[Steppes] Period Week In Review 10-15=2006 through 10-21-2006

[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 10-15 through 10-21:

October 15th:
Russia 1501 - 1600
October 15th, 1552 - Khanate of Kazan is conquered by troops
of Ivan Grozny. The Kazan Khanate was a medieval Tatar state
which occupied the territory of former Volga Bulgaria between 1438
and 1552. The khanate covered contemporary Tatarstan, Mari El,
Chuvashia, Mordovia, parts of Udmurtia and Bashkortostan; its
capital was the city of Kazan.
The forces of Ivan IV operated from the Russian castle of Sviyazhsk.
In August 1552, the Russians defeated the Tatar inland troops, burnt
Archa and some castles. After two months of siege and destruction
of the citadel walls on October 3, the Russians entered the city.
Some defenders managed to escape but most were put to the
sword. Yadegar Moxammad was imprisoned and population was
slaughtered. The Kazan Chronicle reports about 110,000 killed,
both civilians and garrison, but this epic figures should not be taken
literally, because it is highly unlikely that the population of Kazan
exceeded 40,000.
After the fall of Kazan, territories such as Udmurtia and
Bashkortostan joined Russia without a conflict. The khanate's
administration was wiped out, pro-Moscow and neutral nobles
kept their lands, but others were executed. Tatars were then
resettled far away from rivers, roads and Kazan. Free lands were
settled by Russians and sometimes by pro-Russian Tatars.
Orthodox bishops such as Germogen forcibly baptized many Tatars.

October 16th:
Roman Empire 0401 - 0500
On October 16th, 0456 - Magister militum Ricimer defeats the
Emperor Avitus at Piacenza and becomes master of the western
Roman Empire. Magister militum (Latin for "Master of the Soldiers")
was a top-level command used in the later Roman Empire,
dating from the reign of Constantine.
Ricimer was an Arian Christian barbarian and was the son of a
prince of the Suebi and his mother was the daughter of Wallia, king
of the Visigoths. His youth was spent at the court of the western
Roman emperor Valentinian III, where he won distinction fighting
under Flavius Aëtius, Valentinian's magister militum of the western
portion of the Roman Empire.
The deaths of Valentinian and Aëtius in 454–55 created a power
vacuum in the west. At first, Petronius Maximus attempted to seize
control of the imperial throne, but he was killed when the Vandal king
Geiseric sacked Rome in May of 455. Avitus was then made
Emperor by the Visigoths. Following his arrival in Rome, Avitus
appointed Ricimer as commander of the stricken Western Empire
(by then reduced to Italy and a part of southern Gaul). He raised a
new army and navy from among the Germanic mercenaries
available to him.
After leaving Rome, Geiseric had left a powerful fleet blockading
the Italian coast. In 456, Ricimer led his own fleet out to sea, and
defeated the Vandals in a sea-fight near Corsica. He also defeated
the Vandals on land near Agrigentum in Sicily. Backed by the
popularity thus acquired, Ricimer gained the consent of the Roman
Senate for an expedition against the emperor Avitus, whom he
defeated in a bloody battle at Piacenza on October 16, 456. Avitus
was taken prisoner, made bishop of Piacenza, and shortly afterwards
sentenced to death. Ricimer then obtained from Leo I, the eastern
emperor at Constantinople, the title of Patrician.

October 17th:
Modern Day England
Monastery wins World Heritage bid
The twin Anglo-Saxon monastery of Wearmouth-Jarrow has been
named as the UK's nomination for World Heritage Site status in 2009.
The site was home to the Venerable Bede in the 7th and 8th Centuries
and one of the most influential cultural institutions in the western world.
The churches of St Peter, Monkwearmouth, in Sunderland, and
St Paul, Jarrow, in South Tyneside, still contain parts of Benedict
Biscop's original buildings, and would form the centre of the proposed
Heritage Site. A heritage centre called Bede's World already exists
in Jarrow.

October 18th:
England 1001 - 1100
On October 18th, 1016 - The Danes defeat the Saxons in the Battle
of Ashingdon. The Battle of Ashingdon was fought at Assandun, which
is now believed to be Ashingdon in SE Essex, England, though the
location is still debated. It was a victory for the Danes, led by
Canute the Great, who triumphed over the English army led by
King Edmund II ('Ironside'). The battle was the climax and triumphant
conclusion to the Danish reconquest of England.
Canute had besieged London with major support from the English
nobility against the Saxon hierarchy; particularly the Southampton
nobles. The siege was in response to Edmund's reconquest of
recently Danish-occupied Wessex, as well as conducting various
indecisive offensives against Canute's army. London had withstood
the siege and Edmund repulsed the raid-minded Danes, but needed
troops following a successful attack against the Danes in Mercia.
Leaving London, Edmund risked travelling into the countryside,
dominated by enemies and at risk of being attacked by superior
viking soldiers. Canute's intelligence became aware of Edmund's
movements, and whilst marching through Essex, Edmund's army
was intercepted by Canute. The surprise interception overwhelmed
the English, causing some of them to desert, and the Danes poured
on the English, decisively slaughtering much of the nobility. However,
a minority of pro-English primary sources claim that the Danes were
losing ground, and that Eadric (the traitor) was not a coward, but
had previously made a deal with Canute to desert the other English
forces. Nevertheless, the majority of sources believe it was a great,
proper victory of Canute. Edmund survived.
Following his defeat King Edmund II was forced to sign a treaty
with Canute in which all of England except for Wessex would be
controlled by Canute, and when one of the kings should die, the
other king would take all of England; his sons being the heir to the
throne. After Edmund's death (possibly murder) on 30 November,
Canute ruled the whole kingdom.

October 19th:
Modern Day Bohemia 1401 1500
Shopping Center May Hid Rare 15th Century Jewish Cemetery
Archaeologists working on the site of a shopping center in Pizen,
Bohemia are seeking a rare, Jewish cemetery dating to the 15th
century. Researchers know that Jewish graves tend to be
well-preserved and expect them to yield valuable information on
the life of the community. Research shows that the cemetery land
was purchased by the Jewish community and later abandoned
when the Jews were expelled from the area. So far, the site has
not been located, although records show that it is in the area.
Developers are impatient to continue work on the shopping center.

October 20th:
Byzantine Empire 0401 - 0460
On October 20th, 0460 - Aelia Eudocia, Byzantine Empress, died at
age 59. Eudocia Augusta, wife of Theodosius II, East Roman
emperor, was born in Athens. She was the daughter of the sophist
Leontius, from whom she received a thorough training in literature
and rhetoric. The traditional story, told by John Malalas and
others, is that she had been deprived of her small patrimony by
the rapacity of her brothers, and sought redress at court in
Constantinople. Her accomplishments attracted the attention
of Theodosius' sister Pulcheria, who made her one of her
ladies-in-waiting and groomed her to be the emperor's wife.
After receiving baptism and discarding her former name, Athenais,
for that of Aelia Licinia Eudocia, she was married to Theodosius on
June 7, 421; two years later, after the birth of her daughter Licinia
Eudoxia, she received the title Augusta. The new empress repaid
her brothers by making Valerius a consul and later governor of
Thrace and the other, Gesius, prefect of Illyricum.
In the years 438-439 she made a pilgrimage to Jerusalem and
brought back several precious relics; during her stay at Antioch she
addressed the senate of that city in Hellenic style and distributed
funds for the repair of its buildings. On her return her position was
undermined by the jealousy of Pulcheria and the groundless
suspicion of an intrigue with her protégé Paulinus, the master
of the offices.
After the latter's execution (440) she retired to Jerusalem, where
she was accused of the murder of an officer sent to kill two of her
followers, for which act she suffered the loss of some of her imperial
staff. Nevertheless she retained great influence; although involved in
the revolt of the Syrian Monophysites (453), she was ultimately
reconciled to Pulcheria and readmitted into the Orthodox Church.
She died at Jerusalem on October 20, 460, having devoting her last
years to literature.

October 21st:
Modern Day New Seven Wonders of the World Being Selected
Only one of the ancient wonders of the world still survives -- now history
lovers are being invited to choose a new list of seven. Among 21
locations shortlisted for the worldwide vote is Stonehenge, the only
British landmark selected.
An original list of nearly 200 sites nominated by the public was
narrowed to 21 by the organizers and experts, including the former
director general of Unesco Professor Federico Mayor. The vote is
organized by a non-profit Swiss foundation called New7Wonders
which specializes in the preservation, restoration and promotion of
monuments, and the results will be announced on July 7, 2007,
in Lisbon. About 20 million votes have already been lodged,
including many from India, for the Taj Mahal; China, for the Great
Wall and from Peru for Machu Picchu, the fortress city of the Incas.
The other original seven wonders of the ancient world were the
Hanging Gardens of Babylon; the Statue of Zeus at Olympia;
the Temple of Artemis at Ephesus; the Mausoleum at Halicarnassus;
the Colossus of Rhodes and the Lighthouse of Alexandria.
Tia Viering, spokeswoman for New7Wonders, said:
"Apart from the Pyramids, the seven ancient wonders of the
world no longer exist."
The only criteria for the new list is that the landmarks were built
or discovered before 2000.
Votes can be made online, at www.new7wonders.com.

The 21 finalists for the New Seven Wonders of the World, alphabetically:
1 Acropolis, Athens, Greece
2 Alhambra, Granada, Spain
3 Angkor Wat temple, Cambodia
4 Chichen Itza Aztec site, Yucatan, Mexico
5 Christ the Redeemer, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
6 Colosseum, Rome
7 Easter Island Statues, Chile
8 Eiffel Tower, Paris
9 Great Wall, China
10 Hagia Sophia church, Istanbul, Turkey
11 Kyomizu Temple, Kyoto, Japan
12 Kremlin/St.Basil's, Moscow
13 Machu Picchu, Peru
14 Neuschwanstein Castle, Fussen, Germany
15 Petra ancient city, Jordan
16 Pyramids of Giza, Egypt
17 Statue of Liberty, New York
18 Stonehenge, Amesbury, United Kingdom
19 Sydney Opera House, Australia
20 Taj Mahal, Agra, India
21 Timbuktu city, Mali

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