A Sampling of Events for October in the Middle Ages

What follows is a totally arbitrary sampling of various events that occurred in the month of October throughout the Middle Ages:

October 1

In 1189 Gerard de Ridefort, Grandmaster of the Knights Templar, is killed during the siege at Acre.

October 2

In 1492, King Henry VII of England invades France
In 1535, Jacques Cartier discovers Montreal, Canada
In 1552, Kazan is conquered by Ivan the Terrible

October 3

In 1283, the first known execution by hanging, drawing, and quartering is performed.  The unfortunate individual was Dafydd ap Gruffydd, Prince of Gwynedd, Wales.

October 4

In 1537, the first complete, English-language Bible is printed

October 5

In 1450, King Ludwig IV orders the expulsion of Jews from lower Bavaria
in 1550, the city of Concepcion is founded in Chile
In 1582, the Gregorian calendar is introduced in many Catholic countries

October 8

In 1480, a standoff between the Mongol Akhmat Khan and Grand Duke Ivan III of Russia leads to the later retreat of the Mongol Horde

In 1604, "Kepler's Nova" is first sighted

October 9

In 1000, Leif Erikson discovers "Vinland," believed by many to be modern New England
In 1192, Richard the Lionheart leaves Jerusalem in disguise

October 11

In 1138, a massive earthquake strikes Aleppo, Syria

October 12

In 1216, King John of England loses the Crown Jewels in The Wash, possibly near Sutton Bridge in Fosdyke

In 1609, the children's rhyme The Three Blind Mice is published in England

October 13

In 1307, King Philip IV of France convicts the Templars of heresy

October 14

In 1066, William the Conqueror wins the Battle of Hastings and takes control of England
In 1322, Robert the Bruce defeats King Edward II of England at Byland, and obtains the recognition of Scottish independence
In 1586, Mary Queen of Scots goes on trial for conspiracy

October 15

In 1520, King Henry VIII orders bowling lanes built at Whitehall
In 1581, the first ballet is staged in Paris, commissioned by Catherine de Medici
In 1582, many Catholic countries switch from the Julian calendar to the Gregorian calendar

October 16

In 1384, Jadwiga is crowned King of Poland, even though she is a woman

October 17

In 1415, Jewish autonomy in Palestine ends
In 1483, Tomas de Torquemada is appointed Inquisitor-General of Spain

October 18

In 1009, the Church of the Holy Sepulchre is hacked down to bedrock by the Fatimid caliph
In 1356, Basel, Switzerland is destroyed by an earthquake
In 1386, the University of Heidelberg is opened

October 19

In 1512, Martin Luther becomes a doctor of theology

October 20

In 1097, the first Crusaders arrive in Antioch
In 1603, a Chinese uprising in the Philippines fails after 23,000 people are killed

October 21

In 1096, Sultan Arslan defeats the first Crusaders in Nicea

October 23

In 1091, the London Bridge is destroyed by a tornado

October 24

In 1260, the Cathedral of Chartres is dedicated

October 25

In 1415, the French heavy knights are defeated by English army's Welsh archers at the Battle of Agincourt
In 1492, Christopher Columbus' ship the Santa Maria lands at the Dominican Republic

October 26

In 1492, the first known use of lead pencils
In 1524, Spanish troops give Milan to France

October 27

In 1275, the city of Amsterdam was founded (traditional)

October 28

In 1492, Columbus discovers Cuba and claims it for Spain
In 1538, the Universidad Santo Tomas Aquino, the first in the New World, is established

October 29

In 1268, the last of the Hohenstaufen dynasty of Kings of Germany and the Holy Roman Empire was executed by Charles I of Sicily
In 1390, the first trial for witchcraft was held in Paris

October 30

In 1270, the Eighth Crusade and Siege of Tunis ends
In 1503, Queen Isabella bans violence against the Indians
In 1534, the English Parliament passes the Act of Supremacy, ousting the Pope as head of the English Church and instating King Henry VIII

October 31

In 1541, Michelangelo finishes painting "The Last Judgment" in the Sistine Chapel

Saint Werewolf?

Like vampires, werewolves are a tremendously popular character from horror stories, and consequently, Halloween.  Also like vampires, werewolves have seen a significant makeover since the days of Lon Chaney, Jr. in "The Wolf Man."  Werewolves didn't used to be heartthrobs ala Jacob Black (Twilight) and Derek Hale and Scott McCall (Teen Wolf).

Stories of werewolves, or at least, men changing or being turned into a wolf, have existed since the since Byzantium, or even since the times of Ancient Egypt if you wish to consider the jackal-headed god Anubis as part of that lore.  Stories of wolves with human characteristics or men acting as wolves were also common in a broad range of cultures, including Norse, French, Celtic and Germanic cultures.

I was surprised to discover that there is actually a Christian saint that, in the early centuries of Christianity, was said to be a dog-headed man.  The early legends of St. Christopher portray him as a dog-headed man who converted to Christianity, leaving behind a beast's nature and learning how to talk like a man.  Only in later centuries did the image of St. Christopher change to be an old man with a child on his shoulders.  Here is an image of an icon of St. Christopher from the Byzantine and Christian Museum in Athens:

If you would like to read a translation from Latin of the original legend, Click Here.  November 17 is the next full moon phase, just in case you wanted to leave a bowl of dog food on the porch.

Midnight, October 28/29, 2013

What is the significance of this date?

That depends on who you are.  It happens to be the release date in North America of "Assassin's Creed IV Black Flag," the latest in the Assassin's Creed game franchise by Ubisoft. 

I am looking forward to this release with cautious excitement.  Cautious because I fell in love with the original "Assassin's Creed" and "Assassin's Creed II, but was disappointed in the next major installment of the franchise.

Let me preface this by saying that I am not a hardcore gamer.  My introduction to video gaming came back in the days before there were video game systems and I played on a (gasp) desktop computer.  My game of choice in those days was the Thief franchise, initially by Looking Glass Studios, continued by Ion Storm, and then purchased by Eidos Montreal.  That game was set in a mythical city called, unimaginatively, "The City" with the technological level that was pseudo-medieval--sort of like steam punk meets the Dark Ages.  But despite it's shortcomings (the graphics were atrocious, even for then) the game was heavily story-driven and well-crafted.  And hey, I like stealth games.  It's sequel, "Thief II," did not disappoint, although "Thief III," the first one to be released on a gaming system platform, had an interface I didn't like very much and, even more damning, a story that seemed sketchy and ad-hoc.

After "Thief," nothing really came along to excite me until "Assassin's Creed."  I'm not going to give spoilers to the game here, just in case someone who's been off the grid isn't familiar with it, but the game's premise is based on an invention called the Animus, which allows an individual to relive ancestral memories in virtual reality. The most intensive action sequences of the game take place in The Holy Lands during the Crusades circa 1191-1192.  The game proceeds to blend history and fantasy in a world brought to life by incredibly vibrant and realistic graphics.  No one knows what the backstreets of Acre or Jerusalem or Damascus actually looked like, but the developers' imaginations have created a pretty credible environment, all things considered.  Now throw in English, French and Teutonic crusaders.  The villains of the piece are, not unpredictably, the Knights Templar.  The hero, Desmond/Altair is an assassin who belongs to an order whose sole existence seems to be to thwart the Templars. 

The developers neatly sidestep religious controversy by avoiding making religion the crux of the conflict.  What does serve as the conflict is power--and an artifact capable of giving whoever controls it almost unlimited power.

I truly enjoyed the hours I spent immersed in cities such as Jerusalem, complete with landmarks and buildings that existed at the time.  It was fascinating to get to eavesdrop on such historical figures as King Richard.  It's no surprise, then, that when Ubisoft released the sequel, "Assassin's Creed II," I greeted it with great enthusiasm.

The villain is still the same, the Templar organization, set this time in Italy in the late 15th and early 16th centuries.  Again, the graphics are eye-popping, and the mix of historical detail with fantasy is done with enough finesse that the atmosphere is absorbing.  What fan of the Middle Ages could resist getting to interact with such historical figures as Cesare Borgia, Niccolo Machiavelli, and Leonardo DaVinci?  Or to walk the streets of Rome or Venice as Ezio, the disenfranchised son of a powerful family that belongs to the same order of Assassins that has been battling the Templars since 1191?

But time in the gaming world marches on, just as it does in real life.  The next major release (a pair of sub-sequels to "Assassin's Creed II" were released that both continued Ezio's story), "Assassin's Creed III," moves us to the New World in 1775.  And for me, this release was a departure.  With the Templars supposedly mixed up in the American Revolution, the game seemed to lack the cohesiveness of a solid story line that held the play together.  The real storyline was taking place in the present, while most of the action as a player was taking place in the past. For me this created a disconnect that was not easily overcome.

Now we come to the upcoming release of "Assassin's Creed IV." Set in Nassau and the West Indies in 1715, our hero is now a pirate fighting against--naturally--the power-and-control-hungry Templars.  If the game is story-driven, it will be another triumph of immersion in a pseudo-historical world.  If it the story is weak, the game will degrade to a yet another hack-and-slash action game. 

See you on the other side....

Halloween in the Middle Ages

It seems to me that many people have difficulty envisioning the Middle Ages as anything other than dark, closed, and bleak.  I can see how, when looked at from a modern perspective, it can appear that way.  For a large segment of the population, death wasn't a specter--it was an unwanted cousin that hung about in the neighborhood, waiting for only a bad harvest, a simple injury, or an outbreak of illness to come pay a visit.  But the Middle Ages were not as utterly grim, dark, and joyless as it is popular to think.

I don't believe human nature has changed much in the last thousand years.  What better reason than a difficult and uncertain existence to make the most of every opportunity for celebration?  For the Celts, their celebration of Samhain, marked the end of summer, harvest, and the year on November 1 of our modern calendar.  For them it marked the break between the fruitfulness and life of summer, and the scarcity and death of winter.  They believed that on the night before the new year, the line between the worlds of the living and the dead blurred, and the souls of the dead returned to earth.  The presence of these spirits made it easier for the Druid priests to make predictions about the upcoming year, and for people so heavily impacted by the vagaries of the natural world, such predictions were hugely important.  Anything believed to make those predictions easier was a cause for celebration.  These celebrations included the lighting of large bonfires, where crops and animals were burned as sacrifices.

In the 1st century A.D. Rome conquered most of the Celtic-held lands of Ireland, the British Isles, and France.  Interestingly enough, Rome had it's own day of homage to the dead, Feralia, which took place in late October.  Rome was smart enough to allow it's conquered territories to maintain many of their native beliefs and rituals, and it was simple enough over the next four hundred years to combine the similar rituals and celebrations with Rome's own.

In the early 7th century, Pope Boniface IV established the feast of All Martyrs Day.  By the mid-8th century, Pope Gregory III sought to eliminate the celebration of pagan holidays by replacing them with Christian-based ones.  He moved the All Martyrs Day feast to November 1, and expanded it to include all saints, as well.  The celebration echoed many of the rites of Samhain, including bonfires, processions, and dressing in costume as saints and angels.  And probably devils, too, though I suspect the Church may have frowned upon that.  In Middle English, this holiday was called Alholomesse, or, All Hallow Mass, which eventually came to be known as All Hallow Eve(n), and our "Halloween."

Maybe this year I'll go as a Druid priest. I hope they liked chocolate.

The Haunted (Maybe) Island of Poveglia

There is an interesting article by Ransom Riggs in "Mental Floss" about an island a stone's-throw from Venice that is rumored to be haunted.  The article has numerous pictures of the location.

The island is believed to have been one of three islands initially established in the Middle Ages as quarantine zones.  In fact, Ransom Riggs actually credits our use of the word "quarantine" from the Italian words involving the length of time that merchant visitors to Venice were sequestered from the city:  Quaranta giorni, or "forty days."

Venice has been pinpointed as one of the primary sources of the spread of the plague, the vectors being the fleas infesting the rats that boarded the ships while they harbored in infested ports.  Outbreaks followed the trading routes out of Venice and other major trading ports into mainland Europe. Venice was no stranger to outbreaks of the plague, experiencing twenty-two outbreaks between 1361 and 1528.  No surprise, then, that the city took strict measures to try and protect itself.  Unfortunately, since knowledge of germs and diseases and how they spread was incomplete or incorrect, these measures were only partially successful.  The outbreak in 1576-1577 killed 50,000 people in Venice, a third of it's population at that time.  Mortality rates were even higher inland, where quarantines were not established.  In 1680 another outbreak occurred, and in the course of 17 months, 80,000 Venetians died.

Back to the island of Poveglia.  It is believed that Poveglia was one of the islands where incoming travelers were quarantined, and during plague outbreaks, an island to where citizens exhibiting early symptoms of the disease were deported.  The island has never been officially explored, although other quarantine islands have been, and mass graves have been discovered there. 

Why hasn't Poveglia been the site of any archaeological activity?  Perhaps because the island has served other purposes throughout the years, including being the site of an insane asylum.  The institution, which Venetian officials deny was an insane asylum, was closed down in 1968, and the island has been essentially abandoned ever since.

The fact that the island has been ignored, and probably because it's difficult to find anyone willing to take casual visitors there, has excited the imagine of ghost enthusiasts.  The mystique of the island is also possibly exacerbated by the fact that Venetian officials downplay the more lurid portrayals of Poveglia's past.  I hope that someday archaeologists will at least survey the island, because it's obviously a part of Venice's history.   To see the photos of Poveglia, and read Ransom Riggs' article, click here.

Doomsday Castle

I'm not sure exactly why, but apparently National Geographic is airing a reality show, "Doomsday Castle."  The show features a family who is building a castle.  The head of the family is a "prepper", but before you give in to visions of some video-game addict who is convinced of the advent of a zombie apocalypse, Brent Sr. believes that our country (and others) is susceptible to and would be devastated by a large-scale EMP detonation that would cripple the country by knocking it off of the power grid.  He wants to protect his family from the panic and lawlessness that would inevitably result by using a fairly tried-and-true-method: the castle.  Castles were used by kings and nobility for hundreds of years to protect themselves and their holdings from hostile attacks, so he may be on to something.

I, too, have occasionally wondered how people in our country could function if they were deprived of all their electronics.  Be that as it may, I think I'll have to check this series out, if for no other reason than to see how they go about building their castle. 

If you would like to learn more about the series, click here.

When History Becomes Legend

Halloween will soon be upon us, and with it, a host of the perennial favorite--vampires.  Of course, vampires have gotten something of a makeover from the creature first popularized by Bram Stoker, first courtesy of Anne Rice, and then Stephenie Meyer.
 
I have heard references off an on through the years that there was a historical figure that was used as the basis of Bram Stoker's Count Dracula--a Romanian prince named Vlad Tepes (or "the Impaler.")  Beyond that tiny reference, I never really thought about it.  And then, just by chance, or perhaps because of the advent of Halloween, I ran across a masters dissertation written by Michael Vorsino, presented to his University of Texas professors in May 2008, which contradicts this popular assertion.

I found this paper interesting on two levels: first, because it provided a brief biography of Vlad in the socio-economic, socio-political, and religious context of his era (1431-1476); and secondly, because the paper discusses what information the author uses to support his assertion that Bram Stoker merely used a few known details about Vlad Tepes' life to flesh out a character he had already created, and to perhaps grant it some superficial authenticity and realism.  Whether you necessarily agree with Mr. Vorsino's thesis, or not, it does serve as a reminder to be cautious when making judgments about history, or assumptions about writer's or other artists' sources of inspiration.

For those interested in reading the paper, click here.

A Man's Home is His Castle

I was surprised to discover that there are castles for sale, even today.  Real castles, not modern-built, historically accurate reproductions.  Below is a picture of one such castle, photographer credit not available.

The photo is courtesy of Patrice Besse's website.  Patrice apparently specializes in marketing castle properties, and this is one of the properties available.  If you have some extra cash lying around and would like to see what else Patrice has to offer, click here.

I personally would love to obtain one of these castles, just to steep myself in the history there, to "breathe the same air" and touch the same stones that the people who lived there centuries ago did.

I Learned Something New

I happened to run across a title of a new book, "Religious Men and Masculine Identity in the Middle Ages," edited by Drs. Pat Cullum and Katherine Lewis of the University of Huddersfield.  It includes eleven papers ranging from just prior to the Middle Ages to the 15th Century and is the result of a conference held at that university in July of 2012.

In the brief discussion of the book's release, the point was made that the Catholic Church prior to 1100 did not require all clergy to be celibate.  As my religious background is not Catholic, I was wholly unaware of this.  Apparently only monks took a vow of celibacy, but around 1100, the Catholic Church began a shift toward requiring that all clergy follow the celibacy model.  Not surprisingly, there was resistance to the idea, but not because celibacy in and of itself was considered bad.  These clerics made the argument that they provided the example of godly living for the common man, which included marriage.  The other argument was that, as few men could achieve celibacy, requiring such vows was setting them up to sin.  Apparently it was considered a very lofty calling to which to aspire, and one beyond attainment for many men, which is why not all religious men entered the monastery.

Hmmm, I love it when I learn something new!