The Pseudo-Werewolf Story From The Witch-Hunter’s Manual, The Malleus Maleficarum

(Werewolf illustration for the story "The Werewolf Howls". Internal illustration from the pulp magazine Weird Tales (November 1941, vol. 36, no. 2, page 38), [Public Domain] via Creative Commons)

Around 1487 CE, two famous Papal Inquisitors named Heinrich Kramer and James Sprenger published The Malleus Maleficarum with the blessing of Pope Innocent VIII. The book covered supernatural topics such as witchcraft, demons and monsters in a question and answer format. It remained a highly influential text among inquisitors and witch-hunters for around three centuries.

In the peculiar pages of The Malleus Maleficarum, the authors gave several accounts of monsters, or, at least, illusions of monsters inspired by witches or the devil. One of the more interesting tales recorded in the book told of a delirious man who unfortunately believed he turned into a murderous wolf whenever he slept. The authors of the text used the following story as an example of the magical illusions that witches and devils could impose on unsuspecting people.

The Inquisitors cited a certain William of Paris as the source of this tale. The story began with a troubled man living alone in a cave. He truly and honestly believed that he became a wolf while he slept. Cursed by witchcraft or preyed on by demons, the man dreamed that he crept into nearby towns at night and devoured helpless children. When he awoke, however, he realized that children truly had been killed in nearby towns. Whenever the man dreamt that he had murdered a child, without fail, a child would be found mauled to death the next day, as if by an animal. With these revelations, the man believed to his very core that he was a genuine werewolf.

According to the Inquisitors, however, the man was being deceived. They wrote that while the cursed victim dreamed horrible visions of hunting children, the devil possessed a wolf and reenacted the man’s nightmares in reality. The dreaming man tossed and turned harmlessly in his cave while a separate wolf, supposedly controlled by demonic forces, stalked into town and attacked the vulnerable youth.

According to The Malleus Maleficarum, the diabolical charade continued for a long time. In the end, the story concluded with the townspeople finding the man writhing in delirium on a forest floor. The Inquisitors left no mention of what was done with the mad man, and no names were provided except their source, William of Paris.

Written by C. Keith Hansley.

Source:

• The Malleus Maleficarum by Heinrich Kramer and James Sprenger, translated by Montague Summers. New York: Dover Publications, 1971.

Suicide In The Family—Cato The Younger And Porcia Catonis

(Left: The suicide of Cato the Younger by Charles Le Brun  (1619–1690), [Public Domain] via Creative Commons. Right: The Suicide of Porcia by Pierre Mignard  (1612–1695), [Public Domain] via Creative Commons)

Marcus Porcius Cato, better known as Cato the Younger (95-46 BCE), was a brilliant Roman statesman who spent his life fighting against corruption and defending the status quo of the Roman Republic against prospective dictators, such as Julius Caesar and Pompey. The interesting life and accomplishments of Cato deserve (and will get) an article of their own, but for now, all that really needs to be known about Cato is that he was, along with Cicero, one of the key politicians in the Roman Senate that sided against Julius Caesar during the long Roman Civil Wars.

In 46 BCE, Cato must have known that the Roman Republic, as he knew it, was coming to an end. Pompey the Great had already been defeated by Caesar and was assassinated in Egypt. The other extremely skilled general, Labienus, had just lost a major battle in North Africa against Caesar at Thapsus (read about how Caesar prepared for Thapsus, HERE). From his position in Utica, located in modern day Tunisia, Cato could only observe as the Roman Republic fell, once again, into the hands of a dictator.

While most of Caesar’s armed opponents fled to Spain after the Battle of Thapsus, Cato remained where he was in Utica. There, the hopeless politician decided to end his life, no matter what it took to get the job done. The accounts of Cato’s suicide given by Plutarch, Dio Cassius and Julius Caesar, himself, leave behind a very grisly and disturbing scene.

After the Battle of Thapsus, the usually charismatic and gregarious Cato shockingly became bizarrely introverted and calm. He checked that the finances of Utica were all tidy, and then withdrew from governing the city.

Cato’s friends and family, suspicious of the statesman’s sudden change of character, followed him home and kept a constant watch on the man. They even searched Cato’s home, locking away all the dangerous instruments they could find. Nevertheless, Cato somehow found a knife.

On a certain day, after having just finished an evening meal with his comrades, Cato retired to his room to read. That night, it is said he read Cicero’s entire Phaedo, a collection of arguments for the immortality of the soul. After reading his final book, Cato produced a knife that he had managed to hide from his friends and vigorously stabbed himself in the gut. Losing strength and consciousness, Cato fell to the floor with enough force to alert his nearby friends.

The already wary friends and family rushed into the room, staunched the bleeding and quickly brought in a doctor to stich up the knife-wound. Miraculously, the doctor stabilized the statesman. Cato, however, eventually regained consciousness, and he was determined to die. With his own two hands, he ripped open the doctor’s stitches and brought about his death by yanking out his own innards, one handful at a time.

After Cato’s suicide, his young daughter, named Porcia Catonis, married a certain zealot for the Republic named Brutus. Once married, she reportedly joined the conspiracy to assassinate Julius Caesar, and her husband, Brutus, was one of the men who stabbed the dictator to death on the Ides of March in 44 BCE. Brutus, however, was hunted down by Caesar’s successors in the next generation of the Roman Civil War by 42 BCE, and he committed suicide as Octavian and Mark Antony closed in. His wife, Porcia Catonis (Cato’s daughter), also allegedly committed suicide around this time. The most popular accounts of her death either involve suicide by sealing herself in a room with noxious smoke, or by gruesomely swallowing live coals.

Written by C. Keith Hansley

Sources:

• War Commentaries by Gaius Julius Caesar and Aulus Hirtius, translated by W. A. McDevitte and W. S. Bohn, 2014.
• Julius Caesar by Philip Freeman. New York: Simon & Schuster Paperbacks, 2008. 
• https://www.britannica.com/biography/Marcus-Porcius-Cato-Roman-senator-95-46-BC 
• http://listverse.com/2011/10/20/15-interesting-women-of-ancient-rome/ 
• https://philosophy-of-cbt.com/2013/12/11/lady-stoics-1-porcia-catonis/ 
• http://www.onthisday.com/people/porcia-catonis  

Plague Doctors—The Creepy And Ineffective Early Prelude To The Hazmat Suit

(Late medieval or Renaissance illustration of a plague doctor, [Public Domain] via Creative Commons)

Doctor Charles de l’Orme (1584-1678) is credited with the iconic plague doctor’s ensemble that continues to unnerve modern viewers. It was designed to protect the wearer against plagues, such as the Black Death, which had spread throughout the Middle East, Europe and Russia by around 1352. Unfortunately for our cousins and ancestors from the past, the medieval doctors knew agonizingly little about the plague and its possible treatments.  

Instead, plague doctors of the time relied on observation and often-faulty assumptions, such as plague spreading through aroma or eyesight. Regardless of the medical inaccuracy of these medieval doctors, their assumptions eventually led to Charles de l’Orme’s beaked plague suit. Even though l’Orme’s suit is the first recorded beaked plague suit that historians have found on record, it is probable that earlier doctors manufactured their own personal makeshift suits in attempts to preserve their health. Yet, the modern perception of the plague doctor’s ensemble comes from l’Orme’s widely-used design.

The headwear of the plague doctor suit consisted of a large-brimmed leather hat and a beaked mask. The hat, even without the mask, was an article of clothing that identified the wearer as a doctor. Its wide brim supposedly was also designed to deflect bacteria. As for the mask, it fell down to the shoulders, and was constructed with glass eye sockets and a beak. The main purpose of the beak was to hold aromatic substances, which plague doctors believed could ward off the plague. Some favorite aromatics for the beak were pleasant herbs such as mint, or sponges soaked in perfume or vinegar.

Beneath the mask was a waxed gown or robe that fell down to the feet. Underneath the gown, the doctor wore leather breeches, made similarly to those used by fishermen. Most plague doctors also wore leather gloves. Concerning the footwear worn by these beaked doctors, accounts are vague, yet, like the rest of the outfit, the shoes or boots were probably waxed and similar in nature to a fisherman’s gear.

Most plague doctors carried long wooden canes that they used to lift the clothing or bedding covering plague victims and to give visual instructions to onlookers, such as family members. Also, many plague doctors carried long-handled spoons that they would use to ladle medicine (unfortunately, often ineffective or harmful) to the sick from a safe distance. Sadly, the plague suit proved to be ineffective at deflecting the plague, and many of the doctors died from the illness they were trying to contain.

 

(Image of a plague doctor – frontispiece from Jean-Jacques Manget, c. prior to 1721, [Public Domain] via Creative Commons)

Written by C. Keith Hansley.

Sources:

• Going Medieval (Documentary). Written by Mike Loades and directed by David Hutt. History Channel/Lion Television, 2012.  
• http://www.doctorsreview.com/history/doctors-black-death/ 
• http://mentalfloss.com/article/61738/80-facts-about-80s  
• http://www.historyonthenet.com/the-stuarts-the-plague-doctor/

A Woman Named Julia Felix Led A Lavish Business Enterprise In The Ancient City Of Pompeii

(Fresco featuring money and writing instruments from the Roman fresco from the Praedia of Julia Felix in Pompeii, c. 62-79 CE, [Public Domain] via Creative Commons)

Until Mt. Vesuvius destroyed the city of Pompeii on August 24, 79 CE, it was a thriving city with a population of around 12,000 people. Pompeii was well connected to the Roman maritime trade network and likely received a lot of traffic from ships entering and leaving the port. The city had anything these visitors (or locals) could want or need—an amphitheater, an elaborate public park, and a religious and political forum. There were even houses for Mystery Religions, and, of course, there were brothels.

Despite the generally male-oriented society of the Roman Empire, women in Pompeii seemed to have been able to carve out some surprising economic autonomy in the bustling city. There is evidence of women from the city loaning money to each other, managing businesses, and even owning the enterprises completely. Of these influential women in Pompeii, none showed more business acumen than Julia Felix, who possessed a villa near the town amphitheater.

Archeologists and historians hypothesize that Julia Felix began to develop her large estate into an economic marvel around 62 CE, when an earthquake gave her a reason to begin renovations on her property. She proved to be quite the entrepreneur, with her businesses catering to all types of people. By the time Mt. Vesuvius buried Pompeii in 79 CE, Julia Felix’ villa complex had become something of a luxurious resort hotel.

Her target clientele was the wealthy elite of society. Julia Felix advertised her private bath as a club where only the genteel were invited. She also rented some of her villa’s rooms to respectable people visiting Pompeii. She also had a beautiful garden and a swimming pool and, for added aesthetics, much of the villa was decorated with columns, statues and frescos. For those who wanted more than rooms, beauty and bathing, the complex also was outfitted with fully functioning shops. Catering to the lower classes, her villa also had either a tavern, restaurant or diner that served food and drink, which could then be consumed on built-in tables and benches. To bring in clients to her establishment, she had at least one sign erected outside of her villa to advertise for potential customers.

It is impossible to know how wealthy Julia Felix truly was, but the truth was probably very impressive. With Pompeii thriving as an economic port city, and with her ability to provide services for both the elite and common people of the city, she had the potential for an incredible amount of income—especially considering her location just a short distance from the city amphitheater. In all likelihood, Julia Felix was a very, very prosperous ancient woman.

Written by C. Keith Hansley

Sources:

• Pompeii: The Dead Speak. Documentary published by The Smithsonian, 2016.
• http://www.pompeiiinpictures.com/pompeiiinpictures/R2/2%2004%2003.htm 
• http://www.dartmouth.edu/~rome2007/Day59.html 
• http://www.ancienthistoryarchaeology.com/business-women-in-pompeii 
• http://www.pompeii.org.uk/m.php/museum-house-of-julia-felix-pompeii-en-92-m.htm  

The Crossbow—The World’s First Mechanical Superweapon

(Sketch of a super-crossbow by Leonardo da Vinci  (1452–1519), [Public Domain] via Creative Commons)

The crossbow was an effective weapon used by many cultures across the world from the ancient times to the Middle Ages, and the deadly devise is still used by hunters, today. It is thought to be the world’s first mass-produced mechanical weapon. Able to be produced in large quantities and easily taught to soldiers, the crossbow proved to be an effective weapon on the battlefield for more than a thousand years.

Historians still debate where the crossbow originated, but a wide majority places the first crossbows in ancient China around the 5th and 4th century BCE, but some even claim it was developed in the 6th century BCE. In ancient China, the crossbow trigger mechanisms were fairly standardized, so soldiers could repair their weapons without much difficulty. Furthermore, detailed manuscripts of crossbow use have been discovered in China dating from the 4th and 3rd century BCE.

Across the world, the ancient Greeks, and later the Romans, used a much larger crossbow design to make powerful siege engines known as ballistae. There is some evidence that crossbows may have been used in Europe by the 390s BCE, and the ballista is definitely thought to have been in Alexander the Great’s arsenal during his conquests in the 330s and 320s BCE.

The crossbow remained a relevant weapon well into medieval history. It’s use turned simple and weak peasants into deadly soldiers, especially when it was outfitted with a crank, making the device easier to load. The crossbow only went out of style, along with other projectile ancient weapons, when firearms began to become the world’s long-range weapon of choice.

Written by C. Keith Hansley

Sources:

• The Art of War by Sun Tzu, translated by John Minford. New York: Penguin Classics, 2009. 
• http://militaryhistorynow.com/2012/05/23/the-crossbow-a-medieval-wmd/ 
• http://ancientstandard.com/2007/06/29/a-brief-history-of-the-crossbow-ca-4th-c-bc-%E2%80%93-onward/ 
• http://www.militaryfactory.com/ancient-warfare/detail.asp?ancient_id=Crossbow  

The Great Wall of China Is Held Together By Rice

(1907 photograph of the Great Wall of China, photographed by Herbert Ponting (1870-1935), [Public Domain] via Creative Commons)

The official construction of the Great Wall of China, one of the most well-known landmarks on earth, began around 220 BCE under the First Emperor of the Qin Dynasty. King Zheng, as he was called before conquering his rival monarchs, became the First Emperor by defeating all the other contenders in the the Warring States Period (c. 475-221 BCE). After his victory, the emperor decided to join together all of the preexisting walls in the northern regions of China to serve as a defense against the threat posed by Mongolia. Where there were gaps in the fortifications, the First Emperor constructed new walls to tie all the useful defenses in the north into one network. Though the First Emperor began the Great Wall, it originally consisted mainly of packed earth ramparts. The Great Wall of China that we know (and photograph) today, however, came much later.

The newer, impressive, brick portions of the Great Wall of China were built by the Ming Dynasty (c. 1368-1644) as a protection for their capital city, Beijing, located in the vulnerable north of China. The Ming Dynasty drastically upgraded the earlier, more rustic, Great Wall of China by making it much larger and stronger than it had been before.

The design and construction of the Ming Dynasty Great Wall of China still astounds and impresses modern observers. The builders used huge bricks that were fired with precision in a kiln. To hold the bricks in place, the Chinese created a special mortar which researchers claim is much stronger than the modern variety. The formula the Ming Dynasty builders used was simple, and the ingredients used in the mortar were easy to obtain, but the end result was extremely strong and durable. They used sticky rice mortar—they mixed rice with lime and other common ingredients of mortar. The starch, and other ‘sticky’ qualities of the sticky rice, worked wonders for the builders of the Great Wall, keeping the bricks stuck in place until this day.

Written by C. Keith Hansley

Sources:

• Records of the Grand Historian (Shi ji) by Sima Qian, translated by Burton Watson. New York: Columbia University Press, 1993.  
• Secrets: Episode 7, “Great Wall of China” (Season 2). Smithsonian Channel, 2014.  
• http://www.ancient.eu/Great_Wall_of_China/ 
• https://www.britannica.com/topic/Great-Wall-of-China  
• http://www.history.com/topics/great-wall-of-china

Alexander The Great May Have Danced His Way Into The Port Of Telmessus

(Alexander painted by Placido Costanzi (Italian, 1702-1759) and dancers from a banquet of song and dance. Isfahan, possibly late Safavid or Zand era. artist is unknown, all [Public Domain] via Creative Commons)

Around 334-333 BCE, after Alexander the Great took Halicarnassus and before he reached Gordium, the Macedonian king's army reached the port city of Telmessus. The details about what happened once Alexander arrived at the city differed from account to account, and historian to historian. Yet, all accounts arrived at the same conclusion—the city surrendered without a battle.

Of all the accounts describing the fall of Telmessus, the version provided by the Macedonian writer, Polyaenus, is by far the most dramatic. If his version was true, the fall of Telmessus was a salacious event filled with beautiful women, lavish feasts and, finally, bloody massacre.

According to Polyaenus, the capture of Telmessus was not masterminded by Alexander, but was the idea of Nearchus, one of the Macedonian king’s companions. Apparently, Nearchus had a friend residing in the city, and this friend informed Nearchus that the Persian garrison in Telmessus was starving for some female companionship.

Sensing an opportunity, Nearchus rallied as many beautiful women as he could find that sympathized with the forces of Alexander. The women were arranged into a large dancing troupe and were supplied with baskets of alcohol, food and anything else they might need. Then, they were smuggled into Telmessus.

Once the women were inside the city, and they knew they were not suspected of treachery, the dancers announced that they would perform for the Persian soldiers. They either threw their own party for the city’s garrison, or they performed in a party already being held by the soldiers. Either way, the wine, food and women were in great abundance.

The beautiful dancing women and the festive atmosphere drove caution from the minds of the Persians. After a night of partying, they grew sleepy from the heaps of food and their minds grew hazy from overindulgence in drink. The incapacitated soldiers were so impaired that none of them noticed that the members of the new troupe of dancers were all pulling metallic objects from their baskets and bags.

The dancers, if you believe Polyaenus, massacred the whole Persian garrison that night and Alexander the Great was able to occupy the city without undertaking a siege or fighting a prolonged battle. Again, this was only one account of Telmessus’ fall—the only agreed upon assumption is that Telmessus was won without a battle—but the version given Polyaenus is certainly the most stylish and dramatic.

Written by C. Keith Hansley.

Source:

• Alexander the Great by Philip Freeman. New York: Simon & Schuster Paperbacks, 2011.