A little something I whipped up. I personally enjoy reading and writing history. Anyone else's ideas of major "hinges" in history?
--Ace
Events of the past will always shape the future, even if it is not known at the time of its occurrence. Western civilization as it is currently known has a long, storied past of major events. Among some of the more important events is the public display of Hammurabi?s Code, the invention of the printing press, and the black plague?s ravishing of Europe?s population. These three events greatly impacted the lifestyles of the people living at the time, and in effect have impacted the lives of people today.
The reign of Hammurabi during the middle of the 16th century B.C.E was one of a genuine reformer. He concentrated on internal improvements to the Babylonian Empire and providing social justice for his subjects. The greatest step that Hammurabi made in his quest for social justice was his placement of what is today known as ?Hammurabi?s Code? onto a stele of basalt, in the plain view of his subjects. This transformed the law of the land from one that was held in the subjective view of the educated, well off members of society, to instead an objective list of laws that cannot be misconstrued. Some key points of this code were the sectioning of the Babylonians into three separate classes: free persons, commoners, and slaves, and outlining punishments for various crimes committed. The effects of these laws and classes carried over to western civilization well through the years with the idea that a crime committed to a person of a lower class would usually result in a fine, while a crime against a member of the same class often resulted in ?an eye for an eye?. However, not all of the ideas in Hammurabi?s code carried on through universal western history. For example, under the code, women of higher classes had rights to own property, and even to divorce a husband in certain circumstances. These rights for women would not re-emerge for some time, and still today are not universally recognized. The importance of the availability of a written, objective law cannot be underestimated in the daily lives of people, who were able to know the consequences of their actions, and the justice they would receive if they were wronged by another member of society.
While having the law available in the public?s eye is important for helping to insure the rights of man, even more important is the education of man. The mid 15th century saw the invention of the mechanical printing press by Johannes Gutenberg. This press allowed the easy dissemination of news, religion, and knowledge. All three of these are arguably equally important. The spread of news would allow for subjects of monarchies to know the events that are going on across their land and neighboring territories. Religion can easily be classified as the most influential force in western civilization. The ability for families to own their own Bible allows for a much more independent devotion to their religion, which can likely be tied to the eventual coming of the Protestant Reformation and even the freedom of religion that is seen today in numerous countries in the west. The spread of religion must have also led to the reinforcement of what can be considered ?good? morals for people to exhibit. Lastly, importance of the spread of knowledge in general cannot be overstated. The efficiency of being able to not have to rely on questionable human memory or the painstakingly slow process of manual copying of a text allowed for an enormous expansion in the capacity of human knowledge. While the printing press was invented at the end of the Middle Ages, which focused on ?limited knowledge? of mankind, it arrived just in time to help set the stage for the coming renaissance era of expanding knowledge even further. These three key areas influenced by the advent of the printing press can be summarized in its importance of the spread of literacy from the elites of society to the general masses. With the ability to read becoming more common amongst members of society, the power of the elites over middle and lower classes begins to diminish, setting the stage eventually for more universal, equal rights in the nations.
The Black Plague is remembered as obliterating a vast majority of the European population, and not much else. However, a deeper look into the effects of the plague on the everyday lives of the European population of 14th century shows the start of living a much more liberal life than before. This plague, whose roots came from Asian trading vessels, attacked first and most devastatingly in the early 14th century, and repeated numerous, although less severe attacks on Europe, in cycles for the next two hundred years.. In doing this, the people of the land began to learn that their lives were not as static as they were used to. Instead of living life the same way day after day, their lives become more fluid and thus began to ?live like they were dying,? quite literally. The era of the plague saw a sharp increase in the consumption of luxury goods, the rise of some cities while others vanished, and even a noticeable increase in the world?s oldest profession. While some of the more liberal activities of this life were later squashed by religious revivals, the idea of people living for enjoyment vice subsistence had worldwide effects that are still seen today in the lifestyles of western peoples. Another effect of this plague on society was an increase in the perception of the fallibility of the church. While today it can easily be understood that clergy often fell victim to the plague due to frequent contact with the sick, at the time of the plague, it was viewed more as a wrath against the corruption that had become commonplace in the Catholic church in the 14th century and before.
Hammurabi?s Code, the advent of the printing press, and the scourge of the Black Plague are three key landmarks in what made western civilization what it is today. While it can be argued that many other points in early history influenced western civilization as a whole, these three had effects that reach well beyond their immediate influence at the time. Along these lines, it would be interesting to see how recent events, such as the fall of the Berlin Wall, the war in Iraq, and the rise of China will effect civilization as a whole in the coming centuries.
--Ace
The Shaping of Modern Western Civilization
Events of the past will always shape the future, even if it is not known at the time of its occurrence. Western civilization as it is currently known has a long, storied past of major events. Among some of the more important events is the public display of Hammurabi?s Code, the invention of the printing press, and the black plague?s ravishing of Europe?s population. These three events greatly impacted the lifestyles of the people living at the time, and in effect have impacted the lives of people today.
The reign of Hammurabi during the middle of the 16th century B.C.E was one of a genuine reformer. He concentrated on internal improvements to the Babylonian Empire and providing social justice for his subjects. The greatest step that Hammurabi made in his quest for social justice was his placement of what is today known as ?Hammurabi?s Code? onto a stele of basalt, in the plain view of his subjects. This transformed the law of the land from one that was held in the subjective view of the educated, well off members of society, to instead an objective list of laws that cannot be misconstrued. Some key points of this code were the sectioning of the Babylonians into three separate classes: free persons, commoners, and slaves, and outlining punishments for various crimes committed. The effects of these laws and classes carried over to western civilization well through the years with the idea that a crime committed to a person of a lower class would usually result in a fine, while a crime against a member of the same class often resulted in ?an eye for an eye?. However, not all of the ideas in Hammurabi?s code carried on through universal western history. For example, under the code, women of higher classes had rights to own property, and even to divorce a husband in certain circumstances. These rights for women would not re-emerge for some time, and still today are not universally recognized. The importance of the availability of a written, objective law cannot be underestimated in the daily lives of people, who were able to know the consequences of their actions, and the justice they would receive if they were wronged by another member of society.
While having the law available in the public?s eye is important for helping to insure the rights of man, even more important is the education of man. The mid 15th century saw the invention of the mechanical printing press by Johannes Gutenberg. This press allowed the easy dissemination of news, religion, and knowledge. All three of these are arguably equally important. The spread of news would allow for subjects of monarchies to know the events that are going on across their land and neighboring territories. Religion can easily be classified as the most influential force in western civilization. The ability for families to own their own Bible allows for a much more independent devotion to their religion, which can likely be tied to the eventual coming of the Protestant Reformation and even the freedom of religion that is seen today in numerous countries in the west. The spread of religion must have also led to the reinforcement of what can be considered ?good? morals for people to exhibit. Lastly, importance of the spread of knowledge in general cannot be overstated. The efficiency of being able to not have to rely on questionable human memory or the painstakingly slow process of manual copying of a text allowed for an enormous expansion in the capacity of human knowledge. While the printing press was invented at the end of the Middle Ages, which focused on ?limited knowledge? of mankind, it arrived just in time to help set the stage for the coming renaissance era of expanding knowledge even further. These three key areas influenced by the advent of the printing press can be summarized in its importance of the spread of literacy from the elites of society to the general masses. With the ability to read becoming more common amongst members of society, the power of the elites over middle and lower classes begins to diminish, setting the stage eventually for more universal, equal rights in the nations.
The Black Plague is remembered as obliterating a vast majority of the European population, and not much else. However, a deeper look into the effects of the plague on the everyday lives of the European population of 14th century shows the start of living a much more liberal life than before. This plague, whose roots came from Asian trading vessels, attacked first and most devastatingly in the early 14th century, and repeated numerous, although less severe attacks on Europe, in cycles for the next two hundred years.. In doing this, the people of the land began to learn that their lives were not as static as they were used to. Instead of living life the same way day after day, their lives become more fluid and thus began to ?live like they were dying,? quite literally. The era of the plague saw a sharp increase in the consumption of luxury goods, the rise of some cities while others vanished, and even a noticeable increase in the world?s oldest profession. While some of the more liberal activities of this life were later squashed by religious revivals, the idea of people living for enjoyment vice subsistence had worldwide effects that are still seen today in the lifestyles of western peoples. Another effect of this plague on society was an increase in the perception of the fallibility of the church. While today it can easily be understood that clergy often fell victim to the plague due to frequent contact with the sick, at the time of the plague, it was viewed more as a wrath against the corruption that had become commonplace in the Catholic church in the 14th century and before.
Hammurabi?s Code, the advent of the printing press, and the scourge of the Black Plague are three key landmarks in what made western civilization what it is today. While it can be argued that many other points in early history influenced western civilization as a whole, these three had effects that reach well beyond their immediate influence at the time. Along these lines, it would be interesting to see how recent events, such as the fall of the Berlin Wall, the war in Iraq, and the rise of China will effect civilization as a whole in the coming centuries.
