Great Schism

Great Schism

I had an interesting interview today, with a woman who was alive during the era of the Great Schism. Her name is Katherine, and she gave me some very big details about what really happened during this split

Q: Now Katherine, could you tell me a bit about before the split

A: Why of course. We were all just one big religion, living under the same European roof. We shared everything, the church had always been such a huge part of the government, and I honestly couldn't imagine a society not being like that! The Pope was doubly powerful and everyone pretty much believed the same things.

Q: Now the split, why did it happen? Who was it between? When did this occur?

A: I am pretty sure a lot of the split had to do with religious icons, I mean like which ones we are supposed to use I guess. It was between the east and the west, or you could think of it as between the Byzantines and the Pope. In 1054, things got very official. The problems got worse in 1054, and the split finally happened. This created two different religions, eastern and western Christianity. It was a pretty radical split.

Q: Well if it was split, what two religions were formed? Was anything else split up?

A: Obviously the Eastern and Western ones. To be more specific, the religions are Greek Orthodox and Roman Catholic. Another big thing that split were languages, the two that were split between the religions were Greek and Latin. The Pope and Patriarch were at odds with each other and excommunicated one another. This caused even more disputes between religions. They made marriage into a big deal and it’s very different in the two religions.

Q: So a lot changed during this split? How do you think it’s going to impact the future?

A: Well I would have to say that the creation of two separate main religions will have an impact. These will probably stick around for a while and maybe even make it to the distant year of 2010. These two didn't exist before, so I'm sure this will play a role in the future.

Columbus Leaves Spain

Today I met a very interesting and somewhat confused man by the man of Christopher Columbus. He told me about finding Indians and the "New World". Here’s Christopher...

Christopher Columbus

Q: Tell me a bit about your past

A: I was born in October of 1451 and always wanted to be an explorer. I have always considered myself to be a navigator, colonizer and explorer. I was born is Genoa (a part of modern day Italy), and my father was a wool-weaver, and later opened a cheese stand as well. I had a mother too; she stayed at home to watch after me and my three brothers. IN 1470, we moved to Savona and I ended up getting hired in the service of Rene of Anjou to help support his attempts to conquer the Kingdom of Naples. In 1473, I began apprenticing my business agent for Centurione, Di Negro and the Spinola families of Genoa.

Q: I know that you went on 4 round-trip voyages the New World, and I must say, that sounds rather expensive! Who paid for you to make these trips?

A: I feel so bad for the fools I asked to fund me and they refused! I discovered new land for the taking! Places this world didn't know existed! I asked many people, which included John II, Genova and Venice, and King Henry VII of England. I finally set my sights on Spain and went to ask the monarchs Ferdinand II of Aragon and Isabella I of Castile. They had just united many kingdoms in the Iberian Peninsula by getting married. On May 1st, 1486, after permission to have an audience from the monarchs, I presented my plan to Queen Isabella. She referred it to a committee, and the committee said I had calculated the distance to Asia too short and that it was impractical and told Isabella to pass on the adventure. To keep me from leaving and taking my ideas with me though, they gave me an annual allowance of 12,000 maravedis. After much lobbying and 2 years of negotiations, I finally got permission to go in 1492!

Q: Tell me about your voyages

A: Why yes, fun times those were! We saw land early on, which gave us the confidence we needed to continue our voyages. We met interesting people who were natives to the Islands and land that we discovered. We called them Indians because we all believed that we had found the Indies. We used three ships for these voyages, these ships are like my saviors, and they took us all the way to these distant lands! They are named The Santa María, The Niña and La Pinta. I finally came back to Spain in 1493, after I had discovered a lot of new places. In 1948, I discovered the South American Mainland; in 1502 I found the Gulf of Mexico and my biggest achievement, America in 1492. There were many other places besides them, but those were the big finds. Those were the places that put my name on the map of historical adventurers!

Q: That sounds really fun! Now I'm sure when you arrived people treated you a little different, right?

A: Oh yes they did. The contract we made before I left made me very rich. They gave me a lot in that contract; I can't help but wonder if it was because they didn't think I would make it back from this New World alive. I also got a lot of praise upon my return. I was bestowed with the highest honors you could get!

Q: That’s all very exciting and interesting, and I can probably guess, but how do you think you impacted the future? Like 2010?

A: Well, I discovered uncharted territories. I made discoveries of places that no one knew existed besides native, pardon my language, savages. We can and helped them and I'm sure the inhabitants now are more European than native. That would probably be my greatest achievement and I can only hope that those people do good things with the land I gave them!

Charlemagne

I had the extreme delight to meet with a man by the name of Charlemagne and interview him to learn all about him. I may not be the first person to say this, but my, I think he was the greatest emperor of the Dark Ages! Enjoy...



Charlemagne



Q: Now, how exactly did someone like you rise to power?

A: My grandfather was actually Charles "The Hammer" Martel, so that had something to do with it! I was born in the year 742 to a king and queen. The 'crown' was passed down onto my father when my grandfather died, and upon my fathers’ death, the 'crown' was given to both my brother and I. We were told we must share the empire; each of us was given a half and had jurisdiction over our own. My brother and I had never been good at sharing, and we only ever communicated to each other through our poor mother. My brother met and untimely death (I swear, I had nothing to do with it) and I gained full power of all of our, or should I say my empire when I was a mere 24 years old.

Q: Could you tell me about some of your conquests while ruler?

A: I have had so many! This may take a while, but I will share with you what I have accomplished as ruler. Well, I formed the new Roman Empire when I was crowned and did my fair share to improve it. For example, our military was spectacular and never once lost a military conquest. I also thought it was very important to educate people, so I built chains of royal schools and got myself the craving for knowledge as well! I tried very hard to learn to read and write, which was unheard of for a warrior like myself to do. I like to think that it also set an example to all the young kids out there too. I ran 50 military campaigns, which was a very large amount for my day! But I would have to say one of the things I am the most proud of is my faith to Christianity during my rule. I also thought it was very inventive of me to split my kingdom into 350 counties, each with their own ruler. But I didn't want these people to think that they had too much power, so I made sure they knew I was watching them, and told them they must report to me.

Q: Christianity, eh? Could you explain how you incorporated that into your empire?

A: Talk about my faith! Why, yes, of course!  I very much enforced Gods rule. One really good way to tell you about how I did this was to explain to you my conquering of the Saxons. I conquered them, and if they had just gone with the program and embraced MY God, everything would have been fine, but no! They were worshipping some fake paegan God. Needless to say, I brutally murdered them. You cannot live under my domain and worship some fake! That is NOT ok! Because of my enforcement, I turned a lot of northern barbarians into Christians as well.

Q: How do you think this will impact people in about 1300 years from now, in the year 2010?

A: Hm, well I would have to say that my conversion of people to Christianity, especially barbarians will have a large impact on them. I would have to guess that my area of reign will stay mostly Christian, with some variations of the faith included. These people will be travelers, I can tell, and will spread my faith far! Or at least, I very much hope so!

Charlemagne died in the year 814, but he will be remembered, for enforcing his faith, Christianity, in such a way that people will have to take notice and possibly join the faith.

Crusades

I had the honor of interviewing a highly ranked Christian soldier who served in the infamous Crusades. His name was Bill, and I hope you enjoy what he has to say...



The Crusades!



Q: So Bill, what exactly were the Crusades?

A: Funny you should ask, seeing as I fought in them! *Ahem* anyways, they were a series of Holy Wars fought between the Muslims and Christians. I am not going to lie, the Christians may have launched these wars, but I can only stress that these people had it coming.

Q: What was the main purpose of these many battles?

A: The main purpose? Well of course it was Jerusalem! Throughout the wars, it was constantly switching hands! One war was ours and the next, theirs. It was quite a struggle. Neither one of us was going to give up easily though. This was a fight that would last. I can say from experience that neither of these sides were quitters.

Q: Why of course not! Now I'm a little confused, when were these wars?

A: Well, the first one was launched by Pope Urban II was asked by Emperor Alexius for help with the Muslim problem. Pope Urban II launched the first if these numerous Holy Wars in 1096. I won't bore you with the details of each battle, but a high point was 1099. This was when Jerusalem was captured! The last year you should know about is 1271-1272. This was when the very last of these wars occurred. This last one was led by none other than Prince Edward

Q: Wow, I can really see how big and important these wars were! But can you tell me what impacts you think these wars will leave? I mean, yes they were big, but specific things?

A: This could take a while, just warning you! These wars had tons and tons of results! These Crusades helped to break down that silly old Feudal system by taking away power from the king. There were boat loads of technological advances as well. These were mostly due to the exposure of Muslim culture, and trade and different religions that were brought together and the spread of Christianity. There was a lot of exchanges on art, spices, literature and ideas, which helped to weaken the Byzantine Empire. People finally stopped doing so much farming and began getting an education through reading and writing and painting. The crusades also brought in a lot of money for the economy and gave power to the Pope and Church. I would have to say that the very single most important thing that it did was finally bring Europe out of the Dark Ages.  

Magna Carta




King John

 

Next up on the interview list was King John. He was an interesting king, who, uh, did the best he could? Well, I won't tell you too much. I will let you make your opinions on your own.

Q: What happened while you were king?

A: What? Oh yes, being king. Um, well I, I guess I didn't do a great job, but that’s just who you ask. In my defense, it’s a lot harder to be king than you would think! Well, I lost a bit of land to France, and I had a huge fallout with the Pope. Let me tell you, that’s someone you don't want to get in a fight with! I also lost a bit of a battle with the nobles as well. I tried to put them in their place and, let’s just say they didn't like it very much.

Q: Wait, what happened with the Pope and the nobles?

A: Well I don't like to talk about it much, but you won't judge me. Will you? I will trust our friendship! Anyways, the Pope, the nobles and I just had a minor falling out... The nobles wouldn't pay their taxes, so I put them in jail. The nobles rebelled against my taxes and supposed "violation of rights" and FORCED me to sign the Magna Carta in 1215. The Pope and I fought about naming the next Bishop. This did not help my image; it made me look a little bad to be totally honest. The church went on strike because of me too. It was not the best reign as king, but like I said, it’s harder than it looks!

Q: I'm sure it is...What about the "Magna Carta"? What is it?

A: The Magna Carta was a document that states the rights of the nobles. I was told I absolutely must obey this document! This paper restricted my rights as leader! It sucked! It also established two things, the Due Process of Law and Parliament. Also, I had to agree to not raise new taxes. Imagine that! The leader isn't allowed to raise taxes to pay for his country! It was humiliating.

Q: I'm sure it was. What is Parliament and Due Process of Law?

A: Well, Parliament is two houses that have all the money. If you want something, hit them up. I like to say they have the purse. It also has the legislative body. The Due Process of Law is the rules that the government must follow for fair and impartial trials. These were inventive things, I must say. I only wish that I had come up with them before I was forced to sign them. I only hope that in history, it will say that I came up with this and signed it myself. That would definitely make me look good again!

Q: How do you think the Magna Carta will be helpful in the future? About 2010?

A: The Magna Carta was inventive and new, and I'm sure it will be there in the future. I'm guessing it will lay the basis for their legal system. I think that things like warrants will be needed to search peoples' homes and possessions. I think court systems will be used to decide if a person is guilty or not. I also think that you will need to read them their rights when you arrest someone, kind of like "you have the right to remain silent and anything you say can and will be used against you in the court of law. You have the right to an attorney, if you cannot afford one, one will be provided for you". I also think that before you search someone, you will need to have a reasonable suspicion. If only I had thought of all of this before they stopped listening to me!

Battle of Tours

This next interview is with Charles "The Hammer" Martel himself! He is a very big part in history and earned his nickname for the way he hammered down the opposing forces in battle. I will stop there, and let him tell you about the rest...

Battle of Tours

Q: So, Charles, who, what, when and where was this battle?

A: This battle was between my side, the Franks, and Abdul Rahmans side, the Moors. Essentially what happened during this battle was that they came to our land looking to take control. Now this I would not stand for. No one would take control of my land and my people if I was still alive! The approximate day that this battle started was about October 10, 732, I can't quite remember, it was a long time ago. This battle happened around Tours, France, forever naming the battle that stopped them from stealing our land for good.

Q: For good? Well, how did the battle start?

A: When they came, I knew they had totally underestimated the power and will of my people, the Franks. We were both poised for attack, waiting for the other to strike first, no one wanted to be the beginning of the battle that was ahead. But what he must have realized is that if he had any chance of defeating us, he needed to strike before winter. So, on our 7th day of waiting, the battle began. 

Q: I must know, what happened during this battle? Who won?

A: We were fighting and fighting, and I suddenly had a brilliant idea! What if I sent my troops to raid their camps and tents? If I did this, I would be showing that nowhere is safe. My men were sent and raided and killed their men. Abdul must have realized quickly that I was a force to be reckoned with, hence the nickname. He drew back, putting an end to the battle and letting us declare our victory over the once feared Moors.

Q: Quite an exciting battle! But, how do you think this will impact people in the future? The year 2010 has a good ring to it, how about then?

A: Well, my win stopped the Moors from advancing any farther into France, so I would have to say that when I stopped them from advancing would impact them. I presume there aren't many people of Abdul and his descendants living there causing mayhem in 2010! Even in the course of history to get to then, the Moors never appeared there I'm guessing, so I think my battle helped the people of 2010.

William the Conqueror



William the Conqueror



The next interview I had was with William the Conqueror. He set up some very interesting things that will be helpful in making a fair and equal tax system. I won't ruin the rest for you, here’s William!

Q: How did you come to power?

A: I had to battle my way to the throne, let me tell you! The nobles picked the next king after King Edward died without an heir. They picked one of their own (shocking, I know), a man by the name of Harold Godwinson. He was the brother-in-law of the late King Edward. I was the Duke of Normandy and I decided that he was not worthy, so I went off to fight for the crown. I was not the only one that hid this idea though. Another man, Harald of Normandy came too. This battle became known as the Battle of Hastings. Since I became king, you know that I won this epic battle in the year 1066. I was officially crowned king on Christmas day.

Q: What did you do to set up as king?

A: I was busy! I got control of new lands and gave away a lot of fiefs to get them on my good side. I granted fiefs to Norman Lords, to the church, and of course, kept quite a few for the crown. All castles that were built were closely monitored by me or my people, no way was I going to let them get away with anything! I made all my vassals swear allegiance to me. I don't take backstabbing.

Q: I heard you made some sort of book...is this correct?

A: My Doomsday book? That’s an idea I take great pride in! What I came up with is a revolutionary tax system! I made everyone tell me what they have. As an example, you must tell me how much livestock, property, people, and buildings you have. And don't think I didn't think that people would lie to me either! I had royal exchequers go and check people out. I also used them to collect taxes, fees, fines and other dues. This was truly the best idea I had in office.

Q: How do you think your reign as king will impact the future?

A: Like I told you before, I think my Doomsday book will be extremely important. Most well-functioning societies need an accurate tax system. By knowing who has what, you can tax people much more fairly. It’s like knowing that someone is rich and someone is poor and charging them the same, now this isn't fair at all. Now, the poor person pays much much less than the rich man. This just made everything more equal. The other thing is my power. I think my reign really solidified what I like to call, the Executive Branch. This "branch" gives power to small groups of people (Mayors), then larger (Governors) until it gets to the largest ruler (President).  These people were meant to enforce the law, my job.