Magna Carta II

I know you've all been waiting with bated breath so here's part two of my trip to the BL last week.

So, first up. Nicholas Vincent does not possess powerpoint-fu.

But to be honest, he is a fantastic speaker and spoke without notes so a plain powerpoint was really my only criticism.
 
Vincent is a leading authority, if not THE leading authority on all things Magna Carta and has been part of the Magna Carta project for the last 3 years.
http://magnacarta.cmp.uea.ac.uk/

He began his talk by highlighting that King John never actually signed the Magna Carta.

*insert dramatic pause*

This will most likely be a QI question at some point if it hasn't been already as this is a point of general ignorance. So much so a point of general ignorance that the royal mint's commemorative £2 coin has it emblazoned across the packaging.

He certainly never signed it, he sealed it, and you can buy a replica seal in the BL gift shop (which I of course did).

He then delved into the meat of his lecture which was addressing the 'established' facts concerning the Magna Carta.

It was addressed to God. Not to the people of England, God. 

"First, that we have granted to God, and by this present charter have confirmed for us and our heirs in perpetuity, that the English Church shall be free, and shall have its rights undiminished, and its liberties unimpaired" (clause 1)

This he highlighted right at the beginning. The Magna Carta protected as well as separated the church away from the secular country of England, allowing it powers that the people of England did not necessarily have. The City of London's rights were similarly protected (clause 9) and these rights are maintained today and are partly the reason it is so hard to legislate and control the City. 

Parts of the charter that are 'well known' are in fact frustratingly vague:

"No free man shall be seized or imprisoned, or stripped of his rights or possessions, or outlawed or exiled, or deprived of his standing in any way, nor will we proceed with force against him, or send others to do so, except by the lawful judgment of his equals or by the law of the land" (Clause 39)

We all know that we should be tried by our peers, but the definition of a peer is left very vague. Is this social class to social class, or wealth to wealth. The 'law of the land' is equally unclear as the king could change the law!

He highlighted a number of other clauses including one concerning fish weirs: 

"All fish-weirs shall be removed from the Thames, the Medway, and throughout the whole of England, except on the sea coast" (Clause 33)

This was actually deceptively important as this clause was key to the navigability of England's waterways. If they're silted up as a result of fish weirs (that trap fish), travel is restricted and therefore, trade. This clause was so important that is was in fact only removed from the statue books during the 1960s.

Vincent has a very engaging style and consistently brought humour into his talk. For example he highlighted the xenophobic character of the British that has been present for centuries:
 
"As soon as peace is restored, we will remove from the kingdom all the foreign knights, bowmen, their attendants, and the mercenaries that have come to it, to its harm, with horses and arms" (Clause 51)

He then addressed the 'badness' of King John. 

A king needed to maintain or increase the lands he inherited, and keep peace in the kingdom. John failed on both counts. He lost lands in France. Fought with and possibly murdered his nephew. Most importantly for those at home, he started interfering. Previous kings had been content to rule from the southeast and leave the rest of the country to get along by itself. Allowing the barons to essentially rule themselves.

John toured his kingdom, collecting taxes and generally, by the looks of it, thoroughly putting the backs up of all his barons.

This discontent led to the creation of the Magna Carta. Despite there being similar contemporary documents granting rights such as the Statute of Pamiers (1212) granted by Simon de Montfort near Toulouse, the creation of the charter was understood to have been important as its earlier drafts were kept.

Vincent even raised the point that the number of barons who signed the document was important and references a commentary on the bible (John, chp. 6) by St Augustine in the fourth century which I've done my best to find:

"As the number five has reference to the Law, the books of Moses being five, the number five and twenty, being made up of five pieces, has the same meaning. And this law was imperfect, before the Gospel came. Now the number of perfection is six, so therefore five is multiplied by six, which makes thirty: i.e. the law is fulfilled by the Gospel. To those then who fulfill the law Jesus comes treading on the waves, i.e. trampling under foot all the swellings of the world, all the loftiness of men: and yet such tribulations remain, that even they who believe on Jesus, fear lest they should be lost."

As soon as peace is restored, we will remove from the kingdom all the foreign knights, bowmen, their attendants, and the mercenaries that have come to it, to its harm, with horses and arms - See more at: http://www.bl.uk/magna-carta/articles/magna-carta-english-translation#sthash.BsCdAsDO.dpuf

As soon as peace is restored, we will remove from the kingdom all the foreign knights, bowmen, their attendants, and the mercenaries that have come to it, to its harm, with horses and arms - See more at: http://www.bl.uk/magna-carta/articles/magna-carta-english-translation#sthash.BsCdAsDO.dpuf

Basically, 25 is the number you want if you want divine approval in your law making. The handwriting of the different charters is also argued by Vincent to have been important as it is an ecclesiastical hand, not a secular clerk's.

The church was up to its neck in the creation of the Magna Carta and this is crucial to the understanding of its creation and its continuation. The Magna Carta is not some triumph of secular rights, religion was at the heart of it.

The handwriting part appears to have been part of new research that has come to light as part of the Magna Carta as it traces one of the Magna Carta copies to a cathedral, not Dover Castle as previously thought.

Vincent's talk was passionate and fascinating and made me view this musty 'piece of animal skin' in a different light. I have a new appreciation for it's impact on England, but also the world.

The talk was also a masterclass in public speaking. No notes that I could see. Riddled with facts and wit, and thoroughly engaging from start to finish. That's how history should be.

Factual, fun and freely accessible.

Notes
Vincent, N., "Magna Carta: Old and New", British Library, London, 13th March 2015

Magna Carta coing - http://www.royalmint.com/shop/800th_Anniversary_of_Magna_Carta_2015_UK_2_pound_BU_Coin

Magna Carta quotes - http://www.archives.gov/exhibits/featured_documents/magna_carta/translation.html

Statute of Pamiers - http://www.bl.uk/collection-items/mc-the-statute-of-pamiers

St Augustine quote - http://www.catecheticsonline.com/CatenaAurea-John6.php

Fish weir image -  Dally, Frederick. Indian Salmon Weir at Quamichan Village on the Cowichan River, Vancouver Island. 1866. Library and Archives Canada, Vancouver.

Magna carta cartoon - http://www.historyextra.com/feature/magna-carta-turning-point-english-history

Magna Carta I

Yesterday I attended the first day of the Magna Carta exhibition at the British Library in London before attending Professor Nicholas Vincent's lecture "Magna Carta: Old and New" in the evening.

I'll start with the exhibition today and I'll talk about the lecture next week.

The exhibition itself is beautifully laid out although, as with other national exhibitions, there's the inevitable bottle-neck at the beginning as everyone queues dutifully to examine each item. The exhibition begins with some context and predecessors to the Magna Carta.

Beginning with Anglo-Saxon law codes, we are treated to one issued under King Cnut where the regular references to murder and the punishment are highlighted.

A wonderful family tree for King John (1199-1216) then follows and it's striking how well the colours have survived. The family tree is presented in order to highlight the need to legitimise the family tree. Bearing in mind that John's family's right to rule was one they had won at the Battle of Hastings.



Throughout the exhibition, contemporary quotes relating to John are included to give us a flavour of his character and method of ruling.

Matthew Paris for example describes John in a note beneath this famous depiction of him in his Historia Anglorum. John is pictured (bottom left) holding Beaulieu abbey and looking terribly regal and divine. The text that Matthew accompanies this depiction with however is decidedly unflattering and he describes John as "John, last of kings, principal abomination of the English, disgrace to the English nobility".

Shortly after Matthew Paris's damning description in the exhibition, the chronicler Gerald of Wales is up next to describe the king when accompanying John on his conquest of Ireland, and relates how the king pulled the beards of the Irish chieftains.

This was not a king famed for his diplomacy.

After these initial character assassinations, the exhibition continues to present John's story. Beginning with how his nephew (Arthur) in France rebelled, was captured and then went 'missing' (probably murdered is the implication). His disagreement with the church then follows when his first archbishop Hubert Walter (whose vestments are on display) died and the monks of Canterbury elected Stephen Langton without his agreement. This disagreement led to a 6 year interdict where none of the sacraments of marriage, death, baptising etc. could be properly carried out in England all because the king was quarrelling with the papacy.

At a time when the church was deep at the heart of life you can imagine how well this went down.

Further examples of John's character are hinted at with an example from Ralph of Coggeshall's chronicle which omits the papal interdict, implying that Ralph wanted to avoid the king's displeasure as surely this event would have otherwise been included.

The interdict is broken however at last when John requires papal help when invasion threatens from France and the letter from the pope is presented in all it's glory along with the papal signature which in itself is worth seeing.

After all this, we get to the heart of the exhibition, the creation of the Magna Carta itself where draft copies of it are displayed and an interesting visual accompanies the drafts, demonstrating the different clauses in the charter and its successors and when they were removed.

The original Magna Carta only lasted a couple of weeks before it was repealed, but John's successor Henry III (1216-1220) reissued it upon ascending the throne to secure the support of his barons during his minority (he was only 9 years old when his father died). The original Magna Carta had been a coerced out of John who was facing serious discontent at home and the charter itself is described in the exhibition's leaflet as "a practical solution to a political crisis",

So, by this stage in the exhibition you're well and truly convinced that John was not a particularly good king and that he probably deserved the alleged death by poisoning he received at Swineshead Abbey in Lincolnshire in 1216.

What then follows is, I suppose, the legacy of King John and of Magna Carta. You have unflattering depictions of John including some 19th century footage showing his death scene in Shakespeare's King John.

It's effect in America is also demonstrated and there are some lovely copies of the declaration of Independence and the Bill or Rights.

As a resident of Runnymede, I was mildy saddened to learn that there was discussions on the 100th anniversary of the Glorious Revolution to erect a monument to Magna Carta at the place of its signing. The place was deemed to wet to build upon however (it is a flood plain) so all we have is the plan.

Just before the unveiling of the magna cartas, its relevance around the world is demonstrated through its themes that have made it into the Universal Declaration of Human Rights among other important documents.

Nelson Mandela dock speech "I am prepared to die" even references the document "The magna carta, the Petition of Rights and the Bill of Rights, are documents which are held in veneration by democrats throughout the world".

Today only 3 of the original 37 clauses are still in law following various purges from the Statutes of the Realm when they were deemed obsolete. For example in 1863, 17 were repealed as they referred to defunct medieval tolls or services.

The original  clauses agreed to on the 13th June, 1215 are in all their glory revealed on a curved wall at the end of the exhibit right before the four magna cartas themselves. It's a lovely feature and well worth taking a moment to admire as the blown up text in white upon a grey background is very impressive.

So there we go, a quick run down on the exhibition itself but if you're interested, do go along as I've only touched on most of the items displayed in the exhibition. There's much more to see.

It's open until the 1st September, tickets are available here: http://www.bl.uk/whats-on



Notes
Statue - BL exhibition website

Family tree - MS, BL Royal 14 B vi, membrane 6

Four kings - MS, BL Royal MS 14 C VII, http://tinyurl.com/of7m549

Papal signature - ruthless pinched from wikipedia via google.

King John - 'Herbert Beerbohm Tree as King John in King John by William Shakespeare', painted by Charles A Buchel (1900)

Nelson Mandela speech - http://www.bl.uk/magna-carta/articles/magna-carta-in-the-modern-age

Magna Carta: old and ne!

Magna Carta: old and new

Healing the burn

Due to being a bit of a klutz, I've managed to give myself a spectacular burn in the crook of my elbow in the past week. It's a special talent of mine, what can I say.

Everyday is a learning day so what treatment could I have expected in the eleventh century?

I could start by applying the Pentafilon plant (creeping cinquefoil/buttercup) or some Greater Celandine (another type of buttercup) which I should pound together with some goose grease before applying this to the burn.



Not keen on this treatment so far due to the fact I'll be smelling like prepped roast potatoes.

   

Next up, a suggestion that I take wild thyme, a stalk of verbena, an ounce of silver shavings (which I of course have at hand at all times) and 2 ounces of roses. I need to pound these together with some wax before adding half a pound of bear and deer grease.

I should then simmer this before applying it on the burn.


Again, not keen. My local Tesco doesn't sell bear grease.



Finally, it is suggested I pick the roots of Alkanet (type of borage, used as a red dye) during March and soak them in oil before adding was to make a poultice. Applied to the burn, this will apparently "heal it in a wonderful manner".

As it's a dye, I suspect I won't know if the burn is healing or not as the whole area will be stained red.





I think I'll stick to Germolene for now, but more or less the treatment has changed very little. Keep the wound clean, cover it with a grease that promotes healing, and Bob's your uncle.

Notes

Arsdall, A., Medieval Herbal Remedies, The old English herbarium and Anglo-Saxon medicine (London, Routledge: 2002)
pp. 120, 194, 222

Storytime: Why there are no Welshmen in heaven

As it is St David’s day tomorrow, I thought I’d mark the occasion with a medieval Welsh ‘joke’. Thus proving that they have been picked on for a veeeeeeeeeeery long time:

“I find written among old stories how God made Saint Peter port of Heaven, and how God, in his goodness soon after his suffering on the cross allowed many men to come to the kingdom of heaven who very little deserved it. So at this time there were in heaven a lot of Welshmen, who troubled all the rest with their boasting and chatter. So God said to Saint Peter that he was fed up with them, and that he’d be very glad to have them out of heaven. Saint Peter replied to him, 

“Good lord, I guarantee that it will be done in no time.” So Saint Peter went outside the gates of heaven and shouted in a loud voice,

“Cause bobe!” which is as much as to say, “Roasted cheese.” 

When they heard this the Welshmen ran out of heaven at great speed. And when Saint Peter saw that they were all outside, he quickly went in to Heaven and locked the door, and so he barred all the Welshmen out.

By this you can see that there is no sense in a man loving or setting his mind too much upon any dainty or worldly pleasure whereby he may lose heavenly or eternal joy.”

Notes

1 of 8 stories about the Welsh in the 1526, “The Hundred Mery Talys”, printed in Medieval Comic Tales, ed. D. Brewer (Cambridge, Boydell & Brewer Press: 1973)

Shrove Tuesday

Well, it's not really shrove Tuesday any more, but I wanted to write about it anyway so here's your dose of trivia, four days late.

Shrovetide, or Shrove Tuesday, is a feast celebrated across Europe and called “Carnival” in Southern regions from the latin “carne levare” (taking away of flesh) which heralded the beginning of the Lenten fast. The importance of this day in the relgious calendar is emphasised c. 1000 by Abbot Aelfric’s  who in his Ecclesiastical Institutes states that:

"In the week immediately before Lent everyone shall go to his confessor and confess his deeds and the confessor shall so shrive him as he then may hear by his deeds what he is to do [in the way of penance]".

   

It was a very important religious day then, so where do the pancakes come in? Well, traditionally making pancakes enables you to use up your remaining eggs and fat, freeing your kitchen from their temptation during lent. Pancakes were not the only tradition however, and plays, football games and general festivities accompanied the day. 

The tradition of games continues to the present day with annual pancake races taking place across the country which are said to have originated in 1445 in the village of Olney. A woman, according to legend, was making pancakes that morning and running late ran out of the house still clutching the frying pan upon hearing the church bells. How you go about providing evidence for this custom is beyond me so I present it to you as a charming myth that may, or may not, have any truth to it.

On the subject of plays, these have largely fallen out of modern practice but were alive and well in the sixteenth century and Shakespeare’s “As you like it” was performed at Richmond on the 20^th February 1599. The play was accompanied by the Elizabethan version of pancakes (which were stuffed with meat), and the following quote from the play has been argued to have been either an improvisation by the actor, or a nod to the occasion by the playwright.

“Of a certain knight that swore by his honour they were good pancakes and swore by his honour themustard was naught: now I'll stand to it, the pancakes were naught and the mustard was good, and yet was not the knight forsworn.” 

-  Touchstone, As you like it, Act I, scene i

Notes

BL Harley 3448 f. 2v Two men eating
BL Royal 10 E IV f. 94v Men playing a game
BL Yates Thompson 31 f. 167v A priest absolving a penitent sinne

Dusinberre, J. Pancakes and a Date for "As You like It" in Shakespeare Quarterly, Vol. 54, No. 4 (Winter, 2003), pp. 371-405

Nilles, Calendarium Manuale Utriusque Ecclessiae, II (Innsbruck, 1897) pp/ 55-70

Olney pankcake race:

http://olneypancakerace.org/

Thurston, H. (1912).“Shrovetide” in The Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton Company. Retrieved February 17, 2015 from New Advent: http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/13763a.htm

St Valentine's day

A little bit on the origins of Valentine's day this week.

The romantic elements of Valentine's Day appear to have begun in the medieval England and France and the chosen date of the 14th of February is impart due to the changing seasons and belief that birds began pairing up for mating on this date.

 For this was sent on Seynt Valentyne's day
Whan every foul cometh ther to choose his mate.

 

- Geoffrey Chaucer, The Parlement of Foules, lines 309-310

 
Literature and traditions of the time followed suit and Valentines gradually accrued a catalogue of poems, letters, and tokens of affection exchanged on this day. One of the oldest of these Valentine's day letters was written by Margery Brews to her fiance John Paston in 1477:

Unto my right well-beloved Valentine John Paston, squire, be this bill delivered.

Right reverent and worshipful and my right well-beloved valentine, I recommend me unto you full heartedly, desiring to hear of your welfare, which I beseech Almighty God long for to preserve unto his pleasure and your hearts desire. And if it pleases you to hear of my welfare, I am not in good health of body nor of heart, nor shall I be till I hear from you. For there knows no creature what pain that I endure, And even on the pain of death I would reveal no more. And my lady my mother hath laboured the matter to my father full diligently, but she can no more get than you already know of, for which God knoweth I am full sorry. But if you love me, as I trust verily that you do, you will not leave me therefore. For even if you had not half the livelihood that you have, for to do the greatest labour that any woman alive might, I would not forsake you. And if you command me to keep me true wherever I go, indeed I will do all my might you to love and never anyone else. And if my friends say that I do amiss, they shall not stop me from doing so. My heart me bids evermore to love you truly over all earthly things. And if they be never so angry, I trust it shall be better in time coming. No more to you at this time, but the Holy Trinity have you in keeping. And I beseech you that this bill be not seen by any non earthly creature save only yourself. And this letter was written at Topcroft with full heavy heart.

Be your own Margery Brews.

Of the actual St Valentine, details are a little sketchy (as there are several individuals) but the primary martyr appears to have been martyred in Rome in the 3rd century and he, or the others bearing his name, became associated with the 14th February.

Finishing with something practical (or not) those of you wishing to entrap the object of your desires may wish to go and find a wolf:

 "Soliunus, who tells us much about the nature of things, says that there is a little patch of hair on its tail which is a love-charm: if the wolf is afraid that it will be caught, it tears it off with its teeth of its own accord. The hair has no effect if it is not taken from the wolf while it is still alive"

Notes 
Bestiary Image: Aberdeen University Library MS 24, f. 16v
http://www.abdn.ac.uk/bestiary/translat/16v.hti

Bestiary text:
Bestiary, being an English Version of the Bodleian Libary, Oxford, MS Bodley 764, ed. R. Barber (Woodbridge, Boydell Press: 1992) p. 70

Miniature of Queen Guinevere questioning Lancelot about his love for her:
BL, MS Additional 10293 f. 199




Parlement of Foules:
http://www.bartleby.com/258/58.html

Paston letter:
http://www.bl.uk/learning/timeline/item126579.html


"St. Valentine." The Catholic Encyclopedia. Vol. 15. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1912
http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/15254a.htm

Sainthood - St Thecla

St Thecla was a well known saint as early as the second century AD.

Described as a companion of St Paul, she chose a life devoted to virginity and refused to marry. This led her to be twice condemned to execution for her beliefs (she failed to obligingly die twice) yet despite her lack of death, she is often cited as the first female martyr.

In her story, upon being condemned to death (for the second time) in the arena by the Romans, she baptises herself (according Bartlett) by "throwing herself into a tank full of savage seals".

Bartlett does however suggest that these seals may actually have been sharks, but I personally prefer the idea of savage seals.

As well as his unusual baptism, she cross-dresses, preaches as an apostle,  and according to a fifth century version of her life, she finally "dies" by sinking into the ground alive.

On the topic of seals, the Aberdeen bestiary has this to say:

"Other fish produce living offspring from their bodies, like the great whales, dolphins, seals and others of this sort; when they have produced their young and have, perhaps, a premonition that these are ever threatened by some kind of trap or in danger, in order to protect them or to calm with a mother's love the fear of those of tender years, they are said to open their mouths and hold their young, without harming them, in their teeth, and also to take them back into their body, concealed in their womb.

What human affection can equal the sense of duty that we find in fish? For us, kisses suffice. For them, it is not enough to open the innermost parts of their body, to swallow their young then bring them back whole, to give their offspring life once again with their own warmth, to breathe into their young their own breath, and to live as two in one body until either they have carried them off to safety or by interposing their own bodies, have protected their young from the threatened danger.

Which fisherman seeing this, even if he were still able to catch the fish, would not give in to such a display of duty? Who would not marvel and stand amazed that nature has preserved in fish a quality that is not found in men?

Many men, acting out of mistrust, driven by malevolence and hatred, have killed their children; we have read of others, women, who have eaten their own children in times of famine. The mother thus becomes a tomb for her infants. To the spawn of the fish, however, the mother's womb is like a wall; she preserves her harmless brood by turning her innermost parts into a sort of fortress."

Notes


Bartlett, R., Why can the Dead do Such Great Things? Saints and Worshippers from the Martyrs to the Reformation (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2013) p. 25

Catholic Encyclopedia
http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/14564a.htm

"Roundel with Thecla Surrounded by Beasts and Angels"
https://inpress.lib.uiowa.edu/feminae/DetailsPage.aspx?Feminae_ID=30983

"Sea pig"
MS Kongelige Bibliotek, Gl. kgl. S. 1633 4º, Folio 61r

"Seals", Aberdeen bestiary
http://www.abdn.ac.uk/bestiary/translat/74r.hti