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Klaas

WFG Retired
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Everything posted by Klaas

  1. Interesting topic Randy Interesting about my bourough is that it's one of the biggest in Flanders. It contains five small towns. A shop is never far, there are many cafés, a nice youth club, a little theatre, etc. There's a lot of nature, as we have the biggest nature reserve of our province. Historically the bourough is also very interesting. Tools of Neanderthals have been found here, grave hills from the neolithic era, a Roman border camp, we have a church with a very old (8th century) Romanesque tower, a few 17th-19th century castles, a steam train museum and many remnants from the second world war, including a museum. The geographic situation is also great. The Netherlands is only a 2 mins drive away, France 40 mins, Germany 2 hours, we border the other province, the North Sea is 10 mins from here, and we're very close to historical towns as Bruges and Ghent (20 mins and 35 mins). Really great to live here. My dad already lives here all his life, and I hope I can do the same.
  2. Lol Stan. I remember him, we had many not-so-friendly flame wars
  3. Toad Studios? Well in that time many people changed team from time to time or were part of several teams. I don't think it had anything to do with the quality of the team since WFG was in that area probably the best (atleast for modding). I have many memory leaks, so Wijit will answer your question a lot better
  4. I've joined WFG in december 2002 if I remember correctly. I've left for a while last year and joined again under Tim's pressure Well, I know WFG (WFS back then) since their first day of existence. Dire Wolf was the leader back then, though I don't know what happened with him. I don't remember all the oldies anymore of that time, only Wijit probably, and some people who are now either in Woad Creations or Tsunami Studios.
  5. I wouldn't want to change anything since I wouldn't know what the results would be
  6. I'm afraid I can't help you, but I have a question Do you know of any online information regarding Maple? I'll be using it next year, so maybe I can try it out already when I have some free time.
  7. Klaas

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  8. Happy Birthday and good luck with the exams
  9. Yeah we do that in Belgium too: prehistoric period (before the were written texts) protohistoric period (this concerns civilisations who didn't write but contemporary people wrote about them, eg. the Celts) classical period (ends with the fall of the Western Roman empire) medieval period (ends with the fall of the Eastern Roman empire) modern period (ends with the French revolution) contemporary period (until present day)
  10. Thx Matteo Yep, Flanders went through the same evolution, although a bit earlier (late 11th century). The cities of Bruges and Ghent were the most powerful (Ghent being the largest north-European city apart from Paris). The people in the towns had other and a lot more rights than the peasants, and were mostly artisans (especially in the cloth industry). This is mainly reflected by all the belfries that have been built here (unique to the southern Netherlands), which symbolise the power of the people and were the home of the charters on which their privilidges were written. The French king Filips tried to break the power of those cities in 1302, but his huge army for that time was defeated by a smaller army of peasants and artisans; known as the Battle of the Golden Spurs.
  11. Well make sure you don't focus on the Normans too much. Don't forget the Anglo-Saxon period and the post William period So, don't start with Edward, go back a bit earlier. Alfred the Great for example is a very interesting subject to talk about. You can compare him to Charlemagne in the Frankish Empire. Oh and good idea about mentioning Chaucer and the Canterbury Tales; very important piece of English literature. Maybe say something about Beowulf too
  12. No, it's the other way around: the class system is the beginning of feudalism, in particular the Germanic class system. In the classical Germanic societies you can't speak of kings or real nobility as we know it now. Essential to know is that Germanics did not live in towns; they built farms or houses spread over big areas. Exeptions are for example the Goths who were semi-nomads and did build some towns, but that's another discussion (who were the Germanics, how do you define a Germanic people, etc.) So, the Germanics did not have kings, since it's quite impossible to have a policy of centralisation if people are spread over a huge area without any big concentrations of houses. However, in times of war, several tribes formed alliances and a leader was chosen for such an alliance. During the time of the Germanic migration such alliances were formed too. The difference here is that the political structure stayed after the migration, so the king remained as the leader. Also, in classical Germanic society, those who fought also had most political power. This system remained after the fall of the Roman Empire, so those who fought best became nobles. This system was brought to Britain by the Anglo-Saxons (which was also an alliance of several Germanic tribes). So, this the class system in its most primitive form was aready there, before the Normans conquered the island. The Normans originate from Scandinavia. They got Normandy in loan from the French king. So, they also were a Germanic people (Scandinavians were Germanics too), though you can't compare the Scaninavian class system to the classical Germanic society, but rather to the post-migration society (kings and military nobility). The Normans took over the feudal system (this system originates basicly from the Frankish empire), and brought it to Britain. So conclusion: the Normans imported the feudal system (as Matteo previously stated), but the basic class system was already there. btw, you also have to keep in mind that the Celts also had a similar class system. In fact you'll find this back in most more advanced civilisations.
  13. I'm not really familiar with this, so you'll get the correct answer from Matteo What I think is that it's a feudal society, though different compared to the French, German or Italian. Basicly you have three classes: nobility, religious and worker's class (the common people). The king is the most powerful person (well it's argueable in some cases). He basicly owns all the land, and gives it in loan to the lords (dukes, counts, barons). There's also land in the hands of the Catholic Church, which is in most cases not owned by the king (that changed after the reign of Henry VIII). Going a step lower than the king: the dukes, counts and barons: They don't really own the land but received it in loan from the king. That's how the system works in theory, in reality powerful dukes and counts could do with their land what they wanted and ruled over it like monarchs. The common people living on that land (farmers) worked on it. A percentage they had to give to their lord, in some cases they were just slaves, the only thing they owned was their body. I'm not sure, but I've read somewhere that the king had his own tax inners who traveled through the land at some point. I don't know if it was the case in Britain, but in the Low Countries the peasants had to pay a percantage to the Church too (differs from region to region and time to time). The lords (this is the difference with France) could also have a seat in the House of Lords, a parliament which advices the king. So you could speak of a partially democracy, although it was only reserved to the nobility and the king still had a lot to say. Why there is such a class system is a very long story. It originated from the Germanic tribes, and was influenced by Roman centralisation. The origins of nobility is some kind of body guards of their lord. So it was an exclusively military class, reserved for those who fought best. Later on, during the early Medieval period, the feudal society developed from this system. For the military help and courage a person gave to his king he would receive land in loan. In return he had to give military help to the king. So, basicly the reason why there was such a class system is evolution. The reason for such an evolution is of course finding a good way that the king can rule his country. It was needed to divide the country like that, because it was impossible to control everything like for example the Romans did; there was no real centralization.
  14. http://www.britannia.com/history/ http://www.flwi.ugent.be/medievalhistory/p...pages/links.htm Dunno the last one is useful, it's a list of links of the department of Medieval history of my university. Well, Goooogle you know
  15. I would start when the Roman armies left the island (407 AD) and maybe end when the Henry VIII summons the Reformation Parliament (1529) or when he was excommunicated by the pope (1533). Well dates and figures are just virtual things to draw lines in history. Basicly I think the Medieval period started with the Germanic influence and the end of the Roman influence and ended when the foundations for the big reformation were laid. Some historians would also argue (from an economic view) that the Middle Ages ended with the rise of the first independent cities in northern Europe (eg. Bruges, Ghent, the Hanse in Germany, etc., late 13th - 14th century)
  16. Yep, agreed. I basicly meant that the aristocracy existed out of Normans (so they didn't import it, but they became the higher class). Good point about feudal aristocracy, that one didn't cross my mind
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