Do You Think That The Old Man In The Pardoner’s Tale, Was Death?

The Pardoner

The Pardoner’s tale is about three hard-partying fools who set about on a journey to defeat the fate of death. They came to this decision after observing a corpse being carried out to a grave. This tale is told by a pardoner, which was essentially a con artist who sold papal indulgences with the promise of eradication of sin, forgiveness, admission into heaven, etc.

The tale goes that the three fools swore an oath to defeat death once and for all. Once they do this, they embark on their journey and stumble upon an old man who greets them. They are sorrowful when the greet him, for death has not taken him. The fools tell the man about his quest, and he only instructs them about a place where they would surely find death, under a tree. The fools heed the instructions of the old man and make their way under the tree, where they find eight bushels of gold florins. Driven by avarice, they forget their oath completely and now have the opportunity to indulge themselves on a permanent basis.

The youngest of the group goes to town to steal some food and wine, while the other two devise a plan to kill him upon his return. So that they may keep a larger share of the gold. This went on successfully, but little did the other two men know that the food and wine had been poisoned, and so they perished. All of them died without any of them being able to make use of their fortune.

There are various ways we can interpret this, and all of them would make a certain degree of sense. First, we can agree upon the fact that the old man knew what was under the tree, and that he was knowingly an agent of death. The old man knew where death could be found, yet he himself hadn’t died even though he really wanted to. Coincidentally also, the old man found himself throughout the story complaining and talking about death. Even when the fools encounter him.

The old man then was not death itself, but rather an ironic encounter that played the role of death in instructing the fools to their demise. The old man though is not to blame, for it is the fools who carried on with their free will the decision to embark on this journey to “defeat” death. They knew that if they took this path, that they would surely die. The old man wasn’t the personification of death, the fools were. For they knew what was coming to them if they went under that tree, and did it anyway.

Lesson 170, Western Literature @zbelles

What Bone Marrow Is, The Two Types Of Bone Marrow, & Why They Are Important To The Body

Photo by Tara Winstead on Pexels.com

3. What is bone marrow? What two types of bone marrow exist, and why are they important to the overall health of the body?

We think of our bones simply as hard mineral structures that give our bodies a frame. In fact, our bones aren’t only a matrix of calcium, phosphorus, and collagen. Our bones also contain thousands of living cells and nerves inside of them. This is why we feel pain when our bones get broken or damaged. Long and flat bones, such as our ribs, hips, femur and shoulders, all contain bone marrow internally. This bone marrow comes in two different types.

Red marrow creates blood cells and stem cells. This includes osteoblasts, “immature” bone cells which secrete osseous material and the mineral matrix. The “mature” osteocytes, secrete bone growth hormones during childhood and bone maintenance hormones during adulthood. The counterpart of red marrow is yellow marrow. These are mostly fat cells which support the function of the red marrow. It is interesting to note that newborns do not have any yellow marrow; the child’s bones begin producing it only when the child begins to mature. Once a human reaches adulthood, his bones contain equal amounts of both variations of marrow.

Red and yellow marrow are part of the trabecular bone, which is spongy inside. This is the part of the bone that contains most of the living cells as opposed to the cortical or compact bone. Which contains mostly the mineral matrix. An easy way to remember the functions of these two different marrows is to associate red marrow with blood, and yellow marrow with fat.

Lesson 170, Biology @zbelles

The Rise And Fall Of Girolamo Savonarola, The Italian War Of 1494-1498, & The Significant Aspects Of The Reign Of Louis XI

The Italian War Of 1494-1498

1. Discuss the rise and fall of Girolamo Savonarola.

Do you know who Girolamo Savonarola was? Savonarola was a Dominican friar (who lived through the late 15^th century). He was famous for being a powerful preacher, even changing people’s lives with his preaching. He preached about the corruption and lack of morals in the clergy. He also preached against the spirit of the Renaissance. As to him it was merely a degeneration of society to secular pursuits, entirely sinful and not worthy to take part in.

Being such a powerful preacher, Savonarola quickly amassed a large following. Who followed him so loyally, they would burn all their vain, pagan things. Before too long, his fame was such that he was deemed fit to help construct a new constitution for the city-state of Florence. Using that power, he set up a despotism of ethics, essentially. The people of Florence were encouraged to snitch on others for petty crimes and sins, for which the perpetrators were harshly punished.

While that was going on, Savonarola was harshly criticizing the pope for his extravagant sins. Eventually, through his repeated insults, Savonarola made many powerful enemies. To where the people of Florence grew dissatisfied with the new government. He was removed from power and executed.

2. Discuss the Italian War of 1494-1498.

The Italian War of 1494-1498 started when King Charles the 8^th of France invaded Italy. When the invasion started, King Charles was trying to capture Naples (as he had a vague and distant claim to it), and as Milan was not on good terms with Naples (which was actually controlled by Spaniard’s), allowed Charles to pass through. Then stood back to watch, as he rampaged through Naples. Eventually, Milan and the other Italian stated that they realized Charles was unlikely to stop at Naples, and would gladly conquer them as well.

Furthermore, he also had a claim (of sorts) to the throne of Milan. This scared the Italian states enough for them to get together and form the league of Venice. Which also included Spain and England. Following the formation of the league of Venice, Charles left to return to France, meeting the league in battle. Eventually he got his remaining troops back to France, but with little to nothing to show for their efforts. To the point, where he even lost Naples.

3. Discuss some of the significant aspects of the reign of Louis XI.

One really significant aspect of the reign of Louis XI, was that he centralized France. Due to his aspiration to centralization, many people banded together and rebelled against him. He made the king the first person to owe loyalty to. He relied on spying, more than war. He ruled somewhat piously and fairly, but was capable of being cruel and merciless when he felt the need to. (When someone rebelled against him).

Lesson 170, Western Civilization @zbelles

Why Osmosis Is Essential To The Function Of The Kidneys

Kidney Art

1. You learned about osmosis early on in this course. Why is osmosis essential to the function of the kidneys? Be sure to mention the nephron, loops of Henley, adrenal cortex and medulla in your essay.

Osmosis is a process which is constantly occurring in our bodies. It is a process where water flows through a semi-permeable membrane. On the hyperosmotic side, the liquid has high concentrations of solutes. Which are elements such as salt, electrolytes, etc. When the liquid passes through the membrane to the hyperosmotic side, much of the solutes are separated from the water. Thus, the water becomes “free water” (fresh water).

The kidneys are osmoregulators (Osmoregulation), which means they are designed to filter toxins from water and blood. They also absorb essential amounts of nutrients and fresh water. The rest that is excreted, is referred to as waste. Salt naturally dehydrates our bodies, so the kidneys filter out excess amounts through osmosis. The Nephron is the primary structure involved in this. They contain tubules which process the filtrate.

The bowman’s capsule is a ball of capillaries which passes through the nephron. It filters small components, like solutes. The filtrate then passes into the proximal tubule, where essential components like glucose and other nutrients are reabsorbed into the blood. The Henle loop is also a very important structure which removes salt, ions, and toxins from the filtrate. Thus, making it more concentrated. Once all harmful and unnecessary elements are all separated from the free water, they are passed into the collecting duct. Then the medulla (inside layer of the kidneys) and pelvis, are excreted as urine.

Lesson 160, Biology @zbelles