Medieval History of Ireland Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Medieval History of Ireland - Essay Example "For the medievalists, the greatest challenge is posed by the events the events which, so it is maintained by academics and lay people alike, have influenced Irish history substantially for more than seven centuries until the present time. At stake is the significance of the year 1169, the so-called Anglo-Norman invasion of Ireland and its impact on Irish society, in other words, the interpretation of medieval Irish history." (Richter) Therefore, it has been maintained by academics and lay-people alike that Christian belief, Norman invasions, and colonization have had important influence upon the medieval Irish identity. In a reflective analysis of the medieval history of Ireland, it becomes lucid that the country was greatly affected by continuous invasions from the various nations of Europe and the Anglo-Norman invasion of Ireland which started in 1167 was the most important invasion during the middle age. The expedition of Cambro-Norman knights started in 1169 was motivated by the renewed Norman expansion during the period. Significantly, the Norman invasion of Ireland was formally inaugurated by the landing of a Norman military force in the land at the request of Dermot MacMurrough. The Norman invasion of Ireland, consisting of a huge force of Normans, Welsh, and Flemish, changed the socio-cultural spectrum of the nation. The influence of the Norman invasion of Ireland on the medieval Irish identity is evident and it has been maintained by several scholars. "With the Norman invasion, Ireland could be said to have 'joined the club'. This implies not only that she shared the experience of many oth er countries in Europe and the Middle East who were peacefully infiltrated or militarily conquered by Normans between the eleventh and thirteenth centuries, including of course England, Scotland, and Wales, but also that she entered a world of shared ideology, custom, law, and culture which gave most of western Europe in the high Middle Ages a sense of community, inaccurately expressed from time to time as the unity of Christendom under the pope, or the alliance of feudal kingdoms led by the Holy Roman Emperor." (Simms, 53) Therefore, it is essential to realize that the Norman invasion influenced the ideology, custom, law, social life, and culture of Ireland and the impact of the Norman invasion upon the medieval Irish identity cannot be questioned. Along with the Norman invasion, the introduction of the Christian belief and colonization of the following period influenced the medieval Irish identity considerably. Significantly, the colonization of Ireland ensured the expansion of the Anglo-French colony in Ireland and the colonial period, in turn, influenced the cultural aspects of the people of Ireland in the medieval period. Another major element of the continuous invasion of the land and the colonization of the country by the foreign rulers has been the introduction of Christian belief in the country, and this Christian belief influenced the socio-cultural aspects of the country in the medieval period. "By the early thirteenth century the church in Ireland was thus organized much as it was elsewhere in Western Europe. There were of course some survivals from the older order But on the whole these survivals were unimportant There is, indeed, much evidence to show that at this period Norman

CRR-2 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

CRR-2 - Essay Example This approach, according to (Davis and McKay 1996, p. 100) first of all recounts the oppositions views, and also to help construct the writers own position. After having registered his stance, Howard delves right into the point of the argument he likes to defend by reiterating Deegans concern "what did my son die?" (Howard 2002, p.11). In fact at this point Howard continues with his pathos by registering contingent emotions through the description of the Islamic fanatics who bombed Bali using terms like "despise", "liberal", "open life of western nations" and "violent murder" to appropriate orientation between himself and the audience (Cockcroft & Cockcroft 1992, p.40; Hughes 1990, p. 33). By addressing Deegans concerns one by one Howard logically defends and establishes his ethos (the concept personality and stance as introduced by Aristotle). As a reader since we do not have any preconceive idea as to his character or emotions, these lines establish his personality as sympathetic, logical and as concerned as any Australian citizen (his audience). The essence of Howards argument lies in his statement that Australia is publicly and closely associated with the US since September 11, 2001 because of security reasons. However, in the next five to six paragraphs, Howard digresses from his stance. While he manages to use facts to establish logos, the "process of judgement" (Cockcroft and Cockcroft 1992, p. 10), he does not effectively make a case for his argument. According to Bakhtin (Andrews 1992, p.8), argument principles involve internal dialogic quality of discourse" which means both the sender and receiver must understand the elements of logic in an argument. In these paragraphs Howard digress from his logic, which loses the appeal he established at the beginning of the letter, thereby reduces his credibility. The loss of credibility is also because of Howards inability to find the correct analogy to defend his