Friedrich Schleiermacher (1768-1834)
“History, in the most proper sense, is the highest object of religion. It begins and ends with religion–for in religion’s eyes prophecy is also history, and the two are not to be distinguished from one another.”
(Mithras tauroctony in Louvre c. 2nd-3rd century, photo by Jastrow [Public domain], via Creative Commons)
Mystery Religions
This is Part Two of an article discussing the Mystery Religions of Ancient Rome. For information on what Mystery Religions are and how their adherents believed and acted, please read PART ONE.
For the sake of clarity and coherence, here is a brief summary of what ancient Mystery Religion were about: The Mystery Religions of ancient Rome were cults—before any negative connotations creep into our minds, remember that religious cults of antiquity were not viewed as negatively as the modern ‘cult.’ The religious cults of ancient Rome were worshipping the gods and goddesses of mythology well before monsters like Jim Jones and Charles Manson stigmatized cults forever. Modern cults are about feeding the egos of manipulative sociopaths—ancient cults were about creating a more emotional and personal worship experience. The ancient cults were simply groups of people who met regularly at a fixed location to worship a specific deity by reenacting a secret ceremony to induct new initiates to the cult.
In ancient days, especially in Rome and Greece, religion was a public activity done under the observation of the government and temple priests. Understandably, some Romans wanted a closer, more personal, relationship with their deity—these people were the ones who joined the Mystery Religion cults. Instead of giving offerings to their gods in the marketplace temples, they would meet with small congregations and worship through ceremony and ritual.
Christianity, before being accepted and protected by Emperor Constantine and his successors, used some of the characteristics and organization of the Roman Mystery Religions to survive its inhospitable two first centuries of existence. Members of Mystery Religions, like Emperor Constantine (who worshipped Mithras most of his life), were able to understand Christianity and were a heavy source of the Church’s first gentile converts.
The Cult of Mithras
No Mystery Religion is more similar to Christianity than the cult of Mithras (a bull-slaying god of light), which spread from India and Persia into Rome likely around the 1st century BCE. By the 2nd century CE, Mithras was a popular god worshipped by the soldiers in the legions of Rome. It even became the empire’s religion as Sol Invictus (the Undying or Invincible Sun) in 304 CE. Before becoming the first Christian emperor, Constantine was a follower of the Undying Sun, which makes the name of the day Constantine created—Sunday—interesting, as the day was named after he had converted to Christianity.
The many similarities between Jesus and Mithras (who was worshipped in Rome before Christ’s birth) are intriguing. Mithras’ birthday was December 25th and, according to Tripolitis, some of the accounts of Mithras’ birth even depict shepherds as being present at the location of his birth (endnote 1). The Liturgy of Mithra explains that the god Mithras was “born of mortal womb” in a similar manner as Christ (2). The god, Mithras, also held strong Christ-like characteristics. He was a god of light who acted as a bridge between the unreachable universal divinity and the finite lives of humans inhabiting earth (3). He was also described as “the champion of Light against Darkness, of the weak against the strong, of men against the dominion of demons and cosmic powers, [and] was a human figure whose triumphant struggle encouraged men to higher endeavor” (4). The ceremonial meal of Mithras was also the closest to the Eucharist of Christianity. There is, says McConnell, “both literary and archaeological evidence” that the cult of Mithras held frequent meals “in which bread and water were offered with certain formulae” (5). An inscription in a Mithraeum (a temple devoted to Mithras) underneath the Church of Santa Prisca in the city of Rome, illustrates the significance of the sacrificial blood to the cult, “you have saved us after having shed the eternal blood” (6). The water sometimes was replaced with wine, and the wine represented the blood of a slain bull and the bread represented the flesh (7). Being a previous devotee of Mithras, Constantine, perhaps, did not have to adjust his beliefs all that much when converting to Christianity.
Early Christianity as a Mystery Religion?
Looking at the Mystery Religions from a world long dominated by Christianity and filled with Christian themes, it is likely much easier than it should be to find similarities between the Mystery Religions and Christianity. There is no evidence that Christianity or the Mystery Religions adopted or borrowed anything from each other, but the similarities are, nevertheless, apparent. With so many correlating categories, even those who lived in the days when the Mystery Religions and Christianity coexisted must have noticed at least a few of the similarities between the faiths. Pagans must have used their knowledge of the Mystery Religions to try to understand the new eastern religion advancing from Jerusalem. If they heard of Christian baptisms, initiations, sacred feasts, religious meetings, champions of light, and of man made god, they already had a present array of Mystery Religions against which they could compare the arising Christian church.
Christianity and the Mystery Religions competed for the same pool of spiritually-yearning souls. The people of the Greco-Roman world, united within a Mediterranean empire, decided that they did not want their religions to be practiced merely in the city marketplaces, for everyone to see. They decided that they would rather worship more regionally, and more isolated and secluded, praising their deities in Mithraeums in caves dedicated to Mithras, Iseums dedicated to Isis, or small house-churches dedicated to Jesus. During this period, Mithraic Sol Invictus, Isis, and Jesus were all proclaimed to be the one true supreme God. To gain full entry into any of these communities, the hopeful initiate was required to learn about the community’s beliefs, and experience initiation. After acceptance into the communities, Mystery Religions and Christianity both offered the favor of the supreme God and a chance to obtain a pleasant afterlife, or at least reduce the discomfort of death. Though the Mystery Religions offered the spiritually yearning many of the same opportunities as Christianity, the Christian church and community kept ample written materials—while the cults had virtually none—and proved to be more universally accommodating and fulfilling of humanity’s spiritual needs. This gave the Christian religion an advantage over their mysterious competitors and ushered in an age of Christianity in the Roman Empire.
Written by C. Keith Hansley
thehistorianshut.com
Sources
(Bicycle-mounted Japanese troops in the Philippines c. 1941-1942, via Creative Commons)
The Japanese literally pedaled their way to victory in the Battle of Singapore
The military has always recognized the necessity of speed and mobility in waging effective warfare. This need was fulfilled from antiquity until around the First World War by cavalrymen on horseback. When the World Wars arrived, horses were quickly exchanged for more mechanical means of mobile warfare. Tanks, armored personnel carriers and powerful aircraft replaced the role of the horseman. In the brief, frenzied transition period of the outdated horse cavalry into the mechanized military of today, many machines were put to the test. Just as aircraft designs progressed from tri-planes, to bi-planes and finally jets, the military ground forces also developed many iterations of machines to improve upon the mobility of the horse. One of the least remembered replacements of the horse was the bicycle, and few countries used the bicycle better in war than the Japanese.
Japan was not the only country that experimented with the military possibilities of the bicycle. Quite the opposite, the peddle-powered bike was a universal tool deployed by most world powers. The bicycle did not require feed or fuel for it to function and its maintenance was fairly simplistic, making it an affordable and dependable machine in the right circumstances. During WWI, it was used for sending messages and allowing scouts and snipers to move quickly around the battle-lines.
When World War Two arrived, bicycles were still in use for messaging and scouting, but faster and better-armored vehicles had usurped the bike’s place with the active infantry—that is, until the Japanese used bicycles to conquer the pacific.
To set the scene, around the start of WWII, Japan controlled Korea, Manchuria and much of the Chinese coastland. They had further imperial ambitions in southern Asia and the numerous islands of the Pacific. The Japanese military was fueled by foreign oil, which made the United State’s embargo of oil all the more damaging to Japan. For its embargo to end, the United States demanded that Japan release almost all of its conquests in the Pacific and mainland Asia. Understandably, Japan refused. Instead, in December 1941, Japan launched a surprise attack on the U.S. Naval base in Pearl Harbor as a screen to cover the Japanese acquisition of oil fields in Southeast Asia, especially Indonesia.
The bicycle fit perfectly with Japan’s situation. They needed to conserve fuel—the bike was foot-powered. They were on ships ping-ponging their way through the islands of the Pacific—the bicycle was lightweight and easy to transport across water. Japan even commandeered bikes from the populations they occupied, especially as they invaded the Malay Peninsula on their way to Singapore.
The Battle of Singapore best displayed the advantages of Japan’s bicycle infantry. In February of 1942, the Japanese military, under the command of General Tomoyuki Yamashita, established a foothold on the Malay Peninsula. What happened next surprised the British, Australian and Indian troops defending the region—Yamashita’s men attacked by land, through thick jungle, swamps, fields and plantations.
Yamashita’s land route proved unexpectedly successful. The Japanese found a map of British defenses around the town of Jitra. With the map, Yamashita was able to take Jitra with less than 50 casualties and seize the weapons, ammunition, rations and vehicles within the town. The Japanese also were able to take British airfields and sink two of Britain’s most powerful ships in the region (the Repulse and the Prince of Wales). This limited Britain’s military defense to only its infantry, for its air and naval power was crippled and all of the defenses around Singapore faced toward the ocean instead of the jungle.
Thousands and Thousands of Japanese infantrymen grabbed the nearest bicycle and peddled onward toward Singapore. Using their bikes, the Japanese could weave their way through the jungle when they needed to, but they also had access to pristine British-made roadways. The Japanese bicycle infantry quickly pursued the withdrawing British defenders, the bikes allowing them to maneuver behind British lines and attack from unexpected directions.
The bicycles, strangely enough, also acted as an instrument of terror. Bicycle infantry showing up in the most unsuspected of places behind enemy lines was enough cause for terror, but the bikes could cause even more fear. Keeping in mind that the Japanese were peddling their bicycles all day long, on and off road, it is understandable that flat tires were a common problem—actually, those flat tires turned out to be a boon. As Japanese forces pedaled toward an enemy position, the metal rims of busted bicycle tires grinding against stone and asphalt sounded eerily like an approaching tank. Sometimes, by the time the Japanese bicyclists arrived on their broken bikes, the British defenders would have already retreated, spooked by the sound.
General Yamashita rode the wave of surprise and fear all the way to Singapore. When they arrived, the Japanese forces sieged the city even though they had much fewer men than the British defenders, and by February 15th, the city of Singapore was surrendered to Japan.
Bicycles won the Battle of Singapore. They allowed the Japanese to efficiently navigate the Malay Peninsula and attack British positions from the undefended jungles and swamps. Using bicycle tactics like this, the Japanese were able to build a far-flung empire stretching down the Chinese coastline and around southern Asia toward India before the USA, and other Allied Powers, dismantled the Japanese Empire and won the Pacific war in WWII.
Sources
What is a Mystery Religion?
Information is scarce concerning the ancient Mystery Religion cults in which many Greco-Romans found spiritual belonging and redemption from as far back as the 6th century BCE until the introduction of Christianity into the empire. At this period of time, cults had no evil or manipulative connotations, as they do today. These cults allowed early Greeks and Romans to worship their gods brought in from the regions of Greece, Rome, Persia, Africa and all other regions of Roman conquest. The strains of information on the Mystery Religions are fiercely debated and interpreted precisely because the cults were so mysterious, with initiates sworn to secrecy. What is left for historians and scholars of religion to study is only decaying temples and snippets left by philosophers and writers, here and there, on what they saw, heard, or were allowed to write concerning the cults of the Mystery Religions. Most sources on the subject are biased. Philosophers denounced superstition and Christians found demons in all aspects of the Mystery Religions, and the destruction of images and shrines (iconoclasm) compromised Mystery Religion evidence and information.[Endnote i] The Mystery Religions are also difficult to understand because the initiation ceremonies of the cults were so secretive, and very few initiates broke their vow to write about their experience.[ii] Though there is no evidence to suggest any bridges between the Mystery Religions and Christianity, and there is no way to know if anything was copied between the Mystery Religions and Christianity, there is no denying that there are striking similarities and correlations between Christianity and the Mystery Religions. Both were able to attract religious followers because of the promised chance of personal salvation and a comforting sense of belonging in a small community of like-minded comrades. As Christianity spread throughout the Roman Empire, many cult members joined the Christian Church, for the Mystery Religion members were the exact type of people who wanted a more personal relationship with their deity.
To understand the ancient Mystery Religions, one must understand the idea of early cults. All a cult requires is a location of worship, a ritual to be performed, and deity to be the patron of the gathering. The Mystery Religions acquired their ‘mystery’ name because of the secretive initiation that one was required to undertake if he or she wished to join the cult of a god of the Roman Empire. In Religions of the Hellenistic-Roman Age, Antonía Tripolitis says the ritual of the initiation allowed the initiates to come face-to-face with the patron gods of the cult.[iii] Though the Mystery Religions were popular and had members in many regions, the cults themselves had very little organization beyond initiation and ranks of devotion. There was no “established clerical hierarchy or a professional clergy, nor a developed organizational structure.”[iv] Mystery Religions share common themes: ritual cleansing, or other preparations for initiation day, a personal relationship with the deity after initiation and the members of the cults believe themselves to be able to receive salvation through the cult, or at least a better afterlife.[v]
The Mysteries of Rome
The cults of the Roman Empire originated outside of Italy. In times of need, the Imperial capital, Rome, would invite the cults of foreign deities. In “The Eucharist and the Mystery Religions,” John McConnell writes, “The principle Mysteries were the Eleusinian (Demeter, Persephone, Dionysus), the Thracian (Dionysus-Zagreus), the Anatolian (Attis and Cybele), the Egyptian (Isis and Osiris-Serapis), and the Persian (Mithra).”[vi] The willingness of the Romans to welcome outside gods came from their loss of faith in their original gods. As the story goes, the Romans abandoned their native animism to devote themselves to the Greek-based Capitoline gods (Jupiter, Juno and Minerva) around 509 BCE.[vii] This set a precedent that the Romans could overcome hardships by inviting foreign gods and adopting them as their own. According to Greg Woolf, author of Rome: An Empire’s Story, the college of priests usually consulted when inviting a foreign god into the Roman religious system was known as the Sibylline Books.[viii] In 431 BCE, the god, Apollo, was invited during a time of sickness, and in 493 BCE, during an age of war and famine, the gods, Demeter, Dionysus and Persephone were invited into Rome.[ix] The cult of Cybele, the Magna Mater (Great Mother), received its invitation to Rome in 204 BCE in the aftermath of the tumultuous invasion of Italy by the Carthaginian, Hannibal Barca.[x] In History of Rome, Livy describes the decision to seek out Cybele: “The Sibylline Books had been consulted because it had rained stones that year more often than usual, and in the Books a prophecy was found that if ever a foreign enemy should invade Italy, he could be defeated and driven out if Cybele, the Idaean Mother of the Gods, were brought from Pessinus to Rome.”[xi] The cult of Mithras found favor in Rome when Emperor Aurelian believed that the Undying Sun helped him defeat his enemy, Queen Zenobia of Palmyra, in 273 CE.[xii] The Mystery Religions were all accepted into the Roman society during times of trouble and warfare, a similarity that would be shared by Christianity, as Christ’s religion was adopted by Constantine in a time of civil war and turmoil.
Mystery Religion Ritual and Initiation
The initiation into the ancient Mystery Religions is thought to be the most significant event in the cults of the Roman gods. One of the few primary accounts of a cult initiation, in this case the cult of Isis, was written by an author known only as Apuleius, in his Satire, The Golden Ass or Metamorphoses. Apuleius’ writing reflects the common belief of the Cult of Isis that their goddess was the universal deity when Isis explains “I come, Lucius, moved by your entreaties: I, mother of the universe, mistress of all the elements, first-born of the ages, highest of the gods, queen of the shades, first of those who dwell in heaven, representing in one shape all gods and goddesses.”[xiii]In anticipation of initiation, Lucius is given “certain instructions which are too sacred to divulge,” and he is sworn, with other cultists present, not to eat food for a total of ten days or ingest wine or meat.[xiv] During the initiation itself, while wearing special, symbolic garb, Lucius describes the initiation, saying:
Before being accepted into a church, the initiates of the Mystery Religions had to be purified and learn of the beliefs of the cult. The initiate would then be ‘reborn’ in front of the congregation.
Even though initiation was the most secretive of the aspects of the ancient Mystery Religions, a remarkable amount of information has been discovered about what may have occurred. Angus identifies five common steps of initiation. First is the process of purification, followed by teaching of the symbols and rituals, which would then be contemplated and studied by the initiate. The initiate would then be required to prove that he or she could explain or teach the symbols before they were accepted by the cult and the deity.[xvi]Angus revealed in The Mystery-Religions that “some sort of confession of sin was required of the neophyte…with the elements of a penitential system and absolution for uneasy devotees.”[xvii] There is also evidence that the cults of Isis and Mithras used baptism in their initiations and the sea played a role in the purification of initiates into the Eleusinian cult.[xviii] A baptism, yet a baptism by blood, is also found in the practice of Taurobolium present in the cult of Mithras and Cybele. In the Taurobolium, an initiate was laid in a dug out trough over which a bull was sacrificed, and he “moistened his tongue with the blood, which he drank as a sacramental act. Greeted by the spectators, he came forth from this bloody baptism believing that he was purified from his sin and ‘born again for eternity.'”[xix] It is also thought that many of the popular Mystery Religions devoted their baptisms to the elements of water, flame, and soul.[xx]
In general, a main difference between the initiation into the Christian church and the initiation into a Mystery Religion was the aim of the initiation. Christian converts preparing for baptism (catechumens) and the baptized of the Christian church, were set up to learn the scripture and liturgy of the church. The initiation process (education and baptism) into the early Christian church was a gateway to the further materials held by the church. The Mystery Religions, however, had very little written literature, and their liturgy was mainly focused around the initiation itself. In other words, a Mystery Religion used the initiation process as the primary way to convey the cult’s beliefs.
The Mystery Religion depended on an awe-inspiring ceremony and experience to convey the beliefs of the cult. They relied on loud and strange sounds, bold and vibrant colors, and possibly mind-altering substances to make the initiation a memorable experience that would be imprinted upon the minds of the initiates for the rest of their lives. Egyptian initiations were described as being, “performed at night and were accompanied by exotic sounds, in this case those of Egyptian sistrums, a kind of rhythmic rattle or noisemaker (Apul. Met. 11. 4). The Symbols of the cult were brilliantly colored and visually arresting…They witnessed, “in the middle of the night…the sun flashing with bright light’ as they ‘came face to face with the gods.”[xxi] The Eleusinian (near Athens, Greece) ritual played out similarly. Luther Martin explains through Plutarch’s Moralia(Morals) that the Eleusinian initiations contained contrasts of blinding light and extreme dark as well as the god appearing before the initiates, leaving them dumbfounded and in awe.[xxii] Fasting and drinking of a substance called kykeon, which may have been hallucinogenic or alcoholic, increased the Eleusinian atmospheric effect.[xxiii] The extravagant initiation is seen by some to be “Religious Priming,” which, according to Martin, is defined as the use of shocking, extravagant, terrifying, and grandiose ceremony to create an experience that will be permanently lodged in the mind and can be recalled, by the experiencer, for later use.[xxiv] Regarding these magnificent, awe- or terror-inspiring initiations, S. Angus writes, the “Mystery-Religion was (I) a religion of symbolism which, through myth and allegory, iconic representations, blazing lights and dense darkness, liturgies and sacramental acts, and suggestion quickened the intuitions of the heart, and provoked in the initiate a mystical experience conducting to palingenesia (regeneration), the object of every initiation.”[xxv] With very little written sacred writings to distribute to cult members, the religious communities of the Mystery Religions had to rely on spectacular initiation ceremonies that would live on forever in their minds.
Behavior of the Congregations
Asceticism, the sacrifice of earthly pleasures and luxuries in order to achieve spiritual excellence (still found with monks and nuns of today’s religions), was also found in the Mystery Religions. Before initiations, entrants to the Mystery Religions were required to fast and were often encouraged to refrain from wine and to practice abstinence.[xxvi]It is thought that the Greeks and Romans only began to practice asceticism as a religious practice after the eastern cults introduced it to them.[xxvii]
The Mystery Religions held fasts of food and pleasure, took pilgrimages, made confessions, donated money, and even inflicted self-mutilation for their cult.[xxviii] Similarly to early Christianity and many other religions, the Mystery Religion cults did not disregard the morals of people when the leadership pondered who to allow access into the mysteries of the cult. Tripolitis writes, “Nero never visited Eleusis because he knew that he would probably be denied invitation, and Apollonius of Tyana was refused participation because he was considered a magician.”[xxix]The initiation for the Mystery Religions was very important because initiations were both the introduction to the religion, as well as the main source of the cults’ religious beliefs.
The Roman Empire viewed many similarities in the communities of Christianity and the Mystery Religions. Romans saw them both as superstitious groups. Robert Wilken describes superstition in his work, The Christians as the Romans Saw Them, as “the kind of practices and beliefs associated with the cults that had penetrated the Roman world from surrounding lands.”[xxx] Just like early Christianity, the Mystery Religion cults faced persecution unless they had senatorial or imperial support. The emperors, Augustus and Tiberius, were not very accepting of the Mystery Religions, especially the cult of Isis, but other Roman Emperors, such as Caligula and Aurelian, began an age of acceptance of the Mystery Religion cults.[xxxi] Similarly, early Christian communities were either ignored or persecuted until they found favor under Emperor Constantine.
The communities of the Mystery Religions also served as burial societies. A burial society at Lanuvium worshiped a deity and cultivated a sense of belonging through meetings where they ate, drank and socialized. At the same time, they made sure that their association provided support for members in need, and ensured that all the members would receive a proper burial upon death.[xxxii]Another society, the Iobacchi, met monthly where they feasted and paid dues, but the meetings were also religious, led by a designated priest charged to handle “the drink-offering for the return of Bacchus and pronounce the sermon…And the archbacchus shall offer the sacrifice to the god.”[xxxiii]
The ancient Mystery Religions, like modern Christianity, often followed savior-gods. S. Angus writes, “To initiation was ascribed a sacramental efficacy which atoned for a man’s past, gave him comfort in the present, a participation in the divine life, and assured to faith an hereafter of such dazzling splendor that the trials and conflicts of the earthly existence were dwarfed into insignificance.”[xxxiv] The Mystery Religions gave Greco-Romans a way to achieve redemption and rebirth. All of the major Mystery Cults provided options for those seeking redemption, or rebirth, from their past, as well as a sense of enlightenment, or even just tranquility in a chaotic life.[xxxv] Bruce Metzger explains in his journal article, “Considerations of Methodology in the Study of Mystery Religions and Early Christianity,” that many of the Mystery Religion rebirth myths correlate to the seasons. He concludes, “the rites of the Mysteries, which commemorate a dying and rising deity, represent the recurrence of the seasons and the vegetative cycle.”[xxxvi] The Mystery Religions are not alone in their ties to agriculture, some Jewish and Christian religious feast days, such as Passover (the feast of unleavened bread) and Pentecost, can also be traced to agricultural cycles for harvests. The Christians religion and the Mystery cults both are centered on a divine figure who died and was raised again, even if, unlike Christ, the Mystery Religion gods did not give themselves to death willingly.[xxxvii]
As stated before, though there is no definitive bridge between the Mystery Religions and the Christian Church, there are undeniable similarities. In contemplation of the similarities, Metzger writes:
Christianity and the Mystery Religions shared some of the same rituals, meals, styles of meeting, and even wardrobe and fashion worn during services.
Written by C. Keith Hansley
thehistorianshut.com
Sources
(Bridget and Michael Cleary c. 1887, via National Archives of Ireland)
A witch? A fairy? Who was the murdered wife of Michael Cleary?
Mr. and Mrs. Cleary
The strange and bizarre events leading up to the death of Bridget Cleary, as well as the court trial a few months later, are well known in the British Isles, especially Ireland, where the grisly event took place in 1895. Outside Britain and Ireland, however, the story is less well known. This article is dedicated to all of the history enthusiasts who were never introduced to this truly macabre tale. Without further ado—here is the story of Bridget Cleary, a woman murdered by her husband for being a fairy changeling at the end of the 19th century.
Bridget lived with her husband, Michael Cleary, in a comfortable cottage in the region of Tipperary, in southern Ireland. They lived within a day’s walk of the towns of Fethard and Drangan. In terms of wealth, the Cleary family was above the local average. Bridget was a seamstress and her husband was a cooper. These professions were profitable, and Bridget further increased their income by selling eggs. They also had no children (which was unusual for their time and place). Though their lives may seem dull and bleak by modern standards, they were living a privileged life in 19th century Ireland.
Trouble
On March 4th, 1895, events began to fall in place that would escalate throughout a 5-month period of time. On the 4th, Bridget Cleary was out and about selling surplus eggs to neighbors in the vicinity of the Cleary home. While she was making her rounds, she fell ill, or an already existing illness took a turn for the worse. She may have picked up a terrible cold or flu, but some historians hypothesize that she may have had tuberculosis or pneumonia. Whatever the cause, by March 5th, Bridget was bedridden in her home.
By March 9th, after four days of being confined in the Cleary home, Patrick Boland (Bridget’s father) was concerned enough about his daughter to walk to the town of Fethard to elicit the medical aid of Dr. William Crean. The doctor proved to be an evasive man, and when Crean still had not seen to Bridget by March 11th, Michael Cleary walked to Fethard in his own attempt to gain the doctor’s attention. Despite Bridget’s father and husband pleading with the doctor to examine Bridget, it was not until March 13th when Dr. Crean made an appearance. By then, Bridget so ill that a local priest, Friar Cornelius Ryan, was called to administer the last rites for the very sickly Bridget.
With Dr. Crean’s aid in short supply, Michael Cleary turned toward a different sort of remedy. He found a folk medicine man named Denis Ganey who gave Michael various herbs to be mixed with boiled milk. Bridget was supposed to drink this unpleasant-sounding concoction—a potion seemingly meant to deal with fairies and changelings. At times, Bridget was uncooperative with her husband’s medicinal methods, so he force-fed her on multiple occasions. Her mouth and throat were damaged enough to be recorded in the post-mortem examination.
By the 14th of March, while Michael Cleary was still ‘treating’ his wife with this folk remedy, he (along with some neighbors and other family members) unbelievably used fire-related ceremonies to induce a confession from Bridget—presumably of her being a fairy changeling. One of the ritualistic treatment methods tried by Michael and the others was to hold Bridget over a kitchen fire.
Tragedy
While these strange treatments were happening, Bridget Cleary was understandably becoming angry. According to reports, she deliberately acted out some of the characteristics of fairies and changelings, which only increased Michael’s paranoia. In her illness, and anger, she began to constantly mock her family—Michael being the main target. Was her annoyed behavior understandable? Most certainly. Should she have complained about her treatment without fueling Michael’s fears? No doubt about it. Analysis of Bridget Cleary’s behavior aside, all of the blame for her death falls on Michael.
By March 15th, Bridget felt well enough to walk around her house, but she was still confined to the Cleary home. Friar Ryan made a return trip to the house to hold mass for Bridget and the family members attending her during her sickness. When the friar and other well-wishers dispersed, Michael again began the folk medicine practices. That day, Michael repeatedly interrogated Bridget, demanding to know if she was a fairy or changeling. Bridget’s cousin, Johanna Burke, heard the Cleary couple arguing about fairies, and multiple witnesses saw Michael knock Bridget to the ground and threaten her with a burning stick.
At some point during that night, after Bridget was knocked to the ground, her chemise-style gown caught fire. Either Michael’s burning stick or the kitchen hearth was the likely culprit. The fabric Bridget was wearing proved to be highly flammable, for she was quickly engulfed in flames. The testimonies conflict about whether Bridget died quickly or in a long agony. Either way, Michael helped the flames consume Bridget Cleary—he doused her with oil. Some sources claim that he applied the oil only after it was apparent that she was dead. Others claim he kindled the fire with oil while she was still alive. Either way, Michael’s next action was suspicious—he buried Bridget’s charred and blackened body in a shallow grave.
Aftermath
The next day, Michael, and other family members, acted as if nothing had happened. They went on a trip to Drangan to seek out advice from some priests. The police quickly became suspicious, however, and a search for Bridget Cleary began on March 16th. Claiming that his wife had been taken by fairies (as he assumed Bridget was replaced by a changeling), Michael spent the next 3 days (March 17th– 19th) camped out near Kylenagranagh Fort. He claimed to have been waiting for his real wife to ride back to him on a white horse. Most likely, he was just hiding and hyperventilating over what he had done to Bridget.
While Michael was awaiting the miraculous return of his murdered wife, the police were obtaining statements from witnesses of Bridget’s last moments. Johanna Burke and another neighbor named William Simpson gave detailed statements of Bridget Cleary’s last hours of life. By the time Michael returned to his home—still without his wife—the police had accumulated enough evidence to compile a list of suspects. On March 20th, just as local newspapers were beginning to write articles on Bridget’s case, the police issued arrest warrants for 9 men, including Michael Cleary.
After the warrants were issued, the police moved quickly. On the 21st, arrests were made and suspects were taken into custody. On the 22nd, the police found and exhumed Bridget Cleary’s body from the shallow grave where Michael left her on the night she died. On March 23rd, the coroner examined the body (which had been buried for 7 days before police found the grave) and concluded that she died by burning. The coroner also found other signs of trauma, including the earlier-mentioned mouth and throat wounds. By the time the police gave Bridget Cleary a proper burial on March 27th, more witnesses had come forward to give testimony, and Dublin newspapers were beginning to cover the murder. The New York Times also published an article on the Bridget Cleary case around March 31st.
When April arrived, the trial for the case of Bridget Cleary’s murder was speedily arranged. The state announced that Michael Cleary would be put on trial for willful murder, and four others present at the time of Bridget’s death would be tried for the crime of wounding. From this point, the sense of urgency dropped dramatically. In the months of May and June the only event of note was the resignation of Dr. Crean from his position as a doctor in Fethard.
Justice?
By July 3rd, a Grand Jury was selected, vetted and sworn in for the trial of Michael Cleary and the others involved in Bridget’s death. Johanna Burke appeared in court to testify again on July 4th and 5th. When Johanna’s second round of testimony was done, the jury was able to quickly pass its judgment. The four bystanders were all found guilty of wounding charges. Michael Cleary, however, was not found guilty of murder; instead, he was found guilty of manslaughter. Before March 5th had ended, Michael Cleary and the others all had quarters prepared for them in the Mountjoy Prison of Dublin.
The trial of those responsible for Bridget Cleary’s death was a landmark case. It was the last criminal trial in Ireland that considered witchcraft and magic in a legal defense. The case was strange enough to be captured by Irish folklore—the case even spawned a new nursery rhyme; “Are you a witch or are you a fairy? Are you the wife of Michael Cleary?”
Michael Cleary only served 15 years for his manslaughter charge. Shortly after his release in 1910, he left Ireland for a new life in Montreal, Canada, where he slipped out of the public eye. For Canada’s sake, hopefully, no fairies followed him on his journey.
Written by C. Keith Hansley
thehistorianshut.com
Sources and links:
(Coin of Phocas, via Creative Commons and Classical Numismatic Group)
The Incredible Story of the Byzantine Emperor Phokas (Ruled 602-610)
When we usually think of ancient and medieval history, we rarely imagine that there was much social mobility. Historians and numerous historical sources support that bleak assumption. In those days, the nobility had almost unquestionable power and the development of serfdom kept commoners figuratively chained to the land for generations. That stereotypical view of the ancient and medieval world—though often accurate—was not always true. Sometimes, people could truly break the mold and live a unique life. One such person was a man named Phokas (or Phocas), who was born in the Byzantine Empire around 547. He was born a commoner and died an emperor—here is his story.
Likely growing up somewhere around modern Bulgaria, Phokas grew of age and joined the section of the Byzantine army stationed in the Balkans. He eventually found himself under the command of General Philippikos. Phokas, though a commoner, arose to the lower-ranking officer position of centurion, which made him responsible for anywhere from 80 to 100 other soldiers.
While he was under the command of General Philippikos, Phokas and his fellow soldiers were dissatisfied with the lives they lived on the Balkan front. The Balkan army began to show signs of unrest, stemming from issues over wages and working conditions. Annoyance turned into grumbling, which became insubordination and finally, mutiny. Phokas found himself in a leadership position among the angry soldiers and he was reported to have voiced the complaints of the army to local officials—only to be humiliated via a slap to the face. Shortly after the slap, the Balkan army transitioned into a full rebellion. Phokas, previously a commoner and a centurion in charge of only 100 men, somehow found himself proclaimed an emperor by his comrades in the Balkan army. Phocas, with a brand new imperial title and a passionate military force behind him, moved toward Constantinople to challenge the then reigning Byzantine Emperor, Maurice.
The Balkan army was able to wrest Constantinople out from under Emperor Maurice, leaving Phokas as the emperor of the Byzantine Empire, while Maurice fled to a monastery. Though the former-emperor Maurice publicly abdicated his position of power, Rome never gained a reputation for benevolent politics. Emperor Phokas had all of Maurice’s male heirs, possibly 6 in total, rounded up along with Maurice, himself. Phokas and his supporters executed the former Emperor Maurice, but not before making the condemned man watch the execution of his own sons. The corpses were then decapitated—if they had not already been decapitated during the execution—and the heads were displayed as proof of Emperor Phokas’ power. The bodies were disgracefully tossed into the waters of the Bosphorus Strait. At this point, it probably will not surprise or shock you to know that Emperor Phocas has and will forever be remembered in history as a tyrant.
By 602, Phokas had transitioned from a lowborn centurion, to a rebel leader and finally to an emperor of the vast and wealthy Byzantine Empire. Though his emperorship was tyrannical, Phokas accomplished his fair share of goals for the empire. He was able to gain the friendship of Pope Gregory I and was able to nullify the threat of the powerful nomadic Avars, though this was done through the unstable means of bribery and tribute. Despite his gains, however, Emperor Phokas’ positives were outweighed by his negatives.
As the saying goes, absolute power corrupts absolutely, and there were few powers more absolute in the 7th century than the Byzantine Empire. He persecuted his Jewish population and also tried to cleanse the empire of non-orthodox Christian sects. The Byzantine Empire’s eastern provinces were particularly enraged by Phokas’ mistreatment of the Monophysites (a Christian group that believed Jesus was only divine, and not at all human). The empire began to crack as more tensions were placed upon the realm. On top of the loss of face from paying tribute to the Avars, a Persian force invaded the Byzantine region of modern eastern Turkey. All of these pressures culminated in a general sense of unrest, which led to riots and mobs forming within many imperial cities.
By 608, the Byzantine Empire was thrown right back into rebellion; this time, it was Emperor Phokas who faced a challenger to his throne. The rebellion began in a North African province of the empire. For two years, the civil war raged, but events came to a climax in 610, when Heraclius, the son of the North African provincial governor, arrived in Constantinople.
With the empire in chaos, Heraclius was able to sway powerful officials and bureaucrats in the capital to his side, stripping Emperor Phokas of all power except the imaginary authority bestowed by his imperial title. Legend claims that Heraclius challenged Emperor Phokas with the words, “Is this how you have ruled, wretch?” To which, Phokas spat back, “And will you rule better?” After this outburst, in a moment of ironic karma, Heraclius executed and decapitated Emperor Phokas and proclaimed himself emperor.
Though Emperor Phokas ruled for only 8 years, his reign remains one of the most unique in history. He was born a commoner and died an emperor. He won and lost his throne to rebellion and, interestingly, can be called a Byzantine emperor who killed, and was killed by, other Byzantine emperors.
Written by C. Keith Hansley
thehistorianshut.com
Sources and Links
Erasmus (1466-1536)
“No veneration of Mary is more beautiful than the imitation of her humility. No devotion to the saints is more acceptable to God than the imitation of their virtues.”
(Battle of Arcadiopolis by John Skylitzes c. 11th century, via Creative Commons)
The Byzantine Battle of Arcadiopolis
The Byzantines were not prepared for this invasion. Only a year earlier, in 969, a Byzantine emperor was assassinated. The new emperor, John Tzimiskes, was in the midst of reasserting his empire’s stability when Svyatoslav, and his large coalition army, invaded the Byzantine Empire’s western front. Even worse for the Byzantines, most of the imperial forces were in the Middle East, a long march away from the threatened capital of Constantinople.
With Svyatoslav’s coalition approaching steadily toward the capital, Emperor John Tzimiskes scrambled to muster a force capable of harrying and halting the 30,000 man-strong enemy force. The area around Constantinople and Thrace was able to scrounge together a force of around 10,000 to 12,000 soldiers. This was only 1/3 of the approaching combatants, but this small contingent of men was made of disciplined veterans. Emperor Tzimiskes gave the command of this emergency force to Bardas Skleros (the emperor’s brother-in-law) and Peter Phocas.
The Byzantine defenders and Svyatoslav’s coalition army clashed near Arcadiopolis (modern city of Luleburgaz, Turkey). The battle that occurred there would take the name of the region—the 970 Battle of Arcadiopolis. The region of the battle is west of modern-day Istanbul, and is almost exactly in the center of the Turkish land holdings west of the Bosphorus Strait. At the time of the battle, the land was covered with substantial forest and brush. It was in this landscape Bardas Skleros found Svyatoslav’s coalition encamped.
The different groups making up Svyatoslav’s expansive army seemed to camp independently of each other. The camps were far enough apart to give a semblance of isolation, but close enough to allow the rest of Svyatoslav’s army to respond to threats. For a reason unknown to historians, Bardas Skleros chose to target the Pecheneg camp for the Battle of Arcadiopolis.
If you were Bardas Skleros in 970, what you do next? The Byzantines were heavily outnumbered. Perhaps, you would find a more defendable choke point where Svyatoslav’s number advantage could be negated. Not Bardas Skleros—he did the opposite.
Skleros decided to divide his already outnumbered force into three divisions. Bardas Skleros commanded the smallest section, a maximum 3,000 men. The two other divisions, probably around 4,500 men each, hid themselves in the forests to the left and right of Skleros’ personally-led force. With his small command in tow, Bardas Skleros crept toward Svyatoslav’s encampment—which, mind you, may have numbered up to 30,000 soldiers.
Understandably, when the Pecheneg camp saw Skleros and his small troop of men, they immediately moved to engage the Byzantines—without waiting for the Rus or the Bulgarians to provide reinforcements. The Pechenegs relentlessly attacked the 3,000 Byzantine soldiers. Bardas Skleros repeatedly ordered disciplined withdrawals, only to have his men charge back at the pursuing Pecheneg soldiers. Skleros’ 3,000 kept from being overwhelmed, but the Pecheneg pressure was strong enough to keep pushing the Byzantine line ever backward. Unbeknownst to the Pecheneg mercenaries, however, the battle had shifted away from Svyatoslav’s camp and into the area in-between the nearby forests. It was too late for the Pechenegs when Bardas Skleros signaled his hidden divisions, and a total of approximately 9,000 Byzantine soldiers poured out of the surrounding forests.
The surprised Pecheneg mercenaries lost heart and fled the battlefield. The Rus and Bulgarian reinforcements from Svyatoslav’s camp arrived just in time to be swept up by the river of fleeing Pecheneg soldiers—fear is contagious, and these reinforcements, too, began to flee from the field.
With only a fraction of his enemy’s numbers, Bardas Skleros repelled Svyatoslav’s coalition, ending the immediate threat to the capital of Constantinople, and allowing time for Byzantine reinforcements to arrive from the Middle East. Some sources state Svyatoslav’s losses from the Battle of Arcadiopolis to be as large as 20,000 men, though this is clearly inflated. Miraculously, Byzantine deaths in the battle may have been as low as 550, though there would have been many more wounded. Nevertheless, the Battle of Arcadioplolis was a spectacular victory for the Byzantine Empire.
Written by C. Keith Hansley
thehistorianshut.com
(Artillery at Messines in 1917, via Australian War Memorial)
This Shocking Allied Plan Made The German Defenses Just Disappear
There comes a time in everybody’s life when obstacles seem too daunting to face. In moments like these, we sometimes wish these obstacles would just disappear. This is exactly what happened in the June 7thBattle of Messines (Belgium), when the German line of defensive trenches simply disappeared from the view of allied observers. The German line did not disappear in a puff of magic—in reality, the German trenches disappeared in an eruption of fire and soil, followed by a rain of blood, gore and all sorts of mysterious debris.
In 1917, well into the First World War, the Second Army led by General Herbert Plumer faced off against the German IV Army along the Messines Ridge near Ypres. General Plumer was a pragmatic and cautious man, who cherished the lives of the men under him; therefore, it should be no surprise that there was more than a year of planning and preparation before the commencement of the Battle of Messines.
Plumer recognized the failings of other generals in WWI, who called for repeated Allied charges across no-man’s land to take minuscule gains of territory. Instead of charging over land, Plumer decided to tunnel underground. The Second Army spent the year leading up to the Battle of Messines by digging anywhere from 21 to 24 tunnels reaching underneath the German trenches.
General Plumer’s tunnels were no ordinary tunnels. They were not for sapping, to cause the German trenches to collapse. They were not for surveillance of the enemy positions. They were not even made for commando raids behind enemy lines. No, these tunnels had a much more dynamic function—before the battle on June 7th, they were filled with 19 mines, totaling 455-600 tons of explosive. General Plumer reportedly stated on the night before the battle, “Gentlemen, we may not make history tomorrow, but we shall certainly change the geography.”
June 7th started with an artillery barrage that was commonplace in WWI. The Allied batteries, with around 2,200 guns, peppered the German trenches with heavy shells. At 2:50, the artillery barrage ended, and in the 20 minutes of peace that followed, the German forces prepared to defend against a charge. The allied charge, however, never happened.
The Battle of Messines, codenamed ‘Magnum Opus’ (Great Work) began with the detonation of the 19 mines located underneath the German trenches. The next moment can be best explained with a quote by the Allied Private, Albert Johnson, who observed the event: “Our trench rocked like a ship in a strong sea and it seemed as if the very earth had been rent asunder.”
The simultaneous detonation of the mines beneath the German trenches let out such a loud explosion of sound, that people reported hearing explosions as far away as London, Paris and Dublin. Most sources agree that the explosion likely killed 10,000 German soldiers immediately upon detonation. The scale of the explosion is recognized in Robert A. Doughty’s war manual, Warfare in the Western World (Vol. II), which calls the Messines Ridge “one of the most devastated areas ever encountered in the history of warfare” (page 597).
Immediately after the explosion, the infantry of General Plumer’s Second Army launched an assault on the remnants of the German position. The Allies advanced quickly—the German trenches that had been blocking their path had been reduced to craters of wreckage and death. One of the largest craters reportedly was 80 meters wide and 15 meters deep. By June 14th, the Allies had taken the whole Messines Salient.
Of the tunnels that were dug beneath the German trenches and filled with explosives, 2 were left undetonated by the Allies. Unfortunately, with WWI over, no military personnel were ordered to diffuse the explosives. Truth be told, the locations of the remaining mines were long forgotten by the time WWII began. The remaining live mines somewhere under Messines Ridge were only brought back to memory when, in 1955, one of the mines randomly detonated, killing a cow. The last mine remains missing—so watch your step in Messines.
Written by C. Keith Hansley
thehistorianshut.com
Links and sources:
(Christ Carrying the Cross c. 1565 by Titian, via Creative Commons)
Confucius and Jesus Preached the Golden Rule Centuries Apart
The Christian Golden Rule can be found in the New Testament of the Bible. Matthew 7:12 states, “So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets” (Zondervan NIV Bible). Jesus preached the rule near the start of the 1st century CE, but it was never put on paper before the gospels began to be written decades after Jesus’ crucifixion. The Gospel of Matthew (which includes the Golden Rule) was written in the 80s CE.[i] The Golden Rule found in Matthew is arguably one of the most influential lines of the Bible, fueling much of the missionary mentality found in the Christian church. The rule asks Christians to do to others what they desire for themselves—including salvation.
