Why did the First Crusade erupt Essay Example for Free

Why did the First Crusade erupt Essay The First Crusade was a monumental event of the 11th century, where thousands of ordinary people took up the cross to make the extremely long and perilous journey to Jerusalem to fight the ‘other’; the Muslim threat. Inspired by extreme devotion to God and His church, people made this decision based on a single speech. Jonathan Philips argues that Pope Urban II’s speech in 1095 had managed to draw together a number of key concerns and trends, synthesising them into a â€Å"single, highly popular idea†, which led to the First Crusade. Described often as an ambitious politician, it is certain that the Pope intended this to happen, for various motives, and his audience were ready consumers of the information he proclaimed to them. Pope Urban’s motives for his iconic speech in Clermont were largely restorative and ambitious. He wanted to restore Papal authority in the East, towards the Mediterranean, by recapturing the place known as the centre of the world, Jerusalem. The Holy Land had been taken from them 400 years earlier, so it would be fair to agree with Asbridge that the situation â€Å"hadn’t deteriorated significantly in the years before 1095†. It can be argued that the Pope was recycling old events, dressing them in inflammatory language to create the â€Å"explosive material† he needed. Following in the footsteps of his ambitious predecessor Pope Gregory VII, he wanted to establish himself as the greatest leader in Europe; emphasising his papal role as God’s representative on Earth; above mere kings or emperors. The act of commanding great forces of the people of Europe for a single cause would demonstrate this kind of power. It would also act as a kind of unifying force for Europe that was fractured since the Great Schism of 1054, an event which undermined the Pope’s authority. The schism created the rival body to the Pope; the Greek Orthodox church, seated in the great Byzantine Empire. Pope Urban’s source material for his speech which caused the eruption of the First Crusade came from a plea. Preceding the eruption of the First Crusade, its new young leader Alexios I was in trouble, and improving relations between the two old rival Churches made him able to request help from Urban II in 1095. Seemingly attacked from all sides, Alexios had sought the help from mercenaries to help with the first of his problems, the Pagans in the North. In 1082 the Pope helped him stall Norman insurgents, although typhoid was a better eradicator of the threat they posed to Alexios. However the greatest  of his problems lay in the militant Seljuk Turks, new Muslim converts who were swiftly taking East Byzantine and swiftly crushed the limited Byzantine forces at the Battle of Manzikert. For this threat Alexios needed a greater force than he could muster. In March 1095 he sent envoys to interrupt a papal council in Paicenza, asking for the Pope to send aid to help the Muslim threat in Asia Minor. He also exaggerated the threat facing him, as although it was â€Å"serious, it was not necessarily as catastrophic as Alexios depicted it at the Council†. Therefore when Urban gave is speech, it was under the premise of passing on Alexios’ message to the people of Western Europe, so it was twice exaggerated, making it more sensational and causing the eruption of the First Crusade. It can be argued that Alexios’ request was not the most important factor as it was merely a tool used by Urban to fit in with his own agenda. If it had not occurred Urban could still have relied on historical skirmishes with Islam over the Holy Land, inflaming them enough to seem an urgent responsibility. Whilst Urban may have had his own personal motives, and these may have conveniently coincided with the Byzantine crisis to create a compelling argument, this alone would never have caused the eruption of the First Crusade if it hadn’t been for the fanatical reaction garnered from the people. This was because of the extremely important religious factor, the centuries-old medieval phenomena which Urban was not totally responsible for. It may be difficult for contemporary audiences to fully understand that total, unconditional, and unquestioning faith in God and religion â€Å"knitted every human together in Western Europe†, as Asbridge put it. The rituals of the Church dictated the rhythm of everyone’s lives, and doctrine of the Church was of ultimate importance as it represented the key to heaven. Medieval introspective and sin-obsessed societies focused on this end goal. Sin was feared but still was a common occurence, particularly in a society where violence was normalised. Penance, or absolution of sin, was the answer, and whilst standard Confession with a priest was thought of as being sufficient for more minor (venial) sins, the ultimate act of penitence was undoubtedly the Pilgrimage. In a largely allegorical, illiterate culture, the pilgrimage was shown to have magical qualities. In a world where the lines between the figurative and literal blurred, for some there was little distinction between the Holy Land and heaven itself. Urban indicated eternal bliss as  near guarantee as a result of this crusade. The more dangerous, the more sacrificial it was, the more devotion was shown to God, worthy of reward. However this strong religious culture alone would not have caused the eruption of the First Crusade; without a world leader with his well-heard message of God’s calling the fractured peoples of Europe would not have been able to organise on that scale. In conclusion I would argue that Pope Urban was the primary cause of the eruption of the First Crusade. His â€Å"rousing sermon† was very cleverly calculated to manipulate the vulnerable masses to the greatest extent possible, demonstrating the power of emotive rhetoric. The religious culture was one that existed many centuries before the event, and conflicts like the one experienced by Alexios were not uncommon. Instead it was Pope Urban, the politician, who tied these two factors together, if not for the benefit for his Church, then for his career. Bibliography Phillips, J. (2002). The Crusades, 1095-1197. 1st ed. Pearson Education. Jones, T. Crusades. (1995). BBC. Riley-Smith, J. (2014). The Crusades: A History. 3rd ed. London: Bloomsbury Academic. Purser, T. (2009). The First Crusade and the Crusader States 1073-1192. 1st ed. Oxford: Heinemann Notes

The Origins and Purpose of the Goblin Queen in George MacDonald´s the P

The Origins and Purpose of the Goblin Queen in George MacDonald ´s the Princess and the Goblin Whatever the purpose of a story may be, whether the tale is a philosophical, moralizing or merely entertaining one, an assortment of characters with sufficient depth, notability and believability is vital to shoulder the burden of the author’s intent. George MacDonald, in one of his most famous novels, The Princess and the Goblin, displays an acute awareness of this fact, presenting us with some of the most colorful and unforgettable characters seen in children’s literature. When considering the exceptional imagination MacDonald infused into his story and characters, it is little wonder that The Princess and the Goblin is considered to be one of the pioneering novels that gave birth to the immense genre of modern fantasy. Of the two worlds introduced to us by MacDonald in his novel, that of the surface world, a land of sunlight, castles upon rolling hills, and princesses, and that of the underworld, a realm of darkness, stone, and, of course, goblins, it is definitely the latter that is more bereft of significant characters. On the surface, Lootie, Curdie, Princess Irene and her mysterious, powerful grandmother are all key characters with a prominent role in advancing the plot, yet in the dark goblin world, we are given an impression of a teeming, faceless mass of bizarre creatures, with no real sense of individualism. Of the few underworld characters we do meet, the goblin queen is the most prominent, and indeed, she is one of the memorable and distinctive characters in the entire novel. Her impact on the reader is greater reinforced by her embodiment of many elements of folklore and fairytale on top of the already ancient t... ...ons that MacDonald collected, converged, and ultimately made his own. Or perhaps she represented for MacDonald some female presence in his own life, an overaggressive figure deserving of the author’s fearsome representation in his novel. This remains unknown, but the goblin queen nevertheless represents one of the few truly menacing figures in the story; despite many goblins, also presumably the king and his son, we do not feel that the goblin threat has been truly removed until we see her lifeless form, and, with relief, bid her farewell, as Hamlet once said: â€Å"Wretched Queen, adieu!† Works Cited Keightley, Thomas. Fairy Mythology. New York: AMS press, 1968. MacDonald, George. The Princess and the Goblin. New York: Dell Publishing, 1986. Mark Morris. Of Goblins and Dwarves. 5 Nov. 2002 < http://www.humanities.ualberta.ca/mmorris/388/goblins.htm/>. The Origins and Purpose of the Goblin Queen in George MacDonald ´s the P The Origins and Purpose of the Goblin Queen in George MacDonald ´s the Princess and the Goblin Whatever the purpose of a story may be, whether the tale is a philosophical, moralizing or merely entertaining one, an assortment of characters with sufficient depth, notability and believability is vital to shoulder the burden of the author’s intent. George MacDonald, in one of his most famous novels, The Princess and the Goblin, displays an acute awareness of this fact, presenting us with some of the most colorful and unforgettable characters seen in children’s literature. When considering the exceptional imagination MacDonald infused into his story and characters, it is little wonder that The Princess and the Goblin is considered to be one of the pioneering novels that gave birth to the immense genre of modern fantasy. Of the two worlds introduced to us by MacDonald in his novel, that of the surface world, a land of sunlight, castles upon rolling hills, and princesses, and that of the underworld, a realm of darkness, stone, and, of course, goblins, it is definitely the latter that is more bereft of significant characters. On the surface, Lootie, Curdie, Princess Irene and her mysterious, powerful grandmother are all key characters with a prominent role in advancing the plot, yet in the dark goblin world, we are given an impression of a teeming, faceless mass of bizarre creatures, with no real sense of individualism. Of the few underworld characters we do meet, the goblin queen is the most prominent, and indeed, she is one of the memorable and distinctive characters in the entire novel. Her impact on the reader is greater reinforced by her embodiment of many elements of folklore and fairytale on top of the already ancient t... ...ons that MacDonald collected, converged, and ultimately made his own. Or perhaps she represented for MacDonald some female presence in his own life, an overaggressive figure deserving of the author’s fearsome representation in his novel. This remains unknown, but the goblin queen nevertheless represents one of the few truly menacing figures in the story; despite many goblins, also presumably the king and his son, we do not feel that the goblin threat has been truly removed until we see her lifeless form, and, with relief, bid her farewell, as Hamlet once said: â€Å"Wretched Queen, adieu!† Works Cited Keightley, Thomas. Fairy Mythology. New York: AMS press, 1968. MacDonald, George. The Princess and the Goblin. New York: Dell Publishing, 1986. Mark Morris. Of Goblins and Dwarves. 5 Nov. 2002 < http://www.humanities.ualberta.ca/mmorris/388/goblins.htm/>.

Negative Effect of Media †Television Essay

Many sociologists have studied the influence of television on kids and teens, and they indicated television programs have significant, negative impacts to them. The research have showed young people spend an average of 24.6 hours (Data from News.bbc.co.uk, 2014) watching television every week, and the reports also emphasize TV programs they watch includes a vast amount of embedded advertisements. Since the young generations can easily learn from what they see and hear, they end up imitating celebrities without much thought. Watching television programs can have positive effects, but data showing the negative effects: blind imitation, change of role model, unhealthy lifestyle, and decreasing academic performance are convincing the youths. Television does affect youths’ lives, and it does influence their behavior. Studies show that â€Å"Kids who watched two or more hours of TV daily were more likely to suffer from sleep, attention and aggressive behavior problems, and externalizing of problem behaviors. (News, 2014)† In 2702 family surveys, researched by Madeline A. Dalton, director of the Hood Center for Families and Children at Dartmouth Medical School, watching television causes youths to have violent tendencies, hesitation, irresponsible sexual behaviors, and problems of dealing with others. For kids and teenagers, a short clip can be worth a thousand words for them, which means they experience certain attitudes and actions and imitate directly. Those mirrored attitudes and actions can be really bad depending on what they watch. Research not only proves that watching television has strong effect on youths’ behavior, and it also shows youths try to imitate negative role models from TV. When youths try to imitate their role models from the glamor industry, they do not have any ideas for whether they are doing right or wrong. Research done by Common Sense Media takes a look at all popular characters and have the 10 worst role models that influence kids and teens by leading them for  making decisions without appropriate behaviors. For example, June, who participated in Here Comes Honey Boo Boo, exploits her family. â€Å"While June’s messages of self-acceptance are fine, her decision to offer up her family members as examples of uncouth, uneducated, unwashed country dwellers reinforces negative stereotypes and turns them into the butt of America’s joke. (Commonsensemedia.org, 2014)† More, Ravi, one of the actors in Jessie, reinforces cultural stereotypes. â€Å"Great Ganesh! I’m a human samosa! You have aroused my ire! (Commonsensemedia.org, 2014)† These phrases can be funny but only when you are in a different culture and absolutely not a habit that parents want to encourage in their kids. Even more, â€Å"Abby Lee Miller in Dance Moms encourages unhealthy competition, Squid ward in SpongeBob Square Pants supports being selfish, and Kim Kardashian and Kris Jenner in Keeping up with the Kardashians promotes appearance over achievement (Commonsensemedia.org, 2014).† All those popularized characters on TV shows can easily draw youths’ attention and influence their decision making by showing wrong role models to them. Moreover, excessive television watching would cause health problems. Evidence from many studies recommends that the more TV young people watch, the more likely they gain a variety of health problems and to die at an earlier age. Showing in the Journal of the American Medical Association, researchers studied date from eight people who participated in the study voluntarily and concluded this, â€Å"Every additional two hours people spend on watching Television programs on a typical day, their risk of developing type 2 diabetes increases by 20% and their risk of heart disease increases by 15%. (EverydayHealth.com, 2014)† In addition, the incidence of obesity is another serious problem as an effect by spending too much time on watching television programs: â€Å"In the U.S., almost half of all children ages 2-15 exceed government recommendation, and a study conducted in 39 countries found that overall, 41 percent of children watch more than two hours of TV per day. (Obesity Prevention Source, 2012)† Studies for children ages 2 through 15 have showed watch 2 or more hours of TV per day predicts strong obesity risk as high as 14.1% for males and 17.6% for females (Data from Janne E Boone, 2007). Spending too much time on television not only can create health problems for young people, but can also cause them to have bad performance on academic work. Many studies have found the relation between television watching and academic achievement. For example, a meta-analyses of 23 studies have reported already that â€Å"the average correlation between total viewing time and academic achievement was only -0.05 (University, 2014),† which is a tiny change that has most likely no influence on youths. Since the studies show -0.05 is the measurement base on two hours per day, researchers start to figure out how many hours for youths to watch television can cause problem. More accurately data have showed that watch 2 hours or more television per day has a higher rate with decreasing achievement, and most studies have found a similar pattern. The efficient solution for avoid the negative influences of television is to reduce the time of watching. New information from various fields often bombard youths’ mind over and over again, in order to eliminate the adversely affects, young people should control the television watching time wisely and do more outdoor activities to maintain a healthy lifestyle. Furthermore, watch good educational programs that carry healthy content, engage in positive activities, and encourage audiences develop good habits and refrain from bad behaviors. Reference EverydayHealth.com 4 Bad Habits That Can Make Diabetes Worse – Diabetes Center – Everyday Health In-text: (EverydayHealth.com, 2014) Bibliography: EverydayHealth.com, (2014). 4 Bad Habits That Can Make Diabetes Worse – Diabetes Center – Everyday Health. [online] Available at: http://www.everydayhealth.com/diabetes/bad-habits-that-make-diabetes-worse.aspx [Accessed 7 Jun. 2014]. Obesity Prevention Source Television Watching and â€Å"Sit Time† In-text: (Obesity Prevention Source, 2012) Bibliography: Obesity Prevention Source, (2012). Television Watching and â€Å"Sit Time†. [online] Available at: http://www.hsph.harvard.edu/obesity-prevention-source/obesity-causes/television-and-sedentary-behavior-and-obesity/ [Accessed 7 Jun. 2014]. Janne E Boone, B. M. P. Screen time and physical activity during adolescence: longitudinal effects on obesity in young adulthood In-text: (Janne E Boone, 2007) Bibliography: Janne E Boone, B. (2007). Screen time and physical activity during adolescence: longitudinal effects on obesity in young adulthood. The International Journal of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity, [online] 4, p.26. Available at: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1906831/figure/F1/ [Accessed 7 Jun. 2014]. News, A. Kids’ TV Viewing Tied to Behavioral Problems In-text: (News, 2014) Bibliography: News, A. (2014). Kids’ TV Viewing Tied to Behavioral Problems. [online] ABC News. Available at: http://abcnews.go.com/Health/Healthday/story?id=4508861 [Accessed 7 Jun. 2014]. Commonsensemedia.org 10 Worst TV Role Models of 2012 In-text: (Commonsensemedia.org, 2014) Bibliography: Commonsensemedia.org, (2014). 10 Worst TV Role Models of 2012. [online] Available at: https://www.commonsensemedia.org/blog/10-worst-tv-role-models-of-2012 [Accessed 7 Jun. 2014]. R-6: Television and Academic Achievement University, P. – The Future of Children – In-text: (University, 2014) Bibliography: University, P. (2014). – The Future of Children -. [online] Futureofchildren.org. Available at: http://futureofchildren.org/publications/journals/article/index.xml?journalid =32&articleid=56 §ionid=246 [Accessed 7 Jun. 2014]. News.bbc.co.uk BBC NEWS | Health | Child TV hours obesity risk link In-text: (News.bbc.co.uk, 2014) Bibliography: News.bbc.co.uk, (2014). BBC NEWS | Health | Child TV hours obesity risk link. [online] Available at: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/4238386.stm [Accessed 7 Jun. 2014]. Negative Influences of Media http://www.buzzle.com/articles/negative-influences-of-media.html Impact of media use on children and youth http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2792691/ The Good and Bad Effects of TV on children http://www.raisesmartkid.com/all-ages/1-articles/13-the-good-and-bad-effects-of-tv-on-your-kid TV watching raises risk of health problems, dying young http://www.cnn.com/2011/HEALTH/06/14/tv.watching.unhealthy/

Should Marijuana Be Medicine - 1888 Words

Marijuana as Medicine: Does the use of medical marijuana have enough benefits to be considered a therapeutic controlled substance like other prescription drugs? Kristina Webb NSP 4503 UL: Scientific Controversies Prof. Alan Oberley Final Project: Final Draft Due 9 December 2016 Should Marijuana Be Medicine? Does the use of medicinal marijuana have enough benefits to be considered a therapeutic controlled substance like other prescription drugs? Cannabis setiva, has many nicknames, but most people know it as marijuana. Cannabis s. is a plant thought to have originated in Central Asia but in this day and age, it is grown all over the world. The marijuana plant, when extracted in resin-form, produces cannabinoids. Cannabinoids are the active chemicals in marijuana that cause a physical response when a person uses it. These chemicals act on a person’s nervous and immune systems. The most commonly known cannabinoid in Cannabis s. is delta-9-THC. Two other active cannabinoids are different forms of cannabidiol (CBD), known as CBD1 and CBD2. According to information on http://www.cancer.gov, cannabidiol products have long been used for their â€Å"potential to relieve pain and lower inflammation without causing the ‘high’ of delta-9-THC†. (Cannabis and Cannabinoids, 2016) Regardless of someone’s personal stance, for people in the United States, it has not been shown an easy task to prove marijuana has enough medical benefits to be considered a therapeutic controlledShow MoreRelatedEssay about Marijuana As Medicine Should Be Allowed547 Words   |  3 PagesThe legalization of marijuana as a prescription drug should be allowed. Medical research shows that marijuana has therapeutic value in patients with various types of cancers, some neurological disorders, and AIDS patients. The marijuana eases some of the effects of chemotherapy such as nausea and dizziness. 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