Morning Work

This chap here tends to worry the kids as some think he is alive.  Sadly he is not and judging by the weight of his armour he is probably glad he is not alive.  The chain mail alone may weigh around 30 kilos.  He does give a good indication of the type of soldier you would see burning down your house and crops around the 1200's. 

Robert de Vere was the baron who lived in Hedingham castle (not this one, it's only a model) a castle which had only one failing, it wasn't very good.  The Keep seen here still stands and is well worth a visit if you like climbing stairs.  Much of the time it makes money by being used as a wedding venue or similar but occasionally it is open.  Some years ago a pretty girl and I climbed high up to the top and enjoyed the views over a wide area.  Then she pushed me off.  The layout is simle inside, one each floor you make use of the space where there are no dividing walls, just a curtain maybe to protect the Lord for you common types.  The dungeon was a bit dark however.
This present exhibition concerns the 'Magna Carta,' that's 'Big Charter' to you, and de Vere was one of the local Barons who rose up against King John.  The man at Stanstead Mountfichet, Pleshey and Dunmow also joined the rebelllion and after a short battle somewhere in Lincolnshire if memory serves me right King John came to Essex lookingfor the barons. 
They all hopped it to London as brave men do because London was on their side and impregnible. What happened to the folks left behind was not nice if they supported their man although many moved elsewhere as the ravaging army passed by.    
English inginuity has led to the small village around the castle being called 'Castle Hedingham.'

Another exhibition has been doing the rounds recently.  The women knitted several buildings in the town (when I first saw them I thought they were cakes!) and these are on display at the moment.  Here we see the museum including tree and statue of John Ray the naturalist in the front.

Some may prefer the view of the 'Swan' a public house that has stood here at least since the 1500's and probably before that also.  Taverns have a use and before the Reformation many pilgrims passed this way heading for the shrine at Bury St Edmunds.

Amongst our new stock I discovered this, it looks more appealing than 'Lemon Cheese' whatever that is!

Friday Mumbling

In June this year the nation commemorated the signing of the 'Magna Carta,' the 'Great Charter of the Liberties.'  This great charter was sponsored by the Archbishop of Canterbury in an effort to ease the situation between King John and his rather irked nobles.  Johns demands for money for his French wars, which he kept losing, and his somewhat tyrannical approach upset the nobles, especially those based in Essex.  The peoples of this region have always been first whenever a cause of trouble was to arise.  During the Peasants Revolt in 1381 an the non conformist religious strife of the post Reformation years Essex folks led the way in rebelling.  This I need not remind you is an attitude that has not yet diminished! 
The museum would have preferred to have this exhibit earlier in the year but other events came first and this exhibition has been touring the land and during this week the hard working staff (without me obviously) have been erecting the exhibit for show next week.  Such a shame I was not available to erect a castle or two...
The Charter John signed less than willingly allowed for much protection for the individual (as long as he was a noble that is.  Serfs, villeins, slaves and anyone else who was not noble, rich or well to do just had to lump it.).  Peace there was not however and a short nasty war erupted and the brave Essex nobles moved themselves into fortified London (which was on their side) while John ran about Essex destroying their lands and taking their castles (which were either poor defensively or the folks inside just gave up), the nobels leaving their people to fend for themselves, how noble!
Luckily after this John not only lost most of his treasury in a place called 'The Wash' when the baggage train got stuck in the mud but he himself did the decent thing and died.  This left his son Henry III as king but being only nine years of age he was more interested in his electric train set, Lego and smartphone to actually work at being king.  This meant a wiser noble who supported the King had to become regent and he quickly issued a for of the Charter in an effort to ease the troubles.  By 1217 a form of peace and a renewed 'Magna Carta' was issued along with the Charter of the Forest (a much needed document as Forest covered much of the land and had specific laws) and a form of peace ensued. 
As time passed the Charter formed a base for laws, often reissued according to later Kings requirements and while totally useless in today's world (some try to use this in an effort to avoid paying parking tickets and other minor legal problems without success) the Charter is claimed by many as the basis of legal rights in many nations.  Whether that is true is debatable, certainly serfs and villeins worldwide may disagree, and a lot of other happenings go into making a nations laws.
Next Tuesday I will see the results of the lassies work, if they force me to work hard I will appeal to the Magna Carta for relief!

 
I was made aware summer had not yet left the premises by the thunder that rang out as I attempted to make a stew from the leftovers.  The noise of the clouds banging together was added to by the hissing of the hailstones that followed shortly afterwards.  While this did not last long the rain that accompanied this lot managed to eke out a decent length of time for what the weatherman calls 'showers!'  The sight of a nine year old in the distance who had managed to leave school in time to walk through it with no appropriate apparel either makes you feel sympathy or just grin like I did.  Poor mite, but we have all been there and he will be greeted by a caring mother who will belt him for not finding shelter somewhere, isn't mum grand?
As I speak the gray sky has darkened somewhat and the rain is again teeming down.  This is the time I stand at the window, coffee cup in hand, waving to anyone who looks up.  I usually get a wave back...  One of life's delights is to sit indoors, warm and cosy, while outside the rain hammers down.  This is an enjoyable experience, one of creations delights, although for many this weather will be doing their patios and back doors no good at all if it continues like this.  Down the bottom of the big hills the richer citizens will be unhappy as this often causes the drains to overflow with sad results.  Leaves from trees tend to block drains and no-one cares until it is too late.  
As long and thunder & lightning stay away I am happy enough in here.  Mind you I burnt the dinner again....

Oh and I've just discovered I had the window wide open through in the west wing!  TSK!

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Magna Carta

The Magna Carta was a document drawn up in 1213 by the then Archbishop of Canterbury , one Stephen Langton. His intention was probably to secure his church from attacks by King John rather than purely humanitarian or democratic ideals. The barons of the day, sick of Johns demands for money and failed foreign policies, supported his intentions and forced John to agree to limit his powers and sign the document at Runnymede. This document was revised on occasion and for some time considered irrelevant. Later parliamentarians rediscovered the ideals contained therein and brought it back to prominence - for their own sake. True humanitarian gestures are rare, and the nobles who signed the original were in no hurry to let their vassals force them into similar gestures! In Cromwell's day his middle class landowner attitudes affected his understanding of democracy also.

The Magna Carta is seen by some as the first statement of democracy, no matter how limited. But it was not the only such statement of freedoms in those distant days. In 1320 The Scots nobles, no doubt aware of Magna Carta also made clear their free state in the Declaration of Arbroath. Although how many of the common people knew, or cared, about this is unclear.

Whether the French understood the principles in Magna Carta or not, they did have themselves a revolution in the eighteenth century which some like to see as walking in the same footsteps. This in turn is seen as the precursor of the American Declaration of Independence in 1776. The American dream is in many hearts based on the Pilgrim fathers and the Declaration of Independence, Life, Liberty and filling your pockets with cash! The idea of bullying other nations and invading them when it takes your fancy appears to be an 'add on.' The Yanks were of course to busy killing Indians, oops sorry, 'Native Americans,' after they found their freedom and taking their land, or ensuring black men, oops 'African Americans,' stayed as slaves, to bother about other nations. Once of course they had grabbed all they could and released the slaves, and kept the 'Jim Crow' laws, they cleared the Spanish out of the Philippine's and then grabbed it for themselves. It takes more than a document or two and a 'myth' of a nation to bring freedom.

However, the Americans do look to the Magna Carta with admiration as the basis on which their nation is founded. Those that have not been spending their time drinking Coca Cola or shooting one another have of course been worshipping at the throne of Mammon! As such one chap has spent £10.6 million (that's $21.32 to you) on the only copy in private hands. It had belonged to Ross Perot the one time presidential candidate, and you will be pleased to hear, now is in ownership by David Rubinstein, whoever he is!

This leaves me wondering, what would you spend £10.6 million on? A rare important document, or something substantial? I like things. I like expensive things that are worth the money, but for a document that you cannot touch because of its age, not keep in the house because of its value, not do anything with except say,"Hey. it's mine!" No thanks. Stick it in a museum and let the folks see it. Tell the kids its history, even if they are bored, but spend your money on something useful. Perot will use the money on wounded veterans and medical research, which sounds more useful. I wonder what Rubinstein does with the rest of his cash?