There is so much literature, culture, art, music, architecture, etc. from this era. We also saw a ton of political changes and social development as well. What's the most interesting thing you've learned about this period?
Life in the Middle Ages
- Thread starter Gaze
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This is one of my favorite time periods for arts, literature, and architecture that was most certainly affected by the societal and political changes of the time. It is also a pivotal point for sciences and technology as well as more and more of our great thinkers and philosophers began to look at the world with knowledge-seeking eyes. The most interesting thing I've learned? All of it is interesting to me! And for every great tragedy the Middle Ages saw, there was a wealth of knowledge gained from it, from The Crusades to the plague.
I think the Aztecs were horrifically primitive. Human sacrifice in the Aztec Empire is the main reason and the scale of it is shocking.
"For the re-consecration of the Great Pyramid of Tenochtitlan in 1487, the Aztecs reported that they killed about 80,400 prisoners over the course of four days. According to Ross Hassig, author of Aztec Warfare, "between 10,000 and 80,400 persons" were sacrificed in the ceremony."
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_sacrifice
"Michael Harner, in his 1977 article The Enigma of Aztec Sacrifice, estimates the number of persons sacrificed in central Mexico in the 15th century as high as 250,000 per year. Fernando de Alva Cortés Ixtlilxochitl, a Mexica descendant and the author of Codex Ixtlilxochitl, estimated that one in five children of the Mexica subjects was killed annually. Victor Davis Hanson argues that a claim by Don Carlos Zumárraga of 20,000 per annum is "more plausible." Other scholars believe that, since the Aztecs often tried to intimidate their enemies, it is more likely that they could have inflated the number as a propaganda tool."
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_sacrifice_in_Aztec_culture
Only Wikipedia articles, sure, but human sacrifice in the Aztec Empire is universally accepted and it seems the only point of contention is the scale.
Without diving into detail, I think it is acceptable to destroy a civilization that primitive.
My favourite writers from the middle ages are St Thomas Aquinas and St Albert the Great. The clear, systemetised, logical approach in thinking/writing has never been approached before, or after.
The architecture also blows my mind. Even though my favourite is Art Deco architecture, the medieval gothic of Europe's cathedrals is absolutely mind-blowing. Again, I think architecture has never quite lived up to the gothic since that time.
The architecture also blows my mind. Even though my favourite is Art Deco architecture, the medieval gothic of Europe's cathedrals is absolutely mind-blowing. Again, I think architecture has never quite lived up to the gothic since that time.
Be more thorough doing your research before flaunting your bigoted and misinformed views.
In many ways the aztects and mayans provided huge intellectual contributions to western society. Mathematics, like the concept of number 0. Also calculation formulas, astronomy and enginering. This holds true specially for mayans.
Also, europeans stink, literally. Personal hygiene was a precolombine thing. The only thing they lacked was the wheel in comparison, gunpowder too, unfortunetly. Human sacrifice was performed as a rite for prisioners of war mainly. Members of comunity weren't sacrificed as much, and only for specific dates of the year and events, that has been hugely overstated, because it was stated as their rituals that the gods demanded human blood.
Also Cortez was an asshole, monkey, sadic greedy piece of scum who barely knew how to read.
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They don't build em like they used to. I sure wish they would.
I have been enthralled by the beauty of these structures from the first glance at a page in a library book. awe-inspiring beyond words.
Lots of stuff, but mainly "huge intellectual contributions to Western society."
Then you know little to nothing about what you're talking about... Big deal.
Can we talk about the early Medieval as well? I would love to go on and on about King Henry II =D
I love "the vikings" on the history channel , great show and I never realized who the Normans actually were (damn bastards!)
The Normans had Viking ancestry, but they were fully integrated into medieval Europe apart from that. The Norman leaders were feudal lords and nothing else. They treated their peasants like slave labor. The Vikings have an air of mystery that has become a myth. Any supposed 'Vikingness [of the Normans]' is only an illusion
The lives of peasants under feudal Norman lordship was ''nastry, brutish and short' as I said in a previous post.
Using modern psychological terminology, the Normans (their leaders) were psychopaths.
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The Normans were Vikings in 845 and Normans by 1000, that's a century and a half......give it a rest [MENTION=14189]ImaginaryBloke[/MENTION]