science!

I said science again! It is interesting to see the transformation of science in this period of time. One thing i thought was noteworthy was that many of these scientific revolutionaries didn't scoff at the work of there greek and roman predecesors, but were thankful for them. They may have misinterpretted things wrong, but still their work eventually led to the right ideas. We were also reminded that the new science coming out of a vacuum, nor was it as simple as flicking on a light switch. the sciences continue to move onward lurching and stalling as they ever did.

Galileo

Again we see religion giving itself a good name by persecuting a man learning and teaching correct principles and ideas. It makes me sad to see things like this because it puts science and religion so much at odds. It seems his recanting of his teachings at the time of his trial spared his life, though i wonder what kind of impact he would have had if he was martyred. He wrote 2 more books after he lived the rest of his days under house arrest that were incredibly useful for physics, so i dont feel like i can be too harsh toward him for not sticking to his guns.

Oliver Cromwell

The rise of Oliver Cromwell was very reminiscent of many of the Roman leaders in that they both came at the head of an army, and it was the army that had the power to make leaders. Just as those leaders of old were not in power for very long, Oliver's new government didn't last beyond his own death either. I am sure he saw himself as a great patriot and lover of his country, yet he was still a dictator in every sense of the word. This seems to be a recurring theme in all of history: a leader who cares for his country (countrymen) or just cause rises up, but then seems to go too far, and either by his own ineptitude or extreme zealotry brings about a worse situation for his people. Also, it is often the cry of the people that bring these men to the fore front. Sometimes the demand for change brings more than what was bargained for.

wiki article #3 - Oliver Cromwell

This article goes over the life and time of Oliver Cromwell. It is pretty sparse however concerning the first 40 years of his life, focussing the most on his role in the English revolution. After this point it is fairly detailed. Considering the fact that Cromwell in many ways "came out of nowhere", this is not unextpected. Not only does it go over his life and death, but it also covers some influences he had over the next hundred years following his death.

1. This article is over 9000 words long.
2. Search string: Oliver Cromwell. direct result.
3. The disambiguation link references a locomotive train, an actor, and a Monty Python song about Oliver Cromwell.
4. under this discussion page it is noted that this article is rated a GA (good article) in a couple different areas.
5. this article seems to have had over 1000 edits begining in 2001
6. 9 external links
7. 23 references
8. no further reading links

This article seems to be very well put together. It has quite a few different perspectives given about Oliver Cromwell. Given that it is quite lengthy and still has been given a good article status i would definitly recomment this article to anyone needing to learn about Oliver.

It is little wonder to me as to why our Forefathers wanted freedom of religion and to ensure that government would have to keep its paws out of it. The struggles of the 30 years war, and im sure countless others have had too much to do with religion and politics being so closely entwined. It is also easy to see why there is such a harsh view of religion when it proclaims to be for peace.

I was also interested to read about the anabaptists and their ideas of their religion. I found it interesting that the first tenant they put down had to do with baptism. It seems this particular ordinance is a very pivotal point among the whole of christianity. But then why wouldn't it be? after all it IS the very doorway by which men pass on to Salvation.

reading the Bible got them in trouble

It is interesting to note that the worries the old church leaders had about varying interpretations of the Holy Bible was completely founded. I myself am amazed at how often different Christian sects can derive such differences in doctrine and practice and still read the same book. This of course leads to discussions over who has (if anybody) interpreted the text correctly.

Despite the factitious element this brought to Christianity in the world, I am glad it happened. I believe in personal scripture study as a vital element in religious practice. Along with that should come humble and prayerful meditation to understand what you read.

nature hits harder

It seems that despite all the wars men have and will inflict upon themselves, at least to the point in history we have come to, that 'natural disasters' like that of the black plague make the losses of war seem small. I'm not downplaying the loss of life during wars, nor is it my intent. The numbers of dead given in the reading are staggering. What intrigues me is that the disease is still around. It makes me wonder why there hasn't been outbreaks since these middle ages. We read that we now have a way to treat it, but it still seems that as quickly as the disease strikes you could find high population areas across the world quite susceptible to its ravaging effects. I suppose i should hope that Saturn, Jupiter, and Mars don't once again conspire against us.

what was he thinking?

That is what kept running through my mind as i was reading about the first crusade. Pope Urban II initiated the crusades with his speech and call to arms, yet i don't think that the outcome was what he wanted. This leads me to wonder, what DID he want? He apparently didn't want the poor to rush to battle, yet that was who heard his empassioned speech. Why did he make the speech in the first place? What was his intended outcome, and would it have been better or worse for Christianity that what took place? He was a man looking for reform in his church, but i wonder if what he got was his goal or not.

wiki article #2

Search string "Saxons"

This article is about the Saxons in a general perspective. It covers some of thier movements and migrations, as well as their reluctance to convert to christianity. Interestingly it was the poor class of people who resisted the conversion more than the wealthy.
1. 3,891 words
2. Saxons
3. many other links relating to saxony, or variations on the word
4. The Discussion page contained lots of possible change posts, and is indicated that it has not yet recieved a rating for importance or quality. it is listed as a "Start-Class" on the quality scale.
5. There have been over 500 changes since its creation on May 31, 2006
6. There are only 4 external links.
7. There are 8 references cited
8. There are no Further Reading links.

This article is fairly broad and simplistic, and for that reason should probably only be used in conjunction with other cited sources. Given that there isn't any official seal of approval given by the wikipedia staff or other organizations it is one best only used as giving basic direction.

preservation

In reading about Charlamagne i was particularly interested in the preservation of knowledge, and specifically the reformation of handwriting. It is interesting that our upper and lower case letters have slightly different origins. In my mind much thanks goes to Charlamagne and those involved in their own renessaince. Also, were it not for monks studiously transcribing tome after tome after musty tome it is likely that we would have very little by way of history in this region of the world. They (the monks) deserve much thanks for that.

concerning silence

............... while it did make me chuckle that that section was omitted as others were, i thought it a great example. I imagined a monk teaching his students about silence by simply standing there, staring them down.
One thing i found particularly interesting was that when a person wanted to become a monk, and he presented himself at the door, that he was left outside for days to test his resolve. It also seemed that he would be ridiculed while out there. It all makes sense though considering what a faithful monk would have to endure and adhere to in living the laws.

disappointing kids

It is interesting to me to see that no matter how well you think you have taught your children, or how good of an example you have been, that you never really know how your children will turn out. In our readings there were several examples of great leaders who left their children in charge only to have many of the good things they have instituted undone. Specifially i noted Vespian and Marcus Aurelius. These men had been overall a positive influence in Rome, yet their children were nearly as destructive as they were constructive.

It does get me thinking about how my own children (i have 5) are going to turn out. I know my wife and I are doing our best, and I guess we just have to believe they will do alright.

accidents do happen

Its interesting to me as we look at history how often some of the greatest events in time have happened seemingly by accident. The punic wars, which initially were just two different sides rushing into the same area to help a friend started a whole chain of events that lead to the utter ruin of the republic of Rome and lead to the more renowned imperialist Rome. Of course once the ball was rolling there were plenty of men to keep up the momentum from Tiberius, to Marius, to Julias Cesaer, and many in between. It it also interesting to note that nearly all of these men who changed Rome did so with the intention of preserving their beloved home and people.

It seemed so many times that these men could have done even greater things for the people of Rome, Italy, and her provinces had it not been for the ineptitude and intervention of a lousy Senate. Yet the Senate alway seems to blame 'the guy in charge.'

wikipedia ugh

I looked up the Battle of Marathon on Wikipedia and got more than I bargained for. The article was lengthy to the point of being inhibiting. It is broken up into different sections, each detailing some aspect of the battle. Being a historical reference piece it basically described the events preceding, during, and after this famous battle between Persia and the Greeks involved.
The article is roughly 5,500 words long. That is a lot of words. The problem is that I felt our own reading was more consise, informative, and understandable than was this article. The article was created on the 14th of December, 2001, and there have been seeming 500+ changes to it, the most recent being this very day that I write this review. On the page discussion you will find that this article was once listed as a historical Good Article, but has since been delisted. There are seventy two references listed, but only 3 external links. The pictures were nice, but not redeeming.
For those interested in this material I would honestly steer them wide of this page. The section about the numbers of people involved in the battle was so muddled and contradictory that I ended up just skipping over it. The end of the article talks about the “legend of the marathon run.” This is the only part of the article I actually found useful and interesting, and even this part didn't seem to want to be clear on the subject. There are far better resources found online than this Wikipedia article.

Kirk Douglas

I ... AM ... SPARTACUS! It has been a very long time since I have watched this movie. Long enough, in fact, that my only memory i really have is Kirk Douglas in armor, and the more recent movie Gladiator keeps getting in the way. Now i am going to have to see if my parents still have this movie on VHS.
To the point of the blog, however, it is interesting to note that a great mind such as Aristotle felt that slavery was right and natural, and that the superior person had an obligation to rule over the inferior and the inferior person an obligation to serve. While i disagree with the direct ownership of human beings, i do see his point of there being a 'superior' and 'inferior'. Though most people will balk at the use of this word, we have all made ourselves slaves in one way or another. It is self imposed slavery, to be sure, but slavery nonetheless. We always are in a position of power over someone or something and thus superior, and conversly we are in the inferior postition in as many different ways.

Alexander

Fun reading this week! I think I enjoyed reading about Alexander the Great most, as i followed his movements, battles, and feats. It is amazing how well his army performed in light of being in strange lands or against overwhelming odds. I was trying to imagine what it would have been like to see a war-elephant charging at me for the first time, not even really understanding what manner of creature it was that rushed down upon me. Really you have to wonder how much farther Alexander could have gone had he lived even another 5 or 10 years. Clearly he would have discovered that there was a much larger world out there than he had probaby thought. The reading suggested that he probably thought that India was end of that side of the world.

I now understand also why Greek culture has so impacted the world so much as opposed to other cultures and countries that have come and gone under the heel of great men and nations. Had Alexander not spread greek culture as far as he did, we probably would not have even heard of many of its philosophers, or had much reason to care.

Blog post numero uno

Reading Aristotle reminded me of last years philosophy class and the grind that reading Aristotle can be. Despite that, I followed his thoughts fairly well. His relation of family to community made sense and is still visible today. I wonder how well societies can function if the basic structures of family disintigrate.

In comparing Spartan and Athenean society I asked myself which of the two i would prefer to live under. The set pattern of life and concreteness of the militant Sparta has its appeal. Knowing your place in life and filling that role while being an equal in all aspects to your fellow citizens brings a sense of security and peace of mind that a more free form society cannot. Even among the women, I imagine, they felt that same sense of place in their world. However, ultimately I prefer the Athenean Democracy. The ability to choose (since i am a man) my course and place in life would have allowed me to grow and prove my merit. The good life comes from creating your place, not just taking what was predetermined for me.

blog on!

Set up and ready to roll...... now to chk on that reading =) Get back to this later