ladyfalcon (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
ladyfalcon) wrote2008-04-14 03:14 am
ladyfalcon) wrote2008-04-14 03:14 am
(no subject)
So I have figured out my paper topic, and it hinges on some things I realized:
1) Ancient civilizations in the west, even the really advanced ones, even the ones in which maritime things loomed large, did not have ships that could go out of sight of land for long periods. And I realize that in part this was due to their navigational restrictions - like having no real way to tell time accurately, and longitude not being invented yet, and whatnot, but in part it also has to do with shipping technology, such as laten sails, not being around either.
and
2) that the Medieval period is still considered by many to be a time of stagnation in Europe, where all knowledge was carefully preserved in monasteries but new things not really being the order of the day (the Dark Ages, in other words).
and yet
3) at the end of the medieval period, people had boats that could carry them across the Atlantic to discover America. And they didn't do it the way the Vikings did earlier, going from Shetland to the Faroes to Greenland Iceland Newfoundland, but straight across.
and so there must have been some pretty heavy advances made in shipbuilding during the time that so many people see as "dark," and before the Golden Age of Sail that gets so much press.
Of course this all hinges on a fact that my sleep-deprived brain is less sure of than I wish, which is that America was in fact definitely discovered by western Europeans during a time that is definitely still in the Medieval Period, even if it's late in.
So, Wikipedia, which is not an academic source, no no never that, but it is good for random everyone-knows-it factchecking. it says that the Medieval Period is usually dated to ~1500.
Amerigo Vespucci died in 1502. Therefore, he must have been America-ing it up during a time that was still practically Medieval.
I told Krystle this, and in that tone that says You're a Fucking Moron, she said, "You could argue that."
"Butbut," I sputtered, "it says..." and then I noticed she had that look in her eyes that says "I am fucking with you in order to watch you get really angry."
"Why would you even do that?" I asked her.
And really, really, why would you even do that?
ALSO you all need to help me figure out a title for this thing because right now the document is titled 'Witty Title Goes Here,' and at some point I am going to have to follow those instruction so - help please!
1) Ancient civilizations in the west, even the really advanced ones, even the ones in which maritime things loomed large, did not have ships that could go out of sight of land for long periods. And I realize that in part this was due to their navigational restrictions - like having no real way to tell time accurately, and longitude not being invented yet, and whatnot, but in part it also has to do with shipping technology, such as laten sails, not being around either.
and
2) that the Medieval period is still considered by many to be a time of stagnation in Europe, where all knowledge was carefully preserved in monasteries but new things not really being the order of the day (the Dark Ages, in other words).
and yet
3) at the end of the medieval period, people had boats that could carry them across the Atlantic to discover America. And they didn't do it the way the Vikings did earlier, going from Shetland to the Faroes to Greenland Iceland Newfoundland, but straight across.
and so there must have been some pretty heavy advances made in shipbuilding during the time that so many people see as "dark," and before the Golden Age of Sail that gets so much press.
Of course this all hinges on a fact that my sleep-deprived brain is less sure of than I wish, which is that America was in fact definitely discovered by western Europeans during a time that is definitely still in the Medieval Period, even if it's late in.
So, Wikipedia, which is not an academic source, no no never that, but it is good for random everyone-knows-it factchecking. it says that the Medieval Period is usually dated to ~1500.
Amerigo Vespucci died in 1502. Therefore, he must have been America-ing it up during a time that was still practically Medieval.
I told Krystle this, and in that tone that says You're a Fucking Moron, she said, "You could argue that."
"Butbut," I sputtered, "it says..." and then I noticed she had that look in her eyes that says "I am fucking with you in order to watch you get really angry."
"Why would you even do that?" I asked her.
And really, really, why would you even do that?
ALSO you all need to help me figure out a title for this thing because right now the document is titled 'Witty Title Goes Here,' and at some point I am going to have to follow those instruction so - help please!
no subject