Find an article in a PRINT edition of
History Today that relates to Western Civilization. In a comment to this post, create a CITATION for the document. Then, write a one-paragraph summary of the document explaining both its context and significance. (10 points)
Falk, Oren. “Barbaric Beauty.” History Today, vol. 66, no. 6, June 2016, pp. 17-24.
ReplyDeleteIn this article, the author is speaking about common issues with the portrayal of the Vikings in popular culture. For example, Vikings did not wear helmets with horns, although our culture seems to suggest otherwise. People see Vikings as trained savage killers, although most were farmers, fishers, and tradesmen. In reality, all societies conquered and pillaged; Ancient Sparta was closer to a warrior state than the Old Norse Settlements. The Vikings were a sophisticated and complicated culture of many small kingoms which created an alphabet and excelled in artistry, far from their common conception.
Leslie, Victoria. "Portrait of the Author as a Historian." History
ReplyDeleteToday, vol. 67, no. 1, Jan. 2017, pp. 54-55
In this article, the author is discussing female sexuality in the 19th century. The author argues that the attitudes toward female sexuality were rigid and stern, and those who opposed were persecuted. The author supports her argument by providing art that portrayed the attitudes towards women sexuality. This is significant because it shows the treatment of women in the west during the 1800s vs. now.
Gilbert Martin. "A Path to Peace Inspired by the Past" History Today, August 2010, 29-35.
ReplyDeleteThe article talks about how conflict between muslims and jews has lasted for centuries. The articles goes through multiple vents in chronological order talking about conflicts between muslims and jews and conflicts with other outside sources (such as the Nazis). It also talks positively about the future of the groups.
Kinney, Alison. "Off with His Hood." History Today, vol. 66, no. 6, June 2016,
ReplyDeletepp. 28-35.
This article talks about the history and underlying themes behind the executioner in past English culture, and how his "hood" is not only a representation of his duty, but of the role of his duty in that life. Different hoods of different civilizations are noted, like Germany and Portugal. It is interesting to see that these civilizations, while all masks appear different, have the same idea when it comes to capital punishment. Today, we have moved away from public executions, but studying those of the past, like any other aspect of history, helps us see how we got where we are, and how we shaped today from something so barbaric.
Green, Dominic. "The Bard beyond Borders." History Today, vol. 66, no. 4, Apr.
ReplyDelete2016, pp. 41-47.
This article is mainly about Shakespeare and his impact helped expand the renaissance. Th author makes points referring to how Shakespeare and his sense of geography correlated with how far his audience reached. It goes through some of the important eras within the renaissance and talks about Shakespeare's specific influence on each.
Cavendish, Richard. "Death of John Cowper Powys." History Today, vol. 63, no. 6, June 2013, p. 9.
ReplyDeleteThis article describes the life of John Cowper Powys. He was a very intelligent novelist, poet, philosopher, and translator of Rabelais and Dostoevsky. His dream was to win a Nobel Price for Literature but, to his astonishment, it was never achieved. One of his biggest real life realizations was that he found himself scared of finding his true identity. He would live vicariously through his characters and never found who he truly is until one person entered his life. He married Margaret Lyon but he never loved her. Once he finally met Phyllis Plater who was the love of his life and his muse. When he lost her in 1947 and his only born in 1954 he lost everything. He continued to write to escape his life but nothing measured to his writing while Phyllis was with him. He started living off of mainly raw eggs and two bottles of milk a day. He gradually grew weaker, stopped writing and died quickly in the local hospital at age 90. He was cremated and his ashes were scattered in the sea at Chesil beach in Dorset.
Downing, Taylor. "A Record to Bragg about." History Today, vol. 63, no. 12, Dec.
ReplyDelete2013, pp. 18-19.
In this article, the author (Taylor Downing) speaks about the system invented by William Lawrence Bragg in 1915. Bragg had created a highly complex system devised to tell soldiers where enemy artillery lies. The system was created by making a line of microphones over about six miles. Once the enemy fired their artillery, the soldiers would be able by taking note of the delay in time that it took for the sound to reach the microphones and then plotting series' of arcs and a circle to find the enemy artillery at the center of the circle. Because of the success of this project, Bragg was awarded for his bravery and his scientific work, then retiring from his at the time current line of work to become a professor, projecting his findings onto future scientists.
Jones, Dan. "More Ancient than Modern." HistoryToday, vol. 62, no. 6, June 2012,
ReplyDeletepp. 18-20.
This article looked at the modern day monarchy of Elizabeth II, and compared it to the monarchies of the medieval times. To be more specific, the author began by explaining how even in today's monarchy, the tradition of portraits and paintings of the royals is still important. That is a tradition from ancient times that has remained for hundreds of years. Furthermore, Jones explained how the men of today's monarchy have similarities with that of the men from the medieval monarchies. Today, Prince Charles, Prince Harry, etc. have served in the armed forces. Although they have not led troops into battles, the armed forces played an important part in their lives. Overall, the article identified how todays royalty has kept a sense of "ancient".
Haywood, John. "Vercingetorix and the Failure of Gallic Resistance." History Today, vol. 59, no. 9, Sept. 2009, pp. 42-47.
ReplyDeleteIn this article, Haywood explains why the tactics adopted by the Gallic leader Vercingetorix to resist Julius Caesar’s conquest Gaul played into Roman hands. Fearing that Roman trade would be disrupted by the Helvetii migration to Aquitaine, Caesar invaded Gaul. Vercingetorix, leading a coalition of over a dozen tribes, turned the war’s aim towards Gallic freedom. The mistake made by Vercingetorix was his failure to recognize that in open-battle, Caesar was much more dominant. Rather than sticking to guerilla tactics, Vercingetorix ordered an open attack on a retreating Roman army. Surrender was inevitable after such a catastrophic mistake, and in 46 BC Vercingetorix was executed.
Cavendish, Richard. "Death of King Ethelbert of Kent." History Today, vol. 66,
ReplyDeleteno. 2, Feb. 2016, p. 9.
3A. Death of King Ethelbert of Kent
-This article talks about how King Ethelbert was the first English King to be converted to Christianity. This proved to be very important in the development of English national identity. Ethelbert's wife, Bertha, was a daughter of the Merovingian Frankish king in what is now France. Bertha died in or soon after 601 and King Ethelbert picked up a second wife. King Ethelbert died in 616 and was buried in what was later ST Augustine of Canterbury's abbey.
Frederick AKA Fritz was the son of King Frederick William I. He did not have the best childhood. His father was not a nice man, but was a very efficient ruler although he was a little insane. Fritz was held in contempt by his father because of his intellectual and artistic abilities. He viewed him as a weakling and tried to make him into a man. His dad would mocked him in front of his soldiers quite a lot. His mother tried to protect fritz and his sister from their father. She was nice to him and taught them french. In 1730 when fritz was 18 he planned to escape to england where his grandfather on his mother's side was king. But he was caught and was forced to watch his friend get beheaded. In 1740 Frederick William died and Frederick II (Fritz) became the king at the age of 28. During his 45 year reign he became know for as a brilliant military commander, playing a key role in politics, expanding prussias territory, and earning the admiration of many european intellectuals. He died at the age of 74 in 1786.
ReplyDeleteCavendish, Richard. “Frederick the Great Comes into the World.” History Today, vol. 62, no. 1, Jan. 2012, p. 9.
Roberts, Andrew "Hitler's Lightning Strike" History Today 59.9 (2009): 12-18.
ReplyDeletePrint. 16 February. 2017.
This article was about Adolf Hitler's battle tactics and plans during World War Two. It detailed how he expertly took back Rhineland, Sudetenland, the rest of Czechoslovakia, and Austria; all the while avoiding war. He did not have to enter war until he craved Poland and moved his armies into place to attack it. It also he details his excellent navy "Kriegsmarine." His tactics were described as "blitzkrieg," or the Lightning war, because of his quick and powerful tactics.
Marchant, Jo, “The Golden Warrior” Smithsonian, volume 47, no. 9, January/ February 2017, pp. 40- 52.
ReplyDeleteThis article discusses how the discovery of a 3,500 year old tomb of a unknown Mycenaean soldier is currently rattling our understanding of the origins of Western Civilization. The discovery of the Mycenaean soldier’s tomb proves that the Mycenaeans were in Europe longer than previously thought. The items discovered in the Mycenaean warrior’s tomb prove that they were the true ancestors of Europe. For example, the objects found in the tomb were a cross cultural mix. The boar tusk is Mycenaean, however the gold rings, which have Minoan religious imagery, reflect artifacts previously found on Crete. The layout of objects in the grave shows us the first real evidence that the main land elite were very knowledgeable in the areas of Minoan ideas and customs. In conclusion this article provides new evidence that is causing historians to question the origins of western civilization.
To this day, there was never any clear winner in the 30 years war, all the treaties are statements of eternal friendship with renunciation of reparations and promises to bury past differences for eternal tranquility but much of the literature makes it seem like it was a Protestant victory over Catholicism. Before the war began, people were characterized as moderates or militants, the war began when all the battles between all the militants in Europe loosely became one and it wasn't actually a religious battle. It became a battle over the governance of both the Empire and the Habsburg hereditary lands. Though they were discontent in the Habsburg dynasty, Protestants were still respected until the Bohemian Revolt which brought religion to the forefront of the war. Disputes over imperial governance was also a major cause of the war as Emperor Rudolph alienated all princes asserting an exclusive right to make decisions. These causes made the Bohemian exiles and the Palatinate lose land making them some of the losers of the war. The growth of Habsburg power was checked when Danish intervention occurred in 1625, but with Denmark defeated soon after, Habsburg extended policies. The war became a battle with most countries fighting to weaken Habsburg rulership. In the end, Protestant religious and political rights had been defeated, the Habsburg were officially catholic while Bavaria exercised the Palatinate's title and power. With Sweden's victory over the Habsburg, they had the chance to assert greater influence and soon become a chief supporter of the hierarchical imperial order, but they lacked the size and position to do so. The real loss was every part that had occurred could have been achieved without the fighting and bloodshed.
ReplyDeleteWilson, Peter H. “Who Won the Thirty Years War?” History Today, vol. 59, no. 8, Aug. 2009, pp. 12-19.
Spalding, Frances. “Art in Dark Times.” History Today, Sept. 2009, pp. 19-22.
ReplyDeleteThis article reflects on how John Piper helped to rebuild British national identity through art and journalism. Piper is a war artist, and in the 1940s he illustrated many bombed buildings which he was most known for. He was sent by the Coventry of War Artists to paint a picture of a cathedral that had been damaged by a bombing. At this cathedral, and other war damaged cities like Bristol and London, he made himself into a outstanding figure of hope for England. This shows how in dark times, people who are willing to provide hope will help to re establish national pride. We often find a sense of national pride, or pride in ones culture to influence decisions throughout history.
Peakman, Julie. “Poise and Passion in the Middle Ages.” History Today, vol. 61, no. 8, Aug. 2011, pp. 36-41.
ReplyDeleteThe article opens up with a brief overview of the tale of Guinevere and Lancelot, which is considered the best known love story of the Middle Ages. Then it talks about what love and marriage was like in the Middle Ages. The article goes into detail on the difficulties of love and marriage in the Middle Ages. The article talks about the love story between Eloise and Abelard, which describes love for passion and desire. After, it talks about how after the Norman Conquest love was between people who were meant to abstain from marriage, which was considered to be a serious problem. Then, during the time nuns were criticized fro living a life of luxury. People thought that nuns should be devoted to prayer and the lord. This article helps us to better understand what love and religion was like in the Middle Ages.
Phillips, Jonathan. "The Call of the Crusades." History Today, vol. 59, no. 11, Nov. 2009.
ReplyDeleteIn this article Phillips talks about how the idea of crusade is translated into a modern sense. The article is likely to be useful in the future because it directly relates a major theme of European History to modern events, such as American wars in the Middle East. Crusades can be loosely defined as a conflict for an ideal or a war with papal sanction, usually referring to a series of conflicts where ing Christians of Europe tried to reconquer the holy lands from the Muslim world. The actions of the crusaders and the conflict the crusades symbolize are a defining trait of western history and contemporary policy.
The article is about how the royal family kept its crown for such a long time. In 1918 King George was the only king and emperor left in Europe at the time. It's significance is that it involves the western world and the kings and queens that ruled over Great Britain for such a long time and how they came the last monarchy of Europe.
ReplyDeleteCarter, Miranda. “How to Keep Your Crown.” History Today, vol. 58, no. 10, Oct. 2009, pp. 5-6.