Tag Archives: zenmischief

What Happened in 1325, 1425

Here’s our next instalment of things that happened in ..25 years of yore.


Some Notable Events in 1325

7 January. Afonso IV becomes the new King of Portugal upon the death of his father, King Denis I.

9 March. Queen Isabella, wife of King Edward II of England and sister of King Charles IV of France, departs from England on a mission to Paris to mediate an end to the war between the two kingdoms. She is directed to return to England by midsummer.

31 March. A truce is signed between King Edward II of England (who is also Duke of Aquitaine) and King Charles IV of France to end the war of Saint-Sardoso under terms negotiated by England’s Queen Isabella; Edward cedes Agenais (part of modern-day Lot-et-Garonne) and pledges to swear homage to King Charles from then on as a condition of keeping the rest of Aquitaine. England is allowed to reclaim Ponthieu and the Duchy of Gascony if Edward will come to Paris to
pay him homage. Isabella, unhappy with her marriage to Edward, remains in France indefinitely.

20 April. Elizabeth de Comyn, daughter of the late Guardian of Scotland, John Comyn III of Badenoch, is forced to sign away title to her properties at Painswick and at Goodrich Castle to Hugh Despenser the Elder after being kidnapped in 1324 and imprisoned at Pirbright.

5 May. The Istrian Demarcation, setting out the boundaries of disputed Italian territories in the Adriatic Sea peninsula of Istria, confirms the agreement between the Independent Italian states of Aquileia, Gorizia, and the Venetian Republic. The document is published in three languages (Latin, German and Croatian).

14 June.(2 Rajab 725 AH). Ibn Battuta, Moroccan scholar and explorer, sets off from Tangier on a hajj to Mecca. En route, he travels to Tlemcen, Béjaïa and Tunis. For safety, Ibn Battuta joins a caravan to reduce the risk of being robbed. On the way, he takes a bride in Sfax, but soon leaves her due to a dispute with her father. Traveling more than any other explorer before the modern era, he will travel an estimated 73000 miles over 30 years, more than three times as much as Marco Polo.

12 September. Edward II is persuaded not to go to France by Hugh Despenser the Elder, his chief adviser. He decides to send his 12-year-old son, Prince Edward of Windsor, to Paris to pay homage instead. Before the young Edward departs, he is bestowed with the title of
Count of Ponthieu.

21 September. Isabella of France conspires with the exiled Roger Mortimer to have Edward II deposed. To build up diplomatic and military support, Isabella has Edward of Windsor engaged to the 12-year-old Philippa of Hainault. She is the daughter of Count William of Hainaut, who is married to Joan of Valois, granddaughter of the late King Philip III of France.

24 September. Edward, Prince of Wales pays homage to King Charles IV of France on behalf of his father, King Edward II of England.

10 October. King Edward II calls for representatives of the three estates (including the knights representative) to meet at Westminster for a session of the English Parliament, beginning on 18 November to discuss the matter of the failure of his wife, Queen Isabella, to return from France.

21 November. Yuri III Danilovich, Grand Duke of Moscow, is assassinated by Dmitry of Tver, Grand Duke of Vladimir. Yuri’s younger brother, Iván I Danilovich Kalitá, the Grand Duke of Vladimir, inherits Yuri’s throne and relocates the spiritual capital of the Russian people to Moscow by directing the Metropolitan Peter to move his episcopal see from Kiev. The decision gradually makes Moscow the political center of Russia.

1 December. King Edward II of England makes one final attempt to save his marriage to Queen Isabella, and sends her a letter ordering her to return from France to England immediately, writing that “Oftentimes have we informed you, both before and after the homage, of our great desire to have you with us, and of our grief of heart at your long absence,” and adds that he is aware of her affair with Roger Mortimer and that “ceasing from all pretenses, delays and excuses, you come to us with all the haste you can.” She declines to return.


Some Notable Events in 1425

9 December. The Old University of Leuven, Belgium is founded.

Unknown Date. Beijing, capital of China, becomes the largest city in the world, taking the lead from Nanjing.

Unknown Date. Paper currency in China is worth only 0.025% to 0.0l4% of its original value in the 14th century; this, and the counterfeiting of copper coin currency, will lead to a dramatic shift to using silver as the common medium of exchange in China.China, early paper money

Quotes for July

We have only a short list of quotes encountered this month …


I reflected, not for the first time, how mistaken it is to suppose there exists some “ordinary” world into which it is possible at will to wander. All human beings, driven as they are at different speeds by the same Furies, are at close range equally extraordinary.
[Anthony Powell; The Acceptance World]


Most “bad” people are actually good people lacking in skills to appropriately get what they legitimately need.
[Dr Chris Stevens]


Capitalism has invented something called “Cost of Living” where your very existence is an ever-inflating expense that you must overcome just to survive.
[unknown]


At all stages of life, people will gladly offer you unsolicited lists of things you “must” do, be, or have. Most of the time you can nod your head, walk away, and ignore them.
[unknown]


If you can imagine something, then someone in history has carved, drawn, painted, etched, handwritten, collaged and sewn it into pornography.
[Hannah Rose Woods]


And finally remember …
Hanlon’s Razor: Never attribute to malice that which is adequately explained by stupidity.


July Quiz Answers

Here are the answers to this month’s six quiz questions. If in doubt, all should be able to be easily verified online.

Biology

  1. What is the fastest land animal? The cheetah
  2. How many hearts does an octopus have? 3
  3. Gentoo, Adelie and Macaroni are all species of what? Penguin
  4. What comic strip’s joke name for the row of spikes on a stegosaurus’s tail, the “thagomizer,” ended up becoming the official name? The Far Side
  5. Which fruit did many people in the Western world think was poisonous until 1820? Tomatoes
  6. What is the natural compound present in green plants that gives them their colour? Chlorophyll

Answers were correct when questions were compiled in late 2024.

This Month’s Poem

The Rolling English Road
GK Chesterton

Before the Roman came to Rye or out to Severn strode,
The rolling English drunkard made the rolling English road.
A reeling road, a rolling road, that rambles round the shire,
And after him the parson ran, the sexton and the squire;
A merry road, a mazy road, and such as we did tread
The night we went to Birmingham by way of Beachy Head.

I knew no harm of Bonaparte and plenty of the Squire,
And for to fight the Frenchman I did not much desire;
But I did bash their baggonets because they came arrayed
To straighten out the crooked road an English drunkard made,
Where you and I went down the lane with ale-mugs in our hands,
The night we went to Glastonbury by way of Goodwin Sands.

His sins they were forgiven him; or why do flowers run
Behind him; and the hedges all strengthening in the sun?
The wild thing went from left to right and knew not which was which,
But the wild rose was above him when they found him in the ditch.
God pardon us, nor harden us; we did not see so clear
The night we went to Bannockburn by way of Brighton Pier.

My friends, we will not go again or ape an ancient rage,
Or stretch the folly of our youth to be the shame of age,
But walk with clearer eyes and ears this path that wandereth,
And see undrugged in evening light the decent inn of death;
For there is good news yet to hear and fine things to be seen,
Before we go to Paradise by way of Kensal Green.

Find this poem online at Poetry Foundation

Ten Things

This year our Ten Things column each month is alternating between composers and artists a century at a time from pre-1500 to 20th century. As always, there’s no guarantee you will have heard of them all!

Ten Composers Born in 18th Century

  1. Joseph Haydn
  2. Ludwig van Beethoven
  3. Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
  4. CPE Bach
  5. Franz Schubert
  6. Antonio Salieri
    Joseph Willibrord Mähler
    Portrait of Antonio Salieri
  7. William Boyce
  8. Giovanni Battista Sammartini
  9. Niccolò Paganini
  10. Carl Maria von Weber

July Quiz Questions

Each month we’re posing six pub quiz style questions, with a different subject each month. As always, they’re designed to be difficult, but it is unlikely everyone will know all the answers – so have a bit of fun.

Biology

  1. What is the fastest land animal?
  2. How many hearts does an octopus have?
  3. Gentoo, Adelie and Macaroni are all species of what?
  4. What comic strip’s joke name for the row of spikes on a stegosaurus’s tail, the “thagomizer,” ended up becoming the official name?
  5. Which fruit did many people in the Western world think was poisonous until 1820?
  6. What is the natural compound present in green plants that gives them their colour?

Answers will be posted in 2 weeks time.

July 1925


Our look at some of the significant happenings 100 years ago this month.


1. Died. Erik Satie, 59, French composer

18. Adolf Hitler published Volume 1 of his autobiographical manifesto Mein Kampf.

20. An annular solar eclipse, visible across the south Pacific.

20. Born. Jacques Delors, French economist; in Paris (d.2023)

21. English racing motorist Malcolm Campbeli becomes the first man to exceed 150 mph (241 km/h) on land; at Pendine Sands, Wales he drives a Sunbeam 350HP automobiie at a two-way average speed of 150.33 mph (242 km/h)Sunbeam Bluebird

29. Born. Mikis Theodorakis, Greek songwriter; in Chios (d.2021)