Browsing: Religion

A Brief History This article presents key events in the life of Joan of Arc and the Hundred Years’ War. Digging Deeper On August 2, 1343, Olivier Clisson, a French nobleman from Brittany, was convicted of treason in Paris and beheaded.  He had been fighting the British in the Hundred Years War, and when his success tapered off, he was criticized and accused of treason, perhaps to deflect blame from French losses. On August 26, 1346, at the battle of Crecy, English archers proved the superiority of the English Longbow over the combination of armored knights and crossbowmen fielded by the…

A Brief History On June 25, 1843, Marie Anne Lenormand, France’s most famous fortune teller and cartomancer (card reader), died. Digging Deeper Born in 1772 and educated at a convent school in Alençon, she moved to Paris sometime between 1786 and 1790 and set up a type of office for clairvoyance. Early clients included the heads of the French Revolution (Marat, Robespierre and Saint-Just). She is said to have predicted their violent demise. Her imprisonment by the Committee of Public Safety which had been created by the National Convention and which formed the de facto executive government during the Reign…

A Brief History In 1529, an ecclesiastical, legatine court, presided over by a representative of the Pope, had been created to try the validity of the marriage between Henry VIII and his first wife, Catherine of Aragon. The trial was held at Blackfriars Priory in London, and on June 18, both Henry and Catherine were summoned to appear before the court. Digging Deeper By this point in time, Henry and Catherine, his brother’s widow, had been married for 20 years. Though they had been happy for the majority of their marriage, Catherine had been unable to provide a son who…

A  Brief History On May 13, 1998, Jakarta (or Djakarta) Indonesia experienced race riots directed against the ethnic Chinese minority. These Indonesians of Chinese descent owned many of the shops and stores, creating jealousy and ill will, resulting in looting and rape. Many countries have minorities that are discriminated against, either officially by law or by common practice. Here in the US we are most familiar with discrimination against African-Americans, but here and around the world there is much more than that. Here are 10 examples of minority groups struggling against such oppression. What groups would you add to this…

A Brief History History’s worst war and its associated genocide is an dark chapter in human history overflowing with bizarre episodes.  This article presents a timeline of the most notable such incidents, some depressing and others inspiring! Origins of World War II On September 24, 1884, Hugo Schmeisser was born in Jena, in what was then the German Empire. On August 22, 1902, Helene “Leni” Riefenstahl was born in Southern Bavaria in Germany.  Thirty years later she would meet Adolf Hitler, the man who helped her become the greatest female filmmaker of the 20th century, but that association would nearly destroy her…