The widespread condemnation of the practice would indicate how unstoppable it was and how popular it was. For this reason, we can readily explain why it was tolerated (Patterson 96)
Once the plague had been introduced, it spread like wildfire. It was known to take three different forms as well: bubonic, pneumatic, and septicemic (The Black Death 2001)
These punishments were so severe they could even lead to death. According to one scholar, "since the church was not permitted to shed blood, the sentenced heretic was surrendered to the secular authorities for execution, usually by burning at the stake" (Blotzer 1997)
A standard taken down would signal the allied combatants that the cause was lost and it was time to flee the field of combat. (Brault, 1972) Looking back, knighthood lasted a fleeting time in history, but the coda of knighthood, which came to symbolize all that is good about man hood, needs to be revisited
As the need for knights reduced as wars between nations ended, their most serious business was the sport of jousts and tournaments. (Gies, 1986) Besides the above historical references, it is necessary to recognize the place of knights in society in various countries of Europe -- the feudal system
They carried the colors of their Lords. (Hopkins, 1990) Their job was protecting the lands that belonged to their Lords and by extension the domain of the king
The castles, by the way they were situated on high ground or overlooking river crossings, and by the people dependent on them, determined who ruled a particular part of a country. (Oakeshott, 1966) At the same time, though, if a noble became strong and controlled one or more great castles, he might be tempted to turn against the king and defy him
The French epic poem, the Song of Roland epitomized the life of a Knight. (Price, 1997) Chivalry helped lessen the harshness of the warfare
Nearly everyone helped in farming and, for the most part, food and clothing materials came from the manor lands around the castle. (Tappan, 1913) knight of the Middle Ages, almost without exception was born a member of the noble class
Finally, when he was well trained and especially if he had already proved himself a warrior in battle, he was rewarded with knighthood. (Turnbull, 1985) The conferring of knighthood was a special ceremony
This was the year when the last Roman emperor of the west, Romulus Augustulus, was deposed by the Germanic prince Odovacar. The German then secured his people's control over the remaining Roman army in Italy and sent the western imperial regalia to Constantinople, in a powerful symbolic gesture of the 'changing of the guard' (Heather, 2006, p
Born in 480, Boethius was adopted into one of the most distinguished patrician families of Rome and benefited from an education which made him at home not only in classical Latin culture but also in Greek literature and philosophy. (Marenbon, 1998, p
The sons of feudal chiefs and provincial satraps often lived near the king, and were instructed with the princes of the royal family in a college attached to the court.16 (Durant, 1950, p
Physicians were often called to gain further understanding of what caused the plague and how to avoid it or even treat it when it was possible. (French 129) Medieval medicine was truly not a dark practice of seedy solutions to unknown and superstitious problems
A knight had only to swop his armorial surcoat and shield for those of another to be safely taken for that person."(Harper-Bill and Harvey, 3) Since the armor covered the bodies of the knights completely, including their faces, it was almost impossible to recognize a knight if it weren't for the heraldic designs
Explicit assertions that the coming of peace saddened the knights, that they preferred war, appear throughout chivalric literature."(Kaeuper, 153) However, it can be said that chivalry served to ameliorate the horrors of war, by emphasizing morality along with bravery
From 1340, the hospitaller was a brother from the tongue of France."(Nicholson, 77) Thus, the knights were mainly warriors who nevertheless had numerous other attributions, such as being actively engaged in charity actions and other social services
Here, then, at last was the theoretically perfect combination of Christianity and war; the Cross and the sword; Monasticism and Knighthood; Philanthropy and Militancy; God and the Devil."(Prestage, 12) the great Crusading Orders -- the Hospitallers, the Templars, the Teutonic Knights soon developed into very complex organizations which were involved in charitable acts and wars that served a Christian purpose
85). The ideal that women were more sexually insatiable than men undoubtedly led many families to lock up their unmarried daughters in order to avoid trouble (Brundage, p
Fairest ladies, not a few there are both of men and of women, who are so foolish as blindly to believe that, so soon as a young woman has been veiled in white and cowled in black, she ceases to be a woman, and is no more subject to the cravings proper to her sex, than if, in assuming the garb and profession of a nun, she had put on the nature of a stone: (Decameron, III:1: 002). Although women were considered to be illogical and insatiable, they were also expected to posess a certain "softness" that made it natural for them to assume a more submissive role during sexual acts (Salisbury, p