The Reformation
In 1536, Henry VIII broke with Papal authority, fundamentally changed Ireland.
While Henry VIII broke English Catholicism from Rome, his son Edward VI of England moved further, breaking with Papal doctrine completely.
While the English, the Welsh and, later, the Scots accepted Protestantism, the Irish remained Catholic.
This fact determined their relationship with the British state for the next four hundred years, as the Reformation coincided with a determined effort on behalf of the English state to re-conquer and colonise Ireland.
The religious schism meant that the native Irish and the (Roman Catholic) Old English were excluded from power in the new settlement.
The Dissolution
In 1534 Henry had Parliament authorize Thomas Cromwell, to "visit" all the monasteries (which included all abbeys, priories and convents), ostensibly to make sure their members were instructed in the new rules for their supervision by the King instead of the Pope, but actually to inventory their assets.
A few months later, in January 1535 when the consternation at having a lay visitation instead of a bishop's had settled down, Cromwell's visitation authority was delegated to a commission of laymen including Layton, Pollard and Moyle.
This phase is termed the "Visitation of the Monasteries."
The Dissolution
The abbeys of England, Wales and Ireland had been among the greatest landowners and the largest institutions in the kingdom.
Particularly in areas far from London, the abbeys were among the principal centres of hospitality, learning, patronage of craftspeople and sources of charity and medical care.
The removal of over eight hundred such institutions virtually overnight left many gaps.
Map showing Tudor and Stuart era plantations in Ireland.
Not a single event but a more drawn out process.
Abbeygate St, Galway (Gooche 1583)
1557
Act of Parliament passed for plantation in Laois and Offaly.
Its main purpose was to secure the Pale.
1586
After the rebellion of Gerald Fitzgerald (Earl of Desmond), it was decided to plant portions of counties Cork, Kerry, Limerick, and Waterford in 1586.
1606
James Hamilton and Hugh Montgomery proposed a private, self-financed settlement of County Antrim and County Down to the recently-crowned King James I in 1606.
1610
After the Flight of the Earls, James I decided to take the opportunity to plant Gaelic Ulster.
Post-1610
Some partial plantations also followed after 1610, mainly on the east bank of the Shannon and in the south-east.
Laois-Offaly Plantation
In 1556, during the reign of Mary Tudor, the decision was taken to plant the counties of Laois and Offaly.
Laois became known as Queen’s County and its main town, Fort Protector, was renamed Maryborough (Portlaoise).
Offaly became King’s County and its main town, Daingean, was renamed Philipstown after Mary’s husband, King Philip II of Spain.
For over fifty years these planters met with fierce resistance from the native Irish and the scheme was largely unprofitable.
Maryborough Fort 1565
Church at Lynally Glebe
Memorials at Lynally Glebe
Coffy Clearke 1684 monument
Ballylin Passion Plaque 1688
Legacy of Plantation
Richard’s map of Birr c. 1690
Legacy of the Plantation
Map of Banagherc. 1630
Munster Plantation
A major confiscation of native Irish lands in counties Cork, Kerry, Limerick, and Waterford by the English crown in 1586, followed the death in rebellion of Gerald Fitzgerald, 15th and last Earl of Desmond (c. 1533–1583).
Originally estimated at some 245,000 ha/600,000 acres, the surveys and claims were greatly overstated and ultimately only half that amount was actually confiscated for (Protestant) English colonization.
Desmond Rebellions
South of Ireland dominated by the Butlers of Ormonde and the Fitzgeralds of Desmond.
For recourse to native law, Queen Elizabeth had the Fitzgerald brothers Gerald, John and James arrested and detained in London while Thomas Butler was pardoned.
With the three principal leaders of the Fitzgeralds imprisoned, James Fitzmaurice Fitzgerald rebelled in June 1569 by attacking a colony near Kerrycurihy.
In February 1573 the rebels surrendered.
About 700 rebels and supporters were executed.
Desmond Rebellions
James Fitzmaurice survived the executions by fleeing to mainland Europe.
In Europe he tried to gain support to restore Catholicism in Ireland and he landed with a combined Spanish-Italian army of 700 to 800 men in Dingle, County Kerry.
Several clans joined the Irish-Spanish-Italian army on its advance through Munster, destroying English properties as they went.
Fitzmaurice was killed near Tipperary.
At the end of 1579 they reached the east coast where the towns Youghal and Kinsale were plundered.
Desmond Rebellions
In 1580, Leinster insurgents, led by Feach MacHugh O'Byrne defeated and butchered a large English force in the Battle of Glenmalure.
But English forces in Munster had recaptured Youghal and hanged the Lord Mayor, Patrick Coppinger.
During the spring of 1581 the rebels found themselves blocked from the rest of Ireland and the main seaports. Like the combined Irish-Spanish-Italian force the English left a path a destruction behind.
Most insurgents surrendered on terms in the course of 1581 (O’Byrne wasn’t defeated until 1597).
Gerald Fitzgerald was killed in the Slieve Mish mountains in November 1583.
Impact of the Rebellion?
The Desmond dynasty was annihilated in the aftermath of the rebellions and their estates confiscated.
This gave the English authorities the opportunity to settle the province with colonists from England and Wales, who, it was hoped, would be a bulwark against further rebellions.
In 1584, a commission surveyed Munster, to allocate confiscated lands to English Undertakers, wealthy colonists who "undertook" to import tenants from England to work their new lands.
The Undertakers were also supposed to build new towns and provide for the defense of planted districts from attack.
After the rebellion
As well as the former Geraldine estates (spread through the modern counties Limerick, Cork, Kerry and Tipperary) the survey took in the lands belonging to other families and clans that had supported the rebellions in south-west Cork and Kerry.
However, the settlement here was rather piecemeal because the ruling clan – the MacCarthy Mór line argued that the rebel landowners were their subordinates and therefore the land really belonged to them.
Lands were therefore granted to some Undertakers and then taken away again when native lords like the MacCarthys appealed the dispossession of their dependents.
After the rebellion
Other sectors of the plantation were equally chaotic. Popham, the Attorney General for Ireland, imported 70 tenants from Somerset, only to find that that the land had already been settled by another undertaker and he was obliged to return them home.
Nevertheless, in theory at least, 500,000 acres (2,000 km²) were planted with English colonists.
North Devon Gravel-free and Gravel-tempered (17th)
North Devon Slipware and Sgraffito (17th)
After the rebellion
It was hoped that the settlement would attract in the region of 15,000 colonists, but a report made out in 1589 showed that the undertakers had imported only in the region of 700 English tenants between them.
It has been suggested that each tenant was the head of a household, and that he therefore represents 4-5 other people .
This would put the English population in Munster at nearer 3-4000, but it was still substantially below the projected figure.
Impact of the plantation?
The Munster Plantation was supposed to produce compact defensible settlements, but in fact, the English settlers were spread in pockets across the province, wherever land had been confiscated.
Initially the Undertakers were given detachments of English soldiers to protect them, but these were abolished in the 1590s.
As a result, when war came to Munster in 1598, most of the settlers were chased off their lands without a fight, taking refuge in the province’s walled towns or fled back to England.
When the rebellion was put down in 1601-03, the Plantation was re-constituted by the Governor of Munster, George Carew.
After the rebellion
Re-established following the rebels' defeat in 1601, the plantation grew steadily.
The extraction of timber and iron yielded large profits but the plantation areas also rapidly developed a strong export trade in cattle and sheep.
By 1641 the plantation was securely established with an expanding population that had grown from just over 3,000 in 1592 to an estimated 22,000.
Ironworking
Ironworking was successful in Munster (and elsewhere) as there appears to have been significant amounts of woodland (for fuel).
This also deprived the Irish of bases during war.
Duddon furnace, Furness, Cumbria
Blowing House
Plan
Araglin, co. Waterford
Distribution of surviving sites in south Munster
Hamilton and Montgomery
MacDonnell clan held property in the Glens of Antrim and Scotland, and in the first half of the 16th century this alarmed the Tudor monarchy.
After a series of failed military expeditions, Queen Elizabeth agreed to support an English colonial settlement in the region.
In 1571 Sir Thomas Smith, the Queen’s Principal Secretary of State was given a royal grant in Clandeboye and the Ards Peninsula.
He envisaged a settlement led by the younger sons of English gentlemen who would develop the urban and commercial infrastructure of the Ards and exploit its natural resources of fish and timber, financed through private investment and state sponsorship and led by Smith’s son, Thomas.
He encountered considerable opposition from Sir Brian MacPhelim O’Neill, the Gaelic lord of Clandeboyeand in October 1573, Smith was killed.
Hamilton and Montgomery
In 1573, Walter Devereux, the Earl of Essex, received a grant of land in north east Ireland.
He agreed to invest his own money and he envisaged taking control of an extensive territory from Belfast to Coleraine and establishing himself as Captain General of Ulster.
He recruited 400 adventurers but he spent most of his time in the militarily engaged in military encounters with Gaelic lords.
In 1574 he seized Sir Brian MacPhelim O'Neill, his wife and brother and arranged for their execution in Dublin Castle.
In 1575, he authorised a notorious raid on Rathlin Island by John Norris and Francis Drake.
Shortly afterwards, the Queen relieved him of his command and he died, possibly poisoned, in 1576.
Hamilton and Montgomery
Ayrshire Scots - James Hamilton and Hugh Montgomery - organised a massive plantation from the Lowlands of Scotland to County Antrim and County Down.
From May 1606, it is claimed they introduced over 10,000 Presbyterian Lowland Scots, claimed as the inspiration for James I's Virginia Plantation of 1607.
Antrim and Down were devastated and by the wars of the late 1500s and the owner of the lands, Con O’Neill, had been imprisoned in Carrickfergus Castle by the late Queen Elizabeth and was probably destined for execution.
Montgomery hatched an elaborate plan to both free O’Neill and to gain a Royal pardon for him from the newly-crowned King James I - and Montgomery’s payment was to be half of O’Neill’s lands.
However Hamilton found out and intervened in the negotiations - and won one third of the lands for himself.
Hamilton and Montgomery
Hamilton, from Dunlop in Ayrshire, was an academic and had been a founder of Trinity College in Dublin.
His new territory included the entire River Bann and the area around Coleraine, as well as a major part of County Down which took in Bangor, part of Comber, Killyleagh, Dundonald and some of the Ards Peninsula.
Montgomery was the 6th Laird of Braidstane and had been a mercenary in the wars in Holland.
His new territory included Newtownards, Donaghadee, part of Comber, Greyabbey and a large portion of the Ards Peninsula.
The Flight of the Earls
Nine Years War (1592-1601) effectively ended by the Treaty of Mellifont (1603).
Hugh O’Neill was forced to abandon Gaelic (Brehon law), allow royal judges and sheriffs into Ulster and give up control over other Gaelic chieftans.
From 1603, James I’s officials kept watch on O’Neill.
Fearing arrest he decided to flee and get help from Pope and Spain, in September 1607 with O’Donnell, Earl of Tyrconnell.
Plantation of Ulster
The Earls departure opened an opportunity for a radical extension of plantation policy to be introduced and followed through.
They (and their supporters) were found guilty of treason and their lands were confiscated.
Six counties were planted (Donegal, Coleraine/Derry, Tyrone, Fermanagh, Cavan & Armagh).
Monaghan was left to Gaelic Irish who remained loyal during war.
Their land was divided into estates of 1000, 1500 and 2000 acres.
The owners of the larger estates had to erect a castle and bawn for security and plant 48 able bodied men.
The rent was charged at a rate of 1 penny per acre.
Plantation of Ulster
Planters: no large land grants. Laws strictly enforced to prevent land falling into Gaelic Irish hands.
Land given to Church of Ireland, Trinity College, ‘royal’ schools, and to set up towns. Coleraine (Derry) given to London Guilds.
Undertakers: English or Scottish gentlemen. Estates of 400, 600, or 800 hectares.
Rent €6 per year per 400 hectares to the king.
Had to build either a castle or stone house and a bawn (stone-walled enclosure).
Had to take in English or Scottish tenants only.
Plantation of Ulster
Servitors: civil servants or army officers.
€10 per year per 400 hectares.
But allowed to take Irish tenants, who were willing to pay more rent than English/Scottish tenants.
So servitors earned more from their estates by taking Irish tenants.
Tully Castle
Iron Technology, Climate and Warfare
Basis of Iron Age climate records.
Iron Age in context.
See F. McDermott et al 2001 in the journal Science. Vol. 294. no. 5545, pp. 1328 - 1331
Climate during the Iron Age
Based on this data, temperature gradients during the Iron Age are within reasonable bands compared to today.
There is no evidence to suggests a ‘cold snap’ or other catastrophic event, despite a relatively narrow tree ring event at 207 BC and volcanic acid layers in ice cores at 210+/-30 BC. Tree rings and layers in the ice core provide data that is an approximate of the climate at that time.
Comparison of two pollen sequences from the midlands (Corlea, Longford; Derryville, Tipperary).
Does this suggest a climatic problem around 207 BC?
Derryville: Pollen Diagram
Climate information and archaeological data
Grey bands equate to dry episodes.
Graphs indicate growth of bog oaks (line) and lake oaks (black), with peaks reflecting drier conditions.
Turney et al. 2006 Journal of Archaeological Science Vol 33, 34-38
Iron Age Ireland
Iron Technology
Chemical symbol for iron is Fe
Naturally occuring mostly as oxides or carbonates:
Iron ore
Hematite
Magnetite
Naturally occurs in many geological strata, chalk, lakes, bogs:
Earth's crust is 5% iron (comapre 50 parts per million of copper and only 3 ppm tin)
Iron ore more plentiful on the surface than copper
Main drawback – more difficult to process, requiring higher temperatures.
Iron Ores: even distribution
Iron Technology
The production process produces a bloom containing iron, which is forged and hammered so that it is purged of as much waste material as possible, which congeals to form lumps of metallic rock known as slag (top left).
The bloom is then cleaned and by heating and quenching it it can be hammered out into ingots (bottom right) or shaped to form objects.
What traces would this leave?
Objects?
Furnaces?
Slag?
Other?
Ore Preparation
Crushing Ore: Bedrock Mortars
Bullauns?
Heating Ore: Charcoal
Iron technology: adding Oxygen
Producing iron ore requires a furnace (powered by charcoal) to achieve the required temperatures.
Basically, when you have crushed the ore, you then heat it to 1538°C at which point iron melts.
Oxygen
Smelting Ore: Furnaces
Shaft Furnaces
Furnaces do leave some traces that can be recovered during excavation.
Early Iron working in Ireland
Smithing hearth at Rossan 6, dated to 820-780 BC
Bloom smithing/iron working hearth at Griffinstown 3, dated to 420-360 BC
Bowl furnace at Johnstown 3, Meath, dated to 420-360 BC
Bowl furnace at Kinnegad 2, dated to 400-340 BC
Smithing hearth at Rossan 6, dated to 370-50 BC
Bowl furnace at Hardwood 3, dated 380-60 BC
More information on these sites at www.nra.ie/Archaeology/
Primary Smithing
Secondary Smithing
Smelting and Smithing Slags
Hammerscale
Hartshill in England produced evidence suggesting the presence of iron working as early as the 10th BC.
It was in the form of tiny fragments of hammerscale, some less than a millimetre in size (shown in the image on the right), rather than furnaces or slag.
Hartshill, West Berkshire, England
Iron Age Iron Working in Ireland
Sites with clear evidence of Iron Age iron working are relatively rare in Ireland although some examples, such as Rath na Riogh, at Tara, are known.
Blacksmiths
The complex and dangerous process of transforming “stone” to metal provides a special position for blacksmiths in many societies
There may be ceremonies and rituals associated with the process
Blacksmiths are often seen as figures with supernatural powers
Early Warriors
Hochdorf
La Frondelle: the goddess Epona
Chariots
Defended Hilltop sites – Hillforts
Most perceptions of Celtic warfare are driven by Classical accounts, many of which are considerably later than the earliest sites.
Murus Gallicus, according to Caesar
Heuneburg
Pfostenschlitzmauer
Manching
Celtic Migrations: timeline
Allia and Rome
Celts in War
Pergamon
The Romans faced by the Celts
One days march; 15-20 miles. Overrall length of column 22.5 miles
Average speed; 3 miles per hour
Total army makeup- based on a six legion army;
Legionary troops;30,000
Ancillary troops;3,500
Gallic Cavalry Wing;4,000
Roman cavalry;720
Servants;6,500
Horses;4,720
Total mules;10,000
The Romans faced by the Celts
Legion Staff- ancillary troops, clerks, technicians, specialists, reserve tentage, cavalry equipment, field hospital, medical staff, veterinary staff, engineering stores, workshops.
Caesar maintained that at any one time there were between 300-500 sick
Food: Daily requirement 3lbs per day per man. Each man carried 10 days ration
Artillery included: siege engines, Ballistae, Caterpults and Onagers
Caesar against the Helvetii (58 BC)
Celeritas and Clemencia (Caesar)
“ The battle ended, that he might be able to come up with the remaining forces, he procures a bridge to be made across the Saone. The Helvetii, confused by his sudden arrival, when they had found that he had effected in one day what they themselves had difficulty in accomplishing in twenty….send ambassadors to him.”
“ He ordered the Helvetii to return to their territories from which they had come and as there was nothing at home whereby they might support their hunger, he commanded the Allobroges to let them have a plentiful supply of corn.”
Keeping a Tally
“The sum of all amounted to …368,000.When the census of those who returned home was taken, as Caesar commanded the number was found to be 110,000.” Book 1 (Bello Gallico)
“ On the basis of Caesar’s report, the Senate granted him a Supplicatio of fifteen days.. The Senate was paying him respect for the Conquest of the whole of Gaul. At the same time, it was indirectly confirming his command and the legitimacy of his wars. It was honouring him in such a way that the transgression of 59 were bound to pale. Its decision, thus represented a quite extraordinary success for Caesar, however little it meant in material terms”. C Meier
Caesar against the Venetii
The Roman naval tactics consisted mainly in either propelling a vessel with great force against a rival and crushing the side, or in catching hold of the hostile craft with hooks, pulling alongside, springing over on it, and settling the conflict with a hand-to-hand fight. In the sea-fight with the Veneti, who had only sailing vessels, the Roman sailors crippled the enemy's ships by cutting down the sail-yards
Delegation, Innovation and Recognition
“ One thing provided by our men was of great service..sharp hooks inserted into and fastened upon poles….When the ropes were caught by them and pulled…the yards necessarily fell down, so that all hope of the Gallic vessels of the Gallic vessels depending on their sails was taken from them”
“The rest of the contest depended on courage; in which our men decidedly had the advantage; and the more so, because the whole action was carried on in the sight of Caesar and the entire army; so that no act, a little more valiant than ordinary, could pass unobserved”.
Defensive Works at Bourges
The Battle at Gergovia
A Rare Defeat?
In 52 BC Gergovia was the stronghold of Vercingetorix. It is famous for being the only place where Julius Caesar was defeated in the Gaulish wars. After conquering Avaricum, Caesar took six legions onward to Gergovia where he attempted a siege. He was outnumbered when the Aedui, formerly the Romans' allies, surprised Caesar by joining with Vercingetorix. As Caesar's army marched towards the great Arverni hillfort of Gergovie, Vercingetorix was setting out with his own army on the other side of the river Allier, breaking every bridge along the way to be sure the Romans could not cross over. Caesar, however, hid two legions in the woods. After Vercingetorix moved on, they rebuilt one of the bridges and went on to attempt the siege of Gergovia. The assault failed. Over 700 soldiers and 40 centurions were lost in the battle before Caesar drew back. Encouraged by this victory, the Gauls persisted in their revolt until their final defeat at Alesia.
The Battle of Alesia
Intelligence and leadership.
“ As the action was carried on in sight of all, neither a brave nor cowardly act could be concealed; both the desire of praise and the fear of ignominy, urged on each party to valor….Caesar sends at first young Brutus and afterwards Caius Fabius, his liutenant…….His arrival being known from the colour of his robe….the enemy joined battle.”
“Caesar on learning these proceedings from the deserters and captives, adopted the following system of fortification”.
Archaeological evidence at Alesia
Orange, Vaucluse
Caesar’s Siege Works at Alesia
Dun Aonghusa, Inis Mór, Aran Islands
Iron Age in context.
See F. McDermott et al 2001 in the journal Science. Vol. 294. no. 5545, pp. 1328 - 1331
Climate during the Iron Age
Based on this data, temperature gradients during the Iron Age are within reasonable bands compared to today.
There is no evidence to suggests a ‘cold snap’ or other catastrophic event, despite a relatively narrow tree ring event at 207 BC and volcanic acid layers in ice cores at 210+/-30 BC. Tree rings and layers in the ice core provide data that is an approximate of the climate at that time.
Comparison of two pollen sequences from the midlands (Corlea, Longford; Derryville, Tipperary).
Does this suggest a climatic problem around 207 BC?
Derryville: Pollen Diagram
Climate information and archaeological data
Grey bands equate to dry episodes.
Graphs indicate growth of bog oaks (line) and lake oaks (black), with peaks reflecting drier conditions.
Turney et al. 2006 Journal of Archaeological Science Vol 33, 34-38
Iron Age Ireland
Iron Technology
Chemical symbol for iron is Fe
Naturally occuring mostly as oxides or carbonates:
Iron ore
Hematite
Magnetite
Naturally occurs in many geological strata, chalk, lakes, bogs:
Earth's crust is 5% iron (comapre 50 parts per million of copper and only 3 ppm tin)
Iron ore more plentiful on the surface than copper
Main drawback – more difficult to process, requiring higher temperatures.
Iron Ores: even distribution
Iron Technology
The production process produces a bloom containing iron, which is forged and hammered so that it is purged of as much waste material as possible, which congeals to form lumps of metallic rock known as slag (top left).
The bloom is then cleaned and by heating and quenching it it can be hammered out into ingots (bottom right) or shaped to form objects.
What traces would this leave?
Objects?
Furnaces?
Slag?
Other?
Ore Preparation
Crushing Ore: Bedrock Mortars
Bullauns?
Heating Ore: Charcoal
Iron technology: adding Oxygen
Producing iron ore requires a furnace (powered by charcoal) to achieve the required temperatures.
Basically, when you have crushed the ore, you then heat it to 1538°C at which point iron melts.
Oxygen
Smelting Ore: Furnaces
Shaft Furnaces
Furnaces do leave some traces that can be recovered during excavation.
Early Iron working in Ireland
Smithing hearth at Rossan 6, dated to 820-780 BC
Bloom smithing/iron working hearth at Griffinstown 3, dated to 420-360 BC
Bowl furnace at Johnstown 3, Meath, dated to 420-360 BC
Bowl furnace at Kinnegad 2, dated to 400-340 BC
Smithing hearth at Rossan 6, dated to 370-50 BC
Bowl furnace at Hardwood 3, dated 380-60 BC
More information on these sites at www.nra.ie/Archaeology/
Primary Smithing
Secondary Smithing
Smelting and Smithing Slags
Hammerscale
Hartshill in England produced evidence suggesting the presence of iron working as early as the 10th BC.
It was in the form of tiny fragments of hammerscale, some less than a millimetre in size (shown in the image on the right), rather than furnaces or slag.
Hartshill, West Berkshire, England
Iron Age Iron Working in Ireland
Sites with clear evidence of Iron Age iron working are relatively rare in Ireland although some examples, such as Rath na Riogh, at Tara, are known.
Blacksmiths
The complex and dangerous process of transforming “stone” to metal provides a special position for blacksmiths in many societies
There may be ceremonies and rituals associated with the process
Blacksmiths are often seen as figures with supernatural powers
Early Warriors
Hochdorf
La Frondelle: the goddess Epona
Chariots
Defended Hilltop sites – Hillforts
Most perceptions of Celtic warfare are driven by Classical accounts, many of which are considerably later than the earliest sites.
Murus Gallicus, according to Caesar
Heuneburg
Pfostenschlitzmauer
Manching
Celtic Migrations: timeline
Allia and Rome
Celts in War
Pergamon
The Romans faced by the Celts
One days march; 15-20 miles. Overrall length of column 22.5 miles
Average speed; 3 miles per hour
Total army makeup- based on a six legion army;
Legionary troops;30,000
Ancillary troops;3,500
Gallic Cavalry Wing;4,000
Roman cavalry;720
Servants;6,500
Horses;4,720
Total mules;10,000
The Romans faced by the Celts
Legion Staff- ancillary troops, clerks, technicians, specialists, reserve tentage, cavalry equipment, field hospital, medical staff, veterinary staff, engineering stores, workshops.
Caesar maintained that at any one time there were between 300-500 sick
Food: Daily requirement 3lbs per day per man. Each man carried 10 days ration
Artillery included: siege engines, Ballistae, Caterpults and Onagers
Caesar against the Helvetii (58 BC)
Celeritas and Clemencia (Caesar)
“ The battle ended, that he might be able to come up with the remaining forces, he procures a bridge to be made across the Saone. The Helvetii, confused by his sudden arrival, when they had found that he had effected in one day what they themselves had difficulty in accomplishing in twenty….send ambassadors to him.”
“ He ordered the Helvetii to return to their territories from which they had come and as there was nothing at home whereby they might support their hunger, he commanded the Allobroges to let them have a plentiful supply of corn.”
Keeping a Tally
“The sum of all amounted to …368,000.When the census of those who returned home was taken, as Caesar commanded the number was found to be 110,000.” Book 1 (Bello Gallico)
“ On the basis of Caesar’s report, the Senate granted him a Supplicatio of fifteen days.. The Senate was paying him respect for the Conquest of the whole of Gaul. At the same time, it was indirectly confirming his command and the legitimacy of his wars. It was honouring him in such a way that the transgression of 59 were bound to pale. Its decision, thus represented a quite extraordinary success for Caesar, however little it meant in material terms”. C Meier
Caesar against the Venetii
The Roman naval tactics consisted mainly in either propelling a vessel with great force against a rival and crushing the side, or in catching hold of the hostile craft with hooks, pulling alongside, springing over on it, and settling the conflict with a hand-to-hand fight. In the sea-fight with the Veneti, who had only sailing vessels, the Roman sailors crippled the enemy's ships by cutting down the sail-yards
Delegation, Innovation and Recognition
“ One thing provided by our men was of great service..sharp hooks inserted into and fastened upon poles….When the ropes were caught by them and pulled…the yards necessarily fell down, so that all hope of the Gallic vessels of the Gallic vessels depending on their sails was taken from them”
“The rest of the contest depended on courage; in which our men decidedly had the advantage; and the more so, because the whole action was carried on in the sight of Caesar and the entire army; so that no act, a little more valiant than ordinary, could pass unobserved”.
Defensive Works at Bourges
The Battle at Gergovia
A Rare Defeat?
In 52 BC Gergovia was the stronghold of Vercingetorix. It is famous for being the only place where Julius Caesar was defeated in the Gaulish wars. After conquering Avaricum, Caesar took six legions onward to Gergovia where he attempted a siege. He was outnumbered when the Aedui, formerly the Romans' allies, surprised Caesar by joining with Vercingetorix. As Caesar's army marched towards the great Arverni hillfort of Gergovie, Vercingetorix was setting out with his own army on the other side of the river Allier, breaking every bridge along the way to be sure the Romans could not cross over. Caesar, however, hid two legions in the woods. After Vercingetorix moved on, they rebuilt one of the bridges and went on to attempt the siege of Gergovia. The assault failed. Over 700 soldiers and 40 centurions were lost in the battle before Caesar drew back. Encouraged by this victory, the Gauls persisted in their revolt until their final defeat at Alesia.
The Battle of Alesia
Intelligence and leadership.
“ As the action was carried on in sight of all, neither a brave nor cowardly act could be concealed; both the desire of praise and the fear of ignominy, urged on each party to valor….Caesar sends at first young Brutus and afterwards Caius Fabius, his liutenant…….His arrival being known from the colour of his robe….the enemy joined battle.”
“Caesar on learning these proceedings from the deserters and captives, adopted the following system of fortification”.
Archaeological evidence at Alesia
Orange, Vaucluse
Caesar’s Siege Works at Alesia
Dun Aonghusa, Inis Mór, Aran Islands
Iron Age Ireland
Quernstones – Beehive quern
Distribution
Finding an Invisible People
http://www.ucd.ie/t4cms/iron_age_ireland_project_16365_pilotweb.pdf
Iron Age Research Project
Recent large–scale development activity is bringing new Iron Age sites to light at an increasing rate and presents us with an opportunity to resolve some of the key issues of this enigmatic period. Much of the relevant information resides in the considerable body of unpublished literature such as excavation reports.
The aim of the project is to collate, synthesise and analyse this evidence and to examine it in the context of the major thematic framework identified in the recent Heritage Council report on Research Needs in Irish Archaeology. Hence, in the later stages of the project issues of regionality, social and regional identity, economic organisation, landscape use and cultural change from the Bronze Age through to the Early Medieval period will be addressed.
A survey of archaeological consultancies, consultation of the NRA database of sites which is currently under development and a survey of the Excavations Bulletin 1970–2004 and the published literature. All excavated structures or features that have produced radiocarbon or dendrochronological dates between 900 cal. BC and AD cal. 400 or artefactual evidence for an Iron Age date will be recorded. These sites will be categorised by morphology and associated evidence for their function and entered into a searchable database. Based on this assessment a preliminary cultural characterisation will be developed.
Parameters of sites included in the study
Excavated sites which can be securely dated (radiocarbon, dendro, artefacts) to the Iron Age (ie. 700BC to AD400)
Aim is to characterise Iron Age sites – not end up with a distribution map of Iron Age activity of any form
Late Bronze Age sites (ca 900 BC onwards)
The catalogue also includes excavated sites that are possibly of Iron Age date, as for example identified by problematic associations of artefacts or stratigraphy
Chronology
1.Late Bronze Age (end)
900-700 BC
2. Plateau/Early Iron Age
700-400 BC
3. Developed Iron Age
400BC-0BC/AD
4. Late Iron Age
0BC/AD – AD 400
Biases Data gathering ie. which companies have responded (strong NRA bias through database and contractors) Recognisability - dating strategies (how many dates are obtained, ind features vs structures, favouring of metalworking etc.
Biases Data gathering ie. which companies have responded (strong NRA bias through database and contractors) Recognisability - dating strategies (how many dates are obtained, ind features vs structures, favouring of metalworking etc.
Multiperiod sites
Multiperiod sites
Multiperiod sites
Structures
Finds and activities
Ironworking
Bronzes, wood, glass, flint and antler artefacts
(cf pottery!)
Finds and activities
Ironworking
Bronzes, wood, glass, flint and antler artefacts
(cf pottery!)
Regionality
Site types IA
Settlement
Structures
Metalworking
Later IA with finds Burials
Burial in Ireland
Limited amount of information – burials without gravegoods or monuments not recognisable
Cremation in ring-barrows, ring-ditches and various other forms of monuments
Later centuries BC and early centuries AD
Carbury Hill, Site B, Co. Kildare
Grannagh, Co. Galway
Carowjames, Co.Mayo
Ballydavis, Co. Laois
cremation in bronze box fibula (Nauheim type), wire, 80 beads, stone and blue, green and yellow glass beads iron blade, nails, bronze bracelet fragment, mulitphased, layers containing artefacts, charcoal and cremated bones change with sterile layer> repeated activity
Ballybronoge,
Co. Limerick
Depth of 0.5m 14 token cremations in ditch fill bone plaque bronze spiral ring
Carn More, Dundalk, Co. Louth
Ballykeel South, Co. Clare
Dooey, Co. Donegal
phase 4
70 extended inhumations, EW
no burial goods
early c. AD
Carrowbeg North, Co. Galway
MBA barrow
4 secondary inhumations in silted ditch
Female skeleton with locket and bead anklet
Kiltierney, Co.Fermanagh
Knowth, Co.Meath
Sense of ancestry
Remember Tara and other royal sites
> Lough Crew, Co. Meath
Tara: Neolithic to Iron Age
Rath, Co.Meath
Lough Crew, Co.Meath, Cairn T
Turoe, Co.
Kilcluggin, Galway
Derrykeighan, Co. Antrim
Panels, ears/domed trumpet
100BC-100AD? Double curved lines linking circle motifs, ears
Broighter and Turoe: domed trumpets, peltate patterns, voids
Castlestrange, Co. Roscommon
Tara, Lia Fáil
Brittany
Kermaria
Stelae in Brittany
Raffin, Co. Meath
excarnation?
scattered cremations?
only part of society received formal burial
Lambay Island
Shield, sword and ornaments, iron disc
Beaded torc, northern England
Roman fibulae bracelets
Lambay Island?
Tacitus, Agricola
Quinto expeditionum anno nave prima transgressus ignotas ad id tempus gentis crebris simul ac prosperis proeliis domuit; eamque partem Britanniae quae Hiberniam aspicit copiis instruxit, in spem magis quam ob formidinem, si quidem Hibernia medio inter Britanniam atque Hispaniam sita et Gallico quoque mari opportuna valentissimam imperii partem magnis in vicem usibus miscuerit.
Still invisible?
Distribution
Finding an Invisible People
http://www.ucd.ie/t4cms/iron_age_ireland_project_16365_pilotweb.pdf
Iron Age Research Project
Recent large–scale development activity is bringing new Iron Age sites to light at an increasing rate and presents us with an opportunity to resolve some of the key issues of this enigmatic period. Much of the relevant information resides in the considerable body of unpublished literature such as excavation reports.
The aim of the project is to collate, synthesise and analyse this evidence and to examine it in the context of the major thematic framework identified in the recent Heritage Council report on Research Needs in Irish Archaeology. Hence, in the later stages of the project issues of regionality, social and regional identity, economic organisation, landscape use and cultural change from the Bronze Age through to the Early Medieval period will be addressed.
A survey of archaeological consultancies, consultation of the NRA database of sites which is currently under development and a survey of the Excavations Bulletin 1970–2004 and the published literature. All excavated structures or features that have produced radiocarbon or dendrochronological dates between 900 cal. BC and AD cal. 400 or artefactual evidence for an Iron Age date will be recorded. These sites will be categorised by morphology and associated evidence for their function and entered into a searchable database. Based on this assessment a preliminary cultural characterisation will be developed.
Parameters of sites included in the study
Excavated sites which can be securely dated (radiocarbon, dendro, artefacts) to the Iron Age (ie. 700BC to AD400)
Aim is to characterise Iron Age sites – not end up with a distribution map of Iron Age activity of any form
Late Bronze Age sites (ca 900 BC onwards)
The catalogue also includes excavated sites that are possibly of Iron Age date, as for example identified by problematic associations of artefacts or stratigraphy
Chronology
1.Late Bronze Age (end)
900-700 BC
2. Plateau/Early Iron Age
700-400 BC
3. Developed Iron Age
400BC-0BC/AD
4. Late Iron Age
0BC/AD – AD 400
Biases Data gathering ie. which companies have responded (strong NRA bias through database and contractors) Recognisability - dating strategies (how many dates are obtained, ind features vs structures, favouring of metalworking etc.
Biases Data gathering ie. which companies have responded (strong NRA bias through database and contractors) Recognisability - dating strategies (how many dates are obtained, ind features vs structures, favouring of metalworking etc.
Multiperiod sites
Multiperiod sites
Multiperiod sites
Structures
Finds and activities
Ironworking
Bronzes, wood, glass, flint and antler artefacts
(cf pottery!)
Finds and activities
Ironworking
Bronzes, wood, glass, flint and antler artefacts
(cf pottery!)
Regionality
Site types IA
Settlement
Structures
Metalworking
Later IA with finds Burials
Burial in Ireland
Limited amount of information – burials without gravegoods or monuments not recognisable
Cremation in ring-barrows, ring-ditches and various other forms of monuments
Later centuries BC and early centuries AD
Carbury Hill, Site B, Co. Kildare
Grannagh, Co. Galway
Carowjames, Co.Mayo
Ballydavis, Co. Laois
cremation in bronze box fibula (Nauheim type), wire, 80 beads, stone and blue, green and yellow glass beads iron blade, nails, bronze bracelet fragment, mulitphased, layers containing artefacts, charcoal and cremated bones change with sterile layer> repeated activity
Ballybronoge,
Co. Limerick
Depth of 0.5m 14 token cremations in ditch fill bone plaque bronze spiral ring
Carn More, Dundalk, Co. Louth
Ballykeel South, Co. Clare
Dooey, Co. Donegal
phase 4
70 extended inhumations, EW
no burial goods
early c. AD
Carrowbeg North, Co. Galway
MBA barrow
4 secondary inhumations in silted ditch
Female skeleton with locket and bead anklet
Kiltierney, Co.Fermanagh
Knowth, Co.Meath
Sense of ancestry
Remember Tara and other royal sites
> Lough Crew, Co. Meath
Tara: Neolithic to Iron Age
Rath, Co.Meath
Lough Crew, Co.Meath, Cairn T
Turoe, Co.
Kilcluggin, Galway
Derrykeighan, Co. Antrim
Panels, ears/domed trumpet
100BC-100AD? Double curved lines linking circle motifs, ears
Broighter and Turoe: domed trumpets, peltate patterns, voids
Castlestrange, Co. Roscommon
Tara, Lia Fáil
Brittany
Kermaria
Stelae in Brittany
Raffin, Co. Meath
excarnation?
scattered cremations?
only part of society received formal burial
Lambay Island
Shield, sword and ornaments, iron disc
Beaded torc, northern England
Roman fibulae bracelets
Lambay Island?
Tacitus, Agricola
Quinto expeditionum anno nave prima transgressus ignotas ad id tempus gentis crebris simul ac prosperis proeliis domuit; eamque partem Britanniae quae Hiberniam aspicit copiis instruxit, in spem magis quam ob formidinem, si quidem Hibernia medio inter Britanniam atque Hispaniam sita et Gallico quoque mari opportuna valentissimam imperii partem magnis in vicem usibus miscuerit.
Still invisible?
Tara
Dindsenchus (Placename Lore)
Derivation of the Name given in the 9th century Senas Cormaic (king-bishop of Cashel who died in 908).
earliest form
Temhair
medieval
Taueragh
modern
Tara
Triad 54
Trí tellaige Hérenn: tellach Temrach, tellach Caisil, tellach Crúachan.
The three households of Ireland: the household of Tara, the household of Cashel, the household of Croghan
Triad 202
Tréde neimthigedar ríg: fonaidm ruirech, feis Temrach, roimse inna fhlaith.
Three things that constitute a king: a contract with (other) kings, the feast of Tara, abundance during his reign.
Togail Bruidne Da Derga The Destruction of Da Derga’s Hostel
- Conaire, King of Tara, is subject to a number of taboos (geis) which state that he cannot:
- pass Tara on his right hand side
- pass Brega on his left
- hunt the swans of Cernae (either Carnes near Duleek or Triad 9 Tech commairce Hérenn: Tech Cairnig for sligid Assail.The Sanctuary of Ireland: the House of Cairnech upon the Road of Asal.2 )
- Stay away from Tara for longer than 9 days
1st edition OS
Placenames assigned by O’Donovan.
Rath na Riogh
measures 318 m north-south by 264 m east-west
Enclosed by an internal ditch and external bank
Name means ‘the Fort of the Kings’.
Rath na Riogh
Rath of the Synods (blue marks enclosure noted during geophysical survey)
Mound of the Hostages (Dumha na nGiall)
An Forradh (and Lia Fail)
Teach Chormaic
Rath of the Synods
WB Yeats and the British-Israelites
Navan Fort
Broad parallels between Navan Fort (top), Rath of the Synods (bottom left) and Dun Ailline (bottom right).
Lismullin
The Stone of Scone
Lia Fail
Recorded stones at Tara include Dall, Dorcha, Maol, Bloc and Bluicne (the two on the right). The taller is sometimes known as Admonans Pillar.
Sheelanagig
On a stone in the churchyard.
The present church dates from 1822; the original church on this site was founded by the Hospitallers of Saint John in about 1212 AD, part of one of the walls of the original is still standing.
'King O'Connell at Tara' This cartoon entitled 'King O'Connell at Tara' was printed in Punch magazine, 26 August 1843, was drawn by 'Shallaballa'. The Irish peasants bring their buttermilk and scrawny pigs as offerings to O'Connell, who rests on the devil's back, with his foot on the British Constitution. The scale under his arm is labelled "Justice to Ireland," and is tipped by "Daniel's Allowance." On the floor nearby is the "Royal Plunder Chest." In the summer of 1843, his monster meeting at Tara, where he called for the repeal of the Union, was attended by an estimated 750,000 people.
Mound of the Hostages
Rath Laoghaire
Claonferta and Rath Grainne
Banqueting Hall
Triad 120 (Yellow Book of Lecan) Tréde neimthigedar gobainn: bir Neithin, fulacht na Morrígna, inneóin in Dagda. Three things that constitute a blacksmith: Nethin's spit, the cooking-spit of the Morrigan, the Dagda's griddle.
Giraldus Cambrensis
Triad 202
Three things that constitute a king: a contract with (other) kings, the feast of Tara, abundance during his reign.
View of Skryne
St Patrick
Arrives on the eve of Easter, lights paschal fire on Hill of Slane.
When the ‘druids’ at Tara saw the light from Slane, they warned King Laoghaire that he must extinguish it or it would burn forever.
Patrick summoned to Tara (on the way singing the hymn "Saint Patrick's Breastplate“).
Impresses Laoghaire who lets him Christianise.
Early Christians…
Christianity was probably first introduced to Ireland sometime at the very end of the 4th century AD or early in the 5th century AD
The earliest church sites are not easy to identify or date
Sometimes only placename evidence survives
Early Christians
Earliest church developed as members of the aristocracy were converted by the earliest missionary/converts (such as St. Patrick)
Initial Christianisation appears to occur in the south half of Ireland in the late fourth or early fifth century AD and spreads to the northern half by around 450-460 AD
Ogham
Dating evidence suggests the earliest stones with ogham inscriptions date to around the 4th century AD.
Ogham (map)
Main areas of distribution may reflect earliest Christianisation.
Early Ecclesiastical Centres
As the earliest churches were associated with the aristocracy, the early parish and bishopric boundaries tend to be similar to the early kingdoms or chiefdoms in Ireland
As a result – the power of bishops was confined to their own kingdom
Early Christians
Monastic sites and hermitage emerge that are independent of the parish-bishopric system
They appear to have been given separate endowments and are economically independent
Successful monasteries are able to set up or acquire additional monasteries and increase their prestige
This system survives in various forms until the arrival of the Normans in the 12th century AD
Early Christians
These early Christian centres often survive today as large enclosures, sometimes with multiple concentric earthworks or ditches.
Today these are often only visible as crop marks from the air.
In some cases, only the placename evidence survives:
Cell often anglicised as Kill
Domhnaig often anglicised as Donagh or Downey
Teampall often anglicised as Temple
Ringforts
Univallate (i.e. one enclosing bank).
Example here is from Killyliss in Tyrone.
Ringforts
Bivallate (i.e. two enclosing banks).
Example here is from Lisnageeha in Tipperary.
Ringforts
Multivallate (i.e. more than two enclosing banks).
Example here is from Garranes in Cork.
Ringforts
Platform or raised ringfort
Example here is from Rathmullan in Down.
Dressogagh, Armagh + Whiteford, Down
Ballinderry 2, Offaly: crannog
Corofin, Clare
Carn More, County Louth (from www.nra.ie)
Newtownbalregan, County Louth
Horizontal Mills
Derivation of the Name given in the 9th century Senas Cormaic (king-bishop of Cashel who died in 908).
earliest form
Temhair
medieval
Taueragh
modern
Tara
Triad 54
Trí tellaige Hérenn: tellach Temrach, tellach Caisil, tellach Crúachan.
The three households of Ireland: the household of Tara, the household of Cashel, the household of Croghan
Triad 202
Tréde neimthigedar ríg: fonaidm ruirech, feis Temrach, roimse inna fhlaith.
Three things that constitute a king: a contract with (other) kings, the feast of Tara, abundance during his reign.
Togail Bruidne Da Derga The Destruction of Da Derga’s Hostel
- Conaire, King of Tara, is subject to a number of taboos (geis) which state that he cannot:
- pass Tara on his right hand side
- pass Brega on his left
- hunt the swans of Cernae (either Carnes near Duleek or Triad 9 Tech commairce Hérenn: Tech Cairnig for sligid Assail.The Sanctuary of Ireland: the House of Cairnech upon the Road of Asal.2 )
- Stay away from Tara for longer than 9 days
1st edition OS
Placenames assigned by O’Donovan.
Rath na Riogh
measures 318 m north-south by 264 m east-west
Enclosed by an internal ditch and external bank
Name means ‘the Fort of the Kings’.
Rath na Riogh
Rath of the Synods (blue marks enclosure noted during geophysical survey)
Mound of the Hostages (Dumha na nGiall)
An Forradh (and Lia Fail)
Teach Chormaic
Rath of the Synods
WB Yeats and the British-Israelites
Navan Fort
Broad parallels between Navan Fort (top), Rath of the Synods (bottom left) and Dun Ailline (bottom right).
Lismullin
The Stone of Scone
Lia Fail
Recorded stones at Tara include Dall, Dorcha, Maol, Bloc and Bluicne (the two on the right). The taller is sometimes known as Admonans Pillar.
Sheelanagig
On a stone in the churchyard.
The present church dates from 1822; the original church on this site was founded by the Hospitallers of Saint John in about 1212 AD, part of one of the walls of the original is still standing.
'King O'Connell at Tara' This cartoon entitled 'King O'Connell at Tara' was printed in Punch magazine, 26 August 1843, was drawn by 'Shallaballa'. The Irish peasants bring their buttermilk and scrawny pigs as offerings to O'Connell, who rests on the devil's back, with his foot on the British Constitution. The scale under his arm is labelled "Justice to Ireland," and is tipped by "Daniel's Allowance." On the floor nearby is the "Royal Plunder Chest." In the summer of 1843, his monster meeting at Tara, where he called for the repeal of the Union, was attended by an estimated 750,000 people.
Mound of the Hostages
Rath Laoghaire
Claonferta and Rath Grainne
Banqueting Hall
Triad 120 (Yellow Book of Lecan) Tréde neimthigedar gobainn: bir Neithin, fulacht na Morrígna, inneóin in Dagda. Three things that constitute a blacksmith: Nethin's spit, the cooking-spit of the Morrigan, the Dagda's griddle.
Giraldus Cambrensis
Triad 202
Three things that constitute a king: a contract with (other) kings, the feast of Tara, abundance during his reign.
View of Skryne
St Patrick
Arrives on the eve of Easter, lights paschal fire on Hill of Slane.
When the ‘druids’ at Tara saw the light from Slane, they warned King Laoghaire that he must extinguish it or it would burn forever.
Patrick summoned to Tara (on the way singing the hymn "Saint Patrick's Breastplate“).
Impresses Laoghaire who lets him Christianise.
Early Christians…
Christianity was probably first introduced to Ireland sometime at the very end of the 4th century AD or early in the 5th century AD
The earliest church sites are not easy to identify or date
Sometimes only placename evidence survives
Early Christians
Earliest church developed as members of the aristocracy were converted by the earliest missionary/converts (such as St. Patrick)
Initial Christianisation appears to occur in the south half of Ireland in the late fourth or early fifth century AD and spreads to the northern half by around 450-460 AD
Ogham
Dating evidence suggests the earliest stones with ogham inscriptions date to around the 4th century AD.
Ogham (map)
Main areas of distribution may reflect earliest Christianisation.
Early Ecclesiastical Centres
As the earliest churches were associated with the aristocracy, the early parish and bishopric boundaries tend to be similar to the early kingdoms or chiefdoms in Ireland
As a result – the power of bishops was confined to their own kingdom
Early Christians
Monastic sites and hermitage emerge that are independent of the parish-bishopric system
They appear to have been given separate endowments and are economically independent
Successful monasteries are able to set up or acquire additional monasteries and increase their prestige
This system survives in various forms until the arrival of the Normans in the 12th century AD
Early Christians
These early Christian centres often survive today as large enclosures, sometimes with multiple concentric earthworks or ditches.
Today these are often only visible as crop marks from the air.
In some cases, only the placename evidence survives:
Cell often anglicised as Kill
Domhnaig often anglicised as Donagh or Downey
Teampall often anglicised as Temple
Ringforts
Univallate (i.e. one enclosing bank).
Example here is from Killyliss in Tyrone.
Ringforts
Bivallate (i.e. two enclosing banks).
Example here is from Lisnageeha in Tipperary.
Ringforts
Multivallate (i.e. more than two enclosing banks).
Example here is from Garranes in Cork.
Ringforts
Platform or raised ringfort
Example here is from Rathmullan in Down.
Dressogagh, Armagh + Whiteford, Down
Ballinderry 2, Offaly: crannog
Corofin, Clare
Carn More, County Louth (from www.nra.ie)
Newtownbalregan, County Louth
Horizontal Mills
Ireland: Christianisation
Earliest Christianisation in Ireland
Christianity introduced to Ireland sometime at the very end of the 4th century AD or early in the 5th century AD
Initial Christianisation appears to occur in the south half of Ireland and spreads to the northern half by around 450-460 AD
Our only undisputed source for this period are the two documents written by St Patrick – his Confessio and letter to Coroticus, both providing our only eyewitness account of mid-5th century Ireland.
Confessio – St Patrick’s Confession
Ogham (map)
Distribution of ogham is believed to reflect areas Christianised at in the earliest stages (before 450 AD).
Little other physical evidence of this episode.
Confessio – St Patrick’s Confession
Letter to Coroticus
Who was Patrick?
Bannaventa
Confessio
I was taken into captivity in Ireland with many thousands of people, according to our desserts, for quite drawn away from God, we did not keep his precepts, nor were we obedient to our priests who used to remind us of our salvation.
And therefore for some time I have thought of writing, but I have hesitated until now, for truly, I feared to expose myself to the criticism of men, because I have not studied like others, who have assimilated both Law and the Holy Scriptures equally and have never changed their idiom since their infancy, but instead were always learning it increasingly, to perfection, while my idiom and language have been translated into a foreign tongue.
Confessio
A young man, almost a beardless boy, I was taken captive before I knew what I should desire and what I should shun.
And again, the Spirit witnessed that the rustic life was created by the Most High ... I am, then, first of all, countrified, an exile, evidently unlearned, one who is not able to see into the future, but I know for certain, that before I was humbled I was like a stone lying in deep mire, and he that is mighty came and in his mercy raised me up and, indeed, lifted me high up and placed me on top of the wall.
Confessio
But after I reached Ireland I used to pasture the flock each day and I used to pray many times a day. More and more did the love of God, and my fear of him and faith increase, and my spirit was moved so that in a day [I said] from one up to a hundred prayers, and in the night a like number; besides I used to stay out in the forests and on the mountain and I would wake up before daylight to pray in the snow, in icy coldness, in rain, and I used to feel neither ill nor any slothfulness, because, as I now see, the Spirit was burning in me at that time.
Confessio
And it was there of course that one night in my sleep I heard a voice saying to me: 'You … soon you will depart for your home country.' And again, a very short time later, there was a voice prophesying: 'Behold, your ship is ready.'
And it was not close by, but, as it happened, two hundred miles away, where I had never been nor knew any person. And shortly thereafter I turned about and fled from the man with whom I had been for six years, and I came, by the power of God who directed my route to advantage (and I was afraid of nothing), until I reached that ship.
200 Miles?
200 Roman miles to a ship (equivalent to c. 185 modern miles).
Later on ‘Foclut’ is mentioned as where he stayed. It's location is uncertain. Tírechán (7th century) indicates that it was on the Mayo-Sligo border, near Killala.
Confessio
And on the same day that I arrived, the ship was setting out from the place, and I said that I had the wherewithal to sail with them; and the steersman was displeased and replied in anger, sharply: 'By no means attempt to go with us.' Hearing this I left them to go to the hut where I was staying, and on the way I began to pray, and before the prayer was finished I heard one of them shouting loudly after me: 'Come quickly because the men are calling you.' And immediately I went back to them and they started to say to me: 'Come, because we are admitting you out of good faith; make friendship with us in any way you wish.'
Confessio
And after three days (sail) we reached land, and for twenty-eight days journeyed through uninhabited country, and the food ran out and hunger overtook them; and one day the steersman began saying: 'Why is it, Christian? You say your God is great and all-powerful; then why can you not pray for us? For we may perish of hunger; it is unlikely indeed that we shall ever see another human being.' In fact, I said to them, confidently: 'Be converted by faith with all your heart to my Lord God, because nothing is impossible for him, so that today he will send food for you on your road, until you be sated, because everywhere he abounds.'
Confessio
And with God's help this came to pass; and behold, a herd of swine appeared on the road before our eyes, and they slew many of them, and remained there for two nights, and they were full of their meat and well restored, for many of them had fainted and would otherwise have been left half-dead by the wayside. And after this they gave the utmost thanks to God, and I was esteemed in their eyes, and from that day they had food abundantly. They discovered wild honey, besides, and they offered a share to me, and one of them said: 'It is a sacrifice.' Thanks be to God, I tasted none of it.
Confessio
And a second time, after many years, I was taken captive. On the first night I accordingly remained with my captors, but I heard a divine prophecy, saying to me: 'You shall be with them for two months. So it happened. On the sixtieth night the Lord delivered me from their hands.
On the journey he provided us with food and fire and dry weather every day, until on the tenth day we came upon people. As I mentioned above, we had journeyed through an unpopulated country for twenty-eight days, and in fact the night that we came upon people we had no food.
And after a few years I was again in Britain with my family, and they welcomed me as a son, and asked me, in faith, that after the great tribulations I had endured I should not go anywhere else away from them.
Confessio
... in a vision of the night, I saw a man whose name was Victoricus coming … from Ireland with innumerable letters, and he gave me one of them, and I read the beginning of the letter: 'The Voice of the Irish', and as I was reading the beginning of the letter I seemed at that moment to hear the voice of those who were beside the forest of Foclut which is near the western sea, and they were crying as if with one voice: 'We beg you, holy youth, that you shall come and shall walk again among us...
... I was attacked by a goodly number of my elders, who [brought up] my sins against my arduous episcopate ... I pray God that it shall not be held against them as a sin that I fell truly into disgrace and scandal.
Confessio
They brought up against me after thirty years an occurrence I had confessed before becoming a deacon. On account of the anxiety in my sorrowful mind, I laid before my close friend what I had perpetrated on a day-- nay, rather in one hour-- in my boyhood because I was not yet proof against sin. God knows-- I do not-- whether I was fifteen years old at the time, and I did not then believe in the living God, nor had I believed, since my infancy; but I remained in death and unbelief until I was severely rebuked, and in truth I was humbled every day by hunger and nakedness.
On the other hand, I did not proceed to Ireland of my own accord until I was almost giving up, but through this I was corrected by the Lord, and he prepared me …
Confessio
'See, the rank of bishop goes to you‘ … of which I was not worthy. But how did it come to him, shortly afterwards, to disgrace me publicly, in the presence of all, good and bad …
I will tell briefly how most holy God frequently delivered me, from slavery, and from the twelve trials with which my soul was threatened, from man traps as well, and from things I am not able to put into words.
...And many gifts were offered to me with weeping and tears, and I offended the donors ... endure insults from unbelievers ... that I might hear scandal of my travels, and endure many persecutions to the extent of prison ... and so that I might give up my free birthright for the advantage of others ...
Confessio
So, how is it that in Ireland, where they never had any knowledge of God but, always, until now, cherished idols and unclean things, they are lately become a people of the Lord … the sons of the Irish and the daughters of the chieftains are to be seen as monks and virgins of Christ.
And there was, besides, a most beautiful, blessed, native-born noble Irish woman of adult age whom I baptized; and a few days later she had reason to come to us to intimate that she had received a prophecy from a divine messenger advising her that she should become a virgin of Christ and she would draw nearer to God. Thanks be to God, six days from then, opportunely and most eagerly, she took the course that all virgins of God take, not with their fathers' consent but enduring the persecutions and deceitful hindrances of their parents.
Confessio
Notwithstanding that, their number increases, (we do not know the number of them that are so reborn) besides the widows, and those who practise self-denial. Those who are kept in slavery suffer the most. They endure terrors and constant threats, but the Lord has given grace to many of his handmaidens, for even though they are forbidden to do so, still they resolutely follow his example.
Confessio
And I gave back again to my Christian brethren and the virgins of Christ and the holy women the small unasked for gifts that they used to give me or some of their ornaments which they used to throw on the altar. And they would be offended with me because I did this. But in the hope of eternity, I safeguarded myself carefully in all things, so that they might not cheat me of my office of service on any pretext of dishonesty, and so that I should not in the smallest way provide any occasion for defamation or disparagement on the part of unbelievers.
Confessio
What is more, when I baptized so many thousands of people, did I hope for even half a jot from any of them? Tell me, and I will give it back to you. And when the Lord ordained clergy everywhere by my humble means, and I freely conferred office on them, if I asked any of them anywhere even for the price of one shoe, say so to my face and I will give it back ... And I went about among you, and everywhere for your sake, in danger, and as far as the outermost regions beyond which no one lived, and where no one had ever penetrated before, to baptize or to ordain clergy or to confirm people.
Confessio
From time to time I gave rewards to the kings, as well as making payments to their sons who travel with me; notwithstanding which, they seized me with my companions, and that day most avidly desired to kill me ... they plundered everything they found on us anyway, and fettered me in irons; and on the fourteenth day the Lord freed me from their power, and whatever they had of ours was given back to us for the sake of God on account of the indispensable friends whom we had made before.
Confessio
For the sun we see rises each day for us at his command, but it will never reign, neither will its splendour last, but all who worship it will come wretchedly to punishment. We, on the other hand, shall not die, who believe in and worship the true sun, Christ, who will never die, no more shall he die who has done Christ's will, but will abide for ever just as Christ abides for ever, who reigns with God the Father Almighty and with the Holy Spirit before the beginning of time and now and for ever and ever. Amen.
Letter To Coroticus
I, Patrick, a sinner, unlearned, resident in Ireland, declare myself to be a bishop ... And so I live among barbarians, a stranger and exile for the love of God.
I have written ... these words, to be given, delivered, and sent to the soldiers of Coroticus; I do not say, to my fellow citizens, or to fellow citizens of the holy Romans, but to fellow citizens of the demons, because of their evil works. Like our enemies, they live in death, allies of the Irish and the apostate Picts. Dripping with blood, they welter in the blood of innocent Christians, whom I have begotten into the number for God and confirmed in Christ!
Letter To Coroticus
The day after the newly baptized, anointed with chrism, in white garments had been slain — the fragrance was still on their foreheads when they were butchered and slaughtered with the sword by the above-mentioned people — I sent a letter with a holy presbyter whom I had taught from his childhood, clerics accompanying him, asking them to let us have some of the booty, and of the baptized they had made captives. They only jeered at them. Hence I do not know what to lament more: those who have been slain, or those whom they have taken captive, or those whom the devil has mightily ensnared. Together with him they will be slaves in Hell in an eternal punishment; for who commits sin is a slave and will be called a son of the devil.
... ravening wolves that "eat the people of the Lord as they eat bread!"
Letter To Coroticus
... I was freeborn according to the flesh. I am the son of a decurion. But I sold my noble rank I am neither ashamed nor sorry for the good of others. Thus I am a servant in Christ to a foreign nation for the unspeakable glory of life everlasting which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
And if my own people do not know me, a prophet has no honor in his own country .Perhaps we are not of the same fold and have not one and the same God as father, as is written: "He that is not with me, is against me, and he that gathers not with me, scatters." It is not right that one destroys, another builds up. I seek not the things that are mine.
It is not my grace, but God who has given this solicitude into my heart, to be one of His hunters or fishers whom God once foretold would come in the last days.
Letter To Coroticus
I am hated. What shall I do, Lord? I am most despised. Look, Thy sheep around me are tom to pieces and driven away, and that by those robbers, by the orders of the hostile-minded Coroticus. Far from the love of God is a man who hands over Christians to the Picts and Scots. Ravening wolves have devoured the flock of the Lord, which in Ireland was indeed growing splendidly with the greatest care; and the sons and daughters of kings were monks and virgins of Christ — I cannot count their number. Wherefore, be not pleased with the wrong done to the just; even to hell it shall not please. Who of the saints would not shudder to be merry with such persons or to enjoy a meal with them? They have filled their houses with the spoils of dead Christians, they live on plunder. They do not know, the wretches, that what they offer their friends and sons as food is deadly poison, just as Eve did not understand that it was death she gave to her husband. So are all that do evil: they work death as their eternal punishment.
Letter To Coroticus
This is the custom of the Roman Christians of Gaul: they send holy and able men to the Franks and other heathen with so many thousand solidi to ransom baptized captives. You prefer to kill and sell them to a foreign nation that has no knowledge of God. You betray the members of Christ as it were into a brothel.
Hence the Church mourns and laments her sons and daughters whom the sword has not yet slain, but who were removed and carried off to faraway lands, where sin abounds openly, grossly, impudently. There people who were freeborn have, been sold, Christians made slaves, and that, too, in the service of the abominable, wicked, and apostate Picts!
Letter To Coroticus
"Without are dogs, and sorcerers,... and murderers; and liars and perjurers have their portion in the pool of everlasting fire."
Where, then, will Coroticus with his criminals, rebels against Christ, where will they see themselves, they who distribute baptized women as prizes — for a miserable temporal kingdom, which will pass away in a moment?
Earliest Christian Sites and Monuments?
The earliest churches in Ireland are hard to identify as they were of wood and may not have been different from other buildings.
The types of churches and ecclesiastical buildings that pre-date the introduction of the Romanesque architectural style (11th century), or at the very least overlap with it’s appearance include:
Wooden churches
Tomb shrines
Gallarus-type churches
Stone churches with timber roof and antae
Stone churches with a vaulted roof
Round towers
Ecclesiastical enclosures in towns
Armagh: ecclesiastical capital of Ireland.
Dublin
This is from John Rocques map of Dublin in the 1750s. The street pattern encloses St. Peters.
Dublin
This is a close up of the map. Is the east-west building St. Peters??
Dublin: St. Peters based on excavations.
Moyne, near Shrule, County Mayo
Moyne, near Shrule, County Mayo
Book of Kells
Depiction of a church.
But – is this the illustrators imaginative drawing or is it real?
Book of Kells
There are some early depictions of churches, such as this one from the Book of Kells, which are our main source for the earliest sites.
Shrines
Many relics of early saints were incased in shrines shaped like buildings (this one is from Emly) – are these similar to the early churches?
Clonmore
The Clonmore shrine is believed to be the oldest known example of Irish Christian metalwork.
Dates to the second half o the 7th century.
Also demonstrates that ‘Christian’ metalwork is a relatively late feature.
Early Churches
Other sources also hint at the shape of these early churches.
This is the South Cross at Monasterboice.
Early Churches
The top of the cross is often shaped like churches.
Early churches
The shapes of these churchbuildings are indicated in many places – such as the Emly shrine, the finial of the south cross at Monasterboice or the buildings described in the Hisperica Famina and the Life of St. Brigid.
Textual sources
A number of early texts (7th century AD) provide descriptions of churches that allow us to make some reconstruction of how they looked.
Vita secunda Sanctuae Brigidae
Hisperica Famina
Excavation?
A few examples of possible wooden churches have been excavated.
In general, all that survives are traces of a wooden structure at a known church site.
Their interpretation as churches is uncertain!
Church Island, Kerry
Derry, Down
Wooden structure pre-dates a church with projecting antae.
Again it is early – but is it a church??
Carnsore, Wexford
There was a wooden structure beneath a later church at Carnsore. It is proportionally similar to the later church. It was dated to 641-940 AD.
Early Churches
The real or re-constructed plans of these churches do not match the earliest stone churches – so they probably reflect styles of building of timber churches.
Timber Churches
Some were evidently quite large, as indicated by a grim entry in the Annals of Ulster for 850, which records the burning of 260 people in a wooden church at Trevet in county Meath.
The introduction of Stone Churches
One of the most fundamental changes that took place in Irish church architecture was the introduction of stone as the primary building material. The development of stone building was a slow process but also reflected the growing size and wealth of the communities.
Resistance to the use of stone might be seen as a preference for the more plentiful and easily worked wood as well as continued veneration of existing wooden buildings that accrued value through use and tradition.
Introduction of Stone Churches to Ireland
Contrary to the prevailing impression, the stone church - or 'daimhliag' - was not fireproof, since such buildings were generally covered by timber-framed roofs.
The occasional stone church existed in the pre-Viking period:
there was one at Duleek in the 7th century
And, another at Armagh in 789.
Outside major centers like Kells and Armagh, however, they remained rare until the 10th century.
It may be significant that the first stone church recorded in the annals was built at Armagh, the monastery which claimed to be the centre of Christian Ireland.
Stone Churches
The development of stone building probably evolved through a desire for greater status and prestige but also relied on the growing size and wealth of the community.
Further, stone buildings were more durable and, if not completely immune from the ravages of fire due to continued use of wooden roofs, there was certainly some improvement in the safety and reliability of the structures.
Early Stone Churches
The common characteristics of stone churches in major monasteries may be assessed according to a variety of criteria.
They were single cell structures, often with a length to breadth ratio of 3 (such as St Fecthins at Fore, Co. Westmeath, below)
Stone Churches with a 3:1 ratio
This is the cathedral at Glendalough – not the extent of the original cathedral rather than the 12th century extension).
Early Churches – windows?
Window design and the problem of glazing offers another point of interest. Windows tend to be very small, their heads either triangular or round-headed. In the latter case they are often cut from a single stone, rather than constructed as a genuine arch (the example here is from Gallarus).
There is no evidence, either from documentary or archaeological indications, for the use of glass but, given its use in Anglo-Saxon England, it is hard to believe that it was unknown in Ireland.
At the very least wooden shutters must have been essential in adverse weather.
Early Churches - Doorways
The west wall of the early churches invariably contained a lintelled doorway with inclined jambs, framed in some cases by an 'architrave' band projecting from the surface in thin relief.
Though deceptively simple in form, the doorways are built of well-dressed stone, robust and imposing in appearance.
Fine examples are found at Fore, St. Fechin's and St. Mary's Church at Glendalough.
Fore, St. Fechin’s
Note the band in relief around the door – it is carved in the stone to retain the shape of the door, even though the stone is not the correct shapes.
St. Mary’s Church Glendalough
Note the angle of the jambs of the door and how the shape is cut into the stone.
Tomb Shrines
The earliest church like buildings are those often described as Tomb Shrines.
These are mortared church buildings located in a primary position at a church site.
These include examples such as St Ciarans in Clonmacnoise and St Declans at Ardmore.
Some have been investigated and samples of mortar from the structures were analysed and pieces of charcoal which were included in the mortar during manufacture have dated these Tomb Shrines to before 1000 AD.
No clear examples in the immediate vicinity of Dublin.
Inishcleraun, Co. Longford
Example of a Tomb Shrine.
Built of quite small limestone blocks, which are not typical of early churches.
Shows the difficulty in identifying these early sites.
St Declans Oratory, Ardmore, Co. Waterford
St Declans is another eary tomb shrine, although largely re-built.
Devenish, Co. Fermanagh St. Molaise House
Tomb shrine built as late as 12th century AD – showing they continuing being built to this date.
Gallarus-type churches
Only known from south-west.
Notoriously difficult to date. But probably later than 10th century.
Example on the left is Gallarus itself (before the site was cleaned up).
Gallarus
Doorway is similar to those at churches with antae.
Window has a hint of Romanesque (round-headed arch) – suggesting a date from the mid-11th century onwards.
Gallarus
Interior of buildings seems very dark – but this is an illusion – although little light penetrates, this allows for more strict control of light, aromas, noise etc to distinguish it clearly from the outside world.
May have been seen as a way of helping define the buildings as God’s house?
Unusual style of church.
Church Island, Kerry
Early Churches - Derry, Co. Down
We know from historical dates of some churches that they begin to appear in the 10th century AD.
We know from excavation that some are later than timber churches.
Stone churches
We have a strong tradition of building churches in mortared masonry from around the 10th century onwards (this is Kill of the Grange on the right).
Early Stone Churches – Dalkey Island
The main features of this type of stone church are – they are aligned east-west, as is traditional for christian churches.
The roof is not vaulted, but is made of timber.
Early Stone Churches – Dalkey Island
The walls are generally faced in stone with a clay or rubble core.
There are projections at either gable, called antae.
There is only a single room (i.e. the churches are unicameral).
Stone Churches and Liturgy
There was a preference for small churches, which did not allow for elaborate liturgical ceremonies within the building.
It is likely that some important ceremonies took place outside. The churches were not usually divided in separate sections, and the chancels visible today generally represent later additions.
Furnishings included an altar, shrines with relics of the ancient Irish saints, hanging crowns, as well as paintings, though none of the latter survive. .
Ahenny, Co. Tipperary
These are the north cross (top) and south cross (bottom) at Ahenny at Kilclispin.
They are among the earliest high crosses that were manufactured and represent a translation into stone of a style of wood and metal crosses.
They are over 3 m in height.
They date to the late 8th to the early 9th century AD.
North Cross Ahenny, Co. Tipperary
This is a panel decorated with enamel studs that would be attached to a wooden cross (from Antrim)
Not the position of the rivet holes.
North Cross (west face) Ahenny, Co. Tipperary
Or compare this example from the Ardagh chalice
Killamery, Co. Kilkenny
Note the position of the finial
These mimic the shape of churches.
What about the earlier capstones (e.g. Ahenny)??
Killamery, Co. Kilkenny
Dating High Crosses can be fairly straightforward.
Killamery contains the inscription: ‘OR DO MAELSECHNAILL’ [Pray for Maelsechnaill].
Maelsechnaill was High King from 846-862 AD.
Cross Slabs
Some examples of crosses carved on slab like stones (this example is from Killegar)
Cross Slabs
Their true function isn’t clear as they don’t always mark graves.
Some are upright, others lie flat (this example is from Whitechurch).
Rathdown Slabs
Decorated slabs: found only in South Dublin and Wicklow
Style is a mixture of Irish and Norse (Hiberno-Norse)
Bullaun Stones
Usually natural rocks or boulders with deliberate hollows.
Often found on ecclesiastical sites.
Their origin and date is obscure, but they are at least medieval in date.
The Church before the Vikings
This is a brief survey of the references to various abbeys in the Annals of Ulster before the first Viking raids (remember this is only one of the annals – and only references to the 8th century AD!!):
U710.2
The burning of Cell Dara.
U719.9
The killing of the community of Suibne in Ard Macha.
Before the Vikings
U723.1
The burning of Cluain Moccu Nóis.
U749.3
The burning of Cluain Ferta Brénainn.
U749.4
The burning of Cell Mór of Aedán son of Aengus.
Before the Vikings
U750.1
The burning of Fobar, and the burning of Domnach Pátraic.
U750.2
Death of Suairlech, bishop of Fobar.
U756.1
The burning of Bennchor the Great on St Patrick's Day [17th] March.
Before the Vikings
U760.8
A battle between the communities of Cluain and Biror in Móin Choise Blae.
U762.2
The killing of bishop Eóthigern by a priest in the oratory of Cell Dara. A great disturbance in Ard Macha on Quinquagesima day, in which Condálach son of Ailill fell.
Before the Vikings
U764.6
The battle of Argaman between the community of Cluain Moccu Nóis and the community of Dermag, in which fell Diarmait Dub son of Domnall, and Diglach son of Dub Lis, and two hundred men of the community of Dermag. Bresal, son of Murchad, emerged victor, with the community of Cluain.
Before the Vikings
U775.2
The burning of Ard Macha.
U775.3
The burning of Cell Dara.
U775.4
The burning of Glenn dá Locha.
Before the Vikings
U778.2
The burning of Cluain Moccu Nóis on the sixth of the Ides [10th] of July.
U779.4
The burning of Cell Dara on the third of the Ides [11th] of June.
U779.5
The burning of Cluain Mór Maedóc.
U779.6
The burning of Cell Deilge.
U783.6
A battle in Ferna Mór between the abbot and the steward, i.e. between Cathal and Fiannachtach.
How useful are the annals?
U735.6
A huge dragon was seen, with great thunder after it, at the end of autumn.
U746.2
Dragons were seen in the sky.
U749.9
Ships with their crews were seen in the air above Cluain Moccu Nóis.
Other hints of how abbeys function: Relics
U734.3
The bringing on tour of the relics of Peter, Paul and Patrick to fulfil the law; and the slaying of Coibdenach son of Flann grandson of Congal.
U743.11
The taking on tour of the relics of Trian of Cell Deilge; and the bolgach was rampant.
U776.5
The taking on tour of the relics of St Erc of Sláine and of the relics of Finnian of Cluain Iraird.
U784.9
The coming of the relics of Erc's son to the city of Tailtiu.
Travelling Relic shows
U785.2
The taking on tour of the relics of Ultán.
U790.5
The taking on tour of the relics of Caemgein and of Mo-Chua moccu Lugedon.
U789.17
Dishonouring of the staff of Jesus and relics of Patrick by Donnchad son of Domnall at Ráith Airthir at an assembly.
U793.5
The taking on tour of the relics of Tóla.
Relics
U818.4
Cuanu, abbot of Lugmad, went into exile into the lands of Mumu with the shrine of Mochta.
U818.5
Artrí, superior of Ard Macha, went to Connacht with the shrine of Patrick.
U819.8
At Ard Macha Whitsun 5 June was not publicly celebrated nor the shrine taken on tour; and there was a disturbance in which the son of Echaid son of Fiachna fell.
When the Vikings appear…
U798.2
The burning of Inis Pátraic by the heathens, and they took the cattle-tribute of the territories, and broke the shrine of Do-Chonna, and also made great incursions both in Ireland and in Alba.
U800.6
The placing of the relics of Conlaed in a shrine of gold and silver.
U801.1
The placing of the relics of Rónán son of Berach in a gold and silver casket.
Offices performed by the abbots
U804.7
A meeting of the synods of the Uí Néill in Dún Cuair, presided over by Connmach, abbot of Ard Macha.
U804.8
This year, moreover, the clerics of Ireland were freed by Aed Oirdnide, at the behest of Fothad of the Canon, from the obligation of attendance on expeditions and hostings.
Offices performed by the abbots
U780.12
A congress of the synods of Uí Néill and Laigin, in the town of Temair, at which were present many anchorites and scribes, led by Dubliter.
U811.2
The fair of Tailtiu was prevented from being held on Saturday under the aegis of Aed son of Niall, neither horse nor chariot arriving there. It was the community of Tamlacht who caused the boycott after the Uí Néill had violated the sanctuary of Tamlacht of Mael Ruain; and many gifts were subsequently made to the community of Tamlacht.
And after the Vikings…
U817.7
Mael Dúin son of Cenn Faelad, superior of Ráith Both, a member of Colum Cille's community, was slain.
U817.8
Colum Cille's community went to Temair to excommunicate Aed.
U831.5
The fair of Tailtiu was disturbed at the platforms owing to dissension over the shrine of MacCuilinn and the halidoms of Patrick, and many died as a result.
And after the Vikings…
U832.1
The first plundering of Ard Macha by the heathens three times in one month.
U832.2
The plundering of Mucnám, Lugbad, Uí Méith, Druim Moccu Blae, and other churches.
U832.3
The plundering of Dam Liac and the sept of the Cianacht with all their churches by the heathens.
U832.4
Ailill son of Colgu was taken captive by the heathens.
And after the Vikings….
U832.5
Tuathal son of Feradach was taken away by the heathens, and Adamnán's shrine from Domnach Maigen.
U832.6
Ráith Luraig and Connaire were plundered by the heathens.
U833.5
Cluain Dolcáin was plundered by the heathens
U833.6
Cellach son of Bran routed the community of Cell Dara in a battle in their monastery, many being killed, on St. John's day in the autumn 29 Aug..
Some references to size…
U806.8
The community of Í, to the number of sixty-eight, was killed by the heathens.
U817.5
Cathal son of Dúnlang and the community of Tech Munna won a battle against the community of Ferna, in which four hundred were slain.
Christianity introduced to Ireland sometime at the very end of the 4th century AD or early in the 5th century AD
Initial Christianisation appears to occur in the south half of Ireland and spreads to the northern half by around 450-460 AD
Our only undisputed source for this period are the two documents written by St Patrick – his Confessio and letter to Coroticus, both providing our only eyewitness account of mid-5th century Ireland.
Confessio – St Patrick’s Confession
Ogham (map)
Distribution of ogham is believed to reflect areas Christianised at in the earliest stages (before 450 AD).
Little other physical evidence of this episode.
Confessio – St Patrick’s Confession
Letter to Coroticus
Who was Patrick?
Bannaventa
Confessio
I was taken into captivity in Ireland with many thousands of people, according to our desserts, for quite drawn away from God, we did not keep his precepts, nor were we obedient to our priests who used to remind us of our salvation.
And therefore for some time I have thought of writing, but I have hesitated until now, for truly, I feared to expose myself to the criticism of men, because I have not studied like others, who have assimilated both Law and the Holy Scriptures equally and have never changed their idiom since their infancy, but instead were always learning it increasingly, to perfection, while my idiom and language have been translated into a foreign tongue.
Confessio
A young man, almost a beardless boy, I was taken captive before I knew what I should desire and what I should shun.
And again, the Spirit witnessed that the rustic life was created by the Most High ... I am, then, first of all, countrified, an exile, evidently unlearned, one who is not able to see into the future, but I know for certain, that before I was humbled I was like a stone lying in deep mire, and he that is mighty came and in his mercy raised me up and, indeed, lifted me high up and placed me on top of the wall.
Confessio
But after I reached Ireland I used to pasture the flock each day and I used to pray many times a day. More and more did the love of God, and my fear of him and faith increase, and my spirit was moved so that in a day [I said] from one up to a hundred prayers, and in the night a like number; besides I used to stay out in the forests and on the mountain and I would wake up before daylight to pray in the snow, in icy coldness, in rain, and I used to feel neither ill nor any slothfulness, because, as I now see, the Spirit was burning in me at that time.
Confessio
And it was there of course that one night in my sleep I heard a voice saying to me: 'You … soon you will depart for your home country.' And again, a very short time later, there was a voice prophesying: 'Behold, your ship is ready.'
And it was not close by, but, as it happened, two hundred miles away, where I had never been nor knew any person. And shortly thereafter I turned about and fled from the man with whom I had been for six years, and I came, by the power of God who directed my route to advantage (and I was afraid of nothing), until I reached that ship.
200 Miles?
200 Roman miles to a ship (equivalent to c. 185 modern miles).
Later on ‘Foclut’ is mentioned as where he stayed. It's location is uncertain. Tírechán (7th century) indicates that it was on the Mayo-Sligo border, near Killala.
Confessio
And on the same day that I arrived, the ship was setting out from the place, and I said that I had the wherewithal to sail with them; and the steersman was displeased and replied in anger, sharply: 'By no means attempt to go with us.' Hearing this I left them to go to the hut where I was staying, and on the way I began to pray, and before the prayer was finished I heard one of them shouting loudly after me: 'Come quickly because the men are calling you.' And immediately I went back to them and they started to say to me: 'Come, because we are admitting you out of good faith; make friendship with us in any way you wish.'
Confessio
And after three days (sail) we reached land, and for twenty-eight days journeyed through uninhabited country, and the food ran out and hunger overtook them; and one day the steersman began saying: 'Why is it, Christian? You say your God is great and all-powerful; then why can you not pray for us? For we may perish of hunger; it is unlikely indeed that we shall ever see another human being.' In fact, I said to them, confidently: 'Be converted by faith with all your heart to my Lord God, because nothing is impossible for him, so that today he will send food for you on your road, until you be sated, because everywhere he abounds.'
Confessio
And with God's help this came to pass; and behold, a herd of swine appeared on the road before our eyes, and they slew many of them, and remained there for two nights, and they were full of their meat and well restored, for many of them had fainted and would otherwise have been left half-dead by the wayside. And after this they gave the utmost thanks to God, and I was esteemed in their eyes, and from that day they had food abundantly. They discovered wild honey, besides, and they offered a share to me, and one of them said: 'It is a sacrifice.' Thanks be to God, I tasted none of it.
Confessio
And a second time, after many years, I was taken captive. On the first night I accordingly remained with my captors, but I heard a divine prophecy, saying to me: 'You shall be with them for two months. So it happened. On the sixtieth night the Lord delivered me from their hands.
On the journey he provided us with food and fire and dry weather every day, until on the tenth day we came upon people. As I mentioned above, we had journeyed through an unpopulated country for twenty-eight days, and in fact the night that we came upon people we had no food.
And after a few years I was again in Britain with my family, and they welcomed me as a son, and asked me, in faith, that after the great tribulations I had endured I should not go anywhere else away from them.
Confessio
... in a vision of the night, I saw a man whose name was Victoricus coming … from Ireland with innumerable letters, and he gave me one of them, and I read the beginning of the letter: 'The Voice of the Irish', and as I was reading the beginning of the letter I seemed at that moment to hear the voice of those who were beside the forest of Foclut which is near the western sea, and they were crying as if with one voice: 'We beg you, holy youth, that you shall come and shall walk again among us...
... I was attacked by a goodly number of my elders, who [brought up] my sins against my arduous episcopate ... I pray God that it shall not be held against them as a sin that I fell truly into disgrace and scandal.
Confessio
They brought up against me after thirty years an occurrence I had confessed before becoming a deacon. On account of the anxiety in my sorrowful mind, I laid before my close friend what I had perpetrated on a day-- nay, rather in one hour-- in my boyhood because I was not yet proof against sin. God knows-- I do not-- whether I was fifteen years old at the time, and I did not then believe in the living God, nor had I believed, since my infancy; but I remained in death and unbelief until I was severely rebuked, and in truth I was humbled every day by hunger and nakedness.
On the other hand, I did not proceed to Ireland of my own accord until I was almost giving up, but through this I was corrected by the Lord, and he prepared me …
Confessio
'See, the rank of bishop goes to you‘ … of which I was not worthy. But how did it come to him, shortly afterwards, to disgrace me publicly, in the presence of all, good and bad …
I will tell briefly how most holy God frequently delivered me, from slavery, and from the twelve trials with which my soul was threatened, from man traps as well, and from things I am not able to put into words.
...And many gifts were offered to me with weeping and tears, and I offended the donors ... endure insults from unbelievers ... that I might hear scandal of my travels, and endure many persecutions to the extent of prison ... and so that I might give up my free birthright for the advantage of others ...
Confessio
So, how is it that in Ireland, where they never had any knowledge of God but, always, until now, cherished idols and unclean things, they are lately become a people of the Lord … the sons of the Irish and the daughters of the chieftains are to be seen as monks and virgins of Christ.
And there was, besides, a most beautiful, blessed, native-born noble Irish woman of adult age whom I baptized; and a few days later she had reason to come to us to intimate that she had received a prophecy from a divine messenger advising her that she should become a virgin of Christ and she would draw nearer to God. Thanks be to God, six days from then, opportunely and most eagerly, she took the course that all virgins of God take, not with their fathers' consent but enduring the persecutions and deceitful hindrances of their parents.
Confessio
Notwithstanding that, their number increases, (we do not know the number of them that are so reborn) besides the widows, and those who practise self-denial. Those who are kept in slavery suffer the most. They endure terrors and constant threats, but the Lord has given grace to many of his handmaidens, for even though they are forbidden to do so, still they resolutely follow his example.
Confessio
And I gave back again to my Christian brethren and the virgins of Christ and the holy women the small unasked for gifts that they used to give me or some of their ornaments which they used to throw on the altar. And they would be offended with me because I did this. But in the hope of eternity, I safeguarded myself carefully in all things, so that they might not cheat me of my office of service on any pretext of dishonesty, and so that I should not in the smallest way provide any occasion for defamation or disparagement on the part of unbelievers.
Confessio
What is more, when I baptized so many thousands of people, did I hope for even half a jot from any of them? Tell me, and I will give it back to you. And when the Lord ordained clergy everywhere by my humble means, and I freely conferred office on them, if I asked any of them anywhere even for the price of one shoe, say so to my face and I will give it back ... And I went about among you, and everywhere for your sake, in danger, and as far as the outermost regions beyond which no one lived, and where no one had ever penetrated before, to baptize or to ordain clergy or to confirm people.
Confessio
From time to time I gave rewards to the kings, as well as making payments to their sons who travel with me; notwithstanding which, they seized me with my companions, and that day most avidly desired to kill me ... they plundered everything they found on us anyway, and fettered me in irons; and on the fourteenth day the Lord freed me from their power, and whatever they had of ours was given back to us for the sake of God on account of the indispensable friends whom we had made before.
Confessio
For the sun we see rises each day for us at his command, but it will never reign, neither will its splendour last, but all who worship it will come wretchedly to punishment. We, on the other hand, shall not die, who believe in and worship the true sun, Christ, who will never die, no more shall he die who has done Christ's will, but will abide for ever just as Christ abides for ever, who reigns with God the Father Almighty and with the Holy Spirit before the beginning of time and now and for ever and ever. Amen.
Letter To Coroticus
I, Patrick, a sinner, unlearned, resident in Ireland, declare myself to be a bishop ... And so I live among barbarians, a stranger and exile for the love of God.
I have written ... these words, to be given, delivered, and sent to the soldiers of Coroticus; I do not say, to my fellow citizens, or to fellow citizens of the holy Romans, but to fellow citizens of the demons, because of their evil works. Like our enemies, they live in death, allies of the Irish and the apostate Picts. Dripping with blood, they welter in the blood of innocent Christians, whom I have begotten into the number for God and confirmed in Christ!
Letter To Coroticus
The day after the newly baptized, anointed with chrism, in white garments had been slain — the fragrance was still on their foreheads when they were butchered and slaughtered with the sword by the above-mentioned people — I sent a letter with a holy presbyter whom I had taught from his childhood, clerics accompanying him, asking them to let us have some of the booty, and of the baptized they had made captives. They only jeered at them. Hence I do not know what to lament more: those who have been slain, or those whom they have taken captive, or those whom the devil has mightily ensnared. Together with him they will be slaves in Hell in an eternal punishment; for who commits sin is a slave and will be called a son of the devil.
... ravening wolves that "eat the people of the Lord as they eat bread!"
Letter To Coroticus
... I was freeborn according to the flesh. I am the son of a decurion. But I sold my noble rank I am neither ashamed nor sorry for the good of others. Thus I am a servant in Christ to a foreign nation for the unspeakable glory of life everlasting which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
And if my own people do not know me, a prophet has no honor in his own country .Perhaps we are not of the same fold and have not one and the same God as father, as is written: "He that is not with me, is against me, and he that gathers not with me, scatters." It is not right that one destroys, another builds up. I seek not the things that are mine.
It is not my grace, but God who has given this solicitude into my heart, to be one of His hunters or fishers whom God once foretold would come in the last days.
Letter To Coroticus
I am hated. What shall I do, Lord? I am most despised. Look, Thy sheep around me are tom to pieces and driven away, and that by those robbers, by the orders of the hostile-minded Coroticus. Far from the love of God is a man who hands over Christians to the Picts and Scots. Ravening wolves have devoured the flock of the Lord, which in Ireland was indeed growing splendidly with the greatest care; and the sons and daughters of kings were monks and virgins of Christ — I cannot count their number. Wherefore, be not pleased with the wrong done to the just; even to hell it shall not please. Who of the saints would not shudder to be merry with such persons or to enjoy a meal with them? They have filled their houses with the spoils of dead Christians, they live on plunder. They do not know, the wretches, that what they offer their friends and sons as food is deadly poison, just as Eve did not understand that it was death she gave to her husband. So are all that do evil: they work death as their eternal punishment.
Letter To Coroticus
This is the custom of the Roman Christians of Gaul: they send holy and able men to the Franks and other heathen with so many thousand solidi to ransom baptized captives. You prefer to kill and sell them to a foreign nation that has no knowledge of God. You betray the members of Christ as it were into a brothel.
Hence the Church mourns and laments her sons and daughters whom the sword has not yet slain, but who were removed and carried off to faraway lands, where sin abounds openly, grossly, impudently. There people who were freeborn have, been sold, Christians made slaves, and that, too, in the service of the abominable, wicked, and apostate Picts!
Letter To Coroticus
"Without are dogs, and sorcerers,... and murderers; and liars and perjurers have their portion in the pool of everlasting fire."
Where, then, will Coroticus with his criminals, rebels against Christ, where will they see themselves, they who distribute baptized women as prizes — for a miserable temporal kingdom, which will pass away in a moment?
Earliest Christian Sites and Monuments?
The earliest churches in Ireland are hard to identify as they were of wood and may not have been different from other buildings.
The types of churches and ecclesiastical buildings that pre-date the introduction of the Romanesque architectural style (11th century), or at the very least overlap with it’s appearance include:
Wooden churches
Tomb shrines
Gallarus-type churches
Stone churches with timber roof and antae
Stone churches with a vaulted roof
Round towers
Ecclesiastical enclosures in towns
Armagh: ecclesiastical capital of Ireland.
Dublin
This is from John Rocques map of Dublin in the 1750s. The street pattern encloses St. Peters.
Dublin
This is a close up of the map. Is the east-west building St. Peters??
Dublin: St. Peters based on excavations.
Moyne, near Shrule, County Mayo
Moyne, near Shrule, County Mayo
Book of Kells
Depiction of a church.
But – is this the illustrators imaginative drawing or is it real?
Book of Kells
There are some early depictions of churches, such as this one from the Book of Kells, which are our main source for the earliest sites.
Shrines
Many relics of early saints were incased in shrines shaped like buildings (this one is from Emly) – are these similar to the early churches?
Clonmore
The Clonmore shrine is believed to be the oldest known example of Irish Christian metalwork.
Dates to the second half o the 7th century.
Also demonstrates that ‘Christian’ metalwork is a relatively late feature.
Early Churches
Other sources also hint at the shape of these early churches.
This is the South Cross at Monasterboice.
Early Churches
The top of the cross is often shaped like churches.
Early churches
The shapes of these churchbuildings are indicated in many places – such as the Emly shrine, the finial of the south cross at Monasterboice or the buildings described in the Hisperica Famina and the Life of St. Brigid.
Textual sources
A number of early texts (7th century AD) provide descriptions of churches that allow us to make some reconstruction of how they looked.
Vita secunda Sanctuae Brigidae
Hisperica Famina
Excavation?
A few examples of possible wooden churches have been excavated.
In general, all that survives are traces of a wooden structure at a known church site.
Their interpretation as churches is uncertain!
Church Island, Kerry
Derry, Down
Wooden structure pre-dates a church with projecting antae.
Again it is early – but is it a church??
Carnsore, Wexford
There was a wooden structure beneath a later church at Carnsore. It is proportionally similar to the later church. It was dated to 641-940 AD.
Early Churches
The real or re-constructed plans of these churches do not match the earliest stone churches – so they probably reflect styles of building of timber churches.
Timber Churches
Some were evidently quite large, as indicated by a grim entry in the Annals of Ulster for 850, which records the burning of 260 people in a wooden church at Trevet in county Meath.
The introduction of Stone Churches
One of the most fundamental changes that took place in Irish church architecture was the introduction of stone as the primary building material. The development of stone building was a slow process but also reflected the growing size and wealth of the communities.
Resistance to the use of stone might be seen as a preference for the more plentiful and easily worked wood as well as continued veneration of existing wooden buildings that accrued value through use and tradition.
Introduction of Stone Churches to Ireland
Contrary to the prevailing impression, the stone church - or 'daimhliag' - was not fireproof, since such buildings were generally covered by timber-framed roofs.
The occasional stone church existed in the pre-Viking period:
there was one at Duleek in the 7th century
And, another at Armagh in 789.
Outside major centers like Kells and Armagh, however, they remained rare until the 10th century.
It may be significant that the first stone church recorded in the annals was built at Armagh, the monastery which claimed to be the centre of Christian Ireland.
Stone Churches
The development of stone building probably evolved through a desire for greater status and prestige but also relied on the growing size and wealth of the community.
Further, stone buildings were more durable and, if not completely immune from the ravages of fire due to continued use of wooden roofs, there was certainly some improvement in the safety and reliability of the structures.
Early Stone Churches
The common characteristics of stone churches in major monasteries may be assessed according to a variety of criteria.
They were single cell structures, often with a length to breadth ratio of 3 (such as St Fecthins at Fore, Co. Westmeath, below)
Stone Churches with a 3:1 ratio
This is the cathedral at Glendalough – not the extent of the original cathedral rather than the 12th century extension).
Early Churches – windows?
Window design and the problem of glazing offers another point of interest. Windows tend to be very small, their heads either triangular or round-headed. In the latter case they are often cut from a single stone, rather than constructed as a genuine arch (the example here is from Gallarus).
There is no evidence, either from documentary or archaeological indications, for the use of glass but, given its use in Anglo-Saxon England, it is hard to believe that it was unknown in Ireland.
At the very least wooden shutters must have been essential in adverse weather.
Early Churches - Doorways
The west wall of the early churches invariably contained a lintelled doorway with inclined jambs, framed in some cases by an 'architrave' band projecting from the surface in thin relief.
Though deceptively simple in form, the doorways are built of well-dressed stone, robust and imposing in appearance.
Fine examples are found at Fore, St. Fechin's and St. Mary's Church at Glendalough.
Fore, St. Fechin’s
Note the band in relief around the door – it is carved in the stone to retain the shape of the door, even though the stone is not the correct shapes.
St. Mary’s Church Glendalough
Note the angle of the jambs of the door and how the shape is cut into the stone.
Tomb Shrines
The earliest church like buildings are those often described as Tomb Shrines.
These are mortared church buildings located in a primary position at a church site.
These include examples such as St Ciarans in Clonmacnoise and St Declans at Ardmore.
Some have been investigated and samples of mortar from the structures were analysed and pieces of charcoal which were included in the mortar during manufacture have dated these Tomb Shrines to before 1000 AD.
No clear examples in the immediate vicinity of Dublin.
Inishcleraun, Co. Longford
Example of a Tomb Shrine.
Built of quite small limestone blocks, which are not typical of early churches.
Shows the difficulty in identifying these early sites.
St Declans Oratory, Ardmore, Co. Waterford
St Declans is another eary tomb shrine, although largely re-built.
Devenish, Co. Fermanagh St. Molaise House
Tomb shrine built as late as 12th century AD – showing they continuing being built to this date.
Gallarus-type churches
Only known from south-west.
Notoriously difficult to date. But probably later than 10th century.
Example on the left is Gallarus itself (before the site was cleaned up).
Gallarus
Doorway is similar to those at churches with antae.
Window has a hint of Romanesque (round-headed arch) – suggesting a date from the mid-11th century onwards.
Gallarus
Interior of buildings seems very dark – but this is an illusion – although little light penetrates, this allows for more strict control of light, aromas, noise etc to distinguish it clearly from the outside world.
May have been seen as a way of helping define the buildings as God’s house?
Unusual style of church.
Church Island, Kerry
Early Churches - Derry, Co. Down
We know from historical dates of some churches that they begin to appear in the 10th century AD.
We know from excavation that some are later than timber churches.
Stone churches
We have a strong tradition of building churches in mortared masonry from around the 10th century onwards (this is Kill of the Grange on the right).
Early Stone Churches – Dalkey Island
The main features of this type of stone church are – they are aligned east-west, as is traditional for christian churches.
The roof is not vaulted, but is made of timber.
Early Stone Churches – Dalkey Island
The walls are generally faced in stone with a clay or rubble core.
There are projections at either gable, called antae.
There is only a single room (i.e. the churches are unicameral).
Stone Churches and Liturgy
There was a preference for small churches, which did not allow for elaborate liturgical ceremonies within the building.
It is likely that some important ceremonies took place outside. The churches were not usually divided in separate sections, and the chancels visible today generally represent later additions.
Furnishings included an altar, shrines with relics of the ancient Irish saints, hanging crowns, as well as paintings, though none of the latter survive. .
Ahenny, Co. Tipperary
These are the north cross (top) and south cross (bottom) at Ahenny at Kilclispin.
They are among the earliest high crosses that were manufactured and represent a translation into stone of a style of wood and metal crosses.
They are over 3 m in height.
They date to the late 8th to the early 9th century AD.
North Cross Ahenny, Co. Tipperary
This is a panel decorated with enamel studs that would be attached to a wooden cross (from Antrim)
Not the position of the rivet holes.
North Cross (west face) Ahenny, Co. Tipperary
Or compare this example from the Ardagh chalice
Killamery, Co. Kilkenny
Note the position of the finial
These mimic the shape of churches.
What about the earlier capstones (e.g. Ahenny)??
Killamery, Co. Kilkenny
Dating High Crosses can be fairly straightforward.
Killamery contains the inscription: ‘OR DO MAELSECHNAILL’ [Pray for Maelsechnaill].
Maelsechnaill was High King from 846-862 AD.
Cross Slabs
Some examples of crosses carved on slab like stones (this example is from Killegar)
Cross Slabs
Their true function isn’t clear as they don’t always mark graves.
Some are upright, others lie flat (this example is from Whitechurch).
Rathdown Slabs
Decorated slabs: found only in South Dublin and Wicklow
Style is a mixture of Irish and Norse (Hiberno-Norse)
Bullaun Stones
Usually natural rocks or boulders with deliberate hollows.
Often found on ecclesiastical sites.
Their origin and date is obscure, but they are at least medieval in date.
The Church before the Vikings
This is a brief survey of the references to various abbeys in the Annals of Ulster before the first Viking raids (remember this is only one of the annals – and only references to the 8th century AD!!):
U710.2
The burning of Cell Dara.
U719.9
The killing of the community of Suibne in Ard Macha.
Before the Vikings
U723.1
The burning of Cluain Moccu Nóis.
U749.3
The burning of Cluain Ferta Brénainn.
U749.4
The burning of Cell Mór of Aedán son of Aengus.
Before the Vikings
U750.1
The burning of Fobar, and the burning of Domnach Pátraic.
U750.2
Death of Suairlech, bishop of Fobar.
U756.1
The burning of Bennchor the Great on St Patrick's Day [17th] March.
Before the Vikings
U760.8
A battle between the communities of Cluain and Biror in Móin Choise Blae.
U762.2
The killing of bishop Eóthigern by a priest in the oratory of Cell Dara. A great disturbance in Ard Macha on Quinquagesima day, in which Condálach son of Ailill fell.
Before the Vikings
U764.6
The battle of Argaman between the community of Cluain Moccu Nóis and the community of Dermag, in which fell Diarmait Dub son of Domnall, and Diglach son of Dub Lis, and two hundred men of the community of Dermag. Bresal, son of Murchad, emerged victor, with the community of Cluain.
Before the Vikings
U775.2
The burning of Ard Macha.
U775.3
The burning of Cell Dara.
U775.4
The burning of Glenn dá Locha.
Before the Vikings
U778.2
The burning of Cluain Moccu Nóis on the sixth of the Ides [10th] of July.
U779.4
The burning of Cell Dara on the third of the Ides [11th] of June.
U779.5
The burning of Cluain Mór Maedóc.
U779.6
The burning of Cell Deilge.
U783.6
A battle in Ferna Mór between the abbot and the steward, i.e. between Cathal and Fiannachtach.
How useful are the annals?
U735.6
A huge dragon was seen, with great thunder after it, at the end of autumn.
U746.2
Dragons were seen in the sky.
U749.9
Ships with their crews were seen in the air above Cluain Moccu Nóis.
Other hints of how abbeys function: Relics
U734.3
The bringing on tour of the relics of Peter, Paul and Patrick to fulfil the law; and the slaying of Coibdenach son of Flann grandson of Congal.
U743.11
The taking on tour of the relics of Trian of Cell Deilge; and the bolgach was rampant.
U776.5
The taking on tour of the relics of St Erc of Sláine and of the relics of Finnian of Cluain Iraird.
U784.9
The coming of the relics of Erc's son to the city of Tailtiu.
Travelling Relic shows
U785.2
The taking on tour of the relics of Ultán.
U790.5
The taking on tour of the relics of Caemgein and of Mo-Chua moccu Lugedon.
U789.17
Dishonouring of the staff of Jesus and relics of Patrick by Donnchad son of Domnall at Ráith Airthir at an assembly.
U793.5
The taking on tour of the relics of Tóla.
Relics
U818.4
Cuanu, abbot of Lugmad, went into exile into the lands of Mumu with the shrine of Mochta.
U818.5
Artrí, superior of Ard Macha, went to Connacht with the shrine of Patrick.
U819.8
At Ard Macha Whitsun 5 June was not publicly celebrated nor the shrine taken on tour; and there was a disturbance in which the son of Echaid son of Fiachna fell.
When the Vikings appear…
U798.2
The burning of Inis Pátraic by the heathens, and they took the cattle-tribute of the territories, and broke the shrine of Do-Chonna, and also made great incursions both in Ireland and in Alba.
U800.6
The placing of the relics of Conlaed in a shrine of gold and silver.
U801.1
The placing of the relics of Rónán son of Berach in a gold and silver casket.
Offices performed by the abbots
U804.7
A meeting of the synods of the Uí Néill in Dún Cuair, presided over by Connmach, abbot of Ard Macha.
U804.8
This year, moreover, the clerics of Ireland were freed by Aed Oirdnide, at the behest of Fothad of the Canon, from the obligation of attendance on expeditions and hostings.
Offices performed by the abbots
U780.12
A congress of the synods of Uí Néill and Laigin, in the town of Temair, at which were present many anchorites and scribes, led by Dubliter.
U811.2
The fair of Tailtiu was prevented from being held on Saturday under the aegis of Aed son of Niall, neither horse nor chariot arriving there. It was the community of Tamlacht who caused the boycott after the Uí Néill had violated the sanctuary of Tamlacht of Mael Ruain; and many gifts were subsequently made to the community of Tamlacht.
And after the Vikings…
U817.7
Mael Dúin son of Cenn Faelad, superior of Ráith Both, a member of Colum Cille's community, was slain.
U817.8
Colum Cille's community went to Temair to excommunicate Aed.
U831.5
The fair of Tailtiu was disturbed at the platforms owing to dissension over the shrine of MacCuilinn and the halidoms of Patrick, and many died as a result.
And after the Vikings…
U832.1
The first plundering of Ard Macha by the heathens three times in one month.
U832.2
The plundering of Mucnám, Lugbad, Uí Méith, Druim Moccu Blae, and other churches.
U832.3
The plundering of Dam Liac and the sept of the Cianacht with all their churches by the heathens.
U832.4
Ailill son of Colgu was taken captive by the heathens.
And after the Vikings….
U832.5
Tuathal son of Feradach was taken away by the heathens, and Adamnán's shrine from Domnach Maigen.
U832.6
Ráith Luraig and Connaire were plundered by the heathens.
U833.5
Cluain Dolcáin was plundered by the heathens
U833.6
Cellach son of Bran routed the community of Cell Dara in a battle in their monastery, many being killed, on St. John's day in the autumn 29 Aug..
Some references to size…
U806.8
The community of Í, to the number of sixty-eight, was killed by the heathens.
U817.5
Cathal son of Dúnlang and the community of Tech Munna won a battle against the community of Ferna, in which four hundred were slain.
European exploration 1500-1600
European Exploration 1500-1600
As Europe’s population recovered from the Black Death, the demand for trade goods grew.
Europeans wanted spices but not to pay the prices dictated by (mainly) Islamic traders (trade was also endangered by the fall of Constantinople to the Turks in 1453).
European merchants wanted to gain direct access to the riches of Asia.
Some voyagers still wanted to crusade against the Muslims.
Others were inspired by the Renaissance spirit of Marco Polo and others to learn about distant lands.
European Exploration 1500-1600
The general historical chronology is well-known.
But why had Europe not explored the west before?
What was different about the late-15th century?
What were the impacts of the so-called Columban exchange?
The World
Typical modern world map
Pre-existing limitations to Exploration
Compasses were very simple and maps either imaginative, fragmentary, or non-existent.
Enemies – for many European states that had begun to develop their naval capabilities, exploration might mean navigating through unfriendly waters.
Disease/death/starvation during an expedition
Fear of falling off the earth (e.g. world map from the Apocalypse of Saint-Sever, dated 1050 AD)!
Compass: China
Disagreement over when and where the compass was invented.
The earliest Chinese literature reference to magnetism lies in the 4th century BC book Book of the Devil Valley Master which states that "The lodestone makes iron come or it attracts it.“
The compass, or ‘south pointer’, could be carried with jade hunters to prevent them from getting lost during their journeys.
Compass: China
The first mention of the attraction of a needle by a magnet is in the Louen-heng or ‘Discourses weighed in the Balance’ (70 and 80 AD): "A lodestone attracts a needle.“
A Song Dynasty book, Wujing Zongyao (Collection of the Most Important Military Techniques), dated to 1040-44 describes an iron "south-pointing fish" floating in a bowl of water which is recommended as a means of orientation at night.
Compass: China
The first definite reference to a magnetized needle in Chinese literature appears in 1088.
The Dream Pool Essays, written by Shen Kuo, contained a detailed description of how to magnetize a needle by rubbing its tip with lodestone and hang it from a single strain of silk so that it sometimes pointed south, sometimes north.
Compass: China
The earliest recorded actual use of a magnetized needle for navigational purposes is found in Zhu Yu's book Pingzhou Table Talks of 1119 (written from 1111 to 1117): “The navigator knows the geography, he watches the stars at night, watches the sun at day; when it is dark and cloudy, he watches the compass.”
The first clear use of a magnetic direction finder occurred before 1044, but clear evidence for the use of the compass as a navigational device first appears in 1119.
Compass: China
Song and Yuan Dynasty: dry compass was in use as described in the Shilin Guangji (Guide Through the Forest of Affairs), from 1325 (written 1100 to 1250).
Shilin Guangji apart, some claim that Chinese mariners only ever used the floating needle in a bowl until the 16th-century European contacts.
Compass: China
The use of a 48 position mariner's compass appears in “The Customs of Cambodia” by Yuan dynasty diplomat Zhou Daguan, describing his 1296 voyage from Wenzhou to Angkor Thom in detail; when his ship set sailed from Wenzhou, the mariner took a needle direction of “ding wei” position, which is equivalent to 22.5 degree SW. After they arrived at Baria, he took "Kun Shen needle" , or 52.5 degree SW.
Zheng He's Navigation Map, also known as "The Mao Kun Map", contains a large number of "needle records" of Zheng He's travel (i.e. bearings).
Diffusion or invention?
Did the compass travel from China to Europe or the Middle East via the Silk Road or was it independently created in Europe (and diffused from there to the Middle East and got called al-konbas).
The first European reference to a magnetized needle and its use among sailors occurs in Alexander Neckam's De naturis rerum (On the Natures of Things), written in Paris in 1190.
In the Arab world, first reference is from 1282 (The Book of the Merchants' Treasure), by Baylak al-Kibjaki of Cairo. There is also a reference to an iron fish-like compass in a Persian talebook from 1232.
Independent European invention?
The arguments against the independent invention of the magnetic compass in Europe are credible.
The close dates of the Chinese navigational compass (1117) and its first appearance in Europe (1190).
The common form of the early compass as a magnetized needle floating in a bowl of water.
Absence of prior knowledge in Europe of magnetism.
Remaining issue is over how it got from China to Europe in mid-1100s – it seems it must have passed through Islamic hands (despite not being mentioned in Arabic sources until mid-1200s).
Medieval European compasses
Pivoting compass needle in a 14th century copy of Epistola de magnete of Peter Peregrinus (1269)
In Europe, the compass, improved dead reckoning, and Portolan charts, allowed winter sailing (and increased and less-hazardous journeys) from the second half of the 13th century.
Navigational Improvements: Jacob’s staff
Originally for astronomical measurements, developed in 1300s by Jacob ben Makir of Provence and described by Levi ben Gerson.
Shen Kuo (1031–1095) describes it in his Song Dynasty Dream Pool Essays (1088).
Employed in Indian, where it was known as Yasti-yantra by the time of Bhāskara II (1114–1185).
By 1514, Johannes Werner suggested it be used for navigation at sea.
John Dee introduced it to England in the 1550s.
A Jacob's staff, from John Sellers' Practical Navigation (1672)
Astrolabe
Known in classical Europe, medieval re-introduction from the Arab world, via Spain in the mid-1020s.
From about 1480 navigators began to carry modified versions we now refer to as `Mariners Astrolabes'.
Enabled East -West travel with the movable arm (alidade) sighted on the North star to measure the angle of its height of the north star above the horizon.
With the panorganon (quadrant) distances could be reliably calculated.
T-O Maps
7th century scholar Isidore of Seville in his Etymologiae did identify the earth as a sphere although the southern hemisphere was believed uninhabitable.
A 12th century copy includes this schematic T-O map.
The T is the Mediterranean, the O is the Ocean around the three landmasses – Asia, Europe and Africa.
Mappa Mundi
More detailed maps, the mappa mundi are known from around 1100 surviving medieval examples.
The Tabula Rogeriana, drawn by Muhammad al-Idrisi for Roger II of Sicily in 1154 and preserved in the Bibliotheque nationale de France
Mappa Mundi
Detail of the Tabula Rogeriana.
Despite the limitations much is clearly recognisable.
From 12th century ships often had a manuscript detailing sailing distances between ports, capes etc.
Portolan Chart
Carte Pisane (Portolan Chart) from 1296.
The straight lines represent the 32 directions of the mariner's compass.
This improves the capacity for sea travel.
Catalan Atlas (1375)
Most important Catalan map of the period. It was produced by the Majorcan cartographic school and is attributed to Cresques Abraham.
Portolans were mainly a Mediterranean phenomenon.
Rutters
Northern version of portolans: small pocket books with courses between ports and distances but in addition they also had soundings and data on tides.
Only a very few survive from before the early sixteenth century but their numbers rose sharply after 1500 when printers began to produce more of them and with longer pressruns.
Early examples, like Das Seebuch, also included descriptions of the western front of Europe.
Le routier de la mer ascribed to Pierre Garcie was printed in Rouen between 1502 and 1510.
Jan Severszoon's De Kaert van der Zee of 1532 was followed by an enlarged version in 1541 and then a series of new editions through to 1588.
Columbus in the context of Portugese in Africa
During the 15th century Portugese sailors pioneered the routes down the Atlantic coast towards the Cape of Good Hope – led by Henry the Navigator, Fernão Gomes, Fernão do Pó., Diogo Cão and João Afonso d'Aveiros.
Finally, in 1488, Bartolomeu Dias and his pilot Pêro de Alenquer, turned a cape where they were caught by a storm, naming it Cape of Storms.
Afterwards the Portugese pushed on and made contact with Indians and Chinese, provoking Egypt and Venice.
Spain joined the race by sponsoring Columbus to seek a western passage to India.
Inter caetera was a papal bull issued by Pope Alexander VI on 4 May 1493 to resolve sovereignty issues.
Earlier Contact: Olmecs 1200 BC – 400 BC?
Located in Mexico (near Veracruz)
Grew corn beans and squash primarily
Vast trade networks, encompassing very diverse areas, but small territory relative to land available- no empire/political unification
Each center seems to have fallen due to a violent rebellion (defaced monuments)
Colossal mounds used in religious ceremonies, importance of animal motifs, calendar/writing
Clear social structure, elites controlled labor pool (increased food production), merchants
Olmec Colossal Heads
African features are regularly commented upon – indicating contact?
St Brendan
5th-6th century Irish saint.
Supposed to have found a land to the west as told in a Gaelic immram.
Popularised in medieval texts in German, through earlier contacts with Irish sources.
This is from a Dutch version (Des Reis van Sint Brandaen) dating to the 12th century which derives from an earlier (lost) German version of Navigatio Sancti Brendani.
The Vinland Sagas
We know the Vikings were there.
Helge Ingstad unearthed the ruins of an ancient Norse village near L’Anse aux Meadows on the north coast of Newfoundland, conclusively proving that the Vikings has established a settlement in North America 1000 years previously.
Henry Sinclair
Claimed to have led expeditions to Greenland and onwards to Nova Scotia in the late 14th century.
Based on letters and a map ascribed to the Venetian Zeno brothers and published in 1558, although their authenticity has not be established.
The letters describe a voyage taken by a ‘Zichmni’ around the year 1398 to Greenland that actually reached North America.
It is claimed that Zichmni is Henry Sinclair.
Basque Whalers
Claimed to have had knowledge of America through whale-fishing in the medieval period.
Known to have come to North America in 1517 and soon 2,000 Arrantzales are estimated to have set sail every year from Basque ports to the St. Lawrence River.
Longer term stations were set up (eg Saddle Island below).
João Vaz Corte Real
João Vaz Corte Real made a voyage of discovery (1472) to Greenland and Newfoundland with two Danish pilots named Pining and Pothorst.
Found Terra Nova do Bacalhau ‘New Isle of Codfish’ which was named on later maps.
Some claim it is modern Baccalieu Island off the Canadian coast.
Columbus and the “Enterprise of the Indies”
Columbus left Spain in 1492 to discover a trade route to the Orient.
Spanish Monarchs commissioned the trip as they sought to compete with Portuguese domination of the Oriental Spice Trade.
Columbus had, in fact, landed in the Caribbean and hadn’t realized what he had found even when he died.
This is a 1493 engraving showing King Ferdinand overseeing his journey to the New World.
Columbus
Believed to be Italian (but was only literate in Spanish).
Worked for Spain.
Landed in San Salvador on Oct. 12, 1492, with 3 ships & 87 men.
Had a very peaceful first encounter with the Indians and wrote “they invite you to share anything they posses & show as much love as if their hearts went with it….with 50 men, they could be subjugated & compelled to do anything one wishes!”
He left 40 men & returned to Spain with 12 Indians to give as presents to the King & Queen.
Columbus’ Second Trip
He brought 17 ships & 1200 Spaniards, but they were not greeted peacefully.
The Indians attacked & killed 10 Spaniards. Columbus retaliated by killing all the Indians, burning their villages & enslaved over 500 to sell in Spain. This damaged any peaceful meetings that may have happened.
Columbus made 4 trips to the New World before he died.
Cortés and the Aztec Empire
In 1519 explorer Hernan de Cortés landed on the Yucatan in search of gold.
Cortés' party was welcomed into the Aztec capitol Tenochtitlan, where he was believed to be the god Quetzalcoatl.
In time, the population of Tenochtitlan was devastated by smallpox, carried by the Spanish explorers, a disease to which the natives had no natural resistance.
Eventually, Cortés arrested the Aztec monarch Montezuma II and tried to assume power over Aztec lands and resources.
French Exploration: Jacques Cartier Explores the St. Lawrence River for France
In 1534, French explorers, led by Jacques Cartier, explored the Gulf of Saint Lawrence by ship. Finding economic promise in the region, Cartier returned the following year and sailed down the St. Lawrence as far as modern Montreal.
Unlike the Spanish, the French were far more interested in establishing trade networks and building sustainable colonies in the New World than in finding gold. The French were particularly interested in the harvesting the bountiful furs found in the area.
English Explorations
John Cabot – 1st to see North America. He represented England (he was from Venice). But England was too busy fighting with France to exploit his discovery.
Later, pirates & privateers from England, Holland, France, etc. were the biggest threat to the Spanish search for gold. John Hawkins & Sir Francis Drake were the most famous & were encouraged by Queen Elizabeth.
Sir Humphrey Gilbert – ½ brother to Sir Walter Raleigh, received a Royal Patent in 1578 to est. & hold land in America. After 2 delayed attempts to leave, he set sail in 1583 & landed in New Foundland. Set sail for England to escape the on set of winter & was never seen again.
Roanoke
Sir Walter Raleigh – 1584 – had the Queen put his brother’s patent in his name, then sent a scout ship to America. It landed at Roanoke Island, N.C. (good soil & the Indians were friendly)
1587 – Raleigh & 117 men, women & children, including Gov. John White set sail.
After a month on the island, Gov. White returned to England for supplies, his grand-daughter, Virginia Dare was born. The 1st English child born in the New World.
Gov. White returned in 1590 – no one from the group was ever found. Roanoke – the lost colony. The only clue was a word carved into a tree “Croatoan”.
1492 and Later: Aztecs
After 1492 AD
Set the stage for Indian policy for the next 500 years.
Hernando Cortes – (Spain) 1519 – landed in Vera Cruz with 600 Conquistadors & conquered the Aztec Empire.
Tricked his way into Tenochtitlan (Mexico City) took all of the gold & enslaved the Aztecs.
They rebelled & ran him out of the city. He later returned & destroyed the Aztec civilization.
Francisco Pizarro – (Spain) – a Lt. of Cortes, did the same thing to the Incas in South America as Cortes did to the Aztecs.
Europeans brought diseases, viruses, pests, vermin, etc. This decimated the Indian population.
Some scientists estimate that 80% of the Indian population of North & South America were killed during this period.
Aztecs
Originally named Mexica
Located in what is now central Mexico
The empire lasted during the 14th, 15th, and 16th centuries AD
Aztecs
Tenochtitlan was the capital city and is located in what is now present day Mexico city
The Aztecs were ruled by a single emperor called the Huey Tlatoani which roughly translates to “The Great Speaker”
There was also a ruling counsel from the Calpulli, a group of extended families that controlled the use of local lands and performed other territorial and social functions
Government
Each urban settlement had a calpulli and four main leaders would be selected to a governing board the most powerful being named Tlatoani
The Tlatoani from the all over the emperor would then comprise the main ruling counsel in the capital city
The Aztecs grew rapidly by conquering nearby cities and would force them to pay tributes
These tributes would eventually result in the increased welfare of the common people
Art
The favored form of art in the Aztec empire was sculpture
Most Sculptures were made from limestone, which is still abundant in Mexico today
Aztec sculpture was like most other Mesoamerican cultures and was mostly directly related to religion
Art
The Aztecs also made other religious and non-religious artifacts such as jade masks
Clothing was also a popular art form and women from around the empire would use bead, flower, and metal decorations
These artifacts were sold in markets by visiting merchants
Architecture
There where several main types of architecture in the Aztec society: sacrificial temples, emperors temple, and shines of the gods
Social Structure and Religion
The Aztec society was divided into three socal classes: the macehualli (people) or peasantry, the pochteca or merchants and traders, and the pilli or nobility
Slaves or tlacotin consisted as a large part of the Aztec society
Though people were born into a certain class it was possible to move up the ranks within a life time
Main deity in the Aztec religion was Huitzilopochtli and was known as both the sun god and war god
Human sacrifice was practiced heavily in the Aztec religion
The Aztecs believed that by performing these sacrifices that it gave power to the gods which in turn would insure the survival of the Aztec universe
Tenochtitlan
When the Aztecs settled in the swampy Lake Texcoco and built Tenochtitlan, around the year 1350, the dominant tribe had been the Tepanecs. They controlled most of the shore of Lake Texcoco and forced the Aztecs and a number of other other tribes including the Texcoco, Tlateloco and Tlacopan to pay heavy tribute.
Agriculture
The comprehension of how irrigation can benefit agriculture is evident by the expansion into the highland areas.
They developed drainage systems and canals to expand their crop resources.
Potatoes, tomatoes, cotton, peanuts and coca were among the many crops grown by the Inca.
Llama were used for meat and transportation.
There was more than enough resources available for everyone.
Horse and cannon figure prominently in this Aztec drawing from the Florentine Codex
INCAS
Twantinsuyu:World of the Incas.
Recent arrivals on the political stage in America.
The term 'Incas' (or Inkas) is often used to refer to the people of the empire as a whole, whereas strictly it refers to the ruling aristocracy.
Incas
The beginning of the Inca rule started with the conquest of the Chimu Culture in Peru.
The original Inca tribe was a minor Andean tribe whose expansion began with a successful campaign against its more powerful neighbours, the Chancas, in the 1440s.
Leading them was Pachacuti a military strategist, statesman, and diplomat of enormous skill. Armies under Pachacuti and his son and successor, Topa Inca, conquered the entire mountainous area from Quito south past Lake Titicaca.
Topa Inca also subjugated the coastal kingdom of Chimor, and extended the Inca domain farther south, as well as east to the fringes of Amazonia.
Inca Conquest and Religion
"Split inheritance“ : Power to successor, Wealth, land to male descendants
Result is continual succession disputes and conquest
Religion
Sun god supreme and he is represented by ruler (Inca)
Temple of the Sun at Cuzco
Local gods survive
The Techniques of Inca Imperial Rule
Rules from Cuzco
Governors of four provinces with local rulers (curacas)
Unified by Quechua language and forced transfers of people
Military system of roads, way stations (tambos) and storehouses.
State had a redistributive economy and carried out building and irrigation projects
Gender cooperation, ideology of complementarity of sexes
Inca's senior wife links state to moon
Inca Cultural Achievements
Machu Picchu
Machu Picchu
Architecture
The dominant stylistic form in Inca architecture is a simple, but elegantly proportioned trapezoid, which serves the dual ends of functionality and severely restrained decoration.
Trapezoidal doorways, windows, and wall niches are found in Inca constructions of all types, from the most finely wrought temples to crudely built walls in unimportant buildings.
The doorways and windows are obviously functional, and the niches probably served a variety of functions as yet unidentified by the archeologists.
Placement of these trapezoidal openings was primarily functional, but occasionally, esthetic arrangements might dominate the placement of the trapezoids, if there was no conflict with functionality.
Stone Work
Sacsayhuaman
Cuzco
The ancient Inca capital is said to have been founded around 1100 AD.
The Incas conceived their capital in the shape of a Puma with the river serving as the spine, Sacsayhuaman the head, and the main city center the body.
Almost every central street has remains of Inca walls, arches and doorways. Many streets are lined with Inca stonework, now serving as foundations for more modern buildings.
Khipu (Quipu)
A khipu consists, minimally, of a main cord from which pendant cords hang. (Pendants of pendants are called subsidiaries.)
Knots tied in the pendant cords and other modifications of the pendant are the commonest data-bearing or significant features.
Inka functionaries used cord records for censuses, inventories, tribute records, and documents about transactions; Spanish courts also accepted them as documents of record in early colonial times.
Inca Social Structure
The Incas had a very clear social structure.
The ruler, the Sapa Inca, and his wives, the Coyas, had supreme control over the empire.
The High Priest and the Army Commander in Chief were next.
Military
Then came the Four Apus, the regional army commanders.
Next came temple priests, architects, administrators and army generals.
Merchants and Middle Class
Next were artisans, musicians, army captains and the quipucamayoc, the Incan "accountants."
At the bottom were sorcerers, farmers, herding families and conscripts.
Inca Dynasty
About 1438, the ninth Inca, Pachacuti, set forth to conquer on a scale never before attempted in aboriginal America. Pachacuti and his son, Tupac Inca, the tenth Inca, forged an empire nearly as far reaching and well organized as Caesar's Rome. They Called it Tahuantinsuyu, Quechua for the " Four Quarters of the World".
Huayna Capac - Valiant Youth - surely visited Machu Picchu after he succeeded Tupac Inca in 1493, for he devoted years to a grand tour of his inherited Four Quarters of the World.
Dynasty
Huayna Capac settled down in Ecuador with his hundreds of wives and concubines, occupying a sumptuous palace of which no trace remains. Today natives, reminders of the brief lnca occupation of Ecuador are Quechua-speaking Indian communities of diverse tribal origins-some from distant Bolivia- found along the Pan American Highway.
The emperor's warrior son, Atahuallpa, became a favorite of the battle-tested armies that carried on the northern border campaigns. Meanwhile premonitions of doom haunted Huayna Capac.
About 1525 Huayna Capac was stricken possibly by smallpox introduced into the continent by Europeans probing its coastline. Before he could choose, he died. In Cuzco the high priest conferred the royal fringe on Huascar, a son of Huayna Capac and his sister wife the queen. But Atahuallpa, Huascar's half brother, governor of Quito, reportedly refused to accompany his father's mummy to Cuzco and render homage. His generals, veterans of Ecuadorean wars, backed his insurgency, and civil war flared.
Dynasty
Huascar sent a huge inexperienced army against Atahuallpa, but it perished in battle near Ambato, Ecuador.
The chronicler Cieza, who saw the skeleton-strewn battlefield twenty years later, wrote that the body count of 25 or 26 thousand was an underestimate.
Huascar conscripted army after army, including peasants from as far away as Argentina.
Thousands who had escaped the plague now fell under the northerner's onslaughts.
Perhaps 200,000 men fought in the final battle near Cuzco.
The unthinkable occurred: Atahuallpa's generals tumbled Huascar from his golden litter. Cuzco's defenders fled in terror. The Son of the Sun had fallen.
The generals dressed the emperor in women's clothes. They forced him to eat excrement in Cuzco's streets and watch the extermination of his multitudinous family and courtiers.
Atahuallpa
ATAHUALLPA had left Quito to make triumphal entry into Cuzco when he got word of his generals' victory. But at this moment coastal chiefs warned him of Pizarro's approach. A mere 62 cavalrymen and 106 foot soldiers, armed with Toledo blades and a few guns and crossbows, were winding slowly into the mountains of northern Peru.
Pizarro sent an interpreter and 15 riders under Hernando de Soto (who later discovered the Mississippi River) to offer his services in arms and to ask the emperor to dine next day. The seated Inca offered ceremonial chicha, accepted the invitation, and told his guests to occupy the town plaza.
Pizarro set a trap that the Inca had unwittingly provided him. In the great triangular plaza, with an entrance at its apex, he laid an ambush. He hid his forces inside buildings that had doorways, high enough for horse and rider, facing into the walled plaza.
Atahuallpa and Pizzaro
On Saturday, November 16, 1532, the Inca delayed his social call until sundown, supposing horses to be of no use after dark, and bemused by reports that the bearded men were hiding in fear. Then be capped his spate of bad decisions by going unarmed to sup and spend the night in town.
The Spaniards captured Atahuallpa and he ruled for eight months from a prison compound in the triangular plaza, keeping his lordly mien, his authority unquestioned by any subject of the empire.
To secure his release, Atahuallpa decreed that the realm be ransacked to fill a 18-by-22-foot room once with gold, as high as he could reach, and twice with silver. Totally unaware that Pizarro's men spearheaded a massive European invasion of the Tahuantinsuyu, he presumed the bearded ones would go away once they had received their booty.
By July 1533 more than 24 tons of exquisite treasure had been collected: idols and chalices, necklaces and nuggets, accumulated through centuries of placer mining. Though this was only a fraction of the plunder that awaited the Spaniards elsewhere in the Four Quarters of the World, Atahuallpa's ransom, as duly recorded in the Spanish archives, was worth at least 267 million dollars at today's bullion values for gold ($315 ounce-Nov/02/1997-) and silver.
Treason
But instead of freeing the Inca, they tried him for treason, and was sentenced to death for treason against the strangers within his own realm.
To avoid the horror of being burned alive as a heretic and thus deprived of mummification, Atahuallpa accepted Christian baptism and took Pizarro's Christian name: Francisco- Then the Spaniards garroted Francisco Atahuallpa, thirteenth Inca, and marched down the royal road to Cuzco.
Final Battle
The 40,000 member army of the Inca was destroyed by a 180 member Spanish conquistador army, which was commanded by Francisco Pizarro.
The warriors of the Inca were no match for the Spanish guns. By 1535, the Inca society was completely overthrown.
Mississippian
Large settlements, development of Chiefdoms & usage of kinship lines.
Use of the large Temple-Mound complexes, i.e. Ocmulgee, Etowah, etc. Large truncated, flat-top pyramids.
Extensive farming, use of corn as staple crop, along with beans, squash.
The main dish from this was called Succatash (the 3 Sisters) and provided energy from corn, protein from beans & vitamins from squash. This process saved on land, labor & fertilizer.
Food storage buildings, palisades surrounded villages, extensive warfare for land & food.
Religious influences from Mexico & South America, i.e. Spider Cult, Snake Cult, use of Charnel Houses, complex belief systems.
Mississippian Mounds
After 1492
Period just prior to the European invasion.
Warfare among the tribes & religious/cultural diversity caused the great temple complexes to lose power.
People began to break up into smaller villages & away from the great cities.
Less trade & contact with outside tribes. Isolation & development of a homogenous population.
Hernando de Soto – (Spain) 1539 – took 6oo Conquistadors through Fla., GA., S.C., N.C., Tenn., & Miss., destroying the Indians as they went.
Cataloged the plant & animal life & some of the Indians.
He was killed near Memphis in 1542. Over ½ of his men were killed on the expedition.
Epidemics in Mexico, 1520-1595
Epidemics in Central America 1520-1578
Plants
As Europe’s population recovered from the Black Death, the demand for trade goods grew.
Europeans wanted spices but not to pay the prices dictated by (mainly) Islamic traders (trade was also endangered by the fall of Constantinople to the Turks in 1453).
European merchants wanted to gain direct access to the riches of Asia.
Some voyagers still wanted to crusade against the Muslims.
Others were inspired by the Renaissance spirit of Marco Polo and others to learn about distant lands.
European Exploration 1500-1600
The general historical chronology is well-known.
But why had Europe not explored the west before?
What was different about the late-15th century?
What were the impacts of the so-called Columban exchange?
The World
Typical modern world map
Pre-existing limitations to Exploration
Compasses were very simple and maps either imaginative, fragmentary, or non-existent.
Enemies – for many European states that had begun to develop their naval capabilities, exploration might mean navigating through unfriendly waters.
Disease/death/starvation during an expedition
Fear of falling off the earth (e.g. world map from the Apocalypse of Saint-Sever, dated 1050 AD)!
Compass: China
Disagreement over when and where the compass was invented.
The earliest Chinese literature reference to magnetism lies in the 4th century BC book Book of the Devil Valley Master which states that "The lodestone makes iron come or it attracts it.“
The compass, or ‘south pointer’, could be carried with jade hunters to prevent them from getting lost during their journeys.
Compass: China
The first mention of the attraction of a needle by a magnet is in the Louen-heng or ‘Discourses weighed in the Balance’ (70 and 80 AD): "A lodestone attracts a needle.“
A Song Dynasty book, Wujing Zongyao (Collection of the Most Important Military Techniques), dated to 1040-44 describes an iron "south-pointing fish" floating in a bowl of water which is recommended as a means of orientation at night.
Compass: China
The first definite reference to a magnetized needle in Chinese literature appears in 1088.
The Dream Pool Essays, written by Shen Kuo, contained a detailed description of how to magnetize a needle by rubbing its tip with lodestone and hang it from a single strain of silk so that it sometimes pointed south, sometimes north.
Compass: China
The earliest recorded actual use of a magnetized needle for navigational purposes is found in Zhu Yu's book Pingzhou Table Talks of 1119 (written from 1111 to 1117): “The navigator knows the geography, he watches the stars at night, watches the sun at day; when it is dark and cloudy, he watches the compass.”
The first clear use of a magnetic direction finder occurred before 1044, but clear evidence for the use of the compass as a navigational device first appears in 1119.
Compass: China
Song and Yuan Dynasty: dry compass was in use as described in the Shilin Guangji (Guide Through the Forest of Affairs), from 1325 (written 1100 to 1250).
Shilin Guangji apart, some claim that Chinese mariners only ever used the floating needle in a bowl until the 16th-century European contacts.
Compass: China
The use of a 48 position mariner's compass appears in “The Customs of Cambodia” by Yuan dynasty diplomat Zhou Daguan, describing his 1296 voyage from Wenzhou to Angkor Thom in detail; when his ship set sailed from Wenzhou, the mariner took a needle direction of “ding wei” position, which is equivalent to 22.5 degree SW. After they arrived at Baria, he took "Kun Shen needle" , or 52.5 degree SW.
Zheng He's Navigation Map, also known as "The Mao Kun Map", contains a large number of "needle records" of Zheng He's travel (i.e. bearings).
Diffusion or invention?
Did the compass travel from China to Europe or the Middle East via the Silk Road or was it independently created in Europe (and diffused from there to the Middle East and got called al-konbas).
The first European reference to a magnetized needle and its use among sailors occurs in Alexander Neckam's De naturis rerum (On the Natures of Things), written in Paris in 1190.
In the Arab world, first reference is from 1282 (The Book of the Merchants' Treasure), by Baylak al-Kibjaki of Cairo. There is also a reference to an iron fish-like compass in a Persian talebook from 1232.
Independent European invention?
The arguments against the independent invention of the magnetic compass in Europe are credible.
The close dates of the Chinese navigational compass (1117) and its first appearance in Europe (1190).
The common form of the early compass as a magnetized needle floating in a bowl of water.
Absence of prior knowledge in Europe of magnetism.
Remaining issue is over how it got from China to Europe in mid-1100s – it seems it must have passed through Islamic hands (despite not being mentioned in Arabic sources until mid-1200s).
Medieval European compasses
Pivoting compass needle in a 14th century copy of Epistola de magnete of Peter Peregrinus (1269)
In Europe, the compass, improved dead reckoning, and Portolan charts, allowed winter sailing (and increased and less-hazardous journeys) from the second half of the 13th century.
Navigational Improvements: Jacob’s staff
Originally for astronomical measurements, developed in 1300s by Jacob ben Makir of Provence and described by Levi ben Gerson.
Shen Kuo (1031–1095) describes it in his Song Dynasty Dream Pool Essays (1088).
Employed in Indian, where it was known as Yasti-yantra by the time of Bhāskara II (1114–1185).
By 1514, Johannes Werner suggested it be used for navigation at sea.
John Dee introduced it to England in the 1550s.
A Jacob's staff, from John Sellers' Practical Navigation (1672)
Astrolabe
Known in classical Europe, medieval re-introduction from the Arab world, via Spain in the mid-1020s.
From about 1480 navigators began to carry modified versions we now refer to as `Mariners Astrolabes'.
Enabled East -West travel with the movable arm (alidade) sighted on the North star to measure the angle of its height of the north star above the horizon.
With the panorganon (quadrant) distances could be reliably calculated.
T-O Maps
7th century scholar Isidore of Seville in his Etymologiae did identify the earth as a sphere although the southern hemisphere was believed uninhabitable.
A 12th century copy includes this schematic T-O map.
The T is the Mediterranean, the O is the Ocean around the three landmasses – Asia, Europe and Africa.
Mappa Mundi
More detailed maps, the mappa mundi are known from around 1100 surviving medieval examples.
The Tabula Rogeriana, drawn by Muhammad al-Idrisi for Roger II of Sicily in 1154 and preserved in the Bibliotheque nationale de France
Mappa Mundi
Detail of the Tabula Rogeriana.
Despite the limitations much is clearly recognisable.
From 12th century ships often had a manuscript detailing sailing distances between ports, capes etc.
Portolan Chart
Carte Pisane (Portolan Chart) from 1296.
The straight lines represent the 32 directions of the mariner's compass.
This improves the capacity for sea travel.
Catalan Atlas (1375)
Most important Catalan map of the period. It was produced by the Majorcan cartographic school and is attributed to Cresques Abraham.
Portolans were mainly a Mediterranean phenomenon.
Rutters
Northern version of portolans: small pocket books with courses between ports and distances but in addition they also had soundings and data on tides.
Only a very few survive from before the early sixteenth century but their numbers rose sharply after 1500 when printers began to produce more of them and with longer pressruns.
Early examples, like Das Seebuch, also included descriptions of the western front of Europe.
Le routier de la mer ascribed to Pierre Garcie was printed in Rouen between 1502 and 1510.
Jan Severszoon's De Kaert van der Zee of 1532 was followed by an enlarged version in 1541 and then a series of new editions through to 1588.
Columbus in the context of Portugese in Africa
During the 15th century Portugese sailors pioneered the routes down the Atlantic coast towards the Cape of Good Hope – led by Henry the Navigator, Fernão Gomes, Fernão do Pó., Diogo Cão and João Afonso d'Aveiros.
Finally, in 1488, Bartolomeu Dias and his pilot Pêro de Alenquer, turned a cape where they were caught by a storm, naming it Cape of Storms.
Afterwards the Portugese pushed on and made contact with Indians and Chinese, provoking Egypt and Venice.
Spain joined the race by sponsoring Columbus to seek a western passage to India.
Inter caetera was a papal bull issued by Pope Alexander VI on 4 May 1493 to resolve sovereignty issues.
Earlier Contact: Olmecs 1200 BC – 400 BC?
Located in Mexico (near Veracruz)
Grew corn beans and squash primarily
Vast trade networks, encompassing very diverse areas, but small territory relative to land available- no empire/political unification
Each center seems to have fallen due to a violent rebellion (defaced monuments)
Colossal mounds used in religious ceremonies, importance of animal motifs, calendar/writing
Clear social structure, elites controlled labor pool (increased food production), merchants
Olmec Colossal Heads
African features are regularly commented upon – indicating contact?
St Brendan
5th-6th century Irish saint.
Supposed to have found a land to the west as told in a Gaelic immram.
Popularised in medieval texts in German, through earlier contacts with Irish sources.
This is from a Dutch version (Des Reis van Sint Brandaen) dating to the 12th century which derives from an earlier (lost) German version of Navigatio Sancti Brendani.
The Vinland Sagas
We know the Vikings were there.
Helge Ingstad unearthed the ruins of an ancient Norse village near L’Anse aux Meadows on the north coast of Newfoundland, conclusively proving that the Vikings has established a settlement in North America 1000 years previously.
Henry Sinclair
Claimed to have led expeditions to Greenland and onwards to Nova Scotia in the late 14th century.
Based on letters and a map ascribed to the Venetian Zeno brothers and published in 1558, although their authenticity has not be established.
The letters describe a voyage taken by a ‘Zichmni’ around the year 1398 to Greenland that actually reached North America.
It is claimed that Zichmni is Henry Sinclair.
Basque Whalers
Claimed to have had knowledge of America through whale-fishing in the medieval period.
Known to have come to North America in 1517 and soon 2,000 Arrantzales are estimated to have set sail every year from Basque ports to the St. Lawrence River.
Longer term stations were set up (eg Saddle Island below).
João Vaz Corte Real
João Vaz Corte Real made a voyage of discovery (1472) to Greenland and Newfoundland with two Danish pilots named Pining and Pothorst.
Found Terra Nova do Bacalhau ‘New Isle of Codfish’ which was named on later maps.
Some claim it is modern Baccalieu Island off the Canadian coast.
Columbus and the “Enterprise of the Indies”
Columbus left Spain in 1492 to discover a trade route to the Orient.
Spanish Monarchs commissioned the trip as they sought to compete with Portuguese domination of the Oriental Spice Trade.
Columbus had, in fact, landed in the Caribbean and hadn’t realized what he had found even when he died.
This is a 1493 engraving showing King Ferdinand overseeing his journey to the New World.
Columbus
Believed to be Italian (but was only literate in Spanish).
Worked for Spain.
Landed in San Salvador on Oct. 12, 1492, with 3 ships & 87 men.
Had a very peaceful first encounter with the Indians and wrote “they invite you to share anything they posses & show as much love as if their hearts went with it….with 50 men, they could be subjugated & compelled to do anything one wishes!”
He left 40 men & returned to Spain with 12 Indians to give as presents to the King & Queen.
Columbus’ Second Trip
He brought 17 ships & 1200 Spaniards, but they were not greeted peacefully.
The Indians attacked & killed 10 Spaniards. Columbus retaliated by killing all the Indians, burning their villages & enslaved over 500 to sell in Spain. This damaged any peaceful meetings that may have happened.
Columbus made 4 trips to the New World before he died.
Cortés and the Aztec Empire
In 1519 explorer Hernan de Cortés landed on the Yucatan in search of gold.
Cortés' party was welcomed into the Aztec capitol Tenochtitlan, where he was believed to be the god Quetzalcoatl.
In time, the population of Tenochtitlan was devastated by smallpox, carried by the Spanish explorers, a disease to which the natives had no natural resistance.
Eventually, Cortés arrested the Aztec monarch Montezuma II and tried to assume power over Aztec lands and resources.
French Exploration: Jacques Cartier Explores the St. Lawrence River for France
In 1534, French explorers, led by Jacques Cartier, explored the Gulf of Saint Lawrence by ship. Finding economic promise in the region, Cartier returned the following year and sailed down the St. Lawrence as far as modern Montreal.
Unlike the Spanish, the French were far more interested in establishing trade networks and building sustainable colonies in the New World than in finding gold. The French were particularly interested in the harvesting the bountiful furs found in the area.
English Explorations
John Cabot – 1st to see North America. He represented England (he was from Venice). But England was too busy fighting with France to exploit his discovery.
Later, pirates & privateers from England, Holland, France, etc. were the biggest threat to the Spanish search for gold. John Hawkins & Sir Francis Drake were the most famous & were encouraged by Queen Elizabeth.
Sir Humphrey Gilbert – ½ brother to Sir Walter Raleigh, received a Royal Patent in 1578 to est. & hold land in America. After 2 delayed attempts to leave, he set sail in 1583 & landed in New Foundland. Set sail for England to escape the on set of winter & was never seen again.
Roanoke
Sir Walter Raleigh – 1584 – had the Queen put his brother’s patent in his name, then sent a scout ship to America. It landed at Roanoke Island, N.C. (good soil & the Indians were friendly)
1587 – Raleigh & 117 men, women & children, including Gov. John White set sail.
After a month on the island, Gov. White returned to England for supplies, his grand-daughter, Virginia Dare was born. The 1st English child born in the New World.
Gov. White returned in 1590 – no one from the group was ever found. Roanoke – the lost colony. The only clue was a word carved into a tree “Croatoan”.
1492 and Later: Aztecs
After 1492 AD
Set the stage for Indian policy for the next 500 years.
Hernando Cortes – (Spain) 1519 – landed in Vera Cruz with 600 Conquistadors & conquered the Aztec Empire.
Tricked his way into Tenochtitlan (Mexico City) took all of the gold & enslaved the Aztecs.
They rebelled & ran him out of the city. He later returned & destroyed the Aztec civilization.
Francisco Pizarro – (Spain) – a Lt. of Cortes, did the same thing to the Incas in South America as Cortes did to the Aztecs.
Europeans brought diseases, viruses, pests, vermin, etc. This decimated the Indian population.
Some scientists estimate that 80% of the Indian population of North & South America were killed during this period.
Aztecs
Originally named Mexica
Located in what is now central Mexico
The empire lasted during the 14th, 15th, and 16th centuries AD
Aztecs
Tenochtitlan was the capital city and is located in what is now present day Mexico city
The Aztecs were ruled by a single emperor called the Huey Tlatoani which roughly translates to “The Great Speaker”
There was also a ruling counsel from the Calpulli, a group of extended families that controlled the use of local lands and performed other territorial and social functions
Government
Each urban settlement had a calpulli and four main leaders would be selected to a governing board the most powerful being named Tlatoani
The Tlatoani from the all over the emperor would then comprise the main ruling counsel in the capital city
The Aztecs grew rapidly by conquering nearby cities and would force them to pay tributes
These tributes would eventually result in the increased welfare of the common people
Art
The favored form of art in the Aztec empire was sculpture
Most Sculptures were made from limestone, which is still abundant in Mexico today
Aztec sculpture was like most other Mesoamerican cultures and was mostly directly related to religion
Art
The Aztecs also made other religious and non-religious artifacts such as jade masks
Clothing was also a popular art form and women from around the empire would use bead, flower, and metal decorations
These artifacts were sold in markets by visiting merchants
Architecture
There where several main types of architecture in the Aztec society: sacrificial temples, emperors temple, and shines of the gods
Social Structure and Religion
The Aztec society was divided into three socal classes: the macehualli (people) or peasantry, the pochteca or merchants and traders, and the pilli or nobility
Slaves or tlacotin consisted as a large part of the Aztec society
Though people were born into a certain class it was possible to move up the ranks within a life time
Main deity in the Aztec religion was Huitzilopochtli and was known as both the sun god and war god
Human sacrifice was practiced heavily in the Aztec religion
The Aztecs believed that by performing these sacrifices that it gave power to the gods which in turn would insure the survival of the Aztec universe
Tenochtitlan
When the Aztecs settled in the swampy Lake Texcoco and built Tenochtitlan, around the year 1350, the dominant tribe had been the Tepanecs. They controlled most of the shore of Lake Texcoco and forced the Aztecs and a number of other other tribes including the Texcoco, Tlateloco and Tlacopan to pay heavy tribute.
Agriculture
The comprehension of how irrigation can benefit agriculture is evident by the expansion into the highland areas.
They developed drainage systems and canals to expand their crop resources.
Potatoes, tomatoes, cotton, peanuts and coca were among the many crops grown by the Inca.
Llama were used for meat and transportation.
There was more than enough resources available for everyone.
Horse and cannon figure prominently in this Aztec drawing from the Florentine Codex
INCAS
Twantinsuyu:World of the Incas.
Recent arrivals on the political stage in America.
The term 'Incas' (or Inkas) is often used to refer to the people of the empire as a whole, whereas strictly it refers to the ruling aristocracy.
Incas
The beginning of the Inca rule started with the conquest of the Chimu Culture in Peru.
The original Inca tribe was a minor Andean tribe whose expansion began with a successful campaign against its more powerful neighbours, the Chancas, in the 1440s.
Leading them was Pachacuti a military strategist, statesman, and diplomat of enormous skill. Armies under Pachacuti and his son and successor, Topa Inca, conquered the entire mountainous area from Quito south past Lake Titicaca.
Topa Inca also subjugated the coastal kingdom of Chimor, and extended the Inca domain farther south, as well as east to the fringes of Amazonia.
Inca Conquest and Religion
"Split inheritance“ : Power to successor, Wealth, land to male descendants
Result is continual succession disputes and conquest
Religion
Sun god supreme and he is represented by ruler (Inca)
Temple of the Sun at Cuzco
Local gods survive
The Techniques of Inca Imperial Rule
Rules from Cuzco
Governors of four provinces with local rulers (curacas)
Unified by Quechua language and forced transfers of people
Military system of roads, way stations (tambos) and storehouses.
State had a redistributive economy and carried out building and irrigation projects
Gender cooperation, ideology of complementarity of sexes
Inca's senior wife links state to moon
Inca Cultural Achievements
Machu Picchu
Machu Picchu
Architecture
The dominant stylistic form in Inca architecture is a simple, but elegantly proportioned trapezoid, which serves the dual ends of functionality and severely restrained decoration.
Trapezoidal doorways, windows, and wall niches are found in Inca constructions of all types, from the most finely wrought temples to crudely built walls in unimportant buildings.
The doorways and windows are obviously functional, and the niches probably served a variety of functions as yet unidentified by the archeologists.
Placement of these trapezoidal openings was primarily functional, but occasionally, esthetic arrangements might dominate the placement of the trapezoids, if there was no conflict with functionality.
Stone Work
Sacsayhuaman
Cuzco
The ancient Inca capital is said to have been founded around 1100 AD.
The Incas conceived their capital in the shape of a Puma with the river serving as the spine, Sacsayhuaman the head, and the main city center the body.
Almost every central street has remains of Inca walls, arches and doorways. Many streets are lined with Inca stonework, now serving as foundations for more modern buildings.
Khipu (Quipu)
A khipu consists, minimally, of a main cord from which pendant cords hang. (Pendants of pendants are called subsidiaries.)
Knots tied in the pendant cords and other modifications of the pendant are the commonest data-bearing or significant features.
Inka functionaries used cord records for censuses, inventories, tribute records, and documents about transactions; Spanish courts also accepted them as documents of record in early colonial times.
Inca Social Structure
The Incas had a very clear social structure.
The ruler, the Sapa Inca, and his wives, the Coyas, had supreme control over the empire.
The High Priest and the Army Commander in Chief were next.
Military
Then came the Four Apus, the regional army commanders.
Next came temple priests, architects, administrators and army generals.
Merchants and Middle Class
Next were artisans, musicians, army captains and the quipucamayoc, the Incan "accountants."
At the bottom were sorcerers, farmers, herding families and conscripts.
Inca Dynasty
About 1438, the ninth Inca, Pachacuti, set forth to conquer on a scale never before attempted in aboriginal America. Pachacuti and his son, Tupac Inca, the tenth Inca, forged an empire nearly as far reaching and well organized as Caesar's Rome. They Called it Tahuantinsuyu, Quechua for the " Four Quarters of the World".
Huayna Capac - Valiant Youth - surely visited Machu Picchu after he succeeded Tupac Inca in 1493, for he devoted years to a grand tour of his inherited Four Quarters of the World.
Dynasty
Huayna Capac settled down in Ecuador with his hundreds of wives and concubines, occupying a sumptuous palace of which no trace remains. Today natives, reminders of the brief lnca occupation of Ecuador are Quechua-speaking Indian communities of diverse tribal origins-some from distant Bolivia- found along the Pan American Highway.
The emperor's warrior son, Atahuallpa, became a favorite of the battle-tested armies that carried on the northern border campaigns. Meanwhile premonitions of doom haunted Huayna Capac.
About 1525 Huayna Capac was stricken possibly by smallpox introduced into the continent by Europeans probing its coastline. Before he could choose, he died. In Cuzco the high priest conferred the royal fringe on Huascar, a son of Huayna Capac and his sister wife the queen. But Atahuallpa, Huascar's half brother, governor of Quito, reportedly refused to accompany his father's mummy to Cuzco and render homage. His generals, veterans of Ecuadorean wars, backed his insurgency, and civil war flared.
Dynasty
Huascar sent a huge inexperienced army against Atahuallpa, but it perished in battle near Ambato, Ecuador.
The chronicler Cieza, who saw the skeleton-strewn battlefield twenty years later, wrote that the body count of 25 or 26 thousand was an underestimate.
Huascar conscripted army after army, including peasants from as far away as Argentina.
Thousands who had escaped the plague now fell under the northerner's onslaughts.
Perhaps 200,000 men fought in the final battle near Cuzco.
The unthinkable occurred: Atahuallpa's generals tumbled Huascar from his golden litter. Cuzco's defenders fled in terror. The Son of the Sun had fallen.
The generals dressed the emperor in women's clothes. They forced him to eat excrement in Cuzco's streets and watch the extermination of his multitudinous family and courtiers.
Atahuallpa
ATAHUALLPA had left Quito to make triumphal entry into Cuzco when he got word of his generals' victory. But at this moment coastal chiefs warned him of Pizarro's approach. A mere 62 cavalrymen and 106 foot soldiers, armed with Toledo blades and a few guns and crossbows, were winding slowly into the mountains of northern Peru.
Pizarro sent an interpreter and 15 riders under Hernando de Soto (who later discovered the Mississippi River) to offer his services in arms and to ask the emperor to dine next day. The seated Inca offered ceremonial chicha, accepted the invitation, and told his guests to occupy the town plaza.
Pizarro set a trap that the Inca had unwittingly provided him. In the great triangular plaza, with an entrance at its apex, he laid an ambush. He hid his forces inside buildings that had doorways, high enough for horse and rider, facing into the walled plaza.
Atahuallpa and Pizzaro
On Saturday, November 16, 1532, the Inca delayed his social call until sundown, supposing horses to be of no use after dark, and bemused by reports that the bearded men were hiding in fear. Then be capped his spate of bad decisions by going unarmed to sup and spend the night in town.
The Spaniards captured Atahuallpa and he ruled for eight months from a prison compound in the triangular plaza, keeping his lordly mien, his authority unquestioned by any subject of the empire.
To secure his release, Atahuallpa decreed that the realm be ransacked to fill a 18-by-22-foot room once with gold, as high as he could reach, and twice with silver. Totally unaware that Pizarro's men spearheaded a massive European invasion of the Tahuantinsuyu, he presumed the bearded ones would go away once they had received their booty.
By July 1533 more than 24 tons of exquisite treasure had been collected: idols and chalices, necklaces and nuggets, accumulated through centuries of placer mining. Though this was only a fraction of the plunder that awaited the Spaniards elsewhere in the Four Quarters of the World, Atahuallpa's ransom, as duly recorded in the Spanish archives, was worth at least 267 million dollars at today's bullion values for gold ($315 ounce-Nov/02/1997-) and silver.
Treason
But instead of freeing the Inca, they tried him for treason, and was sentenced to death for treason against the strangers within his own realm.
To avoid the horror of being burned alive as a heretic and thus deprived of mummification, Atahuallpa accepted Christian baptism and took Pizarro's Christian name: Francisco- Then the Spaniards garroted Francisco Atahuallpa, thirteenth Inca, and marched down the royal road to Cuzco.
Final Battle
The 40,000 member army of the Inca was destroyed by a 180 member Spanish conquistador army, which was commanded by Francisco Pizarro.
The warriors of the Inca were no match for the Spanish guns. By 1535, the Inca society was completely overthrown.
Mississippian
Large settlements, development of Chiefdoms & usage of kinship lines.
Use of the large Temple-Mound complexes, i.e. Ocmulgee, Etowah, etc. Large truncated, flat-top pyramids.
Extensive farming, use of corn as staple crop, along with beans, squash.
The main dish from this was called Succatash (the 3 Sisters) and provided energy from corn, protein from beans & vitamins from squash. This process saved on land, labor & fertilizer.
Food storage buildings, palisades surrounded villages, extensive warfare for land & food.
Religious influences from Mexico & South America, i.e. Spider Cult, Snake Cult, use of Charnel Houses, complex belief systems.
Mississippian Mounds
After 1492
Period just prior to the European invasion.
Warfare among the tribes & religious/cultural diversity caused the great temple complexes to lose power.
People began to break up into smaller villages & away from the great cities.
Less trade & contact with outside tribes. Isolation & development of a homogenous population.
Hernando de Soto – (Spain) 1539 – took 6oo Conquistadors through Fla., GA., S.C., N.C., Tenn., & Miss., destroying the Indians as they went.
Cataloged the plant & animal life & some of the Indians.
He was killed near Memphis in 1542. Over ½ of his men were killed on the expedition.
Epidemics in Mexico, 1520-1595
Epidemics in Central America 1520-1578
Plants
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