The 12 Articles of the German Peasants, 1524

The theme of this reading is to show what the peasants thought about how their community was being reformed. The German peasants write 12 articles about twelve reforms that come from their feelings towards whats happening to them as well as the scripture. In these articles they argue for what they feel is right and just. These reforms talk about hunting wild game, how they feel they should not be considered property my man, how they feel each community should appoint a pastor, and ownership of a wood pile that is in their community. In this reading the peasants have gathered and organized an argument that is based on knowledge and the Bible. 


Several things that came to mind when I read this is that, unlike a lot of the others, I found this reading to be easy to comprehend as well as interesting to read. I was able to get into the story because I found it intriguing. One thing I learned in reading this is that I found out that "heriot" means "A tribute paid to a lord out of belongings of a tenant who died, often consisting of a live animal or, originally, military equipment."  Another thing that came to mind is how the peasants found it extremely disrespectful that the lords would force orphans and widows to do certain things. They didn't think that was fair by any means. This reading comes from Luther's teaching of peace rather than anger.


After reading this I noticed when it said, "it is our conclusion and final resolution that if any one or more of the articles here set forth should not be in agreement with the word of God, as we think they are, such articles we will willingly retract if it is proved really to be against the word of God by a clear explanation of the Scripture."  I noticed that the peasants really truly stand for what they believe in. They are not afraid to stand their ground and defend what they feel. In doing so, they use scripture to back up what they are saying and make sure what they say is true and accurate. Their love for God is abounding. What an impact this was!!
    
This reading relates to the text because you see reforms take place in history all over the place. Examples of this would be how the Church in Europe has been reformed and made multiple changes. They do exactly what the peasants did, and they bring up what is wrong or what they have issues with and make valid points to stand for what they believe. I feel that because they do this in such a polite and civilized manner, yet they get their point across, that this is why it succeeds and change takes place. So, overall I thoroughly enjoyed this reading and found it rather interesting.

Charter of Homage and Fealty of Bernard Atton

The theme of this reading was to show feudalism and the companionship between the lords of the lands and the tenants. During this time, the lords were the ones who owned the land but the tenants were the people who actually held or took care of and watched the land. Bernard Atton and his family were considered tenants for a lord named Leo. In this reading he makes it known that he will take care of the lord's land.

Several things came to mind when I read this. I found that Bernard Atton was very loyal to the lord Leo. Throughout this reading he constantly talked about lord Leo and even mentioned how he would, and I quote, "swear upon these four gospels of God that I will always be a faithful vassal to thee and to thy successors and to St. Mary of Grasse in all things in which a vassal is required to be faithful to his lord, and all thy successors, and the said monastery and the monks present and to come and the castles and manors above described, in peace and in war, whenever they shall be claimed by thee or by thy successors." This quote alone goes to show how he takes great pride in this as well as a large commitment. It shows just how willing he is to practically give his life up to this man as a noble action. 

After reading this I noticed the bond between the lord and the tenants and how it's almost like an agreement. Modern parallels to this would be like a renter and and owner. The owner owns the house but the renter takes care of it and lives there. Also kind of like a homeowner or landowner and a farmer. A farmer a lot of times farms land he does not own just merely farms and lives off of. Also, it is seen in  to how the military works in today's society as well. In all of these scenarios one is more dependent on the other yet still receives benefits or some sort of accolade for it. They are supported as long as they do what is expected of them.

This reading relates to the text because in our text it talks about vassals and how the lords used them in the eighth century. The vassals are like Bernard Atton who was dependent on and highly loyal to lord Leo. I felt like this reading wasn't very hard to grasp this time and that the main thing to get out of this is loyalty and how Bernard Atton expressed his loyalty to lord Leo. You could almost relate this to how we as Christians are supposed to be loyal to our Lord and Savior and how we are dependent on HIM just like Bernard was practically giving up his life for the lord. Just like we are to give up our ways to follow Christ's. So, overall, what I got out of this reading was mostly about loyalty.

The Islamic Conquest of Spain

The theme that I got out of this reading was the fact that they were constantly trying to take over other people for power and authority.  Although it is stated that this story is mainly one of a mythical basis, the main concepts behind this reading still apply. The Islamic communities were only concerned with gaining power by defeating any foreign population they could attack.

Several things that came to mind when I was reading this was that first of all, I just found it very, hard to understand the text due to the fact that there were so many names. I had to break the story down and look up and find out who these people were exactly and in doing so I was able to better understand the relationship or well the bond between Musa and Tarik. I also learned that the years stated were fairly accurate due to the fact that during that time Muslims forces began a seven year battle that resulted in the conquest of Spain. However, I was confused when the time went from year 92 to 711 until it was explained to me that it was because the muslim calendar was different. So, that is also another thing that came to mind. Another thing that came to mind was how this reading involved a story within a story, which later made complete sense as to why I couldn't quite grasp the story. But, although it seemed like their reasonings for going into Spain didn't seem to quite add up to me, the Muslims did what they intended and were able conquer Spain for the possession of more territory and authority.

After reading this I found it very disturbing when the reading said, and I quote, "they took one of the vinedressers, slaughtered him, cut him in pieces, and boiled him while the rest of his companions looked on." I know that they did not actually eat the body but that they just fooled the other vinedressers into thinking that, but it is still disturbing. I feel like this was intended to be the mythical part of the reading.

Reading this story made me think about our own country. When I read how Ilyan had sent his daughter to be taught by Roderic and how Roderic treated his daughter poorly, I felt so bad. I found it very noble of Tarik to set out to protect Ilyan's daughter. This showed how Tarik took control as well as practically doing what was noble and right. He did this because he was basically "filling in" for Musa at the time when Musa was away. This made me think about how our country is fighting a war in Middle East right now defend our nation and to protect it and the people involved. I also thought about how much are people willing to do to gain power or authority. Like, in example, gangs in inner cities; what is their reasoning for killing or fighting, is it just to gain control, authority, or money? Or, is it some psychological thinking of protection? These were just some modern parallels that I noticed while reading.

This reading relates to the text because I noticed that throughout the reading and throughout our text, there are always going to be people from many places who would do anything for power in some sort of way. It is hard to think that cannibalism would still be an issue but this goes to show how history still is passed on and some things are still carried on. This reading also relates to the text in the fact that it involves conquering territory and Kings and the government. 

Thucydides: On the Early History of the Hellenes

The theme of this reading is that it is talking about the early times of the Hellas. In this reading Thucydides talks about the events that took place in Ancient Greece during this time period. This reading makes it apparent to us on how much the people were influenced by the environment and how the leaders got the land that they did.

   
Several things came to mind when I was reading this was. I actually found that because there were so many names, I had to look up a lot of them so I could better understand the reading. Through doing this I found out that the followers of Hellen were named Hellenes after the Trojan War which is why the religion was named Hellas. The name "Hellen" is known as the woman that describes the Trojan War, but Hellen is actually the son of Deucalion and Pyrrha and was a very powerful leader in Phthiotis. The second thing that came to mind was that in the reading, the Corinthians were brought up. After researching I found that this name was given to the people of Corinth. The final thing that I found was that Minos was the ruler of the sea who happens to be the grandfather of the King of the Cretans that were in the Trojan War.

After reading this reading, I thought that it was really sad that the citizens of this place did not really have a place that was truly their home. I could not even imagine how that must have felt! Or the fact that they were being invaded so much on land and sea, that they had to move so much from place to place. This is sad because then it's like there is really nothing for them to do, and they could practically never hold a healthy lifestyle. This to me would relate to fugitives on the run, kind of, or people who are less fortunate than I am and can't afford to truly live in a place they can call their own, or grow up in an environment thats not well balanced.

In the reading, it talk about how in 500 BCE the Old Testament of the Bible was written. I honestly had no clue that it was written such a long time ago. After reading this I was able to gather the fact that Corinth was the root of Corinthians in the Bible! I found this really intriguing that the Corinthians books of the Bible were actually connected to the Corinthians from this actually reading. This made reading this more fascinating due to the fact that it connected to the Bible, I just really liked that.

This reading relates to the text because we talked about how Thucydides was an Athens resident who was taken over by Sparta, yet he was the author of this reading. This therefore would make Thucydides have a loss. So, he was not a winner, he was more like a politician than a victor. Yet, in class it was said that the victors of war were those who wrote history. However after reading an studying this reading, this definitely looks to me to be not entirely true.