Church Reform

Catholic, Protestants, Lutheran the issues; reading the bible; individual salvation how to achieve that salvation, and who is worthy of that salvation; the sacraments; penance. From a society united by the rule of the pope and the church. To a society who changes with the ever changing rule of the kings and monarchy of the time, and their desired belief system. The devastation and wars caused through out Europe from switching from one ruler to another based on their religious prevalence.

Reading this section gives me a greater appreciation to our Fore-Father for their wisdom in writing the US Constitution; division between church and state, the freedom of Religion.

Revealed Truth

What is Truth? That is the questions. The answer could be any number of answers depending on the time of day and who you talked to during the middle ages in Europe. One thing was for sure, the church held great power, prestige and wealth. Kings and Popes fought for power and money.

Heresies grew within the church causing criticism of the practices of the church. War within the church between those are considered Orthodox clergy(the complete ones) and the laity credentes believers gained wide spread support. Is this where we fine some of our different types of churches today? Some brave men and women dared to take their own lives, and commit heresy against the church and start their own church. Soon Simon de Montfot, joined in a crusade and the French Midi was destroyed and the Cathari were driven deep underground.

The Black Death

As I read an re-read the excerpt on the black death I thank my luck stars that I am born in the time that I am. As a physician in that time, how helpless can one possible feel. Knowing that if you even try to help you are signing your own death warrant, and yet you are compelled to do what ever in your power to help. To try to find out what is causing this horrible disease.

The other thing that amazed me was the flagellant parading around town doing penance, as physical punishment, scoring their bodies in the imitation of Jesus. I am not to familiar with the Catholic religion, but isn't there a sect of the church to promotes this type of atonement of sin (extremest as they maybe). Could this be where they came from?

The Crusade's

As I read about the crusade's I shudder. I have a hard time imagining what it must have been like for anyone in those times. Fearful to say the very least. It makes me sad to know that a faith that teaches love and tolerance had such a violent and aggressive beginning. Thousand of years later we are still fighting a war over peoples right to warship freely and not to impose one religious doctrine over another. Will humankind ever learn to live in peace?

Wikipedia #2

This give a brief account of all Mediterranean countries from Rome to China and their ancestries. A vast array of information.

1) Word Count 11,449
2) Word search Ancient
3) Ancient may refer to:
• Ancient history, the span of recorded history starting about 5,000 years ago
• Ancient music
• Ancient (band), a melodic black metal musical group
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• Ancients (art group), a group of English artists in the 1820s and 30s
• Ancient (Stargate), a race who built the Stargates Stargate universe
• Ancient (Traveller), a mysterious race that once dominated the galaxy in the Traveller role-playing game
• Ancients (Eternal Darkness), a god-like race in Eternal Darkness: Sanity's Requiem
• Ancients (Legacy of Kain), a race in the Legacy of Kain games
• Ancients, an advanced species in the FreeSpace space simulation computer game series
• Ancients, a race in the Farscape TV series
• Ancients or Cetra in Final Fantasy VII
• The Ancients, a race of highly-advanced worldcrafters in the Might and Magic universe
4) There is no current activity in the discussion page
5) Last Change Oct. 16, 2008 First Change May 05
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Charlemagne - Conquest of Saxony

If at first you don't succeed try and try again. That was Charlemagne battle cry for complete success in assimilation of Saxony into his Christian realm. Having to go to the extremes of scattering the whole tribe and then bring an influx of Frankish to what was left of the villages. To maintain order and the new way of life, testifies to how resistant individuals can be to change. That also testifies to the will of Charlemagne, he was a King to be reckoned with, a man of perseverance.

Rise of Monasticism

Moses, Elijah, Jesus, and Mohammad all holy men how went into the deserts outside of of Egypt and Syria to fast and to seek the solitude of the endless wasteland, and to fight the demands with-end them. But hermits? Not in the traditional terms for they came back after periods of time to share with their people there enlightenment. To think of them as the beginning of today's monk's, and how they have evolved from the harsh deserts of Egypt and Syria to today's monasteries is enlightening. One that I would have never given much thought too given the stretch from desert to damp dark dreary monastery, from solitude to communal living.