In this video we delve into the world of Assassin's Creed: Origins, which is set in ancient Egypt around 49-48 BCE. Watch the religiously significant Siwa Oasis come to life through the eyes of a troubled Medjay and witness characters based on historical figures, such as Ptolemy XIII, the co-ruler of Egypt along with his sister, the famous Cleopatra VII. Enjoy the history-infused atmosphere and learn a few things along the way, with odd topics such as tomb raiding and falconry making appearances on the first episode of this journey.
The intro music was written and performed by C. Keith Hansley for use on this YouTube channel.
The great English poet, Geoffrey Chaucer, was born in 1342. When he was around fifteen years of age, he managed to gain a position as page to the Countess of Ulster, serving mainly as a servant and messenger. Two years later, in 1359, Chaucer was sent to fight in the long-running Hundred Years War between England and France. He was quickly captured by the French near Rheims, but King Edward III (the Countess of Ulster’s father-in-law) paid the poet’s ransom in 1360.
Literature Chaucer encountered in France may have ignited the poet’s literary interests. He started simple, translating the medieval French classic, the Roman de la Rose (Romance of the Rose), into English. Besides French and English, Geoffrey Chaucer was also known to understand Italian and Latin. Religion was another field of interest for the poet, and he could quote freely from Christian texts that were both canonical and apocryphal.
Eventually, Geoffrey Chaucer was promoted from his position as a page to the countess of Ulster to be a valet to the king of England. Around the same time he received his position as valet (in 1367), Chaucer also married his wife, Philippa de Roet, the sister-in-law of Chaucer’s greatest patron, John of Gaunt. Chaucer continued to ascend in rank, becoming Comptroller of customs and subsidies in 1374, and was then promoted to Comptroller of petty customs. Chaucer was next appointed as Justice of the Peace for the region of Kent in 1385, and became a Knight of the Shire (for Kent) in 1386.
Chaucer likely began his most famous work, The Canterbury Tales, around 1386, an ambitious epic poem in which he planned to include thirty pilgrims telling four stories, each. By the time he died in 1400, he unfortunately had only completed tales for twenty-four pilgrims. In addition to The Canterbury Tales, Geoffrey Chaucer also wrote The Book of the Duchess, ABC of the Virgin, House of Fame, The Parliament of Fowls, Troilus and Criseyde, and The Legend of the Saints of Cupid.
For a more in depth article on the life of Geoffrey Chaucer, see our biography on the poet, HERE.
For a taste of Chaucer's poetry, check out our quote picture selection, HERE.
Intro music written and performed by C. Keith Hansley for use on this YouTube channel.
The atmospheric background music in the video is:
Folk Round by Kevin MacLeod is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)
The number of great minds that operated during the Warring States Period
is simply baffling. There was Confucius and his philosophical
successors, notably Mencius and Hsün Tzu. Also prevalent were the major
Daoist (or Taoist) intellectuals like Lao Tzu and Chuang Tzu. Later,
there were the philosophers of authoritarianism and legalism, such as
Lord Shang and Han Fei Tzu. Also present was the religious wildcard, Mo
Tzu, who preached universal love and told of a personified Heaven that
punished evil and rewarded good. Nevertheless, during this highly
congested time period filled with so many geniuses, there lived a
military strategist who would surpass all others in popularity and fame
(except, perhaps, Confucius and Lao Tzu)—he was Master Sun, better known
as Sun Tzu.
All images used in the production of this video were
Public Domain or licensed for reuse via the Creative Commons or Flickr.
If the image was not Public Domain, the license was included in its
respective slide.
The intro music was written and performed by C. Keith Hansley for use on The Historian's Hut YouTube channel.
The calm and serene sounds in the background of the video is:
River Fire Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/b...
When Emperor Marcus Aurelius (121-180 CE) was not occupied with war, he
attempted to rule his empire in a just and humane way. He was charitable
to provinces in need, and he generally tried to combat corruption and
maltreatment. His greatest flaw in his pursuit of justice was the
persecution of Christians that occurred during his reign. The massacres
during his rule produced numerous well-known martyrs, such as Justin of
Rome and Polycarp of Smyrna.
The emperor was drawn to stoic
philosophy, and was, himself, considered a competent philosopher. Marcus
Aurelius' Meditations are still widely enjoyed and admired, to this
very day.
All images used in the creation of this video are classified as Public Domain via Creative Commons.
The intro theme was written and performed by C. Keith Hansley for use on this YouTube channel.
The calming lute music in the background:
Suonatore di Liuto Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/b...
Enjoy and thanks for watching!
Read our biography on the philosopher-emperor, Marcus Aurelius, HERE.
Check out our hundreds of quote pictures, Here, and the quote pictures specifically featuring the quotes from this video, HERE.
Broadly
speaking, Sun Tzu’s life, death and the recording of his sayings into The Art
of War occurred between the 6th and 3rd century BCE. Most of what is perceived
to be known about Sun Tzu primarily comes from either the Records of the Grand Historian by Sima Qian (145-85 BCE) or The Spring and Autumn Annals detailing
events from around 722-481 BCE in the Zhou Dynasty.
Based on Sima
Qian’s work, Sun Tzu is thought to have been a contemporary of Confucius, living
around 551-479 BCE. He was likely born in Ch’i (or Qi), in the modern Shandong
Province. He eventually found employment in the court of King Ho-Lu (or He Lü)
of Wu (in modern Zhejiang), who likely reigned from 514-496 BCE. On a more
solid historical note, the Kingdom of Wu was a major participant of the Warring
States Period, and King Ho-Lu (r. 514-496 BCE) is widely believed to have been
an actual king of the Kingdom of Wu.
Sun Tzu is
often mentioned in commentary on the Wu-Chu Wars that occurred between 512-506
BCE. In particular, Master Sun supposedly played a major role in Wu’s victory
over Chu in the Battle of Boju (506 BCE), when the strategist commanded Wu’s
forces, along with King Ho-Lu and the king’s brother, Fugai. It remains
historically suspicious, though, that Master Sun’s name is absent from one of
the major prime sources describing King Ho-Lu’s time period—The Zou Commentary.
Nevertheless, by the time of the Han Dynasty (around 206 BCE-220 CE), The Art
of War, and its supposed author, Sun Tzu, were widely known household names in
China.
Sun Tzu had a unique philosophy on war—he was
utterly ruthless, and yet, he would go above and beyond in his attempts to
avoid unnecessary confrontation. Sun Tzu’s ideal victory would involve
deploying spies to discover an enemy’s vulnerabilities, followed by espionage,
sabotage and diplomacy to exploit those weaknesses.He would force the enemy into submission
without raising a single weapon. If war was unavoidable, then Sun Tzu would
rely on a system of military moves and countermoves and rigorous preparation
and training to ensure victory.
All images used in this video are either Public Domain or appropriately licensed for use via Creative Commons.
The intro-music was written and recorded by C. Keith Hansley for use on The Historian’s Hut YouTube channel.
The catchy song throughout the remainder of the video:
Indore Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/
At the onset of the war, Germany had
pressed quickly through Belgium into France, but became bogged down well shy of
Paris, and the war gridlocked into WWI’s iconic trench warfare. In early 1916,
however, General Erich von Falkenhayn of Germany believed he knew a way to
crush France and weaken Britain’s will to fight—by seizing the French defensive
position at Verdun.
All images, maps and graphics used in the construction of this video are
licensed as Public Domain in the Creative Commons.
Intro music written and performed by C. Keith Hansley for use on this channel.
During the late 5th century BCE, one of the most bizarre men to have
ever lived was born in the Greek-colonized city of Sinope, located on
the coast of the Black Sea in modern Turkey. His name was Diogenes, and
he would go on to impress and astound many of the great names from
ancient Greece. The renowned philosopher, Plato, supposedly described
Diogenes of Sinope as a “Socrates gone mad” and Alexander the Great
(according to Plutarch) honored the man by saying, “If I were not
Alexander, I would be Diogenes.”
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All images used in creating this video are Public Domain or licensed for public use via Creative Commons.
The intro song was written and performed by C. Keith Hansley for use only on this channel.
Check out our article on Diogenes the Cynic, HERE, for a more in-depth account of this strange, but intriguing, philosopher.
