Final Exam

Explain why some scholars have called the Ancient Egyptians a "death obsessed" culture. Do you agree?

Thesis:Yes,Egyptians loved death, but they also loved living.Egyptians were not obsessed with death.

1. "Lord of the fish, during the inundation, no bird alights on the crops. You create the grain, you bring forth the barley, assuring perpetuity to the temples. If you cease your toil and your work, then all that exists is in anguish. If the gods suffer in heaven, then the faces of men waste away."

Hymn to the Nile, c. 2100 BCE
http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/ancient/Hymn-Nile.html

2."Then reciting the appointed psalms, he said the burial prayers and thought to himself"

The Life of Our Holy Mother Mary of Egypt
http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/basis/maryegypt.html

3."His advent, has beautified by residence, has consecrated by suffering, has redeemed by death, has glorified by burial."
Urban II (1088-1099):
Speech at Council of Clermont, 1095,
Five versions of the Speech
http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/source/urban2-5vers.html

The first primary source shows that the Egyptians did like to live, but the following two primary sources show how they did love death and honored it with great burials and prayers.



Do you think Alexander honestly felt like he was avenging Persian wrongs? Or was that just propaganda to mask his goal of conquest?

Thesis: Alexander just wanted to fulfill himself with conquering the whole world and the Persians were just one of the next to be conquered.

1. "With the conquest of Thrace our situation changed: we controlled the whole of the western coast of the Aegean; but our mastery of the Aegean was threatened by the maritime power of Persia. Fortunately I struck before Darius was ready. I thought I was following in the footsteps of Achilles and should have the glory of conquering a new Ilium for Greece; actually, as I see today, it was absolutely necessary to drive the Persians back from the Aegean Sea; and I drove them back, my dear master, so thoroughly that I occupied the whole of Bithynia, Phrygia, and Cappadocia, laid waste Cilicia, and only stopped at Tarsus. Asia Minor was ours. Not only the old Aegean basin but the whole northern coast of the Mediterranean was in our hands. "

The Need for Source Criticism:
A Letter from Alexander to Aristotle?

http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/ancient/alexfake.html

2."Alexander the Great imitated Achilles, Caesar Alexander, Scipio Cyrus. And whoever reads the life of Cyrus, written by Xenophon, will recognize afterwards in the life of Scipio how that imitation was his glory, and how in chastity, affability, humanity, and liberality Scipio conformed to those things which have been written of Cyrus by Xenophon. A wise prince ought to observe some such rules, and never in peaceful times stand idle, but increase his resources with industry in such a way that they may be available to him in adversity, so that if fortune chances it may find him prepared to resist her blows. "

Nicolo Machiavelli (1469-1527):
The Prince, 1513

http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/basis/machiavelli-prince.html

3. "Alexander was driven to launch his Asian campaigns by his firm belief that he was invincible and godlike. His family was thought to be descended from Hercules, and Alexander often emulated him as well as his personal hero, Achilles. Throughout his life, Alexander was encouraged by favorable omens and miracles that his diviners interpreted for him. "

Alexander in Persia

http://wso.williams.edu/~junterek/persia.htm

Alexander in the first primary source says that they were "threatened" and that was he reason he attacked Persia. That it was not for conquest. However the other two primary sources say that he did do it for conquest and that he could not "stand still".


Who is a better model for modern historians: Herodotus or Thucydides? Why?

Thesis: Both HErodotus and Thucydides were great historians and inspired many people.

1. "Greek historian, called the Father of History"

11th Brittanica: Herodotus
http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/ancient/eb11-herodotus.html

2. "Now the Persian nation is made up of many tribes. Those which Cyrus assembled and persuaded to revolt from the Medes were the principal ones on which all the others are dependent. These are the Pasargadae, the Maraphians, and the Maspians, of whom the Pasargadae are the noblest. The Achaemenidae, from which spring all the Perseid kings, is one of their clans. The rest of the Persian tribes are the following: the Panthialaeans, the Derusiaeans, the Germanians, who are engaged in husbandry; the Daans, the Mardians, the Dropicans, and the Sagartians, who are nomads."

Herodotus:
On The Customs of the Persians, c. 430 BCE

http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/ancient/herodotus-persians.html


3."The present division of the History into eight books is one which might well have proceeded from the author himself, as being a natural and convenient disposition of the contents. The first book, after a general introduction, sets forth the causes of the Peloponnesian War. The first nine years of the war are contained in the second, third and fourth books-three years in each. The fifth book contains the tenth year, followed by the interaval of the "insecure peace." The Sicilian expedition fills the sixth and seventh books. The eighth books opens that last chapter of the struggle which is known as the "Decelean" or "Ionian" War, and breaks off abruptly-in the middle of a sentence, indeed-in the year 411. "

11th Brittanica: Thucydides
http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/ancient/eb11-thucydides.html

The second and third primary sources give accounts made by Herodotus and Thucydides. They both wrote great accounts of history. Herodotus, the Persians and Thucydides the Pelponesian wars. The first primary source shows that people considered Herodotus the best history writer.


Were the Vikings "barbarians"?

The vikings were barbians that killed people for there goods and money.

1."843 A.D. Pirates of the Northmen's race came to Nantes, killed the bishop and many of the clergy and laymen, both men and women, and pillaged the city. Thence they set out to plunder the lands of lower Aquitaine. At length they arrived at a certain island [the isle of Rhé, near La Rochelle, north of the mouth of the Garonne], and carried materials thither from the mainland to build themselves houses; and they settled there for the winter, as if that were to be their permanent dwelling-place. "

Three Sources on the Ravages of the Northmen in Frankland, c. 843 - 912
http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/source/843bertin.html

2."One summer Harald Grayskin with his troops went north to
Bjarmaland, where be forayed, and fought a great battle with the
inhabitants on the banks of the Vina (Dwina). King Harald gained
the victory, killed many people, plundered and wasted and burned
far and wide in the land, and made enormous booty."
Heimskringla
or
The Chronicle of the Kings of Norway

http://omacl.org/Heimskringla/grafeld.html

3. " He plundered
much in the East sea. One summer, as he was coming from the
eastward on a viking's expedition to the coast of Viken, he
landed there and made a cattle foray. As King Harald happened,
just at that time, to be in Viken, he heard of it, and was in a
great rage; for he had forbid, by the greatest punishment, the
plundering within the bounds of the country."

All three of these primary sources show the horrible side of the vikings. All they did was plunder different countries, but if they plundered their own it was a punishment. They killed anyone that got in the way of their plundering.




Describe the significance of the Battle of Tours.

The battle was really important to they Muslims if they had won.

1."From 711 Muslim forces crossed the Straits of Gibraltar, conquered the Visigothic Kingdom, and in less than a decade crossed the Pyrenees. In 732, under the command of Abd-er- rahman, they were decisively defeated by Charles Martel and the Franks at the Battle of Poitiers [or Tours]. This event looms much larger in Western history than Muslim - leading to a famous passage of purple prose by Edward Gibbon about minarets rather than spires in Oxford if the Muslims had won. The event was notice the Muslim world.."

Anon Arab Chronicler: The Battle of Poitiers, 732
http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/source/arab-poitiers732.html

2. "..was right great and perilous, and many deeds of arms there was done the which all came not to knowledge. The fighters on both sides endured much pain: king John with his own hands did that day marvels in arms: he had an axe in his hands wherewith he defended himself and fought in the breaking of the press."Jean Froissart: On The Hundred Years War (1337-1453)
http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/source/froissart1.html

3."But many of the Moslems were fearful for the safety of the spoil which they had stored in their tents, and a false cry arose in their ranks that some of the enemy were plundering the camp; whereupon several squadrons of the Moslem horsemen rode off to protect their tents. But it seemed as if they fled; and all the host was troubled. And while Abderrahman strove to check their tumult, and to lead them back to battle, the warriors of the Franks came around him, and he was pierced through with many spears, so that he died. Then all the host fled before the enemy, and many died in the flight. . . . "

Anon Arab Chronicler: The Battle of Poitiers, 732
http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/source/arab-poitiers732.html

These primary sources show that the Muslims really needed to win the battle.They did not however win, but they had heart to try and fight even if they were not real soldiers.


What was the long range political impact of the reign of the Medici popes?

The Medici popes were all about power and getting their whole family to be the most powerful family of the Renaissance.

Thesis: The Medici pope's were dictators and did not care what other people thought in their dictatorship.

1. "Giovanni later ruled as Pope Leo X (reigned 1513-1521) and was also a patron of the arts. "

Lorenzo De Medici: Paternal Advice To A Cardinal (C. 1491)
http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/source/lorenzomed1.html

2. "Florence lay at the mercy of the Pope, and had to submit to his terms, one of which was that the Medici should be restored. The return of the Medici to Florence on 1st September 1512, and the consequent fall of the Republic, was the signal for the dismissal of Machiavelli and his friends, and thus put an end to his public career, for, as we have seen, he died without regaining office. "

Nicolo Machiavelli (1469-1527):
The Prince, 1513
http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/basis/machiavelli-prince.html

3. " The Open Letter is, therefore, Luther's first publication after the time when he recognized that the breach between him and the papal church was complete, and likely to be permanent. Meanwhile, the opposing party had come to the same conclusion. The verdict of the pope upon Luther had been long delayed, but on the 15th of June, midway between the letter to Spalatin, above mentioned, and completion of the Open Letter, Leo X signed the bull of excommunication, though it was not published in Germany until later. Thus Open Letter shows us the mind of Luther in the weeks when the permanent separation between him and Rome took place."

Martin Luther: Open Letter to German Nobility, 1520
http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/source/luther-germnobintro.html

These primary sources show that the Medici pope's were fully in charge. Luther sent the pope a letter telling him he was wrong and was then excommunicated. The Medici pope's did not rule as a republic, but as a dictatorship.

Who was Augustine of Hippo?
Augustine of Hippo was a bishop of the city Hippo.

"I might, indeed, reply that miracles were necessary before the world believed, in order that it might believe."

"Medieval Sourcebook: Augustine: City of God: Book 22:8-10. On Miracles." FORDHAM.EDU. Web. 04 June 2010. .

"Augustine tried to defend the Church by tracing the history of two cities or states from the beginning of the world"

"Medieval Sourcebook: Augustine of Hippo: The City of God, Excerpts." FORDHAM.EDU. Web. 04 June 2010. .

"I came to Carthage, where a caldron of unholy loves was seething and bubbling all around me."

"Medieval Sourcebook: Nicene Creed." FORDHAM.EDU. Web. 04 June 2010. .


5. Explain how the Medici encouraged "exploration". Why did they do it?
Medici encouraged exploration so they could be in charge of Florence.

"He was a humanist, arts patron - and a skillful politician"

"Medieval Sourcebook: Lorenzo De Medici: Paternal Advice To A Cardinal (C. 1491)." FORDHAM.EDU. Web. 04 June 2010. .

"These proofs of regard from foreign sovereigns caused Lorenzo to be looked upon with the greatest admiration by all Italy; and his reputation was daily increased by his rare ability"

"Medieval Sourcebook: Niccolò Machiavelli: History of Florence: Lorence De' Medici." FORDHAM.EDU. Web. 04 June 2010. .

"for during this time he took a leading part in the affairs of the Republic"

"Medieval Sourcebook: Nicolo Machiavelli: The Prince, 1513." FORDHAM.EDU. Web. 04 June 2010. .


Summarize how Elizabeth rises to the throne -- from her birth to her coronation.
Elizabeth had a very troubled childhood and one of the best reign as queen of England.