HISTORY 5 Lecture 1: 8/25 - What Is/Was Europe?
Document Summary
To call europe a thing is already to make an argument. Europe"s also never been a single thing; always divided in many ways. Europe has never been a fixed entity. Always a cultural construxn, someone"s decision abt who"s us/them. Thus as culture changes, criteria by which we decide + eur itself change. Land of christendom ; borders constantly shift as christians conquer more territ, and more territ conquered from christians (usu by muslims in far sw/se) First references to europenses - lived in the north, as opposed to non-eurs in sp (muslims) Problem: eurs had very little idea of geography. Believed in a huge kingdom of christians somewhere in the east, ruled by king prester. During crusades, everyone thought he must be close to the holy land, and kept sending emissaries to try get help. By 13c, legend shifts to centrasia, b/c of rumors of conqueror sweeping west -
