Western History 64: Who were the Normans?

The Normans were a Scandinavian population group (of possible Danish, Icelandic and Norwegian extraction) who settled the region of France known as Normandy. Their name refers to their Norse origin and they are believed to have descended from pirates and raiders who settled the region under the leader Rollo.

It was Rollo, who swore an oath of fealty to a French crown as represented by Charles III of West Francia and over generations the Norse population mixed with the local Franco-Romans to produce the distinct Norman culture.

The Norman rulers were strict feudalists who raided as far south as Sicily and Cyprus, Eastward into the Levant, north into England and West to the Canary Islands. Famous Norman political figures included Richard I (who along with his brother took Sicily from the Muslims), Bohemond I and William the Conqueror. Their culture is most associated with Romanesque Architecture, a lively musical tradition and visual artwork that included illuminated manuscripts and tapestries.

English history was profoundly impacted by the Normans following the successful Invasion of the Home Country by troops loyal to Duke of Normandy, William, in 1066.   William defeated his Saxon rival Harold Godwinson (aka Haold II) at the Battle of Hastings, following Harold’s speedy advance southwards after he himself had defeated the Norwegian king Harald Hadrada at the Battle of Stamford Bridge.

William (also known as William the Bastard) would later be known as William the Conqueror. He would consolidate power in England and rule as the First Norman King until 1087. His reign is associated with the compilation of the famed Domesday Book (A manuscript/survey/census of much of England/Wales at the time), a growth in Norman based feudalism, the revolt of the Earls and fighting with his oldest son Robert. He was responsible though for the building of the White Tower (the old keep) which forms part of the Tower of London.

William the Conqueror

Western History 63: Who were some of the Anglo-Saxon monarchs of note?

The various English Kingdoms were ruled from the 5^th to the 11^th century by Monarchs of Anglo-Saxon origin. England was not a United land for much of this time and was comprised of the Kingdoms of East Anglia, Essex, Mercia, Northumbria, Kent, Wessex, Sussex (also known as the Heptarchy). Minor kingdoms such as Lindsey and Ynys Weith existed as well with many of these regions controlled by tribal chiefs and petty warlords.

Danish invaders made incursion into the Northern Kingdoms conquering territory that eventually became known as Danelaw with Danegeld often sought by the kings (in the form of a tax) to raise funds to protect against these Danish invaders. Some of the more important Saxon Kings are listed in Table 13 along some of the events that characterized their reign.

Table 13 Seven Saxon Kings

  

Monarch Name	Events of Note
Aethelbald (d. 757)	King of Mercia. During his realm Mercia would grow to dominate other Kingdoms.
Offa of Mercia (d. 796)	Consolidated control of the Midlands. Strengthened Christian tradition
Egbert of Wessex (d. 839)	Victor over the Mercians. Rise of Wessex superiority.
Alfred the Great (b. 849- d. 899)	Arguably the Greatest Saxon Monarch. King of Wessex from 871. Defeated the Vikings (Battle of Edington), improved the legal system, built up the navy and ruled during a prosperous time. He was also responsible for reforming Education.
Aethalstan (d. 939 )	King who united the Heptarchy into the Kingdom of England. Victor at the Battle of Brunabburh over Norse-Scottish Alliance.
Aethelred the Unready (d. 1016)	Was king during the defeat at the hands of the Vikings at Maldon in 991. Payment of the Danegeld to the Vikings would be required. Danish king Cnut would take power in England in 1016.
Edward the Confessor (d.1066)	Last King of the House of Wessex.  Ruled from 1042-1066. His death resulted in the succession crisis that eventually resulted in the end of Saxon rule and the rise of Norman Power.

Western History 62: Who was Otto the Great?

The sons of Louis the Pious (Charlemagne’s heir) warred with their father for much of the 820s and 830s. In 843 the Treaty of Verdun was signed and most of Charlemagne’s vast territory was divided between the sons with Louis the German receiving West, Middle and East Francia.  Various German monarchs following Louis held the title Holy Roman Emperor – a Primus inter pares title (first amongst equals) that often carried more prestige than power.

The most competent of these monarchs was Otto I also known as Otto the Great who ruled as king from 936-972 and was Holy Roman Emperor from 962.  It was Otto, the Duke of Saxony and King of Germany (and founder of the Ottonian dynasty), who defeated the pagan Magyars (Hungarians) at Lechfeld earning himself a title as a Christian savior.

He was crowned at the Old Basilica in Rome and followed in the footsteps of Charlemagne by continuing the literacy and cultural renaissance of the former. He improved relations with the Byzantines and consolidated power in Germany. During Otto’s day the Kingdom of Germany consisted of Saxony, Franconia, Bavaria and Swabia. Although he had conflicts with France, the Danish and Italian kingdoms his years of rule represented a high point in German history and his ability to use the church to further his strength was brilliant in the way that it played into his favour at the expense of the secular nobility.

City States of a Future Earth

From my Book - History of the Future

What follows is a list of ten major city states that played dominant roles in both the political and economic affairs of the city state period. Population numbers are based on 2180 census figures, unless otherwise notes.

Atlanta: As the capital of the influential Free States of Southern America, Atlanta grew to become the largest commercial and information center in the Western Hemisphere. A large population influx from the less viable economic regions of North America increased the population of Atlanta from fewer than 10 million in 2050 to 97 million, recorded almost a century later.

Berlin: Another service orientated city state, Berlin gained prominence for its highly innovative, organized and well-respected aerospace and technological design programs. Population: 86 million.

Calcutta: The Pearl of India was a shining example illustrating the positive transformation of a once poverty stricken urban sprawl into a relatively affluent modern city. Calcutta’s city planners revitalized the megalopolis through the wholehearted adaptation of the Biotron system. The city served as a center for micro-electronic production. Population: 157 million.

Kinshasa: The largest city in Africa, Kinshasa’s population surpassed that of Cairo in 2105. Kinshasa existed as the center for global textile production during the city state period. Population: 123 million.

Lima: Rapid population growth allowed this former Peruvian capital to become the second largest urban region in South America. Lima was noted for its vast factory resources primarily concerned with heavy industry such as mineral processing and alloy manufacturing. Population: 119 million.

Los Angeles: As the second largest city in North America, Los Angeles surpassed the population of Mexico City in 2075. The city’s survival was dependent on its production of luxury items, however, it continued to exist as an entertainment Mecca. Population: 114 million.  

Moscow: Although tightly controlled for over forty years by the semi-autocratic Neo-Muscovite Party, Moscow grew in size and importance in the early twenty-second century, when its strategic position between Asia and Europe allowed the city state to assume the role of a Trans-regional Trading Center. Population: 132 million.

New York: The return of a high incidence of crime in this densely populated city state, forced local authorities to adapt draconian strategies. Nevertheless, the city continued to function as a leading commercial and corporate advertising region thanks to its extensive global computer linkup with the outside world. Greater New York in the twenty-second century spread southward to include regions of the Eastern seaboard, like Baltimore, Philadelphia and Washington. Population: 129 million.    

Tientsin: Large peasant migrations from the rural areas of China dramatically increased the population of Tientsin. The migrations were inspired by the movement towards scientific urban-based food farms during the late twenty-first century. Tientsin surpassed both Beijing and Shanghai in overall population in 2124 and 2133 respectively, to become the dominant Chinese city state. Tientsin was also noted for its Nutrition Allocation Units (NAUs) that helped coordinate food distribution programs throughout much of the Far East. Population: 169 million.

Tokyo: A city described by Australian-born poet Fergus Hayden as a “Concrete Jungle incubating in a Steel Receptacle,” Tokyo served as the leading center of medical research on Earth, but was also admired for its diverse economy. Tokyo had the highest population density of all major city states.

Population: 181 million.

Western History 61: What was the Significance of Scholasticism?

Scholasticism was both a philosophy as well as a method of learning that attempted to defend Christian Church dogma with reason and logic. It was dominant in the universities of the middle ages and has its origins going back to the late 8^th century. It can be divided into a variety of sub-groupings that even had revivals as late at the 19^th century.

The two key Scholastic movements that were dominant prior to the Renaissance were Early Scholasticism (8^th-12^th century) and High Scholasticism (13^th-14^th century).

The former is often known as the Carolingian Renaissance and is contemporary with the early modern middle ages. Knowledge was spread through the mechanism of the monastic order and there was a strong revival and indeed rediscovery of the Greek theological tradition. Key figures of the early movement include Johannes Scotus, Peter Abelard, Archbishop Anselm of Canterbury and Lafranc of Canterbury.

High Scholasticism placed a greater emphasis on Mathematics and Science. There were more rigorous interpretations of Platonic and Aristotelian philosophy and strong rationalism played a key role in the typical analysis. Francis of Assisi, Bonaventure, Duns Scotus, Peter Auriol, William of Ockham (of Ockham Razor fame) and Thomas Aquinas were key thinkers to emerge from this tradition.

Aquinas was a proponent of natural theology and wrote extensively on ethics, metaphysics, natural law and political theory. His concept of the Just War as defined below and remains to this day a central feature in the philosophy underpinning the defence of the democracies:

First, war must occur for a good and just purpose rather than the pursuit of wealth or power.

Second, just war must be waged by a properly instituted authority such as the state.

Third, peace must be a central motive even in the midst of violence.

In addition Aquinas’ five proofs of God outlined below are key attributes of Western theological thought and by virtue of their implications are essential metrics in debates about the existence of a higher power.

1.    Motion: Some things undoubtedly move, though cannot cause their own motion. Since, as Thomas believed, there can be no infinite chain of causes of motion, there must be a First Mover that is not moved by anything else, and this is what everyone understands by God.

2.    Causation: As in the case of motion, nothing can cause itself, and an infinite chain of causation is impossible, so there must be First cause, called God.

3.    Existence of necessary and the unnecessary: Our experience includes things certainly existing but apparently unnecessary. Not everything can be unnecessary, for then once there was nothing and there would still be nothing. Therefore, we are compelled to suppose something that exists necessarily, having this necessity only from itself; in fact itself the cause for other things to exist.

4.    Gradation: If we can notice a gradation in things in the sense that some things are more hot, good, etc., there must be a superlative that is the truest and noblest thing, and so most fully existing. This then, we call God

5.    Ordered tendencies of nature: A direction of actions to an end is noticed in all bodies following natural laws. Anything without awareness tends to a goal under the guidance of one who is aware. This we call God

Western History 60: How did Feudalism emerge?

Feudalism (word comes from the Latin feudum or fief) was the dominant political and social philosophy of Western Europe between the 9^th and 15^th centuries. Feudalistic societies were structured along the lines of land and labour. While some historians have debated whether it is a useful to understand the Middle Ages there is no doubt that Medieval societies developed around a framework that was intrinsically feudalistic and hierarchical.

Feudal societies emerged in Western Europe after the decentralization of the vast Carolingian Empire set up by Charlemagne. Classic Feudalistic societies revolved around three key elements – lords, vassals and fiefs.

The lord or noble held the land, the vassal was granted land on behalf of the lord in exchange for services provided to the lord and the fief was the land under consideration. Vassals swore an oath of fealty and homage to the lords and could be used by the lords for both military and non-military service (largely involving agricultural labour and produce). In exchange the lord offered to protect the vassal. The economic structure is often term Manorialism (after the manor – the home of the lord).

There was no single type of feudalism that served as the model for European society but almost all systems gave the lord tremendous power with respect to sentencing for criminal offences, the initiation of capital punishment and rigid control of agricultural policy.

By the year 1500 Feudalism had effectively disappeared in much of Western Europe although it maintained a strong grip in Eastern Europe and Russia. With the latter only abolishing serfdom – bonding of a peasant to the lord’s land – in the 1850s.

Free Market Trade and the movement away from an Agrarian based economy would serve to weaken the grip of feudalism in the West towards the end of the High Middle Ages

Western History 59: Why was the Silk Road important?

The Silk Road was a serious of road and transportation networks that linked China to Europe via the passageway of the Middle East. The road’s origin goes back to about 3000 BCE but its function as a conduit for both goods and knowledge exchange between the East and Europe has been pivotal to the development of the West. The Ancient Romans used the Silk Road to trade with the Han Chinese after the full road was opened to the West in 200 BCE. This allowed the Romans to gain access to the Red Sea and the important Spice Route.

Silk itself first appeared in Rome in 1 CE at about the same time that glass blowing techniques were first developed and exported from Roman Syria. The Roman’s used the route to sell goods to the East and for much of the 1^st and 2^nd century CE the stability of the road was maintained by the four Great Empires that used it – the Romans, Parthians, Kushan and Chinese.

After the 7^th century CE the road was used by the Arabs to both expand on their conquests and bring to Europe much needed technology from the East.

Gunpowder, developed by the Chinese, entered Europe via the Silk Road in the 13^th century, as did porcelain, the compass, playing cards, weaving technology and paper.

The explorer Marco Polo made contact with the court of Kublai Khan using the Silk Road in the 13^th century on the heels of the Roads renaissance that was characterized by the Pax Mongolica.

Unfortunately by 1400 CE China closed her borders to European foreigners curtailing the efficacy of the Silk Road as a trading artery although on a positive note this appears to have had the net effect of stimulating the great sea driven exploration drive that followed closely soon afterward.