My Science School

        England’s first Norman king, William I, was born in France, and was the Duke of Normandy. He was a cousin of the English king, Edward the Confessor.

        Early in 1066, Edward died, and Harold, Earl of Wessex was crowned king. William was furious, claiming that in 1051, Edward had promised him the throne, and that Harold had later sworn to support that claim.

        William built a fleet, and launched an invasion of England. Travelling by night, the Normans landed at Pevensey Bay and established their camp near Hastings. On 14th October, Harold’s army met William’s. It was a close-fought battle lasting all day, but Harold was killed, and his army collapsed. William was victorious, and on Christmas Day 1066, he was crowned king in Westminster Abbey.

         A Norman aristocracy became the new governing class, and many members of the English aristocracy including bishops, were replaced with Normans. 

           Toghril Beg was the founder of the Seljuk dynasty, which ruled in Iran, Iraq, Syria, and Anatolia during the 11th – 14th centuries. He belonged to a tribe called the Seljuks, who came from Central Asia. Toghril Beg was crowned tribal sultan in 1038, and began building an empire at once. By 1040, Toghril Beg had conquered all of the Persian Plateau, defeating every Arab or Persian force sent against him. He also conquered Armenia, a Roman territory. He was smart enough to study the Persian administration, and employ the same procedure to govern his empire.

           In 1055, Toghril Beg and his army entered the city of Baghdad. He took over the city, and freed the Caliph who was being held a prisoner by local strongman. Toghril Beg was then recognized in Baghdad at ‘Sovereign of the East and West’. He will always be remembered as the ruler who changed the history of the Middle East by establishing the great Seljuk Empire. 

                Otto I (Otto the Great) is considered by many historians to be the founder of the Holy Roman Empire. He convinced Pope John XII to crown him emperor, and over the course of his reign, Otto defeated revolts by his half-brother, his younger, brother, and his son, and expanded the boundaries of his empire through constant war. He extended the frontiers of the German kingdom, winning territory from the Slavs in the east, forcing the Bohemians to pay tribute, and gaining influence in Denmark and Burgundy. In 951 Otto became King of the Lombards, and married the queen of Italy.

                Otto deliberately made use of the bishops to strengthen his rule and by doing so, he provided a stable and long-lasting framework for Germany. By his victorious campaigns, he gave Germany peace and security from foreign attack.

                 Though warfare was frequent, Germany was stable under Otto’s rule, and a small cultural renaissance flourished. He also extended his authority over the church, and promoted missionary activity in lands he had conquered. By his death, Otto had created the most powerful state in Western Europe, and laid the foundation for the later Holy Roman Empire. Otto 1 was born in 912 and died in 973 AD.

              Charlemagne was king of the Franks in 768 AD, and one of Europe’s most successful monarchs. The Franks were legendary fighters. Using the strength and loyalty of his army, combined with his own leadership abilities, Charlemagne soon defeated most of the other barbarian tribes in Western Europe. He expanded the Frankish Empire to include Germany, all of France, most of Italy, and even sections of Northern Spain.

                One of the most important things Charlemagne did for the world was to turn his castle into a learning centre inviting scholars from all over the world to take up residence there. He also introduced many administrative reforms, and a jury system that ensured a fairer way of ensuring justice.

               Charlemagne held his kingdom together by the sheer force of his personality. He was over six feet tall, and had blonde hair that seemed to glow in the sun. He fought heroically in battles, and personally visited local administrators, creating new laws to protect his people. Charlemagne was brave and fair, and his people adored him for these qualities. 

            After his return from Italy, Attila married a young girl. The marriage took place in 453, and was celebrated with a grand feast, and plenty of alcohol. After dinner, the new couple retired to the wedding chamber. Attila did not show up the next morning, so his nervous servants opened the chamber door. The king was dead on the floor-‘covered with blood’, and his bride was huddled in a corner in a state of shock. No one really knows whether he died of a nose-bleed, or whether he was murdered by his wife, or whether he died of alcohol poisoning.

 

           Attila was king and general of the Hun Empire from 433 to 453 AD. The Huns were a Mongoloid people who began invading the Roman Empire in the 300’s. Attila united his subjects for the purpose of creating one of the most formidable and feared armies the ancient world had ever seen. He was so ferocious in his attacks, that he was called ‘the scourge of god’, by his enemies.

            From 435 to 439, Attila conquered, pillaged, and attacked his way through Eastern and Central Europe. The success of this invasion emboldened Attila to continue his westward expansion. Passing unhindered through Austria and Germany, Attila plundered and devastated all in his path. He suffered a setback in 451 when he was defeated by the combined forces of the Romans and the Visigoths.

             In 452, Attila and his horsemen crossed the Alps to invade Italy. Pope Leo I had to pay him money to stop him from sacking and destroying Rome. He devastated the western half of the Roman Empire, and controlled a region from the Danube River to the Baltic Sea and from the Rhine River to the Caspian Sea. 

          Flavius Aetius was a gifted soldier, who did more than any one man to help slow the inevitable fall of the Roman Empire, to the barbarian nations in the West, during the reign of Valentinian Ill. Aetius learned the arts of war well and at a young age, he could hold his own with grown men.

           He learned how to fight, while riding on a horse from the Huns who had held him hostage during his youth. This combined with his knowledge of standard Roman infantry tactics enabled him to come up with deadly strategies for dealing with almost any enemy.

            Some of the battles fought by Aetius became famous, while others are known only to scholars of history. When Gaul was attacked repeatedly, Aetius protected it. He drove back the Visigoths and the Franks, and won his famous victory in 451 over Attila at Chalons. During the reign of Valentinian Ill, Aetius made himself ruler of the Roman Empire, but eventually he was murdered by the emperor himself. 

The Huns were a war-like people from the steppes of North Central Asia, north of China. They were excellent horsemen, and their use of the stirrup gave them an advantage over their enemies. Stirrups are loops hung from a saddle that support a horse rider’s feet, and these loops let the Huns brace themselves on their horses while wielding swords, or shooting arrows. Their bows were also far superior to those found in Western Europe, because they were flexible enough to fully draw yard long arrows. The Huns also used the lasso very effectively.

 

             Alaric was a Gothic prince, born into a tribe that had settled south of the Danube in Roman territory. He became King of the Visigoths in 394. Upon gaining command of the Visigoths, Alaric immediately overran Greece. The Eastern Roman Emperor was too weak to resist him, and called upon Stilicho, the general in charge of the Western Empire, to aid him in driving out Alaric. Then, Alaric escaped to a province of Greece that lay on the east side of the Ionian Sea.

              Alaric next launched an invasion of Italy. In fact, the rest of his days would be spent fighting and negotiating with emperors of Rome for his people’s livelihood, or attacking Roman territories when negotiations fell through. In 410, during his third attack on Italy, Alaric led the Visigoths in a sack of the city of Rome. This event is sometimes considered the beginning of the Middle Ages. 

         Flavius Stilicho was one of the most powerful men in the Roman Empire during the reigns of Theodosius I and Honorius. When Theodosius died in 395, he left the empire divided between his two young sons, the West going to Honorius, with Stilicho as Regent. The Empire was immediately threatened by the Visigoths, under Alaric, who led them into Greece. Stilicho forced them to withdraw.

          In 400, Alaric invaded Italy. Stilicho called to his aid the Roman legions from Gaul and Britain, and the Visigoths were driven out in 403. In 405, a barbarian horde that poured into Italy from the north was almost wiped out by Stilicho’s forces.

           Later, a minister of Honorius’ named Olympius convinced the young emperor that Stilicho wanted to depose him, and put his own son on the throne. Honorius believed this, and ordered for Stilicho’s arrest. He later beheaded Stilicho. Alaric immediately invaded Italy again, and captured Rome. 

Chandragupta II (380-415 AD) was the son of Samudragupta. He defeated the Sakas, and annexed Gujarat and Sourashtra. He was also known as Vikramaditya, which means ‘one who is equal to the Sun God in valour and strength’. It was during Chandragupta’s time that the Chinese Pilgrim Fa-Hien visited India, and wrote a detailed account on India. An Arab merchant Sulaiman and a Venetian traveler, Marco Polo, have both recorded that Chandragupta II was an ideal ruler.

              Theodosius was Roman Emperor from 378 to 395. He was the last emperor to rule over both the eastern and the western halves of the Roman Empire. He established Christianity as the state religion, and successfully defended it against paganism, and the religion known as Arianism. He founded a dynasty which ruled in the east and west until 450 and 455 respectively. Theodosius brought peace to the east with diplomacy, and defended this with a rebuilt military.

                Theodosius carried on a successful war with the Goths, whom he encouraged to become the allies of the Romans. The Eastern Empire was strengthened with the creation of separate military commands reporting directly to the Emperor. During his reign, Theodosius successfully fought two brutal civil wars against usurpers Maximus and Eugenius. As the defender of Christianity, Theodosius defeated pagan forces in 394. This is considered by many to be his greatest achievement. 

     Samudragupta (330-380 AD) was a great emperor belonging to the Gupta dynasty who ushered in the Golden Age in India. He was a benevolent ruler, a magnificent warrior, and a patron of arts. He was the son of Chandragupta I, and inherited a fairly small kingdom. However, once he came to the throne, Samudragupta began dramatically expanding his frontiers. He did not rest until he conquered almost the whole of India. His rule in fact, may be described as a vast military campaign. His territories extended from the Himalayas in the north, to the River Narbada in the south, and from the Brahmaputra River in the east, to the Yamuna River in the west. His greatest achievement can be described as the political unification of most of India.

               Samudragupta was not just a great general - he was a great human being too. He was compassionate towards those whom he defeated, and gave various tribal states autonomy under his protection. His court was full of poets and scholars. He had a keen interest in music and arts as well. Is it any wonder that he was known as both ‘the Napoleon of India’, and ‘the king of kings’? 

 

             Flavius Claudius Julianus, known to history as ‘Julian the Apostate’, was one of the most interesting Roman Emperors. He was the nephew of Constantine the Great, and was brought up as a Christian. However, he was educated in Greece, and this made him a supporter of the pagan religion of Hellenism, even though Christianity had been established as a major world religion. Julian attempted to stop the growth of Christianity, and to restore Hellenism through essentially non-violent means.

              Julian was also a skilful general. He took over the command of all Roman forces in Gaul, and carried raids across the Rhine River. He became emperor following the death of Constantine in 361. However, he was killed just two years later, fighting against the Persians. He will be remembered as a great general, a man of learning, and a fine writer, possessing many of the qualities of a wise and energetic ruler. 

             Marcus Aurelius Carus had an extensive and successful military career under the Emperor Probus. In 282 AD, when he was inspecting troops in preparation for Probus’ campaign against the Persians, the discontent of the soldiers with their emperor boiled over, and they hailed Carus the new ruler.

              During his short reign, Carus fought the Germanic tribes and Samaritans along the Danube frontier with success. He campaigned against the Sassanid Empire and sacked their capital, but died shortly thereafter.