[Steppes] Period Week in Review Week of 09-03-2006 through 09-09-2006

[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 09-03 through 09-09:

September 3rd:
Modern Day
England   0601 - 0700
On September 3rd,   Reported that a rare Saxon Belt on Display
for First Time
A rare Anglo-Saxon belt buckle found by a treasure hunter with a
metal detector is going on public display for the first time. The
copper alloy buckle dates from between AD600 and AD720
and is only the second one of its type found in England. It was
unearthed recently on the outskirts of London by Bill Robson,
who handed it to the Museum of London. The belt is rare
because it is in a style normally found in Spain.

September 4th:
Modern Day
Spain  1501 - 1600
On September 4th, Medical researchers working with the
500-year-old pinky of Emperor Charles V of Spain report that
the mummified finger shows signs of debilitating gout which
would have caused great pain. Charles V abdicated in favor
of his brother at the age of 56. "His physicians recommended
that he follow a strict diet, but the emperor had a voracious
appetite, especially for meat. He also liked to drink large
quantities of beer and wine, and he even ordered a specially
designed four-handled drinking mug," said Jaume Ordi of the
University of Barcelona. The condition became so severe and
distracting, it probably prompted him to put off military action
against the French city of Metz, which prevented him from
conquering it in 1552, according to historians. That failure,
and possibly his illness, led him to abdicate to his brother,
Ferdinand I, four years later. At the height of his 40-year
reign from 1516 to 1556, Charles V controlled lands in Europe,
Africa and Asia and even conquered parts of the Inca Kingdom
of Peru and the Aztec Empire of Mexico.

Modern Day
England 
On September 4th   Reported that a Facelift for Medieval Work
As the enormous tapestry, big enough to line a castle hall and
protect a prince from the biting chill of the medieval winter, came
down from its wall, the gorgeously costumed lords and ladies,
horses and hounds rippled into momentary life. Of all the miles
of tapestries woven for fabulously rich clients on looms in
Flanders and northern France only three full sets survive in the
world: the unicorn tapestries in museums in New York and Paris
and the 15th century Devonshire tapestries, one of the greatest
treasures of the V&A museum since it acquired them from the
Duke of Devonshire in 1957.
    The four Devonshire tapestries are the largest and the only set
to show the favourite pastime of the medieval aristocracy:
hunting - for bears and boar, swans and otters, for the pot and
for fun. The life size human figures are spectacularly dressed -
and have been pored over by costume historians for centuries -
and even many of the dogs wear embroidered padded coats
for protection.
    They may have been imported into England in the 16th
century by the formidable Bess of Hardwick, who married four
times and grew richer every time, for her spectacular new
house, Hardwick Hall in Derbyshire. The house, with her initials
rearing up on the parapet, visible to half the county, was tagged
"Hardwick Hall, more glass than wall" for its huge windows,
which would have made the interiors freezing and much in need
of tapestries. It took a team of 12, including student textile
conservators who volunteered for the job and the chance to get
so close to history, to winch the largest of the tapestries down
off the gallery wall, lay it gently flat on the floor and roll it so it
can be removed to a studio for conservation work. At a first
glance by the textile experts the 11 metre (36.5ft) Swan and
Otter Hunt appeared to be in remarkable condition, needing no
more than a light surface clean. After 500 years the tapestries
are about to be separated. While the other three return to a
refurbished tapestry gallery, the Swan and Otter Hunt will
become the centrepiece of the new medieval and renaissance
galleries, surrounded by the trappings of medieval luxury
including silver and gold tableware, ivory caskets and exquisite
jewellery, much as modelled by the lords and ladies in the
tapestries.

September 5th:
Modern Day
Ireland  Time Period  1501 - 1600
"Image of Irelande" Depicts 16th Century Irish Life
Plates from John Derrick's 1581 book The Image of Irelande are
available on the Edinburgh University website. The woodcuts
show examples of Irish costume of the time. According to the
website, "the plates tell the story of the subjugation of the
Irish rebels by Sir Henry Sidney, Lord-Deputy of Ireland under
Queen Elizabeth of England (and father of the poet Sir Philip
Sidney whose "Arcadia" was greatly admired by
William Drummond)."


September 6th:
Modern Day
This is not an SCA event
On September 9-11, 2006, the Canadian chapter of the
International Jousting Association will be holding its first event,
the IJA-Canada 2006 National Championships. The event
will be held in conjunction with the Severn Bridge Fall Fair
in Washago, Ontario. The event, which has a "Wild Hunt"
theme, will feature full contact jousting, using a solid wood
lance base and a three foot balsa lance tip, and a
falconry hunt. Saturday activities (September 9) are
open to the public.

September 7th:
Greece  1300BC - 1201BC
On September 7th, 1251 BC   A solar eclipse on this date might
mark the birth of legendary Heracles at Thebes, Greece. In Greek
mythology, Heracles or Herakles ("glory of Hera") was a divine
hero, the son of Zeus and Alcmene, stepson of Amphitryon and
great-grandson of Perseus. He was the greatest of the Greek
heroes, a paragon of masculinity, the ancestor of royal clans
and a champion of the Olympian order against chthonic
monsters. In Rome and the modern West, he is known as
Hercules, with whom the later Roman Emperors, in particular
Commodus and Maximinus, often identified themselves. The
Romans adopted the Greek version of his life and works
essentially unchanged, but added anecdotal detail of their
own, some of it linking the hero with the geography of the
Western Mediterranean. Details of cult were adapted to
Rome as well. Extraordinary strength, courage, ingenuity,
and sexual prowess with both males and females were
among his characteristic attributes. Although he was not as
clever as the likes of Odysseus or Nestor, Heracles used his
wits on several occasions when his strength did not suffice,
such as when laboring for King Augeias, wrestling the giant
Antaeus, or tricking Atlas into taking the sky back onto his
shoulders. Together with Hermes he was the patron and
protector of gymnasia and palaestrae. His iconographic
attributes are the lion skin and the club. These qualities did
not prevent him from being regarded as a playful figure who
used games to relax from his labors and played a great deal
with children. By conquering dangerous archaic forces he is
said to have "made the world safe for mankind" and to
be its benefactor.

September 8th:
On September 8th, 1504   Michelangelo's 13-foot marble statue
of David was unveiled in Florence, Italy. Michelangelo's David,
sculpted from 1500 to 1504, is a masterpiece of Renaissance
sculpture and one of Michelangelo's two greatest works of
sculpture, along with the Pietà. However, it is the David alone
that almost certainly holds the title of the most recognizable
statue in the history of art. It has become regarded as a symbol
both of strength and youthful human beauty. The 5.17 meter
(17 ft) marble statue portrays the Biblical King David at the
moment that he decides to do battle with Goliath. It came to
symbolise the Florentine Republic, an independent city state
threatened on all sides by more powerful rival states. This
interpretation was also encouraged by the original setting of
the sculpture outside the Palazzo della Signoria, the seat of
civic government in Florence.

September 9th:
Modern Day
Poland  Time Period  1201 - 1300
13th Century Letters Returned to Poland
On September 9th     BBC reported that Papal Letters were found
among a collection of 13th Century letters, among the belongings
of a US World War II veteran, has been returned to Poland. Some
of the letters were written by popes and date as far back as 1256.
They were discovered by Philip Gavin from Wisconsin after the
death of his father, George Gavin, who brought them home as a
souvenir of the war. They are from the archives of Wroclaw,
south-western Poland, which was the German city of Breslau
before WWII. Dariusz Ganczar, an official from the archives,
told the BBC News website: "There are in all 17 letters, all from
the 13th Century. Some were written by the Popes
Alexander IV and Gregory X, or by high-ranking Roman Catholic
Church officials. Others are correspondence between landlords.
The letters are said to be remarkably preserved, with Latin
words still legible on the vellum (animal skin). Mr Gavin said
his father had found the documents in the mud by a burned-out
train in Austria. One possibility is that they were lost during
transportation after the Germans fled before the advancing
Red Army.

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