Pbartender
First Post
Greylock said:
It must be a conspiracy... Probably all those Illuminati Elves decended from the survivors of Atlantis.
What Happened 500 Years Ago?
It must be a conspiracy... Probably all those Illuminati Elves decended from the survivors of Atlantis.
Kid Charlemagne
I am the Very Model of a Modern Moderator
I suggest looking for some major historical figures of the time period, and looking for biographies of them.Encyclopedia.com is nice for very basic searches like that - the nice thing is that all the names are cross-linked so you can follow lots of paths to get more names to search out. I've used that technique to research other time frames.
Using historical figures from the time and place you're looking for will help eliminate the art/Italy stuff. Do you have any specific places you're looking to research, more narrowly thatn Europe? That mihgt help us come up with some more specific links.
Using historical figures from the time and place you're looking for will help eliminate the art/Italy stuff. Do you have any specific places you're looking to research, more narrowly thatn Europe? That mihgt help us come up with some more specific links.
alsih2o
First Post
Buttercup
Princess of Florin
Well, it's a few years early, but I'm sure the ramifications were still widely felt: In 1492, the jews were expelled from Spain right around the time that ol' Chris set sail. Try Googling 1492 Jews. Alternatively, Jewish History 1500. If you need a group of people who were pretty universally oppressed in your campaign, well there you go.
Also try a Google search on Poland 1500. The last hit on the first page has some interesting information about armies, but the website is gone now, so you'll have to look at it through Google's cache.
Next, I found some interesting timelines that mention tantalizing bits for future research:
http://www.ptloma.edu/music/MUH/renaissance/RenTimeline.htm
http://www.mediahistory.umn.edu/time/1400s.html
http://www.scaruffi.com/politics/mongols.html
http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/society_culture/art/renaissance_europe_06.shtml
http://www.mariner.org/age/histexp.html
And finally, have you looked at the three volume work by Fernand Braudel? The series title is Civilization & Capitalism: 15th - 18th Century. The individual titles are The Structures of Everyday Life (volume 1), The Wheels of Commerce (volume 2) and The Perspective of the World (volume 3). These three volumes are fascinating reading for their own sakes, but for your current purposes, will probably give you more adventure ideas than you could use in a lifetime.
I'd like to see what you come up with, so please keep us updated on your progress!
Also try a Google search on Poland 1500. The last hit on the first page has some interesting information about armies, but the website is gone now, so you'll have to look at it through Google's cache.
Next, I found some interesting timelines that mention tantalizing bits for future research:
http://www.ptloma.edu/music/MUH/renaissance/RenTimeline.htm
http://www.mediahistory.umn.edu/time/1400s.html
http://www.scaruffi.com/politics/mongols.html
http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/society_culture/art/renaissance_europe_06.shtml
http://www.mariner.org/age/histexp.html
And finally, have you looked at the three volume work by Fernand Braudel? The series title is Civilization & Capitalism: 15th - 18th Century. The individual titles are The Structures of Everyday Life (volume 1), The Wheels of Commerce (volume 2) and The Perspective of the World (volume 3). These three volumes are fascinating reading for their own sakes, but for your current purposes, will probably give you more adventure ideas than you could use in a lifetime.
I'd like to see what you come up with, so please keep us updated on your progress!
Turanil
First Post
Unless it has already been said in this thread (I didn't read), try to get the AD&D 2e sourcebook (maybe on ebay), which deals about that very period:
A Mighty Fortress Campaign Sourcebook. Historical Reference series; HR4 Fortress, 9370.
Otherwise:
A very important feature of the 16th century were the wars of religions. I mean between Protestants and Catholics, all over Europe. In portraying them, you could emphasize on the two follwing points:
- Protestants were very strict, very serious about their religion, since they were not entitled remission of their sins through confession or the right price. As such, they were austere, serious minded, etc. Note also that didn't see wealth as a bad thing as the Catholic did, thus were more prone to succeed financially in their endeavours.
- Most Catholics were joyous and easy going, since they would just have to confess and make appropriate penance, or pay the right price (in money) to be given remissions of their sins. However, there was much potential for abuse in this, and the Church was often corrupt.
Another point interesting:
Firearms and modernity was appearing, but in the backcountry people were still living as in former medieval times.
A Mighty Fortress Campaign Sourcebook. Historical Reference series; HR4 Fortress, 9370.
Otherwise:
A very important feature of the 16th century were the wars of religions. I mean between Protestants and Catholics, all over Europe. In portraying them, you could emphasize on the two follwing points:
- Protestants were very strict, very serious about their religion, since they were not entitled remission of their sins through confession or the right price. As such, they were austere, serious minded, etc. Note also that didn't see wealth as a bad thing as the Catholic did, thus were more prone to succeed financially in their endeavours.
- Most Catholics were joyous and easy going, since they would just have to confess and make appropriate penance, or pay the right price (in money) to be given remissions of their sins. However, there was much potential for abuse in this, and the Church was often corrupt.
Another point interesting:
Firearms and modernity was appearing, but in the backcountry people were still living as in former medieval times.
Arduin Angcam
First Post
a few elements
Hi,
At the beginning of the XVIth century, the Turks are at Vienna's doors. Protestantism is about to come to life with Luther and Calvin in Switzerland, the country of hardened mercenaries, bloodied on all the Europeans battlefields. Germany does not exist in its current form but is a patchwork of city-states, very much like Italy. France is a powerful nation like Spain and Britain but is about to be shattered by eight Religious Wars between 1552 and 1598. In 1504, the King of France (Charles XII I guess) is about to conquer some Italian domains. That will be achieved by his son François Ist, but he will lose everything at the battle of Pavie (Camp of the golden blanket). The dynasty of the Valois family knows some victories against the Brits (Calais) and some defeats against the Spanish like Pavie. Queen Elizabeth I, the Iron Maiden will soon rule England. Charles V rules in Spain, spending the gold of the Aztec and Inca Empires. It is the times of the adventurers on high seas (Captain Drake) and of bloody wars on the (not so) Old Continent.
This is a great period for adventuring and I used it a lot for my own campaign, especially in France and Italy. I don't have many books to recommend as they all are in French but I hope I gave you enough keys to make your own searches. And If you do read French, let me know, I will give you some references.
Arduin.
Hi,
At the beginning of the XVIth century, the Turks are at Vienna's doors. Protestantism is about to come to life with Luther and Calvin in Switzerland, the country of hardened mercenaries, bloodied on all the Europeans battlefields. Germany does not exist in its current form but is a patchwork of city-states, very much like Italy. France is a powerful nation like Spain and Britain but is about to be shattered by eight Religious Wars between 1552 and 1598. In 1504, the King of France (Charles XII I guess) is about to conquer some Italian domains. That will be achieved by his son François Ist, but he will lose everything at the battle of Pavie (Camp of the golden blanket). The dynasty of the Valois family knows some victories against the Brits (Calais) and some defeats against the Spanish like Pavie. Queen Elizabeth I, the Iron Maiden will soon rule England. Charles V rules in Spain, spending the gold of the Aztec and Inca Empires. It is the times of the adventurers on high seas (Captain Drake) and of bloody wars on the (not so) Old Continent.
This is a great period for adventuring and I used it a lot for my own campaign, especially in France and Italy. I don't have many books to recommend as they all are in French but I hope I gave you enough keys to make your own searches. And If you do read French, let me know, I will give you some references.
Arduin.
Turanil
First Post
The Italian Wars dominated Europe politically around this time period (well, they started around 1494). Charles VIII (I believe, I don't have any books at my disposal) led French armies across the Alps into Italy to war with various city states (aligning himself, of course, with other city states); Spain under Ferdinand and Isabella was also involved, if I remember correctly (at least in Sicily).
The turn of the sixteenth century (and the Italian wars) saw the beginnings of the decline of the Italian city-states as the movers-and-shakers of Europe and the rise of the larger states such as France, England, and the Holy Roman Empire (under Charles V, this would include Spain and most of Germany, as well as his possessions in the New World...He was undoubtedly the most prolific landowner in European history).
The religious wars, however, had not yet started, and really don't until the Schmalkaldic Wars of the 1540s-1550s; there were various uprisings, however, tied to religious sentiments, such as with the Hussites, but these had been occuring over the course of the 15th century. The Chuch had a pretty decent hold on the polities of Europe at this point, but its temporal power waned considerably around this time (reaching a low-point in 1527).
I hope some of this information might prove useful. I suggest picking up a copy of Charles V by Karl Brandi or a history of the Catholic Church (finding something by Jedin would be marvelous).
Keith
The turn of the sixteenth century (and the Italian wars) saw the beginnings of the decline of the Italian city-states as the movers-and-shakers of Europe and the rise of the larger states such as France, England, and the Holy Roman Empire (under Charles V, this would include Spain and most of Germany, as well as his possessions in the New World...He was undoubtedly the most prolific landowner in European history).
The religious wars, however, had not yet started, and really don't until the Schmalkaldic Wars of the 1540s-1550s; there were various uprisings, however, tied to religious sentiments, such as with the Hussites, but these had been occuring over the course of the 15th century. The Chuch had a pretty decent hold on the polities of Europe at this point, but its temporal power waned considerably around this time (reaching a low-point in 1527).
I hope some of this information might prove useful. I suggest picking up a copy of Charles V by Karl Brandi or a history of the Catholic Church (finding something by Jedin would be marvelous).
Keith
