The two sides of the Middle Ages in Europe (Part I)

It would be difficult to find period in human history provoking greater criticism than the Middle Ages themselves. They are mostly referred to as a time when dark clouds shrouded the sky above mankind and forced him to live in humbleness and acceptance of what he already has, leaving the desire for scientific research, adventurous exploration and philosophical questioning of his surroundings beyond his grasp.

Instead of repeating how awful it was to live during the Middle Ages, let’s take a look at the bright side: while the Western civilization’s development was quite feeble, some other nations in the East of Europe managed to thrive throughout these troubled times.

The fall of the Roman Empire

Roughly speaking, the Middle Ages started with the decline of the Roman Empire, which had been previously split into two separate states. Historians try to convince us this happened due to some political and religious reasons but frankly, it happened thanks to the insatiable human desire for seizing power. Rather than being mutual partners, the Western Roman Empire and Byzantium soon became rivals trying to establish their own spheres of influence, much like the Soviet Union and the West did after the end of WWII.

Gradually, Rome became weaker than ever and it was eventually destroyed by the “barbarian” invasions of the Huns (though Rome and Constantinople developed great civilizations, they proved to be quite ignorant when referring to the outsiders as mere “barbarians”). After the last Roman Emperor was dethroned in 476 AD, the political situation in the West became complex, if not chaotic. Several “independent” states popped out in present-day Italy and Spain, while in the North Frankish and Germanic tribes were more than happy to feed on the territories left behind by Rome.

Not only did the fall of the Roman Empire introduce major political changes, but it also led to a continuous adjustment of the values of Western society. The infiltrating “barbarians” started to blend in the society, bringing their own traditions and set of values. With time, the Latin language evolved into several separate languages and people eventually abandoned the classics of Latin literature. People became more interested in religious rather than secular affairs and the Catholic Church soon started to interfere into political affairs rather than dealing with faith-related matters only.

What it was like in the East

While the Pope was busy with organizing several coup d’états and telling the rulers of Western states how to their job, the Orthodox Church was in a completely different position. In the Byzantine Empire it was used as an instrument for conducting the state’s foreign policy, while in the Bulgarian Empire it helped for the developing and sustaining the national identity.

 











The Orthodox Church did not meddle in worldly affairs
 
The Byzantine Empire got its first higher education institution in 425 AD during the rule of emperor Theodosius II. The University of Constantinople offered courses in Greek and Latin grammar, literature, music, rhetoric, philosophy, theology, law, astronomy, geometry and arithmetic. There were several other higher education institutions in Athens, Alexandria, Antioquia and Beirut, each of them was specialized in teaching a specific set of subjects.

Though apparently not everybody could go to the university, most ordinary citizens could afford to go through 4 years of worldly education. In schools they used to read the writings of Aeschylus, Euripides, Herodotus, Aristotle, Plato, Homer, etc. At the same time, the West was covered with the darkness of illiteracy and ignorance, which were actively supported by Pope Gregory I (590-604 AD) who claimed that “ignorance is piety”.

Ancient knowledge was condemned by the Vatican because "it was pagan"

A mere comparison between the East and the West at that time would make fun of today’s Western civilization which considers itself as the key element in the development of contemporary society. While scholars were already crawling all around Constantinople in the 425 AD, Western Europe got its first university six centuries later. The University of Bologna was founded in 1058, the Oxford University in 1168, Cambridge University in 1209, the University of Paris in 1215, the University in Leipzig in 1409, a millennium later than the one in Constantinople.

To be continued...

The lost tracks of the Thracian civilization

I doubt there is a single person who has never heard of the flourishing civilization of Ancient Egypt, the great philosophers and mathematicians of Ancient Greece, or the glorious moments in the history of the Roman Empire. However, very few are familiar with the people who Herodotus, the Father of History himself described as “the second most abundant in the world after the Indian tribes”.

The Thracians did not leave any written sources about themselves but they did leave a lot of beautifully decorated tombs and fascinating gold treasures scattered around Bulgaria. Would you like to know more about these people and their civilization, whose disappearance was just as mysterious as their appearance? Then check out this article.



Nobody knows where the Thracians originally came from and when exactly they settled on the Balkan Peninsula, however, by 4000 BC there were already more than seventy Thracian tribes inhabiting the territory between the Carpathian Mountains and Aegean Sea. Although there were a lot of them, they were never united and thus they did not appear as a serious threat to their future neighbors, the Ancient Greeks.

It's all about fighting and having fun

The Thracians, who seemed to be very talented in warfare, were engaged in numerous wars. Most of the battles they led were actually between their own tribes and surprisingly they were more fierce towards each other than towards their outer enemies. Anyway, when they were not on the battlefield, the Thracians enjoyed drinking a lot of wine and organizing spectacular feasts.


A feast depicted on the walls of a Thracian tomb 

That could explain why although they worshiped a whole pantheon of gods, the one they loved the most was Sabazios, god of… the wine and the feasts! If I could use colloquial language to summarize the nature of the Thracians, they were definitely more of party people than hard workers. As Herodotus once wrote “they loved having nothing to do, considered working in agriculture humiliating and preferred to live off their war lootings”.

The Orpheus Myth and Thracian Mythology

Not only did they enjoy drinking at their parties, but they also fancied poetry, dancing and singing. No wonder the greatest singer of all time Orpheus was born a Thracian. Legend says that even wild animals were enchanted by his songs and trees bowed with their branches as a sign of respect for Orpheus’ incredible talent. Poor guy fell in love with the beautiful Eurydice, who was bitten by a snake and passed away shortly after their marriage.


The mythical singer Orpheus with his wife Eurydice

Realizing how much Orpheus loved his wife, the ruler of the spirit world led him bring Eurydice back to life. There was, however, one condition: while in the spirit world Orpheus should not look behind his back to see whether his wife was following him. Unfortunately, he could not resist forever and eventually turned around to see Eurydice disappearing in the darkness for good. His grief was so great that he could no longer feel happiness. Orpheus lived in sadness for four more years before he died and he was reunited with his lost love.


Sabazios (Dionysus), the Thracian god of wine 

This originally Thracian legend was later incorporated into Greek Mythology as well as the entire assembly of the Thracian gods whose names were later replaced with Greek ones (the latter was declared as true by the Greek geographer and historian Strabo himself). Thus Sabazios became Dionysus, a name that probably pops up much more associations in your head (especially if you are into mythology). What makes it even more funny is that the Romans took their pantheon from the Greeks and changed the names of the same good old Thracian gods for the second time!

This will remain a mystery forever

Back to the historical track, it is quite surprising that a civilization with such a complex and diverse mythology did not leave behind anything written. Did they do so because they were just too lazy and tired from their countless feasts? Or could it be that they were too busy fighting on the battlefield that they did not have enough time to create their own alphabet? There could be a totally different explanation for this.


A part of the Panagyurishte Treasure, a true masterpiece

Thracians believed the word was was the only connection they had with their gods. It was regarded as something sacred and its materialization in the form of written language could have been completely out of the question. Think about it, Orpheus did not write any of his magnificent songs and neither did Homer with his famous “Odyssey” and “Iliad”. Even Jesus himself did not write down a single word of what he said throughout his entire lifetime.

A slightly different approach to life

Anyway, the Thracians had a remarkable and rather unconventional attitude towards life. They believed their stay on Earth was plain boring and they literally could not wait until they cross over into the world beyond. They cried when somebody was born but they celebrated his death with great joy. Why? They did not believe that a person could be reincarnated or revived, neither they thought that the body and the soul could be separated from one another.


The Thracian tomb of Sveshtari, Bulgaria 

However, they were convinced that after they die they would meet all the people they have lost in their lives and have a never-ending feast with the Gods. Some sources claim that when a man died, his wife was “more than happy” to get buried with him as she could join the eternal party even sooner. So, you could say that this was not an expression of pure love and commitment but rather a selfish act. As I come to think of it, humans have been like this since the dawn of history…

If the Thracians really believed that the only purpose of life is to get to the world beyond, that could explain why they put such a great effort in occupying their tombs with beautiful (and also very expensive) handmade golden objects. Today, there are more than 20,000 Thracian tombs in Bulgaria only and some of them, such as the Kazanlak Tomb have some astonishing paintings on their walls.


The Thracian tomb of Kazanlak, Bulgaria

The Thracians buried their dead fellows in hills, which were quite obvious and like the pyramids in Egypt have been a subject to vandalism. Unfortunately, we will never know how much of their treasures were stolen and lost in the hands of private collectors for all eternity.

To complete the puzzle: a final piece of history

So, what happened with this great civilization which was good at fighting in wars and extremely good at having fun? As I mentioned earlier, the Thracians lived in separate tribes and often fought each other to increase the influence of their tribes. They could not establish not even a single country that would last for a longer period of time which made it a piece of cake for Philip II of Macedon, the father of Alexander the Great to invade their territory and make them his subordinates.


A view from the ancient city of Perperikon, Bulgaria 

After Alexander died, the Thracians made their final attempt to reunite under the rule of Seuthes III, which build a powerful state and founded a new capital he named after… himself (a practice that was later recognized by the Roman emperor Constantine, who founded the city of Constantinople, now Istanbul). The city of Seuthopolis had some mighty walls designed to keep the enemies away and his beauty was legendary. It is such a pity that today it is located on the bottom of a simple dam…

The revival of the Thracian civilization did not last long after the demise of king Seuthes III. As soon as the Romans set foot in the land of the Thracians, the different tribes began to fight back independently from one another. They fought bravely, but lost tragically to the sons of Romulus and Remus. Numerous unsuccessful riots against the rule of the Roman Empire were organized, with one of them being led by the legendary Spartacus.

Spartacus during the times he was a gladiator 

He was captured by the Romans to become the favorite gladiator of the crowds and later on organized the biggest slave revolt in history, bringing the Roman Empire to the brink of its annihilation (in 73 BC, to be exact). Nonetheless, the Thracians continued to live separately until most of them were eventually wiped out in a fierce battle with the emperor Trajan. Thus, the existence of this great civilization came to an end in 106 AD. Or maybe not? It is difficult to imagine that it could all end with a single battle. At least I refuse to believe it.


The Day of Wine, celebrated in Bulgaria on 14 February, has Thracian origins

Although the Thracians were gone, their heritage continued to exist in this world. They gave their gods to the Greeks (and eventually to their annihilators, the Romans, although both of them were later converted to Christianity) and passed on their passion for music and poetry to us, Bulgarians. In fact, a recent research revealed that around 25% of the Bulgarian population has Thracian origins. However, whether we like it or not, we have to admit that we have inherited their self-destructing anarchism and their notable insobriety as well.

The Devil's bridge in Bulgaria

This is The Devil’s Bridge in Bulgaria. It was built more than 500 years ago and even though it has not undergone a single renovation it is still in the same condition as when it was first constructed.

Legend says that the Devil himself took part in the construction of this bridge. During the middle ages, the Arda river was extremely wild and turbulent. Many had tried to connect the two banks of the river, but they all failed. Until a determined and ambitious young man appeared.

He decided to build a bridge across the river no matter what it could cost him. Suddenly, the Devil appeared before him and promised to reveal the secret of how to make a bridge that would last forever. The Devil demanded from the builder to incorporate his demonic face in the bridge in a way that would be visible and invisible at the same time. The young man had 40 days to accomplish this task. If he failed to do so, the Devil would take his soul to Hell.

Surprisingly, the builder managed to do what Devil told him to do before the deadline. However, he died soon after and the secret technique the man used to construct the bridge was never revealed. The bridge still stands exactly as it was 500 years ago and if you look closer, you will notice the ominous appearance of Satan.

Five great inventions we owe to Italians

A lot of people see Italy as the perfect destination for their vacation, providing tourists with countless opportunities for entertainment and recreation. However, very few realize that Italy is also the homeland of quite a few inventions that have had a great contribution to the improvement of people’s overall quality of life throughout history. Are you interested in finding out which things from our daily life we owe to Italians? Then keep on reading.



The Battery (La batteria)
How often did you use your car last month? Oh, you do not have your own car? How about your laptop then, or your mobile phone? Your clock, camcorder, or the remote control of your TV? A lot, I guess. Well, using none of these would actually be possible if it was not for the Italian physicist Alessandro Volta, who will be forever remembered as “he who invented the battery”.

Volta’s mechanism, developed in the early 1880s, consisted of two discs, one made out of zinc and one made out of copper, and sulfuric acid. The electric cell or the Voltaic Pile, as it was initially called, provided the world with the first practical method of generating and storing electricity. Apart from his findings in the field of physics, Alessandro Volta is also the one who discovered methane, the key component of natural gas and a cheap fuel used mainly for domestic needs.

The Thermometer (Il termometro)
A physicist and mathematician, astronomer and philosopher: Galileo Galilei was truly an amazing scientist with unquestionable contribution to modern science. He is known mostly for his support for the initially controversial idea of heliocentrism, i.e. the belief that the Sun is the center of the Solar system as opposed to the Earth, which was stated as such in the Bible. However, Galileo is also the one who developed the first instrument for measuring and indicating temperature.

The thermoscope, as it was first named, used the chemical properties of water and several other substances in order to indicate changes in temperature. The invention of Galileo is actually quite different from what modern thermometers are since multiple improvements have been introduced since Galileo constructed the first one in 1593. Surprisingly, one of the major improvements, the introduction of the numerical scale which can be found on each and every non-digital modern thermometer, was designed by another Italian, Santorio Santorio, in 1612.

The Glasses (Gli occhiali)
Although lens have become pretty popular these days, the majority of people who are experiencing problems with their sight still prefer wearing glasses. So where did the history of this  useful utility begin? Unfortunately, the exact time and place are unknown, however, it is supposed that it happened somewhere in the North of Italy between 1280-1300. Most people assume that Salvino degli Armati, a man from the city of Florence, was the inventor of the glasses, while others believe they were first created by a monk named Alessandro Spina.

Though we cannot say precisely who and when invented the glasses, thanks to the Italian painter Tomaso da Modena, we can be sure that it happened before 1350. In his painting one of the first users of glasses can be observed: a high-ranked member of the Catholic Church is depicted holding a monocle with his right hand while reading a book. Even though the glasses have been improved a lot throughout the centuries in order to meet the individual needs of people and most recently, in order to follow up with different fashion trends, we cannot reject the fact that this is all because of an Italian man. Whoever he is, we sure owe him one big “Thank you”!

The Piano (Il pianoforte)

Man has known that strings can produce sound ever since prehistoric times, however, not until the early years of the Renaissance (il Rinascimento) has he developed a single stringed musical instrument. The first instrument of such kind, the harpsichord, was revolutionary in its own way, but lacked the opportunity to express the performers’ full potential because this instrument was limited to one, unvarying volume.

When there is a problem, hopefully there is someone who comes to fix it. The solution for the limited capabilities of the harpsichord was developed by the harpsichord maker from Padua named Bartolomeo di Francesco Cristofori. Once it was invented in 1709, the piano quickly became popular across Europe, outperforming the harpsichord as the most abundant string instrument, and it had become over a hundred years old by the time Beethoven was creating his masterpieces. Can you imagine what would have happened with his symphonies and sonatas if the piano was not invented? They probably would not exist!

The Nuclear Generator (Il reattore nucleare)

As of February 2013, 30 countries worldwide are operating 437 nuclear reactors for electricity generation and 71 new nuclear plants are under construction in 14 countries. The existence of nuclear power plants, although sometimes causing serious trouble for the environment and/or for mankind itself (like the accidents in Chernobyl and Fukushima, for instance) has proven to be one of the cheapest and most efficient ways to produce electricity in the modern age. So, what is the name of the guy who is behind this controversial invention? There are actually two of them: Enrico Fermi and Leo Szilard.

Enrico Fermi, an Italian born in Rome, was the one who had a greater contribution to the development of the nuclear generator, especially when it came down to hands-on work. He was awarded a Nobel Prize in 1938 and the opportunity to become a professor at a university in the US. The talented scientist is also known for a couple of other significant discoveries, some of which, unfortunately led to the later creation of the atomic bomb. Nonetheless, with great power comes great responsibility. It is not Enrico’s fault that his findings were misused. For providing Europe with this new opportunity to produce 28,5% of its energy (can be compared with the whole world, which produces roughly 12,3% of its electricity in nuclear power plants), Enrico Fermi deserves our sincere admiration.