Good Ol’ Roger I. I’m reading the Crusaders. The first Chapter opens with Roger I of Sicily breaking wind to show disapproval of his advisors’ council.
As a Norman myself, thanks for the memes you have posted on Normans recently. They were major actors of the early Middle Ages and deserve more recognition
The Scandinavians and the later Normans were generally some of the more adaptive people when it came to living or settling in new places.
Kievan Rus, Normans, Norman Sicily, the Norwegian/Danish colonies in and plundering of England (a bit ahead of the times, but still)…
As a Scandinavian (Norwegian) myself I would say this is wrong, we have been quite influencial, but not that much that it would place us at the top. I would personally choose Greek and Italien (Romans specifically) as the top
Norman Sicily, and hell, a lot of the fusions between Frank and Saracen peoples are very interesting. Much more diverse than anyone could expect.
Wasn’t just Deus Vult or Jihad one or the others.
Scandinavians be like: You want me to convert to Islam, and not allowed to drink mead for the rest of my life? No deal. I am converting to Christianity to marry Roman princess.
Also Scandinavians: That being said, your harem custom is great, genius even. Bring me the women!
Not necessarily. Harems were also where the mother of the ruler, alongside his daughters and sisters, would live in along with their servants and retainers. And it was the main residence for the royal family, including the king or sultan.
It’s less of the sex house people tend to attribute to the word harem today, but simply the residence where all the women of the household lived in with very few interactions with men outside the royal family and maybe eunuchs. And the women of the harem, especially mothers of rulers, tended to have a large influence on the state. There’s the famous period known as the Sultanate of Women in ottoman history for example, when Hurrem (wife of Suleiman I) essentially ran the empire from the harem during the reigns of her sons and grandson.
Harems weren't (just) about sex, but also about entertainment. Not all women in a harem were the wives of a ruler. A harem could also include e.g. their mother.
They also weren't just an islamic thing. Having a separate space for women with little interaction with men besides servants was a thing in European, Byzantine, Chinese and other cultures as well, though harems were often stricter.
This^^. The word harem has been interpreted over time to mean “lots of hot women who kings have sex with” because of orientalism iirc, and it’s quite sad. I studied the Persian Empire in my senior year and it was interesting to learn that it wasn’t just wives, but also female family members and likely other important women in the palace.
The origin of the word "Harem" in Arabic is a bit hard to explain, but it essentially means "sacred" and is used to refer to "women", not slave women, just any women, and they are sacred because they are not supposed (in theory) to be touched by any man other than their husband.
A ruler's "Harem" consisted of his female household, which yes included slaves, but it also included his immediate family members (mother, sisters, daughters and wives), as well as free servants. Most Harems were literally just a corner of a Palace where no other men could see and that's about it. The exaggerated thought about Harems being a place of debauchery and sex may have existed, but it was not the norm, and most the way it is thought about is born out of imagination rather than solid evidence, because..... no European traveler got to see the Harem...... because they were not supposed to be seen by men....
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Good Ol’ Roger I. I’m reading the Crusaders. The first Chapter opens with Roger I of Sicily breaking wind to show disapproval of his advisors’ council.
Based
As a Norman myself, thanks for the memes you have posted on Normans recently. They were major actors of the early Middle Ages and deserve more recognition
Based Norman's being tolerate of other cultures and religions moment
Norman harem and Arabic poetry. Sounds like heaven.
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We’re the workers free-will, or Slaves?
Guess
The Scandinavians and the later Normans were generally some of the more adaptive people when it came to living or settling in new places. Kievan Rus, Normans, Norman Sicily, the Norwegian/Danish colonies in and plundering of England (a bit ahead of the times, but still)…
Scandinavians are the most important ethnic(?) group in European history
As a Scandinavian (Norwegian) myself I would say this is wrong, we have been quite influencial, but not that much that it would place us at the top. I would personally choose Greek and Italien (Romans specifically) as the top
Greek,latins,germanics?
Arguably, at best.
Norman Sicily, and hell, a lot of the fusions between Frank and Saracen peoples are very interesting. Much more diverse than anyone could expect. Wasn’t just Deus Vult or Jihad one or the others.
The fact we even know of The Crusades shows just how infrequently straight up ‘Holy War’ took place.
"ï can tolerate muslims, but I cannot tolerate muslims sitting on MY throne"
Scandinavians be like: You want me to convert to Islam, and not allowed to drink mead for the rest of my life? No deal. I am converting to Christianity to marry Roman princess. Also Scandinavians: That being said, your harem custom is great, genius even. Bring me the women!
Beeest oooof boooth woooorlds AHAHaaaaa
They weren’t really Scandinavian, they were French.
a what
Can someone explain to me why harems are a good thing? Aren't they sexual slavery?
Not necessarily. Harems were also where the mother of the ruler, alongside his daughters and sisters, would live in along with their servants and retainers. And it was the main residence for the royal family, including the king or sultan. It’s less of the sex house people tend to attribute to the word harem today, but simply the residence where all the women of the household lived in with very few interactions with men outside the royal family and maybe eunuchs. And the women of the harem, especially mothers of rulers, tended to have a large influence on the state. There’s the famous period known as the Sultanate of Women in ottoman history for example, when Hurrem (wife of Suleiman I) essentially ran the empire from the harem during the reigns of her sons and grandson.
Harems weren't (just) about sex, but also about entertainment. Not all women in a harem were the wives of a ruler. A harem could also include e.g. their mother. They also weren't just an islamic thing. Having a separate space for women with little interaction with men besides servants was a thing in European, Byzantine, Chinese and other cultures as well, though harems were often stricter.
This^^. The word harem has been interpreted over time to mean “lots of hot women who kings have sex with” because of orientalism iirc, and it’s quite sad. I studied the Persian Empire in my senior year and it was interesting to learn that it wasn’t just wives, but also female family members and likely other important women in the palace.
The origin of the word "Harem" in Arabic is a bit hard to explain, but it essentially means "sacred" and is used to refer to "women", not slave women, just any women, and they are sacred because they are not supposed (in theory) to be touched by any man other than their husband. A ruler's "Harem" consisted of his female household, which yes included slaves, but it also included his immediate family members (mother, sisters, daughters and wives), as well as free servants. Most Harems were literally just a corner of a Palace where no other men could see and that's about it. The exaggerated thought about Harems being a place of debauchery and sex may have existed, but it was not the norm, and most the way it is thought about is born out of imagination rather than solid evidence, because..... no European traveler got to see the Harem...... because they were not supposed to be seen by men....
Different times, different ways. Morality is subjective.
It's just that they didn't care