Lawrence R. Spencer's Blog, page 468
February 5, 2016
February 3, 2016
RESOLVING MARITAL DISPUTES IN 1200 AD
As opposed to single combat challenges such as chivalric duels or later private duels of honor, in the Medieval Ages in some regions of Europe, mostly in German principalities disputing parties would be obliged by authority to enter into a judicial combat. Such occasions could be huge spectacles for the community. Participants might be typically given a month or two to prepare. Certain formalities and ritual – varying from place to place – dictated the setting and conditions. In fact, besides civic and felon cases, the judicial combat sometimes was used as a tool for solving domestic disputes between husband and wife. The marital combat rules required to wear special attire – different in different places. Usually, competing husband and wife were required to wear a tight-fitting body suit with a hood (perhaps a ritual or burial outfit), as it was depicted in the 15th century fighting manual written by Hans Talhoffer. Another form of attire for a female participant was a special long chemise with an extended sack-like closed sleeve (in which a stone was placed) was required as the only clothing for a wife fighting against her husband as it as it was depicted in the 14th century fighting manual written by Paulus Kal.
So, in some regions of medieval Europe (more truly in the Holy Roman Empire), a wife might be allowed to fight her husband, with rigorous conditions being imposed to make the duel a fair one. There are a few written testimonies about such combats. In the year 1200 a man and his wife fought under the sanction of the civic authorities at Bale, in Switzerland. In 1228, a woman fought her husband in Berne, Switzerland, and soundly defeated him. German law provided that in such a case the man should be armed with three wooden clubs. He was to put be up to his waist in a three-foot wide hole dug in the ground, with one hand tied behind his back. The woman was to be armed with three rocks, each weighing between one and five pounds, and each one wrapped in cloth in form of a small sack. The man could not leave his hole but the woman was free to run around the edge of the pit. If the man touched the edge of the pit with either his hand or his arm, he had to surrender one of his clubs to the judges. If the woman hit him with a rock while he was doing so, she forfeited one of her stones. Bizarre as it may seem to us today, this marital duel was very far from play-acting. In the early Medieval Era, for both parties, the penalty for defeat could be death. If the woman won, the man was executed; if the man won, the woman was buried alive. Later, the terms seemed to be softened.
READ THE ENTIRE ARTICLE, WITH MANY ADDITIONAL PHOTOS:
February 2, 2016
ANOTHER EXTINCTION
Learn 10 Easy Ways to Help Prevent Species Extinction
Originally posted 2010-12-15 08:40:03. Republished by Blog Post Promoter
February 1, 2016
IMAGINATURE
“The tree which moves some to tears of joy is in the eyes of others only a green thing that stands in the way.
Some see Nature all ridicule and deformity …and some scarce see Nature at all.
But to the eyes of a man of Imagination, Nature is Imagination itself.” — William Blake
( Read more Quotations from William Blake ) http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/authors/w/william_blake.html
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William Blake (28 November 1757 – 12 August 1827) was an English poet, painter, and printmaker. Largely unrecognised during his lifetime, Blake is now considered a seminal figure in the history of the poetry and visual arts of the Romantic Age. His prophetic poetry has been said to form “what is in proportion to its merits the least read body of poetry in the English language”. His visual artistry led one contemporary art critic to proclaim him “far and away the greatest artist Britain has ever produced“.
Blake embraced the imagination as “the body of God”, or “Human existence itself“.
Considered mad by contemporaries for his idiosyncratic views, Blake is held in high regard by later critics for his expressiveness and creativity, and for the philosophical and mystical undercurrents within his work. His paintings and poetry have been characterised as part of the Romantic movement and “Pre-Romantic”, for its large appearance in the 18th century. Reverent of the Bible but hostile to the Church of England – indeed, to all forms of organised religion – Blake was influenced by the ideals and ambitions of the French and American revolutions and he maintained an amiable relationship with Thomas Paine.
( below: a painting by William Blake, “Ancient of Days” )
Originally posted 2013-08-22 12:13:46. Republished by Blog Post Promoter
January 31, 2016
SEE-THROUGH DANCER
KKK
THE CHEMICAL BROTHERS Wide Open (feat. Beck) from D O M & N I C on Vimeo.
Read the article (with still photos) of how this incredible film was made: http://www.dezeen.com/2016/01/30/music-video-wide-open-the-chemical-brothers-nic-dom-the-mill-movie/
January 30, 2016
VOLUNTARY HUMAN EXTINCTION
The following short videos, created by cartoonist and animator Nina Paley, illustrate the problem of human over-population and our destruction of Earth biosphere, and eventually, all life-forms, including the human species.
What is the Voluntary Human Extinction Movement?
VHEMT (pronounced vehement) is a movement not an organization. It’s a movement advanced by people who care about life on planet Earth. The Movement presents an encouraging alternative to the callous exploitation and wholesale destruction of Earth’s ecology.
As VHEMT Volunteers know, the hopeful alternative to the extinction of millions of species of plants and animals is the voluntary extinction of one species: Homo sapiens… us.
When every human chooses to stop breeding, Earth’s biosphere will be allowed to return to its former glory, and all remaining creatures will be free to live, die, evolve (if they believe in evolution), and will perhaps pass away, as so many of Nature’s “experiments” have done throughout the eons.
LEARN MORE ON THE VHEMT website: http://vhemt.org/
January 29, 2016
ADMIRE ME!
Don’t ask to be admired…that’s what I’ve heard.
It’s a lesson I’ll never learn. We share the joy of art.
If you admire my dreams, I’ll admire yours.
If we admire each other, we’ll never be bored!
~ by Lawrence R. Spencer. 2011.
Originally posted 2011-04-12 16:40:33. Republished by Blog Post Promoter
January 28, 2016
SERENE CINEMAGRAPHS
Beautiful Cinemagraphs from Living Stills
Floris Kloet is a 32 year old GIF artist from The Netherlands. By day he’s a project leader at a Dutch media company. By night he makes these Wonderful Cinemagraphs. ‘Everything is beautiful. You only have to take an interest in things to see their beauty’
