The Art of Renaissance

It really is amazing to me how perspective was such an innovation at the time of the renaissance period. Looking at the art today, one can not understand how something that seems so logical would not cross an artists mind, at that time.In my art history class we learn of trompe Loi' and how the artists intent is to "trick the eye". It's amazing what shading and the use of different gestures can make a paint transcend space.

One aspect for the renaissance art that really astounds me, are the portraits. At that time only the very wealthy, and those in positions of power were fortunate to have these created for them, but some of the most interesting are the normal citizens. I have seen them and they are very interesting. I understand that religion was a huge part of art, but to see a portrait of a person of the general population. Do you think that seeing a painting or portrait of religious figure or of an everyday citizen would be more interesting?

Elizabeth I

1) The article was 7,455.
2) Term that i searched: Elizabeth I, Wikipedia search term: Elizabeth I of England.
3) No disambiguation link.
4) On the discussion page there was tons of discussion regarding fact and fiction of Elizabeths life. There were many posts on the correctiveness of the wikipedia article and how historians have changed on their points of view regarding Elizabeth.
5) History: First post was Feb. 14 2007, last post: Nov. 15th 2008.
6) External links: 4
7) There were 5 accredited further reading articles.

From all the articles that i have read there are always positive things to say about Elizabeth, but what i found interesting in this article were some of the historians recounting her indecisiveness and her short temper. Throughout the article she is referred to as a "dogged survivor". I learned new things such as the end of her reign and before her death, that people were not satsified with her duty as queen and thought that she was doing a poor job. A large portion of the article talked about her choice to never marry and her feminist points of view. Her foreign relations were also greatly reviewed.

Elizabeth I

Queen Elizabeth's speech at the Spanish Armada was surely one of the greatest and most passionate speech's i have ever read. Elizabeth is such an amazing figure in history and now that i know more about what was happening around her at that time, it makes her ambition and courage that much more amazing. She points out that fact that she is a women and is of a weak and feeble body, but she has the heart of a king. She doesn't sit and dictate to her people, but she asks how she can be of service in making her country better, she lets the people know she will be a general and a leader. She had much confidence in her people. She was England's savior.

She never let her guard down and always stood for what was right for england, not necessarily herself.

Elizabeth I

The Confession

The confession was very interesting to read, in that i am Catholic and have spent years following the Catholic faith. I am, however, open minded, so i didn't go into this with a negative attitude. I could spot differences and then weigh them. It wa actually a really good experience. The confession was to voice basic beliefs of the swiss brethen voices. It is definitely not a complete account of the christian belief system.

There was a certain tone and language that rang true, there was definitely a strong language towards the condemnation of the state. In al of it's different chapters, it was a very intelligently and traditionally written.

After reading Luther's 95 theses and the the Schletheim Confession, i really respect these people who put so much thought and effort into learning and diligently learning about religion.

Martin Luther 95 Theses

I will admit that i have seen and read about Martin Luther's 95 theses, but have never taken the time to actually read all 95. The one that really struck me was number 47. " Christians are to be taught that the buying of indulgences, needs and thus desires their devout prayer more than their money."

Luther's Humanist views were so very inventive and really opened the eyes of devout church followers. The theses addressed the indulgences of the church and how the church was really relying on the financial aid of those who were willing to give money and help the church.

I thought that it was a good tactic of Martin Luther to use a passage from Acts for the last these statement.

95) and tus be confident of entering into heaven through many tribulations rather than through false security of peace. (acts 14:22)

The Prince

Machiavelli's The Prince as always been a favorite of mine. When i first read this as required reading for a class i felt as if it was the most thought provoking piece i had read that semester. Machiavelli used this piece of literature to prove his proficiency of the state. His understanding on how important protecting, acquiring and maintaining the state was. Hw was a believer of war and backed up his reasons for it. As a person of power he knew that the sole art of war belongs to him who rules.

I think my favorite portion of The Prince is the love and fear part. Is it greater to be loved or feared and Machiavelli answers this question very intelligently. He states that there is greater security in being feared that being in love. One is to inspire fear and win love. Love and fear are difficult to unite in just one person. He understood that as a ruler he knew that friendship could be obtained by payments.

Wikipedia Article

1) This article consisted if 1,468 words.
2) I searched with the words The Flagellants. The wikipedia article i was searched was under the title Flagellant.
3)There was no disambiguation.
4) The discussion board was made up of only one post and at the begginning of the post there was a note that it was an article included in a christian group wiki page. The article was titled "Flagellant Anti Semitism.
5) There were approximately 150 chnges made to this page. From June 23rd 2003, to September 18 2008.
6) There was only one external likn given.
7)Two references were present on the page.
8) There were 8 enteries under further reading, one including my favorite, but maybe not that resourceful, Monty Python and the Holy Grail!

Summary: As you can see i i have already made a post about the Flagellants, but thats only becuase i find them so interesting. As i read through the article some things that really stuck out to me was that this was not banned until January of 1261 by the pope, also history tells a story tht in Germany flagellants claimed to resurrect a past emporer. I also learned about other forms of flagellants, such aas the White Pentitents, who sang hymns to the save themselves.

There were rulers like Catharine de Mendici and Henry III of france who supported the Flagellants. Something that stunned me is that there are modern day flaggelants still practicng today. The article stated that most were living in Mediterranean Catholic countries. The flagellants were also present in other religions, but the article didn't state them specifically.

Flagellants

The acts of the Flagellants were self destrctive and believed to "cure" the bad things that were happening. They believed they were suffereing for a reason and for that they would hurt themselves. In the beginning it wa a form of penenace for the church, but obviously turned into something much more extreme. The movement did not have any clear leaders. The flaggelants took self-mortification into the cities as to display a demostration of piety. The peak of this movement was during the black plague. These people wore white robes and lived in camps usually lying just outside city borders. They held these horrendous acts twice a day.

I also read that in the beginning the catholic church tolerated the flaggelants, but as they grew much more extreme, by the 14th century approximately, they became much less tolerant. I found it very interesting that these people could be so deranged as to believe that they acts were going to put them in gods good graces.

First Blood, Vikings

We have all seen different versions, hollywood, versions of what a viking looks like and how terribly violent they were. But after comprehending the reading on the Vikings forms of Bloodshed i can honestly say i have never seen a "butterfly cut" in a major motion picture. The horror of seeing some obe sliced open through their back and their lungs and guts flood out. Hollywood could never perform that!

I also never realized that viking viking ships sailed on rivers, i guess i only thought of them saling on the open ocean. The vikings were known for being extremely violent, but having only begun these raids on weak and non-threatening villages, makes them even more merciless.

Throughout the reading on vikings i wondered how one becomes an ex-viking. How one would go back into leading a normal, well kind of normal, life. Can they just stop the bloodshed cold turkey? Can they transorm themself into one of the "locals", forgetting their past of vengeance and hate?

Arianism

When the reading talked about Arian Christians i had no idea what that meant. Arianis was the difference between medieval and ancient religions. It was a major difference between the two times, period. Arianism focused on the human christ. They looked at the happenings of the man and not the spirit. They put all their attention on this human figure. The teachings of Arius conflicted with trinitarium. Trinitarium views were held by the church and we all know that in that time, the church was full of power and control. Arianism died completely by the end of the 6th century.

These days new religions and new beliefs come and go, but i have always wondered about the scrutiny that new religions in the Late Antiquity had to face. Where do these ideas and beliefs originate from with such pressure from the church beating down on them?

What a Good Wife is......

The article on what a good wife was in the Ancient times was kind of a surprise to me. I was very much aware of the expectations of a wife in Ancient times i.e. basically the mans caregiver/slave, but as the article continued it spoke of the man, not only as a master but of a role model. If a man is loyal then he is setting himself to be a good example for his wife. He acts as a guide in teaching and leading by example to hs wife. There was a quote that really struck me, "a a husbands wishes are as laws appointed for her (his wife) by devine law." That really blew me away that a women wold actually believe these things. But as i said earlier, there were points that i was suprised to hear the opposite, "children will bear both names", i thought that offsrping were to only bear and claim their father.

All in all, the role of a women is to care for, both her husband and her children and then herself, but to always be remnded that if she herself is not up to par, then the whole family must suffer. The contradictons were endless, but a women was anot always appreciated but desperately needed.

Nero and the Fire of 64

Before i read more about Nero and the blame that was placed upon him for the fire, i was sort of astounded by the fact that Nero opened up his home to the citizens of the city and how that was a pretty rare thing for an emporrer to do. Then i went on to read how he was soon blamed for the fire. The rumor has never actually been confirmed but many of the facts add up. I found this whole controversy quite interesting so i did a little research. He found an easy scapegoat in the local christians. When he found that it was going to be easy to target and blame the christians. He later sent those christians to the city ampitheater. Nero literrally fed his victims to the lions. This was a "pointless, sorry affair" that was typical of Nero.

I have taken many art history classes and have ;earned about the rule of Nero but this story i had never heard. I founf it very interesting that it is such a popular story of the time, but it has never been 100% confirmed.

Wiki Article Number One.

1) This article was 6,246 words.
2) I used the term "Greek Slavery" and the wiki title i addressed was "Slavery in ancient Greece".
3) There was no disambiguation available.
4) The pages discussion was very positive feedback and postings. People were not only adding input on the history of the subject, but they were even adressing the smallest things like spelling and vocabulary. The page was interested in the integrity of each post-er. This article was the Featured Article on March 10, 2008.
5) The first psting was made on June 11, 2006 and the last made on September 11, 2008.
6)5 external liknks were present on the page.
7)There were 31 references indentified on the page.
8) There were 20 articles under Further Reading.


This slavery focused on having the reader understand how abundant slavery really was. They talked about how slaves were not only workers, but history makers and icons for society. A lot of different kinds of slaves were given. The article addressed such issues as slaves economic role. Spartan slaves were discussed and so was the mordern views of slavery in general, as well as i greeces slaves.

Greek Slaves

As i was reading the entries about greek slavery i found it very interesting that somewhere so bountiful with money and power was so full of slavery, i mean this in regards to their princples, thousands of temples with prostitutes present, man or animal?, rule or be ruled. A slaves "body minister to the needs of life", the needs of their masters life. The reading mentioned how money was being made and how ships captains were taking advantage of the system, "not for every man is the voyage to corinth." How was all of this justified?

The Persian War

The Persian War was a defining moment in greek history. Not only is it famous in history, but also today in popular culture. Athens was catapulted into major power of greek city-states. Athens was the cultural cener of the greek world, this however made the Spartans suspicious of Athens intentions.

The unity of Athens and Sparta against the giants, is a metaphor that i persoanlly have heard many a time. The fact that Athens was building ships so addamently even knowing that they were totally outumbered is a sign of great courage. They were willing to sacrifice themselves and take a big gamble.

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Middle Class Perception

I found it very interesting in the "Aristotle on Democracy" how the middle class was addressed. I never realized that a happy medium is so important and so beneficial. In a time of complete class rule, the middle class was never up to par compared to upper class, but in the end the middle class had it all. Both ends of the spectrum have their down falls. Upper and lower classes find it "difficult to find rational priniciple". The middle class doesn't have to worry about parishing, while they don't have to worry about the security of being wealthy. The "middle class is least likely to shrink rule......they are most secure in state." The beauty of a democracy is that the middle class, along with the upper and lower classes are supported. The benefits outweigh any downfalls that it has to offer.