Middle Ages Essays - Christianization, Crusades, Invasions

Middle Ages The Christian Crusades Positively Impacted the East and the West Even though countless numbers of people died during the Christian Crusades, there were many positive effects for both the East and the West. After the Crusades halted, various trade routes opened up between Eastern and Western cities. Also, the Muslims developed new military strategies and techniques during the fights with the Europeans, and they united themselves against one cause, producing a stronger religious nation (Encyclop?dia Britannica, 1993). Numerous effects of the Christian Crusades in the Middle East had a positive outcome. In John Child's book, The Crusades, he quotes J. Kerr as claiming that the most obvious result of the crusades was a growth in trade with the east. According to a 1996 AP article printed in the Jerusalem Post, the English word sugar comes from the Arabic sukkar, and scallion comes from Ascalon, a Philistine city. Trade extended from England to the Black Sea, going through the ports of Beirut, Acre and Alexandria. After the loss of Acre in 1291, Cyprus, Rhodes and Crete were the three Mediterranean islands that composed some of the main crusader trading centers. From these three islands it was possible to control goods' ships traveling to and from the Middle East (Child, 1994). These trade routes generated a beneficial contact between the cultures of East and West. Many merchants from the cities of Venice and Genoa settled in Cyprus and Crete. From the Muslims these merchants bought spices, sugar, cloth and cotton. Other merchants from Sicily and Aragorn traded for Tunisian gold, and Algerian wool and animal skins. Popular goods traded from the Middle East were sugar, melons, cotton, ultramarine dye and damask cloth. Although the Pope tried to stop merchants from trading with the Muslims, he had to repeal his embargo in 1344. Though most of the traded goods came from the Middle East, the combined efforts from both East and West brought about many inventions, such as windmills, compasses, gunpowder and clocks. Figure 1 This trade between East and West caused prosperity among the people. Child states in his book that the merchants made a lot of money out of the trade with the Muslim people. After the Crusades had terminated, these merchants were able to prosper from trade between Europe and the Middle East. Outlined in Figure 1 are some trade routes utilized after the Crusades. During the Crusades, the Muslims used weaponry that the Franks were not familiar with. The battles during the Crusades led to the spread of siege engines, such as the mangonel, and the Franks learned how to employ fire as a missile. The Franks also learned new methods of creating fortifications. The use of armorial bearings may have originated in the Orient, and it is hypothesized that the Europeans learned many new ideas from looking at Arab armor (Encyclop?dia Britannica, 1993). European soldiers learned to protect themselves from the heat by imitating Muslim soldiers. The troops covered their heads and shoulders, and they wore light, loose clothing over their armor (MacDonald, 1993). This sharing of military machinery brought about positive effects for the people involved. In Europe and the Middle East, scholarly developments came along with the trade and military developments. After the Crusades, the use of northern European pointed arches became popular with Muslim architects (MacDonald, 1993). Muslim doctors still retained some of the Greek's knowledge of human anatomy; much of the information had been lost to the Europeans (Child, 1994). Many twelfth century European scientists voyaged to Arabian countries to study different methods and new ideas. Leonardo Fibonnaci, the first Christian algebraist, traveled to Syria and to Egypt to study with mathematicians there. Also, studies of language were initiated by many missionaries. In 1311, Raimon Lull, a missionary in the Orient, introduced six schools in Europe designed for the specific study of Oriental languages (Encyclop?dia Britannica, 1993). Literature appeared after the Crusades in great abundance. Some examples are Nathan der Weise by Gotthold Ephraim Lessing, Carmen Ambrosii and Chanson d'Antioche (Riley-Smith, 1995). The Crusades also brought new light upon old matters. Many old tales were redone with the spirit of crusading infused in them. The contact that occurred during the Crusades had many positive effects, and

Mark Twain Racist Or Realist Essays - Picaresque Novels,

Mark Twain Racist Or Realist Mark Twain, Racist or Realist? Introduction This paper examines Mark Twains work to determine whether or not he was racist. Racism is defined by The American Heritage Dictionary as the belief that one race is superior to others. Unfortunately the issue of race isnt black or white. There are many shades of gray in racism and even the most progressive thoughts of old seems conservative as progress enlightens new levels of thought. During his time, Twain was a forward thinking author who championed many causes, one of them being fair treatment of the downtrodden and oppressed. The only example of potential racism is his treatment of the Goshoot Indians in Roughing It. The main body of his work points to innovative anti-racist themes. Even if one admits that Twain fosters some derogatory stereotypes labeling his work scabrous, unassimiable, and perhaps unteachable to our own time is shortsighted and revisionist. Even if Twain was racist the process of learning is supposed to combat backwards teaching from our past through exposition and discussion (Wonham 40). I even learned from Mein Kampf and objections to Mark Twains potential racism pale in comparison to Hitlers crimes against humanity. Mark Twain certainly wasnt as politically correct as contemporary newsmen or politicians but his primary occupation was as a satirist. Even today successful comedians, from Saturday Night Live to The Tonight Show, use techniques similar to Twains irony, satire and burlesque. Every serious Twain scholar knows of Twains reputation as a burlesque humorist/satirist as well as his anti-imperialist and anti-religious tendencies. The scholar must be careful when labeling or categorizing Twains work because of his frequent use of sarcasm but Twain definitely liked blacks and abhorred slavery. His treatment of Natives and the Chinese was questionable when looked at apart from his work as a whole, but he slammed the white race more mercilessly than he ever condemned any other race. Sadly, the cynical and sarcastic Mark Twain can never be fully understood because only he knew what thoughts he was trying to convey. Twain often used burlesques to get a point across by showing the ignorant how ignorant they actually are. In Huck Finn, Twain linked religion and slavery by showing how the former can pervert knowledge and cause acceptance of the latter over objections of conscience. When Huck is born again, he forgets his vow to aid Jim, and his euphoria as being born again resembles the feeling of being light as a feather that he experiences after deciding to turn Jim over to the slave-catchers (Fulton 83). This commentary is as much about the sorry state of slavery as it is about slaverys Biblical foundation. James L. Johnson dedicated Mark Twain and the Limits of Power to outlining how, like Emerson, Twains solipsism is a fundamental ingredient in much of [his] best work (Johnson 8). Twains characters had or wanted an extraordinary ability to dominate the worlds in which they find themselves (Johnson 1). Twain had little faith in a Christian God so he put more faith in the self. Johnson also thought Twains bitterness increased as he unearthed that the larger and more masterful the Self became, the less benevolent he was likely to be (Johnson 7). Although Twains life was common because it had limits he envisioned a character who might not have to make those accommodations, a hero who might break out of the prison of limitations into a brighter life (Johnson 187). Frustration with the world, hence a caustic temperament, arose as time wore on but Twain never lost sight and hoped for mastery over it and freedom (Johnson 189). In 1907 Bernard Shaw remarked to Archibald Henderson that, Mark Twain and I find ourselves in the same position. We have to make people, who would otherwise hang us, believe that we are joking (Clemens 5). This point is well illustrated by the fearless Twain in this excerpt from Mark Twains Jest Book: In the spring of 1899, I was one of a crowd of some 1200 who attended at the Waldorf-Astoria in New York to hear a lecture on his adventures in the South Africa War given by a Lieutenant of Huzzars, one Winston Churchill

How to Write a Sample Short Essay About Life - Learn How to Think Like a Pro!

How to Write a Sample Short Essay About Life - Learn How to Think Like a Pro!If you are like most people, then you would love to be able to write a short sample essay about life. Yes, you have read my title correctly.But how to write a short essay about life without actually getting up and go on stage? You have read my words and are ready to strike the interview for employment right now. So, what should you do? Well, if you are like most people, then I suggest that you must take the necessary action in order to make your writing skills great.A good writer has great writing skills. So, it is only logical that a person who excels in writing also excels in life. And the truth is that you can learn some writing tips which would allow you to write like a pro.Since this essay will be similar to the ones you may write in college, your objective is to write an essay that is easy to read and easy to write. This would mean that you must not let your thoughts turn from the subject at hand into other subjects. You must first remain focused on your topic, but also let the rest of your thoughts flow freely.In order to get started, you must first focus on the important facts that are related to your topic. Keep your writing fresh and you will soon learn that the mind has such a natural tendency to remember those facts that matter. The next thing that you should focus on is how you will present these facts in a concise way.Write down a key point or an important fact that you feel you must have to mention. Then use your writing style to explain the relevance of this key point to your topic. This will allow you to convey the essence of the fact, which will help to form a strong argument.For writing this essay, you should learn that no matter how much you need to compose this essay, the aim is to keep it simple and clear. Yes, this means that you should avoid using fancy words, but avoid making it too long as well. This is to ensure that you only explain the key points and that i s all.