AE Magazine - November Edition

The Byzantine Loss at Manzikert The decisive Battle of Manizert was one of the most significant defeats of the Byzantine Empire. How were the Seljuk Turks able to defeat Byzantium and occupy Anatolia in spite of Byzantium's longstanding reputation for military might and her vast resources? (by Constantine XI) Crusades in the Middle East: the Impact of the Holy Land Crusades on Europe The Crusades that were launched on the holy land initiated a new phase of relationship between the West and the Near East. The impact of Crusades on Europe is, unarguably, of tremendous mark and influence. (by çok geç) The Fourth Crusade Among all the crusades, the Fourth particularly bears a black mark of shame. Here the “armies of God” did not even fight the Muslims they had been sent against, but, blinded by greed, controlled by the Venetians, fought twice against fellow Christians. (By Timotheus)

Knights Templars The Order of the Poor Knights of Christ and the Temple of Solomon or The Poor Fellow Soldiers of Jesus Christ was founded in 1118 by Hugues de Payens (Hugh of Payns) and eight other knights whose original task was to protect the pilgrims on their way to Jerusalem. (By Rider) The Battle of Neva On July of 1240, the Battle of Neva was held at River Neva, near the settlement of Ust-Ižora. The commanders on the fighting sides were the Swede Jarl Birger and the Novgorodian, Prince Aleksandr Jaroslavich. (By Rider) The Great British Revolution 1639-51 The English Civil War was neither English, civil, nor a war, but it managed to kill more Britons than did either WWI or WWII.  Encompassing England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales on equal footing, it is best envisaged as a revolution akin to the French and Russian Revolutions, and followed an uncannily similar path to these two subsequent risings. (By Paul) Review: Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World Review and comments on Master and Commander by magazine editor Rider. (by Rider) This Month In History - November 2006 Edition November 5, 1605: four hundred (400) years to the day, a plan to blow up the English Parliament in Westminster was discovered and foiled. The conspiracy has entered the history books as “the Gunpowder Plot”, and its exposure and  fortunate outcome are still celebrated today with fireworks. November 16, 1632: Gustav Adolf killed in battle... (by Komnenos) Text: Chronicle of The Fourth Crusade and The Conquest of Constantinople by Geoffrey of Villehardouin "The emperor, who was in great straits on his side, recalled his people, and he told them that he would not fly, and that they were to remain with him: and well do those who were there present bear witness that never did knight defend himself better with his hands than did the emperor..."

From the Editors: We hope you've enjoyed this month's issue with the theme of Crusades and Medieval History. Involving contrasting cultures and judged by contrasting viewpoints, the Crusades are certainly one of the most intriguing periods of history. This edition, like the others, has been made possible due to contribution from our forum readers. We hope that you'll continue to support the magazine. If you are interested in writing for next month's edition, please contact one of the editors listed below. If you would like to assist in other editorial work, such as contacting writers, we would also like to hear from you! - The AE Magazine Staff AE Magazine, November Edition Issue Editors: Rider, Paul, Invictus, Morticia, Emp. Barbarossa This Month's Picture Quiz: How Many people in this engraving can you name? Answer to Last Month's Picture Quiz: The ruins are of Palenque, one of the famous cities of the Maya.

Edited by Imperator Invictus - 04-Jan-2007 at 16:12

Oh, we so much love comments by other creators of the Magazine... lol Thanks, Morticia.

However, I wonder, why there are two Issues announcments on one time?

Paul's article has some definite inaccuracies. The most glaring are the following two paragraphs:

England and Wales were religiously diverse countries and the largest single denomination was Calvinism. Presbyterianism was also popular with a quite large and powerful Catholic population existing, especially in the north west. In practice,  the English Government, in a climate of increasing Puritanism, at least tried to practice religious tolerance.

Scotland was a Presbyterian country.  It had an extremely militant Protestant sect with an intense fear and hatred of Catholicism, but it had a small Catholic minority living in the western highlands. Presbyterians also disliked Calvinism.

Besides the grammatical error in the first sentence, it is implied that the Puritans were religiously intolerant. (This is a very common misconception.) However, at the time of Charles I, it was in fact the Puritans who were not tolerated. This was the cause of the settlement of New England by vast amounts of Puritans. One only needs to take a look at the records of settlement - floods of immigrants throughout Charles I's reign, dropping nearly to zero, and even negative, in Cromwell's dictatorship, then the floodgates opening again when Charles II assumes the throne (who, it should be mentioned, did not heed his promise to the Covenanters and was a very Catholic king.)

But the next paragraph is even worse. Presbyterians were Calvinists. In fact, Presbyterianism was not a 'sect' of Protestantism as Calvinism, Lutheranism, etc. are, but merely a different form of church government, with presbyteries instead of episcopacies. John Knox, the founder of Scottish Presbyterianism, was a student of Calvin's who spent several years at Geneva with Calvin. To say that "Presbyterians also disliked Calvinism" is grossly inaccurate. It is correct that the Presbyterians disliked the Puritans, who returned the feeling; there was actually very little difference between the two except in matters of church government - the fact that they didn't get along had more to do with the traditional antagonism between Scots and Englishmen.

In sum, without any disrespect to Paul, I think this article could use some definite improvement. In its current state, it is not worthy of the standards that the foremost history site on the Internet should have. I could point out a few more salient errors but the above should be sufficient. It is a topic I happen to know just a little about, therefore I was able to notice these.


Edited by Timotheus - 25-Nov-2006 at 18:08

We would do so, if you'd write an improvement of the article (meaning: correct the mistakes, please) and send it to someone (eg me). 

Well, atleast all Estonian possible sources name Birger as the leader of the expedition and that he didn't die. I am sure that I wrote it as Birger escaped:

Originally posted by Article when a young boyar cut down Birger's tent , and Aleksandr almost killed him