Reasons why the middle ages were and were not the "Dark Ages"?
My teacher is having us bring in a few ideas as to why the middle ages were and were not exactly dark ages in the history of man. I've read a little about the middle ages, but i've never even taken a full class on it. Can anybody give me a few short ideas to bring in tomarrow so i don't look like an idiot?
Primary Sources on the Battle of Salamis?
There are a number of important written sources, some of which are contemporary with the actual battle. The most well known of these is an account of the battle in Herodotos, The Histories. However, there is an even more valuable description of the battle in a play, The Persians written by the Athenian Aeschylus, probably in about 472 BCE, a mere eight years after the actual event. In modern times an inscribed decree relating to the battle was found at a nearby mainland site. This is known as the Troezen Decree. Most of the information written about the battle is derived from these few sources. We can also gain an understanding of the event by learning more about ancient sea battles in general, and the ships that were used to fight them. A British organisation, the Trireme Trust, built a full sized replica of an ancient trireme which is now a commissioned vessel in the modern Hellenic Navy.
The use of warhammers during the Viking age?
The war hammer is not the most common of weapons from the early medieval however evidence does exist for its existence at least in early Anglo-Saxon culture and then later after evolution into the mace in the Bayeux Tapestry. The early example is the Sutton Hoo "axe-hammer" from the ship burial which contained the famous helmet, lyre and shield. (image: http://www.sheshen-eceni.co.uk/images/su... The use of the hammer is not connected to platemail or other armoury in the early medieval period as its primary function was as a short range missile weapon (as was the mace illustrated in the Bayeux Tapestry) in a similar fashion to the Francesca axes. Hammers could be hurled into an advancing shield wall smashing their boards, killing or injuring troops and littering the ground making movement awkward exactly the same as a thrown axe. The concept of the thrown hammer is further backed up by the mythology surrounding Mjolnir as it's magical property is to return to its thrower like a boomerang. The hammer pendants found often include a large ring on the end of the shaft, this is taken to being a representation of a rope quoit used to whirl the hammer before throwing. This whirling of the hammer in battle may be the reason why hammer wielding gods have a hooked cross as their symbol. When early hooked crosses are looked at in negative, that is to say we examine the space between the legs of the cross not the cross itself, we see four hammers of a similar shape to the axe-hammer above spinning around a central point. (image: http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3583/3798... The Sutton Hoo hammer is unique in that it has an iron shaft, this shaft terminates with a small ring which may have been used to attached a rope for whirling. Overall the hammer is a low status weapon, maybe an improvised weapon, with the exception of the Sutton Hoo royal hammer. The professional armies of raiders and noblemen carried swords, the lower ranks of the shield wall bore spears, hammers and axes, an anything else they could lay their hands on to kill the man in front of them.
What are some of the characteristics of the Middle Ages?
Not a time of darkness, but a time of culture, arts and musicAn advance in government and theoryHuman rights and democracy was first understood how it is todayComing to terms with the many different religions in EuropeAmbitious Lords fighting for powerEntertaining tournaments, feasts and dancing…… and some hard times in life for the poorly folk, eg. Serfs and peasantsThe Age Of castle building, of course!!We find out how to use gunpowder by urinating on it to make it explosiveKings finally learn that they have to serve their people, as well as themselvesThose are my top ten points. I hope this answered your question, would you mind checking out my history blog:The Augustus
What happened to the Vikings? Did they disappear?
First off, who were the Vikings?If by Vikings you mean the indigenous inhabitant of Southern Fenno-Scandinavia, then, basically you are using the wrong word, you should using Norsemen instead.What happened to the Norsemen basically is that during the Viking Age (VIIIth - XIth Century), they began to form powerful and more and more centralized kingdoms. In the end of the Viking Age these kingdoms began to integrate the greater European Political landscape and in the XIIth century, the kingdoms of Norway, Denmark and Sweden (maybe a bit less for the latter) were basically normal European kingdoms, except they lived North of everyone else.If, on the other hand by Vikings you mean the raiders who terrorized the coasts of Europe in the Middle-Age, then the answer is, they evolved. In the beginning of the Viking Age, marauding bands of vikings would simply go somewhere and pillage and sail back home in time for harvesting the crops. As the Viking Age went by, Viking forces became increasingly bigger and were sometimes led by Norse kings and nobles. In the end, almost no independent Viking raids was taking place anymore because the power of the Kings made it impossible. Viking armies simply morphed into proto-national armies.In the North of Norway though, local Norsemen kept on pillaging for most of the Medieval Age though, as they traditionally sailed towards Northern Russia and no-one besides the people living there and a few fur-merchants did care what happened there. Ultimately, this, too came to an end as the North-Norwegian stronghold of Bjarkøy came under attack at several occasions between the XIIIth and XVth century and this conflict eventually led to the downfall of its house.To sum it up: Vikings evolved.Hope this helped !
What did Medieval Children wore in the Middle Ages?
Children's clothing in the Middle Ages was essentially adult clothing in miniature. Typically, a smock or undertunic was worn, then a tunic or cote, then possibly a sleeveless surcote. Footwear consisted of soft leather "turn-shoes" worn with hose sewn from fabric. Garments were simply cut, from rectangles and triangles of cloth, to conserve precious handspun and handwoven fabric. The most common fabric was worsted wool. Linen was probably worn for undergarments, while silk and cotton were expensive imports. Colors were obtained by dyeing cloth with madder or lac for red, woad for blue, and weld for yellow. The details of a medieval child's clothing would depend on where and when the child lived, and it's social status. High-status children might have worn elaborately patterned silk damasks, as their parents did. However most people wore plain fabrics, in drab colors or undyed . Many of the garments which survive from the excavations at Herjolfnes are children's clothes. At this site in Greenland, discovered in 1921, burials from c. 1000 AD to c. 1400 AD have provided valuable information on the clothing worn by ordinary people. Here is a link with links to actual surviving medieval children's clothing, and to medieval artwork depicting children. These are "primary sources", your best source for information. http://www.larsdatter.com/children.htm And here's a link to the Herjolfsnes clothing: http://www.personal.utulsa.edu/~Marc-Car...