Alexander the Great in 3 Minutes

She Wolves, England's Early Queens

Pope Joan

Was there a female pope?

The Catholic Church says no outright, but others say it is tough to dismiss over 500 chronicled accounts of her existence.  

Joan supposedly came from a town in Germany where a monastery opened.  Only boys were allowed, but to disguise a girl as a boy in a monk's robe would be easy to achieve.  According to the literature she rose through clerical ranks until she was voted in as pope in 855.

Dressing as a man would be necessary for a woman with educational or vocational ambitions.  Women were expected to stay at home.  Those who were seen in the streets were labeled prostitutes.

Women in the church dressing as men was not unusual.  "There are over 30 saints' lives in which women dress as men for a variety of reasons, and with a variety of outcomes," says Valerie Hotchkiss, a professor of medieval studies at Southern Methodist University in Texas, who has written about these "transvestite nuns."  

Highlighting Is a Waste of Time: The Best and Worst Learning Techniques

~Some of the most common strategies for retaining knowledge are the least effective, according to a new report~

By Annie Murphy Paul @anniemurphypaul

In a world as fast-changing and full of information as our own, every one of us — from schoolchildren to college students to working adults — needs to know how to learn well. Yet evidence suggests that most of us don’t use the learning techniques that science has proved most effective. Worse, research finds that learning strategies we do commonly employ, like rereading and highlighting, are among the least effective.

The scientific literature evaluating these techniques stretches back decades and across thousands of articles. It’s far too extensive and complex for the average parent, teacher or employer to sift through. Fortunately, a team of five leading psychologists have now done the job for us. In a comprehensive report released on Jan. 9 by the Association for Psychological Science, the authors, led by Kent State University professor John Dunlosky, closely examine 10 learning tactics and rate each from high to low utility on the basis of the evidence they’ve amassed. Here is a quick guide to the report’s conclusions:

The Worst

Highlighting and underlining led the authors’ list of ineffective learning strategies. Although they are common practices, studies show they offer no benefit beyond simply reading the text. Some research even indicates that highlighting can get in the way of learning; because it draws attention to individual facts, it may hamper the process of making connections and drawing inferences. Nearly as bad is the practice of rereading, a common exercise that is much less effective than some of the better techniques you can use. Lastly, summarizing, or writing down the main points contained in a text, can be helpful for those who are skilled at it, but again, there are far better ways to spend your study time. Highlighting, underlining, rereading and summarizing were all rated by the authors as being of “low utility.”

The Best

In contrast to familiar practices like highlighting and rereading, the learning strategies with the most evidence to support them aren’t well known outside the psych lab. Take distributed practice, for example. This tactic involves spreading out your study sessions, rather than engaging in one marathon. Cramming information at the last minute may allow you to get through that test or meeting, but the material will quickly disappear from memory. It’s much more effective to dip into the material at intervals over time. And the longer you want to remember the information, whether it’s two weeks or two years, the longer the intervals should be.

The second learning strategy that is highly recommended by the report’s authors is practice testing. Yes, more tests — but these are not for a grade. Research shows that the mere act of calling information to mind strengthens that knowledge and aids in future retrieval. While practice testing is not a common strategy — despite the robust evidence supporting it — there is one familiar approach that captures its benefits: using flash cards. And now flash cards can be presented in digital form, via apps like Quizlet, StudyBlue and FlashCardMachine. Both spaced-out learning, or distributed practice, and practice tests were rated as having “high utility” by the authors.

The Rest
 

The remainder of the techniques evaluated by Dunlosky and his colleagues fell into the middle ground — not useless, but not especially effective either. These include mental imagery, or coming up with pictures that help you remember text (which is time-consuming and only works with text that lends itself to images); elaborative interrogation, or asking yourself “why” as you read (which is kind of annoying, like having a 4-year-old tugging at your sleeve); self-explanation, or forcing yourself to explain the text in detail instead of passively reading it over (its effectiveness depends on how complete and accurate your explanations are); interleaved practice, or mixing up different types of problems (there is not much evidence to show that this is helpful, outside of learning motor tasks); and lastly the keyword mnemonic, or associating new vocabulary words, usually in a foreign language, with an English word that sounds similar — so, for example, learning the French word for key, la clef, by imagining a key on top of a cliff (which is a lot of work to remember a single word).

All these techniques were rated of “moderate” to “low” utility by Dunlosky et al because either there isn’t enough evidence yet to be able to recommend them or they’re just not a very good use of your time. Much better, say the authors, to spread out your learning, ditch your highlighter and get busy with your flash cards.

Become a Spice Trader

Make good decisions, and bring back a fortune, or fail miserably. 

Annenberg Learner

Boudicca: Enemy of Rome

"She was huge of frame, terrifying of aspect, and with a harsh voice. A great mass of bright red hair fell to her knees: She wore a great twisted golden necklace, and a tunic of many colors, over which was a thick mantle, fastened by a brooch. Now she grasped a spear, to strike fear into all who watched her...…" ~Dio Cassius (Dudley and Webster, 54)

 

Boudicca was queen of the Iceni, an isolated people of Eastern England.  She nearly toppled the occupying Roman forces.
 
Boudicca was married to Prasutagus, king of the Iceni people of East Anglia. When the Romans conquered southern England in AD 43, they allowed Prasutagus to continue to rule, as long as the Iceni paid the heavy Roman taxes.  When Prasutagus died, rule of the Iceni shifted to his wife, Boudicca and their daughters.  Unlike their Roman counterparts,women in the upper eschelons of Celtic society held positions of prestige and power.  In addition, they owned land, could choose their husbands, and initiate divorce.

Roman law, however, did not allow royal inheritance to be passed to women. The Romans decided to rule the Iceni directly and confiscated the property of the leading Iceni. When Boudicca protested citing Roman law, she was stripped and flogged. Her daughters were raped. 

In 60 or 61 AD, while the Roman governor Paullinus was leading a campaign in North Wales, the Iceni rebelled. Neighboring tribes joined them.

Boudicca's warriors successfully defeated the Roman Ninth Legion and destroyed the capital of Roman Britain, which was then Colchester. They went on to destroy London and the town that is now St. Albans. Thousands of Romans were killed. The British Celts expertly used chariots which were small and light.  Wicker screens protected the driver and the warrior as they rode.

Finally, Boudicca was defeated by a Roman army led by Paulinus. Many Celts were killed and Boudicca is thought to have poisoned herself to avoid capture.

Strange But True: Facts about Romans

1.  Purple clothing was reserved for emperors or senators. It was treason for anyone other than the emperor to dress completely in purple.

2.  Left-handed people were considered unlucky.

3.  Emperor Caligula often appeared in public dressed in women’s clothing.

 4.  Caligula’s favorite horse, Incitatus, lived in a marble stable, with an ivory manger. Caligula also tried to make him a consul, the most important job in the government.

5.  Romans thought the early Christians were practicing cannibalism when they heard about them eating the body and blood of Christ.

6.  People would socialize at communal toilets (shown above). Rome had over 140 public toilets.

7.  Wealthy Romans would have extravagant banquets that lasted for hours.  In order to continue eating, they would make themselves vomit.

8.  Roman women dyed their hair.  Blonde and red were the most popular colors.

9.  Only free-born Roman men as a were allowed to wear togas.

10.  Urine was used to clean clothes.  The ammonia helped get stains out.

 

Engagement Rings

Engagement rings for women are often worn on the fourth finger of the left hand because the ancient Greeks believed that finger contained the vena amoris, or the “vein of love,” and it ran straight to the heart. The first recorded wedding rings appeared in ancient Egypt, with the circle representing eternity as well as powerful sun and moon gods Ra and Khonsu.

Women Warriors in The Vikings -or- Brunhilde`s Bruisers

You won`t find horned helmets and busty sopranos flying over our fields of battle, picking the slain with a piercing top C, but our women warriors wield their weapons with the same fury and fatality as did their historic and legendary forbears.

The sagas present us with an array of angry, assertive women, bullying and shaming their menfolk into armed retribution for dishonour and mistreatment; we also learn of those who take matters into their own hands; Freydis, daughter of Eirik the Red, takes an axe to five women, whose presence is "inconvenient" [1]. Auðr, who wore breeches like a man, attacks Þórðr with a sword; he had divorced her to marry another woman [2]. Þórdis lunges with a sword at Eyjólfr from beneath a table; revenge for the killing of her brother. He is wounded. When her husband offers Eyjólfr compensation, Þórdis divorces him [3]. And there are more...

But these are women who turn to violence to deal with the frustrations of their daily lives. What of more military aggressors?

The most prolific source for references to women warriors is probably Saxo Grammaticus [4]. Like other "historians" of his period, the earlier books probably merge legend and history, but we cannot ignore the frequent mention of fighting women. There are both passing and general references to female warriors as well as specific mention by name of female vikings (pirates), skilled warriors and army commanders: Hetha, Visna, Rusila, Lathgertha... the list is long.

Celtic societies too, have a tradition of women sharing and leading the fighting. The renowned Red Branch warriors (male) of Ireland were sent for training to a female warrior. There is less of a known history among the Angles and Saxons, though early Saxon laws are said to have forbidden women from taking part in battle and in the 7th century, Adomnan, abbot of Iona was highly critical of fighting women. In the early 10th century, we do find Æthelflæd, eldest daughter of Alfred the great, organising a string of fortifications to defend Mercia from Northumbria and the Welsh, while leading an attack against the Viking centres at Derby and Leicester. Even the Viking citizens of York sent pledges of submission and loyalty, such was her reputation. We cannot be sure to what extent she took an active part in the combat, but she certainly proved an exceptional general.

Throughout history and all over the world, women have taken up arms in private and political struggles. Today is no exception. While probably more numerous on the field than in earlier times, our female warriors line up with their male co-combatants to re-enact the times when your enemy was at the most, a spear’s length away and you could see not just the whites but the blue, brown and green of his, or her, eyes.

Frania Juchnowicz is a member of Ormsheim and teaches in Leeds.

[1]Groenlendinga saga

[2] Laxdæla saga

[3] Gisla saga

[4] Gesta Danorum

Princess Honoria and the Barbarian King

 Smart, conniving, and ruthless are adjectives used to describe

Attila the Hun terrorized both halves of the Roman Empire in the fifth century, invading  and extorting more tribute in return for peace. The Romans were understandably terrified by this seemingly invincible barbarian king. But at least one Roman woman saw Attila as a potential hero.

Her name was Honoria, and she was the sister of the Western Roman emperor, Valentinian III. She had been sent into exile for having an affair with her brother's royal chamberlain, Eugenius, and for plotting to overthrow Valentinian. Honoria was sent to a convent; Eugenius was executed.  

Trapped and desperate to escape, Honoria sent Attila her ring and a plea for help. If Attila would conquer the whole Empire, and she'd become queen.  So Attila informed the Romans that he intended to marry Honoria -- and he expected to be given half the Western Roman empire as her dowry.

You can guess what happened next. The Romans refused Attila's demands, and Attila went on the attack. He invaded Gaul, but -- to his surprise -- the Romans defeated him in battle for the first time. Attila then withdrew from Gaul, although he got his revenge by sacking a number of Italian cities.

As for Honoria? After her overtures to Attila were discovered, Valentinian forced her to marry an elderly Roman senator. This was the fate Honoria dreaded all along.  No one knows what happened to her after that.

Fun Facts about Life in the 1500s

The following is taken from:

"Life in the 1500's | Funny Historical Facts on Life from the Brobdingnagian Bards." Brobdingnagian Bards - Irish, Folk & Celtic Music from Austin, Texas. Web. 13 Jan. 2012. <http://www.thebards.net/articles/history20000818.shtml>.

Life in the 1500's

• Lead cups were used to drink ale or whiskey. The combination would sometimes knock them out for a couple of days. Someone walking along the road would take them for dead and prepare them for burial. They were laid out on the kitchen table for a couple of days and the family would gather around and eat and drink and wait and see if they would wake up. Hence the custom of holding a "wake."  

• Most people got married in June because they took their yearly bath in May and were still smelling pretty good by June. However, they were starting to smell, so brides carried a bouquet of flowers to hide the b.o. 

• England is old and small, and they started running out of places to bury people. So, they would dig up coffins and would take their bones to a house and reuse the grave. In reopening these coffins, one out of 25 coffins were found to have scratch marks on the inside and they realized they had been burying people alive. So they thought they would tie a string on their wrist and lead it through the coffin and up through the ground and tie it to a bell. Someone would have to sit out in the graveyard all night to listen for the bell. Hence on the "graveyard shift" they would know that someone was "saved by the bell" or he was a "dead ringer."

• Those with money had plates made of pewter. Food with a high acid content caused some of the lead to leach onto the food. This happened most often with tomatoes, so they stopped eating tomatoes...for 400 years.
  
  

• Most people didn't have pewter plates, but had trenchers - a piece of wood with the middle scooped out like a bowl. Trenchers were never washed and a lot of times worms got into the wood. After eating off wormy trenchers, they would get "trench mouth". 

Bathing in the Middle Ages

Soap for the poor was made of mutton fat
while the wealthy enjoyed soap made from
olive oil and flower petals.

How many showers a day do you take?  Whether it is one or more the number is FAR more than those in the Middle Ages.

Bathing did not disappear with the end of the Roman Empire, however, it was not always an easy task in the Middle Ages. Wealthy castle residents used wooden half barrels with water heated from the fire in the great hall. Sometimes the water was mixed with perfumes and oils.  Servants ran back and forth filling the tub.  Weather permitting, the tub might be placed outside in the garden. 

Bathhouses were popular and were in most towns by the 13th century. Water was heated by wood fires, but wood was expensive.  There was also the risk that these fires could burn down an entire block or more. For these reasons, bathhouses closed.  At one point the pope closed bathhouses in an attempt to stop the spread of syphilis.

Bathing became more popular after the outbreak of the Bubonic Plague.

By the mid-1300s forests were depleted. Only the rich could afford firewood. The rest of the population was forced to bathe in cold water, share bathwater with the rest of the family, or be dirty.

Crusaders Miss the Mark

The following is taken from Christa Pöppelmann, 1,000 Common Delusions and the real facts behind them (Firefly Books, Buffalo, NY, 2006). 

In the first Crusade in 1096, two armies of beggars set out alongside the knights, one army from southern France and the other from Germany, regions that had been suffering from famine ... 

When traveling towards Palestine, these armies plundered many cities on the Rhine and in southern Germany, killing Jews and in some cases Christians. They never reached the Holy Land; they were defeated in Turkey; many were slaughtered and the rest sold into slavery.

Eleanor of Aquitaine

Eleanor of Aquitaine (c. 1122-1204) is one of the most fantastic characters in medieval history.  She was ruler of the Aquitaine in her own right, queen consort of both France and England, and queen mother of England under Richard I and John I.  She went on the Second Crusade.  In years afterward, the pope would forbid any woman to go on Crusade.  

And although her second husband, Henry II, was a philandering worm, when he tried to replace his queen with a much younger village girl of 15, legend says Eleanor killed the young and lovely Rosamund Clifford.  Rosamund had two of Henry's numerous illegitimate children.

Unlike Henry's other mistress's, he was deeply in love with the uneducated Rosamund.  This infuriated Eleanor.  There are wonderful rumors about Eleanor poisoning Rosamund.  Others have Eleanor stabbing the young girl or throwing her down stairs.  The truth is Eleanor was imprisoned when Rosamund died.  Rosamund probably died in a convent during childbirth.

Accustomed to having her own way,  Eleanor left for the Aquitaine where she set up her own court.  She took her favorite son, Richard, with her. In 1173, Eleanor and three of her sons revolted against Henry II.  They lost.  The queen was captured and kept as Henry's prisoner for the rest of his life.  

While her son King Richard I went on the Third Crusade, Eleanor reigned in his place.  She was known as a cunning and able ruler.  Her word was law.  She brought peace to England.  Her son John tried to take over rule of England from her, but he was no match for Eleanor.  John would have to wait for his brother Richard to die to become king. 

Pygg Jar

The Middle English term “pygg” referred to a type of orange clay. In the Middle Ages, people would often keep coins in jars, dishes, or pots made of pygg. They were simplistic in design and were called “pygg jars”. By the 18th century, the word "pygg" sounded like "pig".  Without banks, people saved their money in these jars and sometimes buried them in the yard or beneath the house.  The small hole in the top ensured you could not retrieve your money without breaking the jar or "breaking the bank".

Justinian II

Justinian II Rhinometus (cut-nose) reigned first from 685 to 695 beginning at age 16.  In regards to religion, Justinian tried to reconcile the split between Rome and Constantinople, but insisted that Constantinople would be the supreme center of Christianity. 

Justinian heavily taxed the provinces.  He was unpopular and overthrown.  His general, Leontius, cut his nose off and slit his tongue. Justinian was then exiled across the Black Sea.

He came back with the help of the Bulgars to rule from 705 to 711.  Justinian entered the city by sneaking through the aquaducts.  He came back wearing a golden strap-on nose and began a reign of terror beginning with the public execution of Leontius.

Dining Like a Roman

Finger Food!  Before food was served, it was cut into small pieces, and eaten with fingers or a spoon. There were usually no table knives and no forks, but the Romans had spoons. They were made of bronze, silver, and bone for sipping liquids with a pointy handle to extract shellfish.

Plebeians made due with cereals, bread, and vegetables, but patricians ate quite well.  They feasted on exotic foods from all over the empire eaten in several courses and, unlike their Greek counterparts (see Ancient Greeks & Wine Consumption ), drank wine in generous amounts.  Like their Greek counterparts though, Romans drank diluted wine.  They considered not doing so barbaric.

The male head of the household would recline while dining.  The women and children sat on couches or the floor.

Olympias

Olympias was the daughter of  the king of Epirus, now modern Albania.  According to Plutarch she was descended from the mythical hero Achilles. 

 

The only surviving picture of her is on a coin shown above.  Contemporaries wrote that she was a beautiful woman. She was ruthless and driven.  Above all she had an obsessive love for her son Alexander the Great.

In 359 B.C. Olympias married Philip II of Macedon and Alexander was born three years later. The marriage was doomed due to Philip II's numerous affairs and by the jealous temper of Olympias.

When Philip II took a young wife, Cleopatra (not THE Cleopatra--it was a common name) in 337 B.C., Olympias took Alexander to Epirus and did not return until after the assassination of Philip.  Rumor has it both Olympias and Alexander had a hand in Philip's death since both were afraid Cleopatra's son might be named heir.

When Alexander was 21, he left to conquer the world.  Olympias never saw him again.  

During the absence of her son, with whom she corresponded regularly, Olympias had great influence over Macedon.  It is reported, perhaps unfairly, that her "arrogance and ambition" caused such trouble to Alexander's named regent, Antipater, that on Alexander's death in 323 B.C.,  she found it wise to move to Epirus. 

Olympia raised an army and winning, Olympias became mistress of Macedonia for a short time. Cassander, Antipater's son, took Macedonia back. One of the terms of her surrender had been that her life should be spared.  Cassander went back on his word and had her executed in 316 B.C.  It is said that Cassander hated Olympias so much that he denied her remains the rites of burial.  

Ancient Greeks & Wine Consumption

Contemporary writers observed that the Ancient Greeks were among the most moderate of ancient peoples. While wine was important in their religion, for medicinal reasons, and for hospitality, Greek writers stressed rules about moderation.  There were many warnings against intoxication.  The accepted practice was to dilute wine with water.
A notable exception to this rule of moderation was the cult of Dionysus, in which intoxication was believed to bring people closer to their god.

Pope Adrian IV

What is the name of the only English Pope?

Adrian IV was pope from 1154 to his death in 1159.  When King Henry II of England landed with 4,000 soldiers at Waterford in October 1171, he came carrying the Papal Bull Laudabiliter, by which the Pope claimed the right to give Ireland as a gift to Henry on condition that he forcibly ended the ancient Celtic or Culdee Church, and brought the island and its people into submission to the Roman Catholic Church.


Adrian died on September 1, 1159, reputedly choking on a fly in his wine, but probably of an infection of the tonsils.  Many Irish, however, prefer the fly version.