Clipmarks | JohnWaterman's history collection

Meet the Fuggers

Mon, 23 Nov 2009 23:21:40 GMT

clipped by: JohnWaterman

The Fugger family dynasty began in the mid-14th century with a modest textile business in the Swabian town of Augsburg. Over the next two hundred years the family amassed one of the greatest fortunes of all time. Through banking and mining interests they acquired the wealth and assets of the Florentine House of Medici and exerted great influence over the Holy Roman Empire and the royal courts of Europe. Like the Medici, the Fuggers were also significant patrons of the arts during the Renaissance.

The Fugger family history, going back to the 1300s, was documented pictorially in two manuscripts from different time periods, displaying the crests, family trees and portraits of family members.

The Fugger family manuscripts are available from Bayerische Landesbibliothek Online in both regular browsing format and 3-D Java (turn-the-page by any other name) displays. The landing page is in English. An exhibition of these works will be held at the Bavarian State Library in March to May 2010.

The Theatre of Cruelty

Mon, 23 Nov 2009 23:12:39 GMT

clipped by: JohnWaterman

Clip Source: bibliodyssey.blogspot.com

Richard Verstegan

1548-?1636) was a Catholic Anglo-Dutch antiquarian, goldsmith and book publisher. The first half of his life was spent in England, but his religion prevented him from obtaining a degree from Oxford University,

Either following from the prejudice he suffered at Oxford or as a response to the incarceration and treatment of Mary Queen of Scots* (her 1587 beheading is seen above), Verstegan published the first edition of his martyrologium, 'Theatrum Crudelitatum', in 1583. The book may also have been conceived as a Catholic version of the famous Protestant 'Book of Martyrs'

Verstegan's book attempted to record, in gruesome detail, the cruelty, torture and murder of Catholic martyrs in Europe - including English victims under the reigns of Mary I and Elizabeth I* - at the hands of Protestant heretics

Upon publication, the author was arrested

The Man Under the Jaguar Mountain

Wed, 09 Sep 2009 22:03:40 GMT

clipped by: JohnWaterman
clipper's remarks: Much more information at the source site.

Clip Source: www.archaeology.org

A new royal Maya tomb emerges from the tunnels beneath Copán's Acropolis

The Maya kings of Copán were not interested in moving mountains. They preferred to build their own, like the pyramid now known as Temple 16

Inside an excavation tunnel deep beneath the pyramid's surface, the face of the sun-king scowls at me from the wall of his temple

The sun-king's face adorns the first floor of Rosalila, a temple that was once painted a brilliant, bloody shade of red. His image wears a headdress of red, yellow, and green plumage--the feathers of a quetzal and a macaw--and curving lines in his eyes associate him with depictions of the sun god

The Maya words for each of these sculptural elements spells his name, K'inich Yax K'uk' Mo', which translates as "Sun-Eyed Resplendent Quetzal Macaw," the first king of Copán.

Forty-three feet below the floor of the temple, the sun-king's tomb was found inside one of the first buildings to be constructed on the Acropolis. Beginning around A.D. 426

Fossil find in Georgia challenges theories on early humans

Wed, 09 Sep 2009 21:32:34 GMT

clipped by: JohnWaterman

Clip Source: www.guardian.co.uk

A skull from one of the five early Homo erectus skeletons unearthed at Dmanisi in Georgia. They are the earliest human remains to be discovered outside Africa. Photograph: Georgian National Museum

Early humans may have taken a detour into Eurasia before embarking on their epic journey out of Africa, according to new fossil evidence.

Palaeontologists in Georgia have unearthed remains of five primitive humans that date back to 1.8m years ago, suggesting some of our oldest ancestors lived in the region at the time.

The partial skeletons, which represent the earliest humans discovered outside Africa, challenge the theory that our ancestors evolved entirely on the continent and left the cradle of humanity only 60,000 years ago.

The fossils are thought to be early Homo erectus, a forerunner of modern humans, which lived in Africa 2m years ago. Lordkipanidze said some Homo erectus may have left Africa for Eurasia before returning much later.

Industrial Anatomy

Thu, 20 Aug 2009 15:31:09 GMT

clipped by: JohnWaterman
clipper's remarks: Click on images for larger, or go to the source for more links, info., etc..

Clip Source: bibliodyssey.blogspot.com

The above 2 images are from 'The Miracle of Life'
1941, edited by Harold Wheeler -
scanned and posted online in June by Laputan Logic.

This is a variant of the very well known Fritz Kahn image
[from 'Der Mensch als Industriepalast' -- 'Man as Industrial Palace' 1926]

This Fritz Kahn image is from 'Das Leben des Menschen' 1929 --
'The Life of Humans' -- found on this University of Konstanz subsite.
A much larger version is available at the dutch Debalie site.

'The Factory of the Lungs' (Kahn)

'The Reflex Mechanism of Salivation' (Kahn)

I've posted this image from the 'Dream Anatomy' site before but I
thought it was relevant again here. It may not be quite in the same
symbolic style as Kahn but this 1708 woodcut juxtaposition of human
anatomy with a building nonetheless conveys the idea of compartmentalising
and functional specialising. It is by Dr. Toviyah Kats from a Hebrew encylopedia.

'The Workings of the Nervous System' (Kahn)

Ethiopian Manuscripts

Thu, 20 Aug 2009 14:14:09 GMT

clipped by: JohnWaterman

Clip Source: bibliodyssey.blogspot.com

Alwan Codex 2 - Psalter - early 20th century

Left: Alwan Codex 2; Right: Alwan Codex 28

Alwan Codex 28 - Commentary on the Praises of
Mary and Gate of Light, Amharic - 20th century.

Alwan Codex 27 - Psalter - 19th/20th centuries

Eliza Codex 17 - Gospel of John; Horologium of Abba Giyorgis
for the night hours, incomplete - 16th and 18th centuries (composite)

Eliza Codex 23 - Psalter - early 20th century

Eliza Codex 24 - Psalter - 20th century.

Eliza Codex 26 -

Pillars of Mystery; Hymn to Mary, "All hosts of heaven glorify you"; Admonition; Amharic Commentary on Our Father; Amharic Commentary on Hail Mary; Wise saying in Amharic; Hymns to God, "All spiritual hosts of angels" - 19th/20th centuries.

University of Oregon Museum of Natural and Cultural
History, Shelf Mark 10-844 - Psalter - 20th century.

The twelve apostles and the Synodicon

"The standing figures of the twelve apostles acts as a frontispiece for a collection of texts called the Synodicon

The Gospel of Matthew.

Runway found for flying reptiles

Wed, 19 Aug 2009 21:18:58 GMT

clipped by: JohnWaterman
clipper's remarks: Fossil tracks show a pterosaur coming in for a landing

Clip Source: scienceblogs.com

Several million years ago, at a time when dinosaurs walked the earth, a flying reptile - a pterosaur - came in for a landing. As it approached, it used its powerful wings to slow itself down and hit the ground feet first. It took a short hopping step before landing a second time. On solid ground, it leant forward, put its arms down and walked away on all fours.

The landing made quite an impression on the underlying limestone mud and in the following millennia, the creature's tracks became fossilised. Now, they have been unearthed by Jean-Michel Mazin from the University of Lyon at a site near Crayssac in southwestern France.

Clip Source: dsc.discovery.com

Clip Source: scienceblogs.com

Clip Source: dsc.discovery.com

"The initial claw impressions coming out of the first parallel set of prints show that the claws were dragged a bit along the ground as the animal came forward out of this first set," co-author Kevin Padian told Discovery News. "The fact that they're parallel shows that they're being impressed together."

Clip Source: scienceblogs.com

pterosaurs can land in the style of most modern birds

Hiroshima: 64 years ago today.

Thu, 06 Aug 2009 18:06:36 GMT

clipped by: JohnWaterman
clipper's remarks: You'll need to visit the site to view the panorama mentioned in the clip and for information on each photo.

Clip Source: www.boston.com

August 6th, marks 64 years since the atomic bombing of Hiroshima, Japan by the United States at the end of World War II. Targeted for military reasons and for its terrain (flat for easier assessment of the aftermath), Hiroshima was home to approximately 250,000 people at the time of the bombing

Nearly 70,000 people are believed to have been killed immediately, with possibly another 70,000 survivors dying of injuries and radiation exposure by 1950

A Japanese soldier walks through a leveled area in Hiroshima

shortly before the bomb was dropped

the bomb codenamed "Little Boy"

Shortly after 8:15 am, August 5, 1945

Click, drag and zoom above to better view this panoramic view of a destroyed Hiroshima

weeks after the bombing

A "shadow" of a hand valve wheel on the painted wall of a gas storage tank

makeshift hospital

skin is burned in a pattern corresponding to the dark portions of a kimono

museum at the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park

Hiroshima today

Medieval battle records go online

Tue, 21 Jul 2009 16:30:29 GMT

clipped by: JohnWaterman
clipper's remarks: 9 entries for "John Waterman" in the muster database, including an archer serving at Agincourt (1415) for Henry V under the the captaincy of the Earl of Oxford.
A fascinating new resource.

Clip Source: news.bbc.co.uk

The detailed service records of 250,000 medieval soldiers - including archers who served with Henry V at the Battle of Agincourt - have gone online.

The database of those who fought in the Hundred Years War reveals salaries, sickness records and who was knighted.

The full profiles of soldiers from 1369 to 1453 will allow researchers to piece together details of their lives.

Thomas, Lord Despenser is the youngest soldier on the database, whose career began when he was aged just 12 in 1385.

Elsewhere, the career of Thomas Gloucestre, who fought at Agincourt, can be traced over 43 years and includes campaigns in Prussia and Jerusalem.

"The service records survive because the English exchequer had a very modern obsession with wanting to be sure that the government's money was being spent as intended

The free-to-use website, funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council, also shows which soldiers rode the furthest.

Clip Source: www.icmacentre.ac.uk

A pilot project database is now available for searching.

Clip Source: www.icmacentre.ac.uk

Muster roll database

The Anatomy of a Pygmie

Tue, 21 Jul 2009 11:34:15 GMT

clipped by: JohnWaterman

Clip Source: bibliodyssey.blogspot.com

In the late 1690s a chimpanzee had only been seen illustrated in Europe once previously and the larger apes such as the orangutan and gorilla were not discovered or described until the 18th and 19th centuries respectively. It was not surprising therefore that Tyson was given the opportunity to dissect a chimpanzee that had been brought over from Africa in 1698.

“one would be apt to think, that since there is so great a disparity
between the Soul of a Man, and a Brute, the Organ likewise in
which ’tis placed should be very different too.”

The chimpanzee was a juvenile

and was injured on board its transport ship. The injury later became infected and caused the chimp's death. This injury is either directly or inadvertently represented in the engraving above (all the drawings were done by the anatomist William Cowper) in which the bipedal chimp is seen using a walking stick. Tyson described the animal as quadru-manous to distinguish it from the quadrupeds.

Apollo 11 Anniversary Link-O-Rama

Fri, 17 Jul 2009 05:24:12 GMT

clipped by: JohnWaterman

Clip Source: www.universetoday.com

The Apollo 11 40th anniversary is coming at us fast and furious! With restored images and video, mission audio, interviews, and special features, who can keep track of it all? Well, we're going to try. We'll post here all the links we can find that has anything to do with the anniversary.

Audio, Video, etc:

Listen to Apollo 11 mission audio "live" to the minute as it happened 40 years ago (July 16-24) or listen later at any time: We Choose the Moon

High-Definition Restored Apollo 11 Video from NASA

Listen to audio recorded from inside the Apollo 11 spacecraft which have never been heard before by the public

Cool websites:

NASA's Apollo Missions website

NASA's Interactive Tranquility Base

Apollo 11 Timeline

The Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum's Apollo 11 site

The Boston Globe's Big Picture does Apollo 11

Discovery News Apollo 11 Slideshow

Miscellaneous:

Long Hidden Egyptian Treasures on Show In An English Castle

Thu, 16 Jul 2009 18:51:55 GMT

clipped by: JohnWaterman

Clip Source: dsc.discovery.com

July 16, 2009 -- Lord Carnarvon, the man who funded the discovery of the tomb of Tutankhamun and died five months later in mysterious circumstances before he could actually see the mummy's face, was a superstitious man who wore the same lucky bow tie all his life.

Such anecdotes are part of a unique exhibition at Highclere Castle, home of the Carnarvon family since the architect of London's Houses of Parliament built it in the 1840

he castle kept many secrets on its own. For more than 60 years, its walls concealed an important chapter of the King Tut search: a cache of Egyptian antiquities, excavated by George Herbert, 5th Earl of Carnarvon and his colleague and employee, Howard Carter in the years leading up to the discovery of the treasure-filled tomb

WATCH VIDEO: Explore the long-hidden treasures of Lord Carnavon's Castle.

The long-hidden collection is now presented in its full glory in the cellars of the castle

Ancient Alexandria under water

Tue, 14 Jul 2009 10:58:44 GMT

clipped by: JohnWaterman

Clip Source: www.franckgoddio.org

Project Timeline

Underwater archaeologist Franck Goddio first began to study ancient Alexandria back in the eighties, using historical documents as his guide. Before embarking on his missions in Egypt, he gathered valuable marine archaeology experiences excavating shipwrecks in Asia.

Clip Source: www.franckgoddio.org

Layout of the sunken royal quarters of Alexandria in the ancient Portus Magnus

Clip Source: www.franckgoddio.org

Artist's view of the ancient Portus Magnus of Alexandria

Clip Source: www.franckgoddio.org

Once cleared from sediments, these limestone pavements reveal an esplanade big enough to support great buildings.

Clip Source: www.franckgoddio.org

Sphinx found on the Antirhodos Island near to the priest carrying Osiris-Canopis.

History

Project Timeline

Mission Reports

Mission 1996-1997
Mission 1998
Mission 1999
Mission 2000-2003
Mission 2004-2005
Mission 2006
Mission 2007
Mission 2008

Maps and Illustrations

Layout sunken Alex...(Map)
Artist's view
Timonium (Map)
Meet the Sphinxes (Video)

Explore More

Gallery: 1 2

Clip Source: www.franckgoddio.org

Codex Fejervary Mayer - Sacred Aztec Calendar

Mon, 06 Jul 2009 06:35:04 GMT

clipped by: JohnWaterman

Clip Source: bibliodyssey.blogspot.com

Codex Fejérváry-Mayer is a 15th or early 16th Aztec (or Mixtec) manuscript on deer skin from Veracruz in central Mexico. Named for a Hungarian collector and British patron, this pre-Columbian accordion-style document outlines the cosmological and calendrical orientations of the Mayan people. As a typical calendar codex tonalamatl dealing with the sacred Aztec calendar -- the tonalpohualli -- it is grouped in the Codex Borgia group.

The painted manuscript divides the world into five parts. T-shaped trees delineate compass points: east at the top, west on the bottom, north on the left, and south on the right. The four directions are distributed around a sacred center, shown here as Xiuhtecuhlti, the god of fire

Tezcatlipoca tempted Cipactli the Earth Monster to the surface of the great waters by using his foot as bait. In swallowing his foot (s)he lost her lower jaw. Hideously crippled (s)he was unable to sink and thus the earth was created from her body."

35,000 year old flutes could have aided Neanderthals' decline

Wed, 24 Jun 2009 20:37:51 GMT

clipped by: JohnWaterman

Clip Source: scienceblogs.com

Thirty-five thousands years before the likes of Kraftwerk, Nena and Rammstein, the lands of Germany were resounding to a very different sort of musical sound - tunes emanating from flutes made of bird bones and ivory. These thin tubes have recently been uncovered by Nicholas Conard from the University of Tubingen and they're some of the oldest musical instruments ever discovered.

The ancient flutes hail from the Hohle Fels Cave in Germany's Ach Valley, a veritable treasure trove of prehistoric finds that have also yielded the oldest known figurative art. The flutes were found less than a metre away. Together, these finds show that Europeans had a rich artistic and musical culture as far back as the Upper Palaeolithic period, some 35,000 years ago.

Cultural traditions such as music could have played a small part in cementing large social networks

even contributed to our ancestors expanding their range at the cost of the more culturally conservative Neanderthals, who lived in the same area