Genghis Khan

Based on the biography of Genghis Khan's life, I believe that he can be interpreted in both ways. I say that he is both a psychopath and leader at the same time. From the biography, the historians concluded that Genghis experienced situations in his life that made him change and become what he was known for; an example would be when nine year old Genghis lost his father from poisoning. Following this event, Genghis started changing into someone else that people feared. Another example would be that Genghis killed his half-brother over a quarrel between fish; this further showed his ruthlessness. Genghis is also the greatest leader because of the amazing accomplishments that he achieved such as defeating various nomadic tribes and picking the best soldiers/strategies. However, even though Genghis did these things, he still faced situations that made him desperate in order to survive or achieve his goal. For example, when one of the nomadic tribes attacked Genghis' tribe, he quickly escaped with the most important people (family, best soldiers, etc), but he left behind his wife. So, knowing all of this information, I consider Genghis to be geared not completely toward a certain end of the human spectrum, but someone whose characteristics change based on the events of a given time.  

Life On An Early Medieval Manor - "Capitulary de Villis"

In my opinion, the material life and conditions within the Carolingian countryside were very good. However, this "good" only applied to the rich who had stewards and could afford all the luxuries of their estates. The conditions were kept especially clean to please the lords, while there were so many materialistic goods within the house unimaginable. For example, the living quarters included not only standard sleep equipment such as beds and pillows, but so many other items such as tables, benches, weapons, etc; nothing you'd find in a ordinary home. The amount of goods estates give a good impression on the power of the owners. Overall, the "Capitulary de Villis" was most beneficial to the stewards because it told them how and what to do in estates, but at the same time, this decree also was used by the lords to gain more wealth and power.

Postclassical India and Western Europa Map

Tang and Sui Map