...before were just as easy to point out. The Middle Ages were subdivided into three major classes: those who fought, who prayed, and who worked. They first major class of the Middle Ages was those who fought. These men were usually the ones with the most money that included the King, the Dukes, the Earls, the Barons, the Knights and the Esquires (Mortimer 40). The reason that most of the people that fought were also wealthy was because they would have to be wealthy to be able to afford all of the equipment used in fighting (Lecture). The most important fighter was the King. The title of those who fought was a little misleading for the king because he usually did not do most of the fight he was just a person that could pay for military expeditions. The next social tier was the three ranks of lords: the dukes, earls, and barons. These were men who had to fight directly for the king for at least forty days each year at their own expense. The Lordly status was a correlation with their income. Their income came from their estates that would brings in at least £1000. The third social class dealing with those who fought were the knights, esquires, and gentlemen. The knights were usually lords that would work indirectly from the king which meant that they did not have the baronial title like the lords...
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...have greater power and that this right of his is being curtailed by the Normans. * Cedric views the Normans as bullies who look down upon the Saxons and unnecessarily over tax them. * Cedric's strong pro-Saxon patriotism leads him to make prejudiced assumptions about every Norman right until the end of the novel where we see Cedric having a slight change of heart. This happens when Cedric sees how King Richard stands up against the unfair and unjust Normans despite being a Norman himself. * Also, he eventually reconciles with his son up to a great extent. Wilfred Of Ivanhoe- * Wilfred (Ivanhoe) is the protagonist of our story and thus plays a central role in the entire plot. * Being Cedric’s son, he is essentially a knight from a Saxon family. * However, he is seen as a strong supporter of the Norman king, King Richard and it is owing to this that Cedric initially disowns him. * Ivanhoe is a skilled warrior and a ladies man at the same time. He is shown to be madly in love with Rowena (whom he eventually marries). * While on one hand, Ivanhoe seems to be the ideal heroic figure, he also has a dark side to him. He is highly prejudiced against Jews as is seen in his encounters with Rebecca. While he does help her father, Isaac with safe passage across the forest and later even Rebecca herself, it is pretty evident that he doesn’t particularly appreciate their Jewish heritage. * Also, he does not even take Rebecca into consideration as his lover...
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...Byzantine Empire for a naval attack on Egypt; but none of these plans came to fruition. * Meanwhile, Saladin planned his own invasion of the kingdom from Egypt. Learning of Saladin's plans, Baldwin IV left Jerusalem with, according to William of Tyre, only 375 knights to attempt a defense at Ascalon, but Baldwin was blockaded there by Saladin, who, again according to William of Tyre, had 26,000 men. Accompanying Baldwin was Raynald of Chatillon, lord of Oultrejordain, who had just been released from captivity in Aleppo in 1176. Raynald was a fierce enemy of Saladin, and was the effective commander of the army, with King Baldwin too ill to command it personally. Also with the army were Odo de St Amand, master of the Knights Templar, Baldwin of Ibelin, his brother Balian, Reginald of Sidon, and Joscelin III of Edessa. Another Templar force attempted to meet Baldwin at Ascalon, but they were also besieged at Gaza. * Saladin continued his march towards Jerusalem, thinking that Baldwin would not dare to follow him with so few men. He attacked Ramla, Lydda and Arsuf, but because Baldwin was supposedly not a danger, he allowed his army to be spread out over a large area, pillaging and foraging. However, Baldwin and the Templars both escaped their blockades, and marched out along the coast,...
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...Impact of Crusades in European History The time referred to as the High Middle Ages in Europe in the 11th century was in stark contrast to the Europe of the Renaissance. The continent was divided into kingdoms of weaker monarchs fragmented into small fiefdoms. The political landscape was dominated by the powerful aristocracy and even more powerful men of the religion. Life conditions were dismal for most of the population, trade was nearly nonexistent. In terms of arts and sciences, European civilization was dwarfed by those of the Middle East and Asia. Yet, in a couple centuries Europe would become one of the most powerful, sophisticated civilizations in the world. This change can be attributed in no small part to its interaction with the Orient though Crusades that spanned from the end of the 11th century to the end of the 13th century. The 35,000 men that joined the first Crusade embarked on a journey to a world that was very different than Europe. After capturing Jerusalem and settling down in various places in the Middle East, they saw that the Muslims lived luxurious lives. Their civilization was hundreds of years ahead of their own in terms of culture, technology and sciences. The Arabs had spent centuries in major cities copying the texts of classical Greek philosophers and making additions on the existing body of knowledge. The works of philosopher scientists such as Ibn Sina and Biruni were taught in European centers of learning emerging at the time of the first...
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...In a battle against the knight and samurai my vote would go to the knight. The reasons why I think the knight would win will be explained in this essay. This essay will be based on their training, weapons and armor, and their honor codes. The first way the knight have an advantage is in weapons and armor. In document D written by Terry Bennett it says “not only was their body covered but they wore helmets, gloves, and shoes of steel.”So the knights were completely covered in armor. Another piece of evidence that supports this is also in document D and it says “ Samurai did not wear armor on their right arm…”. Therefore the samurai’s arm was very vulnerable and it was easy to cut off leaving them not able to use their weapons properly. The...
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...author, Barbara Tuchman, stated that the code of chivalry was “ a code intended to fuse the religious and martial spirits and somehow bring the fighting man into accord with christian theory.” The code was enforced that the knight was suppose to serve for the greater good for others. The knight had to act “Chivalrous”, which was being noble and moral. The did not just have to be a good person, but he had to have good physical attributes. The knight needed to have good stamina. The knight would have to fight on foot or horseback, wearing heavy armor, while holding an eighteen-foot lance. They would have to spend days in all types of weather while on a saddle, it was not easy. The physical hardships tested their loyalty. The knight would have to be loyal, they pledged an oath to their superiors. If the oath was broken, they were charged with treason for their lack of loyalty. The knight would have to be prepared to die at anytime for their fellow knights. The knight would not care for the cause, they did it just for the joy of battle, not caring for the importance of the cause in which...
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...Romances which have captivated many readers through the years. I too have found reading them to be very enjoyable experience. I particular liked the aspect of reading stories that were written centuries ago, which has given me some insight into the culture of medieval northern Europe. I have been able to realize the importance that medieval people placed on the ideas of being a knight, courtly love, and King Authur’s court. I believe I know why these works were so popular, it was because works like this allowed individuals of medieval societies to be taken away to a fantasy land where everyone was beautiful and those who acted in the right manner were rewarded for such actions. This fantastic other world was a major contradiction to what life in medieval times was actually like. I have read many articles describing medieval life as being hard, rough, unrelenting, a constant struggle for survival, routinely fighting off invading armies, and those who did live glorious lives were a select few. But when one would read one of these three stories they could visualize King Aurthur’s court which was full of brave knights who had beautiful wives, and one could only hope that somehow he would find himself in this wonderful place and everything would be just fine. This is why these stories were so popular because they could transport the reader from there most likely their miserable life to a place that was far from miserable. Let’s first look at what fighting was going on during the time the...
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...Renaissance Punishment/Torture Torture devices were used all throughout the Middle Ages as a way to punish criminals and get a confession from someone. The word torture comes from the Latin word ‘tortura’ ultimately deriving from the word ‘torquere’ meaning “to twist”. The torture and punishment depended on the victim’s crime and social status. Torture was the most common form of punishment in the Middle Ages, only being abolished in England in 1640. Torture reached its peak around the 12th century. From the mid-18th century it was the most common method used and was allowed by the Roman Catholic Church. Torture wasn’t exclusively for criminals, it was also used by the Knights Templar, a member of a religious and military order founded by Crusaders in Jerusalem about 1118 and suppressed in 1312; the Spanish inquisition to punish a person who speaks disrespectfully of sacred things, and liars. The well-known torture devices are the Head Crusher, Cat’s Paw (or Spanish Tickler), Knee Splitter, Scavenger’s Daughter, Judas Chair, Spanish Donkey, Choke Pear, Lead Sprinkler, Breast Ripper, and Crocodile Shears. With the Head Crusher the device was a helmet like hat they placed on top of the victims head and the chin was placed above a metal bar, then the device would slowly turn compressing the skull tightly. First the teeth are destroyed, shattering and splintering into the jaw. Then the eyes are squeezed from the sockets. Lastly the skull fractures and the contents of the head...
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...Chivalry, Hanging by a Thread Chivalry, as defined by Merriam Webster, is the system, spirit, or customs of medieval knighthood; the qualities of the ideal knight, such as gallantry, valor, honor, courtesy, and a grand respect for women. Of course, knights were from the middle ages, and our society has since grown and developed into our modern culture known today. With this modernization came a new definition for the term chivalry. Most people, when referring to the word, think of men’s courtesy, attentiveness, and manners toward women. Sadly, present day chivalry has taken a beating, and is almost dead. Chivalry has become almost non existent because of the new found roles and attitudes of women, as well as men’s confusion and lack of care for chivalrous acts in today’s society....
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...The Hagakure, also known as the samurai way and the knight medieval, were warrior communities, who used to have several similarities in the way they organized themselves. They however hand a handful of differences that distinguished them. The Hagakure were from japan while the knights were from Europe. In this essay, I analyze the comparisons of the the two warrior communities. Both the samurai and the Knight had set of rules and regulations that they followed as warrior communities. They took the oath of loyalty and honesty to their land in their duties to their leaders. The constitution for the samurai was called ‘Bushido' while that of the knight was called ‘Chivalry.' Warriors from both sides were taught almost similar lesions which included...
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...as fluid and abstract as the idea of Chivalry. Chivalry is a concept that shows its head in many different pieces of literature from the time period as well as in the actions of many of the era's most prominent individuals. Knights, kings, soldiers, nobles, and more all followed the ideals of chivalry to one extent or another. The problem with examining their actions, however, lies in the fact that people within each of these groups interpreted chivalry differently. Whereas one person may view the act of war as chivalrous, others may look towards maintaining their estates and income as more important to their chivalrous valor. This makes simply defining...
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...communicated through violence, trade, and agreements. Some interactions benefit society, while others negatively impact it. Chivalry provided knights with rules for interaction and behavior in the Middle Ages, and they were considered honorable. While chivalry may seem like it died in the past, chivalry is still essential to daily life because it evolves over time, sets a moral standard, and creates a better society. Indeed, chivalry is still followed because it has evolved over time. In the Dark and Middle Ages, chivalry was defined as the code of ethics knights followed (Wells). Chivalry is not the strict set of rules it used to be, but a general guideline for how people should behave and interact with others. In the code of chivalry, protect the innocent, never lie or deceive, and never attack an unarmed foe are among some of the rules knights were required to follow. Nowadays, protecting the innocent and remaining honest is still important; however, the meaning of never attacking an unarmed foe has changed. In the Middle Ages, never attacking an unarmed foe was literal, but today, it means not acting...
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...It was once said, "A knight in shining armor is a man who has never had his metal truly tested." The meaning of this quote explains that any knight with shining armor has never truly battled or fought for freedom. More than a thousand years ago, a class of professional warriors arose. They swore oaths of loyalty to noble Lords and fought to the death to defend them in battle. They were the samurai of Japan and the European Knights in England. Some historians will argue that knights and samurai are the same, but evidence shows that they are not. They both have different types of armor and they both see death in 2 ways views of death. First of all samurais and knights have very different types and styles of armor. On Document D in the first...
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...Brooks Brown Mrs. Allen English IV 11 March 2015 The Holy Grail The Holy Grail is a very symbolic holy relic that is recognized as the cup Jesus Christ drank out of at the Last Supper. The Grail has many different legends, myths, and controversies to discover and is one of the most debated historical artifacts in history. The Holy Grail is thought to be a fine chalice or cup used as a drinking device. It has also been thought to be a stone, dish, cup, platter, cauldron, or horn of plenty (Day 122). The Holy Grail stands for a sacred relic that Jesus Christ drank out of; because of this many consider it the greatest item in all of Christianity. People seeking this great treasure; past and present have died looking for it. The actual object that is believed to be the Holy Grail is approximately seven inches in height. In addition to that it has 28 pearls around the cup, and is decorated with two balaxes and two emeralds. The texture of the cup is made out of stone and gold (“Holy Grail”). There are several myths in all cultures that involve when a person comes in contact with the precious item. Some myths state that if someone drinks from the cup they will inherit the ability to raise someone from the dead. Magical qualities of the cup are never proven but do have a lot of interesting things about them. One such example includes if someone is stranded somewhere and have no way of providing food for themselves, the Grail will serve as a nourishing chalice that never runs out...
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...Chivalry is a code that tells knights how to be more Christian, how to treat women and different classes in society, and is spread as cities are conquered, or a treaty is made. “Christians were taught how to devote themselves to god, such as defending the church, never backing down from your enemies, obeying the many commandments and teachings, respecting your birthplace, to never lie, to be generous, and to always to the right thing other than the unjust way.” (Joaquin) To defend the church is to like prevent anything to happen to it. Never backing down is more like never giving up to protect everything around you. Obeying commandments is like following by the words of god, like from the bible. To respect your birthplace is to never curse...
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