Final Blog

As I read about the different scientists I was remind of the on going conflict between science and religion. It seems we can only have one or the other. A friend of mine was commenting that it takes faith to believe in science. Every individual hasn't done experiments to prove every scientific theory. We trust other that have come before. So really there is a connection between science and religion. Really faith can be connected to many things.
It seems to me that the flood gates opened after the reformation and many individuals became inspired. They started to look at things differently and make discoveries. I don't think that is a coincidence.

The Catholic Church Approves This Message

The Catholic church didn't sound like a big supporter of science. I wonder when they accepted the sun as the center of the universe. There must have been a time when they realized they were wrong. There is evidence proving the earth revolves around the sun. They may not have supported science but the church did support the arts thank goodness.

In my art history class we talked about how Michelangelo felt he was given the job to paint the Sistine Chapel because they wanted to prove that he wasn't a very good painter. He was determined to prove he was an accomplished painter. I think he was successful. The pictures I've seen of his paintings are amazing.

I found Queen Elizabeth's speech to the troops very interesting. Her speech was very powerful yet she still kept her place by admitting she was a feeble woman. That is a careful phrase. I think she was trying to say that even though I'm a woman in a body that isn't as strong as a man's I am still capable of being heroic. I have a weak body but I have a strong mind and a lions heart. She was bold. She supported her country's cause even if she had to fight and die.
I can imagine that have a leader say he or she was also willing to lay down his life for his country would help give the warrior a greater since of determination to overcome obstacle. They did just that, by defeating the Spanish and becoming the new super power.

Wikipedia Assignment # 3

This article summarizes the life of Elizabeth I. The article beings by discussing Elizabeth's parents and early childhood. This article is very thorough. It covers Elizabeth's childhood, through her successful reign, to her death. This article has a lot of useful information and I would recommend it to others.
1.There are 7,517 words in this article.
2.The search term I used was Queen Elizabeth of England.
3.The Disambiguation link lists other articles related to the search term I used. Elizabeth I of England, Elizabeth I(the TV series), Elisabeth of Bohemia, Elizabeth I of Russia, Elizabeth of the United Kingdom, and RMS Queen Elizabeth(series of steam ships) are all the article listed under the Disambiguation link.
4.The discussion was mostly about the changes being made to the article. One message talked about omitting the Tudor coat of arms. Another comment mentioned a change to the opening portrait.
5.There have been over 500 changes made to the article. The first edit was August 8,2003. The last edit was November 21,2008.
6.There are 173 references.
7. There are five titles listed under Further Reading: Portraiture of Elizabeth I, Cultural depictions of Elizabeth I of England, English Renaissance, Protestant Reformation, and Tudor reconquest of Ireland.

Faith and Works

Luther's remarks on works and faith are interesting. From my reading I got that he believed that an individual can't expect to be saved by works alone. In other words a man can't live a very sinful life and do a bunch of good deeds and automatically be saved. It seems he is attacking Catholic church because of their focus on works for salvation. According to Luther a man must serve and live for others and not himself. Living a good life filled with selfless service and faith is the key to obtaining salvation.

I agree that works alone is not enough to be considered a good Christian. But I also feel that faith without works is dead. A person that says they have faith in Christ but then does nothing to be like Christ is in my opinion a hypocrite. Their are two different hypocrites. The ones that do great works but have no faith and those who claim to have great faith but do nothing so show their devotion.

The church experience sounds confusing to the individual who didn't speak Latin. The scriptures were read by the priests and kept from church members. It sounds to me that it wasn't a matter of hiding something but wanting to protect members from misinterpretation of Bible doctrine. I can understand the church's fear but the truly devote Christian would want to be able to hold his religion in his hand and gain greater knowledge by reading it. I picture the Latin mass being like going to a foreign film were it is impossible to know what is really going on. If a person was expected to go to war for his religon then know what he is fighting for would be important.

The Lonely Blackness

The Black Death must have completely changed the face of Europe. One in three died. How lonely it would be to be one of the few left behind, being terrified to bury your loved ones. How could people recover from such a disaster? There must have been an overwhelming helplessness that haunted the survivors. They didn't know why the disease was spreading or how to prevent it. Being a survivor must have been devastating and painful. Especially if you ran away from a dying family member. How could you live with yourself?

The Melting Pot

I found it very interesting that the language of the English government during the time of the Norman rule and until the fifteen hundreds was French. My view of England has changed. England was a melting pot like the United States. Normans (Northmen) and Saxons (Germans) were very involved in the history of England. Of course many of these people came to invade or take over unlike the immigrants in the U.S. The more I learn about history the more race lines become fuzzy. The English descended from Vikings and Germans. So in the future the Germans that stayed in Germany may have bombed a distant distant relative during World War II. I think if people studied history they would see how silly it is to classify people into one group because really we are all related.

Wikipedia Assignment

This article was about Medieval art. It first introduced Medieval art by mentioning the time period and briefly summarizing the different style periods. Next it gave a brief description of each style period. Each style period is highlighted and links to a more in depth article about a certain period. This article alone isn't very helpful. It introduced the different style periods, but didn't give much detail. The links to other articles is helpful but you would need to be specific about which area of Medieval art you wanted to focus on or there would be to much information. I would not recommend this article because more reading would be necessary to get any real useful information.
1. 889 words
2. Medieval art was my search term and was also the title of the article.
3. There isn't a Disambiguation link.
4.On the discussion page the writer of the article talked about the different style periods of Medieval art and gave his source. There was also discussion about if there were two style periods for Crusade art.
5.There have been over 500 changes made to this article.
6.There isn't anything under External Links.
7.There aren't any references listed.
8.There is nothing under further reading.

Religion and Government

The power struggle between church and state is new. The conflicts up to this point have mostly been between nations, tribes, or individuals. Other governments had connections between religion and government. In Egypt the pharoh claimed to be a god and therefore had the authority to rule. The Greeks and Romans had basicly the same religious ideas but elected their leaders before someone stronger took over. That seems to be the pattern, either you have authority from God or have more military strength. The smart ones used both tactics to gain support. The motives are repeating. The bishops and kings were motivated by the same things, land, money, and power. I'm not sure if Charlemagne claimed authority from God but he did use religious reasons to invade the pagan nations. The Saxon tribes were repeatedly invaded and converted.
I wonder if the Vatican still has politcal power. Is there still a power struggle between the Italian government and the Pope? Also, does the Church of England claim any political power?

Religious Extremes

I consider myself a religious person but my devotion is put to shame by the extremes a devout monk went to . I don't thing I could live under the strict laws of a Benedict monastery. I can understand why some Christians may have switched to the Muslim faith after because it was considered less complicated. The most devoted Christians gave up everything including their freedom to live a life of solitude. Even though there were many other monks around they were discouraged to speak to each other. Self punishment and humiliation was expected. If you didn't correct yourself when saying a chant or prayer you were whipped. This seems to be the holy gang. The members had to be initiated and prove their devotion. I don't think I could live such a strict life.

Hannibal Enemy or Hero?

To the Romans Hannibal became a legend for fierce and heartless enemy but if you were a Carthaginian Hannibal was a brilliant military leader and a hero. I realized there is a huge difference in your perspective depending on which side you are on. The Carthaginians were defending what they felt was rightfully theirs. Hannibal fought with everything in his power to win the war but he didn't have enough support to win a real victory against Rome.

The Carthaginians lost everything after the third and final Punic war. After trying to defend themselves against the African tribe attacks. What a waste of human life. Thousands of men died. The rest were sold into slavery. A very harsh punishment for violating the treaty agreement. The Romans may have thought Hannibal was ruthless but in the end the Romans proved to be just as hard-hearted themselves.

Wikipedia Assignment # 1

This article is on ancient Greek art. In the introduction it discusses the wide influence Greek art had on other civilizations. It gives a brief history of ancient Greece and indicates the four artistic periods. The article is divided into eight different sections; survivals, pottery, metal vessels, figurines, monumental sculpture, architecture, coin design, and painting.

1)The main article has 5,426 words.

2) The search term is Ancient Greek art. The title is Art in Ancient Greece.

3) I don't see a Disambiguation link.

4) The comments on the discussion page is interesting. There is a dialogue going on between the writers of the article as to what should be included and what should be omitted. Adam Carr seems to be the most involved in the early writing process. There was also some discussion about the need for references.

5) The first time this article was modified was March 20, 2004 and the last time was September 11, 2008. There have been over 1000 changes made to this article.

6) There are three external links.

7) There is one reference.

8) There are six titles under Further Reading.

I thought this article was interesting and gave a good overview of the important points of the art of ancient Greece. The pictures provided were helpful in illustrating the style changes that occurred throughout Greek history. I'm not an expert in this area so I don't know if everything was correct. I would recommend this to anyone who wanted a brief to-the-point article that could launch them to a more in depth study of ancient Greek art.

The Roman Philosophy

I was surprised that Aristotle considered a slave to be a necessity for any man to live well and that some are marked for slavery and others are intended to be masters. If I could discuss this matter with Aristotle I would ask him, "If this is the case why does a master have to rule with a whip? Those who are meant for slavery should be naturally submissive. They should be easily controlled and uprisings would be nonexistent."

My opinion is that there are not those suited for slavery but those who are determined to be in control. Some people are more aggressive, like the Romans. The Roman philosophy was if they are in control they are protected. For their homeland security they didn't employ diplomacy, they took over the surrounding territories to protect the Roman state. Therefore, it is the one who carries the bigger stick who is really destined to rule.

My over all impression of this week's reading was Greek glory came from success or death on the battlefield. Even Solon believed the happiest man would be one that died with honor on the battle field or after achieving a heroic act. The riches of Croesus didn't equal true happiness in the mind of Solon. Maybe because riches can come or go but an honorable death is final. It is ironic that Croesus's life ended with humiliation when Lydia was conquered by Cyrus.

In a culture driven by this ideology it is not surprising that success in battle was immortalized. Alexander the Greats conquer of the Greek city-states, Persian empire, and death at the height of his success equaled the ideal hero in the minds of the Greeks. Alexander turned the humiliation of being conquered around by restoring democracy and many Greeks joined him in battle. It is fascinating that Alexander's conquest and unification of the Greek city-states spread the Greek culture and increased Greek influence. Without Alexander the Great there would not have been a Cleopatra and much of the Greek culture may have been lost.

Does Sacrifice Equal Better Leaders?

The Spartans seemed to consider boys owned by society more then their families. With the sense of duty that a family felt to maintain Sparta it was essential to train strong soldiers and leaders. As a mother I can't imagine sending my son away at seven. Giving up my son to the state would be a huge sacrifice. If I was living in a community dependent on a strong military to maintain the state that sacrifice would be necessary. Political dedication and involvement in government was associated with the highest degree of prestige. I think many people could make a difference politically if public service was a priority. It would be nice if our society took more interest in training strong political leaders. Maybe our leaders would be more successful.