#13thcenturyce

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Kami

In the Shinto religion kami is an all-embracing term which signifies gods, spirits, deified mortals, ancestors, natural phenomena, and supernatural powers. All of these kami can influence people's everyday lives and so they are worshipped, given offerings, solicited for aid and, in some cases, appealed to for their skills in divination. Kami are attracted by purity - both physical and spiritual - and repelled by the lack of it, including disharmony. Kami are particularly associated with nature and may be present at sites such as mountains, waterfalls, trees, and unusually shaped rocks. For this reason, there are said to be 8 million kami, a number referred to as yaoyorozu-no-kamigami. Many kami are known nationally, but a great many more belong only to small rural communities, and each family has its own ancestral kami.

The reverence for spirits thought to reside in places of great natural beauty, meteorological phenomena, and certain animals goes back to at least the 1st millennium BCE in ancient Japan. Add to these the group of Shinto gods, heroes, and family ancestors, as wells as bodhisattvas assimilated from Buddhism, and one has an almost limitless number of kami. Common to all kami are their four mitama (spirits or natures) one of which may predominate depending on circumstances: aramitama (wild or rough), nigimitama (gentle, life-supporting), kushimatama (wonderous), and sakimitama (nurturing). This division emphasises that kami can be capable of both good and bad. Despite their great number, kami can be classified into various categories. There are different approaches to categorization, some scholars use the function of the kami, others their nature (water, fire, field, etc.). For simplicity, and as those methods mentioned tend to create a lot of overlap, we will here adopt historian M. Ashkenazi's approach.

Classical Kami

Here the 'classical' kami are those which appear in the oldest Shinto texts including the Kojiki and Nihon Shoki. Here we have the gods, supreme amongst them being Amaterasu, the sun goddess. Others include her brother Susanoo, the wind and sea god, Takamimusubi, Okuninushi, and the creator gods Izanami and Izanagi. The first gods who remained in the heavens are often referred to as amatsukami (heavenly kami) while those next generation gods who ruled first on earth are called kunitsukami (earthly kami). All of the kami occasionally, in times of great crisis, assemble for conference on the dry riverbed of the Heavenly River. Many important rivers, mountains, caves, and rocks have their own kami too. In this group are also two kami from across the sea: Sukunabikona and Sarutahiko.

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Saga

The Old Norse word saga means 'story', 'tale' or 'history' and normally refers specifically to the epic prose narratives written mainly in Iceland between the 12th- and 15th centuries CE, covering the country's history as well as Scandinavia's legendary past. A few sagas were also written in Norway but in either country their usually anonymous writers shaped their stories in high-quality, nuanced prose, leading the saga to now be considered one of the prime vernacular literary genres of Medieval Europe. Poetry is generally included, too, which helps point out the influence older, oral traditions of storytelling are thought to have had on the saga's development.

Although the heyday of Old Norse saga composition lay in the 13th century CE, the tales often dive back through the ages into the times of ancestors, heroes and legendary kings, spanning from prehistory through the Viking Age (c. 790-1100 CE) – including the settlement of Iceland – to the writers' own times. History and fiction are often mixed in a sort of Gordian knot that is hard to disentangle, and the stories have as their playground not just Iceland but also Scandinavia, the British Isles, the North Atlantic (including Greenland and North America), the Mediterranean, Russia and the Middle East.

In our present day sagas are not only perfectly readable and enjoyable but also still feel relatable, probably due to the fact that they focus on the everyday life of everyday people. Wealthy farmers, for instance, get tangled up in such things as feuds, go on exciting and often character-shaping journeys, or experience a variety of down-to-earth problems from within the predominantly agricultural society they are a part of.

The Old Norse sagas can be arranged into the following main subgenres, each with their own favourite topics and features, which are frequently referred to by their Old Norse name by scholars:

Fornaldarsögur – 'Legendary sagas', 'Sagas of ancient time' or 'Mythical-heroic sagas'

Riddarasögur – 'Sagas of knights'

Konungasögur – 'Kings' sagas'

Íslendingasögur – 'Sagas of Icelanders' or 'Family sagas'

Samtíðarsögur – 'Contemporary sagas'

Origins of the saga

The quest for the origins of the Old Norse saga takes us beyond the realm of the tangible collections of parchment that prevail from the 13th century CE onward and into a murkier, harder-to-trace past. Before 1250 CE, only a few sagas can be proved to have existed in writing – Egils Saga, telling of the life of the Viking Age poet Egill Skallagrímsson, is one of them – and these fragments allow us to pin down the (late?) 12th century CE as the likely beginning of the textualisation process. From this time onwards, saga composition probably became an exclusively Icelandic phenomenon, and it is from 1350 CE and beyond that the majority of our extant manuscripts originate.

As for what exactly prompted the process or where the stories first came from, we can only hazard educated guesses. In the early 20th century CE, Swiss scholar Andreas Heusler came up with two alternatives that long divided the academic community: on the one hand, the 'freeprose theory' suggested the sagas were essentially oral texts handed down through generations before being recorded in writing in the Middle Ages, while on the other hand, the 'bookprose theory' held that the sagas were created in the Middle Ages, although partially based on oral sources. Today, neither is deemed sufficiently accurate, but the valid takeaway is their shared emphasis on the existence of an oral tradition that fed into the later, written one – something present-day scholars actually agree on.

This oral tradition hails back at least to the Viking Age, when poetry was often performed for the elite. As a lot of the sagas take place on a Viking Age stage, too, it is not hard to envisage some Viking Age stories surviving orally until medieval authors picked up on them and shaped them into their own written versions. The Icelandic scholar Gísli Sigurðsson even explains that 'oral traditions continued to feed into written ones throughout the period of Icelandic saga composition.' (Clunies Ross, 47-48). Although Iceland was already Christian by this time, Icelandic (Old Norse) was the favoured written language and this also goes for the sagas. This love for the vernacular ties in with a broader Western European context, too: from the 12th-14th centuries CE, a vigorous textual, vernacular culture flourished there, and its courtly romances and other works may well have reached Scandinavia, perhaps soliciting a response or impacting saga composition.

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Xochicalco

Xochicalco in central Mexico was an important hilltop centre from the 8th century CE and was a rival and successor of Teotihuacán. Architecture at the site is closely connected to that of the Classic Maya, Teotihuacan, and Veracruz, and contact was also established with the Mixtec Oaxaca and Zapotec civilizations. Blending these various cultural elements to create their own idiosyncratic art and architecture, the Xochicalco culture probably went on to influence the later Toltec and all subsequent Mesoamerican civilizations. The site, like many contemporary hilltop centres, was abandoned at the end of the Epiclassic period, around 900 CE. Xochicalco is listed by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site.

Early Settlement

Founded c. 700 CE or even before, Xochicalco, 130 km southwest of Cacaxtla and perched above the Cuernavaca Valley, was built on a hill which was re-shaped by levelling and terracing certain areas to create an acropolis of four concentric terraces. A straight path on the southern side gives access from the valley floor. Although early pottery shares many similarities to that found elsewhere in central Mexico, there seems to have been very little outside contact in later times. Any links to the Maya seem to have been via the coast settlements, and the iconography in many relief carvings at Xochicalco has a strong Mayan and Teotihuacan influence.

Xochicalco was eventually fortified and contained three distinct areas containing regular plazas, sacred precincts, paved causeways, a large pyramidal platform, and an I-shaped ball-court, all oriented along the cardinal points. The large slanted wall ball-court is located in the centre of the site, and it may be the oldest such structure in central Mexico, whilst the western platform contains a sweat-bath consisting of several rooms with benches. Another feature of the site is the presence of caves in the hillsides which were used for storage and, in one case, as an underground observatory. This latter cave has a man-made shaft to the sky, through which, on just two days in the year, the sun shines directly down into the cave.

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Ancient Chinese Warfare

In ancient China warfare was a means for one region to gain ascendancy over another, for the state to expand and protect its frontiers, and for usurpers to replace an existing dynasty of rulers. With armies consisting of tens of thousands of soldiers in the first millennium BCE and then hundreds of thousands in the first millennium CE, warfare became more technologically advanced and ever more destructive. Chariots gave way to cavalry, bows to crossbows and, eventually, artillery stones to gunpowder bombs. The Chinese intelligentsia may have frowned upon warfare and those who engaged in it and there were notable periods of relative peace but, as in most other ancient societies, for ordinary people it was difficult to escape the insatiable demands of war: either fight or die, be conscripted or enslaved, win somebody else's possessions or lose all of one's own.

Attitudes to Warfare

The Chinese bronze age saw a great deal of military competition between city-rulers eager to grab the riches of their neighbours, and there is no doubt that success in this endeavour legitimised reigns and increased the welfare of the victors and their people. Those who did not fight had their possessions taken, their dwellings destroyed and were usually either enslaved or killed. Indeed, much of China's history thereafter involves wars between one state or another but it is also true that warfare was perhaps a little less glorified in ancient China than it was in other ancient societies.

The absence of a glorification of war in China was largely due to the Confucian philosophy and its accompanying literature which stressed the importance of other matters of civil life. Military treatises were written but, otherwise, stirring tales of derring-do in battle and martial themes, in general, are all rarer in Chinese mythology, literature and art than in contemporary western cultures, for example. Even such famous works as Sun-Tzu's The Art of War (5th century BCE) warned that, "No country has ever profited from protracted warfare” (Sawyer, 2007, 159). Generals and ambitious officers studied and memorised the literature on how to win at war but starting from the very top with the emperor, warfare was very often a policy of last resort. The Han Dynasty (206 BCE - 220 CE) was notable for its expansion, as were some Tang Dynasty emperors (618-907 CE) but, in the main, a strategy of paying off neighbours with vast tributes of silver and silk, along with a parallel exportation of “civilising” culture was seen as the best way to defend imperial China's borders. Then, if war ultimately proved unavoidable, it was better to recruit foreign troops to get on with it.

Joining the intellectuals with their disapproval of warfare were also the bureaucrats who had no time for uncultured military men. No doubt, too, the vast majority of the Chinese peasantry were never that keen on war either for it was they who had to endure conscription, heavy taxes in kind to pay for costly campaigns, and have their farms invaded and plundered.

With the emperors, the landed gentry, intellectuals and farmers all well-aware of what they could lose in war, it was, then, somewhat disappointing for them all that China, in any case, had just as many conflicts as anywhere else in the world in certain periods. One cannot ignore the common presence of fortifications in the bronze age, such chaotic centuries as the Autumn and Spring Period (722-481 BCE) with its one hundred plus rival states, the Warring States Period (481-221 BCE) with its incredible 358 separate conflicts or the fall of the Han when war was once again incessant between rival Chinese states. Northern steppe tribes were also constantly prodding and poking at China's borders and emperors were not averse to the odd foreign folly such as attacking ancient Korea.

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Korean Pottery

The pottery of ancient Korea stretches back to prehistory when simple brown wares were made and decorated with geometrical incisions. Potters would benefit from the ideas and techniques of their Chinese counterparts and go on to produce their own highly sought-after works, including grey stoneware, celadons or greenware, buncheong ware and white porcelain. Ceramics are innovative in design and range from impossibly intricate incense burners to the sublime simplicity and elegance of the maebyeong vase. Korean pottery decoration typically employs plants, flowers, and wildlife, and reflects the country's religious heritage with Buddhist motifs and minimalist Confucian designs taking precedence.

Prehistoric Pottery

Early Korean pottery from the Neolithic period, especially in the form of brown bowls with either a flat or pointed base, both with incised decoration, show a cultural link with communities in the Liaoning province and Liaodong peninsula of China. The most common decoration of this period is zigzag or comb-like incisions which have given the name to a type of pottery: comb wares (chulmun). Some vessels have square spiral incisions while others have raised decorations achieved by pinching the clay.

Korean Bronze Age pottery tends to be undecorated, walls are thicker, and there is a greater variety of shapes - typically steamers, bowls with pedestals, and jars with handles. When there is decoration, it covers less of the vessel and takes either the form of the incised motifs of the previous period or applied clay bands. Burnished wares are either black (long-necked jars) or red (small bulbous jars). These are, once again, indicative of contact with China.

Iron Age pottery is of a grey type with paddle and incised decoration, especially close hatching. A typical form of this period is the round-bottomed jar which has a small foot and distinctive small handles on the neck in the form of horns. Another interesting shape is the square cup set on a pedestal which is then lacquered black. It is clear that potters are becoming more skilled and more ambitious in their designs, setting the groundwork for the finer vessels to come in the Three Kingdoms period.

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Kami

In the Shinto religion Kami is an all-embracing term which signifies gods, spirits, deified mortals, ancestors, natural phenomena, and supernatural powers. All of these kami can influence people's everyday lives and so they are worshipped, given offerings, solicited for aid and, in some cases, appealed to for their skills in divination. Kami are attracted by purity - both physical and spiritual - and repelled by the lack of it, including disharmony. Kami are particularly associated with nature and may be present at sites such as mountains, waterfalls, trees, and unusually shaped rocks. For this reason, there are said to be 8 million kami, a number referred to as yaoyorozu-no-kamigami. Many kami are known nationally, but a great many more belong only to small rural communities, and each family has its own ancestral kami.

The reverence for spirits thought to reside in places of great natural beauty, meteorological phenomena, and certain animals goes back to at least the 1st millennium BCE in ancient Japan. Add to these the group of Shinto gods, heroes, and family ancestors, as wells as bodhisattvas assimilated from Buddhism, and one has an almost limitless number of kami. Common to all kami are their four mitama (spirits or natures) one of which may predominate depending on circumstances: aramitama (wild or rough), nigimitama (gentle, life-supporting), kushimatama (wonderous), and sakimitama (nurturing). This division emphasises that kami can be capable of both good and bad. Despite their great number, kami can be classified into various categories. There are different approaches to categorization, some scholars use the function of the kami, others their nature (water, fire, field, etc.). For simplicity, and as those methods mentioned tend to create a lot of overlap, we will here adopt historian M. Ashkenazi's approach.

Classical Kami

Here the 'classical' kami are those which appear in the oldest Shinto texts including the Kojiki and Nihon Shoki. Here we have the gods, supreme amongst them being Amaterasu, the sun goddess. Others include her brother Susanoo, the wind and sea god, Takamimusubi, Okuninushi, and the creator gods Izanami and Izanagi. The first gods who remained in the heavens are often referred to as amatsukami (heavenly kami) while those next generation gods who ruled first on earth are called kunitsukami (earthly kami). All of the kami occasionally, in times of great crisis, assemble for conference on the dry riverbed of the Heavenly River. Many important rivers, mountains, caves, and rocks have their own kami too. In this group are also two kami from across the sea: Sukunabikona and Sarutahiko.

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Chepstow Castle

Chepstow Castle, located in Monmouthshire, South Wales, was first built c. 1067 by William FitzOsbern and then significantly improved c. 1190 CE by Sir William Marshal (c. 1146-1219 CE), one of England's greatest ever knights who served four kings and acted as regent for Henry III of England (r. 1216-1272 CE). Chepstow Castle then became the home of a succession of rich and powerful medieval and Tudor nobles. Despite its innovative design, and the expense of its formidable defensive features - or perhaps because of them, the castle was never attacked in the medieval period. Chepstow is today a fine example of 11-13th-century CE castle architecture and boasts the oldest castle doors in Europe.

Early History

Chepstow Castle was first built from around 1067 CE by Earl William FitzOsbern, an ally of William the Conqueror (r. 1066-1087 CE). As with any medieval castle, the location was an important consideration for the castle's future defence and its strategic value. Accordingly, Chepstow Castle was built at one of the gateways to Wales on a limestone cliff overlooking the River Wye. The dramatic curve here in that river gave the castle its Welsh name - Striguil, meaning 'the bend'. Domesday Book (1086-7 CE) records Chepstow Castle as an asset (one of only two castles to be so categorised) because its owner could outweigh the heavy costs of its upkeep by charging a toll on crossing river traffic.

The Norman castle was one of the first to be built in stone, and it is also unusual for not being located near an urban centre. The solid rock base made the castle impregnable to undermining, and its high walls and towers made any attack by siege engines next to impossible. It is perhaps no surprise then that the castle was never attacked in the Middle Ages but it was largely intended as a fortified base from which to attack southern Wales rather than a point of defensive retreat.

The first version of the main rectangular stone castle keep (donjon) was built c. 1072 CE, one of the earliest to be built in England and Wales. The tower cleverly saved costs by having a thinner wall on the river side, and it had the main entrance on the first floor, a typical defensive feature of the period. Another cost-saving device was to reuse locally-found old Roman bricks and tiles in the lower courses, a reminder that the border region between England and Wales had a long history of conflict. Either side of the tower two enclosed courtyards or baileys (aka wards) were built. After FitzOsbern's son Roger de Breteuil participated in a rebellion against William the Conqueror, the Crown took possession of the castle. Sometime before 1119 CE Henry I of England (r. 1100-1135 CE) then gave Chepstow to a loyal follower, one Walter de Clare. Walter's nephew Gilbert Fitz Gilbert de Clare so impressed King Stephen of England (r. 1135-1154 CE) with his martial qualities that he was made, in 1138 CE, the Earl of Pembroke and the castle became thereafter attached to that title.

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How to Become a Medieval Knight

In medieval society a knight enjoyed a position of high status and often wealth, they were feared on the battlefield and known for their chivalry off it, but it took a long time and a lot of training to get there. Trained in weapons handling and horse-riding from childhood, a young man could be made a knight by the local lord he served, through exceptional bravery on the battlefield, and, at least in later times when European monarchs desperately needed funds and men of skill for their armies, the position could even be bought. In any case, a knight underwent an elaborate initiation ceremony, after which they were expected to uphold the chivalric traditions of their rank and courageously face the best-equipped and most heavily armed opponents in battle, the knights of the enemy's army.

Although there was no fixed system, age ranges varied, and some youths never qualified for the next stage, the general steps to become a medieval knight were as follows:

Page - from age 7-10 to 13, become familiar with horses, hunting and the use of mock weapons by serving a local knight, baron, or royal court.

Squire - from age 14 to 18-21, assist a full-knight, learn to use the weapons and armour of war, and improve one's general education, especially the code of chivalry.

Dubbing - When aged 18-21, the ceremony of being made a knight performed by another knight.

Service - Act as a guard for a baron and his castle, fight in wars for one's sovereign and the Church, and perform in medieval tournaments.

Training 1 - Being a Page

Most knights were probably sons of knights, but there are records of the sons of a burgess or freeman being put forward for the necessary training, as well as wealthy merchants and government officials as those classes grew in the later Middle Ages. An ordinary soldier might also be made a knight for courage on the battlefield. As warfare grew ever bigger in scale and barons increasingly preferred to send knights to do service in their place, the social background of a knight became less important during wars when a sovereign needed all the armed men they could get. Generally, though, by the 13th century CE, the idea of noble lineage and preserving knighthood as a mark of a class with restricted access had taken hold across Europe. There were exceptions, notably in France and Germany and on a case by case basis, but in the main, only the son of a knight could become one.

A knight had to be accomplished in riding a horse while carrying a shield and lance, so he needed to practise guiding his steed using only the knees and feet. He must be capable of using a long and heavy sword for a sustained period of fighting and fit enough to move around with speed while wearing heavy metal armour. A proficiency with additional weapons such as a dagger, battleaxe, mace, bow, and crossbow might come in handy, too. Accordingly, a young boy earmarked by his parents or sponsor to one day become a knight had to start training young, typically as a page from the age of 10 (or even 7 in some cases), with mock weapons and basic riding skills. A young noble was likely sent to the royal court for such training while a youth from a more modest aristocratic family would be enrolled at the local castle or that of a relative to train with the knights and men-at-arms stationed there. There they would, along with other pages, serve at table, act as stable hands, perform menial tasks, and begin the education that was to continue in earnest as a teenager.

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