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qqueenofhades · 7 years

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Alright, it's me with my list of topics: *people not being all that religious * women's rights *sexuality in general Thanks again :)

The thing to remember is that when I say “not that religious,” it’s relative – i.e. a person not very religious by medieval standards would still be considered quite religious today, because the church was the medium in which public and private life was framed and in which everyone took part. It’s like how pretty much most people in the West celebrate Christmas whether or not they’re religious – it is part of the civic faith of the society. However, the perception that everyone was a bunch of wild-eyed religious zealots who unquestionably accepted whatever the church said is super, SUPER wrong.

Some reading to start you off here:

Those Terrible Middle Ages!: Debunking the Myths, by Regine Pernoud (San Francisco; Ignatius Press, 2000), is the closest thing I have to a short, readable, and general history intended for a popular audience. It will give you plenty of quick facts and overall framework for, as noted, refuting some major medieval misconceptions. Everything from here on out will be more specialized/academic.

The canons of the 1215 Lateran council, summarized (Harvard.edu) and in full (Fordham.edu). Among them is canon 21: “Everyone who has attained the age of reason is bound to confess his sins at least once a year to his own parish pastor, or with his permission to another, and to receive the Eucharist at least at Easter.” You wouldn’t think you’d need to compel these supposedly super religious people to take communion AT LEAST ONCE A YEAR, AT EASTER, which is basically when the majority of America goes to church anyway. Hey, also try canon 42: “ No cleric may so extend his jurisdiction as to become detrimental to secular justice.” Now, I’m not gonna say this is a model of a tolerant and forward-looking legal code, because it gets pretty hairy at the end with its insistence on distinguishing Jews and Saracens from Christians and barring Jews from public office (as Innocent III was a hard-liner on this point). But have a read-through the summarized version, because it’s short, and because I guarantee it will say at least three things to make you go, “wow, I didn’t know they already thought like that in the Medieval Era.” (Which is, you know, when they are dumb and religious and etc.) There was also the Capitula de Judaeis of Richard I (my homeboy) made in 1194, which specifically legally protected the Jews of England and the Plantagenet lands in France, which – while made largely for economic reasons – represented a drastic change from the stringent anti-Semitism happening elsewhere in Europe.

Elizabeth Siberry, in Criticism of crusading, 1095-1274, examines how the clerical sources dealt with the idea of crusading and whether or not it was justified. Spoiler alert: the clerics almost always thought it was, as did the noble vernacular sources, but since this is my area of specialty, I can tell you that crusading appeals were extremely elite (focused on those who had the means and methods to go) and with the exception of the First and Third Crusades, and to some degree the Second, struggled to retain popular support after an initial highly-successful emotional appeal. Whenever the major crusades were over, the popes could call for help for the Holy Land for years, but the average layman paid no attention; they just weren’t that fussed about it. The Fourth Crusade was highly criticized and suffered from almost constant desertions, as crusaders exercised their individual right to disagree with their leaders and cynically question their supposedly Christian motives. See “The Fourth Crusade and the Just-War Theory,” for a good explanation of how the average Fourth Crusader thought, the religious influences available to them, and the decisions they made.

The Albigensian Crusade in the south of France, 1209-1229, against the schismatic group the Cathars, was also heavily criticized and viewed by contemporaries as being more about a king and pope’s political power, and its bloody excesses became infamous and condemned in its own day. Also, even a remote scanning of the history of the 13th century will see new movements and challenges to the pope’s authority popping up everywhere.

As for women, I answered a bit of this in an earlier ask, but some reading to start you off:

Medieval Maidens: Young Women and Gender in England, 1270-1540, by Kim Phillips (Manchester; Manchester University Press, 2003)

Four Queens: The Provencal Sisters Who Ruled Europe, by Nancy Goldstone (New York; Penguin, 2007)

The Beguines of Medieval Paris: Gender, Patronage, and Spiritual Authority, by Tanya Stabler Miller (Philadelphia; University of Pennsylvania Press, 2014)

As above, when I say that women were not silent/submissive/raped as we like to believe, I do have to qualify, of course, that that does not mean their situation was anywhere comparable to modern feminism. There were still distinct social roles and expectations for them, there was certainly nothing like sexual liberation/freedom (at least legally speaking, though of course practice was different), and not much in the way of legal redress for the ordinary married woman (though noblewomen had more options). However, women were fully valued in the roles they were allowed to play in society, were respected as patronesses, advisors, even rulers (as regents for a husband or son, usually, but nonetheless), and in general, had far more of a rich and varied life than popular historiography and our cherished notions of Progress would like to give them. It’s of note that people only ever complain about things being “historically inaccurate” when women are given any autonomy and agency at all. They won’t complain about physical or archaelogical or linguistic disparities, sometimes by hundreds of years, but give a woman any personhood at all, and “oh no that’s not accurate.” Which is a) BS, and b) represents a desire to indulge what I call “stylized misogyny” – i.e. the idea that it’s supposedly historically or socially acceptable to discriminate against women without consequences in this environment is half the attraction for the modern MRA type. They don’t want real history, they want their idealized history where women “knew their place.”

As noted, the situation of our foremothers was absolutely very different to ours, and feminism has made many crucial advances. But the liberal idea that it then took until the 20th century to make any of these changes at all, and that medieval women were just a bunch of meek, submissive helpmeets with no minds, personality, ambition, or respect of their own is just as dangerous.

#history #medieval history #women in history #religious history #bookscorpion #ask

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hoshvilim · 7 years

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Ancient Ashkelon

Ashkelon is a C.V. like a history book. It has been ruled by the Ancient Egyptians, the Canaanites, the Philistines, the Assyrians, the Babylonians, the Greeks, the Phoenicians, the Hasmoneans, the Romans, the Persians, the Arabs and the Crusaders, until it was destroyed by the Mamluks in 1270. I suggest you begin your tour at the Canaanite Fortifications of Ashkelon. Ashkelon was the oldest and largest seaport in Canaan, one of the Philistine “five cities” (“pentapolis”).

Ancient Ashkelon was built on a sandstone outcropping near the Mediterranean. The city was close to a stable underground water supply and a major international roadway. Historians claim that it was very large in comparison to other ancients cities with a population of 15,000 people living inside the walls. But then, historians can exagerate. Ashkelon was a thriving Middle Bronze Age (2000–1550 BC) city of more than 150 acres.

Ashkelon in the Bible

Although in Judges 1:18 it is said that the tribe of Judah took Ashkelon:

“Also Judah took Gaza with the border thereof, and Ashkelon with the border thereof, and Ekron with the border thereof.” the city actually remained in the hands of the Philistines.

Samson smote 30 men: “And the spirit of the LORD came mightily upon him, and he went down to Ashkelon, and smote thirty men of them, and took their spoil, and gave the changes of raiment unto them that declared the riddle. And his anger was kindled, and he went up to his father’s house.(Judges 14:19)

King David mourned the death of King Saul and his sons: “Tell it not in Gath, publish it not in the streets of Ashkelon; lest the daughters of the Philistines rejoice, lest the daughters of the uncircumcised triumph.” (Samuel II 1:20)

The Canaanite City-Ashkelon

What does “Ashkelon” mean?

Ashkelon derives from the western Semitic root sh-k-l which means to weigh – perhaps due to its mercantile activities. Egyptian “Execration texts” of the 19th century B.C.E. first mention Ashkelon. Execration texts are ancient Egyptian hieratic (abridged hieroglyphic) texts, listing enemies of the Pharaoh. Ashkelon also appears in hieroglyphics as “Askala” and in the Tel al Amarna letters.

The Greek writer Theophrastus must have used linguistic humor when he claimed that the words scallion and shallot are related and can be traced back to the Greek ασκολόνιον (‘askolonion’) which originated from the name of the ancient Canaanite city of Ashkelon.

Archaeology in Ashkelon

Archaelogy began in Ashkelon with Lady Hester Stanhope’s expedition in 1815, She pursuaded the Ottoman authorities to allow her to excavate the site in search of a large hoard of gold coins allegedly buried under the ruins of the Ashkelon mosque. The famous governor of Jaffa, Abu Nabbut, accompanied her to care for the Ottoman “interests”. Stanhope’s main find was a seven-foot headless marble statue, which was smashed and thrown into the sea.

Canaanite Fortifications of Ashkelon

Canaanite Ramparts – Ashkelon

Ramparts: The Canaanite Fortifications of Ashkelon have ramparts that are 2.4 km long, 15 m high and 46 m thick, standing two stories high.

The Canaanite Ramparts in Ashkelon

The Canaanite Gate: The Canaanites built the mudbrick city gate of the Canaanite Fortifications of Ashkelon in 1850 B.C.E. This gate had a stone-lined, 2.4 m wide tunnel-like barrel vault, coated with white plaster, to support the superstructure. The gate was 15 meters long and 4 meters high. It is the second most ancient archway in the world (after Tel Dan). Ashkelon local-patriots claim it is the oldest ancient archway in the world.

The Canaanite Gate – Ashkelon – Canaanite Fortifications of Ashkelon

Roman and Islamic fortifications

Ramparts: Later Roman and Islamic fortifications, faced with stone, followed the same footprint, creating a vast semicircle protecting Ashkelon on the land side. On the sea it was defended by a high natural bluff.

Harbor Road: A roadway more than 6.1 m in width ascended the rampart from the harbor and entered a gate at the top.

Muslim Ashkelon

The Silver Calf

In 1991 archaeologists found a finely cast bronze statuette of a bull calf, originally silvered, 10 cm long in the ruins of a small ceramic tabernacle. Images of calves and bulls were associated with the worship of the Canaanite gods El and Baal.

The Silver Calf

Modern Ashkelon – Majdal Asqalan and Afridar

The Ottoman Empire established the Arab village of al-Majdal or al-Majdal Asqalan (المجدل‎‎), in the late 15th century by the Ottoman Empire a few kilometres inland from the ancient site of Ashkelon. The village was taken by Israeli forces on 5 November 1948, by which time most of the Arab population had fled. Jewish “olim” new immigrants were settled in the village which was called Migdal Gaza, Migdal Gad and Migdal Ashkelon. By 1950 no Arab population remained in the village. In the meantime 1953, the nearby neighborhood of Afridar was incorporated under the name “Ashkelon” .

Ashkelon National Park

The ancient site of Ashkelon is now Ashkelon National Park on the city’s southern coast.This a unique park which offers antiquities, a declared bathing beach, an overnight campground, picnic tables, barbecue facilities, as well as a modern 10,000 seat amphitheater for cultural events.

The Fatimid city walls that encircled the city are still visible. You can climb the Canaanite earth ramparts and enter the Canaanite gate. Don’t forget the Roman basilica. Surprise! Excavations have revealed the largest dog cemetery in the ancient world.

Telephone: 08-6739660, 08-6736444. Dogs are permitted only on a leash and with a muzzle. Animals may not be brought into the overnight campground, other than seeing-eye dogs.

Download PDF map of Ashkelon

Ashkelon Canaanite Gate

Canaanite Fortifications of Ashkelon * Ancient Ashkelon Ashkelon is a C.V. like a history book. It has been ruled by the Ancient Egyptians, the Canaanites, the Philistines, the Assyrians, the Babylonians, the Greeks, the Phoenicians, the Hasmoneans, the Romans, the Persians, the Arabs and the Crusaders, until it was destroyed by the Mamluks in 1270.

#Afridar #Ashkelon #Canaanite Fortifications #Canaanite Fortifications of Ashkelon #Canaanites #Majdal #Majdal Asqalan #Migdal Ashkelon #Migdal Gad #Migdal Gaza #المجدل‎‎

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