“When the dragon awoke, new woe was kindled.
O’er the stone he snuffed. The stark-heart found
footprint of foe who so far had gone
in his hidden craft by the creature’s head. --
So may the undoomed easily flee
evils and exile, if only he gain
the grace of The Wielder! -- That warden of gold
o’er the ground went seeking, greedy to find
the man who wrought him such wrong in sleep.
Savage and burning, the barrow he circled
all without; nor was any there,
none in the waste.... Yet war he desired,
was eager for battle. The barrow he entered,
sought the cup, and discovered soon
that some one of mortals had searched his treasure,
his lordly gold. The guardian waited
ill-enduring till evening came;
boiling with wrath was the barrow’s keeper,
and fain with flame the foe to pay
for the dear cup’s loss.”
Excerpt from Beowulf
Thomas Aquinas is credited as one of the greatest proponents of natural law. During his time in Cologne he was taught by Albertus Magnus. Magnus used the teachings of Aristotle in his mentorship of Thomas Aquinas.
Samuel Adams believed in American Independence from Great Britain. He is one of the most well know Son's of Liberty. On August 1, 1776 he gave a speech to the Continental Congress in Philadelphia.
Here is a short story about how I envisioned the lead up to the attack on Ryazan in December of 1237.
Boom, boom, boom, the sound of the war drums was incessantly ringing in Brother Spirodon’s ears. The traditional daily tasks of monastic life had been disrupted by the arrival of Mongol army. In fact it had been almost two weeks since his daily life had been turned upside down. The predictability and structure of his life began to change when the first news of catastrophe to the east had reached his ears.
An unstoppable pagan army was destroying everything in its path and now Ryazan was next. They moved as fast as the wind and could not be stopped. From the first accounts that had arrived Brother Spirodon had prayed that the pagans from the east would move south and bypass Ryazan. The wealth and strategic location of Ryazan always made that unlikely. But as Brother Ryazan knew miracles did happen and with God nothing was impossible. So he had spent every free moment for days praying that the invaders would pass by Ryazan. Those prayers had not been answered. The Mongols arrived ...
“In my view, the composer, just as the poet, the sculptor or the painter, is in duty bound to serve Man, the people. He must beautify life and defend it. He must be a citizen first and foremost, so that his art might consciously extol human life and lead man to a radiant future.”
Sergei Prokofiev
