http://tspwiki.com/index.php?title=1573
Here are some one liners...
Into the Woods! The Werewolf of Dole -- Children are murdered and a werewolf is blamed. The court sanctions a mob to kill the werewolf. Naturally, they find one.
Why is Reverent Art so Irrelevant? Inquiring Minds Want to Know -- After a fire, a church commissions a picture be painted for their dining room. It is probably the largest painting of the 16th century and it has so much weird stuff in it that the Inquisition wants to know why.
A General's Duty to Duck -- A Japanese general is shot my a sniper just as he is winning, and the battle is lost. His son will try to lead but he will commit ritual suicide after an especially embarrassing loss.
Into the Woods! The Werewolf of Dole
Several children have gone missing in the woods. Some are found dead... chewed to pieces. One little girl is attacked by a wolf and escapes with her life. The townspeople are convinced there is a were-wolf in the woods so they get a court order to search the woods and kill the beast. It reads in part...-
- "... the Court, desiring to prevent any greater danger, has permitted, and does permit, [...] to assemble with pikes, halberts, arquebuses, and sticks, to chase and to pursue the said were-wolf in every place where they may find or seize him; to tie and to kill him, without incurring any pains or penalties." -- September 13, 1573.
My Take by Alex Shrugged
Was Giles really a werewolf? There is a congenital condition that causes hair to grow across the entire face but Giles didn't have that. In reading the report, it is possible that he was a serial murderer similar to Jeffrey Dahmer who ate his victims. The bottom line is that these werewolf hunters were government-sanctioned mobs. Government officials must use care when attempting to accommodate the public. We like plain-speaking politicians, but in their official capacity they are constrained by their duties (and common sense) to avoid "rabble-rousing." [6] [7]
Was Giles really a werewolf? There is a congenital condition that causes hair to grow across the entire face but Giles didn't have that. In reading the report, it is possible that he was a serial murderer similar to Jeffrey Dahmer who ate his victims. The bottom line is that these werewolf hunters were government-sanctioned mobs. Government officials must use care when attempting to accommodate the public. We like plain-speaking politicians, but in their official capacity they are constrained by their duties (and common sense) to avoid "rabble-rousing." [6] [7]
Why is Reverent Art so Irrelevant? Inquiring Minds Want to Know
After a fire in the Basilica of San Zanipolo in Venice, an artist is commissioned to produce a painting of the Last Supper to grace the back wall of the refectory (which is the dining room for the monks and priests). What they get is "The Feast in the House of Levi." At 18 feet high and 42 feet long it is probably the largest painting of the 16th century. Paolo of Venice is called before the Inquisition to explain why a picture of the Last Supper should include... "parrots, dwarfs, Germans, buffoons," and other irrelevancies. Paolo replies, "It was big, and with room for many figures.... Whenever an empty space in a picture needs filling up, I put in figures as the fancy takes me." Paolo's fancy is a colorful fantasy life. The painting now hangs in a Venice museum. [10] [11] [12] [13]
My Take by Alex Shrugged
This is all a consequence of the Council of Trent. With so much turmoil caused from the controversy over religious images, the Catholic Church is trying to be careful and reviewing every painting that introduces something beyond the approved religious theme. It is rather humorous that they asked for a large painting and hired an artist famous for painting epic vistas filled with top-heavy blondes, beautiful princesses and dogs everywhere. You'd think the Church would have realized that they might get something very different. Certainly the "The Feast in the House of Levi" is that.
This is all a consequence of the Council of Trent. With so much turmoil caused from the controversy over religious images, the Catholic Church is trying to be careful and reviewing every painting that introduces something beyond the approved religious theme. It is rather humorous that they asked for a large painting and hired an artist famous for painting epic vistas filled with top-heavy blondes, beautiful princesses and dogs everywhere. You'd think the Church would have realized that they might get something very different. Certainly the "The Feast in the House of Levi" is that.
A General's Duty to Duck
The Takeda clan of Japan have the Noda Castle under siege and they are winning. They have been pushing through the province in an attempt to reach the Japanese capital of Kyoto. As the castle resistance collapses, a sniper's arrow hits General Shingen, the war lord leading this entire push into the province. The battle continues, but Shingen succumbs from his wound. The battle falters and his men pull back. His son takes over but the son is not the father. He will do his best in this war, but it won't be good enough. He will commit ritual suicide along with his wife, his son and various servants in 1582 after an especially humiliating loss. [14]
My Take by Alex Shrugged
Japanese history seems a little too heroic to be taken at face value but the stories are passed down from generation to generation and become models for behavior. Ritual suicide is one of these traditions. During World War 2, as the American forces were taking Saipan, three Japanese officers decided to commit ritual suicide by disemboweling themselves, but since it takes some time to die this way, they had volunteers shoot them in the head shortly thereafter. The Japanese psychology of that time is difficult for me to fathom. Japanese veterans were shunned by their fellow Japanese after the atrocities and plain crazy stories were revealed so I'm not alone. [15]
Japanese history seems a little too heroic to be taken at face value but the stories are passed down from generation to generation and become models for behavior. Ritual suicide is one of these traditions. During World War 2, as the American forces were taking Saipan, three Japanese officers decided to commit ritual suicide by disemboweling themselves, but since it takes some time to die this way, they had volunteers shoot them in the head shortly thereafter. The Japanese psychology of that time is difficult for me to fathom. Japanese veterans were shunned by their fellow Japanese after the atrocities and plain crazy stories were revealed so I'm not alone. [15]
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