Heroic Dreams - All Things Medieval

There was a total solar eclipse yesterday. It was of course visible from only certain parts of the world but because of modern technology it was available to everyone via NASA and their television program and webcasting. You can view the eclipse here Total Eclipse on NASA Webcast

SO what is this blogpost really about? Well, it’s about the wisdom and the mystery of the past.

In today’s world we tend to take the mystery out of everything - as soon as we explain something with science it becomes less special. But how could something as spectacular as a solar eclipse be less special than it is?

Here is a (roughly) modern interpretation of a solar eclipse: “Due to a coincidence of nature the sun is about 400 times further away from the Earth than the moon is. This causes the two at certain places in their orbit to be the same size - which is what makes an eclipse so remarkable in that the moon totally covers the sun - in a really nice fit.”

Ok, so maybe it is a coincidence that the apparent size of the two celestial objects (Sun and Moon) are the same size - but then again maybe it isn’t. Where is the wonder in the universe and the pondering of the mystery?

I guess what I am trying to say is that when we analyze things and know all the facts we lose something. There is a mystery here. The whole darn ball of wax is a mystery! And the more we know, it seems to me, the less we actually know. Sure we know all the facts about the moon, sun, eclipses, orbits etc. and we can predict the next thousand eclipses over eons but knowing all this we really are overlooking the sheer mystery of. And it makes me think:

Is it really a coincidence that the distance to the sun is exactly so that the two heavenly bodies mesh so perfectly during an eclipse? Therein lies the mystery that we sometimes lose sight of.

Here are some interesting little anecdotes and quotes from the Middle ages about eclipses:

AD 733: (“Ecclesiastical History of the English People”)  “almost the whole of the Sun’s disk seemed to be like a black and horrid shield.”

AD 968: “At the winter solstice there was an eclipse of the sun such as has never happened before.  Darkness fell upon the Earth and all the brighter stars revealed themselves. Everyone could see the disk of the Sun without brightness, deprived of light, and a certain dull and feeble glow, like a narrow headband, shining round the extreme parts of the edge of the disk. However, the Sun gradually going past the Moon (for this appeared covering it directly) sent out its original rays, and light filled the Earth again”. 

AD 1084: ”On the sixth day of the month of February between the sixth and ninth hours the Sun was obscured for the space of three hours; it was so great that any people who were working indoors could only continue if in the meantime they lit lamps. Indeed some people went from house to house to get lanterns or torches. Many were terrified”. 

An Eclipse in Homer’s Odyssey: There was a prophecy that upon the failing of the old moon and the retuning of the new moon Odysseus would return to his home to exact vengeance. “the Sun vanished out of heaven and an evil gloom covered all things about the hour of the midday meal, during the celebration of the new moon”. A total eclipse of the Sun was visible from the Greek island of Ithaca on April 16, 1178 BC. This would be six years after the end of the Trojan War.  

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Few subjects have created such a strong image in our culture and in our imagination as the knight. Knights have taken a lot of different forms over the centuries; some of them are very real and some of them are just fantastic creations. But no matter what the the type of knight or organization they almost all have a few things in common.
They almost always represent a few different values such as chivalry, courage, faith, honesty, integrity, brotherhood, strength, and even mystery. Here are some of the wide variety of manifestations that knights have taken.

The Most famous knights of them all are the Knights of the Round Table. They are shown in the picture above. They were the knights of King Arthur and whether or not he and they really existed is something that is very hotly debated.

Knight Organizations that Still Exist Today

Knights Hospitaller - also known as Knights of Malta - An orgainzation that was founded as a religious and military order in 1099 and it still exists today. Their primary purpose was the care and defense of the Holy Land. One of the notable things about the Knights Hospitaller is their uniform composed of a black surcoat with a white cross. The order has endured many changes over the centuries and their headquarters has moved many times around Europe then to Malta and Russia. It now is in Rome.

The Knights of Columbus - A Catholic fraternal organizaiton that was founded in 1882 and named in honor of Christopher Columbus. They are dedicated to the principles of Charity, Unity, Fraternity, and Patriotism. Their charitable contributions are significant and in 2007 they gave almost 145 million dollars to charity. Their total contributions over the past ten years exceeds 1 billion dollars.

Teutonic Knights - This is a German Roman Catholic religious order that was founded at the end of the 12th century. They were a crusading order and they wore a white surcoat with a black cross which is the opposite of the Knights Hospitaller. The order has undergone many changes over the centuries and today they are predominantly a charitable organization with an estimated 1,000 members.

The Order of the Garter - This is a very exclusive order of knighthood that was founded somewhere between 1344 and 1351. It is the highest of all the honour systems that exist in the United Kingdom. Its numbers are very severely limited to the sovereign, the Prince of Wales and 24 members. But there are a number of supernumerary knights and ladies. Prince William, the son of Diana and Charles, is the 1,000 knight inducted into the order.

The Order of the Golden Fleece - A fraternal organization founded in 1430 by Duke Philip III of Burgundy to celebrate his marriage to Princess Isable of Aviz. It has both a Spanish and an Austrian branch.

Knight Organizations of the Past

The Knights Templar - The most famous of all the knights organizations. They were a western christian organization and they existed for about two hundred years in the Middle Ages. They were founded after the first crusade and their purpose was the ensure the safety of Christians traveling on pilgrimage to Jerusalem. They built many fortifications along the pilgrimage route and they instituted new and progressive methods of financing which are considered to be early forms of banking. This is partly the reason why there still remains a mystique about the Knights Templar Treasure.

Knights of Labor (also known as Noble and Holy Order of the Knights of Labor) - This was an organization that was founded in 1869 and it lasted until about 1949. It the early twentieth century it strongly declined and was pretty much disbanded by about 1949. It was a labor organizations in America and it was an important organization that fought for equality and fairness for all in the realm of labor/employer relations. Over time it functioned more as a labor union rather than a fraternal order.

Knights of the Annunciation 1362-1788 (The Supreme Order of the Most Holy Annunciation) It was a religious order of chivalry that was instituted by Amadeus VI Count of Savoy in Italy. It was dedicated to the Blessed Virgin Mary.

Order of the Knights of the Holy Spirit (Chevaliers du Saint-Esprit ) A French order that had the King as GrandMaster, 8 ecclesiastic members, 4 officers and 100 Knights. The order was founded in 1578 and was abolished in 1830.

The Order of the Dragon - A European knight order that was sworn to defend the Cross and fight the enemies of Christianity. It was founded by the King of Hungary in 1408 and was found primarily in Germany and Italy. Its members were known as Draconists and the order is claimed to be an inspiration to Bram Stoker in his writing of Dracula.

It isn’t just combat, honor and chivalry that gives these organizations their appeal. There is also a shroud of secrecy about them; Secret initiations, secret treasures, and knights following a mysterious code. All these things and many others have made Orders of Knights something that has lasted many hundreds of years.            

If you want to read more about Medieval Knights I have a website devoted to the subject. The Knight-Medieval.com

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Going through some stuff I stumbled on this picture of some suits of armor in a medieval castle taken during a tour. The thing that struck me about these suits of armor was the size. You can tell by the couple in the picture that the suits are small. Being curious about this I did a little research on the subject and come to find out the average height of a man in Europe around 1735 was about 5 foot 5 (165 cm) This varied a bit by country and North Americans were even a bit taller.

A lot is made of this and the biggest factor was the difficulty in nourishment throughout much of the middle ages. (Maybe the dark ages were so dark because nobody was tall enough to reach the string for the light In todays world we have such an amazing abundance of food. (It’s really quite unprecedented in the total history of mankind).

Anyway, being a writer of epic fantasy stuff I imagined how a group of modern day warriors standing each over six feet tall would dominate the psychology of the battle field. They would strike fear into an opponent and maybe even be called giants! The opposing army would after all only stand as tall as their chins at best.  It would be the courageous opponent who would want to battle such a man in hand to hand combat. But then again, with their heads and shoulders sticking above the fray like that they would make for some great targets for opposing archers - quite vulnerable. - On second thought maybe I will put away the time machine and stick to basketball.

The picture above is inside a castle called Meersburg - It was built around 700 and it still remains in great shape. I have more pics and information about it on my medieval castle website here

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