Blog

According to History, “The Black Death was a devastating global epidemic of bubonic plague that struck Europe and Asia in the mid-1300s.” It was said that the plague was brought to Europe by rats on ships. Hitchhikers. The plague grew in Europe killing one third of Europe’s population over the next five years.

The aftermath of the Black Death was devastating to Europe. Trade was terrible and suffering, wars were abandoned for a time, and devastated families throughout the continent. People everywhere were suffering because of this plague.

The Black Death is still around today, but it is not as widespread as it once was and we have better was to treat it.

The Holy Roman Empire lasted from the year 800, to the year 1806, nearly 10 decades! According to Wikipedia, “Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. The history of the papacy from 1046 to 1216 was marked by conflict between popes and the Holy Roman Emperor, most prominently the Investiture Controversy, a dispute over who— pope or emperor— could appoint bishops within the Empire.” So one of the main reasons for the conflicts between the emperors and the popes was an argument over who could appoint bishops within the Empire, and who couldn’t. So technically, it was an issue over who had the power and authority to appoint bishops within the Empire (that stuff can tear people apart).

Major innovations of the Gothic cathedral. According to anthenapub.com, “The two main structural innovations of Gothic architecture were pointed arches and ogival or  (Bony 1983).” A pointed arch is an arch were the crown of the arch is pointed upward. According to people.wou.edu, “Pointed arches were used to direct weight onto load-bearing columns at a sharp angle, thus allowing for much taller vaulted ceilings.” The ribbed vaulting, according to wikipedia, is “an architectural feature for covering a wide space, such as a church nave, composed of a framework of crossed or diagonal arched ribs.” According to people.wou.edu, “A ribbed vault is an arched form created by the intersection of two or three barrel vaults used to support the weight of walls or a ceiling or roof.“

The significance of the rise of the medieval towns. There were many reasons for the growth of medieval towns. Some of them are the improvement in agriculture, and the revival of trade. Many sellers of products and goods became residents of the towns. Also, towns started to govern themselves with their own government. The rulers of towns were usually just a mayor and a town council.

Early medieval hymns are very old songs. According to Wikipedia, “Medieval music encompasses the sacred and secular music of Western Europe during the Middle Ages, from approximately the 6th to 15th centuries.” In this time, literature was very important, so they said that if the literature was sung in the form of a hymn, then it would be remembered. Many of the hymns focus on God, Jesus, the Holy Spirit, heaven, etc. Some hymns even focus on the people in the life of Jesus. Many of the hymns were about Mary the mother of Jesus, the apostles, the angles, etc. Most of these hymns were written by Christian Catholics.

An example of an early medieval hymn is the Song from Chartivel by Marie de France (1155-1189):

Hath any loved you well, down there,

Summer or winter through?
Down there, have you found any fair
Laid in the grave with you?
’s death’s long kiss a richer kiss
Than mine was wont to be–
Or have you gone to some far bliss
And quite forgotten me?

What soft enamoring of sleep

Hath you in some soft way?
What charmed death holdeth you with deep
Strange lure by night and day?
A little space below the grass,
Our of the sun and shade;
But worlds away from me, alas,
Down there where you are laid.

Another one is Hymn to Earth the Mother of All, written by Homer (7th century B.C.):

O universal mother, who dost keep
From everlasting thy foundations deep,
Eldest of things, Great Earth, I sing of thee!
All shapes that have their dwelling in the sea,
All things that fly, or on the ground divine
Live, move, and there are nourished–these are thine;
These from thy wealth thou dost sustain; from thee
Fair babes are born, and fruits on every tree
Hang ripe and large, revered Divinity!

Did the literature of Early Medieval Hymns encourage Christians to exercise political leadership? Well, sort of. Of their time, the Church leaders were the political leaders. They were one and the same. That means that the Church leaders were the ones who made the rules, arrested people, tried people, they even put people in jail. Even the pastor of the Church did this. These people were not very good Christ-like people despite the fact that they were in charge of the Church.

Christians put more of an emphasis on politics before the medieval ages. Catholic authors who wrote on civil matters told Christians to listen to the authorities higher in hierarchy and answer than them with respect and goodness, but not to do what they say. They said to do not deny Jesus in order to worship the king, leader, emperor, etc. It was at this time that there has never been any mention of Christians being in politics or having any political leadership. It was also at this time that Christians were being persecuted just before the fall of the Roman Empire.

Nothing relating to politics is in any of these hymns. Therefore, the overall answer to the question, “Did the literature of Early Medieval Hymns encourage Christians to exercise political leadership?”, is no.

The divine attributes. According to Cambridge.org, “The Divine Attributes explores the traditional theistic concept of God as the most perfect being possible.” The Divine Attributes are personhood, transcendence, immanence, omnipresence, omniscience, omnipotence, perfect goodness, unity, simplicity and necessity. According to Wikipedia, “The attributes of God are specific characteristics of God discussed in Christian theology. Christians are not monolithic in their understanding of God’s attributes.”

The just-war theory. According to Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy, “Just war theory deals with the justification of how and why wars are fought… The principles of the justice of war are commonly held to be: having just cause, being a last resort, being declared by a proper authority, possessing right intention, having a reasonable chance of success, and the end being proportional to the means used.” So the just-war theory justifies why and how wars were fought, or at least deals with it.

According to Wikipedia, “Augustine of Hippo, also known as Saint Augustine, was a theologian and philosopher of Berber origin and the bishop of Hippo Regius in Numidia, Roman North Africa.” He was born on November 13, 345 AD in Thagaste, and died on August 29, 430 AD in the Ruins of Hippo, Annaba, Algeria. He was a very important person during his time. He was regarded as very important by people of his time because he was considered a saint, hence the name, Saint Augustine. According to the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, “Augustine was perhaps the greatest Christian philosopher of Antiquity and certainly the one who exerted the deepest and most lasting influence. He is a saint of the Catholic Church, and his authority in theological matters was universally accepted in the Latin Middle Ages and remained, in the Western Christian tradition, virtually uncontested till the nineteenth century.“

Augustine wrote a rule on common life for lay Christians and how they are supposed to live their life in the year 397. He also wrote many other messages to the Christians. He believed that the purpose of righteous men was to represent God in everything they think, say, and do, and to look forward towards the Kingdom of Heaven in the hope that one day you might enter into it. He says the the world were are in right now is falling apart into chaos and destruction, so we must look forward to the City of God.

He also tells us not to be afraid of those who want to take our body, but not our soul. Instead, we should be afraid of the one who can take away the body and the soul, and that “person” is God. There is a Bible verse that talks about this. Matthew 10:28 says: “And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.” Another verse is Proverbs 1:7, which says: “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge: but fools despise wisdom and instruction.”

In all of his writings, St. Augustine points Christians in the direction of the city of the City of God. He says that this world that we are living in today is falling apart and is ruled by Satan and the enemy. We have nothing on this earth. We must look forward to the City of God where not even sin can exist. That is what we must look forward to. But, until we can reach the City of God, we must come closer to God, learn about him, listen to the words of the Bible, etc. However, not everyone can enter the City of God. If you want to enter the City of God, you must believe in Jesus and in everything that he has done for you, and you must follow him by reading the Bible, going to Church, etc. You must also do other things to enter the City of God, but I have said enough.

Keep trying to follow Jesus.

A brief overview of the life and work of Thomas Aquinas. St. Thomas Aquinas was a very influential philosopher, theologian, priest, and Italian Dominican Friar. He was also the number one greatest of the Scholastic Philosophers. He wrote many books and works in his life. According to Google, “His best-known works are the Disputed Questions on Truth (1256–1259), the Summa contra Gentiles (1259–1265), and the unfinished but massively influential Summa Theologica, or Summa Theologiae (1265–1274). His commentaries on Scripture and on Aristotle also form an important part of his body of work.“

What kinds of developments occurred during the renaissance of the twelfth century? According to Wikipedia, “The epoch of the Crusades, of the rise of towns, and of the earliest bureaucratic states of the West, it saw the culmination of Romanesque art and the beginnings of Gothic; the emergence of the vernacular literatures; the revival of the Latin classics and of Latin poetry and Roman law; the recovery of Greek science, …” So, a lot of things happened. But they were all very important.

What was Scholastic philosophy? According to Wikipedia, “Scholasticism is a method of learning more than a philosophy or a theology, since it places a strong emphasis on dialectical reasoning to extend knowledge by inference and to resolve contradictions.” So it’s a type of way to learn more things that than a philosophy.

What was the significance of the Magna Carta? According to Independent, “Magna Carta, which means ‘The Great Charter’, is one of the most important documents in history as it established the principle that everyone is subject to the law, even the king, and guarantees the rights of individuals, the right to justice and the right to a fair trial.” Some consider the Magna Carta to be significant because it subjects the king to the same rules as the citizens. So the king and citizens of the kingdom follow the same rules. It was also the very first ever step that took place in England towards establishing something called parliamentary democracy.

What was the significance of King Philip IV of France? According to Wikipedia, “Philip IV, called Philip the Fair, was King of France from 1285 to 1314. By virtue of his marriage with Joan I of Navarre, he was also King of Navarre as Philip I from 1284 to 1305, as well as Count of Champagne.” It is said that his reign was one of the most important in medieval history. Why? Well, because he challenged traditional power of the office or authority of the Pope of France, and was successful.

Describe the mendicant orders of the thirteenth century. According to Cambridge.org, “Four main mendicant orders, with diverse geographical and ideological origins, became influential in Britain: the Franciscans (Friars Minor), the Dominicans (Friars Preacher, or Black Friars), the Augustinian (Austin) Friars, and the Carmelites (the White Friars).” The Franciscans are a group of mendicant Christian religious orders that are all related. They are primarily in the Catholic Church. The Dominicans, also known as the Order of Preachers, was founded in Toulouse, France, by Saint Dominic and is an order of the Catholic Church. The Augustans were consecrated religious and a Latin Rite Order. The Carmelites, also known as the Order of the Brothers of the Blessed Virgin Mary of Mount Carmel, is a Roman Catholic mendicant religious order for both men as well as women.

According to Indeed, “Business skills are skills that help people understand the consumer and organizational behavior and use this information to promote the success of the company. Business skills are often considered soft skills and may include team management, leadership and communication skills“. So, business skills are really important. These skills can help you build a business, build a website, sell things, make money, etc.

I already have some business skills. I do landscaping (snow shoveling, leaf raking, lawn mowing, etc.) for my local neighborhood. One year, I did snow shoveling for three houses, and I got one hundred and seventy-five dollars out of it. The way I got the word around that I was doing snow shoveling is my dad and I made flyers and passed them around our neighborhood.

Business skills can help you find and create a business that suits you and make a lot of money. It can also help you if you learn it at a young age so you can get better over the years at creating a business.

My favorite business is creating a website, like this blog, that can help people. I am thinking of building a website that I can get money from. Like a website that I can sell stuff on. I also like graphics design. It is also very important to website builders.

Business skills are essential skills that every business developer needs to know. Business skills are also very important to those who want to create a business.

The doctrine of hell was, according to theconversation.com, “In traditional Christian doctrine, hell was conceived as a place, generally beneath the earth, where the wicked would be punished for eternity. There would be both psychological torment – at our knowing we had lost the opportunity for salvation – and physical ones inflicted by the Devil and his demons.” Now, hell is a very real place and people can go there if they die, but it is not a place that you would like to go to. It is full of death, destruction, calamity, and so  much more. That is why Christians take hell very, very seriously.

The martyrs were Christians who died for there beliefs in Jesus Christ, God, and Christianity. According to merriam-webster.com, the definition of martyr is “a person who voluntarily suffers death as the penalty of witnessing to and refusing to renounce a religion”. So, martyrs are really people who died because of their belief in a religion. Many martyrs tried teaching other people about their religion and died because of it. Their were even martyrs in the Bible. Ten of the twelve disciples of Jesus Christ were martyrs. So martyrs were even that far back in history, and maybe even farther back than that!

How important was the doctrine of hell to the martyrs? It was pretty serious. The Christian martyrs taught people about Jesus, and were killed because of it. Some were even Christians and did not try to preach Christianity to other people, and they were martyred. After a Christian has been caught to be executed, he/she is given one chance to save themselves. The way they do that is they have to deny Jesus. If they do, they will be spared. If they do not, they will die. Some are not even given this chance. Some are just killed without being brought to the court to be trialed. They are just killed then and there. Some were killed in terrible, horrifying ways. Some were stoned to death, crucified, burned alive, beheaded, and much more. It was just horrifying. If you were a martyr, and you were given the choice to deny Jesus and live, or to not do so and die, which one would you chose?

The martyrs that died that were given the choice to deny Jesus did not deny Jesus because they knew that if they denied Jesus, they would have to answer to Jesus himself for it and probably go to hell, so they chose death on earth and everlasting life in heaven over limited life on earth and everlasting death in hell. What choice would you make?

The martyrs were people who died for their belief in God and His Son, Jesus Christ. They have helped influence people throughout history and are probably still doing it. Martyrs are very influential people. Some people even wish that they die by being martyred! Here is my final question. If you were to die by martyrdom or by old age, which would you chose?