Exploring the medieval roots of romance

How romantic were the knights in shining armor?

How often are such stories provided before or on Valentines Day?

Exploring the medieval roots of romance | Stanford Report "Stanford historian Jenna Phillips discusses the influence of medieval customs on Valentine’s Day traditions, highlighting how 12th- and 13th-century poets and musicians shaped our modern understanding of love."

Fiction or reality?

Image of the day

Bunting's clover leaf map of the world with Jerusalem at the center. "(German title: "Die ganze Welt in einem Kleberblat/Welches ist der Stadt Hannover meines lieben Vaterlandes Wapen")"

Credits: The Origins of the Jewish People (All Biblical History in 36 minutes)

 

The Prosthetic Iron Hand of a 16th-century legendary German Knight

Yes, Götz von Berlichingen is among the most famous knights of Germany. I have once visited his castle many years ago. His famous two prosthetic iron hands are truly marvels!

Unfortunately, the article below contains fairly little about the mechanics or origins of the two iron hands! Very regrettable for a popular science article!

Wikipedia has an article specifically on the two iron hands, but it is avalable in German language only.

With his artificial hand, the knight was still able to conduct combat in battle! With his prosthetic hand he died at age 82. He penned even an autobiography before he died.

"... With a sizable chest of cash after years of looting, von Berlichingen upgraded to a new iron arm. Version 2.0 was splendid, equipped with joints at each knuckle and spring-loaded mechanisms to lock fingers into place, in a manner similar to the ratchet-and-pawl system used in handcuffs. ...
Before he passed away, the Iron Hand penned an autobiography that inspired Johann Wolfgang von Goethe ... to write Götz von Berlichingen, a dramatic play based on Berlichingen’s life published in 1773 ."

The Prosthetic Iron Hand of a 16th-century legendary Cyborg Knight The unbelievable story of a Bavarian knight who lost a hand in battle but gained a mechanical prosthetic hand that was way ahead of its time.

The first and older hand:

The newer and much better second hand:

Insights into the lives of medieval monks in the UK

Recommendable!

"Medieval monks had a relatively peaceful life, at least compared to other folks of their time. They lived within friaries or other monastic complexes, studied religion, and tended to their garden and picturesque lifestyle. ...

In medieval times, regular folks were buried in a communal parish cemetery, naked and only wrapped in a shroud, giving very few clues to work with. Without any tomb, any clothes, and any indication of what life they lived, this leaves archaeologists little to go on.

But monks are different. Monks and nuns were typically buried in separate cemeteries, which allows archaeologists to carry out a comparative study and see what differences they can find between monks and the general population. The new study focused on 44 people (19 monks from the friary grounds and 25 locals) from medieval Cambridge, UK. ...
The Augustinian friary was an international study house — or a studium generale as it was known, where clergy not only from Britain but also from Europe could come to read manuscripts ...

It’s not the first study of this type. Previous research has shown that monks had a longer average lifespan and a better diet than the general population (although the monks’ diet was also far from ideal). But when researchers looked at parasites, they found that 58% of Augustinian friars were infected with roundworm or whipworm, compared to only 32% from the parish cemetery. ...

Friars enjoyed a higher general standard of life than the general population. They had purpose-built latrines and hand-washing facilities, which was a rare luxury at the time. ...
An explanation could be fertilizers — monks took good care of their gardens, but at the time, taking good care included some practices that seem rather questionable now. For instance, they would fertilize their gardens with feces, but this also includes human poop that would presumably be taken from the latrines. This would create a cycle where if they had parasites, they would be passed on through poop, and then reach the garden and reinfect the friars. ..."

Medieval monks had a lot of intestinal parasites -- much more than the average person The life of a medieval friar was tough.

Intestinal parasite infection in the Augustinian friars and general population of medieval Cambridge, UK (open access)

Freiheit der Wissenschaften - Rückkehr ins Mittelalter

Ganz meiner Meinung! Das Zeitalter der Aufklärung ist lange her! Wir brauchen längst ein neues Zeitalter der Aufklärung! Zu viele Wissenschaftler in unserer Zeit können es mit Demagogen und Ideologen aufnehmen!

Z.B. das ganze Theater und die massive Demagogie um den Klimawandel (Global Warming hoax, Climate Change religion) bei dem auch zahlreiche und auch anerkannte Wissenschaftler mitwirken ist zutiefst beunruhigend und schockierend!

Freiheit der Wissenschaften - Rückkehr ins Mittelalter | Cicero Online (behind paywall) Das jüngste Beispiel der Philosophin Kathleen Stock von der Universität Sussex macht deutlich: Die Freiheit der Wissenschaft ist nicht nur von außen bedroht, sondern zunehmend auch von innen – aus dem Wissenschaftsbetrieb selbst. Auch an deutschen Universitäten droht das Klima zu kippen.

The demand for renewable energy is like going back to medieval ages

Many times in history humans have become obsessed with superstitions, dogmas and fantasies. With renewable energy (wind power, solar power) it is no different! What a mirage! It is actually sad that this still happens in the 21st century! Are we not getting any smarter than our ancestors? We are not standing on the shoulders of giants, but scurrying ants!

Renewable energy is very unreliable and anything but environmentally friendly nor are they clean! The tons of money that was wasted on these energies should have been spent on better alternatives e.g better economic development in less developed countries to reduce population growth and much more ...

Wine Was A Widely Applied Cure In The Medieval Ages

Hospitals, in the good old days, had wine cellars! Patients would receive up to 2 liters of wine per day! Wine was used to clean wounds and medical instruments!

https://www.the-scientist.com/foundations/wine-therapy--middle-ages-66438