[Steppes] Period Week in Review 09-24-2006 through 09-30-2006

[Mike]

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 09-24 through 10-01:

September 24th:
Italy  1501 - 1600
On September 24th, 1501   Gerolamo Cardano, mathematician,
 was born. He authored "Games of Chance," the first systematic
computation of probabilities. Gerolamo Cardano or Girolamo
Cardano, in English Jerome Cardan, or in Latin Hieronymus
Cardanus was a celebrated Italian Renaissance mathematician,
physician, astrologer, and gambler. He was born in Pavia, Italy,
the illegitimate child of a mathematically gifted lawyer who was
a friend of Leonardo da Vinci. In his autobiography, Cardano
claimed that his mother had attempted to abort him. Shortly before
his birth, his mother had to move from Milan to Pavia to escape
the plague; her three other children died from the disease. In 1520,
he entered the University of Pavia and later in Padua studying
medicine. His eccentric and confrontational style did not earn him
many friends and he had a difficult time finding work after his
studies had ended. In 1525, Cardano repeatedly applied to the
College of Physicians in Milan, but was not allowed due to his
reputation and illegitimate birth. Eventually, he managed to
develop a considerable reputation as physician and his services
were highly valued at the courts. He was the first to describe
typhoid fever.


September 25th:
Modern Day
Russia  Time Period  0801 - 0900
Archaeologists find traces of legendary Viking centre.
Russian and German archaeologists believe they may have found
traces of human settlement in the Russian enclave of Kaliningrad that
could lead to the legendary Viking trading centre of Wiskiauten. The
find lies three kilometres south of the coastal resort of Selenogradsk
in a field near the Curonian Spit, a narrow strip of sand dune off the
coast. The stone structures found almost a metre down are the
remains of a well and several houses and date to the 12th century.
    Wiskiauten is one of the last great archaeological secrets that the
Baltic region still has to give up. Despite 160 years of research in the
early history of the region, no one knows where the fabled site lies. All
that has been found is a cemetery, which lies on a flat hill called Kaup
near the village of Mochovoje. It has been known since 1865, when
amateur local archaeologists began retrieving precious funeral items
from more than 500 graves. They found silver items, swords and the
tips of lances, women's jewelry and even the remains of costumes, all
unmistakably of Scandinavian design. The oldest Viking graves date
back to the 9th century.
    Wiskiauten was a major settlement at the dawn of Baltic culture,
similar to other sites in the region, like Hedeby near Schleswig on
the German-Danish border, Ralswiek on the island of Ruegen, Vineta
near Wolin in Poland and the recently discovered Elblag, or Truso, on
the Polish coast. The Viking trading network along the Baltic coast is
well researched. Only Wiskiauten is missing. It is known that
Wiskiauten had direct access to water. The Scandinavians were boat
people after all. Three kilometres to the north of the cemetery lies the
Curonian Lagoon, a large body of fresh water separated from the
Baltic by the Curonian Split. In the spring of this year German
geologists investigated how far the lagoon extended to the south
during the Viking era. At the same time a large geomagnetic survey
was underway at the instigation of northern European archaeologists.
The researchers struck luck almost immediately, finding a Byzantine
coin at the first structures. This is evidence of long- distance trade
conducted by the Balts. The driving force behind trade links with the
orient was amber, the gold of the Baltic. Work at the dig is coming
to an end for this year. The results are to be evaluated at the
Archaeological Museum in Gottorf Castle in Schleswig over the
months ahead. They can be found at www.wiskiauten.eu.

September 26th:
England  1501 - 1600
On September 26th, 1580   The Golden Hind sailed into
Plymouth, England, as Francis Drake at the end of his voyage to
circumvent the globe. Drake was knighted and awarded a prize
of 10 thousand pounds. His crew of 63 split a purse of 8 thousand
pounds. The Golden Hind was an English galleon best known for
its global circumnavigation between 1577 and 1580, captained
by Sir Francis Drake. It was originally known as the Pelican, and
was renamed by Drake in mid-voyage in 1577, as he prepared
to enter the Straits of Magellan. He rechristened the ship the
Golden Hind in a political gesture, to compliment his patron,
Sir Christopher Hatton, whose armorial crest was a golden
hind (in heraldry, a 'hind' is a doe).


September 27th:
Modern Day
Happy New Year 5787
The Jewish New Year, Rosh Hashanah, last week brought us into
Anno Mundi (Year of the World) 5787. But Jews have only figured
the calendar from the Creation since the 9th century C.E. Judaic
culture in classical times was centered in Babylon and, like many
other calendars, used a system of dating based on the
succession of rulers. When the Babylonian Jews dispersed,
they needed a new universal standard and turned to the Anno
Mundi mentioned in the Talmud. Since the time of Alexander the
Great, Jewish documents had been dated by the reigns of the
Seleucid kings, the successors to Alexander, who ruled over
Babylon, and later by the dates of local rulers. But with the
decline of Babylonian Jewry, a new reckoning was required,
and the calculations of Seder Olam Rabba were exploited.
Details first appeared in the late 8th-century Baraita de-Shmuel,
which used the chronology of the years from Creation and which,
within 200 years, became the accepted count throughout the
Jewish world.


September 28th:
China  0600BC - 0501BC
On September 28, 551 BCE    September 28th is the traditional date
for the birthday of Confucius (K'ung-fu-tzu). Although not a medieval
figure, Confucius exercised a profound influence over the
subsequent development of Chinese culture in all periods. His
philosophy emphasized personal and governmental morality,
correctness of social relationships, justice and sincerity. These values
gained prominence in China over other doctrines, such as Legalism
or Daoism during the Han Dynasty. Confucius' thoughts have been
developed into a system of philosophy known as Confucianism. It was
introduced to Europe by the Jesuit Matteo Ricci, who was the first to
Latinise the name as "Confucius". His teachings are known primarily
through the Analects of Confucius, a collection of "brief aphoristic
fragments", which was compiled many years after his death. Modern
historians do not believe that any specific documents can be said to
have been written by Confucius, but for nearly 2,000 years he was
thought to be the editor or author of all the Five Classics such as the
Classic of Rites, and the Spring and Autumn Annals.
    According to tradition, Confucius was born in 551 BC (during the
Spring and Autumn Period, at the beginning of the Hundred Schools
of Thought philosophical movement) in the city of Qufu, which was
located in the Chinese State of Lu (now part of present-day
Shandong Province and culturally and geographically close to the
royal mansion of Zhou). He was born into a deposed noble family
which had recently fled from the State of Song. The Records of the
Grand Historian , compiled some 400 years later, indicate that
Confucius was conceived out of wedlock. His father was seventy,
and his mother only fifteen at his birth. His father died when he was
three, and he was brought up in poverty by his mother. His social
ascendancy links him to the growing class of Shì, a class between
the old nobility and the common people. This class later became the
prominent class of Intellectual because of the cultural and intellectual
skills they share.
    According to "Kongzide Gushi," Confucius's father's name was
Shu Lianghe. Shu Lianghe originally had nine daughters and one
crippled son. He decided to marry another woman in the hope of
having a healthy son. This new wife became Confucius's mother.
However, on the day that Confucius was born, Shu Lianghe briefly
seemed frustrated on seeing his "ugly" son. As a child, Confucius
was said to have enjoyed putting ritual vases on the sacrifice table.
When Confucius was 23, his mother died sending him to three years
of mourning. As a young man, he was a minor administrative
manager in the State of Lu and rose to the position of Justice
Minister. Around this time he is supposed to have met the creator
of Daoism, Laozi. However, Laozi's life is very mysterious so this
meeting may well be legendary. After several years working for
the state of Lu, Confucius resigned because he disapproved of
the politics of his King.

September 29th:
Modern Day
Scotland  Time Period   Age of Vikings
Kinder and Gentler Vikings!
Dr Andrew Heald, the Later Iron Age and Early Historic Curator at the
National Museums of Scotland, tries to lay to rest myths about the
cruelty of Vikings in an article for The Scotsman.
    RAPING and pillaging. Longboats and horned helmets. Beards
and ginger hair. Is that all there was to the Vikings?
    Certainly the people who came from what is modern-day
Scandinavia - Norway, Sweden and Denmark - and travelled to
Scotland over 1200 years ago leaving their homes behind them,
must have had more about them than a taste for beer and hunks
of animal flesh. Yet this is the way many people today think of
Vikings. It's hardly surprising when you think of the way they're
portrayed on film and television. And even though there's a variety
of evidence available when studying Viking Scotland including
language, place-names, documentary sources, oral tradition and
archaeology - there are still many questions unanswered.
    Let us consider the initial Viking migrations to Scotland. Almost
every aspect has proven contentious: when exactly did it happen,
where did it happen, and how many people did it involve? What
was the relationship between the pre-existing people here, such
as the Picts, and the migrant groups? Did the two groups integrate
or did the invaders overwhelm or annihilate the natives? That we can
still offer polar answers to such a critical question is symptomatic of
many areas of Viking study. So just what do we know about the
Vikings in Scotland?
    In one sense the idea of a fierce, terrifying warrior with beard,
flowing red hair, shield, sword and axe is understandable. Historical
records tell us that at the end of the eighth century Vikings from across
the North Sea raided Scotland. While there is little doubt they burned,
devastated and plundered it is arguable that these actions have
affected many modern interpretations and opinions of "what the
Vikings did for us".
    The initial period of raiding was fleeting but it is often the 
canvas on
to which many pictures of the Viking period are painted. But they
were here for at least another 300 years. So it's fortunate that we
have a large body of archaeological objects in our museum
collections with which we can attempt to fill in the blanks and create
new pictures which go beyond raids, killings and terror. Shortly after
the raids the Vikings settled in the Northern and Western Isles and in
places along the coast of mainland Scotland, including the Lothians.
The archaeological objects we have mean we can see that the
Vikings were farmers who kept a variety of animals, including sheep,
cattle, and pigs, and grew crops such as barley and oats. They also
collected plants for medicinal purposes. They exploited marine
resources - including fish, seals and whales - and hunted otters and
hares. As well as the actual animal and plant remains we also have a
wide range of the objects used during the cooking and eating of
these remains.
    But the Vikings were far more than that - they were expert
craftspeople and traders. They worked iron and bronze to produce
objects for everyday use, such as knives, and stunning gold and
silver jewellery. They also worked antler and bone into elaborate
pins and combs. Much of this may have been for internal
consumption but other objects demonstrate that considerable wealth
and surplus was achieved. Gold and silver ornaments, coins and
hoards, the "portable treasures of Viking Scotland", represent the
most obvious form of wealth in circulation over 1000 years ago.
    And while there is little evidence left of the Vikings in the south 
east
of Scotland - apart from bone combs found in North Berwick and
Dunbar - it is believed that in 1838 a Viking hoard, now lost,
containing a mixture of gold and silver, was found during the
clearance of a cairn in Berwickshire. THE hoard may have been
deposited during the activities of Ragnall, a member of the
Scandinavian dynasty of Dublin, who raided and fought in the
Lowlands during the tenth century. Perhaps the most remarkable
part of the Viking story, though, is trade. The Vikings in Scotland
were great traders who travelled to distant lands to bring back exotic
items. As a result they plugged Scotland in to an extensive trading
network.
    Objects tell us that they brought things from their homelands - wood,
furs, antlers, hides, walrus ivory, along with jewellery and personal
possessions. We also know they traded items made in Scotland,
such as cannel coal jewellery, quernstones and various soapstone
objects, to other areas such as the Faroes and Iceland along with
flour, dried fish and fish oil. The Viking world stretched from
Newfoundland to the Middle East and beyond. Objects moved over
thousands of miles across a great network. Not all of the objects
survive (silk, spices, etc) but others tell of great adventures. They have
even been finds of coins and jewellery from as far away as
Baghdad, Samarkand and Tashkent - many in areas now argued to
be rural and far from modern trade routes. So while we have a
tendency to view the Vikings in a one-dimensional way, this is a
disservice both to their legacy and to the rich evidence we have
at our disposal.


September 30th:
England  1101 - 1200
On September 30th, 1139   Matilda, also called Maud, the daughter
of Henry I, landed in England to claim its crown on September 30,
1139. She was the first woman ever to rule the kingdom of England.
 Although she was the heir, the throne was then held by her cousin
Stephen of Blois. She took him prisoner at one point, but was
eventually forced to exchange him for her most valued supporter,
Robert of Gloucester, and Stephen regained control. The years
of war between them form an interesting background to the
Brother Cadfael medieval mystery novels by Ellis Peters.


YIS,
 Lord Michael Kettering
  Combat Archer for the Condottieri
  King's Archer
  Steppes Deputy Knight Marshal
  Steppes Deputy Hospitaler