Easy humanities

The Rise of the Communes and Florence in the Age of Dante The grandeur that  was Rome Rome had seemed invincible. For 800 years, no invading force had entered the city walls. Rather, for centuries, vanquished enemy soldiers were paraded beneath her triumphal arches, while tribute from distant lands poured into her treasury. With over a million inhabitants at its height, the metropolis was the marvel of the ancient world. Her many magnificent villas dominating the seven hills, the Coliseum that held 50,000 people for sporting and theater events, and above all, the Roman Forum were spoken of with awe from Scotland to Samarkand. With its gleaming marble temples, towering monuments, sculptures, and public buildings, the Forum was the epicenter of power and crossroads for peoples from around the world. The people who built this city were determined and resourceful.  Around 750  BCE a tribe began settling the area known as Latium, hence the name “Latin” for the language they sp...

In the early 16th century, movements were begun by two theologians,  Martin Luther  and  Huldrych Zwingli  , who aimed to reform the Church; these reformers are distinguished from previous ones in that they considered the root of corruptions to be doctrinal (rather than simply a matter of moral weakness or lack of ecclesiastical discipline) and thus they aimed to change contemporary doctrines to accord with what they perceived to be the “true gospel.” The Protestant Reformation The beginning of the  Protestant Reformation  is generally identified with  Martin Luther  and the posting of the  95 Theses on the Castle Church in Wittenberg, Germany. Early protest was against corruptions such as simony, episcopal vacancies, and the sale of indulgences. The Protestant position, however, would come to incorporate doctrinal changes, such as  sola scriptura  —”scripture alone”—and  sola fide  —”faith alone.” The three most impo...

·       Khilafat and Non-cooperation movements were important milestones in the history of modern India. ·       Both these movements ushered in a new era of mass mobilisation and shaped the future of Indian polity in important ways. ·       Although their trajectories were somewhat different, both were anti-imperialist movements ·       They emerged from separate issues. ·       The Khilafat issue was not directly linked to Indian politics but it was deeply anti-imperialist and nationalist in its impulse. ·       These two movements were brought together during 1920-22, under the leadership of Gandhi. Background to Non-Cooperation Movement ·       The economic hardship post first world war in terms of high commodity prices, increase in rent and taxes etc. created dissatisfaction among the masses agai...