The Plague - Global Cooling!

Up to this point the readings on the plague have been the most interesting. After the reading though I felt some of my own questions went unanswered.  For instance, I wondered what the main factor was that eventually contained the plague. I understand it is still around today, but I'm curious to know what factors were at play that prevented the plague from eventually wiping out all of Europe. Additionally, I found it interesting because it was mentioned multiple times that the plague flourished because the planet was experiencing a cooling period with very wet conditions that negatively contributed to the spread of the disease. You would think then that maybe global warming has some positive effects after all. I guess I'll take my chances with global warming over global cooling that killed 1/3 of the people. I wonder if people in the middle ages had people running around telling them we are all doomed because of global cooling? And then everyone must be 'black' and everyone must work to warm the planet by burning fires all night. Maybe tax incentives to mine coal? Was their an Italian Al Gore saying, "I told you so!"? Are we going to go too far cooling the planet and then we will be working for the next 100 years trying to warm it again?I apologize for getting a on a soapbox. Its just that the reading made me realize that our generation is spoiled in comparison to other people in history. Overall, this is why I love history it really puts things in perspective. Also, I wonder if the disease traveled and affected the Western Hemisphere as well. If anyone knows any good books on the plague please let me know. 

Wikipedia Article Analysis II

Viking Ships

This article describes the various vessels utilized by the Vikings between (793 - 1066) in Northern Europe.  This article provided some fundamental analysis of the three main ships utilized by the Vikings during this time period, such as, the longship, knar, and the smaller vessels utilized.  In addition, this article at en.wikipedia.org/wiki/viking_ship also discussed about the further evidences of these ships through the preservation of these ships. The article also briefly discussed the infamous "Dragon Ships" that were the mainstay of the Vikings. 

1. The length of the article is 655 words (4 KB)

2. The search term utilized was Viking Ships.

3. The disambiguation link displayed other readings with similar titles and concepts.

4. The page discussion section explained that the article is within the scope of WikiProject Norse history and culture. This article had not yet obtained a rating.

5. The article had a total of 8 changes and the earliest change was Feb 7 2006, and the most recent change was Nov 3 2007.

6. There are also 12 external links provided that detailed additional information.

7. There is just one reference and it was listed as BBC News.

8. Nothing is listed under further reading.

Overall, I would recommend the article to understand and introduce the basic information of Viking Ships. This site does provide a basic overview and provides additional external links to learn even more detailed information on the ships designs and features.  This includes information about preserved ships from the Viking era, including, the Gokstad ship excavation.  

Vikings

It was interesting to learn that how vast the influences of the Vikings were. From Russia as far away as Iceland. Notably, reading about how the Vikings would plunder along the rivers in Europe for thirteen years.  It's pretty unimaginable that anything like that could happen for such a prolonged time. A chronicle from the Scheldt River Valley mentioned how the roads are covered with the dead of priests, women, and babies. Honestly, before reading about the Vikings I had a pretty naive opinion of what I thought I knew. Admit tingly, most my opinions originated from media sources.  After reading about the descriptions of the conquests of the Vikings I was amazed at the scope of the attacks and the effects throughout Europe, and of course the sheer brutality the Vikings imposed. In addition, I found it interesting that Normandy was given the name because of a Viking who converted to Christianity and promised France that they would help defend from other Vikings.

The Papacy

I found it very interesting seeing how different people ran the church during medieval times.  Specifically, it seems that Pope Gregory I was the one that put the papacy in motion and became a true church leader. I think it was interesting how he saw slaves from England in the Roman marketplace and then converted them. In addition, then sent a delegation to England and then converted the King.  Consequently, England became a christian nation. It makes me wonder, how the act of man could have a substantial impact not only on his own time but for the future. 

Also, informative on how the kings and leaders of the church rivaled each other in the world. They were competing for power with the same group of people. It makes me wonder if any of these situations later compelled our own founding fathers to emphasize the separation of church and state. If anything was learned from previous medieval time periods. 

ISLAM

I found the article on the origins of Islam very interesting. Especially interested in the pillars of faith and the additional duties of Islam. I'm curious to know more about the part that one of the duties is to wage war (jihad) against those who persecute the faithful. I don't know if that just means self-defense of Islamic lands or it means that force is justified to convert people to Islam. I believe that most muslims are not for using force in the name of their religion, however, other extremists probably use the Jihad clause to advance their causes. Understandably, I recognize their are extremists in every religion.  However, in explaining the life of Muhammad it seems his movement had advocated violence in Mecca to advance their cause originally. Also, after reading about the reasons why Islam spread so rapidly, I can understand why they controlled such vast expanses. I think taking away the burden of taxation, using a common language (Arabic), and making it very simple for people to convert and understand the religion obviously went a long ways.