The Fool said: > The renasiance didn't happen until after the crusades, in which the > crusaders brought back with them a great deal of knowledge from the > greek and roman times.
I wasn't talking about the Italian renaissance though, but the time before and during the Crusades. There wouldn't have been Crusades in the first place if Western Christendom hadn't acquired a new confidence and a new ability to project force far beyond its borders. The Renaissance was long preceded by changes in the nature of European trade (the formation of the Hanseatic League, for example), the emergence of relatively strong states from the feudal patchwork, the first uses of windmills and watermills (and many other less dramatic technological innovations), the (admittedly still Christian) philosophy of Thomas Aquinas and lots of other steps out of the darkness of the Dark Ages. Then, of course, the Black Death screwed everything up. Anyway, my point is that the European advances in the era from around AD1000 on weren't all down to the rediscovery of the classical Roman and Greek heritage through increased contact with Byzantium and the Muslims. Nor was the Renaissance a sudden unexpected flowering - the ground in which it took root had already been prepared. All this talk of medieval times has made me realise I need to read a good history of the era. Does anyone here have any recommendations? (I'll also ask my friend Sara, who was a historian of the Crusades, and post a list of her recommendations.) Rich _______________________________________________ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
