[Loch-Ruadh] Fwd: [Steppes] Period in Review Week of 06-05 thru 06-11

Ceatta o Gulcleth ceatta at flash.net
Mon Jun 12 16:25:35 PDT 2006


I saw this and thought it was rather interesting, especially for those don't get Steppes email.
   
  Ceatta

Mike <meggiddo at netzero.net> wrote: 
  Date: Mon, 12 Jun 2006 18:03:23 -0500
From: Mike <meggiddo at netzero.net>
To: Condottieri_Reports at yahoogroups.com, Steppes <steppes at ansteorra.org>,
steppes.Archery at steppes.org
Subject: [Steppes] Period in Review Week of 06-05 thru 06-11

Heilsa,

Hope the reader will enjoy this look at History
within Period - both from the past and the present
as it affects the history that is known today.

Week in Review:
June 5th:
Germany 0701 - 0800
St. Boniface and his missionary companions were killed by pagan
Germans on June 5, 754. Born in Devon, Boniface went to Frisia
on the orders of the Pope to convert the "heathen" Germanic tribes
Born to a noble family of Wessex, England, as Wynfrid or Wynfrith,
Boniface (in Latin, Bonifatius) is known as the "Apostle of Germany"
for his work in Christianizing that country. First a benedictine monk
and then ordained as a priest, Wynfrid journeyed to Rome after
failing to convert Frisian Saxons to Christianity. There Pope Gregory II
changed his name to Boniface and charged him with a mission to
convert the pagans east of the Rhine and specifically to use the Roman
formula for baptism (as opposed to the Celtic that had already taken
hold in parts of Europe). So successful was Boniface in his mission that
he was made a missionary bishop and given letters of recommendation
to important figures such as Charles Martel, leader of the Franks.
When as part of his efforts of conversion Boniface destroyed the
sacred oak of the Germanic god Thor at Geismar, it was fear of
Charles Martel that made it possible. . One of his icons as a saint
is an axe, because he chopped down an ancient oak tree that was
sacred to Thor and preached the Gospel from its stump. St. Boniface
was martyred when a band of Frisians attacked him while he was
reading Scripture to newly converted Christians on Pentecost Sunday.
Boniface's work in converting pagans, reforming Christians who had
been converted under the "haphazard" methods of the Irish, organizing
churches and founding monasteries in Germany would pave the way for
large portions of territory to be incorporated into the Carolingian Empire
as well as establishing a powerful base for the Catholic Church.
The monasteries, which provided missionaries and teachers for
generations to come, would significantly improve life in eighth-century
Europe.

Spain Modern Day (time period involved 1401 - 1500)
The mystery continues. After years of testing, Spanish researchers
are claming that their country possesses the bones of explorer
Christopher Columbus. Spain has long claimed that Columbus was
buried there but Santo Domingo also lays claim to the authentic
remains and have constructed an elaborate monument to house them.
Now researchers feel that DNA evidence has identified the correct site.
In 1537, Maria de Rojas y Toledo, widow of one of Columbus' sons, Diego,
sent the bones of her husband and his father to the cathedral in Santo
Domingo for burial. There they lay until 1795, when Spain ceded Hispaniola
to France and decided Columbus' remains should not fall into the hands
of foreigners. A set of remains that the Spaniards believed were
Columbus' was first shipped to Havana, Cuba, and then back to Seville
when the Spanish-American War broke out in 1898. In 1877, however,
workers digging in the Santo Domingo cathedral unearthed a leaden
box containing bones and bearing the inscription, "Illustrious and
distinguished male, don Cristobal Colon." That's the Spanish way of
saying Christopher Columbus. The Dominicans say that these were
the genuine remains and that the Spaniards took the wrong body
back in 1795.

England Modern Day -
The stone which legend says was placed in London by Brutus the Trojan
has a new protector: Chris Cheek, the manager of a sporting goods shop.
Proverbially, London will be safe as long as the stone remains in place.
Unfortunately, the building where it now rests is scheduled to be 
demolished.
Cheek has already stopped one builder from taking a chisel to the stone.
He doesn't consider himself superstitious, but admits he believes in the
stone's protection. But this is the neglected setting of the London Stone -
an ancient and mysterious object mentioned by Shakespeare, William
Blake and Dickens, which has been seen as one of the capital's
greatest relics since at least the Middle Ages and probably much earlier.
Now there are plans for the limestone block to be put into the Museum of
London for safekeeping, while the building to which it's gloomily attached
is pulled down and the site is redeveloped. Protecting the stone might
not be such a bad idea - since there is a legend that, like the ravens at
the Tower of London, the fortune of the city is tied to the survival of the
stone. This relates to the myth that the stone was part of an altar built
by Brutus the Trojan, the legendary founder of London. Shakespeare
depicted the 15th Century peasants' rebellion leader, Jack Cade,
striking the London stone as a symbolic sign of taking control of the city.


June 7th:
Jerusalem 1001 - 1100
The Siege of Jerusalem beings on the evening of June 7th, 1099 when
the crusaders finally arrived. Jerusalem is a city on a hill or bluff, 
in the
middle of wide deserts. There are pools and springs around the city,
but beyond that both water and good forests are miles distant, making
this a difficult city to besiege for long. Jerusalem was held by Arab, not
Turkish, defenders. Inside the city, too, were a large number of Jews
and Christians, who were tolerated by their Arab rulers. But Jerusalem
was not well defended, and no Arab lord from Damascus or Cairo or
Baghdad was willing to come to its rescue. The capture of Jerusalem
happen more than one month later. Then of course, there is the
movie - "Kingdom of Heaven" made reference to the fall of the city.

June 8th:
Arabia 0601 - 0700 The prophet Muhammad (also spelled Mohammed,
Mohamed, Muhammed and Mohamet) dies on June 8th, 622; was the
founder of Islam, the followers of which are called Muslims (or Moslems).
The religion was firmly established while he still lived, and after his 
death
it swept rapidly through Arabia and across much of Africa and Asia.
Muslim society would have an indelible impact on Medieval Europe
through the establishment of Muslim communities in Iberia and when
the Europeans encountered Muslims in the Crusades.

June 9th:
Modern Day
Students Present "Big Mac" Shakespeare:
Pat Newcomb of the Huntsville (Alabama) Times reviews
Stone Middle School's "Big Mac," a condensed version of
Shakespeare's Macbeth.
"I had fun killing everybody," said Jamal Akins, who played
Macbeth, who was "a punk" who let his ambitious wife
control his actions.
Students were inspired in their endeavor by attending
an SCA fighter practice.

June 10th:
Modern Day
Castles - The popular Romanian tourist attraction Bran
Castle, associated with Vlad the Impaler and known as
"Dracula's Castle," has been returned to the heir of the
Habsburg family. The state had seized the castle when
Communist rule began in Romania after World War II.
Dominic von Habsburg was forced to leave the castle
with his family in 1948 at the age of ten. He says he feels
he is finally going home. A 2005 Romanian law allows owners
and their families to claim property that was nationalized
under the Communist.

June 11th:
England 1501 - 1601
King Henry VIII marries Catherine of Aragon on June 11th,
1508. After his father's death, and before he was officially
crowned king, Henry took the widow of his brother Arthur to
wife. The first marriage may never have been consummated,
but Henry would later use it in his arguments for an annulment.
The pope would not grant him his annulment, and his divorce
from Catherine would result in a breach that spawned the
English Reformation.

YIS,
Lord Michael Kettering




_______________________________________________
Steppes mailing list
Steppes at lists.ansteorra.org
http://lists.ansteorra.org/listinfo.cgi/steppes-ansteorra.org

-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://lists.ansteorra.org/pipermail/loch-ruadh-ansteorra.org/attachments/20060612/64a751c1/attachment.htm>


More information about the Loch-Ruadh mailing list