[Steppes] Period Week In Review 08-27-2006 through 09-01-2006

[Mike]

Heilsa,

A bit late this week, what with Gothic Wars, travels, and of course 
humidity falling from sky in the form of drops, which someone said was 
rain. :)

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 08-27 through 09-01:

August 27th:
Japan  1201 - 1300
On August 27th, 1232   The Formulary of Adjudications is
promulgated by Regent Hojo Yasutoki. (Traditional Japanese
date: August 10, 1232). The Goseibai Shikimoku or the Formulary
of Adjudications was the legal law of the Kamakura shogunate in
Japan, promulgated by third shikken Hojo Yasutoki in 1232. It is
also called Jo-ei Shikimoku after the era name. Before enacting
the Goseibai Shikimoku, the Kamakura shogunate conducted
trials without formal laws. After the Shokyu War, an increasing
number of land disputes between its vassals, aristocrats and
peasants made fair trials indispensable. Thereafter Hojo
Yasutoki compiled the outline with 51 article headings and 13
Hyojoshu (councilors) completed it. Supplementary articles to
the Goseibai Shikimoku, called Tsuika were issued afterward.
The Muromachi shogunate also adopted the Goseibai
Shikimoku as the basic law. The Goseibai Shikimoku was
repealed during the Edo period, but was widely used as a
textbook for writing in temple schools.

August 28th:
Ethiopia  1501 - 1600
On August 28th, 1542   Reinforced with at least 600 arquebusiers
and cavalry, Imam Ahmad Gragn attacks the Portuguese camp in
the Battle of Wofla. The Portuguese are scattered, their leader
Christovão da Gama captured and afterwards executed. The
Battle of Wofla was fought near Lake Ashenge in the modern
Ethiopian Region of Amhara, between the Portuguese under
Christovão da Gama and the forces of Imam Ahmad Gragn.
Reinforced with a superiority not only in numbers but in
firearms, Ahmad Gragn was victorious and forced the
Portuguese, along with Queen Sabla Wengel and her retinue,
to flee their fortified encampment and leave their weapons
behind. While fleeing the battlefield with 14 soldiers, da
Gama was captured by followers of Ahmad Gragn, taken
before the Imam who insulted da Gama, tortured him, then
killed him with his own hands.

August 29th:
Bosnia  1101 - 1200
On August 29th, 1189   Ban Kulin wrote "The Charter of Kulin",
which become a symbolic "birth certificate" of Bosnian
statehood. Ban Kulin was a powerful Bosnian Ban who ruled
from 1180 to 1204 first as a vassal of the Byzantine Empire
and then of the Kingdom of Hungary. He was brought to the
power by Byzantine Emperor Manuel I Comnenus. He had
a son, Stevan; who succeeded him as Bosnian Ban. Kulin
founded the House of Kulinic'. The Charter of Kulin is a
symbolic birth certificate of Bosnian statehood, as it is the
first written document that talks of Bosnian borders (between
the rivers of Drina, Sava and Una) and of the elements of the
Bosnian state: its ruler, throne and political organization. It also
noted Bosnia's population - Bosnianins. The Charter was a
trade agreement between Bosnia and Republic of Dubrovnik.

August 30th:
Modern Day
England  Time Period
On August 30th, Dig unearths round table evidence at Windsor
Castle
Evidence of a building linked to the myth of King Arthur and the
knights of the round table has been found at Windsor Castle.
The circular structure was built by Edward III in the 14th century
to house the round table intended to seat the original 300
Knights of the Garter. Archaeological proof of the building was
uncovered by members of Channel 4's Time Team in the
castle's quadrangle. Although the stones have been removed,
rubble in-fill where they were originally located remained in
place. The show's presenter, Tony Robinson, said the discovery
could help settle years of debate among historians over the
existence of the building.
 "The round table building is one of our most significant ever
archaeological finds. It is something that helped to establish
Arthurian legends of the knights of the round table."
    "We set out to uncover the walls of the building, and they
are just where we hoped. Experts have speculated about the
structure for centuries, but they have never been able to find
the actual building."

August 31st:
Roman Empire  0001 - 0100
On August 31st, 0012   Gaius Caligula, Roman Emperor born.
Gaius Julius Caesar Augustus Germanicus, most commonly
known as Caligula, was the third Roman Emperor and a
member of the Julio-Claudian dynasty. Caligula was born as
Gaius Julius Caesar Germanicus at the resort of Antium, the
third of six surviving children born to Augustus's adopted
grandson, Germanicus, and Augustus's granddaughter,
Agrippina the Elder. Germanicus was son to Nero Claudius
Drusus and Antonia Minor. He was nephew to Claudius
(the future emperor). Agrippina was daughter to Marcus
Vipsanius Agrippa and Julia the Elder. They had four other
sons (Tiberius and Gaius Julius, who died young; Nero,
Drusus), and three daughters (Julia Livilla, Drusilla and
Agrippina the younger). Gaius' life started out promisingly,
as he was the son of extremely famous parents. Germanicus
was a grandson to Tiberius Claudius Nero and Livia,
Augustus's third wife, as well as an adoptive grandson of
Augustus himself. He was thus a prominent member of the
Julio-Claudian dynasty and was revered as son of the most
beloved general of the Roman Empire. Agrippina was herself
a granddaughter of Augustus and Scribonia. She was
considered a model of the perfect Roman woman. As a boy
of just two or three, he accompanied his parents on military
campaigns in the north of Germania and became the mascot
of his father's army. The soldiers were amused whenever
Agrippina would put young Gaius in a miniature soldier
costume, and he was soon given his nickname Caligula,
meaning "Little (Soldier's) boot", after the small boots he wore
as part of his costume. He would end up hating this name,
but he also hated the name "Gaius".

September 1st:
Byzantine  0401 - 0500
On September 1st, 0462 - possible start of first Byzantine
indiction cycle. An indiction is any of the years in a 15-year cycle
used to date medieval documents. Each year was numbered:
first indiction, second indiction, etc. However, the cycles were
not numbered, thus other information is needed to identify the
specific year. Indictions originally referred to an agricultural or land
tax in late third-century Roman Egypt. These were originally in
5-year cycles beginning in 287, then in a non-cyclic series which
reached number 26 by 318. The indiction was first used to date
documents unrelated to tax collection in the mid-fourth century.
By the late fourth century it was being used to date documents
throughout the Mediterranean. In the Eastern Roman Empire
outside of Egypt, the first day of its year was September 23,
the birthday of Augustus. During the last half of the fifth century,
probably 462, this shifted to September 1, where it remained
throughout the rest of the Byzantine Empire. But in the western
Mediterranean, its first day was September 24 according to
Bede, or the following January 1, called the papal indiction.

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