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Blonde Mummies, Tocharians and Indo-Europeans of China

Survive the Jive has an interesting video on “Blond Mummies, Tocharians and Indo-Europeans of China” about the Indo-European presence in present-day Xinjiang of western China: “Archaeological discovery of mummies in the Taklamakan desert of Western China dating back 4,000 years has captivated the imaginations of researchers, who were surprised to discover that they were caucasians from Europe. The answers to the mystery of who these white mummies were might be found in the later history of Xinjiang province; in the Chinese written records of blue eyed and red bearded merchants such as the Yuezhi and the Sogdians from the West and in the manuscripts written in a mysterious Indo-European language known as Tocharian. Clearly there were both Iranic and Tocharian peoples living in Western China in later times, and the Tarim mummies must have been the ancestors of some if not all of them. The inhospitable Tarim basin became a vital route for merchants, at the crossroads between East and West, the basin is skirted by oasis towns which were stations for anyone traveling on the Silk Road.The caucasian, Europoid mummies and the ancient Indo-European languages of the region challenge popular misconceptions about the limits of European civilisation in the Bronze Age. The material excavated suggests the area was active for thousands of years, with diverse languages, lifestyles, religions, and cultures present.”

This documentary runs commensurate with an earlier Nova documentary on the same topic from the 1990s.

The duties of a Christian Patriot

Francis Scott Key, the author of “The Star Spangled Banner,” on the duties of the Christian patriot:

“The patriot who feels himself in the service of God, who acknowledges Him in all his ways, has the promise of Almighty direction, and will find His word in his greatest darkness ‘a lantern to his feet and a lampt unto his paths.’ …He will therefore seek to establish for his country in the eyes of the world, and in the estimation of her own citizens, such a character as shall make her not unworthy of the name of a Christian nation. He will strive to save her from the reproach of bearing the name and disowning the obligations it imposes. He will endeavor to advance the public happiness by promoting public virtue. Whatever, therefore, can be done for the establishment of sound principles and correct habits, for the suppression of vice and the encouragement of piety, will receive his unwearied support and constitute the chief aim of his labors.”

—Francis Scott Key, “Oration Before the Washington Society of Alexandria,” 1814.

Evolution of the Indo-European Languages

This is interesting.

“The Kings and Generals animated historical documentary series on the ancient civilizations continues with a video on the evolution of the Indo-European Languages, as we give a summary of how this language family formed and how the languages belonging to each are still connected to each other.”

How to Build the Perfect Castle

“This is Epic History TV’s guide to building the perfect castle, based on the development of European medieval castles over 400 years of history. We trace the origins of the castle in the feudal system that emerged in France c.900 CE, and look at the early motte-and-bailey castle, used by the Normans to subjugate England and Wales in the 11th century. We then look at how castle’s became stronger and more sophisticated, with the addition of stone curtain walls, massive keeps, towers (square, round and D-shaped), as well as powerful gatehouses, barbicans, machicolations and moats.”

The twin perils of overreach and neglect.

In the Western world, and the United States of America, one can garner the sentiment that what David Polansky tenders above is profoundly true. One of the sad realities of the western world is much of it as devolved into a Panopticon Police State. This police state is acclimated to an “information overload” where it’s perpetually hypervigilant over seemingly benign infractions. Here they chase shadows in order to have an illusion of control, and yet they usually neither effectively maintain control nor possess the comfortable illusion of it.

In Great Britain, for instance, cameras canvas every street, building, bridge, and subway, and some have described it as the realization of George Orwell’s 1984 novel come to life. As well, in the United Kingdom, police are tasked with investigating peoples’ thoughts and words, and ascertaining whether they conform to a conjured Newspeak or have committed thought crimes. At Davos, the talk of the WEF crowd is of “recalibrating free speech,” which is Newspeak for doing away with “free speech” as conventionally understood, and subjecting everything to the control and filter of elite censors.

To the Tweet’s point, in Uvalde, Texas, local authorities sat on their hands while a mass-shooter sadly killed children earlier in May 2022. Burke said evil only prevails when good men do nothing, yet they did nothing. Their inaction and ineptness roundly elicited condemnation from across America and even other Sheriffs expressed condemnation. They waited 40+ minutes and did nothing but restrain upset parents gathered outside who were demanding that they take action. It was ultimately an off-duty U.S. Border Patrol officer acting independent of them that subdued the killer. Erstwhile rewind several months earlier and this same Uvalde Sheriff’s Department was raiding a bar-restaurant with a SWAT team to uphold a pandemic lockdown closure restriction. Does one see the discrepancy? Is this not a two-tiered concurrent manifestation of “institutional failure” and “wildly disproportionate accountability”? The most basic protective functions of the law as it relates to protecting life, liberty, and property are neglected while civil government routinely overreaches and oversteps the reasonable bounds of prudence. This in in a nutshell is the crux of the problem and David Polansky’s Tweet of 27 May 2022 captures it.

“Society will develop a new kind of servitude which covers the surface of society with a network of complicated rules, through which the most original minds and the most energetic characters cannot penetrate. It does not tyrannise but it compresses, enervates, extinguishes, and stupefies a people, till each nation is reduced to nothing better than a flock of timid and industrious animals, of which the government is the shepherd.”
―Alexis de Tocqueville

The Ancient Copper Mine that Transformed Britain

Dan Davis History had an interesting podcast on ‘The Ancient Cooper Mine that Transformed Britain:’ The Bronze Age copper mine on the Great Orme in North Wales, is one of the most important prehistoric archaeological sites in Britain. Since excavations began here in 1987, a vast network of tunnels dating to the Bronze Age has been uncovered.

The First Crusade (1096-1099)

Video Above: ‘Epic History’ – ‘First Crusade Part 1 of 2′ – The First Crusade was one of the most remarkable, bleeding and huge scenes in medieval history. It started with an intrigue for help from the Christian Byzantine Empire, compromised by the rising intensity of the Muslim Seljuk Turks. Be that as it may, when Pope Urban II lectured a lesson at Clermont in 1095, the outcome was not normal for anything at any point seen previously. The Pope offered profound salvation to those ready to go east to help their kindred Christians in a sacred war, and help free Jerusalem from Muslim standard. Knights and laborers the same joined in their thousands, prompting the tragic People’s Crusade, at that point to a considerably more composed and ground-breaking Princes’ Crusade. Their powers accumulated at Constantinople, where they made an uncomfortable union with Byzantine Emperor Alexius I Comnenus. Entering Anatolia, they assisted with winning back the city of Nicaea, at that point won a definitive however hard-battled triumph at Dorlyaeum, before walking on the extraordinary city of Antioch…
Video above: ‘Epic History TV’ – Animated video documentary on the First Crusade continues with the Siege of Antioch. The Crusaders endure immense hardships outside the city walls, but finally take Antioch thanks to a ruse by Bohemond of Taranto. Against the odds, and inspired by their recent discovery of a relic believed to be the ‘Holy Lance’, the Crusaders then defeat the Seljuk army of Kur Burgha. After disagreements within the Crusader camp, the army finally moves on to Jerusalem in the spring of 1099. During a full-scale assault of the city walls, Godfrey of Bouillon’s troops gain a foothold in the defences, and Crusader troops pour into the city. A bloodbath follows. Victory results in the creation of four Crusader states, but their existence is precarious, surrounded by hostile Muslim powers, who will one day return with a vengeance.
RCH’s classic documentary on the First Crusade revised and updated. From the Battle of Dorylaeum to the Siege of Antioch, to the taking of Jerusalem, the First Crusade greatly impacted the medieval world, and essentially launched the broader Crusades movement. Bohemond, Godfrey of Bouillon, Tancred, and other important figures appear in all their glory.
New Kings and Generals animated historical animated documentary series on the First Crusade starts off with a prelude video covering the situation in the Byzantine empire after the death of Basil II, including courtly intrigues, coups and civil wars. We will talk about the rise of the Seljuk sultanate, the Eastern Roman response to it and the ascension of Romanos IV to the throne and battle of Manzikert fought in 1071 between the Roman Emperor and the Seljuk sultan Alp Arslan.
Kings and Generals animated historical animated documentary series on the First Crusade continued with the aftermath of the battle of Manzikert of 1071 (https://youtu.be/JkyYjpYLORI) where the Eastern Roman Empire’s army led by Romanos was defeated by the Seljuk army of Alp Arslan. We will cover a number of Byzantine civil wars, and the battles of Zombos Bridge and Kalavrye, which led to the rise of Alexios I and his Komnenos dynasty.

Battle of Las Navas de Tolosa (1212 A.D.)

Video Above: ‘Kings and Generals‘ – ‘Battle of Las Navas de Tolosa’ (1212) – Reconquista is one of the most significant events in history. By 718 Islamic Invasion reached and then took over most of the Pyrenees sparring only a remote region in the north. The Spanish and Portuguese people fought for almost eight-hundred years to reconquer the Christian lands, and that epic struggle strengthened their sense of identity, and allowed to grow into empires that dominated the world for a few more centuries. This is a documentary on the general events of Reconquista and the decisive battle of Las Navas De Tolosa that took place in 1212 between the alliance of Aragon, Castile, Portugal, Navarre, knightly orders of Santiago, Calatrava, Templars and the Almohad Caliphate.

Video Selections from Real Crusades History

[This is an archival repository of content previously published on the home page of Ryan Setliff under the topic Crusades Studies.]

Video Above: ‘Knights Hospitaller: Origins‘ – Kings and Generals new animated historical documentary series on the knightly orders starts with the Knights Hospitaller and their origin. This video will describe the early Crusades and the role the Hospitallers played in them.
Video above: ‘Real Crusades History’ – “Why did the Crusades fail?,” with Dr. Paul Crawford, Dr. Andrew Holt
Video above: ‘Real Crusades History’ – “Acts of Valor During the Crusades.” – This video highlights five interesting episodes of bravery and poise from the Crusades era. Figures highlighted are Tancred, Prince of Galilee, Usama ibn-Munqidh, Baldwin II of Jerusalem, Alfonso VIII of Castile, and Jean of Joinville. Featuring episodes from the First Crusade, the Battle of Azaz, Las Navas de Tolosa, and the Seventh Crusade.
Video above: ‘Real Crusades History’ – “Top Five Medieval Warrior Kings.” – Many great European monarchs of the Middle Ages inspired gallantry by their exploits during the Crusades.
Video Above: ‘Real Crusades History‘ – ‘El Cid’ – the story of history’s greatest knight, a hero of Spain and the Reconquista. This is a compilation of all my previous El Cid videos in a documentary presentation.
Video Above: ‘Real Crusades History‘ – ‘El Cid’ – the story of history’s greatest knight, a hero of Spain and the Reconquista. This is a compilation of all my previous El Cid videos in a documentary presentation.
Video Above: ‘Real Crusades History‘ – ‘Teutonic Knights: Crusaders of the North’ – Video documentary series on the Order of Brothers of the German House of Saint Mary in Jerusalem, commonly the Teutonic Order, is a Catholic religious order founded as a military order c. 1192 in Acre, Kingdom of Jerusalem. The Teutonic Order was formed to aid Christians on their pilgrimages to the Holy Land and to establish hospitals. They later took to conquest to free captive slaves in northeastern Europe which was the practice of the pagan Balts and Slavs.

The Battle of Hastings

[This is an archive of content previously posted on my personal home page under the Anglophile and Historian topical sections.]

Baz Battles – “Battle of Hastings, 1066.”

Earning notoriety as one of the greatest battles in English and European history, the Battle of Hastings was fought on 14 October 1066 between the Norman-French army of William, the Duke of Normandy, and an English army under the Anglo-Saxon King Harold Godwinson, which was the defining moment at the onset of the Norman conquest of England.
Duke William lands near Pevensey, Sussex and heads east and northward exacting the Norman Conquest of England, and effectively securing the claim to the monarchy of England. This animated video documentary from ‘Baz Battles‘ chronicles the series of events that lead to the clash between English and Norman forces a few kilometers west of Hastings.
Video Above: HistoryMarche – “The Battle of Hastings: Norman Conquest of England” was fought on 14 October 1066 between the Norman-French army of William the Conqueror, the Duke of Normandy, and an English army under the Anglo-Saxon King Harold Godwinson, and it marked the beginning of the Norman conquest of England.