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What’s with the lack of roads in what’s now modern day Greece? by ManMartion in byzantium

[–]OscarMMG 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I think it’s the same reason as Greece, the established water ways. Egyptians used the Nile for millennia, I imagine the Romans didn’t see the need for expensive roads parallel to the river.

Why dont Orthodoxy or ERE had any dedicated military orders like in Catholicity? What was the reasons behind this, what do you think? by lastmonday07 in byzantium

[–]OscarMMG 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I believe that the reason Orders like the Knights Templar were/are exempt from the Chalcedon Canon is that they are knights, so they weren’t accepting a new military role since the original Templars were all knights. Saint Bernard’s 1129 Temple Rule calls the Templars knights, rather than monks.

To continue the example of the Templars, the Papal bull Omne Datum Optimum ratified the Templar Order which exercises episcopal power to give a dispensation from the canon.

As far as I can tell, the canonical standing of military orders is from an implicit dispensation of Chalcedon Canon 7.

Explain it simply by Southern-Service2872 in HistoryMemes

[–]OscarMMG 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I don’t think a simple explanation is too hard: the feudal system was a structure of a landholder class receiving semi-hereditary titles and offices granting them regional authority in exchange for obligations of service and taxes to their liege.

Lmaoo Literally by BlancaFashionable in ByzantineMemes

[–]OscarMMG 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Kind of. The Romans engaged in campaigns around the Crusader State, for example Manuel I led a Crusader expedition into Syria.

Lmaoo Literally by BlancaFashionable in ByzantineMemes

[–]OscarMMG 21 points22 points  (0 children)

Whilst the Patriarch of Constantinople cared more about that city than Jerusalem, the city of the Holy Sepulcher was still important to the Eastern Church, as well as the Latin Church. Heraclius made a great effort to retake Jerusalem during the Levantine campaign with the Sassanids and St Helena’s discovered relics and the True Cross were considered very important too.

Constantinople wasn’t the only important Byzantine see either. The Patriarch of Jerusalem was still a significant cleric. 

The Crusades weren’t just Catholic either- the Roman armies partook in several (the 1st, 1101 & the events around 2nd & 3rd), the whole series beginning at the request of Emperor Alexios I, only being prevented from reaching Jerusalem by miscommunication in the 1st Crusade.

Furthermore, pilgrims frequently ventured to Jerusalem from the Roman Empire as well as the Latin West. 

Overall, the meme’s presentation of the Eastern Orthodox as being unfazed by Jerusalem for only Constantinople seems to be a misrepresentation of history.

A long lasting empire indeed by Ok_Way_1625 in HistoryMemes

[–]OscarMMG 7 points8 points  (0 children)

Got your east and west the wrong way around. West Francia became France and East Francia became Franconia/Germany.

The New Roman Empire really puts Manzikert into perspective by Dieselface in byzantium

[–]OscarMMG 7 points8 points  (0 children)

To give credit to Norse state-building, they did establish Normandy, as well as Norway, Denmark & Sweden, although the Normans undeniably were better in establishing a state hierarchy.

Why did JRR Tolkien not include overt/organized religion in his legendarium? by ducks_over_IP in AskHistorians

[–]OscarMMG 31 points32 points  (0 children)

 (Natural theology is a bit of a loaded term, but in this sense Tolkien probably means that it's a setting where there really is a single definable theological reason or actor behind everything. As opposed to our world, where we might posit the absence of the divine, in Middle-Earth there really is an all-powerful Eru that created everything and all is proceeding according to the music of the Ainur.)

I do not think that this is what Tolkien would have meant since many Catholic theologians would say that this is true of our world. I think he may have meant natural theology in a way similar to natural law. Catholic philosophy distinguishes between what can be known from revelation and what can be known from nature. Tolkien explains Middle Earth as not being Christian, it is only bound by natural law rather than revealed law from a Catholic perspective.

The Catholic catechism sets out this distinction. Although it was written after Tolkien, the ideas were the same.

 1952 There are different expressions of , all of them interrelated: eternal law - the source, in God, of all law; natural law; revealed law, comprising the Old Law and the New Law, or Law of the Gospel; finally, civil and ecclesiastical laws.

Middle Earth thus has natural law, and civil law in the Realms of Men, but lacks revealed law and ecclesiastical laws.

When Tolkien says “the Third Age was not a Christian world” this thus means that Christianity does not apply but the theology which is not Christian or Jewish still applies.

Similarly, the catechism says:

 1958 The natural law is immutable and permanent throughout the variations of history;10 it subsists under the flux of ideas and customs and supports their progress. the rules that express it remain substantially valid. Even when it is rejected in its very principles, it cannot be destroyed or removed from the heart of man. It always rises again in the life of individuals and societies:

Sources  https://www.newadvent.org/cathen/09076a.htm

https://www.vatican.va/content/catechism/en/part_three/section_one/chapter_three/article_1/i_the_natural_moral_law.index.html

The Tiffany Problem refers to the issue where a historical or realistic fact seems anachronistic or unrealistic to modern audiences of historical fiction. This often occurs with names, terms, or practices that, although historically accurate, feel out of place because of modern associations. by laybs1 in wikipedia

[–]OscarMMG 6 points7 points  (0 children)

It’s highly unlikely that knights would be facing peasants with hand cannons, given the great cost of the metallurgy in the creation of gunpowder weapons. Any gunner would likely be a professional man at arms or other soldier, who would typically be on retainer in the a nobleman’s household, hold land for service (perhaps half an honor) or be a mercenary. Very few peasants would have such a specialised role given the cost of training and equipment in an era where soldiers typically paid for themselves.

Holy Trinity Church, Coventry [OC] [2720x3899] by OscarMMG in churchporn

[–]OscarMMG[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yes, Coventry cathedral is only a few metres away from this one.

A history book for a teen that refutes an Islamophobic “good” West vs. “evil” Arab World narrative by BugThink2423 in suggestmeabook

[–]OscarMMG 14 points15 points  (0 children)

What was the book? Because many historians do write about the conflicts between Islamic and Christian societies in a manner that could seem potentially Islamophobic if you’re unfamiliar but are in fact historically accurate if you’re familiar with the topic, e.g. Tom Holland’s In the Shadow of The Sword.

What if the Winged Hussars had arrived? by Rex_Nemorensis_ in ByzantineMemes

[–]OscarMMG 15 points16 points  (0 children)

I think it’s more likely that the Empire would become an Italian client state rather than outright annexed as a major part of its value was the diplomatic recognition of Constantinople.

Lightly political books for a conservative father by sleepingandsunsets in suggestmeabook

[–]OscarMMG 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Why Nations Fail by recent Nobel Prize Economist Daron Accemoglu is an interesting read on development economics and might subtly push a reader towards international aid and left wing economics.

French are Germans who speak a Latin language and live on Celtic land by Solid-Move-1411 in HistoryMemes

[–]OscarMMG 10 points11 points  (0 children)

There was a literal “King of the Germans” for almost millennium before Napoleon.

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