General news, articles and discussions regarding the early modern period, which followed the Middle Ages and preceded the modern era.
During this period, improvements in mapping and ship design brought faster travel and increased colonialism, opening up the New World and other regions. Feudalism declined in Europe, as the Age of Enlightenment saw adoption of the scientific method and the advance of ideals such as liberty and progress. Mercantilism paved the way to capitalism and industrialisation.
Ending scene from Apocalypto (2006). From Wikipedia:
"According to the DVD commentary track by Mel Gibson and Farhad Safinia, the ending of the film was meant to depict the first contact between the Spaniards and Mayas that took place in 1511 when Pedro de Alvarado arrived on the coast of the Yucatán and Guatemala, and also during the fourth voyage of Christopher Columbus in 1502."
The Gin Craze was a period in the first half of the 18th century when the consumption of gin increased rapidly in Great Britain, especially in London. Daniel Defoe commented: "the Distillers have found out a way to hit the palate of the Poor, by their new fashion'd compound Waters called Geneva, so that the common People seem not to value the French-brandy as usual, and even not to desire it".
Parliament passed five major Acts, in 1729, 1736, 1743, 1747 and 1751, designed to control the consumption of gin. Though many similar drinks were available and alcohol consumption was considerable at all levels of society, gin caused the greatest public concern. Although it is commonly thought gin or Jenever was the singular drink, "gin" was a blanket statement for all grain-based alcohols at the time.
(Archaelogy.org) Along a stretch of the West African coast known to European explorers and traders as “White Man’s Grave” due to its association with death from malaria, yellow fever, dengue, and heat exhaustion, Danish soldiers and merchants built a fortified structure called Christiansborg Castle in 1661. The building survives to this day in what is now the city of Accra, Ghana, where it is known as Osu Castle, after the district in which it stands. Since 2014, archaeologists led by Christiansborg Archaeological Heritage Project director Rachel Ama Asaa Engmann have been working at the castle. They have uncovered evidence of a Euro-African community made up of European men who worked at the castle, African women they married, and the children of their unions. The primary business in which this community was engaged was the transatlantic slave trade. With only a few brief interludes, from the construction of the fort until 1803, when Denmark began to enforce its abolition of that trade, an estimated tens of thousands of enslaved people were held in Christiansborg Castle’s dungeons before being taken to the Danish West Indies, which included the Caribbean islands of Saint Croix, Saint John, and Saint Thomas. At least 100,000 captives were transported during the Danish transatlantic slave trade.
Europeans began formally trading with West African peoples in the last quarter of the fifteenth century, nearly 200 years prior to the construction of Christiansborg Castle. The Portuguese built Elmina Castle, the first permanent European trading post in West Africa, on the same stretch of coast as Christiansborg Castle, some 85 miles west, in 1482. Over the next 300 years, European nations, including Portugal, the Netherlands, England, France, Spain, Sweden, and Denmark, constructed around 80 castles, forts, and trading lodges within the borders of modern Ghana alone. This territory represents a fraction of the entire region of West Africa where Europeans traded with African groups and acquired captives, a massive area Europeans called Guinea, which stretched from roughly modern Senegal to modern Gabon.
How do you Spot a Witch? Notorious 15th-century Book Gave Instructions – and Helped Execute Thousands of Women
October 21, 2021
Introduction:
(The Conversation) Books have always had the power to cast a spell over their readers – figuratively.
But one book that was quite popular from the 15th to 17th centuries, and infamously so, is literally about spells: what witches do, how...(to) identify them, how to get them to confess, and how to bring them to swift punishment.
As fear of witches reached a fever pitch in Europe, witch hunters turned to the “Malleus Maleficarum,” or “Hammer of Witches,” for guidance. The book’s instructions helped convict some of the tens of thousands of people – almost all women – who were executed during the period. Its bloody legacy stretched to North America, with 25 supposed “witches” killed in Salem, Massachusetts, in the late 1600s.
Further Extract:
The first (part) argues that witches do in fact exist, sorcery is heresy, and not fearing witches’ power is itself an act of heresy. Part Two goes into graphic detail about witches’ sexual deviancy, with one chapter devoted to “the Way whereby Witches copulate with those Devils known as Incubi.” An incubus was a male demon believed to have sex with sleeping women.
It also describes witches’ ability to turn their victims into animals, and their violence against children. The third and final part gives guidelines on how to interrogate a witch, including through torture; get her to confess; and ultimately sentence her.
Wreck of Historic Royal Ship Discovered off the English Coast June 9, 2022
Introduction:
(EurekAlert) The wreck of one of the most famous ships of the 17th century - which sank 340 years ago while carrying the future King of England James Stuart - has been discovered off the coast of Norfolk in the UK, it can be revealed today.
Since running aground on a sandbank on May 6, 1682, the wreck of the warship the Gloucester has lain half-buried on the seabed, its exact whereabouts unknown until brothers Julian and Lincoln Barnwell, with their friend James Little, found it after a four-year search.
Due to the age and prestige of the ship, the condition of the wreck, the finds already rescued, and the accident’s political context, the discovery is described by maritime history expert Prof Claire Jowitt, of the University of East Anglia (UEA), as the most important maritime discovery since the Mary Rose.
The Gloucester represents an important ‘almost’ moment in British political history: a royal shipwreck causing the very near-death of the Catholic heir to the Protestant throne at a time of great political and religious tension.
Now a major exhibition is planned for Spring 2023, the result of a partnership between the Barnwell brothers, Norfolk Museums Service, and academic partner UEA. Running from February to July at Norwich Castle Museum & Art Gallery, the exhibition will display finds from the wreck - including the bell that confirmed the ship’s identity - and share ongoing historical, scientific and archaeological research.
The Last Voyage of the Gloucester: The Politics of a Royal Shipwreck
by Claire Jowitt
June 10, 2022
(The English Historical Review) The significance of the wreck of the Gloucester on 6 May 1682 en route to Scotland, with James Stuart, duke of York, later James II and VII, on board, is poorly understood. Based on new archival research, this article places the event in its political, cultural and naval contexts in order to re-evaluate its importance to British history and to correct a number of inaccuracies in recent historiography. The wreck occurred at a sensitive political moment when, within the maelstrom of the Exclusion Crisis (1679–81), the Duke was hopeful of securing his place in the succession.
However, thanks in part to the cultural vigour of the ‘ship of state’ trope, the disaster risked James being regarded as a pilot and commander unable to steer the nation. Because his political enemies could use the shipwreck as propaganda to undermine his position as heir to the throne, the event in general, and especially the Duke’s behaviour, became popular topics which were debated and contested from Whig and Tory viewpoints. Since the tragedy occurred at sea, one arm of early modern state apparatus that was especially responsive to these debates was the English navy, which was itself in the midst of a power struggle between Crown and admiralty for control over its future direction. The article sheds new light on the far-reaching implications for James’s reign of the sinking of the Gloucester, and argues afresh for the centrality of maritime history to Restoration political history.
When Spanish forces and their allies conquered the Aztec city of Tenochtitlán in 1521, they began building directly on top of the city’s ruins and eradicating Aztec religion and traditions.
But now, a new discovery in Mexico City indicates that some Aztec customs endured in the years that followed.
Archaeologists have found the graves of four children dating to between 1521 and 1620, all buried in accordance with pre-Hispanic practices, according to a statement from Mexico’s National Institute of Anthropology and History.
The children range in age; the youngest was an infant, and the oldest was between six and eight. This older child was buried with several small items, including a blue figurine of a woman holding a girl on her lap.
Why did these children die? The researchers aren’t sure, but the burials “do not have traces of ritual sacrifice,” per the statement, so their deaths are more likely to be “associated with a time of crisis.”
Cartography shows that the Isthmus of Tehuantepec was used as an inter-oceanic passage in the 16th century https://phys.org/news/2022-10-cartograp ... ssage.html
by University of SevilleCartography shows that the Isthmus of Tehuantepec was used as an inter-oceanic passage in the 16th century
by University of Seville
The Isthmus of Tehuantepec, a region located in the south of Mexico, is the shortest distance between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans in all the country. Only 220 kilometers separate the two oceans. In the first half of the 16th century, Spanish conquerors put great effort into finding a strait that would connect the two oceans. This meant that, in the conquest explorations of the 16th century, this region was used as an inter-oceanic passage, making approximately two thirds of the journey along the mighty river Coatzacoalcos and the rest overland.
This information is the result of the paper "The Map of the Coatzacoalcos River (1580): The First Cartography of the Isthmus of Tehuantepec," a study published in The Cartographic Journal and conducted by lecturer Manuel Morato Moreno, from the Higher Technical School of Engineering (ETSI); and emeritus professor José María Gentil Baldrich.
Interest of the Spanish monarchy in the Isthmus of Tehuantepec
In 1580, the mayor of Coatzacoalcos received a mandate from the Spanish crown to discover different aspects of the overseas territories, such as the geography, topography, place names, indigenous languages, plants, etc. He therefore commissioned a map to describe the geography of the region, indicating the geographic features, towns, and communication routes. For this, he had the assistance of Francisco Gali, a Spanish sailor traveling across these lands on his way to the Pacific coast.
The exploration of this region between the "North Sea" and the "South Sea" had been, since the conquest of Mesoamerica, fixed in the minds of the Spanish monarchy and their representatives. Charles V made this project one of the priority missions of the explorers whose objective was to connect the kingdom of New Spain with the kingdom of Peru. Hernán Cortés also used it in 1520 to transport equipment, stores, and supplies.
How Smallpox Inoculation United America
by Heidi Ledford
December 5, 2022
Introduction:
(Nature) It took some work to convince the physicians of 1720s Boston, Massachusetts, that Onesimus, an enslaved Black man, might hold the key to overcoming an impending smallpox epidemic. As cases mounted, and with no other options, one doctor eventually decided to take a chance.
Onesimus had told his enslaver how people in Africa took material from the pustules of someone with the disease and stabbed it under the skin of others to protect them. This practice, later called variolation, had been used in some parts of the world for centuries, but was not widely embraced by Europeans.
His enslaver found a physician in Boston willing to give it a go. The result was an early step towards widespread inoculation, and towards the concept that governments have the responsibility to protect communities against infectious diseases.
In The Contagion of Liberty, historian Andrew Wehrman traces the path of the smallpox-inoculation movement, and its generally overlooked impact on politics around the American War of Independence. He argues that smallpox influenced the journey towards independence from British rule, and how Americans conceived of their new, hard-won liberties.
Scientists Indicate Aztecs Referenced the Sun to Feed Millions by Carly Cassella
December 13, 2022
Introduction:
(Science Alert) A new study has shown how ancient civilizations in central Mexico might have once used specific features of their rugged landscape to mark key points in the seasons, allowing them to plan the planting of crops needed to keep a thriving population of millions alive and well.
Led by University of California, Riverside plant ecologist Exequiel Ezcurra, the research validates speculations that the jagged horizon peaks of Mount Tlaloc served as a way to monitor the agricultural calendar to match the seasons as per the passing of each solar year.
In the spring, the Mexico Valley is hot and dry. Come summer and early fall, it is monsoon season. The annual cycle of wet and dry means that crops must be planted at very specific times. Otherwise, the entire harvest can be undermined.
"Planting too early, following the cue of a first haphazard early rain, can be disastrous if the true rainy season does not continue," explain Ezcurra and his fellow researchers.
"Waiting to plant late, after the monsoon season has clearly started, can expose the corn field, or milpa, to an overly short growing season and will also put the crop under competition from weeds that have already germinated."
Why the U.S. Never Adopted the Metric System. It's About Pirates by Jack Dunhill
January 27, 2023
Extract:
(IFL Science) (I)n the late 1700s small cylinders (called “graves” but later named kilograms) were made that represented the mass of one cubic decimeter of water at 4°C (39.2°F) as closely as science allowed….
Thomas Jefferson, Secretary of State at the time, wrote a letter to France enquiring about adopting the new system, and France answered by sending Joseph Dombey, a French scientist, and a one-kilogram copper weight on a voyage to the States. Sadly, for Dombey and the crew, they were never to make it across the Atlantic.
A harsh storm hit the vessel, blowing them far off course. When the storm cleared, Dombey and the crew found themselves in the Carribean Sea, which – if you’re a 18th-century sailor – is possibly the last place you want to be. The vessel was captured by privateers, a type of pirate who were helped by the British government to attack shipping lanes, and the entire crew were imprisoned in Montserrat. Awaiting a ransom that never came, Dombey and the crew died in captivity.
Ironically, the pirates weren’t interested in how heavy a kilogram was and didn’t care for the grave, if they even knew what it was. The contents of the ship were auctioned off and the kilogram that could’ve redefined American measurement was purchased by Andrew Ellicott, who passed it down through his family until 1952, when it was given to what is now known as the National Institute of Standards and Technology, according to NPR.
The US went on to develop their own units, called customary units, which were used until the US and UK made efforts to align their unit definitions in 1959, creating the measurements that are most often used today in conjunction with other systems.
While it’s nice to think that pirates may be the sole reason why the US never went metric, there are plenty of other reasons. Efforts have been made across the centuries to join the rest of the world, but costs, time, and public opinion have prevented the switch from ever happening. However, the original reason, the reason that metric never even touched down on the shores of the US, is absolutely pirates.
DNA: Woman Was On Famed 17th Century Swedish Warship April 4, 2023
Introduction:
COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AP via Courthouse News) — A U.S. military laboratory has helped Swedes confirm what was suspected for years: A woman was among those who died on a 17th-century warship that sank on its maiden voyage, the museum that displays the ship said Tuesday.
The wreck of the royal warship Vasa was raised in 1961 and was remarkably well-preserved after more than 300 years underwater in the Stockholm harbor. It has since been placed at the Vasa Museum, one of Stockholm’s top tourist attractions where visitors can admire its intricate wooden carvings.
Some 30 people died when the Vasa keeled over and sank just minutes after leaving port in 1628. They are believed to have been crew members and most of their identities are unknown.
For years, there were indications that one of the victims, known as G, was a woman, because of the appearance of the hip bone, Fred Hocker, research leader at the Vasa Museum, said in a statement.
Anna Maria Forsberg, a historian with the Vasa Museum, told The Associated Press that women were not part of the crew in the Swedish navy in the 17th century, but they could be on board as guests. Seamen were allowed to have their wives with them onboard unless the ship was going into battle or going for a long journey.
When Did Horses Arrive in the Western United States? by Tory More
March 31, 2023
Introduction:
(Futurity) Until now, the accepted theory of horses arriving to the Great Plains and Northern Rockies was shaped by word of mouth and lore.
The new research, published in Science, establishes the expansion of the domesticated horse through DNA evidence.
The researchers compared genetic samples from horse remains at archeological sites to the genetics of rare, early horse breeds similar to those that came over with early settlers. They found familial ties indicating that horses arrived with Europeans and then made their way west during the 17th century. Horses were not out west 10,000 years ago when nomadic people first arrived in North America.
Some archaeological evidence like bones, horseshoes, and colonial items have been found in various locations across the US and occasionally in deposits west of the Mississippi. However, when it came to whether horses were always in the western US or if they came over with Europeans and Spaniards and made it from the East Coast to the Rockies, horses left an open book.
Horses themselves and horsemanship seemed to have spread west faster than Europeans did, the researchers also found. Some of the early horse fossils showed horses were established in the Great Plains before the European and Spanish made their way west. More research needs to be done to understand just how this happened, but it’s another fascinating finding.
caltrek wrote: ↑Wed Apr 05, 2023 2:48 pm
The wreck of the royal warship Vasa was raised in 1961 and was remarkably well-preserved after more than 300 years underwater in the Stockholm harbor. It has since been placed at the Vasa Museum, one of Stockholm’s top tourist attractions where visitors can admire its intricate wooden carvings.
