Middles Ages

After the fall of Rome, we are brought to the Middle Ages, or Dark Ages before political correctness, which spanned from the 5th century to the 15th century. The fall of Rome also brought the rise in Christianity which became a huge aspect of life in Middle Ages, for the wealthy and the poor. Along with the rise of Christianity, there were many other events in the Middle Ages that are remembered in modern day, such as Canute, the war of 1066, the Crusades, the Hundred Years War, the Black Death, Joan of Arc and the War of the Roses. During the Middle Ages was the famous Battle of Hastings, this where most historians start history as this was when records were taken down. William the Conquer was classed as the first King of England, even though he was from Normandy.

Bayeux Tapestry (That is actually a embroidery)

Feudal System

Along with the Normans can the feudal system, the king at the top and the peasants at the bottom. The peasants worked the King's land for free, but also had their own small patch of land to work on in their free time, however if they made any money from this land, they had to pay taxes to the King. In the feudal system everyone was a vassal, or servant. The basic feudal system was as follows, however the wife of the man was always lower than he was, so the Knight's wife would be as valued as a Free Peasant, or possibly lower!

• Villein - Works for a lord in return to live on his land
• Free Peasant - Owns land but must pay rent to the lord
• Knight - Owns land but must fight for the King when demanded
• Lords - Took care of land for the King, also had to provide the King with Knights from their land
• Counts - Similar to Lords, also had to provide the King with Knights from their land
• Officials - Were given titles for the King, such as scribe or dresser etc.
• Nobles - King's family and close friends
• King - Believes his lands came from God, so build churches, prays and pays for crusades

However, this feudal system was changed after the Black Death in the 14th Century. As there were less peasants to work the lands, they became valuable to the lords.

Black Death

The Black Death or Bubonic Plague is one of the first things that people think of when talking about the Middle Ages. The Black Death killed nearly a third of the population in Europe and more in Africa and Asia. In total 25 million people died from this disease, and the medical knowledge and hygiene was limited. The Church convinced the people that the disease was God punishing the wicked for sinning, so many people started to confess and attend Church  like never before. The dogs and cats were also blamed for the plague, so it was ordered that they were killed in infected towns, which worsened the plague! It was discovered recently, 1900s, that it was fleas on rats that carried the Black Death, so there were less animals to kill the rats during this era. Doctors were now working over time to try and cure the then incurable disease. These doctor also believed that the plague was carried by bad air, hence the strange costume they wore with the beck filled with sweet smelling herbs. Some of the weird advice they gave was:

• throw herbs om a fire to clean the air
• Sit in a sewer so the bad air of the plague is driven away
• Drink ten year old treacle
• Swallow powered emeralds (for the rich)
• Eat arsenic powder
• Letting blood when the patients horoscope was right
• Shave a live chicken's bottom and strap it to the buboes
• Travel from town to town whilst flogging yourself

Guilds

 The Middle Ages the merchants, artists, bankers and other professional grouped themselves together to create Guilds. The purpose of the Guild was so that the member had a little more protection for each other and disasters. For example the Guild set up a system so a artists could only work with a set distance from each other and if their studio burnt down, the guild would help look after them and their family till they were back on their feet. Guilds also arranged social occasions such as festivals for members to sell goods in different location, trade ideas and techniques etc. so that the trade of that guild was developed better and easier. However, these guilds also had rules to follow such as worker being paid the same wages by member and advertising was not allowed as the member were suppose to meet a set of standards in quality. Each different profession brought different rules obviously, but these were properly the most common in all guilds. The guilds also made sure that shop owners and member paid taxes to the King, this meant that the King was on their side and also meant that the Guilds-men were a new middle class in the hierarchy. A hierarchy was also made in Guilds, which determined how well educated or talented you were at that trade. There were thee stages. A apprentice was at the bottom of the ladder, he was fed, housed and trained but not paid for his efforts. Next came the Journeymen who were paid a little money for their efforts, whilst still housed and fed, however to become a master they had to submit a 'masterpiece' and have it approved by other masters to start their own shop. Masters was the top rung of this ladder as they owned their own shop and kept the profits, apart from taxes, to keep living.

Middle Ages Art

The art that was produced in the Middle Ages can be split into three different stages and was heavily dominated by religion. Byzantine, Romanesque and Gothic. The Byzantine art originated from the west of the Roman Empire around 500 to 1000 AD. It was easy to identify Byzantine art as it was no very realistic and focused more on symbolism. The subject of the art was normally religious with scenes from the bible such as Virgin Mary with baby Christ. The Romanesque period lasted from 1000 to 1300 AD. The Romanesque art was also focused on religion and Christianity, but used different mediums, such as stained glass art, murals on walls and ceiling, carvings on buildings and columns, sculpture and manuscript art. Gothic art was born from Romanesque art, however it used brighter colours, started using light and shadows and more realism into the final pieces. the Gothic artists were also the first to try and use mythical animals in their work, as well as the reoccurring theme of religion. Some artists that are famous for their Middle Aged art were born in the latter years of the Middle Ages so were also Renaissance artists. These were:

• Donatello - Known for his religious statues
• Giotto - Made the fresco in the Scrovengi Chapel, Padua, Italy
• Benvenuto di Giuseppe - Known for his paintings and mosaics
• Ambrogio Lorenzetti - Gothic painter known for his frescoes

Donatello's St. Mark, 1411

Giotto's The Kiss of Judas, 1304-6

Benvenuto di Giuseppe's Crucifix, 1287-88

Ambrogio Lorenzetti's Annunciation,1344

Sources:

• The Measly Middle Ages, Terry Deary, 1996
• http://medievaleurope.mrdonn.org/feudalism.html
• http://medievaleurope.mrdonn.org/plague.html
• http://www.bayeuxtapestry.org.uk/Bayeux31.htm
• http://medievaleurope.mrdonn.org/guilds.html
• http://www.ducksters.com/history/middle_ages_art_literature.php 
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St._Mark_%28Donatello%29
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Kiss_of_Judas
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cimabue
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ambrogio_Lorenzetti
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4KHlIWpyJrQ

Ancient Rome

Rome was possibly one of the greatest empires in history. However, the empire came at a price. The life of the greatest Greek inventors Archimedes. The Roman empire started 27 BC and finished in 467 AD. The Romans, although murdering the greatest inventor, did also bring their own inventions with them that changed lives for the better. Some things that we either still use today or have based our modern technologies off of. Romans invented aqueducts, which was like a concrete tunnel to carry fresh water, that was also clean of debris. Roads were also put in place which allowed faster travel and communication. The famous turtle army strategy was used by the ancient Roman army, which was so effective it brought the empire many lands. The first kind of toilets were invented by the Romans too.The Roman empire included a variety of different countries such as England, Spain, France, Egypt, Syria and many more.

The Romans also had their gods and goddesses, though some of these were devised from the Greek gods and goddesses.

• Jupiter - King of Gods
• Juno - Queen of Gods
• Neptune - God of sea
• Pluto - God of death
• Apollo - God of sun
• Diana - Godess of moon
• Mars - God of war
• Venus - Goddess of love
• Cupid - God of love
• Mercury - Messenger of Gods
• Minerva - Goddess of wisdom
• Ceres - Earth Goddess
• Proserpine - Goddess of underworld
• Vulcan - The smith God
• Bacchus - God of wine
• Saturn - God of time
• Vesta - Goddess of the home
• Janus - God of doors
• Uranus and Gaia - Parents of Saturn
• Maia - Goddess of growth
• Flora - Goddess of flowers
• Plutus - God of wealth

The Romans also brought there demon or monsters such as Cerebus the dog with three heads who guarded the gates to the underworld and the Gorgon, or Medusa, who could turn you to stone with a glance and had snakes as hair.

Roman Art

The ancient Romans admires the Greek art, so after conquering Greece, the Romans took the Greek artists to Rome to work for them. These sculptures included many different forms such as full body statues, busts (head and shoulders), reliefs (sculptures that are part of a wall) and sarcophagi sculptures on tombs. Sculpture were very popular with the rich Romans as they believed that if a bust of a dead relative was poor in likeness, that relative would come back to haunt the family. This meant that the sculpting techniques developed quickly to make sure that the likenesses were true. Some sculptures also became narrative with stories of the battles of the gods. Some artists mass produced bodies without the heads, so that when a order came in they would only have to sculpt the head, thus saving time and giving them the option to make many sculptures in little time. They also sometimes did this with the hands on the bodies, as some customers may want them to be portrayed as thinkers (with a scroll) or a mighty fighter (with a sword).
Roman coins was another method of art in the portrait sense. The coins often had faces on them in profile, most commonly god such as Venus, Mars or Jupiter and also iconic rulers such as Caligula, Augustus and the Caesars. One of the earliest Roman coins that have been found has god Jupiter and hero Hercules molded into it. Roman emperors had inscriptions and their busts engraved into their coins, which served as early propaganda. The inscriptions told of the emperors traits which would be 'scripted' to show the emperors as great and successful leaders. Just like present day, frauds would make coins themselves, to battle this the Romans would also have mint marks on the coins so that the city and workshop that the coin was made in can be identified.

Roman bust sculpture

GLADIATORS...ARE YOU READY?!

The gladiator fights are one of the things the Romans are best remembered for. The Colosseum was the arena for these fights and the gladiators could end up fighting people or animals, this also included women! The gladiator fights originally was a funeral right. A wealthy person would pay for a fight at their funeral, and the losing gladiator would serve as a sort of sacrifice. These fights were then brought to the Colosseum and became more public entertainment than sacrifices. The gladiators were most commonly criminals, slave or prisoners of war, however some were just a method to pay off a debt to someone. A gladiator who fought well could become famous, history's first celebrities, or wealthy or, f they were originally a slave, gain their freedom. During their long and painful training, the gladiators are taught to fight to the death, which the symbolic thumbs giving them life or death is seen throughout many medias. If a gladiator was dying on the arena floor, a man dressed as the god Charon would use a large hammer to smash on their heads, so that they could not fake death. The gladiator types were:

• Mymillo - dagger and shield
• Thracian - small shield and curved dagger
• Andabatus - blind gladiator
• Essedarius - chariot gladiator
• Retarius - net and triton
• Sammite - visored helment with feathers
• Dimachaerius - dual dagger, but little amour
• Laquerius - similar to Retarius, but with a lasso
• Secutor - chases opponent
• Velitus - only has a spear

 Sources:

• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ancient_Rome
• http://wps.ablongman.com/wps/media/objects/262/268312/art/figures/KISH106.jpg
• http://www.ducksters.com/history/art/ancient_roman_art.php
• http://www.ehow.co.uk/info_7969668_information-roman-coins-kids.html
•  http://rome.mrdonn.org/gladiators.html
• http://www.salariya.com/web_books/gladiator/whos_who/pages/whos_who.html
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yLVnFEXnHB8&feature=relmfu
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D5FU0ZMRB_Q
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ExWfh6sGyso
  

Ancient Greece

The ancient Greek started in 1600 BC ruled by Mycenaean lords of Crete and finished in 212 BC with the murder of Archimedes. The Greeks brought new gods and goddesses into their religion, which were also transferred to the Romans, however the Greek gods are goddesses are:

• Zesus - King of Gods
• Posideon - God of seas
• Hades - God of underworld
• Hera - Queen of Gods
• Persephone - Queen of underworld
• Ares - God of war
• Hermes - Messenger to the gods
• Apollo - God of the light and sun
• Artemis - Goddess of hunting and the moon
• Athena - Goddess of wisdom
• Hestia - Goddess of health and home
• Demeter - Goddess of the harvest
• Aphrodite - Goddess of love and beauty
• Hephaestus - God of fire and forge
• Eros - God of love
• Kerberos - Guard of the underworld
• Pegasus - the flying horse

The Greeks brought great legends with them such as:

• Hercules - Performing impossible tasks
• Odysseus - Thought of the Trojan Horse and journey to underworld (Odyssey)
• Jason - Collecting the golden fleece
• Theseus - Killed the minotaur
• Achilles - The almost invulnerable warrior

All these legends are remembered and are continued to be taught in the modern world, about 2500 years after it happened! The Greeks also were a great time for inventions, the Greeks brought such as the Olympics, theater, architecture and the roots of democracy. The architecture from the Greeks has lasted as long as the legends, the buildings are now Greece's heritage and a huge tourist attraction. The Olympics have also lasted the test of time, however have been modified as women and other countries now compete in the many sports that are held. Also the different countries can host the Olympics, such as the United Kingdom in 2012. Athens had the first democracy in history, in that the Athenians all had votes to pass laws, however,women, slaves, the poor and anyone under the age of 30 couldn't vote. Clearly it has been improved in the 2500 years of democracies being used. The Greek theater is another part in history that is very important to my specialist subject, photography, as it was the first way a audience could view a story. The Greek theater was very simple, performing only comedy and tragedies and were performed in a amphitheater, however, there was no scenery, no actresses, no action (it was all spoken) and the actors wore masks and high platform-like shoes so they could be seen. The Greek plays were invented by a poet called Aeschylus and a famous Greek playwright was Euripides

Parthenon, temple built for Athena in the Acropolis

Statue of Aphrodite, goddess of love and beauty

Amphitheater in  Epidaurus,

 Ancient Greek Photography

 The history of photography doesn't start during the Victorian era as many would assume it did, it was actually invented in by the ancient Greeks! It was a camera obscura, a kind of pinhole camera. It was Aristotle that understood the principle of the camera obscura in 350 BC. He noted the way light traveled through things such as leaves, the holes in sieves showed a reverse of items. The camera obscura was normally a box or large room that had a small hole on one side. A bright scene would be 'projected' through the hole and shown in reverse against a wall/blank side. After this was normally traced by the 'photographer'. This would be the initial principles of the modern day camera, however pinhole is still used today, but with light sensitive paper instead of tracing the image.

Below is a video extract from the BBC television series Horrible Histories, it is a song about some of the inventions that the Greeks created. It is called "I'm a Greek".

Sources:

• http://www.ancientgreece.co.uk/gods/explore/exp_set.htl
• http://www.ancientgreece.co.uk/acropolis/explore/exp_set.html
• http://greece.mrdonn.org/achievements.html
• http://greece.mrdonn.org/greekgods/index.html
• http://ancienthistory.about.com/od/heroes/tp/TopHeroes.htm
• http://www.ancientgreece.com/s/Theatre/
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Camera_obscura
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uxOANJ-sSu0&feature=related

Ancient Egypt

The ancient Egyptians are famous for many things, such as the pyramids, embalming, sphinx, hieroglyphics, farming in a desert, music, the mysterious tombs and many more. The Egyptian civilization lasted over 3000 years and their monuments were ancient to the Greeks and Romans. During the 3000 year civilization the Egyptians had 30 dynasties, a period of their time, followed by two Greek ones before Egypt fell. Also the Egyptians invented or discovered some amazing things, such as:

• Hieroglyphics and the first pyramids, 3200-2300 BC
• Temples and bakeries, 2050-1775 BC
• Horses and chariots, first sweets and new musical instruments, 1775-1575 BC
• Rock tombs and Books of the Dead written, 1575-1085 BC

Some believe that the Eygptians also brought with them the first sort of religion. The Egyptians had gods and goddesses for everything in life, and felt that they must worship a specific one for a certain result.Some of these gods and goddesses are:

• Sobek - the crocodile headed god - controlled water supply
• Thoth - the ibis headed god - invented writing and speaking, also god of wisdom
• Seth - god of desert, chaos and storms, enemy of Osiris, seen as the first 'devil'
• Re or Ra - the sun god, also made people
• Horus - the falcon headed god - looked after the Pharaoh, god of sky, fought Seth
• Sekhmet - lioness headed goddess - war goddess
• Hathor - cow horned goddess - looked after happiness, dancing, love and music
• Ptah - spoke the names of all things in the world, this made them exist
• Bes - dwarf god - looked after happiness and protector of families
• Isis - wife of Osiris - looked after women and children
• Anubis - jackal headed god - helped prepare mummies and god of the dead
• Osiris - looked after death, rebirth, the earth and the underworld, taught humans to farm
• Aten - form of Ra - was made the 'king' of the gods during Akhenaten's reign (1400-1300 BC)

Hieroglyphics

 The hieroglyphics are the most famous part of ancient Egypt as they remained a mystery for so long, until they were deciphered through the use of the Rosetta Stone in 1822. These hieroglyphics were used on tomb walls and the first kind of paper, papyrus. Papyrus was made through crushing soft parts of reeds in a criss-cross pattern and leaving the juices made to dry in the sun and bind together. Some of the hieroglyphics did not mean one letter, it could mean one word. Below is the alphabet in hieroglyphics.

Alphabet

When writing in hieroglyphics there is no use of silent letters and words are written as they would sound, much like we are taught when we are children. Below I have written the word 'photography' as it would appear in hieroglyphics.

'Photography' as it would appear

 The video below is  from the BBC television show Horrible Histories. It is an extract that shows a useful mnemonic to learn about hieroglyphics.

 
Sources:

• Horrible Histories, The Awesome Egyptians, Terry Deary,1994
• http://www.ancientegypt.co.uk/menu.html
• http://art-zoo.tripod.com/artgallery/id14.html
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=85EHnhYGiY4

Prehistory

To sum prehistory into one easy sentence, it is the time before writing was invented. However, many people think that prehistory is the time of dinosaurs, it is actually the time of cave people. The cave people from these times are the starting line of photography. Prehistory is split into three different 'ages'. The stone age, bronze age and iron age, due to the material of the tools they used.
The cave people soon discovered fire, which meant that they could live longer. It most likely that the cave people told stories around their fire, such as how they hunted the bison that day or something similar. After telling stories around the fire, which is a source of media, the cave people soon discovered another way of telling stories, in a more permanent way, through art! The video below is  from the BBC television show Horrible Histories. It is an extract that shows a brief timeline of the stone age.

Prehistoric Art

When these two words are heard, read or spoken the immediate image in someone's mind it most likely to be the cave paintings.Cave paintings are found all around the world, so at different times, from Europe to Africa to Australia. There have been nearly 350 caves found with cave paintings, and that is just France and Spain. It is also theorized that the oldest cave painting is in Cantabria, Spain and it is approximately 40,000 years old. The most common drawing in the cave people's art was animals. Animals such as bison, horses and deer, and these animals were normally 'coloured in' with very earthy colours, as the cave people could only used natural sources. It is also speculated that the paintings were made using branches or fingers to outline things, and to make the well known hand print, was to blow paint through a tube (such as a hollowed out bone) or directly from their mouths. Some of the actual paintings were also carved into the wall. It is also theorized that the hand print was a way to sign a painting.

Panther from the cave in Chauvet-Pont-d'Arc, France

Stonehenge

Stonehenge is possible one of the biggest mysteries of the Stone Age. It is located in Wiltshire, England and is dated to between 3000 BC and 2000 BC. the purpose of Stonehenge is it's biggest mystery. Many ideas have been put forward such as:

• Burial grounds,
• Religious site,
• Astronomical observatory,
• Unify the British Isles,
• Ritual purposes (supported through the presence of a sacrifice stone),
• Funerary monument,
• Place of healing.

Though none of these ideas can be proved, they are deemed the most likely to be correct. Below are some images ofStonehenge as it is in the modern world and Stonehenge as it might have been.

Stonehenge - Modern day

Stonehenge - As it might have been

Sources:

• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prehistory
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cave_painting
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stonehenge
• http://www.culture.gouv.fr/culture/arcnat/chauvet/en/index.html
• http://history.howstuffworks.com/historical-figures/cave-dweller2.htm
• http://earlyhumans.mrdonn.org/powerpoints/caveart.html
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QdTk5OvtvM4