Bohemia and Moravia today the Czech Republic united in Norway, shown here as a separate country, became part of Denmark in Most of Spain was controlled by the Caliph of Cordoba. Relationships between states were also very different. For example some areas of France, although nominally owing allegiance to the French king, operated as virtually independent kingdoms. Other countries were only nominally independent Burgundy for example owed allegiance to the Holy Roman Empire. January was known as Wolf-monath or Aefter-Yula after Christmas.
The Anglo-Saxons were some of the first to use the wheeled plow shown here. This could turn heavy soils, which had not been previously plowable. The small oxen are probably depicted accurately: cattle were far smaller than today. February was known as Sprout-kele from kelewur, a vegetable used for making broth. Opinions differ about the activity shown here. One suggests that vines are being pruned using serps, the broad bladed tools.
Certainly the workers seem to be using care. Other historians have suggested that they are coppicing trees for firewood. March was known as Rhede-monath to honor the goddess Rhoeda or Illyd-monath or stormy month.
The city utilizes the stone wall of the plateau region on a scale never equalled thereafter. The sinuous, massive walls of its complexes reach a height of 36 feet in some areas, constructed entirely without mortar from slabs of stone. These walls adjoin clay and wattle huts to form elaborate courtyards intended to house the ruling elite.
Beyond architecture, Great Zimbabwe produces little in the way of visual art, with one significant exception: the soapstone birds combining human and animal features, which are later adopted as national symbols one currently adorns the flag of Zimbabwe. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Eastern and Southern Africa, — A. Diverse rock art painting and engraving traditions continue throughout the region. Swahili Coast Culture, 8th—early 20th century. Mapungubwe , ca.
Zagwe dynasty, ca. Louis IX d. A pious man involved in works of charity and with a strong sense of his responsibilities, he exemplifies the virtues of the Christian knight.
A protector both of the university and the arts, Louis IX makes Paris a thriving cultural center. Louis is canonized in , less than thirty years after his death. The Capetian kings foster national unity through the use of one language. The monk Primat translates the Grandes chroniques de France , a manuscript written at Saint-Denis celebrating the Capetian dynasty, from Latin into French. With 20 million inhabitants, France is reputed the most powerful nation in Europe, as compared to Germany with a population of 14 million and England with 4 million.
Due in part to political insecurity in Italy, the French pope Clement V takes up residence in Avignon, which at the time belongs to the count of Provence, a vassal of the king of France.
The papal court at Avignon attracts intellectuals and artists from France and Italy, among them Petrarch and Simone Martini. Endemic wars and the development of sea trade contribute to the decline of the annual fairs held in the county of Champagne east of Paris. Diverse wares such as Flemish cloth and tapestry work , Chinese silk, Egyptian satin, Eastern spices, furs from the North, and even wax from Russia had been available at these fairs, which made the region a crucial center of international commerce and banking since the late eleventh century.
The Black Death reaches France, killing , according to chronicler Jean Froissart, a third of the population. The two countries fight intermittently for more than a century. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. France, — A. But predicting the apocalypse is just something that human beings like to do, and everyone always thinks they're living in the Worst of All Possible Times, so it always seems compelling. People kept calculating new dates — sometimes using curious math to do so.
Smithsonian Magazine notes that one date chosen for the apocalypse was the super-specific , based on some pretty interesting interpretations of Bible verses. The pope hasn't always been seen as a kindly old man in a white costume whose purity is unquestioned. As Esquire notes, the year , in fact, was just a few decades after the period known as the "pornacracy," when several popes were known to have had mistresses, had people murdered, and lived lavish lifestyles. By , the reputation of the papacy was not great.
So it's not terribly surprising that when a new pope, Gerbert Of Aurillac taking the regnal name Sylvester II , ascended in , he was widely regarded as the Antichrist, the person the Bible says will oppose Christ before the apocalypse.
For one thing, as historians Frances and Joseph Gies note, Sylvester was a very smart and learned man, and nothing convinces people you're in league with Satan like an education. As Popular Mechanics points out, Sylvester leaned into this by actually predicting the end of the world in Even today, if the pope popped up on CNN telling you the world was ending, you'd pay attention, and in , this was pretty triggering stuff for Catholics everywhere. For some, however, this just sealed their opinion that Sylvester was partnered with the Devil and probably his agent on Earth — aka the Antichrist.
You might think that the end of the world would be something kind of exciting. If someone convinced you that the world was ending in really, not difficult to do at this point , you'd probably freak out quite a bit. But people were kind of used to it back in the day. While the year definitely inspired a lot of apocalyptic talk, the truth is that predictions of the end of the world were so common that people kind of took them in stride back then.
Historians Frances and Joseph Gies note that the Bible isn't very specific about the date of the apocalypse, so people were prepared to accept that just about any year could be the end of everything. As The New York Times reports, back in medieval times, people accepted that the apocalypse could happen at literally any time — in , , , or just about any year ending in People probably went to lunch every day prepared for a blast of trumpets to announce the Second Coming.
There was no shortage of alarming events to support this expectation, either: Every year brought a famine, a plague, or an invasion by a marauding heathen army, any one of which could be reasonably interpreted as a sign of the End Times.
The thing about the year is that it's a product of the Anno Domini system of calculating years based on the assumption that you're a Christian — anno domini literally means "year of our lord" and refers to Jesus Christ. As Live Science explains, the system was first introduced in the sixth century by a monk trying to figure out exactly when Easter should be celebrated.
For anyone following the AD system, the year sure seemed significant. Add in a few apocalyptic events like losing wars to non-Christian forces, famines, or plagues , and it was easy for folks to come to the conclusion that the world was ending. But outside Christendom, it wasn't the year Other cultures had their own calendars, and they were doing much better than Christian Europe at the time. Not only were they steadily conquering the world, but they were leading in science, math, and the arts.
And History Magazine notes that for China , the year also represented a high point in their cultural and scientific endeavors — that's about when they invented gunpowder.
In other words, for anyone outside of Christian Europe, the year wasn't the year , and the world wasn't ending. One surprising aspect about the year and the apocalypse is how stoked a lot of people were. For a lot of people living 1, years ago, this was exciting stuff, possibly due to a distinct lack of Netflix and a distinct oversupply of deadly diseases and other miseries.
There was actually a lot of disappointment when New Year's came and went without much fuss. As noted by Britannica , people's confusion about the world not ending fed into a new idea — that the apocalypse needed the right conditions on the ground.
God wasn't going to trigger the end of all things unless humanity was ready for it. Because humans solve all problems with violence and bloodshed, this led directly to the idea that what was needed was a "Kingdom of God," which meant conquering all those irritating heathens.
According to historian Charles W.
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