Something a little different this morning. I live in Portugal and today is the 50th anniversary of the Carnation Revolution. On 25 April 1974 there was a bloodless coup, with the armed forces overthrowing the old dictatorship. Soldiers in the streets put carnations in the barrels of their guns. A new democracy was born. To signal and co-ordinate the start of the revolution, this popular song was broadcast on the radio. I find it hauntingly beautiful. ... See MoreSee Less
Zeca Afonso - Grândola, Vila MorenaGrândola, vila morenaTerra da fraternidadeO povo é quem mais ordenaDentro de ti, ó cidadeDentro de ti, ó cidadeO povo é qu...
A really fascinating article from The British Library Archives which throws some light on 12th century tourney practices. The article makes the distinction between dyed or painted lances being used for the tournament, whereas only plain lances were used for battle. I wonder if this is true? Certainly manuscript art would suggest that many war lances were also painted. This could be artistic licence of course (the artist being more familiar with the tournament field than the battlefield) but surely it would also make sense to paint your battle lance to preserve it from drying out on campaign and thus becoming brittle. As an experiment I once took a pine sapling - about the size of a 12 ft lance and dried it for a couple of years. It lost considerable weight and checked (cracked) nicely. Not what you would want for a war lance but ideal for tournaments, where you could show off by carrying a seemingly chunky lance with ease (lighter than it looks) and also one that would break easily (scoring you points). Quite the opposite of what you would require from a war lance.Thoughts??? ... See MoreSee Less
In medieval England, land was conventionally held in return for either rent (in the form of money or other items) or service (acts performed by one party to the other). These items could range from to...