MIDDLE AGES

KING JOHN AND THE PROSTITUTE

                John, besides being a rotten king, was a terrible human being.  He attempted to sleep with any woman who caught his eye, even the wives of his nobles.  Once while visiting the castle of Eustace de Vescy, he noticed that Eustace’s wife was beautiful and John decided he needed to sleep with her.  However, the wife had a spotless reputation and was unlikely to go along with the idea.  Later, when John and Eustace were alone, John professed his admiration for a ring Eustace had acquired when he had gone to the East to participate in a Crusade.  John asked to borrow it so he could have a copy made.  John then sent the ring in a note to the wife.  The note, supposedly sent by Eustace, told the wife to meet him in a house in London for a night of passion.  The wife found this odd note suspicious so she told her husband who quickly figured out John’s scheme.  Eustace hired a prostitute to take his wife’s place.  In the darkness of the night, John never knew the difference and thought he had slept with Eustace’s wife without him knowing it.  Later, at a banquet, John decided to taunt the supposedly cuckolded Eustace.  Stroking his beard, John said to Eustace, and the crowd of nobles:  “Your lady is a delightful companion in the darkness of the night.”  Silence fell across the hall as the nobles waited for the embarrassed Eustace’s response.  Eustace:  “How does your majesty know?”  John:  “By personal experience, of course.”  Eustace:  “No, my lord, it was not my wife.  Sometimes, a prostitute is encountered in quite unexpected places.”  Eustace was forced to leave the country for a while to escape the king’s anger.  He eventually returned to join the rebellion of the barons that overthrew John.

                –  maroon 18

JOHN POISONS A JILTER

                King John liked to sleep with any woman who he was attracted to.  He fell in lust with the beautiful daughter of Robert Fitz-Walter, a prominent noble.  Maud the Fair was not interested in his advances, so he had her kidnapped and placed in the White Tower in London.  When her father took offense, John had his castle seized and him banished from the kingdom.  John attempted to woo Maud, but she would have nothing to do with him.  Finally, John had her put in the worst cell in the prison, hoping the bleak existence would cause Maud to reconsider.  Maud was made of stern stuff and still spurned him.  One day, John had a poisoned egg sent to Maud and she died in great pain.  Add this to the numerous reasons why the barons rebelled against their king.

                –  maroon 18

BAD LUCK PRIEST JOKE

                During the Middle Ages, in some areas of Europe, it was considered bad luck to meet a priest first thing in the morning.  A popular joke had a woman making the sign of the cross when she encountered a priest on a country lane early one morning.  The priest asked her why she had made the sign of the cross when she saw him.  She admitted she had done it to ward off evil spirits.  “Too late, here’s your bad luck” and he pushed her in the ditch.

                –  Life in the Middle Ages by Williams p. 10-11

THE NECK VERSE

                In the Middle Ages, “benefit of clergy” referred to the ability of clergy members to avoid conviction for crimes.  This benefit was later extended to cover anyone who could read a verse from the Bible.  It was usually the first verse from the 51st Psalm.  “Have mercy upon me, Oh God, according to Thy loving kindness.  According unto the multitude of Thy tender mercies blot out my transgressions.”  This became known as the “neck verse” because being able to read it might save your neck.

                –  maroon 71

BIRD ARSONISTS

                Harold Hardrada was the King of Norway who was killed at the Battle of Stamford Bridge in 1066.  Before attempting to lay his claim to the throne of England, he and his Viking army had found employment with the Byzantine Empire.  They were tasked with conquering Sicily.  One city they laid siege to had massive walls around it and appeared impossible to capture.  Harold noticed that each morning birds flew out of the city and into the nearby forest.  And then returned to their nests in the evening.  He had his men go in the forest and capture as many of the birds as possible.  He then had twigs coated with wax and sulphur attached to them.  That evening the twigs were set on fire and the birds were released.  They immediately flew back to their nests in the attics of houses and started fires that spread through the city.  The next day, the smoldering city surrendered.

                Fuller 431

THE MAD KING

                Charles VI ruled France from 1380 – 1422.  He started off well and was known as “Charles the Beloved”, but before his reign was over he was known as “Charles the Mad”.  His insanity was evidenced in several ways.   He once murdered some of his knights in a fit.  He sometimes thought he was Saint George.   He had periods of amnesia when he could not recognize his wife and family.  (And yet he knew members of his court.)  Most bizarrely, he felt he was made of glass and feared he would be shattered if someone bumped him or he fell down.  At other times he would sprint down city streets or through the halls of the palace.  It got so bad that the entrances to his residence were bricked up so he couldn’t leave. 

 https://historycollection.co/20-historical-events-seldom-taught-in-school/19/

THE GREATEST KNIGHT

                William Marshal should not have lived to be a knight.  When he was a teenager, his father gave him as a hostage to King Stephen with the promise that he would give up his castle or his son’s life would be forfeited.  When John Marshal refused to carry out his promise, Stephen threatened to kill the young Marshal.  His father told Stephen to go right ahead.  “I still have the hammer and the anvil with which to forge still more and better sons.”  Fortunately, Stephen was too kind-hearted to murder a young man who he had grown to like.  William was freed after several months of captivity and became a knight.  He traveled to various tournaments where he proved to be a great competitor and never lost a match.  He later claimed to have defeated 500 knights in his long career.  With his acquired fame, William went on to serve five British kings.  When Henry II was king, he was tasked with mentoring his heir Henry.   He had a difficult task since Young Henry was of poor character.  Possibly because Young Henry got tired of his nagging, he was accused of an affair with the heir’s wife.  Almost surely untrue, Marshal was banished, but eventually allowed to return to Young Henry’s good graces.  When he died, Marshal carried out his promise to go on a crusade to the Holy Land.  When he returned he served Henry II and was with him to the bitter end as his son Richard the Lionheart tried to oust his father.  In a famous incident, Richard was pursuing his father when Marshal put him on his ass by spearing his horse.  He was the only man ever to unhorse the great warrior.  William, at age 43, wedded a wealthy heiress who was 17.  The marriage was a good one romantically and financially.  He served King Richard and helped Richard’s mother Eleanor of Aquitaine rule while Richard was off on the Third Crusade.  He continued his loyalty to the family by supporting King John and was with him at Runnymede when he signed the Magna Carta.  He was later protector of the young Henry III.  At age 70, he led a charge in the Battle of Lincoln.  He died at age 73. 

https://www.historyhit.com/10-facts-about-william-the-marshal/?fbclid=IwAR077J6kOzgLKNZ8QmDrwLFww-9Wp-bTad7g72ySPNXTsiUibS01Y3l09ok 

TRIAL BY ORDEAL

                The Middle Ages is infamous for its “medieval justice”.  There were various methods for determining an accused’s guilt or innocence.  Trial by compurgation involved the accused and the accuser getting as many people to swear an oath in your favor.  Whoever got the most supporters won the case.  I’m sure there was no bribery or lying, God wouldn’t put up with that.  The other forms of justice relied on Judicum Dei (the Judgment of God).  Trial by Combat was the most famous method.  The accused and the accuser would duel and God would aid the innocent (even if he was a wimp).    It was pretty much limited to the nobility, in other words, the knights.  And then there was Trial by Ordeal.  There were various versions, but all involved bodily harm.  Trial by Fire usually involved reaching into a pot of boiling water to pull out a stone.  Or it could be grasping a hot iron.  Regardless, your burnt hand was then wrapped up and God was given three days to heal you.  If the unwrapping revealed blistered skin, you were guilty.  As unjust as this sounds, there may have been some justice to it.  Think about it.  If you were guilty, you knew God would not heal you, so why put yourself through the pain.  Make it easy on yourself and confess.  (By the way, Trial by Ordeal took the place of torture for confessions.)  If you were innocent, you would probably trust in God and demand the chance to prove your innocence.  The priests who conducted the ordeal behind closed doors could judge the person to be innocent and not heat the water or the iron very much and thus ensure that God “heal” the wound.  Justice served.

https://www.thevintagenews.com/2018/05/25/trial-by-ordeal/?fbclid=IwAR2YLdSthBRh0srcOgwfKc4MXZnFwgOMr3bDmHrnmng4cUk9IDrixBsgvkI

THE KNIGHTS TEMPLAR

                In 1199 (the 100th anniversary of the First Crusaders capture of Jerusalem), French knight Hughes de Payen and eight others swore at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem that they would protect pilgrims to the Holy Land.  They took a vow of poverty, chastity, and obedience.  They were supported by King Baldwin I of Jerusalem.  He gave them part of his castle, the part near a mosque that supposedly stood on the site of the Temple of Solomon.  Officially they were the Order of Poor Knights of the Temple of Solomon, or Templars for short.  In 1127, Baldwin II sent some to Europe to arrange a marriage.  They became celebrities and soon nobles were showering the order with wealth and property.  They adopted new rules like:  never leave a battlefield or castle secretly, white habits with red crosses, tonsures and beards, and silence at meals except scripture readings.  They developed a reputation as great warriors in the fight for retaining the Holy Land.  In 1139, Pope Innocent II put the order under Church control, but this allowed it to collect tithes which made it extremely rich.  The order became a powerful banking institution.  But when you loan money, you make enemies.  In 1187, Jerusalem fell to Saladin and 230 Templars were martyred, but by then the order was no longer associated with protecting travelers.  It had become corrupted by money and power.  It had gotten too powerful for its own good.  Pope Clement V accused the order of heresy and immorality, which opened the doors for lay leaders to attack.  In 1307, King Philip IV of France decided to cancel his debts to the order by accusing it of devil worship, sodomy, and greed.  He based his charges on rumors associated with the order’s secret rites which allowed medieval minds to fantasize.  Torture led to confessions of sensational activities like spitting on the cross and being kissed nude by other members.  (This may have a been based on a ritual where the initiate spat on the cross to symbolize they were a sinner and then disrobed and were kissed to indicate they were forgiven.)  The flood gates were opened and Templar castles were looted and the order was dissolved.  Many members were executed.  In 1314, the last Grand Master was burned at the stake.

– Amazing 329-331  /  https://www.encyclopedia.com/history/modern-europe/heraldry-knighthood-and-chivalry/knights-templars

DEATH BY JOKE

                King Martin I of Aragon (1356-1410) was suffering from a bad tummy ache.  From his sickbed, he ordered that the court jester be summoned to cheer him up.  When the jester arrived, his excuse for being late was:  “I was in the next vineyard, your majesty, where I saw a young deer hanging by his tail from a tree, as if somebody had punished him for stealing figs”.  The monarch found this joke so hilarious that he laughed for three hours, then fell out of his bed, stone dead.

https://historycollection.co/20-historic-events-even-the-movies-wont-touch/10/

LADY OF THE MERCIANS

                One of the most remarkable women in British history was Aethelflaed (869-918).  She was the daughter of Alfred the Great.  He was considered great because he defeated the Danes and pushed them into northern England.  He ruled Wessex wisely from 877-899.  He named his daughter “noble beauty”.  At age 15, she was wedded in a political marriage to a Mercian nobleman named Aethelred.  The wedding almost did not take place as on the day of, the Danes attempted to assassinate her.  She grabbed a sword and helped repulse the attackers.  She and Aethelred formed a partnership and jointly ruled Mercia.  Some would say she wore the pants in the family.  They built fortified villages to counter Danish invasions.  In 911, her husband died and she took over as sole ruler.  She earned the title “Lady of the Mercians”.  She continued to fight off Viking incursions with her army winning several battles.

–  Amazing p. 391

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C3%86thelfl%C3%A6d

BATHING IN THE MIDDLE AGES

                I know you’re thinking this will be a short story because they didn’t bathe, right?  Wrong.  In fact, bathing by the middle and upper classes was common.  Nobles had wooden bathtubs and loved hot baths.  They had the servants to do all the water boiling and hauling.  They would toss in flowers and herbs.  They even washed their hands and faces before most meals.  For the middle class, towns and cities had public bathhouses that were frequented weekly, if not daily.  They were called “stews” and were often associated with prostitution.  Since the bathing was mixed gender, you didn’t necessarily have to bring money.  That’s good because sometimes merchants went to the stew naked to discourage thieves and pickpockets.  Peasants were not against bathing, it just was inconvenient except during the summer months.  When it was too cold to take a dip, they used cold water and a damp cloth to clean the body parts that showed.  Attitudes changed in the Late Middle Ages for various reasons.  The various plagues, like the Black Plague, caused a wave of hydrophobia due to diseases being associated with bad water.  People may have been smellier, but diseases like cholera and typhoid did go down.  “Experts” posited that diseases came from odors (miasmas) and opening your pores through hot baths allowed bad air (“malaria”) in.  In the 1400’s, public baths went out of fashion because their use of wood to heat the pools was dangerous, plus firewood became more expensive as forests were cleared.  Colognes could hide the smell and the new linen clothes replaced woolen ones.  Since linen could be cleaned easier, the middle class and nobles could disguise their hygiene issues with clean clothes.  It was better to look good than smell good.

                –  Amazing 446-48 

                https://www.medievalists.net/2013/04/did-people-in-the-middle-ages-take-baths/

NINJA FACTS

            There is a lot of mythology surrounding the ninjas and much of it is not based on facts.  The origin story points to them evolving from some priests living in the mountains who finally had enough of harassment from government forces and samurai.  They decided to fight back by becoming a new style of warrior apart from the samurai.  The term ninja is not accurate.  They were called “shinobi no mono” which means man of perseverance and stealth.  Their sensei (trainer) taught them shinobi no jutsu (not ninjutsu) which meant “skills of perseverance and stealth”.   Stealth did not mean they were invisible.  They probably wore white clothes for moonlit nights and black for the dark.  However, during the day they blended in by dressing as common folk.  They did not wear masks.   The samurai had a code of conduct called bushido that was similar to the chivalry code of medieval knights.  The ninja, on the other hand, were willing to do dishonorable activities the samurai frowned upon.  They became spies, arsonists, and assassins.  They were mercenaries who sided with whoever paid.  They found plenty of employers during the “period of the warring states” or Sengoku period of the 15th and 16th Centuries.  They specialized in espionage and infiltration.  If a castle was besieged, they could climb in using various climbing tools like ropes, pitons, and clawed gloves and sandals.  Once inside they might commit arson or sow chaos.  One time, a shinobi turned the flag upside down to show they could go anywhere.  Their weapons included swords (but seldom the samurai katana because that was reserved for them), bows, and knives (but apparently not throwing stars).  Their unique weapon was a kusarigama which was a sickle with a ball and chain attached.  They also had a type of hand grenade and could use a smaller amount of gunpowder to aid in their escape.  Similar to that was an eggshell with eye irritant that could be thrown at the feet of pursuers.

https://www.history101.com/facts-about-ninjas/

https://kids.kiddle.co/Ninja

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ninja

MEDIEVAL PEASANT ENTERTAINMENT

            Life for a medieval peasant in England was not all work and no play.  In fact, they had a lot of downtime on their hands.  Here are some of the ways they entertained themselves.

  1. archery – This sport was popular with men and required so British archers were prepared for war.  The Archery Law of 1252 required weekly practice.  This was usually done on Sundays after mass at a place called the “butt”.  Competitions were common, like the one depicted in the Robin Hood movies.
  2. wandering minstrels – These entertainers traveled the countryside and came to villages periodically.  Besides singing songs, they might also juggle, do magic, recite poetry, dance, and even eat fire.
  3. storytellers – Similar to minstrels, they traveled telling myths, legends, and even the latest news.  They were responsible for folktales like Robin Hood.
  4. soccer – Or as it was called in England, football.  The game was played with an inflated pig’s bladder which was a step up from the original  head of an enemy.  It usually was a competition between two villages.  The goals would be placed in the market place of each village.  The number of players was unlimited.  The game was brutal resulted in many injuries, and an occasional death.  It got so bad that in 1363 King Edward III banned it.
  5. “The Lord of Misrule” – Annually the local lord would choose one peasant to be the “Lord of Misrule” for a day.  He would be dressed in a colorful costume with bells on the arms and legs.  The lucky individual would dance to the church and then order a feast that everyone would enjoy. 
  6. bowling – This was basically the same game as today except it was played outdoors.  There were nine pins instead of ten.
  7. water jousting – Peasants could not joust on horseback, but they could joust on a local pond.  Two teams would each get in a row boat with one holding a pole that he would use to knock opponents into the water as the boats rowed toward each other.
  8. taverns – Medieval men drank a lot.  They also gambled at taverns.  A popular game was played with dice.  It was called Hazzards and was similar to modern craps.
  9. bear-baiting – A bear would be chained to a post in the middle of the village and dogs would be sicced on him.  Besides the fun of watching this, you could bet on the bear or the dogs.  Some bears became famous and would travel from town to town.  Shakespeare mentioned a bear named Sackerson.  A variation of this was bull-baiting which could be done by the peasant men instead of dogs.  They wouldn’t try to kill the bull, just tease him.  If you could not afford either, you could use a cat.  The cat would be tied to a post with its back to the post and its claws left free.  Men would compete by having their hands tied behind their backs and they would try to bash the cat with their forehead.  While their friends and family cheered them on.
  10. shin-kicking – Competitors would kick each other in the shins until one gave up.

https://historycollection.co/the-intriguing-past-times-of-peasants-in-the-middle-ages/16/

SCHOLASTICA DAY RIOTS

                In the Middle Ages, it was common for there to be animosity between university students and the local townsmen.  Sometimes this got out of hand and led to deaths.  On Feb. 10, 1335 (St. Scholastica’s Day), two students from Oxford University were having a drink and accused the taverner of poor quality drinks.  An argument ensued followed by drinks being thrown in the taverner’s face and then the students beat him up.  The Mayor of Oxford demanded the university turn over the boys, but it refused.  200 students rallied in support of their mates and rioted in the town.  This led to a counter-riot by the townspeople.  They approached the university yelling “Havoc! Havoc! Smyte fast!  Give gode knocks!”  In the ensuing melee, 63 students were killed and 30 locals died.  It was determined that the town was most to blame so every year on February 10, the mayor and his council had to march bare-headed through the town, attend mass, and pay a penny for each dead student.  This ritual went on for 425 years until in 1825, the mayor put a stop to it.

https://historycollection.co/myths-about-the-middle-ages-debunked/6/

THE WRECK OF THE WHITE SHIP

                William the Aethling was the heir to King Henry I of England.  He grew up a spoiled brat and was said to be “destined to be food for the fire”.  In 1120, he accompanied his father on a diplomatic mission to France.  He was 17 years old and loved to party.  So before boarding his ship called the White Ship, he and his entourage got rollicking drunk.  When they boarded the ship, they were hours behind his father who had sailed earlier.  William challenged the captain and crew to catch up with his father.  The crew were drunk too and were cheered on by the inebriated passengers.  The drunken ship careened out of the harbor and ran into a sunken rock.  It went down quickly taking hundreds of people, including the wastrel son of a king.

https://historycollection.co/myths-about-the-middle-ages-debunked/25/

ORIGINS OF FOODS AND BEVERAGES

cocktail –  There are various possibilities for the origin of the term for a mixed drink.  One is it was from when gamblers would toast the gamecock who won the cockfight by having the most tail-feathers remaining.   Another is that there was a bar in Elmsford, NY which was decorated with feathers.  One day in 1776, a drunken patron asked for one of “those cocktails” and the bartender gave him a mixed drink with a feather stuck in it.

doughnut –   A New England schoolboy named Hanson Gregory complained to his mother about her cakes being too heavy in the middle. He asked her to fry the dough with a hole in the middle.

grog –  British Admiral Edward Vernon was known as “Old Grog” because he wore a cloak of coarse cloth called grogram.  He decided to cut down on drunkenness in the Royal Navy by diluting the daily rum ration and the mixture was named after him.

ice cream sundae –  It was illegal to sell ice cream with soda on Sundays in some parts of the country in the 19th Century.  In Evanston, Illinois, confectioners got around the rule by substituting syrup for soda.  They called it a “Sunday”, but changed the last letter to avoid religious controversy.

sandwich –  The Earl of Sandwich loved to play cards and did not like to get up from the table to eat.  He instructed his servants to bring him meat put between pieces of bread so he could continue to play uninterrupted.

spam –  The name came from a contest to name the new product.  The reward was $100.  The winning entry was an amalgam of Spiced hAM.

Worcestershire sauce –  When Lord Sandys returned to England from India around 1835, he brought back a recipe for a sauce he liked.  He turned the recipe over to two chemists, John Lea and William Perrin from Worcester.  They concocted it, but it tasted bad.  They stored the jars in the cellar.  Months later, they decided to give it another taste and discovered it had aged well.

                –  Strange 540-543

ORIGINS

ampersand –  The & symbol originated with Roman shorthand.  It combines their letters e and t for the word et which meant “and”.

Christmas tree –  One of the first references was to Martin Luther having a tree with candles to remind him of the bright, starlit sky.  Tree worship went way back in Germany.   Pagans viewed the tree as a fertility symbol because its leaves were reborn in spring.  Christians morphed this into a reference to Christ’s birth.  It helped that the tree’s shape resembles a church steeple.

cigarettes –  During the siege of Acre in 1799, Turkish soldiers were facing off against Napoleon’s army.  A shell destroyed their hookah which they used to smoke tobacco.  They placed the tobacco in the touch papers they used to fire their cannons.

kindergarten –  Frederick Froebel had a bad childhood and wanted to make things better for kids like him.  He developed the “small child occupation institute” for 4 and 5 year-olds in 1837 in Germany.  Later, he shortened the name to “children’s garden” or “kindergarten” in German.

matches –  John Walker, a British chemist, invented them by discovering that friction ignited potassium chloride combined with antimony sulfide in 1827.  He did not bother to get a patent.

saluting –  Roman legionaries would raise their right hand to reveal it did not contain a weapon.  The arm was raised, the hand was turned slightly to the left, and the palm was facing away.  Later, knights would raise their visors to identify themselves.

table knives –  In the 17th  Century, male diners would use pointed daggers to stab their food.  They also used them to pick their teeth.  Cardinal Richelieu was offended by this habit and ordered the ends to be blunted.

                –  Strange 544-8

MEDIEVAL PEASANT HYGIENE

  1. The upper class bathed in tubs.  The middle class went to public baths.  Peasants had trouble getting fresh water and heating it, but they tried to clean themselves for hygiene and aesthetics.  And to get rid of fleas and lice.  Some used wash basins or went to the local water body.  They used soap made of salt and lime.  Most peasants washed their hands and face daily.  They ate with their hands, but they knew to wash them.
  2. Castles had a room with a seat with a hole in it that served as the bathroom.  It emptied either into a cesspit or straight into the moat.  In towns and villages, outhouses could be used.  Many families used chamber pots or waste buckets, especially at night.  There was no such thing as toilet paper so they used straw, grass, moss, or hay.  The contents were supposed to be emptied in the local cesspit or river.  However, they were often emptied out the window into the street.
  3. Teeth were cleaned using twigs as tooth brushes.  Or a piece of wool cloth.  Tooth paste was made from salt and sage.
  4. Peasants slept on straw.  The straw was home to bedbugs, fleas, lice, and rats.  They would mix in flowers and herbs to reduce the smell.  Because of the lice and dirt, peasants used fine-toothed combs to remove lice.  They would delouse each other.  It was something of a social thing.  Another solution was to wash your hair with sea water or sniff lavender.  Fleas could be caught by spreading glue on a slice of bread and then sticking a candle in it to attract the fleas.
  5. Most men did not shave partly because mirrors were so poor.  Middle class men might go to the local barber weekly if they could afford it.  The barbers also served as the town doctor as bleeding was considered the treatment for many illnesses.  Some men went to the barber for a shave and a bleeding – to stay healthy.

                –  https://www.ranker.com/list/hygiene-medieval-peasants/erin-mccann?fbclid=IwAR0YWPrf5AxlDqQnullRwiYIfYW-fxI9_3zKeezAs2lMlAKBDrUse4kUarg

LIFE IN A CASTLE

  1. A castle was a smelly place. This was partly due to the cesspool that the bathroom emptied into.  The bathroom (garderobe in France) consisted of a plank with a hole in it positioned over a shaft that led into the cesspool.  There was usually no door to the room, so no privacy.
  2. There was little privacy in most of the castle. The lord and his family had private quarters, but no one else did.  Most of the servants slept on the floor in the Great Hall.
  3. Castles were dank, dark, and cold. There were few windows and they were narrow to prevent arrows easily entering them.  The family quarters had fire places, but everyone else shivered during the winter.
  4. The floors were covered with reeds and herbs to soak up the various items thrown on the floor. This was especially true in the Great Hall where diners would throw bones, etc. on the floor during meals.
  5. Every castle had a chapel. The nobility went to mass daily.
  6. Stairways were circular and ran clockwise. Why clockwise?  An attacker advancing up the stairs would have a hard time using their sword arm.

https://www.ranker.com/list/what-life-was-like-in-medieval-castles/shanell-mouland?ref=collections_btm&l=2805444&collectionId=2108&li_source=LI&li_medium=desktop-bottom-collection

THE JESTER

                Entertainment in a castle sometimes consisted of travelling minstrels, jugglers, and acrobats.  Most famous were the jesters.  Jesters evolved from storytellers.  Sometimes the lord employed one full-time.  They became associated with kings.  Henry VII had one called Roland the Musical Farter.  Some of them had mental or physical problems.  Medieval people found those sorts of things funny.  Most wore brightly colored outfits, sometimes with a hood with donkey ears.  Jesters were given a lot of leeway in their humor, which could be silly or crude.  They were the only people who could get away with making fun of the nobility, but it was a fine line they walked.  One jester to the French king stepped over that line and was sentenced to execution.  When asked how he wanted to die, he responded:  “Of old age”.  He was pardoned.

https://www.english-heritage.org.uk/castles/life-in-a-castle/#lord-and-lady

GONG-FARMER

                There were many terrible medieval jobs, but few worse than that of the gong-farmer.  Castles had bathrooms that consisted of a room with a plank with a hole in it positioned over a shaft that emptied into a cesspool.  The poop was called “gong”.  Naturally, the cesspool was very smelly.  Periodically, the lord of the castle would hire a gong-farmer to empty the cesspool.  He did this by shoveling the waste into baskets and wheelbarrows.  He then would bury it or use it for fertilizer in the fields.  It was a well-paid job, but could be dangerous.  One gong-farmer drowned on the job.

https://www.english-heritage.org.uk/castles/life-in-a-castle/#lord-and-lady

FACTS ABOUT JOAN OF ARC

  1. Historians messed up on her name. Her actual name is not clearly known, but it was not Joan of Arc.  The candidates include:  Jehanne d’Arc, Jehanne Tarc, Jehanne Romee, or Jehanne de Vouthon.  She was called Jehannette when she was growing up.  At her trial, she called herself “Joan la Pucelle” (Joan the Maid).
  2. As a teenager she began to have visions that she claimed were saints like Michael, Catherine, and Margaret. They told her to help put the Dauphin Charles on the throne of France.  She was also told to dress like a man and cut her hair short.
  3. Historians, scientists, and doctors have tried to substitute a medical explanation for her visions (or as they called them – hallucinations). Theories include:  migraines, bipolar disorder, brain lesions, genetic epilepsy, or bovine tuberculosis.
  4. When she was allowed to meet Charles, he tested her by hiding in the crowd and having a noble masquerade as the Dauphin. She bypassed the fake and went straight to Charles.  She then proved her abilities by reciting a prayer that Charles was thinking of and finding a sword hidden behind an altar.
  5. She did not actually fight in battle. She led from behind while holding a banner to inspire the men.  She was close enough to the fighting to be wounded twice.  She was hit in the shoulder by an arrow at the siege of Orleans and hit in the thigh by a crossbow bolt in her attack on Paris.
  6. After fulfilling her mission of getting Charles crowned King, she continued her military career by attacking the Burgundians who were allied with the British. The campaign was a disaster and she was thrown from her horse and captured.  The Burgundians sold her to the British.  Charles, one of the greatest ingrates in history, did nothing to get her back.
  7. The British were determined to get revenge on this young woman who had humiliated them. Originally, she was charged with 70 counts, including sorcery and horse theft.  These were whittled down to 12 which concentrated on her wearing of men’s clothes and claiming to communicate with God.  She ended up confessing to these two acts of blasphemy and accepted life imprisonment.  However, within a few days she put her male clothes back on (possibly to avoid rape from her jailers) and claimed she had heard voices again.  The British judges were enraged and convicted her of “relapsed heresy” and condemned her to be burned at the stake.  This took place in Rouen in front of 10,000.
  8. Her brothers found a woman who looked like her and claimed she was still alive. It was a scheme to make money, but eventually the woman admitted she was a fake.
  9. Joan had a bad temper at times. She once smacked a soldier for stealing meat.  On another occasion, she forced all the prostitutes and mistresses to leave the army camp.
  10. In 1909, a Parisian hair designer revived Joan’s short haircut. The bob haircut caught on with the flappers in the 1920s.  Coincidentally, she was canonized in 1920.

https://www.factinate.com/people/24-courageous-facts-joan-arc-maid-orleans/

https://www.history.com/news/7-surprising-facts-about-joan-of-arc

BATTLE OF CRECY

  1. It was the first significant land battle of the Hundred Years War. The war began when British King Edward III claimed the throne of France after the death of Philip IV.  Edward invaded France on July 12, 1346 after the French had threatened to take back British-held lands in France.  He launched a chevauchee which was a march through enemy territory doing as much looting and destruction as his army could.
  2. Edward made a stand when a large French army led by King Philip VI approached. Edward had 4,000 and 10,000 longbowmen.  Philip had over 20,000 men. 
  3. Edward positioned his army on a slope with his flanks protected by woods. This forced the French to make a frontal attack.  His archers were formed into harrows (v-shaped) on the wings and in the middle.  In between were his dismounted knights, including one unit led by his 16-year-old  son, The Black Prince.  The British dug pits in front to disable the horses.
  4. The French rushed into the battle although Edward was going nowhere, they were exhausted, and reinforcements were coming.
  5. The French led with their mercenary Genoese crossbowmen to soften up the British, but the longbowmen outranged them and could fire more rapidly. To make matters worse, the crossbowmen did not have their palises (wooden shields) for protection, having left them with the baggage train.  After a few minutes of pelting, the Genoese retreated.  The impatient French knights proceeded to hack their way through the Genoese, considering them cowards and traitors.
  6. The French knights were hit with a blizzard of arrows. Each longbowman had 72 arrows. It is estimated that as many as half a million arrows might have been fired in the battle.  The bodkin tips could penetrate plate armor at 200 yards, but most of the damage was done to the unarmored horses.  Many a knight was spilled onto the ground and trampled.  
  7. The French may have launched up to 16 separate charges. Some French knights made it through the blizzard of arrows to reach the British knights.  The British used pole-arms to knock the French down and then the longbowmen could kill them with knives (usually to the face after lifting their visors).  At one point the Black Prince was in the thick of the fighting.  When someone reported this to his father and asked if he wanted to lead the reserve to rescue his son, Edward famously said:  “Let the boy win his spurs”.
  8. Towards the end of the day, blind King John of Bavaria insisted on being led into battle by his retainers. They were all killed.  Philip had two horses killed and took an arrow to the jaw.
  9. This may be the first use of gunpowder weapons with the British using some small guns that fired stone balls or metal arrows.
  10. The British lost only about 200 dead. The French lost 4,000, including 1,500 of their best knights.
  11. The British battle cry was “God and St. George” and the French was “God and St. Denis”.

https://www.historyhit.com/facts-about-the-battle-of-crecy/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Cr%C3%A9cy

https://www.britishbattles.com/one-hundred-years-war/battle-of-crecy/

FACTS ABOUT RICHARD THE LIONHEART

  1. His famous nickname was Richard Couer de Lion, which translates to Richard the Lionheart, not Lionhearted.
  2. He was born in 1157. He was the third son of Henry II of England and Eleanor of Aquitaine.  He was born in England, but he probably never learned to speak English.  The royal family spoke French.
  3. At age 9 he was betrothed to Princess Alais (Alys), the daughter of France’s Louis VII. It was agreed the two would marry when they came of age and Alais came to live with Henry’s family in the meantime.  Henry took possession of Alais’ dowry, a valuable province of France, before the marriage happened.  In fact, the marriage never occurred.  And to make matters worse, Henry took Alais as his mistress!
  4. In 1173, at age 16, Richard joined his brothers Henry and Geoffrey in rebelling against their father. Henry II put down the revolt and forgave his sons, but imprisoned Eleanor for supporting the rebellion.  She was held in castle arrest for the rest of Henry’s life, which was for about fifteen years.  Part of the reason for the imprisonment was to ensure the good behavior of Richard who she had a special bond with his mother.
  5. In 1189, Richard rebelled again when his father threatened to give Richard’s province of the Aquitaine to his younger brother John. Richard joined with the French King Philip II to make war on Henry.  They defeated Henry and he was forced to reconcile with Richard and promise him the throne when he died, which he did two days later.
  6. Richard was the most famous warrior of the Middle Ages. He commanded troops against rebels at age 16.  He is most famous for leading the Third Crusade to try to recapture Jerusalem after it fell to Saladin.  He was successful at first, capturing Acre after a siege and defeating Saladin in battle at Arsuf.  However, his reputation was tarnished by executing 2,700 Muslim captives in Acre and his inability to capture Jerusalem.
  7. On the way back from the Crusade, he was captured in Germany by forces loyal to Leopold V, Duke of Austria. Leopold had held a grudge against Richard since he had shamed him at the siege of Acre.  Leopold turned him over to the Holy Roman Emperor Henry VI, who also was a foe.  Henry held him for a huge ransom equal to 2-3 times the annual income of the British Crown.  Eleanor raised the money and got her son released.  John, who he had left as regent, tried to pay Henry to keep Richard imprisoned!
  8. Richard returned to England, but only spent about a month before he was off to France to make war on Philip (who he also had quarreled with on the Crusade). In all, Richard spent only six months of his ten-year reign in England.
  9. He made a political marriage with Berengeria of Navarre at age 31. After their honeymoon, she accompanied him on the Crusade, but ended up leaving early.  They saw little of each other after that and had no children, which was a pity because that meant John became the next king.  Berengeria never set foot in England while she was queen, although she apparently went there after his death.
  10. When Richard was crowned in 1189, Jews were forbidden to attend. When some wealthy Jews showed up with gifts, they were rudely tossed out.  This inspired a wave of anti-semitism that resulted in murders and burning of property.  The public felt Richard had given the green light.  He had to forcefully call a stop to it and had some of the perpetrators executed to restore order.
  11. He had an embarrassing death for such a great warrior. A peasant hit him with a crossbow bolt during a siege of a castle.  The wound became infected and he died two days later.
  12. Some historians have posited that he was a homosexual, but the jury is still out on that. It is possible that he was bisexual.  It seems unlikely that he had an affair with Philip II of France.  Sorry, “Lion in Winter” fans.
  13. If there was a Robin Hood, it is highly unlikely that they met. The “Robin Hood” movies are partly responsible for the overly favorable view people have of Richard.  (He is sometimes known as “Richard of the Last Reel” because of his obligatory appearances at the end of the movies.)  In fact, he was not a good king and certainly not a good person.  It also helps your reputation to be followed by one of the worst kings.

https://www.historyhit.com/facts-about-richard-the-lionheart/

https://www.historyextra.com/period/medieval/8-things-you-probably-didnt-know-about-richard-the-lionheart/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_I_of_England

https://www.factinate.com/people/25-bloody-facts-king-richard-lionheart/

https://www.historyforkids.net/richard-the-lionheart.html

THE ASSASSINS

                The Assassins were an heretical Islamic sect founded by Hassan-I-Sabbah.  He supposedly killed two of his sons, one for drinking wine.  They were officially called the Nizari Ismailis and controlled several mountain-top castles in Persia and Syria.  From these fortresses they conducted guerrilla warfare against other Muslims and then the Crusaders.  They became famous as hired assassins.  Teams of Nizaris would approach their victim in disguise and dispatch them with daggers in a public place.  It was a suicide mission which they willingly performed with the promise of beautiful women in a paradise.  Two of their more famous victims were Raymond, Count of Tripoli, and Conrad, King of Jerusalem.  Conrad was killed when two assassins approached him with a letter for him to read.  They even tried to kill Saladin twice.  According to legend, he laid siege to one of their castles for revenge, but lifted the siege after finding a dagger under his pillow and a note that he was not safe anywhere.  Europe first learned of them from the writings of Marco Polo.  It was he who said they were called “assassins” as a corruption of “hashish”.  Supposedly, they were hashish eaters.  Crusaders believed they were led by the “Old Man of the Mountain”.  He would send his hit men down to kill prominent men.  Their reign of terror ended with conquest by Genghis Khan’s grandson Hulagu in the 1200’s.

https://www.ancient.eu/The_Assassins/

–  The Greatest War Stories Never Told  pp. 14-15

MONGOLS AND CATS AND SWALLOWS

                In the early 1200’s, Genghis Khan invaded China.  The Mongol army was unstoppable in battle, but not really suited for sieges.  When it reached the city of Volohai, they ran into a brick wall, so to speak.  Actually, the walls were built of stone and they were high.  The Mongols attempted storming with ladders, but this was repulsed.  Genghis Khan settled down to a long siege which was difficult for both sides.  After several weeks, Genghis Khan made the leaders of Volohai an offer.  If they provided him with 1,000 cats and 10,000 swallows, he would lift the siege.  It seemed like a good deal and the cats and swallows were rounded up and delivered.  Then Genghis Khan had his men attach cotton balls to the cats and swallows and set them on fire.  When released, they headed back home, setting fire to the city.  In the confusion of putting out the fires, the Mongols attacked and took the city.

–  The Greatest War Stories Never Told  pp. 16-17

https://nationalinterest.org/blog/buzz/how-mongols-made-world-tremble-38262

THE TURTLE SHIPS

                The Turtle Ships were used in the Seven Year War (1592-1599) between Japan and Korea.  Although they had existed before 1592, Admiral Yi Sun-Shin improved the ship and used it to defeat the Japanese navy in several battles.  The ships, called “kobukson” by the Koreans, have been called the first armored ships in history.  They were floating fortresses.  Basically galleys with roofs, they resembled the ironclads of the Civil War.  The roof was curved like that of a turtle and it had iron spikes on it to discourage boarding (which was the main Japanese tactic).  It was believed by some to be iron-plated, although some historians argue that only the spikes were iron.  A typical kobukson was 100-120 feet long, 20-30 feet wide, and 20 feet high.  There was a lower deck for the 80 oarsmen (four to an oar) and another deck for the cannons which fired through portholes.  There was dragon head on the front.  It might have a cannon firing through its mouth. Or it could emit smoke in what would have been the first use of a smoke screen in history. 

https://www.military-history.org/articles/wmd-the-turtle-ship.htm

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turtle_ship

–  The Greatest War Stories Never Told  pp. 30-31

THE BURNT CAKES

Once upon a time, Alfred of Wessex was down on his luck during his war with the Danes.  As his army hid in the swamps, King Alfred would scout the enemy disguised as a peasant.  He entered a Danish village pretending to be a beggar going house-to-house while observing the village’s defenses.  At one hut, he was greeted by a large Danish woman (probably named Bertha).  When he begged for something to eat, the woman promised him some cake she was baking, but she had an errand to run so he would have to monitor the baking.  Alfred agreed, but not at all interested in a cake, he spent the time looking out the window at the town.  Soon, he smelled something burning and at that awkward moment Bertha returned.  Boy was she angry when she saw that her cakes were burning.  She proceeded to give the beggar a good scolding, not realizing she was yelling at the King of England!

  •  Little, Brown  p.13-14

INTERESTING FACTS ABOUT HALLOWEEN

  1. The Romans had a festival for the goddess Pomona, who was the harvest goddess. The apple was associated with her.  Another festival was called Feralia.  It was in late October and marked the passing of the dead. 
  2. The eerie aspects were influenced by the Celtic festival of Samhaim (“summer’s end”) celebrated in Ireland (considered the birthplace of Halloween), England, and northern France. It was held around the first of November and marked the final day of harvesting and the beginning of the “dark” part of the year.  It was believed that on that day the border between the real world and the spirit world was blurred and spirits could come to Earth.  Bonfires were lit for protection and people wore costumes to scare off the spirits. People put out treats for the spirits.
  3. In Ireland and Scotland, a tradition called “guising” developed. People would dress in costumes and go to homes asking for food and money in exchange for songs, poems, and “tricks”.  This was similar to the practice called “souling” where on Hallowmas (November 1), the poor would go door to door praying for the dead and be given “soul cakes”. 
  4. In the 8th Century, Pope Gregory III created All Saints’ Day and as was common, the Church coopted the pagan feasts days of Feralia and Pomona. He placed the holiday on Nov. 1.  It was believed that departed souls roamed the Earth until that day and on All Hallow’s Eve, they searched for enemies. People began to wear costumes and masks to hide their identities. 
  5. Ireland had the tale of Stingy Jack. Jack tricked the Devil so he was not allowed in Hell and Heaven didn’t want him because of his reputation for deceit.  He was forced to roam Earth with a lantern, hence Jack of the Lantern. The original jack-o-lanterns were turnips.  It was Americans who shifted it to pumpkins. Jack used his lantern to lure nighttime travelers away from their path.  Halloween pranksters carried the jack-o-lanterns to either represent the dead spirits or to ward them off.
  6. In the 18th Century, young women believed Halloween was a good time to get a prediction about their future mate. One superstition was to throw apple peels over their shoulder to reveal the initials of their future husband.  Holding up a candle in a dark room in front of a mirror would reveal the image of their husband.  Bobbing for apples was a competition to see who would be married first.
  7. Halloween had lost popularity in America, but then the potato famine brought an influx of Irish immigrants and they brought a strong affinity for Halloween. Originally, it was just the trick part as pranksters tipped over outhouses, opened farmers’ livestock gates, or egging houses.  In the cities, it took the form of vandalism.  City fathers were looking for a way to reduce the property damage, so they encouraged the dressing up and asking for treats part.  “Trick or treating” became popular during World War II and the candy companies quickly picked up on this and pushed the holiday.

https://www.goodhousekeeping.com/holidays/halloween-ideas/a35150/halloween-facts/

https://www.factretriever.com/halloween-facts

https://www.10best.com/interests/festivals-events/10-fun-facts-you-didnt-know-about-halloween/

https://www.livescience.com/40596-history-of-halloween.html

THE DEATH OF THE LION-HEART

                One of the greatest warriors of the Middle Ages died an embarrassing death by way of a crossbow bolt fired by a peasant.  Not exactly the way Richard the Lion-heart envisioned his death.  King Richard I of England had lived the life of a legend.  The second son of Henry II and his wife Eleanor of Aquitaine, Richard had waited a long time to become king.  In the meanwhile, he had rebelled against his father and in the end had hounded his dad to death.  Richard was crowned in 1189 and a year later, he fulfilled a vow to go on crusade to liberate Jerusalem.  The Third Crusade is the most famous partly because the greatest European warrior and champion of Christianity was up against the greatest Muslim leader of his age, Saladin.  Richard increased his fame, but in a losing effort.  On his return trip to France (he did not consider England to be his home and spent only 6 months of his ten-year reign there), he was taken captive by one of his many enemies.  Eleanor raised the huge ransom and Richard was finally freed after almost a year locked in a castle.  Richard was now determined to get payback against King Philip Augustus of France.  Philip had left the Crusade to grab English-held land in France.

 In March, 1199, Richard laid siege to the castle of a French nobleman who had rebelled against Richard and had allied with Philip.  The castle was at Chalus-Chabrol.  (One version of Richard’s motivation was that there was rumored treasure in the castle.)  The siege was routine until Richard went out riding to reconnoiter the castle on March 26, 1199.  A cross-bow bolt hit him in the shoulder.  The wound was not deemed serious, but gangrene set in and Richard knew his time was coming.  The castle fell and the assassin was brought to the dying king.  Meanwhile, the castle fell and the crossbowman named Bertram de Gourdon was captured.  Richard ordered the man brought to him as he lay in his deathbed.  Upon asking Bertram why he shot at him, Bertram declared that Richard killed his father and two brothers and would have killed him, too.  He was glad he got the chance and was ready for any revenge Richard had in mind.  “I shall cheerfully suffer all the torments that can be inflicted, were I sure of having delivered the world of a tyrant who filled it with blood and carnage.” Richard was impressed by these words of a fellow warrior and ordered that the young man be freed and not harmed.  (In a sad postscript, Richard’s men did not accede to his wishes and the boy was flayed alive and then hanged after Richard died.)  When the end was inevitable, Richard called for his mother (not his wife) and Eleanor was there when her beloved died on April 6, 1199.  Richard’s body was disemboweled with the insides buried on site.  His heart was buried next to his older brother in Rouen Cathedral.  The rest of the body was entombed next to his father in the Abbey of Fontevraud. 

https://www.historyhit.com/how-did-richard-the-lionheart-die/

https://www.medieval.eu/the-gruesome-death-of-richard-lionheart/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_I_of_England

–  The Oxford Book of Military Anecdotes by Max Hastings  p. 72

BATTLE OF SLUYS

                In 1337, the Hundred Years’ War began when French King Philip IV died and English King Edward III claimed the throne.  On June 24, 1340, Edward’s fleet won the first major battle of the war at the port of Sluys.  Sluys was one of the biggest ports in Europe at that time (it is silted over now).  The British fleet consisted of 120-150 merchant ships called cogs.  They were small and propelled by a single mast and oars.  Each carried a crew of 5-6 and 15-20 archers and men-at-arms.  The cogs had been adapted for warfare by adding fore and after castles and crow nests.  The French fleet combined French, Castilian, and Genoese galleys.  Smaller than the British ships, they were more maneuverable.  In anticipation of the British attack, the French fleet had foolishly abandoned its maneuverability advantage by tying their ships together to create a formidable defensive barrier.  Edward’s tactic was to bombard the ships with longbowmen (the French used crossbowmen) and then board with his knights.  He could pick which parts of the line to assault which meant the other French ships could not provide support.  The British knights would clear one ship and then move on to the next.  Few prisoners were taken, as anyone who did not look like they had some worth in ransoming, was tossed overboard.  (After the battle, the British joked that the fish in the harbor would end up speaking French.)  It was a complete rout with the French losing 190 ships (166 captured).  The British lost only two ships.  The French lost 16-20,000 men to the British 400-600.  Edward was wounded in the thigh by a crossbow.  No one wanted to break the news to French King Philip VI, so the court jester was given the task.  Jester:  “Our knights are much braver than the English.”  King:  “How so?”  Jester:  “The English did not dare to jump into the sea in full armor.”   The result was there was no longer a French fleet to keep Edward from landing in France.  This was very bad news for French peasants as chevauchees were in their future.

https://www.britishbattles.com/one-hundred-years-war/battle-of-sluys/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Sluys

THE REAL PIED PIPER OF HAMELIN

                You may have heard the creepy children’s story of the Pied Piper of Hamelin.  The most common version comes from the Brothers Grimm.  The city of Hamelin in Germany was having a rat problem when a man dressed in multi-colored clothing (“pied”) offered to remove them.  The city fathers promised to pay him a fee.  He used a flute to lure the rats into the river.  When he returned for his payment, the citizens refused to pay him.  Later, when the adults were in church, the Pied Piper lured the children out of town into a cave where they were never seen again.  The tale led to the phrase “pay the piper” referring to a bill you were hoping to not have to pay.  It also spawned the term “pied piper” referring to a charismatic man who gets people to do a bad thing.  Surprisingly, there is some history behind this tale.  It supposedly occurred on June 26, 1284.  There was a stained- glass panel in the Church of Hamelin which depicted a flute-playing figure marching ahead of kids dressed in white.  The window was from around 1300.  (The rats were not added to the story until the 16th Century.)  There is a record from 1384 referring to the 100th anniversary of when they lost their children.  Why were they lost?  There are various theories.  It may have been a drowning incident.  Or a plague.  The strongest evidence is that the Piper represents recruiting agents who would organize the emigration of children (or maybe families –  the children of the city) to settle in depopulated areas of Germany.  Or, less likely, some children were sold into slavery.  Regardless, stop telling this tale to your children.    

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pied_Piper_of_Hamelin

https://www.bbc.com/travel/article/20200902-the-grim-truth-behind-the-pied-piper

https://theportalist.com/the-chilling-true-story-behind-the-pied-piper-of-hamelin

HISTORY VERSUS HOLLYWOOD:  Braveheart’s Battle of Falkirk

                As teachers, we can use films as a supplementary resource to give a visual addition to what we teach.  But we must be careful what we use and what we recommend to our students.  And we have to combat false history that popular films might plant in our students.  Keeping in mind that films are made for entertainment purposes, they still should fall within reasonable bounds of accuracy to be considered historical supplements.  The movie “Braveheart” is the story of William Wallace’s rebellion against England.  Since Wallace was virtually unknown in America, the blockbuster movie served as a biography for many.  It was easy to be fooled into thinking viewers had seen an entertaining history lesson. The problem with “Braveheart” is it was way more out of bounds than most Hollywood faux history movies. Let’s examine how it handles the Battle of Falkirk.

                In the movie, King Edward’s army and Wallace’s army are staring each other down across the battlefield.  Wallace opens the battle by having his archers fire flame arrows into the ground between Edward’s infantry and his cavalry.  The ground had been saturated with an inflammable the day before, so it was set aflame, thus setting some of the cavalrymen on fire and separating the force from the infantry.  Wallace then launched his foot soldiers against Edward’s infantry.  A melee ensues. When Wallace signals his cavalry to intervene, it rides away.  Edward explains that he bribed the Scottish noblemen to leave.  He then orders his archers to fire into the melee, regardless of the fact that they will also be hitting his own men.  He then sends in more infantry.  Wallace is hit in the breast by an arrow as his men are being wiped out.  In spite of his wound, Wallace goes after Edward as he is leaving the battle site.  Robert the Bruce protects Edward by unhorsing Wallace.  Wallace is rescued by one of his men.

                And now here is what actually happened.  The battle was part of the First Scottish War of Independence.  In 1297, Wallace pulled a big upset at the Battle of Stirling Bridge (note the word bridge because in the movie there was none).  This got Edward’s attention and one year later, he invaded Scotland with a larger army.  In the battle, there was a marsh separating the two armies. Wallace’s army was in four schiltrons (formations similar to stationary phalanxes).  His infantry was armed with 12-14’ pikes.  In between the schiltrons were his longbowmen.  Before Edward arrived with his central cavalry, his two wings decided to make a glory-grasping attack.  They skirted the marsh and fell on Wallace’s flank schiltrons. Almost immediately, Wallace’s cavalry (which was at his rear) fled.  Two theories are they were bribed by Edward or the cavalry nobles resented Wallace since he was not from the nobility.  The cavalry cut down many of Wallace’s archers, but was unable to damage the schiltrons.  Edward arrived and called back the knights.  He ordered his archers to open fire.  After Wallace’s archers and pikemen were whittled down, Edward launched another cavalry charge which routed the remainder of Wallace’s army.  Wallace fled into the forest.

https://www.historynet.com/victory-of-a-new-order-the-battle-of-falkirk.htm

INTERESTING FACTS ABOUT THE BATTLE OF HASTINGS

  1. William of Normandy (called by his enemies “William the Bastard” because his father had an affair with a tanner’s daughter) felt he had been promised the throne by his childless cousin Edward the Confessor. Plus, Harold of Wessex had sworn on a Bible and the bones of a saint that he would support William’s claim.  When Harold was voted king by the British nobles, William vowed revenge, with the Pope’s blessing.
  2. It took a while for William to land in England because of contrary winds. This proved to be a great stroke of luck because he did not have to face a fresh army. (see #3)  When William led his men ashore, he stumbled and fell on the beach.  His men gasped at this bad omen, but the quick-witted William came up with a handful of sand and loudly proclaimed “Look, I have already taken the land!” 
  3. Before William arrived in the south, Harold had to respond to an invasion by Vikings led by King Harald Hardrada. Tagging along was Harold’s renegade brother Tostig.  Harold pulled a big upset by winning the Battle of Samford Bridge.  Harald and Tostig were killed.  During the celebration, Harold learned of the landing of William.  He decided to rush south to face this new threat.  William had been scorching the countryside and Harold was going to put a stop to it, even though his men would be exhausted from the forced march.
  4. Harold’s army consisted of his elite bodyguard called housecarls and the militia of inexperienced peasants called the fyrd. Their main weapon was the battle axe.  William’s army consisted of nobles and adventurers, all of whom were promised land and titles.  His army relied on swords and javelins.  Both sides had conical helmets with nose protectors and chain mail (if you could afford it).  Most of William’s men were on horseback, none of Harold’s were.
  5. Harold’s army was on a hill which later was called Senlac (lake of blood). The battle was fought seven miles for the town of Hastings.
  6. The battle opened when a minstrel named Taillefer rode in front of the British line juggling his sword and singing “The Song of Roland”. He was the first to die, but it was glorious.
  7. Harold was on the defensive with his housecarls in the center and the fyrd on both wings. He instructed his men not to leave the hill under any circumstances. And yet, when William launched his first assault and his left wing was routed, Harold’s right wing chased them down the hill opening themselves up to a counterattack.  Seeing the unexpected positive outcome of the retreat, William then instructed his men to fake retreat (“feigned retreat”) next time up the hill.  This worked well and Harold’s army was being whittled down, but his housecarls stood firm and he still could win by not losing.
  8. With evening approaching, William ordered his archers to aim high so the arrows would fall downward on the housecarls. Apparently (historians dispute this) an arrow struck Harold in the eye and the subsequent charge destroyed his demoralized troops.

https://www.britishbattles.com/norman-conquest/battle-of-hastings/

https://www.discoverbritainmag.com/facts-about-the-battle-of-hastings/

https://www.historyhit.com/facts-about-the-battle-of-hastings/

https://www.thefactsite.com/battle-of-hastings-facts/

THE HISTORY OF THE EASTER BUNNY

                So how did we get a rabbit associated with the Resurrection of Jesus Christ?  In the Neolithic Age into the Iron Age, some cultures buried people with a rabbit as a symbol of rebirth.  The ancient Greeks associated rabbits with Aphrodite and her son Eros was sometimes depicted holding a rabbit symbolizing lust.  Renaissance artists sometimes painted the Virgin Mary holding a hare to symbolize overcoming sexual temptation  (An alternate theory is the hare was chosen because people thought rabbits did not have to have sex to have baby bunnies.).  In the Middle Ages, pagans celebrated the festival of Oestre in honor of the goddess of fertility and spring.  The festival was celebrated in England and Germany in April, the month that followed the bleakness of winter.  Christians coopted the festival for their Easter.  The rebirth of the Earth after winter fit nicely with the rebirth of Christ.  So the festival for the goddess of spring became the festival of the resurrection of Christ.  The holiday came with some pagan baggage – the Easter bunny.    It was natural to associate a rabbit with fertility so the hare was the symbol of Eostre.  Eggs also symbolize fertility so the pairing made some sense.  The rabbit became an egg-laying hare named “Osterhase” or “Oschter Haws”.  Children would search for hidden eggs.  Colorful eggs were given to children.  Why colorful eggs?  During Lent, one of the forbidden foods was eggs.  On the eve of Easter, Christians would decorate eggs for the morrow.  The kids started leaving nests and carrots for the bunny.  Parents… oops, I mean the Osterhase, began giving chocolate and toys.  Easter baskets were added later.  It was this tradition that was brought to Pennsylvania in the 18th Century by German immigrants.  By the way, it was not always a rabbit.  In Switzerland it was a cuckoo and in some parts of Germany, it was the Easter Fox or the Easter Rooster. 

https://www.goodhousekeeping.com/holidays/easter-ideas/a31226078/easter-bunny-origins-history/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Easter_Bunny

https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/the-ancient-origins-of-the-easter-bunny-180979915/

BERSERKERS

                Viking berserkers would open battles by launching themselves against the enemy with no regard for their lives.  The term “berserker” probably got their name from the Viking word “berserkr” which means “bear shirt”.  Some historians argue it means “bare shirt” meaning they went into battle bare-chested.  The bear skin version is probably most likely.  But then again some historians claim that the whole idea is fiction.

                Berserkers worshiped the bear.  They wore a bear skin (or wolf skin) into battle.  They may have ingested hallucinogenic mushrooms before the battle.  This would explain them foaming at the mouth, howling, and biting the rim of their shields.  They believed they were immune to steel and fire.  They would charge the enemy in a state of insanity.  If fighting against another Viking force, they would hurl themselves into the shield wall to create an opening.  Naturally, this behavior was pretty suicidal.  However, knowing they would die might have been an incentive rather than a drawback.  Dying while going berserk (the modern definition is “furiously violent or out of control”) would be a ticket to Valhalla.

https://www.ranker.com/list/armies-on-substances/justin-andress?fbclid=IwAR3WmFekWIPlvepLwydeOW5dVZg4b8-wAFwdvIFV9yZqK0HwkbFMWofFFdA

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Berserker

https://allthatsinteresting.com/berserker

https://www.ranker.com/list/armies-on-substances/justin-andress?fbclid=IwAR3WmFekWIPlvepLwydeOW5dVZg4b8-wAFwdvIFV9yZqK0HwkbFMWofFFdA

THE TRUE STORY OF LADY GODIVA

                May 31, 1020, is the supposed date for the supposed ride of the supposed Lady Godiva.  Actually, I didn’t need to put “supposedly” in front of her name.  There really was a Lady Godiva.  She appears in the Domesday Book.  She was the wife of the Earl of Mercia.  We know she and her husband donated a lot to the Church and even founded a monastery in Coventry where they lived.  According to the legend, Lady Godiva was upset with her husband’s high taxation of the citizens of Coventry.  After she had nagged him several times unsuccessfully, he told her he would lower the taxes if she rode nude through town.  She took him up on the deal.  But she ordered the townspeople to stay indoors and not look.  She proceeded to ride on a horse with her long hair strategically placed for modesty.  A man named Thomas couldn’t resist peeking and was the original “Peeping Tom”.  He went blind because of his act.

                How much of the legend is true?  Besides the fact that she did exist, probably nothing.   The story first appeared about a hundred years after her death in a book by a monk named Roger of Wendover.  Roger had a reputation for tall tales.  Later, the Peeping Tom part of the story was added because why not?  The legend caught on because of the titillating (look it up in a dictionary) nature of the story.  Artists could paint her.  “Hey, I’m just painting the story.”  And some poets were inspired.  Alfred, Lord Tennyson, wrote a poem about her in 1842.  Here’s an excerpt:

Then she rode forth, clothed on with chastity:
The deep air listen’d round her as she rode,
And all the low wind hardly breathed for fear.
The little wide-mouth’d heads upon the spout
Had cunning eyes to see: the barking cur
Made her cheek flame; her palfrey’s foot-fall shot
Light horrors thro’ her pulses; the blind walls
Were full of chinks and holes; and overhead
Fantastic gables, crowding, stared: but she
Not less thro’ all bore up, till, last, she saw
The white-flower’d elder-thicket from the field,
Gleam thro’ the Gothic archway in the wall.

https://www.history.com/news/who-was-lady-godiva

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lady_Godiva