Medieval heroes in early English literature had to be valiant, chivalrous, and strong. As the periods rotated, the ideas put in the concept of a warrior changed as well. From Beowulfs bravery and dedication to Sir Gawains code of chivalry and gallantry.
The epic poems of the Anglo-Saxon period praised feats of brave knights, their battles with evil monsters, and their valiant spirit. One of the most known works of those times is the oldest epic poem of the barbarian peoples of Europe, Beowulf. In more than 3,000 lines, Beowulf relates the tale of a heroic warrior who fought beasts and dragons ( The Anglo-Saxon and Medieval Periods 27). The influence of Christianity in Beowulf, although superficial, is palpable. When Beowulf immerses himself into the water to fight Grendel, it refers to the Christian rite of baptism in which the water purifies and cleanses a person of evil ( Christianity in the Anglo-Saxon Period and in Beowulf 4). The poem glorifies pagan virtues fearlessness in battle, loyalty to the tribe and the leader, merciless revenge on enemies.
Meanwhile, Medieval romances and adventurous novels praised honor, heroism, nobility, and chivalry. About 1375, an anonymous English poet wrote Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, recounting the marvelous adventures of a knight of Arthurs court who faces a series of extraordinary challenges ( The Anglo-Saxon and Medieval Periods 33). The main qualities of a warrior in medieval novels were valor and courage.
Just as the periods replaced each other, the concept of the warrior depicted in the works of those times changed as well. The image of a fearless and desperate warrior, always fighting evil in Anglo-Saxon literature, was replaced by a valiant and gallant knight from medieval novels. However, what remained timeless is that the image of the hero has always embodied the moral ideals of his time.
Works Cited
Barquero, Pablo. Christianity in the Anglo-Saxon Period and in Beowulf.
The Anglo-Saxon and Medieval Periods. Historical Essay, 2018, pp. 2033. herefordhslibrary, herefordhslibrary.pbworks.com.
History is one of the most fascinating sciences. Statistics, for example, cannot provide an interested person with astonishing facts, descriptions of heroic battles, and biographies of great people of the past. Math cannot do so either. The learning of history can be a rather entertaining process and edificatory at the same time since real-life situations from the past can teach the future generations how to avoid mistakes done in the past so that they could not to be repeated again. Two World Wars of the past century could be the most convincing examples. However, even more significant episodes in the history of the world are worthy of attention. Considering the context and area the article of Paul Kramer, “Exceptions, and Anglo-Saxons: Race and Rule between the British and United States, 1880-1910” covers, the paper aims to summarize the contents, identify, and thoroughly evaluate the main argument as well as critically assess its effectiveness and significance.
Summary
The article tends to explore the events and the related historical context of the period from 1880 to 1910. This period is known in the history as the times of tense intercolonial relationships between the British Empire and the USA. The focus of the paper is on the debates about the annexation of the Philippines, the colonialism of Britain and the USA, and “Anglo-Saxon” racism that was presented in the late 19th century as the excuse for aggressive colonial politics of Britons and their overseas counterparts-partners, Americans. The article includes three sections. The first section is about “Anglo-Saxon” racism issue developed by Americans and Britons to justify the U.S. colonial politics in the Asian region and to level the accusations in national exceptionalism, providing the argumentation of racial exceptionalism (Anglo-American bonds). The second section is about the tensions between Anglo-Saxonist “anti-imperialist” critics who argued that the Philippine-American War and acquisition of colonies overseas were not acceptable, not reprehending though any other forms of the U.S. Empire. Finally, the third section is about the eventual decline of the colonial argument of Anglo-Saxonist concept and the growing popularity of the idea of a national-exceptional colonialism that appeared to be more suitable for the realities of the changing geopolitics. The section also describes the postwar realities on the political scene in Philippines and the intensifying “racial” diversity within the United States social and political environment.
Main Argument
The research seems to have significant depth of arguments and historical analysis as it uses relevant sources and solid background. The main argument is the Anglo-American complicated relationships of 1880-1910. The author demonstrated two different approaches to the evaluation of the issue: the problems of the empire and the role of the emerging racial ideology, considering its increasing role in the foreign policy of the USA. The article emphasizes the influence of the U.S. debates regarding the empire and its colonial efforts overseas influencing the racial ideology that was on the rise in America back then. The main point of the author is that the history of the USA and the process of its race making should be considered in the broader concept of a transnational frame as this part of the American history has been isolated from it for a rather long time.
Effectiveness and Significance
The article is effective in its efforts to bring the information to the surface about the U.S. Empire and its ties with the British Empire of that time. It provides numerous facts and details needed to understand the historical context and relevant political and social background back then. The author did not have the goal to present the events such as annexation and wars as the heroic actions of the great country aimed at strengthening its image on the world’s geopolitical scene. On the contrary, he presented the depth of the controversies and debates regarding the empire ambitions of the United States and criticism regarding the new Anglo-Saxonist racial ideology. The significance of the article lies in the efforts of the author to provide comprehensive, objective evaluation of the events that took place during the three decades between 1880 and 1910. He tried to solidify the conclusions using numerous reputable literature sources. The only possible flaw is the use of a rather complicated language, which sometimes made the process of familiarizing oneself with material considerably lengthy and time consuming. Nevertheless, the article is concise, comprehensive, and interesting to read. It is filled with numerous details and facts that should be interesting to the targeted audience.
Conclusion
Summing up, the paper summarized the contents of the article of Paul Kramer, “Exceptions, and Anglo-Saxons: Race and Rule between the British and United States, 1880-1910,” identified the main argument, and thoroughly evaluated it as well as assessed its overall effectiveness and significance. Written in the considerably readable style and using mostly understandable language, the article appears to be the “time machine,” transferring the audience to the times of the empires, wars, and changing geopolitical landscape of the three decades on the verge of the 19th and 20th centuries. It has provided effective and significant arguments regarding the power the U.S. empire had back then and described the detailed events of that epoch, constituting the context of the world geopolitics between 1880 and 1910.
Medieval heroes in early English literature had to be valiant, chivalrous, and strong. As the periods rotated, the ideas put in the concept of a warrior changed as well. From Beowulf’s bravery and dedication to Sir Gawain’s code of chivalry and gallantry.
The epic poems of the Anglo-Saxon period praised feats of brave knights, their battles with evil monsters, and their valiant spirit. One of the most known works of those times is the oldest epic poem of the “barbarian” peoples of Europe, Beowulf. In more than 3,000 lines, Beowulf relates the tale of a heroic warrior who fought beasts and dragons (“The Anglo-Saxon and Medieval Periods” 27). The influence of Christianity in Beowulf, although superficial, is palpable. When Beowulf immerses himself into the water to fight Grendel, it refers to the Christian rite of baptism in which the water purifies and cleanses a person of evil (“Christianity in the Anglo-Saxon Period and in Beowulf” 4). The poem glorifies pagan virtues – fearlessness in battle, loyalty to the tribe and the leader, merciless revenge on enemies.
Meanwhile, Medieval romances and adventurous novels praised honor, heroism, nobility, and chivalry. About 1375, an anonymous English poet wrote Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, recounting the marvelous adventures of a knight of Arthur’s court who faces a series of extraordinary challenges (“The Anglo-Saxon and Medieval Periods” 33). The main qualities of a warrior in medieval novels were valor and courage.
Just as the periods replaced each other, the concept of the warrior depicted in the works of those times changed as well. The image of a fearless and desperate warrior, always fighting evil in Anglo-Saxon literature, was replaced by a valiant and gallant knight from medieval novels. However, what remained timeless is that the image of the hero has always embodied the moral ideals of his time.
Works Cited
Barquero, Pablo. “Christianity in the Anglo-Saxon Period and in Beowulf.”
“The Anglo-Saxon and Medieval Periods.” Historical Essay, 2018, pp. 20–33. herefordhslibrary, herefordhslibrary.pbworks.com.
The Battle of Hastings had substantial meaning for the further history of the English lands. It is interesting to analyze whether the outcome of the battle could be an alternative to the real one.
Preliminary Stage
Could Harold prevent the landing of the Norman army on the shore of the English Channel? Such possibility is rather doubtful. Before the Battle of Hastings, the English army fought at Stamford Bridge. The battle was also rather exhausting and involved whole Harold’s military power. To leave some troops near the English Channel would be not reasonable: firstly, the exact date of William’s landing could not be predicted; besides, the minor force could not resist the whole power of William’s troops.
Analogically, it is difficult to find any possibility for Harold to thwart William’s preparations for the battle. As soon as Harold was informed about Normans’, he led his troops toward the English Channel. When the Anglo-Saxons neared, William’s forces were aware of that rather quickly. Besides, the event of Hastings was rather swift: on October 11, Harold’s troops were in London; in two days, William’s scouts found Anglo-Saxon army; and, finally, October 14, a dynamic one-day battle took place. Thus, it is difficult to talk about any preliminary maneuver, possible for Harold. Only the battle itself can be argued in terms of a possible alternative outcome.
Belligerents’ Forces
It is difficult to talk about any numerical superiority: different sources provide different estimations of the belligerents’ strength: from 7 to 12 thousand. However, it is considered that either the armies were equal, or the Normans had a slight superiority. It is more important to focus on the qualitative characteristic of the sides.
The structure of William’s army was rather diverse: it included both cavalry and infantry. It was perfectly armed and included high-class warriors. Cavalry was equipped with swords, spears, shields, and bows with arrows. Horses were also armored thoroughly. William was supported by Bretons, Flemings, and the French. The Normans built three wooden fortifications (Creasy 193).
English army was exhausted by the previous battles and a swift passage from the North. Harold did not manage to gather enough reinforcement to join his ranks. His troops included only infantry, armed rather heterogeneously. The core of Harold’s troops was the fyrdmen and the housecarls. English troops are also considered to have built a fortification (Creasy 192).
It is reasonable to mention one more weapon which seems to be significant in this battle: the sides’ morale. William had performed himself as a perfect leader; his words of encouragement and the effort put into uniting the warriors passed into history. At the same time, being tired of the previous battles, the English army was rather relaxed and “spent time in feasting and rejoicing, singing songs, and quaffing bumpers of ale and wine” (Chambers 444).
Battle Chronology
The struggle was rather tense and did promise any predictable outcome. The first two attacks of the Normans were not successful: the English troops were dislocated at the height, and the Normans’ arrows could not make much harm to them. Finally, the Norman army used the tactics of not synchronous false retreat, making Harold’s soldiers leave their shelter and break ranks without proper coordination. Their fortification was also occupied by the Normans (Malam 22). Therefore, the Anglo-Saxon army was lured to the campaign, where it could not hide. Defenseless and disunited, it was soon defeated by William’s soldiers.
Thus, it is possible to define three main errors of Harold’s warfare: first of all, he did not manage to strengthen his army significantly during its passage to the battle place; besides, he did not manage to support the troops’ morale and provide the warriors’ unity, which led to badly coordinated actions at the battlefield; finally, the counter-attack, poorly thought-out and spontaneous, left the troops without any defense facing well-armed William’s army. It would be more reasonable to keep close to the fortification, as the troops did not have superiority; perhaps, involving more archers together with keeping the defensive attitude would be more reasonable for Harold’s army, as this would allow keeping the distant, protected position.
Conclusion
It is rather difficult to assume that, after the battle, the English lands were able to resist William’s conquest. Theoretically, it was possible right after the struggle, when his troops had serious losses and were having rest. However, after the English army was defeated, and Harold was killed, the English had no strength to struggle. One by one, the representatives of the English top conformed to William.
They also could hardly resist, taking into account that William received the reinforcement coming across the English Channel. One of the slight, but probable opportunities to get rid of William’s invasion was during the time of the northern revolts. It took William much effort to come to the North every time and suppress the revolts. If the revolts took place throughout the English land, this could unsettle William’s force.
Bibliography
Chambers, Robert. The Book of Days, a Miscellany of Popular Antiquities in Connection with the Calendar, Including Anecdote, Biography, & History, Curiosities of Literature and Oddities of Human Life and Character. London; Edinburgh: W. & R. Chambers Ltd., 1906. Print.
Creasy, Edward S. The Fifteen Decisive Battles of the World; from Marathon to Waterloo. New York, Harper, 1863. Print.
Malam, John. The Battle of Hastings. Slough: Cherrytree, 2007. Print.