Historical Tidbit: The Diary of Anne Frank

Source

Did you know that August 4th (Yesterday, not today. Unfortunately I'm a day late!) is the anniversary of the day Anne Frank was captured? 

Anne and her family hid in a closed-off portion of an Amsterdam warehouse along with another Jewish family and a single Jewish man. They went into hiding in 1942 and received aid from Christian friends. Twenty-five months of successful hiding let them hear about the Allied landing at Normandy, and they had hopes that Holland would soon be liberated. From the time Anne was thirteen years old, she kept a meticulous diary about the day-to-day goings-on and her experiences in the warehouse.

Source

On August 4th, 1944, given away by some unknown informant, they were discovered by the Gestapo. All were shipped off to concentration camps, and the entire family eventually made their way to Auschwitz. Anne and her sister Margot were eventually sent to another camp in Germany where they both contracted typhus and died. The camp was liberated less than two months later.

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Historical Tidbit: Origin of Pioneer Day

Source

Did you know...that today is a holiday?

So today is July 24th! For anyone living outside of Utah, it's just another Wednesday at work. But, for those of us in the Beehive state, today is Pioneer Day! It's the anniversary of when the Mormon pioneers arrived and began the settlement of our great state! 



Members of the early LDS church were brutally persecuted in the Eastern United States. Eventually, they packed up everything they had into the backs of covered wagons and handcarts and headed west. Back then, very little of the land between the Mississippi River and California had been settled. Of course American Indian tribes dotted the land, but, especially in Utah which is an arid desert, even they were few and far between.

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Historical Tidbit: Titanic Predictions

Did you know...?

That many writers predicted the disaster of the Titanic cruise liner?

It's true. No less than 4 writers in some way predicted the accident long before it happened.

Check out that crazy cover image!
Source

1) Morgan Robertson published a novella in 1898 entitled, Futility.  It was the story of a grand cruise liner that sank. In it, the boat was the largest and fastest of its day, and--get this!--was called the Titan. In his story, the boat has almost identical dimensions to the Titanic, and both boats, though they have huge amounts of people aboard, only carry enough lifeboats for half. In his book, Robertson's boat is known as "unsinkable." These similarities have been called "eerie." I say they're downright creepy!

2) M. McDonnell Bodkin wrote This Ship's Run in 1908. The boat in his story is called Titanic and it follows almost the same route the actual ship would four years later, though in the story it doesn't collide with anything. The similarities are so close that many people believe Bodkin might have seen early plans for the ship. (Source)

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Ann-Marie Meyers: Up in the Air + Patriotic Courage in the Face of Helplessness--A True Story

Hello Everyone! Today is the day before Independence Day so check out my true story of patriotism in the face of helplessness below! Meanwhile, please welcome Ann Marie Meyers to the blog. Her first novel, Up in the Air releases July 6. She's here to talk about finding your target audience. Make sure to click on the link below that to enter her Rafflecopter giveaway. Then check out my review of her book below. 

Ann Marie Meyers grew up in Trinidad and Tobago in the West Indies. She has a degree in languages and translates legal and technical documents from French and Spanish into English. She lives in Toronto, Ontario, with her husband and super energetic daughter. Meyers is an active member of SCBWI and facilitates a children's writing group twice a month. Welcome, Ann Marie!

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Teaser Tuesday--Up in the Air + True Story of Patriotism

Source

So this is the week we will celebrate the birth of our country and the glory it has been since its inception. I come from a very patriotic family. My great-grandfathers on both sides fought on World War II and I have had lots of family in the military since then as well. So, in celebration, many of my posts this week will have a patriotic bent, and I may start out each one with a true story about the patriots in my family, or just a patriotic story in general. (Teaser Tuesday Below.)

One of my great-grandfathers, Blaine Hill, fought in World War II. One day, he and a buddy were walking behind a U.S. tank who was making its way through a jungle in the South Pacific. Every time the men in the tank saw a land mine ahead, they would radio to the two men behind them (one being my grandfather) and one of them would step out and shoot the mine from a distance so the tank could proceed safely. My grandfather and this other American soldier (sorry I don't know his name) took turns shooting the mines. At one point, several hours had passed since they'd come upon a mine. When the guys inside the tank reported another one ahead, neither my grandfather nor his buddy could remember whose turn it was to fire. 

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Historical Tidbit: The Battle of Gettysburg

Source

So this is the week we will celebrate the birth of our country and the glory it has been since its inception. I come from a very patriotic family. My great-grandfathers on both sides fought on World War II and I have had lots of family in the military since then as well. So, in celebration, many of my posts this week will have a patriotic bent, and I may start out each one with a true story about the patriots in my family, or just a patriotic story in general.

Today, the historical tidbit has to do with patriotism by definition, so I'll let it stand on its own.

Did you know...that the Battle of Gettysburg almost lost the war for the North, as much as it won it for them?

Source

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Historical Tidbit: Idioms Caused by Viking Pirates

Do you know...?

Source

The origins of the phrase, Don't cut off your nose to spite your face?

This phrase is "used to describe a needlessly self-destructive over-reaction to a problem." (Source) This source has been around since as early as the 12th century and comes from many legends about women disfiguring their faces in order to preserve their sexual dignity.

The most well-known story is that of Saint Ebbe, the Mother Superior of the Coldingham monastery in Scotland. When the monastery got word that Viking pirates had landed on their shores and were ravishing the countryside, Ebbe gathered her nuns and told them to disfigure themselves in order to repel their would-be rapists. The residents of the monastery cut off their noses and upper lips as best they could. When the Viking raiders arrived, they were so disgusted that they didn't rape a single one of the nuns.

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Historical Tidbit: Ivan the Terrible and Elisabeth I

Did you know...

Source

That Ivan the Terrible of Russia proposed marriage to Elizabeth I of England? This may not mean much to most Americans today, but it should. 

Ivan was one of the most violent and notorious rulers in Eastern Europe, and most especially in Russia. Like Vlad the Impaler, he liked to find new and more interesting (read: disgusting) ways to kill his own people and delighted in bloodshed. He ran his relationships, his  household, and ultimately his country into the ground, dragging everything and everyone around him into his own pit of madness. 

Source

Now just imagine Elizabeth I had taken him up on that offer. What might an alliance with Russia have done to England. Elisabeth was on the throne for forty-five years and was the most progressive thinker of her era. She instituted the first law of freedom of religion in Europe and was a feminist before the word existed. Her reign brought a golden age for her country and her people, which came to (somewhat) of an end upon her death.

What does this have to do with America? 

Elizabeth, indirectly if not directly, affected the colonization of America. Many who'd been born during her reign were used to having religious freedom. When she died, James VI of Scotland became James I of England and reverted to the us-vs.-them, Catholic-vs.-Protestant mentality that existed before Elizabeth took the throne. Once you've known freedom, it's almost impossible to give it up. That was true of many English subjects and they came to America seeking the religious freedom they'd known under Elizabeth.

Source

So, if she'd married Ivan, how would history have been different? Chances were he would have found a way to taint both England and its queen. What if he had killed Elizabeth or refused to respect her policies of religious freedom? It would have changed the way in which America was colonized and who knows where we would be today?

Luckily, anyone who knows anything about Elizabeth Tudor knows that would never have happened. She was far too independent to let any man rule over her and she probably knew exactly who and what Ivan was, which means she was entirely too smart to entangle herself with him. 

Under Elizabeth, England flourished and became one of the top powers in the world. Under Ivan, Russia slid into darkness, chaos, and brutality, falling even farther behind the rest of the world than it already was.

So, how do YOU think the world would have been different if Elizabeth had married Ivan?

Citadels of Fire, Book 1 of Kremlins will be available in September 2013, courtesy of Jolly Fish Press.

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Historical Tidbit--Crusade Alliances

Source

Did you know...

That for a very brief time period during the first crusade, Muslim and Jewish resistors briefly joined forces to defend Jerusalem against Christian crusaders?

Just a random factoid, but an interesting one. Those two groups are an odd pairing, especially considering the politics and social climate of the middle ages. 

It was a short-lived alliance, though. The crusaders breached the city after a two-week siege. Most of the Muslim soldiers fought to the death. For a long time, it was believed that the Jews were gathered into a synagogue (or went there voluntarily to prepare for death) and had the synagogue burned down around them. More recently found records indicate that, while the synagogue was burnt down, it was probably empty. Jewish prisoners were forced to clear the corpses from the city.

Still, it's an interesting story. You have to wonder how such different, feuding groups came to the decision to work together. How difficult was it for them? Did they abandon one another when the city fell, or continue to fight a losing battle? This would make interesting historical fiction, don't you think?

Would you read a historical story set against the backdrop of these events?

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Historical Tidbit--Origins of the Pied Piper Legend

Yes, I am re-posting this. Sorry. I had limited time to work on my blog this past weekend and didn't have time to put together a historical tidbit. I'm sort of obsessed with this story, so I thought I'd re-post this one with just a few tweaks. Bear with me. :D

Did you know...

The Children's Crusade

Source

That the Pied Piper of Hamelin was probably based on a child crusader?

So anyone who follows my medieval tidbits knows I have a thing for the crusades, and also am intrigued by the Pied Piper legend. Well, I think I've finally found the most accurate historical tidbit that the legend is based on.

I've done posts before on both the Pied Piper and the Children's Crusade (click the links if you want to read them) but here's how the history (what little we have) syncs up.

In the spring of 1212, a twelve-year-old French orphan boy had a vision. His name was Stephen and he believed he saw Christ, who told him that the reason the Crusades had failed (for the Christians) was that the hearts of the crusaders were impure. Where sinful adults had failed, good-hearted children would prevail. He was promised that, should he gather an army of children for a crusade, the waters of the Mediterranean would part from them, as they did for Moses of old, so the children could walk to the Holy Lands on dry ground and conduct their crusade.

Stephen began preaching in the streets, and his impact on the many orphan children of Europe was profound. After hearing of Stephen's crusade, the news of which spread like wildfire through Europe, a German boy named Nicholas, the son of a wealthy farmer, decided to join. But more than that, he decided to recruit his own army, get to the Mediterranean by way of Italy, and meet Stephen in the Holy Lands. Nicholas' father encouraged him in this. Nicholas, like Stephen, began going from town to town, preaching Christ and the holy crusade, and even performing miracles, according to some accounts. Though, whether these were truly miraculous feats or the kind of miracles people see because they want to is difficult to decipher from our limited records. It is believed that Nicholas was the mystical Pied Piper. In the small German village of Hamelin, he offered to help with their rat infestation for a price. When they refused to pay it, he led the children out of town (to participate in the crusade) while playing music on his flute. None of the children ever returned home.

Why not?

Stephen's group at the 

Mediterranean

Source

Because all of these children met with tragedy. Stephen's group waited for their miracle at the Mediterranean for days. Finally two men who owned a fleet of ships offered to support their crusade by ferrying them across the sea. Stephen saw it as an answer to their prayers. Two of the ships were caught in a story and dashed to pieces. All passengers, including Stephen, were drowned in the arms of the mighty sea. The other ships ended up in Africa, where the deceptive ship owners sold the children into abject slavery.

Nicholas' group marched over snow-covered mountains to get to Italy. Many died of hunger, thirst, fatigue, and exposure to the elements. When they, too, failed to find their miracle at the Mediterranean, they marched south toward Rome to see the pope. They were overtaken by an army of unknown leadership in the same place the rebel slave Spartacus had made his stand hundreds of years before. There, the children were subjected to  numerous cruelties by sadistic soldiers.

Eventually the church put a stop to cruelty and the children were allowed to see the pope, who wept for the children's faith and hardship. He counselled them to return home and await the time when he would call for their help in the next adult crusade.

The children obeyed, though few made it home. Many people had been happy to send their children to the crusade, believing that, because they were children and about the work of God, they would be protected. But tens of thousands died, and none but possibly a bare handful even made it to the Holy Lands. Very few who went ever returned home. Because of the fiasco it turned into, people became bitter, calling the children they had once supported foolish and mad. They had less help on the road home than they had on their march toward the Holy Lands. Many died trying to get there. They were scorned, laughed at, and abused.

Source

Meanwhile, in a tiny, childless village in Germany, a stained-glass window was erected, telling the story of a rat infestation and a friendly, colorfully-dressed piper. It ended with all the town's children walking out of the village to the haunting notes of the piper's flute, and never returning.

This is a story I'd like to portray through historical fiction, if I can ever get back to my historical stuff, but it'd definitely be a tragic one. Still, it's a story that isn't well-known today.

What do you think? Is this an important story to know? One you would read?

Remember, knowledge of our past is our inheritance. What we do with that knowledge will shape our destinies.

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Historical Tidbit--Shakespeare

**FYI: I'm out of town this week so while my posts are going up automatically, I won't be doing as much commenting/ communicating this week. I probably won't get around to many emails until after memorial day. Sorry for any inconvenience.**

Did you know...?

en.wikipedia.org

That the custom of carrying the bride over the threshold didn't exist until the 16th century?

That the world "wormhole" was known clear back during the English Renaissance?

That eyes were not known as "eyeballs" until the time of Queen Elisabeth I?

What do all these things have in common? Two words: William Shakespeare!!!

There are literally dozens of words, phrases, and customs that were invented by (or at least not recorded until he did it) and are therefore attributed to him. These include words like "alligator," "puking," "skim milk," and "hot-blooded," among others.

No wonder Shakespeare is thought of as the greatest writer in the history of the English language. Not only have his plays survived the years and still connect with people today, but he influenced our culture in so many other ways as well. What would the world be like today without Shakespeare's influence?

What do YOU think Shakespeare's greatest influence on modern culture is?

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Historical Tidbit--William Wallace

Did you know...?

Source

That Braveheart is based on a true story?

Okay, most people know that. But the thing that's interesting about it is that most people didn't know that story until it was discovered.

The film's producer, Randall Wallace, was on a random vacation in Scotland, and saw a statue of a man he'd never heard of named William Wallace. Because they shared a last name, he remarked on it to the tour guide with something along the lines of, "Another Wallace. (An extremely common Scottish surname.) Who was this man?"

To which the guide replied with reverence, "He is our greatest hero." 

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Historical Tidbit--The War of the Roses

Did you know...?

That soap operas are NOT an invention of the 21st Century? Let me explain. It's too much. Let me some up. (Sorry. Random Movie Quote right there. I haven't been doing that feature on my blog the past few weeks--too busy--so they're just falling out of my head like a fit of Tourettes.)

Anyway.

Source

Back in the 1400s (you know I love medieval stuff, right?) two rival houses of Plantagenet vied for the throne. Both branches were direct descendants of king Edward III. One of the houses was Lancaster, which sported a Red rose as its sigil. The other was the house of York, under the badge of the White Rose. Hence the name history has given this soap operatic battle, The War of the Roses.

The ruling Lancastrian king, Henry VI, surrounded himself with unpopular nobles. To add to that, civil unrest was high, and the feudal system was on a decline. Many powerful lords had their own private armies, and when Henry VI began showing signs of mental illness, it was anyone's game.

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Historical Tidbit--Australia

Did you know...

That Australia was originally founded as a penal colony? 

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Historical Tidbit: The Russian Grimm

Did you know...?

Alexei Mikhailovich
Source

The father of Peter the Great of Russia was named Alexei Mikhailovich. He declared war on storytellers in 1649. According to him, storytellers destroyed souls with their "idle talk and merry-making and blasphemy." All skomorokhi (minstrels, peddlers, jesters, harlequins, and other tale spinners) were outlawed and/or banished.

Two hundred years later, the ban still hadn't been lifted. Aleksandr Afanas'ev--sometimes called Russia's answer to the Brothers Grimm--was denounced for "collecting stories." In his lifetime, Afanas'ev was a most prolific story collector. He published articles, compiled biographies, collected everything from pagan myths to children's tales, and put together the collection of fairy tales for which he is best known. 

Aleksandr Afanas'ev
Source

The logic behind the denunciation was the following: "The legends published by Afanas'ev are thoroughly blasphemous and immoral. They offend pious sentiment and propriety. Religion must be safeguarded from such profanity."

Anyone curious as to Afanas'ev's reply? 

The stories, he said, "contained 'a million times more morality, truth and human love' than the 'sanctimonious sermons' of his Holiness."

Oh snap!

But of course back then, no one--even awesome dudes like Afanas'ev--took on the church. His apartment was ransacked, he was dismissed from his post and then forced out of his home. He had to sell his beloved books in order to eat, and spent the last few months of his life in mundane clerical work for a Moscow court. He died of consumption at the age of 45.

(Source: Myths and Legends of Russia, Afanas'ev, Aleksandr, "Introduction," pg. iii)

Aren't you glad our society no longer frowns on the telling of stories? I often wonder why earlier societies--or at least the powers-that-were--did. I think it's because stories give people knowledge about the world and power in themselves. People who read a lot are more educated than non-readers by nature, and more prone to insurrection if they feel oppressed.

In the middle ages, the Church (Catholic and/or Greek Orthodox) and the monarchy were the only powers people were answerable to. Given that their power came from the ability to sway (i.e. control) the people, you can see why they wouldn't want 'stories' to circulate. I think we often take our freedom to be bookish for granted. We should always remember the ones who came before who were persecuted for doing the things we love the most.

What do you think? Does telling stories bring us power? And how? 

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Historical Tidbit--Viking Names + Blog Tour Stop

Today's blog tour stop is an Interview at These Flying Pages. Hop on over and check it out!

Historical Tidbit

Did you know...

That names with double consonants that sound like two words (i.e. Johansson) have a Viking origin? In the early middle ages, people didn't have surnames. Last  names developed first as titles given to describe people because even them, many first names were common and it became hard to differentiate people.

So people gained descriptive titles based on their deeds (William the Conqueror), physical attributes (Pepin the Short, who incidentally married Agatha the Bigfoot) or unfortunate circumstances (Ethelred the Unready). 

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Historical Tidbit--The Real Spartacus + Blog Tour Stops

Today's Persistence of Vision Blog Tour Stop includes a Review and This-and-That Interview at Words Fueled by Love. Hop on over and check it out!

Source

Do you know...

How much of the legend of Spartacus is fact? Quite a lot of it, actually, though the details are often filled in. I saw the old Kirk Douglas movie, Spartacus, years ago. I remember liking it a lot, but now I only remember a few key parts. I'm hazy on the details.

I have a brother who's really into body building, so naturally he LOVES the Starzz series. I haven't watched it on TV but he bought the seasons on DVD and I borrowed them. While the stories are really good, I feel I should warn anyone thinking about watching them that they are R-Rated in the EXTREME! Lots of nudity, cursing, and gore. Just warning you.

So I started researching the truth behind the Spartacus legend. There's less to tell than you might think.

Source

Spartacus either was a Roman soldier or was captured by them. Eventually he became a gladiator, which is the time of his life most people focus on. In actuality, he had quite a bit of adventure even before that. 'Florus (2.8.8) described him as one "who from Thracian mercenary, had become a Roman soldier, of a soldier a deserter and robber, and afterward, from consideration of his strength, a gladiator".' Source. That description actually sounds more like the film Gladiator, starring Russel Crowe. I can't help but wonder if Ridley Scott took some inspiration from the Spartacus story himself.

Once in the gladiator school, Spartacus and many of his fellow trainees broke free and started a war. The historical record leaves Spartacus' motives hazy. Was he fighting to abolish slavery? Reform Roman society? It doesn't appear so. Really, he was probably just fighting for his own freedom. Despite the romantic element in most Spartacus re-tellings, there is no mention in the historical record of any wife or woman he might have been fighting for or trying to avenge.

Source

The official record says that he died in the final battle of the Third Servile War, though many say his body was never found. Of course, his story has been told and re-told, inspiring everyone from the average Joe to the highest political thinkers.

This is one of those vague but stubborn, hanger-on legends like Robin Hood or King Arthur. It's also a good example of our society's historical fiction. It gets told, changed and re-told. With each telling it evolves. Not necessarily a good or bad thing, but interesting to track.

What do you think? Why do legends of this kind survive so tenaciously? Do you think it's a good thing that we change them and add things that aren't present in the historical record? What does it say about our society or historical fiction in general? How do YOU think Spartacus really died?

Remember, knowledge of our past is our inheritance. What we do with that knowledge will shape our destinies.

Happy Presidents Day Everyone! :D

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Historical Tidbit: Stephen and Nicholas + Blog Tour Stops

Today's Persistence of Vision Tour Stops include:
1) Guest Post at Doodle's Book Blog and
2) Guest Post at Y.A. Storyteller



Historical Tidbit

Did you know...

The Children's Crusade
Source

That the Pied Piper of Hamelin was probably based on a child crusader?

So anyone who follows my medieval tidbits knows I have a thing for the crusades, and also am intrigued by the Pied Piper legend. Well, I think I've finally found the most accurate historical tidbit that the legend is based on.

I've done posts before on both the Pied Piper and the Children's Crusade (click the links if you want to read them) but here's how the histories (what little we have) syncs up.

In the spring of 1212, a twelve-year-old French orphan boy had a vision. His name was Stephen and  believed he saw Christ, who told him that the reason the Crusades had failed (for the Christians) was that the hearts of the crusaders were impure. Where sinful adults had failed, good-hearted children would prevail. He was promised that, should he gather an army of children for a crusade, the waters of the Mediterranean would part from them, as they did for Moses of old, so the children could walk to the Holy Lands on dry ground and conduct their crusade.

He began preaching in the streets, and his impact on the many orphan children of Europe was profound. After hearing of Stephen's crusade, the news of which spread like wildfire through Europe, a German boy named Nicholas, the son of a wealthy farmer, decided to join. But more than that, he decided to recruit his own army, get to the Mediterranean by way of Italy, and meet Stephen in the Holy Lands. Nicholas' father encouraged him in this. Nicholas, like Stephen, began going from town to town, preaching Christ and the holy crusade, and even performing miracles, according to some accounts. Though, whether these were truly miraculous feats or the kind of miracles people see because they want to is difficult to decipher from our limited records. It is believed that Nicholas was the mystical Pied Piper. In the small German village of Hamelin, he offered to help with their rat infestation for a price. When they refused to pay it, he led them out of town while playing music on his flute. None of the children ever returned home.

And why not?

Stephen's group at the Mediterranean
Source

Because all of these children met with tragedy. Stephen's group waited for their miracle at the Mediterranean for days. Finally two men who owned a fleet of ships offered to support their crusade by ferrying them across the sea. Stephen saw it as an answer to their prayers. Two of the ships were caught in a story and dashed to pieces. All passengers, including Stephen, were drowned in the arms of the mighty sea. The other ships ended up in Africa, where the deceptive ship owners sold them into abject slavery.


Nicholas' group marched over snow-covered mountains to get to Italy. Many died of hunger, thirst, fatigue, and exposure to the elements. When they, too, failed to find their miracle at the Mediterranean, they marched south toward Rome to see the pope. They were overtaken by an army of unknown leadership in the same place Spartacus had made his stand hundreds of years before. There, the children were subject to  numerous cruelties by sadistic soldiers.

Eventually the church put a stop to cruelty and the children were allowed to see the pope, who wept for the children's faith and hardship. He counselled them to return home and await the time when he would call for their help in the next adult crusade.

The children obeyed, though few made it home. Many people had been happy to send their children to the crusade, believing that, because they were children and about the work of God, they would be protected. But tens of thousands died, and none but possibly a bare handful even made it to the Holy Lands. Very few who went ever returned home. Because of the fiasco it turned into, people became bitter, calling the children they had once supported foolish and mad. They had less help on the road home. Many died trying to get there. They were scorned, laughed at, and abused.

Source

Meanwhile, in a tiny, childless village in Germany, a stained-glass window was erected, telling the story of a rat infestation and a friendly, colorfully-dressed piper. It ended with all the town's children walking out of the village to the haunting notes of the piper's flute.

This is a story I'd like to portray through historical fiction, if I can ever get back to my historical stuff, but it'd definitely be a tragic one. Still, it's a story that isn't well-known today.

What do you think? Is this an important story to know? One you would read?

Remember, knowledge of our past is our inheritance. What we do with that knowledge will shape our destinies.

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Historical Tidbit--The Identity of King Tut + Blog Tour Stop

Well, the 49ers made a valiant effort. What a great game! It was so close and so intense! During the 2nd half, ten minutes didn't go by (after the whole power outage debacle, anyway) where someone wasn't screaming at the T.V. Well played, big sweaty men. Well played. ;D

Persistence of Vision Blog Tour

Today's Blog Tour Stop is an excerpt at Doodle's Book Blog. Emily's blog is really colorful and fun, so hop on over and check it out! :D

Historical Tidbit

Did you know that the mystery of the boy pharaoh, commonly known as King Tut, has (at least in part) been solved?

Okay, so I don't have references for this, but I watched it on a Discovery documentary a year or two ago.

witola.com

First let's hit the finer points of King Tut. His full name is Tutankhamen. His tomb, brimming with gold and treasure that would have made Aladdin's pet monkey drool with lust, was let un-raided much longer than the tombs of most other pharaohs. That's because his tomb was buried beneath another one. It was hidden away and no one knew it was there.

It was a juicy mystery because it seemed like someone had tried to hide the tomb--to erase the boy king from existence. Yet, his tomb was richer than most of the great kings of Egypt that did make it into the history books. Who loved this boy--who died when little more than a child--so much as to fit him like a god for the afterlife, but then tried to cover up all trace of his existence?

It's a mystery that's haunted every Egyptologist since the discovery of the tomb in the 1920s. Finally, with the advent of new technology, a dedicated Egyptologist decided to raise money to do DNA analysis on several mummies and try to determine King Tut's heritage. (Can I just say how awesome I think it is that we can now do DNA analysis on mummified remains?)

timstouse.com

Long story short, Tut was shown to be the son of the infamous Akhenaten. Suddenly, the state of the tomb made a lot of sense. Akhenaten was the notorious heretic king. He rebelled against popular Egyptian religion, changing it from polytheism to monotheism and insisting that Aten, the Sun God, was the only one. The Egyptian people of the time believed this to be blasphemy. He also relocated the capital to Cairo from Thebes (possibly to protect himself and his family because he was so hated by the people). By later dynasties, he was completely discredited, erased from important records and documents, and referred to only as "the enemy." He was often depicted pictorially as an undesirable king.

It would make sense, then, that Akhenaten loved his son, and when Tut died young, as king of the pharaoh, he was buried with unimaginable wealth. Yet, when the dynasty died, and the faults of Akhenaten were "corrected" as the people of the time period saw it, they wanted to erase his shameful heresy from the histories. So they built a tomb over top of Tut's, to hide all traces of him from the world.

Since these studies, much has been learned about King Tut's life, brief though it was, including what he most likely looked like. Amazing how a little bit of truth can so illumine a life and indeed, an entire ancient dynasty.

Remember, knowledge of our past is our inheritance. What we do with that knowledge will shape our destinies.

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Medieval Tidbit--Rose Tattoos

Persistence Of Vision Blog Tour Stops:

Today I'm doing a guest post on the great Alex J. Cavanaugh's blog entitled, Top Five Ways You Know You're an Action Movie Villain. Hop over and check it out! 

This is another recycled historical post from months ago, but it's one of my favorite medieval tidbits. I may or may not work it into my next historical novel. :D

Source

In the 16th Century, men condemned to death were given rose tattoos. This was so that if they escaped, they would be immediately recognized. If you look on the internet, you can find references--with almost the exact words I just typed!!--that say this. However, it's hard to find any more detail on the subject.

What country was this in? Who instituted it? Was it a very common practice? What specific part of the body was tattooed, or did it even matter?

The lack of info makes me wonder how true this assertion is, but if anyone has any more detail, I'd love to hear it!

It seems to me that, especially in Europe, in the 16th century, tattooing would have been a bit of a mystical art. So were some kind of Eastern mystics commissioned to do the work, or were there locals that could do it?

I love this fact because it sets a perfect stage for a story: A man condemned to die escapes but has to keep some part of his body covered up so that no one recognizes him as a convict. The real question would be, is the thing he was convicted for something heinous that he really did, or just something he was falsely accused of? The answer could determine whether this is a protagonist or antagonist, and, you know, the course of human history as we know it.

...just kidding. I tend to be a bit of a drama queen when I get caught up in my story telling.

What are your thoughts about this medieval tradition?

Remember, knowledge of our past is our inheritance. What we do with that knowledge will shape our destinies.

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