From b407ec90fa959d8f13b1f40a341672fabe7f8305 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001 From: Dominic Ricottone Date: Fri, 19 May 2023 12:32:28 -0500 Subject: [PATCH] New content --- ...thoughts_on_the_organization_of_history.md | 102 ++++++++++++++++++ content/posts/vacation_2023.md | 8 ++ 2 files changed, 110 insertions(+) create mode 100644 content/posts/thoughts_on_the_organization_of_history.md create mode 100644 content/posts/vacation_2023.md diff --git a/content/posts/thoughts_on_the_organization_of_history.md b/content/posts/thoughts_on_the_organization_of_history.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..bc4342b --- /dev/null +++ b/content/posts/thoughts_on_the_organization_of_history.md @@ -0,0 +1,102 @@ +--- +title: Thoughts on the Organization of History +date: "2023-05-19T11:30:26-05:00" +draft: false +--- + +I recently spent two weeks in Hungary, Austria, and Slovakia. +It was the longest I've spent physically separated from my work laptop +literally ever. +(Took it to my wedding, took it to Japan, took it to every Christmas and +Thanksgiving holiday, and so on...) + +---- + +I had the opportunity to visit the Hungarian National Museum. +It was a very impressive collection and exhibit; I have to highly recommend it. +Something that stood out to me was the frequency with which Bratislava played +a pivotal role. +Or rather, as it was referred to in that time, *Pozsony*. + +I wasn't sure how to feel about the insistence to use an outdated and +imperial name for a sovereign nation's capital. +It seems to me that there's a very close parallel to how museums in the United +States have historically referred to Native American tribes. +(Iroquois vs. Haudenosaunee; Eskimo vs. Inuit; Indian vs. Native American.) +It significantly colored my experience in the exhibit, and caused me to +reconsider the blurbs in a new light. + +Which lead to me realizing that the voivodeship and principality of +Transylvania, which the museum went to great lengths trying to claim as +Hungarian heritage, are in fact *Romania*. + +I admittedly knew very little about Romanian history until this week. +But as I poured over Wikipedia articles about the region and government, +I started recognizing many names. +*Thokoly*, whose name adorns many streets and public squares in Budapest, was +in fact a Transylanian leader. +Same with *Rakoczi*. +Both of them have statues in Hero's Square, alongside Stephen Bocskai +and Gabriel Bethlen. +All of them can hardly be claimed as Hungarian, I think. + +---- + +To keep straight all of the history which I learned in Budapest, and also to +*straighten* that history out with regards to *whose* history it actually is, +I began writing articles on my wiki. + +My personal perspective on Medieval Europe is that **dynasties** are the key +unit. +Realms were reshaped and changed hands so often that it's not really possible +to record a coherent history in terms of reigns and monarchs. +Not to mention all the times that kingdoms were raised or vassalized, or +that kingdoms were held in personal unions. +You could spend a week trying to sort the Habsburgs between Spain, Austria, and +the Holy Roman Empire. + +At the same time, I do think that understanding the history of how a kingdom +was created is foundational. +In many cases it is even more important. +I don't honestly have that much interest in the dynasties of Serbia and Syrmia, +but it would be difficult to properly understand Hungarian expansion to the +south without knowing *who they were expanding into*. + +For each of Hungary, Czechia (as the successor to Bohemia), Romania (as the +successor to Transylvania), Croatia, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Poland, +and Serbia, I have created a parent wiki article and a "Monarchs" sub-page. +That sub-page is organized as a list of the +duchies/principalities/kingdoms/etc. that explain *where the modern states +came from*, and then a list of dynasties across all of those +duchies/principalities/kingdoms/etc. +This gives me the flexibility to list dynasties outside of royalty and across +interregnum periods. + +As needed, I add sub-pages for major historical individuals and cities. +Generally I try to keep individuals under the modern nation that corresponds +best to their core realm. Sigismund, while also having been Holy Roman Emperor +and king of Croatia and Bohemia, was first and foremost a king of Hungary. + +I have a bad habit of biting off more than I can chew, so I placed a hard limit +on myself. +I am not, under any circumstances, touching any of the Byzantine, Ottoman, +Austrian, Venetian, or Holy Roman Empires. +That also effectively restricts the time period of interest, since one or more +of those was dominant in the entire region by the 16th century. + +---- + +I've really enjoyed this deep dive into eastern and southern European history. +It's not a topic I've really thought about before, so even this basic level of +research has been highly fruitful. + +It's also given me an opportunity to practice expository writing. +On my high school debate team, I was frequently advised to focus on +the framework of an argument, rather than a lecture. +Ever since, I've reviewed my work through the lens of *how can I get to the +point faster?*. +This exercise has gone in a very different path. +The more tangential connections I can make between the objects of my study, the +richer my understanding of the regional history becomes. +And wikis are designed specifically for this interlinking model. + diff --git a/content/posts/vacation_2023.md b/content/posts/vacation_2023.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..51f60f6 --- /dev/null +++ b/content/posts/vacation_2023.md @@ -0,0 +1,8 @@ +--- +title: Vacation 2023 +date: "2023-04-26T09:35:51-05:00" +draft: false +--- + +I will be off the grid for the next two weeks. + -- 2.45.2