History of Medieval Times...

[Jerome]

Hi all,

So here we are nice and comfy in the Royal inn :cheers:

i've noticed that some of you are well informed of the history of medieval times in general.
i wanted to ask u guys where u get this knowledge from? Books? the net? a timemachine :D ?

anyway;

plz post your links, book titles or other sources for learning something about medieval times or medieval warfare. I think it could be very interesting to share this with the ppl in the Royal Inn...:D

:cheers:

[Jerome]

Originally posted by Pioneer
The second bit was precisely on topic. And the earlier part did link the historical points to the game. Here is the second part again:

Vassals: is there such a system in the game as the thread starter Arjenvs asked?

I think that vassals will be part of the game element whereby knights are enticed into supporting a ruler or killed or exiled and not a distinct feature like with Lords of the Realm III.

Jerome,

The know-how is just from a long interest in Roman history and some useful books. The Later Roman Empire in particular is a fine narrative of later Roman history, a clear exposition of a wondrously complex era from an economic and administrative point of view as well a veritable mine of useful titbits of information. One quite vivid image from the book is that of the Roman court on the move. Mounted troopers and offices clogging the roads for mile accompanying wagons laden with boxes of files or gold and silver in the form of coins and bars. Even a full mint might accompany the emperor and court on their peregrinations.

Now this prompts a question: will be king and court be individuals whom the player or the ai can attack or ransom? If the king is a character in the game I hope he will be a little more fit than the one in Age of Kings:) .

tnx Pioneer, i've put your info in here...
hopefully more ppl will post some nice info on medieval history ;)

[Elewyn]

Hi, Jerome!!

I study history, so my resource of knowlege are books, but slightly all in czech.I don't think, my recomandations wold help you...

but this one may. The best book about medieval warfare I've ever red is called "Le dimanche de Bouvines. 27. juillet 1214" in french original, written by Georges Duby.
I'm sure,it has the dutch translation and if not,there's no doubt about english one.
It's the best I can recomand you.
:cheers:

[hawk_knight]

i read english books and on the net i read dutch books about history :D :cheers: :cheers: :D :D :cheers: :angel:

[Jerome]

tnx for the info so far,

i hope there will be more...

btw; hawk_knight, if you're only 14, keep away from the beer, and start polishing my sword...;)

:D

[hawk_knight]

Originally posted by Jerome
tnx for the info so far,

i hope there will be more...

btw; hawk_knight, if you're only 14, keep away from the beer, and start polishing my sword...;)

:D

i not going to polis your sword you can do my sword and spear and you can clean my shield:D i drink some time a beer:D :cheers: Jerome what is wrong with that:confused:

[Jerome]

cant blame me for trying :D

we'll have a beer then...:cheers:

[hawk_knight]

Thanks for the beer have a another beer cheers Jerome :cheers: :bday: :cheers:

[Karl Erfurt]

Yes, the study of medieval history is always interesting (well, it has been for me, anyway). Some books that I already have on the shelf include:

A History of Private Life: From Pagan Rome to Byzantium by Philippe Aries and Georges Duby- This book actually has five parts to it, covering not only the early medieval period in the West, but also the Roman Empire, Late Antiquity, and the early Byzantine period up to about 1000 AD. There is also a chapter on Roman domiciles/architecture. It attempts to find out what the actual lives of ordinary citizens were like during these historical periods, and provides lots of interesting details.

Women Who Ruled by Guida M. Jackson- This book covers more than just the Middle Ages, but it still provides lots of interesting details about female rulers/regents during the medieval period.

Daily Life in Medieval Times by Frances Gies and Joseph Gies- The title is pretty much self-explanatory...

The Encyclopedia of the Middle Ages by Norman F. Cantor, editor- This is a good reference for most of the major rulers, dynasties, states, cities, etc. during this period. It also includes some good illustrations and is organized alphabetically in encyclopedia format.

The Barbarian West, 400-1000 AD by J. M. Wallace-Hadrill- In this book, the author gives readers a good sense of what happened in the western part of the Roman Empire after its decline and fall in the fifth century AD. There are chapters covering the major barbarian tribes such as the Franks, Lombards, and Visigoths. The author makes the argument that many of these tribes actually sought to emulate some of the culture of the Romans rather than to simply destroy it.

Genghis Khan by R. P. Lister- This book provides a detailed account of Genghis Khan's early life, up to and including the unification of the Mongol tribes in 1206 AD and the beginning of the Mongol Empire.

Genghis Khan: Conqueror of the World- More about Genghis Khan, his successors, the Mongol Empire in general, and Mongol military tactics.

The Age of Attila by C. D. Gordon- This is a book about the actual decline and fall of the Roman Empire in the West. It covers the period from 395 AD, when the Empire was officially split into East and West, up to 493 AD, when Theodoric the Ostrogoth became king in Italy. Although it is a little on the academic/scholarly side, it does provide many contemporary (that is, primary source) accounts from actual Roman/Byzantine historians who lived during this period. And of course, it also includes the exploits of Attila the Hun!

Arms & Armour by Frederick Wilkinson- The author traces the development of the "arms race" between weapons (for attack) and armor (for defense) from prehistoric times all the way through to the 20th century. The majority of the book actually covers arms and armor from the medieval period. It includes many illustrations of actual medieval weapons and armor that have been recovered from various archaeological sites from around the world.

I am currently reading a book titled, The Transformation of the Roman World, AD 400-900 by Leslie Webster and Michelle Brown (editors) in my continuing quest to find out exactly what happened during that mysterious period known as the "Dark Ages".

[Lord Wooble]

History is good to read about. However, one must keep in mind that these are usually written by individuals with certain opinions. Hence they are often biased to one side.

In South Africa, our history books were written by British, hence they portrayed the British as the heroes, and everyone else as the villain. Some incidents are modified to reflect a different image. The phrase we use is 'massaging the truth'.

Current world affairs is generally portrayed from the Western perspective and provides a warped picture of what really occurs. An example, the west portrays Africa as an uncivilised world where people are not self-sufficient. The truth really is that the colonists planted the seeds of violence and some countries continue to promote these divisions for their own gain whereas others sit back and watch. A case in point - Rwanda - Belgium created the social division between Hutus & Tutsis, and did not intervene later on when the genocide occured, while France promoted the genocide by supplying arms to the Hutus to further their cause. Their are many other examples including current situaton in Zimbabwe, the unrest in the DRC, etc.

The point is that we should keep an open mind when we study our history or even contemporary issues. Nothing is ever 'black or white' as is portrayed in the media.

[Anguille2]

mmmh i could explain to you the economics and especially how agriculture worked back then, but that may be boring (well i found it boring when i had to learn it 10 years ago) ;)

[Henrik]

I find my info with a little help from a "friend" of mine which is called Google ;)

I don't study midieval history like Elewyn does - i just have a general interest in the subject.

[the knightly sword]

books and sometimes tv (ther is discovery channel very good for ancient history)i read mostly about ww2 but i read about medevil times 2. and a little bit on the net

[Henrik]

Originally posted by the knightly sword
books and sometimes tv (ther is discovery channel very good for ancient history)i read mostly about ww2 but i read about medevil times 2. and a little bit on the net

I forgot the Discovery channel - i'm watching a series which run every friday about great battles where some scientists try to examine how or why the famous ( like Hastings 1066, the fate of the spanish armada 1588 ) battles went like they went.

[Jerome]

glad to see this subject has been getting some attention again. Keep it up guys!

:D

[shagrath_the_dead]

i read a lot of books,visit museums,search the net,and watch discovery channel
for the dutch visitors(and mayby the rest,don't know if they broadcast it outside the netherlands)
on discovery channel they have a program called timeteam,its very intresting and learnfull,try to watch that sometimes

and @henrik,i watched that program also :D,very interesting

[Henrik]

@shagrath_the_dead - i think they broadcast the programmes all over Europe

btw, i also like to watch TimeTeam - i like almost everything relating to history ( wars, buildings etc. ) and new technology ( like the "Superstructures" show )

[timurlenk]

3 things are important, it think:


1. one source is never enough! better 2 or more - just to compare.

2. dont use too old sources. in most cases, there are new perceptions and knowlegdes.

3. to learn something about your home country's history, use as much as possible foreign sources - they have no "nationalistic blind eye"...

[Jarlabanke]

Though I'm not sure what you mean with old sources, they are in my opinion the best, if your going to read the roman empire you can might as well read what was written by the Romans themselves as that'd be the base for any modern book you could read. Of course the old books are full of propaganda and all kinds of lies, but todays books are mostly based on what conclusions some guy has drawn from reading that book. I consider it better to read the original books first and then use modern ones to compare with your own thoughts. Then of course going to museums or historical sites to see things for yourself helps a lot in getting some kind of image.

[timurlenk]

Originally posted by Jarlabanke
Though I'm not sure what you mean with old sources, they are in my opinion the best, if your going to read the roman empire you can might as well read what was written by the Romans themselves as that'd be the base for any modern book you could read. Of course the old books are full of propaganda and all kinds of lies, but todays books are mostly based on what conclusions some guy has drawn from reading that book. I consider it better to read the original books first and then use modern ones to compare with your own thoughts. Then of course going to museums or historical sites to see things for yourself helps a lot in getting some kind of image.


yop, i didnt talk about original sources (isnt that easy to express myself in english :D ), but old sources (up to ca. 1950, depending on the issue).

lot of "old" books are still very usable and correct (e.g. about deeds / charters / correct words?)