Recently, I have been playing the highly addictive strategy game, Sid Meyer's Civilization V. I have never really been into computer games, but Civilization V is different. My friends have played previous Civilization (or Civ) editions, and I got intrigued.
I love to play strategy and learn about history, I can play as the Vikings, Spain, Incas, England, America, and many more. You learn history and many other skills as well, such as money management and how to rule a civilization and the world.
The game is divided into eras, which are defined with different technologies. You can also build a military with units (swordsmen, long-swordsmen, etc.). There are also socail policies that you can use to enhance your civilization and more.
I know this is vague, but I love the game and I just want to make this general statement: Anyone who has Steam (game downloading software) or enjoys history and strategy should really think about Sid Meyer's Civilization V.
Wednesday, July 6, 2011
Saturday, July 2, 2011
The Complete Idiot's Guide To European History - Part 2
This blog post completes Chapter 1. Due to the length most of the chapters my blog posts for each are two parted, to allow a slow and steady flow of posts to the web and information to my head. Previously I covered The Middle Ages, Bubonic Plague (Black Death), And The Hundreds Years' War. This post will cover the Church events and peasant revolts.
The Church and Christianity were central in The Middle Ages. The church hierarchy looked like the following: The Pope --- National Bishops --- Local Priests. But as Europe began to recover from The Middle Ages, people lost faith in the church. Mostly due to many events that could not all be explained as God's wrath.
Starting with the failed Crusades in the twelfth century, people began to think that the Church was no longer as powerful and connected with God as it had once been. The biggest blow to its power, which set off the early sparks of the Reformation was the Pope. In the 1300s, the Pope was named Boniface VIII. He tried to gain more power, which greatly angered leaders of other nations such as France. In reaction to this, Pope Boniface simply excommunicated (see word of the week on the blog side bars for the definition) these leaders as he did the French king Philip the Fair.
These events led to the capturing of Boniface VIII and the rise of Clement V, a Frenchman. As Pope, Clement V moved the Papacy to Avignon, France. This surprised Roman Catholics and ruined the Roman economy. Thus, the Church moved farther away, rather than closer to power.
As I am going on far to long about the early Church struggles I will wrap it up for you now and move on to the next hotspot of this post. In the end these struggles would lead to the Reformation of the Church. For now however after have two, then three, and then finally the one "true" pope came up as a man named Martin V. However, the Pope lost much of his authority, especially over countries like France who had previous conflicts with Papal authority.
Now onto the peasant revolts, specifically The Jacquerie in France and The Peasants Revolt Of 1381 in England. During the Hundreds Years' War, France and England forgot about the peasants and serfs and left them hanging, obvious a fatal mistake. The war destroyed much land and mercenaries pillaged it for surviving food, ammunition, and anything they thought they could find.
Peasants soon got angry for they were not receiving protection that the feudal system promised. North of Paris, a revolt broke out as peasants stormed their way towards the capital of the nation, but they were stopped by the kings forces, and luckily for France, did not destabilize the nation.
In England in 1381, the same conditions were taking their toll on the peasants. They soon revolted and marched towards their capital, London. As France had, England stopped the peasants and saved their national stability. However, the feudal system soon would meet it's demise due to fear of more revolts and new forms of national government.
In total and overall, the chapter and especially this aprt gave me knowledge to write a long summary of the events during these times and allowed me to set the stage for my next post that will come very, very soon. That concludes Chapter 1 and brings me to the next major topic of European History; The Renaissance.
The Church and Christianity were central in The Middle Ages. The church hierarchy looked like the following: The Pope --- National Bishops --- Local Priests. But as Europe began to recover from The Middle Ages, people lost faith in the church. Mostly due to many events that could not all be explained as God's wrath.
Starting with the failed Crusades in the twelfth century, people began to think that the Church was no longer as powerful and connected with God as it had once been. The biggest blow to its power, which set off the early sparks of the Reformation was the Pope. In the 1300s, the Pope was named Boniface VIII. He tried to gain more power, which greatly angered leaders of other nations such as France. In reaction to this, Pope Boniface simply excommunicated (see word of the week on the blog side bars for the definition) these leaders as he did the French king Philip the Fair.
These events led to the capturing of Boniface VIII and the rise of Clement V, a Frenchman. As Pope, Clement V moved the Papacy to Avignon, France. This surprised Roman Catholics and ruined the Roman economy. Thus, the Church moved farther away, rather than closer to power.
As I am going on far to long about the early Church struggles I will wrap it up for you now and move on to the next hotspot of this post. In the end these struggles would lead to the Reformation of the Church. For now however after have two, then three, and then finally the one "true" pope came up as a man named Martin V. However, the Pope lost much of his authority, especially over countries like France who had previous conflicts with Papal authority.
Now onto the peasant revolts, specifically The Jacquerie in France and The Peasants Revolt Of 1381 in England. During the Hundreds Years' War, France and England forgot about the peasants and serfs and left them hanging, obvious a fatal mistake. The war destroyed much land and mercenaries pillaged it for surviving food, ammunition, and anything they thought they could find.
Peasants soon got angry for they were not receiving protection that the feudal system promised. North of Paris, a revolt broke out as peasants stormed their way towards the capital of the nation, but they were stopped by the kings forces, and luckily for France, did not destabilize the nation.
In England in 1381, the same conditions were taking their toll on the peasants. They soon revolted and marched towards their capital, London. As France had, England stopped the peasants and saved their national stability. However, the feudal system soon would meet it's demise due to fear of more revolts and new forms of national government.
In total and overall, the chapter and especially this aprt gave me knowledge to write a long summary of the events during these times and allowed me to set the stage for my next post that will come very, very soon. That concludes Chapter 1 and brings me to the next major topic of European History; The Renaissance.
Wednesday, June 29, 2011
The Complete Idiot's Guide To European History - Part 1
I am very sorry for the delay for this update, it is caused by two reasons. First, I would have completed the America - The Story Of Us blog series, but since I watch the program through Netflix, an there are some difficulties at the moment I could not watch it. Second is that I am now very busy over summer break, so I will not be able to post as much. With that out of the way, here is my review of The Complete Idiot's Guide To European History - Part 1.
Although I am not an idiot, I loved The Complete Idiot's Guide To European History. written by Nathan Barber, it is one of the best historical books that I have read. The book is dived into different parts, but I will not be using those parts, only what I have time to read.
Darting in the Later or High Middle Ages, the story climbs into descriptions of exciting and deadly events such as the Bubonic Plague (or Black Death) and The Hundred Years' War. The first part of chapter 1 also gives a brief and well-written overview of the Early Middle Ages and things like feudalism and chivalry.
Overall, you can learn much about European history, if you are an idiot or not. Many interesting facts are listed such as the real 116 year length of The Hundreds Years' War and extensive facts such as the glorification of Joan of Arc and more. The text allows readers to learn and review certain criteria, and would be perfect for students studying Europe.
Although I am not an idiot, I loved The Complete Idiot's Guide To European History. written by Nathan Barber, it is one of the best historical books that I have read. The book is dived into different parts, but I will not be using those parts, only what I have time to read.
Darting in the Later or High Middle Ages, the story climbs into descriptions of exciting and deadly events such as the Bubonic Plague (or Black Death) and The Hundred Years' War. The first part of chapter 1 also gives a brief and well-written overview of the Early Middle Ages and things like feudalism and chivalry.
Overall, you can learn much about European history, if you are an idiot or not. Many interesting facts are listed such as the real 116 year length of The Hundreds Years' War and extensive facts such as the glorification of Joan of Arc and more. The text allows readers to learn and review certain criteria, and would be perfect for students studying Europe.
Sunday, June 26, 2011
America The Story Of Us - Rebels
In this first blog post I will be reviewing and discussing the first episode of the American history series America The Story Of Us. This episode, "Rebels", paints a portrait of life from the early British colonization of America in Jamestown and Plymouth through the battles of Lexington and Concord.
The program is narrated by Liev Schreiber, who captures the feelings of the people in colonial America with his tone and powerful language. In the early part of the program he demonstrates this, talking about the colonial-Indian relationships. Showing the hardships and the cruelty of early life in the colonies and the complex alliance with northern Indian tribes.
The timeline follows that from 1607, when English adventures land in Virginia and found the small settlement of Jamestown. Soon the timelines moves to the arrival of the first pilgrims and the Plymouth landing. Soon the thirteen colonies have come into shape, as Dutch merchants, Swedish settlers, and British adventure-seekers come to America and transform well-to-do towns into bustling cities such as Boston, Charleston, and New York. Closing with pre-revolutionary events such as The Boston Massacre and The Boston Tea Party. Finally setting the stage for the revolution with "the shot that was heard around the world", the battles of Lexington and Concord.
On a scaled rating the program is brilliant and allows the viewer to understand that life in pre-revolutionary America was cultural, diverse, and troubled by British greed. Rotating around the coming revolutionary ideals (The Delectation Of Independence and Common Sense), the episode sets the stage for it's precedent, The American Revolution.
The program is narrated by Liev Schreiber, who captures the feelings of the people in colonial America with his tone and powerful language. In the early part of the program he demonstrates this, talking about the colonial-Indian relationships. Showing the hardships and the cruelty of early life in the colonies and the complex alliance with northern Indian tribes.
The timeline follows that from 1607, when English adventures land in Virginia and found the small settlement of Jamestown. Soon the timelines moves to the arrival of the first pilgrims and the Plymouth landing. Soon the thirteen colonies have come into shape, as Dutch merchants, Swedish settlers, and British adventure-seekers come to America and transform well-to-do towns into bustling cities such as Boston, Charleston, and New York. Closing with pre-revolutionary events such as The Boston Massacre and The Boston Tea Party. Finally setting the stage for the revolution with "the shot that was heard around the world", the battles of Lexington and Concord.
On a scaled rating the program is brilliant and allows the viewer to understand that life in pre-revolutionary America was cultural, diverse, and troubled by British greed. Rotating around the coming revolutionary ideals (The Delectation Of Independence and Common Sense), the episode sets the stage for it's precedent, The American Revolution.
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