Western Georgia

After King David VI Narin of Georgia took the western half of the kingdom and seceded from Georgia, he became King David I of Imereti (Western Georgia). This was a rejection of the Mongol expansion that controlled the eastern half, with David's cousin King David VII Ulu remaining firmly under the control of the Khans.

Imereti contained important seaports on the Black Sea, with trade routes and easy access to the Byzantine Empire. David I also developed friendly relations with a Mongol "offshoot" called the Golden Horde. He also was friendly to the Bahri Dynasty of Egypt, Mamluk rulers who succeeded the Ayyubids.

Relationships could be fickle, however. He offered sanctuary to Teguder, a commander under Hulagu Khan who had rebelled against Abaqa Khan, but when Teguder's men started harassing the people of Imereti, David allied with Abaqa's general who had pursued Teguder. Then Abaqa decided to bring Imereti back under Mongol control, and David's brief alliance resulted in fighting (successfully) two Mongol expeditions in the 1270s.

David had his own ideas of expansion. Around the Black Sea was the empire of Trebizond, established by a Byzantine Emperor. David decided he should take it off Constantinople's hands, and took an army there in April 1282 while its current ruler, Emperor John II Comnenos, was away in Constantinople. He managed to control a few areas, but not the empire. David did later help John's half-sister Theodora seize the crown from John. John restored himself to the throne a few months later and Theodora disappeared from the historical record in 1285. It is suggested she might have found sanctuary in Western Georgia.

At the age of 67, David died of natural causes and was interred at the Gelati Monastery (see illustration) on a hill overlooking his capital of Kutaisi. He had married twice. With his first wife he had three sons, who succeeded as kings of Georgia and Western Georgia. He had a son by his second wife, the daughter of Emperor Michael VIII Paleologos.

David's interest in expanding to Trebizond reminds me that, although it has been mentioned, readers might need more detail to understand its significance. Tomorrow we'll look at the Empire of Trebizond.

The Two Kings David

When Queen Rusudan of Georgia died in 1245, Georgia looked for a new ruler. Her son, David, had been sent to Karakoram to be recognized as heir by the Great Khan of the Mongols, Batu Khan, but no one knew how long he would be gone. Her nephew, David, by her predecessor brother King George IV, she had sent to be incarcerated at the court of her son-in-law, Kaykhusraw II, who was married to Rusudan's daughter, Tamar. (She feared her nephew would try to usurp the throne.)

The nephew David was considered illegitimate by the Georgian nobles. His father had seduced a married woman of non-noble status, brought her to court, and had a son by her in 1215. George was forced to return her to her husband (sending David to Rusudan to be raised), but refused any other suggestion of marriage by his councilors. 

So far as the Georgian nobles could tell, the only available heir was the illegitimate David, since they knew where he was. He was also at that time 30 years old and able to understand his duties. He was crowned in 1245 as David VII, and known as David Ulu, "David the Senior."

A year later, Rusudan's son David returned from Karakoram with the blessing of Batu Khan. The 21-year-old became co-King with his cousin, given an earlier regnal number because of his precedence (son of the immediate previous ruler and born within wedlock) as King David VI Narin ("David the Junior").

The two managed to work together well until 1259. David VI rebelled independently against their Mongol overlords. It did not take many battles before he saw the error of his choices. Fleeing to western Georgia, where the Mongols did not have so much influence, he seceded from the rest of Georgia, being crowned in the western city of Kutaisi. (Kutaisi had been the capital of Georgia from c.1008 - 1122, when Tbilisi became the capital.)

Now, as King David I of Imereti (Western Georgia), he had control over several important ports on the Black Sea, as well as passes through the Caucasus Mountains, giving Western Georgia important trade routes.

Two years after David Narin's rebellion, David Ulu tried as well to become independent, joining his brother in Western Georgia. The two could not manage to agree on various policies, however, and David Ulu returned to Tbilisi in 1262, where he was forced to surrender to Hulagu Khan. Eastern Georgia was now a vassal, rather than an ally, of the Mongols.

Western Georgia was a different story, which will continue tomorrow.

Queen Rusudan

Yesterday's post on the hoped-for Mongol alliance with the West mentioned a Georgian queen who saved her people from the Mongols. That was Rusudan (1194 - 1245), who took the only option available to avoid total destruction.

On 18 January 1223, George IV of the Kingdom of Georgia died from complications from a wound he received fighting Mongols. His only son, David, was only eight years old and being raised by George's sister, Rusudan. David was too young to rule (and also of questionable legitimacy), and the throne passed to Rusudan.

Georgia was surrounded by Muslim and Mongol threats, and Rusudan was considered a beautiful woman whose hand in marriage was much sought after by nearby Muslim nobles. Against invasion by a group known as the Khwarezmians, she made an alliance with the neighboring Seljuk Turkish rulers, but the Khwarezmians defeated the Georgians before help could arrive. Rusudan married Ghias ad-Din, the son of a Seljuk emir, who was ordered by his father to convert to Christianity in order to marry Rusudan. They had two children, Tamar and David.

The Khwarezmian invasion and occupation was followed by the Mongols, who entered Georgia in 1235 and controlled all of Georgia within four years. The Mongol army had a simple policy: submit and pay tribute, or the Mongols would kill every living being in the occupied territory to ensure no chance of insurrection. They did not ask twice.

Queen Rusudan ordered any of her army remaining to stand down and submit to the Mongols. An annual tribute of 50,000 gold pieces was required. Georgia also had to agree to provide 80,000 soldiers to join the Mongol army on its quest to subjugate the world.

Tamar was married to a Seljuk sultan, Kaykhusraw II, and later converted from Eastern Orthodox Christianity to Islam, taking the name Gurju Khatun. Queen Rusudan, since she had her own children who might succeed her, feared that her nephew David might try to take the throne. She sent him to Kaykhusraw to be imprisoned. Meanwhile, she sent her own son to the Mongol court in Karakoram to be recognized as her heir by the Great Khan, but she died in 1245 before he returned.

In her son's absence, and since the Georgians knew where Rusudan's nephew was, George's son David was recalled and named King David VII. Then Rusudan's son returned, and a decision had to be made. Tomorrow we'll see what happened next.

The Great Mongol Hope

Pope Honorius III (fl.1216 - 1227), in a letter dated 20 June 1221, referred to "forces coming from the Far East to rescue the Holy Land." This was solely speculation, based on old legends of Prester John, a reported Christian king in the Far East who would come to the aid of the Crusades. Stories of the expansion of the Mongol Empire caused some Europeans to believe that the Mongols were Prester John's people, and an important alliance would be forthcoming.

An alliance between Western Europe and the Mongols was not a ridiculous idea. Mongols were already familiar with Christianity: there were Nestorian Christians in the Mongol court (a few decades later, William Rubruck would meet several while traveling). Nestorianism was condemned as heresy at the 431 Council of Ephesus, but at least they weren't Muslims.

Muslims were a problem for Western Christians; they were also enemies of the Mongols. While the Fifth Crusade was besieging Damietta in Egypt in June 2018, stories of Genghis Khan's successful conquests sparked the belief that this was Prester John or a descendant heading westward to aid the Crusade. The hoped-for arrival of a powerful army to help the Crusade did not appear, but attempts were made afterward to form an alliance with Genghis and his descendants.

Pope Innocent IV (fl.1243 - 1254) was the first to write to the Khans, sending letters with envoys that would take years to find their recipients and return with replies. Alliances were hampered by the deaths of Genghis and his successor Ögedei (Innocent's letter never got to Ögedei). The next Great Khan, Güyük Khan, sent a less-than-satisfying reply.

Despite their common enemy in the Muslim world, the difficulty was that the popes wanted obedience to themselves as pope, expecting Mongols to convert to Christianity, and the Mongol Khans expected obedience to them as secular rulers, demanding homage.

Military cooperation was still a possibility—assuming the pope's demands for conversion stayed out of the negotiations. Öljaitü (fl.1282 - 1316) wrote in 1305 to Philip IV of France, Pope Clement V, and Edward I of England (see illustration for the letter in the French archives, the only copy extant), suggesting military collaboration, assuring him that Europeans could travel safely through their lands:

"Now all of us, Timur Khagan, Tchapar, Toctoga, Togba and ourselves, main descendants of Gengis Khan, all of us, descendants and brothers, are reconciled through the inspiration and the help of God. So that, from Nangkiyan [China] in the Orient, to Lake Dala our people are united and the roads are open." [link]

Mongols by this time had converted to Islam, but still were open to allowing Christians free access to the Holy Land. That did not mean, however, that the Mongols were not bent on expanding their empire as much as possible. One of their conquests was the large Kingdom of Georgia, whose queen submitted in order to save the lives of her people. I'll tell you that story next time.

Charlemagne and the Arabic World

At the end of yesterday's post on the Auld Alliance I mentioned that France (or the Franks) had formed earlier alliances, some of them seemingly more unusual than that with Scotland. If the cultures of the French and the Scots were different, imagine the cultural divide between the Franks of the 8th and 9th centuries and the Abbasid Caliphate.

In the Life of Charlemagne written by Einhard, and a few other Latin/Frankish sources, we find references to the Carolingians reaching out to the Abbasids. The Franks had clashed with the predecessors of the Abbasids, the Umayyad Caliphate, most notably at the Battle of Tours in 732. The Umayyads were finally expelled from Gaul by Pepin the Short.

After the collapse of the Umayyads and the rise of the Abbasids, Pepin reached out to Caliph al-Mansur. The Carolingians were powerful enough in Western Europe at that time that the Abbasids were open to the possibilities of an alliance; Umayyads still existed on the Iberian Peninsula, posing a potential threat to the southern border of the Carolingians and the western border of the Abbasids.

A Carolingian embassy visited Baghdad in 765 and returned with gifts after three years, followed by an Abbasid embassy to France in 768. Arabic coins from that era are found throughout the Carolingian world, and Arabic gold was exchanged for materials like timber and iron; also, slaves went eastward.

The alliance included a request from the Abbasids in 777 for military aid against the Umayyads in Cordoba. Charlemagne crossed the Pyrenees into Iberia in 778 with a large force, joining in Zaragoza with the Abbasid forces of Sulaymaniyah al-Arabi in an attempt to reconquer the peninsula. This was unsuccessful, and on Charlemagne's return to the north he was ambushed disastrously by Basques at Roncevaux.

Charlemagne did not give up on an alliance, however, and had a strong relationship with Harun al-Rashid, who gifted Charlemagne an elephant, recorded in the Royal Frankish Annals as Abul-Abbas. A few embassies went back and forth between the courts of Charlemagne and al-Rashid. (The illustration is of al-Rashid receiving a Frankish embassy.)

A few centuries later, France saw value in another alliance to the east, with the Mongol Empire. The reason and the result will be tomorrow's topic.

France & Scotland Alliance

France and Scotland were two very different countries: different climates, languages, cuisines, cultures. They had one important thing in common: both had problems with England wanting trying to rule over them. The term "Auld Alliance" (Scots for "Old Alliance") refers to the two countries' agreement to work together, and it began in 1295.

The motivation for the Auld Alliance came in 1290 upon the death of Margaret, the Maid of Norway. King Edward I of England decided it was time to extend his authority over Scotland. To combat this, Scotland's nobles looked for alliances, and France was an obvious choice.

France and England were at odds. By 1294 they were on the brink of war because France had seized Gascony from English possession. A Scottish delegation to Paris signed a treaty on 23 October 1295. This worked in France's favor, since France now could have England harried in its own island without France needing to cross the English Channel. Scotland's desire to wage war would draw English forces far away from France and divide England's attention.

Unfortunately, a year later, Edward invaded Scotland, beginning the Wars of Scottish Independence. Edward was too powerful for Scotland, and Scotland had many defeats, with Margaret's successor, John Balliol, captured and imprisoned in the Tower of London. Fighting between England and France ended—although "paused" is a more accurate term—in 1299, and Edward could focus on crushing Scottish Independence. Fortunately for Scotland, the efforts of Robert the Bruce and the ineptitude of Edward II gave Scotland its best chance at freeing itself from English subjugation.

The Auld Alliance became useful in 1332, however, when Edward III decided to assert authority over both Scotland and France. Philip VI of France sent 10 ships with aid to Scotland, but they never arrived due to a storm. Philip sent £1000 to Scotland to aid the Scottish defenders, and he offered sanctuary to David II of Scotland, who was only 10 years old. David and his extended family accepted the offer and were given Chateau Gaillard as a residence.

The Auld Alliance has never formally been revoked. In 1942, Charles de Gaulle described it as the "oldest alliance in the world." (The illustration is of a plaque at the Scottish Free French House in Edinburgh.)

Although they had many differences, France's alliance with Scotland was not the oddest "mismatch" they made with another culture. Tomorrow I'll tell you about one or two others they made earlier than the Auld Alliance.

The Clan Buchanan

The Clan Buchanan, one of the oldest Highland clans, can date their start to 1016 on the banks of Loch Lomond. Their origin story says that they began with Anselan O Kyan of the Irish clan Ó Catháin, one of the sons of the King of Ulster, who was given lands to the east of Loch Lomond by Malcolm II as thanks for help with the Danes.

This Irish origin was challenged by the modern Council of the Clan Buchanan Society. DNA testing and other historical records disprove the Irish connection. DNA matches show the family tracing back to the Loch Lomond area to 1000CE and even earlier. There is no evidence for the existence of a prince Anselan O Kyan of Ulster. The DNA project showed a strong link to the Clan Gregor, with a possible common ancestor of the two clans c.400CE.

The Buchanans have another part of history to live down. Maurice Buchanan married the grand-daughter of Sir John of Menteith, a Scottish nobleman and sheriff of Dunbarton Castle who betrayed Sir William Wallace to King Edward I of England in 1305. King Robert I of Scotland imprisoned Sir John, but Maurice Buchanan was one of the people who convinced the king to release the traitor.

Clan Buchanan supported Robert the Bruce during the Wars of Scottish Independence, helping Robert escape in 1306. They also fought the English alongside the French at the Battle of Baugé in 1421, and again at the Battle of Verneuil in 1424.

What was the link between France and Scotland? I'll talk about that next time.

Loch Lomond

There is more to Loch Lomond than just being jealous of the notoriety of Loch Ness. In an 11th-century version of the Historia Brittonum, it is listed as the first of several marvels of Britain:

The first wonder is the lake Lumonoy. In there are sixty islands, and men dwell there, and sixty rocks encircle it, with an eagle's nest on each rock. There are also sixty rivers flowing into that place, and nothing goes out of there to the sea except one river, which is called Lenin.

Loch Lomond, which drains south via the River Leven, has more than 30 islands of various sizes, and they are not surrounded by 60 rocks.

Some of those islands were artificial. People arrived in the area 5000 years ago, during the Neolithic Era, and built up "islands" over the water for safer living. These are called crannogs, and could be a structure on stone pillars or built on wooden stakes (see illustration). A crannog in Lomon called "The Kitchen" was a meeting place for Clan Buchanan from 1225 onwards.

Defense was also the reason why the Romans in the 1st century CE built forts near and around Loch Lomond against the Highland tribes. The need for defense never faded: early Medieval Viking raids dragged their boats overland to put them in the Loch and attack and sack several of its islands.

The loch and its neighboring mountain, Ben Lomond, are part of an area called the Trossachs. The Trossachs were home to Robert the Bruce and William Wallace. The signet ring of Rob Roy Macgregor was a bloodstone from Loch Lomond.

A later legend of the area was that of Reverend Robert Kirk, who researched myths and legends and then wrote a book called The Secret Commonwealth of elves, fauns & fairies. He died before it was published, and sparked his very own legend that the fairies, angry that he revealed their secrets, whisked him away.

The Clan Buchanan, mentioned above, was one of the oldest Highland clans, and we're going to look at their origin tomorrow.

The Marvels of England, Part Two

In Part One we read about items in the Historia Brittonum that concerned King Arthur and the city of Bath. The first one listed of the Mirabilia ("Marvels") seems to have taken a standard British geographical feature and exaggerated it:

The first wonder is the lake Lumonoy. In there are sixty islands, and men dwell there, and sixty rocks encircle it, with an eagle's nest on each rock. There are also sixty rivers flowing into that place, and nothing goes out of there to the sea except one river, which is called Lenin.

Yes, parts of Britain had a lot of lakes and isles, although much of what was wetland has been drained for farmland and development. This might refer to Loch Lomond, which drains south via the River Leven. Loch Lomond was said to contain 60 islands, but it's closer to 30, and as for the rocks and eagles and 60 rivers...

The final wonder listed is that of the Cruc Mawr Tomb:

There is another wonder in the region which is called Cereticiaun. There is there a mountain, which is given the name Cruc Maur, and there is a grave on the summit of it, and every man whosoever that will come to the grave and stretch himself out next to it, however short they will be, the grave and the man have been found within one length, and, if it will be that the man is short and small, similarly also it is found the length of the grave is like the height of the man, and, if he will be long and tall, even if he might be of length four cubits near the height of every man so the tumulus is discovered. And every wanderer who's up to weariness, the man will bow three bows near that, he will not be beyond himself up to his day of death, and he will not be weighted down again by any weariness, even if he will go alone to the boundaries of the cosmos.

Cruc Mawr has been identified as likely a hill near Cardigan; the name of that hill is remembered in the name of a farm on the hillside: Crugmore. This size-changing grave reminds us of yesterday's Tomb of Amr, Arthur's son, which changes in length each time someone tries to measure it. There is no simple explanation for the belief in this, especially the last part about bowing and being free from weariness for the rest of one's life. Gerald of Wales also mentions this marvel, although he probably got it from the Historia itself, not by independent research.

I've rarely written about geographical features, but next time, how about we look at Loch Lomond and some of the legends and characters connected to its area?

The Marvels of England, Part One

Two later versions of the 9th century Historia Brittonum contained a section that is referred to as Mirabilia, "marvels" or "miracles." These legends were repeated by others who borrowed from the Historia and became part of the fabric of the "Matter of Britain" in people's minds. A couple of them are legends of King Arthur, of whom the Historia had a lot to say.

The 12th of the Mirabilia listed is about the Cairn of Cabal, Arthur's dog:

There is another wonderful thing in the region which is called Bucit. There is there a mound of stones and one stone placed on top has a footprint of a dog on it. When hunting the porker Troynt, stamped Cabal (who was the dog of the soldier Arthur) the step in the stone, and afterward Arthur gathered together stones under the stone on which was the track of his dog, and it is called Carn Cabal. And men come, and they take the stone in their hands through the space of the day and night, even so, in the daylight of the following day it is come upon on top of his collection.

There was a medieval cantrev (a Welsh unit of land similar to the English Hundred) named Builth, within which is a hill called Carn Gafallt. There are three Bronze Age burial mounds at the top, constructed of stones loosely held together. Depressions made by small stones falling out of place could be taken to resemble a canine paw.

The marvel that follows this is about the Tomb of Amr, Arthur's son:

There is another miracle in the region which is called Ercing. A sepulcra is shown near a spring which is given the name Licat Amr, and the name of the hero who's grave is in the tumulus, it follows, was called Amr. He was the son of Arthur the soldier, and he himself has killed him in that very place and done the burying. And men come to measure the tumulus in length: sometimes it is six feet; sometimes nine; sometimes twelve; sometimes fifteen. For whatever the measurement you will measure it in such a succession, again you will not find it with the same measurement; and even I have made confirmation on my own.

Later stories of Arthur refer to the Wicked Day of Destiny when Arthur defeats his son, Medraut or Mordred, at the Battle of Camlann. Those are later versions of the son's name than what is found in the Historia. A mound south of Hereford, England, called Wormelow Tump, is sometimes pointed out as the burial place of Amr.

Another marvel (number three in the list) is the Hot Pool:

Wonder three - the hot pool, which is in the region of the Huich and encircled by a wall made of brick and stone and to that place men go during all seasons to be washed and to each, as it may have pleased them, the bath thus may be made according to his own will: if he may have willed, the bath will be cold, if warm, it will be warm.

This one is a little easier to explain. The "region of the Huich" refers to the Hwicce, Saxons who lived in the area that includes Bath, a place then and now known for its hot springs.

I'll share a few more of the Mirabilia tomorrow. See you then.

The Historia Brittonum

In a previous post I mentioned the old idea that Britain was founded by people who fled the Fall of Troy. This idea came from the Historia Brittonum, "The History of the Britons," which was produced c.828/9CE. It explains that the name "Britain" comes from Brutus, descendant of Aeneas. As fanciful as the Historia was, it influenced chroniclers and writers for centuries afterward.

It is the earliest source to describe Arthur not as a king but as a military leader, a dux bellorum, "leader/duke of wars":

Then it was, that the magnanimous Arthur, with all the kings and military force of Britain, fought against the Saxons. And though there were many more noble than himself, yet he was twelve times chosen their commander, and was as often conqueror. The first battle in which he was engaged, was at the mouth of the river Gleni.‎

A legend that Arthur carried the image of Mary into battle comes from this as well. Geoffrey of Monmouth's Historia Regum Britanniae ("History of the Kings of Britain") drew heavily on the Historia.

This is also the source of the Vortigern story, who allowed the Saxons to settle in Britain and married Hengist's daughter. Vortigern's failed attempt to build a fortress led to his priests advising to sprinkle the foundation with the blood of a boy who never had a father. Vortigern finds Ambrosius, who instead prophesies that the foundations are falling due to two dragons fighting underground.

Unsurprisingly, the work blends historical facts with legends. A copyist's note added to the manuscript claims it was written "no earlier than the fourth year of the reign of King Mermenus," who can be identified as Merfyn Frych ap Gwriad, king of Gwynedd (reigned 825 - 844). A line in chapter four also dates it as "from the Passion of Christ 796 years have passed. But from his Incarnation are 831 years."

The illustration above shows "of Nennius" in Latin, and that authorship has been disputed. The name Nennius does appear on some copies of the manuscript, but the consensus is that it was added in the 11th century, and that the original author/compiler of the Historia is unknown. Still, Nennius' name is usually attached to the work when it is discussed.

One of the sections is called the Mirabilia, the "Wonders"; I'm going to share some of the lesser-known legends of Britain starting tomorrow.

The Poetry of Taliesin

Taliesin (6th century) came a legendary figure of whom many stories are told and to whom many poems are ascribed—(almost) all of it fiction. It is believed by some scholars, however, that some of the poetry that mentions 6th century events or figures are likely the work of a real figure of that name who existed.

Rheged was a kingdom in the north of Great Britain, a Brittonic-speaking region in terms of post-Roman and Early Medieval Eras. One of its kings was Urien, mentioned in the Historia Brittonum and in several poems praising him. (Urien's grandson was St. Mungo.) A poem by Taliesin praising Urien at the Battle of Catraeth—and believed to be original—is offered here.

It is called "The Battle of Gwenystrad" [source].

The men of Catraeth arose with the dawn,
About the Guledig, of work a profitable merchant.
This Urien, without mockery is his regret.
He sustains the sovereignty and its demands.
Warlike, the grandeur of a perfect prince of baptism.
The men of Prydain hurtful in battle array,
At Gwenystrad, continuously offerers of battle.
Protected neither the field nor woods
The people with shelter when tribulation comes.
Like the wave loud roaring over the beach,
I saw valiant men in battle array,
And after the morning, battle-mangled flesh.
I saw a tumult of three limits slain,
A shout active in front was heard.
In defending Gwenystrad was seen
A mound and slanting ground obstructing.
In the pass of the ford I saw men gory-tinted,
Dropping their arms before the pallid miserable ones.
They join in peace as they were losers.
Hand on the cross they wail on the gravel bank of Garanwynyon.
The tribes revel over the rising wave.
The billows protect the hair of their captures.
I saw men of splendid progress
With blood that clotted on the garments,
Toiling energetically and incessantly in battle.
The covering battle, where there was no flight, when contrived.
The ruler of Reged, I am astonished at what was dared.
I saw a brow covered with rage on Urien,
When he furiously attacked his foes at the white stone
Of Galystem. His rage was a blade;
The bucklered men were sustained in need.
May a desire of battle come on Eurwyn.

And until I fail in old age,
In the sore necessity of death,
May I not be smiling,
If I praise not Urien.

This page tries to locate the battle geographically. 

Taliesin's existence is mentioned as one of five chief British poets in the Hitoria Brittonum. Although I've referenced the Historia several times, I haven't spent time explaining the pros and cons of this early source. Let's start talking about that tomorrow.

Chief of Bards

The 9th-century Historia Brittonum mentions five especially renowned British poets, one of whom is Taliesin. In the 12th century he was considered the author of a great number of romantic legends. The Middle Welsh manuscript called the Book of Taliesin from the 14th century has 56 poems. Scholars think 11 of them may date back to the 6th century, and may actually have been written by the figure known to history as Taliesin.

We know little of his life (of course), but the odes to King Urien Rheged, who died c.550, give us a time frame for an early bard. There are poems to other rulers of that era, suggesting that Taliesin may have performed for at least three kings. His life, however, contains (again, of course) many stories that cross over into fantasy and legend. His double-birth is the most profound of these.

According to a 16th-century account, the Hanes Taliesin (Welsh: "Tale of Taliesin"), his given name was Gwion Bach, and he was a servant to Ceridwen, an enchantress married to a noble in the time of King Arthur. She wanted her ugly son to gain respect, and so created a potion of inspiration so that he would become a famous bard. The potion needed stirring for a year and a day, and that task was given to Gwion Bach. At the completion of the stirring, three drops from the cauldron landed on Gwion's thumb.

Because it was hot, Gwion immediately put his thumb in his mouth, and received the inspiration and wisdom intended for Ceridwen's son. Knowing Ceridwen would be furious, he fled. She pursued, so he turned himself into a hare. Ceridwen turned herself into a greyhound to catch him, so he became a fish and leapt into the river. She became an otter, so he turned himself into a bird to fly away. She turned herself into a hawk, so he fled into a barn and turned himself into a single grain to hide. She became a hen and ate the grain.

The result was that she became pregnant. Realizing that she would give birth to Gwion, she resolved to kill the child, but he was so beautiful at birth that she could not bring herself to do it. She instead put him in a basket and threw him into the river.

The baby and basket got caught in a weir set up to catch salmon by Elffin, son of a lord, who raised the child and named him Taliesin. (The illustration above is an 1897 work by F.H.Townsend.) Taliesin grew up possessing the wisdom and talent derived from the potion ingested by his previous self.

That is the origin story of the legendary Taliesin. Tomorrow we'll look at the poetry that might actually be ascribed to the real Taliesin.

Druid Culture

The Classical Era sources we have for druid culture agree that druids were important in Celtic society. Julius Caesar wrote that the druids had an elected leader who ruled until death, referred to in later literature often as an "arch-druid."

Druids were highly respected for the learning and wisdom. Caesar said that they studied "the stars and their movements, the size of the cosmos and the earth, the nature of the world, and the powers of immortal deities." (Despite this sophistication that mirrored the Roman world, Caesar also described the frequency of human sacrifice, likely in order to paint them as inferior to the civilized Romans, and therefore worthy of conquest.)

Other classical writers, Diodorus Siculus and Strabo, claimed the druids were so revered that they could stop an impending battle between armies simply by intervening. They were philosophers and knowledgeable about religion. Another Roman, Pomponius Mela, writing around the same time as Julius Caesar, made the first remarks about how their learning was conducted in secret, taking place in caves or hidden in forests.

Caesar claimed it could take 20 years for a druid to properly learn the required lore, because nothing was committed to writing, but needed to be thoroughly memorized. Yes, there was a written language in Gaul, but there exists today no single written line of "druidic lore" that can be verified as authentic. The forgeries of Edward Williams/Iolo Morganwg do not count.

In the centuries after the conquest of Gaul, the Romans took measures to wipe out the druids. Pliny the Elder wrote that Emperor Tiberius (14-37CE) banned druidic practices (and soothsayers) in order to stop human sacrifice.

Druids seem to have survived in the British Isles a little longer, until Christianization spread. Their role as carriers of oral tradition and law did not disappear, however: it survived with a different name for the purveyors. That name was "bard." Tomorrow we'll look at one of the early and most famous bards, of whom some say it can be argued that he was one of the last druids: Taliesin. See you then.

About Druids

One of the earliest recorded descriptions of druids comes from Julius Caesar, who encountered them in the conquest of Gaul in the 1st century BCE. In Book 6 of his Commentarii de Bello Gallico ("Commentaries on the Gallic War"), he has a few chapters on the social structure of Gaul. He lists two groups that were prominent in Gallic society, druids and nobles. Unfortunately, we should be careful what we take as fact, since a lot of what he wrote was hearsay, and some comes from an account a century earlier by another politician, Posidonius.

Posidonius decided in the 90s BCE to travel the world. He studied the Celts in Gaul, describing customs like nailing skulls to doorways as trophies. The Celts told him that they honored druids, whose descriptions caused Posidonius to describe druids as philosophers. Posidonius' writing on the lands of the Celts is lost, but was quoted by others, such as Caesar.

Julius Caesar commented on the role of human sacrifice, including of innocent people, and the option of burning alive hundreds of people to protect the larger population from famine or plague. The legend of the "wicker man" (seen above), entrapping several people in the wicker-made construct and burning the whole, comes from one line of Caesar's, which is believed to have been inspired by the stories of Posidonius:

They have images of immense size, the limbs of which are framed with twisted twigs and filled with living persons. These being set on fire, those within are encompassed by the flames.

The 1st-century Greek geographer Strabo also mentions this practice, saying that innocent people would be sacrificed inside if there were no criminals handy to use.

Caesar also discusses the divinities to whom the druids sacrificed, mentioning Dis (the Roman god of the underworld), from whom Caesar says the Celts believe they were descended. Another was the goddess Brigid, associated with healing and smithcraft and nature (among other things), who may have been Christianized centuries later as St. Brigid.

We'll go into more of the civil culture of druids tomorrow.

Faking Medieval Literature

During the Celtic Revival, a Welsh stonemason named Edward Williams (1747 - 1826) took an interest in collecting old manuscripts and began writing his own poetry. After moving to London, he joined a Welsh literary society, but later returned to Wales and farming (at which he was unsuccessful). In the 1780s, he decided to help "revive" early Welsh literature by forging it, and he adopted the name Iolo Morganwg. His collection was later published in 26 volumes as the Iolo Manuscripts by his son, Taliesin, whom he named after an early medieval bard.

To be fair, not everything in the Iolo Manuscipts was a forgery. He wanted to prove, however, that a lot of Welsh culture—particularly druidism—survived the Roman Conquest of Britain, and his evidence was manuscripts that he claimed to have uncovered himself. His first foray into re-educating a modern world on his finds was by publishing a collection of poetry by a known 14th-century creator of love poetry and erotica, Dafydd ap Gwilym (c.1315 - c.1350). He included hitherto unknown poems of Dafydd which were Edward's first published forgeries.

This collection was very successful, and Edward moved back to London in 1791 where he founded Gorsedd (Welsh for "throne"), a community of Welsh writers and poets. (The site of its founding is commemorated by the plaque shown above.) This society had ranks:

• Ovates, who wear green robes (novices)
• Bards, who wear blue robes (seasoned members)
• Druids, who wear white robes (the highest rank)

Wales has an annual music and poetry competition, the Eisteddfod. In 1884, the Transactions of the Royal National Eisteddfod of Wales made remarks on Edward's published work:

The records thus furnished, take us back to a time of Prydain ab Aedd Mawr, who is said to have lived about a thousand years before the Christian era, and who established the Gorsedd as an institution to perpetuate the works of the poets and musicians.

Of course, Edward's records were made up, but they supported the idea of a Celtic Revival and mis-educated people for generations. Gorsedd also made much of Stonehenge and other circles of standing stones. Occurrences of Eisteddfods often created circles of standing stones to mark the event, but these days a set of artificial stones is used and set up wherever the Eisteddfod takes place, only to be put away until the following year.

But what of the druids? Do we really know anything about them, especially since they left no written records? Let's delve into them next time.

The Celtic Revival

Folk often look to the past as a "Golden Age," or even just as having facets that fascinate the current era. There was a "Celtic Revival" that started in the 19th century that became enamored of a highly polished view of the stories and artifacts of the distant past. (There was a similar Gothic Revival that started in the 18th century, extended into the next century by Pugin.)

A large part of this was "insular art"; that is, arts and crafts of Early Medieval Ireland, Britain, and Wales. Archaeology was becoming a popular pastime—alas, without the rigor of modern scholars: sites were frequently simply "bulldozed" to reveal treasure, and careful mapping and cataloguing was unknown—and the artifacts discovered were sought after and duplicated, as mentioned in yesterday's post on Irish Treasures.

One lasting effect of this is the ubiquity of the High/Celtic/Irish cross (pictured), with knotwork inscribed in the verticals and horizontals. That knotwork found its way into some Art Nouveau designs by Irish-American designers, such as are found in Old Saint Patrick's Church in Chicago, and the designs of Chicago Architect Louis Sullivan [link], whose father was a traditional Irish musician.

Another lasting effect was created by Welsh antiquarian and author Iolo Morganwg (Edward Williams, 1747 - 1826), a collector of Welsh literature who portrayed himself as an expert on Welsh culture and a reviver of druidism, although after his death it was discovered that he had forged many documents he passed off as historical.  The idea of druidism, however, is still with us, and we should talk about that a little more.

Irish Treasures

In yesterday's post about the Ardagh Hoard it was compared to the Book of Kells as prime examples of early Irish art, but then mentioned the Derrynaflan Chalice  and the Tara Brooch.

The Derrynaflan Chalice was discovered rather recently, in 1980, as part of a hoard of five liturgical vessels found in County Tipperary on the site of an early Irish abbey. Unlike the accidental discovery at Ardagh when the boys were digging for potatoes, the Derrynaflan discoverers were exploring the abbey site with a metal detector. Similar to the Ardagh situation, ownership of the find was disputed. The discoverers,  father and son, were given permission to wander the land, but the ruins were protected under the National Monuments Act of 1930, and digging up anything on the site was not permitted. They kept their find secret for weeks before revealing it and trying to claim ownership and trying to sell it for £5,000,000. They were unsuccessful, and the find went to the National Museum of Ireland.

The Derrynaflan Hoard is of the same vintage (8th - 9th centuries) as the Ardagh Hoard, displaying the same intricate detail. It included a silver paten, a hoop that may have been intended to support the paten, and a strainer. A bronze basin was inverted on top of the four items, suggesting it was deliberately buried that way to keep the items preserved.

The Tara Brooch was a little earlier (late-7th - early-8th centuries). It is so finely detailed that a magnifying glass is needed to appreciate parts of the design. It was found c.1850 on a beach on the east coast of Ireland, 25 miles from Tara, and despite its name has no real connection to the Hill of Tara. It was given that name by a Dublin jeweler named George Waterhouse who wanted to make and sell copies during the Celtic Revival and thought the name would add mystique and grandeur and create more customers.

Although it is impossible to know the origin of these items, there are occasional random hints about them in history. As I mentioned in the post on St. Brigid, Gerald of Wales makes a reference to a book at Kildare that might just be the Book of Kells. The Book of Leinster (12th century) mentions an elaborate brooch buried after a defeat. Historians wonder if the burial of the Tara Brooch was deliberate to commemorate a tragedy, and not an accidental loss.

What was the Celtic Revival? Although it was well past the Middle Ages, let's talk about it tomorrow.

The Ardagh Hoard

In 1868, two boys were digging in a potato field west of Ardagh in County Limerick when they struck something solid that was definitely not a potato. Clearing some earth and reaching his hand down, he discovered the long pin of a broach. Realizing that there might be more buried there, he dug down three feet and found a space shaped with round stones, inside of which was a large cup which contained a smaller cup and some brooches. A flat stone that had shifted sideways suggested that the items were deliberately buried in a stone-lined chamber with a flagstone on top.

The boys had unwittingly uncovered what became known as the Ardagh Hoard. It included four broaches, a plain chalice, and an elaborate chalice called the Ardagh Chalice. The Chalice is a two-handed size made of beaten silver and decorated with gold, bronze, brass, and pewter, with enamel designs. Around the bowl it is inscribed with the names of the apostles. It is clearly a Christian chalice, but the fine brooches suggest use by wealthy people, and are reminiscent of later Viking designs, suggesting that the hoard was not buried until about 900CE.

The land was rented by the mother of one of the boys, who sold the items to the Bishop of Limerick, George Butler. Butler had the items cleaned up by a jeweler. Because the objects seemed to have been hidden away carefully, as if the owner were protecting them and intended to retrieve them, they would qualify as a "treasure trove" and by law become the property of the Crown. Bishop Butler denied that they were a treasure trove, but did eventually hand them over to the National Museum of Ireland in Dublin.

The Ardagh Chalice is considered one of the finest examples of early Irish craftsmanship, rivaling the Book of Kells. Tomorrow we'll look at a couple of comparable examples of Early Irish art, the Tara Brooch and the Derrynaflan Chalice.

Ardagh History

Legend says that St. Patrick arrived in Ardagh c.434 and created a Christian settlement over which he put his nephew, Mel of Ardagh, in charge as bishop. The village is beside Ardagh Mountain (Irish Árd Archadh means "high field"), a hill 650 feet high.

The mountain was originally known as Brí Leith. One of the High King's rights was bilberries from Brí Leith for his traditional harvest meal. (Bilberries look like blueberries of North America but are not the same species. In Ireland they are gathered on the last Sunday of July, and at Lughnasadh.) Brí Leith was the legendary home of Midir, a king and son of Dagda of the Tuatha Dé Danann.

After Patrick, it became an important part of Ireland's early Christian history, but there are no records of Mél's successors as bishop of Ardagh until the reign of Henry II and the arrival in Ireland of the English. Brigid of Kildare was said to have spent her earliest years as a nun in the Ardagh monastery, under the mentorship of Mél.

The English attempt to take over Ireland (one of many) caused the burning of the original church and town. In 1230, after being restored, there was further trouble over choosing a bishop. The disagreement turned to violence, and part of the cathedral was once again destroyed. Another dispute over episcopal control in 1496 again destroyed the entire church, leaving only an altar standing. The illustration above shows what little remains of the Church of Mél behind some gravestones.

There was more than one location in Ireland named Ardagh. We've been talking about Ardagh in County Longford, but there was another in County Limerick, in which a treasure hoard was discovered in 1868 in a potato field. Tomorrow we'll show off the Ardagh Hoard.

Mél of Ardagh

St. Patrick had sisters. One of them was discussed yesterday, Derarca, called the "mother of saints" because she had so many children who became saints and or bishops. Four of her sons were named Mél, Melchu, Munis, and Rioch. (Some historians think Mél and Melcghu ere the same person.) They went with their uncle Patrick to Ireland tp help with his mission.

Patrick established a church at Ardagh and made Mél its bishop. (The illustration is of Patrick consecrating Mél.) Mél was a "traveling bishop," supposedly never staying in one place long but always moving to spread his missionary message. He performed manual labor to earn his living as he went. He spent part of his time living on the farm of his aunt Lupait, during which rumors spread to discredit him that he and she were living an inappropriate and scandalous life together. Patrick himself went to investigate, but Lupait and Mél proved their innocence by performing miracles. Lupait survived a Trial by Ordeal by carrying hot coals without harm. Mél produced a live fish by ploughing it up in a field.

In contrast to this reported wandering life, he also is said to have built a monastery at Ardagh, and was its abbot as well as a bishop (difficult to do if you aren't around much). Brigid of Kildare visited Ardagh for a time, and Mél was her mentor there. He granted her the authority of an abbess, which was a benefit when she established her own monastery.

Mél is remembered these days in a cathedral at Longford dedicated to St. Mél, as well as a college. His feast day is 7 February, and has taken on an unusual observance. It is seen as a holiday for single people (perhaps as a rebellion against all the fuss of St. Valentine's Day a week later). On 7 February in Longford, single people celebrate the benefits of being single, and even send cards and host parties for singles.

Ardagh was important as an early Christian diocese in Ireland, but its history traces back longer than that. Let's talk about its folkloric traditions tomorrow.

St. Patrick's Family

Whether Brigid of Kildare was an early Irish saint or a pre-Christian goddess, her legend says that her mother was a slave baptized by St. Patrick, and that she was mentored by Patrick's nephew, Mél of Ardagh. As it turns out, Patrick had more than a few nephews who followed in his footsteps.

Patrick had a sister, Derarca, known as St. Derarca and the "mother of saints" because of her children's careers. Our first indication of her comes from the Vita tripartita Sancti Patricii (Tripartite Life of Saint Patrick), which is believed to have been written within a century of Patrick's death. It mentions that Patrick had two sisters, and when he came to County Derry for an ordination he found three deacons there who were his nephews. (To be honest, Patrick's own very brief account of his life mentions no sisters.)

Legend says that Derarca married twice. Her first husband was purported to be Conan Meriadoc; she bore him Gradlon Mawr, later King of Brittany. (Another legend says that her first husband was Restitutus the Lombard.) Her second husband was Conis the Briton. If you add up all the children attributed to her, you have 17 sons—all of whom became bishops and/or saints—and at least two daughters. (The illustration shows where her house is said to have stood, on Valentia Island in Kerry, of which she is the patron.)

Her daughters were Saint Eiche of Kilglass and Saint Lalloc of Senlis. Her other children included Saint Sechnall of Dunshaughlin; Saint Nectan of Killunche; Saint Auxilius of Killossey; Saint Diarmaid of Druim-corcortri; Dabonna, Mogornon, Drioc, Luguat, and Coemed Maccu Baird.

The three deacons Patrick encountered in Derry, however, were Saint Reat, Saint Nenn, and Saint Aedh. They are commemorated on 3 March, 25 April, and 31 August. Some records say Patrick had several sisters, and I am not certain of the mother of these three. 

There was one child in particular, son of Derarca and Conis, of whom we do hear more, and that is the Mél of Ardagh mentioned above. I'll tell you about him tomorrow.

St. Brigid Cross

It is not unusual for Christian symbols of the cross to have variation. We all recognize the two straight lines perpendicular to each other, with a horizontal one shorter than the vertical one, and spaced about one-quarter to one-third from the top of the vertical.

There is, however, an upside-down or inverted cross in Christian tradition, the Cross of St. Peter. In Catholic tradition, when Peter was to be crucified he requested that the cross be upside-down. This comes from the "Acts of Peter," a 2nd-century Greek apocryphal work. The author says that Peter's request was to make a point that the beliefs of his persecutors were opposite of what they should be.

But there is also St. Andrew's Cross, the shape called saltire. It most resembles the letter "X"; it is named for St. Andrew because of the tradition that he was martyred by being bound to an X-shaped crucifix.

With those examples in mind, let's look at St. Brigid's Cross, associated with Brigid of Kildare. (The image above is from a site that will show you how to make it.) traditionally, Brigid's Cross is made from freshly cut reeds on 1 or 2 February, the cross-quarter festival of Candlemas. The rushes or reeds were pulled on the eve of her day, then crosses were made the next day to protect the home during the coming year.

I think this cross is just one more piece of evidence that Brigid was a legend, not a living person. Despite the stories—and even physical relics that exist but only appeared centuries after she supposedly lived—it seems more likely, as some historians believe, that the stories of St. Brigid are a Christianization of the Celtic goddess Brigid, a member of the Tuatha Dé Danann.

There is no real evidence for her existence. The miracles attributed to her parallel some stories out of folklore. Kildare, where she established a monastery, comes from Gaelic Cill Dara, "Church of the Oak," an oddly pagan-sounding name for a Christian church. Her feast day is Imbolc, the pre-Christian calendar's start of spring. She was raised in the house of a druid (!), and a white cow magically appeared to provide milk for her—not a unique animal to show up in times of need in Celtic folklore. St. Brigid and the goddess Brigid have some of the same associations: healing, metalwork, dairy workers, farming.

Her cross is different from other Christian cross variations, not just by its shape, but because the shape seems secondary to its construction from natural materials, still green, and re-created annually to ensure protection. Certainly, crosses and crucifixes are worn for protection, as are other amulets and talismans, but the Brigid Cross is so connected to Nature that it allies more closely to the pre-Christian traditions in Ireland than the later introduction of Christianity.

There are historical figures tied to her legend though, like the King of Leinster and St. Patrick. That king and Brigid's mother Broicsech were both baptized by Patrick. The Book of Armagh, relied on for its early texts about Patrick, clearly states the important friendship between Patrick and Brigid. Patrick died c.461, however, and the best sources for St. Brigid claim she was born c.451.

Speaking of the two, however: the Brigid story also states that her mentor was Mél of Ardagh, who was Patrick's nephew. I have to confess that in none of the reading I have done about St. Patrick have I seen references to his extended family—and it turns out it was pretty extensive! Tomorrow we'll look at the relatives of St. Patrick.

St. Brigid

When the King of Leinster, Crimthann Mac Énnai (died 483) told his vassal Dubhthach to free a young girl from slavery, he knew she was special, but could not predict that Brigid of Kildare (c.451 - c.525) would grow up to be a saint.

Tradition says that Brigid founded a monastery at Kildare  (Cill Dara, "church of the oak"), with seven companions. She became a "consecrated virgin"; that is, she pledged to live a life of virginity as a bride of Christ. This was confirmed (according to the stories) by either a bishop who became St. Mac Caille or by Saint Mél of Ardagh (a nephew of St. Patrick by Patrick's sister Darerca).

Brigid invited a hermit, Conleth from Connell, to help her, and they founded two institutions: one for women and one for men. Conleth became the first bishop of Kildare. Kildare was ruled for hundreds of years by co-equal abbess-bishops and abbot-bishops, became an important center of religious learning, and developed into a cathedral city.

Conleth, who was a metalsmith and illuminator, oversaw a school of art at Kildare. A Gospel book made there was praised by Gerald of Wales in the 12th century. His description of it matches what we now know as the Book of Kells.

Miracles attributed to Brigid include turning water to beer, calming the wind and rain, and healing wounds. A more unusual miracle took place when she asked the King of Leinster for the land to build the monastery and was denied. After praying, she asked the king if he would grant her as much land as her cloak would cover. The king, of course, agreed. She handed her cloak to four women, asking them to each take a corner and run off in the four cardinal directions. The cloak expanded more and more, threatening to cover hundreds of acres.

The panicked king asked what she was doing, and Brigid told him she intended to cover his whole kingdom in response to his stinginess. He pleaded with her to call the women back and he would give her a suitable plot of land.

Brigid's Feast day is 1 February, the same date as the pre-Christian festival of Imbolc that heralds the start of spring, and involves weaving Brigid crosses. I want to talk about the Brigid cross tomorrow, and whether it is a clue to Brigid's existence as, not a saint, but a goddess. See you then.

The King of Leinster

The Annals of Ulster mention that, in the Battle of Áth Dara in 458, Crimthann mac Énnai led the Laigin forces against high king Lóegaire mac Néill, resulting in Leinster not having to pay the high king a levy of cattle tribute after that.

Crimthann came from a highly respected lineage, the Uí Cheinnselaig, a Leinster dynasty that traced its line all the way back to the legendary Niall of the Nine Hostages, ancestor of the Uí Néill ("O'Neill") dynasties that ruled Ireland from the 6th to the 10th centuries.

If he had the throne by the time of that battle, he held it for a decent amount of time (for a culture fraught with fighting): he died in 483 after being wounded in a battle with those who were also Laigin from south of Leinster.

He had at least two children from his marriage. His son, Nath Í mac Crimthann, became king after him. He also had a daughter, Eithne Uatahach, who married Óengus mac Nad Froích (d.490), the first Christian king of Munster.

The reason that Crimthann's daughter was willing to marry a Christian in the 5th century was because she had been raised as a Christian. Crimthann had been converted and baptized by St. Patrick himself, a significant occurrence for an early Irish king.

Because Crimthann was a Christian, when one of his vassals brought him a problem girl named Brigid, and Crimthann saw that Brigid was inclined to give away her master's property to aid the poor, Crimthann recognized in her something special. Rather than support the idea of punishing her, he suggested to his vassal, Dubhthach, that the girl be freed from bondage. This was, of course, Brigid of Kildare, whose story we began yesterday, and which we will continue tomorrow.

Brigid of Kildare

Ireland has three national saints. Besides St. Patrick and St. Columba there is St. Brigid of Ireland, also called Brigid of Kildare.

Kildare Abbey in County Kildare was said to be founded by Brigid in the 5th century, first as a small oratory but growing into a double monastery, housing both women and men. A monk at Kildare in the 7th century, Cogitosus, wrote a Vita Sanctae Brigidae ("Life of St. Brigid"), probably drawn from earlier documents and stories passed down at the monastery. There was an earlier biography, possibly written by a lector at Kildare named St. Aleran (who also wrote a biography of St. Patrick).

Brigid was born c.451 as a Fothairt, one of the Irish tribes based in Leinster, to a chieftain named Dubhthach and a slave who had been baptized by St. Patrick. When Dubhthach's wife learned of the pregnancy, she forced her husband to sell the slave to a druid. At a moment when Brigid's mother was bringing milk into the house, she went into labor and Brigid was born on the threshold. When the druid tried to feed her, she vomited because of his paganism, but a white cow appeared that provided the babe with milk. The druid, realizing that the child was special, eventually freed her and her mother from slavery.

According to the Cogitosus' biography, she performed farming chores, watching the flocks and churning butter. She cared for the poor, and one day after she gave away all of her mother's butter to a needy person, the butter miraculously replenished itself after Brigid prayed. When she was ten, she went to work in her father's house, where she gave his belongings to the poor.

Dubhthach, annoyed, took her to the King of Leinster to sell her into slavery once more. While Dubhthach was talking to the king, Brigid gave Dubhthach's jeweled sword to a beggar so that he could barter it for food for his family. Seeing this, the king made a decision that would change Brigid's life.

Before I tell you what the king said to Dubhthach, I want to tell you more about the king. This was Crimthann Mac Énnai, who died in 483. This helps us settle the legend of Brigid in these decades of the 5th century—if she existed, that is. We'll talk about that after we look at Crimthann Mac Énnai and why he may have decided to be kind to Brigid.

Candlemas

Yesterday's post mentioned Candlemas among the cross-quarter days. It takes place on 2 February, and has taken on Christian associations, most notably the day when Christians take their candles to Church and have them blessed for use in the coming year. For Christianity, Candlemas is also called the Feast of the Presentation of Jesus Christ, or the Feast of the Holy Encounter. These names arise from the Gospel of Luke Chapter 2 in which Jesus is brought to the Temple and Simeon recognizes that Jesus is special.

The date of 2 February was noted outside of Christianity as well. The Celtic feast of Imbolc was celebrated on 1 or 2 February, marking the start of spring. It is mentioned in early Irish literature as the start of lambing season, and the Christian association of 2 February with St. Brigid is thought to be a Christianization of the pre-Christian Irish goddess Brigid, associated with domestic animals among other things.

Tradition in France, Belgium, and other countries stated that this was the date when Christmas decorations should be put away (a custom I would like to see followed in my neighborhood). In France making crepes is associated with the day; flipping a crepe while holding a gold coin in the other hand is supposed to ensure good luck for the year.

In Germany, Candlemas is associated with payments and rents, as we saw connected with Quarter Days. The Candlemas prediction in Catalonia was that, if there is bad weather on Candlemas, good weather will follow for the coming year.

In Hungary, the tradition has children dress as bears and eat honey. This is because it is the date that bears come out of their den to see if winter is over; they see their shadows because of the sun, and are frightened by it and return to hibernate for a time. This is the origin of the Pennsylvania Dutch tradition of Groundhog Day that took root in North America.

Was St. Brigid a real Christian saint, or a Christianization of an Irish legend? Tomorrow we'll look at the stories and see what evidence there may be.

Cross-Quarter Days

The post about Quarter Days promised an explanation for Cross-Quarter Days, and here it is. Just as the Quarter Days are the solstices and equinoxes, Cross-Quarter Days are the midpoints between those. They are 2 February, 1 May, 1 August, and 1 November.

A modern audience might recognize 1 May and 1 November as May Day and All Saints Day, respectively. The other two dates also had their own names: 1 or 2 February was Candlemas and 1 August was Lammas. But what was the significance of those dates?

Prior to the Christianization of Celtic Britain, their names in chronological order were Imbolc, Beltane, Lughnasadh, and Samhain. Imbolc marked the beginning of spring, Beltane marked the beginning of summer, Lughnasadh marked the beginning of the harvest season, and Samhain marked the end of the harvest season and the start of the "dark half" of the year. Christianity matched these events with Christian significance.

Imbolc may be recognized in North America as Groundhog Day, based on a Pennsylvania Dutch superstition that a groundhog will wake up from hibernation, see its shadow, and flee back into its burrow for six more weeks of sleep (an extended winter). Older European tradition ascribed this behavior to a hibernating bear, but as hunting over the centuries made them scarce, the Dutch brought the idea of a smaller animal to the New World.

In Scotland, these cross-quarter days were the "Old Scottish Term Days" and were slightly different. Candlemas and Lammas were the same, but instead of May Day they celebrate(d) Whitsunday on 15 May and Martinmas on 11 November. Whitsunday was supposed to be Pentecost, the 7th Sunday after Easter, which of course was a "floating" holy day and could take place over a several-week period, but it was legislatively established as 15 March for convenience.

Candlemas had its own history, which I'll talk about next time.

Quarter Days

I mentioned yesterday that Lady Day was one of the Quarter Days, and that I would explain them.

As you might guess, Quarter Days are a British and Irish tradition that take place every three months throughout the year—well, almost every three months. A couple days ago we covered equinoxes and solstices, and the quarter days approximately match those four events.

Christmas on 25 December is one, and Lady Day on 25 March is another. The summer solstice, 24 June (of course technically the 24th is a few days after the solstice, for reasons explained here) was called Midsummer Day, but also for the Roman Catholic Church it was the Feast of the Nativity of John the Baptist; "midsummer" seemed too pagan.

The last one would be the autumnal equinox, 24 September, but the Church already had a day at the end of September, the Feast of Michael and All Angels, also called Michaelmas. Instead of celebrating two big days so close together, the fourth Quarter Day was the 29th of September. Just as Lady Day was the start of contracts with tenant farmers, Michaelmas was the end of the harvest season, when accounts would be settled and tithes from the harvest collected. In Ireland, Michaelmas was a day the rents were due.

There were also cross-quarter days, called so because they fell between the Quarter Days. They were four other holidays that existed before Christianity came to the British isles. They should get their own post, and they will...tomorrow.

Lady Day

Yesterday's post on the new year mentioned the solstices and equinoxes and their significance in the calendar year. The winter solstice was used to celebrate (among other festivals) Christmas, and 25 March (right after the vernal equinox) was considered New Year's Day in many cultures, especially those focused on an agrarian lifestyle.

Another religious celebration attached to one of these calendar events was Lady Day, also called the Feast of the Annunciation, the day the the archangel Gabriel appeared to the Virgin Mary and told her that she would be the mother of the son of God. (Leonardo DaVinci's portrayal of this event is shown above.) It was convenient that this day fell nine months prior to 25 December, and that nine months was the period of human gestation. It seemed logical that 25 March was the day of Mary's conception, and therefore the story told in the Gospel would take place on that date.

This became more than just a day to celebrate the Annunciation, however. Because it was treated as the start of a new year, in England it was the day that contracts between landowners and their tenant farmers would begin. If a tenant were to start farming a new plot, this was the day he would "move in." (Even as late as the 18th century in England, the tax year for Land Tax and Window Tax ran from 25 March. A proposal and investigation in 2018 about moving that date to 31 December decided to leave well enough alone.)

When the British Empire in 1752 decided—along with most of Western Europe—to switch from the Julian to Gregorian calendar, there was an adjustment of 11 days. 25 March became 5 April which was referred to as "Old Lady Day," leaving Lady Day to the (now adjusted and astronomically correct) 25 March.

Lady Day was one of the "quarter days" of the calendar, which did not exactly fall on the solstices and equinoxes. I'll talk about them next time.