Following Orders

[Femme Falchion]

We are missing the photo that Mother Confessor posted of her wee Monks.....

My apologies, I decided that the picture might be too scandalous and removed it.    We have just returned from a few restorative (not really) days at the ocean.

Enjoyed the new motivational pieces!

[Lady Christina de Pond]

moose such cute creatures though i don't want to make one mad.
i didn't leave the elderly lady with the camels but got a kick out of the bison in her window

[Monsignor de Beaumanoir]

Monk trivia:

This is Ronald Reagan's funeral in the National Cathedral, what do you see?

[Femme Falchion]

Is it a chimp in the alcove?

Perhaps the symbol in the center of the crossing has something to do with it?

Are you ready to confess that a legendary sacred vessel is buried under there?

[Sir William Marcus]

?

[Monsignor de Beaumanoir]

Although Brother William brings up a valid point (perhaps he's a Turcopole), and Mother Confessor banged a suggestion nearly on top of it........ it's the mosaic under the casket....it's the Cross of Jerusalem!   

[Sir William Marcus]

Amazing! How about that, I see it now plain as day, and I thought all along it was spot the Turcopole 

[Monsignor de Beaumanoir]

Today in our era of history:

June 17

1194: Richard the Lionheart's second coronation

On his way home from the Holy Land in March of 1192, Richard was shipwrecked, captured, and handed over to Emperor Henry VI. A large portion of the 150,000-mark ransom was raised through heavy taxing of the people of England, and Richard was freed in February of 1194. Upon returning to England he had a second coronation to demonstrate that he still had control of the country, then promptly went to Normandy and never returned. The next five years were spent in periodic warfare with King Philip II of France. Richard died from a wound inflicted when besieging the castle of Châlus. The English crown passed to his brother John.


1239:  Edward I "Longshanks" (for you Braveheart followers) was born.

Known as "Longshanks" for his extraordinary height, Edward, son of King Henry III, was a strong-willed, militaristic king who succeeded in subduing Wales but failed to conquer Scotland, although he earned the sobriquet of "Hammer of the Scots".

In the baronial civil war during his father's reign, when Henry's authority was seriously put under pressure by Simon de Montfort, Edward changed sides several times, eventually opting to back the king. He staged an audacious raid in 1263, stealing gold from the Templars in London to pay for troops.

And before he was King and out in the country side smashing Scotsmen , he had answered the call.....

Edward took the cross in an elaborate ceremony on 24 June 1268, along with his brother Edmund and cousin Henry of Almain. Among others who committed themselves to the cause were former adversaries like the earl of Gloucester, though the earl did not end up going. With the country pacified, the greatest impediment to the project was providing sufficient finances.  King Louis IX of France, who was the leader of the crusade, provided a loan of about £17,500. This, however, was not enough; the rest had to be raised through a lay tax, something which had not happened since 1237. In May 1270, Parliament granted a tax of a twentieth, in exchange for which the king agreed to reconfirm Magna Carta, and to impose restrictions on Jewish money lending. On 20 August Edward sailed from Dover for France. It is impossible to determine the size of the force with any certainty, but Edward probably brought with him around 225 knights and all together less than 1000 men.

The original goal of the crusade was to relieve the beleaguered Christian stronghold of Acre, but Louis had been diverted to Tunis. The French king and his brother Charles of Anjou, who had made himself king of Sicily, decided to attack the emirate in order to establish a stronghold in North Africa. The plans failed when the French forces were struck by an epidemic which, on 25 August, took the life of King Louis himself. By the time Edward arrived at Tunis, Charles had already signed a treaty with the emir, and there was little else to do than to return to Sicily. The crusade was postponed until next spring, but a devastating storm off the coast of Sicily dissuaded Charles of Anjou and Louis's successor Philip III from any further campaigning.  Edward decided to continue alone, and on 9 May 1271 he finally landed at Acre.


The situation in the Holy Land at the time of Edward's arrival was a precarious one. Jerusalem had fallen in 1187, and Acre was now the centre of the Christian state. The Muslim states were on the offensive under the Mamluk leadership of Baibars, and were now threatening Acre itself. Though Edward's men were an important addition to the garrison, they stood little chance against Baibars' superior forces, and an initial raid at nearby St Georges-de-Lebeyne in June was largely futile.   An embassy to the Mongols helped bring about an attack on Aleppo in the north, allowing the crusading armies a distraction. In November, Edward led a raid on Qaqun, which could have served as a bridgehead to Jerusalem, but both the Mongol invasion and the attack on Qaqun failed. Things now seemed increasingly desperate, and in May 1272 Hugh III of Cyprus, who was the nominal king of Jerusalem, signed a ten-year truce with Baibars. Edward was initially defiant, but an attack by a Muslim assassin in June forced him to abandon any further campaigning. Even though he managed to kill the assassin, he was struck in the arm by a poisoned dagger, and became strongly reduced physically over the next months.

It was not until 24 September that Edward left Acre. Arriving in Sicily, he was met with the news that Henry III had died on 16 November. Edward was deeply saddened by this news, but rather than hurrying home at once, he made a leisurely journey northwards. This was partly due to his health still being poor, but also due to a lack of urgency. The political situation in England was stable after the mid-century upheavals, and Edward was proclaimed king at his father's death, rather than at his own coronation, as had up until then been customary. The new king embarked on an overland journey through Italy and France, where among other things he visited the pope in Rome and suppressed a rebellion in Gascony. Only on 2 August 1274 did he return to England, and was crowned on 19 August.

[Monsignor de Beaumanoir]

And here's a European representation of the pot helm under maile:

[Sir William Marcus]

I must say, I would personally prefer the uncovered variation

[Monsignor de Beaumanoir]

On this date (June 18th) in our "era" of history:

1098: the City of Antioch was under seige by Christian forces of the First Crusade, it will fall in a matter of days.

1155, Frederick Barbarossa crowned the Holy Roman Emperor.

Frederick was born in 1122. In 1147 he became Duke of Swabia, and shortly afterwards made his first trip to the East,
accompanying his uncle, the German king Conrad III, on the Second Crusade. The expedition proved to be a disaster, but Frederick distinguished himself and won the complete confidence of the king.

Frederick vowed to take up the cross at the Diet of Mainz in 1188. Frederick embarked on the Third Crusade (1189), a massive expedition in conjunction with the French, led by king Philip Augustus, and the English, under Richard the Lionheart. He organized a grand army of 100,000 men (including 20,000 knights) and set out on the overland route to the Holy Land. However, some historians believe that this is an exaggeration and that the true figure might be closer to 15,000 men, including 3,000 knights.

The Crusaders passed through Hungary, Serbia and Bulgaria and then entered Byzantine territory, arriving at Constantinople in the autumn of 1189. From there they pushed on through Anatolia (where they were victorious in taking Aksehir and Konya) and entered Cilician Armenia. The approach of the immense German army greatly concerned Saladin and the other Muslim leaders, who began to rally troops of their own and prepare to confront Barbarossa's forces.

However, on 10 June 1190, Frederick drowned in the River Saleph as his army was approaching Antioch from Armenia; Arab historians report that his army had encamped before the river, and Frederick had gone to the river to bathe when he drowned in it. Frederick's death plunged his army into chaos. Leaderless, panicked, and attacked on all sides by Turks, many Germans deserted, were killed, or even committed suicide. Only 5,000 soldiers, a small fraction of the original force, arrived in Acre. Barbarossa's son, Frederick VI of Swabia, carried on with the remnants of the army, with the aim of burying the Emperor in Jerusalem, but efforts to conserve his body in vinegar failed. Hence, his flesh was interred in the Church of St Peter in Antiochia, his bones in the cathedral of Tyre, and his heart and inner organs in Tarsus. In the end, the actions of both Frederick Barbarossa and his son, Frederick II (Frederick VI, Duke of Swabia) have been judged anachronistic, blind and an example of ill-fated heroism.

Frederick's early death left the Crusader army under the command of the rivals Philip II of France and Richard I of England ("Lionheart"), who had travelled to Palestine separately by sea, and ultimately led to its dissolution.

Comparison has been made between Henry II of England and Frederick Barbarossa. Both were considered to be the greatest and most charismatic leaders of the age. Each had a rare combination of qualities which made them appear to be superhuman to their contemporaries. They possessed longevity, boundless ambition, extraordinary organizing skill, and greatness on the battlefield. They were handsome and proficient in courtly skills, without appearing effeminate or affected. Both came to the throne in the prime of manhood. Each had an element of learning, without being considered impractical intellectuals, but rather more inclined to practicality. Each found himself in the possession of new legal institutions which were put to creative use in governing. Both Henry and Frederick were viewed to be sufficiently and formally devout to the teachings of the Church, without being moved to the extremes of spirituality seen in the great saints of the twelfth century. In making final decisions, each relied solely upon their own judgment.  Both were interested in gathering as much power as they could.

[Sir William Marcus]

[Monsignor de Beaumanoir]

A scene from Ivanhoe!

[Monsignor de Beaumanoir]

I know it's a day early, but many of us will be out and about tomorrow, so here's my message:





I also stumbled upon this rendition of the interrogation of Jacques DeMolay:

[Sir William Marcus]

The History of Father's Day

The earliest record of Father's Day was found in the ruins of Babylon. A young boy named Elmesu carved a Father's Day message on a card made out of clay nearly 4,000 years ago. He wished his Babylonian father good health and a long life!
Mrs. John B. Dodd, of Washington, first proposed the idea of a "father's day" in 1909. She wanted a special day to honour her father, William Smart. He was a Civil War veteran widowed when his wife died in childbirth with their sixth child. Mr. Smart was left to raise the newborn and his other five children by himself on a rural farm in eastern Washington state. It was after Mrs. Dodd became an adult that she realized the strength and selflessness her father had shown in raising his children as a single parent. Therefore, the first Father's Day was observed on June 19, 1910 in Spokane Washington.




"It is a wise father that knows his child"  ~Wm. Shakespeare

  A blessed and happy Father's Day to all

   SWM