Good morning, good afternoon, and good evening to you all, my esteemed guests. Welcome back to another installment of History Never Forgets. In this segment, we are going to discuss the first tsar of all Russia Ivan the Terrible.
As the epithet would suggest, Ivan IV Vasilyevich was a brutal and ferocious ruler who reigned over the Russian territories for nearly 30 years. Born in 1530, Ivan was the son of Vasili III, Grand Prince of Moscow. At just 3 years old, his father died leaving Ivan to be named the new Grand Prince of Moscow at his behest. His mother served as regent until her own death when Ivan was just 8 years old. After that, several boyar families who feuded with one another served as regents for the young Grand Prince. When Ivan was 16, he was crowned as the "Tsar of all the Russias," rather than just Grand Prince. The deliberate title change to tsar, translated as "emperor," was intended to elevate his position and serve as a message to the country and the rest of the world that he was the sole supreme ruler of the region. It also granted him religious powers as he was now seen as a divine ruler who carried out God's will. The title would be bequeathed to subsequent rulers of Russia. Ivan's reign in the early years was marked by a series of reforms and modernization which included reforms to law codes, the founding of a standing army and establishing the first Russian parliament. Ivan also established close ties to England and Queen Elizabeth I. While Queen Elizabeth's interests with Russia were strictly commercial, Ivan was interested in developing a military alliance with England. In fact, his concern for Russia's political infighting led him to request asylum in England in the event that he'd be driven from power to which Elizabeth agreed as long as Ivan could provide for himself. Despite internal struggles among the noble boyar families, Ivan's administrative efforts proved successful in advancing Russian interests at home and abroad. However, the 1560's saw a shift in stability within Russia after years of droughts, famines, and unsuccessful wars with neighboring countries. Ivan had personally experienced tragedy with the death of his first wife, Anastasia Romanovna, which was claimed to be caused by poisoning. It is said her death affected his personality and mental state. Additionally, one of Ivan's advisers, Prince Andrei Kurbsky, defected to the Lithuanians and raided Russian territories with Lithuanian troops. This caused Ivan to develop a paranoid suspicion of his nobility, a period know as the Reign of Terror. With treason and embezzlement rampant among the aristocracy and clergy, Ivan threatened to abdicate. This worried the boyar court who feared the wrath of Muscovite citizens and begged Ivan to return to the throne. He agreed on the condition that he be given absolute power. With this caveat, Ivan created the Oprichnina, a state policy which created a political police group that carried mass repression and execution of any suspected traitors or opposition within the aristocracy. With the formation of his personal guard, the Oprichniki, Ivan was able to execute and confiscate the estates of any alleged traitors without the interference of the council or the church for that matter. The Oprichniki carried out raids against thousands of suspected traitors and dissidents, most notably the sack of Novgorod. In Ivan's decaying state of paranoia, he had feared that the city of Novgorod, struck with plague, famine and the ongoing Livonian War, were planning to defect and hand the city over to the Lithuanians. While there was no proof of this occurring, Ivan sent the Oprichniki to sack the city, killing men, women and children without prejudice. After 5 weeks, some estimate give that 60,000 citizens were massacred. The city never returned to its former prominence. In 1572, Ivan abolished the Oprichnina. With his public appeal waning, Ivan once again feigned resignation of his title in 1575, declaring Simeon Bekbulatovich as the new ruler of all Rus. However, Simeon only served as a figurehead ruler. Ivan remained closely tied to Simeon, advising and instructing him to confiscate lands that belong to the clergy while Ivan pretended to disagree with such decisions. A year later, Simeon stepped down, giving the throne back to Ivan. Now back in power, Ivan returned some of the confiscated lands back to the clergy, keeping the rest for himself. Yet, Ivan's mental state continued to decline. in 1581, Ivan beat his pregnant daughter-in-law for wearing what he considered immodest clothing which caused her to miscarriage. Furious, the husband and Ivan's son, also named Ivan, confronted his father. The altercation resulted in Tsar Ivan striking a fatal blow to his son and heir with his pointed staff. With young Ivan dead, Ivan chose young Ivan's younger brother, Feodor, as his new heir. However, Feodor proved to be an incompetent ruler and led Russia into an era known as the Time of Troubles. Nearing his own death, Ivan developed a obsession with it, calling on witches and soothsayers to help prolong his life. But it was all for naught, for in 1584, Ivan died from a stroke while playing chess. Though Ivan proved to be a capable administrator, his descent into madness, the mischievous and conniving schemes came to define the era of his rule. His penchant for violence was displayed at the sack of Novgorod where Ivan brought his young son to the city so that they could watch with enthusiasm as the Oprichniki slaughtered innocent civilians only to retreat to church at night and pray. In his life time Ivan married 8 different women (eat your heart out Henry VIII) 3 of which were poisoned by his enemies. For those who lived during his reign no one, church and children included, was safe from his brutality. Thus, history will never forget the legacy of Ivan the Terrible.
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Hail and well met my fellow followers of history and thank you kindly for tuning in to another excerpt of History Never Forgets. This time, we return to war-torn Europe in the early 15th century. The historical feud between England and France reached its pinnacle during this time with both countries embroiled in the Hundred Years War. The Hundred Years War was a period of conflict between England and France that last for 116 years. The conflict originated with England's claim to the French crown in 1337. With the succession of the throne of France in question, King Edward III of England made claim to the throne as the closest male heir through his mother's lineage as sister to the dead king. His claim launched a conflict for the French succession that would last for over 116 years. Since the Norman conquest of England centuries earlier (and previously discussed in Episode 5!), many French lands began to pass on to English nobles. English nobility began to have a strong foothold in the French court and led to much intermingling between the two countries. Before hostilities were renewed in the 1400s, Henry V had just come to power as King of England in 1413 after the death of his father, Henry IV. Meanwhile, France was still trying to recover from a civil war between the Armagnacs and the Burgundians. Henry V pressed his claims on French territories and also demanded the hand of Charles VI's youngest daughter, Catherine of Valois. The French refused his demands and Henry declared war on France, igniting the Lancastrian phase of the Hundred Years War.
Henry invaded France in August 1415. By October, the two armies met south of Calais. The English were at quite a disadvantage: they lacked food, had marched 260 miles in just over two weeks, suffered from illness and were outnumbered by the French men-at-arms by some 6000 men. What the English did have to their advantage were 7000 longbowmen in their ranks. The battlefield lay between two forests and the freshly ploughed field had been turned to one of mud from rain the night before. The English took a defensive position and Henry organized his archers along the elevated tree lines at each flank while the rest of his army remain in the open field as a lure for the French to attack. Henry knew that if he could get the French to attack, they'd march their heavily armored units into the field where they would get bogged down by the mud and become easy targets for his archers hiding in the forests. The range of the English longbow made it easy for archers to shoot at a much longer distance and wound up being the key element to the English defense. The French were organized into 3 main groups, a vanguard, a main guard, and a rearguard with cavalry ordered to take out the English archers. Their formations were tightly packed and as they charged up the hill toward the English lines the space became so dense that they were unable to lift their swords and fight. The initial cavalry attacks by the French turned up useless since they were unable to outflank the archers from the woods and merely served to further churn up the earth on which they charged. The French charge reached the English lines and briefly pushed them back, but were eventually overwhelmed by the constant arrows raining down on them and the subsequent flank attacks once their arrows ran out. The French were so exhausted by their struggle up hill that they were easily slaughtered. Many, knocked over and unable to get back up from the constant push, were trampled over and suffocated in the mud. The result of the battle was a catastrophic defeat for the French, with over 6,000 troops dead. Following the victory, Henry found his army in the precarious situation of being outnumbered by his own captives. In order to avoid the possibility of captives overtaking his army, he massacred thousands of prisoners sparing only the highly noble few who could garnish a handsome ransom. The battle was a watershed moment in the Hundred Years War. Henry would go on to regain several territories in western France, eventually being named heir to Charles VI's for the kingdom of France and marrying Charles' daughter, Catherine, under the Treaty of Troyes. Henry's successes in France presented England with a period of dominance in the Hundred Years War that would last for another 11 years. The Battle of Agincourt became an example for strategic mastery in warfare for its use of terrain/weather and weapons tactics. Agincourt was a textbook battlefield victory which had significant political consequences and for that, history will never forget! Do you have a historical figure/event you'd like to see featured? Drop a line! Welcome to another installment of History Never Forgets. In this entry, we discuss the late 12th century English king Richard Coeur de Lion, otherwise known as Richard the Lionheart.
Born in 1157, Richard I was the third son of King Henry II of England out of five sons. Richard was a member of House Plantagenet whose lineage originated in France and can be traced back to William the Conqueror. In his youth, Richard showed strong military prowess. Historical accounts show that he was a tall and handsome figure, standing well above 6 ft. At the age of 12, Richard was made Duke of Aquitaine and Count of Poitou by his father. Though Henry II had planned to divide his kingdom among his sons, he intended to retain overall authority among the territories given. This did not sit well with the oldest son, Henry the Young King, who was the heir apparent to his father's throne. With brothers Richard and Geoffrey as well as the support of of King Louis VII of France, Henry the Young King initiated a revolt against his father, Henry II. For roughly a year, the three brothers and King Louis VII went to war with King Henry II. By September 1174, Henry and Louis made a truce and hostilities ended. Richard went to his father's court begging for forgiveness which was ultimately given. His two brothers eventually followed suit. But the tension between Richard and his father would once again boil over and lead to hostilities - this time with Henry the Young King and Geoffrey on the side of their father. Richard refused to pay homage to his older brother as the next king. Once more, war ensued. But in 1183, Henry the Young King died leaving Richard a the eldest son and heir to the English throne. Henry demanded Richard give up Aquitaine to his younger brother, John, but once again refused his father. For the next six years, the House of Plantagenet went to war with itself. This time, Richard allied himself with the new king of France Philip II. This conflict between father and son came to a head at Ballans when the armies of Richard and Philip defeated Henry's army. Henry was forced to name Richard his heir apparent with his younger brother John's consent. Just 2 days later, Henry II died and Richard succeeded him as King of England. While all of this was occurring, news from the Middle East reached Richard that Jerusalem had fallen to the Muslim Sultan Saladin. Both Richard and Philip II agreed to join the Third Crusade and Richard began raising an army. He drained his father's treasury, increased taxes in England, and freed political prisoners in exchange for ransoms to do so. After a long journey full of conquest and war, he arrived in Cyprus and conquered the island with the help of Guy of Lusignan, widower to the former Queen of Jerusalem. Using it as a staging ground for invading the holy land, Richard soon landed on the shores of Israel in 1191 and took Acre in the name of Christianity, slaughtering over 2,700 Muslim prisoners. By this time, his relationship with Philip soon began to break down over the decision of who was to be made king of Jerusalem. Richard supported Guy of Lusignan and Philip supported his rival Conrad of Montferrat, a cousin to Leopold V of Austria. Furthermore, Philip demanded half of Cyprus island to which Richard refused. With continued disputes between the 2 men, Philip abandoned the crusade and returned to France. Richard had no more allies upon which to call. Over the next year, Richard and the remaining crusaders continued their fight against Saladin, coming within reach of Jerusalem twice. But at the latter attempt, leadership among the crusaders began to fray. Half of the crusaders, including Richard, believed they should force Saladin's capitulation of Jerusalem by attacking his basis of power in Egypt while the other half wanted to attack Jerusalem directly and take the city. With a lack of a united command among the crusaders, they were forced to return to the coast. Richard knew that staying in the Middle East would threaten his power back home in England, allowing John and Philip to conspire against him. After a series of minor skirmishes and the crusader victory at the Battle of Jaffa, Richard and Saladin ceased hostilities in September 1192. The Third Crusade came to an end and Richard embarked on the journey home. However, upon his journey home, Richard was captured by Leopold V of Austria and taken prisoner. Richard had earn the enmity of Leopold a couple years earlier during the crusades after siding against Leopold's cousin Conrad for the kingship of Jerusalem (Conrad was now dead and Leopold blamed Richard for arranging his murder) and also for offending Leopold for casting down his standard from the walls of Acre after its fall. Leopold and the Holy Roman Emperor Henry VI demanded 150,000 marks for Richard's release. Richard's mother, Eleanor of Aquitaine, nearly bankrupted England trying to raise the funds while John and Philip tried to convince the Emperor to keep Richard imprisoned. But the money Eleanor raised reached the Emperor and Richard was released. Upon his return to England, Richard forgave John, naming him his heir and had himself crowned a second time to wipe away the shame of his imprisonment. It was then that Richard set about going to war with Philip to regain the territories Philip had taken from him while he was imprisoned. Richard took England to war against France and set about reconquering Normandy, winning several victories. But while suppressing a revolt at a small castle in Limousin, Richard was struck in the shoulder with a crossbow bolt. The wound turned gangrenous and days later, Richard died. Before his death, he ordered the crossbowman - a mere boy - before him and instead of putting him to death, forgave him, freed him, and sent him off with 100 shillings. To his contemporaries, Richard's character was one of chivalry and martial prowess, both courageous and generous; a born leader destined to be king. He is still widely revered today, his blazon of the three golden lions on a plane of red still used today as the Royal Arms of England. In modern times, the views of his exploits have shifted to less favorable characteristics. It is argued that he was a prideful person plunging England into a constant state of war for his own gain and taxing the country to near bankruptcy to fund his conquests and release his from imprisonment. Though generous at times, he was prone to excessive cruelty as pointed out in his massacre of thousands of Muslims during the Third Crusade. Though he reigned as King of England for a 10 years, it is alleged he only spent no more than six months within England as king. Regardless of where his exploits lie on the spectrum of good and evil, they have earned him an eternal place in history books and we shall not soon forget Richard the Lionheart, King of England. Do you have a historical figure/event that you'd like to see featured on History Never Forgets? Drop a line! Greetings my fellow history buffs and thank you for returning for another entry of History Never Forgets. After a brief hiatus, we're jumping right back into it with one of history's more well known figures: Genghis Khan.
Born Temujin as the first son to the Kiyad tribal chief Yesugei and his second wife Hoelun around 1162 CE near the modern day capital of Ulaanbaatar, it is alleged that the young Temujin was born clenching a blood clot, an omen in Mongolian culture that predicted he would one day become a great leader. As a child, his father had arranged for Temujin to be married to a young girl, Borte, from the nearby Khongirad tribe. There, he was to serve the head of his future wife's household until the age of 12 at which they could marry. Upon the return home, his father had come across a band of Tatars who had been enemies of the Mongols. They offered him poisoned food, killing Yesugei. When Temujin had learned of this, he returned home to his tribe to claim his father's position as the tribal chief, but was refused by the tribe who chose to abandon his family. Consequently, Temujin and his family were reduced to poverty living off whatever food and small game they could find. In 1177, the young Temujin was captured and enslaved by a former ally of his father. He was eventually able to escape his imprisonment which earned him a reputation and over time began to cultivate a following of loyal warriors. At that time, Mongolia remained in a state of tribal warfare with the confederation of Mongol tribes lacking any kind of unity. Alliances were fickle and temporary while raids and acts of thievery were rampant among opposing tribes. Temujin was well-versed in the political climate of Mongolia and used his knowledge wisely to secure long-lasting alliances. Temujin entered an alliance with his father's former sworn brother, Toghrul, Khan of the Keraites. When Temujin's wife, Borte, was captured by Merkits, he called upon Toghrul for support and was given 20,000 troops to rescue her. Toghrul was also instrumental in bringing Jamukha, Temujin's blood brother (no actual relation) and childhood friend, to aid Temujin in the rescue. They succeeded in rescuing Borte and crushed the Merkits in the process. As time passed, Temujin and Jamukha began to grow apart as each man consolidated their own power. The two men had become rivals vying for power over all of Mongolia. Encouraging a system of meritocracy, Temujin was able to attract a large following consisting of lower-class systems. By 1186, Temujin was elected Khan of the Mongols. This did not sit well with Jamukha, who decided to attacked Temujin and defeated him at the Battle of Dalan Balzhut. Removed from power, Temujin spent the next decade trying to regain his hold over the Mongols. His opportunity came when the Jin of northern China attacked their former vassal, the Tatars, in which Temujin took part. after the Jin victory, Temujin was given a position of power. What made Temujin an effective leader in addition to utilizing a meritocratic system was his decision to integrate conquered tribes into his own rather than wiping them out completely, a political maneuver that inspired strong loyalty among his subjects. His meteoric rise back to power caught the attention of Toghrul, his former ally turned enemy. Toghrul was convinced by his son, Senggum, to defy Temujin. Toghrul allied himself with Jamukha to oppose Temujin. After many battles, Jamukha was defied by his own men and turned over to Temujin. Though Temujin offered his friendship to Jamukha once more, Jamukha refused and asked for a noble death. Thus was the end of their rivalry. In 1206, Temujin had subdued all of the warring tribes and brought them under a unified political and military force. He was elected Khan by a council of Mongols and took the new title Genghis Khan. Genghis Khan sat at the head of a new empire in northeast Asia that descended upon the rest of the continent like a storm. His first target was Western Xia to their south in northern China. Though Genghis Khan experienced difficulties at first, he managed to conquered Western Xia and turned them into a Vassal state. By 1211, he turned his attention to Jin to his east and laid waste to the Jin capital of modern day Beijing by 1215. Jin was forced to abandon the northern half of their empire to the Mongols. Next, Genghis Khan sent a small army west to conquer Qara Khitai. Qara Khitai had been suffering from internal strife and continued revolts thanks to the efforts of Genghis Khan, which made it easy for the Mongols to conquer them. With his empire stretching as far west as Lake Balkhash in western Asia, Genghis Khan turned his eye to the Khwarazmian Empire in the Middle East. His interest in Khwarazmia wasn't military, but to simply add them as a commercial trading partner seeing the advantage in doing so. He sent 3 ambassadors to the Shah, but the Shah shaved the heads of 2 ambassadors and beheaded the 3rd. Enraged by this act, Genghis Khan sent his armies West and destroyed the Khwarazmian Empire massacring allegedly over a million people after all was said and done. He then turned his fury to the Caucasus regions of Georgia, Crimea, Kievan Rus and Volga Bulgaria where they overran their forces and brought them to heel. By this time, all of Europe knew of the Mongol horde and trembled at the very thought of them invading Europe. But before he could make plans for the invasion of Europe, Genghis Khan died in 1227. It is not known what his cause of death was, whether in battle, sickness or of old age. He was succeeded by his 3rd son, Ogedei, who continued to pillage the lands of Asia and Eastern Europe as the new Khan of the Mongols. Western depictions of Genghis Khan have painted to be a ruthless barbarian intent on total conquest. Though some may argue that is true to a certain degree, a closer look at his rule and the dynasty he created show that Genghis Khan was quite a religiously tolerant man. All religions were welcomed within his empire as he desired a deep understanding of religious and philosophical views. He innovated Mongolian traditions by integrating conquered tribes rather than driving them to distinction. However, his tactics his conquests saw the deaths of millions of people across the eastern world, so much so that his actions actually removed roughly 700 million tonnes of carbon in the atmosphere. His dynasty created the largest contiguous empire history has ever seen and thus, History will never forget the conquests of Temujin, Genghis Khan. Do you have a historical figure/event you'd like to see featured? Drop a line! Welcome all to another Pride Month entry of History Never Forgets!
For this entry, we're taking a look at the achievements of famed mathematician and cryptologist Alan Turing. Alan Turing was a British mathematician who, during World War II, helped decipher the Nazi Enigma code machine which was once considered indecipherable. Turing's groundbreaking work in mathematics became the foundation for modern computation and artificial intelligence. However, with most of his wartime work being classified information, his accomplishments were unbeknownst to the public until longer after he died. Later in life, the revelation of his sexuality led to his demise after being arrested, found guilty of 'homosexuality' and being chemically castrated only to commit suicide just a couple years later. Alan's talents were remarkable from a young age. Born in London on June 23, 1912, Alan was enrolled at Sherborne School where he showed a keen interest in science, a direct conflict to the school's curriculum which focused on the classics (studies in Latin and Ancient Greek). He went on to study mathematics at King's College in Cambridge, graduating in 1934 with first class honors and completing his doctorate from Princeton by 1938. The following year, Britain declared war on Germany and Turing joined the Bletchley Park code breakers. The code breakers were tasked with decrypting the German Enigma device. It was an encoding machine that encrypted letters on a keyboard through a series of rotors to a light board that displayed the coded equivalent of each letter. It was predicted that the machine could produce some 159 quintillion permutations. Their solution was the Bombe, a device which mimicked the Enigma's operations to break the code. Turing's contribution was the automated logical deduction process that the contraption performed. When searching the possible settings of a rotor, the machine performed a chain of logical deductions against a particular set of plaintext. When it detected a contradiction it would be ruled out and the machine would move on to the next. This, of course, became the basis for his designs of the computer, a machine that could perform complex arithmetic and mathematics. Their method proved successful, but they lacked the resources and manpower to to effectively translate each decryption. With Winston Churchill's help, Turing's team was given extreme priority on their work and by the end of the war, they had 200 bombes and several dozen operators to decrypt German messages. Their ability to decode messages from the German Enigma device proved to be vital in winning the war. In the years following the war, Turing focused on building what would become the groundwork for artificial intelligence and modern computers. His belief in the unlimited potential of computers to embody an artificial form of intelligence set the course for humankind to enter into the computer age. He became an elected fellow to the Royal Society of London in March 1951. Unfortunately, Alan Turing would not live long enough to see the fruits of his arduous labors. Alan Turing was a homosexual which did not come to light until 1952 when he was arrested and found guilty of homosexuality, a criminal act in Britain at the time. Turing's punishment was to undergo 12 months of hormone therapy, a year long regimen of injections containing synthetic estrogen that eventually rendered him impotent. Because of his conviction, his security clearance was revoked and Turing was no longer able to work for the government. Turing continued to work in academia until his untimely death in 1954. He was discovered dead in his bed with a half eaten apple lying next to him. Investigations concluded that the cause of death was cyanide poisoning and his death was ruled a suicide. However, many who knew Alan were not convinced by this conclusion for they knew Alan to be of sound mind and good spirits in the days leading up to his death. It was later suggested that his death was accidental via cyanide fumes from the use of chemicals that were kept in a laboratory adjacent to his bedroom. Some conspiracy theorists believe the government could've been responsible due to Turing's knowledge of classified info and the British government's persecution of homosexuals as threats to national security. Whatever caused his death, Alan Turing's life was cut short. Eventually, his achievements came to light and in 2009 Prime Minister Gordon Brown issued a public apology on behalf of the British government which was followed up by a posthumous pardon from Queen Elizabeth II 4 years later. His wartime contributions to the fight against Nazism was depicted in the 2014 movie "Imitation Game." Without his work in mathematics, the world would not be where it is today by way of technology. Alan Turing was a genius mathematician as well as a war hero and for that History will never forget! Do you have a historical figure/event you'd like to see featured? Drop a line! Greetings and salutations my dear friends! Welcome to a very special History Never Forgets entry.
As we celebrate Pride Month this June, this entry highlights the life of Dutch artist, author, and resistance fighter Willem Arondeus. Willem was born in Naarden, Netherlands in 1894 and grew up in Amsterdam. Around the age of 17-18, Willem was kicked out of his home after coming out to his parents as gay and pursued a career as an artist. Willem started out designing posters and illustrations for poetry. In 1923, he was given his biggest commission yet to design a mural for the Rotterdam City Hall. However, Willem struggled to earn a living and reputation as an artist, going nearly a decade without receiving any real recognition for his work. In 1935, Willem switched from visual arts to writing and found success 3 years later after publishing a biography of painter and activist Matthijs Maris. Just as Willem began to find success, the whole of Europe was thrown into turmoil. War came to his home country in May 1940 with the German invasion of the Netherlands. By then, Willem had involved himself with the Dutch resistance movement and, 2 years later, began an underground publication called the Brandarisbrief, an opposition publication which spoke out against the edicts imposed on the Netherlands and urged other artists to resist the Nazi occupation. His publication eventually merged with another run by Gerrit van der Veen, another member of the Dutch resistance. Gerrit had been forging identity cards for Dutch Jewish citizens and others who were targeted by the Gestapo. Consequently, Willem also got involved with forging documents. However, their biggest hurdle to forging identity cards was the Amsterdam Registration Office, an administrative building that kept registration lists and could determine if identity cards were forgeries based on the civil registries. So, they concocted a plan to destroy the public records without loss of life. The group was made up of several Jews and homosexuals, several of them medical students and local artists. Their plan had been complicated by the increase of security at the registration office due to a similar attack on another municipal office in the region the prior year. Their assault took place on March 27, 1943 under cover of dark. The members disguised themselves as police and informed the security guards that they needed to search the building for explosives. Gaining access, they knocked the guards out with shots of phenobarbital (some spy movie shit) and dragged them through a back door. They entered the registration office, dumped out all the documents onto the floor and lit them ablaze. The operatives then set off several explosions setting the entire building on fire. The fire department, who had been informed about the attack, let the fire burn a bit longer before completely dousing the building in water and furthering destroying the records. All in all, the resistance destroyed over 800,000 identity cards, but it only accounted for 15% of the records. In the aftermath, the Nazis offered a large reward to anyone who could identify the attackers. In a week's time, a majority of the perpetrators were arrested. Willem was eventually arrested in April, but refused to identify any of his co-conspirators. Searching Willem's apartment, the Nazis found a notebook with a list of names that led to the arrest of several more co-conspirators of the attack. By June, Willem and 13 others were found guilty and sentenced to death. Just before he was executed, Willem spoke his famous words to his attorney: "Tell the people that homosexuals are not by definition weak." Willem Arondeus had every intention of living the simple life of an artist and author with the hope of an equal chance at finding love without persecution for his sexual preference. But when his country came under threat, Willem chose to fight for his country and for people who would have discounted him over his sexuality. In 1984, Willem and several others responsible for the bombing were recognized by the Yad Vashem, the official memorial to the victims of the holocaust, with the honorific Righteous Among the Nations. The honorific is used by the state of Israel to describe non-Jews who risked their lives during the holocaust to save Jews from Nazi extermination. Willem Arondeus refused to let his sexual preference identify who he was and instead let his actions prove his true identify, a hero and a fighter. And for that, history will certainly never forget Willem Arondeus. Do you have a historical figure/event you'd like to see featured? Drop a line! Hail and well met my dear friends and welcome to a new iteration of History Never Forgets!
In the lands that lie between the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea resides the nation of Georgia. During the 12th and 13th century, Georgia saw the reign of Queen Tamar the Great, the nation’s first female ruler. Under her rule, Georgia rose to prominence as a key player in Eurasia at a time when the Middle East was being ravaged by crusaders. Tamar ushered in a golden age for Georgia, giving rise to centers of commerce and artistic development throughout the kingdom. Tamar was the daughter of King George III of Georgia. She became familiar with the struggles of the royal court at an early age when her father clashed rebellious nobles intent on dethroning him in favor of his nephew, Denma. George succeeded in quashing the rebellion and rooted out any remnants of the opposing faction. Denma was castrated and blinded, eventually dying in prison not long after. With no sons to name his heir, George proclaimed Tamar, his eldest daughter, as co-ruler on her 18th birthday in 1178 to ensure there was a clear succession of power after his death. 6 years later in 1184, George died and Tamar was crowned again as queen in her own right to the Georgian throne. However, upon her ascension to the throne, the novice queen was subject to the demands of her nobility. Being the first woman ruler in Georgian history, Tamar was faced with heavy opposition to her rule. The nobility tried to manipulate her for their own gains, driving out certain members of the aristocracy to install people of their own choosing. They vied for the power to appoint officials and ministers as well as the power to appoint laws, but Tamar refused such concessions. The nobility also forced her to marry in order to secure the succession of the throne as a matter of state importance. The nobility chose the Rus prince Yuri Bogolyubsky. The exiled prince was a capable soldier, described as, "valiant, perfect of body and pleasant to behold." However, Tamar would learn upon being married that Yuri was not the kind of perfect man they claimed him to be. Yuri was rather uncouth, prone to drunkenness and sodomy (what exactly he was sodomizing, I'll leave to the imagination...). He often challenged Tamar's rule as queen, ignoring the fact that his position as king consort was derived from Tamar's rule and held no real power in comparison to the queen. As Tamar's confidence grew in her rule and she consolidated her power with more favorable appointees within the court, she convinced the noble council to approve their divorce. Tamar took a second husband, the Alan prince David Soslan. David, another capable commander, was much more supportive and loyal to Tamar's power as queen. With his help, Tamar stomped out any opposition that remained within the council. But, Yuri was not having any of it. Yuri twice attempted a coup against Tamar with the help of opposing nobles, failing both times and from thereon was never heard from again. Tamar and David's marriage proved to be a success, producing 2 children who would both eventually come to rule the Georgian Kingdom after Tamar. Once Tamar had secured her kingdom, she resumed the expansionist policy carried out by her predecessors and subjugated neighboring states held under Muslim rule. By the start of the 13th century, Georgia reached the height of its territorial expanse. Georgian culture flourished under Tamar's expansion. However, Georgia's prosperity caught the attention of Sultan Suleyman Shah of Rum, a Muslim state in Anatolia (modern day Turkey). Suleyman Shah vowed to defeat Georgia; he claimed that if Tamar was willing to convert to Islam, he would make her his wife and if not, he would make her his concubine. Insulted, Tamar sent her ever-loving husband David and an army of angry Georgians to defeat Suleyman Shah at the Battle of Basiani. Around this time, the Byzantine Empire began to crumble thanks to fall of Constantinople in the fourth crusade. Having relatives in the Byzantine royal family (her sister married the son of the Byzantine emperor and had two sons), Tamar was instrumental in helping to secure former Byzantine territories around the Black Sea at Trebizond in favor of her nephews, Alexios and David. This territory she helped to secure for them became the Empire of Trebizond. It also served to expand her zone of influence within the region. Tamar outlived her husband and died in 1213. She lived to see Georgia reach the pinnacle of its power for which she had been responsible. her son, George IV, succeeded her as King of Georgia. Less than 20 years after her death, the Kingdom of Georgia would fall victim to Mongol attacks and bring about the end of Georgian hegemony in the region. Today, she is revered in Georgian history as among the most celebrated figures of medieval history and was even canonized by the Georgian Orthodox Church as the Holy Righteous Queen Tamar. As queen and the first woman ruler of Georgian, she achieved feats that any male counterpart would yearn for. And for that, history shall never forget the legacy of Tamar the Great! Do you want to see a specific historical figure/event featured? Drop me a line! Hello and thank you all for returning to another fresh take on History Never Forgets!
This time, we return to the period of Ancient Rome during a critical time when its history saw the rise of the great Julius Caesar. Caesar has become synonymous with Rome and the power it grew to wield over the territories of Europe, Asia Minor, and parts of Africa. The storied history of this figure has become common place in popular culture and with good reason. His impact on the future of Rome changed it from a republic to an empire in the twilight of its dominance. So, you might wonder how someone so renown and influential to Roman history met such a gruesome assassination by his peers. Gaius Julius Caesar lived during the 1st century BCE. Caesar's family claimed descent from the son of the Trojan hero Aeneas, an ancestor of Romulus and Remus who fled Troy during its infamous fall and resettled in the Italian peninsula. There are several anecdotes that help create an image of the type of man Caesar was. One such story comes from his early career when he was captured and held prisoner by a band of pirates. The pirates demanded a ransom of 20 talents to which Caesar, ever arrogant throughout his captured, suggested they demand 50 talents. Upon his release, Caesar promised the pirates that he would return to hunt them down and crucify them. Though the pirates thought this a joke, Caesar delivered on his promise by raising a fleet, capturing the pirates and crucifying every single one of them. Soon after, Caesar rose to distinction first serving as a military tribune and eventually working his way up to a public official to the state treasury, known as a quaestor. But, his ambition did not stop there. He went on to serve as chief priest of the state religion, given command of an army and given governorship of Hispania. His ambition was such that upon witnessing a statue of Alexander the Great, he broke down in tears realizing that his achievements would never match that of the Greek king. From this point, Caesar began to play a considerable role in the game of politics. Caesar entered into an alliance with 2 of the most powerful statesmen in Rome, Pompey and Crassus, to form the first triumvirate which helped him succeed in getting elected as consul in 59 BCE. As Consul, he used his power to redistribute lands to the poor which won their affections and also to declare himself governor of Gaul. Wanting to clear his debts, he used his governorship of Gaul to embark on military campaigns (a lucrative business) and secure the unstable region of modern day France, Belgium, and the Netherlands in the name of Rome. During his campaigns in Gaul, Caesar earned notable distinction as a battlefield commander in his victory at the battle of Alesia where he besieged the Gallic King Vercengetorix by building a wall around the city then building another wall around their own encampments to deter Gallic reinforcements from attacking their rear. Meanwhile in Rome, the alliance of the First Triumvirate was falling apart. Crassus was killed in battle against the Parthian Empire (they poured molten gold down his throat signifying his greed...sound familiar??) and Caesar's daughter, who was married to Pompey, had died putting them at odds with one another. Caesar offered his great-niece as a wife for Pompey, but he refused and ended up marrying the daughter of one of Caesar's political arrivals. Once Gaul was conquered and his governorship ended, The senate, led by Pompey, Caesar was ordered to disband his army and return to Rome. Caesar was faced with a dilemma - disband his army and return to Rome as a private citizen where he could possibly be prosecuted by political rivals or defy tradition and ignite a civil war. Caesar chose the ladder, crossed the Rubicon River with a single legion and marched on Rome. Having heard this, Pompey and Caesar's other political opponents fled for safety. Caesar pursued Pompey for the next 2 years ultimately defeating him at the Battle of Pharsalus. Pompey escaped the battlefield only to flee to Egypt and be killed upon arrival. Caesar was subsequently appointed dictator for 10 years thanks to his popularity among the common people and soldiers alike. As dictator, he established a new constitution which helped to strengthen the central government as well as his control over it and enacted several reforms that changed the face of civil society. He even went so far as to fill the ranks of the then-depleted Senate with his own supporters, many of them Gallic chieftains who were considered barbarians to the senatorial elite. Naturally, his remaining political opponents did not take kindly to these dictatorial changes. Consequently, an assassination plot against him was brewing in the shadows of the senate. One of the main conspirators was Brutus, the son of Caesar's mistress and a former supporter of Caesar's. The plot was hatched on the Ides of March (March 15) while Caesar was on his way to a senate session. His right hand man, Marc Antony, had caught wind of the plot and tried to stop Caesar, but was intercepted by conspirators to keep him from helping Caesar. As Caesar arrived at the senate, the conspiring senators including Brutus surrounded him offering a petition for the return of an exile. When Caesar waved them off, the senators drew daggers and attacked. It is said that some 60 conspirators took part in his assassination, stabbing him 23 times. Caesar tried to escape, but was blinded by the amount of blood pouring from his body and fell to the ground where they continued to stab him. Shakespeare would have us believe that Caesar's last words were, "et tu Brute?" ("you too, Brutus?") Whatever they may have been, Caesar died on the steps of the senate. Caesar's death ushered the end of the Roman Republic. In the aftermath, Caesar's grandnephew and sole heir, Octavian, allied himself with Marc Antony to stomp out any remaining plotters of the assassination. When that was completed, the two allies turned on another to vie for control of Rome with Octavian coming out on top. Octavian would continue to further reform Roman life and eventually become the first emperor of the Roman Empire. Caesar was posthumously deified with a temple built in his honor. I often wonder if Caesar may have been a victim (for lack of a better word) of his own time - Rome being under the control of a corrupt and absentee senate with several threats to the peace of Rome. Though he was revered by the people of Rome, Caesar's ambition and lust for power undermined the very foundation of the Roman Republic and put it on a path toward autocratic rule. Regardless, Caesar's level of influence on Rome was everlasting, so much so that the name Caesar was adopted as the title for all future Roman emperors. (Hell, we even got a salad dressing out of it as well...). That is certainly one that history will never forget! Got a historical figure/event you wished to see featured in this blog? Drop me a line! The warmest of welcomes to all of you on this May day and thank you for returning for another History Never Forgets!
When we talk about wealth these day, we can’t help but think of people like Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos, billionaire entrepreneurs who are considered among the richest people in the modern world. They have hoarded massive fortunes whether through inheritance, technological innovations or savvy business to live lives of such luxury which we can only imagine. Today, the richest person in the world is currently Jeff Bezos, accumulating a net worth of over $188 billion (fucking absurd, right?). But, what about historically? How does Jeff Bezos' wealth compare to those historic figures of the past who also vied for title of richest person on earth? You might be surprised to learn that his wealth simply doesn't compare to that of Mansa Musa, the medieval emperor of the Mali Empire. Most historians agree that Mansa Musa was arguably the wealthiest figure in to have ever lived with his empire's control over possibly the largest gold production known to history. The Mali Empire was an Islamic state in West Africa that eclipsed its predecessor, the Ghana Empire, in the 13th century. The Mali Empire covered vast territories of land including areas of modern day Mali, Guinea, Senegal, Mauritania and Gambia, from the Atlantic ocean to the Sahara desert with swaths of land known to be rich with gold, salt, ivory and other valuable resources. According to Arab scholars, Mansa Musa could trace his lineage back to the founder of the Malian Empire, Sundiata Keita, of which Musa was his great-nephew. Mansa Musa's ascension to the throne came through a Malian tradition of appointing deputies to serve in place of kings that went abroad. This was a common practice during periods when kings would embark on pilgrimages to Mecca or other such ventures that took the rulers out of the empire's limits. In Musa's case, he was appointed deputy to King Abubakari Keita II when the king decided to embark on a voyage to explore the limits of the Atlantic Ocean. Fortunately for Musa, the king never returned from his expedition and Musa was placed on the throne of the Malian Empire in 1312. When Musa took the throne, most of Europe was unaware of the growing empire's existence. At the time, most of Europe had been suffering from years of war and dwindling resources. Within a decade of Mansa Musa becoming emperor, the Malian Empire flourished. During his reign, Mansa Musa conquered 24 cities in the West African region, solidifying the territory for which the Mali Empire drew its formidable wealth. In 1324, Mansa Musa took a pilgrimage to Mecca accompanied by a procession of what was claimed to be 60,000 men and mountains of gold. Naturally, Mansa Musa's journey caught the attention of every single passerby. And all came to know the generosity of Mansa Musa, for he had gifted a piece of gold to all who crossed his path. In Egypt, he flooded the markets with gold by buying all the supplies available and enriching the merchants beyond their wildest dreams, giving wealth to various offices and even to the impoverished. However, the large influx of gold into Egypt's economy had a rather adverse effect. With so much gold flooding Egypt, its value began to depreciate. As a result, the Egyptian economy took a major hit from which they were unable to recover until 12 years later. Mansa Musa's pilgrimage wasn't just about giving away wealth. He took time out of his trip to do a little more conquering, taking the city of Gao from the Songhai Kingdom and further extending his empire. He built a series of mosques across his empire as well as schools and universities, many of which still stand nearly 700 years later. After his pilgrimage, the rest of the world soon came to know the wealth of the Mali Empire. European nations began to recognize the Mali Empire for the resources and power it wielded within the African continent. In other words, Mansa Musa literally put the Mali Empire on the map...(anyone...eh?) And for that, history will never forget Mansa Musa, the wealthiest man in history. Have a suggestion for a historical figure/event to be featured? Drop me a line! Hail and well met, fellow history buffs!
We retreat into the annals of history once more, turning our gaze to the British Isles in the 1st century CE to regale the struggles of Queen Boudicca of the Iceni Tribe. The fierce red-headed queen took on the might of the Roman Empire in a time when Romans were rapidly expanding across Europe and the Eastern Asia. Her stand against Roman expansion is a heroic tale and has become a symbol for the spirit of an entire nation. At the time, Rome's transformation from a republic into an empire had ushered in a period of exponential growth from repeated conquests. Now under rule from Emperor Nero, Rome's hold over the land of Britannia grew ever so swiftly. Boudicca was married to King Prasutagus and raised two daughters, ruling over the Iceni tribe in the area of East Anglia. Their reign saw the expansion of the Romans deep into mainland Britain, crushing any tribe who were bold enough to resist. Yet, none of them were a match for the Roman military machine. To protect his tribe from total annihilation, Prasutagus made a deal with the Romans that upon his death his Kingdom would be jointly ruled by Rome and his two daughters. On this the Romans agreed and peace was achieved, but only for a time. When Prasutagus died, Roman governor Suetonius Paulinus decided to no longer uphold the agreement that was made and forcibly took the Iceni lands under Roman control. (note to self: don't trust Roman promises...) Queen Boudicca was publicly flogged and her two daughter were raped by Roman slaves. But, Hell hath no fury like a woman's scorn and Rome just fucked with the wrong woman. Boudicca went to all the neighboring tribes and rounded up every Briton that was willing to fight, divined the gods for their favor, and decided to raise hell across Roman domain in Britannia. The rebel army descended upon the Roman settlement Camulodunum, now modern day Colchester, and routed the Roman division within. However, Boudicca's devastation did not stop there. Her rebel army went on to sack the cities of modern day London (Londinium) and St. Albans (Verulamium), burning each to the ground. The slaughter from these three victories has been estimated to be in the tens of thousands. After suffering such overwhelming defeats, the Romans were forced to retreat southward into heavily occupied Roman territory to regroup for an assault against Boudicca's rebels. Mustering what reinforcements they had available, the Romans amassed an army of 10,000 men against an alleged army of hundreds of thousands under Boudicca's rule. Most of those in Boudicca's army included the women and children that she had brought out to the battlefield to witness Rome's defeat at Watling Street. The rear of Boudicca's army had been lined with wagons holding those women, children, and supplies. With the might of her overwhelming numbers, the rebel army clashed against the tightly formed Roman army. However, the rebel army's numbers could not break the Roman's formations. They clashed against Roman shields like water on rock. The Romans advanced compacting the rebel army against the line of wagons at their rear, which had only caused more devastation by blocking the rebel army's retreat. Boudicca's army was slaughtered, the Romans leaving no quarter for women or children. This officially marks the end of Boudicca's rebellion. Roman historian Tacitus tells us that after the battle, she poisoned herself to avoid capture by the Romans while Cassius Dio claims she fell sick and died. Whatever the cause of her death, her reign of terror against Roman rule came to an end in 61 CE. Despite Boudicca's failure to drive Rome from the British Isles, her rebellion had a lasting effect on Roman authority. The crisis that Boudicca created against the Roman Empire had nearly convinced Emperor Nero to abandon the conquest of Britannia. You can bet the Romans were a bit more mindful of future agreements made. Nearly 2000 years later, the spirit of Boudicca is immortalized across England with statues of her likeness overlooking the cities she once burned to the ground. Her name has become synonymous with strength and resilience. History will never forget the fury of Queen Boudicca. |