Tis the Season for Gift Giving! (Part 2)
art history · history

Tis the Season for Gift Giving! (Part 2)

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I had to put this as a seperate post, but I find the journey of this particular medieval gift to be very interesting. This gift illustrates many of the different occasions to give gifts (which I discussed in my previous post) and how these gifts get re-circulated.

This piece is commonly known as the Eleanor of Aquitaine vase. It was crafted in a pear shaped and was made of rock crystal with a mount made of silver. The gems and gold adornments seen in the featured image were added later by the abbot Suger.

In the 12th century this vase was gifted to William IX of Aquitaine (Eleanor’s grandfather) and is believed to have been gifted to him by Imad al-Dwala abd al-Malik Ibn Hud, the last Muslim leader of Saragossa. Continue reading “Tis the Season for Gift Giving! (Part 2)” →

Tis the Season for Gift Giving! (Part 1)
art history · history

Tis the Season for Gift Giving! (Part 1)

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Now that Thanksgiving has finished it is time to begin the crazy ritual of shopping for that perfect gift. Rushing out early on Black Friday and grabbing that last Xbox on sale! It can be crazy, but you can bet I was out there and, as a result, came back with my gift list completely finished. These are some of our gift giving customs of today, but during the medieval era there was a lot more that went into it.

The ritual of gift giving has always been a part of society and many of these gifts have become pieces of artwork that we know today. During the middle ages, among the upper classes, there was a strict ritual surrounding gift giving. “To give, to receive, to reciprocate,” to quote from Buettner’s article, was the formula. Continue reading “Tis the Season for Gift Giving! (Part 1)” →

Preserved in Time: The London Shipwreck
art history · english history · history

Preserved in Time: The London Shipwreck

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As a kid I dreamed (and lets be real still wishes) of being an archaeologist. You get to travel the world and discover the lost secrets of history. You get to be the first to touch something that no living person has touched in hundreds of years. I imagine it would feel like you would have some connection to those who came before you and, honestly, I want to feel like I am experiencing what others before me did. It would almost be like you were time traveling. Unfortunately, I grew up and the realities of life set in such as student debt, a good salary, and finding stability. A girl can still dream though!

I bring this up because I have been following an amazing archaeological find of our current day. Found in the Thames River in London, a great ship from the 17th century was found impeccably preserved. Talk about traveling back in time! Much of The London, which was the name the ship was known as, was preserved under a deep layer of mud and silt. Continue reading “Preserved in Time: The London Shipwreck” →

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Looking to Add to your Reading List?

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Happy Tuesday!

I thought I would do something different today and recommend some of my favorite historical fiction series. I just eat up any books or shows that take place in a different time (honestly, I think I like to live vicariously…). There are so many good ones, but the following have really stuck with me. It is getting close to the end of the year and it is time to fill out that reading list for 2018! Continue reading “Looking to Add to your Reading List?” →

On This Day: Tragedy of the Edmund Fitzgerald
American History · history

On This Day: Tragedy of the Edmund Fitzgerald

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“The legend lives on from the Chippewa on down

Of the big lake they called ‘gitche gumee’

The lake, it is said, never gives up her dead

When the skies of November turn gloomy

With a load of iron ore twenty-six thousand tons more

Than the Edmund Fitzgerald weighed empty 

That good ship and crew was a bone to be chewed  

When the gales of November came early” -”The Wreck of Edmund Fitzgerald” by Gordon Lightfoot

Being a Michigander I have grown up knowing the sad tragedy of the mighty freighter named Edmund Fitzgerald and visited the Great Lakes Shipwreck Museum. 42 years ago today on November 10, 1975 one of the largest freighters ever to sail the great lakes (729 feet long and 75 feet wide) was lost in Lake Superior during a terrible storm.

Lake Superior is the largest freshwater lake in the world and is the coldest/deepest of all the Great Lakes. The deepest point is about 1,300 feet and waves of over 40 feet have been recorded before. There is a saying that Lake Superior never gives up her dead… Continue reading “On This Day: Tragedy of the Edmund Fitzgerald” →

Will the real Anne Boleyn please stand up?
art history · english history · history

Will the real Anne Boleyn please stand up?

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Why are we so fascinated to know what a woman who lived centuries ago truly looked like and why this particular woman? In the media, Anne Boleyn has been characterized in three different ways. She has been romanticized and sexualized, she has been portrayed as a cold-hearted witch, and she has been portrayed as a martyr/victim of a tyrannical king. This seems unfair to a real woman who actually lived and had many of the same stresses as we do.

She is so fascinating to us because we all want to know how she kept the rapt attention of Henry VIII for seven long years (without becoming his mistress) in order to achieve marriage and queenship. Henry was so enamored by this woman that the Imperial ambassador in England recorded that “The King cannot leave her for an hour.” Henry was risking excommunication and war for this one woman. Continue reading “Will the real Anne Boleyn please stand up?” →

The Legend of the Jack O’Lantern
American History · Ancient History · history

The Legend of the Jack O’Lantern

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Happy Halloween everyone!!

Halloween is one of my favorite holidays. I love to dress up and be someone else for a day. I love the candy and, most of all, carving pumpkins! Where did these traditions come from? As I wrote in my Druids post the other week, many of these traditions are derived from extremely old sources.

Halloween itself finds its origins in the ancient Celtic/Druid festival of Samhain. The Celts believed that just before winter the barriers between our world and the world of the dead were much thinner than usual. The souls of the dead, it was believed, were able to roam between the worlds as they pleased. Continue reading “The Legend of the Jack O’Lantern” →

The Tale of Bloody Mary
biography · english history · history

The Tale of Bloody Mary

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Remember that weird ritual we did back in elementary/middle school in order to scare ourselves? If we would go in front of a mirror at night, or exactly at midnight, or whenever they told you and say bloody Mary three times in the dark she would appear in the mirror before you (and apparently curse you or something). When I was in elementary school that used to scare the crap out of me and I refused to even partake. I wouldn’t even look into a mirror at night for a brief period (I know I was a wimp!), but then I grew up and wondered…why are we so scared of Mary Tudor? If I could get this “ritual” to work I would do it to ask her questions about history and what life was like in her time (because I am a nerd)! But, anyway, I wanted to write a post about how she got her name and, well, why I feel bad that she has been remembered this way in a child’s game. Continue reading “The Tale of Bloody Mary” →

The Power of the Druids
Ancient History · english history · history

The Power of the Druids

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It’s almost Halloween so let’s talk about magic in history! I’ve always wanted to learn more about the Celts and especially the druids. Unfortunately, almost nothing is known about the druids except through outside Roman sources, which are naturally biased. There were no written records coming directly from the druids or the Celtic civilizations. There are a lot of misconceptions about the druids due to Roman influence, but also many things that I personally did not know before.

The druids were considered extremely powerful in Celtic society and were basically untouchable. They were society’s religious leaders, people of wisdom and essentially their own separate entity which could overrule most others in society. Being the highest members in society it was stated that they were exempt from taxes, from military service, and almost above the law. They were able to, in a way, to excommunicate people Continue reading “The Power of the Druids” →

On this Day in History: Battle of Hastings
english history · history

On this Day in History: Battle of Hastings

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On this day, Saturday, October 14,1066 the Battle of Hastings took place and changed history in one fell swoop. It did not take a whole campaign, but one gruesome battle for the Normans to conquer England and begin a new dynasty.

It began at around 9 am that morning with the English positioned on the higher ground. They were battle ready, but the quick march from the north and their previous victory at Stamford Bridge had taken its toll. The English stood shoulder to shoulder and created the traditional shield wall, as this was how fighting had taken place in England up to this point. The Normans brought something new to the table by creating three lines of soldiers; archers followed by the infantry and then followed by the mounted knights. The English did not have separate forces like this.

William carried a banner granted to him by the Pope, Continue reading “On this Day in History: Battle of Hastings” →