The Lance
The lance, a staff weapon was used during the chivalric era. The lance was mainly used during a tournament. Tournaments were held as a type of competition for knights. The tournaments served as a source of entertainment and also a means to keep knights fit and in practice.
During the tournament if the lance began to break or splinter one point was scored. If the lance broke it would be replaced with a new one. If the lance broke again, the two knights would dismount horses and begin to fight with swords. The tournaments were encouraged to contain chivalric behavior and attitude.
The lance was also used in warfare. At the beginning of any battle the two sides would line up and begin to charge at each other holding out a lance to knock the opposition off of their horses. The jousting was primarily done at the beginning of a battle, and then the knights would dismount and charge with swords, daggers, or axes. The lance could also the used on the ground, but not nearly as successful as it would be used on a horse.
A lance was used in jousting. It was about 11 feet long with a 6-inch blade, and the blade was shaped like a leaf. It was used to throw the other knight off his horse. More armor was created after the wide use of the lance. The vamplate was created to protect the hand and arm, and breastplates to help stabilize the knight as he galloped on his horse.
The lance itself is very chivalric. It's large length, and weight made it challenge for knights to fight with one. It was a challenge in itself to use a lance, and anyone who could do so with elegance was considered chivalric. It took great practice to use a lance successfully. A quintain was used as target practice for the one using the lance. As most chivalric weapons a great deal of practice was required to become successful with a lance.
The chivalric era contained many weapons, but the lance truly symbolizes the chivalric era.
The knights’ way of transportation connects to how today we have tanks and other military transportation. Horses were the most commonly used animal for means of transportation. They were extremely important for battle grounds. Horses gave people an advantage of speed and height. “No other animal has been employed so widely and continuously and was at times so comprehensively protected as the horse,” says the Met Museum. Because the horse was so employed and so popular, they also needed protection to stay alive. Horses wore as much armor as the knights they carried. After the crusades, the popularity of the knights grew. “The Crusades further increased their value for the church and society in general” (infobase). This increase in value caused more people to try and become knights. The Met museum said that the most popular used weapons were “spear, sword, ax, and the bow and arrow.” These weapons and tactics of fighting then became the backbone of weapons today, such as guns. Spears and bows and arrows allowed knights to fight from a distance, such as hand grenades and guns are used in today’s
The late 18th century and early 19th century was a prominent time period in which the French Revolution and Haitian revolution occurred. Both revolutions were connected to each other such that they shared similar causes and consequences. Together, France and Haiti were angered by the inequality and unfair privileges that continued to appear in their societies. At the same time, they were inspired and hopeful of bringing the Enlightenment ideas into reality. Although they were able to accomplish most of what they fought for, such as the abolition of slavery, they still took part in bloody revolutions. However, one of the greatest differences in their outcomes was that France emerged as a new, firm government as Haiti staggered with its new independence.
While the French Revolution was inspired by the American, the Haitian Revolution was inspired by the French. The previously mentioned “declaration for the rights of man” was written not only for France, but as an international guideline. The revolutionary idea of liberty for all was a desperate need for all of Saint Domingue, especially the slaves. Revolutionaries like Toussaint L’Overture adopted the ideas of the oppressed Third Estate to build their own revolutions against slave owners, and France
African Haitians completely did away with the social control that kept the racial hierarchy in place in Haiti. The institutions that the French held to control the slaves were attacked the very French army that was sent was defeated and the former slaves took control of the island and forever changed the colonial society they lived in. African slaves began to notice during the French revolution the ideals of liberty, citizenship, and voting come up but they were excluded due to the racial hierarchy that existed in the colony. Even the slave owners that were not white were not given access to the newfound rights of the French citizens. This revolution had a great impact on the rest of Spanish America, The United States and specifically the islands of Cuba and Jamaica. It grounded the growing abolitionist movements because of the drastic outcome of the slaves’ revolution and tightened the colonial control in the islands in the Caribbean who feared a similar revolution could occur. The Haitian revolution was not an eruption of recent discontent, it had been building as slaves frequently ran away and established Maroon
On January 1, 1804, the country of Haiti formally declared independence from the French colonial powers. This newfound state of freedom was born as a result of the Haitian revolution (1791–1804), a movement that was primarily lead by the former slave and prominent leader, Toussaint L’Overture. Due to the successful nature of this slave revolt, the nation of Haiti became a huge inspiration for surrounding colonies – becoming the second former European colony in the New World that was able to achieve independence. Despite the hard-won efforts of the oppressed, political stability within the country quickly unravelled as the national identity formed during the revolution deteriorated under rising conflict between mulattoes and blacks.
The circumstances in Haiti just before The French Revolution were prime for an insurrection to occur. Lacking a clear and defined political authority, the White colonists were unable to contain adequate the rebellion that they had been forced upon themselves for years. Their contemptible treatment of Negroes and Mulattoes in Haiti sped up the progress of the cause of the abolition of slavery in Haiti. The excesses of that contemptible treatment are the very reason why the Haitian Revolution was so successful: the treatment of slaves and Mulattoes in Haiti was so bad that it forced the most violent and ultimately, the most successful slave insurrection in history. The French Revolution provided the necessary spark for the revolution in Haiti
The island of Saint-Domingue was made up of a mixture of people including whites from France, creoles, free people of color, and slaves. Once sugar became a major cash crop on the island, an estimated half-million African slaves were brought in to work the land. These slaves outnumbered their white masters more than ten to one and made up the majority of the island inhabitants. Even so, the island had the most secure slave regime in the Caribbean because of the cooperation between masters and free men of color. Due to the difficult policing jobs given to the freed men with little reward, the communication between them and the white masters broke down. Now that the white slaveholders were on their own, it was only a matter of time before their brutal treatment of slaves would lead to an uprising. Once enslaved Africans received word of the revolution in France they too began demanding freedom. After years of civil unrest and vicious fighting, Haiti declared its freedom from France in January of 1804. What makes the Haitian Revolution more radical than the two before it is the fact that it was led by slaves. Throughout the previous revolutions, the main goal was for white men, essentially, to be free from oppressive government rule. There were few thoughts regarding the rights of slaves, even though they too were men. The fact that this group of people were able to remove the colonial authority and establish their own country during this period of time was particularly radical and unheard
In looking back at the time of chivalry and the knight it is not common that one forgets the existence of the spur and the true value it poses. The spur was one of the essential tools that a knight possessed as an equestrian. The spur was first introduced for its purpose in encouraging the horse on, but as medieval times approached the spur gained its decorative aspects and held more of a romantic value to people. The spur became elaborate with beads and embroidery, fancy brass, and gold metals. The spur was essentially an emblem of Knighthood; “to win his spurs” ceremonies put spurs at the investiture of a knight, and were cut off at occasions of degradation (Lacy).
Haiti, previously known as Saint-Domingue, was a slave island and one of the wealthiest of France’s colonies. Up until this point in time, slavery was still common and, as mentioned above, continued throughout the world even after such freedom declarations such as, the Declaration of Independence in the newly formed United States, and the Declaration of Rights of Man in the Republic of France. The Haitian Revolution was brought on by the want for liberation of slaves, and was largely inspired by the French Revolution and the Declaration of Rights of Man. “Even though the early leaders of the French Revolution had no intention of exporting the upheaval, it spread to the colonies, especially to Saint-Domingue” (Ott 1973). This revolution proved to be a major event as it was the most successful slave revolution in history. The slavery population in Haiti, vastly outnumbered the white colonists in Haiti, and therefore, when the slave population banded together, led to a full-scaled rebellion. Revolts would continue to occur until finally in 1793, the slaves got their freedom, with slavery officially being abolished in all French territories in 1794. From this point until 1802, small rebellions continued to occur as not much changed in the daily lives of slaves, despite technically having their freedom. After the French Revolution and with Napoleon taking power in 1799; Napoleon reinstated slavery in all French colonies, including Haiti. Napoleon also sent an army to Haiti to enforce these new slavery laws and Haiti returned to a slave economy in 1802 (Doyle 1943). The Haitian Revolutionaries finally get their win after defeating the French soldiers in the Battle of Vertieres in 1803; the final part of the revolution. The revolution officially ended in 1804, with Haiti gaining its independence from France and permanently abolishing slavery
In Medieval Times knights are the protectors. The knights fight for, and obey the king. And for that reason Knight’s are in high rankings in the class system, compared to the peasants and merchants. The Canterbury Tales by Geoffrey Chaucer, people are going on the pilgrimage to Canterbury for Salvation. The knight is Chaucer’s ideal of a night should be. The knight is a highly principled killer who travels the world and fights for what he believes in with unequivocal bravery and valor.
In the joust the knight used the lance, a weapon specifically designed for mounted combat. At first jousters would simply spur their horses towards one another, weapons ready, each attempting to knock each other off there horses. If a knight was knocked to the ground, his battle was as good as lost. For the mounted warrior could run him down, trample him with his horse, or spear him with his lance; all while out of reach of the land bound fighter.
...ll, Sports and Tournaments were important in the Middle Ages because it showed their inner strength and abilities and prepared for battle. This proved how Knights would do anything to gain the kings trust and represent the city.
Theater is a natural outlet for our desire to hear and tell stories, and in some ways it is even more primal and powerful than the written word. At its worst, theater will merely bore; while at its best it will not only entertain but move and shape its audience. Two such genres of theater, or drama, have consistently achieved this effect. Tragedy, represented by the weeping actors’ mask, usually features the title character’s fall from greatness to ruin, guided by the gods or fate. Oedipus Rex, written by Sophocles, is the epitome of classic Tragedy, as defined by Aristotle (96-101). Here, Oedipus falls from kingship to blindness and exile. Drama’s other great genre, Comedy, is represented by the laughing actors’ mask. In Comedy the action is usually propelled by a problem or crisis of some sorts, but unlike tragedy it usually ends well. Lysistrata, written by Aristophanes, is a perfect example of classic Comedy. The farcical story line follows the title character, who rallies the women of Greece to withhold sex from their mates all in the good cause of ending war. At first glance these two genres would seem to have nothing in common with each other. Comedy entails laughter and good feelings while the audience will leave a Tragedy in tears. But the best of Comedy and the best of Tragedy will produce the same affect: catharsis. Catharsis is the purgation and purifying of the emotions, specifically fear or pity. (“Catharsis”) The plays that manage to produce catharsis in their audience are the ones that we return to time and time again. Although catharsis is one of the main objectives of Greek Tragedy (Jacobus 34), Comedy done well will shape and move its audience in the same way. These two classic genres use characters that are co...
There are two ways you could be a knight in the medieval period you were either born into it or you showed bravery and prowess on the battlefield. If you were born into power you would be sent off to learn how to be a page at the age of 8. Then by the age of 13 were called a squire they were taught how to be a better knight. Knights had a lot of tournaments all the time they jousted, shot bow and arrows, and had hand to hand combat. Knights even had a code of conduct which was also called the code of chivalry. The code of conduct or chivalry told you what your goal and what you had to do to be a good knight. Knights were expected to do a lot around the castles and what not. A knight was expected to protect those less or lesser rank than himself and to hold to the highest standards of combat and knowledge in religion, writing, music, and leadership. A knight was very closely related to their horse. They had a lot training in them horses and hours working with them. A knight had to have years and year of training before they called be called a knight. Their armor was very expensive to produce. They had to be brave and fearless in battle to be able to be a knight. Knights also did some hunting and they had to put some hour into everything they honestly did. Being a knight meant you have a job and you better go get or done or you were severely punished. A knight didn't just stand for having power it meant you
On June 12, 1929, at 7:30 AM, a baby girl was born in Frankfort, Germany. No one realized that this infant, who was Jewish, was destined to become one of the worlds most famous victims of World War II. Her name was Anne Frank. Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl, by Anne Frank and B.M. Mooyaart, was actually the real diary of Anne Frank. Anne was a girl who lived with her family during the time while the Nazis took power over Germany. Because they were Jewish, Otto, Edith, Margot, and Anne Frank immigrated to Holland in 1933. Hitler invaded Holland on May 10, 1940, a month before Anne?s eleventh birthday. In July 1942, Anne's family went into hiding in the Prinsengracht building. Anne and her family called it the 'Secret Annex'. Life there was not easy at all. They had to wake up at 6:45 every morning. Nobody could go outside, nor turn on lights at night. Anne mostly spent her time reading books, writing stories, and of course, making daily entries in her diary. She only kept her diary while hiding from the Nazis. This diary told the story of the excitement and horror in this young girl's life during the Holocaust. Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl reveals the life of a young innocent girl who is forced into hiding from the Nazis because of her religion, Judaism. This book is very informing and enlightening. It introduces a time period of discrimination, unfair judgment, and power-crazed individuals, and with this, it shows the effect on the defenseless.