docbobdocs

  Two separate but similar incidents show that the Pilgrimage of Grace was "a rising of the commons". These events marked the start of local rebellions in the East Riding of Yorkshire and the northwest county of Cumbria. They were triggers of small revolts that grew into one large protest against religious change. Rebel John Hallom testified that "in bidding the beads" on the Sunday before St Wilfrid's Day (observed 12 October), the priest at Walton Church (near Beverley) did not mention the feast day. Hallom asked the priest why he left it out "for it was wont to be a holyday here". The priest replied by informing the parishioners that it and other feasts "were put down by the king's authority". After mass the whole parish "was in a rumour and said that they would have their holydays bid and kept as before". From that point on, according to Hallom, "no man could keep his servants at the plow". [ Letters and Papers , v...

Blackstone's Commentary on the Laws of England thunders against "the bloody reign of Henry VIII", when the "spirit of inventing new and strange treasons was revived."  The lawyer describes a contemporary method of execution that emphasised the special disgrace and notoriety of that crime, as if hanging traitors was not enough. It required: 1.  That the offender be drawn to the gallows.  2.  That he be hanged by the neck, and then cut down alive. 3.  That his entrails be taken out, and burned, while he is yet alive. 4.  That his head be cut off. 5.  That his body be divided into four parts. 6.  That his head and quarters be at the king's disposal.   With this horrific deterrence in mind, it is clear that any extended definition of High Treason would be of public concern. In fact, successive Acts passed in 1534 did increase the reach of  treasonous behaviour, and quite significantly. The First Act of Succession ( 25 Henry 8, c. 22 ) decla...

Dissolution of the Monasteries under Henry VIII occurred in two stages. The first move took place during 1535 and 1536 with the "suppression" of 213 "lesser" monasteries. The second phase, from 1537 until 1540, saw the "surrender" of the remaining religious houses through a process of "negotiating". Marking the dividing point of the alternate systems of "closure" was a series of rebellions in the north of England, collectively called the Pilgrimage of Grace. It was the quashing of these revolts, and severe punishment of the ringleaders, that enabled the King's officers to proceed from "suppression of the lesser monasteries" to the peaceful "surrender" of the rest. In the aftermath of the Lincolnshire, Yorkshire and Cumberland uprisings, some 216 rebels were executed for treason, including at least six abbots, 38 monks, and 16 priests. Many of them suffered the ultimate sentence:       "And on 25 day of May 1...

        "At the time of European colonial arrival in the late eighteenth century, Aboriginal populations in Australia were observed to have strong classificatory kinship systems, complex cultural and symbolic landscapes based on geographic totemism (the 'Dreaming'), distinctive graphic art systems, land rights in the form of ritual property, and formalised exchange systems.       This view seems in marked contrast to archaeological records from the late Pleistocene and early Holocene, which show a sparsely populated, highly mobile society with extensive open social networks, implying significant changes took place in the mid to late Holocene.       A number of studies have suggested that many technological and social innovations occurred in the last 2,000 years, in response to population pressure and climatic variability, including a shift to broad spectrum diets, longer residence times at well-resourced localities, seed-grinding, trade ...

Karremarter is a small limestone shelter on the western edge of Discovery Bay. Set high on a ridge overlooking the coastal flats that surround the Piccaninnie Ponds sinkholes, it was occupied by humans during the Mid-Holocene. Relevant radiocarbon dates are 7,155-6,030 cal BP and 4,088-3,614 cal BP.  One of a number of similar sized rock shelters in the area, it is only a few hundred metres from Narcurrer Shelter, and shares many of the same range of bones from human prey species. "Debris started to accumulate in these small shelters once the sea level reached its present position and wetland and littoral resources were brought into close proximity". Sites like Karremarter and Narcurrer "were infrequently and opportunistically occupied ... brief stopping-over places for people moving along the coast or from the coast to the forested hinterland." 15 vertebrate species were identified at Karremarter, much mauled. "The taxa present, together with the degree of bon...

The eel fishery at Lake Condah is a well known site in Aboriginal archaeology, attracting respect and controversy in equal measure. Located on the Tyrendarra Lava Flow, it is an extensive system of water channels constructed in hard volcanic rock. A map drawn up by a colonial surveyor called Ingram shows a part of the scheme as at 1883. It identifies a dam at the Lake Condah outlet and gives it two labels: "Overflow dam Darlot Creek during winter" and "Wooden barrier or fishery". This neatly states the structure's dual purpose. It was built to control the flow of water and direct the movement of eels. The fishery is a complex network of inlet and outlet channels linking swamps and streams to create a flow between them. These man-made connections allow elvers (young eels) from the Pacific Ocean to migrate up the waterways into 'new' marshes and wetlands, where they 'fatten' for 15 to 20 years. The erection of stone and wooden weirs in the same cha...

SOME CULTURAL PRACTICES START, SOME STOP,   SOME CHANGE, AND SOME DO NOT BONES HAVE A CLEAR AND DIRECT LINK WITH THE PAST: THEY REMEMBER IT Previous posts have described the first archaeological traces of Aboriginal settlement along the coast of southwest Victoria and southeast South Australia.  Sites at Cape Duquesne cliffs, Bridgewater South and Koongine caves, and Wyrie Swamp, have occupation remains dating from 13,000 to 9,000 years ago. They reveal an economic picture of subsistence existence during terminal Pleistocene ― Holocene transition, explaining diet and and the development of a "complete tool-kit" for practical survival. However, there is little among these artefacts that evokes their communal lives. Hunters and gatherers lived together, communicated with each other, had children and grieved the loss of family members. The difficulty is that only tangible elements are preserved long enough for archaeologists to dig them up millennia later. One way to gain ac...