DEADLY FASHION

Looks that killed (literally)

Rise of the

How Genghis Khan forged

an empire that sought to
span the world

NATIVE
MEDIEVAL AMERICAN HEROES
SECRETS OF LOVE STORY men who
ANCIENT CULTS ntury rom a nce Men and wo eir people
up for th
MYSTERY OF From stran g
ri
e
tu
in it
als
iations 12th-ce melt your heart stood
that will

MI6’S MISSING SPY to raucous

PLUS…
Unsolved disappearance WHAT IF JAPAN REMAINED ISOLATIONIST?
of Britain’s elite frogman NEW WORLD WITCH HUNT BATTLE OF SHIPKA PASS ISSUE 133
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 C NTENTS ISSUE 133

ALL ABOUT…
12
Key Events
History of Native Americans

Inside History
14
An Iroquois longhouse

Anatomy
16
A jingle dress

Historical Treasures
17
Katsina figure

Hall Of Fame
18
Influential Native Americans

Q&A
20
Taiaiake Alfred discusses First Nations history in Canada
12
Places To Explore
22
Indigenous American historical sites

FEATURES
26 Rise of the Mongols
How Genghis Khan forged his incredible empire

36 Deadly Fashion
The trends and products that did more harm than good

42 Ancient Mystery Cults

Strange religions and the hunt to uncover them revealed

46 The Hunt for Commander Crabb

What happened to this WWII hero who defended Allied ships

52 Abelard and Héloïse

How medieval lovers’ letters made them romantic icons

52
58 Inquisition in the New World
What happened when the heretic hunt crossed the Atlantic?

REGULARS
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Defining Moments
06
Photos with amazing stories
and save!
Greatest Battles
64
Russia and the Ottomans clash at Shipka Pass

What If
70
Japan had remained isolationist?

Through History
74
Style and society in the Georgian era

Reviews
78
Our verdict on the latest historical books and media

History Vs Hollywood
81
Main image: © Alamy

Does Raging Bull pull any punches?

64
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26

RISE OF THE
How Genghis Khan forged an empire that sought to span the world
 Defining
Moments

6
 21 August 1911
MONA LISA STOLEN
In 1911 the Mona Lisa, painted
by Leonardo da Vinci, was
stolen from the Louvre in
Paris. The crime caused a
media sensation as the police
investigated. Two years after
its disappearance, Italian
museum worker Vincenzo
Peruggia, who had worked at
the Louvre, attempted to sell
the Mona Lisa to an art gallery
in Florence. He was arrested
but claimed that he had only
wanted to return the painting
to its homeland in Florence.
The theft helped to make the
Mona Lisa the famous work it
© Alamy

is today.

7
 Defining
Moments

29 August 2005
HURRICANE KATRINA
HITS NEW ORLEANS
The storm known as Hurricane
Katrina devastated New Orleans,
Louisiana after initially hitting
the city on 29 August 2005.
Though there had been prior
warning of the oncoming storm,
it was not possible for the entire
city to be evacuated. The initial
impact of the storm destroyed
homes and businesses and the
city’s levees collapsed, leading
to devastating flooding which
covered around 80 per cent of
New Orleans. Over a thousand
people died in the city as a
© Alamy

result of the hurricane.

8
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 We explore the wide expanse of indigenous history in North
America, from its pre-colonial years to the modern era

14 16 18 20
Main image: © Getty Images

INSIDE AN ANATOMY OF A INFLUENTIAL NATIVE AMERICAN

IROQUOIS LONGHOUSE JINGLE DRESS NATIVE AMERICANS LIFE IN CANADA
Written by Callum McKelvie, Emily Staniforth, Jonathan Gordon
11
 Key Events

Sacagawea
is arguably the
most famous Native
American woman in US
history. Her presence
on Lewis and Clark’s
mission ensured it
was a peaceful
endeavour.

1756 FRENCH AND INDIAN WAR

The Seven Years’ War sees British 1804 SACAGAWEA MEETS LEWIS AND CLARK
and French forces battle each other to claim The Shoshone woman Sacagawea meets
the area of the upper Ohio River Valley. Meriwether Lewis and William Clark while six months’
Both sides are supported in their efforts pregnant. She, alongside her French-Canadian husband and
by a number of Native American tribes. later her small baby, accompany Lewis and Clark to explore
Eventually the British are the victors. the US-acquired land from the Louisiana Purchase.

ARCHAIC PERIOD MISSISSIPPIAN CULTURE POCAHONTAS ENCOUNTERS

c.6000 BCE - c.500 CE
Indigenous people of the
c.1000 - c.1500
Mississippian culture, which originates in
JOHN SMITH 1607
Captain John Smith is kidnapped from
Archaic culture differ from their the Mississippi River Valley, sees further the Jamestown Colony by men of the
predecessors by living in larger developments in agricultural cultivation Powhatan Confederacy. Smith’s life is
groups with a less nomadic and political and cultural systems among allegedly saved by Chief Powhatan’s
lifestyle and a more varied diet. indigenous groups. daughter, Pocahontas.
C.16000
BCE 1492

WOODLAND PERIOD SPANISH CONTACT IN DISEASE IN NEW ENGLAND

c.1000 BCE - c.1000 CE THE SOUTHWEST 1539 1616
The Woodland Period archaeological Hernando de Soto, a Spanish An epidemic, possibly of smallpox,
era begins in eastern North America. explorer and conquistador, lands sweeps across New England decimating
It is characterised by the development in Florida. He captures Native the Native American communities.
of horticultural activities, mound Americans who he uses as guides Around 90 per cent of the
construction and ceramic manufacturing. as he travels through America. Massachusetts tribe die from disease.

Columbus

THE FIRST NATIVE 1492 COLUMBUS never visited

C.16000
ARRIVES IN
North America, but
BCE
AMERICANS
his initial journey

Early migrants use a bridge

THE AMERICAS sparked the
colonisation.
Spanish explorer Christopher
over the Bering Strait to
Columbus lands in the
migrate from Siberia to Alaska
Bahamas. Believing he has
at the end of the last Ice Age.
reached the Indies, he calls the
They are hunter gatherers who
island’s inhabitants “Indians”.
become the first humans in
He establishes a small colony
North America according to
on the island and takes
archaeological evidence.
captured native people back to
Spain on his return voyage.

12
 The NATIVE
Ghost Dance
movement saw
Native Americans, who
AMERICANS
believed they were being
moved to reservations as
punishment for abandoning
their traditional ways, try
to reconnect with their
customs through the
Ghost Dance.

1890 WOUNDED KNEE MASSACRE

Approximately 150 Native Americans
are killed by the US cavalry near Wounded Knee
Creek. The cavalry surround Ghost Dancers,
whose Lakota Sioux Chief is Big Foot, and a fight
allegedly breaks out. The ensuing massacre sees
many women and children killed.

THE PILGRIM-WAMPANOAG OFFICE OF INDIAN TRAIL OF TEARS 1838

PEACE TREATY 1621 AFFAIRS 1824 An estimated 4,000 members
of the Cherokee nation, nearly
An English-speaking Native American The establishment of the Office of
a fifth of their population, die
known as Squanto helps Pilgrim settlers Indian Affairs by the US government
as they are forced to move
establish a peace treaty with the sets out the government’s aim to
westwards by the government.
Wampanoag Confederacy. The defeat native tribes and relocate
treaty is the first of its kind. them to reservations.

1756 1804 1876 1890 1924

TECUMSEH CONFEDERACY INDIAN REMOVAL ACT 1830 FIRST NATIVE AMERICAN

1810 The Indian Removal Act is signed by SENATOR 1907
Shawnee Chief Tecumseh organises President Andrew Jackson. It gives Charles Curtis becomes the first
a confederacy of tribes in the land west of the Mississippi River senator with Native American
northwest to resist white settlers. to tribes in exchange for their heritage. He is an enrolled member
They face US forces in Tecumseh’s land within the state borders. of the Kaw Nation who later becomes
War and the War of 1812. Many tribes resist relocation. Vice President.

1876 BATTLE OF THE 1924 INDIAN

LITTLE BIGHORN CITIZENSHIP ACT
Federal troops are President Calvin Coolidge
overwhelmed by the Lakota enacts the Indian Citizenship
Sioux and Cheyenne warriors, Act, which declares that all
led by Sitting Bull and Crazy Native Americans born in the
All images: ©Alamy, © Getty Images

Horse, that face them in country (around 300,000 at

battle. The tribes had been the time) are official citizens.
resisting encroachment on However, the Act does not
their lands after gold had establish that all Native
been found in their region. Americans are afforded
voting rights.

13
 Inside History

IROQUOIS Inside the interior

of a traditional
Iroquois longhouse

LONGHOUSE
Northeast America
STORAGE SHED
Each entrance to the longhouse had a shed or porch
area that could be used for storage. A description of
these porches from 1724 by Father Joseph-Francois
STORAGE AREAS
Above and beneath the
raised platforms would be
areas designated for storage.
Underneath the bench would
be used to store large amounts
Lafitau explains that during the winter months, bark of wood for the fires. Above the
and Upstate was used to cover the porch area so that wood for the
fire can be stored without getting damp.
bench would be another storage
area, which would also serve to
New York cover the bench when sleeping.

c.18th century
DOORS
The majority of

T
longhouses had two
he Iroquois is the name used to refer to doors, one at each end
indigenous American tribes that speak of the building and
an Iroquoian language. These tribes corresponding to east
included Mohawk, Oneida, Onondaga, Cayuga, and west. According
to Elisabeth Tooker in
and Seneca. They primarily occupied areas her book, The Iroquois
around what is now New York and sections of Ceremonial Of Midwinter,
Pennsylvania. The Iroquois peoples confederation men usually sit in one
is also known as the Haudenosaunee which of the longhouses and
women and children in
means ‘People of the Longhouse’. According to
the other and use the
the Haudenosaunee’s official site, the longhouse corresponding doors.
imagery was symbolic of each nation’s role within However, sometimes
the confederacy. seating is organised by
Longhouses were the homes of the Iroquois and moiety (groups) and they
enter this way.
would house a number of families. Longhouses
have been built in a variety of different cultures,
evidence of the earliest examples being found in
Europe and originating from around 5000 BCE.
Even the Vikings of Scandinavia are said to have
lived in variations of the form. Other indigenous
peoples of North America, including those living
on the coast of the Pacific Northwest, lived in such
structures, though these varied in design and
construction to those built by the Iroquois.
The name is an obvious reference to the long
shape of these homes, usually dictated by the size
and number of the families who were to live in
them. An Iroquois village would have comprised
of a number of longhouses and would have
been surrounded by a palisade, a protective wall
constructed out of wooden posts and bark.
A great deal of what was originally known about
these constructions and their use came from white
European colonists and settlers. However, in recent
years archaeologists in the New York area have
uncovered evidence of traditional longhouses,
helping further our understanding of these
important structures.
While longhouses are mostly no longer used
FIRE
Each longhouse would most likely have had
as living quarters, they remain an important part a number of fires within it. These fires would
of Iroquois culture. They are still constructed have been used for cooking and heating
using traditional methods and in some cases they purposes and one fire would have been shared
by two families. Gaps in the roof stopped the
are used as gathering places for important tribe
smoke from filling the longhouse.
meetings, or for ritual use.

14
 NATIVE
ROUNDED ROOF AMERICANS
PERSONAL ITEMS The roofs of longhouses were almost always 20
feet high. Curved, they would be constructed out
The belongings of the Iroquois, items of saplings and then covered in sheets of elm bark.
including animal skins and cooking This proved to be an efficient way of insulating the
pots, would most likely be kept on longhouse and keeping in the heat. Holes were made
the shelves above the platforms. The in the roof in order to let out the smoke from the fires
Iroquois made many items, weaving and also to provide some lighting.
baskets and reed mats. Spare animal
skins and rugs would be kept, ready
for use in the cold winter months.
Other items would be hung on the
walls and sacks of food and braids of
corn were hung from the ceilings.

HOW LONG IS A
LONGHOUSE?
Longhouses varied in length
but according to the New York
State Museum they could
be anywhere between 30
and hundreds of feet long.
The longhouses built by
the Iroquois were normally
between 180 and 220 feet,
though some examples are
believed to have existed that

FAMILY COMPARTMENTS
were 400. However they were
almost always 20 feet wide.
According to the New York State Museum,
each longhouse would be divided into
An Ojibwe family
compartments that were around 20 feet inside a similar
long in size. These compartments would style of longhouse
be the living quarters for the families in
residence and each compartment would
be shared between two families. These
compartments were located on opposite
sides of the main aisle and communal area.

PLATFORMS
LONGHOUSE CONSTRUCTION Inside each compartment were raised
platforms. These were roughly a foot from
Longhouses were built out of huge wooden the ground and would be covered in a
posts that were used to make the frame. These variety of rugs and blankets. According to
Illustration by: Adrian Mann

were made out of saplings. The frame would the New York State Museum this gave the
Inset images: © Alamy

then be covered with sheets of bark that would appearance of being like benches. On these
help insulate the longhouse during the winter. platforms the family members would
The saplings were tied together at the top, thus perform numerous activities including
creating the domed roof. some work, sleep and have conversations.

15
 Anatomy
FLAT FAN

JINGLE
Traditionally, jingle dancers had no
accessories. Although some sources state
that they could occasionally carry a hand
purse, even then this was not a necessity.

DRESS
However, as the dance has evolved some
jingle dancers now carry a flat fan, which
are created by placing individual feathers
to either a handle or a bird’s wing.

United States
c.1900s
MATERIAL
Traditionally the dress itself
was made out of animal hides.

ORIGINS OF THE JINGLE DRESS Lori Henry in Dancing Through

History meets a dancer whose
Jingle dresses are worn by indigenous women dress is constructed out of
when performing the historical jingle dance. traditional porcupine quill. Some
The dance is said to have begun in the lands contemporary dresses are made
of the Anishinaabe and is considered to be a out of polyester, however all
healing dance. It first originated around the turn are made using bright colours.
of the 20th century. The dance quickly spread Underneath the dress the dancer
and became popular among many Indigenous wears a pair of leggings.
American tribes.

BELT
ZIIBAASKA’IGANAN
Traditional jingle dancers wear a conch or
beaded belt around their waist. Concho belts
(coming from the Spanish word for shell) are The dress is covered in hundreds of minute
made to resemble rounded silver discs. Some metal cones known as ziibaaska’iganan. It is
of the first of these belts were made out of these cones that give the dress the distinctive
melted down silver dollars and were then ‘jingle’ sound from which it takes its name.
moulded to create shell-like shapes. Traditionally they are made out of rolling cut
snuff can lids. Due to this, jingle dresses can be
extremely heavy.

LEGEND OF THE JINGLE DRESS

There is a legend attached to the jingle dress.
The story goes that a medicine man had a series

MOCCASIN
of dreams in which four women appeared to
him and taught him the dance and how to
make the dress. In some versions, the man’s
Moccasins are a traditional form of
granddaughter was ill and he was instructed to
Native American footwear. The shoe
make the dress to cure her.
is constructed out of a single piece of
animal hide (usually buckskin), which is
Illustration by: Kevin McGivern

then sewn at the top. They are decorated

with silk, coloured cloth and glass beads.
In winter time, they were sometimes
stuffed with grass in order to keep the
feet warm. Now they are still worn by
the jingle dancers.

16
 NATIVE
AMERICANS
Historical Treasures

HIILILI KOKKO:
KATSINA FIGURE
This distinctive wooden figure MODERN
represents a spiritual being, important KATSINA DOLLS
Contemporary
to the folklore of the Hopi tribe Katsina dolls have
a few notable

USA, c.1900 figures that make

them substantially

PAINT
different to the
example shown here.

T his striking wooden doll is one of a

number of Katsina dolls currently in
the possession of the Metropolitan
Museum of Art. These dolls demonstrate the
craftsmanship of the members of the Hopi
For Katsina figures of this
period, vegetable pigments were
used in order to provide the
distinct paintwork. However, on
some examples the paint has
Firstly, they feature
movement whereas
older examples were
always static. The use
of eagle feathers in
their construction was
faded over time as they were not
tribe, but their importance goes beyond water resistant. Usually this did banned and instead
the feathers were
mere aesthetics. Katsina dolls are spiritually not matter as the figures were
designed to be hung on walls. carved rather than
and culturally significant and can tell us a glued on.
great deal about the folklore of the Pueblo
indigenous peoples.
The word Katsina (sometimes Kachina)
refers to a race of supernatural beings in
folklore. These beings come in many forms
and are said to represent anything from
COTTONWOOD
Katsina doll making
animals, to crops, to the weather. The latter has four distinct phases
are stated to have magical powers that also with this example most
allow them to control the weather, including likely belonging to the
influencing the rain – all important to earliest. Dolls of the Early
Traditional period were
agricultural peoples. Through the half of carved from only a single
the year that they visit the tribes they assist piece of cottonwood. A
in many things, including punishing those sandstone would be used to
who have broken religious or societal laws smooth the wood.
and taboos. And during the months that the
Katsina are present, they also act as a bridge
with the spirit world and communication with
the hereafter.
The Katsina are represented by wooden
figures or dolls. These were given to the
young children of the tribe but they were not
intended as toys, rather they were to help
teach the children about the importance of
the Katsina. This particular example was
made by a member of the Hopi tribe. MATERIALS
The oldest example of a Katsina doll dates The figure is constructed
from cottonwood, metal,
All images: © Getty Images, © Metropolitan Museum of Art

to the 18th century. As well as figures, dancers vegetal fibre, cloth and
wearing carved masks also represent Katsina wool yarn. Feathers have
at various ceremonies. The Hopi tribe are been used to decorate
not alone in creating these figures either and the Katsina, as well as
horsehair. The Katsina
Katsina dolls are also produced by the Zuni
figure is larger than it
and other tribes. In the following century, appears in this image,
travellers became increasingly interested being 46cm tall.
in indigenous American art. As such, tribes
LEFT
started to produce the figures for the explicit A dancer wearing a costume
purpose of selling them to tourists. of one of the many Kachina

17
 Hall of Fame

INFLUENTIAL NATIVE AMERICANS

Men and women who defended, inspired
and led their people across the centuries

CHIEF JOSEPH NEZ PERCE, C. 1840 – 1904

Having been forced out of their ancestral home, Chief Tamanend III
Joseph faced misfortune head-on. Just as his people Lenape, c.1625 – 1701
were set to relocate to Idaho from Oregon, three
men from a fellow chief’s group attacked and We have few official records
killed some white settlers. What followed was a or information about the
three-month trek of nearly 300 people to try background of Tamanend,
and reach Canada, fighting battles along the known as ‘the affable’, but
way, but endearing himself to local people. his legend has gone down
Chief Joseph ultimately surrendered, but in history. Meeting Quaker
continued to advocate for his people, William Penn in 1682,
including a personal meeting with Tamanend and Penn signed
President Theodore Roosevelt. a landmark treaty of peace
and friendship. The Treaty of
Shackamaxon (named after the

EDMONIA LEWIS OJIBWA, 1844 – 1907

Raised in the Ojibwa community of her
town in which Tamanend lived)
established Penn’s foothold
in what is now Pennsylvania.
mother, Lewis was of Native American and Tamanend, often referred to
African American descent and became the first as Tammany by the colonists,
The
person of either lineage to gain international Tammany became a folk hero during
recognition as a sculptor. Having moved to Hall group that the Revolutionary War and
Rome in 1865, she did her own stonework dominated New York was called the Patron Saint
rather than hiring locals to adapt her plaster politics for over 100 of America. His reputation
model (as was common) so there could be no years was named for wisdom, hospitality and
question over her authorship of the works. Her after Tamanend. virtue has lived on through
depictions of Native American life in marble are the decades.
particularly noteworthy.

Sacagawea
Shoshone, 1788 – 1812
TECUMSEH SHAWNEE, 1768 – 1813
Raised to hate white Americans, having
lost his father to them and seeing his home
Like many American figures, some of invaded and crops destroyed over the years,
Sacagawea’s life may be more legend than Tecumseh joined the British cause aged 14
history, but some details remain clear. Born during the Revolutionary War. Following the
in the Lemhi Shoshone community, she was war he continued to engage in actions against
captured and enslaved at 12 to the Hidatsa and white Americans, but
sold to a French trader aged 16, becoming one of was also growing into a
his wives. When Meriwether Lewis and William leader and orator who
Clark hired her husband as an interpreter for advocated traditional
their expedition, Sacagawea, having only given Native American
birth a few months earlier, joined the values, such
expedition as the only one who could as communal
Sacagawea’s communicate with the Shoshones. She ownership.
presence on the was an integral part of their journey’s He died
expedition with a survival and success, travelling from fighting
child was a signal her the Dakotas to the Pacific Northwest, alongside
companions were the British
all the while carrying her infant son.
not a threat to again in the
other tribes.
War of 1812.

18
 NATIVE
AMERICANS
SEQUOYAH

All images: © Alamy, © Getty Images

Sitting Bull CHEROKEE, C. 1775 – 1843 Jim Thorpe
The son of Sauk and Fox,
Lakota, c.1831 – 1890 a Cherokee
woman 1888 – 1953
Rising up to become the principal named
chief of the entire Sioux nation in One of the most versatile and accomplished
Wuh-teh
1867, Sitting Bull had established his athletes of the early 20th century, Thorpe’s
and possibly
reputation among his people as a proud legacy as a popular figure is quite remarkable.
fur trader
and fearless leader. He joined his first He competed at the Stockholm Olympics in
Nathaniel Gist,
war party at 14 and was part of the 1912, winning the decathlon and pentathlon
a commissioned
Strong Heart and Silent Eater groups (medals he was stripped of for competing
officer in the
defending Native American welfare. It semi-professionally, but fully restored to
Continental army, Sequoyah grew up only speaking
was his battles with the US government him in 2022) and went on to
Cherokee and retaining the customs of his people.
that gained him fame, excel in American Football.
However, he believed that written language was
however, with the Battle of He also played baseball,
a strength of the colonisers worth adapting for
the Little Bighorn in 1876 basketball, lacrosse and
his own people. He developed a written Cherokee
being his most famous hockey, as well as competing
language of 86 symbols for the syllables of the
victory. While he won in boxing and swimming. His
spoken language, giving birth to books, newspapers
battles, he lost the war post-sports career was
and more in Cherokee.
and was forced to retreat less successful, but
to Canada for a while, he appeared in more
returning to surrender in than 60 films and
1881. From 1885 he joined advocated for Native
Buffalo Bill’s Wild West Americans being
show, travelling the world. cast in Hollywood.
His name was
given to the most
valuable player
award of the
Sitting Bull
was killed during NFL from 1955
an arrest over fears to 2008 and the
of a growing Ghost Pennsylvania
Dance resistance borough of Jim
movement. Thorpe was
created in
1954.

Susan La MARIA TALLCHIEF OSAGE, 1925 – 2013

Flesche Picotte Tallchief rose from her
birthplace of Fairfax,
Ponca, 1865 – 1915 Oklahoma to become one
of the only American
Born in northeastern Nebraska to a chief, dancers to be recognised
Dr La Flesche Picotte’s calling in medicine as a prima ballerina.
began when she was a child and saw a She started out in New
Native American woman die due to lack of York working with
care by white physicians. She committed (and later marrying)
herself to providing that care in the future choreographer George
and was the first Native American to Balanchine, but was
receive a medical degree, graduating at the also the first American
top of her class. She returned to Nebraska to dance with the
to work at a government boarding school Paris Opera Ballet and
and then set up her own practice from at the Bolshoi Theater
1894 where she cared for all in Moscow. Retiring in
patients in the area. She 1965, she opened her own
As well as also opened a hospital school with her sister
being a doctor, La in the reservation (a fellow dancer)
Flesche Picotte was town, Walthill, which and advocated
heavily involved in
today stands as a for Native
the temperance
movement. museum to her work. American
rights.

19
 Q&A

EXPLORING INDIGENOUS
RESURGENCE
Taiaiake Alfred guides us through the importance of
the revitalisation of Canada’s First Nations culture
What forms has the dispossession of of deculturing them and assimilating to the 19th century – and this is not
First Nations in North America taken them into mainstream society. Taiaiake Alfred is a a historical fact only, because as late
Kahnawà:ke Mohawk
throughout history? author and educator.
as 1990 there was a sustained armed
The relationship between the Original In what ways have First Nations He established the conflict between the armed forces of
People of this continent and the historically resisted land and Concordia University’s Canada and my own nation. But beyond
newcomers has been shaped from cultural dispossession? Centre for Native physical resistance, First Nations have
Education and the
the start by Europeans’ and later When Europeans first set foot in North organised and advocated in the courts
University of Victoria’s
Euroamericans’ insatiable greed for our America there were around 500 nations Indigenous Governance for their rights since the 1970s and this
land, and their unceasing efforts to gain of people occupying the continent – Program, and has has been effective in preserving the bare
possession of our resources and to erase distinct linguistic, cultural and political worked for over essence of the reality of a treaty-based
us politically. We have always been an collectivities. Now there are only around three decades in First nation-to-nation relationship between
Nations governance.
obstacle to European ambitions and 50; the vast majority of the original First Nations and Canada and the United
demonised in colonial mythology. Our people of North America were wiped States governments. In recent decades,
peoples’ struggle has been to maintain out by diseases brought by Europeans BELOW as our existence has felt less threatened
ourselves, to survive the violence and and by war. The ways First Nations Abandoned than in previous eras, our people have
longhouses at SGang
legal machinations of the White Man in have resisted include the obvious, Gwaay in British turned to restoring and revitalising our
our homelands. military force from the start through Columbia cultures, focusing on reinvigorating our
The first stage of this history was
defined by treaty-making on a nation-
to-nation basis, which was a necessity
on the part of Europeans because of our
numerical superiority. But as soon as
the impacts of epidemics of disease took
their toll on our people, and reduced our
numbers drastically, North American
history became a story of broken
promises, naked aggression, legal fiction
and forced acculturation with the aim of
eliminating First Nations as obstacles to
the expansion of Empire.
The forms of dispossession included
disregard and legal reinterpretation of
treaty commitments, outlawing of First
Nations’ rights, governmental supports
for outright theft by White settlers,
Photo courtesy of: Ashley Seymour

physical removals of communities and

nations and later, forced removal of
generations of First Nations children
from their families and communities
and placement in so-called residential
schools run by churches with the intent

20
 NATIVE
AMERICANS

languages and ceremonies and our land- and revitalising their identities I think that framing our resistance as ABOVE
based cultural practices. and cultures? Indigenous Resurgence, which is an Dancers at a
Kahnawà:ke cultural
It’s been a monumental effort on the idea that focuses on the restoration and event in Quebec
What was the impact of the part of our people to simply survive the adaptation of ancestral identities and
attempted ‘assimilation’ of First Euroamerican governments’ attempt to practices and direct action to get our
Nations’ people in North America? eliminate us. Those of us that are still land back, is the key to our survival in
First Nations people have been severely here are the inheritors of a heritage of the long term. We cannot exist into the
impacted physically and psychologically. resistance and courageous, wise choices future without a meaningful connection
In all First Nations, the impacts of on the part of our ancestors. We are to the unique heritage that defines us as
the multi-generational trauma of the survivors of a genocide and while nations, and without a real relationship
colonialism and Settler racism are this history has scarred us, it has also to the natural world and the landscapes
profound and manifest in many ways. made us resilient. Our ancestors knew and sacred places that are essential to
Our people, sadly, have social pathology, that aside from fighting like hell, not our being Onkwehonweneha and the
incarceration, and disease rates, just trusting the White Man and not allowing birthright of our future generations. The
to name three measures for example, one more inch of our lands to be stolen idea of Indigenous Resurgence, as an
that far outpace the mainstream by force, decree or fraud, preserving intellectual paradigm and political
population and affect every one of our our identities and connections to our movement, strategises these
families. But most profoundly, the multi- homelands was the key to survival and imperatives. It’s the only effective
pronged assault on our people over ensuring that our future generations alternative to assimilation and
generations has created a social reality would know themselves and live as integration into the agenda of
in our communities that could be best Onkwehonwe, original people, and the the North American states.
understood in a Fanonian sense of a key to this was the preservation of our
colonised mentality – it has disconnected languages and spirituality. We have
our people from the source of their adapted many forms of technology to IT’S ALL ABOUT THE
identity – their lands – and fomented restore languages, and expanded the LAND: COLLECTED
divisions, cultural confusion and ways we practise and share our culture TALKS AND INTERVIEWS
undermined people’s trust in themselves in recent years, especially in the arts and
ON INDIGENOUS
and their Indigenous institutions. contemporary forms of music.
RESURGENCE
(UNIVERSITY OF TORONTO
All images: © Alamy

Over the last few generations, how Why is the Indigenous Resurgence
have First Nations people been movement important to First PRESS, 2023) BY TAIAIAKE
reclaiming their heritage Nations? ALFRED IS ON SALE FROM 12
SEPTEMBER 2023.
21
 Places to Explore

INDIGENOUS HISTORICAL SITES

From ancient mounds to cliff dwellings,
five Native American locations worth visiting
1 KNIFE RIVER INDIAN VILLAGES
NATIONAL HISTORIC SITE
1
2
NORTH DAKOTA
Located in North Dakota, Knife River historical site
allows visitors to explore the remains of several
indigenous settlements. In particular there can be seen
the remains of two villages belonging to the Mandan 5
and Hidatsa tribes. These tribes built vast settlements 3
of earth lodges, the largest of which (according to the
National Park Service) comprised 120 of these dwellings. 4
However, in 1837 both of these villages were all but
wiped out by a deadly outbreak of smallpox.
As well as archaeological remnants, the site also
includes a reconstructed earth lodge. Indigenous
tribes in this area built these dwellings and according
to the National Park Service, they could house up
to 20 people. These structures were built by first
constructing a central wooden frame and then covering

LITTLE BIGHORN BATTLEFIELD

it in branches, dried grass and grass-covered mud. This
gave the structure the appearance of a small hillock. 2
Interestingly, the building of the earth lodge would have
been largely overseen by the women of the tribe. NATIONAL MONUMENT
Opening hours vary between 8am and 5pm, depending on
MONTANA Last Stand Hill at the
site of the Battle of
the Little Bighorn
the season. Admission is free.
On 25 and 26 June 1876, the
Battle of the Little Bighorn
The Knife River site
contains the remains of took place between the
two indigenous villages United States army led by
General Custer, and Lakota
Sioux and Cheyenne warriors.
For some time, indigenous
peoples were being forced
off their lands and onto
reservations, motivated
partially by the discovery of
gold in these areas and also
a desire for further expansion. When the Sioux and Cheyenne did not relocate
as instructed, Custer and his troops were sent to confront them. However, their
relatively small force was quickly outnumbered and Custer and his men were
massacred in the battle.
Now the site has a centre where visitors can learn about the history of the
battle as well as a number of historical artefacts. Also on the site is the Custer
memorial cemetery and a memorial at Last Stand hill. Close by and also of
significance is the Reno-Benteen Battlefield that can be reached as part of a self-
guided 4.5-mile tour.

Opening hours vary between 8am and 6pm, depending on the season. Entrance
The reconstructed passes vary between $15 and $25.
earth lodge at the
Knife River site

22
90 feet above the valley floor, NATIVE
AMERICANS
the ‘castle’ is an awesome sight

5 MESA VERDE
COLORADO
Located in Colorado, the Mesa Verde
National Park contains a fabulous
number of indigenous American ruins
built out of sandstone and clay, the most
The mysterious
famous of which has been nicknamed
Montezuma Well, the ‘cliff palace’. The largest cliff dwelling
located nearby in North America contains some of
the most breathtaking examples of
indigenous American architecture
throughout its more than 150 rooms.

MONTEZUMA CASTLE
Over the years Mesa Verde became the
3 target of treasure seekers and vandals
who took what they considered to be

ARIZONA of any monetary value, causing vast

amounts of damage to the site in the
process. The Mesa Verde structures are
Montezuma is one of the best preserved of the limestone, visitors are unfortunately no thought to have been abandoned in the
examples of Native American Pueblo. Located in longer allowed inside in order to better preserve 1300s, roughly a hundred years after
the cliffs of the Verde Valley in Central Arizona, the historical site. they were first built. Why they were
the name is a misnomer. Early European settlers The site was designated a national monument abandoned is something of a mystery
who first discovered the site believed that it was in 1906, one of a number chosen by Theodore with theories stretching from a sudden
Aztec in origin and as a result named it after Roosevelt himself. 11 miles north of the structure scarcity of resources to attack by enemy
the famous Aztec emperor. In fact, the site is is another sight of historical interest, Montezuma tribes (though little evidence exists to
attributed to the Sinagua, an indigenous people Well. A natural limestone sinkhole, the well is support this). The Pueblo people did
who were active in the Arizona area between the replenished with 5.7 million litres of new water not vanish however and are suspected
6th and 15th centuries. They were agricultural on a daily basis. Evidence of Sinagua structures to have migrated south where their
farming peoples who lived in the desert and built in the cliffs nearby show that they would descendants live to this day.
grew crops such as squash and beans. have used the site to provide themselves with Like Montezuma Castle, the site
Montezuma Castle is built into the side of fresh water. was one of those chosen by Theodore
a limestone cliff, roughly 90 feet above the Roosevelt to become a national
ground. The monument is five stories high and Opening hours are 8am to 4.45pm, seven days a monument in 1906. Unlike other sites,
contains 20 rooms. Due to the disintegration week. Admission is $10. visitors can enter the cliff dwellings and
explore this unique site, though they are

All images: ©Alamy, © Getty Images

required to be on a ticketed tour with a
park ranger.
An example of one of the mounds at the site
4 OCMULGEE MOUNDS The park is open 24 hours, however

NATIONAL HISTORICAL PARK

tours and trails operate at specific times.
Admission varies between $15 and $30.

MACON, GEORGIA The famous Cliff Palace

located in Mesa Verde
National Park
Ocmulgee National Park is famous for a number of
indigenous mounds located on the site. These were built
between 900 and 1100 CE and the village here was once
thought to have been home to nearly a thousand people.
Although some were used for burial purposes, not all
were. According to National Geographic, the tallest
mound would have been home to the Chief’s residence.
Far later during the 18th century, the site was the home of the Muscogee Nation. During the next
century the Central of Georgia Railroad ran directly through the site and in the process many of the
ancient graves were desecrated and displaced in a horrifying act that showed little respect for the
history of the indigenous persons.
The Ocmulgee mounds are of great historical and cultural importance. Archaeological digs at the Lit at night by lantern
site have uncovered a wealth of historical treasures and artefacts. The mounds’ significance to the light, Mesa Verde is
an awesome sight
history of the indigenous persons in the area cannot be overstated and they are some of the most
astounding examples.

The site is open 8am to 5pm seven days a week, with the visitor centre open from 9am. Free admission.

23
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 Rise of the

How Genghis Khan forged an empire

that sought to span the world
Written by John Man
Illustration by: Kevin McGivern

26
 EXPERT BIO

© John Man
JOHN MAN
John Man is the
author of several
books on the
Mongol Empire.
Genghis Khan:
Life, Death And
Resurrection is
a bestseller in 21
languages. He has
just translated
The Mongol Khan,
a Mongolian
spectacular
opening in
London’s
Coliseum in
November 2023.

27
 he Mongols, under the Near the little town of Shiwei, its name
brilliant, ruthless leadership recalling the long-vanished tribe, is an
of Genghis Khan, founded arch marking the entrance to a park
the world’s biggest land proclaiming itself to be the Origin of the
empire. So you would assume Mongols. Bronze statues represent scenes
the Mongols originated in Mongolia. Well, from the Mongols’ later history. Here,
no. Long before Genghis rose to power, according to a local legend, there was a
they were immigrants, moving westward battle between the Mongols and the Turks.
from lands beyond the borders of the The Mongols were reduced to two couples,
nation named after them. who fled into an enclosed valley in a range
Their foundation epic, the Secret of mountains. Here the Mongols multiplied
History Of The Mongols, written soon after and lived for four or five centuries.
Genghis’s death, says they came to their There came a time when they desired to
current homeland over a, or the, ‘Tengis’ – escape. The legend relates how they killed
meaning a sea or lake – some three or four 70 oxen and cows, and used the hides to
centuries before Genghis was born in 1162. make enormous bellows. With the bellows,
What an academic storm that word has they made a huge fire, so powerful that
produced. Which body of water does the it melted part of the mountain range,
word ‘Tengis’ refer to? Perhaps the Caspian making a cleft through which they could
or Aral? Unlikely, because that would escape the hidden valley. They crossed
mean that the Mongols came from the far the Tengis and migrated west, to the
west. Or possibly, as some scholars argue, Khentii mountains of northern Mongolia.
Lake Baikal in Siberia, where the Buryat Elbowing living-space between Turks to
Mongols live to this day. More likely, this the west and Tartars to the east, they
Tengis was the only other large body settled in their new homeland.

of water in this part of the world – Lake YOUNG GENGHIS SURVIVES, AND LEARNS
Hulun, in north-east China. There, they continued their ways as
The evidence is slight, but enough to herders and horse-people, using their
construct a narrative: iron-working skills to make swords,
Some 1,500 years ago, according to and also hunting and fighting with their
Chinese records, forest people known as formidable recurved bows. The tribes and
Shiwei dominated the forests of the north- clans of herder-warriors feuded constantly
east, in present-day Manchuria. They lived with each other, but also developed
in huts made of bent branches covered political skills to bring peace, often with
by the skins of the animals they hunted. the very same tribes and clans. In the mid-
They paid tributes in furs to the Turkic 12th century, one Mongol leader briefly
empire that ruled Mongolia in the 6th united many Mongol clans into a proto- TOP One legend
century (long before the Turks started to nation, only to have the peace collapse says a falcon saved
Genghis from
migrate westward to Turkey) and to the after his death. Allies were absolutely
drinking poison
Tang in China from the 7th to the 9th vital, often secured by marriages. These
ABOVE Despite
centuries. They were divided into up to 20 were the war-and-peace skills inherited
numerous
clans, one of which lived in the western by Genghis’s father Yesugei and passed conquests, Japan
part of their range, the Xingan mountains, on to his son when he was born, probably remained elusive
and was referred to as Meng-wu, the in 1162. Genghis was not his birth- ABOVE-RIGHT The
Chinese for Mongol. name. Yesugei named the boy Temüjin, China Genghis grew
up in was a divided,
Records say they moved west on to the after a captured enemy chief. It means feuding realm
grasslands of northern China, learned the ‘blacksmith’, from the Mongol temur, iron,
RIGHT Dignitaries
art of working iron, and settled along the a reminder of the importance of iron in and commanders
river Ergun (in one of several spellings), nomadic culture. lining up to greet
now part of the frontier between China Young Temüjin’s world was more than the great Khan
and Russia. The name of the river suggests just a collection of feuding groups. What is
that this may be true: it probably derives now China was divided into three empires
from the Mongol ergikh, to wind or twist, – Jin in the north-east, Western Xia in
which is something the Ergun does a good today’s Xinjiang, while in the far south
deal as it meanders northwards for 1,000 lay Song. Jin, with present-day Beijing as
kilometres, to join the Amur. its capital, was the Mongols’ traditional

28
 Rise of the Mongols

How Temüjin made friends of his

enemies and conquered the rest
Between 1200 and 1203 Temüjin built a Mongol conglomerate as a
result of various conflicts. He was not working to a programme of
conquest, picking off his enemies one by one. The situation was more
fluid – today’s foe might be tomorrow’s friend.

Merkits
There had been bad blood carried off Börte, Temüjin’s wife.
between Temüjin’s people and In the rival assault on the Merkits’
the Merkits since before Temüjin encampment Temüjin had the
was born. Enmity continued for support of the Keraites, then the
more than 20 years and was most powerful of the Mongol
certainly fanned into a blaze tribes. The Merkits ceased to be
when his father Yesugei abducted a significant force following their
Hoelun, the wife of a Merkit chief. defeat and by 1200 had been
A generation later Merkit raiders absorbed by other tribes.

Keraites (Khereids)
Once the dominant group of the brother of Yesugei and a
eastern steppes, the Keraites supporter of Temüjin, but he
were weakened by internal became involved in Jamukha’s
fighting in the late 12th century. (a blood brother of Temüjin’s)
Toghrul, the reigning khan, rebellion. He paid for supporting
gained power by murdering the losing side by being
his brothers. He was a blood overthrown in 1200.

Tatars
These were a widespread people Tatar chief who had poisoned his
of Mongol and Turkic origin father. In 1202 Temüjin marched
divided into several powerful east, defeated the Tatars, carried
tribes (khanates). They were a out a massive slaughter of male
formidable barrier to Temüjin’s captives and married their women
expansion, and he had a personal to his own troops, taking two Tatar
reason to hate them – it was a wives for himself.

Khamag Mongol
This was the confederation Mongol the result was the Battle
to which Temüjin’s people of the Thirteen Sides, which
belonged. Until Temüjin came to established Temüjin’s control
power it was weak and poorly of the Khamag Mongol in 1201.
organised. When his erstwhile It was during this battle that
friend Jamukha made a bid for Temüjin sustained an arrow
supreme rule of the Khamag wound to the neck.
All images: © Alamy, © Getty Images, © Shutterstock

Naimans
Temüjin encountered the After a final battle in 1203, in
Naimans, a people of the which the Naiman khan, Byirugh,
mountains and the steppe, as he was killed, many Naimans chose
expanded his empire westwards to migrate into what is today
into modern-day Kazakhstan. northeastern China.

29
 How these legendary marksmen The bow was the
used their composite bows most important weapon
in the Mongols’ arsenal.

COVER
An ordinary bow, made of
wood with a drawstring, was
The animal- easy to construct, however, the
based glue
Mongol bow was a completely
used was
susceptible to different entity.
dissolving in Utilising a composite
WRAPPING rain, so most
bows were
structure, with wood or
bamboo, horn, sinew and
A wrapping of waterproof kept in leather
birch wood bark was animal-based glue, it was far
covers when more powerful than a regular
sometimes employed not in use.
to protect the bow from bow, but also took far longer
moisture and humidity. to construct. The wooden core
had a strip of horn glued to one
side, with animal sinews on the
opposite side, all held in place
MONGOL GRIP TECHNIQUE with glue. Both horn and animal
The thumb pulls the cord with sinew had greater elasticity
the index and ring fingers compared to wood and could
strengthening the grip around store more energy. And once
the back and the thumb. This the component pieces had set
contrasts to the Mediterranean
grip which held the cord with
together, the bow would be
the index fingers or the pinch, drawn back against its natural
which grips the arrow itself. curve, creating the familiar
shape and imparting even more
power into the projectile.
Mongol warriors would carry
about 60 arrows into battle –
different tips would be utilised
for different jobs (incendiary
arrows would be used to set fire
to buildings, for instance).
Draw strength on the Mongol
bow would be anywhere from
27 kilograms and upwards,
although claims have been made
that some had a draw weight of
73 kilograms (which must have
SHAPE SMALL BUT MIGHTY been incredibly rare).
Once strung, it would The composite The string would be drawn
take on the classic design allowed the using only the thumb. This
Mongol bow shape that Mongols to use ‘Mongolian draw’ helped to
served to impart extra smaller bows (more
ensure that the release would be
power to the arrow. easily handled in
battle) without smooth and not detract from the
sacrificing power. power imparted to the arrow.
Many Mongols would use thumb
rings to protect their digit from
CURVE the extreme stress involved in
Before being the repeated operation of the
strung, the Mongol recurve bow.
bow would have The Mongol bow was accurate
a conventional up to a range of some 270
curve, like other
bows of the era.
metres, but could carry much
further with less accuracy. It
was also capable of piercing the
armour of the day at a range of
90 metres or so.

30
 Rise of the Mongols

and killed his own teenage half-brother

after a trivial argument, Hoelun laid into
him in a fearful rage. He never forgot. A
prime feature of his character was respect
not just for his mother, but also for the
other women in his life.
So he knew what lack of unity led to
– poverty, suffering and death – and also
the opposite. His world was hemmed by
empires under tight, centralised control.
His own distant relative, not long before,
had briefly unified the Mongol clans.
Security, wealth and comfort stemmed
from unity under strong leadership.

GENGHIS TURNS HIS GAZE SOUTH

With these aims, Temüjin turned out to
be a genius at steppe politics. It took him
20 years to unite Mongolia’s clans and
tribes. In 1206, as khan, he was granted his
unique title of Genghis (its much-disputed
meaning was probably an obsolete Turkic
term for ‘fierce’).
What now? In a culture that lacked
currency, he needed booty to keep his
followers happy. There were obvious
sources. His first capital, Avraga, a little
place of a few stone buildings, a temple
and an imposing palace-tent, backed on
to the Khentii mountains but was also the
gateway to the gravel plains of the Gobi
and the rich lands of Jin and Western Xia.
Now, he began to show other aspects of
his genius. Though he would become the
enemy, the easiest founder of his nation and of the world’s
source of booty, greatest land empire, and responsible
but its walled for deaths by the million, he was much
cities made it a more than a mass murderer. In terms
very tough nut to of leadership, he was a phenomenon,
crack for raiders. starting from almost nothing, rising to
Temüjin, the lead clan, federation, nation and empire,
future Genghis with consequences reaching down the
Khan, might have centuries to affect today’s China, and thus
been a nobody. the world. Seeing that he would need
TOP A miniature
of the Mongols
taking on the
Khwarazmians

ABOVE The full

extent of the
Mongol Empire by
1259 CE

LEFT A much His father, leader of his clan, was murdered something more than an old-fashioned
older Genghis and his mother Hoelun was rejected by tribal chiefdom, he rose to a new level
Khan in his the new leader, in the expectation that she of leadership at each stage of his career.
garden
and her children would die, along with Conquest was not enough. You cannot rule
Temüjin, his father’s potential heir. But in peace if subjects are left as potential
Hoelun was a survivor, digging up wild rebels. He would need proper government,
All images: © Alamy, © Getty Images

onions to feed her growing family, which taxation, records, bureaucrats. To this end,
included children by her husband’s second he employed talent wherever he found it.
wife. She instilled into young Temüjin Perhaps his most astonishing insight
other crucial survival skills, in particular was to see that no large-scale government
the need for unity and loyalty. The Secret was possible without writing. Chinese
History records how when Temüjin shot script has many fine qualities, but with

31
 thousands
of signs it is
hopelessly
complicated.
Genghis,
an illiterate
nomad,
imported a
much simpler
script from one of
his new subjects,
the highly literate
Uighurs. That’s the
script you see today, with
few changes, decorating
Mongolian bank notes. It is still
in everyday use in Inner Mongolia,
now part of China.
Jin, with its capital in what is today
Beijing, was Genghis’s prime target. But
Jin, with many well-fortified cities, was
allied with Western Xia. Genghis’s first
foreign adventure was to invade Western
Xia. But he did not fully ensure its
compliance, with consequences for later
events. His flanks temporarily secure, he
led his forces across the Gobi to attack Jin.
That meant taking out several fortresses
on the way and confronting Beijing, with
its impregnable walls. A brutal year-long
siege starved the city into surrender in
1215. That success gave him more troops
and – most crucially – powerful new
weapons, like explosives, siege-bows,
catapults and battering rams. Other cities
capitulated. His army became a snowball,
gathering pace with every city taken.
Much of north China fell to him, and
the rest would have followed, but for a
surprising development.
west. Before he set out, his favourite wife,
INVADING THE MUSLIM WORLD Yisui, demanded that he nominate an heir,
In 1218, seeking peaceful expansion and he did so, naming his third son Ögedei
or perhaps just more information, he – another sign of good leadership and
despatched a trade delegation of 100 or planning that many other autocrats have
more westwards to the Islamic kingdom of ignored. Needing all the help he could get,
Khwarezm – present-day Iran, plus a good he demanded troops from his supposed
chunk of the -stans – with its Silk Road subject, Western Xia, whose recalcitrant
emporia like Samarkand and Bukhara. The leader refused.
governor of the border town, Otrar, chose The invasion of the Islamic world was
to see the delegation as a nest of spies, and a bloody campaign without precedent.
killed them all – and then, when Genghis Otrar (where the foolish governor was
sent three envoys to talk, the governor executed by having molten silver poured
killed those as well. into his ears), Samarkand, Bukhara, Merv
Genghis, offended beyond measure, put and other cities fell, with deaths that are
off the conquest of Jin and turned on the impossible to estimate accurately, perhaps

32
 Rise of the Mongols

TOP-LEFT Rashid two million. The Mongols were expert Fall Of The Roman Empire, suggested that the most astonishing in world history. How
al-Din painting of executioners: it was as easy to cut the Genghis and his Mongols were tolerant could an army of nomads achieve such
the coronation of
Ögedei Khan throat of a prisoner as to despatch a sheep. of different religions. But Genghis was no success? Horses and the recurved bow are
Yet this was not indiscriminate slaughter. precedent of the Enlightenment. His sole part of the answer. Genghis’s leadership is
ABOVE The Mongol
invasion of Persia It had a purpose. Siege warfare is slow demand was that new subjects serve their another. But these elements worked only
was one of history’s and expensive, and it destroys what you new masters. As for their religion, he just because of a fact of geography. Every army
bloodiest wars want to possess. Genghis’s strategy was to didn’t care. needs supplies – food, fuel, weaponry.
LEFT The Genghis destroy a city only if it resisted, sending a The flip side of this agenda was that Overlong supply lines spell disaster. But
Kahn monument message down the line that resistance was the Mongols brought with them virtually the Mongols had all the supplies they
in Tsonjin Boldog,
Mongolia useless. ‘Urbicide’ – the killing of cities – nothing in terms of culture. They had no needed beneath their horses’ hooves, in
proved brutally effective. Many cities gave art or philosophy or literature (yet) that the form of grass. The grasslands of Asia
TOP-RIGHT
A miniature of up without a struggle. His aim was to take would enrich their subject-cultures. True, run from Mongolia to Hungary. As long as
Genghis Khan in slaves, artisans, women and treasure, but their influence was immense – leaving the Mongol cavalry had grass, the warriors
combat from 1430
leave most cities intact to produce and aside the destruction, they brought had transport, meat and drink, even
ABOVE-RIGHT trade under Mongol governors. together east and west as never before, the fermented mares’ milk, or koumiss,
A scene depicting
the division of the
There was no ideological or religious with immense implications for trade and which is the standard refreshment in the
Mongol Empire element to this destruction. The Mongols exploration (Columbus was aiming for Mongolian countryside today. There was
among Genghis were animists who revered the Blue Sky, China when he sailed westward in 1492). nothing to stop them until the grass ran
Khan’s sons
the top deity in a universe of spirits, whose But the Mongols were at best facilitators, out, short of the Mediterranean.
All images: © Getty Images

will could be divined by shamans. But not a force for creativity. The Mongols, well-fuelled and
there was no missionary urge. They were unstoppable, went on to seize much of
happy for their subjects to follow their THE KEY TO CONQUEST today’s Central Asia, Iran and Afghanistan.
own beliefs. Gibbon, in his Decline And This and later conquests remain among An astonishing 7,000-kilometre gallop

33
 The successors to Genghis’s empire

ÖGEDEI KHAN 1185 - 1241

The third son of Genghis Khan,
Ögedei inherited a mighty
empire, but looked to expand
it even further. He came to
the throne in 1229 after his
father’s death and took the title
khagan (meaning ‘great khan’).
He trusted his commanders to
orchestrate wars on multiple
fronts, but he looked to preserve
defeated regions to make use of
their wealth and skills.

GÜYÜK KHAN 1206 - 1248

Grandson to Genghis Khan and
eldest son of Ögedei, Güyük was
elected to the throne in 1246
following a regency period led
by his mother Töregene. His
time in charge may have proven
contentious, having won out
against his cousin Batu who had
conquered Russia for the empire,
and his interest in Christianity,
but he died very shortly after
taking charge.

MÖNGKE KHAN 1208 - 1259

Ascending the throne in 1251,
Möngke continued to expand
the Mongol Empire and as a
result was the last Khan able
to rule it directly, as those who
followed would need to allocate
regional leaders to maintain
order. His armies crushed the last ABOVE A mural of
Genghis Khan from
resistance in Iran, Iraq and Syria, modern Dongsheng,
eventually bringing his realm to Inner Mongolia
the Mediterranean Sea. He died RIGHT The four
in the field, fighting in China. sons gathering
around Genghis’s
deathbed
KUBLAI KHAN 1215 - 1294 RIGHT-INSET A
The brother of Möngke, Mongol helmet taken
Kublai had been a general in by the Japanese
some time between
his army, looking after the 1274 and 1281
empire’s interests in the east.
He completed the conquest of
China and built on the growing
wealth and splendour of the
empire. Kublai demonstrated a
rare statecraft in managing China
in particular, but also the Golden
Horde in Russia, Il-Khanate in
Persia and steppe nomads, each
with their own approaches.

34
 Rise of the Mongols

campaign came to a sudden halt. His body by turning Buddhist, to ensure that Tibet
was rushed back to his homeland in the remained under Mongol control and so
Khentii mountains of northern Mongolia that he could claim the Buddhist title of
for burial in a secret grave, the discovery Universal Ruler. Then came the conquest
of which would be one of the greatest of of the rest of China, not with nomadic
archaeological finds. cavalry but with a Chinese river-borne
navy and an army of siege-weapons. A
THE EMPIRE EXPANDS, AGAIN vast advance southward ended in 1279, in
Genghis’s heir, his third son Ögedei, a naval battle in the far south, when the
assumed the task of conquest, and took top Chinese adviser took hold of the young
another great step forward. To date, the heir to the Song throne and leapt into the
Mongols had been on one vast looting sea with him.
expedition, with unprecedented results. Now, in line with Heaven’s will, for the
Success demanded an explanation, rest of the world.
conquest needed a proper justification – in At this point, Kublai came up against
short, an ideology. reality. Four invasions – Vietnam, Java and
It ran like this: God – in the form of the Japan (twice) – all ended in disaster. The
Mongol sky-deity the Blue Sky – was on 1281 armada against Japan failed when a
the side of the Mongols. Their success typhoon destroyed his 4,000 ships – the
proved it. What limits might Heaven set? greatest sea-borne invasion until D-Day
Apparently none. The conclusion was and the greatest naval disaster ever.
clear: the whole world had been given to
the Mongols, and it was their divine duty AN ENDURING LEGACY
to make all nations on earth acknowledge But those disasters still left an astonishing
this fact. Of course, by hindsight, they legacy. It is impossible to tell the history
were doomed to failure. But we should of a score of nations across Eurasia and
remember that no-one had any idea of the the Far East without mentioning the
world’s true size and complexity. Mongols. But the greatest consequence is

So on they went. A nasty civil war ended China pretty much as we know it today.
with Genghis’s remarkable daughter- The Mongol Empire itself fell apart, as
in-law, Sorkaktani, hijacking power for Genghis’s squabbling heirs went their
her sons. One (Hulegu) took over Persia, own ways, but Kublai had made himself a
another (Möngke) ruled Mongolia, the Chinese emperor, with a Chinese dynasty,
third (Kublai) would take power in China. the Yuan. His realm united all China,
Expansion continued, into southern Russia including Mongolia, from the rich belly
(where descendants were still in place of the east to the mountains and deserts
in the 19th century), to Poland, Hungary of the west and the northern grasslands.
and the outskirts of Vienna, to the fringes The Mongols were thrown out of China in
of Egypt, and across the rest of northern 1368, but no later dynasty reversed Kublai’s
right around the Caspian provided China. In 1260, Kublai, master of northern acquisitions. That is why Yunnan and
information about Russia that would come China, became Great Khan, the nominal Tibet and the Western Regions of Xinjiang
in useful later. Meanwhile, an advance ruler of a land empire already the largest in are ruled from Beijing today.
through the Northwest Frontier into India world history, and driven on by the vision True, Mongolia itself broke away from
told Genghis that India would be too great of world rule. China in the early 20th century when
a challenge. In 1225, he returned home to His first task was to establish himself, China was weak. Many Chinese today see
resume the conquest of Western Xia and both by political choices and military all Mongolia – not just Inner Mongolia,
northern China. ones. He did this by building his first which has been in the Chinese sphere for
But on this campaign, in the August capital Xanadu, as it is in English – Shang well over a century – as a part of greater
of 1227, with Western Xia conquered, Du, ‘Upper Capital’ as it is in Chinese, China, as it had been under Kublai, who
All images: © Alamy, © Getty Images

and with his army poised to invade the as opposed to Da Du, Great Capital, as was, after all, a Chinese emperor. And to
Chinese heartland, he fell sick, probably Beijing was known. It was up on the edge many Chinese, it would be the restoration
of typhoid, which was ravaging his army. of the Mongolian plateau. But he could of the natural order of things if all of
A week later – most likely in a valley that not hope to rule all China, let alone the Mongolia and China were reunited, and
is now part of the Liupan Shan National world, from the grasslands. He settled in a the empire started by Kublai’s grandfather
Forest Park in Ningxia – he died. The rebuilt Beijing and extended his ideology partially restored.

35
 If looks could kill,
these fashion taying on trend with
trends saw their the latest fashion is not
just a modern concern –
followers pay the we have been trying to
look our best and beat
ultimate price the rest almost since time began.
This obsession with the cutting
Written by edge of style, however, has often
Emma Slattery Williams come at a cost. From broken bones
and fainting to disfigurement
and ultimately death, these fatal
fashion fads demonstrate how far
some of our ancestors would go in
search of style.
All images: © Getty Images

36
 Deadly Fashion

RADIOACTIVE
COSMETICS
LATE 19TH-EARLY 20TH CENTURY
Once radium was discovered in 1898, various uses for it were suggested
including cosmetics. The likes of perfumes, toothpaste, lipsticks and
creams containing radium and thorium chloride became especially
popular in France.
Before the dangers of being exposed to radiation were fully understood,
many believed it contained energy that could be anti-ageing or give a
glowing complexion to the skin. The craze of radioactivity even led to
some products claiming to be
radioactive when they weren’t –
just to join in with the hype.
Rather than rejuvenate the
skin, these harmful potions
would lead to vomiting, internal
bleeding and eventually
cancer. Thankfully, the
majority of people who used
radioactive cosmetics didn’t
consume them to toxic
levels, but American socialite
and amateur golfer Eben
Byers wasn’t so lucky. After
suffering an arm injury,
a doctor prescribed him
Radithor – a tonic made
of radium dissolved in
water. Initially he thought
the drinks made him
LEAD MAKEUP
feel energised but after ANTIQUITY – 19TH CENTURY
consuming around 1,400
Today, many of us are in muscle paralysis and
doses his teeth began to fall
desperate for a sun-kissed abdominal pain as well as
out and eventually his jaw
glow, but in years gone by intellectual impairment.
came away. He died in 1932
being pale was the desired What made this makeup
due to multiple cancers.
look. A pale complexion even more deadly was
was a status symbol and that the lead in Venetian
indicated that the person Ceruse could cause

MERCURY IN HATS was of a higher class, while

being tanned implied
blemishes, hair loss and
scarring on the skin so
18TH-19TH CENTURY you were probably out in users would then apply
the fields labouring and even more to cover this up.
It wasn’t just those who partook in the latest fashion trends that therefore of a lower class. A tragic death caused by
could be at risk. Sometimes those who made the clothing could Between the 16th and this dangerous concoction
fall victim too. During the manufacturing of felt and fur hats – 19th centuries, red rouged was that of Countess
popular in the 18th and 19th centuries – mercury was an cheeks were added to the Maria Coventry. A famed
unfortunate ingredient. It was discovered that mercury trend. To achieve this, lead society beauty during the
made the hairs more pliable and easier to join paint was often used in reign of George II, Maria
together. Prolonged exposure could lead to cosmetics, which would Coventry died at just 27 of
poisoning and the so-called mad hatter whiten the skin and was lead poisoning, due to the
disease – hence the term ‘mad as a also known as Venetian Venetian Ceruse she was
hatter’. Nasty symptoms included Ceruse. As far back as the so fond of.
tremors, headaches, personality ancient Romans, Egyptians Elizabeth I was another
changes and diminished brain and Greeks cosmetics famous fan of lead
function. This horrible condition containing lead were makeup and was seen
is thought to have been the favoured in order to whiten in many portraits with
inspiration for the character the complexion. a pale complexion, and
of the Mad Hatter in Lewis Regular use could cause potentially used Venetian
Carroll’s Alice’s Adventures toxic levels of lead to Ceruse to cover scars left
In Wonderland. enter the body and result by smallpox.

37
 STIFF SHIRT COLLARS
19TH CENTURY
While women have often been the victims of
dangerous fashion trends, men didn’t always
escape unscathed either. Detachable collars,
fastened to the shirt with studs, became popular
during the Victorian period and starch was
used to stiffen them. This is where the
danger crept in. Germans called them TOXIC
vatermorder (father killer) collars as
they could cut off the blood supply to GREEN DIE
the carotid artery, which supplies oxygen
to the brain, and essentially suffocate
19TH CENTURY
the wearer. During the day this could be
Paris Green or another variant known as
felt and remedied easily enough, but a few
Scheele’s Green were beloved pigments
glasses of wine and a comfy chair by the
of the Victorians. Used in paintings by
fire was all that was needed to fall asleep still
Claude Monet, as well as in wallpaper,
dressed. The back of the stiff collar would
it was valued for its deep emerald
cause the men to sleep with their heads tilted
colour. Soon women were flocking to
forwards and potentially choke them to death
have dresses made in this colour as it
as a result. Even outside of this, the choking
lasted longer than other similar shades –
collar could cause a brain abscess or cut the
making onlookers green with envy.
throat itself with its sharp corners.
Alas, this popular colour was achieved
by mixing copper with high levels of
arsenic meaning it was highly toxic.

WET MUSLIN Vomiting, skin lesions and cancer could

all result and women weren’t aware that

DRESSES it was their dresses that were making

them ill.

18TH-19TH CENTURY
Muslin and cotton dresses became all the rage in the
18th and 19th centuries, especially after being worn by

Image source: wiki/Met Museum/Catharine Breyer Van Bomel Foundation Fund, 1980
French queen and fashion aficionado Marie Antoinette.
After the fall of the French monarchy, cotton dresses
became seen as the material of the common people
and everyone wanted to be seen in these thin, flimsy
dresses – whatever the weather. Getting wet in such
clingy material was not greatly advised, however.
This chilly trend could cause
pneumonia and, in some cases,
even death. It’s been suggested
some women even dampened
the dresses on purpose, but this
claim could be a popular myth.
Illness related to such clothing
was dubbed the muslin disease.

38
 Deadly Fashion

FOOT
BINDING
10TH-20TH CENTURY
Thought to have been inspired
by a 10th-century Chinese court
dancer with particularly dainty feet,
children in China between the ages
of four to nine would have their
feet bound. This involved the feet
being tightly bandaged with the
smaller toes tucked underneath
the foot to achieve a small and
pointed shape. Over time this would
often break bones in the feet to
achieve the desired effect. As well
as excruciating pain and problems
walking in later life, fatal infections
could also occur.
Foot binding prevailed for so long
as it was seen as a status symbol
and the epitome of feminine beauty,
but the practice was eventually
banned in China in 1912 – although
it continued in secret for some
decades later. It could be argued
that wearing sky-high stilettos
today shows that some people will
still endure some level of pain and
discomfort to be fashionable.

All images: © Alamy, © Getty Images

39
 FONTANGE
THE AND POUF
HOBBLE 17TH-18TH CENTURY
SKIRT Having the highest, largest and most
outrageous head of hair was all the rage in the
EARLY 20TH French court. A pouf – an elaborate hairstyle
CENTURY using a wire frame, pillow as well as false hair
– was often covered in animal fat to keep it in
These unusual skirts had an shape. They could remain in place for up to
extremely narrow hem in order to two weeks and attract vermin such as rats to
prevent the wearer’s stride being scurry in and out of the coiffures.
too wide. Briefly popular during the The fontange on the other hand was an
early 20th century, they severely elaborate lace hairpiece with ribbons held by a
hindered how the wearer could wire frame that made it very difficult to move.
walk but were thought to make They were also prone to catching on fire. As
them appear more graceful. It’s they became larger and more elaborate, more
believed that this quirky trend was pins were needed to keep it in place which
inspired by Edith Ogilby Berg – the could be deadly to both the wearer and those
first female American woman to around them.
be a passenger on a flight when
she accompanied aviation pioneer
Wilbur Wright in 1908. Berg tied a
rope around her dress so it wouldn’t
blow around in the wind and this
caught the eye of a French designer.
Interestingly, women at this time
were rebelling against societal
norms. They were becoming more
physically active and the suffrage
movement was gaining momentum,
so this trend could have been a
potential attempt to subdue them.
The difficulty walking that hobble
skirts posed led to the railway in
New York creating streetcars with
no step so the wearers could board
them easier.
Many deaths were reported due
to the restrictive nature of hobble
skirts such as women stumbling
off bridges and not being able to
quickly move out of the way of
traffic or horses. Unsurprisingly,
they fell out of fashion, especially
with the onset of World War I.
Hobble skirts were not considered
conducive to the war effort.
All images: © Alamy, © Getty Images

40
 Deadly Fashion

CORSETS
17TH-20TH CENTURY
The corset is one of those items from a cause discomfort and difficulties in breathing.
woman’s wardrobe that instantly transports Constant use of a corset could put increasing
you to an earlier age. Between the 17th and pressure on the internal organs and even force
early 20th centuries, the corset was a key part them to move position. Women were reported
of a woman’s attire and consisted of a tightly to faint due to constriction and corsets were
fitted bodice with boning made of wood, blamed for many deaths and illnesses. There
bone and later metal. It created the feminine was one report of a woman who died of an
v-shaped silhouette that was considered apparent seizure – during the post-mortem,
the ideal at the time as well as preventing pieces of corset steel totalling eight inches
slouching. The corset is also thought to have were found to have pierced her heart.
inspired the term
‘straitlaced’ – women
who wore them were
expected to uphold
the model moral
behaviours of the day,
the corset effectively
controlling a woman’s
body physically
and socially. Those
who did not wear
one however were
considered ‘loose’ in
more ways than one.
It’s clear that if
a corset was laced
too tightly it would

BELLADONNA EYE DROPS

19TH CENTURY
Large pupils were another
attractive feature that Victorian
women strove for as this was
thought to look seductive.
This has been tied to looking
like you’re suffering from
consumption, with pale skin and
watery eyes. This rather specific
and disturbing trend led to some
women literally putting poison
into their eyes. Belladonna (also
known as deadly nightshade,
which should have been a clue)
was used in eye drops and would
sometimes be used to dilate
the pupils. Some would turn
to citrus juices to do the same
job, but belladonna would last
much longer. Lesser symptoms
could include dry mouth, slurred
speech, light sensitivity and
flushed skin, but could lead to
hallucinations, memory loss,
blindness and ultimately death.
A high price to pay for ‘beauty’.

41
 In the Greco-Roman
world, forgotten cults
EXPERT BIO
enacted arcane rituals
HUGH BOWDEN
whose secrets historian Professor Hugh Bowden is
head of classics at King’s

Hugh Bowden reveals…

© Bel Crosier

College London. He is the

author of Mystery Cults of
the Ancient World.
Interview by Callum McKelvie

42
 Mystery Cults in the Ancient World

n the time of the Ancient Greeks and Romans, secret ABOVE The ruins In the introduction to your book, you define both the use of
of Eleusis in Greece,
societies practised rituals, the knowledge of which has the word ‘mystery’ and the term ‘mystery cult’ in this context,
where the Mysteries
since been lost to time. These rituals, known as ‘mysteries’, were based could you just explain these definitions for the benefit of
continue to fascinate historians who seek to piece together our readers?
disparate sources, from scant written accounts to evidence The word ‘mystery’ originates from an ancient Athenian festival,
found at archaeological sites, in an attempt to further understand the Eleusinian Mysteries, and in this context actually refers to a
these fascinating cults. Professor Hugh Bowden of King’s College festival involving initiation. ‘Mystery cult’ is a modern term and
London has spent many years studying Greek religion and to can be an unhelpful one. For example, the Eleusinian Mysteries
celebrate the release of his seminal work, Mystery Cults In The BELOW An are a festival in honour of the goddess Demeter and her daughter
Ancient World, in paperback, he spoke to us about these groups, imagined 19th Persephone (referred to in ancient times as Kore). And whilst
century depiction
their various practices and the difficulties posed by researching of the secretive initiation was important, there were lots of other activities that
something intended to remain secret. Eleusinian festival were just part of the worship of that goddess that were not
particularly ‘cult-like’. However, other cults like the Mysteries of
Mithras involve meetings of small groups of initiates and in that
sense is closer to what we would consider cult practices. So we
don’t use the terms ‘mystery’ or ‘cult’ quite in the way that we do
in modern parlance, though there is some overlap.

Why were these separate groups linked under the

mystery cults?
It’s a term we tend to use to describe a number of religious
activities. Some are characterised by initiation, in which secret
rituals took place that you weren’t allowed to talk about. But there
are other groups generally referred to as mystery cults such as
the worship of Dionysus, which may not have involved initiation.
These cults involved people meeting and engaging in what are

“CULTS LIKE THE MYSTERIES OF

All images: © Getty Images

MITHRAS INVOLVE MEETINGS OF

SMALL GROUPS OF INITIATES”
43
 referred to as ‘ecstatic activities’. Ancient Greek writers already
saw connections between these ecstatic cults and the initiation
ceremonies of festivals like the Eleusinian Mysteries. In my book
I argue that the common feature between all these groups is a
particular kind of religious experience that resulted in altered
states of consciousness. The members of these groups interpreted
these experiences as coming into close contact with the gods.

Why was secrecy so important to these groups?

It’s interesting because it’s fairly clear that there was no secret
knowledge and no real secrets to betray. I think it’s the idea that
what you’re doing is special, privileged and only available to
people who have gone through the process. So it is not secret
knowledge, it’s that your experience is not to be shared with non-
initiates. Ultimately, because of your experience, your relationship
with the gods is now different from non-initiates. But I think it’s
important to say that for those involved this wasn’t their only
religious activity. They would have been involved in others, either
public or private.

What are the origins of these ‘mystery cults’?

Probably the earliest, although we don’t have exact dates, are
the Eleusinian Mysteries which started around 700 BCE. Other
mystery cults may have started around the same time, but there’s
work by anthropologists which suggests the concept of rituals
intended to invoke contact with the gods may be extremely
ancient. And so these practices could date back thousands of

“THE INITIATIONS BECAME

AN IMPORTANT PART OF THE
ATHENIAN CALENDAR” rituals. We have some idea of what happened there because
some later writers claimed to reveal the secret rituals and others
years before the mystery cults. However it is around 700 BCE that BELOW Dionysus, talk about them in very general terms. For example, Plutarch,
the god of wine
these practices emerge with some kind of state or community and theatre whose who talks about the experience of the mysteries involving
oversight that then gradually grows into religious festivals. cult may have wandering around in the dark before sudden bright light and
experienced
altered states of
the overwhelming feeling of joy, and it is assumed
Can you tell us a little bit more about the Eleusinian Mysteries? consciousness that he is describing the experience of the
The Eleusinian Mysteries are named after Eleusis, a village Eleusinian Mysteries. We also have vases and
that was in the region of Attica and therefore under the pottery from Eleusis that show people carrying
control of Athens. Eleusis was known for the impressive torches alongside Demeter and Persephone.
Sanctuary of Demeter and Persephone where there Historians think therefore that torches and
would be a yearly initiation. Most Athenians were nocturnal activity were important parts of
initiated into the Mysteries and in later periods the ceremony.
some outsiders were too. So the initiations were an
important city festival. The story behind the festival is Can you tell us a little bit about the
told in a poem from around 600 BCE, called the Homeric cult of Dionysus?
Hymn To Demeter, which describes how Persephone The cult of Dionysus is an interesting
was stolen by Hades. In the Hymn, Demeter one and quite different to the
spends time in Eleusis and attempts to make the Eleusinian Mysteries. Every four
son of the king immortal, but the boy’s mother or two years or maybe more
is upset by this. Instead Demeter says that frequently, there would be a night when
whilst the Eleusinians won’t be immortal, she groups of exclusively female initiates would go out
will teach them her secrets – in particular, the from the city to uncultivated territory where they
secrets of agriculture. So the Athenians view would spend the night and practise their rituals –
Eleusis as a very spiritual place and the though we don’t know what this involved. I think it
initiations become an important part of involved dancing, shrieking or singing and possibly
the Athenian calendar. drumming. We have vase paintings with pictures of
During the festival there are public people with tambourine like instruments. I believe
aspects, including a big procession and the combination of singing, dancing and strong
sacrifices, but then there are the more beats would have had the effect of leading to a state
secretive elements which includes nighttime of ecstasy. And so you would feel that Dionysus himself

44
 Mystery Cults in the Ancient World

LEFT A fresco has joined you. The women who did this would come back to the
discovered in a villa
in Pompeii that is
city the next day or so and resume their normal lives. But they
thought to show one would have had this ecstatic experience and the city would be
of the rituals of the understood to be honouring Dionysus by having these women
Cult of Dionysus
behave in that way. Except from the nocturnal activity and the
intention of achieving an ecstatic state, it’s very different from the
Eleusinian Mysteries.

What’s one of the most obscure examples of these groups?

One of my favourites is the Mysteries of Andania, named after
a small town in the Peloponnese in Greece. We have a very
detailed inscription from 91 BCE which claims to describe the
reestablishment of an ancient festival, though it may have been
invented at that point. This inscription was found in two halves,
BELOW An built into the doorway of a church and it gives details about
illustration by Alan aspects of this festival. The Mysteries of Andania was in honour
Sorrell showing an
imagined initiation of the ‘Great Gods’, so unlike some of the other festivals it’s not in
ceremony inside the honour of a known deity and is more vague. Although we don’t
Temple of Mithras
have much detail about the initiations, because of the inscription
BOTTOM Eager we have a lot of information about the festival’s procession and
members of the
other activities. For example there are very strict instructions
public queue to
see the recently for the festival goers about camping. These include the size
discovered Temple of the tent, what you can keep in it and what you’re allowed
of Mithras in
London in 1954 to wear during the procession. In some ways it’s a festival like
Glastonbury, rather than Christian religious festivals. And whilst
all this is going on we can only imagine what secret activities
were occurring involving the initiates.

Were these cults stamped out or did they fade away with time?
There’s very little evidence that these cults were actively
stamped out, although some Christian emperors did attempt to
control non-Christian activity. For example Emperor Theodosius
introduced a ban on nocturnal activity but the governor of Athens
successfully argued that the Eleusinian Mysteries were ancient
and significant and therefore should be exempt. When they
eventually disappeared it was because Athens was sacked by the
Goths in 396 CE and the sanctuary Eleusis was severely damaged.
By then the majority of the rich were Christian and not interested
in financing repairs. So the cult died out. Similarly, the temple of
Mithras in London (which you can go and visit) was abandoned
probably due to a lack of interest. So it’s not that there was an
attempt to stamp these groups out, it’s just that too few people
were interested in carrying these practices on.

How hard is it researching something that was actively

kept secret?
In cases such as the Cult of Mithras, we have archaeological
evidence. There are lots of temples that have been excavated all
over the Mediterranean and Western Europe, so although there
is little written surrounding the Cult of Mithras, archaeologists
have been able to determine much from these sites. For those that
have written evidence, we rely on accounts
that are trying to say as much as possible
without actually revealing anything secret.
Despite this they are still able to give us
a broad idea of the kind of things that
might have taken place. It’s a mixture
of archaeology, contemporary
All images: © Alamy, © Getty Images

texts and inscriptions, but also

modern anthropological and MYSTERY CULTS
psychological work that can IN THE ANCIENT
tell us how people may have WORLD
reacted to the ceremonies the IS OUT NOW FROM
ancient writers described. THAMES & HUDSON

45
46
Image source: wiki/Imperial War Museums
 He was a war hero and Britain’s number one
diver, but during a secret mission investigating a
Russian cruiser, he vanished never to return…
Written by Callum McKelvie

n 19 April 1956, Lieutenant-Commander Lionel “Buster” poverty was compounded in 1914 when his father was killed
Crabb vanished into the murky waters of Portsmouth during action in World War I. Lionel was only five years old. As a
Harbour, never to return. Crabb was a diver of some renown youth he spent time studying in Brighton, but he seemed to have
and had been investigating the Russian cruiser Ordzhonikidze struggled academically and detested the experience. According
on a secret spy mission for MI6. A hero of World War II, to Mike and Jacqui Welham in their book The Crabb Enigma, he
he helped defend British ships at port in Gibraltar from Italian earned a reputation as the family’s ‘black sheep’, preferring a more
saboteurs and afterwards became a public figure as well as an outgoing and adventurous lifestyle.
occasional spy. Then, at the age of 47 he seemingly disappeared Even at this young age, Crabb had fantasies of a life at sea. He
off the face of the earth. spent three years on the training ship Conway but ran away to the
The important files pertaining to Crabb’s disappearance remain United States where he remained for a short time. By the 1930s he
under embargo and their contents top secret until at least 2057. returned to England and it is here that his life becomes difficult to
Was he murdered attempting to defect? Captured by Soviet follow. According to the Welhams he had an unhappy experience
agents? Or was his death simply an accident? Commander Crabb’s working as an underwear model, before either jointly running an
fateful final dive is just one part of a life story as enigmatic as the

“HE COULD OFTEN BE SEEN STRUTTING THE STREETS

circumstances surrounding his disappearance.

A MAN ADRIFT WEARING A MONOCLE AND CARRYING A DISTINCTIVE SWORD

Lionel Kenneth Phillip Crabb was born on 28 January 1909 to
a poor family in Streatham, South West London. His family’s STICK WITH A SILVER CRAB-SHAPED HANDLE”
47
 The Ordzhonikidze
arrives in Portsmouth
the day before Crabb’s
disappearance

art studio or at the very least working as problem the British Navy at Gibraltar faced
a salesman at one. Crabb’s natural charm was Italian underwater saboteurs based
would have made him perfect for such a in the Spanish port of Algeciras. As much
job, but he was also known as an eccentric. of Allied shipping was controlled and
He could often be seen strutting the organised from Gibraltar, the harbour was
Image source: wiki/Imperial War Museums

streets wearing a monocle and carrying a an appealing target for the Italian frogmen.
distinctive sword stick with a silver crab- They attached limpet mines or manned
shaped handle. torpedoes known as Chariots to the hulls
However, Crabb still harboured a desire of the waiting ships.
to see the world and never stayed in one The mission of the Underwater Working
place long. For a time he lived in China Party, to which Crabb was attached, was
where he first dabbled in the murky world to locate these explosives and neutralise
of espionage, spying on Soviet forces for them before they caused loss of life.
Chinese nationalist leader Chiang Kai- The divers’ gear however was limited. to complete three lengths of the average ABOVE-INSET
Shek. But back in Europe, war was on the Instead of working with professional swimming pool. Gibraltar, where
horizon. Crabb returned to England in equipment, they had to rely on the Davis Although Crabb’s team never comprised Crabb worked to
protect the bay from
1940 only to be rejected from the Royal Submarine Escape Apparatus, which as more than six divers at any one time, they Italian saboteurs,
Navy due to poor eyesight. However, he the name implies was designed for use fought valiantly against the attackers. shown here lit up
with searchlights
was able to join up as an underwater bomb during emergencies onboard submarines. Despite the UWP’s war with the Italians
disposal officer and, after undergoing They had no wetsuits or fins, wearing being a violent and bloody one, Crabb TOP-INSET When
his work at Gibraltar
training, received his commission in 1941. swimming trunks and sports shoes with seems to have genuinely respected the was completed,
Within a year Crabb was posted to the weights attached. What was worse, the enemy and viewed them as equals. At one Crabb was sent to
place that would make him a hero of the team designated to retrieve the bombs point, two Italian divers were killed and Livorno and Venice
in Italy to help clear
war – Gibraltar. consisted of only two divers. their bodies brought to the surface. Crabb the ports of mines
Crabb’s intended role was to dismantle made sure they were given a full naval and wreckage

CRABB AT WAR
Located on the south coast of Spain,
the bombs once they were brought
ashore. However, when he discovered
the lack of manpower afforded to the
burial at sea. Although seen as a moving
gesture by some, it frustrated and angered
All images: © Alamy, © Getty Images

“THE SECRET INTELLIGENCE SERVICE (SIS, ALSO KNOWN

Gibraltar was the only remaining piece Underwater Working Party, he realised he
of Allied territory in mainland Europe. too would have to learn to dive. Despite
During the war Spain was technically
neutral but under a fascist regime, it
having no prior diving experience, he
was purportedly something of a natural. AS MI6) IMMEDIATELY HATCHED A PLAN TO SEND A DIVER
regularly provided covert support to both
Nazi Germany and Mussolini’s Italy. One
This was all the more miraculous because
Crabb was a weak swimmer, barely able BELOW THE ORDZHONIKIDZE ON A RECONNAISSANCE MISSION”
48
 The Disappearance of Commander Crabb

others. However, alongside the bodies

Crabb was also able to recover some useful
equipment – including fins, which the
VANISHING ACTS
Lionel Crabb is not the only case of an unsolved disappearance from history, here
British divers were still without. are five famous examples
But Crabb did not spend all his time
in Gibraltar fighting off attacks from Amelia Earhart
Italian frogmen. In 1943, the UWP were Famous for being the first woman to cross the
dispatched to recover the bodies and vital Atlantic Ocean by plane and also the first to make
documents from a plane that had crashed a non-stop transatlantic flight, Amelia Earhart
shortly after take off. The plane had been disappeared somewhere over the Pacific Ocean
carrying the Polish general Władysław in 1937. It is suspected that, while attempting
Sikorski. His suspicious death has led to to complete an around-the-world flight, Earhart
theories as to whether the Soviet Union, and her navigator were killed during a plane
supposedly distrusting him, sought to crash. However, while this is the most likely
have Sikorski liquidated. This is all the explanation, in the decades since there have
more believable due to the then director of been numerous conspiracy theories. According
British intelligence in Gibraltar being one to the National Air and Space Museum, one claim
Kim Philby, later revealed as a Soviet spy is she was captured by the Japanese and forced
and one of the infamous Cambridge Five. to broadcast propaganda under the name ‘Tokyo
But for the moment all focus was Rose’ during World War II.
on recovering the bodies and the all-
important documents. Crabb’s mission
was an urgent one: not only was there the
The Mary Celeste Flannan Isles
risk that the tide would interfere with the
crash sight, there was the more pressing
On 5 December 1872, Lighthouse
the Mary Celeste was In December of 1900,
concern of enemy divers getting there
discovered adrift at sea. Donald MacArthur,
first. Despite the mission’s difficulty, Crabb
When she was boarded, Thomas Marshall and
made the UWP dive day and night until all
not a soul of her ten- James Ducat vanished
18 bodies, microfilm and documents were
person crew could be from the lighthouse on
brought ashore.
found. Unusually none of Flannan Isles in the Outer
Slowly, the Italian attacks became less
the crew’s belongings had been taken, although Hebrides. Unusually, the log at the lighthouse
frequent. According to the Welhams, the
one of the lifeboats had gone. There were also complained of bad storms, yet no storms were
work of the Underwater Working Party
no signs of a struggle or emergency, however recorded in this area. The door and gate were
and Lionel Crabb meant that the bay at
there were a few feet of water in the hold. In also locked and the beds were unmade. What
Gibraltar was simply too well defended.
the century since her disappearance, the Mary happened on Flannan Isles remains a mystery
Finally, on 8 September 1943 any fears
Celeste has become arguably the most famous and has inspired everything from a 2019 film, The
of further attacks were abated when the
nautical vanishing. Vanishing, to a 1970s episode of Doctor Who.
Italian forces surrendered to the Allies. For
his work in Gibraltar, Crabb was promoted
to the position of Lieutenant Captain and
awarded the George Medal. Crabb spent Joseph Force Harold Holt
the final years of the war in Venice and Crater Surely one of the most
Livorno, where he worked to clear the In 1930, Joseph Force high-profile historical
port of wrecks and explosives. He was Crater was appointed as disappearances is that
decommissioned in 1947. a judge to the Supreme of Australian prime
Court. However, a few minister Harold Holt,

CIVILIAN DIVER
short months later on who disappeared
the eve of 6 August, having entered the
Crabb returned to civilian life and took after having met two friends for dinner, water at Cheviot Beach in Victoria on
a job as a furniture salesman. Yet the he vanished off the face of the earth. His wife 17 December 1967. To this day Holt’s body has
underwater world continued to hold a finally sounded the alarm when he did not return never been recovered. While some claim that the
fascination and he regularly worked as a to their home in Maine after ten days. The story circumstances surrounding the prime minister’s
freelance diver. In the 1950s he helped quickly captured the public imagination, and disappearance were unusual – and conspiracy
hunt for the wreck of a Spanish galleon off stories of the judge’s mysterious behaviour in the theories emerged – it is likely that he drowned
the coast of Tobermory, Scotland enlisting days beforehand only added fuel to the fire. during a freak accident.
the help of two Naval ships. Unfortunately,
as Colin Martin and Geoffrey Parker state
in their book The Spanish Armada, “the
operation proved a fiasco that ended in
awkward parliamentary questions about
why taxpayers’ money had been used to
sponsor a private treasure hunt.”
Crabb was also contacted by the Navy
to help with more sombre operations.

49
 ABOVE-LEFT
Lionel Crabb
recounts some of
After the submarine Truculent collided
with the Swedish tanker Divinia in the
River Thames on 12 January 1950, Crabb
LOST AT SEA
On 18 April 1956, the Soviet leaders
at Portsmouth on 17 April. After contacting
an ex-colleague from the war to act as
a diving partner, the pair carried out a
his adventures for a
group of schoolboys participated in the investigatory missions. Marshal Bulganin and Nikita Khrushchev test dive on the 18th. However, Professor
when hunting for a Similarly, he assisted in another recovery arrived in Portsmouth for a rare goodwill Christopher R Moran states in his book
Spanish galleon in
Tobermory operation four years later when the visit during a brief relaxing of tensions Classified: Secrecy And The State In
submarine HMS Affray was lost in the in the Cold War. Flanked by a pair of Modern Britain that Crabb followed this
ABOVE-MIDDLE
After the war English Channel on 16 April 1951. warships, their cruiser the Ordzhonikidze with a heavy drinking spree in nearby
Crabb worked as But while these very high-profile dives greatly interested the British intelligence Havant. Showing little respect for the
a freelance diver.
were the ones the public were allowed services. The Secret Intelligence Service secrecy of the operation, Crabb is said to
Here he prepares to
investigate an object to read about, Crabb also participated in (SIS, also known as MI6) immediately have informed several locals of his plans
off the coast of more clandestine operations. In 1955 he hatched a plan to send a diver below and others recognised his distinctive crab-
Hastings in 1953
was contacted by the British Intelligence the Ordzhonikidze on a reconnaissance handled sword stick.
ABOVE-RIGHT Services and asked to undertake a mission mission. But the waters of Portsmouth The next morning, just before 7am,
The Sverdlov, the
ship Lionel Crabb diving beneath the Russian ship, the Harbour were a dangerous place to dive, Crabb embarked on his mission. He
and Sydney Knowles Sverdlov, which was docked in Portsmouth with little visibility combined with the returned just once to adjust his weights.
were reported to Harbour. Both the British Navy and the hazard of ships entering and exiting the With enough oxygen to last him 90
have spied on in 1955
American CIA were interested in why busy port. For this job, they needed an minutes, by 9.15, it was clear that Crabb
the Sverdlov was so manoeuvrable. The experienced man, but who? was not coming back. At some point
operation was overseen by the CIA and Lionel Crabb had recently turned 47. before 8am the crew of one of the
Crabb and Sydney Knowles, a friend from While still a highly respected war hero, Russian warships, the Sovershenny, saw
Gibraltar, completed the job successfully. in many ways his best years were behind a diver surface, clearly in great distress.
But a year later Crabb would find himself him. His health was poor and he drank Interestingly, the admiral who reported
enlisted for another mission into the and smoked to excess. Nonetheless, this story, Rear Admiral V F Kotov, claimed
murky waters of Portsmouth Harbour, one perhaps seeking to relive his glory days, that this had occurred on the 18th and
from which he would never return. Crabb eagerly agreed to the job and arrived not the 19th. Made directly to the British

DON'T CALL ME BUSTER

American actor and
Olympic swimmer
Buster Crabbe, the
inspiration behind
Lionel’s nickname
Why Lionel Crabb hated being compared to the
American star known for playing Flash Gordon
During World War II, Crabb earned the nickname ‘Buster’ after
the film star Buster Crabbe. The actor had become known
for playing the space-adventurer Flash Gordon in a number
of 1930s serials, as well as other pulp heroes including Buck
Rogers and Tarzan. Whereas Lionel Crabb was short and
stocky, Buster Crabbe was tall and athletic. Furthermore,
Buster Crabbe was also an Olympic swimmer where Lionel
Crabb’s swimming ability was weak. Likely feeling mocked
by the comparison, Lionel Crabb himself was not fond
of the nickname, threatening to deliver a swift punch
to anyone who referred to him as ‘Buster’.

50
 The Disappearance of Commander Crabb

Another theory is that he was caught

and executed. When CIA officer Tennent
H Bagley helped write the memoirs of
KGB operative Sergey A Kondrashev, he
was surprised when Kondrashev claimed
prior awareness of Crabb’s mission –
suggesting a possible mole. What the KGB
officer did with this information, and
more importantly with Crabb, he did not
reveal. In 2007 Eduard Koltsov, a Russian
ex-frogman, claimed that he had been
waiting for Crabb and, after catching him
in the process of attaching what appeared
to be a limpet mine to the Ordzhonikidze,
cut his throat.
But others have been far less convinced
of Crabb’s demise, believing that he
successfully defected or was taken by the
Russian security services and brainwashed.
The journalist Bernard Hutton believed
that Crabb had defected and was now an
officer in the Soviet Navy. Hutton even had

“WITH THE RELEVANT FILES STILL UNDER EMBARGO, IT’S LIKELY THAT THERE IS ABOVE The Davis
Submarine Escape
Apparatus, used
a photograph of the man he believed to be
Lionel Crabb. However, author Don Hale,

STILL MUCH TO LEARN ABOUT THE CRABB AFFAIR” by the Underwater

Working Party in
Gibraltar, is tested
while acknowledging that some family
members believed this tale, states that
“few others did”.
in 1942
prime minister, Anthony Eden, at a state was unable to determine whether these With the relevant files still under
dinner, it’s likely that this claim was a less- injuries were the cause of death or not. embargo, it’s likely that there is still much
than-subtle hint of Russian knowledge of Although attempts to positively identify to learn about the Crabb affair. Recently,
the operation. The only problem was, that the discovered body proved inconclusive, historian Giles Milton explored the
while the Russians had been aware of it, an inquest declared that it was indeed mystery in the first series of his podcast
the British prime minister had not. Lionel Crabb and on 6 July, the body was Cover Up. In one episode fellow historian
In the corridors of Whitehall, tensions laid to rest in Portsmouth. Andrew Lownie claimed that Lord
were high. Anthony Eden was furious as Surely then, this was the end of the Mountbatten, as head of the Navy, must
he had made it clear that no intelligence story? Lieutenant-Commander Crabb’s have had knowledge of the operation.
operations were to be carried out remains had at last been found, even if Is this the reason for the extraordinary
during the Russians’ visit. The fact that the circumstances of his death remained secrecy? Perhaps we will never know.
the mission had gone ahead without a mystery. There was just one problem – Meanwhile, the files continue to sit in the
BELOW The 1958
ministerial approval or knowledge only very few people were convinced that the film The Silent National Archives, their contents waiting
served to increase his anger. According headless corpse buried in Portsmouth Enemy featured to be revealed. However, Crabb deserves
a dramatisation
to Gov.uk, even news of Crabb’s was Lionel Crabb. Neither Crabb’s ex-wife of Crabb and his
to be remembered for more than just his
disappearance was not immediately nor his girlfriend could provide positive team’s dive to disappearance, but rather for his past as
communicated to ministers as various identification and the verdict seems to recover important a war hero, an expert diver, and a one of
documents from
intelligence departments desperately have been entirely based on Sydney General Sikorski’s a kind. There’ll never be another Lionel
sought to pass blame. As a result of this Knowles’ assertion that both Crabb and the crashed plane “Buster” Crabb.
embarrassment, the then head of the SIS body had a similar scar on the left knee.
known as ‘C’ retired. The circumstances There was also the mystery of what
surrounding Crabb’s disappearance were exactly happened that fateful morning.
kept secret, the public informed that the One theory is that Crabb’s poor health
Lieutenant Commander had vanished and the previous night’s binge affected
while testing underwater apparatus in him during the dive. If he ran into trouble,
Portsmouth Harbour. he may have been taken aboard the
Ordzhonikidze where he simply died.

WHAT HAPPENED TO Author Nigel West, the pen name for

former British MP Rupert Allason, stated

COMMANDER CRABB? in Spycraft Secrets: An Espionage A-Z

that the night before, Crabb suffered a
All images: © Alamy, © Getty Images

In June 1957, over a year after Crabb’s minor heart attack but went ahead with
disappearance, a body clothed in diving the dive nonetheless. However, author
gear was discovered by a group of MS Goodman in his 2008 paper, A Cold
fishermen near Chichester Harbour in War Cover Up: The Buster Crabbe Affair,
Sussex. Disturbingly, the body had no claimed that it was another officer with
head and no hands but the local coroner Crabb who suffered the heart attack.

51
52
A Medieval Love Story
How the correspondence between two
lovers preserved their place in history
as romantic icons
Written by Emily Staniforth

EXPERT BIO nce upon a time in medieval Paris, a man

and a woman met and fell madly in love.
Their names were Peter Abelard and Héloïse:
two intellectuals whose relationship, though
© Constant J. Mews

ill-fated, has inspired and fascinated people

through the ages. But how do we know their story, and why are
they remembered with such veneration? The simple answer is
CONSTANT J MEWS that the pair wrote a series of remarkable letters to one another
Constant J Mews in their later lives, recounting the story of how they met and
is a professor of
discussing their relationship as well as matters of philosophy
medieval religious
history and thought, and religion. These letters have been preserved and studied
and director of since they were first discovered around 100 years after their
the Centre for deaths, and have provided an incredible insight into a loving,

o urselves
Religious Studies at

ned
if doomed, relationship from the medieval period.

W e abando
Monash University

“ entirely to love”
in Melbourne.
He is the author
All images: © Alamy, © Getty Images

of The Lost Love

Letters Of Heloise
And Abelard:
Perceptions Of
Dialogue In Twelfth-
Century France
(Macmillan, 1999).

53
 AN AFFAIR TO REMEMBER
In 1115, Peter Abelard was hired to tutor the young Héloïse by her
uncle and guardian Fulbert, a canon at the Cathedral of Notre
Dame. “We do know that Abelard was a teacher and like any
other teacher of his day he was a cleric. He was a very brilliant,
argumentative figure and he would have been probably in his mid
30s when he met Héloïse,” says Constant J Mews, a professor of
medieval religious history and thought at Monash University in
Melbourne, Australia. “There’s a little bit of argument about the
age of Héloïse but my judgement would be that she was probably
about 20 or 21 when she met Abelard. There are some people
that have a custom of imagining her to be very young. She had
been brought up at the convent of Argenteuil but she was not
technically a nun: she was living as a boarder.”
Héloïse lived a privileged life for a young woman of the time
and her uncle’s position in the Church meant she had access to
the finest education available in Paris. Highly intelligent, she
was fluent in Latin, Hebrew and Greek. While it was common
for women of Héloïse’s status to be educated, it would never
be assumed that they would pursue a career as an intellectual
in the same way that a man might. Héloïse lived in one of the
houses in the cathedral area of Paris, and it is likely that it was
during her time here that she first noticed Abelard. When a
tutor needed to be hired, Abelard was the candidate of Héloïse’s
choosing according to her own account of the time. “All that we
know is that she insisted on getting him as a tutor, so she already
must have spotted Abelard teaching in the cathedral cloister
just next door to the Cathedral of Notre Dame,” explains Mews.
“She must have been a pretty persuasive young lady because she
got her uncle not only to get him as her tutor, but what’s more
astonishing is that she persuaded the uncle to give Abelard board
and lodging in the house, which was obviously dynamite. She was
very excited and the relationship began there.”
It is clear to see that the pair loved each other a great deal. In
an autobiographical account, Abelard writes to his friend and
recounts his remembrance of their affair. In one particularly
expressive passage he wrote of their time together: “We were
united first under one roof, then in heart, and so with our lessons
providing the opportunity we abandoned ourselves entirely to
love. Her studies allowed us the private seclusion that love desired BELOW The couple never sought anything in you except yourself; I wanted simply
and then, with our books open before us, more words of love than met and started you, nothing of yours.”
their romantic affair
of our reading passed between us, and more kissing than ideas.” in Paris in the early There is no doubt over the physical nature of Abelard and
Héloïse, in return, wrote of her love for Abelard: “God knows I 12th century Héloïse’s relationship as it was not long after their affair had
begun that Héloïse found herself pregnant with Abelard’s child.
In order to protect Héloïse from the judgement of public opinion
and the fury of her uncle Fulbert, Abelard sent his lover to his
hometown in Brittany to be cared for by his sister Denise. In
Brittany, Héloïse gave birth to a son whom she named Astrolabe.
It is not known with any certainty what happened to Astrolabe in
his later life, but as an infant he was brought up by Denise after
Héloïse returned to Paris.
Fulbert was enraged by Héloïse’s disappearance from Paris and
so Abelard came up with, what he believed to be, a solution to
the predicament the pair found themselves in. To try and placate
Fulbert and legitimise their child, Abelard intended to marry
Héloïse. However, Héloïse had no similar intentions. It is hard to
believe that Héloïse would have been so opposed to marriage
considering the social expectations of the women of her time, but
her words and thoughts about Abelard’s marriage proposal are laid
out in a letter she wrote to him years after the event. She stated: “I
looked for no marriage bond, no wedding present; it was not my
pleasures I sought to gratify, as you know, but yours. The name
of wife may seem holier or more valid, but sweeter for me will

54
 Abelard and Héloïse

I“ t would seemoutoramblee detoarbeer

and more honis empress but An Enlightening
called not h istress Discovery
your m ” Are there more letters between
Abelard and Héloïse?
always be the word friend or, if you will permit me, concubine
or whore. But you kept silent about many of my arguments for
preferring love to marriage and freedom to a chain, God is my
witness that if Augustus, emperor of the whole world, thought fit
to honour me with marriage, and conferred all the earth on me to
possess forever, it would seem to me dearer and more honourable
to be called not his empress but your mistress.”
Eventually, Héloïse gave in to Abelard’s request and the pair
united in reluctant matrimony. This union in itself displays
the extent to which the lovers cared for each other: Abelard’s
willingness to marry Héloïse to save her reputation jeopardised
his career, and Héloïse agreeing to marriage, despite her strong
opposition to the idea, showed her desire to appease Abelard. The
condition on which Héloïse submitted to the marriage was that it
should remain a secret. “Making the marriage public would have
been the death of a career for Abelard,” explains Mews. “He would
not have been able to get any senior promotion. He’s technically
not yet a priest, but any sense of future advancement would
have been stopped by that.” After the marriage had taken place,
Abelard entreated Héloïse to move to a nunnery in Argenteuil to
protect her from the anger of her uncle.
Unfortunately, though Héloïse was spared the abuse of Fulbert,
Abelard experienced the full force of his wrath. In Abelard’s
account of what came next he described how an assassin, hired
LEFT Abelard was
by Fulbert to enact his revenge, attacked him in the night initially employed as
with a razor, castrating him in retribution for his indiscretions Héloïse’s tutor
with Héloïse. No longer able to engage in an intimate physical BELOW Héloïse’s
relationship after the loss of his ‘manhood’, Abelard effectively uncle Fulbert was In the 1970s, a group of 113 letters were discovered by a
displeased with the
ordered Héloïse, who was still residing at the Argenteuil convent, couple’s romantic German scholar. These letters recorded correspondence
to live the rest of her life as a nun. Surprisingly, given Héloïse’s relationship between a man and a woman and dated from the
1100s. After studying the letters, Professor Mews has
attributed their authorship to Abelard and Héloïse. But
how did he come to this conclusion?
The editing of the letters revealed that the two
writers were a famous teacher and a brilliant female
student of philosophy. Upon looking closer at the
vocabulary used by the correspondents, Mews
identified the voices of the lovers.
“The first trigger was a single word and the word was,
in English, ‘knowability’. It was a word that didn’t exist
before [Abelard first used it],” explains Mews. “I was
able to check and it was clear to me that nobody had
used this word before him. Now, when Abelard spoke
about ‘knowability’ he was talking about an abstract
noun and something being ‘knowable’. He had invented
a word to get this very abstract point across.”
Mews also found that some of the themes discussed
in the letters were characteristic of the writings and
philosophies of the pair, and that the female author’s
All images: © Alamy, © Getty Images

professions of the purity of true love echoed the

ideology of Héloïse. These letters, believed to have
been written while the pair were still together, provided
a groundbreaking insight into both the notorious affair
and the characters and capabilities of both Abelard and
Héloïse as scholars.

55
 t is due to H él oï se’s fo rward
An Enduring “I thinking that the famous
Legacy letters betweenstillhersuan d her
How the tale of Abelard and Héloïse has
achieved an almost legendary status husband rvive”
strong-willed nature, she obeyed his wishes. Abelard himself
joined a cloister and dedicated himself to God. They were never
involved with each other again in a romantic capacity, but even a
religious life could not keep them apart.

THE LETTERS
The famous letters that survive and tell the tale of Abelard and
Héloïse’s affair are the main source for historians investigating
the lives of the couple. These letters were, however, not written
during their time together but were produced after they had
each entered religious life and had left their physical romantic
relationship behind. Abelard and Héloïse’s correspondence with
each other recounted their lives together but also mused on
questions of philosophy and religion. Mews argues that there
also survives another collection of over 100 letters between
them, written at the time of their affair. The letters confirm that
Abelard’s success as a philosopher made him a hugely prominent
figure, that he discussed many of his ideas with Héloïse, and was
influenced by her opinions on ethical issues. Abelard has been
classed by historians as the greatest thinker of the 12th century,
with his skills as a logician and theologian particularly praised.
Héloïse also pursued her intellectual studies while rising
through the ranks at the nunnery. Eventually she became prioress
of the convent at Argenteuil before she moved to the Abbey
of the Paraclete in northern France. The Paraclete had been
established by Abelard in around 1122 and when Héloïse found
herself without a station in 1129, Abelard gifted her the monastery.
She assumed the position of abbess at the new nunnery at the
BELOW Fulbert had Paraclete, and it was here that she spent the rest of her life.
Abelard castrated Utilising her exemplary education, Héloïse wrote extensively
in retribution for
his relationship on the themes of love, friendship and marriage while helping to
Peter Abelard died in 1142. His remains were taken to with Héloïse teach those around her. She was highly respected by those in the
the Paraclete where Héloïse had them buried. When
she died in around 1163, she was buried next to her
husband. There is some dispute over what happened
to the lovers’ bodies next but it is believed that they
were moved at least once and now rest in the famous
Père Lachaise Cemetery in Paris. “At the time of the
French Revolution they were the only people from the
Middle Ages whose bodies were allowed to go into the
cemetery of Père Lachaise where they are still buried.
They were seen as secular saints, and no one else got
into that category,” says Mews.
Though their respective legacies as writers,
philosophers and theologians remain highly influential,
the often fictionalised romantic aspects of Abelard
and Héloïse’s lives are arguably more powerful. Having
reached an almost mythical status in the minds of their
admirers and readers, they became akin to the fictional
Romeo and Juliet in their association with the theme
of tragic love. Since the 1700s, the love of Abelard
and Héloïse has inspired works of art, novels, music,
poems, plays and films and their position as romantic
icons continues to see devotees visit their tomb, leaving
letters and mementos.

56
 Abelard and Héloïse

correspondence provided some context to the foundation of the

religious community at the Paraclete, it is presumed that Héloïse
viewed them as of historic importance. Therefore, she made sure
that they would be kept safe.
“It looks as if Héloïse kept these letters at the women’s convent,
but they were very vulnerable, and so one of her successors
may have put these documents for safekeeping in the Cathedral
of Notre Dame,” explains Mews. “It is there that they were
discovered in the mid 13th century. So these letters survive,
I think certainly because Héloïse wanted them to provide a
foundation story for her community, but women’s communities
are notoriously vulnerable to war and destruction and in fact this
is what happened. Thank goodness that she had, or someone had,
put the letters into safekeeping. But we’ve got a situation where
most of the manuscripts of the Paraclete are lost. So in a sense it’s
just really good luck and forethought that we have the account
and, of course, they were probably preserved initially because of
the rules of the Paraclete. [The letters] conclude with a set of
rules for the nuns and that was the official reason for keeping
these documents.”
Interest in the letters and love story of Abelard and Héloïse
first peaked in the 16th and 17th centuries when copies of the
correspondence were printed. During this period, the main
religious community and was instrumental in focus tended to be on Abelard, who had come into conflict
establishing several abbeys around Paris. with the Church in his later life and had been condemned as
When reading the letters of Abelard and a heretic. In the 18th century, however, renewed interest in the
Héloïse, it is almost shocking to see Héloïse, a letters from the salons of aristocratic women that had begun to
practising and high-ranking nun, lay out her thoughts emerge led to a more appreciative view of Héloïse’s talent and
and beliefs about her past life with Abelard in black importance as a philosopher and writer. “There was such an
and white. By the time the pair started writing to one another, TOP A depiction explosion of interest in the late 17th and early 18th century, that
of Abelard and
Abelard appears to have come to believe that his castration was a Héloïse in their
Héloïse became a famous goddess of fiction. The letters were
punishment from God for his affair with Héloïse. Héloïse, on the religious lives being read, often by women who were not interested in Abelard’s
other hand, has no such regrets. ABOVE The Parting
theology. They saw her as a great tragic figure,” says Mews.
“Abelard writes a long account of his life, which is really the Of Abelard And The tale of Abelard and Héloïse has been kept alive since
source of most of what we know about him and Héloïse, and Héloïse by Angelika their deaths through their own words. The love the pair felt for
Kauffmann
in his telling of the story he really wants to get across that he each other is evident, not only by their own accounts but in
made a mistake and that the castration was divine: the ordained the very act of writing to each other long after their physical
punishment ultimately for the good. And so he plays up his relationship had ended. In many ways, the steadfast friendship
behaviour as being that of a playboy who was proud and arrogant they maintained while living celibate and cloistered existences
who ultimately got what he deserved,” says Mews. “I think is more extraordinary than the passionate affair for which they
Héloïse was pretty upset when she read this account because are famous. Theirs was a true meeting of their minds, and in the
Abelard was saying: ‘I thought it was rather fun, but in the end, BELOW The tomb of preservation of their letters they have provided an invaluable
Abelard and Heloise,
it was an affair of the flesh.’ Héloïse insists that their intentions Pere Lachaise and electrifying glimpse into the medieval world of love and
were always pure and what is so remarkable is that she has a Cemetery, Paris friendship like no one else.
set of values about the priority of love over any form of personal
satisfaction. This was an ideal of friendship (normally friendship
was between people of the same sex) and she insists that her
intentions were always noble, and she was never pursuing
this affair out of sexual indulgence, which was the story that
Abelard was giving. This tension in which Héloïse accuses
Abelard of fudging the past, of not being true to the values which
she thought they were sharing, is something which gives an
incredible energy and dynamism to the letters.”
Héloïse never repented her relationship with Abelard, citing
that she still loved and desired him and had gone into the AN ANNOTATED EDITION
religious order for him and not for God. She did not believe she OF HELEN WADDELL’S
was responsible for Abelard’s punishment when he was castrated PETER ABELARD
(CAMBRIDGE SCHOLARS
though, because her intentions in their relationship, if not her PUBLISHING, 2022),
All images: © Alamy, © Getty Images

actions, had always been pure: a running theme throughout her EDITED BY CONSTANT
philosophical and theological musings. J MEWS AND JENNIFER
FITZGERALD, IS
AVAILABLE TO BUY NOW.
PRESERVING LOVE WADDELL’S HISTORICAL
It is due to Héloïse’s forward thinking that the famous NOVEL WAS ORIGINALLY
letters between her and her husband still survive. As their PUBLISHED IN 1933.

57
 ABOVE The use of torture
on those held by the
Inquisition was allowed as
without confessing their sins
© Alamy

the accused could not be

welcomed back into the church

58
 The colonies of the New World
presented a new front in the
Inquisition’s war against heresy

C
Written by Ben Gazur

hristopher Columbus noted a As well as exploration, however, the

strange historical coincidence arrival of European powers in America
in his diary. “In the same month offered chances for exploitation. The
in which their Majesties issued new lands that were discovered were
the edict that all Jews should be already inhabited by millions of people
driven out of the kingdom and the who did not yet know that they were to
territories, they gave me the order to become the next front in the expansion
undertake, with sufficient men, my of Christianity. Europeans, like the
expedition of discovery to the Indies.” expelled Jews of Spain, also moved to
When Columbus crossed the the New World.
Atlantic it opened new continents for In the wake of European colonisation
exploration and discovery. It was as came Christian monks, priests and, to
if a whole new world had opened up. ensure doctrinal purity, the Inquisition.

59
 Coming of the Inquisition
Inquisitions had often been used in Europe
as a way of detecting heretics who held
beliefs different to those of the Catholic
faith. Over the centuries Inquisitions had
been created by the papacy to investigate
multiple heretical movements, but once
the Protestant Reformation began in the
16th century the scope and intensity of
Inquisitional investigations ballooned.
The Spanish Inquisition, known as
the Tribunal of the Holy Office of the
Inquisition, was a unique institution. While
other Inquisitions were under the control

“This was not a state of affairs that pleased the rulers of Europe.
of the Pope and bishops, the Spanish
Inquisition created in 1478 was given over

Where there was freedom of thought there was heresy”

to Ferdinand II of Aragon and Isabella I
of Castile. These married monarchs ruled
the kingdoms from which Spain would be
created and argued that they needed their
own Inquisition because of the special
circumstances of their domains.
For centuries the Iberian Peninsula
had been dominated by Muslim states.
Al-Andalus, as Moorish-ruled Spain was
known, had provided home to millions
of Muslims and toleration to Jews and
Christians. Learning flourished in many of
the cities and Christians from the rest of
Europe often studied there to gain access
to works unavailable elsewhere. This was
not a state of affairs that pleased the rulers
of Europe. Where there was freedom of
thought there was heresy.
Ferdinand and Isabella led a reconquest
of Iberia known as the Reconquista. As
lands fell under their dominion they found
they were now ruling large populations
of non-Christians, and they encouraged
Jewish and Muslim inhabitants to convert.
Many did. These Conversos and Moriscos,
as the Jewish and Muslim converts were
known respectively, were freed from direct
repression but not from suspicion. It was
widely believed that they clung to their
old religions in secret and so represented TOP Inquisitors
would press the
a threat to the Catholic state. There seems accused to confess
to have been some truth in this, at least all their crimes,
if the findings of the Inquisition are to be with the accused
not knowing what
believed. The main role of the Inquisition evidence the
was to examine the beliefs and actions Inquisition had
of converts and uncover those who were against them

Catholic in name only. ABOVE The

In 1492, just as Columbus was setting discoveries of
Columbus gave
out on his voyage, Ferdinand and Isabella huge opportunities
issued the Alhambra Decree that gave for expansion by
the rulers of the
all practising Jews in their domains four Spanish kingdoms
months to leave, a decree that would only
RIGHT The Spanish
formally be rescinded in 1968. The reason treatment of the
given for their expulsion was that active native people
Jewish worship was tempting Conversos sparked controversy,
as in this French
to fall back into their old faith. That illustration of them
same year, with the discovery of the New being burned alive

60
 Inquisition in the New World

World, the lands of the Spanish monarchs

suddenly expanded to include new and
more varied threats to their dreams of a
pure and Catholic world.

New Worlds and New Faiths

In 1493 Pope Alexander VI issued the
papal bull Inter Caetera that divided the
New World between Spain and Portugal.
Further bulls gave the monarchs rights
to convert the native peoples of the new
lands that were discovered.
The Inquisition came early to the new
Spanish holdings. In 1522 a Dominican
friar, Bartolome de las Casas, petitioned the
king of Spain to “send the Holy Inquisition
to those islands of the Indies, of which I
believe there is a very great need, because
where the faith has newly been planted,
as it has in those lands, perhaps there
will be no one who causes the trouble
of heresy, but already there they have
found and have burned two heretics, and
by fortune they kept more than 14 from
entering these lands.” It was leaders of the

WITCHES OF CARTAGENA
monastic orders who led the first attempts
to convert the local population in the New
World. This was sometimes disastrous.
In an attempt to Christianise the member of the native nobility of Mexico,
population the sons of local nobility was burned at the stake by Bishop Juan de
were removed from their families to be Zumarraga, who held the title of Protector The port city that was the front line of
educated in Christianity by the monks. of the Indians, for refusing to give up the Inquisition actions
When they were returned to their homes religion of his ancestors. These actions
they were expected to reveal if any in caused such an outcry that professional
their towns were returning to their old Inquisitors were called for in hopes Of the 538 cases of witchcraft taken on by the Inquisition
pagan ways. This led to hostility and even of keeping peace in the new Catholic in the Americas, more than half of them were tried in
murder of the sons by families who feared dominions. Cartagena. The port city, founded in 1533 on top of a
they were spies. King Philip II had no doubts about what previous indigenous settlement named Calamari, was an
De las Casas, who had called for the the Inquisition should do. In a letter of important hub of Spanish trade. Precious metals such as
Inquisition to come to the New World, 1565 he wrote: “As to the Inquisition, my silver and gold would be shipped from here back to Spain,
would become one of the most vocal will is that it be enforced by the Inquisitors which made it a popular target for pirates (including Francis
defenders of native rights. In 1550 he took as of old, and as is required by all law, Drake in 1586). It was also authorised as a slave port by
part in the Valladolid debate in Spain human and divine. This lies very near my Philip II in 1571 and the Inquisition, it seems, was keen to
where he argued that the populations heart, and I require you to carry out my seek a connection between witchcraft and indigenous/
already living in the new lands should orders. Let all prisoners be put to death, enslaved people.
be respected and were equals in human and suffer them no longer to escape One such case was Paula de Eguiluz who faced several
dignity with their Spanish overlords. through the neglect, weakness, and bad witchcraft trials in her lifetime. Paula was born into slavery
Others argued that nations who conducted faith of the judges. If any are too timid to and sold to a Cuban slave-owner in the early 1600s. In
human sacrifice and worshipped strange execute the edicts, I will replace them with 1623 she was accused of witchcraft, murdering a newborn
gods should be subdued with the harshest men who have more heart and zeal.” child and drinking its blood. She denied the charges, but
of measures. The Inquisition was one of Due to the distances involved the after three months of interrogation (and likely torture) she
the weapons to be used against them. Inquisition in New Spain found itself confessed. However, she was not killed, instead receiving
The Inquisition in New Spain was acting more independently than 200 lashes and exile from Cuba.
formally founded by King Philip II in 1596; Inquisitions in the Iberian peninsula. Paula de Eguiluz was a free woman two years after the

Enemies and heretics

before this, bishops in the region had the trial concluded and moved to a community of free Black
task of holding trials. men and women, where she worked as a laundress and
Fray Diego de Landa, Bishop of Yucatan, Vast wealth and opportunities lured many healer. However, she was accused of witchcraft once again
had tried converting the Maya and Europeans to the New World. This influx in 1632, and this time she named others and accused
launched his own Inquisition in 1562 that of immigrants brought new threats, as the the Inquisition itself of not protecting her from the devil.
saw huge numbers of Mayan texts and Spanish saw it, to Catholicism beyond the Those further accused claimed she was the ringleader and
religious images destroyed in the name of fear of the paganism of the native peoples. a third trial began even as the second was in progress.
All images: © Alamy

ridding the Indigenous people of idolatry. Europe was riven by religious schism Finally in 1638 she was found guilty, although her sentence
Many Maya chose suicide rather than face in the 16th century. The Reformation saw is unknown. We do know she lived, however, as a friar
de Landa’s torture. Carlos Ometochtzin, a Protestants exploring new varieties of claimed she had reconciled with the church by 1649.

61
 “punishments could range from exile and fines, all the way to torture”
which claimed he had entered the New
World illegally. Decrees had banned those
who had ‘impure’ blood from immigrating.
In 1595 de Carvajal’s nephew, also called
Luis, was arrested by the Inquisition
on charges of reverting to Judaism.
He was burned, along with his
Christianity, all of which were regarded as ABOVE By parading mother and sisters, in Mexico City
monstrous heresies by the Catholic church. heretics in public in 1596.
the Inquisition
Charles V, ruler of the Habsburg empire, sought to suppress Under the Inquisition in New
had received many warnings in the 16th impiety in those Spain you did have the right
who witnessed
century that Protestants were travelling to the spectacle
to a legal defence; an official
his dominions in the New World to avoid trained in law was appointed
ABOVE-INSET The
persecution in their homelands. operations of the
from among the Inquisition’s
While many Muslims had fled the Inquisition were own officers. Unfortunately
Reconquista of Iberia to the Middle kept secret, but its this lawyer was only allowed
punishments were
East, some populations of Spanish and done in full view of a limited amount of time with
Portuguese Jews travelled westward to the the public, as in this the suspect and was forbidden
New World. Perhaps the most famous were auto-da-fe in Mexico from revealing details of the case,
the Jewish pirates of Jamaica who made such as what they were accused
their living by plundering the ships of of, to their client. Anyone could
those who had driven them from Europe. make an accusation anonymously.
The Inquisition was founded to The Inquisition could come for you
investigate heresies that might sprout in whether you were lowly born and secretly
the new ground of the New World. Its role accused by a neighbour or in a position
was to stop the spread of Protestantism of authority who might have political
into Spanish territories and probe for enemies. Governor Bernardo López de
apostasy among the Jews and Muslims Mendizábal arrived in Sante Fe in 1659
who had converted to Catholicism. The and found himself under arrest by the
Spanish remained obsessed with the idea Inquisition in 1662. His wife Teresa
of converted Jews, and their descendants, was also arrested and members of
still practising their former religion. They his household inspected. Bernardo
All images: © Alamy, © Getty Images

developed a complex theory of Limpieza died in prison but Teresa faced

de sangre – purity of blood. Those ‘tainted’ a trial where she was charged
with convert blood were popular targets RIGHT A torture with 47 crimes. Although
for the Inquisition. Luis de Carvajal, device now in the she successfully rebutted the
Inquisition Museum
a governor in Mexico, was sent to an in Cartagena, accusations she was left penniless
Inquisition prison in 1588 after a trial Colombia after the confiscation of her property

62
 Inquisition in the New World

and spent years attempting to recover it. witchcraft. These could range from exile
The likes of blasphemy, sodomy, and and fines, all the way to torture and
witchcraft could also see you defending burning at the stake.
yourself from Inquisition charges. At the great auto-da-fe of Mexico City
Where there were different gods there in 1659 hundreds of the nobility rode in
was also a fear that these demonic state through the streets. Stands for 16,000
figures could lead people, particularly spectators had been built. Those found
women, into the practice of witchcraft. guilty by the Inquisition were led forward,
Maria de la Concepcion was put on trial with effigies representing those who had
by the Inquisition in 1668 in Mexico died or fled. Those sentenced to be burned
charged with enchanting a man to fall to death were placed on donkeys and
in love with another woman. Maria was paraded through the crowd to the place
elderly, Portuguese, and a Gypsy so was of execution. The lucky ones, those who
particularly vulnerable to accusations. She repented after the sentence of death was
was found guilty, publicly humiliated, and passed, were granted the boon of being
whipped 200 times for her crimes. strangled before the fire was lit. As smoke

Acts of Faith
billowed into the sky the punishments of
other sinners were announced. Those who
The most spectacular manifestation of renounced their sin were welcomed back
the Inquisition were the autos-da-fe. into the church with much joy, though
These were large public meetings where they still had to do penance. Events like independence. Though some historians ABOVE A drawing
those accused of crimes to the Inquisition this occurred in Spanish domains from have questioned whether the Inquisition of an Inquisition
prisoner being
were brought out, in costumes known as Peru to New Mexico. was ever as truly dreadful as Protestant paraded through
sanbenito that depicted their crimes, to The Inquisition was finally abolished in propagandists and popular culture would the streets
do penance and admit their sins for the Mexico in 1820. Over the centuries it had have us believe, the records of those
world to see. Punishments were doled tried crimes both religious and secular. caught in the Inquisition’s grasp leave
out so that the populace could witness In its last days it was used as a method no doubt for what it was like when the
the consequences of sin, heresy, and of quelling those who called for Mexican Inquisition came knocking at your door.
 Russian and Bulgarian troops
fight a desperate battle to defend
the Shipka Pass from repeated
Ottoman attacks, August 1877
Image source: wiki/Military Historical Museum
of Artillery, Engineers and Signal Corps

Greatest Battles

T
he Russo-Turkish War of 1877-78 was fought
between the Russian Empire (more correctly,
an Eastern Orthodox coalition led by Russia,
which included Bulgaria, Romania, Serbia
and Montenegro) and the Ottoman Empire.
It was the last, and most important, of a series of
conflicts fought between the two empires dating
back to the 17th century. Its causes are deep-rooted
and complex, but the 1877 conflict began on 24
April, when the Russian Tsar, Alexander II, declared
war on the Ottomans to come to the aid of Bosnia
and Herzegovina, and Bulgaria, who had begun a
rebellion against Ottoman rule. It would end in a

SHIPKA, BULGARIA, JULY 1877 – JANUARY 1878

Russian coalition victory ten months later following
a savage campaign that saw tens of thousands killed
and countless more wounded. There were several
Written by Mark Simner sizeable actions fought during the conflict, one of

64
the most notable being the Battle of Shipka Pass, earlier campaign, which allowed unopposed Ottoman Empire. Meanwhile, another force would
itself a series of bloody actions fought for control of amphibious operations and resupply by sea. This launch a diversionary offensive in the Caucasus
the vital pass in the Balkan Mountains. was because the Russian Black Sea fleet had to draw off Ottoman troops that might otherwise
scuttled itself at Sevastopol during the disastrous meet the main Russian thrust towards the Ottoman
RUSSIAN STRATEGY Crimean War, while the subsequent Treaty of Paris capital. Alexander knew he needed a quick victory
Bitter experience of earlier conflicts between of 1856 restricted the number and size of vessels before the Great Powers of Europe could intervene.
the Russians and Ottomans had led to Turkey Russia could maintain in the Black Sea. Turkey, on
building a string of fortresses to guard its European the other hand, had built several modern ironclads OTTOMAN FORCES
provinces from future attacks. Nevertheless, that Russia could now not counter. At the start of the campaign, the Russian Army
Prussian-born Russian general Hans Karl von Russian strategy instead focused on marching of the South was organised into four corps, each
Diebitsch had managed to break through these an army of 250,000 men through Romania and comprising two infantry and one cavalry divisions
formidable defences in 1829 and advance on cross the Danube – the natural border between with supporting artillery. There is some debate as
Constantinople, allowing Russia to dictate Russian and Ottoman controlled territories – to to the strength of their Ottoman opponents. At the
subsequent peace terms. In 1877, Russian strategy avoid Ottoman defences. The Russian army time, Russia estimated that Turkey held around
was simply to repeat Diebitsch’s earlier victory. would then advance over the Balkan Mountains 160,000 troops in Europe, of which 60,000 were at
However, in 1877 Russia was unable to benefit to Adrianople, from where it would finally march Vidin on the Danube and the remaining 100,000
from the naval supremacy it had enjoyed in the on Constantinople and again force terms on the concentrated around Rushchuk, Silistria, Varna and

65
 Greatest Battles
Fighting Around Shipka
by Simon Agopyan
2x © Alamy

Shumla. Historians believe the number of Ottoman The scene after the
troops available to oppose the Russian invasion taking of the Shipka
was higher, estimates ranging from 186,000 to over Pass by Russian troops
in the Russo-Turkish
250,000, although many would be garrisoning forts War of 1877-1878
and not available for field operations.
Unlike Russia, however, the Ottomans do not
appear to have had a strategy for the coming
conflict, save for holding their static defensive
line formed by the fortresses. The Ottoman high
command suffered from internal rivalry, with
commanders actively engaged in intrigues against
one another. Even when the fighting commenced,
these rivalries continued and undermined the
Ottoman defence. Nevertheless, Ottoman troops
would fight a determined and bloody campaign
against the Russians.

THE RUSSIANS ADVANCE

Initially, the Russians successfully crossed the
Danube into Bulgaria as planned, with all four
corps over the river by 1 July, although they quickly
began to deviate from their original strategy by
adopting a broader, slower advance. Nevertheless,
General Iosif Vladimirovich Gurko was ordered to
race ahead of the main Russian army with 16,000
men – including the Fourth Rifle Brigade, the
Bulgarian Legion, a half-battalion of dismounted
Cossacks, and some artillery – and take possession
of the strategically vital passes through the Balkan
Mountains before Ottoman troops did the same. the pass, his infantrymen hauling the heavy guns forward pickets to probe Ottoman defences. Shipka
The Russian advance came as a shock to the up the steep slopes. Pass now fell to the Russians.
Ottomans, who scrambled to form a new line Once over the Khankoi Pass, Gurko’s force
south of the Balkan Mountains. advanced through the Tundja Valley. The Russians BATTLE BEGINS
However, they simply did not skirmished with Ottoman advance troops, causing The loss of Shipka Pass had come as another blow
have enough men to properly some delay, but otherwise continued without to the Ottomans and plans to retake it were quickly
guard the mountain passes meeting serious resistance. Soon, Gurko’s men put in motion. This task fell to Süleyman Hüsnü
the Russians sought to found themselves looking towards their prize – the Pasha, who had been recalled from Montenegro
exploit. One such pass Shipka Pass. with an experienced army of 20,000 men.
was the Khankoi Pass, Elsewhere, the advance of the main Russian force
itself found to be CAPTURE OF THE PASS had ground to a halt in the face of determined
totally unguarded, On 17 July, Prince Nikolay Svyatopolk-Mirsky, Ottoman resistance at Plevna in northern Bulgaria.
as it was little commander of the Russian Ninth Infantry Division, The war had suddenly taken on a static nature and
more than a rough attacked Ottoman positions at Shipka Pass. Gurko not the one of mobility envisioned by the Russians.
path. Russian was supposed to work in concert with Mirsky to Meanwhile, Gurko had garrisoned the Shipka
pioneers set to work take the pass but had not arrived on time due to his Pass with a Russian infantry regiment and a
improving the path delay. Unwilling to wait, Mirsky sent forward 2,000 Bulgarian battalion, while he led the remainder
to allow the passage men of the 36th (Orlovski) Infantry Regiment, of his force south towards the town of Kazanlak.
of cavalry and supported by Cossacks and artillery, but they were It would be on the 29 July that some of Gurko’s
artillery, the work repulsed by an Ottoman force of 4,000 made up Bulgarian troops clashed with the advanced
carried out totally of regular infantrymen, irregular Bashi-Bazouks guard of Süleyman’s force near Stara Zagora.
undetected by the and artillery. When Gurko arrived the next day, he Süleyman’s veteran soldiers proved too much for
Ottomans. Nevertheless, also attacked the pass with two infantry battalions the Bulgarians, who withdrew after sustaining
it took Gurko three supported by two companies of Cossacks. This heavy casualties. The Ottoman troops then burned
days to get over second attack also failed. Russian casualties stood Stara Zagora and reputedly murdered thousands
at 150 killed or wounded. of its Christian inhabitants. Gurko, realising he was
Nevertheless, the Ottoman defenders believed heavily outnumbered, retired back through the
that more Russian troops would soon be arriving Khankoi Pass but sent five Bulgarian battalions to
and that they would unlikely be able to hold the reinforce the garrison at Shipka Pass.
pass from another assault. On 19 July, Ottoman It was now the turn of the Russians to defend
troops quietly withdrew from the pass. The the Shipka Pass, their garrison consisting of the
Süleyman Hüsnü Pasha, the
Ottoman commander who Russians, who believed the Ottomans were Russian 36th Infantry Regiment, five battalions of
lost thousands of men trying considering their demands for surrender, only the Bulgarian Legion, five companies of Cossacks,
to retake the Shipka Pass
realised the defenders had retired when they sent and 29 guns. In all around 7,500 men, mostly
© Alamy

66
 Battle of Shipka Pass

RUSSIANS
Bulgarians. The defenders set about improving the
old Ottoman defences, digging new trenches and
building breastworks out of stone. They also buried
explosives left behind by the original Ottoman
garrison to blow up Ottoman troops as they
advanced on the pass.
His army swelled to 38,000 men, Süleyman
ordered an advance on the Shipka Pass on 21
August. The Ottoman troops climbed the rocky
slopes leading to Mount St Nicholas where they
came under a murderous fire from the muskets and
artillery of the Bulgarian defenders above, inflicting
grievous casualties. Nevertheless, Süleyman had
managed to get one of his artillery batteries onto
the Maly-Bedek Mountain, from where it fired onto
the Russian and Bulgarian troops.
Ottoman troops again assaulted Mount St
Nicholas, this time from the direction of the Demir-
Tepe Mountain to the east. Again, they were met by
withering musket and artillery fire which burned
through the Ottoman ranks, causing yet more
heavy casualties. As the desperate fight for Shipka NIKOLAY
Pass raged, the Russian 35th Infantry Regiment SVYATOPOLK-MIRSKY MIKHAIL SKOBELEV
arrived to reinforce the defenders. This prince and cavalry general IOSIF GURKO Known as the ‘White General’ thanks
Little happened on 22 August, apart from some graduated from the Page Corps and The count and field marshal was born to his preference for wearing a white
infrequent exchange of fire. However, on 23 August, served in the Caucasus prior to his in Novgorod and joined the hussars of uniform while riding a white horse,
involvement in the Russo-Turkish War. the Imperial Guard around the age of even as he was in the centre of the
Süleyman ordered a major assault. Attacking from Following Shipka Pass he was made the 18, becoming a captain at around 29, conflict with his men, Skobelev
three directions, the Ottomans again climbed the ataman of the Don Cossack Voiska and adjutant to the tsar at 32 and colonel was commended for his inspiring
steep slopes only to be met by the same savage fire later was made a member of the State at 33. By the Russo-Turkish War he leadership. Following the war he
of the Russian and Bulgarian defenders as before. Council of Imperial Russia in 1898. In was a major general and spearheaded began engaging in a political career,
1895 he also bought and repaired Mir the Russian invasion, securing three advocating Russian nationalism, but he
The Russians also set off the buried explosives,
Castle in Belarus. Balkan passes in the space of 16 days. died from a heart attack in 1882.
causing death and horrendous injuries among the
attackers. Nevertheless, some of the Ottoman troops

OTTOMANS
did reach the Russian trenches and bloody hand-to-
hand fighting ensued, during which many Russian
gunners were killed. A Russian bayonet charge of
the 36th (Orlovski) Infantry Regiment eventually
threw the Ottomans back down the slopes.
Again and again the Ottomans attacked, despite
the murderous fire they faced each time. At one
point, the Russians and Bulgarians ran so low on
ammunition that they threw rocks and rolled down
boulders upon their attackers. Some accounts even
quote the corpses of Ottoman dead being picked
up and thrown at the attackers. At 3.00pm, the
Ottomans managed to overrun the central battery,

All images: © Alamy, © Getty Images, wiki/Abdullah Freres

forcing the defenders back.
Reinforcements came in the form of 200
mounted men of the Fourth Rifle Brigade, who
retook the battery, after which the remainder of
the brigade, commanded by Fyodor Radetsky,
arrived. The Ottomans attacked yet again, and
were yet again repulsed. Radetsky then ordered
two of his battalions to capture the Bald Mountain,
the Russians climbing the slopes to meet a hail
of deadly fire from the Ottomans. During the
assault, the leading Russian troops were virtually SÜLEYMAN HÜSNÜ PASHA
annihilated, and, after much heavy loss, the MEHMED RAUF PASHA BIN ABDI PASHA Having graduated military school, Süleyman Hüsnü served
remainder retired. Prior to the war Rauf Pasha had served as military as an officer in what are now Serbia, Bosnia and Albania,
The next day, the Russians again attacked the attaché in France, was aide-de-camp to Sultan Abdülaziz, followed by a role as major in Crete where he stood against
appointed the governor of Crete (along with several other a local rebellion. Following this he was promoted to mirliva
Bald Mountain, but they were unable to take areas after that) before being made Minister of the Navy in or brigadier general and worked in the military schools. He
it, although they did manage to dislodge the 1875. Following the war with Russia he became governor of was chief commander of the Balkan Peninsula forces in the
Ottomans holding Wooded Hill. On 26 August, Edirne as well as advisor to the Second Army. war with Russia.

67
 Greatest Battles

01 Route of Russian advance

Russian strategy was to march an army of
250,000 men through Romania, cross the Danube
– in order to avoid Ottoman fortresses – and seize
the passes in the Balkan Mountains. From here,
Russian forces would advance on Adrianople and
Constantinople to force terms on the Ottomans.

01
02 Crossing of the Danube
The main Russian advance initially went well,
with all four corps having crossed the Danube River
into Bulgaria by 1 July 1877. However, they soon
began to deviate from their original plan by adopting
a more broad and slower advance than had been
previously envisioned.

01

02

04

03

08
03 Gurko races ahead
General Gurko advances ahead of the main
Russian force with 16,000 men to take possession
05
of the vital passes through the Balkan Mountains. He
takes the Khankoi [Hankoi] Pass but is delayed due to
07
some skirmishes with Ottoman forces, which prevents
him working in concert with Mirsky. 06

05 Gurko attacks
Shipka Pass
04 Prince Mirsky’s advance
Prince Mirsky, commander of the Russian
Ninth Infantry Division, advances on Shipka
Gurko advances from the Khankoi Pass and
finally arrives at the Shipka Pass on 18 July,
immediately attacking it with two infantry
Pass and attacks it on 17 July without Gurko’s battalions supported by two companies of
assistance. However, the attack, carried out Cossacks. The attack fails but the Ottoman
by 2,000 men of the 36th (Orlovski) Infantry defenders quietly abandon their positions
Regiment, supported by Cossacks and artillery, the next day. Shipka Pass is then seized by
fails to dislodge the Ottoman defenders. the Russians.

68
 Battle of Shipka Pass

the Ottomans counter-attacked to retake Wooded

06 Gurko goes on
the offensive
Leaving a garrison at Shipka Pass, Gurko
Hill, inflicting such casualties on the Russian 35th
Infantry Regiment that Radetsky felt compelled to
abandon the position. Fighting for the Shipka Pass
advances south towards the town of Kazanlak.
On 29 July, his Bulgarian troops clash with now died down, but Süleyman Hüsnü Pasha was
an advanced guard of Ottoman forces under still determined to retake it.
Süleyman Hüsnü Pasha at Stara Zagora
[Eski-Zagra]. Heavy casualties force Gurko to
withdraw via the Khankoi Pass. SÜLEYMAN’S SECOND ATTACK
The attacks on Shipka Pass had proved costly
for Süleyman, losing in the region of 10,000
killed or wounded. For the next three weeks he

07 Süleyman attacks Shipka Pass

reorganised his forces and gathered reinforcements
Having swelled his army to around 38,000 men, for a renewed assault. During that time, Süleyman
Süleyman advances on the Shipka Pass and attacks the received orders from Mehemet Ali Pasha to march
Russian defenders on 21 August. Repeated assaults follow but his army into northern Bulgaria where the bulk of
Ottoman forces are unable to retake the pass. After suffering
thousands of killed and wounded, Süleyman departs in the fighting of the war was taking place. Süleyman,
September to replace Mehemet Ali. hellbent on retaking the pass, ignored his superior
and continued his preparations for another attack.
On 17 September, Süleyman once again ordered
his men to attack Mount St Nicholas. Despite

08 Gurko takes Sofia

In December, the Russian
garrison at Shipka Pass learn that the
slippery conditions caused by recent rains, the
Ottoman troops captured some of the forward
Russian trenches, but they remained unable to
Ottoman defenders at Plevna had finally
surrendered. Gurko goes on the offensive, reach the top. The Russians counter-attacked and
leading an army of over 65,000 men drove the Ottomans off. Again, the Ottomans
through the Araba Konak Pass, and attacked only to be repulsed once more. This
capturing Sofia on 4 January 1878.
cycle continued without success. Süleyman’s
renewed assault had cost him another 3,000 men.
Despite his failure to recapture the Shipka Pass,
Süleyman was promoted to command Ottoman
forces in northern Bulgaria following the sacking of
Mehemet Ali. He departed having not achieved the
goal he so desperately wanted.

OTTOMAN DEFEAT
As winter approached, the defenders on Shipka
Pass were withdrawn and replaced by fresh troops.
For those now defending the pass, life in the snow
proved miserable. Many became sick. However,
there was good news for the freezing defenders
when they learned that the Ottoman fortress at
Plevna had finally surrendered in December. The
end of the war was in sight.
© Alamy

Gurko now went on the offensive, leading an

army of over 65,000 through the Araba Konak Pass,
capturing Sofia on 4 January 1878. Moving on, he
marched south through the Balkan Mountains.
He relieved Radetsky at Shipka after which both
generals worked in concert to trap an Ottoman
army under Veissel Pasha near Sheynovo on 5
January. Veissel, greatly outnumbered, was forced
to surrender on 9 January. Some 30,000 Ottoman
troops were taken prisoner.
The Russo-Bulgarian defence of Shipka Pass
had been an epic one and casualties were high.
The Russians suffered around 13,500 killed and
wounded while the Ottomans sustained something
in the region of 60,000 killed, wounded or taken
prisoner. The defence had also tied up thousands of
Ottoman troops that might otherwise had marched
Map by: Rocio Espin

A view of the Balkan to the aid of their comrades at Plevna. Had the
Mountains from the Shipka defence of Shipka Pass failed, the outcome of the
Pass memorial near the peak
war may well have been different.

69
 What If…

While Japan keeps its distance, overall supremacy

of the region could be up for grabs
Interview by David J. Williamson

INTERVIEW WITH
F or centuries Japan had looked inward
rather than out into the wider world.
There had been relative peace, and
a way of life that enabled a thriving
population to feel comfortable in its
diplomatically, and in terms of assisting
American shipping if it got into trouble
in waters around Japan. The Russians,
too, had been expanding their empire in
Japan’s direction, while British and French
One sign of how things might have
been comes to us from 1860, when the
Tokugawa shogunate was still in power
and they sent an embassy to the United
States. Photographs show samurai with
© Felicity Millward

culture and beliefs, untainted by Western involvement in China rendered Japan of their kimono and swords sitting alongside
influence. But in many ways the regime greater interest than in the past. No great American counterparts in Western dress.
was harsh and unforgiving so, inevitably, power wanted to be left behind if trading Diary accounts of the embassy suggest
DR CHRISTOPHER things were bound to change. But if that and diplomatic relations with Japan were that the Japanese visitors struggled to
HARDING change had not come, or come more going to be established by a rival, so once enjoy Western food – from ‘greasy soup’ to
Christopher Harding slowly, what would the real difference things got going the momentum then the sacrilege of rice cooked in butter – or
is a historian and have been to Japan itself, and what impact became unstoppable. to understand Western politics: why did
broadcaster based at
Edinburgh University. would its continued isolation have had on the family of George Washington not still
His latest book is the region and the wider world? What would an isolationist dominate the US government?
The Japanese: A government of Japan have looked My guess is that these cultural attitudes
History In Twenty
Lives and he writes What did Japan have that the like with the backdrop of a – to food, dress, politics and the roles of
the IlluminAsia world wanted? modernising world? men and women in society – would have
newsletter:
illuminasia.org
Not very much, which was why the
world’s great powers had for the most
part left Japan alone up until the 1850s.
It wasn’t a land of fabled riches, as India
was. Nor were there expected to be
particularly exciting trading opportunities,
as was the case with China. During
Japan’s period of relative isolation from
the West, which began when contact was
severed with Spain and Portugal in the
early 1600s, the only trade with Western
countries was with the Dutch. That trade
pootled along nicely for 200 years or so,
but didn’t generate the kind of green-eyed
envy back in Europe that might have led
Main image source: © Getty Images

other countries to try to muscle in.

What, then, changed in the 1850s? An
important part of the picture was the
RIGHT United States expanding westward to
© Getty Images

Russia was
humiliated by the the point where its neighbours across
Japanese victory the Pacific started to be of interest – both

70
71
 What If…

THE PAST
1603 – 1850s
TIME OF THE SHOGUN
From a fractured, warring nation, to one
of relative peace through isolation from
the majority of the rest of the political and
economic world. The ruling dynasty of the
Tokugawa shogunate was in many ways
a velvet fist in an iron glove; movement
in and out of the country was
fiercely restricted, as was
the visits of foreigners and
any information from the
outside world. Japan was
able to settle into its
own cultural and social
identity. But the world
was knocking on its door
and wanted to come in.

1853 – 1868
THE WORLD COMES CALLING into the country, it might not have
In 1853 the expedition of Commodore
been long before news and books about
Matthew Perry was to add fuel to the
already dwindling support for the shogunate democratic change in France or Britain
and a move towards support for the Imperial began to circulate, too – alongside stirring
family. His objective was to open Japanese histories of the American Revolution. That
ports to American trade; diplomatically, doesn’t mean that people in Japan would
if possible, but with the threat of military
necessarily have regarded any of these
force if necessary. In some ways he was
pushing at an opening door, with a desire foreign systems as right for their country.
building in Japan to have more access to the But it might have created pressure for a
wider world. Gunboat degree of political change within Japan.
diplomacy lit the fuse
The best-case scenario, from the point of
and won the day and
by 1868 the Tokugawa view of the Tokugawa shoguns, would
shogunate was have been a high-tech Japan adhering to
no more. traditional values and accepting traditional
TOP survived for a while if Japan had remained patterns of leadership as good and natural.

1868 ONWARDS
An isolated Japan isolated, even while it perhaps engaged
would not have been
a regional aggressor in limited trade with the West. Western How might an isolationist policy have
encroachment into East Asia made that impacted the balance of political
ABOVE
THE MEIJI REVOLUTION China’s Qing dynasty
was no match for the
kind of trade inevitable: the Japanese were
well aware that European countries like
power regionally and globally?
It is possible that Tsarist Russia might
As Japan embraced Imperial government Japanese army
and an opening up to foreign trade, Britain were using superiority in firepower have dominated East Asia to a greater
influence and support, its meteoric rise as to bend China to their will, and they were extent, in particular the Korean peninsula,
an industrial powerhouse had begun. With keen to avoid that same fate. So a modest which was politically weak in the late
rapid industrialisation it soon found itself trade, sufficient to bring in the funds 19th century. That, in turn, might have
in great demand to feed the insatiable
appetite that had exploded in the West
and technological know-how required brought Russia close to British and French
for all things oriental, be it porcelain, to upgrade Japan’s self-defence and thus interests in China, potentially leading to
art, architecture, or plants. Japan guarantee their independence, would conflict of some kind and even the de
also started to find its feet as undoubtedly have developed. facto partitioning of China. The United
a military power, firstly within,
More difficult to predict are the cultural States, too, had trading interests in China,
through the reform of the
samurai and their status outcomes. The Tokugawa shogunate making it all the more easy to imagine
in the hierarchy of class, (1603 - 1868) was at pains to control the China becoming the focus of serious
and the creation of the flow of information into Japan, about the tensions in the region.
Imperial Japanese Army. It outside world, and to set limits on political
would not be long before
Japan turned its attention
discourse within Japan. If Japan had What would be the social and
on its neighbours, China, opened up to limited trade alone, perhaps cultural gains and losses of isolation
and Russia. with some foreign experts welcomed for the people of Japan?

72
 Japan Had Remained Isolationist?

If you had asked that question back in – America westwards across the Pacific;

THE POSSIBILITY
1905, when a successfully modernised Russia eastwards – and it is unthinkable
Japan had just defeated a great power, a that given Japan’s location and geography
lot of people in Japan would have said these powers would have left it entirely
that they had made huge gains since alone. This was the era of ‘gunboat
1868 – in education, science, technology, diplomacy’, after all.
prosperity and culture – and that they I expect that you would have seen 1894
would not want these to have been lost elevated talk of free trade alongside
through isolation. British, American and other warships
Though if you ask that same question sailing in and out of Japanese harbours, NO BROKEN CHINA
Should Japan have remained isolated, at
in the summer of 1945, at the tragic end either trying to strike deals with regional
least in part, then its regional ambitions may
of a war that some in Japan were inclined lords – who held significant power in well have been very different. The conflict
to believe had roots in Japan’s opening Japan, at this point – or making violent with China over Korea in 1894-5 may never
to a meddling Western world back in threats. After all, when the American have happened. The humiliation of the
the 1860s, you would have found people commodore Matthew C Perry arrived actual war caused the Chinese Qing dynasty
untold damage, which may have been
wishing fervently for the peaceful, less in 1853, seeking diplomatic relations, he
avoided altogether if Japan had not been an
complicated hey-day of the Tokugawa was very clear that when he returned aggressor. If Chinese political and military
shogunate. Japan then, they would have the following year for an answer to his reformers had not had the example of a
said, had been largely free of conflict, and overture he expected to hear a ‘yes’ – or successfully modernising
Japan across the water,
people had had a clear sense of who they else there would be war. That tells you
the Qing imperial dynasty
were – as a culture and a society. Opening pretty much all you need to know about might have survived
to the West had given rise to a weaving of the geopolitical culture of this period. rather longer than it did.
‘modernising’ with ‘Westernising’, which
was impossible to unpick once the process RIGHT
had begun. So it depends on who you ask, The Meiji emperor
Mutsuhito was a
1904 – 1917
and when. figurehead over
a Western-style
What are the potential consequences
government
HALF A REVOLUTION
Japan’s isolation would have on Despite Japan’s emerging overseas
ambitions, Imperial Russian defeat by the
global trade and economics? developing military nation was regarded as
I think this impact would have been preposterous by the Tsar. The humiliation
minimal, even if Japan had maintained a for the Russian people was difficult to take,
very strict isolation and had only traded and unrest soon spread. Although quashed
by the Imperial forces, the seed for further,
with the Dutch, among the Western
even more menacing conflict had been sown.
powers. Japan produced fine crafts for Lenin referred to 1905 as a ‘dress rehearsal’.
export – textiles, products in wood, great But if Japan had not broken its relative
art – but it was (and remains) relatively isolation to realise regional ambitions, the
poor in terms of natural resources. Russo-Japanese War of 1904-5 may not have
happened; there would
Culturally, an isolationist Japan would have been no shock
have been a loss to the world. Looked at in of Russian defeat and
terms of pure economics, however, I’m not perhaps no revolution in
sure that there would have been much of Russia in 1905.
a difference.

Would world powers have allowed 1941 – 1980

Japan to remain isolated, and if not,
what would they potentially have
done about it?
GAMING OVER
If we really wanted to test our imaginations,
The big fear among Japanese who then a relatively isolated Japan, developing
advocated for opening up their country and modernising more slowly, may not
in the 1850s and 1860s was that the tenor have had the ambition or strength to attack
of global politics was now such that no Pearl Harbor in 1941, thereby keeping the
USA out of the war, and leaving the Nazis
country could avoid having relations of
All images: © Alamy

to control Western Europe. Furthermore,

some kind with the major players like without the financial support from the US
Great Britain. The only question, they and Allies to rebuild post-war, and their
argued, was who got to set the terms of own passion to do so, Japan’s
meteoric industrialisation may
that relationship.
never have happened. There
China had, for centuries, been a kind would be no mass market
of political and cultural big brother to revolutionary electronics
Japan, so it was truly shocking for the that became the mainstay
Japanese to see what a policy of isolation of a whole generation, and
which paved the way for the
had done to that country. Add to that the high-tech world in which we
fact that Russian and American power was now live.
extending towards East Asia in this period

73
 Through History

STYLE AND SOCIETY

A new exhibition at Buckingham Palace
displays the best of Georgian fashion

I
n the Georgian era, the dress of the royal outdated, the upper classes began to look paintings and related artefacts of interest.
All images courtesy of: Royal Collection Trust / © His
Majesty King Charles III 2023, unless stated otherwise

court took on an exaggerated appearance. at the styles of the lower classes, who were Style & Society: Dressing the Georgians
Dresses were bigger and wider, hair styles dressing for the new entertainment venues of showcases the fashion of the Georgian period,
were taller, and jewellery and accessories the time such as theatres and coffee houses, and will also demonstrate how the Georgians
were overstated and elaborately decorated. for inspiration. paved the way for trends we still recognise
These styles were all influenced and enabled In a new exhibition, displayed in The today, highlighting the first influencers and
by the entertainment, trade and technological Queen’s Gallery at Buckingham Palace, the stylists who emerged during the era. Bringing
developments of the era, not only among the world of Georgian fashion is being presented together over 200 works from the Royal
elite but also across wider British society. to the public through immaculately preserved Collection, the exhibition is a treat for fashion
As courtly fashion started to become more apparel of the period alongside stunning enthusiasts and history buffs alike.

74
 Style and Society

QUEEN CHARLOTTE
This portrait, which usually
hangs in the White Drawing
Room at Windsor Castle, forms
the heart of the exhibition.
Depicting the extremely
glamorous and stylish Queen
Charlotte, the painting
epitomises female fashion at
the Georgian royal court.

ST JAMES’S PARK
AND THE MALL
New fashion trends
developed throughout every
level of society during the
Georgian period. This painting
of St James’s Park and the
Mall, Georgian England’s most
fashionable meeting place,
shows a crowd of Georgians
from across the class spectrum
wearing their own styles.

COURT GOWN
This dress is similar in style to the
one worn by Queen Charlotte in the
portrait from Windsor Castle. It is
displayed alongside the portrait in
the exhibition to show what one of
these gowns would have looked
like. Stunningly preserved, this
gown would have been worn at
Charlotte’s court.
© Fashion Museum Bath

FOREIGN
MATERIALS
As overseas trade
developed in the Georgian
period, more exotic materials
became available. Here,
Madame de Pompadour, Louis
XV’s mistress, wears a floral
silk gown. It is thought that
the silk used to make her dress
might have been imported
from China.

75
 Through History

JOHANN CHRISTIAN FISCHER

In this painting of musician Johann Christian
Fischer by Thomas Gainsborough, the subject
of the piece is depicted wearing knee breeches.
Breeches of this kind became popular among
upper class men, but were originally a working-
class garment.

EXAGGERATED
MEN’S SUITS FASHION
Georgian fashion trends
This red suit looks much like the one worn in tended to be extreme in their
Gainsborough’s painting of Fischer. The silk and designs. This satirical piece,
velvet outfit was fashionable during the majority of which dates to 1784, is called
the Georgian era, but waned in popularity at the end New Invented Elastic Breeches
of the period when trousers began to become the and shows a larger gentleman
apparel of choice for wealthy men. being hauled into a tiny pair of
© Fashion Museum Bath leather breeches by his tailors.

76
 Style and Society

INFLUENCE FROM ABROAD

Depicting the actor David Garrick and his
wife Eva-Maria Veigel, this painting by William
Hogarth highlights how styles from abroad
influenced the British. Veigel wears a striking
yellow gown; yellow was popular in China
because of its association with the emperor and
thus became popular in Georgian England during
a craze for chinoiserie.

Style & Society:

Dressing the
Georgians
is open until 8 October
2023 at The Queen’s
Gallery, Buckingham
Palace, London.

77
 The books, TV shows and films causing a stir in the history world this month
© Universal Pictures, © Alamy

OPPENHEIMER
Christopher Nolan’s latest history-themed blockbuster is an artistic triumph
Certificate: 15 Director: Christopher Nolan Cast: Cillian Murphy, Emily Blunt, Matt Damon Released: Out now

“G
enius is no guarantee of wisdom.” out like a grand symphony of images (the test moments that beguile or wow – so much so
If there’s a single line of dialogue sequence is of course a centrepiece moment), his European-style approach to filmmaking
in Christopher Nolan’s biopic about its visual power is truly mighty. Also for a film is tolerated, sometimes because it’s rendered
the life of J Robert Oppenheimer centred on unlocking the scientific mysteries of subtle and sneaky, like a magician’s trick.
that hits the bullseye, it is this one. our universe, the 70mm stock cleverly lends a Cillian Murphy’s pensive portrayal of a man
Oppenheimer, that American Prometheus fitting spectral, radiating glow to the imagery. with the fate of the world on his shoulders is
who led the scientists at Los Alamos into If there’s an opportunity to see this in its superb. Oppenheimer was a strange fellow who
shepherding in the age of the atom bomb was optimum 70mm format, take it. didn’t need friends, he had quantum physics
a genius undoubtedly, but our potential for What’s most remarkable about its three- and his beloved New Mexico. Everything else
self-annihilation weighs heavily on the film, hour running time too, is how the storytelling came second (including lovers and his wife and
lending it a profound sense of dread, a painful and editing boasts a riveting continuous children). But he wasn’t emotionally cold or
awareness that the culmination of three propulsive rhythm. Essentially, what Nolan so brainy he was almost alien. Oppenheimer is
centuries’ worth of pioneering physics turned has done is create suspense and thrills out of actually brilliantly anti-hagiographic, depicting
out to be all about horror and destruction (talk a narrative that is mainly lots of men talking Oppenheimer’s arrogant and self-destructive
about a pyrrhic victory). in rooms, by cutting it like it’s one long trailer, tendencies via a smarmy attitude towards
Shot on 70mm with IMAX cameras, using leaving us with an impressionistic take on a authority figures and shiftiness when it comes
both colour and monochrome stock to delineate life of historic events. This fragmentary, time- to interpreting and remembering his own
timelines (pre-war and post-war), Oppenheimer jumping approach allows a real energy to past. But genius is no guarantee of wisdom,
(2023), Nolan’s latest cinematic endeavour, is thrive, motoring us through a shadowy world of remember? History-based movies can often
another thoroughly gripping epic and easily the complex science and global politics. fall into hero-worship or gloss over more
best project of his career to date alongside 2017’s Nolan brought experimental techniques into uncomfortable aspects. Nolan boldly made
similarly war-themed Dunkirk. The exquisite mainstream Hollywood from early in his career, ‘genius is no guarantee of wisdom’ his new
movie-making craft on display is what we’ve from his breakout Memento (2000) to mind- movie’s central premise. MC
come to expect from a master filmmaker like bending sci-fi thriller Inception (2010). And
Nolan. This is at times a blockbuster that plays he’s gotten away with it by virtue of delivering

78
 Book Film TV Podcast Games Other
Reviews by
Martyn Conterio, Jonathan Gordon, Emily Staniforth, Callum McKelvie

EMPIRE WINDRUSH
A collection that brings context to Caribbean migration
Author: Onyekachi Wambu Publisher: Weidenfeld & Nicolson
Price: £25 Released: Out now

T
his is Wambu’s second collection of writings extract is introduced by Wambu, offering analysis
relating to the Empire Windrush’s arrival in and rationale.
Britain in 1948. The first, Empire Windrush: What this selection of essays, poems,
Fifty Years Of Writing About Black Britain, narrative fiction and other writing gives us
was released by the journalist and writer is a wider context for the importance of the
in 1998. As with the first book, Wambu is the Empire Windrush. It connects the dots of British
curator of a collection of writing that connects history, from imperialism and slavery to modern
to the Windrush story, although on this occasion migration, helping to give insight into why the
that connection spreads out a little further. Empire Windrush has become such a significant
What we get is a selection of authors and milestone in Black British experience.
thinkers telling their stories from across time As this book outlines, the Windrush in and
and reflecting different immigrant and ethnic of itself is actually only a small fraction of the
experiences. Early voices of Black liberation story, but it is also the culmination of so much.
such as Olaudah Equiano and Mary Prince give It represented the empire folding back on itself,
us accounts of their experiences of slavery, bringing with it a new generation of people who
which helped to change the tide of feeling in felt a connection with Britain and wanted to
Britain before its abolition. We also have more make it their home. JG
modern names like Salman Rushdie, Booker-prize
winning author Bernardine Evaristo and Zadie
Smith with their unique points of view. Each

LADY CAROLINE LAMB: A FREE SPIRIT

The fascinating biography of an ostentatious
and non-conforming Georgian woman
Author: Antonia Fraser Publisher: Weidenfeld & Nicolson
Price: £25 Released: Out now

A
Georgian aristocrat and author, Lady dressing as a male page that contributed most
Caroline Lamb, born in 1785, led a to her notoriety. Her cross-dressing gave her
remarkable life. Remembered as the the freedom she desired, even allowing her to
obsessed lover of the poet Lord Byron, enter the Houses of Parliament to watch her
Caroline Lamb’s life was extraordinary husband speak.
as she forged her way as a wife, writer and Her intense affair with Byron is thoroughly
woman of high society. Antonia Fraser’s explored, but it is the other details of
beautifully written biography provides a well- Caroline’s personality that make this biography
rounded portrait of this extraordinary, multi- a fascinating read. Her kindness to others,
faceted woman. her intellectual prowess, her devotedness as a
Fraser paints a vivid picture of the close- mother and her surprising friendship with the
knit family Caroline was born into, full of Duke of Wellington make Caroline’s story more
strong-willed women, including her aunt – human. Through Caroline’s writings, and those
the infamous Lady Georgiana Spencer, the of the people closest to her, Fraser’s research
Duchess of Devonshire. The romantic affairs of incorporates all the scandal one could hope for,
her mother and aunt set the tone for Caroline’s while also leaving the reader knowing Caroline
later indiscretions: though Caroline married for as a ground-breaking woman searching for the
love to William Lamb, she engaged in public freedom to behave as she wished. ES
friendships and romantic entanglements with
other men. However, it was her penchant for

79
 RECOMMENDS…
History’s Weirdest Mysteries Burgenland
Discover the strangest people, places and events in history Author David Joseph Price £25 Publisher Amberley
and explore some of its most bizarre unresolved mysteries.
From earth mysteries to ESP, precognition to pirate treasure, David Joseph’s new book is a deeply moving history that
the mysteries of the deep and the dancing plagues of medieval connects the reader to a variety of stories and individuals. Much
Europe, here are some of history’s oddest events, experiments of this book is based on Joseph’s ambition to trace back and retell
and disappearances. the story of his family and the Jewish people of the Burgenland
area. This book also serves as a valuable reminder that Jewish
Out Out people still face persecution today and it also demonstrates to us
now! Buy History’s Weirdest Mysteries in shops or online at
magazinesdirect.com Price: £14.99
now! that the actions of people and events that occur today can have
wide-ranging repercussions deep into the future.

TREASURY OF FOLKLORE:
STARS AND SKIES
A perfect introduction to a multitude of myths,
traditions and lore relating to the space above our heads
Author: Willow Winsham Publisher: Batsford Books Price: £14.99 Released: 17 August 2023

O
n 18 June 2015, Dee Dee Chainey be frustrating to some, Winsham’s
and Willow Winsham founded the approach seems to be to provide either an
online hashtag; #FolkloreThursday. introduction to these subjects or to act as
What they started resulted in no a light reference guide.
less than an internet phenomenon, Whereas the previous books in the
familiar to anyone active online and series had been written alongside her
with an interest in myth and tradition. Folklore Thursday partner, Dee Dee
A website and podcast soon followed Chainey, here Willow Winsham goes it
and in 2021, the pair launched a series alone. Winsham’s writing is certainly
of books. Whereas the previous volumes evocative, if a little indulgent. For
were earthbound in their scope (the first example, Winsham’s introduction is
focusing on the sea and rivers and the littered with phrases such as: “The
second on woodlands and forests) this, the resplendent canopy of the stars”.
third, looks to the world above and delves Although on first reading this somewhat
deep into the myths and traditions of the extravagant language can seem a bit
stars and skies. much, Winsham’s mastery of this style
The book is split into two parts, ‘The quickly wins you over. Winsham is having
Stars and Moon’ and ‘Sumptuous Skies’, fun with her subject and her writing
with each section discussing a multitude encourages the reader to have fun too.
of folklore, myths and legends. In the Her expressive turn of phrase works when
former, Winsham explores such topics as retelling these ancient tales and fables,
sun gods and goddesses and the various creating an almost campfire feel.
superstitions surrounding shooting Winsham’s evocative writing is
stars. In the latter she begins with an accompanied by equally evocative
exploration of Pegasus and other similar illustrations by Joe Mclaren. The
myths, before concluding with a look at illustrations depict dragons, witches, the
more contemporary ‘cryptid’ figures, the woman in the moon and much more.
Jersey Devil and Mothman. Mclaren’s illustrations complement the
Those with an expert knowledge of feel of the book wonderfully and the
folklore will probably not find much new gorgeous package is further enhanced by
here. This is not an in-depth discussion the beautiful cover art.
of the history behind these beliefs, nor Perfect for anyone with an interest in
is it a collection of folktales. Rather it folklore and myth, this latest volume
is a mixture of the two. Due to the size in Batsford Books’ treasury series is
of the topic, Winsham is forced to keep another fine and engaging work. A light
her discussion somewhat light and there and breezy look at a multitude of myths
“Winsham’s expressive retelling is perhaps less detail than some would and folklore, this title comes highly
of these ancient tales and fables like. For example, the Jersey Devil and
Mothman each receive barely three
recommended. CM

creates an almost campfire feel” pages of coverage. While this might

80
 VS
Fact versus fiction on the silver screen

RAGING BULL
Director: Martin Scorsese Starring: Robert De Niro, Joe Pesci, Cathy Moriarty Country: USA Year: 1980

Does this classic film pull any historical

VERDICT: A brutally honest biography
punches when it comes to the gory details? that only cuts a few corners

01 The script for the film

was based largely on the
autobiography of Jake LaMotta, the
02 As seen in the film, LaMotta
acts violently towards his
first wife and others during his life.
03 LaMotta meets his second
wife, still a teenager, at
a local swimming pool. This is
04 LaMotta spends much of
the film with his brother
Joey, until he accuses him of having
05 De Niro trained with
LaMotta for months in
order to match his fighting style
professional boxer played by De LaMotta was not enamoured of the accurate as Vikki was 16 when she an affair with Vikki. The Joey and physique for the film’s boxing
Niro in the film. As a result, it is portrayal of his violent behaviour married the 24-year-old LaMotta. character is actually a merger of scenes, and then went on a food tour
thought to be largely accurate to the when he saw the film, but his wife Her autobiography, released Jake’s real brother and his friend in Europe to put on 60lbs to play
events of the boxer’s life, especially told him he had been worse than posthumously in 2006, confirms (and co-author of the autobiography) the ageing LaMotta, doing comedy
in the boxing scenes. the film showed. many of LaMotta’s accounts. Pete Savage. in his club.
All images: © Alamy

81
 On The Menu
Check out
THE ULTIMATE
HISTORY COOKBOOK
available now

Did
you know? Ingredients
Vegetable oil or lard
2 cups of corn, tinned, frozen
The name appears to or fresh
be derived from the 2 cups of lima beans (or
Wampanoag word black beans/kidney beans)
1 large onion
msíckquatash, which

Inset image: © Getty Images

2 medium peppers,

Main image: © Shutterstock

means boiled corn de-seeded and chopped
1 or 2 fresh chillies
kernels. (depending on your heat
preference)
1 cup of butternut squash,
cut into small pieces

SUCCOTASH
2 cloves of garlic, crushed
1 tsp cumin
2 sprigs of fresh thyme
Sea salt and black pepper
to taste
½ cup of chicken or
vegetable stock

A CLASSIC AND ADAPTABLE NATIVE AMERICAN DISH, NEW ENGLAND, USA, 17TH CENTURY - PRESENT

M
aking use of some of the most abundant and easiest to preserve
ingredients around, succotash was an all-year-round meal
METHOD
popular among indigenous peoples in North America, especially 01 If you’re using fresh corn and beans 05 Now add the stock and the beans
in the north east of what is now the United States. While the or dried beans, pre-cook these first. and simmer this mixture until the
exact dishes at the first Thanksgiving meal are unknown, it’s commonly 02 Heat some vegetable oil or lard squash is tender and the stock has
believed that this was very likely to be one of them. A stew made from in a large pan or wok on a high reduced a little.
fresh beans and corn in the summer and dried ingredients in the winter, temperature until smoking. 06 Season with salt and pepper to
it was easy to make and highly nutritious. In fact, it proved a long-lasting 03 Add the corn, peppers and onions taste and serve with a little fresh
favourite for this reason, even being popular in the Great Depression. and cook for about six to seven coriander and a lime wedge.
There are lots of variations on this recipe involving meat and fish minutes or until the onions start
or peppers and tomatoes. Squash is also frequently added as beans, to brown.
corn and squash were known as the Three Sisters, as their plants 04 Reduce the heat and add the
complemented each other when growing side by side. Original recipes garlic, squash, cumin, thyme. Cook
would have used tough field corn and shell beans, but sweetcorn and for an additional four minutes,
lima beans are the modern substitutes. stirring frequently.

NEXT MONTH UNCOVERING THE GODS OF EGYPT ON SALE

7 SEPTEMBER
82
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900