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Glorious or tragic, it's all relational. Fancy that, European coalitions forming against a minute power in SE Europe, what a surprise!
Then I will say it for you! GLORIOUS!
The Italian Wars are won, eh? Quite a good war for the Romans, and that battle was evocatively described.
I have never heard of JB Bury, definitely looking him up now.
Yes, I got Naxos and Corfu out of the deal, although I would have liked to have Crete, France being allied with Venice prevented that...
Oh yes, J.B. Bury, well, I know and own/read just about every important historian and philosopher of the period or writes history ca. 200-800 C.E. But Bury has long been a personal favorite of mine for many reasons.
A CS fan now you?
Yeah, it's that time of year. Term papers and responses back from editors concerning Fall and Winter journal publications. :glare:
I'm not necessarily one for diplomatic history (as a personal preference, I'm a cultural-social and religious historian by training) so I think that's reflected in my writing. Plus, since I theoretically should be staying with early 20th century Anglosphere scholarship, diplomatic history wasn't really big until Paul Schroeder. Actually, you're right, I probably could have outlined it better than just stating I got Naxos and Corfu!
No, Rome is still part of the Papal States. I just added that flare because I was marching south to fight in Southern Italy and passed through Rome.
At least the German cavalry accomplished something important in this battle, unlike the British light cavalry at Balaclava...
The Brits in 1.8 can't find a land war for jack. Lets just say the med is filled with shipwrecks carrying their drowned soldiers in many of my games.
I dont know why the AI doesnt escort its transports.
I dont know why the AI doesnt escort its transports.
Why are we talking about the British, I don't even think I've ever mentioned them in the AAR?
Although I've had similar experiences playing as Aragon (forming Spain) and finding 30 transports unprotected from the O.E., very easy prey for my naval forces...(?)
Why are we talking about the British, I don't even think I've ever mentioned them in the AAR?
Although I've had similar experiences playing as Aragon (forming Spain) and finding 30 transports unprotected from the O.E., very easy prey for my naval forces...(?)
Because it was 3 am here when I posted and I read English apparently instead of French...Multiple times... When I am lecturing subjects I need to take brakes....
Also this, somehow I confused the two.
Sorry m8.
Wow, a great climatic ending to the Italian Wars with the Battle of Milan. The French and Italians made a costly mistake that decided the war. I bet the French will come back to have vengeance on this day.
They got a poem dedicated by Tennyson and Errol Flynn doing the Flynn in the big screen
I have special plans with France for the end of this AAR!
They got a poem dedicated by Tennyson and Errol Flynn doing the Flynn in the big screen
Silly me, I should have known better especially since the next chapter is going to deal with the arts and culture!
Volume II, Part II: Chapter XXI - The Greek Renaissance
In the midst of war and politics, it is important to remember the great influence and renaissance in the arts and culture that was widespread in the late period empire from the late 1470s until the death of John. I had written, back in Chapter IX, that, ironically, the neo-Platonic and Pagan philosophy of Eirenaios Tornikes served as the foundation for a cultural and theological renaissance that benefitted the Greek Church. The twin rise of the neo-pagan cults, as discussed in Chapter IX, and the rise of the Council of Constantinople in 1477 that had conveyed a primitive inclusiveness akin to the philosophy and teachings of the Patristic Fathers gave rise to this rapid flourishing of the arts.
As opposed to the Italian Renaissance, which, naturally carries more weight in the memory of Central and Western Europe—this renaissance in Greece predated and ultimately influenced the Renaissance in Western Europe. However, prior historians have tried to eschew this influence from a quasi-Oriental power, simply dubbing it the “Macedonian Renaissance,” at best, or having no mention of it in their own works out of spite for the great cultural emphasis of the Greeks over the Italians and French. Indeed, even in war the influence was exerted. As John campaigned in Italy, he had brought with him a cohort of artists and historians to depict and record the deeds of the Italian Wars. The artwork, soon after the events that had transpired, donned the palaces and ancient museums of Constantinople. Indeed, several budding Italian artists, architects, and philosophers had come to study in Constantinople and returned home with the influences they had learned.
It seems, both fitting and humiliating, that the high renaissance which has since lauded celebrities from Giulio Clovio, Michelangelo, Machiavelli, and Doménikos Theotokópoulos—“El Greco”, all have influences founded in the earlier Greek Renaissance. Even the Catholic Humanist philosophies of Mirandola, Thomas More, and Erasmus borrowed upon the resurgence of humanist philosophy and theology emerging in Greece in the late fifteenth century. All told, the Greek Renaissance laid the foundation for the celebrated flourishing of the arts, culture, philosophy, theology, and pragmatism in Western and Central Europe by the end of the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries.
In the arts, the Greek Renaissance pioneered “idealistic realism.” This form of painting, often romanticizing the past, or the key figure, was often cast however in humanistic form. Unlike with the restrictions of art found in Mohammedanism—which strictly forbade realistic depictions as blasphemy due to the apparent attempt at creation, an act of power only God contains[1], the humanist realism of the Greek and later Italian painters also paved the way for the studies of the human anatomy and rise of the natural sciences. Thus, the Greek Renaissance is also important for the future scientific endeavors of the sixteenth century, most prominently seen in the lives of Copernicus, Galileo, and the greatest of them all, Francis Bacon.
Left, Emperor John denied communion by Bishop Michael upon hearing words of the destruction of the Persians at Sulaymaniyah. Right, a depiction of the young Empress Sophia, wife of Emperor John. At bottom, a depiction of the edges of Constantinople at night. All these paintings are period works from the height of the Greek Renaissance, and are part of the Greek tradition of idealistic realism.
The revival of the arts and culture was the result of various strands of different revolutions occurring all at the same time, eventually converging into a high watermark during the reign of Emperor John. First, as stated back in Chapter IX, the neo-Platonic philosophy of Tornikes. At first a challenge to the Church, this ironically spurred a great theological and philosophical revival within Greek Christianity, leading first to the Council of Constantinople and then to a flourishing of a high theology that had rediscovered and synthesized the teachings of the Patristic Fathers with contemporary situations in the empire. Second, the civil war of Theodoras had created a demand for stability among the poets and intellectual classes. The rise of John created a cult of the divine, so to speak, in which the poets and intellectuals gravitated to him ever since his defeat of the Turks as a teenage emperor and general. Since then, they traveled with him on his campaigns in Armenia and Mesopotamia, his campaigns in Italy, detailing and painting these heroic efforts for the future children of the Roman Empire to be encapsulated with for all eternity. Third, the campaigns in Italy led to interaction between the infant Italian Renaissance with the already flourishing Greek Renaissance, hastening the speed onto which the Western Europeans would experience their high watermark.
Incidentally however, the Greek Renaissance also created a false sense of security among the Romans and the Roman Empire. John seemed to be a divine son, favored by God to restore the empire to prosperity in all facets of life. However, this idolatrous hero worship would have to contend with the reality that he was but a mere mortal who would meet a demise only fitting for the greatest heroes of old and reminiscent of Caesar himself! In this reality, should the feeble-minded princes of Constantinople return or should another Augustus take his place? Of course, the regency of Empress Sophia, his wife, after the pre-mature death Manuel III, leads to the most studied period in Roman history. Furthermore, the Renaissance in Greece seemed to inflate John’s own sense of greatness and importance. While a patron of the arts, his centralization policies made enemies out of the Roman aristocracy who would ultimately stop at nothing at destroying his administrative reforms to regain their privileged powers and status. While the poets and intellectuals adored him, painted of him, wrote of him, the aristocrats loathed him, hated him with an intensity not found anywhere else in the history of mankind.
It had been a tradition that the Roman elites would be the patrons of the arts and intellectuals, the bid for universal empire under John shifted this burden, or benefit, to the emperor himself. The aristocrats therefore, were cast into a shrinking circle. While it is also true they cared not for the finer things in life, or their dependent peasants, rather spending their time and money on luxury and hedonistic pleasures that would ultimately bring about the ruination of the empire; the aristocrats. It is said that creativity and creation comes out of chaos. If true, than it is especially true in the case of the Greek Renaissance. A great flourishing of the arts and culture marred with a heightened sense of hatred, distrust, and cultish worship!
[1] This is only partly true. This brand of restrictive artwork was most prominent in pre-Islamic Arab cultures, and filtered into the later Islamic Arab art tradition. It was considered blasphemy to try and replicate pure human features in artwork due to the belief that such work was an attempt at creation (or re-creation), which, as mentioned, is a power only belonging to God. This is not true of the whole of the Islamic tradition. For instance, Persian artwork, even after the conversion of Persia, continued to incorporate Zoroastrian traditions into Islamic artwork. For instance, any paintings of the Prophet Mohammad, or other leading figures in the Islamic tradition: Abraham, Moses, Jesus, are sometimes depicted with a “burning” head. This is a holdover from the eternal flame of Zoroastrianism, which represents truth and light. In Persian Islamic artwork, this is the equivalent of Western halos.
The Greek Renaissance
In the midst of war and politics, it is important to remember the great influence and renaissance in the arts and culture that was widespread in the late period empire from the late 1470s until the death of John. I had written, back in Chapter IX, that, ironically, the neo-Platonic and Pagan philosophy of Eirenaios Tornikes served as the foundation for a cultural and theological renaissance that benefitted the Greek Church. The twin rise of the neo-pagan cults, as discussed in Chapter IX, and the rise of the Council of Constantinople in 1477 that had conveyed a primitive inclusiveness akin to the philosophy and teachings of the Patristic Fathers gave rise to this rapid flourishing of the arts.
As opposed to the Italian Renaissance, which, naturally carries more weight in the memory of Central and Western Europe—this renaissance in Greece predated and ultimately influenced the Renaissance in Western Europe. However, prior historians have tried to eschew this influence from a quasi-Oriental power, simply dubbing it the “Macedonian Renaissance,” at best, or having no mention of it in their own works out of spite for the great cultural emphasis of the Greeks over the Italians and French. Indeed, even in war the influence was exerted. As John campaigned in Italy, he had brought with him a cohort of artists and historians to depict and record the deeds of the Italian Wars. The artwork, soon after the events that had transpired, donned the palaces and ancient museums of Constantinople. Indeed, several budding Italian artists, architects, and philosophers had come to study in Constantinople and returned home with the influences they had learned.
It seems, both fitting and humiliating, that the high renaissance which has since lauded celebrities from Giulio Clovio, Michelangelo, Machiavelli, and Doménikos Theotokópoulos—“El Greco”, all have influences founded in the earlier Greek Renaissance. Even the Catholic Humanist philosophies of Mirandola, Thomas More, and Erasmus borrowed upon the resurgence of humanist philosophy and theology emerging in Greece in the late fifteenth century. All told, the Greek Renaissance laid the foundation for the celebrated flourishing of the arts, culture, philosophy, theology, and pragmatism in Western and Central Europe by the end of the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries.
In the arts, the Greek Renaissance pioneered “idealistic realism.” This form of painting, often romanticizing the past, or the key figure, was often cast however in humanistic form. Unlike with the restrictions of art found in Mohammedanism—which strictly forbade realistic depictions as blasphemy due to the apparent attempt at creation, an act of power only God contains[1], the humanist realism of the Greek and later Italian painters also paved the way for the studies of the human anatomy and rise of the natural sciences. Thus, the Greek Renaissance is also important for the future scientific endeavors of the sixteenth century, most prominently seen in the lives of Copernicus, Galileo, and the greatest of them all, Francis Bacon.
Left, Emperor John denied communion by Bishop Michael upon hearing words of the destruction of the Persians at Sulaymaniyah. Right, a depiction of the young Empress Sophia, wife of Emperor John. At bottom, a depiction of the edges of Constantinople at night. All these paintings are period works from the height of the Greek Renaissance, and are part of the Greek tradition of idealistic realism.
The revival of the arts and culture was the result of various strands of different revolutions occurring all at the same time, eventually converging into a high watermark during the reign of Emperor John. First, as stated back in Chapter IX, the neo-Platonic philosophy of Tornikes. At first a challenge to the Church, this ironically spurred a great theological and philosophical revival within Greek Christianity, leading first to the Council of Constantinople and then to a flourishing of a high theology that had rediscovered and synthesized the teachings of the Patristic Fathers with contemporary situations in the empire. Second, the civil war of Theodoras had created a demand for stability among the poets and intellectual classes. The rise of John created a cult of the divine, so to speak, in which the poets and intellectuals gravitated to him ever since his defeat of the Turks as a teenage emperor and general. Since then, they traveled with him on his campaigns in Armenia and Mesopotamia, his campaigns in Italy, detailing and painting these heroic efforts for the future children of the Roman Empire to be encapsulated with for all eternity. Third, the campaigns in Italy led to interaction between the infant Italian Renaissance with the already flourishing Greek Renaissance, hastening the speed onto which the Western Europeans would experience their high watermark.
Incidentally however, the Greek Renaissance also created a false sense of security among the Romans and the Roman Empire. John seemed to be a divine son, favored by God to restore the empire to prosperity in all facets of life. However, this idolatrous hero worship would have to contend with the reality that he was but a mere mortal who would meet a demise only fitting for the greatest heroes of old and reminiscent of Caesar himself! In this reality, should the feeble-minded princes of Constantinople return or should another Augustus take his place? Of course, the regency of Empress Sophia, his wife, after the pre-mature death Manuel III, leads to the most studied period in Roman history. Furthermore, the Renaissance in Greece seemed to inflate John’s own sense of greatness and importance. While a patron of the arts, his centralization policies made enemies out of the Roman aristocracy who would ultimately stop at nothing at destroying his administrative reforms to regain their privileged powers and status. While the poets and intellectuals adored him, painted of him, wrote of him, the aristocrats loathed him, hated him with an intensity not found anywhere else in the history of mankind.
It had been a tradition that the Roman elites would be the patrons of the arts and intellectuals, the bid for universal empire under John shifted this burden, or benefit, to the emperor himself. The aristocrats therefore, were cast into a shrinking circle. While it is also true they cared not for the finer things in life, or their dependent peasants, rather spending their time and money on luxury and hedonistic pleasures that would ultimately bring about the ruination of the empire; the aristocrats. It is said that creativity and creation comes out of chaos. If true, than it is especially true in the case of the Greek Renaissance. A great flourishing of the arts and culture marred with a heightened sense of hatred, distrust, and cultish worship!
[1] This is only partly true. This brand of restrictive artwork was most prominent in pre-Islamic Arab cultures, and filtered into the later Islamic Arab art tradition. It was considered blasphemy to try and replicate pure human features in artwork due to the belief that such work was an attempt at creation (or re-creation), which, as mentioned, is a power only belonging to God. This is not true of the whole of the Islamic tradition. For instance, Persian artwork, even after the conversion of Persia, continued to incorporate Zoroastrian traditions into Islamic artwork. For instance, any paintings of the Prophet Mohammad, or other leading figures in the Islamic tradition: Abraham, Moses, Jesus, are sometimes depicted with a “burning” head. This is a holdover from the eternal flame of Zoroastrianism, which represents truth and light. In Persian Islamic artwork, this is the equivalent of Western halos.
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An interesting update. In terms of Gameplay, I'd guess that you took "Patron of the Arts"? And that your ruler died or did not die. I guess the Influence of the Greeks over the Western world is, as always, totally overlooked by our Hemisphere. Make them remember. The hard way, if need be.
By the way, the term "painted of him" sounds wrong. But I am no native, so I might be wrong instead.
By the way, the term "painted of him" sounds wrong. But I am no native, so I might be wrong instead.
The Greeks continue to out shadow the Italians!
Btw, it was birthday yesterday and I got the book Band of Angels by Kate Cooper about early Christian women. I was wondering, had you heard of it?
Btw, it was birthday yesterday and I got the book Band of Angels by Kate Cooper about early Christian women. I was wondering, had you heard of it?
The more you celebrate their accomplishments, the greater the sense of foreboding I get. Though your last two paragraphs did help with that, a little. ;-)
How much of that corresponded to real history? I know that to some extent the Italian Renaissance was influenced from the near East, but I don't know the details.
I would take that to mean that it's not just paintings showing him, but paintings about the things he's accomplished.
How much of that corresponded to real history? I know that to some extent the Italian Renaissance was influenced from the near East, but I don't know the details.
I would take that to mean that it's not just paintings showing him, but paintings about the things he's accomplished.
Yeah, Patron of the Arts. Well, John dies, he has too anyway...I referenced his death in this update, along with an assortment of foreshadowing. It's important to remember that I'm writing this as a history book, and to keep that history book feel, I'm making (deliberately false) assertions in my writing that you all (the readers) know what is going to happen. But I'm trying to shield outright telling you all for fear of spoilers. John is very much going to stay for the rest of Volume 2 until the end, his death being my planned segway into "Vol. 3" "Painted of him" is grammatically fine; I'm a native speaker and professional writer after all!
Thanks for the kind words as ever LanMisa!
Paintings of people? It's time for a second iconoclast era!
Oh, the new iconoclasm that's coming is going to be far worse than before.
The Greeks continue to out shadow the Italians!
Btw, it was birthday yesterday and I got the book Band of Angels by Kate Cooper about early Christian women. I was wondering, had you heard of it?
Well, happy belated birthday. No, I have not heard of the book, or the author. I guess I'll have to wait for your approval of it. Or I can easily find a professional review and determine for myself!
John's campaigns in the east will be a major focus of the second half of this volume, or at least that's my intention.
A lot of foreshadowing! We need more foreshadowing! Plus, unlike myself, who can get high on writing and reading socio-cultural history, I doubt all you want to read 10 updates on society and culture, or if you did, I'd have to end with something to keep everyone's attention up!
Well, even though I honour my English skills I have some problems with more complicated text structures (so I ask if I am not 100% sure of what I just read). This structure "They painted of him" was new to me. And after all, even the best writers might make a slip-up here or there.
But I am still proud that I got the Patron of the Arts right. And as always: It is a pleasure to comment on updates such as yours.
But I am still proud that I got the Patron of the Arts right. And as always: It is a pleasure to comment on updates such as yours.
That's so incredibly true. And there is really nothing more embarrassing, at least from my stand points all things considered because of what I do, to have someone (usually an editor) respond back pointing out glaring errors that I should have otherwise had caught if I proofread more carefully! Or, my mind telling me that the word was what I intended instead of what I wrote. :glare:
I really like the text flow - instead of strict chronological order, it follows a topic at a time. That, together with the fact that you have played the game some time before and are writing from memory (after all, contemporary historians had to go by hearsay too - not like they were personally present at every significant event), makes it feel that much more like a real history book!
Well I'm very happy to know you like the thematic ordering rather than chronological. Since the Italian Wars, several happened in game, start in the early 1500s, and with the most recent I covered through my sacking of Venice in the middle of the 1520s, I thought it would be odd if I had introduced the start of the series of wars, then abruptly stop to continue with the chronological flow, then return somewhere at the end of "vol. 2" to finish the rest of the Italian Wars.
Yeah, so I'll be foreshadowing a lot in the coming updates (again, as all history books are written, even though this is an AAR, I still want to have a feel like you know the history and I'm just re-writing it down for a popular audience). The Greek Renaissance, the campaigns in Iraq and Persia, centralization efforts, and conflict with the nobility, in game years, happened between the Italian Wars, ca. early 1500s-1519. So now we're backtracking in chronology but I thought the flow would be better, and more appropriate to have this entire segway be the second half of vol. 2.
Well, this could be a history book at 93000+ words and 206 pages, Times 12 Font! Plus, I see this as good practice for my future dissertation that I'll have to complete, and the occasional book I'll have to publish afterward.