A Visit To Salisbury Cathedral

It's taken me a bit of time to get this post done, and for that I apologise. I was going to write this when I got home last Monday, but given the news about my dear friend I am sure you can understand why I put it off. At any rate, last Monday (4th Nov), I took myself off for a morning in Salisbury. I have always loved Salisbury, and when I was younger I used to go to gigs at the arts centre there and the little pub named "The Winchester Gate". Of course, the history of the city is utterly fascinating, and I am in love with the cathedral.

So I hopped on a train and toddled off to Salisbury Cathedral. A building so full of history.

Briefly, the original cathedral was on the site of Old Sarum. I was planning on heading up there during my trip but couldn't really be bothered to walk the two miles through the city, or find a bus. Yes, I'm lazy. At any rate, there is a wonderful story that an archer stood upon Old Sarum and fired an arrow. Where the arrow landed it was decided the new cathedral would be built. The cathedral we see today was started in 1220, and the tower and spire were completed during the 1330's.

Random fact: If any of you have seen "Pillars of the Earth" you will recognise the front face. Simply, the cathedral in the show was based on Salisbury Cathedral.

Random fact No 2: David Oakes who plays William Hamleigh is from Salisbury, and his father works for Salisury cathedral.

Once I had rambled around the cathedral and visited the shop (I ALWAYS make sure I visit the shops in places like this, and picked up a Bernard Cornwell novel - he's my friend on Facebook. True story!) I made my over to the museum.

I was slightly disappointed to find that the archaeology sections were closed off due to a lot of work going on at the museum. However it was still nice to wander around this small museum. As I wandered around there were particular displays on dress throughout the years and as I wandered through that gallery? Christ, the dummies scared the hell out of me. There was also a display on ceramics. I had a wander through, paying particular attention to the older stuff i.e. the samian ware, as well as the medieval stuff. But as it got more modern I found myself growing bored and took myself for a wander elsewhere.

Little disappointed I didn't get to see the Amesbury archer...

This guy dates to the bronze age and was found near Stonehenge during a housing development. It's morbid, but I have a bit of a thing for human bones...

At any rate, I couldn't see him and a lot of the archaeological stuff. Still, the museum itself is a wonderful place and I recommend visiting. I brought a wonderful book from their shop on the archaeology of death and burial. Morbid reading, but incredibly interesting. 

In all, an interesting morning. A shame I couldn't stay longer, but I am planning on going back on my next day off to spend a whole day there looking back around the Cathedral, the museums in the close and heading up to Old Sarum. Keep your eyes peeled for further posts on Salisbury.

Why Do I Love History...?

I am quite often asked "Why do you like history so much?", and I end up launching into a twenty five minute rant about the importance of history and all my very favourite characters throughout the ages. But I've never really sat down and thought about it properly until now. So this post is probably going to be entirely useless and have no purpose other than allowing me to rant and ramble away about nothing in particular. So please feel free to ignore this and get on with the rest of your day.

So how did it all begin? The answer is really very simple. My aunt introduced me to Ancient Egypt, and brought me a special set of hieroglyphic stamps. They were awesome, and I had loads of fun printing out people's names as they would (or very likely wouldn't, it was a kids play set after all) have been in hieroglyphics. At any rate, it made me want more. So I began to take books out of the library, and my aunt brought me loads of books about life in Ancient Egypt. Very simply, I was in love with the era. I clearly remember the first time I ever saw the Rosetta Stone at the British Museum. I was in absolute awe of the thing, this massive slab that helped us to understand just how to read Ancient Egyptian hieroglyphics. Now, I always make a point to visit it if I'm in London and spend a few minutes just gazing at this amazing piece of history.

It was only a matter of time after then that I would begin to become interested in other eras of history. I absolutely adored history at school, and it was always my favourite subject. No word of a lie though, I struggled with it at A-Level. No idea why, probably because I was so damned fed up of the Tudors that I just lost interest. At any rate, it was during my A-Levels that I began to develop a huge interest in the Seventeenth Century and particularly the English Civil War. We studied the reign of Charles I, and how he ended up making a massive mess of things and screwing himself over. Many in the class hated ole Charlie. I however found his derpiness adorable. And I fell completely head over heels in love.

Would you believe when I saw this portrait of Charlie boy at Hampton Court, I burst into tears? Yes, I am that much of a Charlie fangirl. The staff looked at me as if I was crazy. I was even worse in front of the massive portrait of Charles II. Honestly, a gross sobbing mess doesn't even begin to cover it. 

My interest in the Seventeenth Century filtered through to University. I toddled off from my cosy little sixth form in Wiltshire, all the way to Winchester where I began a degree in History and Archaeology. After my first year, I dropped history (which I now believe is the biggest mistake I ever made) and studied single honours archaeology. My final year dissertation ended up being on the landscape archaeology of a lesser known English Civil War battlefield. Cheriton, in fact. This little village and its surrounding fields now have a special place in my heart and I visit as often as I am able, just to walk around the fields in which the Royalists and Parliamentarians fought on 29th March 1644.

To many of you, that will look just like a field. To me, it is where men fought and died for what they believed in. Those fields have a very special place in my heart. Particularly as my work on them earned me an award for the best Final Year Project, which I was given at graduation in 2009 (God, that is SO long ago. I feel so OLD now!)

When I graduated Uni, I was lucky enough to gain a contract with my local archaeology unit. That was awesome, probably the best job I have ever had. At any rate, the contract ended and I was unable to get work with any other units. It was then that I realised I should probably have gone down the history route. I began to get back into my history books. I began reading more around the ECW and expanded beyond the usual Tudor crap that I had on my shelf. I had always been somewhat interested in the Renaissance, but it was then that I really started reading about it and my interest in and around the history of the Roman Catholic grew, and my obsession with the Borgia family grew beyond sensible bounds. I have spoken enough of my love of Cesare Borgia for you all to know about it, but there is something about that era that just speaks to me. I was a mess in front of the Charlie portrait? You should have seen me in the Borgia apartments in the Vatican. I have never been such a mess in my life. Just all that passion and adoration pouring out in what I can only call "liquid feels". The same happened when I saw Cesare's sword scabbard at the V&A. Nothing can really describe the passion I have for that family. Except that it has gotten so bad I now have Cesare's motto tattooed on my arm. Now THAT is love...

My love of history has taken me to some amazing places over the past few years. From places right on my doorstep, to the heat of Rome. And I am planning on going to many more places to expand my love, to expand my learning...

And there we have it. A bit of a fangirly post all about where my love of history came from.

My apologies...

I will let you get back to your day now...........

A Birthday Wish From Cesare Borgia

You will all know by now just how much I respect Cesare Borgia, and how much time I spend reading and researching the man. For a very long time I have wanted his personal motto "Aut Caesar, Aut Nihil" done as a tattoo, and today I finally had it done. We'll call it a birthday present to myself, because today is the day I turn 25 years old!

I am so pleased with it it's unreal! My own personal way of showing just how much I respect Cesare Borgia. Awesome! Now, I'm off to eat Chinese and drink birthday wine. Expect another Borgia review tomorrow (if I'm not too hungover).

Cesare Borgia's Sword Scabbard - And A Trip To The British Museum

It's long been a dream of mine to look upon Cesare Borgia's sword and the scabbard that went with it. And when I found out that the scabbard was on display at the Victoria & Albert museum in London, I knew I had to go. Yesterday morning, after three and a half hours sleep, I got up and dragged myself and my partner off to London. Let me tell you now, wandering around London on just three and a half hours of sleep isn't a good idea, I was completely exhausted and could barely keep my eyes open. But then, when we got to the Victoria & Albert and saw the scabbard; everything was worth it.

When I saw it, I will admit that I squeaked rather loudly. I'd say it was embarrassing but really, I honestly didn't care. And it seemed to amuse the gallery attendant as I knelt in front of the case examining this beautiful artifact and wiped away my tears. Now I know you'll all think me incredibly sad but sitting in front of this beautiful piece of leather work made me really emotional - the thought that this had been made for Cesare Borgia, and that he had likely held it in his hands was just completely overwhelming. Some will wonder why I get so emotional over a man who had been so ruthless, but having studied him and his family for so long I have the utmost respect for the man who was so ruthless that he took over the whole of the Romagna with ease, yet loved his family more than life itself (But not in THAT way!). And seeing it there, something that was his, something that belonged to a man who I have found interesting for so long and read so much about, it was just simply amazing.

The scabbard itself is beautifully decorated:

Image from the Victoria & Albert Museum

On the front there are a number of images. At the top you can see a triumphal arch, under which a group of worshippers sacrifice a ram to either Venus or the Goddess of Peace. At the top of the Triumphal Arch there is an inscription in Latin: "Materium Superabit Opus" which means "Toil will tame the material" - a motto which really fits Cesare, the man who overtook the Romagna with ease, and tamed the people of each city he took over by being both ruthless and fair (Read The Prince by Machiavelli to understand exactly how this worked with Cesare). Beneath this you can see an Imperial Eagle, flanked with scrolls. This points back to Cesare's respect and love for his namesake Caesar (Julius Caesar). The Imperial decoration continues and you can see where it was marked out however this was unfinished. On the reverse, not easily seen in the museum, there are the monograms of Caesar as well as groups of three flames which was the personal impressa of Cesare. There is also a damaged coat of arms (very likely the Borgia coat of arms) flanked by cupids and the Goddess of Peace. 

Image from the Victoria & Albert Museum

The symbolism on the scabbard blew me away. Each image would have been placed there to reflect the mindset of its owner, that mindset being of the ruthless Cesare Borgia. I was completely stunned by the amount of Imperial imagery on the sword, reflecting the personal motto of Cesare; "Aut Caesar, Aut Nihil" - he had the utmost respect for Julius Caesar, and it seems almost hero worshipped him; from all my readings on Cesare it really seems as though he aspired to the same level of brilliance as Caesar.

I wish I could have spent more time with the scabbard, examining it in detail. Unfortunately, due to how fragile the piece is it would have been impossible to handle it (and I did ask when I emailed the museum a few months back). You can really see how fragile it is when you look at it, the back is split, as is the top, and this is likely why it was unfinished. During my research I found something interesting - after it was brought by the museum in 1869 it was described in a report to the Science and Art board as the "finest piece of art in leather ever known" and I can really see now how true that is. I don't think I've seen such a beautiful piece of leather work! Alas, due to what is likely a defect in the leather (the splits in the back) it never would have been worn by Cesare - had it been, it would have been a ceremonial scabbard. As he was a nobleman, Cesare would have worn a sword at most times (his sword, inscribed with his motto is currently in Rome), and such lavishly decorated scabbards would have been a usual sight in the noble courts of Rome. What's funny about this though is that the scabbard suits the shorter blade of the Cinquedea sword, which was a sword much more suited to combat - and indeed his sword is a short bladed Cinquedea. Is this Cesare once more showing the people that he's not a man to be messed with in any situation? It's certainly interesting to think about, I only wish that I could have found a little more information on this piece in the museum book shop. Alas, I could find nothing - I'll have to keep trawling online!

Looking a little emotional there...

After tearing myself away, ever so emotional, we decided to head to the British Museum for the afternoon. After a rather nice lunch in the little pub just opposite the museum we headed over there, and as we were walking in we spotted musician Gareth Malone! I think I might have scared him a little when I squeaked "It's that bloke from the telly!" - we didn't stop him, instead I stuck my head down and shuffled past embarrassed. Oops. 

Below are a few photos of my favourite pieces from the British Museum:

The Rosetta Stone - I spent a while stood here, explaining to my partner just how important this artifact is.

This beautiful statue of Venus once belonged to Sir Peter Lely (court painter of Charles II)

This isn't a very good picture, but this is basically a carved piece of Ivory dating to the thirteenth century. It shows images of the Passion, and Christ's crucifixion.

These are little reliquary boxes dating to the C13/14 - build to hold tiny relics such as sherd's of the True Cross, or a Holy Thorn.

The famous image of Christ from Hinton St Mary. Behind him you can see the Chi-Ro symbol, an early symbol of Christianity.

Ginger, the predynastic mummy. I love this guy, having spent a lot of time researching him at University. He's basically a natural mummy, the heat of the sand from his grave naturally dessicating his skin and giving him remarkable preservation.

Pieces from the Sutton Hoo ship burial.

Turquoise snake from the Aztec exhibition.

All in all, a fantastic day. And I might have spent a fortune in the B.M book shop. Oops!

Cesare's scabbard is currently on display in Room 62 of the Victoria & Albert Museum, South Kensington, London.

Adventures in Roma - Part 3

Thursday was our final full day in the Eternal City. We made sure we got up super early and got to the Colosseum before opening at 8.30am, and I am so glad that we did. The queues were not long and there weren't tour guide touts about to try and charge us 3x the normal entry price. The Colosseum is such a breathtaking place, and having learnt about it during my modules on Ancient Rome at University, it has somewhere I have always wanted to see.

I have to say, I was pleasantly surprised by how low the entry fee was. As I'm still under 25, and a citizen of the EU my ticket cost only €7.50, and that paid for access to both the Colosseum and the Roman Forum area. My partner had to pay full price, but even €12 was a bargain.

Now then, you'll all know as well (at least I hope you all know!) that I am a big fan of the Assassin's Creed series. Rome is the setting for AC: Brotherhood and the Colosseum plays quite a big part in bits of the storyline. It was kind of cool wandering around this amazing building thinking, "So Ezio jumped right off the top of that into a pile of hay, and there's an imaginary hidden tomb underneath the building". And that is the end of my Assassin's Creed fangirling for this post. Now then, back to the serious stuff.

As we walked through the entrance, both of us just stopped and went, "wow..."

Most of us know what the Colosseum was used for. Or at least I hope we do. And considering as how this is a history blog, I hope you won't mind if I indulge in a little history on this most amazing building.

The Colosseum was begun by Vespasian in AD72 and completed by Titus in around AD80. It was Titus who officially inaugurated the Colosseum with shows that lasted for no less than 100 days at a time. Construction was therefore hugely rapid, taking less that 10 years to complete, however later Emperors made changed to the structure. Domitian made the final changes to the building. As we all (or most of us, I hope) know, that the Colosseum was used for both gladiatorial combat and venationes (hunting wild animals in the arena). One such Emperor, Commodus, apparently took part in gladiatorial combat himself and called himself a gladiator. Though it seems that he was never actually in any real danger! The structure went through many repairs during its lifetime, however in the 4th and 5th centuries material from the Colosseum began to be looted and reused which is what eventually lead to it looking the way it does today. All throughout the middle ages and Renaissance the structure was basically used as a quarry for building materials (I overheard a tour guide at the pantheon saying that a lot of the outer facing stones were looted and used in church building, but I don't know whether that's true or not. Again, not so hot on my Roman history). According to a book I picked up at the Colosseum bookshop (La Regina, 221), even the Pope's plundered some of the stones to help build St Peters!! It was also used as a container for animals! In 1675, by Papal degree, it was made official that the Colosseum would be used to honour the memory of all the Christian Martyrs who had lost their lives there.

The archaeologist in me obviously got very very excited at seeing this building. Although it was only in the Nineteenth century that the first systematic excavations of the building were completed. And during this time major restoration work was begun. These days the Rome Archaeological Service looks after the building, preserves it and conducts further excavations as and when they are needed.

The photo just above, although it just looks like a bunch of stones got me really rather excited. Behind a massive iron grate were all these bits of masonry. And each and every one of them had some of the most beautiful carvings on them. As I said, the archaeologist in me got really excited.

Once we were finished with the interior of the Colosseum we decided to make use of our tickets and head up to the Forum. Once we excited though, we realised that actually we were out of water and the day was getting hotter and hotter. It wasn't even midday and the temperature was already creeping up towards 40 degrees. So we sat in the shade for a bit to try and recharge our batteries before setting off. And in the mean time I took a couple of pictures of the most amazing Arch of Constantine.

The Arch of Constantine is the largest triumphal arch known and dedicated to Emperor Constantine. Aka the bloke who made Christianity legal in Rome and stopped all the persecutions. The arch was dedicated to Constantine in AD 315 by the senate and people of Rome to commemorate his victory at Milvian Bridge. From the Fifteenth Century study and restoration work was carried out on the Arch was continues to this day. I won't go any further into the history of either the Arch or the Colosseum because to be quite honest there is enough information on them both to fill three theses on both subjects separately!

After this we began to make our way towards the entrance to the Archaeological and Forum area, swinging by a quick drinks stand to see how much a bottle of water was. After seeing a tiny bottle, which the stall had put ice cubes in being sold for €2, we decided against it, remembering that there were fountains in the forum area. Said fountains would prove a lifesaver within the next hour or so, I can tell you!

We didn't spend much time in this area because it was just painfully hot and we were struggling. When we eventually found one of the water fountains (by the arch of Titus), we ended up sinking down onto a stone bench underneath the trees and filling our massive two litre bottle up at least three times after draining the thing. Even that wasn't enough!! Because of this we didn't get to see any of the majorly important parts of the area here, but we did see the Via Nova, the Nymphaeum and the Arch of Titus which if I'm honest, in that heat, was more than enough. We agreed as we made our way out of the area that we would visit when the weather was a little bit (aka, a lot cooler!) so we could see more! However, here are a couple of pictures that I did manage to take.

 

Archaeology hjdshdfshfdks *flails about* - yep actual archaeology going on. No archaeologists about though, probably because you know...heat and stuff.

After we crawled out of the Forum area, barely able to stand and still chugging yet another 2 litres of water, we decided to hop back on the Metro and head back to the Battistini area so I could see the one little place left on my "To See While In Rome" list as well as to find some lunch. When we got there we decided to try and find this Irish bar we had seen advertised (the other half was fed up with Italian food and didn't really like the Italian pizzas all that much ha!). So off we went and spent a pleasant couple of hours in a little pub that reminded us somewhat of home. It's a shame everything was so expensive though...but anyway, we managed to recharge our batteries, have a bit of a moan over the price of our lunch and then set back out to find the Convento Di Cappuchini.

Now then, this fabulous little Convento and Crypt deserves a post all of it's own. Mainly because in such a teeny place there is just so, so much history and it is incredibly moving. So keep your eyes peeled over the next couple of days for that one!

Further reading

La Regina, A (ed), 2011, Archaeological Guide to Rome, Electa: Milan