The Children’s Crusade is the name given to a variety of fictional and factual events which happened in 1212 that combine some or all of these elements: visions by a French or German boy; an intention to peacefully convert Muslims in the Holy Land to Christianity; bands of children marching from various other European nations to Italy; and finally, the children being sold into slavery and failing entirely in their admittedly unlikely and quixotic mission.
It has become a byword for tragedy, waste, naivete and religious stupidity, although of course, since it was never officially sanctioned by Rome, the Catholic Church denies all responsibility for it.
Jason was a little-known hero who, in order to win the throne of Iolcus (in Thessaly), recruited a mighty crew and set sail in the Argo in search of the Golden Fleece. They found it only with the assistance of the goddess Hera and the princess Medea, who betrayed her father and eloped with Jason and the Fleece. Jason made it safely home, claimed the throne and married Medea. This did not end well for either of them.
Jason’s crew was a who’s who of Ancient Greek heroes. It included Hercules, Theseus, Castor, Pollux, Laertes (father of Ulysses), Bellerophon, Iolaus, Nestor, Orpheus, Deucalion, Asclepius, Atalanta, Peleus (father of Achilles) and Autolycus. In fact, not counting the heroes of the Trojan War (who were mostly not yet born at this point), the only significant Greek hero not to participate was Oedipus.
In the final engagement of the Punic Wars, the Roman forces brought to war to the very doorstep of Carthage. From 149 BCE until the spring of 146 BCE, they laid seige to the city itself, which is located near the site of modern Tunis. The Romans could probably have won sooner, but incompetent commanders hamstrung their efforts. By the time they finally breached the walls and poured into the city, the Carthaginians had turned every building into a fortress, and armed every citizen.
However, the battle was never seriously in doubt. Although both sides suffered terrible losses, a Roman victory was inevitable once the city itself was invaded. The fall of Carthage represented the demise of the last organised opposition to Roman expansion in the Mediterranean, as the Carthaginians were their major rivals in the early days of Roman civilisation.
Although it is commonly taught that the Romans plowed Carthage under and sowed salt in the new fields, this claim does not appear in any contemporary sources, and appears to be an invention of nineteenth century historians.
It’s not true to say that Sir Walter Raleigh – privateer, nobleman, favourite of Queen Elizabeth I, soldier, sailor, explorer and unsuccessful quester for the fabled city of El Dorado – killed more men than cancer.
However, as the man generally credited with the introduction of tobacco products to England – where they became popular at court, thus guaranteeing their spread throughout the rest of the nation and rival European courts (fashion is a harsh mistress) – he should at least be thought of as one of cancer’s most able accessories before the fact.
It would be nice to say that he died of lung cancer, but actually, he was beheaded in what many believe to have been a political maneuver aimed at placating the Spanish (whom Raleigh had fought during the Armada incident and the related war), and something of a miscarriage of justice (since King James, Elizabeth’s successor, did not have much love for her former favourites).
When Mount Vesuvius erupted in 79 CE, it did so with considerable force. The very shape of the mountain was changed, and the course of the nearby Sarno river was altered. For these reasons, Pompeii – and the neighbouring town of Herculaneum – were lost for centuries. Continue reading 1599 – Pompeii is rediscovered
Born some time in April of 1728, Charles Mason is probably best known as one of the two drawers of the Mason-Dixon Line separating Pennsylvania and Maryland. In his day, though, he was better known for his work for the Royal Society, including observing the Transit of Venus in 1761 (the first time he worked with Jeremiah Dixon), and most particularly, his long and ultimately successful struggle to perfect the Lunar Tables (which were used to determine the longitude of ships at sea).
The French phrase “Qu’ils mangent de la brioche” is usually translated as “Let them eat cake”, and is widely attributed to Marie Antionette.
However, in the original – Jean-Jacques Rousseau’s Confessions, which he finished writing in 1769, when Marie Antoinette was 13 – the remark is attributed only to “a great princess”. The phrase was attributed to Marie Antionette only after the Revolution began, and many citations for it exist prior to this, and not referencing her. In fact, the emerging consensus among historians at this time is that the Rousseau was referring to Marie-Thérèse, the wife of Louis XIV, and pre-dates Marie Antionette by at least a century.
Hammurabi is perhaps the best-remembered king of Babylon’s first dynasty. Although he was the sixth of that house, he was the first one to actually be called a king, largely as a result of his military victories, Aside from the simple fact of his kingship, his greatest claim to fame is the Code of Hammurabi.
One of the oldest known written codes of law in the world, it predates Mosaic law (i.e. the Bible) by centuries, and was a direct influence on that code. The code consists of 282 individual laws, and states the punishments for each infraction. The law was revolutionary in three aspects:
It was written in the common tongue (Akkadian, in this case) so that any literate citizen could read it.
It standardised punishments, ensuring that the law was consistent (albeit rather harsh by modern standards – it is also one of the earliest known examples of the “eye for an eye” principle, which appears to have been intended to limit vengeance to an equitable level.).
It is one of the earliesst known examples of the presumption of innocence, a cornerstone of our modern legal system today, and required that both sides provide evidence to substantiate their claims.
As a result of Hammurabi’s pivotal role in the history of the law, his likeness is often found in courts and parliaments, as a famed law-giver. In many such depictions, he is the earliest historical figure shown.
The American Bison is a large herbivourous mammal, distantly related to today’s domesticated cows. At one time, they were found in an area ranging from the Yukon to Mexico, covering more than a third of the North American landmass. Numbers slowly diminished over the years as the Native Americans hunted them, but an equilibrium was reached. There were were sufficient bison to survive and insufficient humans (with too low a technology) to do more than dent their numbers.
This changed with the advent of European colonisation. As the West was slowly settled by white men with guns, the numbers of bison were greatly reduced. To some extent, this was to clear land for farming, but frequently, bison were short more or less for the hell of it. Native tribal cultures based around hunting bison fell apart as there were no longer any bison to hunt in many areas.
In 1884, bison numbers – as best can be determined from the incomplete historical record – bottomed out. While some bison lived in national parks (notably Yellowstone, founded in 1872) and were protected, the species as a whole was still hunted for several more years until they were officially labelled as endangered.
Today, careful breeding programs have replenished bison numbers are estimated to be about 300,000 in the United States, but this is a far cry from the days when a single herd would take from dawn to til past dusk to pass an observer.
It is one of the most famous paintings in the entire Western canon, and yet, no one seems to be exactly sure just when “The Starry Night” was painted. While it is generally agreed that it was painted in June of 1889, no one is sure of the exact days – or more likely, nights – that he worked on it.
In May of that year, Van Gogh had committed himself to the hospital at Saint-Paul-de-Mausole, which was housed in a former monastery in Saint-Rémy, less than 20 miles (32 km) from Arles where he had lived for the previous year and painted many of his most well-known works. He painted only a few paintings during his year in the hospital, despite having been given two bedrooms (the second for use as a studio). Of these, “The Starry Night” is the most well-known – indeed, it may be the most well-known of all Van Gogh’s paintings.
The painting itself depicts the night sky as a thing alive with energies and lights. It is a busy image, and yet one that is both playful and restful. The painting depicts the view from the window of Van Gogh’s room, which faced south over the village of Saint-Rémy, although certain liberties have been taken with the view – the presence of the constellation Ursa Major (which should be to the north of the asylum) and of a cypress tree – are both additions not present in the actual view.
Referenced in:
Vincent — Don McLean
Fans of Doctor Who should note that this painting was completed after Van Gogh’s encounter with the Doctor and Amy Pond.
It’s one of the great legends of the Australian outback: Harold Lasseter’s lost gold reef has inspired blizzards of writing and several expeditions.
The story is that Lasseter discovered a large gold reef somewhere on the border of West Australia and the Northern Territory, while travelling overland from Alice Springs to Perth in 1897.
But here’s the thing: no one even looked for it until 1930, when Lasseter finally managed to persuade some backers to return to the Northern Territory. Lasseter was secretive, by all accounts, and eventually wandered off by himself, to die in the desert.
No gold was ever found in the area – and later surveys showed that the gold Lasseter had claimed to find there actually came from Kalgoorlie, thousands of miles to the south, and that it was geologically impossible for gold to be found in the area Lasseter claimed it was from.
Jimmy Sharman’s Boxing Tent is perhaps the best known – and most notorious – of the various travelling outback boxing shows that once went from town to town in Australia. It put on displays of bare-knuckle boxing as well as occasional bouts where locals could try their luck against the professional boxers.
It was a brutal sport, and often exploitative – but it was also one of the few ways a black man could make a living, albeit a dangerous one that might leave you maimed. The outback boxing circuit flourished for a few decades, but it largely faded away by the time of World War Two.
Referenced in:
Yesterdays — Cold Chisel
Jimmy Sharman’s Boxers — Midnight Oil
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