Following Orders

[Lord Magnus]

Greetings my Brothers,

I have taken up an over-watch position on the Great Lakes Medieval Faire gates. In less than 30 hours they will open. I do hear some great rumblings in the distance. I can also see a haze of dust approaching from afar....I will report back when the weekend is over. I hope you are all well and wish you were all here to rasie a drink or two but alas the faire is a dry one this year due to the Trumble County Trustees. Ahhhh my page and squire have packed me a skin of mead....we will not go thirsty. God Wills It!!!! Huzzzzzzah

Sir Michael of Mentor

That sucks about the Trustees giving you guys so much hell. The pubs there were a lot really nice and a good ale selection too.

[Lord Clisto of York]

I found this rather amusing for my Templar Brothers and Sisters.

[Monsignor de Beaumanoir]

Parking in the Outremer after 1187.......

[Monsignor de Beaumanoir]

Recommended reading for this week:

The Siege of Jerusalem, Crusade and Conquest in 1099; by Conor Kostick

[Monsignor de Beaumanoir]

A conspiracy theorist's window of opportunity?

Tomorrow: July 15th represents the 911th anniversary of the First Crusade's Liberation of the Holy City of Jerusalem by the Christian host.

On 7 June the crusaders reached Jerusalem, which had been recaptured from the Seljuks by the Fatimids of Egypt only the year before. Many Crusaders wept upon seeing the city they had journeyed so long to reach.


Their arrival at Jerusalem revealed an arid countryside, lacking in water or food supplies. Here there was no prospect of relief, even as they feared an imminent attack by the local Fatimid rulers. There was no hope of trying to blockade the city, as they had at Antioch; the crusaders had insufficient troops, supplies, and time. Instead, they resolved to take the city by assault. They might have been left with little choice, as by the time the Crusader army reached Jerusalem, it has been estimated that only about 12,000 men including 1,500 cavalry remained. These contingents, composed of men with differing origins and varying allegiances, were also approaching another low ebb in their camaraderie; e.g., while Godfrey and Tancred made camp to the north of the city, Raymond made his to the south. In addition, the Provençal contingent did not take part in the initial assault on 13 June. This first assault was perhaps more speculative than determined, and after scaling the outer wall the Crusaders were repulsed from the inner one.

After the failure of the initial assault, a meeting between the various leaders was organized in which it was agreed upon that a more concerted attack would be required in future. On 17 June a party of Genoese mariners under Guglielmo Embriaco arrived at Jaffa, and provided the Crusaders with skilled engineers, and perhaps more critically, supplies of timber (cannibalized from the ships) to build siege towers. The Crusaders' morale was raised when a priest, by the name of Peter Desiderius, claimed to have had a divine vision instructing them to fast and then march in a barefoot procession around the city walls, after which the city would fall, following the Biblical story of Joshua at the siege of Jericho. After a three days fast, on 8 July the crusaders performed the procession as they had been instructed by Desiderius, and shortly afterward the various bickering factions arrived at a public rapprochement. News arrived shortly after that a Fatimid relief army had set off from Egypt, giving the Crusaders a very strong incentive to make another assault on the city.

The final assault on Jerusalem began on 13 July; Raymond's troops attacked the south gate while the other contingents attacked the northern wall. Initially the Provencals at the southern gate made little headway, but the contingents at the northern wall fared better, with a slow but steady attrition of the defence. On 15 July, a final push was launched at both ends of the city, and eventually the inner rampart of the northern wall was captured. In the ensuing panic, the defenders abandoned the walls of the city at both ends, allowing the Crusaders to finally enter.

[SirMichael]

Greetings Brothers,

I am happy to report back that the 2010 Great Lakes Medieval Faire is well. Last weekend was very good. Evan with the pubs closed, there were many people in attendance. It also appeared to me that everyone was in order although it was seen that quite a bit of a taste was shared by all. It looks to be a banner year for the GLMF. I will be returning this weekend and will take many photos to pass on. The local trustee's have not done anything to hassle anyone. At least not yet. Keep wishing us luck my Brothers.

My you all be well and happy...I will keep posting reports


Sir Michael of Mentor

[Monsignor de Beaumanoir]

Pics?

[Lord Magnus]

Pics?

Agreed! Please post some pics if you can good sir..

[Monsignor de Beaumanoir]

This date in history:

July 22d, 1298:  The Battle of Falkirk

The Battle of Falkirk, (Blàr na h-Eaglaise Brice in Gaelic) which took place on 22 July 1298, was one of the major battles in the First War of Scottish Independence. Led by King Edward I of England the English army defeated the Scots led by William Wallace and shortly after the battle Wallace resigned as Guardian of Scotland.

Were the Templars involved under Marshal Brian LeJay?

When Edward I defeated the Scots under William Wallace at the Battle of Falkirk [1298] the only recorded deaths of note on the English side were both Templars.

The English Master of Templars, Brian de Jay, and the Scottish Master of Templars; John de Sawtrey were both cut down as they pursued the fleeing Scots through the Forest of Callendar.


See more at:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Falkirk_(1298)

[Monsignor de Beaumanoir]

Today marks the 911th anniversary of the passing of Pope Urban II.

A man of vision some say, but legendary without a doubt.

Ref:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pope_Urban_II

http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/15210a.htm

[Sir William Marcus]

Blessed Thee Urban II

[Monsignor de Beaumanoir]

An Honor Guard is formed for the occasion and remembrance.....

[Sir William Marcus]

Magnificent!

[Sir Samuel]

So mote it be

[Monsignor de Beaumanoir]

Into each life a little rain must fall...... (except Hattin in 1187, and a few other places....)

The climate in the Holy land is reasonably predictable and seasonal. Summers can get hot especially in the months of July and August and quite chilly in the winter, particularly in the northern hills. Snow occasionally falls on the hills and Mount Hermon in the north turns into a ski resort in the winter. Rain falls only during the winter, but is often more sunny than cloudy. In the summer, the Holy Land suffers for days at a time the hot desert wind know in Arabic as 'khamseen"  (or the "fifty"; -- so called because it blows for about fifty days, from April till June). Outremer summers although hot in the daytime, are fairly cool at night requiring a sweater.



Although a relatively small area (about 275 miles / 445 kilometers north to south, 50 miles / 80 kilometers east to west at the widest), modern day Israel (the focal land mass of the Outremer) experiences a wide variety of weather - from Nazareth and the Sea Of Galilee can be seen the distant year-round snow cover on Mount Hermon at Israel's northern boundary (9,000 feet above sea level, which before modern refrigeration was used as a source of ice), to the severe heat in the area around Jericho (1,300 feet below sea level), just north of The Salt Sea in The Jordan Valley (Home of the Hospitallers' castle Belvoir). Between the two extremes however, much of Israel has a climate similar to that of California.

The climate permits a profusion of agricultural produce, with oranges and olives along the coastal plains, figs and grapes slightly inland, and grain crops such as Barley in the hill country. Most rainfall occurs from November to January (e.g. Ezra 10:9), and then a "latter rain" in March (e.g. Joel 2:23).

It has been identified that during 1100s, it was the peak of Medieval Warm Period or Medieval Climate Optimum (800-1300 AD).

What I'm trying to get at, is the armored Warrior of the times faced a more serious enemy in most cases than another armored foe. As we're experiencing in the USA right now, increased temperatures are something that need to be considered during any activities outside.

The following web link breaks down the concept of heat dissipation as it would apply to an armored Knight/Warrior Monk of the time period. Remember they wore in most cases a layered concept of armor protection, and in some accounts, multiple layers of armor- example being 3 maile coats.

http://www.ilo.org/safework_bookshelf/english?content&nd=857170521