New weapons technology prompted
new defensive technologies, for example the introduction of cross-bows
led quickly to the adoption of plate armour rather than chain mail.
Group items matching
in title, tags, annotations or url
18More
Medieval Warfare - 1 views
-
-
Siege Towers Battering Rams Cats and Weasels Chemical, Biological and Psychological Warfare Mining: undermining castle walls
-
Siege Towers
- ...14 more annotations...
-
One way to foil the approach of a belfry was to have sloping castle walls. This forced the attackers to cover a greater distance from the top of the belfry to the top of the castle wall. This was one of the benefits of a talus.
-
a battering ram is just a large, heavy log carried by several people and propelled with force against the target, the momentum of the ram damaging the target.
-
Some battering rams were supported by rollers.
-
This gave the ram much greater travel so that it could achieve a greater speed before striking its target and was therefore more destructive.
-
defenders attempted to foil battering rams by dropping obstacles in front of the ram just before it hit a wall, using grappling hooks to immobilize the log, setting the ram on fire, or sallying out to attack the ram. Battering rams had an important effect on the evolution of defensive walls - the talus for example was one way of reinforcing walls. In practice, wooden gates would generally offer the easiest targets.
-
Greek fire was a burning-liquid used as a weapon of war by the Byzantines, and also by Arabs, Chinese, and Mongols. I
-
As a defence, water alone was ineffective. On land sand could be used to stop the burning . Intriguingly it is also known that vinegar and urine were effective
-
Medieval warriors also used basic biological weapons, for example catapulting dead and diseased animals into a defended fortress to help spread disease.
-
For example would have mad armour suitable for a man of several times normal size. He would then leave a few samples laying around the scene of his victories against the Persians. After he had gone Persians would find this armour and were were soon spreading stories of Alexander's superhuman giant soldiers.
-
Other examples of psychological warfare include making loud noises (an old Celtic practice) and catapulting the severed heads of captured enemies back into the enemy camp.
-
Defenders in castles under siege might prop up dummies beside the walls to make it look like there were more defenders than there really were. They might throw food from the walls to show besiegers that provisions were plentifu
-
A"mine" was a tunnel dug to destabilise and bring down castles and other fortifications. The technique could be used only when the fortification was not built on solid rock. It was developed as a response to stone built castles that could not be burned like earlier-style wooden forts.
-
Medieval Battle Equipment & Weapons
-
Wet animal hides were highly effective against burning arrows
10More
List of Indian inventions and discoveries - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia - 0 views
-
Button, ornamental: Buttons—made from seashell—were used in the Indus Valley Civilization for ornamental purposes by 2000 BCE.[1] Some buttons were carved into geometric shapes and had holes pieced into them so that they could attached to clothing by using a thread.[1] Ian McNeil (1990) holds that: "The button, in fact, was originally used more as an ornament than as a fastening, the earliest known being found at Mohenjo-daro in the Indus Valley. It is made of a curved shell and about 5000 years old."
-
Calico: Calico had originated in the subcontinent by the 11th century and found mention in Indian literature, by the 12th century writer Hemachandra. He has mentioned calico fabric prints done in a lotus design.[3] The Indian textile merchants traded in calico with the Africans by the 15th century and calico fabrics from Gujarat appeared in Egypt.[3] Trade with Europe followed from the 17th century onwards.[3] Within India, calico originated in Calicut.[3] Carding, devices for: Historian of science Joseph Needham ascribes the invention of bow-instruments used in textile technology to India.[4] The earliest evidence for using bow-instruments for carding comes from India (2nd century CE).[4] These carding devices, called kaman and dhunaki would loosen the texture of the fiber by the means of a vibrating string.[4]
-
The words for "chess" in Old Persian and Arabic are chatrang and shatranj respectively — terms derived from caturaṅga in Sanskrit,[11][12] which literally means an army of four divisions or four corps.[13][14] Chess spread throughout the world and many variants of the game soon began taking shape.[15] This game was introduced to the Near East from India and became a part of the princely or courtly education of Persian nobility.[13] Buddhist pilgrims, Silk Road traders and others carried it to the Far East where it was transformed and assimilated into a game often played on the intersection of the lines of the board rather than within the squares.[15] Chaturanga reached Europe through Persia, the Byzantine empire and the expanding Arabian empire.[14][16] Muslims carried Shatranj to North Africa, Sicily, and Spain by the 10th century where it took its final modern form of chess.[15] Chintz: The origin of Chintz is from the printed all cotton fabric of calico in India.[17] The origin of the word chintz itself is from the Hindi language word चित्र् (chitr), which means a spot
- ...7 more annotations...
-
Coherer, iron and mercury: In 1899, the Bengali physicist Jagdish Chandra Bose announced the development of an "iron-mercury-iron coherer with telephone detector" in a paper presented at the Royal Society, London.[19] He also later received U.S. Patent 755,840, "Detector for electrical disturbances" (1904), for a specific electromagnetic receiver. Cotton gin, single-roller: The Ajanta caves of India yield evidence of a single roller cotton gin in use by the 5th century.[20] This cotton gin was used in India until innovations were made in form of foot powered gins.[21] The cotton gin was invented in India as a mechanical device known as charkhi, more technically the "wooden-worm-worked roller". This mechanical device was, in some parts of India, driven by water power.[4] Crescograph: The crescograph, a device for measuring growth in plants, was invented in the early 20th century by the Bengali scientist Jagadish Chandra Bose.[22][
-
Perhaps as early as 300 BCE—although certainly by 200 CE—high quality steel was being produced in southern India also by what Europeans would later call the crucible technique.[24] In this system, high-purity wrought iron, charcoal, and glass were mixed in a crucible and heated until the iron melted and absorbed the carbon.[24] The first crucible steel was the wootz steel that originated in India before the beginning of the common era.[25] Archaeological evidence suggests that this manufacturing process was already in existence in South India well before the Christian era.[26][27][28][29] Dock (maritime): The world's first dock at Lothal (2400 BCE) was located away from the main current to avoid deposition of silt.[30] Modern oceanographers have observed that the Harappans must have possessed knowledge relating to tides in order to build such a dock on the ever-shifting course of the Sabarmati, as well as exemplary hydrography and maritime engineering.[30] This was the earliest known dock found in the world, equipped to berth and service ships.[30][31] It is speculated that Lothal engineers studied tidal movements, and their effects on brick-built structures, since the walls are of kiln-burnt bricks.[32] This knowledge also enabled them to select Lothal's location in the first place, as the Gulf of Khambhat has the highest tidal amplitude and ships can be sluiced through flow tides in the river estuar
-
location in the first place, as the Gulf of Khambhat has the highest tidal amplitude and ships can be sluiced through flow tides in the river estuar y
-
Incense clock: Although popularly associated with China the incense clock is believed to have originated in India, at least in its fundamental form if not function.[33][34] Early incense clocks found in China between the 6th and 8th century CE—the period it appeared in China all seem to have Devanāgarī carvings on them instead of Chinese seal characters.[33][34] Incense itself was introduced to China from India in the early centuries CE, along with the spread of Buddhism by travelling monks.[35][36][37] Edward Schafer asserts that incense clocks were probably an Indian invention, transmitted to China, which explains the Devanāgarī inscriptions on early incense clocks found in China.[33] Silvio Bedini on the other hand asserts that incense clocks were derived in part from incense seals mentioned in Tantric Buddhist scriptures, which first came to light in China after those scriptures from India were translated into Chinese, but holds that the time-telling function of the seal was incorporated by the Chinese.[34] India ink, carbonaceous pigment for: The source of the carbon pigment used in India ink was India.[38][39] In India, the carbon black from which India ink is produced is obtained by burning bones, tar, pitch, and other substances.[39][40] Ink itself has been used in India since at least the 4th century BCE.[41] Masi, an early ink in India was an admixture of several chemical components.[41] Indian documents written in Kharosthi with ink have been unearthed in Xinjiang.[42] The practice of writing with ink and a sharp pointed needle was common in ancient South India.[43] Several Jain sutras in India were compiled in ink
-
Indian clubs: The Indian club—which appeared in Europe during the 18th century—was used long by India's native soldiery before its introduction to Europe.[45] During the British Raj the British officers in India performed calisthenic exercises with clubs to keep in for physical conditioning.[45] From Britain the use of club swinging spread to the rest of the world.[45] Kabaddi: The game of kabaddi originated in India during prehistory.[46] Suggestions on how it evolved into the modern form range from wrestling exercises, military drills, and collective self defense but most authorities agree that the game existed in some form or the other in India during the period between 1500-400 BCE.[46] Ludo: Pachisi originated in India by the 6th century.[47] The earliest evidence of this game in India is the depiction of boards on the caves of Ajanta.[47] This game was played by the Mughal emperors of India; a notable example being that of Akbar, who played living Pachisi using girls from his harem.[47][48] A variant of this game, called Ludo, made its way to England during the British Raj.[
-
Ruler: Rulers made from Ivory were in use by the Indus Valley Civilization in what today is Pakistan and some parts of Western India prior to 1500 BCE.[64] Excavations at Lothal (2400 BCE) have yielded one such ruler calibrated to about 1/16 of an inch—less than 2 millimeters.[64] Ian Whitelaw (2007) holds that 'The Mohenjo-Daro ruler is divided into units corresponding to 1.32 inches (33.5 mm) and these are marked out in decimal subdivisions with amazing accuracy—to within 0.005 of an inch. Ancient bricks found throughout the region have dimensions that correspond to these units.'[65] Shigeo Iwata (2008) further writes 'The minimum division of graduation found in the segment of an ivory-made linear measure excavated in Lothal was 1.79 mm (that corresponds to 1/940 of a fathom), while that of the fragment of a shell-made one from Mohenjo-daro was 6.72 mm (1/250 of a fathom), and that of bronze-made one from Harapa was 9.33 mm (1/180 of a fathom).'[66] The weights and measures of the Indus civilization also reached Persia and Central Asia, where they were further modified.[66] Seamless celestial globe: Considered one of the most remarkable feats in metallurgy, it was invented in Kashmir by Ali Kashmiri ibn Luqman in between 1589 and 1590 CE, and twenty other such globes were later produced in Lahore and Kashmir during the Mughal Empire.[67][68] Before they were rediscovered in the 1980s, it was believed by modern metallurgists to be technically impossible to produce metal globes without any seams, even with modern technology.[68] These Mughal metallurgists pioneered the method of lost-wax casting in order to produce these globes
-
Simputer: The Simputer (acronym for "simple, inexpensive and multilingual people's computer") is a self-contained, open hardware handheld computer, designed for use in environments where computing devices such as personal computers are deemed inappropriate. It was developed in 1999 by 7 scientists of the Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, led by Dr. Swami Manohar in collaboration with Encore India, a company based in Bangalore.[69][70] Originally envisaged to bring internet to the masses of India, the Simputer and its derivatives are today widely utilized by governments of several Indian states as part of their e-governance drive, the Indian Army, as well as by other public and private organizations.[71][72] Snakes and ladders: Snakes and ladders originated in India as a game based on morality.[73] During British rule of India, this game made its way to England, and was eventually introduced in the United States of America by game-pioneer Milton Bradley in 1943.[73] Stepwell: Earliest clear evidence of the origins of the stepwell is found in the Indus Valley Civilization's archaeological site at Mohenjodaro in Pakistan.[74] The three features of stepwells in the subcontinent are evident from one particular site, abandoned by 2500 BCE, which combines a bathing pool, steps leading down to water, and figures of some religious importance into one structure.[74] The early centuries immediately before the common era saw the Buddhists and the Jains of India adapt the stepwells into their architecture.[74] Both the wells and the form of ritual bathing reached other parts of the world with Buddhism.[74] Rock-cut step wells in the subcontinent date from 200-400 CE.[75] Subsequently the wells at Dhank (550-625 CE) and stepped ponds at Bhinmal (850-950 CE) were constructed.[75] Stupa: The origin of the stupa can be traced to 3rd century BCE India.[76] It was used as a commemorative monument associated with storing sacred relics.[76] The stupa architecture was adopted in Southeast and East Asia, where it evolved into the pagoda, a Buddhist monument used for enshrining sacred relics.[76] Toe stirrup: The earliest known manifestation of the stirrup, which was a toe loop that held the big toe was used in India in as early as 500 BCE[77] or perhaps by 200 BCE according to other sources.[78][79] This ancient stirrup consisted of a looped rope for the big toe which was at the bottom of a saddle made of fibre or leather.[79] Such a configuration made it suitable for the warm climate of most of India where people used to ride horses barefoot.[79] A pair of megalithic double bent iron bars with curvature at each end, excavated in Junapani in the central Indian state of Madhya Pradesh have been regarded as stirrups although they could as well be something else.[80] Buddhist carvings in the temples of Sanchi, Mathura and the Bhaja caves dating back between the 1st and 2nd century BCE figure horsemen riding with elaborate saddles with feet slipped under girths.[81][82][83] Sir John Marshall described the Sanchi relief as "the earliest example by some five centuries of the use of stirrups in any part of the world".[83] In the 1st century CE horse riders in northern India, where winters are sometimes long and cold, were recorded to have their booted feet attached to hooked stirrups.[78] However the form, the conception of the primitive Indian stirrup spread west and east, gradually evolving into the stirrup of today.http://en.wikipe
4More
Illumination History - 0 views
-
During the early Middle Ages most books were used by priests and monks for liturgical purposes. New books appeared most often when a new monastery was founded.
-
Most illuminators were humble craftsmen who set up shop. Some were independent, itinerant artists who traveled from place to place looking for commissions. The best held the rank of court artists at the exclusive service of a wealthy patron.
-
Illuminators usually belonged either to the painter’s guild or another guild involved in the book trade. Most illuminators remained anonymous until the late Middle Ages
7More
shared by Katelyn H on 22 Feb 12
- No Cached
Confession - 0 views
nicolaa5.tripod.com/...confess.html
Confession Priest Booth Penace Penalty Public Private Catholic Church Punishment
shared by Katelyn H on 22 Feb 12
- No Cached
-
Most people, even non-Catholics, know what going to confession involves. One travels to a church, in a corner of which is situated a confessional booth.
-
"Bless me Father, for I have sinned. It has been three months since my last confession."
-
he priest listens to the confession and assigns an appropriate penance
- ...3 more annotations...
-
Public confession of sins was part of this (although private confession followed by public penance gained acceptance after the official conversion of Rome)
-
Penitents were required to kneel outside the church, wearing sackcloth and ashes, during Mass and were not allowed to participate in the Eucharist
-
For major, or "deadly" sins, the length of this penance could number in years, and one could only be absolved once of such a sin before one was excommunicated
Google World Wonders Project - 0 views
14More
The Space Race - History.com Articles, Video, Pictures and Facts - 3 views
-
Cold War
-
crucial not to lose too much ground to the Soviets. In addition, this demonstration of the overwhelming power of the R-7 missile--seemingly capable of delivering a nuclear warhead into U.S. air space--made gathering intelligence about Soviet military activities particularly urgent.
-
Space exploration served as another dramatic arena for Cold War competition. On October 4, 1957, a Soviet R-7 intercontinental ballistic missile launched Sputnik
- ...11 more annotations...
-
fueled by the arms race and the growing threat of nuclear weapons, wide-ranging espionage and counter-espionage between the two countries, war in Korea and a clash of words and ideas carried out in the media.
-
In 1959, the Soviet space program took another step forward with the launch of Luna 2, the first space probe to hit the moon
-
In April 1961, the Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin became the first person to orbit Earth, traveling in the capsule-like spacecraft Vostok 1. For the U.S. effort to send a man into space, dubbed Project Mercury, NASA engineers designed a smaller, cone-shaped capsule far lighter than Vostok; they tested the craft with chimpanzees, and held a final test flight in March 1961 before the Soviets were able to pull ahead with Gagarin's launch. On May 5, astronaut Alan Shepard became the first American in space (though not in orbit).
-
Later that May, President John F. Kennedy made the bold, public claim that the U.S. would land a man on the moon before the end of the decade. In February 1962, John Glenn became the first American to orbit Earth, and by the end of that year, the foundations of NASA's lunar landing program--dubbed Project Apollo--were in place.
-
500 percent
-
budget was increased
-
After landing successfully on July 20, Armstrong became the first man to walk on the moon's surface; he famously called the moment "one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind."
-
By landing on the moon, the United States effectively "won" the space race that had begun with Sputnik's launch in
-
ublic's attention was captivated by the space race, and the various developments by the Soviet and U.S. space programs were heavily covered in the national media. This frenzy of interest was further encouraged by the new medium of television. Astronauts came to be seen as the ultimate American heroes, a
-
Soviets, in turn, were pictured as the ultimate villains, with their massive, relentless efforts to surpass America and prove the power of the communist system.
-
Soyuz vehicle. When the commanders of the two crafts officially greeted each other, their "handshake in space" served to symbolize the gradual improvement of U.S.-Soviet relations in the late Cold War-era.
1More
Greek Civilization in Beijing Museum -- china.org.cn - 0 views
3More
Kids Biography: Marco Polo - 0 views
-
lived in China for many years and learned to speak the language
-
The Silk Road referred to a number of trade routes between major cities and trading posts that went all the way from Eastern Europe to Northern China.
-
Marco Polo was a merchant and explorer who traveled throughout the Far East and China for much of his life.
8More
Black Death - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia - 0 views
-
-
-
The aftermath of the plague created a series of religious, social, and economic upheavals, which had profound effects on the course of European history. It took 150 years for Europe's population to recover
-
The Black Death is thought to have originated in the arid plains of central Asia, where it then travelled along the Silk Road, reaching the Crimea by 1346
- ...4 more annotations...
-
The Black Death was one of the most devastating pandemics in human history, resulting in the deaths of an estimated 75 to 200 million people and peaking in Europe in the years 1348–50 CE.
-
The plague disease, generally thought to be caused by Yersinia pestis, is enzootic (commonly present) in populations of fleas carried by ground rodents, including marmots, in various areas including Central Asia, Kurdistan, Western Asia, Norther
-
India and Uganda
-
The plague reached Sicily in October 1347
5More
What did the ancient Greeks do for us? | History Extra - 0 views
-
To say that we owe a lot to the ancient Greeks is nothing new. Everywhere we look, we see echoes of that world in our own: democracy, philosophy, art, architecture, science, sport, to name but a few.
-
Our very sense of the ‘Classical’ from the Renaissance onwards, has been based on the ‘fact’ that ancient Greek temples and buildings were made out of marble and stood shining off-white in the sunlight. But ever since the first modern travellers visited Greece in the 17th century, we have discovered evidence that this is, in fact, completely wrong. Greek temples were painted bright blue, red, green: our very definition of the opposite of Classical!
-
By the seventh century AD, for example, the term 'democracy' had a ‘mob-rule’ feel about it, which made ancient Athens a very unpopular model for any society, right through until the until the late 18th century. In the English Civil War, for instance, Cromwell was encouraged to follow the example of the ancient Spartans, not the Athenians.
- ...1 more annotation...
-
-
12More
shared by Anabelle C on 01 Nov 11
- No Cached
http://www.bradshawfoundation.com/journey/timeline.swf - 3 views
www.bradshawfoundation.com/...timeline.swf
Migration Humans Prehistory Interactive evolution timeline
shared by Anabelle C on 01 Nov 11
- No Cached
21More
Digital History - 3 views
-
-
Creed means: statement of faith that describes the beliefs shared by a religious community. This is talking about religion. -
-
-
no creed and they are not idolaters,
-
very gentle and do not know what it is to be wicked, or to kill others, or to steal
- ...14 more annotations...
-
they are sure that we come from Heaven
-
-
-
They have no iron or steel, nor any weapons.
-
-
-
They willingly traded everything they owned.
-
They do not bear arms, and do not know them, for I showed them a sword, they took it by the edge and cut themselves out of ignorance. With fifty men we could subjugate them all and make them do whatever we want.
-
-
-
They brought us parrots and balls of cotton and spears and many other things, which they exchanged for the glass beads and hawks' bells.
-
How accurate do you consider Columbus's description of the New World?
-
-
-
2. How does Columbus describe the Indians
-
3. Why, according to Columbus, should Spain be interested in colonizing the New World?
-
-
This graph is also important because it talks about diseases that affected the indian population.
-
-
-
-
It talks about the travelers who discovered new things in or near the Americas.
-
2More
Hermes - Ancient Greek Gods - Ancient Greece for Kids! - 1 views
-
Hermes is a god of boundaries, borders and edges. Because of this, he's also in charge of things that cross borders, like messages or travelers.
-
For instance, Hermes carries messages to Odysseus in Homer's Odyssey, and to Alcmena in Plautus' Amphitryo.
9More
Welcome to My 7th Grade Adventure - History with Holman - 2 views
-
-
-
And in the middle of the Classic Age of Greece, it was important for Greeks to travel and trade.
-
interest as each citizen grabbed a small stone from a large pile and started dropping it in two separate piles:
- ...6 more annotations...
-
each for one side of the debate. It was quite obvious that the pile for stopping the use of the boat was a bit larger, so without any counting, everybody declared that the majority ruled.
-
-
-
"At least it's not Sparta. Oligarchies," a small woman nearby talking the elder that I had ran into before whispered.
-
Only a small group of probably aristocratic people can make decisions.
-
Starting to think about our representative democracy back in the United States of America, I headed back to my sleeping spot the previous night. The debate had taken so long, it was almost sunset. Direct democracies are much more different than our representative democracy, I thought.
-
In a direct democracy, there are no separation of powers: citizens create laws, enforce laws, and act as judges, whereas in a representative democracy, some people have more power than others and citizens vote people to create laws, enforce laws, and act as judges. But both direct and representative democracies are different than theocracies or monarchies.
4More
resourcesforhistoryteachers - 7.27 - 1 views
-
Besides the obvious differences in philosophies, there is a very big difference in geography that cause these differences. Ancient Athens was situated somewhat close to the coast; it was only about five miles to the port city of Piraeus (which became part of Athens with the building of the Long Walls), thus it was no more then a few hours of travel from Athens to the coast line, thus greatly increasing the ability to be a trade center. Ancient Sparta however is located at the shortest distance 40 miles from the coast, however the terrain is somewhat rocky and there is no real straight path to the coast line. This would have greatly impeded the ability for Sparta to become a major trading port
-
Spartan Government Typically classified as an "oligarchy" ( rule by the few), but had elements of monarchy, democracy, and aristocracy Two kings were usually generals who commanded the major Spartan armies. While both were capable military leaders one was usually considered the leader of the army. This was done mainly so that in times of war Sparta would still retain a leader if the other were to die in battle. The most famous example was King Leonidas, who famously was able to hold off the enormous Persian Army at the battle of Thermoplyae.Five overseers (ephors) ran the day-to-day operations of Sparta. These overseers held one year terms and were responsible for the education and conduct of all its citizens (The Essential World History, W. Duiker & J. Spielvogel, Second Edition, 2005, p. 76)Council or Senate (apella) of 28 councilmen. These men had to be over 60 years old and served lifetime terms. They acted as judges and proposed laws to the citizens' assembly.All Spartan males over age 30 could join the Assembly where they could show their support/dissent by shouting.
-
Athens Government Typically classified as a “limited democracy.” Also considered the “birthplace of democracy.” Athens held the first democratic state, developed in 507 BC.Principally made up of elected officials:Council of 500 made most of the main administrative decisionsThe Assembly was open to all citizens. This body passed laws and made policy decisions.Although many nations throughout time have modeled their governments on the principles of Athenian Democracy, it was not perfect. Only men were able to participate in the democratic assemblies, and this was only 10-20% of the population. Women, children, slaves and foreigners were not allowed to participate
- ...1 more annotation...
-
-
1More
Stonehenge: The earliest Ikea flat pack in history? - CNN.com - 0 views
-
That's the view of Mike Parker Pearson, professor of British later prehistory at University College London (UCL) who says some of the famous rocky slabs -- known as 'bluestones' -- may have first been erected in Wales and then moved on to England around 500 years later.