Tumbling to the ground

Scientist was told to remove Internet prediction of Italy earthquake: Researcher forecast L'Aquila tragedy on emissions of radon gas coming from the ground

An Italian scientist, Giampaolo Giuliani, was labelled an alarmist and ordered to take down warnings of a major earthquake to hit on March 29th. His timing was a little off (although I read there was a smaller tremor that day), but he seems to have predicted the L'Aquila earthquake, which killed at least 150 people, injured at least 1,500, and left more than 50,000 people homeless.

In addition to the human toll, the cultural damage may devastating as well:

Historic churches, Roman baths hit by quake: Pope Celestine V was crowned in one damaged basilica — in 1294

Italy quake destroys medieval buildings

At this point there is a desperate search and rescue attempt going on as crews try to uncover survivors in levelled buildings. One site is a dormitory where students are said to be trapped. The quake hit at 3:30 am local time, giving citizens little chance to take cover. Here's a video from ITN:



My thoughts are with those affected by this terrible disaster.

A fun article

on mediaeval underwear. Yes, really.

Interested in mediaeval English cooking?

Check out The Forme of Cury, A Roll of Ancient English Cookery. It was compiled about 1390 CE by the Master-Cooks of King Richard II, and presented afterwards to Queen Elizabeth I by Edward Lord Stafford. It was later published by Samuel Pegge in 1791, and his name became associated with it.

You can also access the Forme of Cury at the Project Gutenberg site, including downloading zipped files of the text for reading offline.

I actually found this looking up information about hedgehogs after watching some cute videos of them which popped up as related to the cat videos below. There's a recipe for hedgehog sausages in the collection.

Here's a gem

Got $8,333 plus the ability to compete with the other 798 people and institutions in the world vying for the soon-to-be-published court documents of the trials against the Knights Templar in the 14th century?

Knights Templar win heresy reprieve after 700 years

So detailed as to include stains on parchment, the documents are to be published in a leather case with a large book including reproductions of original parchments in Latin, scholarly commentary, and replicas of the wax seals used by 14th-century inquisitors. Only 799 numbered copies are available.

The Knights Templar have many legends that grew up around them, particularly after the French king persecuted them to cancel his debts to the order. Since some went into hiding, many people think that the order continued in secret with esoteric knowledge. Many people had never heard of the order until Dan Brown's Da Vinci Code came out.

These documents do not shed light on the occult activities of the Knights, but there is one that was miscatalogued (bad librarian!) until 2001 that showed that the Pope absolved the Knights of heresy, the charge for which many were burnt by the king's men. He acknowledged there were those among the order who had sinned, but did not endorse the heresy charge. The Knights Templar were eventually disbanded officially by the Church, however.

Anyway, the mediaeval historian in me goes, wow, this is so cool! And I could read it so long as I had time and a good dictionary. I wonder if UK could even hope to acquire this? Somehow I doubt it. They'll go to universities with very strong mediaeval programmes, I'm sure. Still...wouldn't it be great to see?

Quizzes!

Your Score: The Monk

You scored 13% Cardinal, 76% Monk, 44% Lady, and 35% Knight!

You live a peaceful, quiet life. Very little danger comes your way and you live a long time. You are wise and modest, but also stagnant. You have little comfort, little food and have taken a vow of silence. But who needs chatter when just sitting in the cloister of your abbey with The Good Book makes you perfectly content.

Link: The Who Would You Be in 1400 AD Test written by KnightlyKnave on OkCupid Free Online Dating, home of the The Dating Persona Test

Your Score: Halberd

You preferred a weapon with 43% power over speed and 29% range over melee.

You use a Halberd.

Possibly the most versatile polearm ever made, the Halberd is an elegant mix of spear and staff, remaining relatively light while having an effective cutting edge and stabbing point. Your enemies will never get near you; your personal space will be as unreachable as a faraway land.

Link: The What's Your Signature Weapon Test written by inurashii on OkCupid Free Online Dating, home of the The Dating Persona Test

Your Score: The Perfect Balance

You scored 79% Playfulness!!!

You walk hand in hand with your inner child. You are not entirely consumed by childlike wonder, but you recognize it and still enjoy it to a high degree. You take your inner child out for regular playdates, and this makes you a lot of fun to be around, if a little unpredictable to those around you. But that's okay, it keeps them on their toes! (Now rate this test if you love me! Or even if you don't hate me, that's good enough too!)

Link: The Childlike Wonder Test written by seraphimjezebel on OkCupid Free Online Dating, home of the The Dating Persona Test