ANST - What is Period? (was Stargate Steak Feast)

Tue Sep 8 08:59:45 PDT 1998

    Are steak and potatoes period? Does it really matter? But, for those who are interested, by 1587 tomatoes, potatoes, corn, and tobacco smoking were in common usage among the educated members of the nobility of Europe (what would today be called the yuppies of their time); as was knowledge of the Americas, Indians, and slavery.

    Also for those who are interested, there is a lot which was period, but is widely overlooked or ignored in the Society. It does not require special, out of print books to find this knowledge either. All it takes is a visit to the local encyclopedia, and a little digging into different libraries (colleges and universities are a great source).

    One of the most "out of period" things we do is being crowned by right of arms in a tournament.  (I have never been able to find even one reference to a person, in or out of period, being crowned in a tournament.)  As early as 1066 and the Battle of Hastings newly crowned kings were admitting that it was the army that made kings and monarchs, not their individual prowess on the field. Kings, or those desiring to be king, for the most part, were rarely in the forefront of the battle (yes, I know that there are those of you who will now quote me different battles where the King is shown in tapestries in the front of the battle, but as I said, for the most part they were not allowed to risk their lives by their own men).

    After the Battle of Hastings, most of them stayed in the back and discussed strategy with their nobles, basically directed the battles, and came out for the capture or killing of the enemy leaders later on. The power of the nobles to make kings was first demonstrated in the European theater when William I was forced to sign a battle field charter giving his nobles the right to be a part of the ruling decisions, and the chopping away of the power of the monarchy (at least in English and Scottish history) continued until a King could not even pay his men without approval of the parliament..

1215 - King John of England signs the Magna Carta. Ends "Divine Right of Kings"
1258 - Provisions of Oxford
1259 - Provisions of Westminster
1264 - Simon de Montfort and the English barons defeat Henry III at the Battle of Lewes.
1265 - Simon de Montfort is killed at the Battle of Evesham.
1290 - Edward I expels the Jews from England.
1297 - William Wallace expels the English from Scotland.
1298 - English king Edward I defeats William Wallace and reconquers Scotland.
1306 - Robert the Bruce leads the Scots in a rebellion against English rule.
1314 - The Scots defeat the English at the Battle of Bannockburn.
1381 - The Peasants' Revolt begins in England.
1455 - The Wars of the Roses begin in England.
1485 - Established "Power of the Purse" (House of Commons generates revenue bills)
1492 - Christopher Columbus sails from Spain to the New World.
1494 - The Treaty of Tordesillas establishes a boundary between New World discoveries.
1496 - The first description of the tobacco plant appears in Europe.
1498 - Columbus lands on the coast of South America during his third voyage.
1500 - Portuguese navigator Pedro Cabral lays claim to Brazil for Portugal.
1501 - Italian navigator Amerigo Vespucci explores Brazil.
1502 - Columbus sails on his fourth voyage of discovery.
1503 - Juan Bermudez lands on the island of Bermuda, which is named for him.
1503 - The Spanish crown approves encomienda (enforced slavery) in the American 
            colonies.
1506 - Christopher Columbus dies in poverty.
1507 - Cartographer Martin Waldseemuller uses the word America on a map for the first 
            time.
1509 - Henry VIII succeeds his father Henry VII as king of England.
1509 - The first sugar cane mill is established in the Americas.
1510 - The English morality play Everyman is adapted from an earlier Dutch work.
1511 - Father Antonio de Montesinos when he successfully argued that Indians are men, 
            which thereby established their humanity among Europeans.
1512 - Pope Julius II issued a decree establishing the humanity of Indians in the eyes of 
            Christianity.
1513 - Italian political theorist Niccolo Machiavelli writes The Prince.
1513 - Spanish explorer Juan Ponce de Leon lands on the coast of Florida.
1513 - Vasco Nunez de Balboa becomes the first European to sight the Pacific Ocean.
1514 - Bartolome de Las Casas tries to improve the treatment of South American Indians.
1514 - Spanish conquistadors under Diego Velazquez de Cuellar conquer Cuba.
1515 - The building of Hampton Court is begun in England.
1515 - Thomas Wolsey is appointed Lord Chancellor of England.
1516 - English intellectual and statesman Sir Thomas More writes Utopia.
1517 - Theologian Martin Luther displays his 95 theses at Wittenberg in Germany.
1518 - Spanish conquistador Pedro de Alvarado explores the Yucatan Peninsula.
1519 - Panama City is founded by the Spanish in Central America.
1519 - Spanish conquistador Hernan Cortes meets the Aztec leader Montezuma in 
            Mexico.
1521 - Spanish conquistador Hernan Cortes conquers the Aztec capital of Tenochtitlan.
1523 - Spanish settlements are established in Venezuela.
1523 - Verrazano wrote of the Delaware and Narrangansett that "they are the most 
            beautiful and have the most civil customs that we have encountered."
1524 - Giovanni da Verrazano discovers New York Bay and the Hudson River.
1529 - Henry VIII dismisses Cardinal Wolsey for failing to secure his divorce.
1532 - Thomas Cromwell becomes chief minister to Henry VIII of England.
1533 - Francisco Pizarro conquers the Incas in Peru; the Inca leader Atahulpa is executed.
1533 - Henry VIII divorces Catherine of Aragon and marries Anne Boleyn.
1533 - The Church of England breaks with Rome.
1535 - English humanist and statesman Thomas More is executed.
1535 - Iroquois teach the French to use white cedar tea to fight scurvy
1535 - French explorer Jacques Cartier navigates the St. Lawrence River in Canada.
1535 - Spanish conquistador Diego de Almagro discovers Chile.
1535 - Spanish conquistador Francisco Pizarro founds the city of Lima in Peru.
1536 - Dissolution of the monasteries and nunneries begins in England.
1536 - Henry VIII executes Anne Boleyn and marries Jane Seymour.
1536 - Spanish conquistador Pedro de Mendoza founds Buenos Aries in Argentina.
1537 - Niccolo Tartaglia publishes his work on ballistics The New Science.
1538 - The Spanish found the city of Bogota in Columbia.
1540 - de Soto encounters a Woman Chieftain in the Creek town of Cofitachequi, 
            Camden, South Carolina.
1540 - Coronado explores the American southwest in search of the fabled cities of Cibola.
1540 - Henry VIII executes his principal minister Thomas Cromwell.
1540 - Henry VIII marries Anne of Cleves; he is divorced and marries Catherine Howard.
1540 - Hernando de Soto defeats the Choctaw Indians under Chief Tuscaloosa.
1540 - The Grand Canyon is discovered by Garcia Lopez de Cardenas.
1541 - Geneva becomes the center of Calvinism.
1541 - Spanish conquistador Pedro de Valdivia founds the city of Santiago in Chile.
1541 - Spanish explorer Hernando de Soto discovers the Mississippi River.
1542 - Catherine Howard is executed by Henry VIII.
1542 - Spanish explorer Francisco de Orellana discovers the Amazon River.
1543 - Henry VIII marries Catherine Parr, his sixth wife.
1543 - The first single-cast cannon is made in England.
1545 - Henry VIII's warship the Mary Rose sinks near Portsmouth in England.
1545 - Silver mines are discovered in Bolivia; the city of Potosi is founded.
1547 - Henry VIII dies and is succeeded by Edward VI as king of England.
1549 - English theologian Thomas Cranmer promotes the Book of Common Prayer.
1550 - Pedro de Valdivia founds the city of Concepcion in Chile.
1550 - Tobacco smoking is introduced into Spain and Portugal.
1551 - The University of Mexico is founded.
1553 - Edward VI dies; Lady Jane Grey rules England but is deposed after 9 days.
1553 - Mary I (Bloody Mary) becomes queen of England.
1553 - The Araucanian Indian Lautaro kills Pedro de Valdivia during an uprising in Chile.
1553 - The English Muscovy Company begin the search for a Northeast Passage to the 
            Indies.
1554 - Mary I, Queen of England, marries Philip, heir to the Spanish throne.
1554 - The Catholic restoration begins in England under Mary I.
1554 - Tomatoes from South America are cultivated in Europe.
1555 - 300 English Protestants are burned at the stake.
1556 - Protestant theologian Thomas Cranmer is executed by Mary I.
1557 - The Portuguese establish a settlement at Macao in China.
1558 - Elizabeth I succeeds Mary I as queen of England.
1558 - Mary, Queen of Scots, marries the French dauphin Francis II.
1558 - The English lose Calais, their last French possession.
1559 - Calvinist preacher John Knox returns to Scotland to lead the Protestant struggle.
1561 - Mary, Queen of Scots, returns from France to Scotland.
1562 - French Huguenots attempt to colonize Florida.
1562 - Sir John Hawkins begins the slave trade between Africa and the West Indies.
1564 - Spain founds the first European settlement in the U.S. at Saint Augustine in 
            Florida.
1564 - The manufacture of lead (graphite) pencils begins in England.
1565 - The Spanish massacre French Huguenot settlers in Florida.
1567 - Mary, Queen of Scots, is forced to abdicate in favor of her son James VI.
1567 - The Portuguese oust Huguenot settlers and found the city of Rio de Janeiro in 
            Brazil.
1568 - Mary, Queen of Scots, is imprisoned in England for 19 years by Elizabeth I.
1569 - Cartographer Gerardus Mercator uses the first cylindrical projection for a world 
            map.
1569 - Jacques Besson develops the first screw-cutting lathe.
1570 - Nicholas Hilliard paints a miniature portrait of Elizabeth I.
1573 - The potato is brought back from the Americas and cultivated in Spain.
1575 - Indian leader Hiawatha allegedly founds the Iroquois League.
1576 - Martin Frobisher commands an expedition to search for a Northwest Passage.
1576 - The Dutch provinces unite to drive out the Spanish.
1576 - The first playhouse, the Theater, is erected by actor James Burbage in London.
1577 - English explorer Francis Drake begins his voyage of circumnavigation.
1578 - English dramatist John Lyly writes Euphues, the Anatomy of Wit.
1579 - English explorer Francis Drake discovers San Francisco Bay.
1580 - Witches are persecuted throughout western Europe.
1582 - Geographer Richard Hakluyt publishes an account of the discovery of America.
1583 - Sir Humphrey Gilbert claims Newfoundland for England.
1584 - Walter Raleigh and Richard Grenville organize English colonizing ventures to 
            North America.
1585 - England is at war with Spain (until 1604).
1585 - John Davis discovers Davis Strait between Greenland and North America.
1585 - Roanoke Island in North Carolina is settled as the first English colony in Virginia.
1586 - Mary, Queen of Scots, is found guilty of treason and executed (1587).
1586 - Pipe smoking is introduced into England.
1587 - Francis Drake attacks the Spanish fleet in Cadiz harbor.
1587 - North Carolina Indians introduce English to corn.
1588 - The Spanish Armada is defeated by the English navy.
1588 - Timothy Bright composes the first manual of shorthand.
1590 - Christopher Marlowe's drama Tamburlaine the Great is published in London.
1590 - William Shakespeare begins writing plays about this time.
1590 - English poet Edmund Spenser begins The Faerie Queene.
1591 - The Roanoke colony dies out in North Carolina.
1592 - Elizabeth I founds Trinity College in Dublin.
1600 - A charter is granted to the East India Company by Queen Elizabeth I.
    So, what does this all mean? Applaud and enjoy the efforts of those who are willing to take on the task of working to put on an event. Let those who wish to strive for more authenticity do so. Let those who are just there to have fun do so. Just try to remember that it is the atmosphere and attitudes which are just as important in creating the Dream as it is anything else.

y Spyke

(timeline courtesy of Encyclopedia Britannica, Groliers, the history library of the University of Washington, Libbrary of COngress, Senior Thesis: Decline in the Power of the European Monarchy 1066-1701 James Earl Atkinson, University of Washington, March, 1998, and Senior Research Dissertation: Influences of Native American Tribal Societies on European Cultures.1492-1800, James Earl Atkinson, University of Washington, June, 1998.)

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