Guess what, it’s me again. Also, I’m not sure if this is the first time I’ve used this intro. All of my posts all really meld together after a while. Anyways, this post is going to be about the feudal ages. That’s right, not the dark ages, not the Renaissance, the feudal ages. Excited yet?
The Fall Of Rome
So, we started by looking at Rome, and more importantly, how it fell. We looked at some possible theories, and also at 3 different groups. The Franks (French), Anglo-Saxons (English), and the Vikings. We also created some very… interesting freeze frames depicting these groups. For your safety, I will shield your eyes from these, but beware. I’m just sayin’.
After the fall of Rome, we were put into different groups. My new group consisted of Gabby, Lucy, and Ben.
We were also introduced to our main question, “How did the crusades Impact our worldview?”. That’s right. More Worldview! Everybody’s favourite topic!
The Book Of The Lion
So, after all the introduction stuff, we got started. First, started reading a book called the Book Of The Lion. It was pretty intresting, and it was probably the most interesting book we’ve read so far. A lot of gore, a lot of crime, and many things that would not be allowed in school, but we read it anyways. (Don’t tell anybody). For example, in the first few chapters, a serf runs away from his master and someone gets his hand ‘chopped off. Pretty disturbing material.
After our introduction to the book, we started exploring myths as well. We started by looking at some well known myths and heroes. We started by looking at some famous historical myths, e.g. Hercules. We also did a case analysis of everyone’s favourite miscreant, Robin Hood. Unfortunately, I was sick the day we did this so I can’t really explain any further.
The Hero’s Journey
So, after the whole myths thing, we looked at the hero’s journey. Pretty much a story outline that most stories, tv shows, movies, etc, follow. Anything from Star Wars and Lord of the Rings to The Avengers And even the Magic School Bus can somehow relate to this set, with some varying aspects. Here’s a helpful video to help you learn more about what the Hero’s Journey is.
Also, here’s a helpful Crash Course about The Hero’s Journey And the Monomyth.
Finally, here’s a video showcasing some examples of the Hero’s Journey in classic, well known movies.
Feudalism
Meanwhile, as we were learning about myths and the hero’s journey, we learned about feudalism. Feudalism is pretty much the political system in use during the Middle Ages until the Renaissance. Now, Feudalism is some complicated stuff, so I’ll give you a short littl- wait a second, why explain it to you when I can just embed a YouTube video! I’m probably not lying when I say that most of you out there reading these posts, yeah you, you great 6 or maybe 7 people, would rather watch a YouTube video of someone much more entertaining than I am explain these topics, right? Cue the Crash Course!
The Crusades
Now, onto the Crusades. The Crusades were no laughing matter, you see. They were filled with death, and blood, and gore, and all other sorts of bad stuff. So I’ll give you a brief explanation before I put in another Crash Course. Pretty much, in the feudal ages, Jerusalem, the holy land, was in control by the Muslims, and the English/Christians wanted the land. So, pretty much, like what many historical wars have been fought over, they went ahead and tried to take it. Now, that was all going fine and dandy until this guy, Saladin, came along and just absolutely dominated the English. I forget the rest, so here’s yet another Crash Course.
So now, we were reaching the end. That’s right, it’s time to try to explain THE FINAL PROJECT.
The Final Project
Ok, So, our final project as a group consisted of 2 main parts. The story, and the quilt. We had to first write a story about 2 main protagonists (Heroes). A Christian And a Muslim. The goal here was to create 2 stories from 2 different points of view. The Christians were obsessed with killing and gore and victory, while the Muslims were kinda just there like “Who the heck are you people and what have we ever done to you.”
Our first draft was really weird. With like this time travel angle and this ancient relic and some weird futuristic rebels-it was strange. So, we simplified it. Our Christian hero, Joseph, is a young crusader, who falls off of a walk during combat. Our Muslim hero, Muhammad, sees Joseph and tries to save him. After Joseph wakes up, he sees his “enemy”, Muhammad, and lashes out and attacks Muhammad. Apparently, Joseph has a knack for injuring himself as he ends up hurting himself even further. Joseph learns that Muhammad isn’t an enemy and they try to team up and stop the war. When they question the elder, the elder informs them that the crusades cannot be stopped. The two heroes then leave Jerusalem in search of a better life.
Now we had to use symbolism and our young minds to turn these stories into quilts. To get us inspired, we went to an art gallery in North Vancouver called the Gordon Smith Gallery. There, we saw an exhibit about the First Nations people and a lot of symbolistic, abstract, modern art. P.S, if you didn’t know, I really dislike modern art. I think it looks OK, but it’s too confusing for me. You can’t really figure out the true meaning of an abstract painting unless there’s a plate beside it listing the meaning, or if you guess.
Also, we had donair there. If you didn’t know, donair is a piece of pita bread containing some sort of meat or falafel, vegetables, and some sort of sauce/spread. It was pretty gosh darn good. Also, donair meat is usually a long cylinder of seasoned meat that’s put into a broiler and cooked. The meat is then sliced off into strips and put into the donair. If you are questioning why I wrote an entire section about food and/or think I’m crazy for having done so, you obviously do not know me very well.
Now, back onto the quilts. For our quilts, they had to be double sided, meaning they should be symmetrical if you wanted to stitch it together. To be honest, I still don’t really understand our art to this day, but I’ll do my best to try to explain it. If my ramblings are too confusing for you to understand, go check out my group mates Gabby, Lucy, or Ben. They can probably provide you with better explainations than I ever could. Here we go. Wait, before I start, the 1st column is Story 1, And the 2nd column is Block 2. The rows are the block numbers.
(P.S. Try to imagine me saying these in a snooty, rich art collector voice while you read. Trust me.)
Story 1: Block 1
Here we see a magnificent display of colours dancing on the page as the white triangle surrounded by red is Joseph’s perception of Muhammad. The anger shines through in this work as we can tell the artist is very captivated by this story. The triangle with a piece missing is obviously Joseph, as he has indubitably injured himself.
Story 2: Block 1
Here we see yet another instalment of the crusade series, this one almost better than the last. Here we see Muhammad’s perspective captured in this absolutely divine masterpiece. The green represents the peace that Muhammad is trying to share, while Joseph is shutting him out.
Story 1: Block 2
This is the long awaited third instalment in the crusade series. It is incredibly well done as it shows the two figures’ dueling personalities with the fiery Joseph and the peaceful Muhammad. The colours dance across the page as the sun has risen. Once again, the artists’ usage of the colour red to symbolize anger is simply brilliant.
Story 2: Block 2
This one is incredibly similar to the last, although not as well executed. The 2 figures are still quite clearly represented as the artist still seems to be in control of this masterpiece.
Story 1 And 2: Block 3
Here we see our two magnificent characters walking into the picturesque sunset as they flee the site of the war. These are indubitably the best out of the bunch as they show that the characters have become one divine, cohesive unit. Bravo.
Ok. Now here’s some pictures of our quilt.
Ok. Whew. That was quite a post eh? Thanks for sitting through this. Really. Well, I guess that’s it.
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(Hats off to you if you can crack the code)