Medieval Mondays: Mons Meg, supergun of the Middle Ages

When we think of the Middle Ages we don't usually think of artillery, yet black powder cannons were around for most of that period. The first European cannon was depicted in a manuscript in 1327. Within a hundred years they were becoming commonplace.

They were a cumbersome and slow to load, so mostly were used for sieges. Soon, though, they began to be used on the battlefield and even on ships. In the 15th century there was an arms race to see who could build the biggest cannon. One of these giant cannons, called bombards, was Mons Meg, which you can see at Edinburgh Castle.

It was made in Burgundy in 1449, one of the centers for artillery production at the time, and was given as a gift to King James II of Scotland in 1457. It weighs more than 15,000 pounds, is 15 feet long, and fired stone balls 20 inches in diameter and weighing 400 pounds. It was supposedly made for James II to knock down castle walls. Records show that it had a range of more than two miles!

Like the typical big guns of the era, it was made from long iron bars fused together and strengthened with iron hoops. This was so much like making a barrel that the term "barrel" began to be used for the long tube of a gun.

Sadly, it no longer works. It was fired for the last time in 1680 by an English gunner. The Scots say it was blown up on purpose because the English were jealous of the Scots having such a huge gun. Ah yes, bombard envy!

This was also the era that saw the development of medieval firearms.

Photo by Phil McIntosh.

Flying penises of the Middle Ages

Yes, this is exactly what it looks like. It's a penis with wings from the British Museum. This little guy is a lead badge that would have been worn by pilgrims to medieval holy sites. They were so common back then that this particular item can't be dated with any precision. The most precise date the curators could come up with was 400-1500 AD.

There were many badges sold as mementos and good luck charms at pilgrimage sites back in the Middle Ages. Some were of eyes or legs to help with ailments to those particular body parts. These are still used in Mexico. The penis, however, was popular for giving luck and, of course, love and fertility.

This pewter phallus badge dates to the 15th century and sold for £190 ($300) at Timeline Auctions.

This one is a reproduction by Medieval Market of a Dutch flying penis dating to around 1375-1425.

Flying penises weren't always beneficial. At a witchcraft museum in Spain I saw a display telling how in Renaissance and Early Modern Europe, women would often go to work as fruit pickers away from home. Sometimes they'd encounter a flying penis and become pregnant. Whether the guys back home really believed this story or not is another question.

Flying phalli have a long history. They were popular with the Romans. This bronze tintinabulum form the first century AD was a common garden wind chime. They were a good luck charm and protected the household from evil. This photo was taken by Darren Foreman in the British Museum.

It seems strange that the Catholic Church would allow such randy items at its holy spots, but the church was a bit strange at times. There were abortionist saints, carvings of naked women in church, and all sorts of other craziness. One researcher even made the controversial claim that the Catholic Church allowed gay marriage.

Did the Battle of Hastings really happen where we're told it did?

The Battle of Hastings is perhaps the most famous fight in medieval history. When King Harold died with an arrow through the eye (the most popular theory, there are others) and William got his new nickname "the Conqueror" on that day in 1066, the history of England and Western Europe changed.

For centuries we've been told that the battle happened on Senlac Hill near the town of Hastings. Indeed, Battle Abbey, commissioned by WIlliam himself, stands atop it.

But now some historians doubt that story, and they have two different candidates for the battle site. One suggests that the battle happened a mile north on Caldbec Hill, while the other says it happened two miles south of town at Crowhurst.

The Caldbec Hill site is the most intriguing. It's a steeper hill than the gently sloping Senlac Hill, and contemporary accounts said the hill atop which Harold and his Saxons stood was as steep one. On the other hand, a thousand years of weathering could have mellowed out Senlac hill. More telling is the fact that no weapons or bones have ever been found on Senlac Hill and that it was cultivated at the time, while accounts of the battle said it happened on unploughed land.

Also, the Normans erected a cairn of stones called a "Mount-joie" on the battlefield to celebrate their victory. The summit of Caldbec Hill is still known as Mountjoy. There's also the account of John of Worcester who that the battle was fought nine miles from Hastings, the same distance as Caldbec Hill.

The Crowhurst site is supported by a historian who has made a close study of medieval documents and looked at the landscape shown on the Bayeaux Tapestry and said that Crowhurst is the best candidate.

The Battlefields Trust, which manages the site, says in a press release says that they still think the traditional place is the correct one. They stated there's insufficient evidence for the Crowhurst site to be considered, and that they're still analyzing the argument for Caldbec Hill.

I'll have more on this as this story develops. Stay tuned!

Top photo by Antonio Borillo. Bottom photo from Wikipedia.

Medieval Mondays: The Globus Cruciger, proof that people knew the world was round before Columbus

There's a popular belief that people didn't know the world was round back in the Renaissance and that it took a brave explorer named Christopher Columbus to prove them wrong. Supposedly everyone warned Columbus not to sail out into the Atlantic because he'd fall off the world's edge.

Of course my readers are smart enough to know this isn't true, but the story has widespread appeal. Anyone who has studied history knows that the Classical Greeks had already proven that the world is round and that knowledge wasn't lost among the educated.

Proof of this can be found on many medieval coins and statues. A traditional mark of Imperial or royal power was the Globus Cruciger, a globe with a cross on top of it to show that the Christian God ruled over the world and that the ruler was his representative on Earth. The globe, of course, symbolized the Earth.

Yep, a globe!

The earliest use of the Globus Cruciger for a ruler is found on the coins of the Byzantine Emperor Theodosius II, who ruled from 408 to 450 AD. You can see one above. The cross-and-globe was a popular symbol throughout the Middle Ages and Renaissance and continues to be used in royal courts to this day. To the right you can see an illustration of Charles II of Hungary made in 1488, four years before Columbus made his first voyage.

So the idea that the world was round was plainly visible in the royal court and on many works of art and currency. Of course a lot of common, uneducated people back then probably did think the world was flat!

Photos from Wikimedia Commons.

A nice review of Down in the Dungeon

Checking out my Amazon rankings yesterday I discovered a new review of my roleplaying-game-inspired short story collection Down in the Dungeon. Reader Jack Badelaire had this to say:

"Although this anthology isn't as straight-from-the-gaming-table as I'd first imagined it would be, that's actually a good thing. These are stories inspired by gaming, but not direct copies of gaming sessions, as so many stories of this type often appear to be. The author has done a great job of giving me that nostalgic feeling while at the same time, nothing that strikes me as "only there because D&D mechanics require it". If you're an old-time gamer like myself, give this a try."

He gave it five stars! Awesome!!!

Medieval Mondays: The Ahlspiess, a curious weapon of the Middle Ages

In this engraving we see two footmen accompanying a knight and carrying one of the lesser-known weapons of the Middle Ages. It's called tan ahlspiess, and was developed in Germany in the 15th century. It consisted of a long steel spike with a quadrangular profile, a bit like a giant leather punch or awl, from which it gets its name.

By the 15th century, armor had reached the peak of its design, and German armorers were some of the best. Thus it's not surprising that a weapon specifically designed to punch through thick metal plate was developed there. Like its namesake, the ahlspiess was a heavy spike with a sharp point, able to deliver the maximum force to a minimum of space. Surviving examples weighed up to 2.5 kilos (6.6 pounds) and wielded by a strong soldier could be formidable indeed.

As you can see, they were equipped with a small roundel between the metal spike and wooden handle in order to protect the hand. It seems to me that the roundel was a bit too small to be very effective, but I suppose a larger one would have made the weapon unwieldy. They were generally about 2.5 meters (7.5 feet) long.

The ahlspiess came almost too late. Medieval handgonnes were already becoming common on the battlefield, marking the beginning of the end of heavy armor. Leather armor had always been common as a cheaper substitute and soon grew in popularity as firearms became more effective. Soon there was no need for the ahlspeiss and it was discarded by the 17th century. 

All in all, an interesting weapon, although the flail remains my favorite medieval weapon!

Medieval Mondays: Were the Vikings Potheads?

A new discovery reveals that the Vikings in Norway grew hemp.

Examination of material excavated from a Viking farm in southern Norway uncovered hemp pollen dating from 650 to 800 AD. Hemp is Cannabis sativa, a subspecies of which, Cannabis sativa indica, is marijuana. Industrial hemp such as what the Vikings grew can't get you high because it contains almost no THC, the active ingredient in marijuana.

Instead, hemp can be used for clothing and rope, as well as numerous other products. While the archaeologists stressed that they found no evidence that the Vikings grew marijuana, I have a hard time beliving they didn't have a little patch set aside for those long winter nights. The sagas would have sounded pretty cool while high on a mixture of pot and mead.

They couldn't have smoked too much, though, otherwise they wouldn't have made all those voyages of conquest and discovery. They'd have just stayed home eating Doritos and watching TV instead.

Photo of industrial hemp (not the Grateful Dead kind) courtesy Evelyn Simak.