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The Tragic Reign Of King Edward The Martyr

By
thehistorianshut
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England was left shocked when King Edgar the Peaceful died suddenly on July 8, 975, at the young age of only about thirty-two years old. As the late king, himself, was a youthful man, the two living sons that he left behind were also young. The eldest son, Edward, was reportedly thirteen years old at the time of his father’s death. Although Edgar had named Edward as his heir, the boy’s claim to the throne was not absolute. King Edgar had divorced Edward’s mother, Æthelflæd, and married a new queen, named Ælfthryth (also known as Elfrida). Queen Ælfthryth was the mother of King Edgar’s other living son, Æthelred, who was reportedly seven years old at the time of his father’s death in 975. As both potential claimants to the throne of England were children, the nobles of the country split into rival camps, backing either Edward or Æthelred. To Queen Ælfthryth’s annoyance, Archbishop Dunstan of Canterbury and the faction backing the eldest son moved quickest and successfully placed King Edward I on the throne.

Despite being described as a saintly young man, the teenage King Edward did not have fate on his side. Edward was a magnet for unlucky natural disasters and phenomena. According to the Anglo Saxon Chronicle, a comet appeared in the autumn of 975, a sign that was often considered a bad omen in the superstitious Middle Ages. His luck worsened in 976, when a great famine struck England, further destabilizing the realm. Additionally, Edgar was faced by a slew of disgruntled nobles who had not supported his claim to the throne—among the worst was Ealdorman Ælfhere of Mercia, a particularly insubordinate noble, who began seizing monastic lands without the king’s permission.

Although Edward had already faced incredibly rough years during his short reign, 978 would be the worst. To start the year off, the Witan—a counsel of the king’s powerful advisors—met at Calne for deliberations in an upper floor of a building. Adding to the odd disasters that plagued Edward’s period of rule, the floor upon which the members of the Witan were standing suddenly gave way, sending most of the king’s counselors free-falling to the ground. According to the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, only Archbishop Dunstan was spared the fall, as he had unknowingly been standing atop a sturdy support beam that withstood the collapse. The other members of the Witan, however, did not fare so well. Many were reportedly injured and a few died from the incident.

Despite the drama between the rival political factions that supported Edward and Æthelred, the two young half-brothers reportedly had a warm sibling relationship. In fact, on March 18, 978, King Edward was in Corfe to spend some time with his brother. Yet, the youthful king did not enjoy any family fun on that visit. Instead, the fifteen-year-old king was intercepted and violently murdered by assassins. The slain king was eventually remembered as Edward the Martyr, but his death likely was not perpetrated for religious reasons. Although no evidence was found, many people, both medieval and modern, believe that the assassins were working for Queen Ælfthryth. After the murder of King Edward, his approximately ten-year-old brother, Æthelred, became the new king.  He would be remembered infamously as Æthelred the Unready, the king who could not stop a new wave of Vikings from occupying England.

Written by C. Keith Hansley.

Picture Attribution: (Image depicting the assassination of Edward the Martyr, by Joseph Martin Kronheim (1810–1896), [Public Domain] via Creative Commons).

Sources:

Lao Tzu

By
thehistorianshut
-

 

Lao Tzu (c. 6th-5th century BCE)

“Turning back is how the way moves;
Weakness is the means the way employs.
The myriad creatures in the world are born from Some-
thing, and Something from Nothing.”

  • From Lao Tzu’s Tao Te Ching (Book Two, XL), translated by D. C. Lau (Penguin Classics, 1963).

Emperor Wen’s Path To Power Was Greatly Helped By His Mother’s Unambitious Lifestyle

By
thehistorianshut
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King Liu Heng of Dai was the son of Lady Bo and the first emperor of the Han Dynasty, Gaozu (king of Han 206-202 BCE, emperor 202-195 BCE). According to the Grand Historian, Sima Qian (c.145-90 BCE), Liu Heng was appointed as king of Dai by Emperor Gaozu in 196 BCE. After Gaozu’s death in 195 BCE, the heir of the empire, Emperor Hui, ascended to the throne and his mother, Empress Dowager Lü, became the power behind the throne. Once in power, the Empress Dowager began terrorizing the other concubines of the late emperor and undermining the sons of these rival women. Many concubines were imprisoned or executed and Empress Dowager Lü directly had Gaozu’s sons, Liu Ruyi and Liu You, killed by poison and starvation, respectively. Furthermore, the empress dowager tried to increase the power of her Lü family at the expense of the imperial Liu clan, especially after Emperor Hui’s death in 188 BCE left her position vulnerable.

Fortunately, the king of Dai and his mother, Lady Bo, were spared from the wrath of Empress Dowager Lü. Lady Bo was apparently able to escape imprisonment and execution because she was not one of Gaozu’s favorite concubines and he saw her rarely during his time as emperor. As for Lady Bo’s son, the king of Dai, he stayed alive largely because he could keep a low profile. He kept his criticism and outrage to himself while his half-brothers were being assassinated and his clan was being stripped of power, and instead focused on cultivating a reputation of kindness and generosity.

When Empress Dowager Lü died in 180 BCE, the Liu clan rallied their allies in the government and the military to launch a purge of the Lü clan. Two of the most prominent leaders in the overthrow of the Lü were Zhao Bo (a friend of Lady Bo’s family), who brought the garrison of Chang’an, the capital city, over to the Liu side, and King Ai of Qi (Gaozu’s grandson), who mustered a multi-kingdom army against the enemies of the Liu. After Liu loyalists were sent out “to arrest the men and women of the Lü family and, without distinction of age or youth, to behead them all,” the kings of Dai and Qi became the most likely successors to the throne (Sima Qian, Shi Ji 9 (Empress Lü)).

Both claimants had a good argument. King Ai of Qi had been a leader of the Liu rebellion against the Lü and was the heir of Emperor Gaozu’s oldest son.  It also didn’t hurt that King Ai had a large army in the field.  The other claimant, the king of Dai, was the oldest living son of the late Emperor Gaozu. Though he had developed a widespread reputation for kindness and generosity, he did not attempt to halt or criticize the massacre of the Lü family. In addition, he had the support of Zhou Bo—a family friend of the king of Dai—who held the empire’s capital city of Chang’an, as well as the forces garrisoned inside. In picking which of these two men they wanted to support, the great ministers of the empire had a difficult decision to make.

The debate over who should be the next emperor was apparently so fierce, arguments among the ministers even shifted to the topic of the mothers of the claimants. After surviving the reign of Empress Dowager Lü, the ministers were loath to give support to a man who had an overly ambitious and conniving mother. Considering this angle, the ministers decided that Lady Bo, the mother of the king of Dai, would be the safer choice for a future Empress Dowager. Of course, Zhou Bo’s presence at the head of the forces in Chang’an, the city in which this debate was taking place, may have swayed a few ministers into siding with Lady Bo and the king of Dai. Whatever the case, the ministers threw their support behind the king of Dai, prompting King Ai of Qi to disband his army and return home. To the relief of the ministers, when the king of Dai became Emperor Wen in 180 BCE, his mother, Empress Dowager Bo, dabbled very little in politics besides encouraging her son to incorporate Daoism into his rule.

Written by C. Keith Hansley.

Picture Attribution: (Chinese painting The Nymph of the Lo River, Freer Gallery of Art, Washington, 12th-century copy of a painting traditionally attributed to the 4th-century artist Gu Kaizhi, [Public Domain] via Creative Commons).

Sources:

  • The Records of the Grand Historian (Shi ji) by Sima Qian, translated by Burton Watson. New York: Columbia University Press, 1993.

 

Homer

By
thehistorianshut
-

 

Homer (flourished c. 700 BCE)

“This is the effect of wine – it makes people do crazy things;
it sets the wisest man singing and giggling stupidly; it lures him
on to dance and it makes him blurt out what’s better left unsaid.”

  • The Odyssey (Book 14, approximately between lines 460-470) by Homer, translated by E. V. Rieu and edited by D. C. H. Rieu. New York: Penguin Classics, 2009

The Tense Olympics of 420 BCE And A Boycotted Athlete From Sparta Who Sneaked Into The Games

By
thehistorianshut
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Around 422, after nine years of war, a truce was reached in the Peloponnesian War between the rival Greek coalitions of Athens and Sparta. Although the peace between them would last seven years, war was still prevalent by way of regional disputes. In 421 BCE, one such conflict was caused in the Peloponnesus when the city of Argos announced the creation of its own league and began recruiting into its ranks some disillusioned allies of Sparta. Mantinea, Elis, Chalcidice and, less enthusiastically, Corinth and the Boeotian cities all aligned their regions with Argos. Boeotia and Corinth, however, had a change of heart and separated from Argos—Boeotia renewed its alliance with Sparta and Corinth decided to stay neutral, but was more favorable to Sparta than Argos. When the Boeotians and Corinthians abandoned the Argive alliance and Sparta began launching attacks against Mantinea, Argos decided to align itself and its allies with Athens. This was the atmosphere of Greece in 420 BCE, when the Olympic Games were held within the territory of the Argive alliance.

Argos and its remaining allies were still bitter with Sparta when it came time to host the Olympic Games. Although members of both the Athenian Delian League and the Spartan-led Peloponnesian League were welcome at the Olympics, Sparta, itself, was banned from participating. Just in case the Spartans should decide to show up and compete in a contest of battle, the Argive alliance and Athens sent troops to defend the Olympic Games—Thucydides (c. 460-400 BCE), an Athenian general and historian, estimated around 1,000 warriors from Argos, 1,000 more from Mantinea and an uncounted contingent of cavalry from Athens was present at the games specifically to guard against a Spartan attack.

Thucydides recalled two or three events that stood out in the 420 BCE Olympic Games. An Arcadian athlete named Androsthenes proved his prowess that year, winning both the wrestling and the boxing events. Additionally, the horses and charioteer bankrolled by Lichas, son of Arcesilaus, won a chariot event during the games. Lichas’ success, however, caused no small amount of controversy—he was, after all, a Spartan. Lichas had stealthily sneaked his chariot team into the Olympic Games and they won the event without anyone being the wiser. When Lichas proudly raced down to course to congratulate his team and crown the charioteer, the spectators and umpires of the games quickly discovered that he was Spartan. In a rage, officials stripped the Spartan team of their victory, instead granting the win to a Boeotian charioteer who had finished in second place. As for Lichas, he was allegedly given an embarrassing punitive beating by the umpires of the chariot race.

After the scandalous Lichas incident, the 420 BCE Olympic Games became even more tense. According to Thucydides, the participants and spectators of the games were now more sure than ever that the Spartans would rally their forces to avenge Lichas. The Spartans, however, stayed home and no further incidents were reported to have occurred during the games.

Written by C. Keith Hansley.

Picture Attribution: (Ancient image of a chariot from the Tomb of the Driver, now housed in a museum in Paestum, Italy. [Public Domain] via Creative Commons).

Sources:

  • History of the Peloponnesian War (Book V) by Thucydides, translated by Rex Warner and introduced by M. I. Finley. New York: Penguin Classics, 1972.

Benjamin Franklin

By
thehistorianshut
-

 

Benjamin Franklin (c. 1706-1790)

“The learned fool writes his nonsense in better languages than the unlearned; but still it is nonsense.”

  • From Poor Richard’s Almanac by Benjamin Franklin (Seven Treasures Publications, 2008).

The Poetic Justice That Iceland Served To King Harald Bluetooth Of Denmark

By
thehistorianshut
-

 

The exact time that Harald Bluetooth became king of Denmark is unknown, but it was likely in the decade prior to 960. He had a long reign, in which he brought all the Danes under a single monarchy and converted the people to Christianity. Harald Bluetooth’s rule came to a treacherous end between 985-990, when his own son, Sweyn Forkbeard, seized the throne of Denmark by killing his father.

Snorri Sturluson (1179-1241), an Icelandic chieftain and scholar, wrote often of Harald Bluetooth in the Heimskringla. Although the text was specifically about the kings of Norway, Harald Bluetooth’s habit of meddling in Norwegian affairs and giving shelter to Norwegian political refugees ensured that his name made regular appearances in Snorri Sturluson’s narrative. Similarly, Sturluson recorded stories about Icelandic merchants who sailed to trade in Norway and Denmark. One of the weirdest stories about Harald Bluetooth allegedly originated from one such encounter with a ship of Icelandic traders.

According to Sturluson, an Icelandic merchant ship sank off the shore of Denmark. Much of the ship’s cargo survived the shipwreck and washed up on the local beaches. Harald Bluetooth reportedly believed the merchandise was fair game and sent a bailiff to seize the goods for Denmark.

When Icelanders received news that the king of Denmark had seized their goods instead of returning the merchandise to its owners, they were infuriated and wanted revenge. In order to punish Harald Bluetooth, the Icelanders apparently organized a most cultured revenge. According to Snorri Sturluson, the governing body of Iceland called together its skalds and poets and decreed by law that a collection of ridiculing and lampooning verses be written until there was one Bluetooth-bashing poem per every person living in Iceland. These poems were presumably circulated outside of Iceland, for Harald Bluetooth evidently heard of the existence of the embarrassing verses and supposedly even contemplated launching a punitive campaign against the Icelanders. It was an understandable reaction, as one example of the poetry provided in the Heimskringla described Harald Bluetooth as having a “wax-soft” limb and labeled Danish officials as being “mare-like” (Saga of Olaf Tryggvason, chapter 33).

From this point, Sturluson’s account of the Iceland-Bluetooth encounter transitioned from folklore into bizarre myth. In an unlikely tale, he wrote that a shape-shifting warlock was sent by Harald Bluetooth to scout the shores of Iceland for a good spot to land an army. The warlock took the shape of a whale and swam around the island. During his trip, the shape-shifter was given a tour of the creatures that Norse mythology has to offer. From wights, to dragons, and even mountain giants, the unnamed warlock saw all manner of unnatural beasts. As a last Icelandic slap to Harald Bluetooth, Sturluson alleged that the Danish king was frightened by the warlock’s colorful report and decided it was better not to attack Iceland.

Written by C. Keith Hansley.

Picture Attribution: (Þorgnýr the Lawspeaker at Gamla Uppsala, 1018, painted by Christian Krohg  (1852–1925), [Public Domain] via Creative Commons).

Sources:

Geoffrey Chaucer

By
thehistorianshut
-

 

Geoffrey Chaucer (c. 1342-1400)

“O stormy people, frivolous and fickle,
Void of true judgement, turning like a vane,
Whom every novelty and rumor tickle,
How like the moon you are to wax and wane,
Clapping your praises, shouting your disdain,
False judges, dear at a penny as a rule,
Who trusts to your opinion is a fool.”

  • From The Canterbury Tales (The Clerk’s Tale) by Geoffrey Chaucer, translated to modern English by Nevill Coghill (Penguin Classics, 2003).

The Deadly Rivalry Between Pedro Arias Dávila And The Conquistador Vasco Nuñez De Balboa

By
thehistorianshut
-

 

Vasco Nuñez de Balboa was one of the driving forces for the Spanish settlement of Central and South America. By 1500, when he was in his mid-twenties, Vasco Nuñez was exploring the Columbian coastline. Ten years later, he escaped debts that he accrued in Hispaniola (Haiti and Dominican Republic) by joining—or hiding in—a ship heading for a failing colony in Columbia. By 1511, Vasco Nuñez was able to convince the battered, struggling Columbian colonists to relocate to Darién, in Panama, and he became the colony’s interim governor.

In 1513, Vasco Nuñez launched another exploratory expedition. He sailed to the narrowest part of the Isthmus of Panama, and then trekked across land to see the Pacific Ocean. When Vasco Nuñez de Balboa returned to his colony by early 1514, he received bittersweet news from Spain. On the positive side, Vasco Nuñez had been promoted to Governor of the South Sea, and a force of around 1,500 soldiers was sailing to reinforce the colony. The bad news, however, was that the king had sent with the reinforcements a new governor to take control of the Panama region. The king’s pick, Pedro Arias Dávila (or Pedrarias Davila) was an unlikely choice—he was in his early seventies at the time, and many believed him to be well past his prime. In contrast, he was meant to replace the energetic Vasco Nuñez, the rising star of Panama who had earned the respect of many veteran colonists and local conquistadors.

When Pedro Arias Dávila arrived with his army, it did not take long for tensions to rise. Even so, the two rivals managed to coexist for several years. Interestingly, Pedro Arias Dávila arranged for Vasco Nuñes to marry his daughter, but the marriage was by proxy—the bride was not present. Vasco Nuñez was even given permission by the new governor to go on another expedition between 1517 and 1518, in which he carried ships across land to explore the Pacific Gulf of San Miguel.

Yet, though they coexisted for several years, the two men were always suspicious of each other—and for good reason. In 1519, whatever had been keeping the peace between the two finally disappeared. On likely fabricated evidence, Pedro Arias Dávila charged his son-in-law with conspiracy to rebel against the governor. Vasco Nuñez de Balboa was beheaded, along with at least four of his loyal friends. Around the time of the execution, the king of Spain was considering an inquiry into Pedro Arias Dávila’s conduct in Panama. Many suspect Vasco Nuñez was executed so that he could not testify against his father-in-law. Nevertheless, Pedro Arias Dávila suffered no repercussions for his actions (except criticism by historians) and he continued to govern colonies in Central America and the Caribbean until his death in 1531.

Written by C. Keith Hansley.

Picture Attribution: (Painting of Francisco Pizarro and conquistadors, by Juan Lepiani  (1864–1932), [Public Domain] via Creative Commons).

Sources:

Luo Guanzhong

By
thehistorianshut
-

 

Luo Guanzhong (lived between 1315-1400)

“I would rather defeat the world than have the world defeat me!”

  • A line attributed to the Chinese warlord, Cao Cao, in The Romance of the Three Kingdoms (chapter 4), by Luo Guanzhong and translated by Martin Palmer. New York: Penguin Classics, 2018.
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