, in order to ensure the bishops adhered to the Canon law.[2] In Germany this privilege was assigned to Cardinal-Priest Peter De Sasso, who was sent in

do penance for the remainder of their life.'3 The problem that is being eradicated from church life via this constitution is that of simony, which is the sin of buying of buying or selling ecclesiastical preferments or benefices and making a profit out of anything sacred. What C. 64 is dealing with is roles within the church being offered at a price, and states that both the receiver and the received will be removed. It also states that if simony had taken place before the decrees were incorporated, then the bishop who had taken the payment should be moved to a different section of the same order.

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How far must we consider the Norman Conquest as a Military victory

When thinking about the Norman conquest, a great deal of importance is placed around and upon the battle of Hastings and the way in which William I imposed his rule upon the English (such as the notorious 'Harrying of the North'), however, I believe that it is also important to take into consideration the way in which William revolutionised the ruling elite so that after only twenty years of rule, he had managed to turn it almost wholly Norman. However, whatever the reason, it is clear that as Orderic Vitalis sates, the Normans were a "warlike race, who continually struggled for mastery"3and that they were going to use any means necessary to gain total control over England.

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How has the Popularisation of 'history from below' influenced historians studying US race relations?

This is supported by: "Annales school history is best known for incorporating social scientific methods into history"2. Secondly, due to the birth of post modernism, new age historians, or 'revisionist' as they are now referred to - have tried to view history from different perspectives, and producing theories - 'competing modes' of thought - to the 'traditionalist' views. Finally, from the latter half and earlier half of the 20th and 21th centuries the world has become more socially equitable and less discriminative.

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The Making of Peoples

As well, the barbarians had strong impact on Rome: on the army, the society and even the games. Some historians, such as Vegetius and Arthur Ferrill, blame the process also known as a~barbarisation' for the collapse of the empire. This process lead to many consequences, a number of which were negative. For example, the barbarisation of the army made the Roman soldier resemble the barbarian one too much and this is thought to be the reason for the numerous defeats from the barbarians. To illustrate this, compare these two pictures. The first one shows a Roman legionnaire of 1-2 centuries AD, and the second is of a legionnaire of 4-5 centuries AD.

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Role of the Scholar-Gentry and Eunuchs in Imperial China

Only a small fraction became public officials, the ones who passed the highest of the exams. Most were appointed by the emperor to local positions performing day-to-day governance, belonging to an intermediate ruling class.3 Their duties included teaching in schools, conducting Confucian ceremonies, collecting taxes, mediating minor legal disputes, supervising community projects, and generally upholding morality and virtue. Although they received no official salary, they did enjoy much of the prestige, power and privilege of the higher ruling class.4 Their power came from the fact that they were the only group who knew the workings of their local area and

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Why Did Conciliarism Become A Problem in the 15th Century

had grounds in such events as the Avignon Papacy, which showed that certain Popes were subject to corruption, favoritism, extravagant lifestyles and even heresy. The scandal of the position-holding of first two and then three Popes weakened the papacy as an institution and showed a need for it to be regulated.3 Such thinkers as William of Ockham, who wrote outlining the basics of Conciliarism much earlier in the 1300's, became revered for their ideas. His thoughts spoke of a 'universal church', a congregation of all faithful, rather than the Roman Church governed by the Pope.

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describe the cultural landscapes created by neolithic farming communities in ireland with reference to Aalens model of cultural landscape formation

The French historical geographer Vidal de la Blanche once said that the landscape "was a medal struck in the image of a civilisation". It is a narrative of our countries past and a palimpsest of the people's history and nature's history intertwined.3 In Ireland, natural landscapes are almost non-existent as much of our landscape is a product of human endeavour. It is important to remember that the natural landscape has had a significant bearing on the course of our islands past as it is located on the western edge of Europe.

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To what extent did witchcraft accusations reflect socio-economic tensions in early modern British communities?

It is always made clear that throughout the Early Modern Britain period 'a great majority of those prosecuted came from the lower levels of society.'1 The main socio-economic tensions that reflect on witch accusations all stem from this principle that it was the lower end of the social hierarchy that were susceptible to witchcraft allegations. The reasoning behind the lower class of society being most vulnerable to witch accusations can be split into numerous parts for example the fact that they were the part of society that was weak and had little power in society and due to this they were used as scapegoats for any issues in the society of Early Modern Britain.

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viking saga

These two contrasting contexts - a sophisticated political and intellectual milieu together with a very basic fight for physical survival - form the backdrop to the events of the family sagas. Much of the substance of the sagas is an exploration of personal and social relations, of how neighbours form alliances or foster lethal feuds, of how families develop into invincible kin groups through generations, or fragment under the pressures of life in Iceland. As one might expect, disputes both between and within families arise over land, livestock or vital food supplies, and we can begin to see that the theme of feud is a common one throughout the Icelandic works.

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vikings & runestones

One such important facet is that of Rune Stones. The alphabet the Vikings used was known as 'runic', each letter known as a 'rune'. Nobody knows exactly when or where the runic characters were invented. It was several centuries before the Viking period and probably somewhere near the Roman Empire, as many of the earlier letters inscribed resemble those of the Roman alphabet. Runic images were carved on wood, mental, bone and stone. They were widely used and in the case of Viking society, they offer us an interesting insight into their everyday life.

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vikings raids essay

The subject of Viking raids has come to be one of the better-known aspects of Viking history over the years. Their destructive and violent nature ensures that they are not easily forgotten. John Haywood claims that the Vikings have become a byword for seaborne terror; 'violent raiders descending in their longships to plunder monasteries and butcher peaceful communities of men, women and children.'1 In recent years, however, a new image of these plundering warriors has emerged. In his book, Kings and Vikings, Sawyer notes that although the Vikings were disruptive and destructive when raiding, they made a positive contribution to society as conquerors and colonists.

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How did the martyr's body become an emblem of triumph for early Christian communities

The body of the martyr was an emblem of triumph for early Christian communities as the martyr showed a sense of control, dignity and nobility arguably achieving a sense of victory over the persecuting Roman authority. Although the martyr was the victim of the persecuting force of the Rome the martyr in reality had complete determination over their own destiny this in many ways castrated the totalitarian use of violent torture and execution by Rome as it was willingly accepted by the martyr, rendering it's desired repression of the victim's self assertion useless.

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To what extent did commerce flourish in this period?

Trade existed at this time as a way for such leaders to get hold of these valuable objects required to demonstrate their wealth.1 The leader of one group would exchange certain articles in their possession, normally gained through taxation or gifts, with another leader for items he had obtained through similar means "Long distance trade appears to be forged by Kings or their emissaries".2 This would either be a direct swap or in the form of gifts, presented to neighbouring clans to ensure peaceful relations or alliances.

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Vikings in Britain - The Archaeological Evidence

Archaeology has much to say about the complex processes behind the creation of a Scandinavian society in the British Isles in the early medieval period. When looking at the history of the Viking settlement, one is initially confronted with several questions about the process and nature of the settlement. Was the settlement a single movement, or one of disparate migrations, was it intended as a military conquest, or a peaceful movement into the land and what kind of numbers did the Vikings arrive in?

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Did women have a role in the Seventeenth- Century Politics?

This can be a difficult subject to study objectively, as women had few rights in the early modern period. There is the danger of supposing that because women were very much confined to the domestic sphere that they were unhappy, oppressed, and abused by tyrannical husbands. While tyrannical husbands certainly existed, there is no evidence to suggest that they were the norm and that women were generally mistreated and unhappy. Yet in the mid-sixteenth Century there were female queens ruling England, Mary Tudor, her sister Elizabeth and their cousin Mary Queen of Scots. The contention that as women they could not rule was ancillary to wider political and confessional debate between Protestants and Catholics3 The issue here was not just their gender but their religion too.

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causes of third world debt

Why did the creditors allow the situation to balloon to such proportions? How would these unpaid debts affect the world economy in general? Despite the loan amounts being substantial, why had these countries remained destitute, if not poorer? The aim of this essay is in the ensuing sections, the discussion will focus firstly on the root causes of the third world debt. Secondly, there were several solutions proposed to reduce third world debt. Whether they were effective or not remains to be seen. Several factors were attributed to third world indebtedness. Towards the end of 1990, third world debts combined ballooned to $1.3 trillion.

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The scale of the raids, the density of the settlements and the degree of destruction have been greatly exaggerated'. Discuss this assessment of Viking activity in England in the ninth and tenth centuries

Early Viking raids in the late eighth and early ninth century were, it is generally agreed, relatively sporadic and small-scale, averaging no more than fifty ships, and targeted at monasteries, such as Lindisfarne, and trading centres (Campbell). It is not until the mid-ninth century, that the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle begins to refer to the (now Danish as well as Norwegian) Viking forces as 'Micel here', which has traditionally been taken to mean 'great army'. The ASC claims the armies of 865 and 871 numbered 150-250 ships, which indicates that there were thousands of invaders.

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Were late Medieval and early Modern Europeans obsessed with death?

The environment had a major impact on the population in the 14th Century, as the people of Europe saw a severe downturn in the climate manifested in a long run of short wet summers and long cold winters. This was caused by freak sunspot activity by the solar systems star. The result of this was the expansion of glaciers in the north, and generally wetter, colder weather for most of Europe. For the mid-north or 'Golden basin' of Europe, the main wheat and barley supplier this was disastrous.

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The system of serfdom in Medieval England.

He was left with little pay for his duties and the amount of land he received from the lord was usually insufficient to maintain a descent quality of life for him and his family. The living conditions of serfs were very basic with only rudimentary living essentials available to them. Their houses were usually made of mud and straw mixed in with upright twigs for the walls, and the roof was thatched leaving little or no ventilation.1 The serf and his family made many of their own utensils and other tools required for survival and some of these are outlined

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What does the story of Abelard and Heloise tell us about the changes that took place in European thought and culture in the tw

autobiographical Historia Calamitatum and the exchange of letters that followed between him and his young student Heloise who later became his lover, wife and sister in religion. Abelard and Heloise reveal much about themselves and the culture of the twelfth century through their writings. Theirs is a story about passion, faith, heresy, brutality and intellectual brilliance and through it was can question medieval attitudes to sex, gender, marriage as well as faith and learning. Peter Abelard (1070-1142) was one of the great wandering scholars of the twelfth century.

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How economically marginal were women in Western Europe between 1000 and 1300?

The lives of noble women throughout the middle ages are well documented as they had access to education and many women indulged in writing literature such as Angela of Foligno 1248-1309 who lived in Italy and the Lais of Marie de France. Historians debate the extent to which noble women held power and their contribution, if any, to the economy. During this period, noble women were often placed in positions of great responsibility when their husbands went to war; as a result many wielded great economic power.

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University Degree: Medieval History