#Aeon timeline choose era free

What might Orderic have meant by this? The only elaboration he offered suggests a concern not with William’s mother’s marital status but rather with his maternal lineage. Why then was William called ‘the Bastard’? Writing about William in the 12th century, the chronicler Orderic Vitalis called him ‘ nothus’, an Ancient Greek term used to indicate birth to anything other than two Athenian citizens.

Despite his youth and questionable birth, William managed to conquer and rule first Normandy and then England, and to pass his kingdom and titles on to his children. Born to Robert, Duke of Normandy and Herleva, a woman clearly not his wife, William was nevertheless recognised by his father as his heir. Being born to the right parents, regardless of whether they were married according to the strictures of the church, made a child seem more worthy of inheriting parents’ lands, properties and titles.Ĭonsider, for example, the case of William the Bastard, more commonly known as William the Conqueror. Instead, what mattered was the social status of the parents – of the mother as well as of the father. Yet prior to the 13th century, legitimate marriage or its absence was not the key factor in determining quality of birth. The disparagement of children born outside of marriage is often presumed to be a legacy of medieval Christian Europe, with its emphasis on compliance with Catholic marriage law.

#Aeon timeline choose era free

Being born to unmarried parents is largely free of the kind of stigma and legal incapacities once attached to it in Western cultures, but it still has echoes of shame and sin. Contemporary Period (A.D.Today, ‘bastard’ is used as an insult, or to describe children born to non-marital unions.1945) - wartime period that began with Germany’s invasion of Poland and ends with the surrender of Japan, the last standing Axis power 1939) - extended period of worldwide economic hardship that started with the stock market crash in 1929 1918) - worldwide conflict centered in Europe also known as the Great War 1914 ) - often referred to as the Technological Revolution period in which the light bulb, the telephone, the airplane, and the Model T automobile were invented 1901) - reign of Queen Victoria I that saw increased urbanization, the American Civil War and the end of African slavery 1914) - century of time in which France, Britain, Spain, the Netherlands, and the United States colonized in other nations around the world 1848) - period of revolutions around the world, including the American Revolution, French Revolution, Spanish-American Wars for Independence, Italian Revolutions, Greek War of Independence, and the Spring of Nations

1840) - beginning of the modern era that saw several technological innovations, including the invention of the cotton gin, the increase of city factories and mills and the completion of the Erie Canal The European Renaissance, or “rebirth,” occurred during this period, as well as the discovery and colonization of the Americas and the Age of Enlightenment.īecause our history of the last three centuries is so well documented, it’s possible to examine each period of the Modern era on its own. 1800) - an intellectual movement that is also called the Age of Reason saw the re-examination of politics, economics and science before giving way to Romanticism in the 19th century 1600) - known as a cultural “rebirth” in art, music, literature, society, and philosophy 1648) - religious movement in which Lutheranism (started by Martin Luther) broke with the Catholic church and redefined Christianity

1500 ) - break from medieval scholasticism that incorporated Classical thought into Early Modern ideas The major movements in politics, religion, and geography helped to guide human civilization into the Modern era.