Week 9 - The Plague

Why did people believe that sound would drive away the plague? I mean, I can see the connection they made between the stench of the dead bodies and getting sick. But the only viable reason that I can think of for ringing church bells and firing cannons is that that were told it would drive away the sickness and it was purely to make people feel better.

Week 8 - Crop Rotation

I half wonder if song "Oats, Peas, Beans, and Barley Grow" is from the time when England started using peas and beans in thier crop rotation. Its interesting that the tequnique of dividing the field into three is still used today, although in most fields animals don't really graze on the fallow anymore.

Wikipedia Assignment

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Middle_Ages
1. How long is the article? (cut and paste text into word processor and do a word count)
Aprx. 7615 words
2. What was the search term you used and what is the exact article title?
I searched for “Midieval” actual title is “Middle Ages”
3. Look at the Disambiguation link and say what you find there.
Midieval (1 & 2): Total War are computer strategy games, and there are two songs called Midieval.
4. Look at the page Discussion and say briefly what you find there.
From reading the discussion, it seems to me like people take issue with a few statements, but most of it seems correct.
5. Look at the History of the page. How many changes have there been? When was the date of the first change? Last change?
Last Revision: 21:05, 19 October 2008
First Revision: 07:21, 3 October 2003
Number of Edits: 5927
6. How many external links are provided?
13
7. How many references?
1
8. How many entries under Further Reading?
21


I'm not sure if I would recommend this article. It contains alot of information (, however the fact that it only has one reference bothers me a little. Especially considering how many edits the article has had. I suppose I might recommend it, but I would also recommend checking all of the infomation before believing it.

Week 7 - Pope Gregory I

Pope Gregory I seemed like he was a very sensible, well rounded leader. There have been very few leaders in all of history (particularly in recent years) that not only meant well, but were competent enough to actually accomplish something. To me, it seems like Gregory truly cared about the people of Rome, and not upping his own power. That is very rare in people who actually end up getting that kind of power. It's great that he's also known for his writings and music. I wonder if they still use his Book of Pasotral Care. However, I don’t know what the Gregorian chant is, I’m guessing it’s a church thing…

Week 6 - The "Fall" of Rome

I must admit, I’d never heard the fall of Rome compared to a glacier, but I suppose it fits well enough. When I think of the fall of the Roman Empire, I always remember being told they collapsed because they spread themselves so thin. In my mind I always pictured a rubber band, stretching and stretching until finally one day it snapped. This is the picture all of my past teachers have painted for me, but that really isn’t the way it happened. I find it kind of (a little bit) funny that everyone always thinks of this huge event of it collapsing, when no one can actually name the exact date it happened. It seems like the conquerors taking the names of the local population seems a lot more common you would think.

I have always hated the part of history when Christians start taking over, any religion really, but Christianity seems like it’s the least tolerant (this is probably because it’s the one you always hear about the most in history books).