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Thread: The Dark Ages and the Crusades

  1. #1

    Icon4 The Dark Ages and the Crusades

    Hello fellow knights

    I wanted to share these '' wonderfull '' documentaries wich i have just seen:

    These are really a, '' must see '' since they really give a nice picture of what life
    was about in these times and how we got were we are today.

    The Dark Ages ( Or what happend before we got into the Medieval Age )
    here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KsHSbBxjAOk

    The Crusades of course wich can been seen here:
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zqK-RuntywY (part 1)
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7pOPz...feature=relmfu (part2)

    Hope you enjoy these as much as i did

    War is delightfull to those who have had no experience in them - '' Erasmus ''
    http://en.wikipedia.or/wiki/Desiderius_Erasmus

  2. #2

    Default Re: The Dark Ages and the Crusades

    Really Nice

  3. #3

    Default Re: The Dark Ages and the Crusades

    These were fun to watch.

    (And I detect a tad of sarcasm in your opening post. )
    Last edited by Cyprian2; September 04, 2012 at 01:09 AM.

  4. #4

    Default Re: The Dark Ages and the Crusades

    Hmm I have been a very fanatic medieval follower since childhood, i always liked the idea of becoming a knight
    or commanding a unit.
    However as time changes, more and more information about those times reached me, since braveheart and tudors
    for example don't really show, the much dirtier side of medieval times.
    I'm glad though people liked these documentaries as they really give a view on certain things like the plague
    rasism, exploration/exploitation, etc.

    Let's hope DoTS will be just as good

  5. #5
    Rinan's Avatar Centenarius
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    Default Re: The Dark Ages and the Crusades

    Lol, I always find it annoying people tend to overemphasise how horrible it was in the past, and how much better lives we lead now. Not only disregarding that 75% of human population -still- lives in poverty it's just an oversimplication I think. It's also good to see the glorious sides of our past. I watched the dark ages documentary and just the way they described the dark ages ("it became even darker...") is too dramatised IMO.

    I hope DoTS will be a lot better

  6. #6

    Default Re: The Dark Ages and the Crusades

    Well judging from the wikipedia's and history books/teachers it's safe to say, i think, that going to Afghanistan, parts of Mongolia and Russian territory
    still hold medieval traditions alive.
    You see medieval life was very practical, meaning you only used what you needed because there was nothing else to do, only rich people
    had the oppertunity to travel to other countries and educate themselves on cultures thus getting a better picture of the world, others
    where just too busy getting around the farms/shops/lakes to get a living.

    I didn't knew monks where mostly adopted from rich family's, otherwise the poor could all become monks and get good education.
    Though most people just inherited their fathers job only to continiue the way of living, you didn't have the freedom of choosing a profession.
    So these already makes our times hundred's of times better than those days.

    Glorious meaning what ??? countless battles/ethnic cleansing/mass murder/misuseage of the hard working population ????
    The people are so much more better of, you using the internet is one such freedom wich would never be allowed 50 years back.
    Darkness in those times meant the low education and understanding in those times, these times are no different, we only get more
    useless stuff wich are never needed, if you ask me ( Android's, for example )
    It's not dramatized it's reality, and boy was it hell in those times without medical/social insurances.... So yea i'm happy i think

  7. #7

    Default Re: The Dark Ages and the Crusades

    I agree with the above. Although dark ages is just a term that has nothing to do with reality, life was a real struggle for the majority of people back then. Take for instance the simple fact that it was quite rare for any given region to be in peace for a prolonged period of time. If your father didn't see war in his lifetime, you will. And not just on TV. Wars make people have mental problems which they pass on to their offspring. Therefore in addition to the huge lack of knowledge in that time, mental health was also an issue.

    That said, I've only recently began to appreciate how advanced people were in the 1100 ish - in comparison to, say, 2000 BC. Societies were much more sophisticated and it involved complex structures that provided protection for weak members of the population.

  8. #8

    Default Re: The Dark Ages and the Crusades

    Here's a different perspective on the Crusades:

    http://www.thearma.org/essays/Crusades.htm

    And here's a much longer (and much more scholarly and well-researched) paper on the same theme:

    http://www.americanthinker.com/2005/...rusades_1.html
    Last edited by Shi Huangdi; September 10, 2012 at 09:35 PM.
    Make America great again!

  9. #9

    Default Re: The Dark Ages and the Crusades

    Quite intriguing

  10. #10

    Default Re: The Dark Ages and the Crusades

    Thanks for sharing, Shi Huangdi. Very interesting.

  11. #11
    Y Brenin's Avatar Libertus
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    Default Re: The Dark Ages and the Crusades

    My own favourite on the Crusades split into four episodes and featuring the wonderful Terry Jones (the Welsh comedian and part-time scholar, not the right-wing American pastor): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8glhcgltux4.

    Edit: After reading Shi Huangdi's linked articles, I realised the above documenatry was criticised within them. Whilst I thank Shi for sharing those links I can't help but deeply disagree with Thomas Madden. An apologist for religious war! Well, what more can one expect from a 'Professor' at a Christian University? This is exactly why religion and education should never mix, faith and fact are mutually exclusive. Taedius' link below is a must.
    Last edited by Y Brenin; December 16, 2012 at 10:24 AM.

  12. #12

    Default Re: The Dark Ages and the Crusades

    Quote Originally Posted by Shi Huangdi View Post
    Here's a different perspective on the Crusades:

    http://www.thearma.org/essays/Crusades.htm

    And here's a much longer (and much more scholarly and well-researched) paper on the same theme:

    http://www.americanthinker.com/2005/...rusades_1.html
    Thanks for these links. They were great reads. I like a lot of the articles I came across on that second site.
    What's life like if you don't take a chance now and then? ~ Matrim Cauthon

  13. #13

    Default Re: The Dark Ages and the Crusades

    After reading that first link, I'd recommend reading this bookreview. For the sake of balance.

    http://armariummagnus.blogspot.no/20...usades-by.html

  14. #14

    Default Re: The Dark Ages and the Crusades

    I think people who defend the Crusades rationalize them as strategically necessary rather than purely religious. I agree with that perspective.
    Make America great again!

  15. #15
    John Haukewood's Avatar Tiro
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    Default Re: The Dark Ages and the Crusades

    Quote Originally Posted by Rinan View Post
    Lol, I always find it annoying people tend to overemphasise how horrible it was in the past, and how much better lives we lead now. Not only disregarding that 75% of human population -still- lives in poverty it's just an oversimplication I think. It's also good to see the glorious sides of our past. I watched the dark ages documentary and just the way they described the dark ages ("it became even darker...") is too dramatised IMO.

    I hope DoTS will be a lot better
    I agree about the over-dramatization. The History Channel has a tendency to try too hard to make historical events "cool," thus giving an inaccurate or at best under-nuanced picture. That said, they're a pretty good introduction to the topic, a bit like Wikipedia.
    For every complex problem there is an answer that is clear, simple, and wrong.
    -H.L. Mencken


  16. #16
    Y Brenin's Avatar Libertus
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    Default Re: The Dark Ages and the Crusades

    Quote Originally Posted by Rinan View Post
    Lol, I always find it annoying people tend to overemphasise how horrible it was in the past, and how much better lives we lead now. Not only disregarding that 75% of human population -still- lives in poverty it's just an oversimplication I think. It's also good to see the glorious sides of our past. I watched the dark ages documentary and just the way they described the dark ages ("it became even darker...") is too dramatised IMO.

    I hope DoTS will be a lot better
    Got to agree with you there mate (well, as long as you use 'glorious' to refer to great works of art and learning, not horrific war which is never glorious). Yes, for most people life in the past was pretty bad but for most people today that remains true, just go to Somalia or Syria. They were called the 'Dark Ages' because there is very little written records for that period so historians are 'in the dark', not because they were dark times to live.

    For a documentary series without the dramatic fluff I recommend Professor Simon Schama's brilliant 'A History of Britain'. Just a camera, a charismatic academic and one of the world's richest histories, exactly how documentaries should be. The first in the series, found here covers our ancient civilisation through the Roman invasion and the dark ages, falling just short of the Norman conquest.
    Last edited by Y Brenin; December 27, 2012 at 01:27 AM.

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