Alexander Nevsky - Prince of Novgorod and Kiev

The son of an important Russian leader, Alexander Nevsky was elected prince of Novgorod on his own merits. He succeeded in driving invading Swedes from Russian territory and fending off the Teutonic Knights. However, he agreed to pay tribute to the Mongols rather than fight them, a decision for which he has been criticized.  Eventually, he became Grand Prince and worked to restore Russian prosperity and establish Russian sovereignty. After his death, Russia disintegrated into feudal principalities. Also Known As Prince of Novgorod and Kiev; Grand Prince of Vladimir; also spelled Aleksandr Nevski and, in Cyrillic, Ð Ã »Ã µÃ ºÃ' Ã °Ã ½Ã ´Ã'€ Ð Ã µÃ ²Ã' Ã ºÃ ¸Ã ¹ Alexander Nevsky was noted for Stopping the advance of the Swedes and the Teutonic Knights into Russia Occupations Roles in Society Military LeaderPrinceSaint Places of Residence and Influence Russia Important Dates Born:  c. 1220Victorious in battle on the ice:  April 5, 1242Died:  Nov. 14, 1263 Biography Prince of Novgorod and Kiev and Grand Prince of Vladimir, Alexander Nevsky is best known for stopping the advance of the Swedes and the Teutonic Knights into Russia. At the same time, he paid tribute to the Mongols instead of attempting to fight them off, a position that has been attacked as cowardly but which may have been simply a matter of understanding his limits. The son of Yaroslav II Vsevolodovich, grand prince of Vladimir and foremost Russian leader, Alexander was elected prince of Novgorod (primarily a military post) in 1236. In 1239 he married Alexandra, the daughter of the Prince of Polotsk. For some time the Novgorodians had moved into Finnish territory, which was controlled by the Swedes. To punish them for this encroachment and to bar Russias access to the sea, the Swedes invaded Russia in 1240. Alexander scored a significant victory against them at the confluence of the Rivers Izhora and Neva, whereby he got his honorific, Nevsky. However, several months later he was expelled from Novgorod for interfering in city affairs. Not long afterward, Pope Gregory IX began urging the Teutonic Knights to Christianize the Baltic region, even though there were Christians already there. In the face of this threat, Alexander was invited to return to Novgorod and, after several confrontations, he defeated the knights in a famous battle on the frozen channel between Lakes Chud and Pskov in April 1242. Alexander eventually stopped the eastward expansion of both the Swedes and Germans. But another serious problem prevailed in the east. Mongol armies were conquering portions of Russia, which was not politically unified. Alexanders father agreed to serve the new Mongol rulers, but he died in September 1246. This left the throne of the Grand Prince vacant, and both Alexander and his younger brother Andrew appealed to Khan Batu of the Mongol Golden Horde. Batu sent them to the Great Khan, who violated Russian custom by selecting Andrew as Grand Prince, probably because Alexander was favored by Batu, who was out of favor with the Great Khan. Alexander settled for being made the prince of Kiev. Andrew began to conspire with other Russian princes and western nations against the Mongol overlords. Alexander took the opportunity to denounce his brother to Batus son Sartak. Sartak sent an army to depose Andrew, and Alexander was installed as Grand Prince in his place. As Grand Prince, Alexander worked to restore Russian prosperity by building fortifications and churches and passing laws. He continued to control Novgorod through his son Vasily. This altered the tradition of rule from one based on a process of invitation to institutional sovereignty. In 1255 Novgorod expelled Vasily, and Alexander put together an army and got Vasily back on the throne. In 1257 a rebellion broke out in Novgorod in response to an impending census and taxation. Alexander helped forced the city to submit, probably fearing that the Mongols would punish all of Russia for Novgorods actions. More uprisings broke out in 1262 against the Muslim tax farmers of the Golden Horde, and Alexander succeeded in averting reprisals by journeying to Saray on the Volga and speaking to the Khan there. He also obtained an exemption for Russians from a draft. On the way home, Alexander Nevsky died in Gorodets. After his death, Russia disintegrated into feuding principalities -- but his son Daniel would found the house of Moscow, which would eventually reunite northern Russian lands. Alexander Nevsky was supported by the Russian Orthodox Church, which made him a saint in 1547.

Buddha and Jesus Christ in Literature Essay - 1828 Words

Buddha and Jesus Christ in Literature Many pieces of literature and characters in literature are based off of religious figures or beliefs. In the literary pieces that we have read this semester, Buddha, Jesus Christ, and their religions have often been motifs. Buddha and Christ have many striking differences, but also quite a few similarities. They have both been very influential in many of the worldly religions of today, and in literature throughout the years. The man commonly known as Buddha was born in 560 B.C. and died at the age of eighty in 450 B.C. He was born to Suddhodana, king of the Sakhyas, and Maya. He was born in Lumbini, near the city of Kapilauastu in the Himalayan mountain ranges. His real name is Siddhartha†¦show more content†¦The king did not want this for his son, so he had guards make sure these four types of people remained out of Siddhartha’s sight. At the age of sixteen, Siddhartha married a woman named Yasodhara. Together they had a son which they named Rahula. At the age of twenty-nine, Siddhartha abandoned his home. He managed to leave the palace and go into town, where he saw a decrepit old man, a sick man, a corpse, and a monk. Siddhartha decided to renounce his world of miseries and sorrows so that he did not become prey to old age, disease, and death. Siddhartha first started to live as a hermit and practiced Yogic (discipline of action and devotion). He was determined to attain supreme peace by practicing self-mortification. He ate next to nothing and almost starved himself to death. One day Buddha heard some young girls singing a song. The lyrics in the song changed his life. They sang, â€Å"The string overstretched breaks, the music dies/ The string overslack is dumb and the music dies† (Sivananda). This made Buddha realize that he didn’t need to go to extremes. He realized that he should adapt to a happy medium. One day Buddha fell into a dejected mood and did not know what to do with himself. He sat under a tree and said, â€Å"Let me die. Let my body perish. Let my flesh dry up. I will not get up from this seat till I get full illumination† (Sivananda). He spentShow MoreRelatedChrist in Catholicism and Other Religions1684 Words   |  7 Pagesthe increasing diffusion of religions around the world (Himma 51). Christians believe that Jesus Christ is the ultimate saviour, and no one can get to God through any other way apart from Christ alone. Therefore, it is impossible for a person to be a follower of another religion and receive Christ salvation because salvation lies in the Grace of God that was expressed through the death of his son Jesus Christ as a sacrifice for the sins of human beings. The bible is the final authority in mattersRead MoreEssay on Why Is Religion Important?579 Words   |  3 PagesJust as a candle cannot burn without fire, men cannot live without a spiritual life. -- Buddha So I say to you, Ask and it will be given to you; search, and you will find; knock, and the door will be opened for you. --Jesus Christ Whether you consider yourself a religious person or not, or whether you think religion has played a positive or negative role in history, it is an incontrovertible fact that from the beginning of time, humans have engaged in activities that we now call religionRead MoreContrast the Life of the Heian-Era Courtier with That of the Kamakura Samurai.783 Words   |  4 Pagesexamples from three levels of society. †¢ The feudal system of Japan and the feudal system of Europe shared similar structures and values. †¢ The two feudal systems differed in many ways. These differences can be seen in the areas of religion, literature, and the role of women. †¢ The impact of both Japanese and European feudalism is still felt today. ESSENTIAL QUESTION What similarities did the feudal societies in Europe and Japan share? Japanese and European feudalism shared a number of similarities—bothRead MoreThe And Divine Nature Of The Bible1393 Words   |  6 Pagesultimate goal of the Bible. This paper will also discuss the two arguments known as the inerrantist and infallibilist views. â€Å"Some in the movement saw the Bible as a human book that was to be studied using methods common to the study of any other literature, while others continued to uphold the divine authority of Scripture and sought to understand the Bible as a theological book.† (Pocket Dictionary, 1999, p 20) This is the definition of the human and divine nature of scripture according to the PocketRead MoreEssay about Compare and Contrast the Lives of Buddha and Jesus3767 Words   |  16 Pagesdifferent social atmospheres.   But each religion is based upon the teachings of a great man.   When one compares the life of Buddha with the life of Jesus, one finds that the two share many things in common.   This essay aims to compare and contrast the lives of Buddha1 and Jesus in two key areas:   conception and birth.   In these two areas, one finds that the Buddha and Jesus share many similarities.   Sources on the Buddhas life indicate that he was born around the 6th century BCE.   The eventsRead MoreThe Reign of Great Ruler1599 Words   |  6 Pagestaken care of, they began looking to take from others through conquest. 2. Jesus Christ Jesus Christ is also known as Jesus of Nazareth and was born around the year 6 b.c.e.. Jesus was raised jewish but would be known as the central feature of the Christianity. By some he is also thought of as a teacher, healer and prophet, and preached publicly about God. He is said to have preached love, humility and charity. Jesus was put to death by the Roman authorities around 30 c.e. by crucifixion becauseRead MoreThe Hippie Movement of the 1960s Essay example646 Words   |  3 Pagesfrom the 1940s. The hippies inherited their cultural dissent from bohemians and beatniks of the Beat Generation in the late 1950s. The hippies’ philosophy that had been originated, credits the religious and spiritual teachings of Jesus Christ, Hillel the Elder, Buddha, St. Francis of Assisi, Henry David Thoreau, and Gandhi, as well as others. Some people considered the hippie movement to be a religious reform. Following in the footsteps of The Beats, the hippies also used marijuana, consideringRead MoreAfterlife Essay996 Words   |  4 Pagescategorize the locations after death: Heaven and Hell. As Christians, we have guidelines in which to receive eternal life and we follow the life as Jesus Christ, and according to the Bible, through Him we are saved. Pretty simple to concept, but in Mesopotamia, Egypt, and India, the afterlife is not so easy to grasp. Polytheism, pharaohs, and Buddha will all be prevalent in this exploration of the afterlife in ancient civilizations. Mesopotamians also called Sumerians believed that the afterlifeRead MoreReligion And History Of Religion2764 Words   |  12 Pagesreligion and history. Once the topics are compared and contrasted I will then end the essay with a conclusion. The three topics revolving around religion and history have their own unique journey, but without a doubt share likewise details. The Buddha, Siddhartha Gautama, founded Buddhism in India during 500BCE. Siddhartha Gautama did not initially set a journey out to spread Buddhism. Instead, he set a journey out for himself to begin with. Siddhartha came from a wealthy family and from a fatherRead MoreIs The Human Mind?1592 Words   |  7 Pageswalking in water(pg. 24). Such symbolic piece of literature diverts back to the Biblical scriptures when Jesus Christ dominated what was around him and walked on water... paradoxically speaking, Siddhartha himself would soon need to dominate his inner/outer surroundings to listen and become one with such phenomenon (the river). As the two young ascetics roam the streets in search for what the rumors had been: that the illustrious one...the Buddha...was near, Siddhartha recognizes him amongts the

Social psychology free essay sample

The effect that words, actions, or presence of people have on our attitudes, thoughts, feelings and behavior Construal The way people interpret the social environment. (How do you construe someones behavior? Is it polite, rude etc? ) Individual differences aspects of personalities that makes people unique Social psych analyses the individual in the context of a social situation, and it aims to identify universal human nature traits that makes everyone susceptible to social influences, regardless of social class or culture Fundamental attribution error xplaining our own or other peoples behavior based on personality characteristics alone. Underestimates social influence Behaviorism Approach to understanding behavior through only reinforcing properties of events. (Positive, negative, punishment, operant conditioning) Gestalt psych Studies subjective way in which an object appears in peoples minds, rather than the objective, physical attributes of the subject. Like perceiving a painting as a whole instead of the sum of its parts. Self-esteem The degree to which one views oneself as good, competent and decent Social cognition how people select, interpret, remember and use social information to make judgments and decisions. Knowing that I am extremely opinionated I have to be careful sometimes about the way that I say things to other people. This is because what I say may be without malicious intent however it could come off that way if it’s not carefully expressed! I am so opinionated that I will solicit my opinion to anyone with being asked to solicit it. Especially when it comes to my little sister; she thinks that I’m being hard on her but I tell her all the time; the day I have nothing to say be worried, I talk because I care! This brings me to being such a giving individual I would give my heart if I was able to continue to live. I have given my last to so many and I expect absolutely nothing in return. I have learned that there is no greater lesson in life than the one of being able to give. I am the type of person who will go through my son, daughter, finance and my own closets just to see what they are no longer wearing to give it away to someone else who can actually use it. I want to set great examples to my children I want them to pay if forward too; but I want them to also know the difference between being a giving person and being an idiot! This brings me to my independence in life. I am such a strong minded person, very level headed so I know what I want and I know exactly what I need to do to get to where I need to be, by myself! My mother loves the independence in me but she hates the reasoning behind why I’m so independent. That reason would be because I don’t want to end up like her she’s so dependent on my stepfather that she has absolutely nothing on her own! Her first car came from him; the first time she moved into her own place was because of him, the new house the clothes on her back, the shoes on her feet, down to the food she eats. I don’t want that for myself in any way. My fear is that if I allow someone to do anything in any form for me that they will throw it in my face later. While my mother admires this quality about me my fiance hates it so much. He’s constantly fighting me not because he has nothing else to do but because he wants to do more. However along with the fear of having what was done thrown in my face another fear is to allow myself to comply with someone else doing something for me and they aren’t able to later than I feel like I set myself up for failure. This aspect of my life is revolved around issues of trust in my opinion. I know that I have trust issues I am always afraid of being hurt in some way whether it be because I was let down or because my heart was broken. My world is great and everything is exactly the way it should be until someone else tries to help. This is what one would call self-serving bias. Self-serving bias plays an extremely major part of mine and anyone else’s life we would all love to believe we’re a super hero all of the time, but when something goes wrong have you ever you ever seen the super hero take the blame? Never that is the sidekick’s job! The concept of self-serving bias has opened my eyes up to taking more responsibility for my own actions and stop using the actions of others to feel better about a situation that has gone wrong. This is why now I feel that I have an internal locus of control I believe that I am what influence the ripple effect of the events of my life. My actions have reaction weather I like the reactions or not they are still because of me and no one else! Attitudes and feelings: Confirmation bias influences the perception of yourself and the people around me because we all want what we believe to be true! Take this for example my mother doesn’t very much care for my fiance she doesn’t really have a reason, because he does everything that he is supposed to do and more sure we have an argument here and there but to her it’s abusive. So she says thing like this; â€Å"See I told you he doesn’t care about anyone but himself, look at how he speaks to you he doesn’t care. † I explain to her that it’s unfair to say that about him especially when things were said in the heat of the moment. Confirmation bias can destroy you because you are always looking for the next thing to support your beliefs. My sister thought that her husband was cheating with my cousin, (this was not true) so everything that my brother in law and cousin did together it was inappropriate and because they were sleeping together. I tried so many times to tell her that they weren’t sleeping with one another but she had it in her head that they were so much that she actually pushed them together (self-fulfilling prophecy). She pushed and pushed so much that the untrue theory became true. I was hurt for her when this happened because these beliefs ended up generating their own confirmation. Behaviors influence attitude in so many ways, each day of my life behaviors influence my attitude. My step brother for example to me his behavior is very perverted is says things about my little sisters that he should not referencing the rear ends and other parts of their bodies as well as mine extremely inappropriate this behavior influences my attitude towards him because I don’t trust him as a result, I don’t want him around any of our sisters, or my infant daughter, I don’t even trust him around my son! My attitude toward him is extremely negative and I hate when he’s around. Another way that behavior affect attitude is through imitating your parents because the attitudes and beliefs of your parents have a strong impact on your life later. The topic of exhibiting the behavior of my parents brings me to gender roles. Our gender roles are defined by our own conceptions of being a male or female. Social influence: In certain situations I am willing to conform to a degree, but I am not willing to conform completely for an entire group to make it easier on the group. I enjoy being an individual I never want to blend in with the crowd I always want to stand out. I know this because at work there are so many groups of people who only want to hang out with that group of people they are all so caught up with who’s doing what and why that they completely lose focus of why we are even at work in the first place. I on the other hand don’t feel that I have the time for that it’s childish so I am all about my work and nothing else! When our Post Master comes around they will all scrabble to go back to work or act as if they are working so that they won’t get into trouble! A person of authority influences obedience because the authority figure has the power to discipline. The foot in the door technique is one that is used in my profession a lot when the new comers come on to the job a co-worker will began to ask for small favors and those small favors turn into large favors. I have used this technique in new relationships to see just how far I can get him to go for me. I will change in the presence of others depending on who the person is if it’s an elder I won’t swear, if it’s a younger group of my peers I will relax more but it really depends on the group. When working with groups there are always slackers in the group they do the least expecting the same amounts of credit. This is something that I have struggled with in school and in work because it’s completely unfair to the group. This is called being lazy and being lazy is completely unattractive. Factors that attract me to someone are whether or not they are intellectually stimulating to me, smart, fun loving, easy going, handsome, tall, and has a great sense of humor. That’s not to say that what’s attractive to me is attractive to the next person. Just because they are attractive doesn’t mean that everything is going to be great there may be some conflict and in resolving conflict you must talk it out, speaking on your concerns and try using the I exercise saying how you feel as oppose to the blame game because no one will be receptive to that!

Universal Neurosis Essays (1334 words) - Freudian Psychology

Universal Neurosis Sigmund Freud defined the goal of psychoanalysis to be to replace unconscious with conscious awareness, where his ego shall be, and through this an individual would achieve self-control and reasonable satisfaction of instincts. His fundamental ideas include psychic determinism, the power and influence of the unconscious, as opposed to the pre-conscious mind, the tripartite division into id, ego and super-ego, and of course the ideas of universal illusion and universal effects of the Oedipal Complex. The examination of the Oedipal Complex is the most essential to the understanding of Freud`s theories since he claimed that due to the resistance, repression, and transference of early sexual energies the world had developed a universal complex which did not allow for the healthy development of individual`s but lead instead to the neurosis and mass illusion of religion. For his perceivably vicious attacks on religion and his logical and yet totally undermining examination of religion and other vital social issues, Freud has been slandered and his theories criticised simply because of the away he addressed these painful issues. Through the systematic development of the theories of psychoanalysis, all stemming from one another and all tied together into a universal Oedipal Complex and religious illusion, the ideas of the tripartite human psyche and wish-fulfilment that Freud developed came under fire from critics for their controversial messages and analysis. Briefly stated, the Oedipus Complex is the preservation in the adult individual of the perceptions, strategies and scars of a conflict the individual underwent during his/her pre-school years. According to Freud, these perceptions, etc, later colour and shape the individual's future experiences. This psychological crisis results when a young child's sexual desire for the parent of the opposite sex collides with the competition, rivalry and overwhelming power of the parent of the same sex. According to Freudian theory, the ghosts of this Oedipal crisis haunt us our entire lives. Psychopathology, slips of the tongue, dreams, and religious experience all were understood to be functions whose origins and energy resulted from this repressed material. In his later work, Freud interpreted the reports of his clients (reports offered under hypnosis, under verbal encouragement and suggestion, and finally, in the later work, reports given through free-associations) as revealing a universal Oedipal drama. Freud found what he took to be evidence for the universal existence of the Oedipus Complex in the testimony of patients, in his analysis of the repressed in dreams, in slips, wit, and the transference phenomenon, as well as in art, philosophy and religion. As the child develops, he/she identifies with the parent of the same sex and renounces incestual desire. This renunciation is achieved and strengthened by the formation of the super-ego, a section of the child's ego identified with the childhood image of the parents (the parental Imago) perceived in consciousness as conscience and as the ego ideal. The ego ideal is the self`s conception of how he/she wishes to be and is a substitute for the lost narcissism in childhood when I was my own ideal. When projected onto or into the world, the Imago (a word used by Freud to describe unconscious object-representations) is taken by the experience to be a veridical perception of a divine being. Throughout life, these experiences of this childhood conflict are alive and present in the unconscious of the individual. This childish, magically thinking, ever desiring, instinctually driven self is described topographically by Freud in his tripartite division of the person as the id (Latin for it). That part of the individual responsible for maintaining congress and connection with reality and mediating between the id and reality is the ego. That part of the ego, largely and usually unconscious, which bears and enforces the ego ideal, is the super-ego. An activity is ego-syntonic just in case it strengthens the ego in its function of mediating between the demands of reality, basic instinctual drives (of appetite, aggression, and sexuality), and conscience. As mediator, the ego needs to make adequate contact with both the external and internal demands involved. Thus, one of its main tasks is reality testing - making an accurate determination of the limits imposed on the organism by the external world including one's own body. Illusory beliefs are not ego-syntonic and are thus ultimately destructive if allowed to control individuals and societies, even if they should happen, e.g., by accident, to be true. Freud has an unusual definition of illusion. For Freud, although illusions are usually false, they are not false by definition. According to the definition Freud offers in his paper, The Future of an Illusion, what characterises illusions is one's