Innholdsfortegnelse for Issue 163 i All About History

In 1498, the Portuguese explorer Vasco da Gama reached the shores of India. His voyage opened up a previously unknown maritime route via the Cape of Good Hope and began a new chapter in the spice trade. Over the following centuries this route allowed Portugal to trade directly with the spice merchants of Asia in territories such as India, China and the Spice Islands. Until the 17th century, when their dominance of the African route was challenged by the Netherlands, Portuguese merchant ships known as naus (called carracks in other countries) made the long voyage, their hulls laden with spices. The nau was specifically designed with these long voyages in mind and their hulls were much wider and larger than previous ships to allow for the added cargo. This also…

Roger Crowley is an historian who specialises in maritime and Mediterranean history. He is the author of a number of books on these subjects, including Empires of the Sea: The Final Battle for the Mediterranean, 1521-1580 and Constantinople: The Last Great Siege. Why were spices so valuable? It’s hard for us now to understand the lure of spices in history. As far back as 5,000 years ago their startling aromas, colours and tastes had a strong hold on the peoples of the past. They conjured up a sense of the exotic, provided glimpses of paradise, suggested potential cures for medical ailments, enriched dull food and inferred a portal to the divine. Because the sources of spices were mysterious and largely unknown, certainly within Europe, they filled a colourful space in…

The manic rush to grab the ‘it’ toy of the holiday season has been immortalised in film and television over the years. There was a great deal of social cache attached to being able to give your child the gift of the season. What that gift would be, however, was always changing and evolving. Toys have played an important role in the lives of children for millennia, but it was only with the mass production and international shipping of the 20th century that novelties could go from local favourite to international sensation. Here we take a look at some of the most explosive toy crazes from the previous century, how they emerged and the legacy they left behind. BARBIE RELEASED: 1959 SOLD: 1 BILLION The brainchild of Mattel cofounder Ruth Handler,…

Fapan’s imperial history stretches back at least 1,500 years in an unbroken line of descent, with the throne passing seamlessly from father to son, uncle to nephew. What is frequently not appreciated, however, is that among the seemingly endless line of male emperors eight women have sat on Japan’s Chrysanthemum Throne, ruling in their own right over the country’s estimated 14,000 islands. Suiko, the first Tenno To find the first, and possibly the greatest of these female emperors, we have to go back almost to the beginning of Japan’s recorded history. Suiko, who was the daughter, wife and sister of emperors, was surprisingly selected for the throne in 592 when she was around 40 years old. She was, probably, a compromise candidate and one that her ministers hoped to control.…

THE HURRICANE Director: Norman Jewison Starring: Denzel Washington, Deborah Kara Unger, Liev Schreiber Country: USA Year: 1999 Does this story of unjust incarceration stick to the evidence?…

27 November 1978 HARVEY MILK ASSASSINATED Politician Harvey Milk was one of the first openly gay elected officials in America. A staunch LGBTQ+ activist, he was a member of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors in 1978 when he and Mayor George Moscone were shot by fellow politician Dan White in San Francisco’s City Hall. In this photograph, Milk’s body is pictured being removed from the building. At White’s trial the following year he was convicted of voluntary manslaughter, sparking the White Night Riots in which the LGBTQ+ community took to the streets of San Francisco in response to the lenient sentencing. 2 December 1983 MICHAEL JACKSON’S THRILLER PREMIERES The most famous and influential music video of all time, Thriller debuted on MTV on 2 December 1983, just over a…

C.1800 - 1900 While we might immediately think of spices as ingredients used to add flavour to our diet, throughout history and around the world they continue to serve many other purposes. One of these has been in religious and spiritual ceremonies such as the Jewish ritual of Havdalah, which ends the Shabbat. The ceremony involves wine, a candle and – of course – fragrant spices. Throughout the centuries many beautiful spice boxes or spice towers have been made for this ritual. The Havdalah ceremony incorporates numerous senses. During the ritual, the participants light the candle, bless the wine and smell the perfume of the spices. As you can see, the example here is in the shape of a tower. Other historical examples can be found in a variety of…

1 MERCADO BENITO JUÁREZ OAXACA, MEXICO First opened in 1894, Mercado Benito Juárez is one of the oldest markets in the city of Oaxaca, Mexico. Among the thriving market stalls, visitors will find delicious local spices and a variety of dried chillies (if you can handle the heat!). As with some of the other markets showcased here, spices are not the only delight to be found among the bustling stalls and vendors – the market also specialises in agave worms, which are often sold inside bottles of tequila. They can also be eaten fried and are one of the many delicious treats available. Perhaps the most famous item to be found among the many spices and street vendors are the Casilda Waters – fruit-flavoured water that has been sold in…

Cyrus the Great founded one the most impressive regimes of the ancient world, the Persian Empire, which lasted for two centuries (550-330 BCE) until it was destroyed by Alexander the Great. Despite its significance, undisputed facts about Cyrus’ conquests are thin on the ground. Scholars tease what they can from legend; from cuneiform tablets; from brief, one-sided accounts in the Old Testament; and from Cyrus’ own statements justifying his prodigious conquests. Before Cyrus’ time, modern-day Turkey and rest of the Middle East was divided between three empires: Lydia in western Turkey; Media, which spread across to today’s Central Asia; and Babylonia, spanning Iraq, Iran and the Mediterranean coast. The ancient Assyrian Empire had been divided between the Medes and the Babylonians. To the east and north, in the unknown heart…

And He took a cup and when He had given thanks He gave it to them saying: ‘Drink this, all of you.’” According to St Matthew’s account of the last meal Jesus had with his disciples, these were the words he spoke before being taken prisoner and hauled before Pilate. Mark, Luke and Paul repeat the account in their own ways. The meal, and Jesus’ actions and words during it, became the basis for Christian commemorations of the Last Supper – the Eucharist – in the first century and the following centuries. There was no more significant and holy event in the religion, and the cup into which Jesus poured the wine was seen as the receptacle into which he poured his blood for the salvation of all. A little…

Dinners and social gatherings are matters of great importance in the lives of Jane Austen’s characters, but sometimes the specifics of what they’re eating and drinking aren’t always clear. There are a few exceptions, of course, such as Mr Bingley’s white soup in Pride And Prejudice or the strawberries in Emma. There are also plenty of references to food in how Austen portrays events and people, such as in one of her earliest works, Lesley Castle, where someone is described as being “as White as a Whipt syllabub”. Syllabub is somewhere between dessert and a drink made with cream, often with a citrus of some kind, and we know from Austen’s personal letters that it was something she enjoyed. The recipe was originally very basic, using cream and something like…

2000 BCE CONTINENTAL SPICE TRADE BEGINS The first recorded ‘international’ spice trade develops between South Asia and the Middle East, where cinnamon and black pepper are being traded regularly. The cultivation of Indian spices spreads around the region as merchants sell rare exports. 1550 BCE EGYPTIANS USE SPICES AS MEDICINE Buried between the legs of a mummy, the Papyrus Ebers show the use of herbs and spices, particularly onion and garlic, in ancient Egyptian medicine. The record includes 842 treatments and recipes for treating all kinds of ailments, including depression and dementia. 45 BCE SPICE POPULARISED TO EXTINCTION Silphium, a rare plant, is prized as a spice, status symbol and medicine. Its popularity in Rome drives destructive over-farming on the North African coast, the first such extinction on record. It survives only in…

Marco Polo Venetian 1254 – 1324 Venetian explorer Marco Polo set out in 1271 to travel through Asia and along the famous Silk Road, returning to Venice in 1295. On his journey, which he recorded in detail, he encountered the many expensive spices being traded in that part of the world. He noted in particular the vast amount of pepper (4,500kg a day) that was being brought into the eastern Chinese city of Hangchow (now Hangzhou) and the wealth of cinnamon, pepper and ginger on the Malabar Coast of India. Polo also brought some spices back to Europe from his travels. ELIZABETH I ENGLISH, 1533 – 1603 Tudor Queen Elizabeth I is one of England’s most famous monarchs and she had a long-lasting impact on history. Among her many notable…

“It isn’t what we say or think that defines us, but what we do”- Jane Austen Jane Austen certainly did a lot in her short life. As a young unmarried woman, she authored six witty romantic novels that today provide insight into a now-foreign world. Growing up in rural Hampshire, life in the Georgian English countryside heavily influenced her work. Her focus on the lives of women and the inequality they faced as well as issues of family, status, reputation and money all permeate Jane’s work, themes that have proven timeless and contribute to the enduring popularity of her novels. As we celebrate the 250th anniversary of her birth, here we reflect on how the world around Jane influenced her and helped her forge a legacy as one of England’s…

Santa, sleigh rides, snowmen – what does Christmas mean to you? Likely it inspires feelings of joy, comfort, warm cozy nights under the glow of the Christmas tree and delicious feasts with your loved ones. Yet seasonal celebrations to close out the year have been around in one form or another for centuries and during that time not every Christmas has been white – some have been rather bloody indeed. From a 10th-century Bohemian king whose violent death ensured he lived on in a popular carol, to a snowball fight that only ended with military intervention and the must-have 1980s Christmas toy that led to widespread rioting, these are just a few examples of the darker side of the festive season. Here, for your macabre reading pleasure, we present ten…

On 2 August 1990, Saddam Hussein ordered his army to invade neighbouring Kuwait. The unprovoked attack and brutal Iraqi occupation sparked outrage, international condemnation and a demand from the United Nations that Iraq withdraw immediately. Three days after the invasion, US President George HW Bush declared: “This will not stand, this Iraqi aggression against Kuwait.” During the subsequent Operation Desert Shield, the United States led a coalition of 35 nations in a build-up of overwhelming military capability on land, sea and air in preparation for the forcible ejection of the Iraqi Army from Kuwait. Within five months, the coalition had assembled more than 950,000 troops, 3,000 tanks, 1,800 aircraft and 2,200 artillery pieces – along with considerable naval fire-support capability – to oppose the Iraqi forces, which numbered over one…

LEONARDO DA VINCI AN UNTRACEABLE LIFE Deconstructing the mysterious life and work of the great Renaissance polymath Author: Stephen J Campbell Publisher: Princeton University Press Price: £30 Released: Out now Of all the Renaissance masters, Leonardo da Vinci is the most famous. As the artist behind such works as the Mona Lisa and The Last Supper, and as an inventor and mathematician, his life has been the subject of countless biographies. In these studies, Da Vinci has become well known as an engaging, charismatic and curious but solitary visionary who strived for perfection in every aspect of his varied work. But is that true? What do we really know about the personality and demeanour of Da Vinci? According to Stephen J Campbell, the answer to these questions is not much…