tag:theconversation.com,2011:/nz/topics/european-history-15745/articlesEuropean history – The Conversation2024-03-06T16:07:53Ztag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2222082024-03-06T16:07:53Z2024-03-06T16:07:53ZThe first Europeans reached Ukraine 1.4 million years ago – new research<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/579833/original/file-20240305-28-c9bzes.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=5%2C0%2C3431%2C2025&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Remains of the castle in Korolevo, close to the site.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Castle_in_Korolevo.jpg">Катерина Байдужа/Wikimedia Commons</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>During warm periods in Earth’s history, known as <a href="https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/sites/default/files/2021-11/1%20Glacial-Interglacial%20Cycles-Final-OCT%202021.pdf">interglacials</a>, glaciers the size of continents pulled back to reveal new landscapes. These were new worlds for early humans to explore and exploit, and 1.4 million years ago this was Europe: a <a href="https://www.nla.gov.au/digital-classroom/senior-secondary/cook-and-pacific/cook-legend-and-legacy/challenging-terra"><em>Terra nullius</em></a> unoccupied by humans.</p>
<p>Long before it emerged as the epicentre of global colonialism, Europe was itself colonised for the first time by humans migrating from the east.</p>
<p>A new study, led by a team from the Czech Academy of Sciences and Aarhus University and <a href="https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-024-07151-3">published this week in <em>Nature</em></a>, reports the earliest human presence in Europe, at a site on the Tysa River in western Ukraine known as <a href="https://maps.app.goo.gl/wQsNaz3eba6VaD9TA">Korolevo</a>.</p>
<h2>Buried stone tools at Korolevo, Ukraine</h2>
<p>We studied a layer of stone tools left on a river bed by the people who crafted them. These “core-and-flake” tools were made in the <a href="https://www.worldhistory.org/Oldowan_Tools/">Oldowan style</a>, the most primitive form of tool-making, first classified by the palaeoanthropologist <a href="https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/mary-leakey-unearthing-hi/">Mary Leakey</a> in east Africa. Similar tools have also been found at the oldest known sites of human occupation in Europe, the Levant, and Asia.</p>
<p>The tools at Korolevo had been buried by river sediment and later by wind-blown dust, and then eventually uncovered by workers at a stone quarry. Evidence of prehistoric people at this site was first discovered in 1974 by the Ukrainian archaeologist, V. N. Gladilin.</p>
<p>Early efforts to date the tools proved troublesome. Measurements of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magnetostratigraphy">remnant magnetism</a> in the overlying sediments indicated that the lowermost tools predate the most recent reversal in the Earth’s magnetic field 0.8 million years ago, an event known as the <a href="https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1029/2022JB025286">Matuyama-Brunhes reversal</a>. This timing is well beyond the limits of commonly used dating methods, such as radiocarbon (useful back to about 50 thousand years) and luminescence dating (usually limited to the last 300 thousand years or so).</p>
<h2>A dating method based on cosmic rays</h2>
<p>To solve this problem, we applied an innovative dating method using <a href="https://zero.sci-hub.se/2282/fe5beae8f8902cc8db76634e2148be29/granger2014.pdf">cosmogenic nuclides</a> that can reach back 5 million years, the critical timeframe for human evolution. This method has already yielded definitive ages at other key sites, such as the 3.4 million year old <a href="https://www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.2123516119"><em>Australopithecus</em> at Sterkfontein</a> in southern Africa, and the 0.77 million year old Zhoukoudian <em>Homo erectus</em>, also known as <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/7235123a">‘Peking Man’</a>.</p>
<p>It works like this: exploding stars (<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uv0gVDvzkwA">supernovae</a>) outside our Solar System release streams of cosmic rays that enter Earth’s upper atmosphere, sending showers of secondary cosmic rays down to Earth, where they react with minerals in rocks and soils to produce radioactive nuclides in tiny but measurable quantities. </p>
<p>We measured two such nuclides, <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1871101422001686">beryllium-10 and aluminium-26</a>, to calculate the burial age. A date was obtained by observing the ratio of these two nuclides, which changes over time during burial due to their differing radioactive decay half-lives: 1.4-million-years for beryllium-10 and 0.7-million-years for aluminium-26.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/579092/original/file-20240301-18-t5jr2q.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/579092/original/file-20240301-18-t5jr2q.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/579092/original/file-20240301-18-t5jr2q.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=230&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/579092/original/file-20240301-18-t5jr2q.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=230&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/579092/original/file-20240301-18-t5jr2q.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=230&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/579092/original/file-20240301-18-t5jr2q.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=289&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/579092/original/file-20240301-18-t5jr2q.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=289&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/579092/original/file-20240301-18-t5jr2q.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=289&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Left panel: Supernova in galaxy NGC 2525, about 70 million light years away. Earth is continuously bombarded by cosmic rays generated by supernovae like this one. Right panel: the team of physicists (co-authors) at the Helmholtz Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf and their accelerator mass spectrometer, the machine that measured the beryllium-10 and aluminium-26 in our samples.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">NASA and STSI/HZDR</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>By applying this approach to the sediment layer containing the stone tools at Korolevo, we were able to calculate a burial age of 1.5 to 1.3 million years (the <a href="https://itu.physics.uiowa.edu/courses/reporting-uncertainties">1-sigma uncertainty range</a>), making this Europe’s earliest securely dated human occupation.</p>
<h2>Who lived at Korolevo?</h2>
<p>The absence of fossils at Korolevo means we cannot definitively say who these pioneers were. However, the tools are too old and too primitive to be the work of either anatomically modern humans (<em>Homo sapiens</em>), or <a href="https://www.nhm.ac.uk/discover/who-were-the-neanderthals.html">Neanderthals</a>. The tool makers were likely some variety of <a href="https://www.nhm.ac.uk/discover/homo-erectus-our-ancient-ancestor.html"><em>Homo erectus</em></a>, a remarkably successful ancestor of humans that appeared around 2 million years ago, and spread across diverse habitats in Africa, Asia, and Europe.</p>
<p>On their journey from Africa into Eurasia, early humans passed through the Levant region, where they left signs of occupation as early as 2.5 million years ago at <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0277379119302847">Zarqa Valley</a>. Further north, numerous <em>Homo erectus</em> fossils have been found at <a href="https://www.science.org/content/article/meet-frail-small-brained-people-who-first-trekked-out-africa">Dmanisi</a> in the Caucasus Mountains, dating to 1.8 million years ago.</p>
<h2>Europe colonised from the east</h2>
<p>Once into Eurasia, people migrated eastward at a remarkable pace, reaching as far as the island of <a href="https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.aau8556">Java</a>, southeast Asia, by around the same time we find them in western Ukraine. It is not known what caused the delayed westward incursion into Europe, but it appears that Korolevo bridges the migration gap between the Caucasus (1.8 million years ago) and sites in southwestern Europe dated to 1.2 to 1.1 million years at <a href="https://www.iphes.cat/atapuerca">Atapuerca</a> and Vallonnet. One proposal is that people entered Europe from the east via the Danube Valley and Pannonian Plain.</p>
<p>What they found was very different to the present day. 1.4 million years ago, Europe was home to <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Late_Pleistocene_extinctions">megafauna</a> such as the mammoth, hippopotamus, giant species of hyena, cheetah, beaver, sabre-toothed cat, scimitar-toothed cat, and the European jaguar — among others that have <a href="https://books.google.es/books/about/Europe.html?id=q35bDwAAQBAJ&source=kp_book_description&redir_esc=y">long since disappeared from the continent</a>.</p>
<h2>Interglacial warmth posed opportunities</h2>
<p>Korolevo is the northernmost known presence of whom we assume to be <em>Homo erectus</em>. Our burial age of around 1.4 million years ago corresponds to three interglacial periods that were among the warmest of the last few million years. We propose that people exploited these warm intervals to disperse into higher latitudes. </p>
<p>The intervening glacial periods in this region were bitterly cold, ruling out any possibility of a <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-022-04600-9">suitable habitat</a> for humans. We reason that climate was a major influence on human behaviour back then, just as it is today.</p>
<h2>Europe’s origin story</h2>
<p>Our discovery in Ukraine adds a new and unexpected layer to the story of Europe. Differing opinions on the meaning of these ancient tools will no doubt arise, not least because their discovery in such a contested location brings questions of human history directly into the geopolitical firing line.</p>
<p>And yet an alternative view also exists. It is one that marvels at human enterprise and reminds of the common ground from which all humanity sprang: a salve for transcending these <a href="https://aeon.co/essays/for-arendt-hope-in-dark-times-is-no-match-for-action">dark times</a>.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/222208/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>John Jansen currently receives funding from the Czech Science Foundation, the European Commission, and the Chengdu University of Technology where he is visiting professor. He also holds two unsalaried positions: visiting senior fellow at the University of Wollongong, and associate editor with the Geological Society of America Bulletin. </span></em></p>A new study reveals the earliest evidence of humans in Europe, at Korolevo, Ukraine, shining new light on prehistoric migration routes.John Jansen, Senior researcher, Institute of Geophysics, Czech Academy of SciencesLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2224722024-03-05T13:59:14Z2024-03-05T13:59:14ZCan witches fly? A historian unpacks the medieval invention − and skepticism − of the witch on a broomstick<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/578977/original/file-20240229-24-sr8g1w.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C1417%2C1009&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">One of the earliest depictions of flying witches is in a 15th-century text entitled "Le champion des dames," or "The Defender of Ladies."</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Champion_des_dames_Vaudoises.JPG">Martin Le Franc/W. Schild. Die Maleficia der Hexenleut' via Wikimedia Commons</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>The image of a witch flying on a broomstick is iconic, but it is not nearly as old as the idea of witchcraft itself, which dates to the <a href="https://yalebooks.yale.edu/book/9780300238679/the-witch/">earliest days of humankind</a>.</p>
<p>Several theologians, church inquisitors, secular magistrates and other authorities first wrote about such flight in the early 1400s. The earliest known visual depiction of flying witches appears in a 1451 manuscript copy of one such text, “<a href="https://mcfarlandbooks.com/product/the-trial-of-womankind/">Le champion des dames</a>” (“The Defender of Ladies”), by the French poet Martin Le Franc.</p>
<p>Witchcraft accusations at this time were increasingly <a href="https://muse.jhu.edu/article/39656">focused on women</a>. The clothing of the figures in <a href="https://www.loc.gov/item/49030810/">Le Franc’s text</a> depicts them as coming from non-elite ranks of medieval society. So do the implements on which they fly. Staffs and brooms were tools for ordinary housework.</p>
<p>The notion that witches could fly served to support the idea that they gathered in large groups <a href="https://www.psupress.org/books/titles/978-0-271-08910-2.html">called sabbaths</a>. These gatherings, in turn, heightened the supposed threat witches posed to Christian society. </p>
<p>Even after the idea of witches flying on brooms was introduced to European society, it was not readily accepted. Many who wrote about witchcraft at this time, including Le Franc, were quite skeptical about the reality of flying witches.</p>
<p>As it turned out, however, authorities could still perceive a threat even if they believed witches’ flight was imaginary. </p>
<h2>The scope of skepticism</h2>
<p>In my work as a <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=E0RaQ-oAAAAJ&hl=en">scholar of medieval European history</a>, I have researched texts describing <a href="https://www.psupress.org/books/titles/978-0-271-08910-2.html">witchcraft in the early 1400s</a>. </p>
<p>Some texts fully accepted the idea that witches flew, often on brooms or staffs. One described witches traveling to sabbaths on staffs anointed with a magical ointment and flying into the mountains to gather ice to cause hailstorms.</p>
<p>Other texts, however, were not sure that such flight was real. One noted that accused witches claimed to fly from mountaintop to mountaintop on chairs, but it also hinted that demons might have tricked them into thinking they did. Another text stated that accused witches who claimed to fly were “deluded” by the devil. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/574238/original/file-20240207-24-dtpy1k.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Illustration of witch in a red dress flying on a staff, from the 'Champion des dames'" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/574238/original/file-20240207-24-dtpy1k.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/574238/original/file-20240207-24-dtpy1k.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=586&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/574238/original/file-20240207-24-dtpy1k.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=586&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/574238/original/file-20240207-24-dtpy1k.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=586&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/574238/original/file-20240207-24-dtpy1k.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=737&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/574238/original/file-20240207-24-dtpy1k.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=737&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/574238/original/file-20240207-24-dtpy1k.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=737&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Witches were often depicted flying on household implements such as brooms and staffs.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Champion_des_dames_Vaudoises.JPG">Martin Le Franc/W. Schild. Die Maleficia der Hexenleut' via Wikimedia Commons</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Skepticism about flying witches drew on an early 10th-century church law about women who claimed to <a href="https://doi.org/10.1353/mrw.2021.0009">ride at night on “certain beasts</a>” in the train of the pagan goddess Diana, whom Christian authorities understood to be a demon in disguise. The law declared that such flight was not real, and anyone who thought so had been “seduced by illusions and phantasms of demons.” It prescribed no direct punishment but mandated priests <a href="https://www.faculty.umb.edu/gary_zabel/Courses/Phil%20281b/Philosophy%20of%20Magic/Arcana/Witchcraft%20and%20Grimoires/canon.html">preach against such “infidels</a>.”</p>
<p>Skeptics of magical flight were quite specific in their doubts. Le Franc, for example, declared that anyone who thought that witches could fly <a href="https://mcfarlandbooks.com/product/the-trial-of-womankind/">lacked “common sense</a>.” On the other hand, he fully accepted that magicians, who were generally male, could conjure demons and that “magic arts” had been practiced as far back as ancient Persia.</p>
<p>The story, however, is not so simple as male authorities accepting the reality of magic practiced by men but doubting that women flew on brooms. These same authorities were, in general, taking other aspects of <a href="https://doi.org/10.1353/ems.2003.0002">witchcraft more seriously</a>.</p>
<h2>Imagining flight</h2>
<p>Did women accused of witchcraft really insist that they flew on brooms? </p>
<p>Scholars have speculated that the ointments often mentioned in accounts of such flight might have functioned as hallucinogens, producing sensations of flying. The most thorough study of these accounts, however, finds that such references <a href="https://doi.org/10.1353/mrw.2016.0008">rarely appear in voluntary testimony</a>. They come instead from authorities recording, and often reshaping, what accused witches said.</p>
<p>In the end, allegations of flight and dismissal of its reality may have sprung entirely from the minds of <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-invention-of-satanic-witchcraft-by-medieval-authorities-was-initially-met-with-skepticism-140809">legal and religious authorities</a> who codified and condemned the idea of witchcraft. </p>
<p>Their skepticism hardly mattered. Courts could execute convicted witches regardless of whether they believed they could fly. </p>
<p>Although witch-hunting ended – at least in Europe and North America – <a href="https://www.routledge.com/The-Witch-Hunt-in-Early-Modern-Europe/Levack/p/book/9781138808102">in the 18th century</a>, the image of witches flying on brooms endures.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/222472/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Michael D. Bailey does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>The iconic image of a witch on a broomstick has apocryphal origins. But whether they could actually fly didn’t stop Christian society from persecuting them.Michael D. Bailey, Professor of History, Iowa State UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2226902024-02-27T15:05:30Z2024-02-27T15:05:30ZGifts that live on, from best bodices to money for bridge repairs: Women’s wills in medieval France give a glimpse into their surprising independence<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/577678/original/file-20240223-20-h7u1l8.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=17%2C1%2C949%2C949&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Women's wills and last testaments provide a more nuanced picture of life in the Middle Ages than medieval stereotypes allow, such as that depicted in "Death and the Prostitute" by Master of Philippe of Guelders.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://inpress.lib.uiowa.edu/feminae/DetailsPage.aspx?Feminae_ID=37729">Gallica/Bibliothèque nationale de France/Feminae</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>In medieval Europe, views of women could often be summed up in two words: sinner or saint.</p>
<p>As <a href="https://web.uri.edu/history/meet/joelle-rollo-koster/">a historian of the Middle Ages</a>, I teach a course entitled Between Eve and Mary: the two biblical figures who sum up this binary view of half of humanity. In the Bible’s telling, Eve <a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Genesis%203&version=KJV">got humans expelled from the Garden of Eden</a>, unable to resist biting into the forbidden fruit. Mary, meanwhile, <a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Luke%201&version=KJV">conceived the Son of God</a> without human intercourse. </p>
<p>Either way, they’re daunting models – and either way, patriarchy considered women in need of protection and control. But how can we know what medieval women thought? Did they really accept this vision of themselves? </p>
<p>I do not believe that we can totally understand someone who lived and died hundreds of years ago. However, we can try to somewhat reconstruct their frame of mind with the resources we have available. </p>
<p>Few documents that survive from medieval Europe were written by women or even dictated by women. Those that do are often formulaic, full of legal and religious language. Yet the wills <a href="https://muse.jhu.edu/article/363743">and censuses</a> that survive, and which I study, open a window into their lives and minds, even if not produced by women’s hands. These documents suggest that medieval women had at least some form of empowerment to define their lives – and deaths.</p>
<h2>A centuries-old census</h2>
<p>In 1371, the city of Avignon, in present-day France, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1353/jowh.2010.0480">organized a census</a>. The resulting document is ripe with the names of more than 3,820 heads of household. Of these, 563 were female – women who were in charge of their own household and did not shy away from declaring it publicly.</p>
<p>These were not women of high social status but individuals scarcely remembered by history, who left only traces in these administrative documents. One-fifth of them declared an occupation, including both single and married women: from unskilled laborer or handmaid to innkeeper, bookseller or stonecutter. </p>
<p>Nearly 50% of the women declared a place of origin. The majority came from around Avignon and other parts of southern France, but some 30% came from what is now northern France, southwest Germany and Italy. </p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/577715/original/file-20240224-24-qcjvza.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="An illustration of a blond woman in a pink dress carrying a wooden vessel on top of her head outside." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/577715/original/file-20240224-24-qcjvza.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/577715/original/file-20240224-24-qcjvza.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/577715/original/file-20240224-24-qcjvza.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/577715/original/file-20240224-24-qcjvza.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/577715/original/file-20240224-24-qcjvza.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=948&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/577715/original/file-20240224-24-qcjvza.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=948&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/577715/original/file-20240224-24-qcjvza.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=948&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">An illustration from 11th-century physician Ibn Butlan’s text Tacuinum sanitatis.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/btv1b105072169/f186.image.r=%22Latin%209333%22?lang=EN#">Bibliothèque nationale de France</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The majority of ladies who arrived from faraway regions arrived alone, suggesting medieval women were not always necessarily “stuck” at home under the domination of a father, brother, cousin, uncle or husband. Even if they wound up that way, they seemed to show some guts by leaving in the first place. </p>
<h2>New cities, new lives</h2>
<p>In cities like Avignon, with a large proportion of immigrants, long-lasting lineages disappeared. As <a href="https://ehess.academia.edu/JacquesChiffoleau">historian Jacques Chiffoleau</a> <a href="https://search.worldcat.org/title/9196772">has suggested</a>, most late medieval Avignonese were “orphans” who lacked extended family networks in their new surroundings – <a href="https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203866085">and this was reflected in the culture</a>.</p>
<p>Since the 12th century, women in the south of France had been considered “sui iuris” – capable of managing their own legal affairs – if they were not under a father or husband’s control. They could dispose of their own possessions and distribute them at will, both <a href="https://www.routledge.com/Death-in-Medieval-Europe-Death-Scripted-and-Death-Choreographed/Rollo-Koster/p/book/9781138802131">before and after death</a>. Married daughters’ dowries often prevented them from inheriting parents’ property, but they could when no male descendants could be found.</p>
<p>In the late Middle Ages, women’s legal rights expanded as urbanization and immigration changed social relationships. They could become legal guardians of their children. What’s more, judging by women’s testaments, widows and older daughters did make legal decisions of their own without the “required” male guardianship.</p>
<figure class="align-left zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/577717/original/file-20240224-20-gv83x8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="An old manuscript page with lines of font and a brightly colored illustration of men and women standing in a field while others climb trees." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/577717/original/file-20240224-20-gv83x8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/577717/original/file-20240224-20-gv83x8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=768&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/577717/original/file-20240224-20-gv83x8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=768&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/577717/original/file-20240224-20-gv83x8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=768&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/577717/original/file-20240224-20-gv83x8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=965&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/577717/original/file-20240224-20-gv83x8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=965&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/577717/original/file-20240224-20-gv83x8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=965&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A page from the Book of Hours by Master d'Alelaide of Savoia, a 15th-century artist, shows the harvesting of pears and apples.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/book-of-hours-by-master-dalelaide-of-savoia-detail-news-photo/1011961044?adppopup=true">PHAS/Universal Images Group via Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>In addition, married women could <a href="https://www.routledge.com/Across-the-Religious-Divide-Women-Property-and-Law-in-the-Wider-Mediterranean/Sperling-Wray/p/book/9780415807173">make legally binding decisions</a> as long as their husbands were present with them in front of a notary. Although husbands were technically considered their wives’ “guardians,” they could declare them legally free of guardianship. Wives would then be allowed to name their witnesses, appoint their universal heir and list donations and bequests to individuals and the church, which they hoped would save their soul.</p>
<h2>Speaking beyond the grave</h2>
<p>European archives literally overflow with legal documents that are awaiting discovery in musty boxes. What is lacking is a new generation of historians who can analyze them and paleographers who can read the handwriting.</p>
<p>Everyone high and low used notaries’ services for contractual forms, from an engagement and marriage to the sale of property, business transactions and donations. In this mass of documentation, <a href="https://research-repository.st-andrews.ac.uk/handle/10023/3052">wills provide a refreshing perspective</a> into medieval women’s agency and emotions as they contemplated the end of their lives.</p>
<p>In the 60 or so <a href="https://research-repository.st-andrews.ac.uk/handle/10023/3052">women’s testaments kept in Avignon</a>, women named where and with whom they wanted to be buried, often choosing their children or parents over their husbands. They named which charities, religious orders, hospitals for the poor, parishes and nunneries would benefit from their generosity, including bequests for repairs on Avignon’s famous bridge. </p>
<p>These women may have dictated their last wishes lying in bed, waiting for death, with the notary guiding their decisions. Still, given the things they dictated – donations for the dowries of poor girls, for their relatives and friends, to have their names remembered in Catholic Masses for the dead – I would argue that we are hearing their own voices. </p>
<h2>Rosaries, repairs and furs</h2>
<p>In 1354, Gassende Raynaud of Aix asked to be buried with her sister, Almuseta. She left a house to her friend Aysseline, while Douce Raynaud – who may have been another sister – received six dishes, six pitchers, two platters, a pewter jug, a cauldron, her best cooking pot, a cloak of fur with muslin, a big blanket, two large sheets, her best bodice, a little coffer, and all the mending thread and hemp that she possessed. She left a coffer, a copper warmer, the best trivet of the house and four new sheets to her friend Alasacia Boete.</p>
<p>Gassende’s generosity didn’t stop there. Jacobeta, Alasacia’s daughter, received a rosary of amber; Georgiana, Alasacia’s daughter-in-law, a bodice; and Marita, Alasacia’s granddaughter, a tunic. To her friend Alasacia Guillaume, Gassende left the unusual gift of a portable altar for prayers and an embroidered blanket. To Dulcie Marine, she bequeathed a choir book called an antiphonary and the best of her cloaks or furs.</p>
<p>In another Avignon will, written in 1317, Barthélemie Tortose made bequests to several Dominican friars, including her brother. She left funds to the prior of the order, her brother’s supervisor: perhaps rewarding the “boss” in order to keep her brother in his favor. She provided for charities and repairs for two bridges over the violent Rhône River, but also substantial support to provide food and clothing to all nuns’ convents of the city. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/577716/original/file-20240224-22-2jvol2.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="An illustration in shades of green and red showing two towns connected by a bridge over a river with a few small islands in it." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/577716/original/file-20240224-22-2jvol2.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/577716/original/file-20240224-22-2jvol2.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=226&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/577716/original/file-20240224-22-2jvol2.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=226&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/577716/original/file-20240224-22-2jvol2.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=226&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/577716/original/file-20240224-22-2jvol2.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=284&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/577716/original/file-20240224-22-2jvol2.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=284&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/577716/original/file-20240224-22-2jvol2.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=284&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A 16th-century illustration of the Rhone River, with Avignon on the right.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Wikimedia</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>More especially, she supported her female kin, such as leaving rental income to her niece, a Benedictine nun. She then requested that her clothes be cut into habits for nuns and liturgical garments. </p>
<p>We can get a glimpse at <a href="https://research-repository.st-andrews.ac.uk/bitstream/handle/10023/3052/WomenandWillsFrance2012Rollo-KosterandReyerson.pdf?sequence=7&isAllowed=y">just how personal these bequests were</a>: These women assumed that what they had touched, or what had touched their skin, would also touch another’s. Most of all, they expected that their possessions would transmit their memory, their existence, their identity. </p>
<p>What’s more, medieval women could be pretty radical.</p>
<p>At least 10 women whose wills I’ve read asked to be buried in monks’ cassocks, including Guimona Rubastenqui. Widow of an Avignon fishmonger – usually a profitable occupation – she requested that Carmelite brother Johannes Aymerici give her one of his old habits, for which she paid him six florins.</p>
<h2>Asserting their will</h2>
<p>So, what do we make of all this?</p>
<p>It is impossible to completely reconstruct how people lived, loved and died centuries ago. I have spent my adult life thinking “medieval,” yet know I will never get there. But we certainly have clues – and what I call an educated intuition.</p>
<p>By modern standards, these women faced real limits on their power and independence. However, I have argued that they “freed” themselves at death – their wills presenting a rare opportunity to make personal legal decisions and to live on in written records.</p>
<p>Medieval women could have agency. Not all of them, not all the time. But this small sample shows that they could choose whom they wanted to reward and whom they could help. </p>
<p>As for the burial in men’s garb, I have no way of knowing whether their wishes were followed. But from my perspective, there is something extremely satisfying in knowing that at least they tried.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/222690/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Joelle Rollo-Koster does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>European women’s rights expanded in early medieval cities, though they were still limited. Last wills and testaments were some of the few documents women could dictate themselves.Joelle Rollo-Koster, Professor of Medieval History, University of Rhode IslandLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2201992024-01-25T13:17:44Z2024-01-25T13:17:44ZNazi genocides of Jews and Roma were entangled from the start – and so are their efforts at Holocaust remembrance today<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/570420/original/file-20240119-27-9655vn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C1%2C1022%2C680&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Franz Roselbach, a Roma survivor of the Holocaust who was sent to Auschwitz when he was 15, attends a ceremony at the former Sachsenhausen concentration camp in 2006. </span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/roma-survivor-of-the-holocaust-franz-roselbach-who-was-sent-news-photo/72830867?adppopup=true">Sean Gallup/Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>When the United Nations passed a resolution to designate Jan. 27 International Holocaust Remembrance Day, it did not define the Holocaust. <a href="https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/u-n-resolution-establishing-holocaust-remembrance-day">The 2005 proclamation</a> merely noted that it “resulted in the murder of one third of the Jewish people, along with countless members of other minorities.”</p>
<p>Among those unnamed other minorities are Roma, who deserve to be part of the larger story of the Holocaust commemorated on this day. Their story is <a href="https://as.vanderbilt.edu/jewishstudies/people/faculty/ari-joskowicz/">closely connected with that of Jews’ suffering and struggle for recognition</a> – a relationship at the center of <a href="https://press.princeton.edu/books/hardcover/9780691244044/rain-of-ash">my 2023 book</a>, “Rain of Ash.”</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/570426/original/file-20240119-25-j22s4a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A blue and green flag with a red wheel design waves in front of a large stone monument with a statue on top." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/570426/original/file-20240119-25-j22s4a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/570426/original/file-20240119-25-j22s4a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=393&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/570426/original/file-20240119-25-j22s4a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=393&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/570426/original/file-20240119-25-j22s4a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=393&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/570426/original/file-20240119-25-j22s4a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=494&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/570426/original/file-20240119-25-j22s4a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=494&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/570426/original/file-20240119-25-j22s4a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=494&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A Romani flag waves during an event on International Romani Day in front of Berlin’s Brandenburg Gate.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/romani-flag-hangs-at-a-pro-romani-demonstration-in-front-of-news-photo/468905978?adppopup=true">Adam Berry/Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>A chilling report</h2>
<p>To understand the connections between Jewish and Romani experiences, it is useful to return to one of the key moments when Europe’s Jews began to realize that they faced a new type of threat: systematic mass murder.</p>
<p>In March 1942, a prisoner fled Chelmno, a Nazi extermination camp in present-day Poland, <a href="http://www.deathcamps.org/occupation/bajler.html">and escaped to the Warsaw Ghetto</a>. There, he told members of the ghetto’s underground resistance movement about mass killings in gas vans. </p>
<p>Szlamek, as the witness was known, recounted how Jewish prisoners had been <a href="https://search.worldcat.org/title/63902356">forced to dig mass graves</a> for truckload upon truckload of murdered Roma from Austria. In his vivid description of the process, he reported how these Jewish gravediggers warmed themselves by putting on the clothes of the Romani victims. Once their work for the day was done, the SS forced these Jews to lie on the bodies of those already in the burial pits before being shot themselves.</p>
<p>It’s a haunting image: Jews murdered on top of the Roma whose clothes they were wearing. It also encapsulates how connected the murders of these two groups were, even as the crimes committed against them continue to be remembered as distinct events.</p>
<h2>Missing chapter</h2>
<p>Younger generations in the United States are <a href="https://www.claimscon.org/millennial-study/">not able to identify basic facts about the Jewish Holocaust</a>, according to surveys by the Claims Conference, which advocates for restitution for Jewish victims and their descendants. Around half of millennial and Gen Z respondents could not name a single ghetto or concentration camp, and just over a third knew how many Jews had been murdered: around 6 million.</p>
<p>The public knows even less about the Romani Holocaust. Indeed, the history of <a href="https://commission.europa.eu/strategy-and-policy/policies/justice-and-fundamental-rights/combatting-discrimination/roma-eu/roma-equality-inclusion-and-participation-eu_en">Europe’s largest ethnic minority</a> is a blank slate for many Americans, even those who consider themselves well-informed.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/571224/original/file-20240124-25-o43d27.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A faded photograph of a soldier and a man in a suit standing as they interview a shorter woman in a kerchief." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/571224/original/file-20240124-25-o43d27.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/571224/original/file-20240124-25-o43d27.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/571224/original/file-20240124-25-o43d27.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/571224/original/file-20240124-25-o43d27.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/571224/original/file-20240124-25-o43d27.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/571224/original/file-20240124-25-o43d27.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/571224/original/file-20240124-25-o43d27.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Dr. Robert Ritter, whose pseudo-scientific work contributed to the Nazis’ forced sterilization and murder of Romani people, interviews a woman in 1938.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/gypsy-deportation-dr-robert-ritter-head-of-the-racial-news-photo/107759810?adppopup=true">Galerie Bilderwelt/Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>This is not a matter of students ignoring, or not properly absorbing, the lessons available in their history textbooks, as is the case for the Jewish Holocaust. Romani history is rarely in the textbooks to begin with.</p>
<p>Romani activists are keenly aware of this, and frequently they see Jews’ relative success telling the story of their genocide as a model for <a href="https://www.aljazeera.com/features/2019/10/30/roma-holocaust-amid-rising-hate-forgotten-victims-remembered">Romani struggles for recognition</a>.</p>
<p>Nazi Germany persecuted many groups; concentration camps were originally built to imprison the regime’s political opponents, while the first dedicated killing sites’ purpose was <a href="https://encyclopedia.ushmm.org/content/en/article/euthanasia-program">to murder disabled people</a>. Among those persecuted, Roma and Jews were the only groups whom the Nazis and their allies systematically persecuted in large numbers as entire families – whether by deporting them to concentration and death camps, or <a href="https://encyclopedia.ushmm.org/content/en/article/mass-shootings-of-jews-during-the-holocaust">systematically shooting them as racialized groups</a> in occupied areas of the Soviet Union. </p>
<p>As with Jews, many of Roma’s experiences of persecution and genocide occurred in locations well known to people who have learned something about the Holocaust, such as Auschwitz or <a href="https://encyclopedia.ushmm.org/content/en/article/lodz">the Lodz ghetto in occupied Poland</a>. The Roma murdered in Chelmno <a href="http://www.lodz-ghetto.com/the_gypsy_camp.html,36">came from Lodz</a>, where the Nazis had deported over 5,000 Roma from Austria in November 1941. Many <a href="https://www.coe.int/en/web/roma-genocide/austria">Austrian Roma</a> who avoided these early deportations eventually ended up in Auschwitz. </p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/570423/original/file-20240119-19-wp9t65.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="An index card filled in with personal information positioned between three photographs of the same woman's face and two handprints." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/570423/original/file-20240119-19-wp9t65.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/570423/original/file-20240119-19-wp9t65.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=1272&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/570423/original/file-20240119-19-wp9t65.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=1272&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/570423/original/file-20240119-19-wp9t65.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=1272&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/570423/original/file-20240119-19-wp9t65.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1599&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/570423/original/file-20240119-19-wp9t65.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1599&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/570423/original/file-20240119-19-wp9t65.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1599&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Gestapo dossiers for Roma people, whom the Nazis persecuted and considered ‘foreign and inferior.’</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/sinti-and-roma-gestapo-dossiers-at-the-permanent-exhibition-news-photo/523965182?adppopup=true">Horacio Villalobos/Corbis via Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>In the end, the Nazis killed approximately three-quarters of <a href="https://www.coe.int/en/web/roma-genocide/austria">Austria’s prewar Romani population</a>: approximately 9,000 men, women and children. Among countries where the Romani genocide took place, this was one of the highest rates of murder, next to <a href="https://www.coe.int/en/web/roma-genocide/latvia">Latvia</a>, <a href="https://www.coe.int/en/web/roma-genocide/estonia">Estonia</a> and the areas of today’s Czech Republic that the Nazis <a href="https://www.coe.int/en/web/roma-genocide/czech-republic">called the Protectorate</a>. </p>
<p>In many other locations, totals are less clear. Serious estimates for <a href="https://www.romarchive.eu/en/voices-of-the-victims/the-number-of-victims/">the overall number of victims</a> range widely, from 120,000 to over half a million.</p>
<h2>Many languages, many faiths, many countries</h2>
<p>Romani people are highly diverse. They have many religions: Catholicism, Protestantism and Orthodox Christianity as well as Islam. Many <a href="https://rm.coe.int/roma-history-factsheets-eng/1680a2f2f8">speak Romani as their first language</a>, while others don’t. Whatever their relationship to the Romani language, all Roma are at home in at least one other language, depending on what country they live in. </p>
<p>Historically, many Romani families in Western Europe lived as itinerant traders and craftspeople, contributing to the popular image of them as travelers with wagon homes. Most Roma in Europe, however – particularly in Southeastern and East Central Europe, <a href="https://archive.nytimes.com/www.nytimes.com/interactive/2013/10/20/sunday-review/a-diaspora-of-11-million.html">where the largest Romani populations live</a> – have been settled for many generations. Whether considered nomadic or settled, they were stigmatized: frequently isolated at the edge of settlements, excluded from civil rights, and <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/jun/20/italys-treatment-of-roma-people-reflects-a-centuries-old-prejudice">targeted as a dangerous “nuisance</a>” by authorities.</p>
<p>When the Nazis and their allies persecuted this diverse population as “Gypsies,” they were able to <a href="https://encyclopedia.ushmm.org/content/en/article/documentation-on-the-persecution-of-roma">rely on policies to police and surveil them</a> that had been <a href="https://www.nationalww2museum.org/war/articles/bavarian-precedent-roma-european-culture">in place since the late 19th century</a>.</p>
<p>These policies, including special identity cards with fingerprints, did not disappear after liberation. Instead, following the Second World War, Roma across Europe remained marginalized <a href="https://sverigesradio.se/artikel/6450629">and overpoliced</a> in ways that made it hard for them to gain recognition of the genocide they had experienced.</p>
<h2>Shared stories</h2>
<p>An international Romani civil rights movement that took shape in the 1970s, building on earlier local efforts to organize, slowly changed this. Organizations like <a href="https://iru2020.org/">the International Romani Union</a>, <a href="https://eriac.org/">the European Roma Institute for Arts and Culture</a> and <a href="https://zentralrat.sintiundroma.de/en/">the Central Council of German Sinti and Roma</a>, are forming a new landscape for Romani politics and recognition.</p>
<p>From the start, their efforts were tied together with those of Jewish victims. Jewish survivors could build on a much longer history of international organizing and philanthropy, and after 1945 they could rely on the help of the thriving U.S. Jewish community in their quest to document Nazi crimes and explain them to the wider public. Many of the oldest Jewish institutions in this field, such as <a href="https://wienerholocaustlibrary.org/">the Wiener Holocaust Library</a> in London, offered crucial support, as scholars and activists strove to tell the history of the Romani Holocaust. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/570424/original/file-20240119-25-s0yn47.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Five older men in suits and ties sit in a semicircle as one pulls up his sleeve." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/570424/original/file-20240119-25-s0yn47.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/570424/original/file-20240119-25-s0yn47.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/570424/original/file-20240119-25-s0yn47.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/570424/original/file-20240119-25-s0yn47.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/570424/original/file-20240119-25-s0yn47.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/570424/original/file-20240119-25-s0yn47.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/570424/original/file-20240119-25-s0yn47.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Hermann Hoellenreiner, a Sinto Holocaust survivor, shows his prisoner tattoo to David Lewin, a Jewish Holocaust survivor, as they and officials travel to a commemoration ceremony in 2011.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/german-president-christian-wulff-looks-on-as-sinto-news-photo/108426185?adppopup=true">Jesco Denzel/AFP via Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Roma and Jews found new ways to connect through their efforts for recognition and redress, though Jewish intellectuals, activists and institutions had much greater access to resources. <a href="https://vha.usc.edu/home">The Shoah Foundation’s Visual History Archive</a> is emblematic here: It has over 50,000 video interviews with Jewish survivors and 406 with Romani survivors. Yet this is nevertheless the largest dedicated collection of Romani testimony in the world.</p>
<p>While this unequal partnership has not dissolved, it is transforming. Jewish institutions are increasingly investing resources to preserve and digitize Romani history and to promote public education about both peoples’ experiences in collaboration with Romani activists. At the same time, Romani and Jewish activists are <a href="https://press.princeton.edu/books/hardcover/9780691244044/rain-of-ash">working together to overcome antisemitism and anti-Roma sentiment</a> – linked by a sense that understanding history is essential for the defense of liberal democracy.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/220199/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Ari Joskowicz received funding from the American Philosophical Society, the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, the Oxford Centre for Hebrew and Jewish Studies, the American Society of Learned Societies, and the Vienna Wiesenthal Institute for Holocaust Studies.</span></em></p>Many young people today know little about the murder of European Jews during the Holocaust, and even less about the murder of Romani communities.Ari Joskowicz, Associate Professor of History, Jewish Studies and European Studies, Vanderbilt UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2197622024-01-11T21:05:09Z2024-01-11T21:05:09ZNapoleon the lawmaker: What Ridley Scott’s film leaves out<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/568089/original/file-20240105-27-wtm75j.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=177%2C262%2C3633%2C2662&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Joaquin Phoenix in Ridley Scott’s ‘Napoleon.’ Napoleon was a prolific legislator who sponsored the Civil Code, later known as the Napoleonic Code.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Apple TV+)</span></span></figcaption></figure><iframe style="width: 100%; height: 100px; border: none; position: relative; z-index: 1;" allowtransparency="" allow="clipboard-read; clipboard-write" src="https://narrations.ad-auris.com/widget/the-conversation-canada/napoleon-the-lawmaker-what-ridley-scotts-film-leaves-out" width="100%" height="400"></iframe>
<p>Ridley Scott’s biopic <em>Napoleon</em> veers from battlefield to boudoir, portraying Bonaparte <a href="https://www.wsj.com/arts-culture/film/napoleon-review-ridley-scott-joaquin-phoenix-france-bonaparte-vanessa-kirby-c9547205">as a caricature</a> of masculine excess. </p>
<p>Such <a href="https://deadline.com/2023/12/napoleon-global-box-office-milestone-ridley-scott-sony-apple-1235682382">sensationalism might sell</a>, but critics maintain it comes at the cost of <a href="https://www.kcl.ac.uk/disjointed-rushed-inaccurate-historian-reviews-ridley-scotts-napoleon">narrative coherence</a> and <a href="https://variety.com/2023/film/news/napoleon-inaccuracies-french-historians-pyramids-1235823975">historical accuracy</a>.</p>
<p>As a historian who <a href="https://www.taylorfrancis.com/chapters/edit/10.4324/9780367808471-31/fugitives-france-kelly-summers?context=ubx&refId=f0b06c28-a29a-49b5-a5ba-d37bee069054">specializes</a> in the <a href="https://ageofrevolutions.com/2021/01/25/a-cross-channel-marriage-in-limbo-alexandre-darblay-frances-burney-and-the-risks-of-revolutionary-migration/">French Revolution</a>, my main reservation about the film is not what it makes up, but what it leaves out. </p>
<p>Scott’s focus on Napoleon’s tactical triumphs, reckless miscalculations and sexual entanglements neglects his most paradoxical legacy: as a visionary, albeit self-serving, lawmaker. </p>
<p>A product of the Revolution’s decade-long experiment with “<a href="https://www.diplomatie.gouv.fr/en/coming-to-france/france-facts/symbols-of-the-republic/article/liberty-equality-fraternity#:%7E:text=A%20legacy%20of%20the%20Age,of%20the%20French%20national%20heritage.">liberty, equality and fraternity</a>,” Napoleon enacted egalitarian reforms that eroded the <a href="https://www.britannica.com/event/ancien-regime">social</a>, <a href="https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/napoleon-bonaparte">religious</a> and feudal hierarchies that pervaded Europe at the turn of the 19th century. </p>
<p>Yet at home and across France’s <a href="https://contentdm.lib.byu.edu/digital/collection/Civilization/id/591/">continental empire</a> and overseas colonies, he proved willing to sacrifice core revolutionary principles whenever they conflicted with his insatiable ambitions. </p>
<h2>Completing the French Revolution in law</h2>
<p>To its credit, the film’s moments of unexpected levity challenge both the hagiographic and anti-Bonapartist strands of Napoleonic mythology. In Joaquin Phoenix’s guttural rendering, “<a href="https://doi.org/10.4000/chrhc.5133">Little Boney</a>” comes off less Corsican ogre than oaf. </p>
<p>But this portrait of a socially awkward warrior neglects Napoleon’s greatest accomplishments and failures as a prolific legislator.</p>
<p>Just as impactful as the dramatic <a href="https://global.oup.com/academic/product/the-napoleonic-wars-9780199951062?cc=ca&lang=en&">military</a> and <a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-27435-1_11">political</a> feats that fuelled Bonaparte’s meteoric rise were the sweeping civil reforms he undertook after seizing power in 1799. </p>
<p>The young soldier-turned-statesman made an indelible mark as the energetic sponsor of new institutions and procedures. </p>
<p>These included a <a href="https://www.napoleon-series.org/research/society/c_education.html">secular education system</a> to staff his growing bureaucracy, ambitious <a href="https://www.napoleon.org/en/history-of-the-two-empires/articles/bullet-point-30-did-napoleon-transform-paris/">public-works</a> projects, and above all, a uniform system of laws.</p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/OAZWXUkrjPc?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">A trailer for Ridley Scott’s film ‘Napoleon.’</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Converting feudal assets into property</h2>
<p>Back in the euphoric summer of 1789, deputies pledged to abolish the medieval land management system known as feudalism. They quickly swept away the mandatory fees, labour obligations and tithes that had, for centuries, bound peasants to their lords and priests. </p>
<p>But as historian Rafe Blaufarb has shown, successive governments would struggle with a thornier problem: <a href="https://doi.org/10.1057/9780230236738_8">converting feudal assets into modern property</a>. </p>
<p>The <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/Napoleonic-Code">1804 Civil Code</a> (soon dubbed the Napoleonic Code) aided the process by instituting a transparent system of <a href="https://www.crf-usa.org/bill-of-rights-in-action/bria-15-2-a-the-code-napoleon">property</a> and family law. </p>
<p>Napoleon did not stop there, however. His tireless <a href="https://archive.org/details/napoleonhiscolla0000wolo">collaborators</a> churned out complementary commercial, criminal, rural and <a href="https://www.napoleon-series.org/military-info/organization/France/Miscellaneous/c_FrenchMilitaryCode.html">military</a> codes. Together, they supplanted the Old Regime’s morass of feudal privileges and royal ordinances, as well as Roman, customary <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/canon-law">and canonical laws</a>.</p>
<h2>New law had didactic purpose</h2>
<p>Napoleon cast the Civil Code as an Enlightenment project par excellence: both a practical necessity and a tool to solidify revolutionary reforms. </p>
<p>Its straightforward prose and rational organization also served a didactic purpose, informing each citizen of the “<a href="https://www.napoleon-series.org/research/government/code/c_code2.html">principles of his conduct</a>” and reconciling France’s fractured populace as equal citizens before the law. </p>
<p>As his Empire grew, Napoleon’s zeal for standardisation anticipated many of the <a href="https://www.thenation.com/article/archive/enlightened-elitist-undemocratic/">political and economic aims</a> of the <a href="https://www.cairn.info/revue-napoleonica-la-revue-2021-1-page-35.htm">European Union</a>. He envisioned a continent bound by a “<a href="https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k109845d/f279.image.r=216">supreme court, a single currency, the same [metric] weights and measures,” and, most importantly, “the same laws</a>.”</p>
<h2>Entrenched, exported, betrayed Napoleonic law</h2>
<p>If Napoleon exported an egalitarian legal framework across Europe, however, it was often imposed at gunpoint. </p>
<p>The man who transformed France’s hard-won First Republic into an imperial “<a href="https://www.upress.virginia.edu/title/3424/">security state</a>” did not deliver “Enlightenment on horseback,” whatever his <a href="https://www.napoleon.org/en/history-of-the-two-empires/articles/napoleon-hegelian-hero/">admirers</a> <a href="https://www.andrew-roberts.net/books/napoleon-a-life/">contend</a>. </p>
<p>While championing <a href="https://revolution.chnm.org/exhibits/show/liberty--equality--fraternity/item/277">freedom of conscience</a>, national sovereignty and representative government, Napoleon imprisoned a pope, rigged <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/plebiscite">plebiscites</a>, re-established hereditary monarchy and enlarged his empire through endless wars.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A man wearing a bicorne hat and a single-breasted blue coat with gold detailing in front of a desert landscape" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/568736/original/file-20240110-15-9uvact.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/568736/original/file-20240110-15-9uvact.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=376&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/568736/original/file-20240110-15-9uvact.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=376&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/568736/original/file-20240110-15-9uvact.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=376&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/568736/original/file-20240110-15-9uvact.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=472&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/568736/original/file-20240110-15-9uvact.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=472&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/568736/original/file-20240110-15-9uvact.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=472&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Joaquin Phoenix in Ridley Scott’s ‘Napoleon.’ Napoleon and his collaborators replaced the Old Regime with new commercial, criminal, rural and military codes.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Apple TV+)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Whatever its merits, the Civil Code reversed the revolutionary gains of workers and women — especially adulterous wives, who risked “<a href="https://archive.org/details/frenchrevolution00phil/page/156/mode/2up?q=civil+code">confinement in a house of correction</a>.” A cheating husband, on the other hand, was merely barred from receiving his “concubine” in the marital home. </p>
<p>The code’s free-speech provisions were compromised by its namesake’s paradoxical belief that, “<a href="https://www.thenation.com/article/archive/enlightened-elitist-undemocratic/">controlled by the government, a free press may become a strong ally</a>.” Napoleon’s agents increasingly turned to preventive detention, <a href="https://revolution.chnm.org/d/530">exile</a> and censorship to suppress dissent. </p>
<p>In Scott’s rendering, major figures associated with these policies flit across the screen without uttering a word. These include Joseph Fouché, Napoleon’s wily Minister of Police who oversaw his vast surveillance operations, and Jean-Jacques-Régis de Cambacérès, the “<a href="https://archive.org/details/napoleonhiscolla0000wolo/mode/2up">second most important man in Napoleonic France</a>,” whose portfolio included drafting the Civil Code.</p>
<h2>Attempted to restore slavery</h2>
<p>As noted by <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-napoleon-that-ridley-scott-and-hollywood-wont-let-you-see-218878">historian Marlene Daut</a>, the film is also silent on Napoleon’s most egregious violation of revolutionary values: his attempt to restore “order,” and with it slavery, in France’s plantation colonies in 1802.</p>
<p>This included Napoleon’s <a href="https://www.historytoday.com/archive/feature/wrongful-death-toussaint-louverture">dastardly betrayal of Toussaint Louverture</a>, the Saint-Dominguan leader every bit as <a href="https://us.macmillan.com/books/9781250800053/blackspartacus">complex, consequential and worthy</a> of a Hollywood blockbuster as his captor. </p>
<p>Coupled with <a href="https://doi.org/10.1353/fch.2005.0007">yellow fever</a>, the <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/00313220500106196">genocidal</a> violence in Saint-Domingue claimed <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2022/05/20/world/americas/haiti-aristide-reparations-france.html">more French soldiers than Waterloo</a>.</p>
<p>Along with its most profitable colony, the quagmire cost France its moral standing as the first European empire to abolish slavery. With the <a href="https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/how-the-louisiana-purchase-changed-the-world-79715124/">sale of Louisiana</a>, France’s dreams of a North American empire were quashed.</p>
<h2>Legacy of global legal code</h2>
<p>On remote <a href="https://www.smithsonianmag.com/travel/journey-st-helen-home-napoleon-last-days-180971638/">Saint Helena</a>, Scott captures the angst of an authoritarian deprived of authority, hobbled by hubris but still incapable of accepting responsibility for his errors and crimes.</p>
<p>What the movie does not show, however, is Napoleon’s clear-sighted appraisal of his most enduring legacy.</p>
<p>While in captivity, he told his entourage that his “real glory” was attained off the battlefield. If his final defeat would “destroy the memory” of his forty military victories, he took solace in the belief that “<a href="https://lasc.libguides.com/c.php?g=259216&p=1741864">nothing will destroy…my Civil Code</a>.” </p>
<p>This has proven true not only in countries that were occupied or colonized by France, but as far afield as Meiji-era Japan and pre-revolutionary Iran, which used the Napoleonic template for their own codification projects. Versions of the code are still in effect in <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/Napoleonic-Code">multiple countries today</a>.</p>
<p>If Napoleonic tactics faltered at <a href="https://www.britannica.com/event/Battle-of-Trafalgar-European-history">Trafalgar</a>, <a href="https://ageofrevolution.org/200-object/the-battle-of-vertieres">Vertières</a> and <a href="https://www.britannica.com/event/Battle-of-Waterloo">Waterloo</a>, the precedent set by the Civil Code has proven unconquerable. </p>
<p>Michael Broers, the <a href="https://www.napoleon.org/en/magazine/publications/napoleon-soldier-of-destiny-volume-i/">accomplished</a> <a href="https://www.bloomsbury.com/ca/europe-under-napoleon-9781350157675/">scholar</a> who advised Scott, has said legal intricacies “<a href="https://bigthink.com/high-culture/napoleon-ridley-scott/">don’t make for good cinema</a>.” </p>
<p>It has been <a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0472027/">done</a>, <a href="https://www.stlouisfed.org/on-the-economy/2020/november/unleasing-hamilton-financial-revolution">however</a>. Perhaps Scott’s much-anticipated <a href="https://www.thedailybeast.com/obsessed/ridley-scotts-4-hour-napoleon-cut-why-i-cant-wait-to-see-it">director’s cut</a> will defy expectations by exploring some of these conundrums when it streams this spring.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/219762/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Kelly Summers does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Ridley Scott’s focus on Napoleon’s tactical triumphs, reckless miscalculations and sexual entanglements neglects his paradoxical legacy as a lawmaker.Kelly Summers, Assistant Professor of History, Department of Humanities, MacEwan UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2094892023-10-10T19:03:26Z2023-10-10T19:03:26ZDecadence and trauma: delving into the emotional and political lives of three young Renaissance queens<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/549277/original/file-20230920-17-ggj4d9.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=11%2C5%2C3940%2C1988&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">From left to right: Mary, Queen of Scotts, Elisabeth de Valois and Catherine de Medici.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Wikimedia Commons</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Young Queens tells the entwined stories of Catherine de’ Medici, her daughter Elisabeth, Queen of Spain and her daughter-in-law, Mary, Queen of Scots. Each of these women was a different type of queen: Queen Regnant, Queen Consort and Dowager Queen. </p>
<p>Author Leah Redmond Chang delves into the early lives of each queen, interweaving the relational, emotional and political challenges these women encountered over the course of their lives. The book is a remarkable attempt to capture the tumultuous nature of the 16th century in Europe through the eyes of three influential queens. </p>
<hr>
<p><em>Review: Young Queens: Three Renaissance Women and the Price of Power – Leah Redmond Chang (Bloomsbury)</em></p>
<hr>
<p>Queenship studies has exploded in the last 30 years, as scholars rewrite master narratives to recover women’s histories, adding complexity to how we understand power in the past. Queens were not accessories but complex individuals whose actions and relationships influenced the political dynamics of royal spaces. </p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/548746/original/file-20230918-27-9gk0gr.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/548746/original/file-20230918-27-9gk0gr.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/548746/original/file-20230918-27-9gk0gr.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=883&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/548746/original/file-20230918-27-9gk0gr.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=883&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/548746/original/file-20230918-27-9gk0gr.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=883&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/548746/original/file-20230918-27-9gk0gr.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1109&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/548746/original/file-20230918-27-9gk0gr.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1109&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/548746/original/file-20230918-27-9gk0gr.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1109&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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</figure>
<p>Throughout the medieval and early modern periods, kings and queens across Europe were mostly seen not as distinct entities but as interrelated functions of the royal family. We have come to know the lives of many queens in considerable detail, perhaps most notably, for Anglophone audiences, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elizabeth_I">Elizabeth I</a>.</p>
<p>Biographies of queens might now be commonplace on historical non-fiction shelves, but Redmond Chang’s decision to write an interconnected biography offers a breath of fresh air to the genre. In particular, the focus on the youth and emotional worlds of three famous queens invites the reader to immerse themselves in the decadent yet often traumatising spaces of their adolescence and adult lives. </p>
<p>Novelist L P Hartley once wrote, “The past is a foreign country; they do things differently there,” and this has often led to a certain distance between modern readers and historical subjects. Redmond Chang’s tender treatment of each queen ensures the reader is conscious of the humanity of her protagonists, albeit with occasional modernisms that distract an expert eye.</p>
<p>Catherine de’ Medici is the driving force throughout the book. Young Queens opens with the gripping account of her seizure by Florentine lawmakers while ensconced in the Benedictine convent of Le Murate at the age of eleven in 1530. As the lone descendant of statesman and banker <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lorenzo_de%27_Medici">Lorenzo de’ Medici</a>, she represented a threat to the incumbent regime. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/who-was-catherine-de-medici-the-serpent-queen-gives-us-a-clever-powerful-and-dangerous-woman-189541">Who was Catherine de' Medici? The Serpent Queen gives us a clever, powerful and dangerous woman</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>Redmond Chang writes the episode through Catherine’s eyes, drawing on a later account recorded by one of the convent’s nuns. She charts Catherine’s early adulthood in much the same fashion, inviting the reader to step into the shoes of a frightened yet resilient young woman who ultimately became the <strong>Queen of France</strong> when she married Henry II at the age of 14.</p>
<figure class="align-left zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/549279/original/file-20230920-17-2acicj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A woman wearing mourning clothes." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/549279/original/file-20230920-17-2acicj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/549279/original/file-20230920-17-2acicj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=860&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/549279/original/file-20230920-17-2acicj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=860&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/549279/original/file-20230920-17-2acicj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=860&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/549279/original/file-20230920-17-2acicj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1080&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/549279/original/file-20230920-17-2acicj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1080&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/549279/original/file-20230920-17-2acicj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1080&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Catherine de’ Medici wearing the black cap and veil of widow, after 1559.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Workshop of François Clouet (1510–1572)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The decadent descriptions of 16th-century chateaux interspersed with political intrigue and fleeting intimacies make for a rich narrative tapestry. The arrival of Mary, Queen of Scots, (who married the dauphin, Francis, in 1548) and the quiet tension between Catherine and her husband’s mistress Diane de Poitiers is captured well. As is Catherine’s tenure as “Queen Mother,” a title she assigned herself, in 1549 – arguably the period from which much of her infamy is derived. </p>
<p>Catherine de’ Medici has a number of dark legends associated with her rule, reflecting her alleged manipulative and ruthless nature. She has been accused of having a “flying squadron” of attractive women who seduced courtiers to achieve her political goals and practising witchcraft. She has also been accused of masterminding the <a href="https://www.britannica.com/event/Massacre-of-Saint-Bartholomews-Day">Bartholomew’s Day massacre of 1572</a>, which resulted in the deaths of thousands of Huguenots (French Protestants).</p>
<p>Redmond Chang is not the first to write from the perspective of Catherine de’ Medici, but the focus on the queen’s early life is welcome.</p>
<h2>Mary, Queen of Scots</h2>
<p>Mary, Queen of Scots, arrived at the French court a decade after Catherine. One year after her marriage, Francis became King and Mary, Queen of France. However, Francis’s reign was brief and he died in 1560. Mary returned to Scotland shortly afterwards and her later life is recounted by Redmond Chang. </p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/549280/original/file-20230920-19-sqqv47.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Painting of a young queen Mary." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/549280/original/file-20230920-19-sqqv47.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/549280/original/file-20230920-19-sqqv47.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=927&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/549280/original/file-20230920-19-sqqv47.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=927&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/549280/original/file-20230920-19-sqqv47.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=927&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/549280/original/file-20230920-19-sqqv47.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1165&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/549280/original/file-20230920-19-sqqv47.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1165&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/549280/original/file-20230920-19-sqqv47.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1165&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Mary, Queen of Scots, painted by Francois Clouet.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Wikimedia Commons</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>At times, there are some repetitive and chronological jumps that make the narrative difficult to follow. Moreover, readers well accustomed with Mary’s story will find some narrative choices curious, particularly the acceptance of the veracity of the Casket Letters. These <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/Casket-Letters">letters</a> were a 1567 collection of self-incriminating letters allegedly written by Mary that discussed a plot to murder her second husband, Lord Darnley.</p>
<p>But, overall, the decision to situate Mary in relation to her French heritage (her mother was a member of the Guise dynasty who came to prominence during the French Wars of Religion of 1562-1598) offers a new perspective to readers more accustomed with Mary’s fight for survival in Tudor England. Mary had a legitimate claim to the English throne and was locked in a battle with Elizabeth I for the remainder of her life while also defending herself from Scottish lords who opposed her rule in Scotland.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/mary-queen-of-scots-is-newly-relevant-in-the-age-of-metoo-111604">Mary, Queen of Scots is newly relevant in the age of #MeToo</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>Elisabeth, a bride at 14</h2>
<p>Finally, Elisabeth of Valois, Queen of Spain, enters the fold as a childhood companion of Mary and pawn in her mother Catherine de’ Medici’s politics. Following the conclusion of the <a href="https://www.britannica.com/event/Italian-Wars">Italian Wars</a> (between 1494-1559) Catherine de’ Medici and Philip II, king of Spain, agreed to unite their houses in the Peace of Cateau-Cambrésis in 1559. </p>
<p>Aged just 14, Elisabeth became Philip II’s third wife in the same year. Despite the two-decade age gap, the marriage appeared to be relatively happy. Redmond Chang’s retelling of Elisabeth’s few years in Spain are compelling and the reader is left wanting more. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/549281/original/file-20230920-19-m05f5o.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A painting of a woman, Elisabeth, and her husband, Philip." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/549281/original/file-20230920-19-m05f5o.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/549281/original/file-20230920-19-m05f5o.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=756&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/549281/original/file-20230920-19-m05f5o.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=756&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/549281/original/file-20230920-19-m05f5o.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=756&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/549281/original/file-20230920-19-m05f5o.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=950&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/549281/original/file-20230920-19-m05f5o.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=950&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/549281/original/file-20230920-19-m05f5o.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=950&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Elisabeth de Valois with her husband, Philip II of Spain. Miniature from a prayer book of Catherine de’ Medici. Bibliothèque nationale de France, Paris.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Wikimedia Commons</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Elisabeth’s life was “tightly controlled” compared to the French court. Her days were spent following a strict protocol in the Spanish fashion: outings were orchestrated “from the ornamentation on the horses’ saddles down to the rank and file of litters, ladies and lackeys.” Elisabeth enjoyed art and writing to her mother, who maintained a voluminous correspondence with her daughter. </p>
<p>Closely observed for signs of pregnancy, her various ailments alarmed those around her. Eventually she gave birth to two daughters but the labours of childbirth were too much for her frail body. Sadly, Elisabeth died only a decade into her marriage. </p>
<p>Again, here, there are some instances of chronological confusion. However, the sensitive attention paid to Elisabeth’s string of miscarriages and difficult births is engaging and provides the reader with a gripping depiction of the extremely challenging lives of early modern women. </p>
<p>Even the Queen of Spain, with all of the wealth of the New World, could not escape the gruelling nature of childbirth in the 16th century.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/how-a-16th-century-italian-anatomist-came-up-with-the-word-placenta-it-reminded-him-of-a-cake-207323">How a 16th century Italian anatomist came up with the word 'placenta': it reminded him of a cake</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>Blurring history and fiction</h2>
<p>Young Queens excels when the reader is immersed in the rich relationship dynamics of women at this time. Unlike their menfolk, elite women moved between different houses, which usually involved learning new languages and cultures. Often, marriages were pragmatic and young wives must have felt isolated and lonely in a foreign land. </p>
<p>There were, of course, exceptions, as the three protagonists of Young Queens illustrate. Catherine’s own experiences perhaps led her to insulate her young children and daughter-in-law against the loneliness of her childhood. Catherine housed them together in a separate chateau, where they had each other’s company and the supervision of tutors. </p>
<p>Redmond Chang situates each woman at the centre of their own stories rather than as supporting characters in the careers of their husbands.</p>
<p>Yet, her commitment to vivid storytelling occasionally leads to some rhetorical devices that blur the line between history and fiction. A comment that Catherine’s union with Henri II was “the strangest marriage” on account of the presence of Diane de Poitiers veers towards the bombastic as many noble marriages were often crowded. (De Poitiers was 20 years’ Henri II senior and his mistress for close to 25 years).</p>
<p>The commitment to modernisms, for example, a comment that “boys will be boys” in relation to Francis’s penchant for sports, can be jarring for the expert reader, but is a small price to pay to open up a fascinating and engaging series of entwined stories to a wider audience.</p>
<p>In the epilogue, Redmond Chang briefly summarises two events that have preoccupied scholars of Mary and Catherine for centuries: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Babington_Plot">the Babington Plot</a> (a 1586 conspiracy to kill Elizabeth I and replace her with Mary, Queen of Scots) and the St Bartholomew’s Day massacre. Perhaps this was a deliberate decision to steer attention towards the queens themselves, rather than the narratives that made them infamous. </p>
<p>Admittedly, the book is titled Young Queens and so such quibbles about their later lives may be unwarranted. Indeed, while Catherine lived to the age of 70, Mary and Elisabeth only survived to the ages of 45 and 23, respectively.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/209489/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Jessica O'Leary does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>A new book evokes the tumultuous nature of 16th century Europe through the eyes of three queens: Catherine de’ Medici, her daughter Elisabeth and her daughter-in-law, Mary, Queen of Scots.Jessica O'Leary, Research Fellow, Gender and Women's History Research Centre, Australian Catholic UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2073232023-09-18T20:01:57Z2023-09-18T20:01:57ZHow a 16th century Italian anatomist came up with the word ‘placenta’: it reminded him of a cake<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/531045/original/file-20230609-15-lw1nva.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C878%2C935&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">The placenta and umbilical cord. Watercolour image, unknown artist, 19th century.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://wellcomecollection.org/works/n4d6wddp">Wellcome Collection</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Ever wondered where the placenta got its name?</p>
<p>In Italy in the 1500s, the anatomist Matteo Realdo Colombo coined this term to describe the large fleshy organ of pregnancy. Colombo chose placenta because it resembled another big, round object seen in daily life: a cake.</p>
<p>In the premodern world, there existed a variety of words and concepts used to understand the placenta. </p>
<p>In <a href="https://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/full/10.1086/724867">my research</a>, I try to uncover the cultural significance of the placenta and afterbirth in premodern Europe (1500–1800) to help us better understand the social and medical history of this important organ.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/explainer-what-is-placenta-28851">Explainer: what is placenta?</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>Afterbirths and secundines</h2>
<p>Before the anatomical term placenta appeared, men and women in medieval Europe used the terms “afterbirth” (<em>nachgeburt</em> in German, <em>arrière-faix</em> in French) and “the second” (<em>secundina</em> in Italian, <em>secondine</em> in English). </p>
<p>These terms captured the fact that placental expulsion was the “second” part of a childbirth, necessary to end the birth. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/531040/original/file-20230608-14786-m63chi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A woodcut depicts a woman who has just recently finished giving birth being attended by various midwives" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/531040/original/file-20230608-14786-m63chi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/531040/original/file-20230608-14786-m63chi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=586&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/531040/original/file-20230608-14786-m63chi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=586&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/531040/original/file-20230608-14786-m63chi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=586&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/531040/original/file-20230608-14786-m63chi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=736&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/531040/original/file-20230608-14786-m63chi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=736&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/531040/original/file-20230608-14786-m63chi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=736&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Illustrations from this 1850 obstetrical book by Jacobus Rueff show scenes of childbirth in 16th century Europe.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://wellcomecollection.org/works/jjcba979">Wellcome Library</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>From the medieval to late early modern period, childbirth was very much the preserve of women midwives, family members and neighbours. Much of their knowledge about the placenta was transmitted orally (women were generally not literate, unless elite) yet some of this knowledge <a href="https://blogs.bl.uk/digitisedmanuscripts/2018/03/call-the-medieval-midwife.html">survives in texts</a>. </p>
<p>Male physicians recorded women’s knowledge about childbirth to demonstrate they could access “secret” knowledge about women’s bodies. This boosted their reputation among other male physicians, and gave credibility to their expertise over women’s health and childbirth.</p>
<p>One example of this is the 12th century medical compendium, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trotula">The Trotula</a>, one of the most influential works on women’s medicine in Europe from its publication until well into the 1500s. </p>
<figure class="align-left zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/531035/original/file-20230608-11102-9xg2l3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A figure of a woman is painted in a manuscript on women's medicine" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/531035/original/file-20230608-11102-9xg2l3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/531035/original/file-20230608-11102-9xg2l3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=843&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/531035/original/file-20230608-11102-9xg2l3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=843&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/531035/original/file-20230608-11102-9xg2l3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=843&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/531035/original/file-20230608-11102-9xg2l3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1059&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/531035/original/file-20230608-11102-9xg2l3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1059&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/531035/original/file-20230608-11102-9xg2l3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1059&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Trotula of Salerno.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Trotula_of_Salerno.jpg">Wikimedia Commons</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The text, a compilation of different medical treatises, was supposedly authored by the first female physician and professor, Trota, in Salerno, Italy. </p>
<p>Although modern scholars suggest that some of the text’s authors were certainly male, <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v1iRJJT403o">historian Monica Green</a> argues that part of the work was likely shaped by a female midwife or healer, possibly called Trota. </p>
<p>At this time, there were many female healers in Salerno, and it was typically only women who had access to women’s births and bodies.</p>
<p>Examining The Trotula allows us to see earlier cultural and medical ideas about the placenta. The author describes how, during birth: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>The foetus is expelled from its bed, that is to say the afterbirth, by the force of Nature.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>The afterbirth and foetus were understood as having a close, companion-like relationship; the placenta was a “bed” for the foetus during pregnancy, providing support and comfort.</p>
<p>We can also see how the afterbirth might be used following pregnancy and birth. Trota writes:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>If [the mother] has been badly torn in birth and afterward for fear of death does not wish to conceive any more, let her put into the afterbirth as many grains of caper spurge or barley as the number of years she wishes to remain barren.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>The post-birth use of the placenta in remedies was common in Europe. The afterbirth was perceived as having “sympathetic” healing qualities relating to future fertility and the health of the infant. </p>
<h2>Anatomy and the afterbirth: new terms</h2>
<p>Women’s ideas about placental remedies were often ridiculed by university-educated male anatomists, who labelled these practices “superstitious”. Yet, many did respect women’s knowledge as experts in childbirth. </p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/531036/original/file-20230608-23-vl0v79.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="The image depicts an anatomical theatre in which many men surround an anatomical table. In the centre above the table colombo is dissecting a man's corpse and showing organs to the students." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/531036/original/file-20230608-23-vl0v79.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/531036/original/file-20230608-23-vl0v79.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=847&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/531036/original/file-20230608-23-vl0v79.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=847&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/531036/original/file-20230608-23-vl0v79.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=847&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/531036/original/file-20230608-23-vl0v79.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1064&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/531036/original/file-20230608-23-vl0v79.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1064&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/531036/original/file-20230608-23-vl0v79.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1064&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">De Re Anatomica (1559), frontispiece.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:De_re_anatomica_libri_XV,_Realdo_Colombo,_1559_Wellcome_L0000134.jpg">Wikimedia Commons</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>When Italian anatomist Matteo Realdo Colombo coined the term “placenta” in the 16th century, he used a term directly related to women’s worlds: cooking. Colombo was professor of anatomy at the University of Padua, a hub for <a href="https://www.unipd.it/en/palazzo-bo-and-anatomical-theatre">anatomical learning</a> in Europe at the time.</p>
<p>Colombo described the shape and function of the human placenta in his anatomical treatise, <em>De Re Anatomica</em> (On Things Anatomical, 1559). </p>
<p>In this book, Colombo introduced the term “placenta” to distinguish it from other anatomical terms, as well as midwifery terms like “secundina”. </p>
<p>“Placenta” referred to a wide, flat cake, cooked in a pan with layers of cheese and honey, dating <a href="https://www.google.com.au/books/edition/M_Porci_Catonis_De_Agricultura_Sive_De_R/MamGBIYAMdIC?hl=en&gbpv=1">as far back</a> as Ancient Rome.</p>
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<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/tBIzqW_qp1Q?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
</figure>
<p>Colombo chose this term to describe the large, flat organ, “circular” like a placenta cake, and of a similar size. </p>
<p>In choosing the term placenta, he also associated the organ with ideas about women’s worlds, of cooking and childbirth; the placenta, like the Italian cake, provided nourishment and comfort. This idea connected with earlier ones like the Trotula, which suggested the afterbirth was the foetus’ bed.</p>
<h2>The placenta today</h2>
<p>Exploring the history of ideas about the placenta and afterbirth offer us insights into how people have valued this important organ. </p>
<p>This can tell us about the development of scientific knowledge, such as the emergence of the word placenta, providing context for <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0143400414000861">urgent placental science</a> being undertaken today. History can help us determine how and why in different times and cultures, science has or has not prioritised placental research.</p>
<p>Histories of the placenta also help provide context for current cultural attitudes to and practices around the afterbirth, such as <a href="https://theconversation.com/no-you-shouldnt-eat-your-placenta-heres-why-86405">eating the placenta</a> and turning the placenta into <a href="https://midwifebalance.com.au/placenta-encapsulation/pricing/">memorabilia, jewellery or art</a>.</p>
<p>By studying past knowledge about the placenta, we can see the echoes of attitudes to this organ in our modern science and culture. </p>
<p>Our bodies are not static. They are deeply shaped by the prevailing medical and cultural perceptions of our times. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/no-you-shouldnt-eat-your-placenta-heres-why-86405">No, you shouldn't eat your placenta, here's why</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
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<img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/207323/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Paige Donaghy does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>In my research, I try to uncover the cultural significance of the placenta and afterbirth in premodern Europe to help us better understand the social and medical history of this important organ.Paige Donaghy, Early career researcher, The University of QueenslandLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2057232023-08-07T13:03:29Z2023-08-07T13:03:29ZWhat’s behind our enduring fascination with wives and mothers who kill?<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/540540/original/file-20230801-19-4zkxdx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=4%2C22%2C2991%2C2029&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">A family photo of Andrea Yates, her husband and four of their five children. Yates killed all five by drowning them in a bathtub in 2001.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/this-undated-family-photo-shows-four-of-the-five-children-news-photo/1607982?adppopup=true">Photo Courtesy of Yates Family/Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>In March 2023, a Utah woman named Kouri Richins published a children’s book titled “<a href="https://www.goodreads.com/en/book/show/123277319">Are You With Me?</a>” which she characterized as an effort to help her three young sons process the loss of their father, who had died suddenly the previous year. Presenting herself as a concerned mother and grieving widow, she was interviewed on “<a href="https://www.abc4.com/gtu/a-childrens-book-to-aid-in-coping-with-grief/">Good Things Utah</a>” in April 2023.</p>
<p>A few weeks later, on May 8, 2023, Richins was arrested and charged with killing her husband, Eric.</p>
<p>An autopsy showed that the 39-year-old man died of a massive fentanyl overdose. Since Eric had no history of drug abuse, his family found the circumstances suspicious. In the months before his death, Eric confided in his business partner that on several occasions – after being served a drink or meal by his wife, including on Valentine’s Day – he had become violently ill. Utah’s <a href="https://www.parkrecord.com/news/prosecutors-provide-more-information-about-alleged-marital-troubles-between-kamas-couple/">Park Record reported</a> that he had mentioned to friends and family that if anything were to happen to him, Kouri would be the likely culprit.</p>
<p>In August 2023, as I write this, the Richins’ housekeeper <a href="https://nypost.com/2023/07/07/housekeeper-admits-selling-kouri-richins-fentanyl-affidavit/">has confessed</a> to providing the fentanyl that killed Eric, and the case is mired in multiple lawsuits, including one in which <a href="https://www.sltrib.com/news/2023/06/28/sister-eric-richins-sues-kouri/">the victim’s sister accuses</a> Kouri of “enacting a horrific endgame to steal money from her husband, orchestrate his death and profit from it.” Meanwhile, Kouri Richins refutes these charges and has filed her own <a href="https://kutv.com/news/local/utah-woman-accused-of-husbands-murder-faces-civil-case-over-property-finances">civil suit</a> “seeking not only half of the marital residence but also her late husband’s business, which is valued at approximately $4 million.” She has been <a href="https://kutv.com/news/local/judge-denies-kouri-richins-bail-request-due-to-severity-of-charges-potential-penalties-eric-richins-kamas-book-author-fentanyl-summit-county-court">denied bail</a> and is currently awaiting trial – an event destined to become a media spectacle.</p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/njXQz82S9UI?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">‘Inside Edition’ reports on the arrest of Kouri Richins.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Whether or not it’s true that “<a href="https://www.npr.org/2007/10/16/15244466/love-and-hate-a-tolstoy-family-tale">each unhappy family is unhappy in its own way</a>,” as Leo Tolstoy famously wrote, other people’s domestic misery seems to be a constant source of interest. </p>
<p>What lies behind the public’s fascination with familial trauma, especially when it turns deadly? And what occluded anxieties or longings do people confront or exorcise as they consume these stories of mayhem and murder?</p>
<p><a href="https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2023/06/20/true-crime-podcasts-are-popular-in-the-us-particularly-among-women-and-those-with-less-formal-education/">The interest in true-crime podcasts</a>, series and documentaries is nothing new. The public appetite for easily accessible portraits of real-life murders stretches back to the early days of print, when they were repackaged and sold as ballads, domestic tragedies and lurid penny pamphlets.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.proquest.com/openview/961f96e82665b4b9a540742fafcf3ca5/1?pq-origsite=gscholar&cbl=51922&diss=y">My research</a> as a scholar of 16th- and 17th-century English literature is largely focused on popular representations of domestic crime. I’m often struck by the resonance between these historical portrayals and the way such incidents are reported today.</p>
<p>While the medium has changed, the framing of these stories has remained strikingly consistent. The same queasy combination of sensationalist titillation and pious condemnation found in 16th- and 17th-century media appears in today’s news coverage of domestic murders – and it shines a light on enduring cultural anxieties. </p>
<h2>‘Sleeping in a serpent’s bed’</h2>
<p>The Richins case – with its themes of marital distrust, betrayal and conflicting interests – echoes a 16th-century murder so scandalous that it was reported in historical chronicles and popular pamphlets alike. It also inspired the Elizabethan domestic tragedy “<a href="https://www.gutenberg.org/files/43440/43440-h/43440-h.htm">Arden of Faversham</a>” and at least <a href="https://ebba.english.ucsb.edu/printballad.php?i=rox_album_3_156-157_2448x2448.jpg">one ballad</a>. </p>
<p>The crime occurred on Valentine’s Day 1551, when <a href="https://blog.pshares.org/alice-arden-of-faversham-and-womens-interest-in-true-crime/">Alice Arden</a> conspired with her lover and some hired assassins to kill her husband, Thomas, at his own dinner table. </p>
<p>The historical records and the play depict a woman who places desire above duty, determined to kill her husband and replace him with her paramour, who was a servant in her stepfather’s household – a step down the social ladder that added insult to injury.</p>
<p>That the murder of a middle-class suburban bureaucrat rated inclusion in official sources like “<a href="https://english.nsms.ox.ac.uk/Holinshed/">Holinshed’s Chronicles of England, Scotland and Ireland</a>” and the “<a href="https://www.exclassics.com/newgate/ng4.htm">Newgate Calendar</a>” – and was still inspiring fresh interpretations decades later – suggests an appeal beyond the merely salacious. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Crude drawing of man being strangled with a cloth at a table." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/540532/original/file-20230801-19-wj7vfp.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/540532/original/file-20230801-19-wj7vfp.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=305&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/540532/original/file-20230801-19-wj7vfp.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=305&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/540532/original/file-20230801-19-wj7vfp.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=305&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/540532/original/file-20230801-19-wj7vfp.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=383&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/540532/original/file-20230801-19-wj7vfp.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=383&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/540532/original/file-20230801-19-wj7vfp.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=383&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">An undated print depicts the murder of Thomas Arden.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://from.ncl.ac.uk/hubfs/Ardens_Murder.png">Newcastle University</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>In 16th-century England, where the majority of adults <a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=DrMyGQGmwmoC&q=adventure+of+marriage#v=snippet&q=adventure%20of%20marriage&f=false">were married</a>, women effectively became their husbands’ legal “<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coverture">subjects</a>” upon marriage. This meant that a wife who killed her spouse was guilty not only of murder but of petit, or “petty,” treason, a crime against the state punishable by burning. <a href="https://brill.com/display/book/9789004400696/BP000015.xml?language=en">As I have argued elsewhere</a>, the idea of violent marital insurrection posed a frightening challenge to patriarchal notions of a man’s home as his castle. </p>
<p>But cases of female violence were – <a href="https://www.womensaid.org.uk/information-support/what-is-domestic-abuse/domestic-abuse-is-a-gendered-crime/">as now</a> – comparatively rare: The figure of the murderous wife wielded far more power in the imagination than in reality. </p>
<p>As the unmarried Elizabeth I’s long reign drew to its close, fears about domestic partners gone wild indicated broader fears about the family as a “<a href="https://internetshakespeare.uvic.ca/doc/CleaverGodly_M/index.html">little commonwealth</a>” or microcosmic state – and the need to reinforce the status quo in politically uncertain times.</p>
<p>In life and onstage, Alice Arden was the stuff of proto-feminist fantasy and masculine nightmare, and early modern plays, pamphlets and ballads sought to defuse the rogue woman’s perceived menace in the way they presented the scandal. </p>
<p><a href="http://elizabethandrama.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/Arden-of-Feversham-Annotated.pdf">In the play</a>, Alice’s lover, Moseby, notes that “‘tis fearful sleeping in a serpent’s bed,” since when she has “supplanted Arden for my sake” she might “extirpen me to plant another.” </p>
<p>These suspicions find an echo in Eric Richins’ <a href="https://meaww.com/eric-richins-husband-allegedly-poisoned-by-author-wife-kouri-richins-believed-she-was-unfaithful">fears</a> about his wife’s intentions, and in some media portrayals of her as a <a href="https://meaww.com/kouri-richins-utah-woman-who-killed-husband-believed-she-would-inherit-3-6-m-until-he-changed-will">thwarted gold digger</a>.</p>
<h2>‘Like a fierce and bloody Medea’</h2>
<p>If a homicidal wife was a terrifying prospect, a murderous mother presented an entirely different level of horror. </p>
<p>The anonymous 1616 pamphlet “<a href="https://www.executedtoday.com/2015/05/18/1616-margaret-vincent-pitilesse-mother/#:%7E:text=A%20pitiless%20mother%2C%20that%20most,Vincent%20of%20the%20same%20town.">A Pittilesse Mother That at One Time Murdered Two of Her Own Children at Acton, etc.</a>” tells the story of <a href="https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/abs/medieval-and-early-modern-murder/monstrous-unmaking-maternal-infanticide-and-female-agency-in-early-modern-england/664BA2D9B855631299EF057D94BDB25C">Margaret Vincent</a>, who strangled and killed her two young children in an attempt to save their souls when her husband refused to convert to Catholicism. (She later repented, saying she had been “converted to a blind belief of bewitching heresy.”)</p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/540533/original/file-20230801-18384-iitsai.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Crude drawing of woman murdering two little children on a bed while a demon watches." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/540533/original/file-20230801-18384-iitsai.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/540533/original/file-20230801-18384-iitsai.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=830&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/540533/original/file-20230801-18384-iitsai.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=830&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/540533/original/file-20230801-18384-iitsai.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=830&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/540533/original/file-20230801-18384-iitsai.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1043&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/540533/original/file-20230801-18384-iitsai.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1043&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/540533/original/file-20230801-18384-iitsai.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1043&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">‘A Pittilesse Mother’ tells the story of Margaret Vincent’s murder of her two children.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://jenikirbyhistory.getarchive.net/media/strangling-from-a-pittilesse-mother-that-most-unnaturally-at-one-time-murthered-eb67ac">British Library</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>There are many parallels in the stories of Vincent and an evangelical Christian named <a href="https://time.com/4375398/andrea-yates-15-years-drown-children/">Andrea Yates</a>, who in 2001 drowned her five children in the bathtub of their Texas home, believing she would send their souls to heaven and drive Satan from the world. In March 2002, Yates was sentenced to life in prison, but a 2006 appeal found her not guilty by reason of insanity. She now resides in a mental health facility from which <a href="https://nationalpost.com/news/u-s-woman-who-drowned-children-refuses-release-from-psychiatric-hospital-every-year">she routinely refuses</a> to apply for release.</p>
<p>Neither Vincent nor Yates had been involved in any previous crimes or scandals, but both had exhibited signs of spiritual or mental instability. Vincent had “disobediently” insisted her family become Roman Catholics; Yates had <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andrea_Yates#:%7E:text=Yates%20stopped%20taking%20Haldol%20in,feverishly%2C%20and%20stopped%20feeding%20Mary.">stopped taking the medication</a> prescribed for her postpartum depression and later psychosis without her doctor’s approval. Both women reportedly planned their children’s murders carefully, waited until their husbands were away from home to commit them, invoked diabolical forces to explain their actions, and initially claimed to feel no remorse. </p>
<p>The correlation between these historically distant murders is disturbing and fascinating, not least because both narratives feature conventionally “good,” married, middle-class mothers. Yet both were excoriated in contemporary media as <a href="https://nypost.com/2001/06/26/the-murdering-mom-the-prison-of-self/">monsters</a>: guilty of <a href="https://www.executedtoday.com/2015/05/18/1616-margaret-vincent-pitilesse-mother/">crimes against nature</a>, their husbands and their offspring.</p>
<p>Fast-forward to Jan. 24, 2023, when <a href="https://www.wcvb.com/article/lindsay-clancy-duxbury-mother-children-killed-committed-6-months/43852054">Lindsay Clancy</a> sent her husband, Patrick, on an errand and, like Margaret Vincent, strangled her three children before attempting suicide.</p>
<p>When Patrick Clancy returned to their home in Duxbury, Massachusetts, he found Lindsay on the lawn with major injuries, suffered in a jump from a second-story window. Inside, his children – ages 5 years, 3 years and 8 months – were unconscious. The two oldest were pronounced dead at the scene, <a href="https://www.nbcboston.com/news/local/as-community-mourns-duxbury-children-killed-questions-circle-about-maternal-mental-health/2956568/">while the youngest survived for several days</a>. </p>
<p>As more details of the case became known, a picture emerged of a doting mother and nurse midwife who often shared family photos and anecdotes on social media. After her youngest child’s birth, these posts included references to depression, anxiety and her ongoing attempts to find relief via therapy and medication. </p>
<p><a href="https://lawandcrime.com/high-profile/unlike-any-other-type-of-homicide-how-lindsay-clancy-mirrors-andrea-yates-case/">The inevitable comparisons</a> to the 2001 Yates murders were exacerbated by her lawyer’s revelation that Clancy had been prescribed more than a dozen medications in recent weeks, and by her own claim – as reported during her Feb. 7, 2023, <a href="https://www.wbur.org/news/2023/02/07/lindsay-clancy-duxbury-arraignment">arraignment</a> – that she had “<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2023/02/08/health/lindsay-clancy-child-murder-charges-massachusetts.html">heard a man’s voice, telling her to kill the kids and kill herself because it was her last chance</a>.” </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Split screen of judge sitting at his dais and woman wearing facemask lying in a hospital bed." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/540538/original/file-20230801-19-3rdp00.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/540538/original/file-20230801-19-3rdp00.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=340&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/540538/original/file-20230801-19-3rdp00.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=340&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/540538/original/file-20230801-19-3rdp00.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=340&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/540538/original/file-20230801-19-3rdp00.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=428&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/540538/original/file-20230801-19-3rdp00.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=428&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/540538/original/file-20230801-19-3rdp00.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=428&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Lindsay Clancy appeared at her arraignment over Zoom while still in the hospital recovering from self-inflicted injuries.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/lindsay-clancy-appeared-at-her-plymouth-district-court-news-photo/1246891610?adppopup=true">David L. Ryan/The Boston Globe via Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The prosecution presented Clancy as a coldblooded, calculating murderer. The defense countered with a portrait of a woman suffering from serious mental illness with inadequate treatment. <a href="https://www.nbcboston.com/news/local/duxbury-tragedy-read-patrick-clancys-full-statement-on-his-wife-deaths-of-3-kids/2957737/">Patrick Clancy</a> has argued that his wife deserves compassion rather than condemnation. </p>
<p>As the familiar lines are drawn on the battlefield of public opinion, the sense of déjà vu is palpable. Is Lindsay Clancy a latter-day <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Medea">Medea</a>, the vengeful child killer of Greek mythology, or an overwhelmed and poorly supported woman struggling with a serious illness? As of this writing, <a href="https://www.boston25news.com/news/local/lindsay-clancy-duxbury-mother-accused-murdering-her-kids-remain-committed-6-months/PM7XPI3MCVFINO65YCCAGBSCNQ/">Clancy is committed</a> to Tewksbury State Hospital until November 2023, at which point future legal proceedings will be assessed.</p>
<p>These events are unquestionably horrific, but the passage of two decades may have wrought some changes in the public’s response. While Clancy has been reviled in some quarters as a coldblooded killer – <a href="https://www.tiktok.com/@aprnbeauty_81/video/7198259011211365637">particularly on social media</a> – the murders have also sparked a discussion about <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/science/annals-of-medicine/what-we-still-dont-understand-about-postpartum-psychosis#:%7E:text=In%20November%2C%20Clancy%2C%20who%20is,with%20Ativan%2C%20a%20benzodiazepine%2C%20but">postpartum mental health</a>, suggesting a willingness to better understand this complicated topic.</p>
<h2>A queasy sort of comfort</h2>
<p>Tales of domestic murder expose and underscore fears about society’s most fundamental institutions: home, family and community. The media in every period are extremely skilled at weaponizing – and capitalizing on – worries about the family’s capacity to provide a safe haven in a turbulent world.</p>
<p>In early modern England, highly gendered ideas about the home as a reflection of the state politicized anxieties about order, stability and the family as a patriarchal institution. Then as now, it was a frightening – yet compelling – prospect that threats to a family’s very survival might be hiding in the place people should feel safest. </p>
<p>Perhaps the ongoing fascination with dysfunctional, broken homes <a href="https://theconversation.com/why-does-it-feel-good-to-see-someone-fail-107349">is based in schadenfreude</a>, and the comforting realization that as troubled as our own families may be, we have not taken violent action against them. </p>
<p>Like the repentant gallows speeches recounted in ballads, or the assurance in “A Pittilesse Mother” that Margaret Vincent “earnestly repented the deed,” the containment and punishment of those who disrupt this bedrock institution offer reassurance that they are anomalies. (I could never do that; you could never do that.)</p>
<p>Or the appeal may lie in the idea that any of us might, in fact, be capable of such things. </p>
<p>Perhaps in choosing to be disturbed, entertained and ultimately comforted by narratives about domestic stability turned to chaos, we find a way to confront, if only obliquely, our most primal fears about the institutions we trust, the people we love – and our own capacity to destroy them.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/205723/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Dianne Berg does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>The framing of these stories of murder and mayhem have remained remarkably consistent since the invention of the printing press – and may reveal our own hidden fears and desires.Dianne Berg, Visiting Assistant Professor of English, Clark UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2069402023-07-26T20:06:19Z2023-07-26T20:06:19ZIn a Stone Age cemetery, DNA reveals a treasured ‘founding father’ and a legacy of prosperity for his sons<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/534776/original/file-20230629-19-slv9ij.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=15%2C279%2C2568%2C1583&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">The reburied remains of the 'founding father'. </span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Photograph by S. Rottier.</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>From the remains of nearly 100 ancient individuals, we have reconstructed two extensive prehistoric family trees from a 6,700-year-old cemetery in France, revealing fresh insights into a Stone Age community.</p>
<p>Our new results, <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-023-06350-8">published today in Nature</a>, show a group of prehistoric farmers who lived within a network of other communities. This group even brought with them the bones of a “founding father”, establishing a lasting, male-dominated lineage. </p>
<h2>Difficulties looking into the past</h2>
<p>Around 9,000 years ago, during the late Stone Age period, the “Neolithic way of life” <a href="https://theconversation.com/european-invasion-dna-reveals-the-origins-of-modern-europeans-38096">spread from Anatolia</a> (the large peninsula made up mostly of today’s Türkiye) into Western Europe.</p>
<p>Instead of hunting and gathering, people began farming. With the ability to produce and store extra food, Neolithic people developed new social customs built on wealth, land ownership and access to resources, therefore <a href="https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2120786119">forming social hierarchies</a>. </p>
<p>Ancient burials can tell us a lot about how prehistoric people treated their dead. But figuring out how these societies behaved on a day-to-day basis has always been challenging for researchers. These challenges are due to a lack of written records, and physical data that can be hard to interpret.</p>
<p>These problems are even more complicated during the Neolithic in the Paris Basin in Northern France, where the French cemetery site of Gurgy “les Noisats” was discovered.</p>
<p>Why? The Paris Basin is well known for its <a href="https://doi.org/10.12766/jna.2010.37">massive Stone Age funerary monuments</a> (large objects celebrating important people after their death). These grand monuments functioned like the ancient Egyptian pyramids or the Taj Mahal of their day, in that they were built for the “elite” people in society.</p>
<p>But only a few, much smaller burials have been found that would likely represent the everyday people of the region. Studying these “normal” burials might be the only way to understand the “non-elite”, regular people of the time. </p>
<p>Using new methods for obtaining and comparing <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s43586-020-00011-0">ancient DNA</a>, and by sampling nearly every individual from this non-monumental cemetery, our new results reveal two large family trees which open a window into the lives of the people of this prehistoric community.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/who-owned-this-stone-age-jewellery-new-forensic-tools-offer-an-unprecedented-answer-204797">Who owned this Stone Age jewellery? New forensic tools offer an unprecedented answer</a>
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<h2>A network of communities</h2>
<p>At the cemetery of Gurgy, graves didn’t overlap, meaning there may have been some markings on top of the ground (perhaps like gravestones are used today). This also suggests closely related individuals knew where people were buried.</p>
<p>Using specialised ancient DNA techniques and several sources of evidence from the burials, we reconstructed two of the largest ever family trees from a prehistoric cemetery. One family tree connected 63 individuals over seven generations, while another connected ten individuals over four generations.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/534954/original/file-20230630-29-6gxcoc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A large chart of a family tree with hand-drawn portraits" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/534954/original/file-20230630-29-6gxcoc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/534954/original/file-20230630-29-6gxcoc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=200&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/534954/original/file-20230630-29-6gxcoc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=200&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/534954/original/file-20230630-29-6gxcoc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=200&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/534954/original/file-20230630-29-6gxcoc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=251&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/534954/original/file-20230630-29-6gxcoc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=251&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/534954/original/file-20230630-29-6gxcoc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=251&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The reconstructed family tree for the largest genetically-related group at Gurgy. The painted portraits are an artist’s reconstruction of two of the individuals based on physical traits estimated from DNA (when available). Dashed squares (genetically male) and circles (genetically female) represent individuals who were not found at the site, or did not yield enough DNA for analysis.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Images painted by E. Plain; reproduced here with permission from the University of Bordeaux.</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Exploring these family trees revealed a strong pattern of descent through the male line (called patrilineality). This is a practice where each generation is almost exclusively linked to the previous generation through their biological father. </p>
<p>Our results also suggested the practice of virilocality at Gurgy. This means the sons stayed where they were born, and produced children with women from outside of Gurgy.</p>
<p>Using <a href="https://doi.org/10.3109/03014461003649297">strontium isotope analyses</a> we confirmed these results by analysing the chemicals in the teeth of these individuals. Interestingly, some of the “new incoming” female individuals were distantly related to each other, meaning they may have come from a network of nearby communities, and even from the same communities.</p>
<p>Lastly, we also observed the adult daughters from Gurgy were not buried at the site, meaning they had likely left Gurgy to join other nearby communities themselves (once they had reached a certain age).</p>
<h2>A founding father</h2>
<p>We also discovered the grave of the “founding father” at the cemetery: a male individual from whom everyone in the largest family tree was descended. </p>
<p>We noticed this individual was actually brought from wherever he had originally died and was reburied at Gurgy (alongside a female individual we could not get DNA from). Only his long bones – thigh, leg, arm and forearm bones – were brought, and he must have represented an important ancestor to the founders of the new burial place of the community.</p>
<p>We observed an entire group, made up of several generations (children, parents and grandparents), arrived at Gurgy together from the beginning. This group must have left a previous site, leaving behind any previously deceased children (but yet still brought and reburied the founding father). </p>
<p>Similarly, in the final generations of Gurgy we observed many children without parents buried there. Hence, like the founding group, these last generations abruptly departed Gurgy together, leaving behind their own buried children. Hence, Gurgy was probably only used for three or four generations, or approximately 84–112 years.</p>
<p>This research represents a starting point for multidisciplinary studies of the social organisation of prehistoric societies, as these large family trees allow for new interpretations of the lives and practices of ordinary people from prehistoric communities.</p>
<p>As we discover and analyse more and more of these cemeteries, we may be able to compare and contrast social practices across regions and time periods, truly opening the window into our ancient past.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/dna-study-sheds-light-on-scotlands-picts-and-resolves-some-myths-about-them-204507">DNA study sheds light on Scotland's Picts, and resolves some myths about them</a>
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<img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/206940/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Maïté Rivollat is affiliated with the MPI-EVA in Leipzig (Germany), Bordeaux University (France), Ghent University (Belgium) and Durham University (UK). </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Adam "Ben" Rohrlach does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>In the largest study of its kind, researchers have used DNA from a 6,700-year-old cemetery in France to reconstruct the lives of everyday Neolithic people.Adam "Ben" Rohrlach, Mathematics Lecturer and Ancient DNA Researcher, University of AdelaideMaïté Rivollat, Archaeologist, Université de BordeauxLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1973422023-05-05T18:16:49Z2023-05-05T18:16:49ZWhite Lotus Day celebrates the ‘founding mother of occult in America,’ Helena Petrovna Blavatsky<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/524484/original/file-20230504-23-8vj09p.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=14%2C272%2C703%2C539&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, photographed in New York circa 1874.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/helena-petrovna-blavatsky-russian-born-american-theosophist-news-photo/113634432?adppopup=true">Universal Images Group via Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Every May 8, thousands of people celebrate <a href="https://www.ts-adyar.org/content/white-lotus-day">White Lotus Day</a>, commemorating a remarkable and controversial Russian American woman: spiritual leader Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, who died in 1891.</p>
<p>HPB, as followers affectionately call her, is remembered as a co-founder of <a href="https://www.ts-adyar.org/">the Theosophical Society</a>. Aiming to create a universal brotherhood of humanity, theosophy claimed that its tenets came from spiritual masters in the Himalayas.</p>
<p>Today, the movement has <a href="https://archive.org/details/GeneralReport2017/page/n39/mode/2up">over 25,000 official members, with more than 1,000 lodges and centers</a> around the world. Other theosophical organizations, like <a href="http://www.ult.org/index.html">United Lodge of Theosophists</a>, also boast a robust official and unofficial membership that is harder to estimate. </p>
<p>Theosophy’s strongest influence, however, was on the esoteric spiritual revival that took Europe and the United States by storm in the late 19th century, with Blavatsky herself sometimes called “<a href="https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/308873/madame-blavatsky-by-gary-lachman/">the mother of modern spirituality</a>.” Her descriptions of Hinduism and Buddhism were often romanticized and inaccurate but fueled Western interest in Asian religions and gave rise to <a href="https://brill.com/display/title/22123">dozens of spiritual movements</a>. </p>
<h2>The ‘veiled years’</h2>
<p>Blavatsky was <a href="https://www.worldcat.org/title/28666454">born into a noble family in the Russian Empire</a>, within the territory of modern Ukraine. As a child, she read occult literature at her grandfather’s home, sparking a lifelong desire to unlock secrets of the universe.</p>
<p>At 18, she escaped an unhappy marriage by secretly embarking on a British ship heading to Constantinople and for the next 25 years traveled the world in search of transcendental truth. Little reliable information about this period of her life survives, but Blavatsky’s “veiled years” seem to have included extensive travel on five continents and apprenticeships with various occult practitioners.</p>
<p>According to Blavatsky, during that time she came into contact with spiritual gurus named Morya and Koot Hoomi, whom she called her “ascended teachers.” Some scholars believe that <a href="https://sunypress.edu/Books/T/The-Masters-Revealed">these men never existed</a> and were merely ruses HPB employed to garner support for her ideas. Most theosophists, however, maintain that these mahatmas – a term of respect in India – were real, and their teachings continue to be <a href="https://www.theosophical.org/publications/quest-magazine/2382-mahatmas-versus-ascended-masters?gclid=Cj0KCQjw6cKiBhD5ARIsAKXUdybdeF4Fx4Zh-9y1W_DGBUU5gmX_0oegzb89daSS-LHWI0H6mYNhac0aAupjEALw_wcB">an integral part of theosophy</a>. </p>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/524507/original/file-20230504-1846-3auusx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A black and white photograph of ornate white buildings with domed roofs." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/524507/original/file-20230504-1846-3auusx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/524507/original/file-20230504-1846-3auusx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=385&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/524507/original/file-20230504-1846-3auusx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=385&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/524507/original/file-20230504-1846-3auusx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=385&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/524507/original/file-20230504-1846-3auusx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=484&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/524507/original/file-20230504-1846-3auusx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=484&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/524507/original/file-20230504-1846-3auusx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=484&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">The Theosophical University in Point Loma, Calif., photographed in 1920.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/california-point-loma-the-theosophical-university-vintage-news-photo/1207352265?adppopup=true">A. & E. Frankl/ullstein bild via Getty Images</a></span>
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<p>In 1880, Blavatsky and her close companion Col. Henry Steel Olcott officially took pansil, or the <a href="http://www.katinkahesselink.net/tibet/panchasila.html">five Buddhist vows</a>, becoming among the first Westerners to do so publicly. Together with other leaders who later joined the theosophical movement, they popularized Buddhist and Hindu ideas in the West, introducing concepts such as karma and reincarnation.</p>
<p>Blavatsky poured ideas about spirituality into her written work, including classics of esoteric literature such as “<a href="https://www.questbooks.com/product-page/isis-unveiled-2-volume-set-with-slipcase">Isis Unveiled</a>,” “<a href="https://www.questbooks.com/product-page/the-secret-doctrine-3-volume-set-with-slipcase">The Secret Doctrine</a>” and “<a href="https://www.questbooks.com/product-page/the-voice-of-the-silence-fascimile-centenary-edition">The Voice of the Silence</a>.” Core tenets of her philosophy are summed up in “<a href="https://www.google.com/books/edition/The_Key_to_Theosophy/W0VCAQAAMAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=0">The Key to Theosophy</a>,” which she wrote in 1889.</p>
<h2>Universal religion</h2>
<p>Adapting ideas from <a href="https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/neoplatonism/#:%7E:text=Neoplatonic%20philosophy%20is%20a%20strict,%2C%20or%20%E2%80%9Cthe%20Good%E2%80%9D.">ancient Greek</a> and <a href="https://universaltheosophy.com/advaita-vedanta/">Hindu philosophies</a>, as well as Buddhism, theosophy teaches that the universe emanated from an impersonal divine absolute. All objects, animate and inanimate, share the same essence, and the goal of human evolution is spiritual liberation, which <a href="https://doi.org/10.1093/oso/9780190909130.001.0001">might be attainable after many reincarnations</a>.</p>
<p>Styling itself as a universal “wisdom religion,” theosophy aimed to merge knowledge from philosophy, religion and science to explain secret laws governing the universe. Several of its leaders believed they possessed the ability to travel into a spiritual realm and access “Akashic records,” a repository of events and knowledge across time, and that they were in direct telepathic communication with the “ascended teachers.”</p>
<p>With other associates, Blavatsky in 1875 founded the Theosophical Society in New York, which boasted over 40,000 official members <a href="https://archive.org/details/ancientwisdomrev0000camp/page/n7/mode/2up">at the height of its popularity</a> in the early 20th century. The society was set up like a philosophical discussion club, and today most of its public events explore the writings of Blavatsky and other theosophists, in addition to various religious traditions and concepts.</p>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/524495/original/file-20230504-1846-hvmfft.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A black and white formal portrait of three rows of men and women in coats and suits posing in front of a banner." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/524495/original/file-20230504-1846-hvmfft.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/524495/original/file-20230504-1846-hvmfft.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=852&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/524495/original/file-20230504-1846-hvmfft.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=852&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/524495/original/file-20230504-1846-hvmfft.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=852&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/524495/original/file-20230504-1846-hvmfft.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1071&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/524495/original/file-20230504-1846-hvmfft.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1071&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/524495/original/file-20230504-1846-hvmfft.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1071&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">12th congress of the Italian Theosophical Society, taken in Rome in 1912.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/congress-of-the-italian-theosophical-society-rome-1912-news-photo/520850191?adppopup=true">SeM/Universal Images Group via Getty Images</a></span>
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<p>Ideologically, theosophy promoted the idea of radical egalitarianism among people of different races, beliefs and genders. To this day, <a href="https://www.theosophical.org/">the society’s</a> official motto is “No Religion Higher Than Truth,” and the main objectives are “to form a nucleus of the universal brotherhood of humanity,” to “encourage the comparative study of religion, philosophy, and science,” and to “investigate unexplained laws of nature and the powers latent in humanity,” according to the <a href="https://www.theosophical.org/">Theosophical Society in America</a>. </p>
<h2>Lasting stereotypes</h2>
<p>During Blavatsky’s era, Americans and Europeans were growing increasingly dissatisfied with traditional religions, especially Christianity. Termed the “<a href="https://yalebooks.yale.edu/book/9780300188073/the-age-of-doubt/?fbclid=IwAR2mutoJa6o1ZYkPrJj0lZVrv-21uigXd42KAovpGSq5D5OvZ3x4gbzSo5k">Age of Doubt</a>” by Victorian scholar <a href="https://english.northwestern.edu/people/faculty/emeritus/lane-christopher.html">Christopher Lane</a>, the period was characterized by a widespread crisis of faith, brought about in part by advances in science and technology that challenged traditional worldviews. </p>
<p>In search of other spiritual ideas, some people started exploring occultism and spiritualism, practices that centered around the <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2021/05/31/why-did-so-many-victorians-try-to-speak-with-the-dead">possibility of communication with the dead</a>, while many turned to other cultures for inspiration. English translations of <a href="https://www.bl.uk/collection-items/rig-veda-sanhita#:%7E:text=This%201869%20edition%20of%20the,of%20the%20Rig%20Veda%20hymns.">ancient Indian texts</a> and <a href="https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/8920">popular books about Buddhism</a> fostered such interest and created fertile ground for theosophy to gain popularity in the West.</p>
<p>Blavatsky’s <a href="http://iapsop.com/archive/materials/theosophist/">India-based journal The Theosophist</a> sought to foreground the work of her South Asian colleagues. Overall, however, she presented a romanticized vision of India, portraying its culture as a repository of “ancient wisdom,” in contrast to Western cultures she viewed as rationalist and dogmatic. Her descriptions paint an idealized picture of religious and philosophical traditions she portrayed as superior to materialistic Western modernity. In some ways, these ideas echoed common stereotypes in “Orientalist” art and writing of the era, which often <a href="https://theconversation.com/orientalism-edward-saids-groundbreaking-book-explained-197429">depicted Asian cultures</a> as unchanging and exotic.</p>
<p>Yet her claims that she was describing the “true” India shaped popular perceptions in the United States, Europe and Russia, as my current research shows. As <a href="https://liberalarts.utexas.edu/slavic/faculty/maralex">a cultural historian</a> who focuses on <a href="https://newageru.hypotheses.org/3350">how religious ideas travel across the world</a> and transform cultures, I am especially interested in how she sought to “translate” spiritual ideas for her Western audiences.</p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/524497/original/file-20230504-25-s5uehz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A sepia-toned portrait of an older woman wearing a white shawl and clutching a scroll." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/524497/original/file-20230504-25-s5uehz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/524497/original/file-20230504-25-s5uehz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=846&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/524497/original/file-20230504-25-s5uehz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=846&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/524497/original/file-20230504-25-s5uehz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=846&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/524497/original/file-20230504-25-s5uehz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1063&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/524497/original/file-20230504-25-s5uehz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1063&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/524497/original/file-20230504-25-s5uehz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1063&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A photo of Blavatsky taken two years before her death, found in the collection of Russian State Library.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/helena-blavatsky-circa-1889-found-in-the-collection-of-news-photo/919807794?adppopup=true">Fine Art Images/Heritage Images/Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Complicated legacy</h2>
<p>Blavatsky was not the first European scholar to turn to the East in search of ancient truth. Unlike many other scholars of India in the 19th century, however, she spent considerable time there, and in <a href="https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/6687">her writings from that period</a> she often expresses outrage at British colonial injustices. In fact, after she moved the official headquarters of <a href="https://www.ts-adyar.org/">the Theosophical Society to Adyar, India</a>, in 1879, Blavatsky was under surveillance by British authorities, who suspected that she was carrying out espionage for the Russians amid <a href="https://www.hachettebookgroup.com/titles/karl-e-meyer/tournament-of-shadows/9780465045761/">intense rivalry between the two empires</a>. </p>
<p>But her legacy is complex. On the one hand, she can be thought of as an anti-colonial writer whose incriminating portrayals of brutality and excess in her travelogue “<a href="https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/6687">From the Caves and Jungles of Hindostan</a>” were among the most scathing indictments of British colonialism at the time. On the other hand, Blavatsky failed to condemn Russia’s own imperial practices in Central Asia. </p>
<p>It is Blavatsky’s role in <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/1465212?mag=spiritualism-science-and-the-mysterious-madame-blavatsky">popularizing Eastern spiritual traditions</a> abroad that has been her most lasting impact – even if her ideas were often unorthodox. Intellectual leaders from psychologist William James and <a href="https://www.dailysabah.com/arts/theosophy-and-gandhi-how-mahatma-learned-from-occult-group/news">Indian independence activist Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi</a> to playwright George Bernard Shaw and <a href="https://www.academia.edu/82205911/Edison_and_Madame_Helena_Blavatsky_Theosophy_Redux">inventor Thomas Edison</a> were all members of the Theosophical Society or incorporated theosophical ideas into their work.</p>
<p>Theosophy now competes with other <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/new-religious-movement">new religious movements for membership</a> – but they, too, have been shaped by the woman <a href="https://theconversation.com/why-kurt-vonneguts-advice-to-college-graduates-still-matters-today-203466">writer Kurt Vonnegut</a> called the “<a href="https://archives.yale.edu/repositories/11/archival_objects/457727">founding mother of occult in America</a>.”</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/197342/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Marina Alexandrova does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Theosophy and its founders had an outsize impact on Americans’ ideas about spirituality and Asian religions.Marina Alexandrova, Associate Professor of Instruction, The University of Texas at AustinLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1987222023-04-11T12:04:25Z2023-04-11T12:04:25ZDefying the Holocaust didn’t just mean uprising and revolt: Remembering Jews’ everyday resistance on Yom HaShoah and year-round<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/519969/original/file-20230407-3779-73o8pm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=7%2C22%2C4995%2C3513&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Samuel Willenberg, the last survivor of the Treblinka uprising, poses for a picture at his art studio in Tel Aviv, Israel, in 2010. </span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://newsroom.ap.org/detail/MideastIsraelHolocaust/761dbacc01df4c75ac290d2f73100256/photo?Query=samuel%20willenberg&mediaType=photo&sortBy=arrivaldatetime:desc&dateRange=Anytime&totalCount=21&currentItemNo=12">AP Photo/Oded Balilty</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Richard Glazar insisted that no one survived the Holocaust without help. To this Prague-born Jewish survivor, who endured Nazi imprisonment at Treblinka and <a href="https://encyclopedia.ushmm.org/content/en/article/theresienstadt">Theresienstadt</a>, plus years in hiding, it was impossible to persevere without others’ support. Glazar conceded that some of his fellow Treblinka survivors were “loners,” but <a href="https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/164058/into-that-darkness-by-gitta-sereny/">he nevertheless believed</a> that they “survived because they were carried by someone, someone who cared for them as much, or almost as much as for themselves.”</p>
<p>Carrying someone else took many forms. For fellow Treblinka prisoner <a href="https://karentreiger.com/">Samuel Goldberg</a>, a Polish Jew born in a small town called Bagatelle, it was the moment the women of his work detail stood up to a guard to save Goldberg’s life. For <a href="https://nupress.northwestern.edu/9780810111691/trap-with-a-green-fence/">those around Glazar</a>, it was the times he brought them more to eat because his position as a fence builder gave him chances to buy food outside the camp. <a href="https://www.worldcat.org/title/744548519">Still more prisoners</a> benefited from a friend willing to literally hold them up during roll call so no guard would notice they were sick – a near-certain death sentence.</p>
<p>In a place meant to destroy all Jewish life, the smallest acts of support and comfort were resistance.</p>
<p>On Aug. 2, 1943, the Treblinka II extermination camp in Nazi-occupied Poland was the site of <a href="https://www.hmd.org.uk/resource/2-august-1943-uprising-of-prisoners-at-treblinka/">one of the most dramatic acts of armed rebellion</a> throughout the Shoah, as the Holocaust is called in Hebrew. Several hundred prisoners managed to escape, though most were recaptured and killed. Nonetheless, at least 70 people survived to recount what happened there. Without their actions, the camp might have continued to operate, and we would likely know next to nothing of its history. </p>
<p>In <a href="https://jewish.cofc.edu/documents/jewish-studies-faculty-and-staff-bios/chad-gibbs.php">years of research on this extermination camp</a>, I’ve come to place as much importance on the long trail of smaller acts as on the famous day itself. Long before the revolt, resistance was commonplace at Treblinka. It had to be. Here and elsewhere, prisoner revolt would have been impossible without those everyday acts of support that laid foundations for more.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/519972/original/file-20230407-16-xh4te7.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A black and white photo shows a huge smoke cloud rising across a field." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/519972/original/file-20230407-16-xh4te7.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/519972/original/file-20230407-16-xh4te7.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=476&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/519972/original/file-20230407-16-xh4te7.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=476&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/519972/original/file-20230407-16-xh4te7.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=476&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/519972/original/file-20230407-16-xh4te7.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=599&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/519972/original/file-20230407-16-xh4te7.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=599&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/519972/original/file-20230407-16-xh4te7.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=599&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A clandestine photograph of the burning death camp Treblinka II, taken by eyewitness Franciszek Ząbecki during the uprising on Aug. 2, 1943.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Treblinka_uprising_(Z%C4%85becki_1943).jpg">Franciszek Ząbecki/Wikimedia Commons</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Defiance and dignity</h2>
<p>Between July 1942 and November 1943, Nazi Germany killed as many as 925,000 people at <a href="https://encyclopedia.ushmm.org/content/en/article/treblinka">Treblinka II</a>. The vast majority of these victims were Jews, though the regime also murdered several thousand Romani people there. </p>
<p>This terrible place was unlike most other Nazi camps in that its sole purpose was <a href="https://iupress.org/9780253025418/the-operation-reinhard-death-camps-revised-and-expanded-edition/">the destruction of life</a>. There were no slave labor industries or construction projects. The Jews responsible for the revolt were among the several hundred men and women kept alive to maintain facilities, sort the belongings of the dead, and dispose of the bodies. As <a href="https://www.aju.edu/faculty/michael-berenbaum">the historian Michael Berenbaum</a> put it, Treblinka was “<a href="https://www.kcet.org/shows/treblinkas-last-witness/episodes/treblinkas-last-witness">a factory whose end product was dead Jews</a>.” </p>
<p>In such a hell, life itself is resistance, but those held at Treblinka pushed back against Nazi designs for their destruction in every way possible. Early organized efforts took the form of escapes to warn other Jews. <a href="https://muzeumtreblinka.eu/en/informacje/krzepicki-abram-jakub/">Abraham Krzepicki</a>, for example, escaped Treblinka and went back to the Warsaw Ghetto to tell of what the camp really was – and later died there, fighting in <a href="https://www.yadvashem.org/holocaust/about/combat-resistance/warsaw-ghetto.html#narrative_info">the ghetto’s 1943 uprising</a>.</p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
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<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Deportation to Treblinka from the Jewish ghetto in Siedlce, Poland, in 1942.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Deportation_to_Treblinka_from_ghetto_in_Siedlce_1942.jpg">Wikimedia Commons</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>These messengers of truth helped expose Nazi lies and give others the chance to try to go into hiding, fight or jump from trains. </p>
<p>Still, most people targeted by the Third Reich could not avoid transport to Treblinka or other camps even if they knew what awaited them there. For some, resistance was the way they carried themselves on the way to a certain death, such as saying prayers like <a href="https://www.myjewishlearning.com/article/the-shema/">the Shema Yisrael</a>. Condemned for being Jewish, they steadfastly remained so to the end.</p>
<p>Samuel Willenberg, who was <a href="https://www.jpost.com/israel-news/rivlin-at-funeral-for-last-treblinka-revolt-survivor-samuel-willenberg-was-a-symbol-of-heroism-445734">the last survivor of the Treblinka revolt</a> when he died in 2016, remembered how a young woman named Ruth Dorfmann asked only if the gas would hurt, and calmly acted with such unshakable dignity that he felt compelled many years later to <a href="https://www.yadvashem.org/articles/interviews/willenberg.html">sculpt her final moments</a>.</p>
<h2>‘Choiceless choices’</h2>
<p>Court testimonies, oral histories, survivors’ memoirs and <a href="https://iupress.org/9780253025418/the-operation-reinhard-death-camps-revised-and-expanded-edition/">other sources</a> show that over months of concerted planning, Treblinka prisoners’ “Organizing Committee” laid the groundwork for the August rebellion by building a network of trusted men and women. Organizers found ways to place them in jobs that gave prisoner planners complete access to the camp. </p>
<p>That process was a winding and perilous road. Three earlier plans failed, and Nazi guards killed many Jews they suspected of resistance. It took at least eight months of concerted effort to finally <a href="https://iupress.org/9780253025418/the-operation-reinhard-death-camps-revised-and-expanded-edition/">pull off the revolt</a>.</p>
<p>Though resistance at Treblinka eventually meant armed revolt, it could not have achieved that end without the countless little rebellions that came before. The same was true in Warsaw and throughout Nazi-controlled Europe. At its core, resistance is the way a person or a people chooses to stand against the challenges thrown at them. That holds true even if those options are what <a href="https://fortunoff.library.yale.edu/film/langer/">Holocaust scholar Lawrence Langer</a> called “<a href="https://sunypress.edu/Books/V/Versions-of-Survival">choiceless choices</a>” between one terrible outcome and another. </p>
<p>In <a href="https://www.yadvashem.org/holocaust/about/ghettos/warsaw.html">the Warsaw Ghetto</a>, where hundreds of thousands of Jews were crammed into inhumane conditions, residents held each other up by establishing soup kitchens and clandestine schools, organizing the removal of waste to prevent disease, and setting up everyday events to help people feel normal, even for one moment. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/519968/original/file-20230407-21-lfycr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="People look at a museum display. In the foreground, a single slice of bread sits on a table." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/519968/original/file-20230407-21-lfycr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/519968/original/file-20230407-21-lfycr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=411&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/519968/original/file-20230407-21-lfycr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=411&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/519968/original/file-20230407-21-lfycr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=411&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/519968/original/file-20230407-21-lfycr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=517&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/519968/original/file-20230407-21-lfycr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=517&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/519968/original/file-20230407-21-lfycr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=517&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A piece of bread, equivalent of a daily food ration in the Warsaw Ghetto, displayed during a commemoration of residents’ suffering in the ghetto.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/piece-of-bread-equivalent-of-a-daily-food-ration-in-the-news-photo/149037070?adppopup=true">Wojtek Radwanski/AFP via GettyImages</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Warsaw Jews worked <a href="https://portal.ehri-project.eu/units/us-005578-irn507312">to archive what they endured</a> and <a href="https://theconversation.com/warsaw-ghettos-defiant-jewish-doctors-secretly-documented-the-medical-effects-of-nazi-starvation-policies-in-a-book-recently-rediscovered-on-a-library-shelf-182726">documented the medical effects</a> of the starvation they faced. Both acts demonstrated hope for a future that would remember their suffering and use its lessons to ease the pain of others.</p>
<p>Yom HaShoah, the annual day of remembrance for the Holocaust established by the Israeli government, occurs on the 27th of Nisan in the Hebrew calendar: the start of major fighting during <a href="https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/holocaust-uprising/">the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising</a>. Thousands died in the Germans’ brutal retaliation.</p>
<h2>A more complete picture</h2>
<p>The full name of Yom HaShoah is “Holocaust and Heroism Remembrance Day” – which, along with its tie to the Warsaw Ghetto, links remembrance with resistance in no uncertain terms. This pairing held great importance <a href="https://us.macmillan.com/books/9780805066609/theseventhmillion">for Israel’s identity as a new state</a> and for a people so deeply wounded by years of terror.</p>
<p>Whenever we remember the Holocaust, we should remember the small rebellions, the individual stands, and the little acts of caring that Glazar found so important. Only in seeing that wider picture of everyday struggles can we understand the true variety and scope of resistance.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/198722/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Chad Gibbs does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Yom HaShoah, which falls on April 17-18, 2023, pointedly commemorates Jewish resistance to the Nazis.Chad Gibbs, Assistant Professor of Jewish Studies, College of CharlestonLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2015482023-04-05T12:22:41Z2023-04-05T12:22:41ZEach generation in Northern Ireland has reflected on the ‘troubles’ in its own way – right up to ‘Derry Girls’<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/517925/original/file-20230328-2526-vb272r.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C12%2C4031%2C3005&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">A mural in Derry commemorating the TV show 'Derry Girls,' which follows the lives of teenagers growing up amid Northern Ireland's troubles.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Dominic Bryan</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/">CC BY-NC-ND</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>A 9-year-old boy lies on the floor of a working-class rowhouse in Belfast, Northern Ireland, wondrously watching American Westerns on TV. Outside, though, the world’s gone mad. Broken glass and shattered masonry. Barricades go up. Rifle-toting soldiers patrol the streets. </p>
<p>It’s August 1969, the summer that Northern Ireland’s ‘troubles’ flared into violence.</p>
<p>The scene is from “Belfast,” director Kenneth Branagh’s ode to growing up in <a href="https://cain.ulster.ac.uk/victims/docs/group/htr/day_of_reflection/htr_0607c.pdf">the grinding conflict</a> that would go on to kill several thousand people. Branagh’s <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ja3PPOnJQ2k">Academy Award-winning film</a> premiered in 2021, more than two decades after <a href="https://theconversation.com/from-certain-war-to-uncertain-peace-northern-irelands-good-friday-agreement-turns-20-94624">the Good Friday Agreement</a> brought the troubles to a close on April 10, 1998 – 25 years ago this month.</p>
<p>This was the second period of so-called troubles in Ireland. The first involved a bloody <a href="https://www.nam.ac.uk/explore/irish-war-independence">guerrilla war</a> that ended in 1921, with the island partitioned into an independent, mostly Catholic south and a mostly Protestant north that remained part of the United Kingdom.</p>
<p>But that division did little to settle the age-old war of cultural identity. Since then, each generation of artists has used theater, song and film to reflect on their states’ still-uneasy peace – made <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/explainers-53724381">all the more complicated</a> by Brexit.</p>
<h2>‘Four green fields’</h2>
<p>For hundreds of years, <a href="https://thesocietypages.org/socimages/2008/10/06/negative-stereotypes-of-the-irish/">British culture stereotyped the “native” Irish</a> as savage, bestial, childlike, lazy, belligerent and, above all else, unruly: a tribe that needed British civilization – and, therefore, its colonization. Irish nationalists like poet W.B. Yeats, who wanted to free the whole of Ireland from British rule, felt they had to <a href="https://ernie.uva.nl/upload/media/eb201b85e5cb00114d568245a59cc05f.pdf">flip this script</a> by purging the island of “Anglo” influences, reviving the Irish language and promoting Celtic arts.</p>
<p>In 1902, Yeats wrote the masterpiece of this Celtic revival, “<a href="https://www.gutenberg.org/files/49611/49611-h/49611-h.htm">Cathleen ni Houlihan</a>.” The one-act play dramatizes traditional songs and legends about a poor old woman driven from her farm by strangers. Cathleen recruits a groom – on the eve of his wedding day, no less – to help fight to retrieve her “four beautiful green fields.” </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/518837/original/file-20230401-16-mima2r.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A black and white picture of a woman holding up a lantern in a doorway to a room with three people in it." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/518837/original/file-20230401-16-mima2r.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/518837/original/file-20230401-16-mima2r.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=405&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/518837/original/file-20230401-16-mima2r.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=405&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/518837/original/file-20230401-16-mima2r.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=405&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/518837/original/file-20230401-16-mima2r.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=509&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/518837/original/file-20230401-16-mima2r.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=509&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/518837/original/file-20230401-16-mima2r.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=509&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A scene from ‘Cathleen ni Houlihan.’</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Scene_From_Cathleen_Ni_Houlihan_-_Project_Gutenberg_eText_19028.jpg#/media/File:Scene_From_Cathleen_Ni_Houlihan_-_Project_Gutenberg_eText_19028.jpg">Project Gutenberg/Wikimedia Commons</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>It’s an obvious allegory: She is Ireland, the fields are Ireland’s four provinces, and the strangers are the British. The blood of Irish martyrs nourishes the old woman, and at the play’s end, Cathleen transforms into a young girl “with the walk of a queen.”</p>
<p>Cultural pride helped fuel support for Irish independence, and the Irish Republican Army drove the British out of three of the island’s four provinces by 1922. But a majority of people in much of the final province, Ulster, identified as British, so <a href="https://www.rochester.edu/newscenter/partition-of-ireland-explained-477342/">a new national border was drawn</a> to separate the two communities. </p>
<p>That gerrymandered border sparked a civil war in the new Irish Free State between the “die-hard” nationalists, who wanted to keep fighting the British till they abandoned the north, and the “Free Staters,” who compromised to make peace. Martin McDonagh’s 2022 film “<a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt11813216/awards/?ref_=tt_awd">The Banshees of Inisherin</a>,” nominated for nine Academy Awards, can be viewed as an allegory of the Irish Civil War – the tragedy when brothers in arms turn their guns on one another.</p>
<h2>Spiraling crisis</h2>
<p>Many Protestants loyal to the U.K. viewed the culture of Northern Ireland’s minority Catholic population <a href="https://www.executiveoffice-ni.gov.uk/sites/default/files/publications/execoffice/commission-on-fict-final-report.pdf">as a threat</a> and treated them as second-class citizens. In the late 1960s, in part <a href="https://www.irishcentral.com/opinion/niallodowd/how-martin-luther-king-inspired-north-uprising#:%7E:text=By%20marching%20through%20%22Protestant%20territory,defend%20the%20right%20to%20protest.%22&text=Northern%20Ireland's%20sectarian%20nature%20was%20revealed%20to%20the%20world.">inspired by Martin Luther King Jr.’s</a> civil rights activism in the U.S., Catholics began campaigning against discrimination. Their demands were met with violence, like the 1972 <a href="https://cain.ulster.ac.uk/events/bsunday/chron.htm">Bloody Sunday</a> massacre, in which British soldiers shot and killed 14 unarmed protesters in Derry, also known as Londonderry – rival names that themselves reflect the sharp divide between communities.</p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/518836/original/file-20230401-18-bsc9vv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A soldier stands on a street as two young children, one holding a fake shield, stand in front." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/518836/original/file-20230401-18-bsc9vv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/518836/original/file-20230401-18-bsc9vv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=763&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/518836/original/file-20230401-18-bsc9vv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=763&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/518836/original/file-20230401-18-bsc9vv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=763&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/518836/original/file-20230401-18-bsc9vv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=959&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/518836/original/file-20230401-18-bsc9vv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=959&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/518836/original/file-20230401-18-bsc9vv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=959&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A soldier on patrol in Belfast in 1969.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/two-children-the-boy-with-rude-toy-weapons-stands-by-a-news-photo/514704064?adppopup=true">Bettmann/Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Tribal feelings spiraled higher, pitting mostly Protestant “unionists” loyal to the U.K. against Catholic “nationalists” who sought reunion with the Republic of Ireland. Neighborhoods were segregated and <a href="https://theworld.org/stories/2020-01-14/northern-ireland-still-divided-peace-walls-20-years-after-conflict">giant walls went up</a> to keep Catholic and Protestant apart, but wave after wave of reprisals came anyway, including bombings and sniper attacks.</p>
<p>As the troubles intensified, folk musician Tommy Makem’s <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UkTmsNM4fLM">popular song “Four Green Fields</a>” drew again on the legend of Ireland as a poor old woman:</p>
<blockquote>
<p><em>“I have four green fields, one of them’s in bondage</em></p>
<p><em>In strangers’ hands, that tried to take it from me</em></p>
<p><em>But my sons have sons as brave as were their fathers</em></p>
<p><em>My fourth green field will bloom once again,” said she.</em></p>
</blockquote>
<p>It became <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hHhPeNv90co">a nationalist battle call</a>, and a sign of the times, as plenty of young men joined the IRA’s campaign against British control of Northern Ireland.</p>
<p>Nowhere was the “them and us” attitude more evident than on the gable ends of rowhouses, where nationalists and unionists each painted murals celebrating their heroes and remembering the atrocities perpetrated by the other side. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/518827/original/file-20230331-26-7zn9nu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="People in dark coats hold white crosses in front of a purple and red mural with people's faces painted in it." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/518827/original/file-20230331-26-7zn9nu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/518827/original/file-20230331-26-7zn9nu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=437&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/518827/original/file-20230331-26-7zn9nu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=437&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/518827/original/file-20230331-26-7zn9nu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=437&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/518827/original/file-20230331-26-7zn9nu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=549&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/518827/original/file-20230331-26-7zn9nu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=549&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/518827/original/file-20230331-26-7zn9nu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=549&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Families of the victims and supporters walk past a mural featuring the 14 victims of Bloody Sunday as they commemorate the 50th anniversary of the massacre, in 2022.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/families-of-the-victims-and-supporters-walk-past-a-mural-news-photo/1238082451?adppopup=true">Charles McQuillan/Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>‘Sing a new song’</h2>
<p>In the mid-1970s, a group of writers and actors, including <a href="https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poets/seamus-heaney">the Nobel laureate poet Seamus Heaney</a>, tried to blaze a way out of this cultural death spiral. Calling themselves “Ireland’s Field Day,” they tried to create art that could be <a href="https://scholarblogs.emory.edu/postcolonialstudies/2014/06/20/field-day-theatre-company/">a “fifth province</a>” of Ireland, a place that would transcend sectarian politics.</p>
<p>U2 wrote its hit song “<a href="https://youtu.be/bCP9rkTsbKQ">Sunday, Bloody Sunday</a>,” the first song on its 1983 album “War,” in the same spirit. It begins with images reminiscent of the massacre in Derry 11 years before:</p>
<blockquote>
<p><em>Broken bottles under children’s feet</em></p>
<p><em>Bodies strewn across the dead-end street</em></p>
</blockquote>
<p>In U2’s telling, the villain is not the other side. The enemy is the violence itself, generated by the feedback loop of Nationalism and unionism. The only way out is to refuse “to heed the battle call.” </p>
<p>The album ends with <a href="https://youtu.be/pt9Xc4jO-Yc">the song “40</a>,” a soulful echo of the Bible’s 40th Psalm: “I will sing … sing a new song.” </p>
<p>This kind of thinking helped lead the war-weary people of Northern Ireland to <a href="https://www.dfa.ie/media/dfa/alldfawebsitemedia/ourrolesandpolicies/northernireland/good-friday-agreement.pdf">the Good Friday Agreement</a>, also called the Belfast Agreement, in 1998. Its deals shaped the power-sharing system Northern Ireland has today, which <a href="https://www.citizensinformation.ie/en/government_in_ireland/ireland_and_the_uk/good_friday_agreement.html">legitimizes both identities</a>. People in Northern Ireland can choose to be citizens of the U.K., citizens of the Republic of Ireland, or both. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/518835/original/file-20230401-22-l6uydl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A black and white photo shows a band performing on stage in front of a large illustration of a boy's face." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/518835/original/file-20230401-22-l6uydl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/518835/original/file-20230401-22-l6uydl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=438&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/518835/original/file-20230401-22-l6uydl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=438&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/518835/original/file-20230401-22-l6uydl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=438&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/518835/original/file-20230401-22-l6uydl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=551&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/518835/original/file-20230401-22-l6uydl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=551&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/518835/original/file-20230401-22-l6uydl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=551&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">U2 performs on a television show in 1983, with an illustration from the cover of its ‘War’ album behind it.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/the-edge-bono-larry-mullen-jnr-adam-clayton-performing-live-news-photo/85238270?adppopup=true">Erica Echenberg/Redferns via Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>It has, by and large, worked. Over the years, this commitment to religious, political and racial equality tamped down the tribalism and violence. The border between Ireland and Northern Ireland became less and less relevant. By 2018, half of the people in Northern Ireland <a href="https://www.ark.ac.uk/ARK/sites/default/files/2022-05/update147_0.pdf">described themselves</a> as “neither nationalist nor unionist.”</p>
<h2>A new generation</h2>
<p>Brexit, however, has turned the line between Ireland and Northern Ireland into the only land border between the U.K. and the EU. Both nationalist and unionist identities are on the uptick, and the proportion of people in Northern Ireland claiming neither identity <a href="https://www.ark.ac.uk/ARK/sites/default/files/2022-05/update147_0.pdf">has plummeted to 37%</a>.</p>
<p>Even so, anthropologist <a href="https://pure.qub.ac.uk/en/persons/dominic-bryan">Dominic Bryan</a>, co-chair of Northern Ireland’s Commission on Flags, Identity, Culture, and Tradition, is optimistic that culture has built up a resistance to “us versus them” tribalism – reflected, in part, by how people remember the troubles.</p>
<p>He sent me a picture of a mural in Derry, painted one year after Brexit, which celebrates Lisa McGee’s hit TV show “Derry Girls.” Launched in 2018, the comedy follows the fictional lives of five teenagers <a href="https://www.npr.org/2019/09/10/757529881/in-northern-ireland-derry-girls-balance-teen-comedy-and-sectarian-conflict">growing up in the troubles</a>. Though the show focuses on a Catholic community, it defuses the “us and them” way of thinking about identity. An episode called “Across the Barricades” satirizes facile attempts to get Catholic and Protestant kids to bond; it ends when they recognize their common enemy: parents.</p>
<p>In the last episode of the first season, while the kids deal with the anxieties of a high school talent show, the tone shifts dramatically. The adults are watching a TV news report of “one of the worst atrocities of the Northern Irish conflict.” A bomb has killed 12 people and injured many more, and “anyone with medical training” is urged to “come to the scene immediately.”</p>
<p>The audience doesn’t know if the bomb was detonated by Catholic terrorists or Protestant terrorists. It doesn’t matter. The violence is like a tornado or an earthquake: a disaster suffered by all of Derry’s citizens, who pick up the pieces together.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/201548/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Joseph Patrick Kelly is affiliated with the Charleston County (SC) Democratic Party. </span></em></p>Twenty-five years after the Good Friday/Belfast Agreement, Northern Ireland is still resisting the culture of violence.Joseph Patrick Kelly, Professor of Literature and Director of Irish and Irish American Studies, College of CharlestonLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2018772023-03-16T17:42:20Z2023-03-16T17:42:20ZThe Holocaust shouldn’t be a catch-all metaphor for hate – but we can still learn from comparisons<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/515748/original/file-20230316-386-oxu7bp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=64%2C32%2C3030%2C2027&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/classic-historical-view-auschwitz-death-camp-333292880">Dmitrijs Mihejevs/Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Gary Lineker’s tweet criticising the government’s asylum policy has led many to question when – if ever – it can be helpful to compare modern events to history. The chair of the Holocaust Education Trust rushed to <a href="https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/lets-calm-down-remember-history-and-keep-nazi-comparisons-out-of-political-rhetoric-j3vck2qs8">condemn all historical comparisons</a> between the Holocaust and current events. </p>
<p>But Lineker had not mentioned the Holocaust, the systematic murder of six million European Jews between 1942 and 1945. His tweet referred to the exclusion of German Jews from German society in the 1930s, and to the role that language plays in “othering” and demonising human beings – Jews then, refugees today. But that nuance got lost in the hype.</p>
<p>What the hype does show is that the Holocaust still looms large as the embodiment of absolute evil. But if evil is absolute, can we learn anything from the Holocaust today?</p>
<p>One answer is that the Holocaust teaches us that “all hate is bad”. The universalism of this statement renders specific comparisons unnecessary, and thus avoids controversy. But like most simple answers, it creates more problems than it solves. Importantly, it risks obscuring the specificity of the hate that created the Holocaust: anti-Jewish hate.</p>
<p>The Nazi regime and its collaborators did not just target an ethnic minority. They wanted to exterminate what they perceived as an all-powerful global enemy: world Jewry. Jews, they felt, were untrustworthy and dangerous, and not just at one moment in time – they always had been. Hatred of the Jewish religion was central to this belief. <a href="https://www.yadvashem.org/yv/en/exhibitions/kristallnacht/index.asp#section-overview">Synagogues were the prime target</a> of Kristallnacht, the Nazis’ November <a href="https://encyclopedia.ushmm.org/content/en/article/pogroms">pogrom</a> of 1938. Before buildings were set on fire, Torah scrolls were removed and publicly desecrated. An SS guard at Auschwitz made himself a uniform using the scrolls. Others were used as lampshade and lining for handbags.</p>
<p>This manic obsession with performing symbolic violence against Judaism was integral to the psychology of mass murder. It was not just about hatred of different races. It was also about a desire to “cleanse” one’s own culture from its deep entanglement with the Jewish religion and a 2,000-year history of European-Jewish culture.</p>
<h2>How antisemitism endures</h2>
<p>The Holocaust may be over, but antisemitism is not. Nor did it start in 1933. When Hitler wrote <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/Mein-Kampf">Mein Kampf</a> (My Struggle), long passages <a href="https://www.historytoday.com/discussion-about-mein-kampf">quoted a “respectable” canon</a> of European culture, from ancient Roman authors via St Augustine to early modern and modern thinkers from across the political spectrum. The common denominator was their shared tendency to paint Jews as the villains of world history.</p>
<p>This tradition has not disappeared. Nor is it un-British, as can be seen in exhibitions and learning programmes at the UK’s <a href="https://www.holocaust.org.uk/">National Holocaust Centre and Museum</a>. To this day, a shrine to <a href="https://www.leidenmedievalistsblog.nl/articles/q-anon-in-the-middle-ages-the-shrine-of-little-hugh-of-lincoln">Little St Hugh</a> in Lincoln Cathedral commemorates the “blood libel” – the false claim that Jews slaughter Christian babies to use their blood for making Passover food. England was the first country in which the crown recognised such rumours as truth. </p>
<p>In the following centuries, there are antisemitic tropes in the work of <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/stage/2023/feb/21/fresh-take-on-shakespeare-explores-antisemitism-via-1930s-cable-street">Shakespeare</a>, <a href="https://www.thejc.com/life-and-culture/all/fagins-back-the-villain-charles-dickens-tried-to-cancel-3i2XSpQkqTtMjbic9HbFG0">Charles Dickens</a> and <a href="https://time.com/5937507/roald-dahl-anti-semitism/">Roald Dahl</a>.</p>
<p>Anti-Jewish hate remains a staple of British school curricula and culture. Our ongoing research suggests that <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/nov/28/britons-swallowing-conspiracy-theories-stop-rot-research-fake-news">more than 50% of Britons</a> subscribe to at least one conspiracy theory. And believing in one conspiracy theory is the best predictor for people believing in others, too.</p>
<p>So even if a conspiracy theory does not explicitly mention Jews, the common structure of conspiracy theories – that dark, invisible forces control the world – normalises the core assumption that antisemitic conspiracy theories build on. New data we will publish shortly shows that about 20% of those surveyed believe that “Jews control the media”, “Jews are materialistic and exploitative”, or “Jews disguise their true identities”.</p>
<figure class="align-left ">
<img alt="An SS uniform made out of Torah scroll, in a glass case on display at a museum." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/515722/original/file-20230316-26-vvwfn5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/515722/original/file-20230316-26-vvwfn5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=800&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/515722/original/file-20230316-26-vvwfn5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=800&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/515722/original/file-20230316-26-vvwfn5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=800&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/515722/original/file-20230316-26-vvwfn5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1005&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/515722/original/file-20230316-26-vvwfn5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1005&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/515722/original/file-20230316-26-vvwfn5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1005&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">An SS uniform from Auschwitz, tailored from an original Torah scroll, is part of the collection at Jerusalem’s Chamber of the Holocaust Museum.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Photo by Maiken Umbach</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>This is where history provides useful lessons. Factually correcting conspiracy theories is rarely effective. Exposing the historical genealogy of these ideas is. Showing how antisemitic slogans and images of the present recycle an old arsenal of anti-Jewish tropes is more likely to encourage people to question longstanding, seemingly “natural” assumptions.</p>
<p>At the National Holocaust Centre and Museum, where I work as chief academic advisor, we have worked with a group of 30 schools to transform the secondary curriculum, and alert students to the dangers of antisemitism in many different subjects. Similarly, our recently launched “Stand up to Antisemitism on campus” programme shows that exposing the historical origins of antisemitic fantasies is highly effective in transforming attitudes and behaviours.</p>
<h2>The power of image</h2>
<p>Combating antisemitism is a huge challenge, and social media has become a conveyor belt for antisemitic conspiracy theories. How we teach and commemorate the Holocaust can make a real difference.</p>
<p>Too often, the history of the Holocaust is taught through the lens of the perpetrators. Museums, films and computer games over-rely on Nazis’ photos of the Holocaust, which were designed to denigrate and dehumanise the victims. We can contextualise them differently now. But images have psychological effects that are difficult to counter with words alone.</p>
<p>Our recent exhibition <a href="https://witness.holocaust.org.uk/exhibition">The Eye as Witness: Recording the Holocaust</a> challenged this visual bias, placing <a href="https://wienerholocaustlibrary.org/event/hybrid-talk-what-is-jewish-photography/">Jewish photography</a> at the heart of the story. <a href="https://www.nottingham.ac.uk/vision/vision-through-whose-eyes">Audience reactions</a>, which we measured through interactive screen displays where people recorded their responses to images, show that engaging with these very different images brings forth a different historical imagination, which does not objectify Jews, and creates powerful emotional antidotes to antisemitic assumptions. </p>
<p>The Holocaust was made possible by a hatred of the Jewish religion and culture that is deeply embedded in our culture, and that did not end in 1945. Only if we constantly challenge antisemitism in our own heritage and identity can we truly hope to learn lessons from the Holocaust – and make meaningful comparisons with the present.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/201877/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Maiken Umbach works as chief academic advisor for the UK National Holocaust Centre and Museum, and educational charity. </span></em></p>Comparisons to history risk glossing over the specific anti-Jewish hatred of the Holocaust.Maiken Umbach, Professor of Modern History and Faculty Research Director, University of NottinghamLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1996542023-03-14T12:23:04Z2023-03-14T12:23:04ZNazi orders for Jews to wear a star were hateful, but far from unique – a historian traces the long history of antisemitic badges<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/513504/original/file-20230305-4678-9f7vc4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C1%2C1020%2C660&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">The Nazis made the yellow badge infamous around the world, but its roots are much older.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/jews-wearing-the-yellow-badge-news-photo/92425374?phrase=jewish%20badge&adppopup=true">Roger Viollet/Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Growing up in Belgium, I’d hear the story of how my grandparents married during <a href="https://www.brusselstimes.com/67366/the-year-of-silence-belgiums-darkest-moments-during-wwii">the Nazi occupation</a>. It was not a time for celebrations, particularly for Jewish families like theirs. Naively, though, they thought marriage would protect them from being separated should they be deported. So in June 1942, they went to city hall with their loved ones – “decorated,” as my grandmother would say, with yellow stars. </p>
<p>Hearing that story as a child, I imagined them in dark clothes with shiny stars, each one a human Christmas tree – a celebratory image that only existed in my brain. Her most vivid memory of that day were the looks in people’s eyes: stares of curiosity, pity and contempt. The yellow star had transformed them, in onlookers’ eyes, from joyous newlyweds into miserable Jews.</p>
<p>Decades later, I completed a Ph.D. on <a href="https://history.wustl.edu/people/flora-cassen">the history of forcing Jewish people to wear a badge</a>. My grandmother called to congratulate me – and, I soon understood, to unburden herself of a story she’d never told before. </p>
<p>When <a href="https://www.antwerpcommemorates.be/timeline">the Nazis issued the law</a> forcing Jewish Belgians to wear a yellow star in May 1942, my grandmother’s future father-in-law declared that he would not wear it. The whole family tried to persuade him otherwise, fearing the consequences. But it was in vain, and in the end, my grandmother stitched the star on his coat.</p>
<p>I could hear her voice trembling on the phone as she told me she still could not forgive herself. Their wedding two weeks later would be the last time she saw him: He died in 1945 after being released from a transit camp and a detention home for elderly Jews, spending two years in terrible conditions.</p>
<p>Although the yellow badge has come to symbolize Nazi cruelty, it was not an original idea. For many centuries, communities throughout Europe had forced Jewish residents <a href="https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/marking-the-jews-in-renaissance-italy/CE7EA6694B6917F086767A7626BE9217">to mark themselves</a>.</p>
<h2>Yellow wheels and pointed hats</h2>
<p>In lands under Muslim rule, non-Muslims had been required to wear <a href="https://encyclopedia.ushmm.org/content/en/article/jewish-badge-origins">identifying marks</a> since the <a href="https://www.bu.edu/mzank/Jerusalem/tx/pactofumar.htm#:%7E:text=THE%20Pact%20of%20Umar%20is,had%20to%20subscribe%20to%20it.">Pact of Umar</a>, a ruling attributed to a seventh-century caliph, though scholars believe it originated later. These were usually a yellow belt, <a href="https://press.princeton.edu/books/ebook/9781400844333/under-crescent-and-cross">called “zunnar</a>,” or a yellow turban.</p>
<p>In Europe, forced markings for Jews and Muslims <a href="https://history.hanover.edu/courses/excerpts/344latj.html">were introduced by Pope Innocent III</a> at the Fourth Lateran Council in 1215. The pope explained that it was a means to prevent Christians from having sex with Jews and Muslims, thereby protecting society from “such prohibited intercourse.” </p>
<p>However, the pope did not specify how Jews’ or Muslims’ dress had to be different, resulting in various distinguishing signs. <a href="https://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/articles/2317-badge">Ways to make Jews visible</a> in the cities and towns of medieval Europe abounded: from yellow wheels in France, blue stripes in Sicily, yellow pointed hats in Germany and red capes in Hungary to white badges shaped like the Ten Commandments tablets in England. Since there were no large Muslim communities in Europe at the time, except for Spain, the regulation only applied to Jews in practice.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/513489/original/file-20230305-28-wspgok.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A yellowed manuscript shows one figure with a stick threatening three others; all wear robes and head coverings." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/513489/original/file-20230305-28-wspgok.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/513489/original/file-20230305-28-wspgok.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=435&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/513489/original/file-20230305-28-wspgok.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=435&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/513489/original/file-20230305-28-wspgok.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=435&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/513489/original/file-20230305-28-wspgok.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=546&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/513489/original/file-20230305-28-wspgok.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=546&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/513489/original/file-20230305-28-wspgok.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=546&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A manuscript illustration of England’s expulsion of Jews in 1290 shows figures wearing badges shaped like the Ten Commandments tablets.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:BritLibCottonNeroDiiFol183vPersecutedJews.jpg">British Library/Wikimedia Commons</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p><a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctt6wq397.8">In northern Italy</a>, Jews had to wear a yellow, round badge in the 15th century and a yellow hat in the 16th century. The reason typically given was that they were unrecognizable from the rest of the population. For Christian authorities, unmarked Jews were like gambling, drinking and prostitution: All represented the moral failings of Renaissance society and needed to be fixed. </p>
<h2>Pretext for persecution</h2>
<p>However, as I explain in my book, Jews were often arrested for not wearing <a href="https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/abs/marking-the-jews-in-renaissance-italy/strangers-at-home/7A80F5E8C92E4EE9732A634A82B4910D">the yellow badge or hat</a>, sometimes while traveling away from home in places where no one knew them.</p>
<p>Clearly, then, Jews were recognizable from Christians in other ways. The true aim of forcing Jews to wear emblems was not merely to “identify” them, as authorities claimed, but to target them.</p>
<p>My research showed that laws imposing a badge or hat functioned as means <a href="https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/marking-the-jews-in-renaissance-italy/CE7EA6694B6917F086767A7626BE9217">to threaten and extort</a> Jewish communities. Jews were willing to pay considerable sums to retract such laws or soften their provisions. For example, Jews requested exemptions for women, children or travelers. When communal negotiations failed, wealthy individual Jews tried to negotiate for themselves and their families.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/513505/original/file-20230305-18-l4qiep.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A black and white illustration of a group of people with pointed hats receiving a document from a king on horseback." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/513505/original/file-20230305-18-l4qiep.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/513505/original/file-20230305-18-l4qiep.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=469&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/513505/original/file-20230305-18-l4qiep.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=469&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/513505/original/file-20230305-18-l4qiep.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=469&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/513505/original/file-20230305-18-l4qiep.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=589&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/513505/original/file-20230305-18-l4qiep.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=589&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/513505/original/file-20230305-18-l4qiep.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=589&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Jews in pointed hats receive confirmation of their privileges from Holy Roman Emperor Henry VII, in the Codex Trevirensis from around 1340.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/henry-vii-receives-a-deputation-of-the-jews-after-the-news-photo/1277806635?phrase=italian%20jews&adppopup=true">Bildagentur-online/Universal Images Group via Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p><a href="https://www.cuapress.org/9780813235691/marks-of-distinction/">Badge laws</a> were frequently reissued, which has led scholars to conclude that <a href="https://www.seuil.com/ouvrage/histoire-de-l-antisemitisme-leon-poliakov/9782757872086">their enforcement was inconsistent</a>; after all, a legal directive that is steadily applied does not need to be reimposed. But with the risk of arrest and extortion hanging over the heads of Jewish communities, and their willingness to pay or negotiate to avoid these consequences, badge laws had adverse effects on Jewish life even when not enforced. </p>
<p>In the Duchy of Piedmont in modern-day Italy, for example, Jewish communities <a href="https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/abs/marking-the-jews-in-renaissance-italy/from-black-to-yellow/7E4A965561FB589051284B2025A5C855">banded together</a> to pay additional taxes, sometimes several times in the same year, to receive exemptions from wearing the Jewish badge. Although the Jews’ cohesion was remarkable, it had a high cost, as these communities ended up ruined and leaving the duchy.</p>
<p>When Italian Jews asked authorities to cancel or at least amend badge laws, they were not primarily worried about being recognized as Jews. The problem was being mocked or attacked. Violence had accompanied badge laws since their inception: Just a few years later, Pope Innocent III wrote to French bishops that they needed to take every possible measure to ensure that the badge did not expose the Jews to the “<a href="https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/abs/marking-the-jews-in-renaissance-italy/origins-and-symbolic-meaning-of-the-jewish-badge/735D03C41AE842D90E5466D966D1A9D4">danger of loss of life</a>.”</p>
<p>Yet harassment continued. Sometime in the 1560s, for example, the governor of Milan received a a letter from Lazarino Pugieto and Moyses Fereves, bankers from Genoa, explaining that <a href="https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/abs/marking-the-jews-in-renaissance-italy/strangers-at-home/7A80F5E8C92E4EE9732A634A82B4910D">bandits had robbed them</a> after recognizing them as Jews. In 1572, Raffaele Carmini and Lazaro Levi, representatives of the communities of Pavia and Cremona, wrote that when Jews wore the yellow hat, <a href="https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/abs/marking-the-jews-in-renaissance-italy/from-black-to-yellow/7E4A965561FB589051284B2025A5C855">youngsters attacked and insulted them</a>. And in 1595, David Sacerdote, a successful musician from Monferrato, complained that he could not play with other musicians <a href="https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/abs/marking-the-jews-in-renaissance-italy/no-jews-in-genoa/5BDE8C0E2999D546E0C03AD890B5250D">when wearing a yellow hat</a>.</p>
<h2>‘In the past, no one noticed me’</h2>
<p>Centuries later, the yellow star had the same effect.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poets/max-jacob">Max Jacob</a>, a French-Jewish artist and poet, wrote of experiencing a vision of Christ, and he converted to Christianity in 1909. During the Nazi occupation of France, he was nonetheless classified as a Jew and forced to wear the yellow star. </p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/513506/original/file-20230305-1969-zitq6f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A black and white photograph of a bald man in a suit holding a painting." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/513506/original/file-20230305-1969-zitq6f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/513506/original/file-20230305-1969-zitq6f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=755&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/513506/original/file-20230305-1969-zitq6f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=755&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/513506/original/file-20230305-1969-zitq6f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=755&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/513506/original/file-20230305-1969-zitq6f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=949&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/513506/original/file-20230305-1969-zitq6f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=949&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/513506/original/file-20230305-1969-zitq6f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=949&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Max Jacob, French poet and painter.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/max-jacob-french-poet-and-painter-news-photo/2629376?phrase=max%20jacob&adppopup=true">Sasha/Hulton Archive/Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>In the prose poem “<a href="https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poetrymagazine/browse?contentId=25477">Love of the Neighbor</a>,” he wrote about the deep shame he experienced. </p>
<p>“Who saw the toad cross the street?” he asked. No one had noticed it, despite his clownish, grimy appearance and weak leg. “In the past, no one noticed me in the street either,” Jacob added, “but now kids mock my yellow star. Happy toad! you do not have a yellow star.” </p>
<p>The Nazi context differed significantly from Renaissance Italy’s: There were no negotiations or exceptions, not even for large payments. But the mockery by children, the loss of status, and the shame remained.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/199654/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Flora Cassen does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Badges and other wearable markings had a long history of being used to target Jewish people in Europe.Flora Cassen, Chair and Associate Professor of Jewish, Islamic, and Middle Eastern Studies, Washington University in St. LouisLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2008992023-03-01T19:06:23Z2023-03-01T19:06:23ZWe thought the first hunter-gatherers in Europe went missing during the last ice age. Now, ancient DNA analysis says otherwise<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/512788/original/file-20230301-22-56r83n.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=5%2C0%2C3964%2C2179&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Reconstruction of a hunter-gatherer associated with the Gravettian culture.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Tom Bjoerklund</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Hunter-gatherers took shelter from the ice age in Southwestern Europe, but were replaced on the Italian Peninsula according to two new studies, published in <a href="https://www.mpg.de/19941740/0223-evan-ice-age-survivors-150495-x">Nature</a> and <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41559-023-01987-0">Nature Ecology & Evolution</a> today.</p>
<p>Modern humans first began to spread across Eurasia approximately 45,000 years ago, arriving from the near east. <a href="https://doi.org/10.1093/gbe/evac045">Previous research</a> claimed these people disappeared when massive ice sheets covered much of Europe around 25,000–19,000 years ago. By comparing the DNA of various ancient humans, we show this was not the case for all hunter-gatherer groups.</p>
<p>Our new results show the hunter-gatherers of Central and Southern Europe did disappear during the last ice age. However, their cousins in what is now France and Spain survived, leaving genetic traces still visible in the DNA of Western European peoples nearly 30,000 years later.</p>
<h2>Two studies with one intertwining story</h2>
<p>In our first study in Nature, we analysed the genomes – the complete set of DNA a person carries – of 356 prehistoric hunter-gatherers. In fact, our study compared every available ancient hunter-gatherer genome.</p>
<p>In our second study in Nature Ecology & Evolution, we analysed the oldest hunter-gatherer genome recovered from the southern tip of Spain, belonging to someone who lived approximately 23,000 years ago. We also analysed three early farmers who lived roughly 6,000 years ago in southern Spain. This allowed us to fill an important sampling gap for this region.</p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/512790/original/file-20230301-23-w9p7rl.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A photo of dark bones on a sandy beach" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/512790/original/file-20230301-23-w9p7rl.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/512790/original/file-20230301-23-w9p7rl.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=795&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/512790/original/file-20230301-23-w9p7rl.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=795&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/512790/original/file-20230301-23-w9p7rl.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=795&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/512790/original/file-20230301-23-w9p7rl.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=999&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/512790/original/file-20230301-23-w9p7rl.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=999&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/512790/original/file-20230301-23-w9p7rl.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=999&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Human fossils that were genetically analysed in this study were found on the Dutch coast and dated from around 11,000 to 8,000 years ago. They originally came from Doggerland, a now submerged land under the North Sea, where European hunter-gatherers lived.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">National Museum of Antiquities (RMO), modified by Michelle O‘Reilly</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>By combining results from these two studies, we can now describe the most complete story of human history in Europe to date. This story includes migration events, human retreat from the effects of the ice age, long-lasting genetic lineages and lost populations.</p>
<h2>Post-ice-age genetic replacement</h2>
<p>Between 32,000 and 24,000 years ago, hunter-gatherer individuals (associated with what’s known as <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quaint.2014.03.025">Gravettian culture</a>) were widespread across the European continent. This critical time period ends at the Last Glacial Maximum. This was the coldest period of the last ice age in Europe, and took place 24,000 to 19,000 years ago. </p>
<p>Our data show that populations from Southwestern Europe (today’s France and Iberia), and Central and Southern Europe (today’s Italy and Czechia), were not closely genetically related. These two distinct groups were instead linked by similar weapons and art.</p>
<p>We could see that Central and Southern European Gravettian populations left no genetic signal after the Last Glacial Maximum – in other words, they simply disappeared. The individuals associated with a later culture (known as the Epigravettian) were not descendants of the Gravettian. According to one of my Nature co-authors, He Yu, they were</p>
<blockquote>
<p>genetically distinct from the area’s previous inhabitants. Presumably, these people came from the Balkans, arrived first in northern Italy around the time of the Last Glacial Maximum, and spread all the way south to Sicily.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>In Central and Southern Europe, our data indicate people associated with the Epigravettian populations of the Italian peninsula later spread across Europe. This occurred approximately 14,000 years ago, following the end of the ice age.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/512793/original/file-20230301-22-fh6yle.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Fragments of bones and a skull on a dark background" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/512793/original/file-20230301-22-fh6yle.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/512793/original/file-20230301-22-fh6yle.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=431&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/512793/original/file-20230301-22-fh6yle.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=431&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/512793/original/file-20230301-22-fh6yle.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=431&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/512793/original/file-20230301-22-fh6yle.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=542&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/512793/original/file-20230301-22-fh6yle.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=542&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/512793/original/file-20230301-22-fh6yle.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=542&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Male skull and stone tools from Groß Fredenwalde (Germany), dated to 7,000 years ago. This individual’s population lived side-by-side with the first European farmers without mixing. (Cooperation with Brandenburgisches Landesamt für Denkmalpflege)</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Volker Minkus</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Climate refuge</h2>
<p>While the Gravettian populations of Central and Southern Europe disappeared, the fate of the Southwestern populations was not the same.</p>
<p>We detected the genetic profile of Southwestern Gravettian populations again and again for the next 20,000 years in Western Europe. We saw this first in their direct descendants (known as <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/24931600">Solutrean</a> and <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quaint.2012.02.056">Magdalenian</a> cultures). These were the people who took refuge and flourished in Southwestern Europe during the ice age. Once the ice age ended, the Magdalenians spread northeastward, back into Europe.</p>
<p>Remarkably, the 23,000-year-old remains of a Solutrean individual from Cueva de Malalmuerzo in Spain allowed us to make a direct link to the first modern humans that settled Europe. We could connect them to a 35,000-year-old individual from Belgium, and then to hunter-gatherers who lived in Western Europe long after the Last Glacial Maximum.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/512813/original/file-20230301-22-xdhza.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/512813/original/file-20230301-22-xdhza.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/512813/original/file-20230301-22-xdhza.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/512813/original/file-20230301-22-xdhza.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/512813/original/file-20230301-22-xdhza.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/512813/original/file-20230301-22-xdhza.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/512813/original/file-20230301-22-xdhza.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Archaeological cave site of Cueva del Malalmuerzo from the southern tip of Spain where the 23,000 year old Solutrean individual was discovered.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Pedro Cantalejo</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Sea levels during the ice age were lower, making it only 13 kilometres from the tip of Spain to Northern Africa. However, we observed no genetic links between individuals in southern Spain and northern Morocco from 14,000 years ago. This showed that while European populations retreated south during the ice age, they surprisingly stopped before reaching Northern Africa.</p>
<p>Our results show the special role the Iberian peninsula played as a safe haven for humans during the ice age. The genetic legacy of hunter-gatherers would survive in the region after more than 30,000 years, unlike their distant relatives further east.</p>
<h2>Post ice-age interaction</h2>
<p>Some 2,000 years after the end of the ice age, there were again two genetically distinct hunter-gatherer groups. There was the “old” group in Western and Central Europe, and the “more recent” group in Eastern Europe.</p>
<p>These groups showed no evidence of genetic exchange with southwestern hunter-gatherer populations for approximately 6,000 years, until roughly 8,000 years ago.</p>
<p>At this time, agriculture and a sedentary lifestyle had begun to spread with new peoples from Anatolia into Europe, forcing hunter-gatherers to retreat to the northern fringes of Europe.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/200899/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Adam "Ben" Rohrlach was a postdoctoral researcher at the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology until January 2023, and still holds an affiliation there.</span></em></p>45,000 years ago, people first started arriving in what’s known as Europe today. We thought a worsening ice age made them disappear – but it seems some lineages survived.Adam "Ben" Rohrlach, Mathematics Lecturer and Archaeogeneticist, University of AdelaideLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1981982023-02-06T21:00:48Z2023-02-06T21:00:48ZNewport ship: after 20 years’ work, experts are ready to reassemble medieval vessel found in the mud<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/508112/original/file-20230203-16-3271x0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=13%2C13%2C4426%2C3301&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">An artistic impression of how the Newport Medieval ship may have looked . </span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">David Jordan/Newport Museums and Heritage Service</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>When construction work began on a new arts centre in Newport, south Wales, in 2002, the builders on site could scarcely have imagined what they would dig up. While excavating the foundations on the banks of the River Usk, a section of a medieval wooden ship was uncovered which had been perfectly preserved by the river’s waterlogged silt. Archaeologists were called in and it soon became clear the vessel was extraordinary. </p>
<p>This was not a coastal sailing boat that would have plied the Severn estuary up to the 19th century. Rather, it was a “great ship” by medieval standards, one that would have worked the long-distance routes of the Atlantic and Mediterranean. And yet, there it was, or at least a part of it, lying in an old slipway in what would have been a small Welsh port with a population of about 500 people during the Middle Ages.</p>
<p>The ship’s remains quickly caught the public’s imagination, with large numbers of <a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/wales/2195072.stm">local people visiting the wreck</a>. It was a reminder that while Newport is best known historically as a 19th-century iron town, the city has a long history intimately connected to the sea. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/507861/original/file-20230202-7334-wj9b1v.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A group of people wearing hard hats and high-visibility vests stand within a construction site on timber planks" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/507861/original/file-20230202-7334-wj9b1v.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/507861/original/file-20230202-7334-wj9b1v.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/507861/original/file-20230202-7334-wj9b1v.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/507861/original/file-20230202-7334-wj9b1v.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/507861/original/file-20230202-7334-wj9b1v.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/507861/original/file-20230202-7334-wj9b1v.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/507861/original/file-20230202-7334-wj9b1v.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The Newport medieval ship as it looked in September 2002, months after construction workers made the discovery.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/3f/Newport_ship.jpg">Owain</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>So it was perhaps inevitable that <a href="https://www.southwalesargus.co.uk/news/15479544.15-years-on-how-newports-medieval-ship-was-found-and-how-it-was-saved/">locals were outraged</a> when they learned “their” ship was simply going to be recorded where it sat, before being sampled and then bulldozed. The price tag just seemed too great; preserving the remains would take decades and cost millions. </p>
<p>Excavations of other ships, such as <a href="https://www.historicdockyard.co.uk/site-attractions/attractions/the-mary-rose">Henry VIII’s Mary Rose</a>, had shown how expensive it would be. But <a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/wales/2191881.stm">local passion and campaigning</a> outweighed such considerations and plans eventually changed. The ship would be saved. </p>
<p>Twenty years later and the task of excavating, preserving and recording all the timbers and artefacts is nearly complete. <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-64151535">Attention is now turning to the reconstruction of the remains</a> and consideration of how best to display the ship in the future.</p>
<p>Since its discovery, we have found out so much more about the Newport ship. It is not like the <a href="https://maryrose.org/">Mary Rose</a> or the <a href="https://www.vasamuseet.se/en">Vasa</a>, a 17th-century Swedish warship recovered in 1961. Both are complete vessels, full of artefacts. The Newport ship is the surviving part of a vessel that was wrecked while undergoing maintenance in a dry dock. </p>
<p>Most of the contents, and almost all of the upper parts of the structure, were salvaged and removed before a medieval slipway was built on top. So, only part of the hull remains intact. However, that fragment is important both because it is wonderfully preserved and because is the largest and most complete section of a 15th-century European ship discovered to date. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/507869/original/file-20230202-7395-ymlash.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Planks of wood lie in water within large but shallow yellow baths inside a big warehouse." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/507869/original/file-20230202-7395-ymlash.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/507869/original/file-20230202-7395-ymlash.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/507869/original/file-20230202-7395-ymlash.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/507869/original/file-20230202-7395-ymlash.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/507869/original/file-20230202-7395-ymlash.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/507869/original/file-20230202-7395-ymlash.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/507869/original/file-20230202-7395-ymlash.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The timbers of the Newport medieval ship undergo conservation in April 2008.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.geograph.org.uk/profile/15303">Robin Drayton/Geograph</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Also, dendrochronology (the scientific method of dating tree rings to the year they were formed), has made it possible to <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1111/1095-9270.12052">pinpoint that the ship was built in 1450 in the Basque country</a>. The same techniques, when applied to the collapsed scaffolding used to hold the ship in place, can tell us when it was wrecked to within a year (1468). This has made it possible to situate the vessel within an eventful period, at the dawn of Europe’s age of discovery and the Wars of the Roses.</p>
<p>The Newport Medieval ship represents the final flourish of a shipbuilding tradition that stretched back centuries. This involved the construction of a shell, made from overlapping planks, into which a relatively light frame was fitted to provide stability. </p>
<p>It has more in common with Viking longships than it has with the skeleton-built ships of the early modern period. But the Newport ship is far bigger than Viking vessels. In its heyday it was capable of carrying 160 tuns (about 320,000 pints) of wine in its hold, on a voyage from Bordeaux.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Very old, silver coin lodged within a piece of timber" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/508303/original/file-20230206-25-ecp2yc.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/508303/original/file-20230206-25-ecp2yc.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/508303/original/file-20230206-25-ecp2yc.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/508303/original/file-20230206-25-ecp2yc.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/508303/original/file-20230206-25-ecp2yc.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/508303/original/file-20230206-25-ecp2yc.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/508303/original/file-20230206-25-ecp2yc.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A ‘petit blanc’ small French coin was found within the keel of the Newport Ship.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Newport Museums and Heritage Service</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>One of the most positive aspects of the project has been the way archaeologists, curators, scientists and other experts have collaborated. A team of historians I gathered <a href="https://www.uwp.co.uk/book/the-world-of-the-newport-medieval-ship/">examined the context of the ship</a> to better understand the world it came from. </p>
<p>New recording techniques were pioneered too, including the <a href="https://www.worldcat.org/title/newport-medieval-ship-timber-recording-manual-digital-recording-of-ship-timbers-using-a-faroarm-3d-digitiser-faro-arm-laser-line-probe-and-rhinoceros-3d-software-with-sections-on-modelling-and-metrical-data/oclc/759825236">3D scanning of every timber</a>. This made it possible to digitally reconstruct (and even 3D print at scale) the whole vessel. In many ways, it was fitted back together long before the real timbers even touched each other. </p>
<figure>
<iframe src="https://player.vimeo.com/video/746482760" width="500" height="281" frameborder="0" webkitallowfullscreen="" mozallowfullscreen="" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">A digital reconstruction of the final journey made by the Newport Ship.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Most recently, the project curator, Toby Jones, has worked with the <a href="https://www.newportship.org">Friends of the Newport Ship</a> charity to produce complex visual reconstructions of the vessel. 3D animated films are being used to communicate the nature of the vessel to the public, as well as providing experts with fresh avenues of research to explore.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/198198/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Evan Jones received £2000 from Newport City Council / The Friends of the Newport Ship to cover part of the costs for holding a conference on 'The World of the Newport Medieval Ship' in 2014. Both bodies also made contributions (totaling £3,114) towards the publication costs of the subsequent book 'The World of the Newport Medieval Ship' (University of Wales Press, 2018). </span></em></p>The Newport medieval ship is the most complete section of a 15th-century European vessel discovered to date.Evan Jones, Associate professor, University of BristolLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1972042023-01-18T16:34:49Z2023-01-18T16:34:49ZRed Lady of Paviland: the story of a 33,000 year-old-skeleton – and the calls for it to return to Wales<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/505135/original/file-20230118-7884-mtwnjq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=123%2C8%2C1787%2C1060&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Human remains dating back more than 30,000 years were found at Paviland cave in Gower. </span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Left: Leighton Collins/Shutterstock; right: Ethan Doyle White CC BY-SA 3.0. </span></span></figcaption></figure><p>When William Buckland from the University of Oxford grabbed his trusty collecting bag and headed for the Gower peninsula in south Wales in January 1823, he ended up discovering more than he had bargained for.</p>
<p>It is 200 years to the day since the geology professor happened upon one of the oldest human burial sites in western Europe, kicking off an archaeological debate that would last for the next two centuries. The anniversary of his discovery has once again sparked a debate about whether the human remains should now be repatriated from Oxford to Wales.</p>
<p>In December 1822, Buckland had received a package containing an elephant tusk and skull (which was really a mammoth), along with a basket full of animal bones. The finds from Paviland cave had been sent by Lady Mary Cole, who lived in Penrice Castle, Gower. The package was so intriguing to Buckland he decided he needed to visit the location in person. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/504922/original/file-20230117-11-jm1g8h.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A large rocky mound with a small cave entrance." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/504922/original/file-20230117-11-jm1g8h.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/504922/original/file-20230117-11-jm1g8h.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/504922/original/file-20230117-11-jm1g8h.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/504922/original/file-20230117-11-jm1g8h.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/504922/original/file-20230117-11-jm1g8h.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/504922/original/file-20230117-11-jm1g8h.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/504922/original/file-20230117-11-jm1g8h.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Paviland cave on the Gower peninsula, where a human skeleton covered in red ochre was discovered by William Buckland in January 1823.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Ffion Reynolds</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Buckland, an Anglican priest, was operating at an important juncture in the study of human and geological time. He was about to publish his seminal work, <a href="https://wellcomecollection.org/works/k7twatkd">Reliquiae Diluvianae</a>, in which religion and science were thrust together as one.</p>
<p>At the time, our account of human history was still largely dictated by the chronology of the Bible. This meant Buckland clung to the idea of a cataclysmic biblical “deluge”. </p>
<p>He was adamant any extinct animals found during his explorations had been washed into the caves by the great flood. This idea became his biggest problem when trying to decipher the depth of time presented at Paviland. </p>
<h2>A skeleton story</h2>
<p><a href="https://heritagerecords.nationaltrust.org.uk/HBSMR/MonRecord.aspx?uid=MNA132642">Paviland, or Goat’s Hole cave</a>, is a limestone cave between Rhossili and Port Eynon on the Gower coast. Today, as at the time of Buckland, the cave is cut off by the tide for most of the year. Buckland visited during winter when tides are at their lowest, meaning he was able to enter and start his excavations immediately. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/504925/original/file-20230117-12-l20ajb.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/504925/original/file-20230117-12-l20ajb.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/504925/original/file-20230117-12-l20ajb.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/504925/original/file-20230117-12-l20ajb.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/504925/original/file-20230117-12-l20ajb.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/504925/original/file-20230117-12-l20ajb.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/504925/original/file-20230117-12-l20ajb.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/504925/original/file-20230117-12-l20ajb.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The limestone cave of Paviland, with its distinctive tear drop-shaped entrance. Ffion Reynolds.</span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>It wasn’t long before he found an undisturbed burial of human bones and objects, all stained red with ochre. The remains lacked a skull, but on excavation were found to be surrounded by ivory objects (including rods and rings), a clutch of periwinkle shells, and worked flints. Buckland took them back with him to Oxford.</p>
<p>At first he thought <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/4028256">the human bones were those of a man</a>, and joked that they belonged to a tax collector who had been murdered by smugglers, for which this coastal area was notorious. </p>
<p>Next, Buckland suggested the remains belonged to a witch, due to the presence of a “<a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/531750">blade bone of mutton</a>”. Based on his knowledge of Welsh customs, he imagined this was used as some kind of conjuring tool. </p>
<p>Finally, he argued the skeleton was that of a painted <a href="https://www.geolsoc.org.uk/Library-and-Information-Services/Collection-Highlights/Brixham-Cave-and-the-Antiquity-of-Man/William-Buckland-and-the-Red-Lady-of-Paviland">female prostitute</a>, which made the shell beads implements of gambling, while the rings were jewellery made from Roman elephant ivory. This was the story he stuck to, and the one which best fitted his biblical flood theory. </p>
<p>The real issue is that Buckland did not seem to have studied the human bones in detail. Perhaps even if he had, he wanted to suppress what he found. Had he examined the bones properly, he would have noticed the individual wasn’t female but a young male, aged 25–30, who stood about 173cm (5ft 7in) in height.</p>
<p>Buckland’s theories had buckled.</p>
<h2>Who was really buried here?</h2>
<p>In 2008, <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/18929395/">radiocarbon-dating techniques</a> conclusively showed these bones belonged to an individual buried around 33,000 years ago.</p>
<p>Paviland, at this time, would have been located at least 60 miles inland, on a cliff above a grassy plain. The landscape would have been teeming with prey such as mammoths, woolly rhinos, giant deer, bison and reindeer.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Person standing inside a cave" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/504927/original/file-20230117-12-frkc0u.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/504927/original/file-20230117-12-frkc0u.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/504927/original/file-20230117-12-frkc0u.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/504927/original/file-20230117-12-frkc0u.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/504927/original/file-20230117-12-frkc0u.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/504927/original/file-20230117-12-frkc0u.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/504927/original/file-20230117-12-frkc0u.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Ffion Reynolds at Paviland cave, taken during the low spring tides of March 2016 when the cave was accessible for a few hours.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Ffion Reynolds</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Buckland was spinning a yarn, however, and wanted to largely ignore the human burial as it did not fit his theories. As a result, Wales lost its opportunity to be at the forefront of Palaeolithic studies, which shifted instead to a European focus.</p>
<p>Between their discovery and the present day, the Paviland bones have been on a journey from tax man, witch, prostitute and Palaeolithic hunter to the more recent suggestions of shaman or spiritual figure. People now visit the cave as a form of pilgrimage. But there have also been <a href="https://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/wales-news/welsh-am-demands-return-one-6334745">calls for the skeleton to take another journey</a> – back to Wales.</p>
<h2>Repatriation</h2>
<p>Buckland did return some of his finds from Oxford to Wales. The hyena jaw bones are displayed at Swansea Museum, while an ivory staff is stored at St Fagans National Museum of History in Cardiff. </p>
<p>But the remarkable human remains are still <a href="https://oumnh.ox.ac.uk/learn-red-lady-of-paviland-0#listing_536071_0">on display at the University of Oxford’s Museum of Natural History</a>. Some have called these bones the <a href="https://twitter.com/matthewmcsmith/status/1612126154445529089?s=46&t=LJl0--vgrh7V1GIzfmYXUA">“Welsh Elgin marbles”</a>. </p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1614659433237299201"}"></div></p>
<p>With the real Elgin marbles now <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2023/01/17/arts/design/parthenon-sculptures-elgin-marbles-negotiations.html">poised to make their way back to Greece</a> from the British Museum, is it time for the human remains from Paviland to <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-64264413">come back to Wales?</a></p>
<p>Repatriation is a complex issue. From the <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-61082954">Mold Gold Cape</a> to the <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/dec/20/germany-returns-21-benin-bronzes-to-nigeria-amid-frustration-at-britain">Benin Bronzes</a>, returning materials to nations or regions attracts controversy. </p>
<p>The Paviland remains are well cared for where they are, so there’s a question as to whether they should “come home” at all. A further debate is whether they should be returned as an ancestor or an exhibit.</p>
<p>However, the importance of this individual to European and global histories means their return would certainly enhance the Welsh national collection – and shine a spotlight on the unique archaeology and caves of Wales.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/197204/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Ffion Reynolds is affiliated with Cadw, the historic environment service for the Welsh Government. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Jacqui Mulville does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>It’s been 200 years since the discovery of one of the oldest human burial sites in western Europe on the Gower peninsula in south Wales.Ffion Reynolds, Honorary Research Fellow, Cardiff UniversityJacqui Mulville, Professor in Bioarchaeology, Head of Archaeology and Conservation, Cardiff UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1941382022-12-15T13:04:21Z2022-12-15T13:04:21ZSpain’s new memory law dredges up a painful chapter of Spain’s often forgotten ties to Nazis<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/500828/original/file-20221213-22031-8iqefp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Plaques commemorating artists who were killed by the Nazis are marked with flowers in Austria in 2020. </span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://media.gettyimages.com/id/1228082555/photo/austria-germany-wwii-salzburg-festival-jews.jpg?s=612x612&w=gi&k=20&c=g-1Nlh7mzS7sqGVFsvNVnvzQneKWKGI7oQ-n6_zUHqg=">Barbara Gindl/APA/AFP via Getty Images </a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Walking down a tree-lined street in the Poble Sec neighborhood of Barcelona, one might easily miss a small bronze square set into the sidewalk. Stamped into the metal in the regional language of Catalan are the words: “Here lived Francesc Boix Campo, born 1920, exiled 1939, deported 1941, Mauthausen, liberated.” </p>
<p>Holocaust memorials like this one – which honors a Spanish Nazi concentration camp survivor – are part of a project that started in Germany but has expanded over the past few years across Europe and the United States. </p>
<p>These unassuming memorials hide a mighty purpose – making the victims of a traumatic past a visible and permanent part of the modern landscape. </p>
<p>In October 2022, Spain’s current progressive government approved a new law – called the <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/oct/05/spain-passes-law-to-bring-dignity-to-franco-era-victims">Democratic Memory Law</a> – that recognizes Spaniards who suffered and died at the hands of the Nazis. </p>
<p>Among other measures, the law will create a census and a national DNA bank to help people identify the thousands of Spaniards who were killed during World War II. </p>
<p>I am <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=5ptshgYAAAAJ&hl=en&oi=ao">a scholar</a> of Spain’s role in World War II and the Holocaust. The way the country has faced this disturbing past has evolved considerably in recent decades. Spain has publicly avoided the history of Spaniards killed in Nazi camps, who were victims of Adolf Hitler, but also of Francisco Franco, Spain’s dictator from 1939 to 1975. </p>
<p>This new law marks a shift, recognizing that the Spanish government has a role to play in reviving the memory of all of the victims of Spain’s dark years.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/500830/original/file-20221213-18915-zrnofx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Three school aged blond girls sit and stand over cobblestones on a sidewalk and appear to place flowers there." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/500830/original/file-20221213-18915-zrnofx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/500830/original/file-20221213-18915-zrnofx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/500830/original/file-20221213-18915-zrnofx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/500830/original/file-20221213-18915-zrnofx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/500830/original/file-20221213-18915-zrnofx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/500830/original/file-20221213-18915-zrnofx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/500830/original/file-20221213-18915-zrnofx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Children place flowers at a Berlin memorial commemorating a Jewish family killed in World War II.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://media.gettyimages.com/id/1324757639/photo/locals-research-and-commemorate-a-jewish-family-murdered-in-the-holocaust.jpg?s=612x612&w=gi&k=20&c=IbqLnLSWV-bwuA_yy5ZGDZk1xitY9gii1eaHo7z3kbI=">Sean Gallup/Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>From the Spanish Civil War to World War II</h2>
<p>Spain underwent a civil war from 1936 to 1939, setting the stage for World War II. A band of military leaders headed by <a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/Francisco-Franco">Gen. Franco</a> rose up against the democratically elected Spanish government in 1936. Three violent years later, these fascist-leaning insurgents had won the war, and Franco was installed as dictator. </p>
<p>Spain’s allegiance with the Nazis began with the Spanish Civil War. Hitler sent <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/Condor-Legion">Condor Legion</a> planes to bomb the northern city of Guernica – memorialized in a <a href="https://www.museoreinasofia.es/en/collection/artwork/guernica">famous painting by Pablo Picasso</a> – in 1937. Hitler also helped arm the military uprising against the democratic government throughout the civil war. Just a few years later, during World War II, Franco would return the favor by sending <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/026569149502500103">raw materials</a> used to produce weapons of war to Hitler.</p>
<p>In the spring of 1939, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/feb/09/franco-spain-refugees-haunted-by-the-past-retirada">half a million refugees</a> streamed over the border from Spain to France to escape the violence, including hundreds of thousands of veterans who had fought for Spain’s elected government in the civil war. </p>
<p>Forced into refugee camps with little access to food and clean water along the beaches in southern France, they were given a <a href="https://www.france24.com/en/20190209-france-spanish-civil-war-republican-refugees-la-retirada-80th-anniversary">choice</a>: Return to Spain, where they would be met with Franco’s violent revenge, or fight the Nazis. </p>
<p>Thousands enlisted as soldiers or manual laborers for the French army. Others joined the <a href="https://english.elpais.com/elpais/2016/10/11/inenglish/1476196791_317656.html">French Resistance</a>. </p>
<p>When France fell to the Nazis in 1940, Franco disowned the Spanish refugees he considered traitors. Germany deported 10,000 to 15,000 Spaniards to Nazi concentration camps. The Nazis killed about <a href="http://pares.mcu.es/Deportados/servlets/ServletController">60% of these Spanish refugees</a>.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/500833/original/file-20221213-25978-oz0t5e.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Three people stand near white candles on a table, in front of a banner that says 'dia de la memoria del Holocausto' behind them." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/500833/original/file-20221213-25978-oz0t5e.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/500833/original/file-20221213-25978-oz0t5e.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=414&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/500833/original/file-20221213-25978-oz0t5e.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=414&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/500833/original/file-20221213-25978-oz0t5e.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=414&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/500833/original/file-20221213-25978-oz0t5e.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=520&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/500833/original/file-20221213-25978-oz0t5e.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=520&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/500833/original/file-20221213-25978-oz0t5e.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=520&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The Israeli ambassador to Spain, Rodica Radian-Gordo, center, lights candles at a Holocaust commemoration day in January 2022 in Madrid.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://media.gettyimages.com/id/1367333987/photo/the-assembly-of-madrid-organizes-an-event-for-holocaust-remembrance-day.jpg?s=612x612&w=gi&k=20&c=-uLHW19VbXzQ6PU8qVOJBpwGXWqaJhIggm_DgfCKlkw=">Eduardo Parra/Europa Press via Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Bringing WWII victims out of the shadows</h2>
<p>As many as 15,000 Spaniards were <a href="https://encyclopedia.ushmm.org/content/en/article/spanish-civil-war">deported to Nazi concentration camps</a> during World War II. </p>
<p>But while politicians debate whether it is appropriate to remember Spain’s painful past or if the government is opening old wounds, groups of citizens have stepped in. </p>
<p>The <a href="https://www.stolpersteine.eu/en/home/">Stolpersteine Project</a>, a public art initiative started by German artist Gunter Demnig in 1992, memorializes Jews and other victims of the Nazis, like people persecuted for their political views, with a “stumbling stone” placed in the sidewalk outside the individual’s last known residence. </p>
<p>By recognizing non-Jewish political prisoners during World War II, Stolpersteine cements Spain’s partnership with the Nazis into the ground people walk on, demonstrating how a dark history can be brought into the light of day. The first memorials in Spain were placed in the small town of Navàs, about an hour north of Barcelona, in 2015. </p>
<p>The project has grown in the past seven years to commemorate more than 600 Spanish men and women in 96 cities and towns scattered across the country.</p>
<p>Sidestepping the political firestorm over Spain’s World War II history, Stolpersteine in Spain aims to bring victims out of the memory shadows. </p>
<p>The Stolpersteine project in Spain puts the names of people who suffered during each country’s violent past on public display. These plaques challenge people to consider who these victims were and what their own connection to this past might be. The Spaniards memorialized by Stolpersteine are not household names: They are men and women who fled Spain in 1939 and never returned.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/500835/original/file-20221213-23347-cximvx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A black and white photo shows two men in military clothing, with one doing a heil salute, next to a row of soldiers, some of whom hold a Nazi flag" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/500835/original/file-20221213-23347-cximvx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/500835/original/file-20221213-23347-cximvx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=803&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/500835/original/file-20221213-23347-cximvx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=803&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/500835/original/file-20221213-23347-cximvx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=803&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/500835/original/file-20221213-23347-cximvx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1009&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/500835/original/file-20221213-23347-cximvx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1009&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/500835/original/file-20221213-23347-cximvx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1009&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A meeting between Nazi leader Adolf Hitler and Spanish Gen. Francisco Franco in Basque Country, France, in 1940.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://media.gettyimages.com/id/1083751790/photo/spain.jpg?s=612x612&w=gi&k=20&c=np-CIi9o33ttHtZmIQj1WSzOkdQqIRlNI7JZsGtP3YE=">adoc-photos/Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Preserving the memory of a painful past</h2>
<p>Spain is now experiencing the rise of <a href="https://rosalux.nyc/vox-a-new-far-right-in-spain/">Vox</a>, a far-right political party. If Vox wins in the 2023 national elections, it will likely <a href="https://usercontent.one/wp/www.radicalrightanalysis.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/Xidias-2021.1-CARR-RI-Final.pdf?media=1628264068">roll back the Democratic Memory Law</a> – and the government’s initiative to reform historical education and map mass graves. </p>
<p>The Stolpersteine Project avoids the argument over who is responsible for remembering Spain’s past. Sticking to objective facts, every plaque contains the essential details of each individual political prisoner’s escape from Spain, journey through war-torn Europe and survival or death in a Nazi camp. The stone’s placement outside the prisoner’s last known home makes a connection with the street, city and region where they lived. </p>
<p>As Spaniards and tourists snap photos of the <a href="https://datos.madrid.es/portal/site/egob/menuitem.c05c1f754a33a9fbe4b2e4b284f1a5a0/?vgnextoid=d0802ea16a892710VgnVCM1000001d4a900aRCRD&vgnextchannel=374512b9ace9f310VgnVCM100000171f5a0aRCRD&vgnextfmt=default">bronze squares they encounter</a> and <a href="https://twitter.com/IStolpersteine">share them on social media</a>, they begin a conversation about who these individuals were, what motivated them to leave Spain, and how they ended up in a Nazi camp. </p>
<p>Francesc Boix, for example, one of the people recognized with a <a href="https://www.elnacional.cat/es/barcelona/francesc-boix-fotografo-mauthausen-stolpersteine-barcelona_762966_102.html">memorial stone</a>, was a a Spanish Civil War veteran and Nazi camp survivor. After fighting fascism in two wars, Boix was imprisoned in the Mauthausen concentration camp in Austria for four years. While in the camp, Boix worked as an assistant in the photography lab, where he stole negatives from the Nazis and later used them in his <a href="https://encyclopedia.ushmm.org/content/en/film/trial-testimony-against-albert-speer">testimony at the Nuremberg trials</a>. </p>
<p>Boix, who died in 1951, is one of the most <a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt6704776/">well-known</a> concentration camp survivors in Spain. His story illustrates the struggle against fascism, which he and his fellow Spanish Nazi camp prisoners fought on a daily basis.</p>
<p>Stolpersteine memorials in Spain are not only increasing the visibility of these largely unknown victims of Nazi violence. They are also connecting them to the residents and visitors who, decades later, walk along the same sidewalks.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/194138/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Sara J. Brenneis receives funding from UNH Center for the Humanities to support a public humanities study of the Stolpersteine in Spain. </span></em></p>Spain has long avoided addressing the fact that tens of thousands of Spaniards were victims of Nazis, who collaborated with Spain’s former dictator, Francisco Franco.Sara J. Brenneis, Professor of Spanish, Amherst CollegeLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1952302022-11-25T10:40:41Z2022-11-25T10:40:41ZWhy France, Germany and the UK relate to their Muslim communities so differently<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/497073/original/file-20221123-26-vbvv1.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C34%2C7747%2C5091&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">French president Emmanuel Macron greets the rector of the Grand Mosque of Paris Chems-Eddine Hafiz in October 2022. </span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Ludovic Marin/AFP</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>The way we perceive and talk about Islam varies greatly from one European country to the next. While this may be easy enough to intuit by glancing over different national headlines, I backed this up with hard data in my PhD research on <a href="https://www.theses.fr/s263315">public discourses on Islam in Germany, France and the United Kingdom</a>.</p>
<h2>The pursuit of German identity</h2>
<p>In Germany, how you approach Islam hinges onto which side of the political debate you stand. On the one hand, the majority of the political elite defends a German identity that is no longer based on traditional culture but on support toward the constitution (<em><a href="https://www.suhrkamp.de/buch/jan-werner-mueller-verfassungspatriotismus-t-9783518126127">Verfassungspatriotismus</a></em>). On the other hand, a media and political minority defends the return of a monocultural vision of German identity (<em><a href="https://www.dw.com/en/what-is-german-leitkultur/a-38684973">Leitkultur</a></em>).</p>
<p>In this narrative struggle, elites see the country’s far right, led by the AfD (<em>Alternative für Deutschland</em>) party, as <a href="https://www.faz.net/aktuell/politik">enemy number one</a>, far more than they do radical Islam. Security concerns over Muslims are therefore limited to <a href="https://www.afd.de/wp-content/uploads/sites/111/2017/07/2017-07-20_afd-btw_faltblatt_islam-nicht-zu-deutschland.pdf">the former players</a> and to a handful of figures in the media such as <a href="https://www.emma.de/artikel/islam-und-islamismus-eine-brisante-umfrage-338749">Alice Schwarzer</a> or <a href="https://www.focus.de/politik/experten/gastbeitrag-von-birgit-kelle-es-gibt-keine-islamophobie-aber-sicher-einen-terror-im-namen-des-islam_id_12601630.html">Birgit Kelle</a>.</p>
<h2>Shades of liberalism</h2>
<p>Meanwhile, in the United Kingdom it is liberalism that calls the shots, with two strands of thought. On the one hand, ideological liberalism aims to protect the British way of life in the face of terrorism and “preachers of hatred”. In 2011, then–Prime Minister David Cameron put forward his brand of <a href="https://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/ukgwa/20130102224134/http:/www.number10.gov.uk/news/pms-speech-at-munich-security-conference/">“muscular liberalism”</a> that “actively promoted… certain values… [such as] freedom of speech, freedom of worship, democracy, the rule of law, equal rights regardless of race, sex or sexuality”. But that current of thought is also claimed by hard Brexiteers such as Nigel Farage, who’s ardently opposed to what he portrays as a pro-immigration EU led by Germany.</p>
<p>Inherited from the <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/13698230.2017.1398443">British empire</a>, the other liberal current, multiculturalism, seeks to manage differences and face off both populist and nationalist threats. Advocates of “muscular liberalism” view this approach as passive and neutral, merely contenting itself with demanding citizens obey the law. Here again, champions of multicultural liberalism in Westminster and the media tend to focus their energies on the European Union – albeit this time to defend it – rather than on Islam.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Muslims pray in a mosque" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/497332/original/file-20221125-16-k2d5y3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/497332/original/file-20221125-16-k2d5y3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=406&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/497332/original/file-20221125-16-k2d5y3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=406&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/497332/original/file-20221125-16-k2d5y3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=406&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/497332/original/file-20221125-16-k2d5y3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=510&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/497332/original/file-20221125-16-k2d5y3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=510&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/497332/original/file-20221125-16-k2d5y3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=510&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Muslims pray at the central mosque in Cologne-Ehrenfeld, western Germany.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.afpforum.com/AFPForum/Search/Results.aspx?pn=1&smd=8&mui=3&q=6562230975996011826_0&fst=muslims+germany+mosque&fto=3&t=2#pn=1&smd=8&mui=3&q=6562230975996011826_0&fst=muslims+germany+mosque&fto=3&t=2">Rainer Jensen/AFP</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Islam and <em>laïcité</em></h2>
<p>In France, narratives about Islam are articulated in relation to religion, opposing two conceptions of French secularism, or <a href="https://theconversation.com/frances-la-cite-why-the-rest-of-the-world-struggles-to-understand-it-149943"><em>laïcité</em></a>: on the one hand, what other academics and I refer to as <a href="https://journals.openedition.org/rdr/435">axiological laïcité</a>, or values-based laïcité, frames secularism as a refuge against a real or perceived “Islamic threat”. <a href="https://www.conseil-constitutionnel.fr/la-constitution/comment-la-constitution-protege-t-elle-la-laicite">Constitutional secularism</a>, by contrast, aims to regulate all religions, the French Muslims of the Republic included.</p>
<p>Although it is not based on any legal text, axiological secularism has managed to become the <a href="https://theconversation.com/la-cite-lexception-nest-pas-la-ou-les-francais-la-voient-128338">dominant force</a> in French secularism since concerns over headscarves at school <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/1989/11/12/world/arab-girls-veils-at-issue-in-france.html">first erupted in 1989</a>. Paradoxically, constitutional secularism, which is based on the 1905 law on the separation of church and state and on the preamble of the 1946 constitution, is struggling to make itself heard in the public debate.</p>
<p>In sum, the way Islam is represented across Germany, the UK and France reveals a struggle between two interpretations of <a href="https://thenewpress.com/books/two-faces-of-liberalism">political liberalism</a>. The proponents of <em>Leitkultur</em>, muscular liberalism, and axiological secularism understand political liberalism as a set of “common values”, to which the newcomers have to assimilate.</p>
<p>By contrast, proponents of <em>Verfassungspatriotismus</em>, <em>multiculturalism</em> or constitutional secularism, insist on <a href="https://philpapers.org/rec/RAWPL">“common rules of the game”</a> for <em>de facto</em> multicultural societies.</p>
<p>These European narrative battlefields show what is politically acceptable or costly in the national public debate.</p>
<h2>Did you say “islamophobia”?</h2>
<p>In Germany and the United Kingdom, pointing out (Muslim) culture as a threat is more acceptable than it is in France, where political players rarely venture to explicitly target a culture. On the contrary, denouncing (Muslim) religion as a threat is more acceptable in the French context, where religion is seen as an opinion. Doing so carries a high political cost in the UK and Germany, where religion is seen as part of one’s identity.</p>
<p>For example, there is no consensus across countries on the use of the term of <em>Islamophobia</em>, which is not officially recognised in France. This is partly because Islam is not protected by the Constitution or the law as a religion. On the other, many would argue against the concept of phobia on the grounds that it is legitimate to oppose Islam amid <a href="https://www.cairn.info/revue-nouvelle-2020-1-page-9.htm">increased fundamentalism</a>.</p>
<p>In Germany, the phenomenon is well recognised, but there is an ongoing<a href="https://www.kreisgg.de/fileadmin/Buero_Landrat/Integration/Antirassismus_und_Integrationsmanagement/Fachstelle_gegen_Rassismus/Publikationen/Islamfeindlichkeit_Begriffe_.pdf">debate</a> over whether the term ought to be used in official language. Since the <a href="https://www.deutsche-islam-konferenz.de/DE/Startseite/startseite_node.html">German Islam Conference</a> in 2011-2012, the state has favoured the word <a href="https://cik.leeds.ac.uk/wp-content/uploads/sites/36/2017/07/2017.07.26-WS1-Germany-Final.pdf"><em>Muslimfeindligkeit</em></a> (hostility toward Muslims), while academics and journalists refer to Islamophobia and its Germanic version, <em>Islamfeindligkeit</em>.</p>
<p>However, UK residents have extensively referred to the concept ever since the <a href="https://assets.website-files.com/61488f992b58e687f1108c7c/617bfd6cf1456219c2c4bc5c_islamophobia.pdf">“Report on Islamophobia”</a> by Runnymede Trust was published in 1997. And, since 2017, an <a href="https://appgbritishmuslims.org/">All Party Parliamentary Group</a> has been working toward the adoption of a <a href="https://www.research.manchester.ac.uk/portal/en/impact/all-party-parliamentary-group-on-british-muslims(e8c74de4-dec2-4ef7-b5b6-bcae59ccacbf).html">legal definition of Islamophobia</a>.</p>
<p>These narrative and conceptual variations from one European context to another reveal country-specific historical traumas.</p>
<h2>The weight of national history in contemporary discourses</h2>
<p>In the United Kingdom, continental Europe is more polarising than Islam for two historical reasons. On the one hand, continental Europe, sometimes <a href="https://warwick.ac.uk/fac/cross_fac/iatl/reinvention/archive/volume5issue2/mayblinsmith/">Catholic, sometimes absolutist, sometimes imperialist</a>, has always been perceived as the main threat to the country’s elites. On the other hand, Islam has been part of UK history since the colonisation of India through its trading posts in 1600, and all Muslim subjects of the Empire became full citizens through the <a href="https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/Geo6/11-12/56/introduction/enacted">Nationality Act 1948</a>. Designating Islam as a threat is therefore of little value, at least from an electoral point of view, even on the far right of the political spectrum. This is evidenced by the defeat of the UKIP party in the 2019 European parliamentary elections after Eurosceptic Nigel Farage was replaced by the aggressively Islamophobic Gerard Batten as party leader in 2018, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2019/jan/07/ukip-to-hold-leadership-election-later-this-year-gerard-batten">triggering the departure of some of its founding members</a>.</p>
<p>The ambivalence of German public discourse toward Islam is linked to the traumatic legacy of Nazism and Germany’s division during the Cold War. This dual legacy shaped the emergence of a unified, democratic and liberal state around <a href="https://academic.oup.com/icon/article/6/1/67/669061">constitutional patriotism</a>. The former Chancellor Angela Merkel’s decision to welcome more than one million refugees (<a href="https://www.bundesregierung.de/breg-de/aktuelles/pressekonferenzen/sommerpressekonferenz-von-bundeskanzlerin-merkel-848300">“Wir Schaffen Das”</a>) in 2015, however, has precipitated the return of an authoritarian and nationalist movement German <a href="https://www.zvab.com/9783442755929/Europa-Identit%8At-Krise-multikulturellen-Gesellschaft-3442755921/plp"><em>Leitkultur</em></a>, with cracks increasingly appearing within the consensus.</p>
<p>In France, the narrative victory of <a href="https://www.cairn.info/revue-humanisme-2017-1-page-17.htm">axiological secularism</a> over constitutional secularism also expresses a double legacy. On the one hand, the <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/08898480.2018.1553410">secular tradition</a>, either through anticlericalism or attachment to a Catholic secular tradition, expresses a reluctance to the visibility of Islam in the public space. On the other hand, the colonisation of North Africa, and with it the trauma of the decolonisation of Algeria, made <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/45110512_L%27islam_comme_contre-identification_francaise_Trois_moments">the Muslim Other</a> the figure that still structures French identity to a large extent today.</p>
<p>French identity thus continues to be constructed in opposition to Islam, while British identity hangs in opposition to continental Europe, and German identity, against Nazi Germany. If the future of the European Union rests, in part, on a greater convergence of interest and vision, acknowledging the weight of national histories in contemporary discourses is a necessary precondition for the construction of a European <a href="https://livre.fnac.com/a2572516/Benedict-Anderson-Imagined-communities">imagined community</a>.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/195230/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Jeanne Prades works as Senior Consultant at Technopolis Group where she evaluates public policies. </span></em></p>Liberal schools of thought largely inform how Muslims are viewed across Europe, research finds.Jeanne Prades, Docteure en Science politique - Chercheure associée au Laboratoire interdisciplinaire de Polytechnique (LinX), École polytechniqueLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1943262022-11-15T13:21:01Z2022-11-15T13:21:01ZNorth Africans’ experiences of World War II often go unheard<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/495150/original/file-20221114-21-pmhw1p.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=1%2C3%2C1020%2C726&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">German troops marching through Tunis in 1943.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/tunisia-german-troop-marching-through-tunis-in-north-africa-news-photo/107427560?phrase=tunisia%20german&adppopup=true">Keystone-France/Gamma-Keystone via Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>In November 1942, the Nazis occupied Tunisia. For the next six months, Tunisian Jews and Muslims were subjected to <a href="https://www.sup.org/books/title/?id=29530">the Third Reich’s reign of terror</a>, as well as its antisemitic and racist legislation. Residents lived in fear – “under the Nazi boot,” as Tunisian Jewish lawyer Paul Ghez wrote in his diary during the occupation.</p>
<p>One of us is <a href="https://sarahastein.com/">a historian</a>; one of us is <a href="https://anthro.ucla.edu/person/aomar-boum/">an anthropologist</a>. Together, we have spent a decade <a href="https://www.sup.org/books/title/?id=32119">gathering the voices</a> of the diverse peoples who endured World War II in North Africa, <a href="https://www.worldreligionnews.com/issues/the-triangular-affair-between-muslims-france-and-jews-interview-with-ethan-b-katz/">across lines of</a> race, class, language and region. Their letters, diaries, memoirs, poetry and oral histories are both defiant and broken. They express both faith and despair. All in all, they understood themselves to be trapped in a monstrous machine of fascism, occupation, violence and racism. </p>
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<p>When most Americans think of the nightmares of the war or the Holocaust, they think strictly of Europe. Hate has a shifting color wheel, however – and we learn something new when we watch its spin in wartime North Africa.</p>
<h2>Crossing the sea</h2>
<p>The history of Jews settling in North Africa begins as early as the sixth century B.C., after the First Temple in Jerusalem was destroyed. Another significant wave of immigrants followed the Spanish Inquisition. At the start of World War II, <a href="https://encyclopedia.ushmm.org/content/en/article/jews-of-the-maghreb-on-the-eve-of-world-war-ii">a diverse North African Jewish population</a> of roughly 500,000 coexisted with Muslim neighbors.</p>
<p>North Africa’s Jews spoke many languages, reflecting their many different cultures and ethnicities: Arabic, French, Tamazight – a Berber language – and Haketia, a form of Judeo-Spanish spoken in northern Morocco. While a large number of North African Jews, particularly in Algeria, enjoyed the privileges of French and other Western citizenship, the majority remained subjects of local leaders. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="An old, black and white postcard shows a group of girls standing outside a doorway in skirts and kerchiefs." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/495144/original/file-20221114-20-wgqeeo.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/495144/original/file-20221114-20-wgqeeo.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=377&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/495144/original/file-20221114-20-wgqeeo.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=377&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/495144/original/file-20221114-20-wgqeeo.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=377&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/495144/original/file-20221114-20-wgqeeo.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=474&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/495144/original/file-20221114-20-wgqeeo.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=474&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/495144/original/file-20221114-20-wgqeeo.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=474&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A group of Jewish girls in Debdou, Morocco, around 1915.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Debdou_Fillettes_Juvies.jpg">D Millet E/Wikimedia Commons</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>During the Second World War, however, those who held French citizenship had it stripped away. Three European powers ruled North Africa during the war, all brutally.</p>
<p>Morocco, Algeria and Tunisia were, for most of the conflict, in the hands <a href="https://encyclopedia.ushmm.org/content/en/article/france">of Vichy France</a>. This authoritarian government, which collaborated with Nazi Germany, was formed in July 1940 by armistice, after Germany’s successful invasion of France. It was ruled by Marshal Henri Philippe Pétain, a French hero of the First World War, out of the southern city of Vichy.</p>
<p>All <a href="https://encyclopedia.ushmm.org/content/en/article/anti-jewish-legislation-in-north-africa?parent=en%2F54497">antisemitic and racist laws and policies</a> the Vichy regime imposed upon continental France were extended to its colonies in North and West Africa, pushing Jews out of professional sectors, stripping them of citizenship – if they had it to begin with – and seizing Jewish property, businesses and assets. </p>
<figure class="align-left ">
<img alt="A black and white photo shows a man and woman standing while another woman sits between them. They all wear long robes or skirts and have their heads covered." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/494965/original/file-20221113-16-dnvkcu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/494965/original/file-20221113-16-dnvkcu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=690&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/494965/original/file-20221113-16-dnvkcu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=690&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/494965/original/file-20221113-16-dnvkcu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=690&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/494965/original/file-20221113-16-dnvkcu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=868&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/494965/original/file-20221113-16-dnvkcu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=868&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/494965/original/file-20221113-16-dnvkcu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=868&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A Jewish family in Tangier, Morocco, in 1885.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/jewish-family-tangier-by-1885-news-photo/55757507?phrase=jewish%20morocco&adppopup=true">LL/Roger Viollet via Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The Vichy regime also continued racist policies begun by France’s Third Republic, which pushed young Black men from the empire into forced military service – and the most dangerous wartime posts. These forced recruits included soldiers <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-time-has-come-for-france-to-own-up-to-the-massacre-of-its-own-troops-in-senegal-35131">from Senegal</a>, French Guinea, Ivory Coast, Niger and Mauritania; French territories in present-day Benin, Gambia and Burkina Faso; and Muslim men from Morocco and Algeria.</p>
<p>In these ways, the French carried on a wartime campaign of anti-Blackness and Islamophobia, pairing these forms of racialized hatred from the colonial era with antisemitism. Antisemitism had deep roots in French and colonial history, but it <a href="https://www.haaretz.com/opinion/2022-06-27/ty-article-opinion/.highlight/how-north-african-jews-have-been-erased-from-holocaust-history/00000181-a4fe-dcbe-a19b-a5ff8fc40000">found new force</a> in the era of fascism.</p>
<p>Antisemitic and anti-Black policy was also a bedrock of Benito Mussolini’s fascist Italian government, which ruled over Libya during the war. Italy first tested its <a href="https://blogs.lse.ac.uk/lseih/2020/08/25/in-plain-sight-black-lives-matter-and-italys-colonial-past/">racist policies</a> in its colony of Italian East Africa, segregating local Black populations from Italian settlers. Mussolini’s regime then reshaped these policies of racialized hatred for Libya, where it pushed Jews out of the professions and the economy, seized property from thousands and <a href="https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/2021-10-31/ty-article/.highlight/a-childhood-in-benghazi-a-bar-mitzvah-in-bergen-belsen/0000017f-f0ea-df98-a5ff-f3ef381e0000">deported them to labor and internment camps</a>. Jewish children, women and men died from starvation, disease, <a href="https://lareviewofbooks.org/short-takes/famine-wartime-north-africa-ukraine/">hunger</a> and forced labor. </p>
<h2>Camps on African soil</h2>
<p>Nazi Germany occupied Tunisia from November 1942 to May 1943. <a href="https://www.sup.org/books/title/?id=32119">During this period</a>, the SS – the elite guard of the Nazi regime – imprisoned some 5,000 Jewish men in roughly 40 forced labor and detention camps on the front lines and in cities like Tunis. German troops also terrorized Muslim and Jewish girls and women who remained behind.</p>
<p>The Third Reich did not set out to deport Jews from North Africa to its death camps in Eastern Europe, but hundreds of Jews of North African heritage and some Muslims who were living in France <a href="https://www.haaretz.com/opinion/2022-06-27/ty-article-opinion/.highlight/how-north-african-jews-have-been-erased-from-holocaust-history/00000181-a4fe-dcbe-a19b-a5ff8fc40000">did meet this fate</a>. They were deported first to the <a href="https://www.yadvashem.org/holocaust/this-month/december/1942.html">internment camp of Drancy</a>, on the outskirts of Paris, and sent from there to concentration and death camps. Many died in Auschwitz.</p>
<p>There were <a href="https://encyclopedia.ushmm.org/content/en/article/labor-and-internment-camps-in-north-africa">camps in North Africa and West Africa, too</a>. In addition to those the Italian fascists built in Libya, Vichy France and Nazi Germany ran penal camps, detention camps and labor camps. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A black and white photo shows a shirtless man in shorts pushing a heavy metal cart over a track." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/494777/original/file-20221110-26-gnvub5.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=1%2C3%2C1020%2C695&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/494777/original/file-20221110-26-gnvub5.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=411&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/494777/original/file-20221110-26-gnvub5.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=411&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/494777/original/file-20221110-26-gnvub5.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=411&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/494777/original/file-20221110-26-gnvub5.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=516&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/494777/original/file-20221110-26-gnvub5.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=516&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/494777/original/file-20221110-26-gnvub5.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=516&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">Rosenthal, a German Jewish prisoner, pushes a cart in the stone quarry of the Im Fout labor camp in Morocco.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://collections.ushmm.org/search/catalog/pa1172894">United States Holocaust Memorial Museum</a></span>
</figcaption>
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<p>The Vichy regime alone built nearly 70 such camps in the Sahara, <a href="https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1941/03/30/85472142.html?pageNumber=107">breathing new life</a> into a colonial ambition of building a trans-Saharan railway to connect the Atlantic and Mediterranean coasts. The Vichy regime saw it as a conduit for supplying the front lines with forcibly recruited, Black Senegalese soldiers.</p>
<p>In these camps, as in the Nazi camps of Eastern Europe, the complex racist logic of Nazism and fascism took vivid form. Muslims arrested for anti-colonial activities were pressed into back-breaking labor alongside Jews and Christians who had fled war-torn Europe, only to find themselves arrested in North Africa.</p>
<p>These men broke bread with other forced workers from around the world, including <a href="https://spanishcivilwarmuseum.com/the-virtual-spanish-civil-war-museum/an-international-war/international-brigades/">fighters who had volunteered for Spain’s Republican Army</a> during its civil war. These Ukrainians, Americans, Germans, Russian Jews and others had been arrested, deported and imprisoned by the Vichy regime after fleeing Franco’s Spain. There were political enemies of the Vichy and Nazi regimes, too, including socialists, communists, union members and North African nationalists. Children and women were imprisoned as well. </p>
<p>Among this hodgepodge of prisoners, <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0SvM32zM7-g">many were refugees who fled Europe</a>, whether because of their Jewishness or because they were political enemies of the Third Reich. Inmates were overseen by French Vichy soldiers as well as <a href="https://www.rfi.fr/en/africa/20200707-french-mayors-urged-to-acknowledge-outstanding-contribution-of-african-soldiers-during-wwii">forcibly recruited indigenous Moroccan and Black Senegalese men</a>, who were often <a href="https://www.cheminsdememoire.gouv.fr/en/colonised-soldiers-french-empire">little more than prisoners</a> themselves. Sometimes the camp prisoners interacted with local populations: Saharan Muslims and Jews who provided them medical care, burial grounds, and food and sex for money. </p>
<p>Nazism in Europe was underlaid by an intricate matrix of racist, eugenicist and nationalist ideas. But the war – and the Holocaust – appears even more complex if historians take into account the racist and violent color wheel that spun in North Africa.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/194326/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>People across much of North Africa were subject to racist laws and suffering at the hands of European powers during the Second World War.Sarah Abrevaya Stein, Professor of History, University of California, Los AngelesAomar Boum, Professor of Anthropology, University of California, Los AngelesLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1922382022-10-24T12:26:23Z2022-10-24T12:26:23ZWhat’s a cold war? A historian explains how rivals US and Soviet Union competed off the battlefield<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/489828/original/file-20221014-17-3yoysu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=106%2C91%2C4985%2C3389&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Soviet leader Nikita Krushchev, left, met with U.S. President John F. Kennedy in Vienna in 1961.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/the-vienna-summit-was-a-summit-meeting-held-on-june-4-in-news-photo/590673745">Universal History Archive/Universal Images Group via Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><figure class="align-left ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/281719/original/file-20190628-76743-26slbc.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/281719/original/file-20190628-76743-26slbc.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=293&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/281719/original/file-20190628-76743-26slbc.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=293&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/281719/original/file-20190628-76743-26slbc.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=293&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/281719/original/file-20190628-76743-26slbc.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=368&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/281719/original/file-20190628-76743-26slbc.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=368&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/281719/original/file-20190628-76743-26slbc.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=368&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<p><em><a href="https://theconversation.com/us/topics/curious-kids-us-74795">Curious Kids</a> is a series for children of all ages. If you have a question you’d like an expert to answer, send it to <a href="mailto:curiouskidsus@theconversation.com">curiouskidsus@theconversation.com</a>.</em></p>
<hr>
<blockquote>
<p><strong>In the Cold War, was there any actual war going on? Like, with armies? Or was it mostly about space? – Leia K., age 10, Redmond, Washington</strong></p>
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<hr>
<p>“I am getting confused about all these wars we are studying,” one of my college students confessed to me years ago. After we discussed the various nations who fought in World Wars I and II, she asked: “Now, who fought in the Cold War?”</p>
<p>I told her the Cold War was not an actual war. Unlike the two world wars, there were no physical battles between the major adversaries. It was, instead, an extended competition between the United States and the Soviet Union, along with their respective allies. In 1991, the <a href="https://www.history.com/topics/cold-war/fall-of-soviet-union">Soviet Union split up into 15 countries</a>, the largest of which is Russia.</p>
<p>But back then, both of these two so-called superpowers wanted to be the most powerful nation in the world, building themselves up while simultaneously trying to reduce the power and influence of the other. Washington and Moscow <a href="https://www.nationalww2museum.org/war/articles/cold-conflict">competed in numerous ways</a>: over money and natural resources like oil, over allies, over weapons technology, over influence and prestige, over <a href="https://coldwar.unc.edu/theme/the-space-race/">space exploration</a>, over ideas.</p>
<p>The Cold War relationship between the two rival nations was often tense. Once, it led to the threat of nuclear war breaking out because Russia wanted to place nuclear missiles in Cuba, <a href="https://kids.britannica.com/kids/article/Cuban-missile-crisis/628151">very close to the U.S.</a> That brought the world to the brink of what would have been a catastrophic conflict. </p>
<p>But through skill, prudence or luck – or all three – American and Soviet leaders managed to avoid direct combat with each other from 1945 to 1989, the basic period of the Cold War.</p>
<h2>A war without fighting?</h2>
<p>My student could be forgiven for her confusion. The very term “Cold War” is contradictory and confusing. It was first used in 1947. By using the word “war,” it captured the seemingly life-or-death struggle between the United States and the Soviet Union and between capitalism and communism. But by describing this war as “cold,” it indicates the struggle did not involve weapons and did not result in rival armies seeking to destroy each other.</p>
<p>How could a war be cold? Essentially, by being fought not in the traditional manner of clashing armies, but by all other means short of actual combat.</p>
<p>The Cold War stayed cold for a variety of reasons. Most importantly, the advent of nuclear weapons meant that any conflict between the superpowers risked a nuclear exchange that could have claimed tens of millions of lives and left a swath of destruction in both the Soviet and American homelands.</p>
<p>To avoid such a cataclysmic outcome, policymakers in Moscow and Washington were highly sensitive to the risks of any conflict. They worked hard to find peaceful resolutions to the <a href="https://www.nationalgeographic.com/culture/article/cold-war">multiple confrontations and crises</a> they faced between the end of World War II in 1945 and the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989.</p>
<p>Each superpower also believed that it was engaged in a long-term struggle. Each was convinced that the superiority of its social, political and economic systems would ultimately bring victory in the competition, through peaceful means. </p>
<p>Think about it: Why resort to war, with all the death, devastation and uncertainty it would bring, if you sincerely believe that time – and history – is on your side?</p>
<h2>Not a time of peace</h2>
<p>Yet the Cold War era was hardly peaceful. </p>
<p>U.S. and Soviet troops never fought each other directly during those years. But numerous Cold War-related conflicts raged across the globe from the 1940s to the 1980s. </p>
<p>The vast bulk of those conflicts occurred in the developing countries of Asia, Africa and the Middle East – the so-called Third World or Global South. In fact, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1093/actrade/9780198859543.001.0001">as many as 20 million people died</a> in wars fought between 1945 and 1989. <a href="https://doi.org/10.1093/actrade/9780198859543.001.0001">Only 1% of those</a> lost their lives in Europe, the original area of Cold War confrontation. The other 99% died on battlefields of developing nations.</p>
<p>Those conflicts took many forms, including rebellions against colonial powers, civil wars, invasions and revolutions. They also had many different causes. Yet nearly all were affected by the wider Soviet-American struggle for power and influence. And nearly all were intensified and made bloodier and more costly by it.</p>
<p>The era’s most deadly conflicts were the <a href="https://kids.britannica.com/kids/article/Korean-War/353347">Korean War, from 1950 to 1953</a>, and the <a href="https://historyforkids.org/vietnam-war/">Vietnam War, from 1961 to 1975</a>, each of which claimed millions of lives. The United States deployed troops to both of those conflicts, largely because it was determined to contain the expansion of communism. </p>
<p>For its part, the Soviet Union did not participate directly in either war. But it provided aid and support to its communist allies in North Korea and North Vietnam. The Soviet Union’s major ally during the first half of the Cold War, the communist-led People’s Republic of China, contributed massive numbers of troops to the conflict in Korea and provided hundreds of thousands of support troops to the conflict in Vietnam.</p>
<p>In sum, “Cold War” remains a somewhat contradictory term for, and description of, the period from 1945 to 1989. It correctly reflects the crucial fact that the struggle for global supremacy between the United States and the Soviet Union never involved direct combat between the two nation’s military forces. But it minimizes the extensive and bloody litany of conflicts that raged throughout those years, nearly all of which were caused by or affected by their rivalry.</p>
<hr>
<p><em>Hello, curious kids! Do you have a question you’d like an expert to answer? Ask an adult to send your question to <a href="mailto:curiouskidsus@theconversation.com">CuriousKidsUS@theconversation.com</a>. Please tell us your name, age and the city where you live.</em></p>
<p><em>And since curiosity has no age limit – adults, let us know what you’re wondering, too. We won’t be able to answer every question, but we will do our best.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/192238/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Robert J. McMahon does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>The US and the Soviet Union never engaged in direct combat, but their influences were felt worldwide, including in armed conflicts involving other nations.Robert J. McMahon, Professor of History, The Ohio State UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1917322022-10-19T12:38:52Z2022-10-19T12:38:52ZHBO’s ‘House of the Dragon’ was inspired by a real medieval dynastic struggle over a female ruler<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/490432/original/file-20221018-14-vr83j4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=379%2C8%2C1537%2C1069&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">In Westeros, Rhaenyra finds herself in a power struggle akin to that of the real-life Empress Matilda, who lived from 1102 to 1167.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/bpYWArbor7k9UvsAzeUn2P.jpg">HBO</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>In three decades of teaching medieval European history, I’ve noticed my students are especially curious about the intersection of the stories told in class and the depictions of the Middle Ages they see in movies and television. </p>
<p>Judged by their historical accuracy, <a href="https://www.routledge.com/A-Knight-at-the-Movies-Medieval-History-on-Film/Aberth/p/book/9780415938860">cinematic portrayals are a mixed bag</a>. </p>
<p>However, popular fantasy, unencumbered by the competing priority of “getting it right,” can, in broad strokes, reflect the values of the medieval society that inspires it. </p>
<p>“<a href="https://www.hbo.com/house-of-the-dragon">House of the Dragon</a>” is one of those TV shows. A king, lacking a male heir to his throne, elevates his teenage daughter to be his named successor, and a complex dynastic drama ensues.</p>
<p>This storyline reflects the real obstacles facing women who aspired to exercise royal authority in medieval society.</p>
<h2>The queen as a conduit to power</h2>
<p><a href="https://georgerrmartin.com/">George R. R. Martin</a>, whose novels were the foundation for the HBO series “<a href="https://www.hbo.com/game-of-thrones">Game of Thrones</a>,” has made <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/history/2022/09/04/house-dragon-anarchy-england/">no secret of his inspiration</a> for “House of the Dragon”: <a href="https://global.oup.com/academic/product/the-anarchy-of-king-stephens-reign-9780198203643?cc=us&lang=en&">the Anarchy</a>, a two-decade period, from 1135 to 1154, when a man and a woman vied with each other for the English throne.</p>
<p>The story went like this: <a href="https://www.cambridge.org/us/academic/subjects/history/british-history-1066-1450/henry-i-king-england-and-duke-normandy?format=HB&isbn=9780521591317">Henry I</a> sired two dozen or more children out of wedlock. But with his queen, <a href="https://boydellandbrewer.com/9780851159942/matilda-of-scotland/">Matilda</a>, he had only a daughter, the future <a href="https://yalebooks.yale.edu/book/9780300251470/matilda/">“Empress” Matilda</a>, and a son, <a href="https://yalebooks.yale.edu/book/9780300228700/tales-from-the-long-twelfth-century/">William</a>. With William’s birth, the foremost responsibility of <a href="https://archive.org/details/medievalqueenshi0000unse/page/n3/mode/2up">medieval queenship</a> was fulfilled: There would be a male heir.</p>
<p>Then tragedy struck. In 1120, a drunken 17-year-old William attempted a nighttime channel crossing. <a href="https://www.harpercollins.com/products/the-white-ship-conquest-anarchy-and-the-wrecking-of-henry-is-dream-charles-spencer?variant=39721558081570">When his also-inebriated helmsmen hit a rock, the prince drowned</a>. </p>
<p>The queen had died two years earlier, so Henry I remarried – <a href="https://www.oxforddnb.com/view/10.1093/ref:odnb/9780198614128.001.0001/odnb-9780198614128-e-165;jsessionid=62DD366D3E1A9D1D00CEEF5CF6C918F3">Adeliza of Louvain</a> – but they had no children together. The cradle sat empty and the sands in Henry I’s hourglass ran low, so he resolved that his lone legitimate child, Matilda, would have the throne as a ruling queen.</p>
<figure class="align-right ">
<img alt="Old painting of woman holding cross." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/490431/original/file-20221018-6087-wjugig.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/490431/original/file-20221018-6087-wjugig.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=953&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/490431/original/file-20221018-6087-wjugig.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=953&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/490431/original/file-20221018-6087-wjugig.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=953&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/490431/original/file-20221018-6087-wjugig.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1198&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/490431/original/file-20221018-6087-wjugig.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1198&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/490431/original/file-20221018-6087-wjugig.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1198&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">The Empress Matilda.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b4/Empress_Matilda.png">Wikimedia Commons</a></span>
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<p>The move was unprecedented in medieval England. A queen could exert influence in her husband’s physical absence or when, after a king’s death, their son was a minor. <a href="https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/530179/queens-of-the-conquest-by-alison-weir/">Her role, moreover, as an intimate confidant and counselor could be consequential.</a></p>
<p>But a queen was not expected to swing a sword or lead troops into battle and forge the personal loyalties on which kingship rested, to say nothing of <a href="https://www.weidenfeldandnicolson.co.uk/titles/henrietta-leyser/medieval-women/9781780226538/">the misogyny inherent to medieval English society</a>. The queen was the conduit through which power was transferred by marriage and childbirth, not its exclusive wielder.</p>
<h2>Viserys and Henry I share the same plight</h2>
<p>A similar scenario drives the plot of “House of the Dragon.” The absolute preference in the fictional kingdom Westeros for a male ruler is expressed in the series’ opening scene.</p>
<p>The <a href="https://www.hbo.com/house-of-the-dragon/character-guide#jaehaerys-i-targaryen">old king</a>, having outlived his sons, empowers a council of nobles to choose his successor between two of his grandchildren, the cousins <a href="https://www.hbo.com/house-of-the-dragon/character-guide#rhaenys-targaryen">Rhaenys</a> and <a href="https://www.hbo.com/house-of-the-dragon/character-guide#viserys-i-targaryen">Viserys</a>. Rhaenys, a female, is the older of the two. </p>
<p>Yet the male Viserys becomes king and Rhaenys, “the queen who never was,” later ruefully concedes that this represented “the order of things.”</p>
<p>Once installed, however, Westeros’ new king would have understood the plight of England’s Henry I. </p>
<p><a href="https://www.hbo.com/house-of-the-dragon/character-guide#aemma-arryn">Aemma</a>, Viserys’ queen, suffers stillbirths and miscarriages and produces only a daughter, <a href="https://www.hbo.com/house-of-the-dragon/character-guide#jaehaerys-i-targaryen">Rhaenyra</a>. A fading hope for a son is dashed when a breached birth and a brutal Caesarian section, intended to save the child, ends up killing Aemma. The boy – the desperately desired heir – doesn’t live out the day.</p>
<p>Sonless, Visery’s named heir is his younger brother, the debauched, sinister <a href="https://www.hbo.com/house-of-the-dragon/character-guide#daemon-targaryen">Daemon</a>. When Daemon’s conduct becomes intolerable, Viserys disinherits and banishes him. Left with his young daughter Rhaenyra, he decides to make her a ruling queen, a role the girl relishes as she seeks to change “the order of things.”</p>
<h2>Building support for a ruling queen</h2>
<p>The challenge for a medieval king, whether Henry I or the fictional Viserys, was to persuade the nobles to overcome their prejudices and not just accept but actively support a woman’s ascension to power. </p>
<p>Henry I pursued measures to make his daughter palatable to them. Matilda, who had married the Holy Roman Emperor Henry V in 1114, returned to England a widow in 1125. Henry I, determined to forge a sacramental bond between his daughter and England’s magnates, <a href="https://www.cambridge.org/us/academic/subjects/history/british-history-1066-1450/aristocracy-norman-england?format=PB&isbn=9780521524650">compelled his barons</a> in 1127 to swear their support for her as his successor. Henry I then turned to arranging a marriage for Matilda so she could give birth to a grandson and buttress her position. </p>
<p>After Matilda’s nuptials with <a href="https://boydellandbrewer.com/9780851152653/the-ideals-and-practice-of-medieval-knighthood-volume-iii/">Geoffrey, count of Anjou</a>, the barons were summoned to renew their oath to her in 1131. A son, Henry, was born two years later, and a third pledge followed. Henry I died two years later of food poisoning <a href="https://assets.cambridge.org/97805215/91317/excerpt/9780521591317_excerpt.pdf">after eating eels</a>, a favorite dish of his.</p>
<p>The durability of his arrangements for Matilda’s rise to authority was immediately tested.</p>
<p>Viserys in “House of the Dragon” works from a similar playbook. The worthies of Westeros vow their loyalty to Rhaenyra as royal successor. Once Rhaenyra becomes marriageable, Viserys fields a plethora of suitors for her hand. A reluctant bride, Rhaenyra finally accedes to a union in which she would “dutifully” produce a male heir but then let her heart have what it wanted. </p>
<p>The unfortunate result is her inability to conceive with her husband while having three sons by a lover. Her situation is further complicated by Viserys’ remarriage to the lady <a href="https://www.hbo.com/house-of-the-dragon/character-guide#alicent-hightower">Alicent</a>, who gives him sons. Dangers stalk Rhaenyra’s path to power. In Westeros, as in England, a princess is expected to guard her chastity closely until marriage and, once wed, to be monogamous and not to “sully” herself in order to ensure the legitimacy of her children – a blatant double standard when noblemen frequently had children out of wedlock.</p>
<p>Yet even rumors of female infidelity could threaten succession. Lineage matters. Blood binds, as evident in the streams of it running from family crest to family crest in the series’ opening credits.</p>
<h2>War ensues</h2>
<p>Did these strategies work? </p>
<p>Not for Matilda. <a href="https://yalebooks.yale.edu/book/9780300181951/king-stephen/">Stephen of Blois</a>, a son from the marriage of Henry I’s sister Adela to a French count, aggressively registered a claim to the crown after Henry I’s death. Many English magnates conveniently forgot their oaths to Matilda, and Stephen became king. </p>
<p><a href="https://www.thehistorypress.co.uk/publication/stephen-and-matilda/9780752471921/">Matilda was not without supporters</a> – her half-brother Robert, earl of Gloucester; her husband, the count of Anjou; nobles disaffected by Stephen’s rule; and opportunists seeking personal gain from the conflict. Matilda resisted and the Anarchy ensued.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Three marble statues of men wearing robes and crowns appear side by side." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/490429/original/file-20221018-8895-4ckzp3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/490429/original/file-20221018-8895-4ckzp3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=512&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/490429/original/file-20221018-8895-4ckzp3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=512&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/490429/original/file-20221018-8895-4ckzp3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=512&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/490429/original/file-20221018-8895-4ckzp3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=644&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/490429/original/file-20221018-8895-4ckzp3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=644&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/490429/original/file-20221018-8895-4ckzp3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=644&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The succession, from left to right: Henry I, Stephen and Henry II.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Statues_of_the_Kings_of_England,_York.jpg">Wikimedia Commons</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Forces supporting Matilda invaded England in 1139 but, <a href="https://blackwells.co.uk/bookshop/product/The-Empress-Matilda-by-Marjorie-Chibnall/9780631190288">save for a moment in 1141</a>, she never ruled. She then focused instead on elevating her son to the crown.</p>
<p>Prosecution of the war ultimately passed to the young Henry. His mounting military successes jogged the barons’ memory of their past commitments, and the contending parties reached a settlement. Henry would succeed Stephen. With Stephen’s death, Henry became <a href="https://www.yalebooks.co.uk/page/detail/?k=9780300084740">Henry II</a>. England wouldn’t have another ruling queen until <a href="https://yalebooks.yale.edu/book/9780300194166/mary-i/">the ascension of Queen Mary I in 1553</a>, nearly four centuries later.</p>
<p>But what of Rhaenyra?</p>
<p>Westeros is not 12th century England. For Martin, the author, the Anarchy does not serve to establish historical fact but is a wellspring for his creative vision. The fire-breathing dragon – that denizen of the medieval imagination – exists in Westeros. Rhaenyra’s pursuit of the throne may be fraught with difficulties, but she is a dragon-rider, and dragons were the most fearsome military asset in the kingdom.</p>
<p>This makes her dangerous in a way Matilda of England could hardly have conceived. Nonetheless, “House of the Dragon,” through the lens of fantasy, reflects a slice of the English medieval experience.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/191732/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>David Routt does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>During a two-decade period of English history known as the Anarchy, a woman sought to make the then-unprecedented move of ascending to the English throne.David Routt, Adjunct Professor of History, University of RichmondLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1895412022-09-13T20:03:18Z2022-09-13T20:03:18ZWho was Catherine de’ Medici? The Serpent Queen gives us a clever, powerful and dangerous woman<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/484152/original/file-20220912-26-s7gcpn.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C3000%2C1980&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Stan</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>In the last week, I’ve been contacted by several friends and colleagues telling me if you type #catherinedemedici in Twitter, a snake emoji automatically appears. Designed to sync with The Serpent Queen, the serpent now appears even with hashtags made in tweets years ago. </p>
<p>This new Catherine is now the old Catherine.</p>
<p>In a life lived across most of the 16th century, Catherine de’ Medici was Queen of France, the mother of three kings and two queens, and the mother-in-law of Mary, Queen of Scots. </p>
<p>Anyone with that degree and longevity of access to influence across Europe was bound to attract attention.</p>
<p>In The Serpent Queen, we get a clever and powerful Catherine (played by Liv Hill as a teenager and Samantha Morton as the woman in her 40s), beguiling and dangerous, forged in the violence of her childhood and as an emotional response to the rejection of her love by her husband Henri (Alex Heath as the young Henri and Lee Ingleby in adulthood). </p>
<p>This Catherine decides to govern aided by the dark arts, determined to teach her enemies a lesson. She is also playful, musing “it feels good to be bad,” to a backing track of rock guitar.</p>
<p>But do we actually have a new interpretation? Here, a familiar story of one of history’s favourite bad girls strikes again. And in the process, Catherine de’ Medici is again diminished.</p>
<p>It seems the well-crafted propaganda of her own century – and additions of those since – remain as compelling as ever. </p>
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<h2>A woman of power</h2>
<p>Catherine was never the ruler of France, but she was intimately acquainted with politics at the highest level. </p>
<p>She was an assiduous networker. Her remaining letters (some 6,000 survive) give us just a sense of the enormous reach of the relationships she maintained over a long and well watched life. </p>
<p>Hers was a remarkable trajectory. The Medici were not a dynasty of royal blood, but she nonetheless became queen of France, served as regent for her husband and was governess and advisor to her sons.</p>
<p>Her access to influence as a wife and mother, while conventional, was perceived by political men and commentators beyond the court as dangerous because it sat outside formal mechanisms for regulating power.</p>
<h2>Multiple versions of Catherine</h2>
<p>Catherine was at the height of power when the French kingdom was <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/French_Wars_of_Religion">at war with itself</a>. The French Wars of Religion, lasting from 1562 to 1598, pitted Catholics and <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Huguenots">Huguenots</a> against each other, fighting for the soul of France. </p>
<p>Widowed in 1559, Catherine remained close to the throne as the advisor to her three sons who became king.</p>
<p>Although Catholic, Catherine’s recommendations for her sons generally favoured a middle course that aimed to maintain the integrity of the realm, and the reputation of the dynasty she had married into.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/484154/original/file-20220912-22-yusclr.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Production image" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/484154/original/file-20220912-22-yusclr.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/484154/original/file-20220912-22-yusclr.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/484154/original/file-20220912-22-yusclr.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/484154/original/file-20220912-22-yusclr.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/484154/original/file-20220912-22-yusclr.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/484154/original/file-20220912-22-yusclr.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/484154/original/file-20220912-22-yusclr.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The Medici were not a dynasty of royal blood, but Catherine nonetheless became queen of France.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Stan</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>This pleased few among the ardent on either side, who turned to the pen to respond, creating multiple versions of Catherine as suited their cause. </p>
<p>Sexualised tropes presented Catherine as a danger to men of either side in this conflict. A pamphlet of 1575 versified:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>She unmans cocks, tearing off their crests and testicles, a virago holds sway over the French. An unbridled woman dines on the testicles of cocks, and as she devours this food, she smacks her lips and says: ‘Thus, I castrate Gallic courage, thus I unman the French, thus I subdue them!’</p>
</blockquote>
<p>This version of Catherine was catchy.</p>
<p>There were <a href="https://brill.com/view/title/36179?language=en">many versions</a> of Catherine. Some were the versions she made with her allies for public consumption: versions made in art, ceremony, palaces and acts. </p>
<p>Others had their own ideas about who Catherine was, or what version of Catherine best suited their objectives. Not all had the same reach and not all have been reproduced through to the present day. </p>
<p>Catherine knew the high stakes for women. She had a fraught and complex relationship with Mary, Queen of Scots, but she defended her to Elizabeth I’s courtier Francis Walsingham, telling Walshingham she “knew very well how often people said things of a poor afflicted princess that did not always turn out to be true.”</p>
<p>After her death, dozens of Catherines took free flight in novels. Alexandre Dumas’ <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/La_Reine_Margot_(novel)">Queen Margot</a> (1845) has Catherine dissecting the brains of a chicken whose head she has severed with a single blow, for prophetic analysis. She conducts herself with a “malignant smile”.</p>
<p>She fared little better among 19th century scholars. The influential historian Jules Michelet, a Huguenot, famously termed Catherine “the maggot from Italy’s tomb”. </p>
<p>This version of Catherine was also catchy. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/mary-queen-of-scots-was-a-poet-and-you-should-know-it-29645">Mary, Queen of Scots was a poet – and you should know it</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>Women in the public eye</h2>
<p>Catherine’s treatment throughout history reflects our problematic relationship with women’s roles in public life. There has been <a href="https://www.allenandunwin.com/browse/book/Mary-Beard-Women-and-Power-9781788160605">a long history</a> of hostility to women of power and women in power.</p>
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<p>The Serpent Queen traces Catherine’s life from the trials of her childhood to the beginning of what would become almost 30 years as a central figure in the reigns of her sons. Here we have an engaging Catherine with agency, narrated by Catherine herself. Her lines even echo speeches recorded by contemporary ambassadors. </p>
<p>Does Catherine at last have the final word?</p>
<p>This Catherine seems to seek our sympathy. She looks and speaks directly to us, seemingly eliciting our understanding of her decisions. “Tell me what you would have done differently?” she asks us.</p>
<p>But it is perhaps our collusion in the making of a familiar version of Catherine the series seeks to elicit. </p>
<p>Is this a new Catherine for new times, complex, contextualised, freed from the “bad girl” reputation that has followed her through time? Or a dangerously attractive, lavish rehash of Catherine as “bad girl” all over again?</p>
<p><em>The Serpent Queen is now airing on Stan.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/189541/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Susan Broomhall receives funding from the Australian Research Council. She is the author of the book, The Identities of Catherine de' Medici, published by Brill in 2021.</span></em></p>Catherine de’ Medici was Queen of France, the mother of three kings and two queens, and the mother-in-law of Mary, Queen of Scots.Susan Broomhall, Director, Gender and Women's History Research Centre, Australian Catholic UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1889412022-08-30T13:53:15Z2022-08-30T13:53:15Z‘Smiling Pope’ John Paul I takes the next step toward sainthood – not all pontiffs earn this distinction<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/480935/original/file-20220824-11730-aaitdg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=4%2C1%2C1017%2C743&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Pope John Paul I greets the crowds gathered in St. Peter's Square at the Vatican in August 1978.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/pope-john-paul-i-greets-the-crowds-gathered-in-st-peters-news-photo/103339545?adppopup=true">Keystone/Hulton Archive via Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>On Sept. 4, 2022, Pope John Paul I, born Albino Luciani, <a href="https://www.vaticannews.va/en/vatican-city/news/2022-07/beatification-dates-john-paul-first-albino-luciani.html">will be beatified</a>: proclaimed as “blessed,” the last step before being canonized as a Catholic saint.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.vaticannews.va/en/pope/news/2020-08/pope-john-paul-i-election-anniversary-42-years.html">Elected head of the Catholic Church</a> in August 1978, he held the papacy for only one month. John Paul I was found dead in bed late that September. The cause of his unexpected death was determined to have been a heart attack, notwithstanding <a href="https://www.americamagazine.org/faith/2017/11/04/pope-john-paul-i-smiling-pope-path-sainthood">a lingering swirl of conspiracy theories</a>.</p>
<p>Despite his short papacy, John Paul I left a mark. Called the “<a href="https://www.vaticannews.va/en/pope/news/2020-08/pope-john-paul-i-election-anniversary-42-years.html">Smiling Pope</a>” because of his welcoming manner, he was the first pope in centuries to refuse a formal coronation, choosing <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1978/09/04/john-paul-i-is-installed-as-pope/3726ae76-771b-497a-b785-92d74d8616af/">a simpler inauguration ceremony</a>. The new pope’s life as a priest, bishop, cardinal and finally pope <a href="http://www.thebostonpilot.com/article.php?ID=180739">was embodied</a> in the motto he chose for his ministry: “humility.”</p>
<p>All of the past five popes who have died have been nominated for canonization, and three have been named saints. But not every pope has been revered as a saint by Roman Catholics – especially during the medieval era, a period I focus on in my work as <a href="https://www.holycross.edu/academics/programs/religious-studies/faculty/joanne-pierce">a scholar of Catholicism</a>.</p>
<h2>From powerless to powerful</h2>
<p><a href="https://www.newadvent.org/cathen/12272b.htm">Nearly all the popes</a> of Christianity’s first few centuries have been recognized as saints – starting with St. Peter, Jesus’ apostle, whom Roman Catholics recognize as the first pontiff. He and St. Paul, the author of several of the letters known as <a href="https://www.oxfordlearnersdictionaries.com/us/definition/american_english/epistle">epistles</a> in the New Testament, are both believed to <a href="https://doi.org/10.1515/9781575068343-015">have been executed in Rome</a> around A.D. 64.</p>
<p>Until the early fourth century, <a href="https://theconversation.com/mythbusting-ancient-rome-throwing-christians-to-the-lions-67365">Christianity was illegal in the Roman Empire</a>, although this legislation was not always rigidly enforced. Tradition holds that most of the early popes died as martyrs.</p>
<p>After <a href="https://www.dw.com/en/christianity-becomes-the-religion-of-the-roman-empire-february-27-380/a-4602728">Christianity was legalized</a>, bishops and popes became increasingly involved in the empire’s political struggles of the next several centuries. Some of these arose when the church became divided over important theological issues, and individual emperors supported one view over another.</p>
<p>Invasions by Germanic tribes from north of the Alps also caused chaos, and popes often <a href="https://sourcebooks.fordham.edu/source/attila2.asp">served as stabilizing figures</a> in Italy and beyond. <a href="https://www.newadvent.org/cathen/12272b.htm">Several popes</a> from the sixth through eighth centuries have been named saints.</p>
<h2>The age of scandal</h2>
<p>During the early medieval period, after repeated political and military upheavals, the Frankish kings north of the Alps “donated” territories in parts of northern and central Italy to the pope. These <a href="https://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/oi/authority.20110803100304438">Papal States</a> governed directly by the pope became an important center of political activity. </p>
<p>The popes’ secular power led to struggles among aristocratic families of Rome for control of the papacy. This led to a period in the late ninth and 10th centuries often called the “<a href="https://archive.org/details/churchhistorytwe00dwye/page/154/mode/2up?view=theater">Dark Ages</a>” or “<a href="https://books.google.com/books?newbks=1&newbks_redir=0&id=cusRoE1OJvEC&dq=will+durant+nadir+papacy&q=nadir+papacy#v=snippet&q=nadir%20papacy&f=false">nadir</a>” of the papacy.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A painting shows men in robes pointing to a skeleton dressed up and sitting on a throne." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/480953/original/file-20220824-4272-5w6xlw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/480953/original/file-20220824-4272-5w6xlw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/480953/original/file-20220824-4272-5w6xlw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/480953/original/file-20220824-4272-5w6xlw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/480953/original/file-20220824-4272-5w6xlw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/480953/original/file-20220824-4272-5w6xlw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/480953/original/file-20220824-4272-5w6xlw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Pope Formosus and Stephen VII, painted in 1870 by Jean-Paul Laurens. Musée des Beaux-Arts, Nantes.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/pope-formosus-and-stephen-vii-1870-found-in-the-collection-news-photo/600039693?adppopup=true">Heritage Images/Hulton Fine Art Collection via Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Most of the men chosen to be pope during this period were clearly unworthy of the position, and far fewer were canonized. Pope Stephen VI hated his predecessor, Pope Formosus, so deeply that he had the corpse dug up and put on trial at what came to be called <a href="https://daily.jstor.org/the-cadaver-synod-putting-a-dead-pope-on-trial/">the Cadaver Synod</a> in 897. After the guilty verdict, he had the corpse thrown into the Tiber River. Soon after, he was himself assassinated. </p>
<p>Pope John XII, of a noble Tuscan family, was chosen to be pope as a very young man because of his political connections. He was derided at the time for <a href="https://time.com/4633580/young-pope-history/">his dissolute life</a> and for having “turned the Vatican into a brothel.” Legend has it that in 964, he died while committing adultery with another noble’s wife. </p>
<p>Ironically, perhaps, it was during this era that popes became responsible for <a href="https://theconversation.com/an-italian-teen-is-set-to-become-the-first-millennial-saint-but-canonizing-children-is-nothing-new-in-the-catholic-church-148507">naming saints</a>, and one of the Vatican offices was tasked with examining cases. Previously, groups of Christians venerated local individuals whom they considered especially holy, but apart from a declaration by the regional bishop, there was no formal process for proclaiming sainthood.</p>
<h2>Renaissance rulers</h2>
<p>The 14th century was an especially chaotic one for the papacy, with several popes <a href="https://cat.xula.edu/tpr/factors/avignon/">living in Avignon, France</a>, because of its kings’ political dominance. After Pope Gregory XI returned to Rome in 1377, the next papal election was disputed, and until 1417 there were two, then three, cardinals claiming to be the pope.</p>
<p>These disruptions led some popes of the late 15th and early 16th centuries to be even more focused on preserving their political power. The Papal States took their place among the increasingly <a href="https://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/pape/hd_pape.htm">wealthy and ambitious</a> Italian city-states of the Renaissance.</p>
<figure class="align-right ">
<img alt="A bronze coin shows a profile portrait of a man in a heavy robe." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/480951/original/file-20220824-14-7dd3y0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/480951/original/file-20220824-14-7dd3y0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=588&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/480951/original/file-20220824-14-7dd3y0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=588&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/480951/original/file-20220824-14-7dd3y0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=588&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/480951/original/file-20220824-14-7dd3y0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=739&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/480951/original/file-20220824-14-7dd3y0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=739&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/480951/original/file-20220824-14-7dd3y0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=739&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A coin from the 15th or 16th century shows Pope Alexander VI, who was born Rodrigo Borgia.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/roman-15th-or-16th-century-alexander-vi-pope-1492-obverse-news-photo/1162529633?adppopup=true">Sepia Times/Universal Images Group via Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Again, the reputation of some popes caused scandal. Rodrigo Borgia, reigning as <a href="http://www.eyewitnesstohistory.com/alexanderVI.htm">Pope Alexander VI</a>, named his own son a cardinal, conducted numerous affairs, and sent the papal armies into battle against other Italian families. One of his successors, <a href="https://reformation500.csl.edu/bio/pope-julius-ii/">Julius II, known as the “Warrior Pope</a>,” actually donned armor to lead his own soldiers into battle to expand the Papal States.</p>
<p>No pope from this period would be canonized until Pope St. Pius V, a leader of the Catholic Reformation or <a href="https://www.britannica.com/event/Counter-Reformation">Counter-Reformation</a> of the later 16th century. </p>
<h2>The modern process</h2>
<p>In the 19th century, the area under papal control was reduced to the tiny city-state of Vatican City, which is recognized to this day as a sovereign state by much of the world, including <a href="https://history.state.gov/countries/papal-states">the United States</a> and <a href="https://www.etias.info/schengen-countries/etias-vatican-city/">the European Union</a>. Since then, as popes’ most public roles have become more pastoral than political, more of them have been canonized.</p>
<p>Popes must meet <a href="https://theconversation.com/who-becomes-a-saint-in-the-catholic-church-and-is-that-changing-81011">the same requirements as any other Catholic proceeding toward sainthood</a>, which include demonstrating a life of “heroic virtue” and typically having two miracles attributed to their intercession with God. Traditionally, Catholics had to wait 50 years after a death to nominate the person for sainthood. Today, the waiting period is just five years – and sometimes waived altogether. </p>
<p>Pope St. John Paul II, for example, died in 2005, was beatified in 2011 and canonized in 2014. Even at his funeral, many in the crowd were already <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2005/may/13/catholicism.religion1">calling for his immediate canonization</a>. This “<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/11/14/world/europe/john-paul-vatican.html">fast-track” decision</a> has been criticized amid concerns about his handling of clerical sexual abuse reports during his long pontificate.</p>
<p>In John Paul I’s case, the Vatican proclaimed him <a href="https://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/congregations/csaints/documents/rc_con_csaints_doc_20031123_papa-luciani_it.html">a “Servant of God</a>” in 2003, <a href="https://www.usccb.org/offices/public-affairs/saints">the first step in the process</a>.</p>
<p>In 2017, after studying his life and his writings to <a href="https://www.vaticannews.va/en/vatican-city/news/2017-11/pope-approves-the-heroic-virtues-of-servant-of-god-pope-john-pau.html">confirm his “heroic virtue</a>,” Vatican officials recommended that Pope Francis take the next step and proclaim John Paul I as “Venerable.” </p>
<p>Four years later, after a further review, Pope Francis <a href="https://www.ncronline.org/news/people/recognizing-miracle-pope-clears-way-beatification-john-paul-i">recognized the recovery of a young Argentinian girl in “imminent” danger of death</a> as a miracle attributed to the intercession of John Paul I. A miracle of this kind is normally required for a “venerable” to move to beatification, <a href="https://theconversation.com/who-becomes-a-saint-in-the-catholic-church-and-is-that-changing-81011">the next step toward canonization</a>. </p>
<p>After the beatification in September, John Paul I will have the title “blessed,” and will be assigned <a href="https://thecatholicspirit.com/news/local-news/local-parishes-can-celebrate-blessed-caseys-first-feast-day/">a feast day</a> that may be observed in regions where he once lived and worked.</p>
<p>In the future, if a second miracle is officially recognized, he may be canonized and proclaimed a saint. Either way, his case illustrates the contemporary Catholic Church’s view of canonization: No one, even a pope, becomes a saint automatically – but every Catholic whose life and actions demonstrate “extraordinary virtue,” famous pope or obscure layperson, may be proposed.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/188941/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Joanne M. Pierce does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Popes’ roles have changed over time. Some periods produced plenty of saintly popes, while others are notorious for the opposite.Joanne M. Pierce, Professor Emerita of Religious Studies, College of the Holy CrossLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1879542022-08-11T12:14:50Z2022-08-11T12:14:50ZRussia’s threats to shut down Jewish Agency raise alarm bells for those who remember the past<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/477976/original/file-20220808-68796-8pl6q9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=15%2C9%2C2101%2C1400&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">During the Cold War, Jewish emigration from the Soviet Union was tightly restricted. </span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/photo/male-hand-holds-israeli-and-russian-international-royalty-free-image/1389932182?adppopup=true">Dzurag/iStock via Getty Images Plus</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Russia’s <a href="https://theconversation.com/why-did-russia-invade-ukraine-178512">invasion of Ukraine</a> in February 2022 sparked a surge of refugees fleeing the war zone, but political repression and economic uncertainty have also prompted <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2022/07/14/russians-flee-putins-regime-after-ukraine-war-in-second-wave-of-migration.html">emigration from Russia itself</a>. Among the emigrants are Russian Jews, 16,000 of whom <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/jul/26/russia-closure-israel-migration-jewish-agency-ukraine">have left for Israel</a> in the nearly six months since the war’s start.</p>
<p>Now, Russia’s Justice Ministry is threatening the organization that helps the emigrants leave. A Moscow court held <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2022/07/29/russia-jewish-agency-israel-ukraine/">a preliminary hearing</a> on July 28, 2022, about the ministry’s application to dissolve the Russian branch of <a href="https://www.jewishagency.org/">the Jewish Agency for Israel</a>.</p>
<p>The Jewish Agency, a nonprofit with government ties that is older than the country itself, helps Jews around the world who want to immigrate to Israel. The <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2022/07/29/russia-jewish-agency-israel-ukraine/">move to shut down</a> its <a href="https://www.jewishagency.org/ru/">operations in Russia</a> has <a href="https://www.thejc.com/news/world/get-out-now-soviet-refusenik-natan-sharansky's-warning-to-russia's-jews-as-crackdown-fears-grow-5VS51v8pkfWI9EkwdYv0wO">raised alarm</a> – particularly among people who see it as turning back the clock to a time, not so long ago, when Soviet Russia forced Jews to endure state-sponsored antisemitism while <a href="https://www.harpercollins.com/products/when-they-come-for-us-well-be-gone-gal-beckerman?variant=39934628429858">trampling on their right to emigrate</a>.</p>
<h2>Soviet antisemitism</h2>
<p>On paper, the Soviet Union vowed to create an egalitarian society. In reality, it <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/713677598">denied rights to minority populations</a>, including Jews. </p>
<p>The government <a href="http://www.bu.edu/law/journals-archive/international/volume23n1/documents/159-176.pdf">closed down Jewish schools and cultural institutions</a>, criminalized the <a href="https://www.upi.com/Archives/1983/05/06/Soviets-arrest-Hebrew-teacher/1764421041600/">teaching</a> <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/1985/02/05/world/soviet-said-to-sentence-popular-hebrew-teacher-to-labor-camp.html">of</a> <a href="https://www.jta.org/archive/jewish-section-blamed-for-the-hebrew-language-persecutions-in-russia">Hebrew</a>, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110820805.485">murdered</a> <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/1998/01/14/theater/a-jew-stalin-killed-now-symbolizes-rebirth.html">Jewish leaders</a>, orchestrated <a href="https://yivoencyclopedia.org/article.aspx/doctors_plot">anti-Jewish campaigns</a> in the <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/13501677208577110">press</a> and in the <a href="https://yivoencyclopedia.org/article.aspx/Economic_Trials">courts</a> and created glass ceilings that blocked Jews’ ability to advance at <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/001312457801000206">school</a> and in the <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/13501678508577476">workplace</a>. In 1966, during a telephone address to Jewish Americans, <a href="https://digipres.cjh.org/delivery/DeliveryManagerServlet?dps_pid=IE1094744">Martin Luther King Jr. called it “a kind of spiritual and cultural genocide</a>.”</p>
<p>Cold War politics made the predicament worse. The Soviet government’s domestic persecutions of Jews were bound up in its <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/13501677808577276">foreign policy toward Israel</a>. When the country declared independence in 1948, the U.S. and USSR each raced to secure its allegiance. After Israel aligned with the West, however, the Soviet Union became patron of the Arab states and <a href="https://www.wilsoncenter.org/publication/the-soviet-union-and-the-six-day-war-revelations-the-polish-archives">broke diplomatic ties</a> with Israel in 1967.</p>
<p>During the string of Arab-Israeli wars from the 1950s to 1970s, the USSR accompanied military support for Egypt and Syria with anti-Jewish campaigns at home. Using “<a href="https://www.tabletmag.com/sections/arts-letters/articles/soviet-anti-semitic-cartoons">anti-Zionism” as a dog whistle</a>, Soviet propaganda <a href="https://fathomjournal.org/soviet-anti-zionism-and-contemporary-left-antisemitism/">resurrected classic antisemitic stereotypes</a> of <a href="https://encyclopedia.ushmm.org/content/en/article/protocols-of-the-elders-of-zion">Jewish conspiracies for global domination</a>.</p>
<h2>International pressure</h2>
<p>In the 1960s, Soviet Jews began trying to escape their predicament by applying for exit permits to emigrate. A movement for emigration rights sprang up among Jews in the USSR, led by activists who sought to go to Israel. <a href="https://www.un.org/en/about-us/universal-declaration-of-human-rights">Article 13 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights</a> gives all people the right to leave their country, but the Soviet government refused the applications for emigration permits and heaped more troubles on those who had dared to ask.</p>
<p>Stuck in the Soviet Union, these “<a href="https://refusenikproject.org/history/#historical-overview">refuseniks</a>,” as they came to be known, lost their jobs and housing and were harassed by the secret police. Leaders of the emigration rights movement – including <a href="http://content.time.com/time/covers/0,16641,19780724,00.html">Natan Sharansky</a>, who went on to become <a href="https://archive.jewishagency.org/executive-members/natan-sharansky-honorary-member">chairman of the Jewish Agency</a> and deputy prime minister of Israel – were arrested and sent to prison camps or Siberian exile.</p>
<p>As Soviet Jews fought to emigrate, <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/40207022">a global human rights campaign</a> mobilized on their behalf – a movement I have <a href="https://www.taylorfrancis.com/chapters/edit/10.4324/9780429201127-6/foreign-tourists-domestic-encounters-shaul-kelner">written</a> <a href="https://muse.jhu.edu/article/685280">about</a> as <a href="https://as.vanderbilt.edu//jewishstudies/people/faculty/shaul-kelner/">a scholar of modern Judaism</a>. Marching under slogans like “Let them live as Jews, or let them leave” and “<a href="https://mjhnyc.org/events/let-my-people-go-lessons-we-learned-from-the-soviet-jewry-movement/">Let my people go</a>,” political leaders, clergy, civil rights activists, labor unions and <a href="https://blog.nli.org.il/en/ingrid_bergman_35/">celebrities</a> joined Jewish people in embracing the cause.</p>
<p>On a congressional delegation to Russia in 1979, then-Sen. <a href="https://digital.bentley.umich.edu/djnews/djn.1979.09.21.001/8">Joe Biden</a> <a href="https://digital.bentley.umich.edu/djnews/djn.1979.09.21.001/8">visited Leningrad’s synagogue</a> to meet Soviet Jewish emigration-rights activists. In December 1987, at the start of the summit between U.S. President Ronald Reagan and Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev, a quarter-million Americans gathered on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., to demand freedom for Soviet Jewry. Republican Vice President <a href="https://www.c-span.org/video/?c5026758/user-clip-vp-george-hw-bush-addressing-1987-freedom-rally-soviet-jews">George H.W. Bush</a> and Democratic U.S. Rep. <a href="https://www.c-span.org/video/?c4893792/user-clip-rep-john-lewis-addresses-freedom-rally-soviet-jewry-washington-dc-december-7-1987">John Lewis</a> shared the podium.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A black and white photo shows a closely packed crowd at a protest, with a large sign that says 'Their fight is our fight.'" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/478133/original/file-20220808-20-un4tsx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/478133/original/file-20220808-20-un4tsx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/478133/original/file-20220808-20-un4tsx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/478133/original/file-20220808-20-un4tsx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/478133/original/file-20220808-20-un4tsx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=504&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/478133/original/file-20220808-20-un4tsx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=504&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/478133/original/file-20220808-20-un4tsx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=504&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Tens of thousands of people gather in front of the United Nations in New York in 1975 to call for more rights for Jewish people in the Soviet Union.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/these-are-some-of-the-estimated-100-000-persons-who-news-photo/515296322?adppopup=true">Bettmann via Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>A trickle, then a flood</h2>
<p>The human rights campaign succeeded, but not all at once. In 1964, <a href="https://www.routledge.com/Let-My-People-Go-The-Transnational-Politics-of-Soviet-Jewish-Emigration/Peretz/p/book/9780367598266">the USSR let only 537 Jews emigrate</a>. In the 1970s, it let around <a href="https://daviscenter.fas.harvard.edu/sites/default/files/files/2021-04/Tolts%20M.%20A%20Half%20Century%20of%20Jewish%20Emigration%20from%20the%20Former%20Soviet%20Union%20-%20Harvard4%20_0.pdf">25,000 out on average each year</a>, bending to the international outcry and hoping to advance détente with the West. But in the early 1980s, the Cold War chilled, and the Soviet Union closed the gates again.</p>
<p>With Gorbachev’s liberalizing reforms in the late 1980s, however, the USSR walked back its anti-Jewish policies, <a href="https://tass.com/politics/1112015">reestablished ties with Israel</a> and opened the gates to unrestricted Jewish emigration.</p>
<p>Once Jews were free to leave, most chose to go. About 400,000 left in 1990 and 1991, when the USSR collapsed, and the flow continued afterward. All told, between 1970 and 2022, <a href="https://daviscenter.fas.harvard.edu/sites/default/files/files/2021-04/Tolts%20M.%20A%20Half%20Century%20of%20Jewish%20Emigration%20from%20the%20Former%20Soviet%20Union%20-%20Harvard4%20_0.pdf">almost 2 million Jews emigrated</a> – mostly to Israel, but also in the hundreds of thousands to the U.S., Canada and Germany. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A man in a suit smiles and holds a young girl in a white jacket, who waves at the camera." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/477977/original/file-20220808-23-p87hi4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/477977/original/file-20220808-23-p87hi4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=396&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/477977/original/file-20220808-23-p87hi4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=396&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/477977/original/file-20220808-23-p87hi4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=396&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/477977/original/file-20220808-23-p87hi4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=497&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/477977/original/file-20220808-23-p87hi4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=497&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/477977/original/file-20220808-23-p87hi4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=497&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Soviet refusenik Yuri Balovlenkov, who had to wait nearly a decade for an exit visa to leave the USSR, holds his daughter after arriving in the U.S. in 1987.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/soviet-refusenik-yuri-balovlenkov-with-his-daughter-and-news-photo/50682904?adppopup=true">Cynthia Johnson/The Chronicle Collection via Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Emigration has ticked upward since the Ukraine war began. Fewer than <a href="https://www.jewishdatabank.org/content/upload/bjdb/2019_World_Jewish_Population_(AJYB,_DellaPergola)_DataBank_Final2.pdf">150,000</a> Jewish people remain in Russia today. <a href="https://www.thejc.com/news/world/get-out-now-soviet-refusenik-natan-sharansky%27s-warning-to-russia%27s-jews-as-crackdown-fears-grow-5VS51v8pkfWI9EkwdYv0wO">Another 450,000 or so</a> who do not necessarily consider themselves Jewish but have Jewish ancestry are also <a href="https://archive.jewishagency.org/first-steps/program/5131">eligible for immediate Israeli citizenship</a>.</p>
<h2>Political dance</h2>
<p>Throughout all these decades, the Jewish Agency for Israel has been the main organization helping Russian Jews emigrate – working in Russia itself since 1989, and before then, when Israel and the USSR did not maintain diplomatic ties, from transit stations in <a href="https://www.tabletmag.com/sections/arts-letters/articles/camp-tale">Austria</a> and <a href="https://cis.org/Report/Refugee-Resettlement-and-Freedom-Choice-Case-Soviet-Jewry">Italy</a>.</p>
<p>For most of the post-Soviet period, Israel and Russia have maintained cautiously friendly ties, and the Jewish Agency’s work has proceeded smoothly. This, and <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-02-11/israel-says-u-s-not-in-syrian-game-as-russia-seen-dominant#xj4y7vzkg">Russia’s military presence</a> <a href="https://www.wilsoncenter.org/article/coping-the-russian-challenge-the-middle-east-us-israeli-perspectives-and-opportunities-for">in Syria</a>, along Israel’s northern border, have <a href="https://www.jpost.com/israel-news/article-712561">muted the Israeli response</a> to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. </p>
<p>Nevertheless, the war has <a href="https://www.jpost.com/international/article-705688">stoked tensions</a> between Moscow and Jerusalem. Increasingly isolated, Russia has also <a href="https://foreignpolicy.com/2022/07/20/putin-meeting-iran-turkey-russia-middle-east-syria-ukraine/">drawn closer to Iran</a>. As a result, a new relationship between Russia and Israel may be taking shape.</p>
<h2>An old technique, made new?</h2>
<p>Russia’s Justice Ministry claims that the Jewish Agency’s collection of data about Russian citizens <a href="https://www.haaretz.com/world-news/europe/2022-07-05/ty-article/.premium/russia-threatens-to-bar-jewish-agency-operations-in-the-country-cites-law-violations/00000181-cf10-d982-abb3-efb726380000">violates Russian law</a> and denies the case is political. The next hearing is scheduled for Aug. 19, 2022.</p>
<p>Outlawing the Jewish Agency is unlikely to end Jewish emigration, since people are still able to leave the country. The gates are still open, for now. Passing through them may become a bit harder. </p>
<p>During the Cold War, the Soviet Union knew that Jewish emigration symbolized something important to the West. It used that to its advantage, <a href="https://jewishstudies.ysu.edu/?page_id=733">treating Jews as “pawns</a>,” in the words of historian <a href="https://en.jewish-history.huji.ac.il/people/jonathan-dekel-chen">Jonathan Dekel-Chen</a>. The Kremlin <a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2022/07/putin-russia-jewish-agency-emigration-israel/670948/">let them go or held them back</a> as a way of telegraphing its interest or lack thereof in good relations with the West. </p>
<p>Now, it seems Vladimir Putin’s Russia has found the old telegraph from the Cold War attic, dusted it off, and discovered that it still works for tapping out signals today.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/187954/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Shaul Kelner has received funding from the National Endowment for the Humanities and Brandeis-Genesis Institute for Russian Jewry. He has consulted and contributed writings to research and education projects supported by the Jewish Agency for Israel.</span></em></p>During the Cold War, Russia’s refusal to allow Jews to leave the country reflected its political aims. The same is likely true today, a Jewish studies scholar explains.Shaul Kelner, Associate Professor of Sociology and Jewish Studies, Vanderbilt UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.