Ruse of War: Brilliant Strategies

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Image credit: 

Wikimedia Commons

War can be tricky—especially when done correctly. Called Ruse of War, it is  the act of clever tactic or deception on the battlefield. Think Trojan Horse, but less ridiculous.
Here are six commanders who were dealt bad hands, but bluffed and ended with a flush. Some of the ancient accounts are difficult to verify.  Even if time has padded these stories into legends, it does not render the tactical strategies any less astounding.

1. Persians Without Noses, a Threat Still Poses.

Around 500 years BC, Darius the Great was sweeping through Asia and Africa, conquering all but he was spread thin and revolts erupted everywhere. Darius and his armies stamped them all down, except for one. Babylon was so well barricaded that Darius, though he sat outside with his armies for a year and a half, could not enter. Until, Persian noble Zopyrus made his brilliant, disgusting plan to take Babylon.
One morning the Babylonians arose to see the high ranking Persian at their gates, soaked in his own blood, whipped, with his ears and nose hacked off. He screamed that Darius had done this to him for failing to capture their city, and that now his rage was so great he wished to defect and help Babylon defeat the brutal Darius.
And … they bought it! Zopyrus had cut off his own nose and ears and arranged his own whipping, all with Darius’ knowledge. Zopyrus Rhinotmetus (no-nose) quickly rose in the ranks of the Babylonian army, and just as quickly weakened the city's defenses. Darius soon recaptured the city, and reportedly festooned Zopyrus with great titles and wealth.

2. The Most Awesome Tea-Partier Ever

In the 3rd century, China was in turmoil. There were three seperate kingdoms—the Shu, Wei, and Wu—fighting for control of all China. Chu-ko Liang was a valuable, high ranking official of the Shu people. One of his many responsibilities was to protect the city of Hsi from the oncoming Wei invasion but lacked enough soldiers to match the Wei onslaught, nor was Hsi fortified enough to wait out a siege. So, Liang got clever.
He opened all the gates of his city. He sent his best soldiers high into the mountains, out of sight. He ordered the people of his town to carry on as normal. Then, as the scouts for the Wei army approached, he climbed to the ramparts of the wall, burned some incense, had tea and played his lute. The Wei knew Liang was no idiot, in fact he had a reputation for being crafty. They suspected a trap, and went around the city, leaving it unharmed. As they skirted the town, they walked into the ambush Liang had previously set in the mountains, and were defeated.

3. Cowards at Cowpens

Militia men of the American Revolution were not trained soldiers. They were farmers and family men called to take up arms against the British renowned for … not knowing what they were doing and running away a lot. At the Battle of Cowpens, Colonel Dan Morgan used this inglorious reputation to kick some Redcoat pantaloons.
Morgan’s regiments were not only hapless militia men, he also had trained soldiers and riflemen. Taking position on and around a small hill at the border of South and North Carolina, Morgan put a line of trained shooters in front of a ragtag line of militia men. The British began a front assault, and were driven back by the sharpshooters, who then got up and ran behind the hill. The British charged again, this time against the scraggly militia men. The militia men appeared extremely weak when they each only fired two rounds, turned and ran. Bolstered by the retreat of the ill-trained American cowards, the British charged. Their line lost its cohesion on the hill, and they ran straight into the waiting fire of all the rest of Morgan’s men, including the ones that had gone around the back of the British. The British premature belief that they were winning led to them become completely enveloped by enemy fire, with over 900 Redcoats killed or captured.

4. “A SWORD FOR THE LORD!”

To defend their homeland, Gideon the Israelite raised a volunteer army of 32,000 to battle the Midianites  - interlopers who were intent to move into Israelite turf - according to the Biblical account but he only needed 10,000. Actually, the most powerful part of his ruse required significantly less. Gideon had 300 of his soldiers surround the Midianite’s valley encampment on three sides, every side but the east (where he put the other 9700 to wait in ambush). He equipped them with hundreds of horns - used by individual armies to sound before charging - torches, and incendiary pots. Then late at night and all at once, he had the 300 blow the war trumpets, light the torches, hurl the pots into the encampment and scream, “'A sword for the Lord and for Gideon!” The Midianites had no idea how many violent religious zealots were descending on them, but if the horns were any indication, it was all of them. They panicked and ran to the only side of the valley without torches and in terror to the east. There they were promptly slaughtered by soldiers, who were waiting with their swords for the Lord and Gideon.

5. Bore Them to Death

Philip II of Macedon had conquered enough ground by 338 BC to establish the state of Macedonia. Many parts of the newly conquered kingdom disliked being conquered, particularly Athens and Thebes, which raised 50,000 rebels to fight Philip’s 32,000 trained soldiers at the Battle of Chaeronea. Philip was outnumbered but his men were professionals, and the rebels were angry countrymen spoiling for a fight.
The first thing Philip did was nothing. He took an interminable time to set up his lines for the battle as the rebels waited for him to make the first move. As they stood, their bloodlust began cooling as their skin baked in the sun. Then the battle began. The rebels had staked out a highly desirable position that Philip needed to move them from. So he sent his men into battle, and then had them retreat almost immediately, as if unable to bear the rebel attack. The rebels chased them back to their “line,” not noticing that that line was slowly moving, and so were they. Soon they were drawn completely away from the high ground they had occupied. Philip kept this up until the rebels were exhausted, bereft of spirit, and in open air. His trained soldiers then quickly stopped playing and killed half the rebel army.

6. “P’ang Chuan Dies Under This Tree.”

In 4th century BC China, the Han dynasty was under attack. The King of Ch’i sent an army westward to help the Han army resist the Wei. It was not considered much of a help. The Ch’i had a reputation for for desertion, weakness and lameness. When the commander of the Wei army, P’ang Chuang, heard their approach, he went home for a vacation.
This unit of Ch’i was a different, though. Marching with them as an advisor was Sun Pin, a descendant of Sun-Tzu - author of The Art of War, the oldest, and arguably most brilliant, military treatise in history. Like Dan Morgan, Sun Pin knew a bad reputation could be a good thing. The Wei believed the Ch’i army was full of weaklings who got sick, died or deserted. So Sun Pin gratified that belief. Each night the army marched, they lit fewer and fewer campfires. When the Wei saw that the Ch’i had lost half their pathetic army, they smugly settled on a quick direct attack, using only light infantry.
The legend goes, when the Ch’i set up their ambush, the spring for their trap was a message written on a tree: “P’ang Chuan Dies Under This Tree.” P’ang Chuan was called to the tree in the dark, and lit a torch to read it. This triggered a hailstorm of arrows from the Ch’i, an onslaught that the Wei were not prepared to handle. P’ang Chuan slit his own throat under the tree in his defeat.

This article was sourced mainly from Duncan & Nofi's Book, Victory and Deceit.

 

Scientists Find a Wooly Mammoth

de bene esse: literally, of well-being, morally acceptable but subject to future validation or exception

Photo: Kristin Marie Enns-Kavanagh

Russian researchers headed by well-known mammoth-hunter Semyon Grigoriev have found something astonishing in the ice on one of Siberia’s Lyakhovsky Islands—a frozen wooly mammoth that still had liquid blood.
According to Agence France-Press, the mammoth is believed to be around 60 years old when she died and was buried by ice between 10,000 and 15,000 years ago.
Digging  through ice, says Wired UK, the researchers found the preserved mammoth in temperatures around 14 Fahrenheit—far below freezing. Poking at ice cavities found alongside the mammoth’s frozen remains with an ice pick caused liquid blood to flow.

It can be assumed that the blood of mammoths had some cryo-protective properties,” Grigoriev said. “The blood is very dark, it was found in ice cavities below the belly and when we broke these cavities with a pick, the blood came running out.

Aside from flowing blood, the team also found mammoth muscle with the “natural red color of fresh meat,” says a release from the North-Eastern Federal University of Yakutsk.
Grigoriev told the AFP that the find is “the most astonishing case in my entire life.” Grigoriev is well-known among mammoth hunters for his long-standing quest to clone one of the long-extinct creatures. Back in September Grigoriev made headlines when his discovery of a mammoth that was thought to still have bone marrow raised the debate over mammoth cloning. The excitement over that find, says Wired UK, “soon dissipated when it became clear that a translation error had made the discovery seem more impressive than it was.”
According to the AFP, Grigoriev is hoping to find still-living mammoth cells, and a chance to reinvigorate his dream of cloning a furry friend. For Scientific American, Kate Wong has a slightly more skeptical outlook:

From the sound of things, these remains may well revolutionize scientists’ understanding of mammoth physiology, which would be thrilling indeed. As for resurrecting this long-vanished creature, well, let’s hope it doesn’t come to that. As my colleagues and I argue in the June issue of Scientific American, de-extinction is a bad idea.

More from Smithsonian.com:
Russian Mammoth Discovery May Lead to Furry Clones

A Coronation Book for Queen Anne Boleyn

de bene esse: literally, of well-being, morally acceptable but subject to future validation or exception

A Coronation Book for Queen Anne Boleyn
 

 

 On 1 June 1533, Anne Boleyn, the mistress of King Henry VIII of England, achieved her greatest triumph. Overcoming great adversity, including the enmity of foreign powers and the opposition of the Church, she was crowned Queen of England. It was a moment Anne had eagerly anticipated for seven years. She and the King had already wedded in secret, Henry's marriage to his first wife Katherine of Aragon was annulled, and now Anne carried the nation's longed for heir. It was little wonder that the motto she chose at her crowning was The Most Happy.

Anne’s happiness was only marred by the reception of the sullen London crowds who regarded her as an upstart and as the King’s concubine. Nevertheless, the coronation festivities were a great piece of theatrical showmanship and political propaganda. Anne was hailed as the progenitor of a great new age - it was foretold that it was her ‘son’ who will bring forth a ‘golden world’ unto the English. The prediction was half correct. In time it was a daughter, Elizabeth, who was to fulfill the expectation.

Henry VIII (by Joos van Cleve)

Anne Boleyn (by an unknown artist)

A description of Anne Boleyn’s coronation was set down in pamphlet form shortly after the festivities by the London printer Wynkin de Worde. Entitled The Noble Tryumphaunt Coronacyon of Quene Anne - Wyfe unto the Noble Kynge Henry the VIII,  it consisted of 11 typeset pages with a rather crude woodcut of a courtly scene on the front cover. Right: The Noble Tryumphaunt Coronacyon of Quene Anne - Wyfe unto the Noble Kynge Henry the VIII (printed by Wynkyn de Worde in 1533)

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 The coronation book on this web site is a transcription done by hand of Wynkin de Worde’s pamphlet. The book (measuring 4” x 5”) was done on calfskin vellum with illustrations and miniature portraits in watercolor. Gold leaf was applied throughout. 
The project was begun in January 2002, and was completed in March 2004

31 May 1533 – The Coronation Procession of Queen Anne Boleyn

de bene esse: literally, of well-being, morally acceptable but subject to future validation or exception



At 5 o’clock on the evening of 31st May 1533, Queen Anne Boleyn left the Tower of London to begin her coronation procession to Westminster Hall.





The Queen’s section of the procession was led by the servants of Jean de Dinteville, the French ambassador, dressed in blue velvet coats with sleeves of blue and yellow velvet. Their horses were “trapped with close trappers of blue sarcenet powdered with white crosses”.  They were followed by “gentlemen, squires and knights”, then the judges, and the Knights of the Bath, dressed in ermine trimmed violet gowns and hoods. Next were Abbots, Barons, Bishops, Earls, Marquesses, the Lord Chancellor, the Archbishop of York, the Venetian ambassador, the Archbishop of Canterbury, the French ambassador, the Mayor of London, William Howard (acting as deputy Earl Marshal for his brother, Thomas Howard, Duke of Norfolk) and Charles Brandon, Duke of Suffolk, acting as Constable of England.

Behind her chancellor, “sergeants and officers of arms”, came Queen Anne Boleyn in a litter decorated with cloth of gold and led by two palfreys in white damask. Hall describes Anne as wearing a surcoat of white cloth of gold, a mantle of the same cloth, but trimmed with ermine, and a coif with a circlet of “rich stones”. Her hair was loose and flowing.

Above her was a canopy of cloth of gold, decorated with gilt statues and silver bells, and carried by the Barons of the Cinque Ports. Following the Queen were her Chamberlain, Lord Borough, and her Master of the horses, William Coffin, then her Ladies clothed in crimson velvet and cloth of gold and tissue. Then the chariots carrying the Dowager Duchess of Norfolk and the Marchioness of Dorset (or possibly Elizabeth Boleyn, Anne’s mother), and other ladies of the court.

The route of the coronation procession included Fenchurch Street, Gracechurch Street (and Leadenhall), Cornhill Street, Poultry, Cheapside, St Paul’s Cathedral, St Paul’s Churchyard, Ludgate, Fleet Street, Temple Bar, and then probably the Strand, the present Trafalgar Square, Whitehall and, finally, Westminster Hall. It was not a simple procession and included various stops for pageants and entertainment, which we know of from the chronicler Edward Hall and “The noble tryumphaunt coronacyon of quene Anne” pamphlet from 1533:

• Fenchurch Street – “a pageaunt all with children apparelled like marchauntes whiche welcommed her to the Citiewith two proper preposicions both in Frenche & Englishe”.
  
• Gracechurch Street – “a ryght costly pagent of Apollo with the nyne muses amonge ye mountaynes syttyng on ye mount of Pernasus [Parnassus] and euery of them hauynge theyr instruments and apparayle acordyng to the descryption of poets and namely of Uirgyll[Virgil] with many goodly verses to her great prayse and honour.” There was also a wine fountain.
• Leaden Hall, Gracechurch St – There were two pageants here - the first was Anne Boleyn’s falcon badge as its theme with a castle of green, and a “root” (or stump) out of which white and red roses spilled. A white falcon descended from Heaven and landed on the stump, then an angel wearing armour descended and crowned the falcon. The second pageant was of St Anne, surrounded by her children, the three Marys, and their children. Here, verses were read to Queen Anne Boleyn, poetry which emphasised England’s hope for her and the child she was carrying.
• The Conduit on Cornhill Street – ... “was a sumptuous pagent of the thre graces: and at the comynge of the quenes grace a poete declared the nature of all those thre ladyes and gave hye prayses vnto the quene. And after his preamble fynysshed every lady partyculer spake great honour and hye prayse of the quenes grace.” Hall adds there was “the spryng of grace continually ronnyng wyne.”
• Cheapside – At the “great conduit”, which was newly painted with “arms and devices”, there was “a costly fountayne whereout ranne whyte wyne claret and red great plenty all that after noone: and ther was great melody with speches.”
  At Cheapside Cross, which had been “newe garnisshed”, she met the Aldermen and the Recorder of London who “came to her with lone reuerence makyng a proper and briefe proposicion and gaue to her in the name of the Citie a thousand markes in golde in a Purse of golde, whiche she thankefully accepted with many goodly wordes.”
  At the lesser conduit, there was a pageant of the Judgement of Paris: “And within that pagent was fyue costly seates wherin was set these fyue personages that is to wete Juno Pallas Mercury and Venus and Parys hauyng a ball of golde presentyng it to her grace with certayne verses of great honour and chyldren syngyng a balade to her grace and prayse to all her ladyes.”
  Nasim Tadghighi explained in her article on the coronation procession that in this pageant “Paris of Troy is asked to judge who of three goddess – Juno, Pallas and Venus – should be rewarded with the golden apple, a prize which he granted to Venus. The renowned story is given a slight twist here. When Anne approached the display Paris was just about to give the apple to Venus but upon seeing Anne he grants her the prize, for her exceeding beauty and grace.”
  
• St Paul’s Cathedral – Here, there was “a proper and a sumptuous pagent yt is to wete ther sat. iij. fayre
  ladyes virgyns costly arayde with a fayre rounde trone ouer their heedes where aboute was written this. Regina Anna prospere precede et regna that is in englysshe Quene Anne prospere precede and reygne. The lady that sate in the myddes hauynge a table of golde in her hande wrytten with letters of asure. Ueni amica coronaberis. Come my loue thou shall be crowned. And two aungels hauyng a close crowne of golde bytwene
  their handes. And the lady on ye ryght hande had a table of syluer wherein was writte. Domine dirige gressos meos. Lorde god dyrecte my wayes. The other on the lyfte hande had in another table of syluer written thus. Confide in domino. Trust in god. And vnder theyr fete was a longe rol wherin was written this. Regina Anna nouum regis de sanguine natum cum paries populis aurea secla tuis. Quene Anne whan yu shalte beare a newe sone of ye kynges bloode there shalbe a golden worlde vnto thy people.”
  The ladies then threw wafers and rose leaves, and on the wafers were verses written in gold.
• St Paul’s Churchyard – On a scaffold here, Hall records that two hundred “well apparelled” schoolchildren said to the Queen “diuers goodly verses of Poetes translated into Englishe, to the honor of the kyng and her.”
• St Martin’s Church at Ludgate – Hall describes how a choir of men and children stood on the leads of the church roof and sang “newe balades made in praise of her.”
• Fleet Street – The conduit here had been freshly painted and a pageant featuring a tower with four turrets had been erected. From each turret a “cardinal virtue” spoke to Anne promising that they would never leave her and that they would aid and comfort her. There were also instruments making a “heavenly noise” and the conduit ran red wine and claret all afternoon.
• Temple Bar (the last recorded pageant) – Temple Bar had been newly painted and here there was a choir of men and children signing to the Queen.

“The noble tryumphaunt coronacyon of quene Anne” pamphlet records that Anne then made her way via Charing Cross to Westminster Hall, which was described by Hall as newly glazed and decorated with “cloth of arras”. There, Anne enjoyed refreshments such as “spice plates”, hippocras and wine, which she shared with her ladies. She then gave thanks to lords, ladies and Mayor, and retired for the night. Both Hall and the pamphlet record that Anne was then taken secretly to spend the night with the King at his “Manor of Westminster”. She must have been exhausted after the procession, but she still had a big day ahead of her.

Nicholas Udall and John Leland were asked to write poetry for the various pageants which made up Anne Boleyn’s coronation procession and you can read them at http://www.philological.bham.ac.uk/boleyn/contents.html – click on “translation” to read them in English.

Read more about Anne Boleyn’s coronation procession and its route in Nasim’s article – click here.

Roland Hui has done a beautifully illuminated Anne Boleyn coronation book using the text of “The noble tryumphaunt coronacyon of Quene Anne, wyfe unto the most noble kynge Henry VIII”. He used calfskin vellum, with illustrations done in ink with raised and silver gold leaf. You can see photos of it at Photobucket.

Notes and Sources

• “The noble tryumphaunt coronacyon of Quene Anne, wyfe unto the most noble kynge Henry VIII”, printed by Wynkyn de Worde in 1533. This can be read online at http://archive.org/stream/maneroftryumpheo00goldiala#page/18/mode/2up
• Hall, Edward. Hall’s Chronicle, p800-802

31 May 1529 – Opening of the Legatine Court at Blackfriars

de bene esse: literally, of well-being, morally acceptable but subject to future validation or exception


On 31st May 1529, the formal trial to investigate Henry VIII’s case for an annulment of his marriage to Catherine of Aragon was opened at Blackfriars.

A papal bull in April 1528 had given Cardinal Wolsey the authority to “to take cognisance of all matters concerning the King’s divorce” in England, with the assistance of Cardinal Campeggio, who was made papal legate in June 1528 in preparation for a hearing. Unfortunately, Campeggio did not arrive in England until December 1528 and even then further negotiations were set to continue with Rome. Campeggio stalled for as long as he could, but the trial finally opened on 31 May 1529.

See Cardinal Campeggio and the Legatine Court for more information on the proceedings.

Also on this day in history…

• 1443 – Birth of Lady Margaret Beaufort, Countess of Richmond and Derby, and matriarch of the Tudor dynasty. She was born at Bletsoe Castle in Bedfordshire and was the only child of Margaret Beauchamp of Bletsoe and John Beaufort, 1st Duke of Somerset, grandson of John of Gaunt, 1st Duke of Lancaster, and his mistress (and eventual wife) Katherine Swynford. 
• Read about Lady Margaret Beaufort.

Iranian Heritage

de bene esse: literally, of well-being, morally acceptable but subject to future validation or exception

This tile from Iran shows an enthroned figure representing an Achaemenid ruler http://ow.ly/lzPS5

On the eve of the Iranian presidential election, join this ‘behind the headlines’ event about Iran’s cultural heritage http://ow.ly/lka1M

Walt Whitman

de bene esse: literally, of well-being, morally acceptable but subject to future validation or exception

For Walt Whitman's birthday, a sweet, stoic little poem he wrote about being 71: http://slate.me/11gtNFV

Alba Genetics

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Good genetics.

Actress Jessica Alba posted a photo of her grandmother on Facebook Thursday with the caption: "Mi abuelita aka gamma gamma or grammers."



Gemela (twin) is more like it. We're struck by how similar the two women look!

 

The Enduring Words of Norman Vincent Peale

de bene esse: literally, of well-being, morally acceptable but subject to future validation or exception

“Be so strong that nothing can disturb your peace of mind. Talk health, happiness, and prosperity to every person you meet. Make all your friends feel there is something special in them. Look at the sunny side of everything. Think only the best, be as enthusiastic about the success of others as you are about your own.

Forget the mistakes of the past and press on to the greater achievements of the future. Give everyone a smile. Spend so much time improving yourself that you have no time left to criticize others. Be too big for worry and too noble for anger.”

 Today is the birth date of Norman Vincent Peale, born 31 May 1915.

American minister and author, most notably of The Power of Positive Thinking (1952), and a progenitor of the theory of "positive thinking".

Alida Valli

de bene esse: literally, of well-being, morally acceptable but subject to future validation or exception 

Valli's movie career suffered in 1953 from fallout in a scandal related to the death of Wilma Montesi, a fashion model whose body was found on a public beach near Ostia.  Prolonged investigations led to allegations of drug and sex orgies as members of  Roman society became embroiled in accusations and innuendo, all were acquitted - leaving the case unsolved. Valli's lover, jazz musician Piero Piccioni - son of the Italian Minister of Foreign Affairs - was also one of the accused.

According to John Francis Lane’s July 2004 Piccioni obituary in The [London] Guardian, "those who suffered most [from the scandal] were Piccioni’s father Attilio, whose political career ended abruptly, and Alida Valli, who had stuck to her alibi and then had to rebuild her acting career from scratch." Indeed, Valli would stay away from the screen until 1957, which was also the year the Montesi case came to a close, without satisfying resolution on the cause of the young woman’s death.

Native Equality

de bene esse: literally, of well-being, morally acceptable but subject to future validation or exception

Amelia Earhart.

de bene esse: literally, of well-being, morally acceptable but subject to future validation or exception

HISTORY IN THE HEADLINES: More than 75 years after her disappearance, researchers may have had a breakthrough in the decades-long search for famed aviator Amelia Earhart. http://histv.co/18BBVmu

Sex a Civil Right

de bene esse: literally, of well-being, morally acceptable but subject to future validation or exception

How sex became a civil right http://thebea.st/10MBVuC

Mel Blanc

de bene esse: literally, of well-being, morally acceptable but subject to future validation or exception

“Speechless” is a fine art lithograph that pays homage to prolific voice talent Mel Blanc. Blanc is credited with producing the voices of cartoon greats Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, Sylvester and Yosemite Sam. 

 

First run in Variety as a memorial ad, “Speechless” had an overwhelming emotional response from fans around the world. “Speechless is known as the most widely collected image in animation art history.

Life.com

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May is National Nurses Month—attention must be paid: http://ti.me/11E5Gmc

(Eliot Elisofon—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images)

Benny Goodman

de bene esse: literally, of well-being, morally acceptable but subject to future validation or exception

Sing, sing, sing! by Benny Goodman for the movie "Hollywood Hotel" (1937) - have a listen;
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lTzP7ecGQiw

Happy birthday Benny Goodman!

 

The Mary Rose: A Tudor ship's secrets revealed

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Archer Archer Cook Cook Carpenter Carpenter Master gunner Master gunner Purser Officer Purser Officer Gentleman Gentleman Dog

By Eleanor Williams BBC News

Related Stories

• In pictures: Life on the Mary Rose
• Museum opens to house Mary Rose

More than 30 years after it was raised from the seabed - and almost 500 years since it sank - the secrets of Henry VIII's flagship, the Mary Rose, are being revealed to the public - along with the faces of its crew.

Just yards from where it was first constructed from 600 oak trees near Portsmouth's naval docks in 1510, the wreck of the Tudor warship now stands on view in its new £35m home.
Where once stood a proud, cutting-edge ship built for war, now lies a reconstructed array of wooden decks and pillars, withered by their hundreds of years at the bottom of the Solent.
Standing nearby are some of the men who shared a grave with the ship for hundreds of years, their faces now reconstructed and displayed for the first time.
Viewed through windows on three separate floors, the preserved wreck stands opposite some of its 19,000 artefacts recovered from the depths.

The Mary Rose carried both new modern bronze cannons and old medieval wrought iron ones

Within the exhibition the recreated decks, dimly lit interiors and groaning sounds of the sea outside all combine to give the sense of being on board the 16th Century vessel.

The crew's quarters are all visible, while rows of cannons line the main deck, pointing out of the open gunports ready to be fired at enemy ships.
It is a Tudor time capsule - dubbed "Britain's Pompeii" by historian David Starkey - and its custodians cannot wait to show it off.

The story of the Mary Rose

1510 - The ship is ordered by the newly crowned King Henry VIII and construction begins in Portsmouth. It is launched in 1511.
1512 - The king's flagship fights its first battle, leading an attack on a French fleet. The ship's captain called it "The noblest ship of sail".
1545 - On 19 July, at the Battle of the Solent, the ship sinks while leading the attack on the French invasion fleet.
1545-1549 - Expert Venetian salvors make unsuccessful attempts to raise the wreck. They do recover sails, parts of the masts and the rigging, and later some guns.
1549-1836 - The ship lies undisturbed for almost 300 years.
1836 - Early pioneering divers, John and Charles Deane, discover the wreck site and raise guns using explosives. They later lose its location.
1965 - A new search for the wreck begins.
1971 - Divers see the first exposed timbers and the site is identified as the Mary Rose.
1979-1982 - The ship's contents are excavated by divers and more than 19,000 artefacts are brought to the surface.
1982 - The wreck of the hull is raised. The event is watched live on television by an estimated 60 million people worldwide.
Source: Mary Rose Trust

• Cutting edge to obsolete: The decline of the Mary Rose
• Henry VIII: The father of the Royal Navy
• Discover how Tudor furniture was built

"What we're aiming to achieve here is a mirror image of the ship and to show artefacts where they belonged," explains Nick Butterley, exhibition co-ordinator.

"So many things in this gallery you can immediately look at and understand what they are. That's one of the real beauties of the collection, how realistic and normal it feels."
Every artefact on show here is an original piece found with the wreck. Some of the cannons were still sticking out of the gunports when it was discovered in 1971.

The Mary Rose was raised from the seabed of the Solent in 1982, and has been on display before, but it is only now that insights into life on board are being shown to the public.
Forensic scientists, more used to working with murder victims, have recreated the faces of seven of the about 500 men who died when the ship sank in 1545.

The new Mary Rose Museum has been dedicated to them, and it is through them the story of the ship is now being told.
Curators had no list of crew names, just numbers. Only the names of the vice admiral, Sir George Carew, and the master, Roger Grenville, are known.
Maritime archaeologist Alex Hildred was part of the team who excavated and raised the wreck and has since studied the human remains to discover more about the men and boys - whose ages range from 12 to 40 - found on board.


"You've got a really good glimpse of Tudor males at a moment in time," she says. "It's a healthy, living population, you are not looking at a churchyard.
"They were pretty well fed once they were on the ship - we know that from the diet. But there had been severe famines in the 1520s, so some of their bones have got evidence of vitamin deficiency, such as rickets or sometimes scurvy from the fact that they suffered as children.
"They've also got a lot of healed fractures - which is what you'd expect on a warship - a number of broken noses, one arrow wound and some arthritis. These guys were used to lifting heavy things."
The human remains found are displayed in galleries at the bow and stern of the ship, along with thousands of artefacts.
"This is where we personalise the collection, trying to show that these objects belonged to real people who lived and sadly died on the ship," explains maritime archaeologist Christopher Dobbs, giving the BBC a guided tour.

"One thing that's so powerful about the Mary Rose collection is that we found a number of chests in the ship and they tell us about an individual person, because they contain the objects that belonged to a person."
He says the master carpenter's chest, for example, contained three plates, a tankard, a sundial, a book and even a backgammon set - indicating "quite a wealthy person".
"We also, just outside the carpenter's cabin, found the skeleton of a dog," he adds.
"It's these tiny insights that we've got into Tudor life, as well as the obvious things like guns and rigging, that really make our display so exceptional."
Trapped and drowned

  When the Mary Rose was built, it was part of a new generation of modern carvel-built ships - planks laid side to side - which featured gunports with lids, allowing heavier guns to be carried.
The warship fought its first battle in 1512 against France after King Henry VIII joined Pope Julius II's Holy League against the French the previous year. It fought many more over the next 34 years.

The recovered wreck is on show behind glass walls opposite the artefacts

Mary Rose's life as a serving Navy ship came to an abrupt end on 19 July 1545, when it sank during the Battle of the Solent while, once again, leading the attack on the French invasion fleet.
Francis I was attempting an invasion of England with 30,000 soldiers and more than 220 ships - much larger than the more well-known Spanish Armada 43 years later.

“Quote

It was like a time capsule within a time capsule, within a time capsule”

Christopher Dobbs Maritime archaeologist

The English had about 60 ships and 12,000 soldiers, but managed to fight off the French who eventually retreated the day after the Mary Rose sank.

Only 35 men survived disaster, according to contemporary records. Many would have been trapped under the anti-boarding netting and drowned.

Legend has it that Henry VIII watched in horror from Southsea castle along with the wife of Vice Admiral Sir George Carew.
As the ship sank, the cries and screams from the drowning men and boys could be heard back on land. The loss of the ship is said to have affected the king deeply.
Accounts on what happened that day differ, but one survivor claimed the ship had just fired its guns on one side and was turning to fire from the other when the wind caught its sails and plunged the open gunports below the water, which sank it.
French historians claim its forces were responsible for sinking the Mary Rose in battle.

Sweden's Vasa ship

The only other maritime achievement comparable to the raising and restoration of the Mary Rose is that of the 17th Century Vasa warship in Stockholm in 1961.

The flagship of King Gustav Adolf, it sank on its maiden voyage in 1628 because it had been built top heavy and did not have enough ballast.
Like the Mary Rose, the Vasa lay undisturbed on the seabed for more than 300 years.
In 1956, divers Anders Franzén and Per Edvin Fälting relocated Vasa off Beckholmen. In 1961 it was raised, refloated and moved to a dry dock.
For 17 years the Vasa was sprayed with Polyethylene Glycol (PEG), the same type of wax scientists later used to preserve the Mary Rose.
But the Vasa looks much the same as it did the day it sank because shipworms do not thrive in the brackish water of the Baltic.

Source: Vasa Museum

• Discover more from the Vasa Museum

For the next 300 years the Mary Rose - like a snapshot of Tudor military life - lay undisturbed on the seabed.

Even though many items from the wreck were raised by early pioneering divers John and Charles Deane in 1836, the site was then lost again for another 100 years.
It was finally located again in 1971 and, since then, divers have made 27,000 dives to the wreck site outside the entrance to Portsmouth Harbour.

One chest got archaeologists particularly excited when they discovered it had a secret compartment. Mr Dobbs says they thought it may contain something valuable the wealthy owner was trying to hide.
"It was like a time capsule within a time capsule, within a time capsule," explains Mr Dobbs. "But it only had a pin in it."
"Maybe this once was used to hold together some important papers that have not survived. We will never know."
But there are many more secrets the team is still hoping to reveal and the new museum is being heralded as a new beginning for the Mary Rose story.

Many of the items found have still not been identified, but as artefacts go on display the curators hope they are identified by experts in various fields who share their knowledge.
"We had the bishop of Portsmouth here last week and he saw this book cover and pointed out it was probably the ship's bible cover," Mr Dobbs adds.
"We are learning more as we go along."

30 May 1536 – The Wedding of Henry VIII and Jane Seymour

de bene esse: literally, of well-being, morally acceptable but subject to future validation or exception

The Whitehall Mural showing Henry VIII’s parents and he and the woman he believed to be his first true wife, Jane Seymour.

Following their betrothal on 20th May 1536, the day after Anne Boleyn’s execution, Henry VIII married his third wife, Jane Seymour, on Tuesday 30th May 1536 in the Queen’s Closet at York Place (Whitehall).

Jane Seymour is referred to as Henry VIII’s third wife but in his eyes she was his “first true wife” because his previous marriages had been invalidated. Henry had high hopes for this marriage, he believed he had got it right this time and when Jane gave birth to a son on 12th October 1537 he took that as a sign of God’s blessing.

Queen Jane’s first public appearance was on the 2nd June 1536 and was recorded by Sir John Russell in a letter to Lord Lisle:
“On Friday last [2nd June] the Queen sat abroad as Queen, and was served by her own servants, who were sworn that same day. The King came in his great boat to Greenwich that day with his privy chamber, and the Queen and the ladies in the great barge.”

Jane was then officially proclaimed Queen at Greenwich Palace on 4th June 1536, Whitsun. Of course, Whitsun three years previously had been all about another queen, it had been the day of the coronation of Queen Anne Boleyn.

Lapham's Quarterly

de bene esse: literally, of well-being, morally acceptable but subject to future validation or exception

The dodo, plus other animals that have gone its way: http://bit.ly/b4f8Du

Ancient Faces

de bene esse: literally, of well-being, morally acceptable but subject to future validation or exception

Brother and sister William & Elva Scott: http://www.ancientfaces.com/photo/william-and-elva-scott/1258829

Old Torah Scroll Found

de bene esse: literally, of well-being, morally acceptable but subject to future validation or exception

• Oldest known complete Torah found

ROME (AP) — An Italian expert in Hebrew manuscripts has discovered the oldest known complete Torah scroll, a sheepskin document dating from 1155-1225. It was right under his nose, in the University of Bologna library, where it had been mistakenly catalogued a century ago as dating from the 17th century.

The find is not the oldest Torah text in the world: the Leningrad and the Aleppo Bibles — both Hebrew codexes, or books — pre-date the Bologna scroll by more than 200 years but this is the oldest Torah scroll of the Pentateuch, the five books of Moses, according to Mauro Perani, a professor of Hebrew in the University of Bologna's cultural heritage department.

Two separate carbon-dating tests — performed by the University of Salento in Italy and the Radiocarbon Dating Laboratory at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign — confirmed the revised dating, according to a statement from the University of Bologna.

Such scrolls — this one is 36 meters (40 yards) long and 64 centimeters (25 inches) high — are unveiled in synagogues on the Sabbath and holidays, and portions are read aloud in public. Few such scrolls have survived since old or damaged Torahs are buried or stored in a closed room in a synagogue.

In a telephone interview on Wednesday, Perani said he was updating the library's Hebrew manuscript catalogue when he stumbled upon the scroll in February. He immediately recognized the scroll had been wrongly dated by the last cataloguer in 1889 and he recognized that the script and graphic notations were far older.

Specifically, the scroll does not  account for the rabbinical rules that standardized how the Pentateuch should be copied as established by Maimonides in the late 12th century. The scroll contains many features and markings that would be forbidden under those rules, Perani said.

The 1889 cataloguer, Jewish, Leonello Modona, had described the letters in the scroll as "an Italian script, rather clumsy-looking, in which certain letters, as well as the usual crowns and strokes show uncommon and strange appendices," according to the University of Bologna release. Perani, however, saw in the document an elegant script with square letters of Babylonian tradition.

Perani told The Associated Press it was "completely normal" for a cataloguer to make such a mistake in the late 1800s, given the "science of manuscripts was not yet born."

Outside experts say the finding was important, even though older Hebrew Bibles do exist.
"It is fairly big news," said James Aiken, a lecturer in Hebrew and Old Testament studies at Cambridge University. "Hebrew scholars get excited by very small things, but it certainly is important and clearly looks like a very beautiful scroll."

However, Giovanni Garbini, a leading expert on ancient Semitic languages and retired professor at Rome's La Sapienza university, said the discovery does not change much about what the world knows about Hebrew manuscripts. "It's an example of an ancient scroll, but from the point of view of knowledge, it doesn't change anything," he said in a telephone interview.

But Stephen Phann, acting president of the University of the Holy Land in Jerusalem and an expert in ancient Jewish manuscripts, said if accurately dated, the scroll is a rare and important find. "We don't have anything much from that period," Phann said. There are far older scraps of Torah scrolls that can be dated back to the 8th century, but Phann said it was rare to find a complete manuscript. The find was also emotionally important because the scroll, as opposed to a bound book, is used for reading Torah portions throughout the year in synagogue. "It's almost a friendship — that they have come to know the Torah scroll in their midst, and they draw their knowledge and focus on worship on how they live their daily life," Phann said.

Perani asserts it remains a mystery how the scroll came to be part of the Bologna university library but he anticipates further study will now begin. The scroll remains in the library and does not require any extra conservation precautions beyond what it already has, he said.
___

Purple reign: London turns back clock 60 years to Queen's Coronation

de bene esse: literally, of well-being, morally acceptable but subject to future validation or exception


As yards of bunting and flags festoon the shops, London's Regent Street has taken on a colourful appearance ahead of Coronation celebrations.
Sunday is the 60th anniversary of the coronation of Her Majesty the Queen.
Regent Street, which formed part of the procession route during the 1953 Coronation marks the occasion with a display of 189 purple and gold flags. 

Magnificent: London's Regent Street is festooned with royal purple flags ahead of Tuesday's celebrations

Pageantry: The Queen's golden coach processes along the thoroughfare on the way to her coronation in 1953

A right royal success: The Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh appear on the balcony at Buckingham Palace

Change: While the architecture remains the same, the cars have had an update

And as the stunning pictures of the London street show, the capital would still familiar to Londoners who thronged the streets 60 years ago.
In a photo taken from a similar angle in 1953, Regent Street looks almost identical to the 2013 version, although the cars and buses have changed.
The Coronation itself took place 16 months after the Queen acceded to the throne, allowing a period of mourning for her father King George VI and time to get the detailed preparations in place.

 A day of pomp and pageantry, as thousands took to the streets despite the rainy weather to see the Queen’s procession. An estimated 27 million people in Britain watched the deeply religious ceremony on the television, while more than 8,200 guests were seated in the Abbey to witness the historic proceedings.

 

The 60th anniversary of the Queen’s coronation in 2013 is set to be a low-key affair than last year's Diamond Jubilee, with commemorations centering on the Queen’s return to her Coronation church with a service for 2,000 guests in the Abbey on June 4. Joined by a supporting cast of royals including the Duke of Edinburgh, the Prince of Wales, the Duchess of Cornwall, the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and Prince Harry, the Queen will listen to an address by the Archbishop of Canterbury and a reading by Prime Minister David Cameron.

Celebration: Enthusiastic well-wishers line The Mall the night before the 1953 Coronation procession

Momentous: The Queen, sitting on the St. Edwards Chair, is crowned by the Archbishop of Canterbury

Winner: The Duke of Edinburgh shaking hands with Blackpool's Stanley Matthews before the 1953 Cup Final

Horror: The 1st Battalion, Royal Warwickshire Regiment, on board their troopship bound for the Korean War

Everest: Edmund Hillary (left) and Sherpa Tenzing Norgay (right), with Colonel John Hunt in Katmandu, Nepal

Along with the Coronation, 1953 saw epic sporting achievements, with England winning the Ashes for the first time in 19 years while the champion flat jockey Sir Gordon Richards won the Derby on his 28th and last attempt.
In the FA Cup Final, Stanley Matthews’ inspirational performance during Blackpool’s 4-3 win against Bolton Wanderers led to the match being dubbed the 'Matthews Final'.
Then on the morning of the Coronation - much to the delight of the Royal Family - came the news that the British Everest Expedition had succeeded in reaching the summit of the world’s highest mountain.
But 1953 was not without tragedy. There were floods on England’s east coast, where more than 300 people lost their lives.
The new Queen spent much of February touring the stricken areas, meeting those affected.

Victory: Fans surge on the pitch at The Oval as England win the Ashes at home for the first time in 19 years

Disaster: Unrelenting flood waters devastate the village of Zijpe on the Dutch island of Schouwen in 1953

Comfort: The Queen greets crowds in Tilbury, Essex, which was devastated by flooding in the Coronation year

Winston Churchill presided over a Conservative government and there was still rationing for staple foodstuffs such as sugar, eggs and sausages.
Britain’s cities remained scarred by the German bombing. Bomb sites were used as car parks or playgrounds but there was insufficient wealth to rebuild completely.
The world political situation remained to be volatile, with communism in the East the new perceived enemy to the capitalist West.
The Korean War was raging into its third year, with British troops fighting alongside a multinational force, including Americans and Australians. On July 27, 1953, an armistice was signed, by which point more than 1,000 British servicemen had lost their lives.

American singer Frankie Laine (left) arrives at Heathrow to tour a country still ruled by Winston Churchill

New Elizabethans: The Queen with her Maids of Honour after the Coronation, almost 60 years ago

THE CORONATION AT A GLANCE

• The Queen was only the sixth Queen to have been crowned in Westminster Abbey in her own right.
• The Coronation service used for Queen Elizabeth II descends directly from that of King Edgar at Bath in 973.
• Coronations are organised by the Earl Marshal, a hereditary position occupied by the Duke of Norfolk.
•  A total of 8,251 guests attended the ceremony at Westminster Abbey. 129 nations and territories were officially represented.
• Prince Charles created history when he became the first child to witness his mother’s Coronation as Sovereign.
• The Queen’s white satin Coronation dress was made by Norman Hartnell and embroidered with the emblems of the United Kingdom and the Commonwealth. The embroidery in gold and silver thread and pastel-coloured silks was encrusted with seed pearls and crystals to create a lattice-work effect.
• Buckingham Palace housemaids, chefs and gardeners all gathered inside the Grand Hall at the Palace to watch the Queen leave for Westminster Abbey.
• On her way to the Coronation, the Queen wore the George IV State Diadem - the crown she is depicted wearing on stamps. It was made in 1820 for George IV’s Coronation.
• The Queen’s Coronation service was taken by the Archbishop of Canterbury, whose duty this has usually been since the Norman Conquest in 1066.
• The St Edward’s Crown, made in 1661, was the crown placed on the Queen’s head during the Coronation service. In its current form, it was first used by Charles II but it is thought that the lower part might be from Edward the Confessor’s crown.
• The orb, also made in 1661, is a globe of gold surrounded by a cross girdled by a band of diamonds, emeralds, rubies, sapphires and pearls with a large amethyst at the summit.
• The Coronation ring, also known as The Wedding Ring of England, was worn by the Queen on the fourth finger of her right hand in accordance with tradition. It was made for the Coronation of King William IV in 1831.