It’s always interesting to me how prevalent the myth of past people being inherently more cruel, stupid, and barbarous is The more I learn about the past (and some parts of the present), the more I feel humanity has stayed relatively consistent. That is to say, consistently inconsistent; humans have always been capable of both breathtaking kindness and vomit-inducing cruelty in equal measure. Obviously aspects of the past were horrifying... but so are many aspects of the present, if you look hard enough I don’t entirely know where I’m going with this I guess I just want to say, thank you for shedding light on the kindness of the past alongside the cruelty. These videos have singlehandedly done more to make me interested in the past than my entire year in high school AP World History
I felt the same way. I never got bored, and everytime I could feel a topic wrapping up and thought the video would be ending, I was surprised that another began.
This was fascinating and one of the best to date. I LOVED the illuminated manuscripts with errors suggesting ignorance of the other’s religious practice.
I’m glad that you advertised this on your mtg channel; I don’t think I would have dove into these videos without appreciating your presentation style and ‘vibe’ from the mtg videos. Thanks for the content. : )
A lot of this stuff is kinda cute tbh, glad you are providing context for the many decades of normal people living normal lives with each other during the middle ages that came between the instances of war, plagues, pogroms, etc that we all know about.
Great video, you indirectly touched on the very interesting roles that men and women play in religions, where women often are the ones leading in out reach and tolerance where men are more focused on control and conformity.
Could there have been conversions in the Middle Ages *to* Judaism from Xianity - or, would such a concept of “conversion” like that simply be incomprehensible for a medieval mind....? Or to Islam from Xianity? Did that happen? Great material/content and presentation btw, thanks so much
Yes, it did happen -- I'm going to do a video on such things at some point. It was against the rules for Christians to convert, and they would be considered heretics if they did, so it caused some serious problems.
This is not directly related, but I’m wondering if you’ve ever read “Caliban and the Witch” by Silvia Federicci? Really unorthodox but (to me) compelling take on the historical significance of witch hunts and heresy. Not sure if that falls within your field of study... regardless love these vids, they’re a weekly blessing
Another great one, thanks! Right now I am preparing a class where we`ll speak about Severus of menorca und the forced conversion of jews in 418 on the island. Unfortunatly, it showcases the dark side of jewish-christian relations, but its very intersiting. The arrival of the relics of the protomartyr stephen drives the locals into a religious frenzy and they turn against their former well integrated jewish neighbours. The source, a letter written by the bishop Severus, trys to defend the actions of the christians, because he is well aware that they broke roman law in destroying the synagoge and forcing the jews to convert. I dont know if that case is worth an own video, but the letter translated by bradburry is defenitly worth a read for all who are interested in that kind of topic!
Well it’s been pretty normal for us in the US for a while, but this just goes to show eventually periods of intense persecution and violence will always come back to threaten us, sometimes briefly, sometimes for years at a time, and I’ve frankly never really feared it here until the last few years, but now it seems to be looming on the horizon again. Very interesting topic. It still seems to me that a lot of this evidence for normalized relations was still just predicated on us being economically useful and doesn’t necessarily indicate any sort of fondness or anything much more than a sort of strained tolerance of Jews.
I think you are looking at things a little to negatively. The relationships between women and the art examples indicate a level of trust that wouldn't be possible if all it was was "strained tolerance."
@@NizzahonHistory Hey man! Great content first of all, I’ve always enjoyed your MTG top tens, and I like that you have branched out into this channel as well. I will admit I’m inherently cynical lol. I just think that if you look at our modern society there are definitely people who, for instance, would listen to hip hop, but don’t at all view black Americans as equals. You might hire immigrant laborers even if you are anti-immigrant. I know it’s not a direct analogy, but I don’t think there is anything about the consumption or even commission of artwork or labor from another culture that necessarily signifies that the person consuming or commissioning it respects the artist or worker beyond what they can provide them with. Similarly it was common for wealthy white women to employ black nannies and wet nurses in the US but that didn’t mean they viewed them as equals or accorded them the respect they reserved for other whites, y’know? In fact that dichotomy of being able to trust someone with your children while still dehumanizing them societally is one of the things that makes racism so insidious. I get your point that it wasn’t a period of constant harassment and persecution, but it’s always part of the background noise, and while outbreaks of violence may not have been normal the potential was always there, and I would imagine a level of fear and unease may have prevailed throughout Jewish communities in between the violent periods, as it often continues to today. Ultimately no matter how safe we feel I think we always know that there are plenty of people all around us who don’t wish us well as a people, and as we see today when these folks are given the right demagogic push they become pretty brazen in flaunting that ill will. It’s always there.
I don't know why, but the black/blue wall mounted thing over your shoulder always causes me a certain amount of discomfort. What is it, and what is it's story? Why is it wonky?
It’s always interesting to me how prevalent the myth of past people being inherently more cruel, stupid, and barbarous is
The more I learn about the past (and some parts of the present), the more I feel humanity has stayed relatively consistent. That is to say, consistently inconsistent; humans have always been capable of both breathtaking kindness and vomit-inducing cruelty in equal measure.
Obviously aspects of the past were horrifying... but so are many aspects of the present, if you look hard enough
I don’t entirely know where I’m going with this
I guess I just want to say, thank you for shedding light on the kindness of the past alongside the cruelty. These videos have singlehandedly done more to make me interested in the past than my entire year in high school AP World History
Yep. We haven't changed much.
Commenting before watching because I know this gonna be good!
This was great, the density of information & pace is perfect, keep it up!
Glad you liked it!
I felt the same way. I never got bored, and everytime I could feel a topic wrapping up and thought the video would be ending, I was surprised that another began.
This was fascinating and one of the best to date. I LOVED the illuminated manuscripts with errors suggesting ignorance of the other’s religious practice.
Yeah those manuscripts are always fun to discuss.
Heck yeah, a 27 minute video from Dr. Nizzahon. Sign me up!
Enjoy!
Made the work commute more interesting and enlightening. Excited for more!
Great!
Super interesting! I was a bit hesitant because of the length of the video, but it was really worth it.
Glad you enjoyed it despite the 27 minutes haha
I’m glad that you advertised this on your mtg channel; I don’t think I would have dove into these videos without appreciating your presentation style and ‘vibe’ from the mtg videos. Thanks for the content. : )
Glad you enjoyed it!
Beautiful analysis, thanks Nizzahon
Glad you enjoyed it
Another great video thank you. And really 27 minutes? It sped by. More please!
Glad you enjoyed it!
A lot of this stuff is kinda cute tbh, glad you are providing context for the many decades of normal people living normal lives with each other during the middle ages that came between the instances of war, plagues, pogroms, etc that we all know about.
Glad you like it!
Great work yet again. I really like the way you challenge modern day stereotypes about the medieval period.
Thanks!
I love history and mtg so you're blessed mr.Nizzahon
Glad you enjoyed it!
Great video, you indirectly touched on the very interesting roles that men and women play in religions, where women often are the ones leading in out reach and tolerance where men are more focused on control and conformity.
Could there have been conversions in the Middle Ages *to* Judaism from Xianity - or, would such a concept of “conversion” like that simply be incomprehensible for a medieval mind....? Or to Islam from Xianity? Did that happen?
Great material/content and presentation btw, thanks so much
Yes, it did happen -- I'm going to do a video on such things at some point. It was against the rules for Christians to convert, and they would be considered heretics if they did, so it caused some serious problems.
@@NizzahonHistory DNA evidence would be interesting.
This is not directly related, but I’m wondering if you’ve ever read “Caliban and the Witch” by Silvia Federicci? Really unorthodox but (to me) compelling take on the historical significance of witch hunts and heresy. Not sure if that falls within your field of study... regardless love these vids, they’re a weekly blessing
I read it in my M.A. program, but it has been awhile! I am not the biggest proponent of Marxist historiography though.
This is so cool! I love history and the amount of information in this video was great
Glad you enjoyed!
Another great one, thanks! Right now I am preparing a class where we`ll speak about Severus of menorca und the forced conversion of jews in 418 on the island. Unfortunatly, it showcases the dark side of jewish-christian relations, but its very intersiting. The arrival of the relics of the protomartyr stephen drives the locals into a religious frenzy and they turn against their former well integrated jewish neighbours. The source, a letter written by the bishop Severus, trys to defend the actions of the christians, because he is well aware that they broke roman law in destroying the synagoge and forcing the jews to convert. I dont know if that case is worth an own video, but the letter translated by bradburry is defenitly worth a read for all who are interested in that kind of topic!
Worth noting that Augustine also condemned this. So there is a dark side, but even in the dark there is some hope
Very interesting. If everyone learned more history we’d all be better off
Thanks
I love this video and the channel in general.
Thanks!
Well it’s been pretty normal for us in the US for a while, but this just goes to show eventually periods of intense persecution and violence will always come back to threaten us, sometimes briefly, sometimes for years at a time, and I’ve frankly never really feared it here until the last few years, but now it seems to be looming on the horizon again. Very interesting topic. It still seems to me that a lot of this evidence for normalized relations was still just predicated on us being economically useful and doesn’t necessarily indicate any sort of fondness or anything much more than a sort of strained tolerance of Jews.
I think you are looking at things a little to negatively. The relationships between women and the art examples indicate a level of trust that wouldn't be possible if all it was was "strained tolerance."
@@NizzahonHistory Hey man! Great content first of all, I’ve always enjoyed your MTG top tens, and I like that you have branched out into this channel as well. I will admit I’m inherently cynical lol. I just think that if you look at our modern society there are definitely people who, for instance, would listen to hip hop, but don’t at all view black Americans as equals. You might hire immigrant laborers even if you are anti-immigrant. I know it’s not a direct analogy, but I don’t think there is anything about the consumption or even commission of artwork or labor from another culture that necessarily signifies that the person consuming or commissioning it respects the artist or worker beyond what they can provide them with. Similarly it was common for wealthy white women to employ black nannies and wet nurses in the US but that didn’t mean they viewed them as equals or accorded them the respect they reserved for other whites, y’know? In fact that dichotomy of being able to trust someone with your children while still dehumanizing them societally is one of the things that makes racism so insidious. I get your point that it wasn’t a period of constant harassment and persecution, but it’s always part of the background noise, and while outbreaks of violence may not have been normal the potential was always there, and I would imagine a level of fear and unease may have prevailed throughout Jewish communities in between the violent periods, as it often continues to today. Ultimately no matter how safe we feel I think we always know that there are plenty of people all around us who don’t wish us well as a people, and as we see today when these folks are given the right demagogic push they become pretty brazen in flaunting that ill will. It’s always there.
Comments for the engagement throne.
Thanks!
I'd like to make the guess that Abbess Hildegard of Bingen will be in your next Top 10 list.
Might be!
Really interesting stuff, never knew that Jewish women and Christian women got along so well in the Middle Ages
Glad you liked it!
Why can't we all just get along?
We can! People did in the Middle Ages too, as this video shows you.
These mistakes are too good haha
Mistakes?
EDIT: Oh, I am guessing you mean the art mistakes?
@@NizzahonHistory yep, it's kinda wholesome
I don't know why, but the black/blue wall mounted thing over your shoulder always causes me a certain amount of discomfort. What is it, and what is it's story? Why is it wonky?
It is foam to cut down on echo.
@@NizzahonHistory yeah, that makes a lot of sense. Sorry for the daft question.
Haha I have considered moving them. I could certainly make then straighter haha
@@NizzahonHistory also, I can usually use apostrophes correctly.
DNA would indicate that they "got along" rather well.