Innehållsförteckning för Issue 144 från All About History

We tend to hold a pretty grim picture of medieval life in our minds as a default. The concept of the Dark Ages has probably coloured things a little, while miniatures and illuminations depicting hideous boils and gruesome surgeries have done the reputation of contemporary physicians no favours at all. But as with so much of history, the reality is always more complex than the surface-level understanding. Medieval medicine was primitive in many ways by modern standards, but also very innovative. There was no anaesthetic or a firm concept of antiseptic, and astrology played too much importance on the whole, but they understood wider holistic factors about maintaining physical health, and many remedies are still used to this day. We welcome Elma Brenner as our guide through these often bloody…

Between 15 and 18 August 1969, a farm in the small town of Bethel, New York became host to one of the most iconic music events of all time. Thousands of young “hippies” descended on the grounds of a dairy farm, at which stages had been erected and performers booked, to take part in a planned three-day festival that celebrated love and peace. The idea for the festival began with a group of musicians, producers and businessmen – Michael Lang, Artie Kornfeld, Joel Rosenman and John Roberts – who wished to set up a new recording studio in Woodstock, New York. To finance their ambition, they came up with the idea to hold the festival, but when they were unable to find a venue in Woodstock itself, the group found…

Why was the US involved in the Vietnam War? Since the start of the Cold War, the USA had become increasingly afraid of the spread of communism. Interestingly, this was never the Soviets’ objective. While countries embraced Leninism, for example Cuba, this was never a policy that the USSR actively pursued. But American anti-communist paranoia resulted in an overwhelming fear of more countries falling to communist ideology. In the 1950s under the auspices of John Foster Dulles, a rabid anti-communist Secretary of State for the Eisenhower administration, the Domino Theory was developed. He posited that if communism was allowed to thrive in one country, it would quickly spread to others and they would fall one by one like dominoes. The Democrats, Kennedy and Johnson, also embraced this idea. It is…

Look at most lists of the great artists who worked in Britain and you’re unlikely to find many women listed. Why is this? You might immediately assume that perhaps there were few female artists to begin with, but you’d be wrong. In fact, as a new exhibition proves, there are a large number of women whose creative legacies are barely known today. Running until 13 October, ‘Now You See Us’ at Tate Britain in London is a collection of over 200 artworks from across the globe that showcases the work of 100 women to explore female artists in the British Isles from 1520 to 1920. In some cases, these artists were among the greats of their time whereas others were little known, but all are barely recognised today. We spoke to…

When Austrian troops advanced to attack two French divisions near Marengo, Italy, on 14 June 1800, Napoleon Bonaparte was shocked. Fully expecting the Austrians to avoid a fight, he had detached several of his divisions to block potential escape routes, and he didn’t arrive at the battlefield himself until the French situation was almost lost. The French and Austrian armies were evenly matched, each numbering around 31,000, although the Austrians held a significant advantage in artillery (100 guns to just 40), but Napoleon’s decision to disperse his forces meant he was facing the full strength of his enemy with just 22,000 men and 20 guns. Disaster loomed as he tried to slow the Austrian advance, buying time for the return of his scattered divisions. Whether or not any of them…

THE TATTOOIST OF AUSCHWITZ An engaging and well-acted, if sometimes cliché-ridden, Holocaust drama Cert: 15 Director: Tali Shalom-Ezer Cast: Harvey Keitel, Melanie Lynskey, Jonah Hauer-King Released: Out now “In this hell we’re in, we’re only given two choices. The bad one and the worse one.” Auschwitz concentration camp worker, Leon (Phénix Brossard), puts this observation to fellow inmate, Lali Sokolov (Jonah Hauer-King), during one of their many, often quick, conversations. These conversations are always swiftly conducted, for at any moment the hard handle of a whip or the butt of a rifle could come raining down on the side of the head, the jaw or the nose. They could even be executed on the spot. It is indeed hell they are in. Leon’s dialogue also encapsulates the thematic arc of…

12 June 1967 LOVING v. VIRGINIA CASE The Supreme Court ruled that American laws banning interracial marriage were unconstitutional in the ruling for the Loving v. Virginia case. The case concerned Richard and Mildred Loving, an interracial married couple who had been found guilty in Virginia in 1959 under the state’s Racial Integrity Act, which banned marriage between “white” and “coloured” people. The Lovings appealed to the Supreme Court, who also overturned their criminal convictions. 20 June 1975 JAWS RELEASED IN CINEMAS Based on a novel by Peter Benchley, Steven Spielberg’s classic film Jaws, about a deadly great white shark, was released in the US. Iconic for its ominous and memorable theme music by John Williams and mechanical shark, it was the first major movie to be filmed at sea. For two…

Of all the musical legends associated with the hippy movement, the name of Janis Joplin is one of the most famous. She instantly became a counter-culture icon due to her psychedelic musical styles, which infused rock with traditional blues. Previously a singer with the band Big Brother and the Holding Company, she is best known for her two solo albums, I Got Dem Ol’ Kozmic Blues Again Mama! in 1969 and Pearl in 1971. Visually she likewise became recognised for her bold fashions, which inspired many a young hippy. Alongside her beaded necklaces, fur hats and crocheted vests was her pop-art mode of transportation. Joplin’s trippy transport was a 1964 Porsche 356C, which she bought in 1968 for $3,500. Although she initially received the car in a standard production colour, she…

1 GLASTONBURY SOMERSET, UK Few places in the UK have kept up the hippy vibe into the modern day quite so much as Glastonbury has. You may know it for the famous music festival that takes place near Pilton each year, but the town itself is a haven of hippy fashion, trends, and interests. Hippy counterculture began leaving its mark on the town in the 1960s, with caravans of eager travellers scattering across the area and Pat Leyshon painting the first of the town’s colourful murals, composed of bright flowers and butterflies, on the front of her shop, the Pat Li Shun. Glastonbury is now full of colourful street art, which you can follow via the mural trail, as well as a range of shops selling unique clothing, accessories, candles,…

It is a battle still celebrated today in modern Russia as the very heart and soul of their courage and fortitude against an invading army. On the surface, the Molotov–Ribbentrop non-aggression pact of 1939 between Hitler and Stalin gave each what they wanted. But Hitler wanted more. Extra land for the German people and the annihilation of the Slavs were central to his plan. All went well, until Stalingrad stood firmly in his way. The city’s refusal to break came at a terrible cost in lives. But if the Nazis had managed to defeat the Soviet forces and taken the city, how might the Eastern Front, and the rest of the war, have been different? Would the Nazis have continued their expansion eastwards and what may this have looked like?…

CORSAGE Director: Marie Kreutzer Starring: Vicky Krieps, Florian Teichtmeister, Katharina Lorenz Country: Austria Year: 2022 Can this even accurately be called a biopic of the famous Empress Sissi? VERDICT: There’s really not much that’s accurate in this otherwise fascinating character study.…

17 FEB 1958 GIVE PEACE A CHANCE The peace symbol is introduced by the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament at their inaugural meeting in London. It is designed by Gerald Holtom and is based on the semaphore signals for N and D. JUNE 1964 MERRY PRANKSTERS One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest author Ken Kesey makes his first Magic Bus Trip to New York with a band of entertainers known as the Merry Pranksters to attend the 1964 World’s Fair. The trip is immortalised in The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test by Tom Wolfe. JUN-SEP 1967 SUMMER OF LOVE An estimated 75,000 to 100,000 hippies travel to the Haight-Ashbury district of San Francisco in a summer of protest, drugs, music, artistic expression, alternative religions and more. Local authorities cracked down with vagrancy laws, drugs busts…

Jimi Hendrix 1942 – 1970 As a Black musician bringing a civil rights message to a largely white hippy crowd, Hendrix bridged the gap between two major social movements of the 1960s. With his colourful Carnaby Street clothing and sensuous style, he also fully embraced the image of love and community that his fans were drawn to. The Jimi Hendrix Experience released their first album in 1967 and dazzled crowds with Hendrix’s inventive guitar skills. He famously played The Star-Spangled Banner at Woodstock, the last artist to take the stage for the three-day festival. He died from a drug overdose in London in 1970, aged 27. JANIS JOPLIN 1943 – 1970 Joplin left Port Arthur, Texas, in pursuit of a music career in 1963. She sang her beloved blues music in…

When she died in 1316, Tevena, a merchant woman of Lyon, possessed a range of precious stones, including a sapphire believed to cure swellings. Tevena was not a trained physician or surgeon, but she owned healing objects for addressing her own medical issues and those of her family members. There was a great richness and diversity of medicine in medieval Europe. From the elite practice of university-educated doctors, to care within monasteries and households, medieval people benefited from a wide range of ideas, strategies and treatments aimed at preserving health and combating illness. Some of these approaches, such as magico-religious healing charms that involved ‘drinking’ words written on parchment and dissolved in water, may appear bizarre or futile today. Yet they demonstrate the careful attention that medieval women and men…

While the Magna Carta has gone on to be considered a hugely significant and influential document, the peace it was supposed to bring between King John of England and the powerful barons was not long-lasting. With King John reneging on his promises and the Pope weighing in on the document’s legitimacy, the First Barons’ War followed, splitting the nation in half. In this period of turmoil, some barons turned to Louis VIII of France as a successor to the throne and brutal battles ensued. In 1217: The Battles That Saved England, Catherine Hanley breaks down these hugely impactful events, and we were delighted to learn more about them from her. What was the political landscape of England like in 1216? It was pretty turbulent. King John had been on the…

The Great Depression in America set the stage for a perfect storm. The clash of economic turmoil, larger-than-life figures, and sensationalised media coverage propelled the likes of mobsters and outlaws into the limelight. The frenzy of chaos, hype, and daring escapades turned both criminals and law enforcement agents into media sensations. The peak of the Midwest’s brief ‘war on crime’ era unfolded between 1933 and 1934. This period witnessed the dramatic rise and fall of notorious figures like John Dillinger, Pretty Boy Floyd, and Baby Face Nelson. Simultaneously, a once obscure group of special agents emerged as a formidable and respected force in the fight against crime. THE MAKING OF AN OUTLAW John Herbert Dillinger was born on 22 June 1903 in the Oak Hill section of Indianapolis. His mother…

In 1819, a group of British hunters following a tiger through the jungle near the city of Aurangabad in India made an amazing discovery. When the tiger disappeared into a ravine, the hunting party followed and came across a man-made entrance in the rock face. Heading through the entrance, they happened upon a Buddhist stupa – a domed building used for meditation and to house relics – carved into the cave at the end of a long hallway. Along the walls of the cave were a myriad of beautiful murals. It turned out that this was one of 31 man-made caves, all Buddhist monuments, the oldest of which dated from between 90 and 75 BCE. The paintings inside the Ajanta caves date from between 2nd century BCE and the 6th…

Did you know that the Ancient Greeks invented pancakes? Tiganites most likely have their origins in an ancient Greek pancake known as teganites, a recipe for which still exists thanks to the physician Galen and his book On The Properties of Foodstuffs. According to Galen, they would have been served nice and hot with plenty of honey. For this modern version, only the yeast and sugar differentiate it from its ancient counterpart. A variety of additions can be made to tiganites, depending on the tastes of the chef. The ones pictured here, for example, contain raisins and polenta. Ingredients • 1 tsp yeast• 400-450g flour• 2 cups water• ½ tsp sugar• ¼ tsp salt• Oil for frying• Honey (to serve) METHOD 01 First, activate the yeast. Do this by combining…