Brief Assignment 2
170 Assignment III Proposal and Annotated Bibliography
How Ritual Objects Impact our Cultural Identities: Proposal & Annotated Bibliography
Proposal for Cultural Analysis Essay
Europe’s Explosive Revolution
Introduction
Gunpowder is a fine black powder that was created in China and is used in my forms of weaponry and explosives. The weapons that resulted from gunpowder revolutionized the ways wars were fought when they were introduced to Europe in the Late Middle Ages. With this change in warfare comes changes in politics, class, and economics. Gunpowder and gunpowder weaponry was the catalyst for a centralized state and the fall of feudalism. Feudalism consisted of small “feudal” lands that were operated by peasants under a lord and that lord paid a fief or tax to the king. With the advent of gunpowder it became easier to attack rather than defend. So when the cannon was introduced to Europe emphasis was placed on offense which led to kings conquering the small feudal lands that surrounded them. Under this new centralized state, it was easier to collect taxes since there was no lord to act as the middleman. This new tax system would help kings finance their new gunpowder based armies. These armies replaced their previous ones which relied on nobles and cavalry. The importance of knights also saw a decline thanks to gunpowder. Before gunpowder, armies consisted of heavily armored cavalry units who trained their whole lives, fought for land, and had an honor code called chivalry. After gunpowder, these units were replaced with foot soldiers called mercenaries who were trained in months, fought for money, and had no honor code. These foot soldiers were common folk unlike the knights who were nobles. Having the lower classes act as soldiers also means that the king and upper classes have to take the needs of the lower classes into account or else they would revolt.
Why I Chose this Topic
I chose this topic because objects such as guns and explosives are talked about a lot but not much thought is given to the origins of these weapons. Gunpowder serves as the gateway to the modern era. After gunpowder was introduced there were big changes that came about in Europe. Warfare is the area that had the biggest change with the introduction of gunpowder. This is seen in the war where gunpowder was first heavily utilized: the Hundred Years’ War. In the Hundred Years’ War battles were fought with rifles and cannons rather than knights and cavalry. Siege warfare flipped completely, it used to be that the defensive side had the upper hand but with the advent of cannons the offensive side gained the upper hand making territorial conquest quicker and easier. The centralization of the state and use of peasants and foot soldiers changed warfare by calling for bigger centralized armies that could be trained quickly but also had ripple effects in other areas of European society.
Working Thesis Statement
By analyzing the implementation of gunpowder in Europe during the Late Middle Ages, one can deduce that gunpowder led to the decline of knighthood and feudalism, which is important because it revolutionized the ways in which wars would be fought in Europe thereafter.
What I Need to Address
I will need to address a lot of historical context because this happened so long ago and shouldn’t expect the reader to know exactly what happened at that time. This includes things such as the Hundred Years’ War, the War of the Roses, and feudalism. In order to portray my subject accurately I need to explain how things have changed, in other words, why the introduction of gunpowder is significant. This means I have to talk about the changes in warfare brought by gunpowder but also how it has changed the political structure and class structure of Europe. I will need to provide examples of cannons and firearms being used in battle to show that they were implemented and were deemed significant at the time. Most importantly I have to explain why kings would want to switch to gunpowder and go into depth about the advantages and disadvantages of gunpowder.
Where my Research is Heading
At the end of my research I hope to be able to fully describe the cultural importance that gunpowder has in medieval European society as well as its influence on contemporary society. Gunpowder is still a big component of war that has stood the test of time and remains in the modern day. This is what makes gunpowder so significant, it was important when it was first introduced and equally as important today. Whether this importance is good or bad goes past the scope of my essay.
What I Don’t Know
I am unsure about the contemporary part of my research. I haven’t done extensive research on it just yet but I am unsure if it does have a good spot in my essay even though it doesn’t completely match my thesis. Furthermore, I am unsure if my thesis is too specific. I am in between if my scope should be medieval Europe as a whole or just the Hundred Years’ War.
Proposal for Cultural Analysis Essay