Stepping out of the Box

For me the most interesting part of the Renaissance was the fact that the rules no longer seemed to apply, at least when it came to art. Artists were throwing caution to the wind and creating works that truely made them happy. Creating oil paints, working with new ideas and themes, the biggest of which being the paintings that looked as though they were in support of paganism. Even in this time of re-birth, that concept alone still had to raise some eyebrows and upset a few people. I think it's great for the people to have entered into a time frame where they could make some decisions for themselves and choose things in their lives that made them, if no one else, happy.

Elizabeth's Speech

This was pretty touching in a way, that she would actually offer herself to the fighting and to the war in order to save the kindom, the country, and the people. It's almost exactly what the soldiers preparing for battle would have needed to hear, that she was behind them 100% and that she found nobility in their cause. She even offers them riches and rewards for their participation. Who knows how much of what she said would actually be followed up on, but in the moments prior to battle, I don't think anyone cares about much but the promise and encouracting words themselves.

The Levellers - Wikipedia

The Levellers were a group of people that believed in putting equality before the law. They were not a political group or party and supported religious freedom before all else, including the law. They were a prominent fixture during the English Civil Wars (1642-1651). Their main political contribution was that they used petitions and pamphlets for political message and gain. Between the first and second English Civil Wars was the time of their greatest influence and power. Toward the end of the third English Civil War, their message and movement wasn't a threat to the main stream way of life and religion.

This article was quite brief and directly to the point which was nice, but almost every other word was a link to explain what was being discussed in the sentence so there was a lot of back and forth needed in order to get a good grip as to what was going on. I would have preferred a bit of a longer article with more detail and clearer explaination as opposed to a short description with many links.


1. 2,202
2. The Levellers, Levellers
3. Under the Disambiguation Link there were alternate meanings and uses or the word Levellers in the 17th and 20th centuried.
4. Under the discussion section, there was an article basically stating an arguement with the original meaning or origin of the Levellers.
5. More than 500 changes; Earliest change 8/28/01; most recent change 11/23/08.
6. No external links.
7. No references but there are 21 footnotes.
8. 10 further reading entries.

Levellers, old fashioned under dogs

The Levellers were unjustly ridiculed and punished for standing up against the strong, the wealthy, and the poweful. They didn't think religion had to be organized with rules and repeated ceremonies; they believed in worshiping in your own way, however you believed was right for you. They didn't feel that any one person or group had the right to tell you how to worship or what to do with your lives. They stood for the people having a voice and not just being told how to lead your life and when to do your duties that were basically the beck and call of the military and governing forces. These people were simply trying to be a voice of reason within dominating hand of the ruling class and amidst all of the fear they inflicted on the people.

Scared to Read

It was surprising to me that average people were actually afraid to read the Bible. That they felt they weren't intelligent enough or had enough training to interpret the writings correctly. Wasn't the word of God one that supposedly spoke to everyone and didn't leave anyone out? I think it's a bit hypocritial that only leaders of the church and those with training were the ones reading the Bible. That left them with the sole responsibility of relaying the information they uncovered within the text to the people however they pleased. Had everyone been reading the same thing, they could have drawn their own conclusions. Since the people were afraid of being swayed by the Devil, they put all of their faith in the hads of the church leaders. Whether that is a safe or dangerous thing depended on what church, in what town I suppose, but the fact remains they were leaving a huge part of their lives and mental well-being in the hands of others.

Phillip IV on His High Horse

King Phillip IV may have been important and accomplished many things, but he sure did like to have his way with no questions asked. Imagine if our government today just made up their own rules to cover their backsides, think for a moment that they don't already do this, and they made no bones about it, it was just what happened and that's the way it was. He wanted to live the life of luxury he felt he deserved, regardless of what it took for that to happen. He stepped over people's beliefs and the history of the country, these common courtesies were too much to be considered. I wonder how the American public at large would react to a leader like this, that not only did what they wanted to but loudly made rules to cover their actions regardless of what anyone said. I know they do it now and lie about it, but what if they shook it in our face, knowing there was nothing we could do about it? I hope we still have a little of the pioneering spirit left that would be needed to stand up for our rights and say no to something that is wrong.

The Return of the Black Death?

A statement in the reading referred to there being medication to those that may become infected now, I thought the Black Death was all but gone, extinct. That scares me to death to think this horrendous plague could come back, seemingly at any time. With the catastrophic effects this plague had on the economy, the population of the people themselves, and all the way to the arts, I can just about get a mental image of what it would do to our more modern world. Entire states could be driven to bankruptcy or total disaster areas in a matter of a week or two, and how would we fight back from that? How would it be possible to get back to where we currently are again. I don't want to think about it, but it's something that will not be ignored.

The Miserable Life of a Peasant

Reading the information about the peasants, their homes, farming methods, and all of their constant worries, I can't imagine much happiness in their lives. Living in homes that often housed not only the family but some of the animals too? No way. Not only that, the homes were built of materials that would house more insects and vermines than they would protect the family from, and dirt floors? How uncomfortable for these people. Not only the actual living conditions but the way of life and the means by which their life was governed were a constant stress and worry. Weather, watering, ferterlizer, and soil exhaustion are just the beginning. Then there was the raw cost of maintaining the plot of land that was farmed and all of the equipment. One bright side was that this way of life may have brought the community of peasants together as they all owned bits and pieces of land and all had different pieces of equipment the others needed to use as well. So sharing and community support were probably stronger then when the people had so little comparted to now when we have more than we need at times.

Wikipedia - Middle Ages

William I of England had many accomplishments throughout England. There were changes to the laws and even the language during his reign. William I went from hte Duke of Normandy to the King of England. A slightly odd and unique factor in William's life was that he became the Duke of Normandy at the age of eight, due to his father's will. William was also knighted by the age of fifteen. William was seen as a noble leader and had the strong support from the people of Normandy. Through the Battle of Hastings William gained power of England over his two other competetors. Throughout his reign there were many reforms to the governmant of England, one that was long-lasting was French taking over as the language of the ruling classes for more than 300 years. William's history in England is that he was one of the few successful attempts at over-ruling the English throne through force as a foreigner.

1. 4,812
2. William the Conquerer, William I of England
3. No disambiguation link found
4. There is only one article posted, it talks about how this particular article was nominated for good article but it didn't ultimately meet the requirements.
5. There have been more than 500 changes; First change: Nov 22, 2001; most recent: Oct 19, 2008.
6. Seven external links.
7. 20 references.
8. Five

I would reccommend this article to anyone interested because it was a relatively quick and easy read while much information was present. I had no idea who William I was before this article and now I feel I have a fairly good understanding of his importance. The article articulates his life in easy to read and understand paragraphs that are clearly labeled and detailed.

ISLAM

Having read this article, its one of much information and knowledge when it comes to Islam. Muhammad was a determined, powerful and inspirational man during his time. He managed to change the the religion of an entire town (Medina) to Islam. Some of Muhammad's actions in his quest to be "THE PROPHET OF GOD" is recognized and still being practiced in the Muslim communities today. Muhammad was not a well liked man when he first started his trek to Mecca. Some of the Mecca leaders threatened to kill Muhammad for making the proclamation of being the only prophet. Muhammad would go on to become a powerful leader. Maybe not a well liked leader in some people eyes, but nonetheless a powerful leader of Islam. Since Muhammad's death, the nation of Islam has grown tremendously. A key figure (leader) in the nation of Islam today is Luis Farrakhan who resides in the United States. Luis Farrakhan was born Luis Walcott, but after studying the Qu'ran and the words of the late Muhammad, Farrakhan changed his name and religion.