The Re-Enactor Issue 51, May 2013
Edward I (reigned 1272-1307)
The Little Battle of Chalons
Greetings All Welcome to issue 52
The Military Flying Show
The weather is trying to improve here in the UK, with a few days of warm sunny weather but it isn’t lasting long enough-but we keep praying that it will stay warm. I am at Hay Castle this bank holiday weekend, during the main Hay Festival, so I expect it to be busy! I am after more reports, stories and details of what you are doing as I really want to have more content for each new issue-So get writing and emailing me your details. The events list has grown so do take a look through and see what is happening near you, if you see that an event you know of isn’t in the list please let me have the details and I will be sure to add it. Please send all correspondence to the following email address:
thereenactor@btinternet.com A Huey-Will be taking part in The Military And Flying Machine Show August 2013.
Features This Month 1: The Mutton Battle 2: Book Review-The Historical Novel Soc. 3: Military and Flying Machines Show 4: The Little Battle of Chalons 5: Event Information
To receive notification of each new issue send your email address to: thereenactor@btinternet.com
Competitions: All competitions are free to enter Winners will be selected at random on the 24th of each month for the relevant competition. Winners will be notified via email shortly after the draw takes place. No correspondence will be entered into. The editor’s decision is final. The views and opinions expressed in the articles in this ezine are those of the individual authors themselves and not those of the Editor
Note: If you have any questions queries thoughts or ideas for and about the magazine please do feel free to contact me and we can discuss them.
Next Month I hope to run a competition to win one of five copies of Giles Christian’s new book and also to print the interview I had with the author recently. For more details about Giles and his work check out his website:
http://www.gileskristian.com/
The Mutton Battle, or the Battle of the Samara Bend Historical Background The Mongols began a 4-year-long campaign in the spring of 1220 to pursue and destroy Muhammad II of Khwarezm. Following the Mongol invasion of Central Asia and the subsequent collapse of the Khwarezmian Empire, a Mongol force under the command of generals Jebe and Subutai advanced into Iraq-i Ajam. Jebe requested permission from the Mongol leader, Genghis Khan, to continue his conquests for a few years before returning to the main army via the Caucasus. While waiting for Genghis Khan's reply, the duo set out on a raid in which they attacked Georgia and killed its king. Genghis Khan granted the duo permission to undertake their expedition, and after making their way through the Caucasus, they defeated a coalition of Caucasian tribes before defeating the Cumans. The Cuman Khan Kรถten fled to the court of his son -in-law, Prince Mstislav the Bold of Galich, who he convinced to help fight the Mongols. Mstislav the Bold formed an alliance of the Rus' princes including Mstislav III of Kiev. In May 1223 the combined Rus' army, at first, defeated the Mongol rearguard. For several days, the Rus' pursued the Mongols but became spread out over a large distance. The Mongols stopped and assumed battle formation on the banks of the Kalka River. Mstislav the Bold, with his Cuman allies, attacked the Mongols without waiting for the rest of the Rus' army and were defeated on the 31st of May 1223. Then the Mongols turned their hordes backto Asia.
(D.V. Zyabkin. Battle of the Kalka River. http://www.neizvestniygeniy.ru/images/works/photo/2012/10/749679_1.jpg )
Subutai, after his victory over the Russians was instructed by Genghis Khan to search for his son Jochi's army of 20,000 men and link up in an effort to defeat the Volga Bulgars. The Mongol army crossed the Volga River near modern-day Volgograd and passed in reconnaissance through Volga Bulgaria, reconnoitering the land and the possibilities for the future large-scope invasion. [1,2] Volga Bulgaria Volga Bulgaria, or Volga–Kama Bolghar, was a historic Islamic Bulgar state that existed between the seventh and thirteenth centuries around the confluence of the Volga and Kama rivers, in what is now European Russia (mostly the territory of the present-day Tatarstan, Chuvashia, part of Ulyanovsk, Samara and Penza oblasts).
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:VolgaBulgaria.jpg The population was mostly Bulgars, who had conquered Finno-Ugrics and Turkic speakers of the region. The population had been pagan, but Islam was adopted as the state religion in the early tenth century by Almış, the iltäbär (king) who united the Bulgar state and received the famous embassy from Baghdad headed by Ibn Fadlan. Most scholars agree that the Volga Bulgars were subject to the great Khazarian Empire, until Khazaria's destruction and conquest by Sviatoslav in the late 10th century, after which Volga Bulgaria grew in size and power. Sometime in the late 9th century unification processes started, and the capital was established at Bolghar (also spelled Bulgar) city, 160 km south from modern Kazan. It is thought that the territory of Volga Bulgaria was originally settled by Finno-Ugric peoples, including Mari people. The Bulgars moved from the Azov region in about AD 660, commanded by Kotrag, Kubrat's son. They reached Idel-Ural in the eighth century, where they became the dominant population at the end of the 9th century, uniting other tribes of different origin which lived in the area. A large part of the region's population included Turkic or Iranic groups such as Suars, Barsil, Bilars, Baranjars and part of Burtas (by ibn Rustah). Modern Chuvashes descend from Suars
and Kazan Tatars descend from the Volga Bulgars. Another part comprised Finnic and Magyar (Asagel and Pascatir) tribes, from which Bisermäns probably descend. Ibn Fadlan refers to Volga Bulgaria as Sakaliba which is a general Arabic term for the people of Volga Bulgaria and it is probably related to ethnic name Scythian (or Saka in Persian). According to the modern estimates based upon Abu Zayd al-Balkhi’s data for Bolghar and Suar the population of Volga Bulgaria at its peak amounted to about 1.5 – 2 mln people. Commanding the Volga River in its middle course, the state controlled much of trade between Europe and Asia prior to the Crusades (which made other trade routes practicable). The capital, Bolghar, was a thriving city, rivalling in size and wealth with the greatest centres of the Islamic world. Other major cities included Bilär, Suar (Suwar), Qaşan (Kashan) and Cükätaw (Juketau). Modern cities Kazan and Yelabuga were founded as Volga Bulgaria's border fortresses. [3]
Devil's Tower in Yelabuga, 12th century. http://ningrebneva.ya.ru/replies.xml?item_no=44766 The Volga Bulgars mastered smelting pig iron and steel and were famous for their metalwork. Their builders erected stone and wooden mosques, palaces with central heating and plumbing as far back as in the 9th century. In Central Asia and Iran the best leather is still called Bulgarian. [4]
Modern leather boots made according to the medieval technology and patterns http://www.russkiymir.ru/russkiymir/ru/catalogue/russia/details/16detail3.html
The Volga Bulgars were also known for their skill in jewellery and ceramics. Volga Bulgaria also exported excellent furs. Trade connections of Volga Bulgaria extended from Vikings, Bjarmland, Yugra and Nenets in the north to Baghdad and Constantinople in the south, from Western Europe to China in the East.
Gold temple ring. (Volga Bulgaria, late 11th – early 12th century) http://kulturarusi.ru/remesla-v-volzhskoy-bolgarii/
Pectoral, Volga Bulgaria, 11th century http://serebniti.ru/forum/viewtopic.php?f=14&t=19&start=3105&sid=1c2bccb09d3636f0079 7bca179e27dc0&view=print Voga Bulgaria had its own science and literature. In the first half of the 12 th century Ya`qûb ibn Nogman al-Bulgari wrote his “History of Bulgaria”. Scientist Burkhan ad-Din Ibrahim ibn-Yūsuf al-Bulgari (d. 1204) wrote treatises about medicines and rhetoric. Philosopher Abu-l-Alja Khamid ibn Idris al-Bulgari (12th c.) was well-known in the Islamic world for his khadises. The epic poem “Qíssai Yosıf (Tale of Yusuf)” by Qol Ghali (between 1219 and
1233) is now considered to be one of the masterpieces of Turkic poetry. (The poet was probably killed in 1236 during the Mongol invasion of Volga Bulgaria.) [5, 6] Rich and prosperous, Volga Bulgaria vied with Russian principalities for the control over the Volga River, trading, intriguing, waging military campaigns. Under Russian pressure from the west, the Bulgars had to move their capital from Bolghar to Bilär. In 1220-1221 Rus principalities and Volga Bulgaria waged a large-scale military campaign with mixed success. What We Do Know About the Battle In September 1223 (late 620 Hijri year according to Ali ibn al-Athir – due to the intricacies of Hijri chronology the accurate date is unknown, autumn of 1223 or 1224) near the present-day Samara an advance guard of Genghis Khan's army under command of Uran, son of Subutai Bahadur, entered Volga Bulgaria at the southern border. An army led by the Bulgar iltäbär (king) Ghabdulla Chelbir, including the armies of allied Mordvin princes Puresh and Purgaz, ambushed and defeated Subutais's vanguard forces in 1223 at the Battle of the Samara Bend near the Bulgar city of Kernek. There are also some vague mentions of building special fortifications near the present-day Zhiguli Mountains in the oral tradition. Ali ibn al-Athir wrote that when the Bulgars learnt about the approach of the Mongol army, they arranged ambushes in several places, marched against the Mongols, engaged them and, retreating, lured them to the place of the main ambush. Then the Bulgars struck from the rear, closing the pincers on the enemy. After Mongols were rounded up, the Bulgars massacred them and only 4,000 managed to escape, according to local legends and proven from Arabian chronicle (the Khwarizmian historian Shihab ad-Din Mohammad ibn Ahmad al-Nasawi). The surviving Mongols fled to Saqsin. This is considered the only major failure of the Mongols during the rule of Genghis Khan. The captured Mongol troops were later sent back in exchange for live stock. This was unusual for the period, as captives were usually executed or sold into slavery. Al-Nasawi says that one Mongol captive was humiliatingly exchanged for one ram that is why the battle is also known as the Mutton Battle. The details about the Bulgar ambush and the Mongol victory at the Kama river have not survived. It is highly unlikely, that even with Jochi's reinforcements, Subotai's army numbered more than 30,000 men since Subotai and Jebe's army combined was estimated to only be between 25,000-30,000 men at the start of their western reconnaissance raid in 1220. His, and Jebe's, decisive defeats of the numerically superior Georgian, Cuman and Russian armies with less than 3 tumens (30,000), makes it reasonable to assume that Jochi's reinforcements were an effort to bring back Subotai's depleted army to its original strength. [7, 8]
A Bulgarian noble man-at-arms, late 12th –early 13th century (reconstruction by M.V. Gorelik) http://www.google.ru/imgres?imgurl=http%3A%2F%2Fi56.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2 Fg161%2FVruk%2FHistory%2FBulgarian%2FBulgarandSlavWarriorsVIIc.jpg&imgrefurl=h ttp%3A%2F%2Farchive.worldhistoria.com%2Ftopic18290%26OB%3DDESC.html&docid=I Xs6D5RaHUKTbM&tbnid=kqkqGCyIcavkkM%3A&w=534&h=799&ei=rRGGUfDLDJTS 4QSZ14G4Bw&ved=0CAIQxiAwAA&iact=ricl
A Bulgar-Chuvash cavalryman
Osprey's "Armies of the Volga Bulgars & Khanate of Khazan. 9th-16th centuries" by Vyacheslav Shpakovsky and David Nicolle, illustrated by Gerry Embleton? http://www.armchairgeneral.com/forums/showthread.php?p=1958748 The crushing defeat of the Mongols can be explained by two main reasons: their considerable losses during the previous battles of the campaign (especially during the Battle of the Kalka River) and by the well-organized intelligence and tactical skill of the Bulgars. They actually turned the Mongols’ weapon against the Mongols themselves, performing feigned retreat followed by the strike of the ambush force. The main Bulgar-Chuvash heroes of the battle whose names stayed in the legends are Jalal al-Din Altynbek Alan [13], brother of Ghabdulla Chelbir, the future king of Volga Bulgaria after his brothers’ death (1229, 1230-1236), generals Savrush Bator, Ubi Bator, and Sugut Bator. [11]
Kazan museum of regional studies, armour of a Bulgar warrior. http://forum.na-svyazi.ru/?showtopic=375983&st=90
The Mystery of Kernek Where is Kernek? Or, at least, where WAS Kernek? Surely, the people must remember the place where the invincible Mongols were put to shame, the place of Bulgar glory? We know what happened to Kernek. Kernek was razed to the ground in 1236 by the returning Mongols. But, unfortunately, we do not know where Kernek was. It is known, however, that Kernek founded in the 10th century stood to the south of Bolghar, on the left bank of the Volga, somewhere near the Samara Bend. Alexei Domnenko, an enthusiast of the local history of the Samara oblast, has come up with a very plausible hypothesis as to the exact place of the mysterious Kernek. According to his theory, the only place on or near the Samara Bend where the mountains might play the part of natural fortifications and where there’s a field between the Volga and the Zhiguli Mountains large enough to accommodate two large armies is the stretch of land between the present-day villages Shelekhmet and Podgory. In all the other places the Zhigili Mountains steeply descend right into the Volga. Analyzing the features of the landscape and taking into account the existing Bulgar barrows in the area, he has come to the conclusion that Kernek might be associated with the present-day Tornovoye. Though Tornovoye is on the right bank of the Volga, and not on the left, there’s a formidable reason for the Mongols being interested in the place. Through the place passed an ancient tract connecting Asia and the East European Plain (on estimate the tract may now be 4.000 years old), and near Tornovoye before the Volga changed its course in 1637-1638 moving closer to the Sokolyi Mountains (Falcon Mountains) and the River Samara forming a
new chute there existed a ford, or at least a waftage, the only place to cross the Volga more or less conveniently for hundreds of miles (even now there are only 11 bridges across the Volga from Kazan to Astrakhan and 6 ferries, the closest one in the present-day Kamyshin, almost near Volgograd). The Volga flowed fast at the time, as there were no artificial water storage basins and hydroelectric power stations; so there may have been even fewer places for safe crossing then. Then the tract crossed the Samara Bend from south to north coming close to the present-day village of Zhiguli (near the village there still can be found the remains of a large Bulgar city which according to the archeological finds was ruined and burnt in 1236. Archeologists say that the city’s population when it perished was 10,000 people – the same as the population of London at that time. The name of the city is yet unknown, though there’s a hypothesis that it might be Shugal, Muran or Banju. (On the whole, there are 2 cities, 11 hillforts, and 39 pre-Mongol Volga Bulgar settlements on the Samara Bend). [16] The tract itself is now almost impassable on the Samara Bend, as it is now in the territory of the Zhiguli Forest Preserve and the Samara Bend National Park, but it was still in use as recently as the 19th century). So, the tract was literally the road to Volga Bulgaria, to Rus and further on westwards. Bearing in mind that Ghengis Khan was planning a massive invasion in the western lands, it seems crucial for the Mongol army to reconnoiter the lay of the land, the ford or the waftage, and the defences built by the locals, as well as their battle skill and resilience. Even if Tornovoye was not THE Kernek, it still might be a place of a massive battle engagement, as it actually protected the ford.
The map dates back to 1824. The tract going from right to left across the Samara Bend and turning north is shown in brown. Tornovoye is opposite Samara on the Samara Bend, on the bank of the Volga - http://samara.name/content/view/155/ Behind the big field between Novinki and Tornovoye near Tornovoye there rises the Tornovsky branch of the Zhiguli Mountains, in front of it there’s a ravine (which is suspiciously even, straight and uniform throughout its whole course – see the green arrows in the picture below) and the swampy Volga mortlakes. The ravine suddenly turns into a high rampart when it joins the natural wall of the Zhiguli Mountains. The ravine also takes its beginning near this wall, circles the hillfort, makes a loop, and then ends abutting the natural
wall again. In one area adjoining the suspicious ravine Bulgar burial mounds are concentrated (circled with red).
http://samara.name/content/view/155/
How an abatis ravine might be used. http://samara.name/content/view/155/
And there exists another, minor ravine or a trench for abatis that meets the first one at a sharp angle to the left of the group of barrows. It looks like an ideal place for an ambush. If the Bulgar armies stood along Ravine 1 leaving the settlement behind them, and the Mongols attacked from the right, the place looks like a funnel. The second half of the Bulgar forces may have been hidden in the forest nearby this natural funnel and struck the Mongols from the left (and probably the joined forces may have met and taken the enemy into pincers). The white dots on the right are the barrows.
Both photos from http://samara.name/content/view/155/ The burial mounds (about 21 in number) [14], by custom, were erected on the place where the heroic warrior fell. And by Tornovoye they are concentrated along the supposed line of the second part of the Bulgars’ army attack, supposedly where the Bulgar cavalry cut into the trapped Mongol army. The resistance of the cornered Mongols must have been especially fierce here. Archeologists say that the barrows near Tornovoye contain nothing but bones and weapons. On the field nearby one can easily find animal and human bone fragments (though there’s been little or no attempt to define their exact age).
Burial mounds on the alleged battlefield. The trees behind the barrows are forest plantation going straight along the abatis Ravine 1. http://samara.name/content/view/155/
Volga Bulgarian ceramics found there. http://samara.name/content/view/155/ [9] Alexei Domnenko’s hypothesis may not be able to give the final answer to the question of the exact site of Kernek, but it at least draws attention to this historical site and possibly identifies the place of at least one of the ambushes made by the Volga Bulgars in 1223-1224 as mentioned in the medieval chronicles. But the Tornovoye hypothesis is not the only one. According to the local lore, the inhabitants of the Chuvashian village Staraya Sakhcha situated not far from Dimitrovgrad (Ulyanovsk oblast) consider themselves to be the descendants of Kernek inhabitants. [10]
If we assume that Kernek (near Staraya Sakhcha) guarded the road to Suar (near present-day Kuznechikha, Spassky district, Tatarstan), then we must also remember that though it was situated on the LEFT bank of the Volga river (and in this respect meets the description of the city left in the medieval chronicles), then the Mongols were to pass the Samara Bend and turn away from the Zhiguli Mountains to get to the place.
Volga Bulgaria, the place of the battle of 1223 is marked by the cross. In this map the cross is definitely near Staraya Sakhcha http://hulkan.livejournal.com/31586.html Unfortunately, little or no attempt has been made to find Kernek and to excavate on the sites where the city may have stood, to prove or disprove any of the hypotheses.
http://tainy.net/7103-padenie-velikoj-bulgarii.html Volga Bulgar ornamented battle axe. http://www.tataroved.ru/obrazovanie/text books/2/2/
Volga Bulgar arrows and knife http://simbirarcheo.narod.ru/ArcheoBulgars10/coshurovo/1.htm What Happened After 1223? The Mongols learnt their lesson. They returned to fight the stubborn Volga Bulgars twice – in 1229-1232 and in 1236. In 1229 on the orders of the new ruler of the Mongols, Ögedei Khan, Subutai attacked Volga Bulgaria with a 30,000-strong army. Though many Bulgar cities were destroyed, iltäbär Altynbek mounted a strong resistance. The Mongols suffered another defeat on the River Jayıq (now the Ural) in the Lower Volga Region [15] in 1229, and in 1232 unable to take the superbly fortified stronghold of Bilär [15] the Mongol army turned home. However, in 1236 the funeral bells rang for the medieval Volga Bulgaria as an independent state. The colossal horde of 250,000 warriors under Batu Khan and Subutai came pouring westwards this time, razing most of the cities of Volga Bulgaria to the ground, finally destroying its capital Bilär in November 1236, and making many surviving Bulgars flee northwards and to Rus. King Altynbek and the leading general Bochman perished in battle, and the king’s daughter Altyn-chach is said to have assumed command over the remaining unvanquished warriors of Volga Bulgaria. The legend says she died in battle in the city of Banju somewhere near the present-day Samara (on the Samara Bend?) a year later. She became a national heroine of the Volga Bulgars, warmly remembered up till now. Kernek was also taken, but its rulers Boyan (Puyan) and Dinekku (Jiku) rose in rebellion as soon as the Mongols turned their back on them. [10] In 1237 the Mongols concentrated on the campaign against the principalities of Rus, and this offered Boyan and Dinekku a good chance for success. The rebellion was supported by the Mordvins and the Burtas. The Mongols had to send troops to quench the rebellion in late 1239 - early1240. [12] The battle-bled and devastated Volga Bulgaria became part of the Ulus Jochi of the Mongol Empire. Its heroic resistance to the Mongol conquerors delayed their attack on Rus and Europe. Compiled and translated from Russian by Inna Drabkina. After:
Поход Джэбэ и Субэдэя http://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/Поход_Джэбэ_и_Субэдэя Battle of the Kalka River http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_the_Kalka_River Volga Bulgaria http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Volga_Bulgaria Дмитрий Чулов. Падение Великой Булгарии. http://tainy.net/7103-padenie-velikojbulgarii.html 5. Волжская Булгария. http://www.kcn.ru/tat_ru/history/h_bulg.ru.html © 1995-2008 Казанский Государственный Университет 6. Сведения об ученых и писателях, вышедших из Волжской Булгарии (Scholars and writers from Volga Bulgaria) Из: Приложения 5 книги Г.М. Давлетшина. Волжская Булгария: духовная культура (Домонгольский период, X - нач. XIII вв.), Казань, 1990. стр. 172 http://groznijat.tripod.com/fadlan/v_bulgars.html 7. Battle of Samara Bend http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Samara_Bend [4.05.2013] 8. Монгольско-булгарское сражение (1223/1224) http://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/Монгольско-булгарское_сражение_(1223/1224) 9. Алексей Николаевич Домненко. Еще одна тайна Самарской луки! Найдено место, где была разбита непобедимая армия Чингиз-Хана! http://samara.name/content/view/155/ 18.09.2009 10. Кернек http://ru.chuvashnwww.ru.chuvash.org/e/d09ad0b5d180d0bdd0b5d0ba 11. М.Н.Юхма. Раскрытая настежь душа народа. http://www.chuvrdub.ru/base/base.html?mode=txt&id=94&aut=1 12. Гагин И.А. (доцент, кандидат исторических наук) Булгаро-монгольские войны первой половины XIII в. (по материалам персидских и арабских нарративных источников) http://www.i-gagin.ru/content_art-18.html 13. Списък на владетелите на Волжка България http://bg.wikipedia.org/wiki/Списък_на_владетелите_на_Волжка_България 14. История Тольятти http://tolyattinec.narod.ru/kristol.htm 15. ИСТОРИЯ ТАТАРСТАНА (учебное пособие) (Ф.Х.Хузин, И.А. Гилязов, В.И. Пискарев, Б.Ф. Султанбеков, Л.А.Харисова, А.А.Иванов, А.Г.Галлямова) http://historytat.ru/4/167.html 16. Введение в Самарское краеведение - Учебное пособие (Храмков Л.В.) http://bookmeta.com/book/289-vvedenie-v-samarskoe-kraevedenie-uchebnoeposobie-xramov-lv/27-2-volzhskaya-bolgariya.html 1. 2. 3. 4.
Notes: 1) Muhammad II of Khwarezm http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Muhammad_II_of_Khwarezm 2) The Khwarezmian Empire http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Khwarezmian_Empire 3) Jebe http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jebe 4) Subutai http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Subutai 5) Iraq-i Ajam http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iraq-i_Ajam 6) Khan Köten http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Köten 7) Prince Mstislav the Bold of Galich http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mstislav_Mstislavich 8) Mstislav III of Kiev http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mstislav_III_of_Kiev 9) Jochi (Juji) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Genghis_Khan#Jochi 10) Abu Zayd al-Balkhi http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abu_Zayd_al-Balkhi 11) Qol Ghali http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Qol_Ghali 12) Almış http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Almış 13) Ahmad ibn Fadlan http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ibn_Fadlan 14) Sviatoslav http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sviatoslav_I_of_Kiev
15) 16) 17) 18) 19) 20) 21) 22)
The Khazarian Empire http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Khazars Ahmad ibn Rustah http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ahmad_ibn_Rustah Bolghar http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bolghar Bil채r http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bil채r Ali ibn al-Athir http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ali_ibn_al-Athir Puresh http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Puresh Purgaz http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Purgaz Saqsin http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saqsin
A SWARMING OF BEES BY THERESA TOMLINSON
England, Whitby, mid seventh century and at the height of crisis for the early Christian church when the celebration of the Easter festival was dividing Celtic English and Roman Catholic Belief. A great Synod was held at Whitby Abbey, Yorkshire, where the important dignitaries gathered to debate and decide upon an agreed formula for the Easter dates. Against this opening setting, A Swarming of Bees leads the reader gently into a “why-dun-it” murder mystery, as the author Theresa Tomlinson describes it. Fridgyth is the pagan herb-wife employed by Abbess Hild of Whitby to see to the monastery’s medicinal needs. Apart from it making an agreeable change to have a female apothecary and healer, I enjoyed the concept of her also being the ‘head sleuth’ Cadfael style. Through Fridgyth’s eyes, the story revolves around a charming cast of characters, some real, some imagined. When plague hits the community – indeed the country – the natural deaths are added to by a poisoner who is making best use of the devastation. Fridgyth is set the task, by the Abbess, of discovering who the poisoner is, for as a simple herb-wife, she can go anywhere, anytime, almost unnoticed. The plot is a little ambling in places where it reads more like a country stroll rather than a hurry and turn the pages action-packed adventure, but the fascination of the detail, historical and medical, and the realism of the variety of individual characters makes this a story to sit and relax with, and is a delight to read. Some readers may find it difficult to remember the characters because of the unfamiliar Anglo-Saxon names; this is always a hurdle for authors who write about periods or places where names are very different from our English comfort zone, but the story is intriguing and entertaining enough to carry anyone through any potential minor confusion. Well researched, well written, and well read! Recommended.
http://historicalnovelsociety.org
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Welcome Back Sally B! The Military & Flying Machines Team are so excited and pleased to be able to confirm some very special news for the 2013 show at Damyns Hall Aerodrome. Due to public rd th th demand we are expanding our show to a three day event, taking place on 3 , 4 and 5 August, with more attractions, more vehicles, more flying and more big bangs. This year we are delighted to welcome back the fantastic WW2 vintage B-17 Flying Fortress Bomber ‘Sally B’, the last remaining airworthy B-17 in Europe! It quickly took on mythic proportions, and widely circulated stories and photos of B-17s surviving battle damage increased its iconic status. The B17 could fly higher than any of its Allied contemporaries and established its place in history, dropping more bombs than any other U.S. aircraft in World War II. The Sally B has featured in many feature films, most notably the blockbuster film "Memphis Belle". It will again amaze the crowds with low level displays as this truly historic aircraft is put through its paces. “Sally B” has always in the past performed the most amazing air display at Damyns Hall, especially as the aerodrome is fairly small, when this almighty warbird fly’s past it feels like you can reach out and touch it, it is a display that cannot be missed! If Warbirds are of interest to you, then you will be in for a big treat at this year’s show with a superb display from the magnificent Spitfire the iconic shape and unmistakeable noise stir the imagination and the emotion of all that watch. We also welcome the Hurricane “Hurribomber” a first for our show (MORE ON HURRBOMBER). The WW2 fighter trainers – the Harvard T6 single-engine advanced trainer aircraft used to train pilots of the United States Army Air Forces, United States Navy, Royal Air Force and other air forces of the British Commonwealth during World War II and into the 1950s and the Boeing Stearman, the work horses of the training airfield which were used to train many Battle of Britain heroes – will also join the line up to entertain the crowds. The incomparable Jungmeister will also be displaying demonstrating its flying versatility. A rare Messerschmitt 108, another classic WW2 aircraft from the German Luftwaffe. The ME108 will also form part of a Living History static display on the ground. Many of the aircrafts will be landing as well over the weekend, so it is a fabulous rare opportunity to get up close. As well as all this there will be so much more to see whilst your there admiring the sights and sounds in the skies including helicopter pleasure flights, along with 300+ military vehicles, living history displays, live entertainment all day, arena activities, including big bangs and even bigger vehicles! Kids’ activities, vintage funfair, refreshments, stalls – there truly is something for everyone and at great value for money! We’ve got more exciting news coming very soon – so watch this space for the next BIG ANNOUNCEMENT!!!
For the latest updates on the show visit www.militaryandflyingmachines.org.uk
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The little battle of Chรกlons As part of the build-up to the release of Nowhere Was There Peace, my novel set during the end of the reign of Henry III, I thought it worth writing about another little-known incident in the life of his son and heir, Edward I. This was a tournament at Chรกlons in 1274 that rapidly got out of hand and was remembered as 'the little battle of Chรกlons'. It also gives me as an excuse to write about tournaments in general, a bloody and exciting sport that I would have very much liked to have witnessed (at a safe distance).
A contemporary drawing of Edward I (reigned 1272-1307) Note the cross expression Edward was on his way back from the Holy Land to be formally crowned as King of England his father had passed away two years previously - and on the way through France his retinue passed by a little town called Chรกlons. The Count of that place challenged Edward and his knights to take part in a tournament, which Edward accepted. Unlike the more decorous one-on-one combats known as jousts, tournaments were bloody freefor-alls that usually took place over several miles of open country. Bands of knights battered each other all over the field, the idea being to smash your opponent into submission and capture him for ransom. This was the only way of earning an income for many younger knights, trained from childhood to fight and pretty damn useless at anything else. It wasn't uncommon for tournaments to last several days, and they provided terrific entertainment for the 'common' people, who got to watch their arrogant and tyrannical masters knocking seven bells out of each other. Unsurprisingly, serious injuries and even death were not uncommon. Chaucer, who must have witnessed his fair share of tournaments, supplied a vivid description of one in The Knight's Tale: 'Shafts were shivering upon thick shields, One man felt the stab to the breast-bone, Up sprung spears twenty foot on high, Out came swords bright as silver, And hewed and split helms, Out burst the blood with stern red streams, With mighty maces they crushed bones...' You get the general idea. Edward was just seventeen when he took part in his first tournament, an
exceptionally violent affair at Blyth, and later fought on the tournament circuit in France with his cronies, the Lusignans. They apparently didn't do very well, and Matthew Paris gleefully notes that the young prince and his chums were repeatedly defeated and lost all their horses and armour. By 1274 Edward was a very different creature, a man grown with the defeat of Simon de Montfort and his harrowing experiences on Crusade under his belt. At Chรกlons he lined up on the tourney field with a thousand of his knights. Opposing them was the Count and a much larger number of French knights. In case of foul play, Edward stationed a large force of archers just outside the lists. Foul play was exactly what the Count intended. He had already broken the rules of the challenge by bringing twice the number of men that Edward had, and his intention was to capture the prince and hold him to ransom: shades of the Duke of Austria and Richard the Lionheart. The trumpets sounded, lances were set in rest, and the earth quaked as hundreds of iron men on massive horses charged together. The impact of their collision is almost beyond imagining - I have never seen a medieval tournament adequately recreated on screen - and they immediately set about doing each other grievous bodily harm. In the midst of the fighting, the count rushed at Edward and grabbed him around the neck. This might seem a crude tactic, but was often employed by medieval knights in combat: one 12th century account describes a knight grabbing William the Marshal the Younger's head in an attempt to wrestle his helmet off. His reward was to have his hands sliced off, and the Count was also destined to come to grief. Edward spurred his horse into a sudden gallop and dragged the hapless count in his wake. The Frenchman apparently lacked the wit to let go, and so fell to earth with an almighty rattle of ironmongery. Edward then climbed off his horse, stood over his victim and bashed away at him with the shaft of his lance. He ignored the fallen man's cries for mercy and gave the signal for his archers to get involved. These men heeded no rules of chivalry, and gleefully bent their bows and shot down the French knights in droves. Then they swarmed onto the field and cut the throats of the wounded men as they lay helpless and bleeding on the ground. The French footmen tried to help their masters and were slaughtered without mercy by Edward's knights, for "they were but rascals and of no great account." At last, when the vile temper of the Angevins had cooled somewhat in his blood, Edward allowed the Count to surrender and ceased pounding away on his armour. In the midst of the reeking human carnage, Edward added to his foe's humiliation by forcing him to give up his sword to a common soldier. "My servants shall have your tarnished sword," the prince said scornfully, "for I shall not touch it." Thus ended the little battle or "war" of Chรกlons. A fairly grim affair, by the standards of the time, but the disgrace was held to lay in the treachery of the Count, rather than the scale of unnecessary death and bloodshed. Brutal times, brutal men, perfect fodder for fiction.
Event Information June 1st & 2nd Templecombe Medieval fair, Templecombe, UK https://www.facebook.com/events/300657233387495/ 8th & 9th History Alive. Fort Lytton National Park, Brisbane, Australia www.historyalive.co..au 15th & 16th Gloucester Medieval Play Festival, UK www.glostheatre.co.uk 15th & 16th Tatton Park Old Hall Medieval fayre, UK Office@Plantagenet-Events.com 21st – 23rd Knights of Royal England jousting Tournament, Cardiff Castle, Wales http://www.cardiffcastle.com/ 21st – 23rd Times & Epochs, Moscow, Russia http://www.facebook.com/historyfest?ref=ts&fref=ts
29th & 30th Knights of Royal England jousting Tournament, Linlithgow Palace, Scotland http://www.historic-scotland.gov.uk/propertyresults/propertyoverview.htm?PropID=PL_199&PropName=Linlithgow%20Palace
July 5th – 7th LARP Camp, Huntley Wood, Staffordshire, UK www.larpcamp.co.uk 6th & 7th Knights of Royal England jousting Tournament, Linlithgow Palace, Scotland http://www.historic-scotland.gov.uk/propertyresults/propertyoverview.htm?PropID=PL_199&PropName=Linlithgow%20Palace
13th & 14th The Battle of Tewkesbury, UK http://www.tewkesburymedievalfestival.org/ 13th & 14th Knights of Royal England jousting Tournament, Hever Castle, UK http://www.hevercastle.co.uk/ 20th & 21st Knights of Royal England jousting Tournament, Hever Castle, UK http://www.hevercastle.co.uk/ 26th – 28th Knights of Royal England jousting Tournament, Hever Castle, UK http://www.hevercastle.co.uk/
27th & 28th Berkeley Skirmish, Berkeley Castle, Gloucestershire, UK Office@Plantagenet-Events.com 27th & 28th Smugglers Island, Appuldurcombe House, I.O.W. UK Email: ednash.1993@hotmail.co.uk July 27th & 28th: Hughenden’s Victorian Weekend, Hughenden Manor, Buckinghamshire. www.eventplan.co.uk or www.facebook.com/EventplanUK 27th & 28th Slaughterbridge Camlann Life and Legend, Camelford, Cornwall, UK heburbeck@gmaiI.c0m
August 2nd – 4th Knights of Royal England jousting Tournament, Blenheim Palace, UK http://www.blenheimpalace.com/ 3rd & 4thThe Midlands Festival of History, UK http://www.mid-fest.co.uk 3rd & 4th The Loxwood Joust, Loxwood Meadow, RH14 0AL, UK www.loxwoodjoust.co.uk 9th – 11th Knights of Royal England jousting Tournament, Hever Castle, UK http://www.hevercastle.co.uk/ 16th – 18th Knights of Royal England jousting Tournament, Hever Castle, UK http://www.hevercastle.co.uk/ 17th & 18th Scotlands Festival of History, Chatelherault, Scotland www.scotlandsfestivalofhistory.co.uk 17th & 18th M5-Multi Period Re-enactment Weekend, Spetchley Park, Worcs UK Website – www.m5show.co.uk 23rd & 24th Knights of Royal England jousting Tournament, Hever Castle, UK http://www.hevercastle.co.uk/ 25th & 26th Knights of Royal England jousting Tournament, Hedingham Castle, UK http://www.hedinghamcastle.co.uk/ 25th & 26th The Sheffield Fayre, Norfolk Heritage Park, Sheffield. www.eventplan.co,.uk or www.facebook.com/EventplanUK August 31st & September 1st: On the Home Front 1939-45, Rufford Abbey Country Park, Notts. Annual 1940s show. www.eventplan.co.uk or www.facebook.com/EventplanUK
September 12th & 13th Bexbach 1474 Call To Arms www.1474.eu 14th & 15th The Battle of Mortimer’s Cross, Hampton Court Castle, Herefordshire. www.mortimerscross.co.uk September 21st & 22nd: Wimpole at War, The Wimpole Estate, Cambridgeshire. Annual 1940s event. www.eventplan.co.uk or www.facebook.com/EventplanUK September 28th & 29th: Sherwood through the ages, Sherwood Forest. Annual Ancient to 1980s multi-period event. www.eventplan.co.uk or www.facebook.com/EventplanUK
October October 5th & 6th: Hughenden’s Wartime Weekend, Hughenden Manor, Bucks. Annual 1940s event. www.eventplan.co.uk or www.facebook.com/EventplanUK 12th & 13th International Events of Historical Crafts (EIAH) Portugal Email: artesanatocomhistoria@gmail.com
November 15th-17th The Original Re-Enactors Market, Ryton on Dunsmore, Coventry, UK www.reenactorsmarket.co.uk 16th & 17th The National Living History Fair www.nlhf.co.uk 23rd & 24th The Ludlow Medieval Christmas Fair, Ludlow Castle, Shropshire http://www.ludlowcastle.com/pages/events.aspx Whittington Castle Multi-Period show July 27th & 28th 2013 Shropshire, SY11 4DF
Calling all interested re-enactors! Whittington Castle are hosting a multi Period event and are after anyone who fancies joining them for the weekend to get in contact
www.whittingtoncastle.co.uk