Columbus Battles To Redress Navidad: On Second Voyage: March 26, 1495

Mention must be made here of the battle led by Christopher Columbus against the locals of Hispaniola (now Dominica) in the Caribbean. His son who chronicled his life posits a number of causes but spends little time detailing any of it.

Formerly, Margalit had gone a fair distance - back to Spain - after ruining things.
The resulting report of the bad leadership by Pedro Margalit - set glowingly aright with the arrival of Admiral Columbus - looks nearly predictable in hindsight.
The rebellious underlings that were massacring locals, were swiftly brought to heel and made obedient by decisive leadership.
The swarm of several local chiefs setting their people in acts of vengeance against the Spaniards, were in turn, found out not to be that many after all, then captured and cowed into submission.

One chief, ahead of and apart from the others, came to Columbus and had his version of events told to the great Colon. He said he'd always welcomed the Europeans and provided all that was needed, so he had not got into any arrangement with the other caciques. Columbus accepted this, made himself an ally to this cacique, that the son Colon called Guacanagari, and set out again from Isabela 'prepared for war' to set things aright on March 24, 1495. Guacanagari, conveniently 'was most eager to conquer his enemies' and joined in, even though-  the son protests - it would be most difficult.

Only 200 Christians, 20 horses and about the same number of hunting dogs - that could also hunt people - were had by Guacanagari's new ally, but they were ready to go against what Colon the son estimates as  'more than 100,000 Indians'. They must have all been very good swimmers, too.

Also conveniently, Columbus knew his adversaries very well. By 26 March, Columbus split his forces with his brother Bartolome. Thus surrounding as many as possible, the intention was to then frighten the locals by discharging firearms from both directions at once. This was done, then the infantry on both sides attacked and then the dogs were set loose.

"The Indians fled like cowards in all directions, and our men pursued them, killing so many and wreaking such havoc among them that, to be brief, by God's will victory was achieved, many Indians being killed and many others captured and executed. Caonabo, the principal king of all, was taken alive with his sons and women."

The king confessed to killing 20 Christians, in Navidad on Colon's first voyage. That he had at first feigning friendship, tried to learn about the fortification-town of Isabel, just like the garrison had expected. They expected him to try to attack and told the Admiral so, such that he had 'complete knowledge' from 'various informants'.

"... and it was to punish the king for this crime and for his subsequent rebellion and raising of the Indians that the Admiral had marched against him."

Columbus sent the king and one of his brothers, to Spain. But "... since he did not want to execute justice on so important a person without the knowledge of the Catholic sovereigns. he contented himself with sentencing many of the most guilty."

What these sentences were are not mentioned. The inhabitants however, became 'obedient' and pacific, paying in Cibao, a per capita gold tribute that, the son says, made the christians very prosperous. The son then spends less than three additional pages [ch 62] on the foodstuffs, culture and political organization of the locals. In Chapter 63, on March 10, 1496 Columbus returns to Castile for the ending of the Second Voyage.
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quotes, from pp. 189-90 in: The Four Voyages, Christopher Columbus, edited, translated and with an introduction by JM Cohen, 1969 and for The Penguin Group, London, 1969

Letters From Innsbruck, Augsburg: Sanudo Diaries: March 27, 1504: 5:1004-64

In the ten years since the French had come to Italy under Charles VIII, much had changed for Marin Sanudo's Venice. The French had left, but the old Francophile Giuliano della Rovere was now pope. News had arrived that Emperor Maximilian was nearing some sort of pact with both the French and the Spanish monarchs and the pope. But despite her reputation, Venice often had great difficulty figuring the intentions or, even the existing alliances or, the ongoing projects among the major powers. As well known an appetite as Venice had in her so avidly seeking information, the reality could often be a much leaner fare. Sometimes the news travelled only as fast as horses could run. What if the horses were never sent, or letters were captured? There were so many potential problems to prepare for.

The arrival of letters from Alvise Mocenigo, ambassador at the Imperial court in Innsbruck, then, this time in the spring of 1504, is a great example of how distant the halls of state of even Venice could be kept apart from the highest terrestrial conversations. The other great powers now and then, by keeping her rotating ambassaors out of the central information loop (until perceived dangers had passed and actions could proceed to other activities), these actors could then act in more relative freedom from the prying eyes of the supposedly all-seeing Venice. Sometimes the changes in administration from one pope to another, or, from one ambassador or informant to another, could open up huge vistas of information and potential consequences, and thus necessitate increased airing of details of past activities that reflected on the torrid current of state policies. These bits of new information that did make it back to Venice often caused turbulent discussion there.

Mocenigo, confirmed in Venice November 1502, relieved his predecessor in Augsburg by December. The situation was one of flux then. A year later, old news was still coming to light.

Letters from March 5 tell how the royal secretary Don Matteo Lang spoke of a three-year truce between France and Spain and Maximilian, the 'king of the Romans.' This was what Venice called him, unless they referred to him as 'the archduke' of Austria. Max was meanwhile off to Bavaria to settle things there but would return. The ambassadors from Milan were in despair since, the last time Emperor Max and Louis XII the King of France made a pact, Milan had lost her independence. A rumor floated that France would cede Naples to the king of the Romans and, Milan's position would be left little more than as another pawn, or worse, vassals of Innsbruck.

By March 18, Sanudo tells us the city had received more letters from Mocenigo, dated March 8. This time he said he had received a gift of fish from the Emperor and, word that the Germans should consume that gift with him and thus that the Germans should go meet them. Perhaps this is a bit more clever than merely odd. Ambassador Mocenigo said he himself had sent 'one of his men' to lodge with the head of the French king's couriers, to be 'on the lookout' for nunzios and letters from Rome. He also reported that 'people in Germany' thought that Louis was consumptive and would soon die - which was far from the case. He would last another ten years.

On March 27, more letters from the week before (the 16th) arrived. Some of this was in code and advised Venice to make overtures to Maximilian, Archduke of Austria, king of the Romans. More specifically he said, that if Max did acquire Naples and Milan in these negotiations with poope Julius II and the king of Aragon, and the king of France, that things would turn out badly for Venice. That there were items or, potential circumstances in these treaties, where the king of France would be obligated 'to oppose our Signoria', Venice. Another letter dated on the 17th, said the ambassador had at last spoken to the king who seemed firmly against the interests of Venice. That yes, he had just come from Rome but would not speak of that, but that there was peace between France and Spain. That he had come from Bavaria and was preparing for war to take a piece of that.

On the same day, another letter arrived from the same ambassador, dated the 18th that was still more urgent.

Sanudo Diaries: March 27, 1504; (5:1044-45); "From the same of the 18th. He spoke with someone from the entourage of ser Constantin Arniti, the king's ambassador in Rome, who had received letters from Rome, and he describes their tenor, etc. Nevertheless, the ambassador complains that he is not advised by our Signoria about these urgent matters, that he has not had letters from our Signoria since January 26, and that he does not take as a good sign the fact that the king has not told him that he has had letters from Rome...."

The following day, from the 21st, another letter came with news that the pope had agreed to give money to the German king of the Romans, Archduke of Austria for the crusade to the Holy Land. But that the pope had made three requests. First that he should come to Rome to be crowned Holy Roman Emperor, that he thereby swear to defend and guarantee the traditional rights of the church and, that he would spend such moneys 'against the infidels' and 'for the church'. But these letters also explained that the king had not agreed to these 'stipulations'.  He couldn't come to Rome then, because war was brewing in Bavaria. that he would always defend the church in Italy or anywhere else, and that he could not obligate himself with regard to expenditures. This would be a pattern with Max and money.
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Topic in original: 5:1008-64; All quotes as Sanudo Diaries from   Venice, Cita Excellentissima, Selections from the Renaissance Diaries of Marin Sanudo translated by Linda L Carroll,  editors: Patricia H LaBalme and Laura Sanguineti White, published by Johns Hopkins University Press, 2008

Celestina Operates On Several Levels In Character Driven Drama

Celestina first published in Burgos in 1499, predates most 'plays' in Castillian Spanish. Initially the book was such a huge success, reprinted several times, 'translated to Italian in 1506', it may even have become, the first bestseller of its kind in Europe. Its author, Fernando de Rojas didn't get paid. When he died, his second son, got a value on the original manuscript as worth 'half a chicken'. More about the life and times of Rojas and how the 'play' was originally developed and presented, later.

What follows are some of the first lines that the character Celestina says during this first depicted drama in the famous, culturally very rich but overlooked Spanish play, with questionable morals. The range of her behaviors is astonishing.

Importunate:
"You come back here! Leave her be. She's livid and broody. Full of madness at your absence. It's been driving her out her right mind. She'll talk no end of nonsense. You come with me and we'll talk together. Don't let's allow time to pass for nothing."


Impertinent:
"Do you really want to know?"
--
"It's a girl on order for a friar."
"And no, you can't have her too."
"Do you really insist on knowing? The fat one in charge of the monastery."
"We have to put up with everything. No one's ever rubbed your belly raw."
"Joker."

Opportunistic:
"Truncate the prelude and cut to the point, There's no profit in using many words to express something that can be said with a few. ... Well said. I'm with you altogether. I like the sound of your news. I like it the way a surgeon likes to hear of broken heads."

Conspiratorial, Resolute:
"I hear footsteps. They're coming down. Sempronio, make as if we haven't heard them. Listen well, Let me say what is good for you and good for me."
"Do not harass or importune me. For to overburden with care is uselessly to distress the overburdened beast. You so greatly feel for your master Callisto's distress it seems you are he and he is you. For the torments you describe have residence in one single heart, Believe me, I did not come here to leave this case go unresolved. I will resolve it or die in the attempt."

"Sempronio, if I could live off words I'd be a rich lady! Tell him to shut his mouth and open his purse."

The Pitch:
"The pleasure it gives me ... that we should have the opportunity for you to know the love I feel for you and the unmerited place you occupy in my heart. And I say unmerited, for what I have heard you murmuring, of which I take no notice, because virtue admonishes us to resist temptation and not repay evil with evil in return, especially when tempted by those of little instruction in the ways of the world, who with foolish and misplaced loyalty ruin their masters and their own selves, as you do now to Calisto. I hear you very clearly ... and do not imagine that in my old age I have lost my hearing nor my other external senses. For I know not only what I see and hear but also with my intellectual eyes I can penetrate even to the innermost soul. You must know ... that Calisto treads this earth suffering from love, and love is overmastering and conquers everything. ... that the person who truly loves needs must be disordered by the sweetness of sovereign delight...."

Letter 16: From Alessandra Strozzi To Filippo Strozzi, In Naples: March 22, 1464

A letter from the house of Strozzi and the pen of Alessandra (1406-71), the mother to her elder son, Filippo (1428-91). It was the son that kept the letters received from his mother. He had been sent to Naples in the 1440's after Cosimo d'Medici had banned several members of his rival's house. There, in Naples Filippo had become a successful banker, wholesale merchant and eventually a statesman.

In 1464 his mother Alessandra sent him this letter (excerpted here) along with a young relative 'from a poorer branch of the family'.

"In the name of God, 22 March 1464.

I wrote to you on the 15th, by Francesco di Sandro Strozzi. I didn't answer yours of the 6th because I didn't have time; I'll answer in this letter.

Francesco will have arrived there by now, and you'll get a good look at him and see whether he looks like Nofri [Filippo's younger brother], which I don't think he does.  I've told him he has me to thank for his position with you and that if he does well, I will get the credit because I asked you to take him on. And if he doesn't behave well, I told him you will blame me but that it would be his loss and shame and he would be sent back here. He told me he meant to do me credit, and all the others as well. I'll be more than pleased if he does."

Along with this bit of matronly encouragement, couched in threat of punishment, four florins were sent as well. These, for the youth's expenses on the way to Naples, he would have to account to Filippo, when he got there.

"I do ask you to look after him, because his father has entrusted him to me; I said if he does well his deeds will speak for themselves."

It was fairly common for poorer families to send offspring to familial concerns in the cities, to learn a trade or find other suitable education or employment and hopeful advancement. Indeed, this seems to be one of those archetypal lives, one taken afar by circumstances, that populate any age. This trip to Naples made more sense even for a youth as young as fourteen, since the Strozzi name was stll currently out of favor - after twenty years - in Florence.

On Filippo's own reputation, his mother was watchful, if disdainful of the source of the current rumor, left unsaid.

"About the accusation I said had been made about you ... we have to keep in mind where it comes from, and I certainly hope that it's all lies, rather than the truth. If anyone says something which isn't true, may God let them see the light; we should be sorry for anyone like that. The truth always has its place. Do try to do the right and as you say, be sure of not doing wrong by anyone because you'll offend God, who sits in judgement over us. Our life in this world is so short we have to try to make sure we live in peace in the next life, which lasts forever.... the Bible says: "do unto others as you would have them do unto you." I know you already know what I am telling you, but I'm reminding you about it because you're my flesh and blood.... you should always do the right thing, in spite of the words of slanderers, and look after your immortal soul...."

Later:

"The plague has started up again here, but only a little and only among the laboring people. We keep a close eye on it and don't hear anything about it for fifteen days or so, but then it turns up again among the lower-class people. And while there's some risk involved in staying here, the citizens are staying, all the same. After Easter I'm sure everyone who has a country house in a healthy district will go and stay there. So we'll see what happens."

Alessandra names a couple places she could go if the plague returned again in Florence. News in Florence would be sent out all spring in her name as well as her thoughts on all manner of subjects.
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translated with notes by Heather Gregory: Selected Letters of Alessandra Strozzi : Bilingual Edition, University of California Press, Berkeley, 1997

Chaucer's Sir John, The Nun's Priest Tells A Distracting Tale of a Poor, Widow Woman

It was that rooster Chanticleer that Chaucer and his Nun's Priest went on at length about for the retelling of the much older tale of the fox and the chicken. They were found in the yard of 'a poor old widow/ In a small cottage, by a little meadow'. She had two daughters, three sows, three cows 'and a sheep named Molly.'  Still, 'enough to keep them going.'

Just a few lines here gives a pictorial sketch in place, subjects, activity. But very quickly this priest of a nun slips easily into a confiding, conversational listing, in this localized telling. Chaucer's Priest, Sir John, strings rhymed couplets among many personal, even intimate details of this widow's little world - her diet, fashions, means of production - before launching into the particularities of the rooster and his abode.

"Sooty her hall, her kitchen melancholy,
And there she ate full many a slender meal;
There was no sauce piquante to spice her veal,
 No dainty morsel ever passed her throat,
 According to her cloth she cut her coat."

How could he know, from descriptions of her plate and coat, the priest turns to appetite, attitude and activity.

"Repletion never left her in disquiet
And all her physic was a temperate diet,
Hard work for exercise and heart's content.
And rich man's gout did nothing to prev ent
Her dancing, apoplexy struck her not;
She drank no wine, nor white, nor red had got.
Her board was mostly served with white and black,
Milk and brown bread, in which she found no lack;
Broiled bacon or an egg or two were common,
She was in fact a sort of dairy-woman."

repletion: n. anything filled, sated; as in any vessel, appetite or state of being filled. From Old French replet(e) or Latin repletus , past participle of replere, from re- 'again, back' + plere 'to fill'.

It makes sense to see the 'rich man's disease' for what is still called acute purine arthritis, or gout. The medical dictionary says even today that dairy use can decrease chances of gout. But it didn't effect her dancing, or strike as apoplexy of the tongue.  Fruits, we are led to believe, of a 'temperate diet'.

The woman had a yard - 'a stockade enclosed in a big ditch' - and in it some chickens.
But wait. Is there any more of the life of this woman beyond setting? Does the widow ever speak to us? No. Will we learn at least about her daughters or the sheep that has more of a name than she? No. The story turns to the cheeky hero.
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Nevill Coghill was an Oxford English Lit Professor of the twentieth century - and who reached a wider audience than many - with his 1951 translation of Chaucer quoted and excerpted  here. He works it happily into a mid-century idiom that makes sense and captures the rolling rhythms of Chaucer easily. It was a bestseller for decades apparently. Here's a charming bit about him and his papers.

news briefs, comments and an important birthday: March 20, 2015

It was about a year ago a number of quotes from Rabelais appeared here. This week, this year, they seem apt again in regard to the dominance shown for Isreali Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu by the media. Like Hurtaly that sat astride Noah's ark, A few weeks ago, Bibi came to the US and spoke before US Congress, but not with the President.

Then he continued, like Hurtaly steering Noah's ark with his feet, and listening to the people inside as Jupiter listened to Icaromenippus, thru the chimney... Bibi in Isreal campaigned before the elections, saying seemingly contradictory things.

Netanyahu Backpedals on Two-State Comments pic.twitter.com/lzRXGPYShw
— John Ferguson (@Fearguth) March 20, 2015

This also generated attention for himself. The issue remains however about so many settlements in the West Bank and Jerusalem, all in lands that historically have been Palestine. Troublingly the effects of the bombing campaign by Isreal on Gaza over the last several months is largely left off the news-tickers or discussions in the west. Except on social media.

Former Mossad boss to Netanyahu: “You and you alone turned the US from an ally into an enemy” http://t.co/jRMqo3GtJa pic.twitter.com/PnPz2rCyKs
— Trita Parsi (@tparsi) March 16, 2015

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This is how they work to limit sniper fire in Syria now?

In Syria, they stack upright buses as barricade from sniper fire (Karam Al-Masiri/AFP) http://t.co/6lOV1zgiVG pic.twitter.com/UaXqB15NHg
— pourmecoffee (@pourmecoffee) March 16, 2015

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Also, nine days ago noted economist Paul Krugman made this observation:

When Paul Krugman needs just three paragraphs (http://t.co/JZ4NbkagwZ) to say so much about both class & race. pic.twitter.com/vLvdWKzdE6
— Taniel (@Taniel) March 12, 2015

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A great hour long documentary on Sister Rosetta Tharpe made by the BBC. {The glitch corrects around 12:40}. Here's a shorter clip:
"Didn't It Rain?" Sister Rosetta Tharpe in 1964:

Happy birthday, Sister Rosetta Tharpe, godmother of rock’n’roll—see her in her element in 1964 http://t.co/ETPLbplH2p pic.twitter.com/7iNQjLqHg4
— Maria Popova (@brainpicker) March 21, 2015

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A reminder of what women did in the west 500 years ago and more.

news bits early March 2015

Great stories from npr this week. The audio pieces here at the following links are, mostly brief, but compelling, immersive.

More Of Ancient Lost City Revealed in Honduras Jungle

Obama Administration Calls Venezuela A National Security Threat, and for Sanctions

Italian Architects Want To Build Elevated Train In Rome To Speed Transport

Famous Architect Renzo Piano Wants to Renovate Suburbs Into Active Centers Again

While the guardian looks at railway stations:

Railway stations around the world: share your photos via @GuardianWitness http://t.co/jtIxjVYHVO pic.twitter.com/Hl1guzIzns
— The Guardian (@guardian) March 7, 2015

Readers' assignment: share your railway stations from around the world via @GuardianWitness http://t.co/jtIxjVYHVO pic.twitter.com/iq2jUjOyZj
— The Guardian (@guardian) March 6, 2015

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A fun look at photos of doorways by Roy Colmer, in New York City, in the 1970's.
This reminds me that last week after the story of neighborhoods and classes and faiths in Paris, it occurred to me that it might be fun and interesting to do a photobook of doorways in that city, of different neighborhoods and kinds of places. Even better would be with local writers, guides, with meditations on interior and exterior lives. Here's a doorway the other day in Hong Kong.

“Hong Kong justice is unfair” scrawled upon tree & pillars of Court of Final Appeal. SCMP: http://t.co/h7OPdNoamp pic.twitter.com/BWQuR3gJ8R

— Tom Grundy (@tomgrundy) March 9, 2015

In Iraq they are asking the US for help in safeguarding ancient art treasures  ISIS, bombs & looters.
This happens while Iraqi forces try for a second week to take the city of Tikrit.

In Ethiopia, learning what blue means and why they need an opposition party in a parliamentary democracy.

Snapshot of Portugal Looking Toward The Sun.

This shows how npr tackles a story like the seizing of tea by the British - a Scot, a botanist who 'thought tea was for everyone' - from China for transplanting in India in 1850's. Here's a longer version of the story with an excerpt from the book "For All The Tea In China" reviewed five years ago.

A Doctor Wonders Why Violence Keeps Occurring OnChildren: Poverty Begets Violence, Pain

Internal Circadian Rhythms Of Different Human Organs Seen Anew By Biologists

The Deadly Troubled Winter: On Second Voyage: thru March 1495

The son of Christopher Columbus gives us a brief glossing overview of the fall and winter that his father spent in the Caribbean 1494-5. The reason is the silence of the now lost logbook. His son tells us there were few mentions in it of this period of several months due to the Admiral's illness. He did return to the southern coast of  Hispaniola in late August of '94 from Jamaica. He did go on to Puerto Rico in late September.But there, the son tells us, the daily logbook breaks off.

"The reason for this was his exhaustion from the great hardships he had suffered and his weakness from lack of food. He was afflicted by a serious illness, something between an infectious fever and a lethargy, which suddenly blinded him, dulled his other senses and took away his memory."

It's been suggested he suffered from some form of nervous breakdown. Three ships returned to Isabela on the north coast of Hispaniola. There, over some time, Columbus returned to health but 'the illness did not abate for five months.' Hernan Colon the son, then used this opportunity to skim over and jot down various details, encounters, and even make some observations on the indigenous peoples.

The brother Don Bartolome had returned to Hispaniola saying that King Charles VIII of France had sent Columbus 100 escudos for his trip, but they had already left. He had also received a charge from Queen Isabela, then at Valladolid to go with three ships to the new world. It must have been quite a relief for Columbus to see his brother. He named him adelantado or military governor of the Indies. The locals had risen in revolt due to the 'misconduct' of Pedro Margalit, the man left in charge on Hispaniola.

Margalit had been ordered with his men to patrol the island and support the few camps they had and quell any disturbances. Colon, the son tells us that this is what Margalit did not do.

"On the contrary, by his fault quarrels and factions arose in Isabela. He tried to persuade the council, which the Admiral had formed there, to obey him, and most shamelessly sent them his orders. 

On finding that he could not make himself supreme commander, he decided not to wait for the Admiral, to whom he would have to make a complete account of his office, and with his men boarded one of the first ships to come from Castile, in which he returned home without giving any account of himself or reducing the population to order according to his instructions. As a result every Spaniard went out among the Indians [sic] robbing and siezing their women wherever he pleased, and doing the such injuries that they decided to take vengeance on any Spaniards they found isolated or unarmed. The cacique of Magdalena, whose name was Guatigana, killed ten Christians and secretly ordered the firing of a house in which forty men lay sick."

This chief was not captured but several of his men were and sent back to Castile with Antonio de Torres on the ship that left February 24, 1495. Other chiefs were punished in retribution to what they had done to Christians and a great number were killed. The numbers of the dead were not recorded by Columbus or his son. But his son does say Columbus found the island in 'a bad state':

"... the Christians were committing innumerable outrages for which they were mortally hated by the Indians [sic] and ...[who] were refusing to return to obedience. All the caciques and kings had agreed not to resume to obedience, and this agreement had not been difficult [as] ... there were only four principal rulers under whose soverignty all the rest lived."

Things came to a head and Columbus and Bartolome resorted to military means to put the population down. It seems quite clear, even from the mostly glowing reports from the son of Columbus, that the problems had originated from the Christians that were then living in such a foreign land.
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quotes, from pp. 184-88 in: The Four Voyages, Christopher Columbus, edited, translated and with an introduction by JM Cohen, 1969 and for The Penguin Group, London, 1969

news for March 3, 2015

A few more current npr versions of continuing stories that have captured attentions over the last while.

US Department oif Justice has released some of its findings in its probe of the local law enforcement police practices in and around Ferguson, MO. A DOJ probe had been ordered following the uprisings of people  after the killing of Michael Brown in Missouri last summer.

A conversation at the train station in Paris, a trip to the suburbs and a sit down cafe, reveal layers of context about French muslim youth. 8 min audio

A conversation shows some ways in which Jews in France can be uncomfortable politically.

Timeline documenting the shooting of three students in North Carolina. The motives are not known but the gunman turned himself in. The fact that they were muslim has attracted international attention.

Jury selection completed on the Tsarnaev Boston bombing case. The Dpartment of Justice is accusing Dzhokhar Tsarnaerv of thirty crimes, half of which receive the death penalty, if convicted. His defense attorneys are not happy about the jury selection. Tomorrow begin opening statements.

A quick primer on bribery to gain health care, education in developing countries.

Fly-on-the-wall source gives a view into House Speaker John Boehner speaking to his supporters in the House of Representatives. That the Senate Democrats blocked them in their attempt to block the President's executive action regarding immigration. So, after a big show of drama last week where the House ended up looking ridiculous, today, the House goes ahead and votes to fund the Department of Homeland Security until the end of the fiscal year. The House has been threatening to pull a stunt like this for over six months -- not to fund the DHS if the president's executive action remains -- so it seems just the way it blew up in their faces. Let them get blamed for the tactic as well, and with them in such a majority 'leadership' position.  Yes, they passsed the funding and didn't get their way and looked inept and petulant all last week.

Ex-CIA chief and Army General famous for having authored the surge in the Iraq War, The Man They Call Petraeus entered a plea in court responding to accusations by the Department of Justice. He apparently gave secret information to his mistress biographer. Just what army men and spooks are not supposed to do. They are calling them criminal misdemeanor charges.

Did Bibi have his last hooray before Congress today? A sober assessment.

Sanudo Diaries: Venetian New Year: March 1, 1498

In Marin Sanudo's day, this was the day Venice started its calendars. In 1498, he started afresh his diaries with a new volume after the first filled two years of his 'day-to-day accounts'.

Sanudo Diaries: March 1, 1498: (1:893); "Ever since I composed, with no small effort, the history of King Charles of France's expedition into Italy to acquire the Kingdom of Naples, the heavens have ordained that I be the one to write down each day's memorable events until such time as peace comes to Italy. I have often entertained the desire to put an end to these quite fatiguing lamplit studies. But after seeing, in this present age, the various schemes hatched among the powers that govern the world, and after writing another rather lengthy work about the retaking of Naples..., and deeming that the affairs of Italy remain in great turmoil, I wish now to begin the third volume, that is, ephemeris or day-to-day account. In it I will record, if the Supreme Creator is willing, the news as I hear it rather than using some polished style."

Editor's footnote: "Ephemeris is the term for a table that tracks the movements of the planets day by day through the 360 degrees of the heavens. See Carroll 1992, esp. 126n3. Sanudo compares the events of Venetian life and his discovering and recording of them with the stately progression of the heavens and its study by humans." [p.5]

They point out that as he sees this as a  'heaven-ordained' work, this 'sense of destiny puts him at the center of  his diaries and of this chapter.' It is, he claims, news 'as he hears it' and not 'some polished style'. It is his voice he is conscious of setting down. He had written a book about the history of King Charles coming to Italy to take Naples, and another about the retaking of Naples.

Venice was often at the center of things. In trade, politics, war, culture. But not always the center. News from afar travelled to it, every day. Sanudo was often in the Collegio or the Senate hearing the news as it was read out by the head of state or by the dignitary fresh off the boat. But not always. But he also clearly says above (even after a couple years of this process of news documenting) that it was because of 'the various schemes ... by great powers' and the 'great turmoil' in the affairs of Italy, that he wanted to continue, even in an 'unpolished style'.

Fantastically, I relate. The author here is far from the center of things. But in this era, we have access to so much of what is happening all over the actual world. Not just the Mediterranean and European worlds. And today it is from so many voices, not just those echoes which, for Sanudo, could be heard in Venice.  I'll not likely hold public office, but I can watch CSPAN and read their speeches from their other public appearances.  Sometimes it even happens to be news. But there is far more out there of import than public statements. The speculating classes - from finance, the markets and in academics, to the media - have their jobs and grow and change within their fields, these days, too. 

For Sanudo, setting as much of it down as possible was plenty. And then there was the town gossip. We have those outlets too. We must be able to distinguish these - as attempts are made to discern history from historiography, opinion from propaganda, reality from belief - in increasingly novel ways, as technology changes and as humans gain and must interpret new information. 

New ways of hearing, critiquing and disseminating info are changing under our chins as well as in closed committee and board rooms. Does it matter what the boardrooms decide if you already want to buy what Monsanto, CNN, McDonald's, apple,or  google are selling, anyway? In this way, the world today is much different than Sanudo's. For him, he could go down to the quay and see for himself if this seller or that had the best fish, spices or freshest flowers. Products that come from a closed shop, in today's parlance, or 'opaque sources' , while not necessarily deceptive or dishonest, still show a lack of transparency. For their own reasons, of course.

When Sanudo gives us the name of an ambassador, a dignitary reading a letter from afar, or a senator in the halls of state, he uses it like a citation. When he says 'people were saying' things we can usually tell if he finds it credible or not, because he tells us. He also knew that some stories spread were not so credible, and that people would also act on those bits as well. Still he would correct stories as new, more credible information came in, and would correct his own errors, like a 20th century trained journalist might. 

Today we can still sometimes recognize sincerity and truthfulness, but we also, in the west, enjoy saying the opposite of what we mean. Politicians, advertisers and everyday people do it all the time. But it can cause confusion, misunderstanding and distrust. Who benefits?
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All quotes as Sanudo Diaries or editor's notes from Venice, Cita Excellentissima, Selections from the Renaissance Diaries of Marin Sanudo translated by Linda L Carroll,  editors: Patricia H LaBalme and Laura Sanguineti White, published by Johns Hopkins University Press, 2008

French in Naples, Prince Djem Dies: late February, 1495

News had reached Rome that the French had indeed entered Naples and assumed control. Late in January, the pope had learned that King Alfonso had fled Naples and his son, the Duke of Calabria assumed control of  the city. The French arrived before the end of February and the young Duke in turn, fled for Sicily. The French assumed control but their lines of communication were stretched thin.

Communications between the other powers in Italy (like Venice, Rome and even Milan), and beyond (like Spain and the Emperor), had begun in earnest, and by the end of March they had signed an agreement to protect each other against the French. The French would leave Naples by May 20 and head back north again.

Amidst all this turbulence, a note from Master of Ceremonies Johann Burchard in Rome tells the story of the curious end to the Ottoman sultan's brother placed in the protection of French king Charles VIII as part of the deal with Rome.

"We learned later on February 25th that Prince Djem had died in the Castel Capuana in Naples, through eating or drinking something unsuitable for him. In response to the urgent requests of the Sultan Bajazet, Djem's body and all his household were sent to him. It was said that he paid handsomely for the safe delivery of the corpse, and rejoiced at the return of Djem's servants."

Our editor and translator for Burchard tell us that,

"Burchard was quite non-committal in his report of Djem's death, but other writers were more explicit in accusing the Borgias of having poisoned him. No conclusive proof of such a deed by the pope or Cesare remains, and suggestions that they used a slow-working poison are not convincing. It seems most valid to conclude thaat Djem died naturally, much as Burchard described." p 120.
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quotes and pagination from Johann Burchard: At The Court of the Borgia translated for english, with introduction by Geoffrey Parker, The Folio Society, Ltd, 1963

some news bits late February 2015

In a momentous decision, the Federal Communications Commission gave its reccomendtion after hearing years of public comment. They have opted to adhere to the concept of Net Neutrality, where the largest of the internet service providors cannot limit the bandwidth of certain markets. An npr piece that gives a good overview said that the numbers of public comments went up dramatically after this piece last summer by comedian John Oliver.

The 13 minute @LastWeekTonight segment where John Oliver saves the internet. #NetNeutrality https://t.co/L4JzWSqBYi pic.twitter.com/407uFtImsq
— Steve Marmel (@Marmel) February 27, 2015 

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The well known Russian opposition leader Boris Nemtsov was shot to death within view of the Kremlin in Moscow on February 27th.

Incredible photo of Boris #Nemtsov’s body after shooting near St. Basil’s Cathedral in Moscow. http://t.co/YEj5brCnWK pic.twitter.com/Xkd8m7UdMw
— Jim Roberts (@nycjim) February 28, 2015

The civil war in Ukraine continues with an EU sanctioned ceasefire having fallen apart over the preceeding couple weeks. Yesterday China made a public statement about the crisis there.

This is what China has said about the Ukraine crisis http://t.co/djxTa1Ojtw
— Afshin Rattansi (@afshinrattansi) February 28, 2015

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In the US, Congress has been trying to force a reversal on President Obama's executive order regarding immigrants. They have repeatedly tried for months to connect that repeal to the funding of the nation's Homeland Security Department. Bills that the House passes have not been passed by the Senate chamber, all week. On Friday, the Department of Homeland Security would no longer be able to pay thousands of its workers if the funding was not approved. The Senate managed to pass a bill funding the Department for three weeks til a larger agreement could be found. The House of Representatives could not accomplish this, and so passed a bill extending funding for only one week and thus became the butt of many jokes.  This is because the House is controlled by the Republican party who pride themselves as 'strong on defense', but can't fund Homeland Security because they disagree so strongly with the President's stance over immigrants.

House passes one-week funding extension for Homeland Security, averting shutdown http://t.co/65NF2Y8xdR
— Eric W. Dolan (@EWDolan) February 28, 2015

Another simmering debate between the House and the President involves Speaker John Boehner's invitation of Israel's Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu to come and speak to Congress before his upcoming elections.

The Logan Act makes it illegal for unauthorized American citizens to negotiate with foreign governments. pic.twitter.com/euEOil9Bro
— Patrick M (@andendall) February 28, 2015

The President has said the invitation was not requested by his office, so as not to show favoritism toward the incumbent in his election efforts in a few weeks. But Netanyahu will come to the US anyway, speak to Republicans but not separately with the Democrats both chambers of Congress.

#NetanyahuSpeech #Netanyahu #BoycottNetanyahu pic.twitter.com/q6AKIhoYSW
— bennydiego (@bennydiego) February 28, 2015

It's been reported that the speech Netanyahu will bring seeks to derail negotiations between the Obama Administration and Israel's enemy Iran over the future of that state's nuclear power.
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On February 28th, the world mourned the passing of Leonard Nimoy, the actor most known as portraying the iconic Spock on the fifty year-old television series Star Trek.

"To destroy your home planet's ecosystem for imaginary wealth is highly illogical." #Spock - RIP Leonard Nimoy pic.twitter.com/SlzZxTk62w
— Debborah Donnelly (@DebbyDonnelly) February 28, 2015

Doge Gritti Excuses Reticence In Name of Defense: Sanudo Diaries: February 26, 1525

Marin Sanudo, Venetian chronicler, recounts the time when the city fathers learned of the capture of French King Francis I by the forces of Emperor Carlos V.

Next day, Sunday, more letters arrived in Venice, the Collegio convened and Imperial ambassadors came and addressed the Venetians with some crowing and some complaints. One Marino Caracciolo, imperial ambassador, praising their victory in capturing the French King Francis I on the day before, said there would be much rejoicing 'in Spain and his dominions' over this. It was King Carlos' birthday and so, 'Eternal God gave him a great victory on that day.' In addition,

Sanudo Diaries: February 26, 1525: (37:656); "He said that they would have so liked for the forces of this most excellent state to be united with the imperial forces. And he said other judicious things."

Doge Andrea Gritti had to explain why they had kept their forces back from this fray.  He reminded the ambassador, and all those present, he had sent word to the various ambassadors when the news arrived and the city had rejoiced with them. There had likely been  counterattacks by the French and the imperial forces had left the 'defenses of our conjoined territories' to fight the French, thus imperilling Venetian holdings that the imperial forces were there to protect.  After all, Venice felt vulnerable to French attacks as well, and if she had only herself to depend on defense and thereby looked weak, France may have attacked her holdings instead. Venice had to protect her own state. But "... let us thank God that there was a good conclusion, which certainly will bring peace to Italy."

Editor's note: "This masterful speech of Gritti's and its careful use of dissembling language is an example of what Felix Gilbert has called the "finesse and subtlety" of Venetian patricians, trained in the debates of the Senate." [p. 528]

Editor's note: "As proof that Venice continued to honor its alliance [with Imperial forces], the Imperial and English ambassadors were granted permission to take gunpowder and pitch from the Arsenale for their victory celebrations."

But the city, and much of the surrounding region, were distressed by the news. Earlier that day the Collegio had listened to the ambassador from Ferrara who had loudly complained of the disaster that losing the French king would mean.  In the city, Carnival festas were few and muted.

Sanudo Diaries: February 26, 1525: (37:660); "There has been little masking, so that it seems as if the city is mourning the capture of the Most Christian King [Francis], because in fact almost everyone laments it."

More letters from the region in Italy came in, as well as more from Innsbruck, Spain, and Hungary, our editors tell us. Here too, amid all this huge news, our editors reveal that Sanudo also took the time to describe a great many other things as well.  The procurator at San Marco could show their treasures to 'the delegation from Teodoro Trivulzi', then governor of Milan. There were reports of caravels from the New World arriving in Spain carrying gold, pearls, spices. The charge of heresy against Martin Luther's protector, the Duke of Saxony made news.  The prices of state bonds of the Monte Nove and Monte Novissima were noteworthy as well as the need to raise the too low subsidy for the expensive Damascus trade. Even the women's shelter at Scuola di la Chiesia di Sant' Angnese was placed back under its own governance. [p. 529]

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 from Venice, Cita Excellentissima, Selection from the Renaissance Diaries of Marin Sanudo translated by Linda L Carroll,  editors: Patricia H LaBalme and Laura Sanguineti White, published by Johns Hopkins University Press, 2008

Dispatches From The French/ Imperial Wars: Sanudo Diaries: February 25, 1525

Marin Sanudo, Venetian chronicler, recounts the time when the city fathers learned of the capture of French King Francis I by the forces of Emperor Carlos V.

Sanudo Diaries: February 25, 1525: (37:648-49); "This morning, Saturday, after the Collegio had come down from its meeting and the doge had come for dinner, a messenger arrived with letters from ser Piero da ca' da Pexaro, procurator and proveditor general, written in Brescia yesterday.... The doge read them: they brought the news that the armies clashed yesterday, the 24th, St. Matthew the Apostle's Day , and that the army of the Most Christian King had been defeated, and that nonetheless the fighting had continued the whole day."

[Our Editors note that 'the French king is always referred to in the diaries as re Christianissimo."]

"And a little later came another letter from the proveditor general ... describing how this Paulo da Bologna... reported that the french army had been defeated, the King wounded and captured -- some say he is dead -- and Monsignor the admiral killed...."

[Our Editors note that this Admiral was Guillaume Gouffier, seigneur di Bonnivet.]

A later letter said the king was not captured but,

"... the Swiss and the men-at-arms in block formation were heading in the direction of Milan. And the letter told how the Spaniards ... had assailed this camp, breaching its stockades, and how the rest of the troops had fled across the Ticino with the Spaniards in pursuit.

And it was agreed that this was very bad news for this state."

That Carlos V had captured the King of France -- in battle, in Pavia, Italy -- was indeed big news. But we should step back and recognize that, of course, Carlos was the grandson of Emperor Maximilian. Carlos was also the first king de jure of Castile and Aragon. Indeed, Carlos' father, Phillip the handsome, had been married to 'mad' Joanna of Castile, by his father Max's negotiations. Another marriage between Phillip's sister Margaret, to John of Asturia had also been arranged to cement relations between Austria, Burgundy and central Spain. The result of this double alliance was the eventual control of the Habsburg dynasty over the powerhouse that became Spain.

Margaret was the only other child that Mary of Burgundy bore for Maximilian besides Philip before her death. John of Asturia, the son and only heir of Ferdinand and Isabella in Castile would die the 4th October 1497, after six months of marriage.

Margaret would soon return to the Netherlands as godmother to her newborn nephew Carlos V, born the 24th February, 1500. She would see him grow up in her palace now in Belgium. She would also marry the Duke of Savoy, Philibert II. But he would also die shortly thereafter. She, however would indeed go on to play a major role in local and international politics. In 1506 she was elected by an assembly to represent them as regent for the Lowlands. In 1507 Max named her guardian of the young Carlos. She also had begun a massive improvement on her palace in Mechlehen (between Antwerp and Brussels) then. She would oversee the upbringing of a number of prominent children in those days. She would play a hand in The League of Cambrai and the peace negotiated afterward  called 'The Ladies Peace'. This would be with Louise of Savoy, the mother of king Francis. These would be lessons in both Carlos and Francis' upbringing.

It was on his birthday, it was said, that Carlos, king of Spain and Holy Roman Emperor, had captured King Francis I of France. When news of this arrived in Venice, some were greatly saddened and some were elated, gave their thanks to God while others partied long into the night.

Sanudo Diaries: February 25, 1525: (37: 650); The Milanese, the English, and the Imperial ambassadors, "... gathered together with great jubilation and joy with a large group of their people and the exiles from Milan. They went to the Madonna di Miracoli to hear a solemn Te Deum...."

The Venetians had a secret treaty with the king of France signed the previous Christmas and were indeed very worried. Sanudo was happy enough to go to a rehearsal of a comedy put on by the Valorosi at Ca' Dandolo in Venice.

Sanudo Diaries: February 25, 1525: (37:653); "The commedia was most beautiful, with intermezzi of poetry and instrumental music. Everyone praised it. It ended at the seventh hour of the night, and among other things, those who performed were very well costumed in gold brocade and silk, and the stage was marvelously decorated, as was the room, and in place of decorative roses there were basins and large cups of silver, forty-two in all."

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 from Venice, Cita Excellentissima, Selection from the Renaissance Diaries of Marin Sanudo translated by Linda L Carroll,  editors: Patricia H LaBalme and Laura Sanguineti White, published by Johns Hopkins University Press, 2008

reflective commentary on US issues: early February 2015

Last week there were a number of great radio shows, also available as podcasts.

This American Life talked about some local US police forces and their interactions with the public in some troublesome areas. Spread over two weeks, two hours. Part One and Part Two.

On The Media tackles the changing fortunes of the word ' whistleblower' over time. Also a bit on the legacy of American lynching and another on when white supremacists took over Wilmington, North Carolina in 1898.
Some reflections on the century old movie 'Birth of a Nation'.

Paul Jay talks to Phil Donahue about how dissent is the real patriotism on The Real News Network.

Astronaut Chris Hedfield talks about doing the impossible and overcoming fear.

Moving toward ending solitary confinement on Rikers Island.

Meanwhile:

Justice Dept. Ready To Bring Lawsuit Against Ferguson Police http://t.co/AGkBXZzBWf Discrimination least of Crimes pic.twitter.com/PK9EtuBqRs
— R Joseph (@rjoseph7777) February 19, 2015

'Protection' As Both Custody and Force: Beginnings of the Territorial State

To be able to both define the common good and coerce those who would not obey was part of the new European sense of agency for a ruler of men. Men such as Cortes, or Savonarola, Henry VIII in England or Charles VIII of France, would use this idea to their advantage. In an era and region of seemingly perpetual violence, German lands developed some similar responses to their Italo-Franco-Anglo neighbors. Right up front, Brady says there were two complementing solutions that worked to resolve the problems created by such a locally weak imperial government.

One path was the growth or change of the local, inherited traditions of the 'late-medieval patrimonial estates' - an old system of increasing partitioning and parcelization of inherited lands - which morphed into 'institutionalized territorial states.' The other solution that worked out alongside the other - a
process of decades and centuries - was where imperial governing grew due to 'collaborations between emperor and Diet'. Again, gradually, the princes, nobles, magistrates were not 'the king's men' but had their own castles and levied their own armies to support them. But still, in time, "they came to support the suppression of feud, because thereby their own power would enhance."
You could gain power if you made war successfully, and even more power if you could maintain a state. Maximilian would alternately try each of these methods.

Max Weber's 'rationalization of domination' was a notion that 'lay at the heart of early modern state foundation'; where 'protection' meant the (stunningly modern) notion of what we might call 'security' while the tradition of 'guarding subjects and extracting fruits of their labor' was already the old time-tested means. In turn, modern bourgeoning cities and regions in the european renaissance era learned new practices from each other. A European-wide refashioning grew, wherein as Brady puts it, a 'new tool kit' was gained and developed to help adapt.

Once established, a launders list of new methods grew wings on their own. Greater education encouraged 'bureacracies of specialized functions' with
legal teams,
new 'taxation and auditing skills,
mercantile trade policies,
standing armies', and
external diplomacy cadres,
who all expanded their own new perches,
and all of which cost money. [p.97]
Such was the optimism that this problem was solved for a while by new taxation methods and strategies. Within a hundred years or so, the very term sovereignty was developed to describe a state with these above basic functions.

But, adroitly Brady then quotes Charles Tilly to caution us. War making, he says, and state making are merely the legitimized crimes of 'protection rackets'. Brady also reminds us that protection and the German word gewalt both mean the same things, both custody and force. The old notion of a 'lord protector' that provides and protects was basic for medieval self-governance. But if they did not or could not protect? The old notion was that one was not obliged to serve a lord that did not. But a new lord with such a greater, rationalization of systems with cadres and teams at his disposal, could just force obedience. Like a monarch, but increasingly more local.

This then became a norm, as local princes, bishops, and magistrates in German lands took matters into their own hands and, time after time, failed to support the emperor in pursuing his plans. This swelling lack of imperial support diminished the emperor's power and Maximilian knew it. Astute observers like Machiavelli knew it too. In a local world where more municipalities and territories became more or less autonomous, competing and warring with each other, with new methods and means available, the mark of success was a more stable territory both internally and with regard to it's external neighbors. Brady compares this dispersed power with the monarchy in France.

"In France the monarchy gradually appropriated and absorbed the jurisdiction of aristocratic lineages, noble seigneurs, abbeys, and cities; in the German lands similar programs foundered on durable reefs made up of some thousands of polities." [p.98]

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This is Brady's bibliographic note for,
Tilly, Charles. Coercion, Capital, and European States, AD 990-1992. Studies In Soical Discontinuity. Cambridge, MA: Blackwell, 1990
-- "Reflections on the History of European State-Making." In The Formation of National States in Western Europe,  ed. Charles Tilly. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1975, 3-83
-- "War Making and State Making as Organized Crime." In Bringing The State Back, Peter B. Evans, Dietrich Rueschemeyer, and Theda Skocpol. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1985 169-91

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quotes,  pagination & bib note from: Thomas A Brady Jr: German Histories in The Age of Reformations, 1400-1650;  University of California, Berkeley for the Cambridge Univeristy Press, 2009

Terrible Uncertainties: Examples Force Unwanted Responses

The current age is one where anecdotal evidence however defined is frequently used as a window, a benchmark, through or beyond which a great many behaviors and attitudes are then explored, 'discusssed', and thus popularly deduced and then subsequently remembered by the public at large. But, just as easily, anecdotal examples are also dismissed summarily, simply because they are 'anecdotal.' Somebody told a story and that was it: somebody's story.

Still, when patterned examples accumulate, even in series' of anecdotes, people still will very often hold fast to the deductions or lessons retained when first confronted by a similar story. This is how we learn, however gradually. We make associations between what is known and the new thing or attitude, condition or behavior, before us. We compare. We judge, we act or react. But first, we draw associations from what we know as it compares to what we see now. Otherwise we likely won't recognize it at all and other more basic instincts - like fear - start in. When uncertainties abound humans retreat, unless we find associations we can come to trust in.

Again, in another example, in just a few pages, Thomas A Brady steers a path for us along numerous anecdotes, showing a pattern of uncertainties, and in several places, by differing groups over time, in his depiction of practical German notions and responses, both toward and against territorial gain and maintennance. This gives him an opportunity to show us their basic notions of 'protection' and security in an age that gave rise to such realities as terrritories, as they rose and multiplied. It seems that periods of great change are also understood as such because these are when the macro effects the micro and the personal. the individual eventually learns to effect the macro.

Disputants among the kings of Hungary rejected claims of the young Ladislaus to rule there, and nobles in Upper and Lower Austria 'staged feuds and raids' against Archduke Ferdinand of Styria, then the protector of the young heir of Emperor Albert II. The nobles sued to be co-regents with Frederich of the Imperial legacy of Sigismund and Albert in Austrian lands. Assemblies of such nobles called for the Archduke's crucifixion and 'Viennese burghers joined in with glee.' Lessers attracted to open rebellion raided the helpless on roads and in small towns. [p. 93]

In 1447, 'Austrian estates', and then again, in 1451, as many as 254 signatories demanded Frederich give up control of Ladislaus and release him to the Vienna Castle. It was only after Frederich returned, newly crowned Emperor and married in Rome, did he at last give up control of the young man and accede to the demand of the nobles. [p. 94]

In 1449, on St James' Day, a Franconian war among cities broke out. Nuremburg, Augsburg and Ulm were attacked by a league of princes from Brandenburg, Baden, Saxony, & Wurttemburg, Eichstatt. What had been a small feud expanded quickly into a regional war and then continued in wave upon wave and by some of the worst actors. The burning of towns or storehouses, or the threat of these exactions were the hallmark of Albert Achilles, an Imperial Elector of Brandenburg. For years he went after the burghers in the cities, but by 1462 thought the 'scoundrel bishops' as well 'both men and women, priest or laymen should be burnt.'

In 1461, Frederich's own brother, Albert tried to usurp him by besieging his family in Vienna Castle. Again, the burghers joined in by siding with Albert. But he died within a couple years as did the familial feud with it. [p. 95] Plenty of antagonists remained and uncertainties multiplied across the decades.

Not only errant nobles and burghers, but bishops and other clergy increasingly took matters into their own hands and then, managed appropriate 'protection'. Cities and their leagues could not always & reliably protect merchants or pilgrims from bandits or errant nobles and their demanded 'protections'. These ended up exacting private money into other private hands for merely avoiding greater violence. [p. 96]

In 1486 Federich proposed a Public Peace to the Diet. Finally, in 1495, Maximilian convinced the Diet of Worms to agree, at least, in 'a new law that declared ...'

"... no one, whatever his rank, estate, or position, shall conduct feud, make war on, rob, kidnap, ambush, or besiege another, ... nor shall he enter any castle, town, market, fortress, villages, hamlets, or farms against another's will, or use force against them, illegally occupy them, threaten them with arson, or damage them in any other way." [p. 97]

The problem would remain whoever the Emperor was. People of means had already begun to take matters into their own hands. Local conflicts continued to fester, ironing out differences among the many interests that remained all over.There were churchlands and benefices, inherited lands subject to centuries of parcelization and little left for individuals with a name, to call their own.
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quotes and pagination from: Thomas A Brady Jr: German Histories in The Age of Reformations, 1400-1650;  University of California, Berkeley for the Cambridge Univeristy Press, 2009

Diverse Dissuading Diversions: Chaucer/Montaigne

'Ho, my good sir, no more!' exclaimed the Knight.
'What you have said so far no doubt is right,
And more than right, but still a litle grief
Will do for most of us, in my belief.
As for myself, I take a great displeasure
In tales of those who once knew wealth and leisure
And then are felled by some unlucky hit.
But it's a joy to hear the opposite,
For instance tales of men of low estate
Who climb aloft and growing fortunate
Remain secure in their prosperity;
That is delightful as it seems to me
And is a proper sort of tale to tell.'


This is the Good Knight speaking to a friar monk after many stories were told, along the
road, on horseback, of the downfall of many kings and emperors, heroes and other famous
rulers, near Rochester. In England on the road to Canterbury. The Host agrees with the Knight in Chaucer's Canterbury Tales, and goes on to rebuke the former speaker, the Monk, after his many woeful, tragic tales.

             "...This Monk, he talks too loud;
All about "Fortune covered with a cloud"
-- I don't know what -- and as for "Tragedy",
You heard just now, what has to be must be.
It does no good to grumble and complain,
What's done is done. Moreover, it's a pain,
As you have said, to hear about disaster;
Let's have no more of it. God bless you, master,
It's an offence, you're boring us that's why!...

"When lecturers find their audiences decrease
It does them little good to say their piece."
Give us a word or two on hunting, say.'
'No,' said the Monk, 'I'm in no mood today
For fun. Ask someone else, I've said enough.'

The host then turns and asks the priest of a nun to follow.

"'Come here you priest, step forward, you, Sir John,
And tell a tale to make our troubles pack.
Cheer yourself up although you ride a hack.
What if your ugly horse is poor and thin?
If it will serve you, never care a pin!
And always keep your heart up -- that's the test!'
'Yes,' he replied, 'yes, Host, I'll do my best,
Not to be merry would deserve reproach.'
And he immediately began to broach
His story to us as we all rode on,
This charming priest and kindly man, Sir John.

'Once, long ago, there dwelt a poor old widow
In a small cottage, by a little meadow
Beside a grove and standing in a dale.
This widow-woman of whom I tell my tale
Since the sad day when last she was a wife
Had led a very patient, simple life.
Little she had in capital or rent,
But still, by making do with what God sent,
She kept herself and her two daughters going."

She had three pigs, three cows and several chickens, but it was the lusty rooster Chanticleer that Chaucer's Nun's Priest goes on at length about. The rooster that taugt a fox to curse his own sweet talk. More on that later. Nearly 200 years later, Michel de Montaigne, snug in later years at his estate, offered a description of such a method for diversion as a set, or series of responses, to soothe grief or sadness. More on that later.

Montaigne Essays: On Diversion: iii,4
or how to dissuade from too much sadness...
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Nevill Coghill was an Oxford English Lit Professor of the twentieth century - and who reached a wider audience than many - with his 1951 translation of Chaucer quoted and excerpted  here. He works it happily into a mid-century idiom that makes sense and captures the rolling rhythms of Chaucer easily. It was a bestseller for decades apparently. Here's a charming bit about him and his papers.

Maximilian Calls Diet To Raise Funds For Italian Adventure: February 2, 1495

Eventually the princes came and eventually they agreed to what was called 'The Common Penny', a tax levied and spent in following years. But the call began a number of talks about a number of issues about security in German nations as well as the uncertainties brought on by the masses of French soldiers over the Alps in Italy. At first, Max did not arrive in Worms until March 18. Discussions bogged down in the various prince's desires for Imperial reforms. Talks would continue into August.

Helene Kottanerin Seizes Crown For Her Lady, Queen Elizabeth: 1440

In order to underscore the theme of 'the fragility of dynasty' in fifteenth century Europe, Thomas A Brady sketches the dramatic events at the center of the passing of the Imperial crown in German lands out of the Luxemburg House, in an attempt to maintain it. He also does this by introducing the oldest known memoir from a German-speaking woman, a noble lady-in-waiting, Helene Kottanerin.

King Sigismund, the last of the Luxemburg kings in German lands died in 1437 and his crowns went to the neighboring prince Archduke Albert II who was a Habsburg. Albert married Sigismund's last surviving heir, Elizabeth (1409-42) and she became pregnant and was named Queen. When Albert died suddenly 27October, 1439 she 'fled south from his funeral'. It was her lady-in-waiting, the Viennese Helene Kottanerin, who picks up the action here and gives us these details. Her job was to secure the royal and coronation articles from a Plintenburg Castle that would be necessary to ensure a future crowning of this possible heir which still lay in Queen Elizabeth's womb. It was 'Castle Visegrad/ Plintenburg',

"... a fortress north of Buda-Ofen. Aided by a brave Croatian nobleman, [p.87] Helene snuck into the castle on the night of 20-21 February 1440, replaced the crowns and other items with copies, and fled upstream to to Komarom/Komorn, where they crossed the frozen Danube. One week later, Elizabeth's son was born and baptized Ladislaus... [and] called "Posthumous." In May the party travelled to the coronation city,
Szekesfehervar/Stuhlweissenburg in southern Hungary, in whose cathedral on 15 May, the tiny 11-week old heir was lifted from his cradle and gently crowned with the crown of St Stephen. All this came to pass because Helene, who "has given service to Her Grace [Queen Elizabeth], also the noble king [Albert], and Their Graces' children of this noble, princely line," and her brave Croatian companion had lifted "Her Grace's crown, her collar, and all of her other regalia" from under their guardian's very eyes." [p.88]

Crowned as a helpless, fugitive infant swathed in his grandfather's cut-down coronation robe, Ladislaus owed his chances solely to his mother and to the redoubtable Helene ... [but] His chances were never good, because a strong party of Hungarian nobles rejected the coronation and supported the Polish king's claim. The young man did live to become King of Hungary and Bohemia, but only briefly, before he died in 1457 at age eighteen. Following his death the Bohemian and Hungarian lords chose to live under native dynasties much as they had done before the coming of the Luxemburgs." [p.88]

But the failure for the Luxemburg project was that they "...failed to gain a secure territorial base, just as they failed to perpetuate their line." Elizabeth died before Christmas 1442 and with her so did the inherited patrimonies of the kings of Hungary, Bohemia, and part of Poland.
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quotes and pagination from: Thomas A Brady Jr: German Histories in The Age of Reformations, 1400-1650;  University of California, Berkeley for the Cambridge Univeristy Press, 2009