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All About History Issue 150 (Digital)

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21 Articles

Welcome to the 150th issue of All About History. Not a bad milestone for us to hit and one I’m incredibly proud to be a part of. We’ve tackled a lot of subjects across those issues and frequently doubled back to areas for reexamination. In some ways, our cover feature this issue is a good example. The Victorian age is a fascinating one, marking a period of incredible social, economic, political and global upheaval. It’s a world being propelled forward by the gains of the Industrial Revolution and the massive expansion of towns and cities, but with that came a lot of challenges. Not the least of these was crime, which is perhaps reflected in some of the period’s most famous stories, both real and fictional. For this special issue…

Defining Moments

8 December 1980 JOHN LENNON KILLED Former member of the Beatles John Lennon was gunned down in front of the Dakota apartment building where he lived in New York City at around 10.50pm on 8 December 1980. Having been shot in the back four times, he was rushed to hospital, where he was pronounced dead. The killer, Mark Chapman, was a Beatles fan who objected to what he saw as the singer’s hypocrisy. On the morning of the murder, Chapman waited outside Lennon’s building and later asked him for his autograph as he walked to his car. When Lennon returned home, Chapman seized his chance. This photograph shows the exterior of the Dakota an hour after the shooting. 28 November 1919 FIRST WOMAN SITS IN HOUSE OF COMMONS Nancy Astor…

Defining Moments

300S CE OLD NORSE FUNERAL FEASTS Norse families gather together at funeral feasts called erfi where ritualised toasts are undertaken to remember the dead and confirm inheritance. The heir cannot sit in their predecessor’s ruling seat until a vow has been made and the funeral toast drunk. 400S BCE ROMAN SATURNALIA Starting out as a one-day event, the Roman festival of Saturnalia eventually stretches from 17 to 23 December. It involves sacrificing pigs at the temple of Saturn, the god of agriculture, followed by a public feast with drinking and dancing. 1520 FIELD OF CLOTH OF GOLD Henry VIII meets François I of France near Calais for 18 days of feasting, tournaments, masquerades and religious services. Magnificent palaces and pavilions made of fabric and timber are erected and around 12,000 people attend,…

Henry VIII embodied the excesses of Tudor life – he enjoyed the finest food, wine and entertainment to the fullest, and Hampton Court Palace was the scene of many lavish feasts. The land was originally developed in 1514 by Cardinal Wolsey, who expanded on a preexisting country house. He wanted Hampton Court to serve as a palace worthy of hosting the king and Embassies from around Europe. But after his failure to secure Henry’s divorce from Catherine of Aragon, Wolsey fell from favour and Henry seized the palace for himself. From 1529, Hampton Court Palace was developed even further with a Great Hall being added to host luxurious banquets. (William Shakespeare’s King’s Men put on a performance in the Great Hall for James I in 1603.) Henry also had a…

KRATER – SYMPOSIUM VASE

The ancient Greeks were no strangers to a good party. Their symposiums were a form of boozy banquet that usually occurred after a main feast, and attendees were mainly concerned with drinking. Intended for male guests only, members of the wealthy classes would gather for an evening of conversation, games and copious amounts of wine. The item shown here is known as a krater and was designed to hold large amounts of wine, which was then diluted with water and poured into guests’ glasses by servants. It’s currently on display at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City. This example features mythological subjects, while others depict images of the symposiums themselves. These illustrations are responsible for much of what we know about these events. The houses of Greek…

KRATER – SYMPOSIUM VASE

HISTORY’S GREATEST FEASTERS

Henry VIII English 28 June 1491 – 28 January 1547 Henry VIII was king of England from April 1509 to January 1547 and is remembered as a cruel and overweight monarch. One thing that contributed to his infamous size and 132cm waistband was his love of banquets and feasts. Henry’s kitchens at Hampton Court Palace, the biggest in England, prepared lavish meals that included beer, wine, pies, roasted meat, game, pottages, fruit and jellies, with Henry free to indulge as much as he wished. He also had a personal chef who used a private kitchen to prepare his food, and he had a love of oranges. BELSHAZZAR BABYLONIAN, 580 BCE – 539 BCE A biblical feast in the Book of Daniel tells the tale of Belshazzar, a prince of Babylon,…

HISTORY’S GREATEST FEASTERS

A HISTORY OF FEASTING

What are some of the earliest examples of feasting? There is no material evidence for any feasting during the very earliest years of human existence. I think that the first good indicators of feasting appear in the early Upper Paleolithic of Europe, some 30,000 years ago, when humans lived by hunting and gathering. Even stronger cases can be made for fairly substantial feasts being held in Epipaleolithic times among Natufian communities that still lived by hunting and gathering in the Near East, some 11,500 to 15,000 years ago. Shortly afterward, when people began farming, feasting became much more widespread and has since characterised virtually all agricultural cultures. You’ve described pre-industrial historical feasting as a “powerful engine of cultural change.” Can you explain what you mean by that? In traditional societies,…

A HISTORY OF FEASTING

FESTIVALS & FEASTS

1 SAGRA DEL PESCE CAMOGLI, ITALY Like some of the other festivals featured here, Italy’s sagra have their origins in religious feasts and date back hundreds of years. Initially occasions to venerate particular saints, across the centuries, these festivals gradually became more focussed on celebrating an area’s produce. For example Sagra dell’Uva, held in Marino near Rome, celebrates the humble grape. The most famous sagra are those that celebrate truffles, such as Alba’s Fiera Internazionale del Tartufo Bianco d’Alba – the White Truffle Festival. The Sagra del Pesce is held every year in the fishing village of Camogli in northern Italy. The festival is in honour of San Fortunato, the patron saint of fishermen, and pays homage to the village’s long history of seafaring. A highlight of the festival is…

FESTIVALS & FEASTS

VICTORIAN UNDERWORLD

On 23 April 1892, 16-year-old William Willan and his gang were lying in wait for Peter Kennedy, a rival gang member, outside the mill where Kennedy worked. When Kennedy saw them, he tried to escape but was soon chased down by the dozen youths armed with makeshift weapons. Willan was a scuttler, a youth street gang that had terrorised the working-class districts of Manchester and Salford and had tested the governing authorities for over two decades. The name ‘scuttlers’ was a collective term for these violent ruffians. Individually, the gangs were named after the roads they lived on. Using weapons such as pieces of wood studded with nails, broken bottles, belts and knives, the gangs would fight predominately over territory and girls. Willan’s gang had been embroiled in a bitter…

VICTORIAN UNDERWORLD

“Io Saturnalia!”

It’s the dark of midwinter but all around you are bright candles – gifts have been exchanged, you’re digging in to a hearty meal and you’re surrounded by friends and family, many of whom might be a little the worse for drink. The mood is jolly and relaxed, no one has to work today and everyone can enjoy themselves as they see fit. Outside, you can hear people walking up the street singing songs of the season, but they aren’t Christmas carols. No, this celebration is Saturnalia, the multi-day festival of the god of farming and the harvest and, as you can likely tell, a celebration that had a lot of influence on religious holidays that followed. As the name implies, Saturnalia was a celebration of Saturn, the Roman god…

“Io Saturnalia!”

THE FAIL OF THE RUSSIAN EMPIRE

Did the catastrophe that was the First World War destroy the Tsarist Empire? One might think so, considering that it led to not one but two revolutions in 1917, toppling the three-centuries-old dynasty in February and bringing the Bolsheviks to power in October (March and November in our calendar). Yet once, while walking through Moscow and coming across one of the military re-enactment festivals that had become so popular in Russia, this author inadvertently started a heated debate when this was put to a quartet decked out in the brass-buttoned black splendour of the 1st Life Grenadier Yekaterinoslav Regiment. The eventual consensus was that despite – what else could they say? – the valour of the Russian army, the country was unprepared for and unequal to the challenges of the…

THE FAIL OF THE RUSSIAN EMPIRE

“EVERYBODY WANTS TO BE DAVID, NOBODY WANTS TO BE GOLIATH”

Here at All About History, we love to learn as much as we can about the past in order to create an engaging and exciting magazine for our readers. Someone who shares this passion with us is writer and actor Terry Deary, who is best-known as the man behind the hugely successful Horrible Histories children’s books. One of Britain’s best-selling authors of the last few decades, he has written over 350 fiction and non-fiction titles for children and adults and is an advocate for making history accessible and enjoyable, bringing his signature humour and wit to the subject. Now, he has published his latest history book for adults, A History of Britain in Ten Enemies. We sat down with Terry to talk about his new book, the success of Horrible…

“EVERYBODY WANTS TO BE DAVID, NOBODY WANTS TO BE GOLIATH”

FEMALE PHYSICIANS OF THE MIDDLE AGES

It’s no secret that the medieval period was a man’s world, an age when – with a few exceptions – kings wielded ultimate power backed by male counsel. Educational opportunities for women were relatively rare, and the notion of females being more skilled surgeons and doctors than their male peers was considered ludicrous. Yet such a forbidding combination of factors did not prevent women from earning a reputation as excellent healers, even if they weren’t recognised as physicians. During this fascinating time the peasantry often relied on the guidance of a ‘wise woman’. These healers possessed expert knowledge of the powers of herbs and remedies, and they played an important role as midwives in an age when giving birth was often fatal. Drawing on the land around them, wise women…

FEMALE PHYSICIANS OF THE MIDDLE AGES

REDISCOVERING THE FORGOTTEN LIVES OF QUEER MEN

On 21 July 1967, the Sexual Offences Act received Royal Assent. Although the Act only partially decriminalised homosexuality and included several conditions, its importance cannot be overstated. Prior to the Act, queer men could be the victims of harsh prison sentences or cruel blackmailers who exploited the draconian laws. Despite these dangers, however, life for these men still continued. In fact, in Britain there had existed for many centuries a vibrant queer subculture, particularly in London. For historians these stories can often be difficult to piece together. Due to the illegality, many people chose not to write about their experiences at all, lest it be discovered and used as evidence. Those accounts that do exist are found across disparate sources, from diaries and letters to newspapers and paperback fiction. Now,…

REDISCOVERING THE FORGOTTEN LIVES OF QUEER MEN

HOLIDAY GIFT GUIDE

THE HOUSE OF WAR: THE STRUGGLE BETWEEN CHRISTENDOM AND THE CALIPHATE BY SIMON MAYALL £25 www.ospreypublishing.com This powerful new account focuses on some of the most significant clashes of arms in human history. The House of War offers a sweeping narrative, encompassing the broad historical and religious context of this period alongside some of the pivotal sieges and battles, as well as the protagonists who determined their outcomes and consequences. FORGOTTEN VIKINGS: NEW APPROACHES TO THE VIKING AGE BY ALEX HARVEY £25 www.amberley-books.com Offering unfamiliar perspectives, Forgotten Vikings will change the way you see these often misunderstood people. It unearths a forgotten history and takes the reader on a journey into the world of the Vikings that tracks their rise and the examines the legacy they left behind. COOKING &…

HOLIDAY GIFT GUIDE

SIEGE OF TOULON

For a short period, the revolutionary fervour that swept France from 1789 remained a largely internal political affair, punctured occasionally with civil unrest as politicians set about dismantling the old regime to make room for a new nation. This all changed in 1792 with a cascade of geopolitical and domestic events, mass dissention, counter-revolutions and declarations of war. The perceived threat of revolution spreading from France to its neighbours galvanised a coalition, led chiefly by Prussia, Austria, England and Spain. This left France assailed by both internal and external enemies, and the onslaught soon had the nation on its heels. In August 1793 coalition and royalist armies pushed into Republican France on multiple fronts, and French forces reeled from numerous defeats. These, along with strong anti-Jacobin (the ruling Republican party)…

SIEGE OF TOULON

JAPAN HAD WON AT MIDWAY?

The surprise Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, in December 1941 left the US Pacific Fleet reeling. Six months later, the Japanese naval command set their sights on the US Pacific base at Midway. Once secured, they could launch another assault on Pearl Harbor, further damaging US capabilities in the region and leaving them free to consolidate their dominance. Badly miscalculating the morale and capability of the Americans, the larger Japanese force found itself in a closer battle than they’d expected. The Americans prevailed, but a Japanese victory would’ve seen the war in the Pacific take a very different turn. What different factors would’ve led to a Japanese triumph at Midway? Though the US victory at Midway has variously been described as a miracle or incredible, it was a quite…

JAPAN HAD WON AT MIDWAY?

THE UNTOLD HISTORY OF TATTOOS

When most people think of the history of tattoos, it’s likely they gravitate towards the stereotypical images of heavily inked sailors and criminals. But did you know that tattooing as a profession in the Western world has existed since at least 1719? For the first time, historian Matt Lodder brings together extensive new research into the history of tattooing and evidence from private collections to write a book that tells the true story of tattoo art and artists in Europe and the United States. In Tattoos: The Untold History of a Modern Art, Lodder looks at Western tattooing as a “professional and commercial practice” in order to distinguish the subject from “indigenous tattoo cultures throughout the Americas, Southeast and East Asia, North Africa and Oceania”. Focussing on the early religious…

THE UNTOLD HISTORY OF TATTOOS

Book Film TV Podcast Games Other Reviews by Jonathan Gordon, Callum McKelvie, Emily Staniforth THE LIFE AND DEATHS OF CHRISTOPHER LEE A new documentary opens the crypt and shows there was more to this cinematic icon than Gothic castles and vampires Certificate: 12A Creator: Jon Spira Cast: Peter Jackson, Caroline Munro, Joe Dante Released: Out now Few lives have been lived as richly as Christopher Lee’s. He was an actor, heavy metal singer, writer, a direct descendent of Charlemagne and, rumour has it, a secret agent during the Second World War. In 2001 at the age of 79 he underwent a late career resurgence when he was cast as Saruman in The Lord of the Rings films, and then as Count Dooku in the Star Wars franchise. He was still working…

HISTORY VS HOLLYWOOD

ALEXANDER Director: Oliver Stone Starring: Colin Farrell, Angelina Jolie, Val Kilmer Country: Greece Year: 2004 A bombastic biopic, but does it lose focus on facts in favour of action and spectacle? VERDICT: Trades a lot of history for glitz and glamour. 01 Philip II (Kilmer) is depicted as having a scar over his right eye, possibly taken from a reconstruction in 1984 of what were believed to be the remains of Philip. However, those remains were later proven to not be his, which would’ve been known when the film was shot. 02 Alexander (Farrell) wears an elaborate lion-head helmet into battle, however there’s no record of him wearing any such headgear. In fact, Plutarch records his helmet as being of plain iron. But the other equipment of the Macedonian military…

HISTORY VS HOLLYWOOD

In Victorian London a popular working class meal was eel pie and mash potato with liquor (a sauce made from the eel cooking liquid). During this period the River Thames was brimming with eels and this pie was a cheap, delicious meal popular with East End dockers. Over time, as eels became rarer and more expensive, they were replaced with beef mince as the filling but pie, mash and the all-important liquor sauce remained an East End staple well into the 20th century. Today establishments such as M Manze – founded in 1902 and London’s oldest pie shop – still serve this British classic. Ingredients For the pie 500g mince1 onion (diced)1 clove of garlic (crushed)Beef stockSalt and pepper250g self-raising flour250g flour1 tbsp butter125g suet For the sauce 50g butter500ml…

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