History, Mythology, Art and RPGs

[Galloglaich]

Did you know Cool Book rhymes with Adventure Hook?

The first fechtbook in the Lichtenauer Tradition, MS 3227a, is known for it's verses from Lichteneauer, but it also includes sections on Magic spells, potions, fireworks, alchemy, asrology, and dental heigeine, plus knife fighting, staff fighting, messer fighting, and sword fighting. Talk about a cool book!

I think this provides an interesting insight into Medieval life in Central Europe, a much more interesting life than you might otherwise think.

From the wiki:

Nürnberger Handschrift GNM 3227a - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The codex Nürnberger Handschrift GNM 3227a (169 folia) is a manuscript dating from around 1389, preserved today in the Germanisches Nationalmuseum in Nuermburg(Nürnberg). It is frequently attributed to Hanko Döbringer.
It contains recipes for a wide range of purposes as well as treatises on martial arts Most notably, it is the earliest manuscript dealing with the art of fencing with the long sword of Johannes Lichtenauer which remained predominant in the German School of Swordsmanship for two centuries to come. See also Historical European Martial Arts.
Contents

• 1r - 5v treatise on fireworks (Marcus Graecus: Liber Ignium)
• 5v magic formulas in Latin and German
• 6r recipes forpowders used for painting
• 6v - 10v Latin recipes (paint, alchemy, medecine)
• 11r - 12r German instructions for the strengthening of iron (Von dem herten. Nu spricht meister Alkaym...)
• 12v - 13r alchemical recipes in Latin
• 13v - 17v treatise on sword fencing, on foot, on horseback, unarmoured or armoured (kunst des fechtens mit deme swerte czu fusse vnd czu rosse blos vnd yn harnuesche)
• 18r - 40r teachings of Johannes Liechtenauer on unarmoured foot combat. (Liechtenauers blozfechten czu fusse)
• 43r - 45v teachings of other masters, in verse (Hanko Döbringer, Andres Juden, Jost von der Neißen, Nidas Preußen).
• 47r - 48v glosses on technical terms of the preceding section
• 52v on sportive (non-serious) fencing (Schulfechten)
• 53r - 60v teachings of Liechtenauer on combat on horseback and armoured combat with spear and sword.
• 62r fragment on wrestling
• 64r - 65r recapitulation of the teachings of Liechtenauer
• 66v - 73v astrological texts, magical and medicinal recipes, name magic
• 74r fragment on combat with sword and shield
• 74v - 77v recipes for paint, tumors, metal and ivory treatment
• 78r fragment on combat with the long-staff
• 79r - 81v miscellaneous Latin recipes, treatment of gems, preparation of a miraculous potion
• 82 on combat with the long knife (Messer)
• 83v Latin calendar, 1390-1495 (the manuscript is dated to 1389 on the basis of this calendar)
• 84r - 85r on combat with daggers
• 85 magical recipes
• 86r - 89r Liechtenauer on wrestling, interspersed with additional recipes
• 90v - 165v recipes for dental hygeine, various alchemical recipes, food recipes, nonsense recipes, in various hands
• 166r - 169v index to the recipes in the manuscript, partly illegible

 

[Galloglaich]

Did a little more digging into historical sources for Germanic / Norse magic, here are a few "real" spells from the 10th - 11th Century:

Here are two Germanic / Norse magic spells from the 9th Century AD, one to release prisoners and another to cure a horse:

Merseburg Incantations - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Once the Idisi set forth,
to this place and that.
Some fastened fetters,
Some hindered the horde,
Some loosed the bonds
from the brave:
Leap forth from the fetters,
escape from the foes

Phol and Odin
rode into the woods,
There Balder's foal
sprained its foot.
It was charmed by Sinthgunt,
(so did) her sister Sunna.
It was charmed by Frija,
(so did) her sister Volla.
It was charmed by Odin,
as he well knew how:
Bone-sprain,
like blood-sprain,
Like limb-sprain:
Bone to bone,
blood to blood,
Limb to limb,
As though they were glued

Here is another one for curing poison, also from around the 10th Century:

A snake came crawling, it bit a man.
Then Woden took nine glory-twigs,
Smote the serpent so that it flew into nine parts.
There apple brought this pass against poison,
That she nevermore would enter her house.[1

Nine Herbs Charm - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Here is a list of Magical symbols used in Icelandic magic, compiled in the 16th Century but of a much more ancient lineage:

Icelandic magical staves - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Several of these would make good cantrips or spells, if you read the descriptions.

And here is a much more sinister one called the Hand of Glory, originally described by Albertus Magnus in the 13th century

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hand_of_Glory

There is a creepy story about it which you often see many different versions of:

http://www.shanmonster.com/witch/wards_tools/hand.html

According to one account, form the sixteenth-century demonologist Martin del Rio, a thief once lit the Hand of Glory outside a family's home, but he was observed by a servant girl. While he was busy ransacking the house, she was desperately trying to put out the candle. First she tried blowing it out, to no avail. Then she doused it with water, which didn't work; then she tried beer, which also didn't work. Milk, for unknown reasons, did. The moment the candle was extinguished, the family awoke and caught the thief red-handed; the maid was, of course, rewarded for her bravery and quick thinking.​

G.

 

[Galloglaich]

Great post on the origins of Valentines day, by an academic friend:

http://www.fioredeiliberi.org/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=14570http://www.fioredeiliberi.org/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=14570&p=248483#p248483

 

[Galloglaich]

Samurai vs. Pirates

One of the topics which has recieved nearly endless speculation on the internet, on shows such as 'Deadliest Warrior', and all across Geekdom, are the eternal quesions of whaat would happen if a warrior of this part of the world met one of that part.

Samurai and Pirates both feature high on this list... wouldn't it be interesting if they had ever crossed paths? How many debates have there been as to who would win? How about Samurai vs. Conqustadors, or Samurai vs. French Musketeers?

Well of course in fact, it is quite interesting to read about... in history books. Because of course, it did indeed happen many times. During the early Euriopean exploration of the Pacific, European soldiers, sailors, merchants, missionaries, explorers and indeed pirates of many European nationalities crossed paths with Japanese numerous times, often coming to blows. Throughout the 16th Century due to their harsh acts in the past, the Japanese were banned from China, but they had a huge demand for Chinese silk. The trade town of Nagasaki in Japan was built up by Portuguese silk traders. The Dutch meanwhile, used Ronin samurai as hired muscle by the tens of thousands primarily in Indonesia, as did Chinese Waco pirates operating especially out of the Philippines, which were also falling under the control of the Spanish. Duels and even pitched land and naval battles in the Pacific took place numerous times between Japanese Samurai and Portuguese, Spanish, and Dutch sailors and soldiers, and even occasionally with the English and French.

One of the earliest violent encounters betweenn the British and the Japanese occured in 1603 AD, when a pirate vessel comprised of Ronin Samurai encountered a British vessel commanded by a rogue British Captain named Sir Edward Michelborne who, due to being snubbed by the recently formed British East India company, had himself become a pirate who had been busy ravaging the "spice islands" around Malaysia and Borneo.

here is the first part of their encounter, transcribed from the book [ame=http://www.amazon.com/Nathaniels-Nutmeg-Incredible-Adventures-Changed/dp/B000LMPLLA/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1266507129&sr=8-1]Nathaniels Nutmeg[/ame], by Giles Milton:

As the ship drifted in the calm waters off the Malay Peninsula, a cry was suddenly raised from the look-out. A mysterious ship was approaching, a huge junk, whose decks were lined with more than eighty men. They were strange-looking fellows: short, squat, and with an almost total lack of expression on their faces. Sir Edward despatched a heavily armed boat to discover if these people were friend or foe and, after a breif exchange in which theEnglish learned that the vessel was 'a junke of the Japons', they were invited on board and shown around. When they enquired of the Japanese as to their line of business the men made no bones about their trade.

The Junk, like the Tiger, was a pirate ship and the men were proud of her devastating progresss through the waters of South-East Asia. She had pillaged the coasts of China and Cambodia, plundered half a dozen ships off Borneo, and was now heading back to Japan laden with spoils.
When the English party were safely back on the Tiger, Sir-Edward weighed up his options. Trusting to his previous good fortune, he decided to ransack the junk and, to this end, seent a second band of Englishmen on board to stake her out.

Although it was clear to the Japanese that Michelbourne's buccaneering sailors were assessing the strengths and weaknesses of the vessel, they welcomed the English with open arms and allowed them free access to the ship's hold. They even pointed to the choicest items on board, astonishing the crew of the tiger who had never met with such an odd race of men. 'They were most of them too gallant a habit for sailors,' wrote one, 'and such an equalitie of bheavior among them that they all seemed fellows.' When they asked to visit the English vessel, all agreed that it would be impolite to refuse.

Next: what happend when the Samurai boarded the Tiger...

G.

 

[Galloglaich]

So here is the rest of the story:

Here Michelborne's inexeperience told for the first time. He was unaware that the Japanese had the reputation in the Indes for being a 'people so desperate and daring that they are feared in all places' and was ignorrant of the fact that all eastern ports demanded that any Japanese sailor coming ashore must first be disarmed.

I have to interject here, those familiar with Japanese fencing systems or the martial art Iaido, or who are familiar with the Codex system, know that one of the most effective and popular attacks in Japanese fencing is the Nukutsuke, cutting from a sheathed sword... anyway, Giles Milton continues the story:

Davis [the navigator] too was 'beguiled by their humble semblance'. Not only was he of the opinion that disarming them was unnnecessary, he offered them the run of the ship and let them freely fraternise with the crew. As more and more Japanese clambered aboard, beakers were raised and the two crews joked and chatted among themselves.

Milton does not specify what language they were using the communicate.

In a flash everything changed: unbeknown to the English, the Japanese had, in the words of Michelborne, 'resolved with themselves either to gaine my shippe or to lose their lives'. The smiles vanished, the laughter died and the Japanese suddenly transformed themselves into brutal 'rogues' who stabbed and slashed (Nukitsuke!) at their English adversaries. The crew of the Tiger had never faced such hostility (which seems odd for Milton to say since they had been operating as pirates for several months already) and scarcely had a chance to resist before the deck was swarming with Japanese weilding (sic) long swords (katanas) and hacking men to pieces. Soon they reached the gun room where they found Davis desperately loading muskets. 'They pulled [him] into the cabbin and giving him sixe or seven mortall wounds, they thrust him out of the cabbin.' He stumbled on deck but the sword wounds had severed one of his arteries and he bled to death. Others too, were in their final death throes and it seemed inevitable that the Tiger would shortly be lost.

It was Michelborne who saved the day. Thrusting pikes [probably Bills or boarding pikes which may be like half-sized pikes or something like a bill] into the hands of his best fighters he launched a last-ditch attack on the Japanese soldiers 'and killed three or four of their leaders'. This disheartened the Japanese who slowly found themselves at a disadvantage. Armed with knives and swords, they were unable to compete with Michelborne's pikemen (sic) and found themselves driven down the deck until they stood en masse by the entrance to the cabin. Sensing their predicament, they let out a terrific scream and dashed headlong into the heart of the ship.

The English were at a loss as to know how to evict them. Not one man volunteered to follow them into the cabin for to do so would be to court certain death. It was equally hopeless to send a large group down. The passageway was low and narrow and the men would end up wounding themselves rather than the Japanese.

Eventually a bright spark on board had a simple but devastating solution. Two thirty-two-pound demi-culverins were loaded with 'crosse-bars, bullets, and case-shot' and fired at point-blank range into the most exposed side of the cabin. There was a deafening crash as the shrapnel tore through the woodwork and 'violently marred therwith boords and splinters'., A terrible shriek followed, a cry of agony, and then there was silence. When the smoke cleared and the dust settled, the cabin was entered and it was found that only one of the twenty-two japanese had survived. 'Their legs, armes and bodies were so torne, as it was strange to see how the shot had massacred them.'

It was now time for Michelborne to have his revenge. Training every last cannon on the Japanese junk, he fired shot after shot into her sides until the men on board begged for mercy. When this was refused they vowed to go down fighting and the battle raged until all resistance was quelled and the junk fell silent. Only one Japanese attempted to surrender. Diving into the water he swam across to the Tiger and was hauled aboard. When quizzed by Sir Edward [Michelborne] as to the motive for the attack he 'told us that htey meant to take our shippe and cut all our throates'. Having said this, and terrified by the crowd of hostile onlookers, he told Michelborne that his one desire was 'that hee might be cut in pieces'. Michelborne preferred a less bloody method of execution and ordered the man to be strung up at the yardarm. This sentence was duly carried out but the rope snapped and the man dropped into the sea. No one could be bothered to haul him in and as the coast was not far away it was presumed that he escaped with his life.

An interesting, and in a gallows humor sense, quite amusing story. Tells us a lot and makes for an interesting scene particularly if you read between the lines a little. There is no doubt at least some of these Japanese 'pirates' were Ronin Samurai. The English vessel probably had both sailors and at least some professional soldiers on board. The Japanese were probably armed with katana or tachi and tanto knives.

The English would have been armed with bills, (or boarding pikes), axes, sabers, cutlasses, rapiers, cut-thrust swords, hangers, possibly even a longsword or two, as well as wheellock or flintlock muskets, musketoons and pistols, maybe longbows or arbalests (crossbows), and quite possibly grenades. Just maybe even a 17th Century grenade launcher (probably not though because these don't show up in records much until the 18th Century)

It is likely that some of the English soldiers from the original English boarding party were wearing armor. Cuirass, half armor and three quarters harness were mentioned in many period documents, as well as (surprisingly) mail quite often. Probably some of the Ronin as well had armor, though the Japanese boarding party may not have had any on (it would have made the English suspicious) which may have been a factor in how the battle went.

This was by no means the only such encounter nor did it always go this way. Ronin Samurai were hired in the thousands or tens of thousands by the Dutch, who used them to help conquer Malaysia, Indonesia and the 'Spiceries', along with mercenaries from Europe (reportedly German 'landsknechts' though it is unclear what that really meant in the 17th Century). Samurai were involved in fighting between the Dutch, the English, the Portuguese, the Spanish, as well as the ferocious Moro of the Philippines, Chinese Waco pirates and various local tribes such as the headhunting Dayak. Then later the French showed up....

The East indies in the 17th Century was an interesting place.

G.

 

[Votan]

There is no doubt at least some of these Japanese 'pirates' were Ronin Samurai. The English vessel probably had both sailors and at least some professional soldiers on board. The Japanese were probably armed with katana or tachi and tanto knives. The English would have been armed with bills, (or 'pikes'), axes, sabers, cutlasses, smallswords, as well as muskets, musketoons and pistols, and possibly rapiers and backswords, and possibly even a longsword or two.

That is one thing that D&D does not seem to simualte well -- breaking a wall of pikes is not for the faint of heart without ranged weapons of some kind. Whereas I find that the use of a group of reach weapons results in only a minor edge in actual play.

 

[Galloglaich]

That is one thing that D&D does not seem to simualte well -- breaking a wall of pikes is not for the faint of heart without ranged weapons of some kind. Whereas I find that the use of a group of reach weapons results in only a minor edge in actual play.

Not in my system

G.

 

[Galloglaich]

Different types of Boarding pikes

Sailor / re-enactors drilling with the 19th Century version of boarding pikes

Bill-hooks or "Guisarme"

A grenade launcher or 'hand mortar'. There are records of a hand mortar like this one in the British colonial arsenal in Proceedings of the council of Maryland from 1688, and a journal of a fur trader named Alexander Henry reports the use of one used in action to fire thirty grenades against the Sioux Indians in 1808.

English soldiers of the era

Real Japanese Samurai from a 19th Century photo

 

[Galloglaich]

Real samurai from a photo in the 1860's, during the boshin-war.

Armor of an English pikeman, from the early 1600's

English pikemans kit from the early 17th Century

The google books scan of the 17th Century diary of John Davis, the ill-fated navigator of the Tiger

The voyages and works of John Davis ... - Google Books

G.

 

[Galloglaich]

Another cool photo of some Samurai from 1880, Japan

G.