[Steppes] Period Week in Review Week of 09-17-2006 through 09-23-2006

[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 09-17 through 09-23:


September 17th:
Modern Day
England  Roman Empire
Totally Unique Roman Bath House Discovered in Kent, England.
Reported on September 17th,   The remains of the 5th Century
building were uncovered in a field in Faversham by students
working with the Kent Archaeological Field School. Dr Wilkinson
said the bathhouse was about 10m (32.8ft) wide. Dr Paul
Wilkinson said the Roman baths came to light during a number
of excavations for Swale Borough Council. He claimed the
octagon-shaped bathhouse was a "very exciting" find and a
first for the South East. Dr Wilkinson said: "There's unique
shapes in it, there's a hexagon plunge bath in the centre, there
would have been two storeys, there's a fountain in the centre
of it. This really is very exotic and sophisticated architecture."

September 18th:
Modern Day
Europe  Latin To Become Lingua Europa?
The Vatican's daily newspaper has called for Latin to be made the
official working language of the European Union, after attempts by
the new Finnish presidency to promote its use in EU departments.
"While Latin has been given up as a compulsory subject in schools
over recent years, interest in the language is growing in Europe and
other parts of the world," the semi-official L'Osservatore Romano
said in a commentary. "In these circumstances, it would constitute
a suitable instrument for international communication."
    The paper said a Latin-language news programme, Nuntii Latini,
had been broadcast weekly for the past decade by YLE, Finland's
equivalent to the BBC, making the ancient Roman language
"potentially contemporary." It added that Latin formulations had been
found for numerous modern phenomena, such autocinetica
(motorway), supervenalicium (supermarket), fullonica electrica
(washing machine) and pilae coriaceae lusor (soccer star).
Besides Finland, which has a tradition of classical scholarship,
other countries have reported a growing interest in Latin, whose
renewed use as a once-universal language has also been
encouraged by the Catholic Church. The Finnish government set
up a weekly news summary in Latin when it first assumed the
EU's rotating presidency in 1999, and has repeated the service,
alongside English, French and Swedish, since taking over the
six-months presidency for its second term on 1 July.
    Classics scholars have insisted use of the language would
"turn EU jargon into poetry". As examples, they said the
Common Agricultural Policy could be rendered as
"Ratio communis agros colendi" ("common scheme for
cultivating the fields"), while the EU's Acquis Communautaire,
or body of laws and regulations, could be Latinised as
"Corpus legum institutorumque iuris Europaei."
    "Using Latin is a way of paying tribute to European
civilisation and it serves to remind people of European
society's roots, stretching back to ancient times," explained
Mia Lahti, editor of the Finnish presidency's website.
"Latin isn't dead - it's still very much in use in different forms
across the world today. After all, Italians, French and Spaniards
all speak a new form of Latin." Several Italian newspapers
have backed the L'Osservatore Romano proposal, while
noting that Finland itself was never part of the Roman Empire.

September 19th:
France  1301 - 1400
On September 19th, 1356 - Hundred Years' War: Despite a shortage
of arrows, English and Welsh forces led by Edward the Black Prince
decisively won the Battle of Poitiers and captured King Jean II of
France. Resulting in the second of the three great English victories
of the Hundred Years' War: Crécy, Poitiers, and Agincourt.
    At the beginning of the battle, the English simulated flight on their
left wing. This provoked a hasty charge by the French knights
against the archers. However, the English were expecting this and
quickly attacked the enemy, especially the horses, with a shower
of arrows. French chronicler Jean Froissart writes that the French
armour was invulnerable to the English arrows, that the arrowheads
either skidded off the armour or shattered on impact. The armour
on the horses, however, was weak on the sides and back, so the
English archers moved to the sides of the cavalry and shot the
horses in the flanks. The results were devastating. This attack was
followed by the Dauphin's infantry, who engaged in heavy fighting,
but withdrew to regroup. The next wave of infantry under Orléans,
seeing that the Dauphin's men were not attacking, turned back
and panicked. This stranded the forces led by the King himself.
This was a formidable fighting force, and the Welsh archers were
out of arrows: the archers joined the infantry in the fight and some
of both groups mounted horses to form an improvised cavalry.
Combat was hard, but the Black Prince still had a mobile reserve
hidden in the woods, which were able to circle around and attack
the French in the flank and rear. The French were fearful of
encirclement and attempted to flee. King John was captured with
his immediate entourage. Jean de Clermont, French marshal,
died in battle.
    The result was a decisive French defeat, not only in military
terms, but also economically: France would be asked to pay a
ransom equivalent to twice the country's yearly income to have
her king back, an impossible sum, and he would eventually die
a prisoner in England. In many ways, Poitiers was a repeat of
the battle of Crécy showing once again that tactics and strategy
can overcome a minor disadvantage in numbers.

September 20th:
Franco-Flemish  1401 - 1500
On September 20th, 1460   Gilles Binchois, Flemish composer died
at age 60. Gilles de Binchois or Bins was a Franco-Flemish
composer, one of the earliest members of the Burgundian School,
and one of the three most famous composers of the early 15th
century. While often ranked behind his contemporaries Guillaume
Dufay and John Dunstable, at least by contemporary scholars, his
influence was arguably greater than either, since his works were
cited, borrowed and used as source material more often than
those by any other composer of the time. He was probably from
Mons, the son of Jean and Johanna de Binche, who may have been
from the nearby town of Binche. His father was a councillor to Duke
Guillaume IV of Hainault, and also had a position in a church in
Mons. Nothing is known about Gilles until 1419, when he became
organist at the church of Ste. Waudru in Mons. In 1423 went to live
in Lille. Around this time he may have been a soldier in the service
of the Burgundians, or perhaps the English Earl of Suffolk, as
indicated by a line in the memorial motet written on his death by
Ockeghem. Sometime near the end of the 1420s he joined the court
chapel of Burgundy, and by the time of his motet Nove cantum
melodie (1431) he was evidently a singer there, since the text of
the motet itself lists all 19 singers. He retired to Soignes,
evidently with a substantial pension for his long years of excellent
service to the Burgundian court. Binchois is often considered to
be the finest melodist of the 15th century, writing carefully shaped
lines which are easy to sing, and utterly memorable; his tunes
continued to appear in copies decades later, and were often used
as sources for mass composition by later composers. Most of his
music, even his sacred music, is simple and clear in outline,
sometimes even ascetic; a greater contrast between Binchois
and the extreme complexity of the ars subtilior of the previous
century would be hard to imagine. Most of his secular songs are
rondeaux, which had become the commonest song form of the
century; but Binchois rarely writes simple strophic form, instead
shaping his melody almost independent of the rhyme scheme of
the verse. Binchois wrote music for the court, secular songs of
love and chivalry, music that was expected by the Dukes of
Burgundy and that was evidently loved by them.

September 21st:
England  1501 - 1600
On September 21st, 1599   The Globe Theater had its first recorded
performance. The 20-sided timber building for Shakespeare's
plays was constructed on the South Bank of the Thames, England.
The troupe Lord Chamberlain's Men built the Globe Theater.
Timbers came from a dismantled old theater and the new structure
held some 3,000 spectators in 3 galleries. In 2005 James
Shapiro authored "A Year in the Life of William
Shakespeare: 1599."

September 22nd:
Modern Day
Ireland  Time Period  0901 - 1000
1100 year Old Viking Boat Discovered in Ireland
ARCHAEOLOGISTS working on the Castlebar sewage scheme
stumbled upon what has been described by the National Museum of
Ireland as a 'significant and exciting archaeological find'. While
trench testing close to Lough Lannagh they uncovered a wooden boat,
believed to be medieval with a strong possibility that it could even be
from the Viking period of around 1,100 years ago. Measuring 10 feet
long and some six-foot wide, the boat is in reasonable condition
having been preserved in a blanket of peat which covered it from
once the Castlebar lake receded. It may have been used as a cargo
or fishing vessel. Its discovery was made possible due to a drop in
the water levels of the lake which have dropped significantly since
the 1800s when water was diverted for a mill race. The Moy Drainage
Scheme in the 1960s also led to a lowering of the lake levels by as
much as 12 feet.
    The discovery was made by Olga Sheehy, who is one of a team
of six archaeologists headed by licensed archaeologist, Joanna
Nolan, currently working at the site. The team is working on the
preservation and recording of the various parts of the boat which
has already been visited by conservators from the National Museum
of Ireland who have taken samples of the vessel for carbon 14 dating
and a sample of the keel also taken for a dendrochronology test which
will give it an even more accurate date than the carbon 14 result. At
first it was thought the boat was the remnants of a trackway which
were quite common on boggy areas but closer examination revealed
quite a significant hull, floor and a vessel that was clinker built and 
very
definitely based on Viking technology.
    Joanna Nolan explained that the iron nails were a particular
diagnostic feature which gives the boat a very definite medieval date
and possibly of the Viking period.
    "We are hoping it is but it is certainly unique and very definitely
medieval," said Joanne.
    "It is a unique boat and the lightness of planking would suggest it was
a cargo boat of light construction. It was found near the old lakeshore,
which we believe receded twice in the 1800s when a mill race was
being constructed.  A further drop in water level was caused in the
1960s when the Moy Drainage Scheme was in operation and the lake
has dropped by some 12 feet over a period. After we did some
cleaning, remnants of a larger boat with a keel plank and bilge area
with flattened out timber crossing, became visible."
    "There is a base of a keel and at least one rib fragment which gave
the planking stability. It was clinker built, that means a series of planks
were used and they were fastened by iron nails hammered through
the plank and held by a clench plate on the end, the clench plate
acting like a washer. We are naturally hoping that it is early rather
than late medieval," she said.
    The fact that the National Museum of Ireland has expressed an
interest in the find would certainly indicate that it is significant and
experts from the museum have already been to Castlebar to examine
the boat.
   Describing the find as 'significant', Mr. Eamon Kelly, Head of
Antiquities at the National Museum of Ireland, said the technology
used to design the boat was undoubtedly Viking but whether the boat
itself is from the Viking period is still not certain. That will be
established when a carbon date is returned in the next week or two.
   "What we can say is that this was a boat based on the Viking style
of building, which was used up to the 17th century."
   "In fact, the legendary pirate queen, Grainne Uaille O'Malley, used
these style of boats for her famous galleys which were copies of the
Vikings so it could fit into a number of periods but it is undoubtedly
medieval."
    "There was a strong Scandinavian presence around the Clew Bay
region and there are several references in the annals concerning the
Vikings taking over fishing in the region.
     "Such Vikings ships became common around the 9th century
when the Vikings first invaded Ireland and were not uncommon in the
west of Ireland where fishing was a major occupation of the Viking
settlers."
    "Mayo would have been a popular area for fishing by Vikings and
it was certainly an area where Viking boat building was quite
common."
    This latest archaeological find is one of a number of significant
discoveries on a number of Mayo County Council projects in a county
that has a rich archaeological heritage.
    The same team that is working on the Castlebar boat also
uncovered what was thought to be a boat in Ballina but subsequent
tests have now established that it was a wooden trough, possibly
used for washing or cooking.
     The Castlebar team would like to thank a number of people who
have made their work at the site easier, particularly the owners of
the land where the find was made, Carmel and Trevor McDonald.
     "Roadbridge Ltd., who are constructing the Castlebar Sewage
Scheme along with Mayo County Council have been very supportive
of our work as indeed are Tobin Constructing Engineers who are
administering the project."

September 23rd:
Roman Empire   0101BC - 0001BC
On September 23rd, 0063BC   Augustus (Latin: IMPERATOR
CAESAR DIVI FILIVS AVGVSTVS born; known as Gaius Julius
Caesar Octavianus (in English Octavian) for the period of his life
prior to 27 BC, was the first and among the most important of the
Roman Emperors. Although he preserved the outward form of the
Roman Republic, he ruled as an autocrat for more than 40 years,
and his rule is the dividing line between the Republic and the
Roman Empire. He ended a century of civil wars and gave Rome
an era of peace, prosperity, and imperial greatness, known as the
Pax Romana, Roman peace. He was born in Rome (or Velletri)
on September 23, 63 BC with the name Gaius Octavius. His father,
also Gaius Octavius, came from a respectable but undistinguished
family of the equestrian order and was governor of Macedonia.
Shortly after Octavius's birth, his father gave him the surname of
Thurinus, possibly to commemorate his victory at Thurii over a
rebellious band of slaves. His mother, Atia, was the niece of
Julius Caesar, soon to be Rome's most successful general and
Dictator. He spent his early years in his grandfather's house near
Veletrae (modern Velletri). In 58 BC, when he was four years old,
his father died. He spent most of his childhood in the house of his
stepfather, Lucius Marcius Philippus. In 51 BC, aged eleven,
Octavius delivered the funeral oration for his grandmother Julia,
elder sister of Caesar. He donned the toga virilis at fifteen, and
was elected to the College of Pontiffs. Caesar requested that
Octavius join his staff for his campaign in Africa, but Atia protested
that he was too young. The following year, 46 BC, she consented
for him to join Caesar in Hispania,where he planned to fight the
forces of Pompey, but he fell ill and was unable to travel. When
he had recovered, he sailed to the front, but was shipwrecked;
after coming ashore with a handful of companions, he made it
across hostile territory to Caesar's camp, which impressed his
great-uncle considerably. Caesar and Octavius returned home
in the same carriage, and Caesar secretly changed his will.



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