Middle Kingdom Pursuivants Handbook 2nd Edition - Midrealm ...

Western International RenaissanceThis culture originated in Italy in the 14th century (roughly speaking) and spread to France and Spain circa1494. Gradually it became dominant throughout western Europe until about 1600. There were more markednational variations than during the previous late medieval era, but I know little of them.Clothing: Very showy and elaborate for the upper classes of both sexes; slashed sleeves, puffed sleeves andbreeches, etc. The woman wore very wide skirts, tight waists, low bodices tightly laced.Weapons: At the beginning of the period elaborate plate armor was still standard (at least for tournaments)but it gradually went out, fading to half-armor and perhaps a morion. Even this was more for officers than theaverage soldier. Early guns were becoming important, while the rapier with its thrusting technique wasreplacing the broadsword and slashing. Halberds and pikes remained important. Infantry often meant a mass ofmen with pikes protecting a group (or several groups) of men with guns. On the other hand maces and axesfaded out, their role as shock weapons against armor becoming unnecessary as armor became less common.Literature: An Italian lyric form, the sonnet, became popular there in the 14th century and spread to the restof western Europe by the 16th century. Other fixed forms (notably the French ballade) were popular, especiallyin the 15th century. Parodies of the excesses of the chivalric romance appeared, e.g., the Italian Morgante, theFrench Gargantua and the Spanish Don Quixote; however, serious chivalric romance also remained popular.Drama began to be important. Short pieces appeared as court entertainment in the 15th century and full fledgedgreat plays by the later 16th century (e.g., Shakespeare).Politics: Italy itself had some influential civic republics (e.g., Florence and Venice), but most of westernEurope was being consolidated into nation-states ruled by absolute monarchs whose positions were emphasizedby increasingly elaborate court ceremonies. A particularly formal court style was developed in Burgundy. Thisstyle passed from there to Spain and thence to much of Europe. France and Spain were the two great rivalpowers of the era, with England perhaps third.Religion: In the 15th century Catholicism was reunited and dominant (except in Bohemia). In the 16thcentury Europe was divided by the Reformation. England, northern Germany, Scandinavia and the Netherlandsbecame Protestant; France was bitterly divided; Spain and Italy became more devoutly and militantly Catholic.Witchcraft was widely feared.Heroes: Amadis of Gaul is the most popular of the romance heroes along with Orlando, the highlyromanticized version of Rolando, who now appears in Italian epics. Comic heroes are mentioned above inliterature.Saracens: Early to Mid-Medieval MuslimsStarting in the mid-600’s in Arabia, the Islamic religion spread over Palestine, Syria, Iraq, Iran, Egypt, NorthAfrica, and Spain—in roughly that order—reaching Spain by 711. Expansion in France was halted in 732 atTours/Poitiers, while in the east the Muslims met the Chinese at Talas c. 750, effectively halting expansion intoCentral Asia. Although there were marked regional variations, this area in the earlier middle ages was a culturaland to some extent a political unit—seen by western European Christendom as the great rival culture. TheMuslims themselves felt, with considerable justice, that western Christendom was scarcely a worthy rival untilc.1050.Clothing: Usually voluminous robes over loose tunic and pants; desert Arabs (a minority in most of theIslamic world) may wear a burnoose; city Arabs may wear turbans. Muslim custom gradually came to expectthat women wore veils, although this was not true at first.Weapons: Rather small round shields, broadswords or slightly curved sabres (not sharply curved scimitars inthis era), pointed helms, some very fine chainmail—but this last is rare. Good archery with recurve bows. Someuse of spears and lances, though not in the mass impact charges of western knights. Some use of maces,especially in Persia.Literature: Arabic poetry was well established even before Mohammed, and remained very popular,generally in lyric forms. There was also rhymed prose (saj) used in the Koran, and a tradition of prose tales(originally oral) including the romance of Antar and the ancestors of the Thousand-and-One-Nights. Persian, amajor language prior to the Islamic conquest, revived afterwards and produced epics (the Shahnamah), lyrics(e.g., the Rubaiyat) and prose tales.60 Middle Kingdom Pursuivants Handbook2nd Edition - 2002