Tag: 17th century

How Wedding Ceremonies Worked Within Europe During the Medieval Period

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Medieval weddings were carried out much the same as they are during the modern day with any witnesses present being provided 3 distinct opportunities to object to the marriage with the most common objections being that the parties involved were too close in relation by blood and/or the age of the bride was too young to accept the concept of marriage and/or bare a child. A ring and a piece of gold or silver was placed upon the Christian Bible held by the priest conducting the ceremony, in an effort to have the ring blessed, after which the priest would take the brides right hand and in Latin say “In nomine Patris, et Filii, et Spiritus Sancti. Amen” which means “in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost. With truth” in Latin. The priest would touch each finger, starting with the thumb, after saying each part of the Holy Trinity, ending upon the 4th finger when saying “amen”, which became the finger which the wedding ring was placed upon. It was not uncommon for both men and women to wear their wedding rings on their thumbs or middle fingers until the 17th century as any finger was considered acceptable. After undertaking vows, both the husband and wife would lay down to be covered in a shroud, afterwhich they would arise as a newly married couple. This practice was symbolic of a marriage transforming 2 unique individuals into a single person married to Jesus Christ. Finally, the priest would then kiss both the bride and groom upon their face, typically the cheek, and put the couple to bed to ensure consummation of the marriage, at which point, the marriage ceremony was considered complete

The Belief of How Insects Spawned Within Europe During the 18th Century

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It was primarily believed within Europe during the 18th century that insects were correlated with the devil, as anything not understood or relatively misunderstood during the period was explained as evil or demonic phenomena in nature powered by supernatural forces. Scientific knowledge was limited during the 18th century, therefore superstitious beliefs were commonplace throughout the whole of Europe. Europeans believed that insects spawned from the mud annually, because they could not explain why insects develop en masse and are only present for the warmer months of the year, with this hypothesis referred to as “spontaneous generation”. This theory was only laid to rest after the theory of spontaneous generation was challenged by several scientists including Italian physician Francesco Redi, who conducted experiments during the 17th century which demonstrated that maggots decaying upon meat arise from eggs laid by flies, not from the meat itself. During the 18th century, Italian priest and biologist Lazzaro Spallanzani conducted further experiments which refuted spontaneous generation, particularly for microorganisms

The Origin of Pogs

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The game of Pogs originated in Japan during the 17th century and was originally referred to as “Menko”. The Pogs game was adopted once again during the 1960’s in Hawaii, United States of America and was played using cardboard juice and milk bottle lids. The name “Pogs” was chosen for the game due to the popular juice flavor in Hawaii of “passion fruit orange guava”, making “Pogs” more so an acronym rather than a name

The Advent of Surnames

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Surnames were only used for nobility until the 17th century when Napoleon Bonaparte decided that all states within his empire should provide a standardized system of first and last names for each and every person. Most cultures did not subscribe to this model of naming outside of the class of nobility which is why most surnames were originally setup to explain what a person did or where they were from (e.g. Schumacher for a person who makes shoes or Von Berlin for a person from Berlin, Germany etc.)

The Original Intent of the Field of Archeology

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Archeology first began with a quest to discover one master truth above all others which was to find direct evidence of Jesus Christ. During the 17th century, fossils and other archaeological evidence of life prior to human beings were erroneously identified and explained as animals which were not able to make it onto Noah’s Ark and therefore perished in the great flood. Spear tips and dagger points were often incorrectly identified and explained as thunderbolts from heaven or meteorites during this period

The Reason Islamic Carpet Design is Geometric

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Carpet weaving is thought to have originated in Central Asia more than 2000 years ago, but it was the Islamic culture which shifted it into an art form. Many Islamic traditions have long frowned upon the depiction of sentient beings depicted in western art and because of this, carpet makers created landscapes of bright colors and complex patterns, with the mark of different tribes and ethnic groups recognized by the various dyes and pattern styles utilized. Patterns are so prevalent in Islamic culture because it is a form of expression which is permitted, unlike many others which go against the direct teachings of the Quran. It’s common for patterns to contain an eye somewhere along the line as a protective measure, or a small script to give thanks and praise to Allah, and sometimes even small depictions of hidden meanings like the head of a bird without the rest of its body. Typically, duplicates of the same Islamic carpet are not created, as the artist who created the original design did so because they felt a particular emotion during the creative process and because the same mood is or was not felt during the next carpet, the design is different to reflect the new mood experienced. The golden age of the Islamic carpet occurred during the 17th century when landscape art worked its way into these carpets causing them to become portable gardens of paradise. The images portrayed were not intended to hold a mirror up to nature, but to reflect what human beings value most of nature