The Quest for Knowledge

I was very interested in the 12th Century lecture regarding Europe's sudden increase for the quest of knowledge.  This pursuit is something which I find to have changed the tide of the world as I see today.  While religion was commonly practiced and created certain guidelines for citizens to live by there were now constructs for individuals to be upwardly mobile.  As peasants of the past now had new opportunities to increase in public, and political position this helps the stimulation for a freer economy.  This I see as being one of the glimpses of past history that truly was a spark to modern day thinking.  Here and now we have the luxury to become upwardly mobile through ambition, hard work, determination, and a little luck; however, then, in the 12th century men and especially women had a difficult task of trying to build in stature.  People seemed to be quite stuck in their shoes indefinitely.  This sudden spark of leaders, who listen, and act based on the voice of their people reminds me of the breath of fresh air every once in a blue moon in common day when governing bodies actually do as the people wish, or when good companies are founded based on the building blocks of listening to the people.  12th century is the century of beauty in my eyes, for it spawned the fundamentals for a successful future.

Wikipedia Assignment #2

1. Word Count: 8542 words

2. Search Term: Gregorian Chant.  Exact article: Gregorian Chant

3. Disambiguation link: The disambiguation link helps searchers to resolve conflicts in article titles occurring when there may be more than one link relating to the search criterium.

4. There are comments surrounding what people have either added or subtracted from the content of the wiki search.  There is also boards to post messages to other individuals pertaining to that particular topic.

5. How many edits: There have been 243 edits to the page Gregorian Chant, the first change was on 12 March 2005, last change was on 15 September 2008.

6. Total external links equal 11 currently.

7. References: Equal 23 currently

8. 2 entries under Further Reading.

This article covers the history of Gregorian chant, from its Roman Catholic upbringing.  Gregorian Chant was used as a form of somber song during church service for Catholic churches.  The article discusses the progression of the art from where it began to where it is today in current day music listening.  The article also goes over more of the fine details surrounding the Musical form itself, Performance of the art, Liturgical functions, and Influence.

Humble Beginnings

It is fascinating to begin to understand where farming and agriculture started to sprout into the sophisticated ordeal that it is today.  As the progress for farming begins to happen I am sure this spurs on new innovative ideas, which allow for people to start thinking outside of day to day operations.  Once their minds were capable of thinking of things outside of simple survival, the tools they used help to push them forward into the future.  As we see farming today very little mom & pop farms exist.  On a large level farming has been completely industrialized with the use of tools.  An aspect of these early Medieval villages I liked was the openness, and the sustainability of each village.  Life must have been tough, but at least they fed themselves, and others via taxes, and tithes.  Early Medieval Villages, although small and quite humble, seemed as though they would be very relaxing places to live.  Sounds as if the villages thrived on a close knit community of people working together to create crop to the best of their ability, I like that idea.  Perhaps not in the form of a farm but certain aspects do stand out.  Openness, sustainability, community, assistance, and a sense of purpose.  I believe this was quite a decent formula for good communities.

Conflict on the Horizon

The development of the Papacy was very interesting.  One of the characters I did enjoy to learn about was Pope Gregory, his passion to see Rome through difficult times was quite inspiring.  Gregory not only was a spiritual leader, but utilized his skills as a man to turn around the whole city, and even parts of Italy.  I thought it was amazing how little some of the Popes did with their vast amount of power over the spirituality of human lives.  They were in a position to help people, however many of them became corrupt, and abused this power.  I can only imagine how difficult it would be to be in charge of a city during such a fickle time, yet Pope Gregory amongst all of the hardship was able to unify the city, and create a sense of accomplishment once again for the Roman people.  Also of note is Gregory's passion for music.  Listening to Gregorian chant can be very relaxing, it is neat to know the origin of this style of music.  As the Pope's power was growing, it is only a matter of time before two great powers the Pope, and the King of the country but heads.

The Tides are Changing

Although Rome was able to hold its ground for a while, eventually it was unable to hold onto the reigns of a new uprising.  As barbarians from the North shifted into Rome, and Rome proper the way of living for most Romans continued to be established as is.  It was only a matter of time however that the changing times take an effect on the way Romans lived their lives.  I thought it to be intriguing how Rome did not fall over night but slowly chunks of it fell away until finally nothing was left but the history of a time when Roman rule took charge over the vast majority of Europe.  The interesting things I found within the posting Medieval Europe was the note that Rome primarily was ran in such a way that each small city state ran itself governmentally.  Because the separation was developed, it almost seems like many Roman citizens did not suffer a war per say, simply a slow take over of power.

The Sport of it All

Similar to American culture and lifestyle the Romans enjoyed a bit of sport now and again.  I found it intriguing how much after 2000 years we still have in common with the Romans.  As they began to develop larger metropolitan areas, in particular Rome, there were games and festivities for everyone to enjoy.  I cant help but think if the movie The Gladiator and how that effected me so much.  I would like to say that the sports we have on television today are so much more wholesome then what the Romans were exposed to.  The truth is that every time I watch football, soccer, heck even NASCAR (does not happen that often) I am waiting for the next BIG play or perhaps the next BIG hit.  There are some sports that obviously are riskier then others, but one trend that is up and coming is Ultimate Fighting.  This of course is where two individuals head to head punch, kick, scratch, claw... okay maybe not scratch and claw, but still, seeing the resemblance?  I am sure the Romans began to be desensitized by bear on bear so they added bear on lion, then lion-bear on human.  I know this is a bit of a rant, but what always struck me as being so odd about The Gladiator is how people could let something like that happen.  Does it still happen, not in America, but who knows perhaps in other parts of the world this type of conduct still exists.  We have more in common with the Romans as people then I thought, and the article 'A Brief Social History of the Roman Empire' seems to be all the case and point for it.

The Slip

Hannibal intrigues me as a historical figure.  As he is defending his Country land of Carthage, he also builds an outstanding name for himself.  It truly was amazing the amount he was able to outwit the Romans with relative ease.  It does seem though that the Romans learned slowly to new tricks; however, over time they learned and adapted forging themselves into a power that shaped the rest of the world.  What intrigues me most of the whole story of Hannibal, is the drama that comes with the death of his brother Hasdrubal.  The deep family ties that are inevitably destroyed by the might of Roman rule were the cause of much grief to the Romans for a lengthy period of time.  Hannibal seems to me almost a Robin Hood type of character in an odd sorts.  As Rome grew larger, and Carthage began to be threatened, Hannibal consistently outwitted the Romans, what a sly fellow.  Amazing also how successfully he AND his brother were able to get large elephants across the river, outstanding work!