ODE FOR THE HIGH-KNOWERS.

Half of Mankind’s woe comes from the fact that, several thousand years ago, somewhere in the Middle East, peoples through their language conceived spirituality OR MYSTICISM….

-Not as a quest for meaning, hope or liberation with the concepts that go with it (distinction opposition or difference between matter and spirit, ethics, personal discipline, philanthropy, life after life, meditation, quest for the grail, practices...).

-But as a gigantic and protean law (DIN) that should govern the daily life of men with all that it implies.

Obligations or prohibitions that everyone must respect day and night.

Violations or contraventions of this multitude of prohibitions when they are not followed literally.

Judgments when one or more of these laws are violated.

Convictions for the guilty.

Dismissals or acquittals for the innocent. CALLED RIGHTEOUS PERSONS.

THIS CONFUSION BETWEEN THE NUMINOUS AND THE RELIGIOUS, THEN BETWEEN THE SACREDNESS AND THE SECULAR , MAKES OUR LIFE A MISERY FOR 4000 YEARS VIA ISRAEL AND ESPECIALLY THE NEW ISRAEL THAT CHRISTIANITY AND ISLAM WANT TO BE.

The principle of our Ollotouta was given us, long time ago already, by our master to all in the domain; the great Gaelic bard, founder of the modern Free-thought, who is usually evoked under the anglicized name of John Toland. There cannot be, by definition, things contrary to Reason in Holy Scriptures really emanating from the divine one.

If there are, then it is, either error, or lies!

Either there is no mystery, or then it is in any way a divine revelation!

There is no happy medium...

We do not admit other orthodoxy that only the one of Truth because, wherever it can be in the world, must also stand, we are completely convinced of it, God's Church, and not that one of such or such a human faction … We are consequently for showing no mercy to the error on any pretext that can be, each time we will have the possibility or occasion to expound it in its true colors.

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1696. Christianity not mysterious.

1702. Vindicius Liberus. Response of John Toland to the detractors of his "Christianity not mysterious."

1704. Letters to Serena containing the origin of idolatry and reasons of heathenism, the history of the soul's immortality doctrine among the heathens, etc. (Version Baron d’Holbach, a German philosopher).

1705. The true Socinianism * as an example of fair debate on matters of theology *.To which is prefixed Indifference in disputes, recommended by a pantheist to an orthodox friend.

1709. Adeisdaemon or the man without superstition. Jewish origins.

1712. Letter against popery, and particularly against admitting the authority of the Fathers or Councils in religious controversies, by Sophia Charlotte of Prussia.

1714. Defense of the Jews, victims of the anti-Semite prejudices, and a plea for their naturalization.

1718. The destiny of Rome, of the popes, and the famous prophecy of St Malachy, archbishop of Armagh, in the thirteenth century.

Nazarenus or the Jewish, gentile, and Mahometan Christianity (version Baron d’Holbach), containing:

I. The history of the ancient gospel of Barnabas, and the modern apocryphal gospel of the Mahometans, attributed to the same apostle.

II. The original plan of Christianity occasionally explained in the history of the Nazarenes, solving at the same time various controversies about this divine (but so highly perverted) institution.

III. The relation of an Irish manuscript of the four gospels as likewise a summary of the ancient Irish Christianity and what the realty of the keldees (an order half-lay, half-religious) was, against the last two bishops of Worcester.

1720. Pantheisticon, sive formula celebrandae sodalitatis socraticae.

Tetradymus.

I. Hodegus. The pillar of cloud and fire that guided the Israelites in the wilderness was not miraculous but, as faithfully related in Exodus, a practice equally known by other nations, and in those countries, not only useful, but even necessary.

Il. Clidophorus.

III. Hypatia or the history of the most beautiful, most virtuous, and most accomplished lady, who was stoned to death by the clergy of Alexandria, to gratify the pride, the emulation and even the cruelty, of Archbishop Cyril, commonly, but very undeservedly, styled Saint Cyril.

1726. Critical history of the Celtic religion, containing an account of the druids, or the priests and judges, of the vates, or the diviners and physicians, and finally of the bards, or the poets; of the ancient Britons, Irish or Scots. In plus with the story of Abaris the Hyperborean, priest of the sun.

A specimen of the Armorican language (Breton, Irish, Latin, dictionary).

1726. An account of Jordano Bruno's book, about the infinity of the universe and the innumerable worlds, translated from the Italian editing.

1751. The Pantheisticon or the form of celebrating the Socratic-society. London S. Paterson. Translation of the book published in 1720.

"Druidism" is an independent review (independent of any religious or political association) and which has only one purpose: theoretical or fundamental research about what is neo-paganism. The double question, to which this review of theoretical studies tries to answer, could be summarized as follows:

"What could be or what should be a current neo-druidism, modern and contemporary?”

"Druidism" is a neo-pagan review, strictly neo-pagan, and heir to all genuine (that is to say non-Christian) movements which have succeeded one another for 2000 years, the indirect heir, but the heir, nevertheless!

Regarding our reference tradition or our intellectual connection, let us underline that if the "poets" of Domnall mac Muirchertach Ua Néill still had imbas forosnai, teimn laegda and dichetal do chennaib 1) in their repertory (cf. the conclusion of the tale of the plunder of the castle of Maelmilscothach, of Urard Mac Coise, a poet who died in the 11th century), they may have been Christians for several generations. It is true that these practices (imbas forosnai, teimn ...) were formally forbidden by the Church, but who knows, there may have been accommodations similar to those of astrologers or alchemists in the Middle Ages.

Anyway our "Druidism" is also a will; the will to get closer, at the maximum, to ancient druidism, such as it was (scientifically speaking). The will also to modernize this druidism, a total return to ancient druidism being excluded (it would be anyway impossible).

Examples of modernization of this pagan druidism.

— Giving up to lay associations of the cultural side (medicine, poetry, mathematics, etc.). Principle of separation of Church and State.

— Specialization on the contrary, in Celtic, or pagan in general, spirituality history of religion, philosophy and metapsychics (known today as parapsychology).

— Use in some cases of the current vocabulary (Church, religion, baptism, and so on).

A golden mean, of course, is to be found between a total return to ancient druidism (fundamentalism) and a too revolutionary radical modernization (no longer sagum).

The Celtic PAA (pantheistic agnostic atheist) having agreed to sign jointly this small library *, of which he is only the collector, druid Hesunertus (Peter DeLaCrau), does not consider himself as the author of this collective work. But as the spokesperson for the team which composed it. For other sources of this essay on druidism, see the thanks in the bibliography.

* Socinians, since that's how they were named later, wished more than all to restore the true Christianity that teaches the Bible. They considered that the Reformation had made disappear only a part of corruption and formalism, present in the Churches, while leaving intact the bad substance: non-biblical teachings (that is very questionable in fact).

** This little camminus is nevertheless important for young people ... from 7 to 77 years old! Mantalon siron esi.

1) Do ratath tra do Mael Milscothach iartain cech ni dobrethaigsid suide sin etir ecnaide 7 fileda 7 brithemna la taeb ogaisic a crech 7 is amlaidsin ro ordaigset do tabairt a cach ollamain ina einech 7 ina sa[ru]gad acht cotissad de imus forosnad [di]chetal do chollaib cend 7 tenm laida .i. comenclainn fri rig Temrach do acht co ti de intreide sin FINIT.

PROLOG.

Cathbad drúi búi oc tabairt da daltaib fri hEmain anairtúaith. Cét fer n-déinmech dó oc foglaim druídechta úad. Is é lín doninchoisced Cathbad. Ocht n-dalta do aes in dána druidechta na farad (Tain Bo Cualnge).

Catubatuos the druid was teaching his pupils, in the North-East of Emania. Hundred youghtless men were at his place, learning druidism. Such was the number of those Catubatuos taught. Eight of those [only] were capable of druidic science (Rustling of the cows of Cooley).

Batar Tuathai De Danann i n-indsib tuascertachaib an domuin, aig foglaim fesa & fithnasachta & druidechtai & amaidechtai & amainsechta combtar fortilde for suthib cerd ngenntlichtae. Ceitri cathrachai ir-rabatar og fochlaim fhesai & eolais & diaboldanachtai. i. Falias & Goirias, Findias & Murias. A Falias tucad an Lia Fail bui a Temraig. Nogesed fo cech rig nogebad Erinn. A Gorias tucad an tsleg boi ac Lug. Ni gebtea cath fria no frisinti an bidh il-laimh. A Findias tucad claidiub Nuodon. Ni terládh nech dei o dobirthe asa idntiuch bodhuha, & ni gebtai fris. A Murias tucad coiri an Dagdai [Suqellos Gargant]. Ni tegedh dam dimdach uadh. Cetri druid isna cetri cathrachaib-sin. Morfesae bai a Falias. Esras boi hi nGorias. Uiscias boi a Findias. Semias bai a Murias. It iad sin na cetri filid ocar foglaindsit Tuata De fios & eolas.

Batar Tuathai De Danann i n-indsib tuascertachaib an domuin,

The gods of the goddess Danu (bia) were in the Islands in the north of the World,

aig foglaim fesa & fithnasachta & druidechtai & amaidechtai & amainsechta

learning science and magic, and druidism, and wisdom and art.

combtar fortilde for suthib cerd ngenntlichtae.

They exceeded all wise men in the arts of paganism.

Ceitri cathrachai ir-rabatar og fochlaim fhesai & eolais & diaboldanachtai.

There were four towns in which they learned diabolic science, knowledge and arts.

I. Falias & Goirias, Findias & Murias.

i.e., Thule, Gorre, Abalum and Ogygia the green island,

A Falias tucad an Lia Fail.

It is from Thule that the Stone of Fal was brought.

Nogesed fo cech rig nogebad Erinn.

It roared in joy under each king ruling over Green Erin.

A Gorias tucad an tsleg boi ac Lug.

It is from Gorre that the spear Lug had, was brought.

Ni gebtea cath fria no frisinti an bidh it-laimh.

No battle was won against it or against who had it in his hand.

A Findias tucad claidiub Nuodon.

It is from Abalum that the sword of Noadatus/Nuada/Nodons/Lludd was brought.

Ni terládh nech dei o dobirthe asa idntiuch bodhuha, & ni gebtai fris.

Nobody escaped from it when it was drawn from the sleeve of Bodua.

A Murias tucad coiri an Dagdai [Suqellos Gurgunt].

It is from Ogygia the green island that the cauldron of Dagda [Suqellos Gurgunt] was brought

Ni tegedh dam dimdach uadh.

No company left it dissatisfied.

Cetri druid isna cetri cathrachaib-sin.

There were four druids in these four towns.

Morfesae bai a Falias.

Marovesos was in Thule.

Esras boi hi nGorias.

Esras was in Gorre.

Uiscias boi a Findias.

Uiscias lived in Abalum.

Semias bai a Murias.

Semias was in Ogygia the green island.

It iad sin na cetri filid ocar foglaindsit Tuata De fios & eolas.

They are there the four Masters from whom the Tuatha De held their science and their knowledge.

But watch out. To speak about druidism in the singular (eternal druidism, etc.) is an intellectual swindle. There was never A SINGLE druidism or a UNIFIED druidism there were only druidries in the plural, variable according to places, times, even according to social classes or communities. Therefore there never was ONE druidism, but SOME DRUIDIC SCHOOLS. Various Schools of thought, as close or as different between them than Catholics, Reformed Churches or Orthodoxes, inside the Christian framework; or Shias and Sunnis inside the Muslim framework, or Vishnuists and Shivaists inside the Hindu framework.

Only the broad outlines make it possible to know if you are inside or outside the (druidic) framework.

Each time we speak about druidism in the singular, we will therefore designate simply in that way the broad outlines, or the more or less common to all places and to all druidic times, main tendencies. THIS METHODOLOGY WILL ALSO ALLOW US TO RELIEVE THE POINTS COMMON WITH OTHER SPIRITUALITIES DEVELOPED AT THE OTHER END OF THE WORLD (like Hinduism Buddhism martial arts, etc.)Therefore especially not a druidism claiming to be superior compared to other forms of piety, one of the common to all these Schools theses being precisely that one of the various levels of truth, EACH ONE HAVING ITS NECESSITY OR ITS INTEREST. IN SHORT ITS MATCH.

ORATORY PRECAUTION.

What will follow is not the first Indo-European function but the second. The first Indo-European function is that which Dumezil associates with sacredness and sovereignty.

It is true that it is as ambivalent as Muhammad according to some, and therefore likely to present two sides: one peaceful, reassuring, juridical, conservative; the other violent, terrible, disturbing, magical. But the ultimate in this matter is to cultivate or show one's strength so as not to have to use it.

Even the Germans had understood this if we believe some of the adventures of Odin and the berserkkers "For in all battles it is the eye which is first vanquished ». (Tacitus XLIII). Tacitus also mentions another technique: " They have also those songs of theirs, by the recital of which (“baritus,” they call it), they rouse their courage, while from the note they augur the result of the approaching conflict. For, as their line shouts, they inspire or feel alarm. It is not so much an articulate sound, as a general cry of valour. They aim chiefly at a harsh note and a confused roar, putting their shields to their mouth, so that, by reverberation, it may swell into a fuller and deeper sound.".

Among the Celts this gave us....

-On an individual level martial arts but still with the same goal, that an epigram of Martial thus translated about a Celtic gladiator called Hermes.

" Hermes, the martial pleasure of an age, Hermes, well-learned in all arms, Hermes, both gladiator and teacher, Hermes, confusion and terror of his school, Hermes, the only one whom Helius fears….Hermes, taught to conquer, not kill".

-At the collective level "the concern of the rem militarem" according to Cato (Pleraque Gallia duas res industriosissime persequitur, rem militarem).

Roughly summarized by the Romans in "si vis pacem para bellum").

-At the level of kings or heads of state: a good intelligence service. See on this subject what the great French specialist of the question (Christian-Joseph Guyonvarc'h) wrote on the respective roles of kings and druids (ambassadors, advisors, well of science etc...). And that Albert Bayet in his history of morality evokes in these terms "study to know the truth of things, encourage study by honoring those who devote themselves to it".

In short, the very opposite of the worship of brute force symbolized by Thor among the Germans.

It is an art or a science that could look for magic before or after the intellectual downfall caused by Christianization in Ireland, but that today's druids would rather compare to what the very learned Chinese Sun Tzu wrote about it and which can be summarized as follows.

Espionage is a process by which a warlord can have an overview of the situation and, if necessary, know in advance and without fear of being mistaken who will win and who will lose the war. Knowledge of the adversary is therefore the key factor in any military victory.

It is therefore less a question of annihilating the adversary than of making him lose the desire to fight. This second point implies the use of force that is precisely proportionate to the nature of the political goal pursued. It is fundamental to economize, to cunning, to destabilize, and to leave to the shock only the role of a coup de grâce dealt to a helpless enemy.

The acme of military strategy is to achieve victory without bloodshed, given the economic, moral and political cost of war. It is counterproductive to destroy the resources you seek or to kill those who may be your allies or subjects and thereby increase your power.

The Chinese « high knowwer » Sun Tzu gives many useful clarifications in this regard.

Examples of druidiaction according to him.

"Know your enemy and know yourself; if you had a hundred wars to fight, a hundred times you will be victorious. If you ignore your enemy and know yourself, your chances of losing and winning will be equal. If you ignore both your enemy and yourself, you will count your battles only by your defeats. »

This verse is found in a condensed form in a proverb of the contemporary Chinese language: "Know your enemy and know yourself, you will win a hundred times without danger. »

"It is necessary to try to subdue the enemy without giving battle: this will be the case where the more you rise above the good, the closer you will get to the incomparable and the excellent. »

This verse is commonly summarized as follows: "The art of war is to subdue the enemy without fighting. »

"Any war campaign must be based on pretence; feign disorder, never fail to offer a bait to the enemy to lure him, simulate inferiority to encourage his arrogance, know how to stir up his wrath to better plunge him into confusion: his lust will throw him on you to break himself. »

This verse is commonly summarized as follows: "All war is based on deception. »

Editor's note: And there we totally join the action of some mythical druids like Mog Ruith during the magical battle of Druim Damhgaire. This story certainly preserves for us the memory of many customs and beliefs of the time. O'Curry has pointed out on more than one occasion the importance of this text so rich in curious and unpublished details on druidic art and practices.

INTRODUCTION FOR THE PATH OF WARRIORS.

Few things are known about the games and sports practiced by former Celts.

Historians report that they practiced a kind of kickboxing and that ladies themselves could use their fists or to kick. Ammianus Marcellinus (Roman History. Book XV, chapter XII, 1) : “Nec enim eorum quemquam adhibita uxore rixantem, multo fortiore et glauca, peregrinorum ferre poterit globus, tum maxime cum illa inflata cervice suffrendens ponderansque niveas ulnas et vastas admixtis calcibus emittere coeperit pugnos ut catapultas tortilibus nervis excussas“.

“They are of a lofty stature, fair, and of a ruddy complexion; terrible from the sternness of their eyes, very quarrelsome, and of great pride and insolence. A whole troop of foreigners would not be able to withstand a single continental Celt if he called his wife to his assistance, who is usually very strong when she is in a mad rage; especially when, swelling her neck, gnashing her teeth, and brandishing her sallow arms of enormous size, she begins to strike blows mingled with kicks, as if they were so many missiles sent from the string of a catapult“.

This form of Celtic boxing gave its name to certain British and French places in Durn (“the fist “and its derivatives), what shows that it was practiced it in specialized public enclosures. It is combined with the sporting drill and the military activities like the races of chariots.

Scenes of ritual fight are represented on cauldrons, like that of Kaffern in Austria. The races, leaps and jumps were practiced until on the battle fields. Some tribes had their name from it, like the Lingones. At the time of the funeral took place funeral games with rounds which will go down in the Middle Ages under the name of “caroles “.

The wheel is used for an obscure play, represented on the cauldron of Gundestrup: the players seem to seek to make it turn into their direction.

For the little plays, were found in the graves a certain number of dice with round chips and numbered checkers.

Other plays also exist: a kind of chess of which the Celtic name (viducueslos) means “ wood intelligence “. They comprise a king or a queen and some soldiers, and are played on a board. It is a noble play, entertainment of god-or-demons and kings, a topic of initiatory tests.

The stakes can be the coveted woman or the royal power. The chess or more exactly the tablut has a mythical value: the chessboard represents the universe traversed by contrary forces, the night or the light. The brandub or black raven was to be a variety of this Celtic chess. Chess is besides an unsuitable term as we have said since the rules of this play were to be rather connected with these of the Scandinavian tablut.

Lastly, ball games, practiced by children or adults: those, on a green lawn, push balls in holes. Some Scottish golf perhaps. It is also possible to think of a kind of variant of hurley.

It is known besides that the current ball games, borrowed from Great Britain, have their source in the west of this country. The rugby invention by William Webb Ellis is not obvious. Its origin is rather to seek in the enough “virile “ medieval games in which representatives of two villages fought for the bladder of a pig through wild, sometimes even fatal, charges. On the continent there was the choule or Armorican soule.

Some games left us only their name, for example “the long stroke“. It was perhaps a kind of bowling.

Medieval Celtic literature shows the persistence of these entertainments : boxing, hunting, jumps, leaps and races, dice, ritual rounds or caroles (as that of Meraugis de Portlesguez from which it is no longer possible to go out, according to Robert Mullaly), chariot races, horse races (ascribed to Lug). The women take part in them actively, especially in the case of caroles. The game of the wheel still so obscure persists too: Hesus Cuchulainn throws a wheel through a hole and pursued it through fields. He plays hoop with it perhaps.

At the risk to grieve the (pseudo) ecologists of today, the Celts hunted for fun. A little like the Englishmen still hunt foxes nowadays.They had excellent hounds, tracked the small game skillfully, wild boars as well as stags. Hunting was their favorite sport, and benefitted from a very advanced technique, described in the “on hunting “ by the Greek Arrian . All this hunting appears in literature; it is an important part of the initiatory rites in Arthurian romances. Fishing came only in second position.

THE PATH OF WARRIORS (FAICSEANAIOCHT).

In the beginning, Kingeto meant to walk, and by extension, exercise of military training… similar thus to the Greek askesis = exercise in its original meaning. From where our modern “asceticism “. See Bodhidharma's example in India and in China.

The meaning logically broadened from the bodily level to the mental one because of psychosomatic interdependence, in order to designate every effort and every method to reach the world of the god-or-demons.

The modern meaning of the word, Kingeto/Cingeto therefore covers two slightly different realities:

- The method (used to improve with regard to the physical level, and the mindset). In other words, the ambividtu versonnions or great science which enlightens, imbas forosnai in Gaelic language.

- The very practice of these exercises.

The two main branches of this Kingeto/Cingeto are the path of warriors (like Bodhidharma at the other end of the Indo-European world) even the riastrades or body movements in the way of Cuchlainn in Ireland, and the motionless meditation, sitting in the manner of Hornunnos.

In common use, the expression “martial arts “ designates the traditional combat sports from Far East. This definition is simplistic for at least two reasons.

On the one hand, all martial arts are not necessarily sports, i.e., are not inevitably linked to the idea of competition, example Tai Chi Chuan, Aikido.

Then the expression “martial art “existed before Eastern combat techniques become fashion in the West.

There were martial arts in Europe before the importation of these we know today, and this, since Antiquity at least. Fencing, fight and box, did not emerge from nothingness, but result from the evolution of a common Western martial core.

Therefore, contrary to this use, it is also logical to regard as martial art: boxing, kickboxing/French boxing, the various forms of wrestling, cane, staff, and fencing.

The druids of lucterios type taught all kinds of physical exercises intended for better controlling body. And particularly for members of THE warriors class (as it was the case for Bodhidharma therefore, at the other end of the Aryan world, at the time of his arrival in the Chinese monastery of the little forest called Shaolin).

The martial arts taught in a grianon by the lucterios of the country, therefore tried to balance body and soul/mind (anaon) by physical exercises, control of breathing, and search for mental focusing. The training of this discipline, in the origin, was obviously intended to support or improve physical health of warriors; as to empty their mind in order to channel or strongly increase their strength (vergio/ferg or state of lon laith/luan laith) through the union of opposite energies. In short by the union of the body with the soul/spirit (anaon).

As Michel Rouche saw it very well what matters more for this type of man, it is therefore belief in immortality of the soul or of the mind. The warrior druids of lucterios type must make it the first of their teaching and insist on it .

“Nate memento beto to divo “ shouted saint Symphorian of Autun about to die, or more exactly his mother Augusta who strangely enough had the same name as the city in question: Augustodunum(Autun).

RIGHTS OF THE (ARMED : FIR FER IN GAELIC LANGUAGE)

MAN.

For he [Cuchulainn] did not deem it honorable or seemly to take the horses or garments or arms from the bodies of those he killed.

" I shall not slay you, I do not wound charioteers or messengers or men unarmed " (Cuchulainn, Tain Bo Cualnge, Lebor Laignech).

We will at greater length reconsider the idea of rights of armed human beings in times of war (rights of prisoners, of surrendering fighters, etc.) in our lesson on the ethics of the knights of the Round Table (Celtic druidic ethics) but we can already say this of it with regard to sport.

Wrestling belonged to the famous games of Tailtiu celebrated at the time of the Irish Lugnasade (see these of 557), but the strength and the skill of some wrestlers were often considered as supernatural. Below the Christian point of view on the subject (A story handed down by one of my penfriends).

“These meetings are diabolic meetings, the devil appears here in all his forms. I say it to you, in truth, people who will go to the wrestling of saint Cadou will be only thieves, debauchees or some rabble, they will roast in hell for eternity “(a rector of Cornouaille in 1831). Saint Cado was, however, the (Welsh) patron saint of wrestlers. Ah religion of love, always, there is nothing like it!

The wrestler having accepted the challenge turned to the adversary who had just called him to ask:

Do you use spell or magic?

I use neither spell nor magic.

Are you without hatred against me?

I am without hatred against you.

Then, let’s go!

What Emile Souvestre in his book entitled “Last Bretons “ resumes prudently like this:

If you wrestle using only your own strength,

Stop,

I am your man.

If you have a strength of diabolical origin,

Move away!

This exercise matched the quarreling nature and the love for challenges of the men of this time. But they were each time standing, dressed, fights, where the blows, armlocks or brutality, were never admitted, facts which, added to each other, are exceptional in the world of wrestling.

In Brittany the spirit of wrestling indeed quickly became a sporting spirit before its time. The wrestling was no longer regarded as a warlike exercise, but more as an entertainment, as a game, manly, of course, but friendly and loyal. Wrestlers respected moral code of honor and loyalty. The spirit of wrestling was close to that which inspired courtly jousts and tournaments of knighthood in Middle Ages.

Prohibited holds, irregular defenses like a hand or an elbow on the ground to avoid losing a point, a wrestling refusal, disloyalty as well as brutality, were regarded as faults.

Alexander Bouet, in his book entitled “Breizh Izel “speaks of judges of the camp, highly skilled fighters, that age put out of action, but who, recognized as the guardians of the good practices, give to

their successors pieces of advice respectfully listened, and decide irrevocably in which case wrestling is loyal, and victory unquestionable.

The desire of wrestlers to grow rich, to make a fortune, did not really mark the mind of these jousts of farmers, even if prizes of important value were often put at stake: bull, heifers, sheep. The pride to be the first in front of his, the honor to be the best, was enough.

Rene Yves Creston, in his work entitled “the Breton wrestling in Scaer “. The wrestler is always clearly aware of what he represents in the eyes of his fellow citizens, but the wrestlers are rare who make vanity from that. The Breton wrestler is not exposed to this intoxication, his fellow citizens by no means regard him as a half-god-or-demon. He is simply for them an embodiment of the strength of the men from the village, of the virtues or superiority of the parish even of the clan. He is not out of the clan, he is an integral part of it. All these elements are found with great pomp in the form of the old tournaments where men and young people, in front of all the inhabitants of the village joined together, challenged themselves for getting prize.

The wrestler who wanted a prize stood up, he seized it then went around the bailey or the curb .If he went once, twice, even thrice, without his challenge being met (according to the counties) the price was for him. But if somebody shouted at him, “stop “ while touching his shoulder, then the challenge was accepted and the struggle could begin.

Organization of tournaments also makes it possible everybody wrestles, very young persons first, who wrestle for entertainment, then teenagers and elders, who wrestle for small prizes. Hardened and in the prime of life wrestlers will struggle then for important prizes. The competitive spirit, the contest spirit, is strengthened by the tournament which opposes villages and parishes. To be the champion of an entire community can only elate the ardor of competitors.

The oito or oath of the current Breton wrestler shows it unequivocally:

M’hen da c’houren gant lealded, hep trubarderez na taol fall ebet, evit ma enor ha hini ma bro, e testeni eus ma gwiriegez, hag evit heul kiz vad ma zud koz, kinnig a ran d’am c’henvreur ma dom ha ma jod.

I swear to wrestle with a total loyalty, without treachery and brutality, for my honor and that of my country (bro). As a token of my good faith, and to follow the custom of my ancestors, I hold out my hand to my adversary and I embrace him.

This oito (oath) is sworn before each official tournament by all the wrestlers.

Preceded by a referee, wrestlers line up in two columns separated by a distance of four steps and facing two at a time, upright standing.

The wrestlers are in gouren * uniform.

During the swearing-in of the oito (of the oath), the wrestlers raise their right hand [their three fingers hold out : thumb forefinger and middle finger, like in a hand of justice **]. At the end of the oito (of the oath), the wrestlers embrace each other and shake their hands, then set out again in an orderly manner behind the referee.

EDITOR’S NOTE. IT GOES WITHOUT SAYING THESE ETHICAL GESSA ALSO APPLY TO ALL THE OTHER FORMS OF FIGHT AND EVEN TO THESE WHICH FOLLOW.

* A kind of Cornish wrestling even of Scottish Back Hold practiced in France.

** Regalia which we can still find today among the Freemasons of the Scottish rite settled in Vermont (capital Montpelier).

“Fírinne inár croidhedhaibh, 7 neart inár lámhaibh, 7 comall inár tengthaibh”.

“Truth in our heart, strength in our arms and the art of subtly speaking.”

This triad recorded in the Acallam Na Senorach and told to saint Patrick by the last Fianna, Caletios/Cailte, could have been placed in the mouth of Fergus.

“Fírinne inár croidhedhaibh, 7 neart inár lámhaibh, 7 comall inár tengthaibh”.

“Strenght in our arms, but also truth in our heart and the art of subtly speaking.”

Argute loqui Cato the Elder could also have said, for his part.

The ancient high knowers of the druidiaction (druidecht) always endeavored to treat hearts or minds as well as bodies, and reciprocally. The ideal for them indeed, it was physical health, they were besides remarkable doctors, but also moral health, in other words, a straight, sincere, and veracious mind.

UNARMED FIGHT (GRASCAR LAMH).

WRESTLING (GLEACAIOCHT).

When a young man, a young woman, sets foot for the first time on a wrestling mat, they perpetuate then a tradition which comes to us from the most distant past. At the zenith of his Olympic career, in 1972, Alexander Medved of the Soviet Union kissed the mat, a gesture familiar to the Asian million fighters who ask for the assistance of the mother earth each time they wrestle.

Wrestling has indeed various faces too often neglected, like its mythological and religious facets.

Wrestling is most complete human sport. But before being a sport, wrestling is a game. To challenge or to play with the strength, the agility, the body and the muscles of one’s adversary, is a pleasure of all times.

Contrary to generally accepted ideas, violence and brutality are excluded from it. Blows like every hold aiming at causing pain or dangerous are prohibited.

The objective is to throw one's opponent and make his shoulders touch the ground then to immobilize him. In its multiple representations, wrestling also meets the various sporting needs: skill, beauty, speed, endurance, courage and art.

In this world of hard work, where mechanization did not penetrate yet, values as bodily strength, skill or the endurance, were held in the highest consideration. It was always useful to know who would be the first reaper at the end of the field on the day of harvests; who would most quickly trace the deepest and straightest furrow; who would put highest straw bale on the cart.

Egyptian and Babylonian low-reliefs represent wrestlers using the majority of the holds known of the modern sport. In ancient Greece, wrestling occupied a favorite place in legends and literature: wrestling tournaments, brutal in many respects, were besides the peak of the first Olympic Games.

During the Middle Ages, wrestling remained popular and profited from the patronage of many royal houses, particularly those of England (and France).

At the time of the interview of the “Field of the Cloth of Gold “in 1520, the king of England Henry VIII took along Cornish wrestlers and made them confront Frenchmen.

The Englishmen were victorious, because Francis I had not had Breton ones to oppose to them, but the king of France did more than to save the honor by beating himself Henry VIII.

There exist three great styles of wrestling, the freestyle wrestling, the Greco-Roman wrestling and the Celtic wrestling. But apart from the various regional wrestling (schwingen in Switzerland, gouren in Brittany, glima in Iceland…), two styles of wrestling only are practiced at Olympic and international sporting level: the freestyle wrestling and the wrestling known as Greco-Roman. These wresting, expression of a rich heritage, bear in them part of the roots of Europe. In 1455, when the duke of Brittany, Peter II went to greet the king (in Bourges), he was accompanied by a group of famous wrestlers: Olivier of Rostrenen, Guion of Kerguivis, Olivier of Kenec'hriou. The bouts they fought impassioned the court which was filled with enthusiasm in front of the prowess of these champions.

It is our responsibility to give again to them, or to contribute to giving again to them, a popular audience.

FREESTYLE WRESTLING.

In freestyle wrestling, victory comes down to the wrestler having floored his opponent by making his shoulders touch the ground. This discipline allows a variety of holds larger than in Celtic or Greco-Roman wrestling, athletes being authorized to use the totality of the body. In freestyle wrestling, it is indeed allowed to hold the legs of his opponent, to perform trips, or to use his legs actively.

Wrestling tournaments, of a rare brutality, true preparations for war, were the height of the ancient Greek Olympic Games. Wrestling appears in the program of the seventeenth Games (seven hundred years before our era). During the trial wrestlers were to be sometimes opposed to various adversaries. Euribote was the first Olympic winner.

In the order of the program of the first Games, wrestling was classified in fourths position, behind chariot races, pentathlon and armed race.

Boxing took its place in the program of the XXIII Olympic Games, and pankration in the program of the XXXIII. Boxing was a fistfight. Pankration was a fight getting from wrestling and boxing at the same time.

The inhabitants of the Western parts of the Roman Empire took out many borrowings from this type of wrestling, by more or less attenuating its brutality, but by adding nothing new to it. What produced a new form of wrestling having no longer something Greco-Roman but the name.

“GRECO-ROMAN“ WRESTLING.

Which in reality has of Greco-Roman only its name since the wrestling of Greco-Roman Antiquity was related rather with freestyle wrestling, i.e., was mus much brutal.

Flat hand wrestling or loucho a bono man or Loucho de la centuro en aut of John Exbrayat, is a wrestling called thus because of the starting position of wrestlers which consisted in sticking one’s hands in these of his opponent, and prohibited leg locks. Wrestlers must do themselves fall by using only upper part of their body. The fact of not comprising holds below the belt also distinguished it from freestyle wrestling resulting in a direct continuation from Greek Antiquity.

Thereafter this wrestling of Provence was called French wrestling, then Roman wrestling, before being finally called Greco-Roman wrestling, rather wrongly as we saw.

In this new Greco-Roman wrestling, it is categorically prohibited to grasp the opponent below the belt, the use of one's legs being prohibited, to make trips or stumbles with one's foot; or to actively use one’s legs in the performing of every action. The tackles are also prohibited.

Wrestlers begin their bout in standing position, and they try, either to floor their opponent, or to use various holds to make him fall.

It is a veteran of the Napoleonic Wars called Exbrayat, who, about 1845, spread a form of grascar lamh wrestling also known as “ flat hand “ to distinguish it from the other combat sports (boxing, kickboxing).

CELTIC WRESTLING (CORAIOCHT).

Preliminary reminder.

According to the text in old Irish of the Book of Leinster, wrestling was a part of the Tailteann Games celebrated at the time of the Irish Lugnasade (according to certain authors from the year 1829 before our era to + 557). We owe perhaps to Lug himself the bringing of it, considering some of his favorite positions at the time of the battle on the plain of the mounds or standing stones (on one foot, etc.).

Editor's note. The date of - 1829 is, of course, whimsical, Lug being a character at best meta-historical.

As such, in Ireland, this form of wrestling no longer exists. It was replaced by sports like hurling or Gaelic football.

Hurling is played with a small leather ball called sliothar and a wooden stick called hurley or caman. Each team is made up of 15 players: a goalkeeper, six defenders, two midfield players and six strikers. The field is identical to that of Gaelic football: 137 meters long and 82 meters wide, with goal posts resembling these of rugby, except for nets under the crossbar. Teams score points either by sending the ball with the hurley between the posts and above the bar (what earns a point); either by sending the ball with the hurley between the posts under the bar and in the nets (what earns three points). Players do not have the right to pick the sliothar directly off the ground, they must use the end of their foot or the hurley. It is prohibited to go more than four steps with the ball in the hand. By contrast, the solo run (the player runs with the ball on the hurley) is authorized. The hurling is a contact sport : the player is allowed to tackle shoulder to shoulder, but using his elbow or his hip is prohibited. Passes are done with his foot, his hurley or his hand. The players must keep a foot on the ground when they try to intercept a ball. The offside rule being not existent, the ability of throwing the sliothar on long distances is a decisive asset. Seven referees make the rules be respected: a central referee, two line-out referees and four goal referees. The play is of a terrifying speed, it needs a very high technical skill and much physical power!

Gaelic Football. Approximately some hurling but without hurley. The play opposes two teams made up of 15 players: a goalkeeper, six defenders, two midfield players and six strikers. Each team can carry out up to three replacements a match. The games are played in two half-time and last 60 or 70 minutes, according to the tournament. The field is identical to that of hurling: 137 meters long and 82 meters wide.

The goals resemble those of rugby, except for nets under the crossbar, where the goalkeeper is. The objective of the play is to put the ball, either between the posts and under the crossbar into the nets (what is equivalent to a goal, that is to say three points); or between the posts and above the crossbar (a point). The rules are a little complex. Great principles: when a player has the ball, he can keep it in his hands only on four consecutive steps. Then he must make a dribble or perform a toe tap, which consists in bouncing the ball on his foot and send it back into his own hands. He is allowed then again to go four steps, and so on. Of course, he is also allowed to make a pass, with his foot or his hand: in this last case, the ball should not be thrown, but propelled, a little in the manner of the forearm pass in volleyball. When the ball is on the ground, it is prohibited to pick it directly off the ground ; it is necessary to perform a movement which consists in taking off the ball with one's foot from the ground. To dispossess an adversary from the ball, you must strike the ball and not snatch it. Shoulder against shoulder contacts are authorized. The kicks (speachoireacht/speachadh) also.

MODERN CELTIC WRESTLING.

Wrestling game with holds, Celtic wrestling opposes two individuals. Dominant action: to push, draw, fall, lift, hold. From standing position, each wrestler tries to make his opponent fall on his back without buttocks, what gives victory immediately. There is therefore no fight on the ground. However, if the fall is not perfect and that the wrestler fell on his knees even on the side, or lost one’s grip, etc. the result is taken into account, but it is still necessary to win two other rounds. The wrestler who, first one, touches the ground, is therefore the loser. After each fall, wrestlers must shake their hands. Every action performed or carried outside the ring is prohibited. Blows and brutalities are prohibited.

Ireland. The style “collar and elbow “ has its name from the starting position of wrestlers. Standing upright head against head, a hand behind the neck of the opponent and the other behind his elbow.

This starting position makes by definition impossible frontal charges, but gives free rein to many more technical holds.

Scotland (Cumberland and Westmorland). In this type of wrestling, victory is won by a particular fall which matches lamm in Breton gouren. The objective being to make his opponent fall on his back, a hold in the back (“backhold “) is equal one point when a wrestler is thrown down on his back, and three or four supports (shoulders, scapulas, etc.).

According to tradition, this type of wrestling would have been imported from Ireland. What is sure in any case it is this game is witnessed at the time of Malcolm Canmore in 1054, and was very valued there until the battle of Culloden.

Tournaments of this kind took place in Grassmere from 1656 to 1948.

This style of wrestling, which is practiced standing upright, requires much strength. The opponents grasp themselves with their arms, one over the shoulder, the other under, with united hands. If one of the men loses his grip, except when he makes his opponent fall, he loses a point. Each fall, even on one knee, earns a point.

Three points make the game won.

Cornwall and Devon. In England first references to wrestling date back to the 12th century. An anecdote reports that, during Norman invasions, it became obligatory for young people of Saxon nobility to be devoted to this exercise.

In Cornwall itself, many texts witness the popularity of this wrestling.

Thomas Parkyns of the area of Nottingham devoted in 1714, a whole work to wrestling in Great Britain, of which a part is reserved for Cornish style. This enthusiast of wrestling organized “professional “ meetings between the champions of the various counties. This form of tournaments was taken over later, at the beginning of the 19th century, for the first great tournaments of “boxing “.

In Cornish wrestling victory is won by a “back “ which matches the Scottish “backhold “ as the Breton “lamm “ or by some points.

The goal being to make his opponent fall on his back, there is “back “when a wrestler is thrown backwards and falls on three or four supports (example: both his buttocks and a shoulder), a support is worth a point, two supports are worth two points.

Brittany. Gouren and Cornish wrestling (of Great Britain) are very similar styles.

It is a wrestling standing upright and dressed, blows and leg locks with one's hands are prohibited, victory is won when the two shoulders of the opponent touch the floor.

First references to this form of wrestling appear in the 14th century. Multiple texts mention the existence of tournaments. Here the definition that Louis Le Pelletier gives in his Breton language

dictionary of 1716. Gourenn or gouren, wrestling, bout, one against one, without any weapon and striking… The Breton ones say while challenging somebody to the wrestling, “deut d’a gouren “, “come to wrestle “or let’s wrestle “… Our Bretons don’t think to have overcome their opponent if they did not lift him in the air and make him fall on his back, so that both his shoulders touch the ground.

Organization of tournaments makes it possible that everybody wrestles. For the entertainment or for little prizes, teenagers or seniors wrestle, in every case, for fun. Some also announce the participation of women to this wrestling.

The revival of gouren in Brittany is related to the Breton bardic revival. Within this movement indeed a certain Charles Cotonnec, surgeon in Quimperle, campaigned. At the time of Gorsedd (druidic congress) in 1927 at Riec-sur-Belon, he met a Cornish counterpart, William Tregonning Hooper, who was secretary of Cornwall County Wrestling Association. The two men, driven by the same ideal and passion, set up during the following year, in 1928, at the park of Kerisole in Quimperlé, a great Interceltic tournament opposing Breton wrestlers to Cornish wrestlers.

BRETON DRUIDISM.

This neo-druidic line is perhaps dissidence of that of John Toland (1717). Less philosophy or pantheism, more poetry and literature. It dates back in any event undoubtedly to the Welshman Iolo Morgannwg and the congress held at Primrose Hill in 1792. The sources of Iolo are not sure [and it is indeed here the least we can say]. It is certain indeed that he invented much of them (what our English friends call “forgeries “). But nevertheless Welsh bardism was still a reality at the time, traces of it are found during previous centuries, even if they are elements re-examined and corrected from a Christian point of view.

Hersart de la Villemarque was admitted to the Welsh Gorsedd in 1838, and back in France founded a thought society tending to constitute, in Brittany, the equivalent of the aforesaid Welsh Gorsedd. A Breuriez ar Varzed, to which the Archdruid of Wales had given his approval. But the association did not have a very long life, and the death of la Villemarque, in 1895, put an end to it.

In 1899, a Welsh bard from Cardiff came to Paris, to ask Yann ab Gwilherm for being present at the bardic ceremonies and Eisteddfod which was to be held in his city. Three people were at the origin of this step. The Reverend Hayde, a Jesuit of Irish origin who lived in Cardiff, the bearer of the sword of the Welsh Gorsedd, Cochfarf, and a Breton, Edmond Fournier d’Albe, who had founded in Dublin the Celtic Association, and campaigned for Pan-Celtism.

The representatives of Brittany, twenty-two, were therefore admitted as members of the Gorsedd on a purely honorary basis. A sword divided in two pieces was made for the circumstance: each country was to preserve a part of it. The ceremony was organized by the herald bard of Wales and Yann ab Gwilherm.

At the end of 1899 in Vannes a meeting of the Breton Regionalistic Union took place, where the bards made for the first time the union of the two halves of this sword. In September of the year 1900, these bards came in Guingamp for the festivals of the Celtic Congress. At the outcome of the festivities, they gathered in the Hotel of the widow Falc' her, on the road of Callao. The Gorsedd then was actually established and structured.

Were appointed druids: Yann ab Gwilherm, Fanch Vallee, Abherve and Erwan Berthou (Alc' houeder Treger). Arouezvarz: Taldir. Bearer of the banner: Mab an Argoat. Bearer of the calling Horn (Korn boud): Abalor. Bearer of the drinking horn (Korn eva): Karevro. Bearer of mistletoe: ar Barz Melen.

As Taldir himself admit it, none of them then knew exactly in which direction they were going to work. The decisions taken on that day, annual ceremony and wearing of the sagum only at the time of the rituals, remained nevertheless until our days. As for the way to be followed, Taldir pinpoints a delicate subject, which will explain a certain number of problems in the Gorsedd later on.

September 26, 1900, Archdruide Hwfa Mon signed the recognition of the Gorsedd of Brittany by the Gorsedd of Wales. Here: “Gorsedd Beirdd Ynis Prydain at Gorsedd Beirdd Gorynys Llydaw. Y mae Gorsedd Beirdd Ynys Prydain yn addaw rhoddi ci nawddogaeth i Gorsedd beirdd Gorynys Llydaw, ar yr amrodd iddi ufuddhau in hall reolau. Hwfa Môn, Er Archderwydd. Cadvan, Dirprwyfardd yr Gorsedd. Llangollen, Medi, 20, 1900 “.

“The Gorsedd of the bards of the island of Britain to the Gorsedd of the bards of the peninsula of Brittany. The Gorsedd of the bards of the island of Britain agrees to give its approval to the Gorsedd of the bards of the peninsula of Brittany , on the condition it obeys all its rules. Hwfa Mon, Archdruide. Cadvan, secretary bard of the Gorsedd. Llangollen, September 20, 1900 “.

The bards of Armorica, without very well knowing it, received thus a heavy legacy. Not only they received the tradition of the Gorsedd of Wales and of the Welsh bardism, but they also obviously bore the history of Breton bardism. But nothing was said at least on a question . What was the meaning of this druidry, lately reconstructed? Was it necessary to see in it the revival of a resolutely non-Christian belief, or an appendix of Christianity?

The first two high druids, Lemenik and Kaledvoulc'h, wanted obviously to find the trace, come to us, of the ancient druidry and, in any case, placed themselves in a not Christian point of view, though tolerant with the religion of its members. On the other hand, Taldir was Christian and showed it as of the day when he was appointed assistant of the High-Druid in 1927. This Christian triumphalism

appeared in Gorsedd to the war, and these funny druids had even a chaplain, Dom Alexis, abbot of Boquen.

December 13, 1928, bard Erwan ar Stang, Barz Du, resigned for the following reasons. The separatists and the autonomists harm the bards (?), the French language (?) is not allowed in the ritual, and for this reason the resigner cannot take part, because he does not know sufficiently Breton language.

Eostig Sarzhaw somewhat backpedaled, but he preserved mass and prayer in the Gorsedd. His thought evolved nevertheless little by little away from Christianity, perhaps under the influence of Kalondan, who was a determined non-Christian, and a fervent partisan of the druidic former philosophy.

All really changed with Gwenc'hlan Le Scouezec (born in Plouescat on November 11, 1929).

Last mass was said during the Gorsedd of Douarnenez, even then, by a priest of the Celtic Church beside the Roman priest. The Gorsedd was entirely secularized , the freedom of thought was founded, the name of God removed from prayers and replaced by a time of silence, in order to make each one able to fit with one's belief.

Another problem arose that of the druidic tradition. It is obvious that a certain number of members of the Gorsedd did not know very well what was to be a high-knower of the druidiaction (druidecht). Most generally besides, in the first decades of the Gorsedd, it is rather spoken of bards and of College of bards. It is only little by little that the members understood that they were druids and bearers of a very rich tradition, which had come until them. There still, it is only with Gwenc'hlan Le Scouezec, and not immediately, that the awakening was done.

But let us come back to Doctor Charles Cotonnec. Encouraged by his first success, he therefore created with friends, in 1929, the society of wrestling and athletic sports in Cornouaille. This initiative was followed on March 30, 1930, by the creation of the Federation of the friends of wrestling and Breton athletic sports (FFWBAS).

The untimely death of Doctor Cotonnec prevented the rallying of all the festival committee-organizing tournaments. In 1963 a scission will even occur that of the BRUG (BRetons united for gouren), which will be then a member of the French federation of wrestling, to form its Brittany Committee, under the name of BAG (Bodadeg ar Gourenerien: federation of gouren wrestlers). FFWBAS and BAG will reunify on October 26, 1980, under the name of Federation of gouren.

GOUREN.

The new rules (inspired by Pierre de Coubertin) were the following ones.

- Regulation of the dress of wrestlers and of refereeing.

- Introduction of four categories of weight for adults.

- Regulation of bouts: possibility of winning by points, accounting of faults, limitation of the bout time (20 minutes).

Dress of wrestlers. Wrestlers are barefoot, in black trousers (bragou) and a shirt of wrestling. This shirt is made in strong raw linen bearing neither inscription nor drawing. It is cut for both sexes and has at the level of the waist (navel) a sufficiently loose belt (three or four centimeters), thick, and sewed outside, which is tied on the two sides.

It must be worn close to the body, but make a good hold possible, in the same way the sleeves, which must be sufficiently wide, their length arriving mid-biceps.

The bout area. By its flexibility and its thickness, it must obviously guarantee the safety of wrestlers during falls.

The square mat (pallenn) has a surface of at least 36 square meters. It is delimited by a protective strip one meter wide at least. This zone can be of the same consistency as the mat, without forming part of the bout surface.

On a hard ground, the floor will be delimited by an at least one meter wide protection zone, and an underlay of loose soil will be laid out under the sawdust. Any action performed or carried out outside the bout surface is prohibited.

The oito. Editor’s note. On the oath (the ritual), to see the chapter devoted to this subject.

Categories. At the time of each official tournament, wrestlers are divided according to age categories (under eleven, peewee, junior - 16, junior -18, junior -20, senior) and weight classes (featherweight, lightweight, welterweight, middleweight, heavyweight, super heavyweight).

At the time of championships and tournaments in room, wrestlers are called by categories, in order to lay out themselves for the oath.

At the time of open-air tournaments, wrestlers are called by categories in order to line up for the parade and to set up themselves also for the oath (oito).

The parade consists of a half-turn or a full turn round the area delimited by spectators.

Length of bouts. The maximum length of bout, even possibly of the extra time, depends on the age category of wrestlers. It is fixed as follows.

Seniors: seven minutes.

Juniors -20 : six minutes.

Juniors -18: five minutes.

Junior – 16: four minutes.

Peewee: three minutes.

Under eleven: three minutes.

The maximum length of extra time is half of the length of the bout.

In all the cases bout stops in the event of lamm, divrud (disqualification) or dilez (withdrawal), announced by referees.

Face to face, barefoot, the wrestlers take the oath. The two opponents shake their hands and embrace each other 3 times.

The bout begins on the signal of the referee.

[Removed then restored line, then removed again, by the heirs to Peter DeLaCrau. Tumultus gallicus: this signal of the referee consists of a carnyx or horn blast].

Gouren is practiced standing upright and in no case continues on the ground. The objective of all the attacks or counter-attacks is to get the particular fall called “lamm “ which is the fall on the two scapulas.

Or the kostin, which is a result close to the lamm.

The wrestlers grasp mutually their shirt above the belt with their hands.

They grasp their legs with their legs, the hand to hand , basic element of the fight, is supported by the shirt of fabric worn close to the body.

To support a hold, a wrestler can tackle round the waist of his opponent, on condition of not tightening abnormally. The trip is also a basic element of the bout, it is not however compulsory.

The support in the fall of the wrestler undergoing the hold is essential, the control of the throwing obligatory. By guiding the opponent on the floor during the fall, by the action of his arms, his legs or by the hand to hand, the striker refines the result while securing the safety of the tripped wrestler.

The wrestler must consequently attack, counter-attack, or let himself be attacked: the prolonged blocking of the fight is penalized.

The victory can be got by lamm, kostin, fazi, kein, diviz, kouezh, dilez, divrud.

Terminology.

LAMM (perfect fall). The lamm is the perfect result of a hold or counter hold. It is the fall on the back comprising the simultaneous touching the ground by both shoulders before any other part of the body and of the body of the opponent. The lamm is judged according to the real contact with the ground during the fall, and not according to the subjective beauty of the hold. It is important to look at which part of the body comes into contact first with the floor. Fall on the back then the nape then the head is equal a lamm. Fall on the head, or the nape then the head, is, according to cases, equal to netra or fazi.

KOSTIN (score point). The kostin is a result close to lamm.

- Fall on the back with a touching by only one shoulder.

- Fall on the back, with simultaneous touching by shoulders and buttocks.

- Lamm refused for a hand or an arm of the striker remained under a shoulder.

- Lamm refused to the striker for simultaneous fall with the attacked one.Kostin are counted up during the bout.

FAZI (fault).

The fazi are counted during the fight. The addition of two fazi produces the equivalent of a kosti for the opponent. Fazi prevails on kein.

KEIN (advantage). A kein is a result close to the kostin, the completion (on the back) of a hold.

- Fall on loins or on loins plus buttocks.

- Kostin refused to the striker for simultaneous fall with the attacked one.

- Kostin refused because of a foot touching the ground at the same time as the back.

The taking into account the scored kein intervenes in the decision only in the event of equality of kostin or fazi.

DIVIZ. If there is perfect equality of results after the extra-time, the winner can be designated by diviz according to the following criteria: technical control of the bout, of the holds, of the counter holds, etc.

The kouezh is subject to the same rules as the bout and the extra time. It is the last means to decide between the wrestlers if there is not unanimity for the diviz.

DILEZ (withdrawal). Determined by doctors or referees. In the event of accident, if its responsibility is ascribable to the opponent, this one can be disqualified.

DIVRUD (disqualification). Divrud punishes a serious breach of gouren rules.

BLOCKED-HANDS VARIANT.

Proceedings: the bout took place only standing upright. The wrestlers pass their arm around the trunk of their opponent in an identical way. Their hands are locked in their back, being held with their fingers like two hooks. The way of placing one's arms is the following one: each wrestler puts his chin on the right shoulder of his opponent, then passes his left arm under the right arm of the other wrestler. The right arm passes on the other side of the head of the opponent.

The wrestlers therefore put themselves in this position and must await, without moving, the signal of the referee, to begin. Legs can attack only the legs of the opponent. Once the bout began, wrestlers have the right to turn to put themselves on a side or other, in order to perform holds, from the moment when they keep , without undoing it even only one moment, the hook formed by their hands.

For any further information, contact the F.A.L.S.A.B.

12, rue de la Marne - 29260 LESNEVEN - BRITTANY - FRANCE - WORLD – PLANET EARTH.

Falsab.lesneven@wanadoo.fr.

GLIMA AND AXLATOK.

The arrival of many Irish (even Scottish?) prisoners ,captive people or slaves, in Iceland, during the tenth century, brought Celtic wrestling into the island.

Glima = joy and satisfaction (also called buxnatok: hold in pants).

The most immediately discernible characteristic of modern Glima is that today participants wear very special leather belts. These have a main belt around the waist, and other straps at mid-thigh on each leg, which are connected to the main belt with vertical leather harnesses. The reason for why belts are worn today is that they replace the wearing heavy pants and jackets in the past. The belt also gives something to grab, and it is suitable for all competitors. These belts therefore make specific holds possible. Let us also point out that the left hip and right thigh are two places where an opponent's sword or dagger would have been kept in the old days. To put your left hand on the right thigh of your opponent and your right hand on his left hip thus made you able to neutralize them.

The four key points, without which therefore you don't have true Glima:

The hand grabs the opponent's strap located at the top of his thigh.

The upright position of the opponents.

The circular movement of wrestlers called Stigandi (a kind of waltz).

Various throws done with legs, hips, and feet.

A freer variant of glima is called axlatok in Iceland ( = fall on the back, lamm in Breton language) or livtagsglima in Sweden. It is more a test of strength than a mastering certain techniques. Axlatok is also practiced standing upright, but in this case wrestlers grasp each other's upper body instead of special belts. Wrestlers tighten their arms on the back of their opponent at the height of his shoulder. Then while clockwise turning, they try to throw their opponent on the floor by performing holds and feints. Making one's opponent touch the ground with part of his body other than his feet, of course, is considered as a victory.

A third form of glima, lausataksglíma, is still freer and more violent. It is often taught as a form of self-defense in Scandinavian countries, but is rarely practiced in Iceland….

The two wrestlers enter the combat area on applause of spectators. The surface is generally a smooth floor. Each wrestler then grasps with his right hand the belt of the other, and with his left one, seizes the strap of the right thigh.

They hold themselves thus at close quarters, while looking over the right shoulder of the other. Their legs are a little drawn aside , their right foot is a little ahead. Having taken their guard position, they turn clockwise and, when the signal is given [Removed then restored line, then removed again, by the heirs to Peter DeLaCrau. Tumultus gallicus: the signal of the referee consists in a carnyx or horn blast] ; they begin to fight in order to try to make their opponent fall on the ground.

The objective is to make him fall, either on a part of his body above the knee, or above the elbow, or backwards on both his hands.

These falls constitute the result (bylta). Each bout lasts two minutes. There are eight main holds (brögd).

Each one can be performed in different manners, what makes approximately fifty variants in all. Each hold has its parry and its response. These main techniques are therefore the following ones. 1. Leggjabragd. 2. Krækja. 3. Hnehnykkur. 4. Hælkrokur. 5. Snidglima. 6. Snidglíma a lofti. 7. Mjadmahnykkur. 8. Klofbragd.

SELF-DEFENSE. FEINCHOSAINT.

KICK-BOXING.

(Dornàlaiocht * and Speachoireacht/Speachadh).

Kickboxing is known since most distant antiquity, including by women, according to the account already quoted, but it is always useful to point it out, of Ammianus Marcellinus (Roman History. Book XV, chapter XII, 1).

“ Nec enim eorum quemquam adhibita uxore rixantem, multo fortiore et glauca, peregrinorum ferre poterit globus, tum maxime cum illa inflata cervice suffrendens ponderansque niveas ulnas et vastas admixtis calcibus emittere coeperit pugnos ut catapultas tortilibus nervis excussas “.

“ They are of a lofty stature, fair, and of a ruddy complexion; terrible from the sternness of their eyes, very quarrelsome, and of great pride and insolence. A whole troop of foreigners would not be able to withstand a single continental Celt if he called his wife to his assistance, who is usually very strong when she is in a mad rage; especially when, swelling her neck, gnashing her teeth, and brandishing her sallow arms of enormous size, she begins to strike blows mingled with kicks, as if they were so many missiles sent from the string of a catapult“.

“Especially when, swelling her neck, she is in a mad rage....“. It seems well that it is a case of female....warlike fury !

As we already have had the opportunity to see , in the middle of the 18th century, there were two kick techniques: the “slipper,” very in honor in the background of the underworld in Marseilles, and the savate which was practiced more in North and particularly in Paris. Whereas, in the slipper, only feet are used, in savate, it is possible to strike with one's feet but also with open hands (flat hands). The savate is especially used by the Parisian hooligans, including a certain Michel Chasseux, who fixes the first rules of this sport and opens an establishment about 1820 in the suburb of La Courtille.

About 1830, Michel Lecour, after a punishing defeat against an “English “boxer, studies closely the techniques of the “English “boxing and, back in Paris, combines them with the kicks of savate and slipper. He opens an establishment where the celebrities of the time rush as well as the aristocracy (which always get on well with hooligans…). But the true “father “of the French boxing is Joseph Charlemont (born in 1839) which is initiated in this sport in 1860, and publishes the first technical book in 1877. He teaches his method particularly to his son, Charles, who wins, in 1899, the meeting organized against Jerry Driscoll.

French boxing is a great success at the beginning of the 20th century. It is taught in the army, the schools and the sporting societies. George Carpentier himself (who will become European champion of English boxing) begins his career in 1907 with French boxing. But facing professional combats of English boxing, French boxing, with its too amateur spirit, will quickly be forsaken. The war of 14-18 delivers to it a deadly blow through the disappearance of professors and of many practitioners also, alas! Between the two wars, it does not manage to resist the breaking wave of English boxing. In 1940, it has no longer but 500 practitioners. After Liberation (1945), the count Pierre Baruzy will try to give again life to it.

On March 23, 1985, the International federation of French Boxing Savate, which gathers eleven countries,is founded.

This revival and this internationalization of “French boxing “coincide, of course, with a passion for other disciplines of kickboxing. The French boxing Savate is practiced in an attack spirit similar to that of fencing. The blows nevertheless are really dealt in a tournament. The bouts took place according to rules close to these of English boxing for the general running of the fight.

Technique.

The kicks are these of savate. Six kinds: fouetté, revers, chassé, low kick and so on). They are allowed against the face, the chest and the legs.

Punches are taken from English boxing (straight, hook, uppercut and swing) and can be dealt only above the belt.

Dress.

Practitioners of French boxing wear a stirrup pants which covers their legs and their chest, but reveals their arms. He also wears gloves like these of English boxing and shoes tied behind ankle in order not to wound.

PUGILISM (Dornàlaiocht *).

Pugilism is one of the forms of man-to-man fight. It is characterized by the main use of fists and a remote fight, unlike the wrestling sports where opponents grasp themselves.

We found representations of combat fought barehanded dating back to the Sumerian civilization of the third thousand years before our era. Homer’s Iliad mentions a fight which would have taken place around - 1100, during the siege of Troy. Boxing appears nevertheless in the Olympic games only at the time of its 23rd occasion, in 688 before our era.

It is the winner of this occasion, Onomastus of Smyrna, who would have enacted the first fight rules. These trials were exclusively reserved for male nobility of the time. Fighters, sometimes completely naked, had both hands surrounded by a thin strap ten feet long, made of bull leather coated with grease (myrmex), sometimes ballasted with lead balls (cestus).

What increased the impact of blows and inflicted cruel wounds. Rolled up on the wrists as on the first phalanges of their hand, this thin strap did not prevent fighters from clenching their fists.

In this form, boxing will be one of the oldest disciplines of circus games, before the appearance of gladiators fights. It was with pankration and wrestling, one of the three martial arts practiced during ancient Olympic Games starting from this date.

Unlike modern boxing, fight was not divided in parts or periods quite distinct, it was slow and violent. Moreover, the meetings were not time limited and could finish only with withdrawal , or with the death, of one of the opponents. If the meeting were too long, a particular process was used to decide between the opponents: in turn, each of the two fighters dealt a blow to his adversary who did not have the right to parry it, nor even to move.

Romans took over this kind of fight, but seem to have reserved its practice to soldiers and to fights between prisoners (gladiators). They invented the sandbag, covered with metal plates the leather belts of gloves, and refined the dodging techniques.

Romans will be the first one to make a law on the subject. The one who agrees to take part in a fight of pugilism, then runs knowingly a risk,to be wounded, in the event of inevitable accidents linked to the practiced sport, he cannot therefore claim compensation.

Pygmachia was prohibited in 392 by the Christian emperor Theodosius I, at the same time as the Olympic Games themselves besides. These fights being prohibited, boxing will be practiced from now on clandestinely.

It reappears in England in the 17th century, as an article of the Protestant Mercury witnesses it, dated January 1681, and which reports a “meeting “between the butler and the butcher of the duke of Albermarle. Modern “boxing “ shows its… fist. Aristocrats, made idle, are impassioned by this very profitable practice which enables them to settle their disputes via boxers, or to divert themselves while betting on clandestine “meetings of boxing “. English boxing appears in the 18th century, organized by bettors, according to the model of pugilism. The first boxer recognized as heavyweight champion was James Figg, in 1719.

The rules of the marquess of Queensberry, written in 1857, emphasized agility rather than strength. These new rules prohibited barehanded fight , hand-to-hand, choking, and blows when the opponent is on the floor or helpless. The meetings are divided into rounds three minutes long each one , spaced by a one-minute-long rest time. An opponent loses if he remains on the floor more than ten seconds, lying or on a knee. These rules also stipulate that meetings must take place on a 7,30 m square ring. The last champion of barehanded fought combats was John Lawrence Sullivan, on July 8,1889; the confrontation lasted 2 hours. While fighting with gloves according to Queensberry rules, Sullivan lost his championship of the world, on September 7,1892. The fights become faster and less brutal, what enables them to leave clandestinity. Amateur boxing entered Olympic Games in 1904. The amateur championships in Europe took place for the first time in 1924, in Paris, and the first world championships took place in Havana in 1974.

In amateur boxing, the meetings do not last more than three rounds, two or three minutes long each one. The opponent wear protections such as headgear.

* Editor’s note. The Gaelic term Dornàlaiocht is perhaps not exact. Irish boxing includes indeed also kicks in the tibiae. See the defensive exercises by Donald Walker in 1840.

THE DEFENSE SAVATE. SPEACHOIREACHT/SPEACHADH.

Savate is the only style of kickboxing in which fighters wear shoes.As far it is possible to go back into the past, the origins of the savate remain obscure and at the very least rather vague.

The word savate in any case takes its origin from the importance of kicks, very favored in this fight system; risen from the military techniques of the Middle Ages and developed in the street through centuries; very largely used by “brawlers “. These “brawls “were not limited, of course, to simple kicks, but also left the way open to eye gouging, and other headbutts… In spite of an attempt to systematize savate by opening of the first official establishment in 1825, under the leadership of Michel Casseux (1794-1869), savate remained regarded as being a discipline of louts and disreputable people.

At the same time, another system favoring even more foot techniques, was also practiced in the ports of North-West Italy and North-Eastern Spain: the “slipper” from Marseilles, called thus after the type of shoes the sailors wore, of which the origin is even more unknown than that of savate, and which almost disappeared nowadays. The “slipper” seemed to favor techniques higher than with savate, as well as a more frequent use of one's hands, but as a support on the floor for a better balance, because of the wet and slipping surfaces on which it was practiced.

It is difficult to trace the origins of savate and we cannot say with certainty whether it is the result of a mixture of style as Parisian fight and slipper from Marseilles... Nevertheless, his use and his effectiveness are noticed as of the second half of the 18th century, particularly in writing reporting the pugilistic feats of the legendary Francis Vidocq (1775-1857), former convict become police officer with methods as expeditious as frightening. Several masters in savate taught the art of kickboxing to the great characters of the time: aristocrats or writers. Particularly Theophile Gautier, who was an assiduous student of Louis Leboucher; or Alexander Dumas, who practiced at Master Charles Lecour.

In the years 1830, Lecour, then student of Michel Casseux, suffered a punishing defeat in front of the British pugilist Owen Swift. The boxing method being focused only on punches (without protection then) was regarded as noble by Englishmen, who scorned the unworthy way in which these “French commoners” fought“. Savate used lower limbs indeed, what involved an unquestionable disadvantage at the time of closer hand to hand.

With the development of the Savate-defense, we therefore attended a return to the roots of the art which is the v very cause of the savate, the historical kickboxing. Contrary to today Savate French kickboxing , the original savate did not have so many technical limitations, but advocated the effectiveness to be left from a bodily quarrel in the street. Eye gouging and other “blows below the belt “were the prerogative of this complete self-defense system.

An important work on the notion of the “distances “is made, by the use and the putting into practice of punches and kicks or of the contact techniques at six main distances.

- Weapons distance (short stick or long staff, knife).

- Leg distance (feet, tibiae, knees).

- Arm distance (fists, fingers, forearm, elbow).

- Body distance (shoulders, hips).

- Hand to hand distance ( throwing, articular twists).

Modern defense savate reuses all the technical range of “traditional “ kickboxing to which is added a set of “enough forgotten “ kicks or punches; that are found in the former authors of the 19th and of the beginnings of the 20th century; or of completely new techniques (compared to traditional tournament savate). N.B. Special shoes are worn during practice and bouts.

For example.

Fouetté ( circular kick kicked with one's tiptoe), low, medium or on the face.

Chassé. Side or front kick, high , low,medium, or on the face.

Revers (frontal or lateral, circular kick kicked with the sole of one's foot), high, medium , or low .

Coup de pied bas ( front or lateral kick kicked in the leg, below the knee, with the inner edge of the foot but performed with a clear backwards movement of your chest).

Direct bras avant (straight with your arm forward).

Direct bras arrière (straight with your arm hold back).

Crochet (hook).

Etc.

Modern savate defense like former “Parisian fight “ focuses on the trick of fight and other throwing or simple articular locks.

It also innovates in many fields by proposing “exceptional” situations, what forces us to use techniques or principles, nonstandard in academic savate. Floor defense or defense on one’s knees, use of a jacket or of a coat as a means of defense, is particularly studied in it.

In a deliberate dynamic and play educational form, it considers defense against the face, side, or back attacks… or in typical situations (in sitting position , in a corridor, against several opponents, etc.).

A modern discipline , it has its roots in the old savate of the Parisian “street fights “at the beginning of the 20th century, enriched with concepts, principles, and techniques, adapted to our 21st century… An alliance of the old and the modern one, all in all!

Despite its roots, savate is a relatively safe sport to learn. According to USA Savate, "savate ranks lower in number of injuries when compared to American football baseball and ice hockey.”

Today, savate is practiced all over the world : from Australia to the USA and from Finland to Great Britain. Many countries (including the United States) have national federations devoted to promoting savate.

Modern savate has three levels of tournaments: assault, pre-combat and combat. Assault requires competitors to focus on their technique when they touch their opponent; referees decreeing penalties for the use of excessive strength. Pre-combat allows full-strength so long as fighters wear protective gear such as headgear and shin guards, etc. Combat, most intense level, is the same as pre-combat, but without protective gear other than groin protection and mouth guards.

Many martial arts have ranking systems, such as belt colors. Savate uses glove colors to indicate a fighter's level of mastery. Novices begin with no color.

www.savatekickboxing.ca club of Montreal. Canada.

THE CLESSA (cliss in Ireland)

OR HANDLING OF WEAPONS.

William Sayers of the University of Toronto published in 1983 in the Canadian journal of Irish studies

a very interesting but, alas, much too short, study, on the various techniques of martial art practiced by the Hesus Cuchulainn.

The Gaelic word to designate these various techniques of martial art is cles which is usually conveyed by “feat” “artful “thrust” or “trick.”

The problem is that we have in fact generally only a name and no explanation nor no detail enabling us to know more.

Torandchless cét, torandchles dá cét. Thunder of one hundred, two hundred, etc.We are busy speculating about the exact meaning of these Gaelic expressions, for example. The great French specialist at the end of the 19th century and the beginning of 20th, d’Arbois de Jubainville, thinks that it evokes the chariot warrior striking his shield with his spear in order to make noise, more and more resounding, as much as a hundred men brought together, as two hundred, and so on….Before charging.

The electronic dictionary of the Irish language also reports that cleisín/clesán can be the name of the weapon with which these feints or these thrusts are performed.

Ubullchless: apple feat. Perhaps it is quite simply juggling with apples. Unless “apple” is the name given to some weapons (some sling bullet?)

Faeborcless: stroke with the edge of the sword.

Fáencless: horizontally held shield feat.

Cless cletenach: javelin feat (perhaps consisting in avoiding javelins oncoming in one’s direction. While leaping over???)

Tétcless; (jump?) rope feat .

Corpchless: body feat ?

Cless caitt: cat feat (a technique kind kalari payattu?)

Ich n-erred: salmon leap (another technique kind kalari payattu ?)

Cor ndeled: cast of a stick.

Léim dar néib: hurdling. Show jumping.

Filliud erred nair: bending of the valiant hero.

Baí brasse: quickness feat ?

Rothchless: wheel feat.

Ochtacless: eight men feat (to kill eight men out of nine with only one blow of the sword??? One of the many prowesses of the Hesus Cuchulainn).

Cless for análaib: overbreath feat.

Bruud gine: sword blow which causes only a bruise (dealt with the flat of the blade therefore, a little in the way of Joan of Arc).

Sian caurad: the hero’s war cry.

Beim co commus; well-measured blow.

Táithbéim: the return stroke. A blow dealt with the flat of the sword in order to only knock.

There exist other techniques mentioned in the episode of the fight against the son of Scathache called Cuar, or elsewhere. Here their names in Gaelic language.

Foerclius. Never heard of it . Unless it is the debasement of another Gaelic word (faeborcless ?)

Fáithbheím? Perhaps a change of taithbheim, which would then mean approximately “return stroke.”

Leím tar neimh: the hurdling or jump of obstacles. It is perhaps a change of léim dar néib.

Fuamchleas: the noise feat.

Cét- chaithchleas: hundred-battle feat.

Fotalbeim or Foibhéim: the under-blow.

Faebarbeim: the edge blow?

Muadalbeim: the middle stroke according to Windisch.

N.B. The artful thrust of Catt (cleas Cait) which will be mentioned further about Scathache is perhaps not another thing than the cat feat (cless caitt) already mentioned above.

The screw feat or cles cuair which will be mentioned in the feast of Bricriu (fled Bricrend) is perhaps also to put in connection with the son of Scathache called Cuar (play on words??) It seems anyway distinguished from the wheel feat = roth cles.

The following technique is also mentioned in the feast of Bricriu (fled Bricrend): the ghost- (or spIrit-) feat (siaburcles). As well as the swooping feat (forumcliss). Without it is known, for as much, very exactly, what it was.

The feat of eight waters (cleas ocht uisgé) which will also be mentioned further, also makes us think of the eight men feat already mentioned above but…

Finally, let us remark the Hesus Cuchulainn is able to cut away the sod (fotalbeim) from under Etarcumul’s feet then to cut him while giving him an edge blow with his sword (fáebarbeim), while shearing his hair from poll to forehead and from ear to ear, as if he had tonsured him with one razor shave and without drawing a drop of blood.

Perhaps it would be necessary to look also what Arrian says in his handbook about the training of the Roman cavalry (we think here of the stick cast or cor ndeled).

To be noticed lastly, in all these lists two names of weapons and not of techniques appear, gae bulg or lightning-spear (perhaps a spear with a barbed head) as well as carbad serrdhai: a chariot equipped with scythes.

Bearing in mind the prowess called: “Fonaidm niadh for rinnib sleg”: hero's twisting round the heads of spears. Perhaps some Scottish Highland dances of the kind sword dance or dance of the shield (targe).

And lastly: dréim fri fogaist co ndirgiud crette fora rind co fornadmaim niad náir. The valiant champion who mounts on a spear and straightens his body on its point (Diarmat, in the story of his adventures with Grannia/Grainne, performs perhaps the same feat).

It can also be deduced from the episode of the wrestling between Fraech and our hero (Aided Fraích) reported by the version of the rustling of the cattle of Cualnge, in the Lebor Na hUidre or Book of the dun cow (recension I), that the Hesus Cuchulainn was a specialist in a type of wrestling (imtrascrad) like that which is found as far as Brittany and known as Gourenn and as far as Iceland and known as Glima.

To return more precisely on our subject, one loses oneself in conjectures about the true nature of these training techniques, particularly the first one. Even if it is the ancestor of bagpipes (what is not very probable), it is unquestionably an exercise intended to control one's breath.

The portrait which is then painted to us of the daughter of Domnall, Dornolla (what means “who has big fists”) is, of course, characteristic of the tales intended to make audience laugh. In it Dornolla resembles rather a Frankenstein’s style creature and truly Aemer would not have had any reason to be jealous of her.

This is what other versions say, that...A piece of evidence if it were necessary that all these stories about our young lord of Muirthemne (as Augusta Gregory would say) are a hodgepodge of various legends, made by some Irish bards and that is well felt in our story. Ah these blasted Irish bards! Although, in a sense, we do exactly the same thing as them with this work.

!----------------------- --------------------------------- !

As we already have had the opportunity to say it about Bodhidharma, but it is not useless to repeat it, since repetere =ars docendi; druidic martial arts are a set of body and psychic exercises directed towards the getting of a spiritual “asset “. They are also alchemy, since they propose to transmute

individuals in order to enable them to leave a world increasingly more transitory, and this to reach the main thing: the harmony to be oneself, the harmony with one’s destiny.

The objective of such a practice of clessa and riastrades is to drive out the clouds of our illusory perceptions and to install there in their place the natural purity of our being. It is not a question to continue a daydream while dawdling in an enchanting heaven cut off from reality, as in the meditation, sitting in Hornunnos manner beneath an oak; it is a question of discover again the framework of our being and of the phenomenal world which surrounds us. The objective is not to escape reality, but to see it such as it is. However that never consists in cutting oneself from others. Hence sometimes combat and confrontation.

Two-edged swords and claymores are only tools in such a design of martial arts. To place higher would be a mistake. At all events, to train one’s body thus sharpens the possibility of believing in oneself and in the same time,helps the search for higher personal ideals (quest for the grail).

Today, two-edged swords and claymores are at rest, but their soul or their spirit remains long-lived. Clessa develop our awareness to be in action. What has as a result to reveal our major emotions, as our mental deficiencies … an art to empty one’s mind and to make it a blank page is a dangerous ground where each one must be vigilant. Meditation methods are varied we have said. “Meditation “sitting in Hornunnos manner beneath an oak, riastrades and clessa, make possible for practitioners, introspection and research inside themselves, in order to discover the divinity which is in us. That involves perseverance, and repetition of the drill. The core of this art is based on the respect of others and on the self-control facing one’s emotions (“saya no uchi “the saber in the saya, people said in the land of the rising sun). It is what the Lucterios in the Continent or the Irish Fenians had well understood.

BATAIREACHT. STICK

(BATA IN GAELIC LANGUAGE).

The staff is heavier than the cane of combat , it is held with both hands. The sticks used must be at the same time flexible and resistant, and be, in their butt end, of a diameter not exceeding two centimeters and half. The length of the stick must be proportional to the size of the student, and such as this stick, placed on the ground and held vertically, reaches the tip of his nose. As soon as man collected or broke a branch of a tree, staff appeared. This natural object therefore immediately extended the arm of a man in his primitive uses and his utility practices (search for food, help for walking) as in his warlike practices (hunting, defense).

Become weapon, the stick quickly underwent adaptations, even transformations resulting in true war engines: club, bludgeon, lance, spear, javelin… Because of obvious reasons for saving and safety, the training of men to attack and defense was never done with true weapons; the handling staff was therefore always regarded as a precondition to the use of weapons. Many gestures we practice today with the cane of combat and with the staff, have their origin in these training practices, which evolved over centuries.

The Irish text of the 12th century reporting to us the battle of Ros Na Rig (a combat which almost took disastrous turn for the people of our good master the Hesus Cuchulainn because of the stupidity of his king) mentions staff fights and gives us some details, but very little.

At the end of the 12th, the Aberdeen bestiary shows an attack between a civilian armed with a fine stick and a shield, facing a kind of wyvern, while, in line, the Winchester Bible shows us a civilian attacking a bear. During the Middle Ages, legal duels with staff were authorized for all those who did not have a sword, undoubtedly by imitation of the duels which opposed from time to time certain lords. We find in any case trace in the iconography of such fights, although it is relatively rare before the 14th century.

My Parisian penfriends also signal me that in the Romance of Reynard, the duel opposing the fox precisely,to the wolf Isengrim, is performed with staff and shield. However both are high barons at the court of the king. It is therefore possible to venture from that, three hypotheses.

First assumption: the author did not want to give to his protagonists a sword, which would have been incongruous in the hands of animals, and not of true knights. By giving a weapon of commoner to Reynard and Isengrim, the author perhaps spares the class of noble persons which is already sufficiently hurt like that.

Second assumption:the author perhaps added here a level in the fights which were, up to that point, only performed with the natural weapons of animals.

Third assumption: there were duels between noblemen carried out with staff.

Cudgel is found indeed in the rules of legal duels through texts like that of Brantome in France at the end of the 16th century. However, Brantome underlines the strangeness of these weapons become obsolete to carry out a fight.

As regards cane of combat and staff , few technical sources exist before the 14th century. The first treatises date back to the end of the Middle Ages, time as from which the staff is often combined with the handling of the (two hands) sword. The very first work to deal with staff is that which was written by the German Hanko or Hans Dobringer in 1389. Dobringer was a student of the great lucterios (master) Lichtenauer, and his work would be a transcription of his precepts. The majority of the German lucterios (masters), until the 17th century, will be present themselves as heirs to the art of Lichtenauer.

In the 15th century, the Flos Duellatorum of the Italian Fiore dei Liberi, the Gladiatoria (an anonymous work) and the Ambras manuscript ascribed to the lucterios (master) Talhoffer (1459), show prints of fighters handling the stick (or the spear).

The second great fight treatise is a work thus entitled (in old French), “la noble science des joueurs d’espée, imprimé en la ville d’Anvers par moy, Guillaume Boisterman, demourant à la Lycorne d’or. L’an mil cinq cent et XXXVIII “.

In other words, translated in our language to us today: “The noble science of fencers, printed in Antwerp by Guillaume Boisterman, master printer housed in the gold Unicorn, year 1538 “.

Ten pages are devoted to the staff, but we can notice a strange resemblance between the illustrations and the text of this work, and that which is entitled (in German language) “Der Alten Fechter “. “Noble

Science “is perhaps quite simply a translation of the work of an Austrian called Andreas Pauernfeindt, who would also have simultaneously inspired, for his part, the author of “Der Alten Fechter “.

As a weapon, cane or staff, skillfully handled, remains second to none; a good staff practitioner makes light of swords, bayonets, lances; he has in fact to fear only firearms. A skillful man can give out , in fifteen seconds, up to eighty-two cane strokes.

The 19th century sees the precursors who stated the principles of the teaching of the cane of combat and of the staff emerge. The bases of these practices are partly related to these of the savate and of the fencing, because the lucterios (masters) also taught these disciplines in the same establishment. Little of them did formalize their teaching. However, two authors can be regarded as the founders of current practices: Charlemont and Leboucher. Larribeau, as for him, is the author of a teaching method which had a certain success at the time: it consisted in training students against a mannequin.

It is generally reckoned that the staff study must be previous to that of the cane de combat; the staff, training both arms with a relatively heavy shaft, would make the handling of a lighter shaft with only one already trained arm, easier; while if you wanted to start by practicing canne of combat initially, then staff, it would be necessary to train the non-practiced arm and to familiarize the other with the handling of a heavier tool.

These considerations are right; but it is important to work cane de combat in an exclusive way, after having finished the study of staff. The latter is, indeed, little thing compared with the study needed by the cane de combat, of which the handling requires many finer points, almost comparable with the handling of a sword. Moreover, whoever will be among the best in the canne of combat, will be able to beat staff practitioners easily.

This activity, even if it remained a long time confidential and little known by the general public, especially compared with its sister, the fencing, is also a true science of fight. It is taught jointly with the meetings of savate , and forms thus “the wood fencing “armed supplement of this “ feet and fists fencing “ which is the savate, in all its forms.

Basically, it is a question of tackling with an opponent according to courteous rules of assaults, from where every violence is excluded, even if tactics and technique used here are very dynamic, and movements very fast.

It is a question of learning how to handle or use with greatest ease, sticks of varied lengths (95 cm, 140 cm…) in the logic of confrontation; either codified according to the rules of tournaments , or in much freer way, according to the more traditional view of the practice.

There exist various regional variants of sticks. Pen Baz (Brittany), Makhila (Basque Country), Pal y Basto, (Portugal), Provence staff, English staff (quarterstaff), Irish staff (bata is the Gaelic word for stick). Since bushes of blackthorn are very common in Ireland, batas are therefore frequently made from blackthorn in this country, but some of them also exists in ash,holly and oak trees. The staff is then called shillelagh, from the name of the forest of Shillelagh close to Arklow, in the County Wicklow. A forest very famous for the quality of its oak trees. The bata is made from a branch or the trunk of a shrub and of its root, of which the bulb is used then as the pommel, and which can be hollowed then filled with molten lead. The bark is left in place, but branches are cut very short and matching the “knots “carefully left in place: they make bata more dangerous. The length of these bata can vary according to the size of its user. Approximately the length matching what is gotten by stretching both arms, increased with about ten centimeters.

The shillelagh or bata is not held by one of its ends, but a little below the middle of its length, and handled with the wrist rather than dealt with strength like a club. Most current method is to hold it with one hand, but it is also possible to hold it with both hands in the middle. The stick held at arm’s length is used to avoid the blows.

It is also possible to use two shorter sticks (Troid De Bata) one being used as shield.

In the 17th century, in Ireland, rival bands were formed according to various families or political affinities. Each band or party had a trainer called Maighistir Prionnsa or Fencing master, who trained it to the handling of the stick. The fights opposed sometimes hundreds or thousands of men and women (with stones). The last great battle was that which took place in the County Tipperary in 1887.

But the combats fought with blows of the stick were not always aggression. Some of them matched rather to personal settling of score. Most of the fights were not fatal and matched then challenges of sporting spirit, though keen.

John Barrington noticed in 1790, that the fights with shillelagh were like fencing exercises and by no means some brutality. Nobody leaves them disfigured or in a state requiring intervention of a doctor. He adds he never saw in them broken bones or very dangerous contusion due to the volley of stick blows ( the aforementioned staff never being too heavy).

To learn more about the Na Healaíonaí an Chogaidh Éireannach, see the Shillelagh university website and to practice contact Maxime Chouinard the group leader of Antrim Bata. Email address MaxDChouinard@gmail.com

The Provence staff : it is a relatively short wood stick, of a length varying according to the fighter (ranging generally from his feet to his shoulders). Its handling is very particular, because it is held with both hands vertically, one's thumbs face to face. Blows dealt with this weapon are circular, even semicircular, but ITS main interest remains the speed brought by the wood lightness. It is the first weapon a student learns how to handle when he begins, it makes possible to learn the bases of safety rules but also to increase flexibility in movements. However everything is not what it seems… a blow well placed on a nerve center, and you will not have time to complain : although made of wood, this stick is not less a weapon endowed with a frightening effectiveness. Once the squire had shown his dexterity in handling of the Provence stick, he may begin to learn how to handle a two-hand sword. And after having crossed victoriously this second phase, the new warrior will be able to therefore learn how to fight with the weapon he wishes, long swords, short swords, battle-axes, maces, flails, shields, dirks, lances, halberd, etc. But be careful, the use of some of these weapons requires additional protections (coat of mail, armors…)

French staff. The French staff inherited its technique from the practice of two hands sword, or of pole weapons. The piece of wood is rather large and must be held with both hands (length, approximately 1,40 meters and for the weight, between 450 and 500 grams).

To the six basic blows of a cane de combat (dealt this time with both hands on the same surfaces), “slide “ blows as well as “pricked” blows are added. Other blows are possible. It is better to avoid nevertheless dealing blows with slanted trajectories, they are trajectories dangerous and difficult to parry. Several practices assert the name of “French staff “. There is the practice inherited from Charlemont “the art of French Boxing and cane fencing “(1899); in which he speaks a little about the staff while specifying that the techniques are the same ones as these of the cane, but with both hands… Then, there is, of course, the method most used at the time: “The School of Joinville “. There, the teaching of the staff is really institutionalized, and forms one of the elements of teaching “gymnastics “.

The work of the weight “body + stick “is an essential component. The movements induced by the staff and the striking distances are also very important points in a thorough study of the staff handling.

In the same way, we work from now on techniques of handling of two sticks (troid de bata) at the same time.

Note 1. The stick is a permanent support against every bodily or spiritual, aggression. The pilgrim's staff (latin burdo) comprises two superimposed pommels, one at the end, another lower; thus dividing the upper part into two elements with different uses. One, on which the pilgrim puts his hand when he walks, the other to have a better support when he wants to stand still. Some have a third one. The three balls can then illustrate the Holy Trinity or any other sacred triad.

The shaft, the stick itself, is equipped, at its lowest end, with a small steel point. Provided with such an end, it takes at the same time after staff and lance.

Choice of material. Oak, which represents strength, wisdom, hospitality, justice. Ash, which power and immortality. Etc.

The burdo or Pilgrim’s staff therefore forms at the same time help for the walk and defensive weapon, against hostile animals and men; but it was in the beginning smaller than the walker, and with one pommel. The sermon “Veneranda dies,” integrated into the first book of the Codex Calixtinus defines its two main uses : to help walking “as a third foot,” and to defend pilgrims, concretely, “against wolves and dogs”; but also, at a symbolic level, against the traps of the devil, weapon of salvation through penitence, it becomes the “stick of hope - shoed with charity - covered with constancy - of love and chastity” in the Song of the Duty of Pilgrims.

To receive one’s pilgrim’s staff, it is to admit with humility one’s possible weaknesses.

Note 2. For the quarterstaff, see the teaching of the stick in the scout associations .

CANNE DE COMBAT.

When it is spoken about cane, it is a question of a 95 cm long shaft with a diameter of 1,5 cm for the tip and 1,8 cm for the butt. The cane is handled with one hand.

Choice of its wood. Common dogwood (a dense, knotty, very resistant,wood, used to make handles of tools); ash (light color, elastic and hard, used for the handles of pickaxes), holly (whitish, heavy and very hard), hazel tree (or cob tree, flexible and rather resistant), chestnut, a resistant wood, flexible, light, absorbing shocks very well)…

If you want a cane with a quite right shaft, it is necessary to use shoots of chestnuts. In supported chestnut groves, at the base of the stocks of cut trees, grow rectilinear shoots seeking to find the light above the canopy.

Wood must be in sap, because sap has an essential role in the forming and keeping in the form of the cane. Its harvest therefore takes place from the first buds until the end of the falling leaves. Supplementary stages. Adjustment to the size of its future user. In order to cut the cane at a good height, it is necessary to put the cane floor standing, handle down, and to cut the shaft at the level of the waist of its future owner. It is better to cut the cane much too long than much too small because it is easier to shorten it… than to lengthen it!

Installation of a ferule. For a cane often used, it can be useful to protect its end. The simplest way is to use a piece of copper, brass, or steel, tube-shaped, twelve millimeters long, and with a diameter matching the end of your cane. A hole bored four millimeters away from one of the two ends will make it possible to keep the ferrule in place with a small flathead or roundhead nail. The hooping is put in place after having thinned the end of the cane on eleven millimeters.

As from the 17th century, men began to carry their sword at the same time as well as a cane. Cane is nobler than the stick; you can hit with a stick your servant but with a cane your equal. The stick is coarse, the cane is refined.

In the rites of companionship, the various ways of holding his cane are rich in symbolic meanings. So, the cane, pride of a companion, is simultaneously a support during his journeys, a weapon, a measuring instrument, a symbol of knowledge and power.

Between 1818 and 1841, many battles opposed between them companions carrying out their “tour de France “and members of different “duties “.

The history of this sport is closely related to the savate and the use of a cane by middle-class men of the 19th century who could defend themselves with it. Some mastered hand-to-hand fight (wrestling), French or English boxing, with its work of feet or arms, and finally, for longer distance blows, cane with a pommel.

Between 1830 and 1920, it is the golden age of cane; this one remains a clothing object, inseparable from the dress of middle-class men and aristocrats, but it also becomes a weapon of personal defense.

The sword is no longer carried , but each one is provided with a cane; middle-class men carry it with a gold pommel, old men with a bec-de-corbin, and quarrelers, gangsters , with a lead ball able to stun a man.

Paris then has many boxing academies, in which professors taught savate boxing , but also cane de combat. It is clear that, on that basis, least handling based on twirls became particularly devastating. Not far from the famous Boulevard of the Crime * was found the sporting prowess of professional fighters who mastered wrestling, savate and cane, according to the distance. Some specialists were able to deal 80 strokes in less than fifteen seconds!

Cane is a weapon making it possible to practice a combat sport very rich in moves and rallying body muscles.

For this type of exercise, it is preferable to use relatively light canes (100 and 150 grams).

- Cane is held with only one hand, near its base

- Moves are performed with a great extension and especially a complete arm stretching.

- The starting position of a move is always that of “guard “: grasping defines the guard (example: right hand on the handle of your cane, slightly forwards right foot), your body facing an imaginary opponent.

Thus, each move of the cane will generate a transfer of weight, sometimes on the front leg, sometimes on the back leg (rebalancing of your body weight).

- Impact zones are located at the level of the head, the sides and the tibias, in this case, perform a forward or backwards lunge.

- Each move is performed without violence and strength on the impact surface. Before any session of handling, always to envisage a part for the general warm-up of the body, with a general strain putting on muscles , then a warm up of specific zones (your wrists by making whirls with your cane, passing of the cane in your back…)

During a training session, it is advised to use a metronome of which it will be possible to control the number of beats per minute.

Student begins with repetitive series of moves in order to familiarize himself with the weapon. The natural progression will be done by mixing the various moves, impact zones and by adding leaps, voltes …

In canne de combat there exists six moves: brise, lateral exterieur, lateral croise, croise tete, croise jambe and enleve.

“Brisé” : begins with a vertical twirl. The impact area is above the head. The right arm (for a right guard) produces a forward-rearward piston then forward to touch. The cane turns in the hand and makes a three-quarter rotation. It is important to make sure of the vertical trajectory of this stroke.

“Latéral extérieur” : is a blow with a horizontal twirl made above the head. The impact area is located on the sides of the opponent’s head. The stroke is armed when the tip of the cane is pointing towards your opponent. The cane is held above the head, with the right hand behind the axis of the shoulders.

For “latéral croisé,” the tip of the cane always points towards the opponent but the arm is crossed in front of the face. For the “latéral extérieur” and the “latéral croisé,” you can touch the right or left side of the opponent’s head, the sides, or the tibias by lunging.

“Croisé tête” is made with the tensed arm making a left circle to the head of one’s opponent.

“Croisé jambe” is the same stroke but aimed at the opponent’s tibia.

Lastly, the “enlevé” is performed with a reverse whirl to the opponent’s tibias.

It is important to set for oneself various sequences to do non-stop while always preserving the same rhythm, and while taking care to respect all the points above.

The first series will include all the moves described above, they must be carried out during at least 30 to 45 seconds. The complete session will last between 10 and 15 minutes.

The session will end by stretching arms and shoulders with a return to a state of calm of 5 to 10 minutes.

This type of exercise, by its intensity as by the variety of its moves, makes it possible to approach the handling of the cane through an atypical sporting and cardiac rhythmic .

Today, we can distinguish several practices of cane de combat: the tournament cane of combat, the self-defense (especially the “Lafond “ method and the “artistic “cane). This practice, very codified, found its place in a society which evolved since Cuchulainn's Fir Fer and the four basic rules of Dli Sail-Eille. Respect of opponents, of bodily integrity, controlled blows, securing parries, control of weapons in space…

In its form intended for tournaments , they are assaults, twice 3 minutes at most, in which the two “cannists “ must score most possible points. The assault takes place in a 9 m diameter circle. Displacements play a very important part.

As we have had already the opportunity to see it, there exist only six blows which must be, armed (hand behind the line of shoulders) then performed with a complete arm stretching; hit with the higher quarter of the cane; directed on one of the three impact areas (head, sides and tibia).

The blows are dealt right or left guard. The grasp defines the guard, because cane is held with one hand.

The various blows are performed non-stop, of course, and make it possible to create many combinations (voltes, change of guard, alternation of impact area…)

Their characteristic is that there is a rotation of cane systematically in each case.

That makes it possible to get a high speed of the impact. The goal not being to hit strongly , but rather to touch the strike area . This sport is very complete, with a quick apprenticeship, and especially, accessible to children!

The tournament of canne de combat, and of staves, are generally disciplines combined with savate , but can also be taught by specialized sporting associations.

* “Boulevard of the Crime” is the nickname given during the 19th century to the boulevard du Temple in Paris, because of the many crimes which were represented each evening in the melodramas of its theaters.

FENCING.

History of fencing merges with that of hand and tool. Bodily inferior to animals which all are practically endowed by nature with a natural means of defense (horn, claws, nozzle, jaws, pincers, tusks, hooves, venom, etc.); man was constrained, from the beginning,to use his intellect and his hand; in order to invent something to survive.

It is besides probably by analogy with natural advantages of animals that the first invented weapons had the aim of biting cutting or crushing.

These weapons were initially out of wood, out of stone then out of metal.

The first weapons manufactured were axes and spears, i.e., a weapon which cuts and another which pierces. The first progress then consisted in joining together in only one weapon the properties of axes and spears. Man thus had saber, and later sword, when he realized that the strokes dealt with a tip or a point were more fatal than the strojes dealt with an edge. The invention of weapons led man quite naturally to make most effective of it , either by means of a bigger strength, or by means of a greater dexterity, or by means of a more elaborate tactic. Thus was born the art of defense and attack.

Fencing therefore exists since always, or almost. As soon as man knew how to work wood, then iron, he made weapons to defend himself and survive. Many civilizations integrated training in the handling of weapons and study of fencing in their principles.

The oldest demonstration of this practice of fencing dates back to 1190 before our era. A tournament is represented on a bas-relief in the temple of Medinet-Habu, built in Upper-Egypt by Ramesses III. All the details are reproduced on this bas-relief: weapons are equipped with a button , some fencers wear a mask.

In India, several centuries before our era, there existed lucterios or fencing masters teaching kalaripayattu (see appendix).

In Greece also, fencing is one of the oldest sciences and, of course, in Rome since the gladiators made a show of it.

GLADIATORS.

Historians study from now on with a new eye the Roman gladiatorial institution from a more “sporting “point of view contrasting thus clearly with classical historiography which is completely under the influence of Christian texts hostile towards this practice.

Gladiatorial fight was a rich form of fencing, precise, and very rigorous. Far from commonplaces handed down by Hollywood, following Christianization.

Unlike the generally received ideas, gladiators do not have power of life and death on their opponent; only the edile , or editor (the one who produces) can order the execution of overcome, what he did seldom besides, a good fighter being priceless. The high-level gladiators, those in Ludus Julianus, Ludus Neronianus, Ludus Imperialis, could be resold very expensive, and these transfers to give rise to profitable speculations.

It is generally thought, an idea strengthened by Hollywood movies, that arena was not a choice, that a man finished there constrained and forced, as a slave subjected to the complete arbitrariness of a cruel master. However the constraint was far from being the rule and, for many persons, to be a gladiator was a career, dangerous, of course, but rich with advantages which compensated for death risk. It is impossible to change into a gladiator a man who does not have the bodily and psychic necessary qualities , nor the one who does not want to play the game. Gladiators found with the practice of this trade personal, financial, loving, compensations, and even glory.

In Pompei, a barracks of gladiators which occupied the former villa of M. Lucretius Fronto, was unearthed at the time of the excavations undertaken at the end of the 18th century. Many graffiti engraved by gladiators in remembering their victories, their conquests in love, are reproduced on the walls of this formerly sumptuous residence.

These sometimes fatal fights were therefore very codified, they resemble in nothing the caricatures presented by the movies particularly by Hollywood movies as we already saw it. Reality of circus games is not as wild as movies showed it. Let us be once again completely revisionists in this field as in so many others (the reality of anti-Christian persecutions for example) because revisionism is never anything but the historical truth overcoming myths.

The gladiators show is a very codified fencing , duels are performed under the control of a referee, often an old gladiator himself. Winners many times, or having shown a remarkable dexterity and much courage, best of them receive honors, rewards… and an unlimited admiration from female spectators. The way of life is exceptional for gladiators, who are welcomed in every society party organized in Rome or in its surroundings. The drill is admittedly very constraining, and it was quite necessary to manage for these athletes relaxation times up to their reputation. Beginners, of course, did not have access to the same party ends , but this renown was a part of the dream that all young gladiator pursued.

The fights took place in end-of-day, they gave rise to many bets. The winners received rewards and after several victories, ultimate honor, could get what it is improperly called a freeing rod (rudis) making them back in civilian life. Many gladiators collected these “rods “. For slaves, a minority among gladiators, this rod or vindicta meant well indeed a freeing; while for Roman citizens having had to give up their status or auctorati (it was the rule to be a gladiator) a wooden sword allowed them to honorably get their normal life back.

HISTORY.

“He would be a sort of madman or insensible person if he feared nothing, neither earthquakes nor the waves, as they say the Celts do not; while the man who exceeds in confidence about what really is terrible is rash “(Aristotle, Nicomachean Ethics III, 7,7).

“They wish to inculcate this as one of their leading tenets: that souls or spirits do not become extinct, but pass after death from one body to another; and they think that men by this tenet are in a great degree excited to valor, the fear of death being disregarded “ (Julius Caesar, B.G. VI, 13-14).

“The shades of dead men do not seek the quiet homes of Erebus or death's pale kingdoms; but the same soul/mind [Latin idem spiritus] governs the limbs in another world [Latin orbe alio] and the death is only the middle of a long live; if you know well what you sing. Happy the peoples beneath the Great Bear thanks to their error; because they do not know this supreme fear which frightens all others: hence the spirit (Latin mens] inclined to throw itself on iron the strength of character [Latin animate] able to face death, and this lack of care put to save a life which must be given back to you “ (Lucan, the Pharsalia, I, 453-465).

“Nate memento beto to divo “ liked to repeat noibo Symphorian of Autun, or more exactly his mother Augusta, as various authors remarked it in connection with the ethics of the former high-knowers of the druidiaction (druidecht).

Gladiators fights have at the beginning no relationship with what we know today through this name, but with religion. It is at the origin funeral games or sacrifices given in honor of certain deceased.

See for example these given by Lug in honor of his foster mother the Fir Bolg Gallic Princess, Tailtiu (Talantio) perhaps Rosemartha on the Continent.

Joined with the practice of single combats, the generalized habit of funeral games celebrated, either at the time of the funeral, or in commemoration of the death of the hero, explains why the Roman institution of the fight of gladiators was in such a great favor in the Roman people.

The use to resort to duels in order to solve litigious questions is communal to Celtic nations. When the Greek philosopher Posidonius made in Celtica his exploration journey at the beginning of the first century before our era, it was told him that in ceremonial feasts the use formerly existed to give to the bravest warrior the leg or the ham of the animal which was the main dish of their meal; and when two warriors disputed this sign of preeminence, they resorted to weapons; there was between them a singular combat, and the winner received as a crown piece of meat which had been the object of the ambition of both rivals.

It was therefore accepted at the time that two human beings want to settle their disagreements or their dispute while resorting to duels, especially for honor besides.

More prosaically Irish plaintiff in the Middle Ages had three ways of proceeding for justice to be served: 1° seizure of chattels, aithgabail; 2° seizure of property, tellach; but also 3° duel, comrae.

It is lawful to challenge the debtor who opposes through force to a seizure regularly undertaken, and before Christianity in Ireland no law prohibited this recourse to force towards a debtor. Prohibition of violence does not apply to the creditor who resorts to force, who, armed, seizes and to whom the debtor opposes force and arms. From the creditor the duel is therefore lawful in canon law as in civil law.

The two parties may also , by mutual agreement, decide to fight a duel in order to give a solution to a pending lawsuit. In this case, it is needed both adversaries, speaking loudly and clearly in front of witnesses, determine the consequences that defeat will have for the overcome person i.e., for example, the return of a determined item to the plaintiff if he is victorious, or the definitive giving up of this object to the defendant, if the latter is victorious; more generally, fixing of the litigious item and of the solution that the result of the combat will give to the disputed question. This duel, of which a preliminary convention specified consequences, can be called conventional. Its name, in Irish, had to be comrac iar curaib bel, “duel after oral contract” in opposition to the “duel without oral contract” comrac cen curu bel, which is legitimate only in the above specified case, of resistance by force to a seizure made in the forms set by the use.

In the Irish law which seems here to date back to early antiquity , the duel, in two circumstances at least, did not expose the winner must pay the compensation owed for a murder and carried out his triumph in the pending dispute; it is what happened:

1. When the duel had been preceded by a contract made with assent of the family of overcome man and which had determined the legal effects of victory; then, whoever the winner was, either the plaintiff or the defendant, he did not have to pay compensation for the murder of his adversary.

2. When the duel had as a cause the refusal by the defendant to let him be seized in the forms established by custom; in this case, the seizing plaintiff who killed his debtor did not pay compensation if he had beforehand required the family of the debtor to do justice for him.

D’Arbois de Jubainville signaled the episode of the Celtiberians, new allies, willy-nilly, of the Romans, who, in 206 before our era, provide free to Scipio, settled in Cartagena; as many fighters as it is necessary to celebrate the funeral games in honor of his father according to the Etruscan usage which followed perhaps in that the illustrious example of Ajax and Diomedes beneath the walls of Troy on the occasion of the funeral of Patroclus.

P. Cornelius Scipio, who owed later to his victory against Hannibal the nickname of Africanus, was then in Spain, and he had gotten there many successes over the Carthaginians. He wanted, in Cartagena, to discharge a wish which he had made to honor the memory of his father and of his uncle, both killed six years before, in 212, leading Roman armies while fighting like them, in Spain, against the Carthaginians. It was fights of gladiators he had promised for the gods. The gladiators of Romans were usually slaves who were bought, and the pleasure that these unfortunate people, killing each other, provided to spectators in Rome, cost much money to the one who gave these games. But Scipio did not have any spending to make. His skill had detached Celtiberians from the party of the Carthaginians and had made them embrace the cause of the Romans. Among his new friends, he found without paying as many as he wanted some warriors who provided to him the satisfaction to kill each other before his eyes without asking no other wages than the pleasure and honor to fight the ones against the others.

But the gladiators provided freely by the quarrelsome ardor of the Celtiberians did not fight all only for the fun and the honor: in some of the pairs in question, the duel had a practical interest, the glory of success was not the only stake: the two adversaries were in a lawsuit, and not having wanted either to compromise or to leave it to the judgment of an arbitrator (of a druid) they had agreed that the object of their contention would be allocated to the winner. Two high Spanish lords were members of his category, as strange as the other for Roman spectators: Corbis and Orsua, both sons of kings. Their fathers were brothers and had ruled one after the other according to primogeniture: the question was to know who of the two sons was to succeed the last deceased of the two brothers. The father of Corbis, being the elder one, ascended first the throne; the father of Orsua was the second who had succeeded his brother on the throne. Orsua claimed that the throne was a part of the inheritance that his father handed down to him. Corbis, older than Orsua, wanted to exercise his birthright like his father had given the example of it. Scipio made, to reconcile them, useless efforts; they refused to accept his arbitration: “We do not want,” they said, “another judge that the god of war. ” Corbis, thanks to the superiority of his age, was more vigorous than his cousin. Orsua, dominated by hubris, which is so often the main passion of young people, did not realize the chances of success that his cousin had. Each one of them preferred death to the humiliation of obeying his relative. Corbis, more trained in the handling of weapons, more skillful and stronger than his adversary, did not have difficulty to overcome him and to kill him. It was therefore him who got the crown.

This duel, so contrary to manners of the Romans, captured their imagination highly. More than two centuries after, Valerius Maximus, who wrote, as we know, during the reign of Tiberius, spoke about it in his collection of memorable deeds, and to make the impiety of this fatal combat more shocking, he made both adversaries not two cousins but two brothers who disputed the paternal succession; the elder one, according to Valerius Maximus, would have readily followed the peaceful advice of Scipio. It would be the youngest brother who would have refused to accept it, and his death would have been the right punishment of his perverse obstinacy.

The part of the work by Valerius Maximus in which this arrangement of the ancient account preserved by Livy is found, dates back to 32 of our era, or is a little later to it. Fifty or sixty years later, Silius Italicus, who wrote during the reign of Domitian (81-96), embellishes still more this tragic anecdote. He is not satisfied to make the combatants two brothers as Valerius Maximus had imagined it: to make their fight even more horrible, he makes them kill each other ; he describes the two swords piercing each one the chest which is opposed to it; he shows us both brothers laid dying on the ground and showering each other with reciprocal abuses , cries of hatred are mingled with their last sighs. People then wanted, Silius Italicus said, to join together their corpses on the same pyre, but the flames which went out from these funeral remains raised while dividing themselves, and the ashes of the two brothers refused to rest in the same tomb.

In spite of this purple passage worthy of a journalist or a politician of today, Silius Italicus admits, however, that this duel was in conformity with the national uses of both fighters: a part of the voluntary gladiators who, in 206 before the common era, killed each other for free during the games given by P. Cornelius Scipio in Cartagena, were indeed litigants who resorted to the conventional duel in order to put an end to lawsuits.

But that Romans were unable to imagine it.

!---------------- ---------------------------- -------------------------- !

It goes without saying also that funeral games were reserved for great characters, since they had as a consequence the passage in the Other World of the totality or of a part of antagonists of a single combat; who had thus the honor (and that explains the “ payment exemption “ so much liked by the Romans) to accompany, or to join, the deceased.

That was besides the case also at the other end of the Aryan world, since we can read in the seventh book of the Laws of Manu; written in 500 before our era, somewhere in the south of India (Manava-dharma-shastra); that the kings or princes who, in the battles, eager to overcome one the other, fight with greatest courage and without turning their head away , go directly to Heaven after their death.

The originality of druidism was this favor was not enjoyed solely by kings or princes, but by every warrior killed in action.

The classical Roman gladiatorial trade is a perverse pleasure without any justification that the pleasure to see somebody suffering and dying.

But to what did tend the funeral games established by Lug in Tailtiu/Talantio? To honor a deceased person. A female deceased in fact. By fights lasting from sunrise to sunset . Those took place, perhaps, in quickly improvised arenas dug then surrounded by wood bleachers (some theaters).

The thesis of the French historian Michel Rouche (HISTORY Number 30, January, 1981) is without any doubt excessive (“druids taught the warriors how to fight naked… blood and death was their usual companions “).

But what does he say us?

“This art did not remain at the individual level. It was cultivated up to the stage of the group. The young people were gathered by age groups, to which the old ones taught how to fight. They were completely cut off from the society of adults, as long as they had not finished their military training “...

Caesar explains men did not admit to be approached in a public place by their own children, before those are not enough years old to carry weapons. “They differ in this from almost all other nations that they do not permit their children to approach them openly until they are grown up so as to be able to bear the service of war and they regard it as indecorous for a son of boyish age to stand openly in the presence of his father “ (B.G. VI, XVIII).

These colleges of young people, apparently called hetairiai by the Greek historian Polybius, were to be ended by a rite of passage which integrated them in the society of adult warriors. [Editor’s note: see the training of the Hesus = Cuchulainn at Queen Scathache Scotland]. These colleges,besides, continued to exist under Roman authority, since in the year 21, Sacrovir, a rebel Aeduan noble, managed to make the young people of the town of Autun rise, and to distribute them weapons they handled at once with dexterity. Besides Autun also had gladiators, called cruppellarii, who united with the rebellion (Tacitus. Annals III.43).

A thing is sure, and on this point Michel Rouche is right. The ease with which fights of gladiators in the Roman way, in a few years, were widespread in the country (there was to be cruppellarii and therefore a ludus in Autun quite before the year 21) proves that it was to match something very deep.

Something like gladiators therefore had to be experienced by Celts, since the Irish word “luchtaire“ is conveyed by the Latin word “lanista “ which means exactly “owner or trainer of a troop of gladiators “.

We understand better now the destiny of the last companion of Vercingetorix, Lucterius, and that of the soldurs.

"While the attention of our men is engaged in that matter, in another part came Adcantuannus/Adiatuanos, who held the general command, with 600 devoted followers whom they call soldurii (the conditions of whose association are these : they enjoy all the conveniences of life with those to whose friendship they have devoted themselves. If anything calamitous happens to them, either they endure the same destiny together with them, or commit suicide. Nor hitherto, in the memory of men, has there been found anyone who, upon his being slain to whose friendship he had devoted himself, refused to die) “(Caesar. Book III, 22).

The disappearance of a true leader often involves paroxysmal reactions from his lieutenants or from his soldiers. The comrades in arms clashed then around the grave of the deceased, the duels turned into suicide, but these Celtic duels had no particular originality. Men fought dressed and armed as they were in time of war.

Among the Celtiberians they were games which implied deaths, but for the Etruscans, they were simply human sacrifices. They honored the memory of dead people while cutting the throat of prisoners or slaves.

The first source of the combat of gladiators “in Roman way “is therefore to seek in Etruria; because for the Romans it was never a question of fight, a noble word which could apply only to soldiers, or free men, but of gifts, grant: munus.

In Rome, the fights of gladiators therefore began as a supplement or an extra which was added to aristocratic funeral celebrations; slaves, or sometimes war prisoners, fought, on the order of their master, in honor of dead people.

The primitive Roman gladiator is only an exotic show, although with religious connotations. According to Livy and Valerius Maximus (II, 4,7); the first fight of gladiators were given in Rome, in the Forum Boarium, a utility space without prestige, located close to the northern end of Circus Maximus, during the consulate of Appius Claudius and Quintus Fulvius [in 264 before our era therefore].

Decimus and Marcus, sons of Brutus Pera, organized them in order to honor the memory of their father [the chief of the gens Junia]. But this first combat was quickly followed by many others.

Unlike gladiators of Celtic type, these first Roman gladiators (bustuari) were war prisoners captured in Sicily at the beginning of hostilities against Carthage.

Over the years, fights will leave the field of the funeral to extend to celebrations in general. Initially private , these ceremonies became public in 105 before our era, with Marius. At the origin, a fight of gladiators hardly presented more than two or three pairs of combatants, but very quickly, it took excessive proportions, limited by the only resources of organizers. This is why most spectacular were always the games offered by emperors. These munera gradually lost the funerary and religious characteristics they had in the beginning and became like the other shows. It was prohibited to organize a munus without authorization of the Senate; to give some of them more twice a year; or to make more than 120 gladiators appear in the same show. Private munera went under the exclusive control of State. Only the emperor could exceed fixed limits. Julius Caesar will design them as a means to entertain people, having for objective to store political votes or supports. Besides he had his own school in Campania, and made one day 700 infantrymen, 300 riders as 20 mounted elephants, fight. Augustus as for him, gave six munera, then staging 10.000 men, that is to say ten times authorized maximum; and some shows of hunting or venatio were integrated into the munus in a very narrow way as of the end of his reign. From now on Romans attended complete shows, munus legitimum (or justum), which included fights of animals in the morning, an interlude in the mid-day, as well as fights of gladiators in the afternoon. Consequently, magistrates competed in order to give most splendid games. Games were organized by influential personalities (in addition to emperors, some senators, rich traders, rich widows…)

Opportunities were many and varied: dedication of a monument, birthday of an emperor or of a rich public figure, Thanksgiving before or after a military expedition, etc. If an organizer of games spent true fortunes, he had, on the other hand, much to gain with them. To entertain spectators indeed enabled him to get votes in following elections (panem et circensese). But in the eyes of the Roman authorities, gladiatorial trade was nevertheless more than a simple entertainment. They saw in it a school of morals which forged courage and developed a taste for military exercises.

Against the flow of the reign of Tiberius, Caligula (37-41) favors gladiatorial art which, consequently, had the appearance of a great Roman sport, in the image of boxing (pugilism) and of the race of chariots.

In the second half of the 1st century, it was prohibited for private individuals to have private troops in the capital. Only emperors were allowed to have some of them. Magistrates responsible for this question entrusted to the owner of a troop of gladiators (familia gladiatoria) the task of organizing games. This one was designated by the name of “lanista “ derived from “lanius “ a word which meant “butcher “. It is to say the little regard Romans granted to his profession. The organization of fights was settled by various measures, because they represented a very heavy load for the City and its magistrates. The games indeed were offered for free to spectators, and fortunes were paid to buy their stars. Marcus-Aurelius limited excesses : between 1000 and 2000 sesterces for an ordinary fighter, between 3.000 and 15.000 for an elite fighter.

Fighters could be hardened professionals as well as beginners, condemned people (criminals, convicts, war prisoners , fanatic Christians…), slaves or free men, without (based on ethnic group or gender) distinction. There were even shows with improvised female gladiators, wives of senators or knights.

The fights of women, extremely rare, were all the more sought after.

Juvenal (VI, 246-260) ) in one of his misogynous or sexist enough satires shows us, she gladiators training: “Why need I tell of the endromidas and the wrestling oils used by women? Who has not seen one of them smiting a stump, piercing it through and through with a foil, lunging at it with a shield, and going through all the proper motions?----a matron truly qualified to blow a trumpet at the Floralia! Unless, indeed, she is nursing some further ambition in her bosom, and is practicing for the real arena. What modesty can you expect in a woman who wears a helmet, abjures her own sex, and delights in feats of strength? Yet she would not choose to be a man, knowing the superior joys of womanhood. What a fine thing for a husband, at an auction of his wife's effects, to see her belt and armlets and plumes put up for sale, with a gaiter that covers half the left leg; or if she fights another sort of battle, how charmed you will be to see your young wife disposing of her greaves! Yet these are the women who find the thinnest of thin robes too hot for them; whose delicate flesh is chafed by the finest of silk tissue. See how she pants as she goes through her prescribed exercises; how she bends under the weight of her helmet; how big and coarse are the bandages which enclose her haunches; and then laugh when she lays down her arms and shows herself to be a woman! Tell us, you granddaughters of Lepidus, or of the blind Metellus, or of Fabius Gurges, what gladiator's wife ever assumed accoutrements like these? When did the wife of Asylus ever gasp against a stump? “

During the reign of Nero, in 63, female gladiators appeared for the first time in arenas.

“The same year witnessed shows of gladiators as magnificent as those of the past. Many ladies of distinction, however, and senators, disgraced themselves by appearing in the amphitheater “(Tacitus, Annals XV, 32).

And a passage of Petronius quotes the case of a female essedarius (Satyricon XLV, 7: a woman fighting from a chariot).

The pairs of she-gladiators seem to have been particularly liked during the reign of Domitian. These stout amazons were also strong personalities. Several performed during the decennial games of Septimius Severus where they fought with ardor, insulting by the way aristocracy settled in the box. Become causes of disorder and troubles, the emperor must proscribe them from the arena by an edict dating back to the year 200.

Convicts and war prisoners, particularly hardened because having survived many years of fight and suffering, were most sought after . Generally originating in remote regions (Germania, Numidia, Thrace…) they were voluntary to follow this career.

The main body was therefore formed by men from servile birth and war prisoners having chosen the lively career of the arena, or who had been sold against their will to the lanista (trainer of a troop of gladiators). Hadrian prohibited the sale of slaves to schools of gladiators and Marcus-Aurelius extended this measure to hunters (venatores).

Free men who chose the career of the amphitheater were nevertheless more numerous than we generally imagine.

At the end of the Republic time, the character of “the volunteer “ the auctoratus, frequently appear in the “Atellan farces “ slapstick farces of Oscan origin, very valued in Rome. At the time of his enlistment , free man signed with the lanista or master of gladiators a contract (auctoratio) for a limited length. The origin of this practice dates back to the early republican time, at times when the powerful gentes who dominated Rome, had private armies. The formula of the oath from gladiators was preserved to us by several texts and particularly by a passage of Petronius: “…We took an oath to obey Eumolpus; to endure burning, bondage, flogging, death by the sword, or anything else that Eumolpus ordered. We pledged our bodies and souls to our master most solemnly, like regular gladiators.“(Petronius, Satyricon, 117).

The new gladiator therefore admitted to his lanista a right of imprisonment even of torture, in the event of disobedience.

Beside these men that poverty or financial ruin condemned to sword games, there were also exceptional gladiators. As of 46 before our era, some Roman knights fought in an arena. Octavius, in - 29, offered a munus where for the first time a senator appeared, Q. Vitellius. In year 2, knights had officially the right to become themselves gladiators, but this decision was badly accepted. Tiberius refused to attend a fight opposing two of them. Nero supported the massive descent of aristocrats in the arena: 400 senators and 600 knights clashed there in 57. The gladiator records also inform us that Titus himself fought a combat in Reate, during a festival of local youth. As for Commodus, sources come together to maintain he was more a gladiator than an emperor. But all these confrontations took place with inoffensive weapons, essential difference which distinguished them from true fights.

The emperor - most important of the givers of munus (latin munerarius) - had a great number of gladiators, in Rome, and in any place where games were organized on his behalf. Empire was divided into districts managed by equestrian procurators, responsible for enlisting then training future gladiators, for 60.000 sesterces per annum.

Gladiators were subjected to a severe drill in special schools (ludi gladiatori), initially private, then imperial starting from Domitian.

Greeks also adopted this martial sport, but the gladiatorial fight was not practiced everywhere in the Empire, in Egypt and in the Middle East particularly, where people were satisfied, unlike Celtic lands, with the chariot races, the sport by definition in Antiquity.

* Endromidas. The name is not Celtic but this kind of coat is undoubtedly of Celtic origin. It is the coat worn after a bodily exercise. She was perhaps a she gladiator of Celtic origin.

REMARKS ON THE CASE OF CHRISTIANS.

The first thing to keep in mind: gladiators are volunteers; their fights are not confused with the torments inflicted in the arena. True gladiators are neither convicts nor forced fighters. What contributes to blurring our ideas about the volunteering of the gladiatorial trade is what is called the sentence to the arena : culprits who had been sentenced to death were disguised as gladiators and forced to fight each other, or they were facing real gladiators who were killing them, of course.

We will try therefore to unravel these contradictions, without going into the details of facts, which are well known, even if we sometimes propose another interpretation, which we will readily call as pagan or secularist revisionism.

Most gladiators are men of free birth, who are enlisted by choice; there are also slaves, but who are not here by simple obedience: there is a need for a vocation. The reason is simple: with forced fighters, the show would have been mediocre. We may ad infinitum hold forth on their freedom of choice, incriminate establishment or spectators, but, for the moment, let us repeat that, if gladiators fight, it is, like bullfighters, because they want it well. In a famous letter, the philosopher Seneca relates that, wishing to rest from his efforts for acting as a sage, he went out and had been entertained at seeing gladiators fight, an entertainment which seemed to him quite healthy; on the other hand, his high conscience was scandalized to find that there was also a crowd to feed on the show of torments in the arena. Between gladiators and tortures, Seneca distinguishes like it is possible to do between bullfighting and slaughterhouses.

The second thing to keep in mind: a gladiatorial fight is not a duel whose outcome would be decided by the verdict of weapons, one of the duelists ending up being wounded or killed: it is a match where the one of the fighters who is defeated or who declares himself to be defeated, is either reprieved, or deliberately and solemnly slaughtered by his opponent, on the decision of spectators; this decision regarding the destiny of a man on the ground is the true sanction of the match. The moment of his slaughter is the height of suspense. This murder, which in our eyes of modern men marks the height of the strangeness of the institution, was surrounded by a whole ceremonial: solemn announcement, demonstrations of the spectators, waiting, decision of the patron who gives the show, trumpet calls . The vanquished gladiator makes it a point of honor, Cicero says, to die on a high note, without flinching at the moment of receiving the fatal blow.

On the other hand, the image of the Christian persons thrown to the lions, abundantly developed by literature and movies since Sienckiewickz's novel Quo vadis?, suggests that sentences inflicted on Christians during their suppression under the Roman Empire sentenced them massively to the infamous punishments that, in the eyes of the Romans, the sentence to beasts or circus games (damnatio ad bestias and damnatio ad ludum) were.

However, far from having provided these circus games with a considerable mass of victims, and although not admitting takkiya * to slip through the cracks, Christians seem to have largely escaped this type of punishment. This does not mean that the executions of their death sentences did not take place sometimes in the show buildings as it is possible to , of which we know polyvalent functions in ancient cities.

In fact, as Christopher Hugoniot, an historian specialist of the Roman era and Paul-Albert Fevrier pointed it out in their presentation entitled "Christians in the Arena" (Spectacula I. Gladiators and Amphitheaters, Proceedings of the Lattes Colloquium, 1990, pp. 265-273) point it out, the acts of martyrs, the authenticity of which is beyond doubt, show the small number of Christians sentenced to the arena. The most illustrious victims, Germanicus, exposed to wild beasts during the martyrdom of Polycarp in Smyrna under Trajan, the famous martyrs of Lyon in 177, Perpetua, Felicitas **, Saturus and Revocatus in 203 in Carthage, have certainly left a vivid memory in the memory and the martyrial calendar of Christian communities, but this celebrity is all the more misleading because it is a part of a context different from that of true persecutions. Christians, before the Edict of Decius, were condemned almost exclusively on denunciations, and the governors of the province did not seek to pursue them systematically, what did not prevent them, in case of denunciation or public riot, to investigate their trial and pronounce sentence by virtue of their power of cognitio extra ordinem. Convicted of Christianity, which was then treason, as attested by the famous sentence of Pliny the Younger in his letter to Trajan on the Christians of Bithynia, they were executed only if they refused to retract by offering a sacrifice , some incense most often, in front of the image of the emperor. In a minority and elitist Christianity in which the search for martyrdom was accompanied by a belief in the

end of times, these heroic Christians left a beautiful of their exploits in the records of their companions and provided them with an exemplary reference facing the pagan world. They were few in number, and moreover, not everyone was entitled to such a spectacular death, because many were executed more soberly, like the Scillitan African martyrs in 180, who were simply beheaded. The generalization of anti-Christian measures from Decius (249-251), explained by the rise of crises in the Empire does not mean that Christians were then led massively into the arena. From the mass of names given by the Ecclesiastical History and the History of the martyrs in Palestine by Eusebius of Caesarea, emerges a very small number of Christians sentenced to beasts, as Priscus, Malchus and Alexander under Valerian (257-258) or the sentenced persons of Tire and Emesa during the persecutions following the edicts of Diocletian (303-304).

This poor contribution of Christians to the number of victims is explained by the gradual disappearance, from the third to the fourth century, of damnatio ad bestias and damnatio ad ludum in favor of death on a stake (crematio).

We must see, in it, in reality a worsening in the penal system of the Late Empire, because, in the infamous punishments reserved theoretically to slaves, freedmen and since very early to modest Roman citizens (humiliores), and which formed the summum supplicium, stake was considered to be the hardest punishment. This is what the Severian jurist Ulpian says in his De poenis. While the sentence to beasts, which concerned brigands, renegades, murderers, arsonists, kidnappers, forgers and sacrilegious people, was the most frequent, and this because of its relative moderation, it gives way to crucifixion during the tetrarchy, then to stake from the 340s.

Slaves and freedmen were also now the only ones concerned by the arena, humiliores now enjoying a faster death by beheading. Two significant facts corroborate this evolution: Polycarp of Smyrna, martyred between 155 and 170, had been, during the execution of the sentence, threatened by the proconsul to be thrown to beasts if he did not retract; in the face of his refusal to abjure, the governor made the sentence more severe and sentenced him to stake. Second fact: in 353, Isaurian prisoners were still thrown to beasts at Iconium in Pisidia, but Ammianus Marcellinus admits that it was out of fashion (praeter morem). The sentenced to beasts on that date were mostly prisoners captured during military operations.

However, it is striking to notice that Christian imagination was affected by these changes in criminal law. In the acts of martyrs, as well as in the early patristic writings, many metaphors equated the life of a Christian, and even more his sufferings facing hostility of pagans, with the good fight (agon) waged for the faith. These images had been forged by the Apostle Paul and were inspired by the world of competitions he had known during his stay in Corinth and the cities of Asia Minor. In his letters Christians were equated with athletes fighting or running to get from the divine agonothete an immortal palm and crown, unlike the perishable rewards which were immediately handed to the winners of contests after their victory. This Pauline heritage besides had left its mark in Latin Christian literature because these metaphors are also present in Tertullian's work…The Greek story of Perpetua's Passion shows that the dream of the pious martyr before her execution was inspired by the trials of Pythian games in Carthage , which were instigated a short time ago in the African capital, with the permission of Septimius-Severus, and modeled on his prestigious Delphic model (Karen E. Ros). Perpetua dreams indeed that she confronts a gigantic Egyptian wrestler, a champion of pankration. Inserted into the stadium by a deacon, Pomponius, described as an eisagoge, that is to say, an usher, she receives after her victory the prize from an agonothete who is none other than Christ himself, and who wears a ceremonial dress with purple stripes, shoes embroidered with gold and silver, and holds a rod in his hand: the author of the Greek narrative confuses here the agonothete, who organizes the trials at his expense, the brabeutes, who awards prizes, and the mastigophore, who scourges athletes with a rod in case of serious misconduct. She receives from his hands a branch loaded with golden apples, traditional reward of Pythian games. The imaginary world of Greek competitions therefore spreads through the first stories of martyrdom, even if they were performed in the framework of an amphitheater, what can be explained by the influence of cultural Hellenism on first Christian communities in the Roman West and also by the literary refusal to borrow from the world of executioners their playful vocabulary. Suffering is not a game.

Vocabulary of Christian identity came from a cultural world different from that of Roman games. The generalization of suppression causes the change of these metaphors in Latin authors. The evolution is surprising in several aspects. While the number of victims increases (even if they are almost no longer sentenced to beasts), the agonistic images, without really disappearing, become commonplace in later patristic writings. We can see there, with the worsening of penalties risked by Christians that are crucifixion and especially stake, the influence of agonistic metaphor by other more martial, almost

military, images, of Christian martyrdom, following the absence of takkiyya among Montanists. This is the case with Cyprian of Carthage, a direct witness and later also victim, after having escaped it firstly, of the hardening of imperial policy in the middle of the third century. In his work, the comparison of the sufferings of Christian martyrs with the agon becomes sober, without precise literary refinement, and takes Pauline images up again. All the punishments inflicted on Christians are, moreover, compared to an agon, and Cyprian, also drawing inspiration from Paul, often shifts from agonistic comparisons to military comparisons, like all the other fathers, faithful in this to ancient mentality which put on the same level the military value and that of athletes. The extension of the semantic field of agon, however, in Cyprian, goes hand in hand with its impoverishment, because these metaphors lose the technical and precise character they had in Tertullian. Is it the small number of Christians thrown to the wild beasts in the third century, is it the gradual forgetting sports culture among Christian writers of Latin language? The fact remains these splendid metaphors then lose even more of their strength. Two Christian writers at the end of the fourth century, Augustine of Hippo and Ambrose of Milan, illustrate this evolution.

Ambrose of Milan is one of two men who most faithfully keeps the image of agonistic combat in the fourth century. The disappearance of martyrdom since the edict of toleration by Galerius in 311, however, brings him, quite logically, to make the Christian agon an athletic struggle or a race which concerns especially Christians enlisted against the Devil in order to live an unblemished life. The image polysemy is therefore restricted. At the end of this century, the baptized faithful or the catechumen live in a mass Christianity where tepidity, to say the least, dominates behaviors. The literary conservatism in Ambrose, this reservation having been made, is undeniable and the technical precision remains very high in his writings.

Augustine is much vaguer. In his sermons, Christians during their life on earth fight a combat which is certainly borrowed from Pauline Agon, but Augustine forgets race and prefers to speak only of boxing trials (fight, pankration, pugilism) and he uses the word certamen in preference to agon, sometimes pugna, proelium, lucta, more rarely pancratium or pugillatus. Augustine makes this fight an only spiritual struggle: he insists on the very action of the struggle: the athlete takes and deals blows (ferit, percutitur) under the gaze of the divine agonothete.

Augustine also resorts to the munus in the amphitheater. If Cyprian had already used this word in a metaphorical meaning; he is the first to do it so systematically. The ambiguity of the word, which designates both a present and a fight of gladiators (gift par excellence), the meaning of which has been enriched over centuries and ends up designating shows offered by an euergetes, enables Augustine to make this munus a show offered by God, of which Christians are at the same time combatants and spectators under the divine gaze, but it is a show emptied with every cruelty, non-bloody, and entirely spiritual, in which the Faithful fight again with the Devil to have a life worthy of his baptismal commitments. In his sermon 9, Christian is even compared with an arena hunter (venator or bestiarus), who plays with his zither as with a bow in order to kill with a reading of the Ten Commandments these wild beasts that are human sins ???????????????????

How to explain this attenuation of the agonistic cultural universe and this trivialization of the arena, if not of shows in general, in the corpus of Augustinian sermons? Several explanations are possible. With regard to forgetting the Greek competitions, we can see in it ignorance by Augustine, related to their gradual disappearance at the end of the fourth century, but it would be to forget that the bishop of Hippo participated, in his turbulent youth, to a tragedy contest at Carthage. It is safe to think this event was a part of Carthaginian pythic competitions, whose trials seem to have been restored in the 380s. We can also think, given the immense culture of Augustine, of a form of literary snobbery. The restrictive choice of pugilism can also be explained by the success of the story of Perpetua’s passion in African liturgy ** and, finally, by the popularity of boxing matches, well attested in the fourth century. As for the use of the vocabulary of the amphitheater, relatively new in Latin Patristics, it can be necessary to take into account the disappearance of Christian martyrdom organized within the arena framework, which, to tell the truth, had never been very common, to justify this semantic banalization of amphitheater among the Latin fathers (which does not prevent Augustine, like all other Christian authors, from strongly condemning their shows in the name of morality).

But the forgetting framework of martyrdom is all the more obvious at this time that the sentences to beasts disappear almost from arenas in the fourth century, we have seen, to make room for fictitious hunts, moreover, fights of gladiators also disappear in Africa very early - more for financial reasons, moreover, than for moral ones. The amphitheater shows, if they are still explicitly condemned by

Christian authors, therefore lose their fire and brimstone character. These reasons explain why it was therefore more acceptable to compare Christian life with the battles of African pugilists and even with fights in the arena (munera), which were in fact summed up, in African amphitheaters at the end of the fourth century, to sporting prowess of hunters or killing of wild beasts, and therefore got closer to the exploits of Greek athletes. To tell the truth, cultural syncretism in the fourth century was such in Roman Empire that the distinction between agonistic spirit and playful spirit, between Romans and Greeks, was no longer relevant, in a cultural universe dominated by the variety of pleasures offered by Emperor in his capitals or euergetes in their cities.

In any case, the fight of Christians is changed at the dawn of the fifth century and loses its purely agonistic nature. In addition, the competition of Christian festivals and pagan shows led Augustine to change these images. In a Christian society massively converted or in the process of being so, which has forgotten heroic times, Augustine's listeners need to be kept in churches (basilicas) when unfortunately a show is organized on the same day. Moreover, during martyrs' holidays (natales martyrum), these “Easter Sunday “ Christians *** do not always behave like exemplary Christians: once the ceremony is over, the meals organized on the tomb of a pious martyr (memoria) are quickly changed into drinking sessions and debauchery. Christian life has no longer anything of the valiant struggle that Paul had once waged.

So, Augustine takes the pretext of a reading the Acts of martyrs, which took place during their holidays after that of the Gospel, to arouse the interest of his listeners and offer them in his homilies some spiritual shows, like an euergetes: this liturgical particularity of Roman Africa makes the semantic shift easier which changes the traditional Christian agon into a Roman-type spiritual show (munus or spectaculum), which must replace pagan shows and unworthy behavior during Christian holidays. "Compare with the holy spectacle the pleasures and delights of the theaters! There the eyes are defiled, here the heart is purified; here spectators are to be praised if they become imitators; while there the spectator is base, and the imitator infamous. Well, anyway, I love the martyrs, I go and watch the martyrs; when the passions of the martyrs are read, I am a spectator, watching them» (sermon 301a).

The Bishop of Hippo, however, restricted the scope of his comparisons and preferred to limit his artifices to theater: the execution of martyrs in the arena, in any case, was not very frequent, as we have seen, to raise the cultural level of these spiritual shows by dramatically commenting on the Acts of Martyrs, as a coryphaeus, and even by using puns which aroused the laughter and applause of his audience: he compares, for example, the technique of opus quadratum with the martyrdom of Quadratus, the martyred bishop of Utica executed in obscure circumstances with his companions of Massa Candida: the bishop, in a way, had remained impassible during his passion.

Or he brings the patience of his listeners, who remained standing during the very long reading the acts of the martyrdom of Vincentius ...closer to that of the martyr himself.

Note by the author of the compilation. It is interesting, after an interval of two centuries (Augustine died in 430), to observe the gap between the suffering of the victims during these suppressions and the expression of this suffering in Augustine: after the original refusal of Christian communities in the West to report the death of their close relations with the words of the cultural background of pagans and therefore the recourse to a different and more prestigious cultural universe to do it, finally a speech out of touch with reality comes: the fight of martyrs has become a (edifying) show for Christians.

To know more about the reality or not of anti-Christian persecutions see our essays 30, 31 and 32.

*These martyrs were in fact Montanist fanatics. Some Christian Taliban in a way. Some Parabolani.

** The Acts of the martyrdom of Perpetua and Felicitas are known to us by two texts, one Greek and one Latin, perhaps, perhaps, due to Tertullian. Translation by Herbert Musurillo.

*** Similar to the Jews of Yom Kippur who behave as Jews on the occasion of this great annual feast.

THE GLADIATORS CONTINUATION.

COMPOSITION OF PAIRS OR PAIRING.

Because gladiators always go by two and have interest only paired.

To offer to spectators a show of gladiators having ended up becoming the climax of a public career, Romans diversified their equipment.

Even barbarian ethics (Fir Fer) required besides that every single combat be fought with a certain equality of armaments and without an attack by surprise (it was to be preceded by a warning in due form).

Two great rules will therefore preside over pairing: to oppose men of equal strength or more or less, in order to support the interest of spectators throughout the duel; and, however, to safeguard, as far as possible, the best combatants, whose sacrifice would be too expensive. The colleges of magistrates, who have no reason, having no personal profit to make from that, to let the throat of the gladiators hired for the time of the show, cut, therefore always try to minimize loss , and inherent expenses.

During the Republic, a gladiator had nine chances out of ten not to die in the arena.

But the quirks of fates and the haphazardness could at every moment unbalance (or rebalance) chances.

The top of the composition art, of course, consists in opposing learnedly the opposites.

Some pairs constitute the traditional attractions you must always produce. It is the case of the pair retiarus-mirmillo, reconstructing the primordial confrontation of the fisherman and the fish, which succeeded the original association: retiarus-Gaul.

But to the primitive Celtic fight of two men similarly armed or protected, using an identical technique, Romans substituted duels between combatants having neither the same weapons, nor the same tactics.

There was therefore a gradual differentiation of these types of gladiators, from now on divided into categories using no longer the same weapons nor the same combat techniques.

The principle was simple: to oppose a heavy gladiator to a light gladiator, the over-equipment of the one, which blocked his movements and as much as it slowed down him, protected him, compensating for the vulnerability of the other, without protection , but swifter, therefore more difficult to reach.

These two basic categories, which could be then subdivided, formed the prototype of what will be the great traditional show of Roman gladiatorial fight: the confrontation of one Samnite and of one Gaul.

The passion of spectators growing, the fights became more numerous, and improved, equipment evolved in order to reach perfect balance between heavy and light gladiators.

Samnite borrowed his weapons and his techniques from the savage mountain dwellers of Samnium. He was a gladiator heavily equipped (helmet, sword, shield, leggings).

Facing him [ the gladiator of Celtic type or Gaesata type ] a man naked, or practically, without armor, without leggings, without a helmet, made frightening by an unkempt beard and a long hair attached by a headband; having for any protection only his shield, his sword but also a frightening ability to use it, with a lot of wide gestures, flourishes with his arm, and a leg movement of which his weighed down opponent was quite unable.

Such as he was, he represented in a rather faithful way the Celtic warrior only equipped with his weapons and his jewels [Gaesatae] that terrified Italians had seen, within the 4th century, before our era, break on the peninsula and particularly at Telamon, in 225. Besides the statues of Galatians in Pergamon show us also Celtic fighters completely naked.

It is therefore revenge on the shame and fear felt formerly that Rome therefore gets while displaying in the arena, initially authentic Celtic war prisoners , then men of every origin, disguised as Celtic warriors.

What makes a good gladiator, the lanista or lucterios know it well, they are, of course, bodily qualities, the drill these prisoners have. It is, possibly, a killer temperament. But it is above all a keen will to survive, therefore to overcome. Or paradoxically, a despair which makes him scorn danger even death. Either one or the other overcome barbarian warriors are cut out to be the heroes of the arena.

These men, trained to the handling of weapons, fighting with foreign techniques and armaments, therefore proper to tickle the curiosity of spectators, were more suited than others to gladiatorial fight. The majority of them have interest to be trained as a gladiator. They know it. If they survive in the

arena, they have a serious chance, to recover their freedom one day. This is why to be sold to a lanista or lucterios is not, at least in their eyes, the worst thing which can happen to them.

Fencing of gladiators was spectacular and very far away from military practice. Part of this fencing resulted from techniques rather similar to these of modern wrestlers, very impressive, but which, theoretically, know how to avoid being wounded or to wound their opponent.

A good gladiator does not wound his opponent seriously unless he intends to destroy him at the end of the fight. A life maimed gladiator, or a gladiator who will spend whole months recovering, is a burden of which no lanista or lucterios wishes to be encumbered.

Gladiatorial fencing , whatever the armature are, had an essential goal : to entertain the spectators. To overcome was, finally, only accessory. Gladiatorial teaching therefore tended to train fighters with techniques spectacular, impressive, effective as far as possible, but able to avoid the three flaws of the trade: to cripple the opponent, to kill him accidentally, or to win too quickly. An expeditious fight, settled in a few minutes, had no interest, no suspense; it wasted the pleasure of bettors. It was necessary those have time to thrill, to be filled with enthusiasm, hope, to be afraid…

The apparent disproportion of the strengths, corrected in reality, each fighter having advantages and disadvantages which were balanced, therefore leaving to them theoretically equal chances, gave to duels a certain variety, a dramatic intensity. The evolution had come to an end: the original sacred game had been changed into a simple show. It was nothing any more but a lay pleasure, recovered, used by the living for political uses.

Editor's note. The fights in a troop known as catervatim. The gladiators who fight in a group are called catervarii pugiles.

The fashion, at the end of the Republic, was to organize historical reconstructions, small-scale simulations of famous battles. The abundance of war prisoners made these stagings easier.

Until the reign of the very Christian Theodosius, Rome had never hesitated to massively liquidate war prisoners in realistic evocations of Punic Wars or of the crushing of British revolts (Boadicea). Finally, in short of all the great successes which marked out its history.

In these shows , Celtic weapons are often in the spotlight. It is that Romans very early diverted the warlike liking of Celts (see Michel Rouche) to stage it in the arenas. The representations of battles fought by essedariii * (one of the four Celtic specialities), fighters mounted in a chariot, were to cause curiosity, but to also start great collective emotions, the Celtic woman being associated with warlike activities, contrary to the Roman woman according to the satires by Juvenal.

At the time of the celebration of his triumph in - 46, Caesar gave dazzling games, and particular therefore some fights of gladiators.

Hunting (venationes).

“There is a third kind, consisting of those animals which are called aurochs. These are a little below the elephant in size, and of the appearance, color, and shape, of a bull. Their strength and speed are extraordinary; they spare neither man nor wild beast which they have espied. These inhabitants take with much pains in pits and kill them. The young men harden themselves with this exercise, and practice themselves in this kind of hunting, those who have slain the greatest number of them, having produced the horns in public, to serve as evidence, receive great praise. But not even when taken very young can they be rendered familiar to men and tamed. The size, shape, and appearance of their horns, differ much from the horns of our oxen. These they anxiously seek after, bind at the tips with silver, and use as cups at their most sumptuous entertainments“ (Caesar. B.G. Book VI, XXVIII).

The tamers making animals clash or facing themselves some animals were called bestiarii (singulier bestiarius).

* The gladiators fighting from war chariots were then called essedarii (from the Celtic-Latin essedum). They were often women besides. Those who took part in hunting shows were called venatores. The primitive venatio was restricted to reproduce traditional techniques of hunting, with a javelin, a spear, a bow.

Excavations carried out made it possible to unearth the vestiges of fifty amphitheaters (Lyon, Autun, Grand, Senlis, Vienne, Orange, Arles, Neris, Sanxay, Avenches, Drevant, Chennevières…). There were at least fifteen other than we did not find. What is therefore equivalent to a quarter of all the amphitheaters known in the Roman world. We are entitled to suppose these amphitheaters were initially reserved for hunting, a show which required a particular infrastructure.

Hunting required space indeed if it was not wanted to change them into immediate, cruel and without interest, massacres. It was necessary that men and animals can move, run, pursue themselves, and that tracking lasts and becomes complicated, a thing for what, among other things, scenery, of which objective was not exclusively decorative, was used. It was also necessary to plan a protective system, walls, fences, ditches, in order to guarantee the safety of spectators. The small cities, which could not have a similar amphitheater, but did not want to be satisfied with makeshift arenas, resorted to a practical system of hybrid amphitheaters, or “amphitheaters with a stage" like in Lutecia (Paris) because this general-purpose building could be changed into a theater.

Though these are renowned for being much less dangerous than man-to-man fights , hunting is not without risks. If they seldom result in death, accidents are however frequent. Non-professional bestiarii are knocked over , trampled, by the animals they face, seriously bitten sometimes. It is probable that many of these hunts restrict themselves to show stags, deer, roe deer, hinds, wild boars, aurochs, at a pinch some bears, then very many in the mountains of Western Europe. And some fighting bulls, born in specialized Spanish breeding farms… to that are added, on the condition that people have the means for that, tigers of Indies, rare Gallic lynxes and sea animals like seals, walruses, sea lions… For his second quinquennial duumvirate, during the games of Apollo, on the forum in Pompei, Aulus Clodius Flaccus offered bulls, bullfighters and their team; I do not dare to speak of a cuadrilla, as in modern bullfighting, it would, however, be the suitable word. On the second day, and at his only expenses, in the amphitheater, thirty pairs of athletes, forty pairs of gladiators, a hunt, bulls, bullfighters, wild boars, bears… Pompey , for his part, chooses in - 55, when he inaugurates his theater and the next monuments, the number and the magnificence. In two days four hundred and ten panthers, some lions, a Gallic lynx, a rhinoceros, monkeys from Ethiopia… without counting European animals, bear, aurochs, wild boars, stags, bulls, ibexes, roe deer, were massacred there… Nero, who seeks art , favors innovations to massacre: he makes animals originating in North or in Black Africa of which the existence was even not suspected, brought in Rome . White arctic hares, bisons of Central Europe, reindeers and elks of Lapland, seals and walruses of the Baltic Sea, but also zebus… At the end of the Republic time, to provide arenas was a trade which employed many specialists through provinces. Hunters of big games in Africa or Asia Minor, ursarii in Europe for bears…

In a venatio as like for a fight of gladiators, spectators want blood, and not only that of animals. If the bull, become suspicious after having survived a first “bullfight “ gores the man, if the lion or the panther breaks his nape, if the bear disembowels him slowly, if the bison tramples him, that will spice up the whole! The trade of bestiarius is, incontestably, much less dangerous than that of gladiator, what does not prevent accidents from being very numerous, wounds innumerable, and dead people in the arena or in a sanitium, a common occurrence. A bestiarius cannot practically fight animals without receiving a blow of claws or fangs! But when they enter the arena, covered with their thick leather tunic, which is supposed to secure them a little against claws, booted, armed with a dagger and a whip, holding in their hand the colored cape which will be used by them for exciting animals; they are sensitive to applause and forget all the rest! Low-reliefs reproduce scenes borderline with what appears feasible.

We find there bestiarii pole vaulting over lions, or leopards which attack, others mounting bisons, aurochs, which they drive against a bear.

Elsewhere, venator fights with a spear a troop of lions or of some other wild beasts… Often the hunt goes wrong. Brought down by the weight of the bear, the bestiarius is devoured alive. Or the bull tears his groin. Or the bison tramples him.

The barracks in which gladiators live is called “ludus “(plural ludi).

Beside imperial establishments, private ludi had also multiplied. Nevertheless, in Rome, the preparation of games was an imperial monopoly. Four great schools were established near the Coliseum: the ludus magnus, the ludus matutinus, the ludus dacicus and the ludus gallicus. Their plan was identical, simple and functional: dwelling and service cells were built around a training area. Most famous of these schools was the ludus magnus, the great barracks. Its director was an important character, because, for Roman plebs as for the emperor, the organization of shows occupied a key place in the daily life of the City. This well-paid office (200 000 sesterces) was favored by the emperor: it was proper to support the career of ambitious knights. But required firm-handed men, because discipline was fierce here.

The ludus of hunters (ludus matutinus) existed during the reigns of Claudius or Nero, but Domitian restored it and created an equestrian procuratorship to manage it. With only 60.000 sesterces per annum, this office was markedly less well paid that the precedent one, less prestigious too.

These “ludus “had also stables housing the mounts of horse gladiators, of the mounted bestiarii, as well as of the female essedarii (of the fighting women, standing in war chariots).

But in all the branches of the profession, gladiators also had a dog. A need for specialists in hunting, who often worked with a pack of Gallic mastiffs or griffons, famous for their qualities of huntsmen, their courage, their pugnacity. A pleasure for the others, who were keen to make the image of their dog appear on their grave.

Imperial schools existed in all the Empire. In the Iberian Peninsula (in Baetica and Tarraconensis), in Gaul, in Autun (Tacitus, Annals III, 43) and in Nimes or Vienne; as epitaphs of juliani and neroniani (i.e., of gladiators of the ludus julianus and the ludus neronianus) found in these cities, show. Two epitaphs of a tomb erected by a doctor in the memory of a disappeared gladiator, have been indeed discovered, one in Nimes, the other in Vienne. There were also some of them in Narbonne, Draguignan, and Die. The schools of Aquileia or Capua were famous. In the Eastern half of the Empire, these of Ancyra, Thessalonica, Pergamon, and Alexandria, were also famous.

DRILL.

Is it possible to train frightening fighters in two or three months? A simple historical glance on the training mode of Roman gladiators shows us that not… In the same way, a principal dancer, or a long-distance runner is not trained within three months…

So how to form a good gladiator? The first steps are done under the direction of “doctores “ some fencing masters specialized in various weapons. There are thus a “doctor secutorum “ a “doctor thraecum “ etc. The “doctores “ are former gladiators considered for their ability to survive several years in the arena…

At the beginning of our era, the gladiator thus became a high-level sport in Rome, and the training centers competed the ones with the others to produce best fighters. The drill was even more thorough than that which was practiced in Roman military academies.

Vegetius explains how a stake was planted in the ground by each recruit in such a manner that it was six feet in height and could not sway. Against this stake recruits were trained to harden themselves with a wickerwork shield and a wooden stick [having the same weight as a real sword].

Gladiator’s apprentices learned basic movements in groups, by using a wood sword covered with leather (the rudis). They practiced fencing, handling of specialized weapons, improved their bodily condition. Gladiators were trained well better than an average legionary, this is why their drill methods besides ended up entering the army.

The training was performed in a rectangular court , under the short orders (dictada) of doctores.

It is a question of moving by means of a complicated gymnastics towards the “palus “ a motionless opponent represented by a stake planted in the ground and more than two meters high. Training develops mainly the work of legs, and the movement modes, then the attack with the sword or the

shield alternatively put forwards. For this phase of training light weapons are used as a wickerwork shield. Future gladiator must tirelessly repeat the simple attack and defense gestures. The session was thus to resemble, more or less, the work in dance schools…

According to Louis Robert, there was a progression in four levels, and the word “palus “ which designates the training stake , ended up applying to the “ranks “defining the level reached by a gladiator. From “tiro “(beginner) to lucterios (master): primus palus, secundus palus, etc. The first victorious fight is the entry examination for primus palus, but how many fights were needed for other levels? If we stick to the assumption of an exponential rule: two for the second, eight for the third, and sixteen for the fourth.

Julius Caesar had entrusted the training of his gladiators to knights considered for their fencing science. It was perhaps a romanized form of the Greek “hoplomachy “. The use of weapons heavier than the normal, as well as the art of duels with real weapons, were advocated by doctores.

The fight of gladiators is at the same time an endurance test and a technical test; because protections oblige fighters to practice a learned and spectacular fencing, while the length of the fights in heat and dust, requires endurance and a perfect bodily shape… It is obvious that a few months of training were by no means enough to train frightening fighters, at most a tiro able to survive his first duel… but that years were necessary as well as some chance to arrive at the highest level… Ancient texts suggest the art of the fight in these arenas had reached a very elaborate stage: “Hermes, tells us Martial is about an eminent celtic gladiator […] is skilled in all kinds of arms; Hermes is a gladiator and a master of gladiators (note the difference); Hermes is the terror and awe of his whole school…Hermes is skilled in conquering without a blow; Hermes is his own body of reserve “.

The very name of Hermes; of Greek origin, lets us suppose that he was initiated in bare-handed fight (pankration) and that his position of fencing master, arranged him in the double category of gladiators and of elite soldiers… what explains the fear of the young gladiator who was face to face with this death prince… With his few months of training , the tiro had quite simply no chance to survive…

Although it is difficult to define with precision this type of fight, it is possible to presume Hermes was able to kill a man without having recourse to his weapons; he was able bare-handed to disarm an opponent, and to overcome him by his wrestle techniques…

Editor’s note. It happened nevertheless that beginners leave victorious fight against a veteran, as this inscription found in Pompei proves it: “Spiculus, of Neronian school, beginning, winner; Aptonetus, a freed slave, 16 victories, killed “ but that was to be exceptional (CIL 4,1474).

SPECIALITIES (ARMATURE).

As we have already seen, various styles of gladiators could exist, because at the origin war prisoners came in the arena with the equipment of their country, the first being some Samnites Gauls or Thracians.

According to his geographic origin, his bodily abilities or the needs of the lanista, the newcomer chose therefore his type of weapon. Gladiator weapons are some reconstructions or tries of reconstruction of Celtic, Thracian, Germanic, Breton, etc. swords or lances. The Romans for example found the long sword as well as the advantages of the point for thrust at the time of their fights, in Spain at the time of Pliny the Elder, the sword of an essedarius, on the other hand, could strike only with its edge.

There existed therefore various categories of gladiators having dissimilar protections, helmets, shields but also swords.

The juxtaposition of armed or not armed parts of the body dictated the use of weapons, and created conditions for a handling resorting to the greatest possible skill.

The equipment was supposed to protect the most vulnerable parts of the body, and most ready to cause a stop of fights because of a wound. Thus, the majority of the gladiators were provided with leggings (ocrea) on the most exposed side, even with a shoulder pad and an ankle brace. There was

a score of types of gladiators, but which do not have evolved all at the same time. Below best known of them.

- Samnite, after the name of the people subjected by Romans at the time of the wars of the same name in the fourth and third centuries before our era, was the oldest type of gladiators. He was heavily armed? helmet, shield, protection of his legs. His favorite weapon was the sword, he was replaced during Empire by hoplomachi, equipped with a very long and very heavy sword.

- The Thracian had a helmet, a small shield, as well as a dirk.

- Gallus. Obviously inspired by Gaesatae of the battle of Telamon. He is characterized by a total absence of defensive weapons. The Gallus is naked, equipped only with the cross-belt which supports his sword. He has a long beard, and a long hair also, that he keeps with a head band.

Gallica armatura will disappear at the same time as Samnita armatura, its traditional rival . But, like the latter, it gives place simply to an adapted to current tastes version, the mirmillo, as the ditty of which the retiarius chants his approach attests it: “non te peto, piscem peto! Quid me fugis, Galle? “(It is not you whom I seek, I seek a fish! Why do you flee me, Gallus?)

- Mirmillo was a gladiator who had on his helmet the figure of a sea animal (from mir sea and millo animal. Irish, Welsh, Breton: mil).

- Andabata. The name of “andabatae “or “blind gladiators“ confirms the importance of the religious beliefs in this field . The term applies to a kind of gladiator fighting blindly and with a helmet of which the visor comprised no slit for sight. The word is composed of a stem *anda - “blind“ which is found only in Sanskrit, and of an element with verbal base - bata “to beat, to kill “.

A mirmillo is handicapped by his helmet, but much less than the andabata by his. A heavy and armored gladiator, andabata pays this advantage by being blinded with a helmet deprived of the least opening on the eye level. Plunged into darkness, an andabata does not see his opponent. Reduced to guess his movements (some think that his opponent was to be provided with small bells for that) he strikes randomly [Chance, the great god-or-demon of Celts…].

- Cruppellarius, a Celtic speciality (school of Autun), results from the same research… iron covered like the knights during the Middle Ages, he exposes no flaw to the weapons of his opponent (Tacitus Annals. III. 43). As long as he remains standing , cruppellarius is invincible. But woe to him if, encumbered by all his protections, he falls… Editor’s note. Reminder. The cruppellarii of the ludus in Autun united with the rebels of the year 21 led by Sacrovir.

- Retiarii. Used a net (toils) as well as a three-pronged fork.

All these men, either they are divided into heavy or light gladiators, fight on foot.

Three other armaturae bring variety to shows.

Riders (eques) who fight from a horse, essedarii from their chariot (often some women) and venatores (hunters).

Essedarius (or essedaria when it is a woman) fights from a chariot. It is a category of gladiators created by Caesar. The essedarius is armed with javelins he shoots. He also carries a sword with a round tip which does not make it possible to thrust the opponent, but only to cut him. It is in Belgium and Great Britain that the legions of Caesar discovered the force that essedum, the frightening war chariot of the Celts, represented. Like all war chariots , this one required two men on his board, the driver (charioteer) who controls it, and the warrior it transports behind him (Cuchulainn for example in Ireland).

In tan iarom rigset a lama uili dia claidmib, tic Fiachna mac Fir Febe ina ndedhaid asin dunad. Focheirdd bedg asa charput in tan atcondairc a Ilàma uille i cind Con Culaind + benaid a nai righti fichit dib (TBC 2550-2554). Benaid Cu Chulaind omnae ara ciund i sudiu + scribais ogum ina taib. lss ed ro boi and : arnà dechsad nech sechai co ribuilsed err oencharpait. Focherdat a pupli i sudiu + dotiagat dia léimim ina carptib. Dofuit tricha ech oc sudiu + brisiter tricha carpat and (TBC 827-831).

The venatores, that we must clearly distinguish from the bestiarii, simple trainers of animals, were professional hunters trained like gladiators. Their dress is very light, in order not to obstruct their movements. They are recognizable through their short tunics. Some hunters, however, wore decorated pantyhose, as African mosaics of the second and third centuries show it. Some are almost naked; others have their chest and their left arm protected by richly decorated leather plates. Hunts were very popular in Africa, as the pavements of many luxurious villas show it. The famous mosaic of

Smirat (Tunisia) forms the true epigraphic and iconographic report of a memorable hunting, given at an unknown date in the third century, by Magerius, a famous public figure in the area.

Women also took part in some venationes. According to several corroborating sources (Cassius Dio, Suetonius, Martial), female venatores took part indeed in the inauguration of Coliseum: “A lion laid low in the vast vale of Nemea fame trumpeted abroad as a noble exploit, and worthy of Hercules. Let ancient tales be silent; for since your shows have been exhibited, Caesar, we have seen this accomplished by a woman's hand “(Martial, On the Public Shows of Domitian, 6 b).

CAREER AND COMBINATIONS OF FIGHTS.

There existed several ranks among gladiators. Primipali (first stakes) were senior fighters. This rank referred to the wood post (palus) used during training. The distinction appears in Rome, at the Flavian time, on the epitaph of the secutor T. Flavius Incitatus, sixteen times winner. This higher level is frequently found in the second and third centuries, in the East as in the West, with other ranks. We also know secundi pali and pali period.

Tries of reconstruction of gladiator ranks.

Palus 0. 1 fight (a crown). Tiro (beginner).

Palus I. 2 fights.

Palus II. 4 fights.

Palus III. 8 fights.

Palus IV.16 fights (sixteen crowns).

Star. 20 fights and more.

Class I. Bronze statuette.

Class II. Monument (40 fights?)

Class III. Demigod (?) + 40 fights.

Except for tirones - who generally fought only with themselves - there existed many possible combinations between armature. It is there that the know-how of givers of munus intervened. Gladiatorial fight was not to be limited to a sordid butchery: it was an art of fencers. Besides Vegetius liked to praise the skill of gladiators to the soldiers of Roman legions. Several principles guided the giver of munus in his arrangements. To oppose heavy gladiators between themselves supported close combat as well as bodily strength. Opposition between light fighters gave precedence to agility as to technique. Most learned combinations consisted in bringing together the heavy and light armature. Based on the attack, dodging and pursuit, this type of fight was very fashion in the first century. Most traditional combat made the retiarii meet with mirmillos or secutores. The first version favored pursuit ; the second one emphasized opposition between movement and immobility.

Retiairii forming a rather scorned category, it was especially a confrontation between carriers of small shields - parmae - (Thracians, hoplomachi, provocatores), and carriers of long shields - scuta - (Samnites, mirmillos, secutores), which impassioned crowd. Spectators were divided in parmularii or scutarii, and fever reached the highest levels of power. Caligula and Titus were partisans of small shields, whereas Domitian was a devotee of long shields, so much so that one year he made a, in his liking too parmularius spectator, thrown to dogs .

Inscriptions and illustrated monuments show other combinations: essedarii and equites always fought between them, for example. On the other hand, retiarii brought together other retiarii are never found. Mirmillos, as for them, could clash with each other, but they generally fought with retiarii, provocatores or Thracians.

These duels formed memorable moments of a munus. But, during intervals, some parodies of fight were also offered to spectators: fencing shows performed by paegniarii, sometimes simply armed with sticks; fights of andabatae, sentenced people entirely armored whose head disappeared under a helmet without eyepiece. They fought blindly and without a defensive weapon. This confrontation was thus summarized in a terrible blind man's buff where each blow reached its goal when the opponent was localized.

The height of a gladiator was to come in the Coliseum at Rome. Before arriving there, it took several years of training or fighting in minor tournaments. It was not a question here of killing his opponent and there was no crowd claiming the head of a fighter. These fights took place a little everywhere in Rome and its surroundings in small spaces such theaters. These forms of fight were the everyday life of the lovers of this sport, because the number of days, reserved per annum in Rome for fights of gladiators, in the Coliseum, was counted on the fingers of one hand.

Inscriptions often detail the prize list of best gladiators. Maximus, of the imperial ludus at Capua, in the beginning of the first century, was forty-time winner and got thirty-six crowns (CIL VI, 33 952). The deserving fighters could also be rewarded with a freeing: the freed gladiators (liberati, called also rudiarii) were then discharged from their obligation to fight. Some of them, become rich, were changed into public figures, owners of a beautiful country house, while their sons sought to occupy in theaters the places of knights (Juvenal III, 158). But these careers with happy outcomes were not the rule . There exist some exceptional situations: a stele of the museum of Istanbul shows two gladiators undoubtedly invalided out for health reasons (Hellenica, V, No. 320).

Most talented gladiators enjoyed a huge popularity: a Thracian called “suspirium puellarum “, “sigh of maidens, “make the women of Pompei enter a trance ! The many graffiti which stage the actors of the arena also witness this passion. In one of his Satires, Juvenal scoffed these uncontrollable passions. Epia, the wife of a senator, gave up his husband, a public figure, and followed an adventurer, the famous Sergiolus, a charismatic gladiator, in spite of his gashed arm, his broken nose,his black eyes: she accompanied him as far as Egypt (Juvenal, Satires VI, 82-114).

ORGANIZATION OF FIGHTS.

The fight took place in end-of-day. The show begins with the presentation of gladiators, who go around the arena and stop in front of the organizer of games or the emperor, when he is present, to hail him. “Ave, Caesar, morituri te salutant “(Hail, Caesar, those who are about to die salute you). This formula was exploited over and over again by Hollywood, but it seems that it was perhaps used only at the time of battle reconstruction, and not for the fight of gladiators themselves.

Once in the arena, as an introduction, gladiator’s apprentices (tirones) could offer a massive show with their training swords, and put themselves forward. “Gladiatorem in arena cepere consilium “ (a gladiator reveals himself only when he gets to the arena) Seneca writes.

True gladiators show then that their weapons are well sharpened thus fatal, and games begin with the sound of flutes.

As we could see, fights always oppose pairs of different gladiators. Each category of gladiators has its particular characteristics of equipment and authorized blows. Each one has advantages and disadvantages. Anxious to equalize chances of each fighter, Romans proportioned them carefully. Fight groups are chosen by drawing lots and spectators make bets.

The fight laws (leges pugnandi) come down finally to this: the duel was to be continued until one of the two fighters, even both, fighters , is (are) unable to go on. This result was reached in three manners: death, serious wound, or exhaustion… the fighters did not stop with the first blood, nor, moreover, with the first gash even serious. Aware that once fallen, they were likely to be destroyed, they fought as much as they had the strength to do it, supported by the conviction that they would then get their mercy more easily…

In any event, instead of letting the fight going on , spectators sometimes prefer to claim equivalent of ex aequo. And to send the duelists back, both stantes missi (standing) without it has been necessary, what is however normal end, to send one of them to ground. On the prize list of a gladiator, to have been stans missus on several occasions, is as flattering as a victory! The decision to stop duel nevertheless as a last resort is up to the editor of games, and he can very well think that they must pick up their weapons and continue their fight until the end.

The fight of these gladiators, with or without hope of survival for losers, continues, whatever the case, ad digitum, which means word for word “finger up “. In other words, until one of the duelists holds up his finger, or his hand, what is better seen from bleachers, the traditional gesture asking that fight is stopped. What amounts admitting his defeat, with all disadvantages inherent in this consent. He can also, what amounts to the same thing, put on the floor his shield. The spectators indicated their choice by a sign with their hand: their thumb up: mitte leave him) thumb down: jugula (kill him), but it is the

Emperor (or the one who organizes games) who, with his thumb, enacted the final sentence. Having to pay extremely expensive for each killed gladiator, the organizer, emperor included, were hardly inclined to ask for death. The Romans being set on sporting statistics, we have kept trace of the career of certain gladiators indicating that they were always “reprieved “.

The winners receive an honorary reward and money: after some fights, they can buy their freedom.

RIGHTS OF A GLADIATOR (FIR FER).

This fencing was subject to precise rules inherent in the variety of the gladiator categories, and which will remain similar during the whole Empire, from the first to the fourth century. We don’t lose sight of the fact that a fight of gladiators is not a war, but a show. Fights to the death were to be rare: most of the time, they were very calculated, even choreographic, shows (cf. as for movies today…). Duels obeyed very strict rules.

Riders who traditionally open combat never fight with infantrymen and battle with each other. Just like essedarii who throw their chariot over similarly mounted opponents.

Pauses were managed during fights, as in boxing matches. That made it possible for fighters to be refreshed, to receive care, to drink one of these fortifying drinks of which doctors in a ludus and welfare men had the secret recipe.

It was the opportunity to take breath, to attach a sandal which threatened to be untied, to check the strap of a shield. Welfare men belonged to the staff of barracks, in which they were particular slaves of the gladiator to whom they were attached.

A champion who falls on the ground overcome for the first time is pardoned.

A gladiator who falls accidentally on ground preserves the right to continue his fight. Nobody is forced to fight twice in the same day.

The arrival of an emperor in the amphitheater automatically reprieves the overcome gladiator who was going to die.

During the fight , if a gladiator is reached, he will ask for mercy by stretching out his left hand towards the official podium; according to the reactions of the crowd, the editor will raise or reverse his thumb for either to reprieve or to kill.

In the beginning, to die in the fight therefore was more the result of a tragic accident that from a choice of spectators.

If he had not received a fatal blow given by awkwardness, if he does not make his refusal to accept defeat a non-negotiable point of honor,a gladiator in front of stronger than him thought generally judicious to can stop. A missio claimed at the end of a beautiful and good fight was not dishonoring, on the condition of knowing to negotiate it… The notorious champions were expensive… and if, in spite of these precautions, they were found put in difficulty, their chances to be saved consequently were higher than the average. The giver of munus reprieved not to have to pay, the spectators to see again their champion…

At the beginning, the execution of overcome gladiators was undoubtedly only the (admitted) inevitable consequence of a bad fight, of a performance of coward who had deserved, neither his fee nor having his life saved. Then, the professionalization prevailing, and the contempt for gladiators increasing, people had no longer some scruples to let them killing each other for real…

A gladiator had an increased stature, redeemed himself, only while giving, by his attitude facing the death, a lesson of courage…

Cowardice being punished with death, to beseech, moreover, was a debasing choice, of course, but especially stupid. Only a few were stupid enough to lower themselves to do that . On the other hand, driven by an undeniable professional pride, or an undeniable dignity, many others, superbly scornful, thought dishonoring to ask missio and preferred to fight to the death rather than to claim a mercy which they would have got.

The winner has no longer the right to strike,the overcome gladiator gives up still fighting, even his mercy was refused to him. The referee, who stood aside , comes between both men. On the bleachers, spectators who waited for this moment, hold their breath: they hold a life in their hands… Theoretically, this right belongs only to the editor of the games. The winner, who follows the arena code of courtesy, turned to him then raises his shield in front of him and brandishes his sword as a

sign of victory, but takes care well not to decide on the continuation… The loser awaits, apparently unflinching, as if this business does not concern him. This proud scorn is enough, sometimes, to save his life. If not, he saves his honor, and, curiously, this aristocratic value is important for these slaves, these sentenced people, these dropout persons. In short, all that fell under an ethic which can be summarized as follows: “After having unleashed sporting passions of spectators, to kill without qualms or to perish as a professional, elegantly. Because if the fighter must know how to overcome, he must also know how to lose, and die. Stoically. Nothing more shameful, indeed, than a gladiator on the ground who complains, cries and begs, unable to subject himself to the decrees of Fortune * and to remain worthy facing adversity.

In that the gladiatorial fight, this shameful and contemptible trade , is asceticism; a reconquest, in the faced with decency and courage death , of the human dignity these men lost. It is there one of the many paradoxes of the trade “.

In these ludi, several distinguished surgeons were specialized in the treatment of wounds made by a sword or a three-pronged fork. Doctors of gladiators do all that they can to heal the casualties, to help them to get better and to calm their sufferings. They are these doctors who, sometimes, deal with the burial of a gladiator killed in the arena, or died in their service, and which was their friend.

One of the reasons for the success of Galen with the high priests giving munus in Pergamon, was, of course, due to his innovative healing methods. Which reduced the losses and get back on their feet, relatively quickly, men who, with his colleagues, would have died of complications, or would have remained crippled.

REMINDER ABOUT GALENISM.

Aelius Galenus or Claudius Galenus better known as Galen of Pergamon was a famous Greek physician, surgeon and philosopher in the Roman Empire. Arguably the most accomplished of all medical researchers of antiquity, he influenced the later development of various scientific disciplines, including anatomy, physiology, pathology, pharmacology, and neurology, as well as philosophy and logic.

Born in Pergamon (present-day Turkey), Galen traveled extensively before settling in Rome, where he served many prominent members of Roman society and eventually was

Galen's father died in 148, leaving Galen independently wealthy.In 157, aged 28, he returned to Pergamon as physician to the gladiators of the High Priest of Asia, one of the most influential and wealthy men in this area of the world. Over his four years there, Galen learned the importance of diet, fitness, hygiene and preventive measures, as well as anatomy, and the treatment of fractures or severe trauma. Only five deaths among the gladiators occurred while he held the post, compared to sixty in his predecessor's time.

No single authoritative collection of his work exists, and controversy remains as to the authenticity of a number of works attributed to Galen. As a consequence, research on Galen's work is fraught with hazards.

Because Galen's works were not translated into Latin in the ancient period, and because of the collapse of the Roman Empire in the West, the Greek medical tradition as a whole, went into decline in Western Europe during the Middle Ages, when very few scholars could read Greek. However, in general, Galen and the ancient Greek medical tradition continued to be studied and followed in the Eastern Roman Empire, commonly known as the Byzantine Empire. All of the extant Greek manuscripts of Galen were therefore copied by Byzantine scholars. In the Abbasid period (after 750) Arab Muslims began to be interested in Greek scientific and medical texts for the first time, and had consequently some of Galen's texts translated into Arabic, often by Syrian Christian scholars besides. As a result, some texts of Galen exist only in Arabic translation, while others exist only in medieval Latin translations of the Arabic.

Galen's approach to medicine therefore became and remains influential in the Islamic world. The first major translator of Galen into Arabic was the Arab Christian Hunayn ibn Ishaq. He translated (c. 830–870) 129 works of "Jalinos" into Arabic. One of these Arabic translations, Kitab ila Aglooqan fi Shifa al Amrad, which is extant in the Library of Ibn Sina Academy of Medieval Medicine & Sciences, is still regarded as a masterpiece of Galen's literary works. A part of the Alexandrian compendium of Galen's work, this 10th-century manuscript comprises two parts that include details regarding various types of fevers and different inflammatory conditions of the body. The book provides a good insight into the traditions and methods of treatment in the Greek and Roman eras.

As the title Doubts on Galen by al-Rāzi implies, as well as the writings of physicians such as Ibn Zuhr and Ibn al-Nafis, the works of Galen were not accepted unquestioningly, but as a challengeable basis for further inquiry. A strong emphasis on experimentation and empiricism led to new results and new observations, which were contrasted and combined with those of Galen by writers such as al-Rāzi, Ali ibn Abbas al-Majusi, Abu al-Qasim al-Zahrawi, Ibn Sina (Avicenna), Ibn Zuhr and Ibn al-Nafis.

The influence of Galen's writings, including humorism, remains strong in modern Unani or Yunani medicine (Galenism), now closely identified with Islamic culture, and widely practiced from India (where it is officially recognized) to Morocco.through Iran.

From the 11th century onwards, Latin translations of Islamic medical texts began to appear in the West and were soon incorporated into the curriculum at the universities of Naples and Montpellier. From that time, Galenism took on an unquestioned authority, and Galen even being referred to as the "Medical Pope of the Middle Ages " (see Galenism).

RIGHTS OF ANIMALS.

Legend has it that Galen literally resurrected a monkey to be chosen as chief physician of gladiators in Pergamon.

Galen himself indeed claims that the High Priest chose him over other physicians after he eviscerated an ape and challenged candidates to repair the damage. When they all refused, Galen performed the surgery himself and in so doing would have won the favor of the High Priest.

Anyway in the arena animals too, in certain cases, can be “reprieved “. We frequently see a deer, a bull, an aurochs, reappear during several shows, because he was systematically saved.

On the notion of fir fer applied to bulls see further with the chapter modern bullfight.

* Chance, the supreme god by definition of the Celts. The main characteristic of a gladiator’s life is to be in a way the perfect illustration of the absolute power of Fate or Tocade or Tocad (Middle Welsh tynghed, Breton tonket, destined, old Irish tocad, destiny, toicthech “fortunatus” tonquedec in Breton language. The labarum is its symbol). Because the former high-knower of druidiaction (druidecht) had made “haphazardness” (sic) a God, according to saint Columba of Iona who protests against, in one of the loricae that are ascribed to him. “I adore neither the voice of the birds… neither a son, neither the CHANCE, nor the woman. My druid is the son of God… etc. “

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SPIRITUALITY.

In its remote origins, munus was related to the funeral ritual and, although evolution was done in the direction of laicization, its religious nature never completely disappeared for as much. Insofar as they required to shed blood, munera remained, still more than other games, linked to the worship of “next world” deities. In several amphitheaters, we saw it, small chapels or sacella adjoined with the arena were used for devotions performed before fights.

Who could be therefore the god-or-demon called upon by gladiators in these circumstances? ? He was to vary according to ethnic origin of course.

Very often, sacella or chapels were devoted to Nemesis: it is the case in Merida and Tarragona, in Italica (Spain), in Carnuntum (Austria), where both amphitheaters - civilian and military - had each one a chapel placed under the protection of a goddess-or-demoness. Or of its good fairy if you prefer!

But man could just as easily think of Cathubodua, Cassibodua, Andarta, etc. because the well-known phenomenon of the Romana interpretatio or Roman interpretation of native gods is to be taken into account.

It does not matter nevertheless because, much more still than the god-or-demons of war, these men, trustful in their own strength , but inclined to be wary of the fickleness of chance, were to call upon in priority the deity who is supposed to govern the risks of existence. Under a name or under another, it is it goddess-or-demoness with inscrutable intentions, who deceive without pity the hopes of men, and who after having risen, lowers and tramples. What the image of her wheel symbolizes exactly. And here we are in the universal one!

Funerary steles also bring their account on the importance of these worships in the world of the arena: the retiarus Glaucus, died in Verona, during his eighth fight, reproach the goddess-or-demoness, or his good fairy if this word is preferred, for having betrayed him; while Leotes, primus palus, in Halicarnassus, offers jewels and clothing to her.

Hercules, god or demon of athletic and intrepid fighters, were also, often called upon by gladiators. Before withdrawing himself in the countryside, the discharged gladiator Veianus hang his weapons to a pillar in the temple of Hercules (Horace, Ep. I, 1,4-5).

We know by Tertullian that Mars and Diana also presided over duels and hunting (De Spect. XII, 7).

The god-or-demon of war took care in the same way on the gladiators whose trade remained close to that of soldiers, just as Diana, hunting goddess-or-demoness, guaranteed her protection to hunters in the amphitheater.

The dark underground where the corpses of gladiators and hunters were put down were a place of strange practices. In the basements of the arena in Carthage, most significant documents were discovered: fifty-five lead tablets rolled up on themselves with curse texts engraved on them (defixiones). They were put near the corpses for better unleashing malefic deities against gladiators in activity. Against Gallicus, for example, “so that he can kill neither the bear, nor the bull, but he is killed by them… he is wounded, killed, exterminated! “

Or against Marussus, "so that he succumbs to the bites of wild beasts, under the charges of bulls, wild boars or lions! “

If in certain cases (in France at Chamalières for example) the high-knower of the druidiaction (druidecht) thought to have to use Celtic language in this intention; it is perhaps quite simply because they addressed their magic message to Celtic supernatural entities, on druidic sites.

This practice of spell (sorcery) by writing on a lead tablet, Celts nevertheless did not invent it. They only borrowed it.

“Defixio “ is a Latin word designating in the beginning the driving a nail, then the magic operation through which somebody thus tortures a substitute (for example a lead tablet) while hoping to cause the same annoyance at the enemy of whom it is thought. This magic procedure, such as we perceive it in Greece and in Rome, includes writing down, on a tablet, of the name of the concerned enemy. The written text can be developed besides with the invocation of supernatural powers, supposed to implement this evil charm, and various stipulations relating to the reasons for the judgment or the various torments which will be used as punishment. It is a type of magic procedure which is found through all the Mediterranean basin, during Antiquity.

The name of Ogmios is also found in some defixiones like that of Nodens in the temple of Mars in Lydney (Gloucestershire).

D M. NODONTI FLAVIVS BLANDINVS ARMATVRA V S L M.

To the god Mars Nodons, Flavius Blandinus willingly and deservedly fulfills his vow.

An undeniable solidarity reigns within the ludi as soon as it is a question of giving a grave to comrades fallen into the arena. When the deceased did not leave behind him the sum necessary to his funerals, each one contributes. The imperial ludus magnus goes very far in this solidarity, since we found the vestiges of the tomb erected at its own expense in memory of a paegnarius who had reached the old age of a hundred years. The world of the arena therefore did not give up its seniors . It is true that they were not numerous to live old.

As for Olympos, as for him, fallen during his ninth fight, he maintains that it doesn't matter to him not to have found, in his ultimate opponent, the compassion and the generosity himself had always tried to show. “I am pleased, for my part, with these lives that, as far as I am concerned, I have saved “.

NICKNAMES.

Traditional Latin onomastics (first name, name, nickname) is seldom used for designating gladiators: they are indicated, generally, by a nickname familiar to all the lovers of munera. These arena names refer to deities as well as mythological heroes, or emphasize bodily qualities: the strength (the Strapping man), Ursius (Strong like Bear), the promptness (the Lightning, the fast acting). Others evoke chance (the Lucky devil, the Happy one, the Victory); or the memory of old star gladiators, such Columbus of Nemausus, who had the name of an arena hero during the reign of Caligula. Others, lastly, owe their nickname to their imposing presence: The Brilliant, the Well Built.

Nemausus, first century.

MYR (MILLO)

COLVMBVS

SERENIANVS XXV

NAT (IONE) AEDVS

HIC ADQVIESCIT.

SPERATA CONIVX

The mirmillo

Columbus

Serenianus, 25 crowns,

From Aeduan country,

Rests here.

Tomb erected by Sperata, his wife.

ALIPVS AN XXX

HSESTTL

POSVIT AMAB ILIS OF SVO.

AMABILIS ANNO XXX NAT GALL

HSESTTL

Alipus annorum XXX

H (ic) s(itus) e (st). s (it) t (ibi) t (erra) I (evis).

Posuit Amabilis de suo.

Amabilis anno (rum) XXX, nat (ione) Gall (us),

H (ic) s (itus) e (st). s (it) t (erra) I (evis).

Alipus, thirty years old

Rests here. Let the earth be light for him!

Amabilis made the tomb built at his own expense.

Amabilis, thirty years old, rests here. Let the earth be light to him!

LIFE AND DEATH OF THE GLADIATORS.

THE TRUE STORY OF SPARTACUS.

As the previous try of adaptation or reconstruction was a little laborious; moreover let us find a little more naturalness by looking a little into the destiny, tragic in fact, of genuine resistance fighters combatants for freedom, more authentic, of course, than the " Syrian resistance fighters" of the Roman Fabius.

Life and death of gladiators.

As we have seen, first gladiators were Samnite, Gallic (Gaesatae) or Thracian prisoners of war, captured with their weapons, hence the name of these early specialties (armature).

Discipline and orders (dictata) of instructors, difficult conditions of a ludus, and apprehension of fights, created a climate of badly contained violence, which sometimes degenerated into riot. The revolt of Crixus and Spartacus made the republican Rome quake, but this episode was not isolated in the history of the gladiator trade. In the year 64, the uprising of a hundred gladiators at Praeneste caused a sharp concern in Rome. This movement was contained thanks to the watchfulness of the garrison which had the surveillance of them, but it was a stern warning : “And the people began at once to talk of Spartacus, and of bygone calamities. … “ (Tacitus, Annals XV, 46). In the third century, during the reign of Probus, 80 gladiators still escaped from a school in Rome. Once more soldiers were sent against them and, in spite of their numeric superiority, they overcame only with much effort.

Many funerary inscriptions referring to gladiators make it possible to approach their entourage and the background of their private life. Many fighters lived with a woman, their wife or a concubine. They are often at the origin of epitaphs. More rarely, it is the retired gladiator which offers a burial to his wife. The itinerant nature of their trade prohibiting all true family life, they are the friends who also sometimes pay the last tribute to the gladiator killed in action.

Some fraternities of hunters or gladiators were united by a communal worship. These brotherhoods (sodalities) carried out funerals. Solidarity ties thus created were stronger than simple professional links existing within the familiae (companies of gladiators). We know the existence of colleges of this type in Narbonnese (close to Die), but also in Rome. Commodus supported these associations, particularly by his close connections with the college of Silvani Aureliani, that an inscription found in 1755 close to Rome makes known by us (CIL VI, 631). This fraternity included 32 gladiators divided into three decuries, and a group of two. The first gathered veterans of servile status; the second mingled with beginners (tirones) an arms manufacturer, a veteran and a masseur; the third joined together only tirones; in the fourth, lastly, there were a paegniarius and a Thrace.

These sodalitates to which an emblem and a figure were attached, developed especially among venatores in proconsular Africa. The crescent on a shaft and the figure III were the distinctive signs of Telegenii, whose four members are represented on the mosaic from Smirat. We also know other associations of venatores in Roman Africa.

The true story of Spartacus.

The events which proceeded on the territory of the Italian peninsula during the years 73,72 and 71, before our era, are generally known by the name of Spartacus or gladiators’ revolt , known as also “servile war “. Neither one nor the other of these names match their true nature. Spartacus was only one of the leaders of this guerrilla warfare (and not the best one besides, alas!)

His hesitations made an invaluable time wasted for the cause of insurgents then when he lastly adopted the revolutionary plan suggested by Crixus (to march on the capital, Rome), it was already too late so that succeeds! Rome had pulled itself together.

Some authors supposed that Crixus had been, even before his enslaving, a voluntary gladiator of andabata type. It is not proven.

But let us return to History, and to objective History, because this undecided and weak-willed, Spartacus, just good for stupidly heroic personal fight (this for what he had been trained besides), seems incredible.

As we already have had the opportunity to say it, Spartacus in reality was only one of the leaders of the movement, and his personal action represents only a small part of the general action. Eutropius

allocates him no leading role , and places him on the same level as his comrades , the Celts Crixius and Oinomauos (Oenomaüs).

Some dissension seemed to prevail in the camp of rebels. Spartacus, considered as too moderate, appeared to be handicapped by Crixius and Oinomauos (Oenomaüs), the leaders of the Celtic and Germanic Party, in favor of over-fighting.

On the basis of fragments of Sallust, we can indeed foresee two opposite leanings.

The “European “group; who included especially Celts and Germanic people, and whose leader was the Celt Crixus ; seemed to want to leave immediately and meet consular armies. Defeat them, push on as far as Rome, take the City, destroy it, and organize on its ruins a new State promising freedom to everybody , friendly or enemy.

The Eastern (Balkanic and Asian of Anatolia) group on the contrary thought that it was necessary, being satisfied with conquered spoils and recovered freedom, to return each one in one’s respective country.

The cross-checking of various ancient authors (Ampelius, Appian, Eutropius, Florus, Frontinus, Orosius, Sallust) somewhat informs us on an enormous operation of which the goals escape to us partially; whereas its preliminaries and its proceedings, with initial successes then a final failure and a cruel suppression , are well known.

It is not necessary to tell this war of Titans here in detail. Let us note only this.Crixus, with 30.000 men, moves to the meeting with the Roman army, while Spartacus and his partisans go towards north.

As of his first encounter with Crixus, Gellius was cruelly defeated, but, instead of completing the defeat of Roman troops, the Celts of Crixus devoted themselves on the spot to an astounding orgy while forgetting the enemy. The latter, having recovered from its panic, came back on the following day, at the time when he was less awaited. The rebels, mostly completely drunk, let themselves have their throat cut without opposing the least resistance. Crixus himself met his death there [undoubtedly crucified after having been wounded or captured, since such was the fate the Romans then reserved for slaves. Editor’s note.].

Spartacus, as for him, moves without a break in the direction of the Po. Here on the bank of the river, ready to leave for always, it seems, Italian land. But before he cares for honoring, through a memorable show, the memory of his comrade (Crixus). The captured three hundred Roman citizens are constrained to fight each other, at the end of an impressive funeral ceremony “like vile gladiators “. Instead of crossing the Po, Spartacus then commands to make a U-turn, announcing that he too intends now to march on Rome, and without delaying he sets off.

But time passed and Spartacus did not arrive. People, on both sides, wondered, perplexed. Modern historians too, remain so. It remains only for him to note that the project of taking Rome was still, once more, given up (according to Gerard Walter. Origins of Communism). The continuation is well known. Spartacus and his partisans having stupidly preferred to come back again in the south of Italy were encircled there then defeated by the army of Licinius Crassus,the richest person of the Romans.

DECLINE AND END OF THE GLADIATORIAL ART.

In the third century, a gladiator had only a fifty-fifty chance not to end in the arena. The gladiatorial art declined gradually during the fourth century, before disappearing definitively. Whereas the taste the men and the women of all social classes had felt for it in Rome and in all the Empire, had been so sharp and had hardly weakened during this so long period; whereas the scorn that the games caused in many beautiful minds had led to no concrete action.

This “Roman sporting show “ is execrated by Christians who do not succeed, however, to prohibit its practice.

The shows- all the shows – turn away from God and sully souls. Such is the point of view of Christians. The Church therefore condemns circus, theater and, particularly , amphitheater, place of death, all the more vigorously as some as of his had sometimes been victims of it… The sporting spectacles, these of the circus - and the theater - will reappear only many centuries later, in spite of the opposition of the Church for some of them, but never the games of the amphitheater.

From 313 to 404 (from Constantine to Valentinian II) the emperors were satisfied to remove the sentence to the gladiatorial craft and to prohibit its access to Christians.

Constantine prohibits the enlistment of persons sentenced to death in circus games, because they are too quickly killed (the show loses a little of its interest).

In 399, under the Christian pressure, closing of the schools of gladiators in Rome. In 404 lastly the gladiatorial craft was prohibited by Honorius. Temporarily initially, then definitively. In 439 i.e., more than a century after the first prohibitions by the emperor Constantine, Valentinian III, the nephew of Honorius, reiterated the measure of his uncle. For the last time.

The West of the fifth century was enough Christianized now . To the bloody games, it had substituted the holidays of saints and martyrs, it had found other objectives and other heroes for it. No longer baptism for actors and people of the theater, for charioteers, gladiators, fencing masters, trainers, bestiarii and civil servants responsible for the management of shows. Spanish council of Elvira, in 300, canon 62, council of Arles in 314.

TOURNAMENTS.

Poseidonius, in the twenty-third book of his Histories, says: “Celts sometimes have single combats at their entertainments. For being collected in arms, they go through the exercise, and make feints at, and sometimes they even go so far as to wound one another. And being irritated by this, if the bystanders do not stop them, they will proceed even to kill one another. But in olden times," he continues, "there was a custom that a hind quarter of pork was put on the table, the bravest man took it; but if anyone else laid claim to it, then the two rose up to fight, till one of them was slain. And other men in the theater * having received some silver or gold money, and some even for a number of earthen vessels full of wine, having taken pledges that the gifts promised shall really be given, and having distributed them among their nearest companions, have laid themselves down on shields, with their faces upwards, and then allowed some bystander to cut their throats with a sword." … (Athenaeus. Quoting Posidonius. Book V XL).

This quarrelsome liking particularly among young people was nevertheless much too strong to disappear thus completely as by enchantment, by waving the magic wand of Christianization. It mattered only “to channel it.”

In the Middle Ages, we thus find still occurrences of the Latin word tiro to designate the young people who have just received weapons and who are often still in the service of a great lord. Although it is difficult to more specify the meaning of this word, it would seem that the tirones were young adults who were no longer simple squires but not yet experienced knights.

Beyond the differences which exist from one text to another, it is possible to say that the training to the profession of soldiery for young heroes begins as of childhood. The education of Percival, Lancelot or Tristan was the object of several works which highlighted how these characters received schooling as well cultural as bodily and analyzed, sometimes in detail, the various training to which they were subjected. Thus Lancelot begins to learn how to get accustomed to archery very early. His master makes initially a small bow adapted to the strength of the child and thereafter increasingly powerful bows. Lancelot is initially trained to aim at a fixed target, then he learns how to shoot with his bow small birds and thereafter hares, other small animals and big birds. Lancelot would have also received a small sword he carried on him, what is not incredible because the existence of small swords and weapons intended for children is also witnessed by other sources and sometimes by archeological excavations. The Percival of Chretien de Troyes also trains to archery , using javelins and hunting.

The Tristan by Eilhart von Oberg describes a whole series of bodily exercises and technical training - to cast stones, to run, to jump,to practice wrestling, to ride while carrying a shield, to strike with a , etc. - which make it possible for the future knight to get the know-how essential for the exercise of soldiering.

It should be recognized, however, that we still rather know little about the precise methods according to which the bodily training of children was done. The propedeutical main training in the handling of weapons seem to have had for objective to develop agility, strength and skill of young people. Race, archery, wrestling, casting javelins, horsemanship and hunting were without any doubt among the first exercises practiced by young men. Some texts seem to suggest these activities were regarded not as a true military preparation, but rather as plays suitable for childhood.

According to any probability, children learned initially, following the example of Percival, to kill small animals with their bow. Young people undoubtedly also accompanied adults in hunting but did not take part in it really. Thanks to hunting, children learned nevertheless how to end the life of increasingly big animals - when he is a teenager Percival kills all what he wants with his javelin - and accustomed them to the sight of blood.

It is undoubtedly only starting from adolescence that young people began to receive a true formation to soldiering. Once again, it is difficult to know in detail how the young men trained themselves to fights .

Probably, young people were gradually led to develop bodily qualities - endurance, resistance to effort , pain, cold and heat, agility, etc. - and techniques - handling of weapons, lance and sword particularly, using shields and armors, driving war horses, etc.

The first known tirocinium is the one mentioned by Otto of Freising, and it refers to an event occurred at Wurzburg in 1127. That as well as later references indicate that it was a tournament held exclusively for newly dubbed or made knight youths (tirones). The new knights were often easy victims for older and more experienced colleagues. The tirocinium allowed them to gain experience with less danger. These tirocinia were often held following the dubbing of members of royal and princely families, who were usually knighted with dozens or scores of other hopeful knights.

TOURNAMENTS JOUSTINGS AND BOHORTS (LATIN BUHURDICIUM).

Bohort or behourd is a simulation of siege and not only a proper noun.

Bohort or behourd in Old French is a word which comes from medieval Latin bohordicum used to designate a combat simulation, fought to defend a castle or a fortress. It looks so much like the following one, the passage of arms. The word is now used to designate medieval battle reconstructions in a historical setting such as that of the battle of nations which took place in 2010 in Khotin (Ukraine, Russia, Belarus, Poland).

Pas d’armes is a tournament centered on the defense of a way and endowed with a symbolic stake (capture of a bridge, liberation of a lady).

Jousting is a duel on horse back, with one's lance lowered in stop position.

Tournament is a general melee similar to the famous combat of the thirty, in reality 64 men, in 1351 (the arrogant Bemborough got his just deserts in it). Occurs frequently after some jousts.

During the Middle Ages, any event becomes reason for jousting. Jousts (show, prestige) are different of tournaments (training, renown). The primary origin of jousts doesn’t seem less old than that of tournaments. Knights clash by trying to unhorse each other. Warlike jousts stimulate armies, support morale of soldiers, and encourage, by a warlike emulation, prowess of knights. At the time of jousts, all the knights who take part must be accompanied by a young lady.

Rules of the Academy of European Medieval Martial Arts (927 Dupont Street, Toronto, ON M6H 1Z1 Toronto).

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- Preparation.

A parade of protagonists takes place firstly.

Custom has it that great tournament is fought firstly, then individual jousts. Envoys are sent everywhere for announcements and invitations.

Then, at the time of the tournament itself, knights arrive: they are announced by a herald.

Judges (the noble ones) admit them or not.

Anonymous knight hides his escutcheon with a cloth.

You touch with your lance the adverse escutcheon hung on a post to challenge him.

-Fights.

Jousting: 1 against 1, the knight tries to unhorse his opponent.

Ring jousting : it is necessary to take down a ring with a lance on a galloping horse.

Quintain jousting: you strike the arm or the hand of a scarecrow on your galloping horse with your lance, it rotates and is likely to knock you down if its blow is not avoided.

Passages of arms: it is necessary to hit with his lance a fixed shield on the other side of a way guarded by a challenger knight.

We often confuse, since they ceased being practiced, tournaments and joustings, but it is easy to distinguish them: tournaments were organized in the imitation of battles, and jousts in the imitation of duels.

The tournament began with a series of single combats between two knights, who rushed one against the other on their galloping horses, and sought to knock over their opponent with a blow of their lance; it ended up in the tournament itself (whirling), in which melee became general. Men distinguished still bohorts or simulated sieges ;fights known as “barrier fighting “ in which two parties fought on foot, with axes, swords and maces, on each side of a barrier intended to prevent them from passing ; and passages of arms or pas d’armes in which one or more knights, after having chosen a narrow passage in open country, planted their banner there and challenged whoever to cross it.

So far we go back in History, we find single combat or duels to death; and man earlier had fun to imitate them in fights for the pleasure, as he imitated battles in tournaments. The arm par excellence for jousting was the lance: at the beginning, the completely smooth old weapon of war and primitive tournaments. Lance was the favorite weapon of our heroes, the weapon of deeds. “Lance was always an arm of knight… “

In his cruel satire of the chivalrous world, the Spanish author Miguel de Cervantes could not fail to arm his hero with a lance, and it is with it that Don Quixote performs his deeds, including against windmills.

A knight used it, while waiting for, to win or lose battles, and he gets ready, in the Middle Ages, through jousting, to exercises of war time.

In the beginnings, considering the scorn of former tournament men for “lawyer quibbling “ the game hardly comprised more rules than tournaments. You rushed on your opponent, at full gallop, while endeavoring to strike him so right and so strongly that you can unhorse him, and, if he remained stuck to his horse, to knock down them both at the same time. A tournament is fought, Dante said, but a joust is run: Ferir torneamenti e correr giostra.

The poet had often attended these shows and had heard , in Italy and elsewhere, their strange music: trumpets, bells and drums.

The lance having to take, at the time of the shock, the enormous weight of this alive mass, man and horse, covered with iron and driven at full speed; usually broke on the helmet or the shield that the opponent wore on his left arm, and with which he sought to protect himself. This breaking avoided deaths and wounds. In such a violent clash, it was necessary that some party crumbles:reversed men, knocked down horses, or finally (what was most frequent, and became, in the courteous and regular tournaments, the normal blow) broken lances. The knight who succeeded in neither reversing the opponent nor to break his own lance, if he were not himself knocked down, had necessarily his arm turned over, distorted, even sometimes his wrist broken.

Just as for tournaments, during which, in principle, a knight used his ordinary weapons, the games were moderated over centuries; the use of the courteous weapons and a series of rules or precautions were adopted.

In jousting , the exercise consisting by no means in killing his opponent, but in breaking, or crushing a lance on him, the game was made easier by using fragile lances, in fir instead of ash, and with a slender shaft. Leo of Rozmital, a lord of Bohemia, who visited Duke Philip the Good in 1466, notice that were used then, in the court of Burgundy, “light lances.“ At the same time, the use of courteous lances (known well before) had become general. Instead of a sharp head, these weapons had a coronal, a massive and short piece of iron, finished by three large blunted points.

Another improvement consisted in the establishment of a separation barrier, along which, in the opposite direction, both jousters galloped, and which covered the horse as well as, partly, the rider.

Holding their lance with their right hand, jousters made the tip of it passing towards the left ear of their mount, thus aiming the opponent at the left side of his helmet, and having the barrier on their left hand.

These barriers became a common use in the fifteenth century. The dangers or inconveniences this invention overcame fortunately were indeed considerable. The riders, before, rushing one on the other in an open field, were likely to strike the air because their horses, made careful by experience, abruptly took a side leap at the last moment. It was a very frequent case, envisaged and regulated; the jousters then had, Froissart says , to pretend to be, “extremely wrathful “ then to start again at once. At other times, on the contrary, horses too well kept in line, clashed head on, from where simultaneous falls, dust, swearwords, iron rattling and general distress. Whence also it is true an intense interest or a great entertainment of viewers ; this is why, even after the invention of barriers, it was continued to provide, from time to time, races in open fields, in order to avoid monotony.

To ride a horse, heavily armed, was not a small issue. King Henry V, in Shakespeare, brags , to conquer the love of Catherine of France, about being able to jump, in armor, from the ground on his horse. Prowess not very common and rarer still in reality than in theater, although some examples of it

are known, including particularly one provided by the marshal Boucicaut. Usually a little “stepladder “ designed for the convenience of jousters was used.

The use of this help, handed down from centuries , remained in the seventeenth century. “A small scaffold as high as stirrups, on which two or three people can stand. i.e., the man-at-arms (the jouster), an arms manufacturer to arm him as someone else to help him “ is necessary , Pluvinel, a practical rider , who does not write only for rider prodigies, says.

Improved through the ages, asking for fewer expenses than tournaments, risking fewer lives at the same time, showing off the strength and courage of battlers concerned to be distinguished at all costs and not to be mixed up with others; the jousting got an increasingly large favor and survived tournaments. Weddings, solemn entries into a city, various festivals, everything was a pretext for jousts; and even, extremely often, no particular pretext was needed; people organized joustings to make fun , to relax, to amuse a journey, was this even a pilgrimage, to become acquainted with foreign champions, to break the monotony of wars which lasted hundred years, and to attenuate by some courteous interlude, the tiredness of perpetual hatreds.

On that, Froissart is inexhaustible. Joust was then in its intermediate period: men used in them sometimes courteous weapons and sometimes war weapons; the barriers were not usually used, like in the fifteenth century, and the riders, pulled by their mounts out of the straight line, often had to appear “wrathful “before starting again.

The fourteenth century is the time of individual, picturesque, but disastrous prowess. In a tournament, at least, especially in its primitive form, a little tactic was necessary. In a jousting, you rely only on yourself, and all that you get as honor is for yourself. This game becomes a favorite exercise, and more especially as, as you use at will of combat weapons, it continues to offer such a strong attraction then, of real danger.

We could believe that never-ending wars, ceaseless battles and sieges, would have been enough to satisfy this taste; but a lot was needed so that it was the case. You left your province or even your country to go “ and deal blows“far away, because of the reputation of such or such a famous jouster in Germany, in Italy, in England or Scotland. Piers of Courtenay, an Englishman, journeys into France, he breaks a lance with Guy of La Tremoille, and King Charles VI declares it is sufficient. He congratulates Courtenay, hands gifts over him and, giving him as escort the lord of Clary, by fear of some mishap in enemy country, returns him to Calais. On the way, everybody stops in the castle of the countess of Saint-Pol, and Piers of Courtenay, in the presence of the lady, expresses his bad mood: he had no pleasure and could not joust as much as he would have liked it. Clary is furious, but remains quiet not to cause a scandal in the presence of a lady, and because he is responsible for escorting Piers of Courtenay. Arrived in English land, he makes Piers of Courtenay notice that he had reached that point without incident , and that the courteous mission that king entrusted to him is accomplished. Courtenay having assented , Clary reminds him of the words held in front of the countess, and concludes as follows. “Our country is not so empty of knighthood than that, and I do not want that, came back to England, you brag about, meeting no resistance, having defeated its knights… “

Piers of Courtenay accepts with pleasure and there were three bouts. Clary went away extremely satisfied with the adventure and joined the king, who was, as for him, very dissatisfied. Did Clary have the right to regard his mission as finished, once the border crossed, and “to use his weapons “against Courtenay, thus repudiating the royal decision which had put an end to his joustings? Too delicate a problem, according to the ideas of time, to be judged thoughtlessly . While waiting for the solution, Clary was imprisoned. Happily, the lord of Coucy and the duke of Bourbon pled in his favor and could announce his pardon to him: “A big thank you, he says, I, however, thought to have done the right thing “.

One of the most famous series of jousts of the century was fought at St. Inglevert, in May 1390. Plenty of Englishmen came there; and not only no international incident disturbed the perfect harmony in which innumerable “blows “ were dealt, but Englishmen thanked very much French knights for their eagerness “to hit them “.

There was during the centuries, two kinds of tournaments, very different. The fundamental idea, in both cases, was the same one: it was a question of imitating a battle.

Of the several definitions of tournament given by Du Cange (Glossarium : "Tourneamentum"), the best is that of Roger of Hoveden, who described tournaments as "military exercises carried out, not in the knight's spirit of hostility (nullo interveniente odio), but solely for practice and the display of prowess (pro solo exercitio, atque ostentatione virium)."

During oldest time, the tournament was a one-day war, without hatred, of course, but in a huge field, with all the incidents, charges , escapes, and renewed attacks, that a true war supposes.

Rules.

It is a play with loose scrum. It takes place in open-air with kilometers of grounds full of rivers, wood, vines, and even farms. It is possible to lay ambushes or to make breakthroughs towards the enemy.

The only areas delimited with precision are these which are called “refuge “. They were surrounded by barriers and knights could take breath a moment in them, or furbish their weapons. They are therefore in full safety in them whereas combat rages all around them.

This one opposes sometimes several companies on each side. Every blow is allowed , all the weapons also, and there was no referee.

Only differences with true fights: the refuges and the golden rule which wants the objective is the capture of the enemy or his ransom, but not his death.

But little by little the tournament evolved and became a single battle, with limited field and times. The transition from the one to the other took place in the fourteenth century.

This kind of tournament is that which is generally known. It was painted by illuminators, honored with treatises by theorists of the art of weapons. Example that which was written about 1460 by Rene of Anjou, king of Jerusalem and of Sicily (a treatise on the form and organization of a tournament).

Rene of Anjou, King of Jerusalem and Sicily, is today better known as an author and patron of arts than as a political figure. Yet he was born in a family of kings and dukes, and had a long career as a soldier, administrator and statesman.He had relationships with royal houses not only in France but also in England and Spain: his sister married Charles VII and his daughter married Henry VI (of England).

In addition to some poems, three works can be attributed to Rene of Anjou: a religious allegory (1455); a romantic allegory (1457); and a practical treatise on how to organize a tournament (1460).

The tournament described by Rene in his tournament book is, surprisingly, noticeably different from the pas d'armes held at Razilly and Saumur. It has no allegorical or literary topic, no Fountain of Tears, no Arthurian scene, no refined vows or challenges. Instead, Rene says that he is describing a tournament adapted firstly from the ancient customs of Germany, and of Flanders:

The tournament described by Rene is a melee fought by two sides; individual jousts are only briefly mentioned as following the tournament itself. Although he assumes that the reader already is familiar with tournaments, his text is remarkably complete and comprehensible. While there is no reason to think that the tournament described in the book ever actually took place, text and illustrations together present a lively spectacle, and provide nearly all the information needed to organize a tournament like the one which is described in its pages. Rene carefully describes in it the heraldic ceremonial, the layout of outer bailey, the suit of heralds and referees, the weapons and armor, the housing , as well as the prizes.

They are the festivals from which the memory usually comes to mind as soon as the word tournament is told; endowed with fixed rules, limited by barriers, made more beautiful by the presence of elegant female spectators; some very calmed down tournaments the ladies and young ladies could attend.

Rewards are varied, crown, purse, embroidery, more rarely a jewel, an armor or a horse. These jousts and these tournaments, where the winner received the prize from the hand of the ladies, indicate well the mixture of noble instincts and coarse inclinations which dominated in this warlike society, of which they were most shining entertainment . It is from these documents of which the Hollywood scenario writers are inspired to stage the deeds of the valiant knights of the Round Table, Arthur, Lancelot, Gawain… What is, however, a complete historical mistake, the dux bellorum Arthur having lived many centuries earlier.

According to historians like Ralph of Diceto or Roger of Wendove , who calls them conflictus gallicus, some modern authors thought to have to proclaim Godfrey de Preuilly first lawgiver of tournaments. Godfrey de Preuilly, indeed wrote a code of tournaments which, as of his lifetime, was used as a rule on the matter.

However, though this lawgiver had prescribed the use of wood lances and swords, men used only true iron weapons, provided that they were without a tip and without a cutting edge; they were called then

courteous weapons; but often, in these joustings, opponents lost their limbs or their life, as in true battles.

What is certain it is that the great sport of the Middle Ages was the tournament. As being most dangerous, it was also noblest, that to which a warrior prepared with most ardor, for which most expenses were made; and so violent that most furious meeting of most virile sport seems a play for little girls in comparison.

The tournament is training to fight. It is a true equestrian combat, with real weapons. Like such, in 11th and 12th centuries, it still forms a frightening test in which fatal accidents are frequent.

Prohibitions multiply. The popes Eugene III, Innocent II, in 1130, in the council of Clermont, and Alexander III, in 1179, in the council of Lateran, as well as the council of Lyon (1245); decide vigorously against these hateful festivals,

“quas vulgo torneamenta vocant, “in which knights come and flaunt their strength , “ad ostentationem virium suarum “, risking death and hell fires.

The kings of England publish, at the same time, not less frequent ordinances, more than forty during the reign of Edward II, prohibiting, in Latin of the time, to any man-at-arms, fighting tournaments, jousting or seeking adventures: “Turneare, justes facere, aventuras quærere “.

During hundreds and hundreds of years, whole Europe, however, devoted herself to it with ardor; it was for all these knights such a need that no defense could keep them, nor no spiritual or temporal punishment, so hard penalties were. And they were hard: on the spiritual level, they could range to excommunication; on the temporal level, to the sequestration of their goods. Popes ordered priests to refuse a religious burial to men killed in tournaments; kings periodically defended to sell weapons and horses to the fighting tournaments knights, to grant hospitality to them; prescribed to prevent them by the force from meeting, seized their goods.

It is certain that these meetings did not always show very edifying spectacle. On an occasion at least, knights were seen making fun of the Church by putting on their armor monk’s habits , and fighting thus disguised, their chief being himself dressed as an abbot with a miter on his helmet (1394). In other meetings, on the pretext of tournaments, true assassinations were perpetrated : several knights sending the word round to harass the same opponent, and thus to get rid of an enemy; what the rules prohibited later. The festivals which followed ended up more once in orgies, and man passed quickly, in these evenings of madness, from the gracious words to most coarseness acts.

To shine in tournaments was a good means of pleasing a woman , the greatest one even. No virtue held in front of the winner’s glory. Such remonstrances abound in chroniclers and pious authors. In a miniature of the fourteenth century, a tournament is represented; the knights strike massively with their long swords; they do not suspect it, but the spectator sees it, that hideous devils direct their blows.

Tournaments, however, continued. Everywhere indeed where there was a crowd of knights, you can be sure to hear of tournaments. Our valiant knights organized tournaments during their voyages beyond the seas and popularized even its use in the Byzantine empire.

Ceaseless in spite of prohibitions, in honor within all the countries, major concern of youth and also of men of mature years (because you can often see in them fathers meeting their sons); entertainment of the great even of the little people who came as a crowd to see the show and, moreover, participated in it as assistants or servants; tournaments held really the first rank among the favorite exercises in old Europe.

PAS D’ARMES OR PASSAGE OF ARMS.

Tournament for infantrymen.

This type of military training is not new. Here indeed what we can find in the biographies of the hesus Cuchulainn in Ireland and particularly in the part of the legend dealing with his drill.

"So that sunny citadel (grianan) was: with seven huge doors, to it, and seven windows between every two of the doors, and seven rooms between every two windows, and thrice fifty girls in each of those rooms, with purple mantles and blue. And there were thrice fifty like-aged boys, and thrice fifty great-deeded boys, and thrice fifty champions, hardy and bold, opposite each of those doors, outside and inside, learning valor and feats of knighthood at Scathache“.

In the 14th century man begins to limit risks by blunting lances and by replacing the brutality of the blow in order to wound by the skill of the blow in order to break the adverse lance with a well-handled shield; whereas the longitudinal barrier of the outer bailey avoids too fatal head-on collisions; the tournament is humanized in the 15th century with the introduction of courteous and allegorical fictions. It is the pas d’armes or passage of arms , which is favored by princely courts in the year 1470.

The pas d’armes is the last transformation of the tournament, from now on sprinkled with literary references, very in vogue around 1440-1470 in the courts of Burgundy and Anjou. The general matter is the defense, by one or more knights, of a “pas “or passage, that possible attackers will endeavor to cross.

The topic is already present in the Gaelic story of the Ossianic cycle called “the castle of the rowan trees “. The Fenian warriors called Innsa and Fiancha defend, in it, the entrance of the castle against Viking warriors numerically superior.

The pas d’armes differs from the tournament by a symbolic stake to which all the meanings that the literary repertoire suggests are given– liberation of the Lady, upholding a vow, prowess to deserve the love of the Lady, etc. -; and that a complex decoration with codified esotericism, emphasizes.

Each passage of arms has therefore a name, making reference to the historical or allegorical topic chosen for the circumstance. In addition to that of the castle of the rowan trees in Ireland, we have the Tree of Charlemagne (Dijon 1443), the Merry Guard (Saumur 1446), the Mouth of the Dragon (Chinon 1446), the Shepherdess (Tarascon 1449). The winner received a kiss and flowers from this woman.

The theme of the Pas d’armes is formulated in a letter in lines of verse, which is a challenge addressed theoretically to all Christian knights, and practically to those you want to invite. Every knight can present himself nevertheless and the knights-errant naturally seize these occasions to emphasize themselves and to gain rewards. It is the ancestor of the role-play.

According to Jennifer R. Goodman (Chivalry and exploratIon, 1298-1630) and the Aemma in Toronto, between jousting and tournaments, the passage of arms consisted, like tournaments, in the imitation of a war operation: the defense or the attack of a pas or passage, a bridge, a castle entrance, a city gate. “To hold the pas “was the fact of defenders or “tenants “ who repelled the attacks of “comers “ of “those who are from outside “. In times when the artillery was, either unknown, or not very effective, and where the field was often roughcast with small fortresses unceasingly taken or taken again; war people had constantly, in real life, to defend or attack engineering structures and natural narrow passes . More prestigious to take were given to them in the romances of the Round Table: the knights, getting hooked, competed with their imaginary models, and wanted to resemble their portraits. They sought to rise up to the prowess of Roland defending the pass of Roncesvalles in Spain.

The passage of arms offered the pleasure of being able to vary ad infinitum, through the choice of the place to defend, of the weapons, of the fight conditions , finally by the imitation of some famous meeting in History or Romance. So a dramatic and romantic characteristic which increased their interest was given to these exercises. The topic of the reconstruction of such or such famous “pas “ returns constantly in the festivals of the Middle Ages: for example, the “Pas Saladin “ in which some knights reproduced the semi-legendary deeds of the Kurdish Sultan Saladin and Richard Lionheart. Sometimes, they were true engagements (without hatred); sometimes, they were simple shows to

delight eyes, but where many very real blows were dealt much and even more received, as the chance result of the performance.

In his Book of the Courtier, the Italian Castiglione enumerates qualities that a perfect court gentleman should borrow from various nations. And he awards to the knights of beyond the Alps the medal for tournaments, passage of arms and barrier fight: “nel torneare, tener a passo, combattere una sbarra “.

To fight at the barrier was indeed another form of the game. The knights taking part in it having dismounted, separated up to the height of his navel by a wood barrier, over the boards exchanged blows of axes, of swords even of lances, according to conditions adopted in advance. Until the referees, as the expression goes, put a “hold on“. They strike themselves with all one's might, with all their strength. Knight Bayard, in one of these games, deals such an axe blow on the head of his opponent that this one falls on his knees and kisses the ground. And judges shouted immediately: “Hold on! Hold on! It is enough; let each one withdraw ! “

Little by little all the words designating these games merged, and this mix-up, continued until today, often made lose sight of the literal sense which in the beginning each word had, and what particular game it designated. Early, and, in any case, as of the fourteenth century, a festival including a whole series of chivalrous games was called a tournament, even when none of the games consisted of “courteous battle “. The name remained glorious and to use it was liked. Often, in the fifteenth century and since, were called “pas d’armes “ festivals including, in addition to the defense of the pass, ordinary jousting and other exercises. Man called still, a little later, “passage of arms “ some meetings where there was neither pass nor place to be protected, where attacks and defense were hardly than a rhetorical figure.

The role of ladies was never greater than during these meetings: not only they were never absent, but you discussed with them in advance of the terms and conditions of these meetings. Lord Claude of Salins publishes, in 1497, the clauses of a passage of arms. They were imposed on him by his lady and, so that no one is unaware of that, the document begins as follows: “In Honor of the Trinity, the glorious Virgin Mary and Lady Saint Ann… “

Ladies triumphed, but sometimes paid a high price their triumph; artists represented them, being present at these festivals in compromising company; moralists groaned: “et lubrica facta sunt, “ a chronicler says in connection with jousts having taken place in 1389. The jousting and the passages of arms ended, like the tournaments, by dances, and there puritan critics found much fault to stigmatize.

One of the most famous pas d’armes of the Middle Ages (passo honroso) took place in 1434 on the Camino Frances in Spain at the place where it crossed the land of Suero de Quinones, on the bridge of Orbigo. It can appear paradoxical to install a passage of arms , decreeing an important stop, combat and risks, on a pilgrimage road. However on the road which leads to the sanctuaries of military saints, particularly in Compostela from the 14th to the 16th century, it was, for nobility, a spectacular way to stand out. In 1434, Suero de Quinones placed himself with nine of his men in the south-east of Compostela, on the “camino frances.” In fact, that did not prohibit pilgrimage to the great majority of people. The pas d’armes aimed only aristocratic followers and made even in this social class an active propaganda in favor of the pilgrimage, by showing that the noble ones could have a particular way to make pilgrimage, different from that of the common run of people. The challenge is made public on the first of January 1434, and opened on July 10th, in the presence of the king of Castile and of the court, with a parade of defenders (holders) and armors in a cart preceded by heralds and musicians. The following day the jousting, after a daily mass, begin. There were 627 attacks in thirty days. The king of Castile too was personally present at the closing when Suero was freed from his iron collar, then made a triumphal entry in Leon and was led to Quinones castle where he recovered from his wounds. Healed, he carried out the pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela and offered the gilded silver collar he had carried until there in honor of his lady.

N.B. Suero de Quinones was a member of the most powerful family in Leon. He is 25 years old and seeks to make an ending a relationship gift, to his lady-love. The romantic topic of the bridge, which appears in the Celtic and Arthurian legends as a place haunted by the forces of Evil which want to prevent its crossing, is added to the fight. Suero wants to face these forces and to be thus freed from a “possession.”

One of the last passages of arms was that organized in 1493 at Sandricourt. 2000 people were present there. This particular pas d’armes has been criticized as being too courteous. As if it was possible to be too courteous! Too much urbane perhaps?

The most striking feature of the passage of arms at SandricourTt is perhaps its series of locations evocative of chivalric fiction. Participants competed first before the castle at the "perilous barrier" on foot, armed with blunted lances and swords. They were to reappear the next day, at "the shadowy crossroads," for a mass conflict, followed by single combats after jousting (which proved sufficiently ferocious). A third encounter in single combat with blunt lances and sharp-edged swords took place at the "field of the thorn." Finally, the knights were to wander off into "the misleading forest," n order "to pursue adventurous quests," later reporting their adventures under oath. There all the members of the defending team (tenants) would be found ready to oppose all the "comers,” like knights-errant seeking their adventures there, just as Knights of the Round Table did once upon a time.

The knights-errant were followed, in turn, by referees, male and female spectators, and two butlers with servants bearing refreshments.

The chronicler considers that the whole operation was the best ever made in imitation of the Round Table.

"It seems to me that since the days of King Arthur, which are still remembered today, he who first founded the Round Table, when there were so many noble knights who are still remembered and forever shall be, like Sir Lancelot of the Lake, Sir Gawain, Sir Tristram of Lyonesse, Sir Palomedes, who were all once of the Round Table, I can well say that we have never seen nor read in any history, that since that time people have ever made for the love of ladies any passage of arms, jousts, tournaments nor bohorts approaching them as was the passage of Sandricourt. And I think that all noble men, full of virtue, ought to be displeased and very distressed that they did not witness the feats of arms which took place at the aforementioned castle of Sandricourt “.

The author also remarks that the unexpected number of competitors who responded to the challenged put pressure on the defenders or tenants of the local team. This situation stress the writer's recurring admiration for Arthur and his Round Table as standard of chivalry, in the mouth of many contemporary critics of the historicity of that British great monarch. In fact, a small Breton or Romano-British war chief (dux bellorum) of the sixth century (Arthwys mab Mar grandson of Coel Hen?) Who with some cavalrymen managed for a time to contain in the north of England (Hen Ogledd ) different invaders, coming from the north of Scotland or from over northern seas, in any case after Great Britain became almost independent, in 410 with the letters of Honorius sent to the cities in order to abolish the Roman law called Lex Julia, and before the heptarchy dear to our friend Bernard Cornwell.

But at Sandricourt, according to the chronicler, life strove to emulate fiction, and came closer than ever to succeed in it.

We have in our possession beautiful miniatures staging each scene of these engagements. We are between the Middle Ages and the Renaissance; there is a verbal rivalry on the chivalrous manners; each one resolves to imitate the knight-errant we know only by books; a semblance of modern comfort gives an odd and almost laughable nature to fights where players claim to exceed the prowess of the former valiant knights; deeds are salted with literature. We move away from Roland; we approach perhaps Don Quixote.

THE CODE OF THE ROUND TABLE.

Since it has just been so abundantly question of the knights of the Roundtable, some words now on their code of honor to them, on the Bushido in Far West .

Let us point it out, first of all, that this name comes from the shape of the table used for the banquets, taking place in a celicnon.

Just like the Irish Fenians, knights had therefore their honor code well to them, their professional ethics in a way, and the sanction for the breaches of this code were not always only symbolic.The punishments were proportioned according to the fault or according to the opinion of the judges and of the officers of arms.

N.B. In heraldry left is known as dexter and right as sinister (because what is taken into account for the description it is the point of view of the carrier of the shield, not that of the man who looks it in front view).

It happened that a herald made the reversed escutcheon of the faulty one pilloried, with a sign marked with a short mention of the judgment. The herald cut off some ordinary (charge) from it, added to it or substituted for it a mark of disgrace, the brown color for example, which could replace on it one of the basic tinctures. According to the cases, the herald broke the escutcheon in several pieces.

Other punishments, of course, equally dishonorable , but less heavy to support, could sully a scutcheon.

A knight who had failed in keeping his word, had his scutcheon made ugly with a red square in its center. A coward knight had his escutcheon spoiled on the right with a piece of armor used to protect armpits. A knight convicted of false witness, adultery and chronic drunkenness, had his scutcheon sullied with two pieces of armor used to protect armpits, black, on both sides. A knight who, cowardly and voluntarily, had killed a disarmed war prisoner, had the base point of his scutcheon shortened and rounded. A foolhardy or imprudent knight, who had caused some inconvenience to his party, had the base of his scutcheon indented. A knight, convicted of servile flattery, lie or of an erroneous report, had the base point of his escutcheon red veiled, so that various elements ordinaries or charges on it, disappear behind this new tincture. It happened thus that the knight had for a minor sin, his escutcheon decreased with some ordinaries, or than this one was reduced. The officers of arms carried out these changes and kept illustrated registers of that.

Capital punishment was also applied in certain cases, and for most serious crimes, of course.

After having received from their lord or from their king the order to do thus, heralds carry out publicly the downgrading of a knight considered as being guilty of perfidy.

Two scaffolds are drawn up: on one judges and officers of arms sit; on the other, the condemned knight, clothed from head to foot , with his scutcheon planted on a stake.

Vassals, tenants, serfs and villeins attend the ritual in greatest silence.

The sentence of the judges is given, after consultation of heralds, and one of them reads ,loudly and clearly , the conclusions of the judgment .

The clergy sings the vigils for the deceased . After each psalm, a pause takes place during which the officers of arms strip little by little the felonious knight, and shout: “This is the helmet… the collar… the sword… the coat of mail! “

The coat of arms is torn off in bits. With a hammer, the escutcheon is broken into three pieces.

And the priests continue to read monotonously on the head of the former knight various prayers, of which the psalm 108 (Deus, laudem meam ne tacueris) and 109 which contains many imprecations: “May his days be few; may another take his place “ etc., etc. Ah love religion, forever, there is nothing like a little love religion!

The herald asks three times for the name of the downgraded knight; somebody stands behind him, and gives his name, his nickname, even the name of his fiefdom. The herald proclaims that the knight who has just been named thus is a felon or a perjurer, and did the thing confirmed by judges of arms. Oldest aloud answers in the name of the knights or cavalrymen present on the spot, that the former knight is indeed unworthy of the title and status of a knight, and because of that he is reduced in rank even sentenced to death.

Somebody shows to the herald a basin filled with warm water that this one reverses on the head of the knight in question. Officers of arms go down from the scaffold with judges. The convicted person is taken down with a rope passed under his armpits, lying on a kind of stretcher and cover with a pall.

All go then to church where judges, bereaved , attend the requiem mass.

After the ceremony, the unworthy knight is given up to the royal judge or to the marshal, then to the executioner , and is generally hanged unless the sentence decided differently.

The herald then declares his children and all his descendants, non-nobles and reduced to the status of commoner, unfit to carry arms in war as in tournament. “Under the penalty of being stripped then beaten with rods, like common folk, born from an infamous father “.

For more precise details on chivalrous morals, to see our opuscule about ethics and professional ethics, particularly as regards the acts of war, expurgated from such aberrations due to Christianity (fir fer).

Duty of kings.

Compert Con Culainn : Am túalaing mo daltai. Am dín cech dochraite. Dogníu dochur cech tríuin, dogníu sochur cech lobair… to be the scourge of the strong, and the defender of the weak (Fergus).

Duty of knights.

Dáig níbá miad nó níba maiss leiss echrad nó fuidb nó airm do brith óna corpaib no marbad.

For he [Cuchulainn] did not deem it honorable or seemly to take the horses or garments or arms from the bodies of those he killed.

Duty of soldiers.

Nád bia etir, ar ní gonaim aradu nó echlachu nó áes gan armu.

I shall not slay you, I do not wound charioteers or messengers or men unarmed (Cuchulainn, Tain Bo Cualnge, Lebor Laignech.

HIGHLANDERS.

In the case of pitched battles, the combat tactics were summary. On the battle fields, Highlanders were accustomed to charge their adversary by following the model of the general melee. They launched into an attack, head first, without thinking about, but scorning danger. They rushed to the enemy, thus leaving out any prudence. They were very bad strategists and for good reason (sic). For lack of tactics, that cost to them very numerous battles, particularly that of Culloden. Nevertheless this way of proceeding, so little conventional it is, impressed, however, the soldiers who were to face them.

On the other hand, it was different for duels. Great fencing masters lived in the Celtic lands and, of course, Scotland was not an exception to this rule.

We find in heroic literature precise details relating to the course of battles. On each side, it was possible to choose a combatant, whose outstanding qualities were no longer to be shown, in order to defend the honor of your group by facing an opponent, and to make it possible for the winner to thus settle the current disputes. In these texts, we can find interesting clues making us able to understand that these designated champions had obviously been subjected to a very thorough training in the art of fight . These ritual dances, these shows (resembling the katas of Asian martial arts strangely), before combat, acted as a warm-up before the final attack. These deeds reported by bards praising winners were mentioned so as to become easily identifiable in the eyes of everybody.

This idea is also found in other stories, for example that in which the young Cuchulainn is sent from Ireland into Scotland. In order to follow there warlike training handed down by a woman called Scathache and who led a training institute on the isle of Skyou (west coast of Scotland).

The use of the weapons was taught to Highlanders as of their younger age. Training began with handling and manipulation of long sticks. They trained on fixed targets in order to pass, thereafter, to the hand-to-hand. They ended up reaching such a high level (similar to that of martial arts), that the control of thus acquired competences enabled them to avoid killing unless an absolute need. The quarrels or duels ended with the first blood. Naturally, it was not the case on the battle field.

When a clan gathered around his fire, the bard (Gaelic language seanachaidh) took advantage from this opportunity to praise his chief as well as warriors being pointed out at the time of famous battles. The reminder of these feats of arms fired the imagination and the heart of young Celts. The bard was to perpetuate the culture, the tradition and the warlike history of his clan. He was its guardian, its memory, and this, so that the descendants to come they also, can remember and tell. The Celtic tradition on which the society of High-Lands was based preserved its place until the defeat of Culloden in 1746.

The traditional dress of High-Lands is a plaid (Gaelic plaide) in other words a tartan rectangle approximately 4,50 m long and 1,50 m wide being used as cover and coat. Until the 18th century, plaid formed the only clothing of the majority of Highlanders. What it is understood through tartan (Gaelic language breacan) is in fact a multicolored coarse fabric of wool with crossed stripes, forming characteristic drawings that were dyed with plants, and traditionally produced in High-Lands for the plaids. During the night, the sleeper rolled up it around him; during the day, he put on the upper part of it around his shoulders and tightened it at his waist by a leather belt, the lower part forming a kind skirt. At the belt a very little cutting simple dagger was always placed. They were usually armed with bows, arrows, sabers and a small halberd, generally known by the name of Lochaber axe, as well as with a dagger known by the name of bollock dagger or ballock knife (durk, dirk). These weapons were a part of the dress of Highlanders as much as their plaid.

Bows, axes, swords, lances and knives, were the weapons used most usually at that time. The lance was used as a javelin to reach a target. Traditional axe was eclipsed from the battle fields in favor of saber, lighter therefore being handled much more easily. Axe was a shock weapon to be opposed effectively to the first attack while the primary quality that saber had was a greater facility in handling, as well as a sizable attack surface . Furthermore the use of traditional axe was not lost , because tall men could use heavier weapons easily. On the other hand, smaller men used another type of weapon which, through time and various changes, became something resembling a small halberd: the

Lochaber axe. This axe was a bladed weapon resembling a voulge of which its blade was fixed by two sockets at the end of a long pole, with a handle out of yew from 1,50 m to 2 m long. It was especially used to throw riders from their mount, the hook fixed at the shaft indeed facilitated much the work of dismounting an enemy and sending him “to kingdom come “.

As we have already said it, the Scottish dagger is a by-product from the “ballock” knife . A broken sword often acted as raw material for the manufacture of this kind of dagger. Archeologists call these blades, “rapier “ because they were not very effective to stab, due to the inherent weakness of the fixing of their grip on the blade. They were used as protection arms in addition to saber, used with the left hand while the targe too ( a kind of leather shield) was carried simultaneously with one's left arm. The targe was usually carried on one's back, except at the time of duels or combat. Thereafter, a made metal element placed on the central breast plate came to be added to the targe. This combination saber, dirk and targe, had a highly powerful output, and conferred considerable advantages on these dangerous warriors.

Daggers occupied an unequaled rank in the culture and history of High-Lands. The majority of Highlanders was too much deprived to buy a sword, but practically each man had a dagger. If the kata was the soul of Samurai, the dirk too, was the soul of Highlanders. It was carried at any time.

In this warlike culture, an oath was usually taken on a sword, for Gaels their scraping knife was used. Not to respect this oath earned practically eternal damnation for the one who dared to violate it.

Englishmen of the time having perfectly understood that, didn’t hesitate to turn over these pagan beliefs against Highlanders after the defeat at Culloden.

When traditional dress, weapons, bagpipes, were forbidden in 1747, it was required from Highlanders to take this oath on their dagger : “ I swear I have not, nor shall have in my possession any gun, sword, pistol or arm whatsoever, and never to use a tartan plaid, and if I do so may I be cursed in my undertakings, family and property, may I be killed in battle as a coward, and lie without burial in a strange land, far from the graves of my forefathers and kindred; if I break my oath."

Horses and riders had the advantage on the battle fields. It was therefore necessary to find a means to counter this undeniable superiority and to provide infantrymen with an adequate weapon. At this point in time claymore was invented. Claymore (or claiomhor) means in a way “super (mhor) - sword (claio) “. It was a long and heavy sword ranging up to 1,65 m. It was used to decimate cavalry squadrons. Claymores were used to mow the legs of horses and dismount thus their riders. But it was necessary to be very vigorous to handle it in an effective way.

This two-handed long sword appeared in the middle of the year 1400; the protection of the hand was of Scottish design, while its blade was manufactured in Germany. It had two edges and it was little sharpened; therefore, so that the blows can be effective, much power was needed.

The guard of the claymore was a cross guard of forward-sloping quillons with quatrefoil terminations . Then a kind of basket which can wedge the blade of an adversary, what made it possible to disarm him thanks to a twisting of your wrist: either the enemy dropped his sword, or he had his fingers broken. The main function of the guard of a claymore was to protect your hand. At the time of the engagements, the hand was very exposed to wounds. Moreover, this part of the sword could be used to inflict a destabilizing as much as devastating punch , which often broke, the jaw of the adversary.

The pommel of the sword was used to strike blows to an adversary who wanted to continue the fight, even once fallen on the ground. The blow was dealt to the head and was to knock out the one who received it, or could smash his skull.

This kind of sword remained a long time used in Scotland, whereas it was forsaken everywhere else by the other warriors, who complained about his heaviness. Highlanders, as for them, preferred it to all others.

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The culture of High-Lands survived the Roman influence, and the corruption of Anglo-Saxon feudalism. But the military, political, suppression, as well as the economic reprisals set by Englishmen, prevailed over it. During this sad period, many Highlanders starved to death. Others preferred to emigrate in colonies, of which Canada. And others, Highlanders as well as Lowlanders, having leaned towards the English side, were sold by their own chieftains as slaves, or almost.

It is therefore with much cynicism that Englishmen allowed Highlanders to keep a pretense of culture: the wearing of tartan and the carrying of arms in exchange for a military allegiance to the Crown. Cynicism because this approach had been openly considered as a final solution for rebellion problems among Highlanders. Here a short quotation of the general James Wolfe which shows his little respect towards these even exceptional men:

“They are hardy, intrepid, accustomed to a rough country, and no great mischief if they fall. How better can you employ a secret enemy than by making his end conducive to the common good? “?

The fact is that, even if the warlike mind of Gaels disappeared today, its base as for it, is remained intact; duty loyalty, valiance, honor, uprightness, independence, hardcore love for one’s clan and for one’s country. The nature even of these proud and rebellious people is still as present today as it was yesterday, and that it will be tomorrow.

When the wind rises on the moor that the song of bagpipes will resound, a voice will rise and say: “I swear by the sacred blade of my dagger that I will never forget. SAORSA GU BRATH! “(freedom forever !)

SCOTTISH MEDIEVAL FENCING.

Tuadoireacht or Claiomhoireacht. Also written, “Claiomhteoireacht “ “Claiomhtheoireacht “and “Claiodoireacht “.

Medieval fencing has much to do, of course, with the fencing of heavily armed gladiators of andabata type or cruppellarios type, even if it is not a direct descendant of it.

It is difficult to completely dissociate the Middle Ages of knights, siege, and battles (the battle of Stirling Bridge in 1297 for example and so on). However, the study of fight techniques of this time progresses still feeling its way, because very few precise traces of them are arrived to us, and nobody can therefore claim nowadays to be a lineal heir to the medieval technique, even Aemma in Toronto. They evolved considerably from 16th with equipment, fashion and need, making obsolete specific lessons of previous centuries.

It is enough to look somewhat into the case of the techniques relating to the handling of “basket-hilted” claymore and to read the treatise by William Hope published in 1687. The fencing manuals of the time detail the various uses indeed of the basket-hilted broadsword , known (wrongly) as a claymore, of the French sword (small sword or court sword), of the spadroon sword and to a lesser extent of the targe, dirk and quarterstaff.

There remains nevertheless written works of the Middle Ages, dealing with the subject. Aemma refers much to the Flos duellatorum by the Italian Fiori dei Liberi for example.

But, with two exceptions, they are not former to the 15th century. And even for the ones of the 15th century, these works are by no means models of some teaching method or of clearness. Some are illustrated, but a static image can often mislead instead of helping us to understand a movement . They are rather sets of sophisticated techniques intended for an informed public. Several other studies are nevertheless possible from the historical sources.

- Tests of cuts and thrusts to know the abilities of weapons.

- Study of the texts reporting fights.

- Study of miniatures and other medieval illustrations representing fight scenes.

- Study of the skeletons of fighters for better understanding the aimed areas as well as the reached area.

Most important in such studies is to be able to cross-check information, in order to avoid generalizing particular cases, but also to be broad-minded. All these studies must face mistakes as well in the sources as in interpretation. It is therefore necessary to know to take a step back and to put limits to one’s reasoning.

The equipment varied much between 13th and 15th century. We cannot speak about a common technique. It is enough to look at the developments in fencing techniques between the end of the 19th and today to see at which point chosen constraints and material are determining.

Before the 14th , techniques used either sword, or mace and shield, or lance or lance and shield, even ax alone (tuadoireacht). Thereafter, the use of two-handed swords (claiomhoireacht) of pikes (battle of Bannockburn 1314 ) or war hammers, and of various and varied pole weapons, increases; jointly with the wearing of a cuirass which will make it possible to do without a shield. Because of that combat therefore will strongly be changed.

We can roughly speaking draw three periods of different styles: from the 6th to 10th, from the 11th to the 13th, and lastly from the 14th to the 16th . Of course, this classification is very coarse, and many contradictions will be found in it, especially during the transitional periods.

From the 6th to the 10th fighters do not wear much protection (hauberks are rare) and cavalry is handicapped by the absence of stirrups. The armament consists of seaxes (long daggers or small swords with one edge), javelins (spears having very slender heads), of long swords or axes. The lack of effective body protections gave to the least dealt blow a big importance.

From the 11th to the 13th body protections do not cease progressing to arrive at the integral cover of a fighter, what was to enable him to receive (weak) blows without consequence. Entrenched behind his escutcheon or a rondache, the warrior fought by striking with the edge of his weapon to weaken his adversary. Thrust was appropriate with long lances but also swords, because such attacks are much faster and were, of course, to be used to keep one’s distance or to get an opening for a later strike with the edge of his weapon. During this time a civil fencing also develops on which we have only very little information.

Editor’s note. As we have had already the opportunity to see it, the notion of structured fencing appears in an unquestionable way only at the end of the 14th . Knights of the Middle Ages learn how to fight with, among other things, a sword, but his main weapon remains the lance. This general attitude had, of course, some exceptions, but the mentality of this time remain that of andabatae and cruppellarii: “I am protected by my armor, I strike strongly and I take the blows “.

MEDIEVAL FENCING AS A SPORT.

Aemma’s training sessions aim to try to represent combats and techniques which were probably used in the Old Europe of the time (the Celtic fight , the Viking fight, the Merovingian fight , etc.).

The weapons used in a medieval fight are the weapons intended to cut and thrust (swords, rapiers, claymores, daggers, sabers); pole weapons (halberd, voulge…) ; crushing weapons like mace , war hammer and flail of arms; as well as weapons known as defensive, such shields, targes and rondaches. And also two-handed swords. Several types of weapons match these criteria: “bastard “ or one and a half sword ,war sword of the 13th and 14th centuries, claymore.

It was used by mercenary soldiers from Ireland and Highlanders from Scotland from 1254. It is only starting from the 15th century that most represented model appeared.

Whatever the model, there exists a large variety of pommels.

Claymore was used until 1689. After this date, many specimens were cut or reforged to make broad swords with them. That explains why true claymores are now very rare.

Claymore weighs between 2 kg and 3 kg, what is much less heavy than than we could think. It is as long as the men who carried them, i.e., approximately 1,60 m. Its handling required a big space for the one who used it. Claymore was carried on your back in a sleeve, generally of leather.

It was used as well to cut as to thrust , to chop or to spit.

Claymore was able to slice through a man i.e., to vertically cut him into two. A text says that after a battle won against English, some Scots were shocked or nauseated by what they saw. The battle field was nothing any more but cut members, split heads, cut out bodies; and this, by the only strength of their super-swords!

A two-handed sword was not the prerogative of lansquenets or Swiss men. According to one of our ambassadors of the beginning of the 20th century (Pulitzer Prize for History in 1917 ) , this weapon was also largely used on the Continent. In 1450, the fencing-master William de Montroy, taught in Paris the handling of the two-handed sword.

A correctly reconstructed material cannot lend itself to a competition without severe adjustment. The practice of a fight technique using medieval weapons but also equipment can therefore be done only by accepting twisting made to realism and historicity. It is indeed unthinkable to practice a sporting activity with material really dangerous for practitioners, whatever the protection is used.

The majority of societies practicing gladiatorial or medieval fencing have generally three different types of activity.

- Technical training through combatants learn various fight techniques (parry, dodging, attack). At the time of these drills, blows are not dealt.

- Training fights where combatants clash according to their instinct. Weapons used then are swords out of wood or metal, according to the level of fight mastery.

- Exhibitions and rehearsals in which fighters use metal weapons.

In the medieval design of the armed struggle, distance is a basic notion. Consequently, various techniques are classified then taken up according to the distance.

Four types of techniques are to be distinguished. Out of distance techniques of coming nearer. Long-distance techniques. Short-distance techniques. Hand-to-hand techniques.

Essential protections.

The gambeson (or padded jack) is a leather or usually thick fabric suit, made of cotton or silk, padded with oakum and cushioned. It was worn under the hauberk : it is it truly, which absorbed the blows, the mail (there too perhaps a Celtic invention, see the warrior of Acheres) doing nothing but prevent the tear of cutting blows.

The byrnie or brogne * (the word is perhaps of Celtic origin: brunnia/bronia) is a body defense protecting chest. It consists of a leather clothing on which are sawed stiff elements, plates, rings, scales, nail heads, called mail (old French mascle: mesh of a net). The difference between a brogne and a hauberk , it is that in a hauberk , the components of the “mail” are connected between them without support. Clothing being used as a support can be made up of fabric, leather, felt, etc. Stiff elements can be fixed on the suit, under, even between two layers of clothing. Their shape is variable as we have said it (plates, rings, nail heads …) just like their matter.

* In the Victorian era byrnie was unfortunately renamed ring mail after various problems of Bible translation (Goliath) or interpretation of the BayouuxTapestry (having spoiled terminology).

Technical training.

- Gloves or gauntlets (obligatory).

- Greaves (shin pad) and poleynes or knee pads (optional).

- Gambeson or byrnie (optional).

- Head protection (for exercises with one's head).

Training fights.

- Gloves or gauntlets (obligatory).

- Greaves (shin pad) and poleynes or knee pads (obligatory).

- Gambeson or byrnie (obligatory).

- Helmet (obligatory).

- Chainmail (optional).

Exhibitions and rehearsals.

- Gloves or gauntlets (obligatory).

- Greaves (shin pad) and poleynes or knee pads (obligatory).

- Gambeson or byrnie (obligatory).

- Helmet (obligatory).

- Chainmail, according to programed fights.

- Spaulders or pauldrons (shoulder pads), according to fights and persons (optional).

Web sites dealing with the subject.

AEMMA: Academy of European Medieval Martial Arts in Toronto.

DIE FREIFECHTER: Gesellschaft die historische Fechtkunst.

BROTHERHOOD OF EAGLE'S NEST (training section of the web site of our Polish brothers).

BIRTH OF MODERN FENCING.

Pionsoireacht in Gaelic language.

As of the 15th century, on the battle fields, firearms replaced two-handed sword and lance.

Among privates, where protections are fewer, men began to be interested in the techniques making able to get rid quickly of his enemy by surviving the fight. Experienced individuals appear, who teach their “tricks“to their companions: they are the ancestors of fencing masters.

Developed at the beginning in the battle field, fencing will enter the civil field with same techniques. In the 15th century and at the beginning of the 16th , swords are primarily cutting weapons. In the first fencing clubs, man uses swords with a neutralized edge and equipped with a safety tip known as « rebated». Too dangerous blows with the tip or thrusts are prohibited.

First treatises, in connection with military fencing and of legal duel, show us that the point was used to strike the chink in armor [Flos Duellatorum, 1410, Talhoffer 1433,1467]. These treatises show use of various weapons, from the war hammer to the sword alone through the long sword (two-handed), the sword with a shield, the short sword (dusack or katzbalger in Germany), the dagger or the wrestling… Fencing masters of the time use a large number of weapons resulting from the military field.

The lords, as for them, clashed with a sword or a dagger (short-bladed weapons, about thirty centimeters long). In Spain (in Sevilla and Toledo), in Germany (in Cologne, Nuremberg and Augsburg) in France (in Bordeaux and Clermont) and in Italy (in Milan, Mantua, Florence and Pisa), there were famous forges in which were manufactured artistically decorated weapons.

The Renaissance is the golden age of duel. The invention of printing works makes the distribution of more fencing treatises possible. Famous schools are founded in Rome, Naples, Verona and Venice. In the 16th century, rapier, born in Italy, replaces two-handed sword. This new duel weapon, long and thin, is ideal for thrusts. Brute strength in fact gives way to trick and cunning. Stemming from war weapons, this sword will be able to cut as well to thrust .

It is also in Spain at the beginning of the 16th that modern fencing was born, but the Italians were the first ones to codify its principles.

Antonio Manciolino publishes in 1531, a work which indexes various positions on guard (10) with a kind of little buckler resembling a targe.

There was then the fencing treatise entitled Opera nova dell’ arte delle armi, published in 1536, by Achille Marozzo, and that of Camillo Agrippa in 1553. This last author was a scientist and not a fencing master. He created the terminology still in use today (prime, seconde, tierce, quarte, etc).

From the 16th to the beginning of the 17th century, reference as regards technique was Italy. Fencing masters come from this country, and it is in good taste for the nobility to go there and learn the science of arms.

The Italian jurist Andrea Alciato is the author of the first book codifying the practice of duels. He specifies the notion of points of honor and envisages repairs according to the nature of offenses. That can range from the first blood duel to the duel to death.

Duel was very widespread in France between gentlemen. Reasons of it were often futile. Sometimes, some assistants fought in the place of the noble ones.

In 1563, the Council of Trent condemned duel practice. Duel became the plague of the kingdom. Between 1588 and 1608, nearly ten thousand gentlemen were killed for honor questions.

July 10, 1547, the lord of Jarnac, considering himself as seriously offended by his friend La Chataigneraie, favorite of King Henry II, fatally wounded him during a duel. The blow he dealt to the left hollow of his knee was called “coup de Jarnac.” It was completely honest, but the use gave it an odious meaning (a stab in the back).

The French fencing school was born in 1567, the year when Charles IX authorizes the creation of the Academy of fencing masters.

1936: electrification of swords. 1955: electrification of foils. 1989: electrification of sabers.

The social behaviors change, we see “competition “ and its spirit appear.

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In spite of its seniority, this universally practiced sport unceasingly takes advantage of technological advances, by knowing true technological mutations (appearance of a transparent mask, wireless equipment…). For as much, elegance, honesty, as well as respect for the other, remained key words about it. You salute your opponent before and after each attack, you respect decisions of referees and you yield to the discipline of the Lucterios or Master at the time of his lessons, whether they are individual or collective. The atmosphere which reigns in fencing clubs is also very convivial. Because fencing is an individual sport which supports a true team spirit, and the club a place favorable for diversity of engagements - practitioners, referee, trainers, organizers - working with the same aim.

Accessible to all, man or woman, child or adult, fencing is a complete sport where each one progresses at the pace which is appropriate to him. Combining tactical and bodily effort, it develops qualities useful for everyday life: faculty of focusing, intelligence of situations, promptness of judgment, decisiveness, presence of mind and precision. Practiced with passion, it will be able to influence durably but also positively, your lifestyle, because it is a sport as much as a way of life.

Assault starts with the signal of the referee.

[Line removed then restored then removed again by the heirs to Peter DeLaCrau: Tumultus Gallicus. The signal of the referee consists of a sounding carnyx or horn].

Foil.

The foil remains the fencing reference weapon. With a foil, you touch with the point and only on the chest. The rules are a little more complicated than with an epee. To summarize, it is necessary to carry out certain movements to have the right to touch one's opponent, it is not necessarily the first one who touches who scores the point. The technical mastery that its practice requires is initially a handicap, but in the long term ends up being an asset.

Saber.

It is very fast and rather spectacular, you can touch with the edge (which does not cut) on all the part of the body being above the belt. The combat rules are comparable with these of foil. “Assault “is, of course, the word which matches best this discipline. The saber fencer is in the need for swooping on his opponent while having before, through feints and preparations, prepared his final gesture. The saber fencer must establish a combat strategy able, not only to destabilize the other, but also to impose his play with his qualities as well as his weaknesses. Adaptation and explosion, here what a fencer specialized in saber must always have in mind when he goes up on the piste.

Epee.

It is also possible to touch with the point, but it is much simpler to understand: you can touch everywhere (the bust of girls is protected by appropriate breast protections), and the first one who touches scores the point. In the epee, the orthopedic grip favors the action of the middle finger, ring finger, and little finger. The advantage of the grip known as “ French“ is that everyone can hold it with ease.

SCOTTISH DANCE OF HIGHLANDS.

It is there too, a “sport” which is not new since it is a part of the many specialities of hesus Cuchulainn. The Gaelic expression “Fonaidm niadh for rinnib sleg” can indeed result in “ hero's twisting round points of spears.” Designates perhaps some dances of the kind sword dances or shield (targe) dances.

A practical and theoretical treatise on dancing, by Edmond Bourgeois.

The taste of the Scottish people for dance is very marked, very long-lasting, and that is all the more extraordinary as it has had, for triumphing, to resist all the efforts in order to destroy it, tried by the Presbyterian Church. It is possible to have easily an idea of that by reading novels by Walter Scott.

This inclination for dance is especially felt in the High-Lands, among the populations of Celtic origin. In all the towns, and even right out in the humblest countryside, during long winter evening gathering , the Scot get together in many meetings where the young boys and the young girls rush up “en masse “ to true dance schools.

The old dances of the country are performed to the sound of bagpipes, like that of the Highland-Reel, danced by two couples at the same time.

Sword dance or Gille Chaluim remains a national entertainment. Two claymores are put in cross on the ground. In a narrow circle, dancers move with the greatest speed, varying their steps unceasingly, without touching swords.

The sword dance, which was preserved in the islands, is a little more complicated. Six dancers represent the six saints: George, James, Anthony, Andrew, David, and Patrick. They appear first separately, his sword drawn in his hand, and sing some lives of verse; then saint George opens the Dance. In turn his companions succeed to him, each one calling the one who follows by striking his sword. Then a circle is formed, each one holding his sword with his right hand, and with the left hand the tip of the sword of his neighbor. After having performed a round dance, they raise their swords, by forming a vault under which they pass quickly; then they jump over the swords. Lastly, they carry out another round dance.

The second series of figures is performed even more lively. The six dancers carry out a kind of procession; then they form a swirl where each one rotates, shaking his sword around him, while giving out wild cries. Then they take on again a calmer pace on the signal of St. George. The dancers dance back-to-back or face to face, while crossing their swords.

Highland dance or dancing of Highlanders designates today a sporting mode of solo dancing. It is a competition dance requiring hours and hours of training. But in the beginning it was a warrior training. Ritual fight dances imitating epic deeds, such martial arts formed part of the Scottish culture indeed.

The dance was a preparation for the handling of claymore used to exhibit one’s dexterity. This implied for example to know how to dance on two naked swords laid across each other on the floor without being wounded. Folklore explains it was a good omen before fighting battles, but that comes perhaps from the drill mode and from the footwork training which was required.

It was necessary to learn how to move according to various geometrical figures marked out on the floor (crosses, squares, triangles).

Dannsadh Bhiodaig or dagger dance, in which a dancer brandishes his dagger , is often associated with the sword dance or the dances called Mac An Fhorsair (the son of the forester) or Bruicheath (Battle Dance). They are mentioned in a number of sources, usually military, and can have been performed as a solo routine or practiced by two performers (as in a kind of duel form). This Scottish dance was therefore in the beginning only a series of movements having for objective to learn the use of a dagger or of a dirk , and it resembles much Indonesian Pencak Silat in that.

Some dances now disappeared had performed to be performed with other Scottish traditional weapons, the axe known as Lochaber axe, the double-edged sword, the flail of arms, as well as the small shield called targe and the dagger.

The earliest reference to these dances is in the Scotichronicon compiled by Walter Bower in the 1440s in connection with Alexander III and of his second marriage with Yolande de Dreux, at Jedburgh, on 14 October . At the head of this procession were the musicians with many kinds of bagpipes and behind them others, splendidly performing a war dance, which impressed much its spectators.

In 1573, mercenaries performed a dance of this kind before the Swedish king in Stockholm (it was besides in fact a plot intended to assassinate him).

Sword dances as Highlands dances were included in the program of festivities given in honor of Ann of Denmark, at Edinburgh, in 1589. And a mixture of sword dance and acrobatics was performed in honor of James VI in 1617. Again for Charles I in 1663.

English policy of repression of the Scots culminated in 1747, with the proscription of the kilt wearing by males. This measure was nevertheless repealed in 1782, and in the early 19th century, the culture, or at least what remained of it, of the High-Lands in Scotland, became again fashion in Great Britain. But many of the traditional dances had already disappeared, and in the contests only these which were in conformity with current tastes were allowed.

At the beginning these dances were carried out only by men, women were allowed only in the society dances in the modern meaning of the word, these which make it possible both genders to meet and couples to move.

In the late 19th century, a young woman named Jenny Douglas decided to enter a Highland dance competition. And as it was not expressly forbidden to her to take part, that was the beginning of the conquest of this art by the fair sex (today 95% of dancers).

Until 1986, there were only two or three types of dances.

The Sean Triubhas. Sean Triubhas (or “old trousers “in Gaelic language) is supposed to pint out the proscription of the traditional dress in High-Lands by the English after 1747. The shaking legs symbolizes the fact of making trousers slip or be taken off , and the end of this dance symbolizes the joy of returning to kilt. At least if you want!

The Ruidhle Thulaichean (Anglicized as “Reel of Tulloch “). Tulloch is a village in the North-East of Scotland. It seems that this dance started by being a bloody match of football, played with the severed head of an enemy.

The Highland fling. Another version of sword dances consists in dancing on the small Scottish round shield called targe. The most widespread theory in this connection is it was a dance of triumph after a victory. But another, not less romantic, theory, is that this dance was performed before battles (like sword dance). The difficulty is that the shield in question is provided with a spike in its middle: the dancer must therefore pay great attention not to wound his feet there, by turning around.

Others, lastly see in it a dance imitating with one's hands antlers of a stag.

NB. All these dances of the High-Lands in Scotland, with their raised arms, their footwork, and their kicks, resemble much some holds used in various forms of Celtic or Icelandic wrestling (glima).

The majority of the events of today recognize as supreme authority the Scottish official Board of Highland dancing, formed in 1950. It is it which establishes rules, but there exist some committees independent of the latter in New Zealand, in Australia, and, of course, also in Scotland.

The judges take account of three major criteria: timing, technique, and artistic performance.

Timing relates to the ability of a dancer to follow the music rhythm.

Technique has to do with the (correct) performing various stages in coordination with the movements of the rest of the body, including head, arm and hand movements. Ability of dancers to jump means a lot in notation.

The quality of artistic performance, on the other hand, is more difficult to assess because it depends on many things.

HUNTING.

There exist Assyrian low-reliefs of the first millennium before our era showing us Ashurbanipal hunting lions from his chariot.

From time immemorial, hunting represented for men a means of being fed and of being dressed, as well as a way of protecting harvests and cattle against predatory animals. Hunting is a sport and an entertainment practiced by all social groups. It makes men able to get fit and is training for combat, in these times of permanent war when each one was likely to be led to fight.

But beside this utility function, hunting is also rich in meanings. It reflects the structures and the ways of thinking of society.

Hound has moral qualities which distinguish it from other animals and connect it with noblest. The faithfulness of hounds, towards their masters, matches the honesty of vassals for their liege lord....

Celtic nobility was also keen on hunting. Merovingian and Carolingian monarchs too, who regarded a little their kingdom as a private property in this respect. The life of St. Hubert (dead circa 727/728) shows us well how to hunt could become an obsession. Charlemagne perhaps would have even hunted aurochs in the Belgian Ardennes in 802 (and King Philip Augustus would have killed the last of them in the Vosges in the 12th century). The last cow, however, fat killed in Poland in 1627.

After the breakup of the Carolingian empire local lords endeavored to monopolize reserves and hunting for big games in the forests or hunting for small games in warren. They also succeeded in England after the Norman Conquest. Local peasantry could not hunt without risking very severe punishments. Lower classes had to content themselves with snaring birds or small game outside forests or warren reserved for nobility.

One of the striking things with regard to Medieval Hunting is the extraordinary passion of its practitioners for terminology ( hunting of larger animals and small game hunting). See on the subject Theodore Roosevelt glossary.All various elements of hunt - the various animals to hunt , each phase of their development, each part of their body, each stage of the hunting, each feature of the hound’s behavior – had its specific word . A perfect knowledge of the terminology of hunting characterized a consummate knight.

The English writer Thomas Malory even ascribed to the knight of the Round Table Tristram the invention of appropriate terms in his “Morte d’Arthur” written in the 15th century (volume I, book VIII,chapter III : How Sir Tristram learned to harp,hawk,and hunt).

In medieval society where a strong spirit of competition prevails, hunting is the place of a severe competition between hunters. So this activity will thus be regulated by very detailed codes. There exists a “right to hunt “- the right to devote oneself to this practice on a precise territory - and, by correlation, a “hunting offense “. As in the war, to sound horn can be done only in essential phases. The hunters, responsible for the leading of the pack, must be dressed in green for better melting into the forest. Even skinning and cutting animals obey strict rules.

Farmers practice hunting with traps and machines such as snares, nets, pits or enclosures. The noble ones scorn this “hunting of villeins “ because it requires neither courage nor endurance from hunters, who do not face wild beasts directly. Nobility practices hunting on the wing – by means of beforehand trained birds of prey –

bow hunting or coursing ( venery). These are performed on horseback and using a pack of hounds. They require from the hunter launched in the pursuit of game, not only endurance and courage, but also some reflection in order to be able to thwart the tricks of animals, of which skill and efforts are admired (see Arrian).

Chased animals indeed use various tactics to escape their hunters. They are gathered under the generic term of ruses.

After hunt has begun, in order to throw the hounds off his track, the animal for example may "change" with another one of the same species , what it does by starting or flushing another animal of the same species and making it take its place in the chase. What confuses the pack. Hence importance to have good hounds.

The foiling or double line of scent matches the ruse of the chased animal which runs back over its own tracks and flees in another direction after a few hundred meters. The dogs thus are given a line of

scent with a junction or a fork which complicates the tracking and makes it possible for the game to gain advance .

The animal can also cross water, a river or a pond, and thus put an end to its line of scent (to its olfactory trail).

Or it can take to the water, for example jump into the river and swim, what is called in old french "bat l’eau" .

But don’t forget simplest tactics which consist in losing one’s chasers or at least to take such an advance that one’s smell disappears. There is forlogne * when the hunted animal succeeds in leaving behind him at a great distance his pursuers. The scent line is almost lost and it is then a matter of time. If the day is not too near to its end, if the hounds have flair, if the weather is beautiful, if, if… the end-of-day often puts an end to the hunting. The only thing which can happen it is that the animal feeling no longer being chased, starts to slow down.

As a last resort, the animal can still take a leap into an impenetrable thicket where the hounds were unable to follow it.

* Also forloyne in the glossary by Theodore Roosevelt.

As Arrian saw it well, this type of hunting highlights therefore at the same time animal and hunter. We find still at this time in hunting some remains of the ancient prejudice illustrated by Arrian (and so well disappeared since) towards the fact of killing an animal remotely. Even if it was a simple hare, it was a kind of treason to shoot it with an arbalest or an arquebus; it was more honorable to take it by force of dogs, and even of not too fast dogs like greyhounds; it was necessary that chances are left to it: and the hunt being thus equalized, that it runs. It was its business, its trade. Its life, undoubtedly, was the stake of the hunt; but that of the knights even was similarly in tournaments. More severe than Emperor Charles V, the conscientious James VI of Scotland (James I of England) prohibited to his son killing hares by far. He authorizes only “hunting with running hounds, which is the most honorable and noblest sort thereof; for it is a thievish form of hunting to shoot with guns or bows, and (by sight) greyhound hunting with greyhounds is not so martial a game “.

The noble ones who practice chase with a bird of prey (falconry goshawking) or hunting enjoy an enormous glamor with ladies and lords. Indeed, in addition to glory due to the fight against a sometimes wild animal ( wild boar hunting), it requires vast financial means. The packs sometimes reach several hundred hounds of which it is necessary to take care permanently. It is necessary to have a staff (pages, hound handlers, coursers), but also weapons, leisure, and authority, to be able to shine in this activity. The meal which is previous and that which follows hunting are the opportunity to show courtesy and sociability towards the many guests. Lastly, hunting the more five-year-old deer (hart) is regarded as a royal chasing. Hunting therefore forms part of the prerogatives of nobility, but also of its duties: it must hold its rank.

Feudality organizes hunt which finds a first written expression with the De arte venandi cum avibus by Frederick II

and especially, more complete, with the Book of King Modus and Queen Ratio, a work of the 14th century, a kind of catechism of huntsmen due to Henry de Ferrieres.

All that around royal and popular traditions for which more than 300 words, characterized by the obsession with the precision, are used. Hunting uses a precise terminology: Eight different names are given to the wild boar according to its age and gender (from squeakers to grand old boar through juveniles).

CATEIA (BOOMERANG).

See Welsh castio (juggling) Manx chyndaa (rotation) Irish casadh (to turn) and cas (turn), old Irish caithid (it casts).

Isidore of Seville devoted a short note to this weapon.

Clava est qualis fuit Herculis, dicta quod sit clavis ferreis invicem religata ; et est cubito semis facta in longitudine. Haec et cateia, quam Horatius caiam dicit. Est enim genus Gallici teli ex materia quam maxime tenta, quae iacta quidem non longe propter gravitatem evolat, sed quo pervenit, vi nimia perfringit ; quod si ab artifice mittatur, rursum redit ad eum qui misit. Huic meminit Vergilius dicens (Aen. 7,741) : Teutonico** ritu soliti torquere cateias (Etymologies XVIII, VII, 7).

A clava is of the kind that belonged to Hercules, so called because it is bound with rows of iron nails. It is made one and a half cubits long (4 cm). There is a throwing weapon called cateia , which Horace calls caia. It is a type of projectile made of the toughest possible wood, which, of course, does not fly far when thrown, because of its weight,but where it reaches it smashes with very great strength. It is thrown by a skillful man it comes back to the thrower. Vergil records it, saying (Aen.7.741): used to hurling cateia in the Teutonic manner **(Isidore. Etymologies XVIII, VII, 7).

To note: the curious association of this weapon with Ogmios (Celtic Hercules, god-or-demon of eloquence). The word is also mentioned by the Latin grammarian named Servius (ad Aen. 7, 741) and is thus translated by him: "Tela gallica reciprocas faciebant.”

To note also. Handling of cateia was also formerly part of the clessa of every self-respecting Celtic warrior.

BORDES Luke. A study of traditional throwing sticks and boomerang tuning. Bulletin of Primitive Technology, fall 2011: N°42.

Since its appropriation by European, the term « boomerang» had been used to designate indistinctly all kinds of throwing sticks.This language abuse, caused by the fascination of these objects returning flight, led to forget the existence of a larger and diversified group of related objects.

In 2010, archeological excavations carried out on the pre-Roman site of Urville Nacqueville, Normandy, commercially connected by channel boat crossing to the Dorset region in England, unearthed an unknown wooden shaped implement. The stick appears like a curved wooden piece of 54 cm wingspan and 1 cm thickness.

The wood analysis shows it was crafted as a whole from a single wood branch of an apple tree. Urville Nacqueville stick was carefully crafted and polished to erase any tools traces. Three longitudinal centered narrow parallel grooves have been carved along both surfaces of the artifact. Five iron straps have been fixed around its extremities, elbow and mid part of each blade. For each of these straps, the metal is overlapping and fixed with a small nail. One of these straps had been lost and one blade was found therefore without it, but a nail hole attests to its presence.

This boomerang like shaped wood archeological artifact, dated from 120 to 80 BCE, has been found in an enclosure trench of a Celtic village close to a ritual deposit of whale bones. The careful study of this implement shows it has probably been used as a bird hunting throwing stick. To test this hypothesis, some replicas have been made, aiming to get more information about its functionality from the different flying trajectories obtained.

This artifact has been excavated inside a rustic district, from an enclosure trench protecting a living area where three circular buildings stood. The stick was in vertical position against the external oriental wall of this structure. The base of the artifact was on a small built channel made some time after the main trench was filled. This particular position of the artifact can be interpreted as a deposit on purpose rather than a state of neglect.

A throwing stick is a wood piece with a variable curved shape, having several more or less shaped blades forming an ordinary angle. This wood piece is thrown by hand in rotation around its gravity center.

Some throwing sticks are capable of reaching 150-200 meters range and break the legs of a big mammal. Tamils from SouthIndia was still using this kind of weapon in the 19th century to hunt hare, but also as big mammals as deer.It was also known in North America by Pueblos people, called «Rabbitstick» because mainly used to hunt rabbit justly.

This weapon is also known in ancient Greece under the designation "lagobolon" and are represented on several statues and figurative vases.

The other main use of the throwing stick is bird hunting. Well documented in Australia, this hunting practice is also represented on tomb paintings representing the daily life of the elite of the ancient Egyptian society. The scene is generally taking place in a marsh where the hunter on a small papyrus boat is waving his throwing stick, followed by his servants. The hunter is aiming directly at a flock of birds and often hits several birds at the same time. In Australia, and other continents, throwing sticks were also used in conjunction with nets for bird hunting, but even sometimes big mammals. About bird hunting, returning throwing sticks were mainly used to imitate the bird of prey attack and get the birds down in ground fixed nets. Indeed, being a very light stick weighting generally less than 200 grams and with wingspans 40-50 cm, returning throwing sticks tend to be only specialized in that kind of bird hunting and especially designed for this part.

The older identified throwing stick is dated from 23 000 years. This object,made of mammoth ivory, had been found in the Oblazowa cave in Poland.Throwing sticks found at Elbschottern near Magdebourg in Germany and at Velsen in Netherland dated respectively from 800-400 BCE and 300 BCE are the only example known for Iron Age.

Velsen throwing stick has a 39 cm wingspan. Its thickness is varying from 6 mm from the extremity to 8 mm at the elbow. Its mass evaluation gives 72 g and its mass on the surface ratio calculated around 0.47 g/cm². This object is made of oak which is a favorable wood to craft light throwing sticks or boomerangs. Its shape,rounded with constant wideness and truncated ends is close to those of the Urville Nacqueville stick. But it is a lighter and finer object. Its characteristics are therefore belonging to the very light throwing sticks class(mass/surface ratio< 0.7 g/cm²).

The returning throwing stick found at Elbschottern near Magdebourg is another archeological discovery close to our studied object. This throwing stick is belonging to an older period with a dating ranging from 800 to 400 BCE. The wood used is ash wood. Its better conserved blade has a 22.7 cm length, its thickness is between 0.7 cm and 1 cm and its wideness ranging from 7.35 at the elbow to 4.25-4.4 centimeters at the extremity of blades. Its wingspan is 37 cm. From its drawing, it's possible to calculate its surface around 182,6 cm² and make an estimation of its weight between 76 g and 109 g considering the ash wood mean density. This projectile is therefore belonging to the very light throwing sticks class. Compared to the Urville Nacqueville stick, it's a smaller and lighter object. Similar to Australian Aboriginal boomerang, it has a widened elbow though Urville stick has a constant wideness. Its rectangular airfoil is close to those of Urville although it has a slightly different attacking blade airfoil with a concave intrados. This feature aims to increase notably aerodynamic lift on the attacking blade to accentuate the returning trajectory. This mixed type airfoil is commonly encountered on throwing sticks in Australia and also existing on the Urville Nacqueville artifact.

Ethnological comparisons are rich in information. Indeed Urville Nacqueville artifact has common features with the famous American pueblos throwing sticks. These specialized throwing sticks were used in rabbit hunting and have often curved shape, truncated end and rectangular airfoil. Nevertheless these rabbit sticks are designed for ground hunting and are generally thicker, larger and heavier than Urville Nacqueville stick. This comparison makes us able to think that the Urville Nacqueville artifact could be too fragile for the ground game and be more adapted for bird hunting.But the more striking common point between our artifact and South-west American throwing sticks is the presence of longitudinal centered grooves, also coming by set of three or four, frequently encountered on Anasazi throwing sticks which precede pueblos rabbit sticks.

Indeed, throwing sticks in south-west America are coming from a very ancient Central American tradition and were used by Mayan people as fighting stick and to deflect incoming enemy darts. They are frequently showing centered set of longitudinal grooves on both faces similar to those observed on the Urville Nacqueville artifact. These set of longitudinal grooves are regularly interrupted by gap allowing binding of the stick by sinew or vegetal fiber cord. This system of throwing stick reinforcement could have been also used on the Celtic artifact,but using iron for binding strap was the commonest technique for Iron Age period.

Another ethnological comparison with reinforcement and repair are iron straps used for Tamil throwing sticks (valari). Indeed iron straps are used for south Indian throwing sticks called valari dating from the 19th and 20th centuries, used for hunting or war. Additionally, valari bonded with iron straps are sometimes not any more thrown but are playing a ritual and symbolic role in temples or are exchanged for the weddings. Some of these throwing sticks have a type of wide iron strap carefully fixed on the extremity of their short following blade and have around 2,5 cm wideness close to our Celtic artifact strips, but are thicker (around 1 mm). This type of strap planned at the making of the throwing stick, being set in carefully carved notch and welded.

Another type of iron strap on valari Indian throwing sticks is the repair strip. Other valari indeed shows narrower iron straps, with a wideness around 8 or 9 mm and 0.5-1 mm thickness fixed by a small iron ring on the edge, obviously for repairs. Indeed valari with this type of strap are always damaged or have wood splitting .

In short.

Urville Nacqueville throwing stick reinforced with iron straps is unique in Europe for the second Iron Age period. Its different states reflecting the transition between a really used hunting projectile to a prestige item assuming a more symbolic function, increase even more its archeological value.This throwing stick probably used as a bird hunting stick, give evidence of an ancient tradition of making and use of light hunting stick in the north of Europe. This discovery indicates the great continuity of throwing sticks usage in Europe from Paleolithic, as the evidence of the ivory throwing stick found at Oblazowa, and until the Neolithic with Egolzwil throwing stick found in Switzerland. Despite more modern and efficient weapon like bows, people continue to use throwing sticks as a reliable weapon for hunting during the Iron Age, and at the Celtic period, enhance this primitive projectile by using this metal on it. This hunting weapon was especially adapted to swamps and coastal areas rich in fowl, as shown by the discoveries of like objects along the river Elbe and Velsen boomerang like objects found on a coastal site in the Netherlands.

Because of the animal bones found in excavation including many birds remains, we know that the hunting activity was practiced on this site and that during the second Iron Age it was reserved for the elite. Bird hunting sticks indeed were already obsolete as main weapons at the second Iron Age, because these implements weren't any more primary hunting weapons probably since the Neolithic period during which they seem to acquire different new symbolic functions. This discovery shows nevertheless that its usage has been perpetuated until Celtic time with increasing symbolic value. Were throwing stick used at this time like in ancient Egypt for bird hunting by noble Egyptians in the Nile delta ? This prestige hunting use could explain at the same time the fine crafting of the functional artifact and care for its repair, followed by its conservation as significant cultural item which leads to the votive depot in the trench where it has been found.

(According to Luke Bordes , Specialist in Prehistory, Paleoenvironment and Archeological Sciences.)

CONCLUSION.

Boomerang, this odd-shaped wooden object, halfway between legend and history, and which is supposed to come back somewhat surprisingly in the hand of its launcher, remains for much, if not a legend, at least a kind of mystery. Only aboriginal peoples of Australia have been able to keep this tradition, probably for ideological reasons.

It was originally a weapon known for several tens of millennia, and like tattoos on acupuncture points (see the case of Otzi *) is therefore a part of the common cultural heritage of Mankind. It was used in skill tournaments between hunters' tribes.

The boomerang rediscovered among the aborigines of Australia in 1770 was therefore known all over the planet (America, Europe ...) during prehistory.

We even found a whole collection of them in the tomb of Tutankhamun, a mighty hunter of ducks before the Lord (1350 BCE, here, it is curious, champions of perennial tradition have never spoken of them).

In fact, it is thought that many peoples mastered cateia, but as most of them were made of wood, they are probably very poorly preserved, which is why we found very few of them.

Formerly a hunting or war weapon (see the cateia by Isidore of Seville) the boomerang is today almost exclusively linked to a sporting practice or a hobby. It was also the case of the specimen discovered in Urville Nacqueville according to this study by Luke Bordes. It was no longer a common and basic hunting tool but a sport or training weapon reserved for the local warrior elite and the whole in connection with the nobility of Great Britain. Finally, at least, if we understand the author, of this study of the archeological artifact from Urville Nacquevillle, well.

Transition from a primitive tool to a competitive sport was accompanied by a rediscovery of the object and then a progressive adaptation of its characteristics according to the different sports disciplines as well as available technologies. We are today sometimes very far from the piece of wood used, several millennia ago.

* Prehistoric man found out in 1991, in a glacier at the border of Italy and Austria.

** From the Celtic touto tribe. People having lived in ancient Denmark.

BOW AND ARROWS. BASES OF ARCHERY.

Here about fifty thousand years approximately, Man raised a question: how to throw a sharpened stone in order to thus kill an animal of as far as possible? The javelin provided at its end with a sharp stone had given excellent results. It made it possible to harpoon fish and to kill small animals which hide in burrows or live in trees. Projected away by a powerful arm, it could reach an animal and kill it. Nevertheless, whatever the skill of the man and his bodily strength , were, the range of this weapon remained limited enough: a dozen meters at most.

Another thing had to be found, and it was the invention of the thrower which cast three meters long assegais.

But it was still insufficient.

STRAIGHT BOW.

Man then noticed that the branches of certain trees could be curbed by the strength of his wrist, but that they took again their initial form, once released . That inspired him another means of throwing his assegais , a means much more effective than muscles of his arms. He imagined joining together by a liana the two ends of a branch: the bow was born! Consequently, he could aim with precision and kill an animal forty meters away.

The oldest arrowheads found until now date back to 50.000 years. Bows made of elm having the length of a man were found on several settlements of the Culture of Ertebölle in Denmark. Some of Europe’s oldest and best-preserved bows were found in the Stone Age settlement of Holmegaards Mose fifty kilometers away in the south-west of Copenhagen. The remains of five bows dating back around 7000 before our era were discovered in this peat bog.

Arrowheads were found in the earliest chariot burials of Krivoe Ozero, a site which is a part of Sintashta-Petrovka culture about 2100–1700 before our era, but the bow that shot them has not survived. Andronovo Culture, heir to the Sintashta-Petrovka culture, was the first to extend from the Ural Mountains to Tian Shan in central Asia, and cultures which succeeded it gave rise to Indo-European migrations.

Self-bows, made from a single piece of wood, are called straight bows, long bows, or longbows in English though it is of Welsh origin. It was indeed the weapon "by definition" of the Welsh or Flemish archers. It is most primitive and least powerful. It could be more than two meters long.

MATERIALS.

A composite bow is a bow made of horn, wood, and sinew laminated together. The horn is on the belly, facing the archer, and sinew on the back of a wooden core. When the bow is bent, sinew (stretched on the outside) and horn (compressed on the inside) store more energy than wood for the same length of the bow. The strength can be made similar to that of "one-piece" bows made of wood, with similar draw length and therefore a similar amount of energy delivered to the arrow than in the case of a much shorter bow. However, a composite bow requires more different materials than a self-bow, its construction takes much more time, and a finished bow is more sensitive to humidity.

Composite bows have been known from archeology and art since the second millennium before our era, but their history is not well recorded as they were developed by cultures without a written tradition.

Composite bows may have been invented first by the nomads in Asiatic steppe, who may have drawn their inspiration from earlier Northern Asian laminated bows( (self-bows strengthened by sinew, use of two different wood species, etc.)

Such they are nevertheless, these composite bows originated among Asiatic shepherds who used them as daily life tools, traditionally for mounted archery although they can also be used on foot. Such bows spread among military men (and hunters) of civilizations that came into contact with nomadic tribes; composite bows have been used across Asia from Korea to the Atlantic coasts of Europe and North Africa, and southwards in the Arabian Peninsula and in India.

Several composite bows were found in the tomb of Tutankhamun, who died in 1324 before our era. Composite bows (and chariots) are known in China from at least Shang Dynasty (1700–1100 before the common era). But, from the fourth century before our era, chariotry had ceased to have military importance, and was replaced by cavalry everywhere (except in Great Britain where charioteers are not recorded as using bows).

Mounted archer became the archetypal warrior of the steppes and composite bow was his archetypal weapon, used to protect herds, in steppe warfare, and during incursions (notably those of the Huns, Magyars, Mongols, and Turks) into inhabited areas. Traditional tactics for horse-mounted archers were skirmishing; they approached, shot, and retreated before any effective response could be organized. The expression "Parthian shot" refers to the widespread horse-archer tactic of shooting backwards over the rear of their horses as they retreated. Parthians inflicted several devastating defeats on the Romans, the first being the Battle of Carrhae. However, horse archers did not make an army invincible; the Chinese General Ban Chao led successful military expeditions in the late first century that conquered as far as central Asia, and Alexander the Great defeated a horse archers army on his first contact with them.

Infantry archers of classical Greece and Roman Empire used composite bows. The soldiers of the Han Dynasty (220 before our era–206 our era) utilized composite crossbows in their engagements against the Xiongnu. The Battle of Lepanto (1571) was the last major use of composite bows by Ottoman Empire.

VARIOUS BOW SHAPES.

If the self-bow was invented at a time, we can date between 50.000 and 15.000 years before our era, the first known description of the recurve bow appears on the sleeve of a sword found in a Scythian grave, dating back to the seventh or eighth century before our era. In sometimes elementary forms, this shape seems to be used for a very long time by many tribes of Indians , such as Chinooks, Kwakiutls, Nootkas, Wintus, Hupas, Klamaths, Modocs, Karoks, by some Cheyennes and Inuits.

But the masters on the matter were indubitably the bowyers of the Middle and Far East. The Sino-Mongolian bow or Turkish bow probably comes from Egyptian and Assyrian bows. From these bows made up of wood, horn and sinew, the Eastern bowyers designed a reflex bow, with unbending ends, and of which materials were put together using fish glue and silk threads. This model, with its variants as well in its shape as in its composition, was adopted at the pace of the conquests by Persians, Hindus, Mongols, Chinese, Koreans, Parthians, Scythians, Huns and all the peoples in the Middle East. It was one of the major instruments of domination of the steppe peoples who followed one another on the European ground and it trails behind it a sanguinary long history. It is also the Celtic bow since the ancient Celts borrowed it from Scythians.

In archery, the shape of the bow is, of course, taken to be the view from the side of this object. It is the product of the complex relationship of material stresses, designed by bowyer. Viewing the limbs, it is designed to take into account the construction materials, the performance required, and the intended use of the bow.

There are many different kinds of bow shapes. However, most fall into three main categories: straight, recurve and compound. Straight and recurve are considered traditional bows.

The materials must withstand these stresses, store the energy, and rapidly give back that energy efficiently. Many bows, especially traditional self-bows, are made approximately straight in side-view profile. A recurve bow has tips that curve away from the archer when the bow is strung. By definition, the difference between recurve and other bows is that the string touches a section of the limb when the bow is strung.

If a limb is 'straight' its effective length remains the same as the bow is drawn. That is, the undrawn string goes directly to the nock in the strung (braced) position. When the limb is recurved (tips of limbs away from the archer), the undrawn string touches the limb before it gets to the nock made at the end. The effective length of the limb, as the draw commences, is therefore shorter. However, as the bow is drawn, the recurve 'unwinds,' the limb becomes effectively longer, and the mechanical advantage of the archer increases. Counter to this, stresses are building up in the materials of the limbs. The belly of the bow (nearest the archer) is in compression, the back (furthest away from the archer) is in tension, and the line between is in shear stress.

The materials must withstand these stresses, store the energy, and rapidly give back that energy efficiently. The

amount of energy stored is determined by the stresses withstood and the shape of the limb, from the unstrung position to strung position, then deformed further to full draw as the recurve unwinds. These principles to efficiently store more energy, and deliver it to accelerate the arrow, were clearly understood in antiquity, as shown by the examples that follow.

Straight bows.

Many bows, especially traditional self-bows, are made approximately straight in side-view profile. They are therefore generally referred to as straight, despite the minor curves of natural wood and the "set" or curvature that a wooden bow takes after use. When the archer commences the draw, mechanical advantage is at its greatest……..

On release, the reverse happens, the arrow is accelerated by maximum force, and this force rapidly decreases. Hence, the arrow must be sturdy enough to withstand such acceleration and, as the string may decelerate, it is also possible for the arrow to leave the string prematurely, which is inefficient.

And since it is impossible to speak of bow and arrow without evoking Robin Hood here a few words about him. Some specialists trace his legend back to a very old local Celtic background (of the Fenian type). King John of England known as Lackland, on the other hand, really existed. He even gave in 1203, with his vassal Piers de Preaux, the islet of Ecrehoo, in the Channel, to the Cistercian monks (as a frankalmoin). Residual rights on this island today in the hands of a French family (since a private agreement with Cistercian Order in 1976).

The longbows as used by English Archers in the Middle Ages at such battles as Crecy and Agincourt were straight limb bows. Usually made of yew, these bows were used to great effect on the enemy by many archers shooting together in massed volleys. The arrows were long and heavy with armor-piercing heads.

But at Crecy the victory was nevertheless got only because the first squadrons did not follow the orders of the king and the strings of the Genoese crossbows had been relaxed the rain, whereas the strings in rustic hemp of the Welsh bowmen were on the contrary hardened by humidity; and in Agincourt one wonders why because the commander of French forces (12 000 troops according to Anne Curry in his book entitled Agincourt a new story) Marshal John II Le Meingre, known as Boucicaut, an experienced old soldier, had done everything to avoid the repetition of previous disaster (Crecy and Poitiers) and envisaged only a confrontation in open ground that could make the deployment of his troops possible, not the bottleneck in which French troops were located at the dawn of October 25, 1415, after a whole night of maneuvers and counter-maneuvers. His initial battle plan was found in the early 1980s in the British Library archives by Anne Curry.

Recurve bows.

A recurve bow has tips that curve away from the archer when the bow is unstrung. By definition, the difference between recurve and other bows is that the string touches the section of the limb located before the tip bearing the notch when the bow is strung. A recurve bow stores more energy and

delivers energy more efficiently than an equivalent straight-limbed bow, giving thus a greater amount of energy and speed to the arrow. A recurve will permit a shorter bow than the simple straight limb bow for a given arrow energy and this form was therefore often preferred by archers in environments where long weapons could be cumbersome, such as in brush and forest terrain, or while on horseback.

The recurved limbs also put a greater strain on the materials used to make the bow, and they may make more noise with the shot. Extreme recurves make the bow unstable when being strung. An unstrung recurve bow can have a confusing shape and many Native American weapons, when separated from their original owners and cultures, were incorrectly strung backwards then destroyed when attempts were made to shoot them.

The classical double curvature arc profile was introduced and developed in Europe mainly by Celts but bows were then mainly used for hunting and judged to be unworthy of military ethics which gave the hero's part or at least the priority to the charge of knights of the type "charge of the light brigade at Balaklava" or to close combat. Hence the explanation perhaps of a number of English victories of the time (Crecy Poitiers Agincourt, etc.). We will find the same problem in France many centuries later (from the Chassepot gun to tanks and planes: excellent equipment but poorly used).

Burgundian bows.

It seems that the bows called "Burgundian" or "French" are short bows about 1 m 60 long (the approximate size of a man of this time), therefore with a smaller draw check than the Welsh longbow but with a great accuracy.

The limbs of a Burgundian bow are slightly curved at the tips. Clearly, the French or Burgundian bow was like the Scythian bow a compromise an intermediary or a synthesis between the Welsh longbow and the Asian oriental Mongolian, Turkish even ancient Greek, bow.

Reflex bows.

A reflex bow is a bow that when unstrung has curved or curled arms which turn away from the archer throughout their length, resembling a "C"; this differentiates a reflex bow from a recurve bow in which only the outer parts of the limbs (known as tips) turn away from the archer. The curves put the materials of the bow under greater stress, allowing a rather short bow to have a high draw weight and a long draw length. This allows a bow that is significantly shorter than a recurve or a longbow to shoot with the same or greater velocity and power. They became the classic weapon of the horse archers who have repeatedly conquered much of Asia and Europe; their short profile compared to longer bows made them ideal for horseback use. However, the materials and workmanship must be of high quality.

Bows of traditional materials with a significant reflex are almost all composite bows, made of the classic three layers of horn, wood, and sinew; they are normally made in the recurve shape. Highly reflexed composite bows are still used in Korea (gakgung) and were common in Turkish and Indian traditional archery. Highly reflexed bows are more difficult to string and may reverse themselves suddenly; they have seldom been used for hunting or war.

Bows of the ancient Greeks had two different shapes: the ones consisted of two horns, united together by a straight piece in the middle of the weapon, the others, when they were unstrung , had a circular shape, like a sea bay (sinus). When the bow was strung, it bent back in the opposite direction of its curve; what was to give it a dreadful strength: the true meaning of the Homeric epithet palintonon (Odyssey Book 21 the test of Odysseus’s bow) is thus explained.

Compound bows.

The compound bow, not to be confused with a composite bow, is a modern bow that uses a levering system, usually of cables and pulleys, to draw the bow.The limbs of a compound bow are much stiffer than those of a recurve bow or longbow. This limb stiffness makes the compound bow more energy-efficient than other bows. The typical compound bow has its string applied to pulleys and one or both

of the pulleys have one or more cables attached to the opposite limb. When the string is drawn back, the string causes the pulleys to turn. More energy is then stored, in comparison to other bows.

Crossbows.

During the jihad undertaken by the peoples of Europe in order to "free" the tomb of Christ in Jerusalem, bows and arrows were the favorite weapons of the adversaries, but it was at this time also that crossbow appeared.

A crossbow is a weapon in similar principle to a bow, consisting of a bow-like assembly called a prod, mounted horizontally on a main frame called a tiller, which is handheld in a similar fashion to the stock of a long gun.

The crossbowman winds his weapon like a spring, aims and presses a trigger that releases with force arrow-like projectiles called bolts or quarrels. The medieval European crossbow was called by many names, most of which were derived from the word ballista, an ancient Greek siege engine similar in appearance (but bigger, much bigger).

Although having the same launch principle, crossbows differ from bows in that a bow's draw must be maintained manually by the archer pulling the bowstring with fingers, arm and back muscles and holding that same form in order to aim (which demands significant physical strength and stamina), while a crossbow uses a locking mechanism to maintain the draw, limiting the shooter's exertion to only pulling the string into lock (or nut)) and then releasing the shot via depressing a lever/trigger. This not only enables a crossbowman to handle stronger draw weight, but also hold for longer, thus capable of better precision.

Historically, crossbows played a significant role in the warfare of East Asia or Medieval Europe. The earliest crossbows in the world were invented in China and caused a major shift in the role of projectile weaponry. The traditional bow and arrow had long been a specialized weapon that required considerable training, physical strength and expertise to operate with any degree of practical efficiency. In many cultures, archers were considered a separate and superior warrior caste, despite usually being drawn from the common class, as their archery skill-set was essentially trained and strengthened from birth (similar to many horseman cultures) and was impossible to reproduce outside a pre-established cultural tradition, which many nations lacked. In contrast, the crossbow was the first ranged weapon to be simple, cheap and physically undemanding enough to be operated by large numbers of untrained conscript soldiers, thus enabling virtually any nation to field a potent force of crossbowmen with little expense beyond the cost of the weapons themselves.

Let us remark, however, that the Genoese crossbowmen did not prevent the Welsh archers from winning in the battles of Crecy and Agincourt.

In 1346 in Crecy because of the rain which forced them to retreat to the great displeasure of the French knights who took revenge on them and in 1415 in Agincourt in addition to the rain again because French gentlemen did not want to rely on their strike force.

SHORT HISTORY OF ARCHERY AND OF ST. SEBASTIAN.

The English longbow is the evolution of the Welsh bow. It is a very powerful bow, about 2 meters long, very used both for hunting and war.

The study of the 137 bows found in the wreck of the Mary Rose, sunk in 1545, has enriched the knowledge of this weapon. It is a simple bow, shaped in one piece of yew, a wood of which intrinsic qualities make it behave like a composite bow.

Its use by the English army comes from its disappointments during wars in Wales and Scotland. The English decide then to use massively it, what makes them able to defeat Welsh, then Scottish, pikemen.

Bow developed, not only at the level of the bow itself, but also in the armor of archers, since the increasing strength of bows gave more and more deadly arrows.

Many solutions were tried by the French to neutralize this dreaded weapon: dismounting of mounted fighters, increase of the surface protected by plates in armor, protection of horses, neutralization of archers or creation of a permanent army and companies of yeomen archers. They were created by the ordonnance of Montil-les-Tours on 28 April 1448, which prescribed that in each parish an archer should be chosen from among the most apt in the use of arms; who was to be free from the direct tax known as taille and from certain obligations, to practice shooting with a bow on Sundays and feast days, and to get ready to set off fully equipped at the first signal. Under Charles VII militias of yeomen archers distinguished themselves in numerous battles with the English.

Which proves that tax breaks are not new because at the time, do not forget it, only noblemen, like very rich persons today, did not pay taxes.

But for a long time the French had to decide to avoid purely and solely confronting the English in open countryside and to reassign their strategy towards a siege war (Joan of Arc at Orleans), by resorting to the so-called tactics of the "deserted" land which, of course, has the disadvantage of making English cavalcades free to plunder the country.

The defensive strategy implied by the use of the longbow was only countered by the appearance of field artillery: the English bowmen were then slaughtered at Formigny (1450 two cannons) and especially in Castillon.(1453) with 300 cannons of Bureau brothers. Modern war was born!

The development of firearms made the bow obsolete in the art of war. Despite the higher or lower social status (company of yeomen archers, samurai), the utility, and the widespread enjoyment of archery in Armenia, China, Egypt, England, America, India, Japan, Korea , Turkey and elsewhere, almost all civilizations that had early access to firearms have used them extensively, and have given up archery with the notable exception of Japan in Sakoku era. The first firearms were very poorly performing in terms of rate of fire, and were very sensitive to rain. They were nevertheless of longer effective range and they were tactically advantageous for soldiers firing while being sheltered behind something. They also required significantly less training to use them properly, especially to get to pierce steel armor without having to have a substantial musculature. Armies with guns could show superior firepower, and even overtrained kyudo archers were outclassed on the battlefield.

The revival of archery in the eighteenth century.

Traditional archery still exists as a sport, or to hunt, in many areas.

At the end of the eighteenth century archery became very popular in the high English society thanks to the passion of the time for Gothic and Medieval. Strengthened by royal patronage and, later, by the distribution of the works by Walter Scott, societies of archers were created all over the country, each with its own more or less strict entry criteria, its outdated costumes or its competitions with a strange name: clout shooting, popinjay, beursault…….

This sport was also known for its popularity among fair sex. Young women could not only compete but also stay in shape or exhibit it by doing so. Archery has finally ended up in being used as an ideal place to gain admittance, flirt, and live a romantic love story. Human nature is not about to change.

And basically what deeper, more beautiful, more effective for the survival of species (if I were the god of Abraham Isaac and Jacob or Muhammad I would say even that this irresistible urge which pushes boys and girls, men and women, Katniss and Peeta, to come closer, IS A GOD'S GIFT, COMPLIES WITH PLANS FOR HUMAN BEINGS OF THE GREAT ARCHITECT OF THE UNIVERSE).

In the United States, competitive archery and bowyers have for a long time used the longbows of British mode. The rediscovery of primitive archery dates back to Ishi, the last of Yahi Indians, who died in 1916. His doctor, Saxton Pope, learned many Ishi's techniques, and passed them on. The movie trilogy Hunger Games and its heroine Katniss have also revived the practice of this sport in our country.

In Belgium and in the north of France, there are also many archery companies engaged in this ancestral sport.

The Guild of Saint Sebastian in Bruges is an archers’ guild that has already been in existence for more than 600 years, which is unprecedented anywhere in the world. The members of this longbow guild are exclusively male, with two notable exceptions: Queen Mathilde of Belgium and the Queen of England. Ever since the English King Charles II took up residence in Bruges in the 17th century, the city and the British Royal Family have always been closely associated. A visit of its head office includes the royal chamber, the chapel chamber and the garden.

AND SINCE SEBASTIAN IS THE PATRON SAINT OF ARCHERS,

FROM WHERE A WHOLE RATHER MORBID FOLKLORE ABOUT HIM, LET US RESTORE THE TRUTH WITH HIM.

Saint Ambrose speaks about him, in his comments of psalm 118, and saint Damasus made a church built on his grave. This basilica is besides one of the seven main churches in Rome. In spite of that, the details that the “acts “of his martyrdom report were written only in the 5th century.

The details of the legend of St. Sebastian make seriously doubt his historicity. Born in Narbonnese from a noble of the country and from a lady of Milan, circa 250, he would have been made an officer (centurion in his personal guard) by Emperor Diocletian. The faith of Sebastian enables him to carry out several miraculous cures: Chromatius, prefect of Rome, suffered from the disease known as gout; Sebastian cures him and baptizes him, him and his whole family. Approximately 1400 soldiers follow his example. No reaction on behalf of the authorities.

Although being Christian (secretly?) Sebastian nevertheless would have shown quite strange and paradoxical effectiveness in the arrest of his co-religionists. Very far from using his prerogatives or his favor to save the poor wretches destined for an atrocious death,well at least theoretically; he urged them on the contrary to run into their torturers in order to, as fast as possible, receive the crowns of martyrdom for the greatest glory of God…

(Note of Peter DeLaCrau. We will never enough say the stupidity of the first Christian either in their fanatic model -the parabolani- or their suicidal version, and of all those who believed this kind of baloney, it has equal today only that of pious Muslims, either they are dreamy characters like Sufis * or Taliban for strictest Sharia).

At all events, so effective was the pious anger of Sebastian, so obvious were the divine grace which came from him that not only, Marcellian and Marcus,but also their father, their mother, their wives and their children decided together to suffer martyrdom.

Sebastian could for a long time have gotten busy to thus fill the Heaven with souls sanctified by martyrdom, if he had not risked the anger of the emperor for reasons having any relationship with religion.....

He was then; at least according to his golden legend (never a religion lied nor guaranteed untruth as much as that of Christians); bound naked to a tree and riddled with so many arrows by his own soldiers (some Mauritanian bowmen) that his body was completely spiked with darts and that he was left for dead.

At this point in time a woman named Irene, widow of the holy martyr Castulus, coming to give a burial to saint Sebastian , realizes that he breathes: he is alive! (Some people think that his men had

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voluntarily avoided reaching a vital organ.) Transported in the house of Irene, he is promptly healed and goes in front of the emperor in order to reproach him for his behavior and his unbelief (a little like the Muslims of the 7th century therefore, but is it probable???) Diocletian ordered that he was whipped to death.

Note of PeterDeLaCrau. We will reconsider the persecutions ascribed to Diocletian because

- firstly, they were much exaggerated

- secondly, many Christians by their fanaticism (they did not practice takkiya) had asked for it .

After it was checked that he was well died (what they had forgotten to do apparently for the first time), his body was thrown in the sewers. But Sebastian appeared to a young virgin named Lucina and revealed to her where his tortured body was.

During centuries the image of St. Sebastian remained invariant. The hieratic and almost anonymous effigy of a martyr, old, bearded, venerable since venerated, as his name coming from the Greek language (sebastos) indicates it, in frontal position, the crown, impressive - and not the palm, more allusive – of the martyrdom,in the hand.

But from the 14th century, the figure of Sebastian changes and feels rejuvenated. It is remembered that he was an officer in the guard of the emperor Diocletian. Artists give him the appearance of an elegant paladin, carrying the lance and the sword, pleasant with beautiful look, similar to the hero of stories and legends. Suddenly, about the middle of the 15th century, this tradition experiments a new upheaval that nothing seemed to announce. Sebastian is the object of an astonishing metamorphosis and therefore becomes a young man, fastened to a tree or a column; showing off a triumphal nakedness that the torture of arrows does not succeed in any way to tarnish and who resuscitates in his flesh the beauty of ancient works.

This image, which in our eyes became emblematic of the legend of the saint, is, however, not unknown before 1450; but it does not have the exemplary value which is from now on its, and is yet only an episode among others in the cycle of his legend. Moreover, before the end of the 14th century, Sebastian is never represented naked. Since the Quattrocento, on the other hand, the image of the young man tortured by bowmen only summarizes in itself the history of Sebastian. Its abrupt appearance, as of the end of the 14th , and especially its extraordinary spread since the middle of the 15th , remain enigmatic. The generation of this body offered to the cruelty of bowmen is nevertheless spontaneous only seemingly. It could not be a mere coincidence, and its appearance on stage responds to reasons that we don’t understand yet.

Of what unknown ancestor, this Christian Belenus Apollo is the descendant? How to explain the incredible appearance of this glorious nakedness right in the middle of the epic of saints, this pagan beauty on the Christian theater, this incongruous companion of the more traditional figures of saint Christopher, saint Anthony or saint Roch ? We are unaware of the genealogy of the radiant creature. We know, on the other hand, the date and the place of its birth. It appears for the first time in Italy, in the second half of the Trecento. It is true that these images are still shy and that it will be necessary at least to wait for the fifteenth century so that the nakedness of Sebastian is illuminated in full awareness of its beauty. The Northern painters will not be insensitive to it, but its invention remains to the Italians who, the first, set the new iconographic models. We can follow, until the end of the century, the good fortune of this gracious young man, for example on the picture which Perugino painted about 1473. Saint Sebastian shows himself there with the look of a young page in the manner of Verrocchio, clothed in the latest fashion, and showing , with a somewhat provocative grace, the single arrow of his martyrdom; in the company of a Franciscan saint, we cannot identify.

But let us leave there this Greek or in a pinch Roman paganism and let us return to our sheep, these which wander in the moors of Amadis, the last of the Arthurian romances before their parody by Cervantes (for more details see the translation made in 1872 by Robert Southey).

* Moreover burned alive and even worse in addition, as heretics, by the first Muslims (see the long martyrdom of Mansur Al-Hallaj in Baghdad in 922)

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AND ALSO OF SAINT GEORGE.

The Acts of the Martyrs (Latin: Acta Martyrum) are registers recording the sufferings and death of a martyr.

They are divided into three categories:

The minutes of the court. Those that still exist are very few. The most perfect example may be the Acta Proconsularia of Cyprian in Carthage. Another example is that of the Acts of St. Justin.

Passions or Martyrdoms written by Christians and based on reports of eyewitnesses. The Passion of Perpetua and Felicitas is the most famous of them. Other examples: the Martyrdom of Polycarp, that of Ignatius of Antioch that of the Martyrs in Lyons and the Passion of Saint Irenaeus.

Legends, generally intended to legitimize worship and often without any historical foundation. The Acts of Catherine of Alexandria and St. George are texts coming under this category.

His legend is besides included in apocryphal documents by the acts of the Council of Nicaea, because the history of his martyrdom is not genuine.

A victim of the anti-Christian persecutions by Emperor Diocletian (303), he would have been in the city of Lydda (Lod in Israel) given up to many tortures (burned, scalded, crushed under a wheel, etc.) to which he survived miraculously before being beheaded. St. George’s legend has been adapted by Jacobus de Voragine in The Golden Legend.

We will come back with a greater length to the anti-Christian persecutions by Diocletian, but it is already necessary to show most severe revisionism with regard to them.

FACTS.

Late 302 - early 303, breaks out what was undoubtedly the most brutal of the State anti-Christian persecutions. In fact, this is the only (nearly) historically proven measure of general suppression taken by the Romans against the supporters of this religion.

Pope Marcellinus renounces Christian faith, sacrifices to the gods, and dies in his bed while hundreds (perhaps thousands) of his co-religionists, braver (or more fanatical) than their leader, prefer to perish on the scaffold instead to accomplish this act: to burn a few grains of incense before a statue of the gods of Rome or of the emperor.

From 303 to 304, Diocletian promulgates indeed four great edicts, providing for the destruction of sacred texts and churches, the deprivation of offices and rights for Christian aristocrats, the arrest of clergymen and the obligation for Christians to sacrifice to the gods (note that the edict also attacked the Jews).

Historians are lost in conjecture as to the motives of this first true persecution, so vague the real motives of the Emperor and of his entourage are. This mundane emperor was a thousand miles away from all "pagan" fanaticism. In addition, his wife Prisca and his daughter Valeria were probably Christian ... up to the Pope St. Caius (283 - 296) who was probably a member of the imperial family.

According to the commonly accepted explanation, Diocletian would have decided to crack down against Christians first for the sake of ideological unification ("One empire, one religion!"), secondly because in his eyes, the presence of Christians in administration and, especially, in the army, given their commitments in addition, it was a dangerous hypocrisy threatening in the long run to ruin public morality or even public security.

Let us note that today's Christians also put forwards this explanation for the previous measures, those of Decius and Valerian.

This astonished much Lord Bolingbroke according to Voltaire (Major Examination of my lord Bolingbroke, London 1767 chapter XXVIII) and even Voltaire personally if we believe his philosophical dictionary entry, "Diocletian.”

Diocletian’s first edict, without threatening the physical integrity of persons, ordered the demolition of churches and the destruction of sacred books. Christians should also be deprived of any office, dignity or privilege.

For those who would find this measure shocking, I point out that, in our time, mutatis mutandis, we do not act differently when we prohibit (or try to prohibit) terrorist fascist and racist movements from

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spitting out their nauseating ideas on the radio and on television or when we try to ban their meetings or demonstrations.

The emperor ordered the demolition of the sumptuous church in Nicomedia, which stood in front of his palace and made the edict, signed by his hand, post on the main square in the city. A parabonalus or fanatical Christian broke in pieces and publicly trampled on this official document, while other Christian Taliban or parabolani tried to set the imperial palace on fire. Twice in a fortnight, suspicious fires broke out in the Emperor's house, including one in Diocletian's own room.

Two edicts aggravated the first: one ordered the imprisonment of clergymen, the other provided for the execution of those who refused to sacrifice to the gods of Rome. Finally, after an armed rebellion of bishops in Syria, a third edict, published in 304 ordered all the subjects of the Empire, on pain of death, to sacrifice to the gods of Rome.

After having taken taking these extreme measures, Diocletian, nauseated with human stupidity and with fanatics of all kinds, renounced the imperial purple and abdicated. He, however, left in place the system of tetrarchy: two emperors (the "Augustes" Constantius Chlorus in the West and Galerius in the East) associated with two "Caesars" (Severus and Maximin Daia) ruled the Empire, applying with more or less rigor, and according to political necessities, the persecution edicts.

In the western part of the Empire, Constantius Chlorus (who died in 306) applied the edicts with an extreme sluggishness, destroying a church here and there, but protecting Christians from popular fury. As for Constantine, son of Constantius Chlorus and from the Christian Helena, he disobeyed squarely the imperial injunctions by favoring Christians for purely political reasons: they were his natural allies in his fight against the other “persecuting Caesars.”

In Italy, and in Rome, the persecution was short-lived: as long as the peninsula was ruled by Maximian and Severus, the Christians were worried, their situation softened when Maxentius son of Maximian, seized power. Nevertheless, after the death of the controversial Pope Marcellinus, who perhaps gave the Holy Scriptures up to the police, the pulpit of Saint Peter will remain vacant for three and a half years.

Anyway, we must admit that the number of victims was probably quite high ... But do not talk about hundreds of thousands of dead. It was not the holocaust by bullets of the German Nazi Einsatzgruppen of 1939 in Russia, far from it!

Certain projections (calculation of Gibbon, History of the Decline and fall of the Roman Empire) make it possible to estimate at two thousand, at the maximum, the total number of these victims throughout the Roman Empire from 303 to 313.

In the final chapter of the first volume of his book Gibbon claims that Christians had greatly exaggerated the scale of the persecutions they suffered.

“After the church had triumphed over all her enemies, the interest as well as vanity of the captives prompted them to magnify the merit of their respective suffering……..and the instances which might be alleged of holy martyrs, whose wounds had been instantly healed, whose strength had been renewed, and whose lost members had miraculously been restored, were extremely convenient for the purpose of removing every difficulty, and of silencing every objection. The most extravagant legends, as they conduced to the honor of the church, were applauded by the incredulous multitude, countenanced by the clergy, and attested by the suspicious evidence of ecclesiastical history.”

Let's say that the truth lies perhaps between these two extremes, between 2000 and 200 000 authentic martyrs, therefore non-combatants, and in no way dead with weapons in their hands.

In any case, the only great love religion which has always been the most persecuted in the world is Islam. As early as 615 thousands of Muslims had to cross the Red Sea in the direction of Ethiopia in order to flee Meccan persecutions and Muhammad himself died in atrocious suffering crucified by the poison of a Jewish woman who wanted to eliminate him. But it was a wasted effort! The Muslim empire of the eighth century was the only example of an empire based only on self-defense.

But let us return to our sheep!

As early as 308, while the Christians in the East continued to be sued by Maximin Daia, those of Rome had resumed their dogmatic disputes.

The renegades (lapsi), those Christians who had obeyed the imperial edicts by burning a few grains of incense in honor of the gods of Rome (thurificati) or by pretending to have done it (libellatici), were very numerous, and they wanted, of course, to continue to be members of the communion of the faithful. Pope Marcellus, who had been elected in place of the traitor Marcellin, would have none of it

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nevertheless: according to him, penance was necessary. It is unclear what the nature of this sanction was, but some churches had been anyway destroyed and had to be rebuilt. In addition, it was also necessary to reconstitute the collection of sacred books, and the transcription of manuscripts was expensive at the time!

The fact is that parabolani-like episcopal militias "came out of catacombs as if by magic" in order to defend the "survivors" or "confessors of the Faith" but the burly wimps (lapsi) then attacked the diehard Christians, still intransigent, although having hardly recovered from the suffered tortures.

Priests incited one or the other side, according to their respective preferences, either to chastise the traitors, or to eliminate those who had no pity, although officially Christian. In short a true hodgepodge of the kind “Kill them all, God will know His own.”

Bloody riots ravaged therefore Rome, the text of the epitaph of Pope Eusebius speaks besides of seditio, coedes, bellum, discordia, or lites.

So much so that the Emperor Maxentius, who did not want to choose between both, decided to exile and the Pope Eusebius and the anti-Pope Heraclius. These bloody riots were probably due as usual to the fate to be reserved for the believers who failed or even simply tricked during persecutions (lapsi or libellatici) and there were, of course, many more numerous than authentic martyrs (crazy enough to refuse to do the small something that authorities expected from them and not practicing taqiyya). Therefore the vast majority of Christians directly concerned in fact. These riots continued besides in Rome until the reign of popes or antipopes Damasus and Ursinus. Here specialists speak of Novatianist schism (named after an antipope of the time of Decius) or Donatist schism in North Africa.

In 311, Emperor Galerius, who had succeeded Diocletian, promulgated an edict of toleration in favor of Christians, confirmed by Constantine and Licinius in 313 in Milan, and in 392 the Emperor Theodosius banned paganism, making Christianity the official religion of the Empire.

From then on, practitioners of the pagan worship were persecuted in turn, and many places of worship were destroyed. However, some of these buildings, considered as works of art, were turned into churches and escaped destruction.

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SPORT AND PHILOSOPHY OF ARCHERY.

Historically speaking archery was used for hunting and warfare but in modern times its main function is to be a fun activity.

Archery (from Latin arcus) is the art of shooting arrows using a bow. An art we have said, because we will never repeat enough (repetere = ars docendi) archery is an art (without wanting to make here a bad pun) and a philosophy. Our Japanese brothers beside speak about it of kyudo. It is necessary to know indeed that you can be right-handed as for your hands and the contrary with regard to your eyes. Or vice versa. It is important to determine what is called the directing or dominant eye. There is a very simple thing for that. We must also take into account the archer’s paradox.Detailed descriptions of the phenomenon appear in archery literature as early as Horace A.Ford’s 1859 publication "Archery: its Theory and Practice.”Even with a modern 'center shot' bow the phenomenon is still present because it is caused by a variety of factors, mainly the way the string is deflected from the fingers as the arrow is released. In short, in order to put an arrow in the center of a target with a bow it is necessary to aim a slightly off-center point.

Someone who practices archery is commonly referred to as "bowman" or "archer,” and the amateur or archery expert is a "toxophilite.”

Rules of archery were developed as and when practiced, within what was called the "yeomen archers.” This “knighthood” was a feudal fraternity and its military and religious characteristics required that one takes a particular cloth or that one bears arms against "infidels.” It imposed rules of bravery, courtesy and loyalty. This practice of archery went hand in hand with certain events, the holiday of St. Sebastian, for example. Or of Saint George in England. On this occasion these “yeomen” practiced various games.

Shooting in the Longbow was, of course, encouraged by the kings of England for obvious politico/strategic reasons. King Edward III for instance enjoined to learn and practice the art of shooting with bows and arrows. King Edward IV passed a statute limiting the price of longbows. King Richard II passed an Act commanding all servants to exercise themselves at all times of leisure and on all holidays (long live to democracy !). Henry VII did the same. Henry VIII passed an act for the maintenance of archers and concerning the import of adequate numbers of bow staves into the realm.

From the early 1500s, the Archers of the Fraternity of St. George practiced the longbow in the Finsbury fields, Moorfields and Spitalfields just North of London Wall. South of the Thames they shot in the fields of Southwark. They regularly organized tournaments in which many thousands of archers presented themselves.

In 1509 King Henry VIII commenced making annual payments to the Fraternity. These payments were made every 23rd April to encourage their practice of the longbow. In 1537 King Henry VIII formalized these arrangements, granting a charter in the name of the Fraternity or Guild of Saint George later known as the Honorable Artillery Company of London.

The main traditional archery events were then the clout shooting, the popinjay shooting (papingo in Scotland), the beursault shooting.

Not to mention the primary competitions which are the flight shooting (you saw it's me who I have the longest, or the biggest ... ..) and the speed shooting.

And here it is not the Japanese Zen Buddhist followers of the path of the bow (kyudo) who have left us their tradition in this area but the English, experts par excellence in basic archery, hence the ad hoc terminology in Globish.

The knighthood of yeomen.

Youoman of the Chamber, Youoman Usher, Youomen Warders, Youomen of the Guard. The yeomanry (usually known as the third order of the fighting class, between squire and page) comprised a military class or status.

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Geoffrey Chaucer's Canterbury Tales contains have a vocabulary of the late 14th century. The yeoman in "The Canon's Yeoman's Tale" is a "serving" to a cleric, once finely dressed but now impoverished. In "The General Prologue,” the Knight is accompanied by a yeoman who "knew the forest just as he knew his home ... this was a hunter indeed." This yeoman has a bow, arrows and a coat and hood of "forest green,” as does the yeoman in "The Friar's Tale,” who is a bailiff of the forest.

In the oldest stories of Robin Hood, such as Robyn Hode's Gest, Robin Hood is a yeoman, even later retellings make him a knight. According to Walter Scott's Ivanhoe, Robin Hood's Merry Men's Band is largely composed of yeomen.

Yeomen were often constables of their parish, and sometimes chief constables of the district, hundred or shire. Many yeomen hold the positions of bailiffs for the shire or hundred. Other civic duties would include churchwarden, warden bridge, and other warden duties. Yeomen, whether working for a lord, king, shire, knight, served in local or municipal police forces. Yeomen held more state power: this is attested in the statutes of the reign of Henry VIII.

The original Yeomen of the Royal Guard (originally archers) enlisted in 1485 were most likely of Celtic descent, Welsh or Breton. They were established by King Henry VII, himself of Welsh descent, who was exiled in Brittany during the Wars of the Roses. He recruited his forces mostly from Wales and West Midlands of England during the preparations of his victory at Bosworth.

King Henry VIII during the famous interview of the field of the cloth of gold in 1520 took revenge on the French in archery (it must be said that he was previously ridiculed by Francis I in wrestling). Henry VIII shoots several times in the center of the target 220 meters away. It is to this English "good" King Henry * that we owe the 137 bows found in the wreck of the ship Mary-Rose sunk in 1545.

As we have just said it, the appearance of firearms has ousted bow as a hunting weapon. But archery will not lose interest even so as it will enter a new era. It will indeed make man able to develop his body and his mind.

The story of Arjuna (Mahabharata) is still the best of these examples where the practice of meditation and of spiritual focusing, which leads to victory, comes into play. The sage warrior Brahman Drona one day called each of his students before him to see if they were able to send an arrow into the lock of a bird cage hanged in a tree. All failed except Arjuna. And they failed for the simple reason that none other than him had developed or worked the ekagrata technique, that is to say the technique of the single focusing point. The sublime focusing in which the lock and the shooting merge, in which the arrow releasing and the impact form the same reality. Drona speaking again to three of his students, including Arjuna, asked them how they saw their new target, this time an eagle perched on top of a tree. The first two saw Drona, the tree and the eagle, but Arjuna, as for him could only see the bird, and yet, its head and not his body. Drona gave him the order to shoot immediately and the bird's head, cut off by the arrow, fell to the ground.

We find a little the same story in the legend of William Tell besides, but with an apple and a crossbow.

Kyūdō is the Japanese art of archery. It is based on kyūjutsu ("art of archery"), which originated with the samurai class of feudal Japan. According to the Nippon Kyūdō Federation, the supreme goal of kyūdō is the state of shin-zen-bi, roughly "truth-goodness-perfection .” When archers shoot correctly (i.e., truthfully) with virtuous spirit and attitude towards all persons and all things which relate to kyūdo (i.e., with goodness), perfect shooting is realized naturally. In certain schools, to shoot correctly will inevitably result in hitting the desired target. Seisha hitchū, "true shooting = certain hitting.” This is not Zen, but Japanese bow can be used in Zen-practice or kyūdo practice by a Zen master.

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The beginning of archery in Japan is prehistorical. The first images picturing the Japanese asymmetrical longbow are from the Yayoi period (500 before the common era - 300 common era).

The changing of society and the military class (samurai) taking power at the end of the first millennium created a requirement for education in archery. This is the birth of the first kyujutsu ryūha (style), the Henmi-ryū, founded by Henmi Kiyomitsu in the 12th century.The Takeda-ryū and the mounted archery school Ogasawara-ryu were later founded by his descendants.

The Japanese soon began to manufacture their own version of the matchlock called tanegashima and eventually it and the yari (spear) became the weapons of choice over the yumi. which nevertheless continued to be used for a period of time because of its longer reach, accuracy and especially because it was 30-40 times faster. Tanegashima, on the other hand, did not require the same amount of training, allowing the governor Oda Nobunaga's army to deal with traditional wars with his enemies.

During the Edo period (1603-1868) Japan was turned into a hierarchical caste society in which the samurai were at the top. There was an extended era of peace in which the samurai moved to administrative duties, the traditional fighting skills were still esteemed. During this period, archery has become a "voluntary" skill, which is used in the ceremonial form. Archery also spread outside the warrior class. The samurai were affected by the philosophy and love for self-control in Zen Buddhism that was introduced by Chinese monks.

Kyūdō is practiced in many different schools, some of them come from military shooting and others come from ceremonial or contemplative practice. Therefore, the emphasis is different. Some emphasize aesthetics and others efficiency. Contemplative schools teach the meditation in action of Bodhidharma.

Kyūdō practice, as in all budō, includes the idea of moral and spiritual development. Today many archers practice kyūdo as a sport, with marksmanship being paramount. However, the most important goal of kyūdo is seisha seichū, "Correct shooting is correct hitting.” When the technique of the shooting is correct, the result is that the arrow hits the target. To give oneself body and soul to the shooting is the spiritual goal, and it is achieved by perfection of both spirit and shooting technique leading to munen muso, "no thoughts, no illusions.”

As in most sports, the mental state of the shooter is a major factor of success. It is, in a few words to be self-confident, or not to doubt one’s abilities when you miss the target.

Easier said than done!

It's not a question of being stupidly self-confident, despite all opposition. If that were enough to be a champion, all the fools would be champions. It is simply a question of not doubting one's capacities as an individual, in progressing, in making mistakes, of course, but also in learning from them.

The action of an archer who draws back his bow to shoot an arrow remains, for more than ten thousand years, one of the most balanced or noble which is. The bow is inseparable from the history of mankind. A weapon of defense and hunting, its invention certainly helped our distant ancestors to overcome the difficulties of their survival.

Today, archery is enjoying growing success because it is a simple and inexpensive hobby, to which everyone can have access, as well as a quick way to indulge, all the year, in a physical and moral relaxation.

Nowadays, archery is an Olympic discipline, and it is under the influence of modernization, because the limbs of the bow are now out of ceramic carbon, arrows out of carbon, aluminum, or out a mixture of both . In addition, current tuning systems make better shooting possible, and therefore better results.

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* It is he who inspired the famous Blue Beard of our fairy tales. He did not put a chicken in every pot on the table every Sunday, but he made a wife go through hell every ... For Ernst Lubitsch there was in all seven wives before the last one. Historically Henry VIII made only two of them be executed. The comrade in arms of Joan of Arc (Gilles de Rais) many more.

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HORSES.

During approximately 60 million years of evolution, horse became what he is today: a perfect realization of our Mother Nature.

The horse, herding animal in the steppes…

1. Can live in very different climatic conditions.

2. Needs for space and exercise.

3. Needs for fresh air.

4. Has protection and territory sense.

5. Needs for a social life and a contact.

6. Is an intermittent and persisting herbivore.

He developed in addition ten qualities it is essential to know in order to understand his nature. These qualities enabled him to survive over the centuries.

1. Perception. He is extremely sensitive to all that surrounds him. He can perceive your intentions and the means you will implement to realize them. The eye of a horse can detect the least movement, his body feels the least change of attitude or emotion. He can “feel “ the covetousness of the raptor, he anticipates the fits of anger, the demonstrations of fear, frustration or impatience. Therefore he refuses to cooperate when you are impatient or become fretful. At this time, he is afraid of what will happen to him. Patience is the only key to success with him.

Your knowledge or science level has little importance for him , what is important for him, it is the attention you dispense to him.

2. Speed of techniques learning. A horse is a very good pupil. He learns very quickly. He remembers lessons after three or four rehearsals, provided that it is possible for him to assimilate them. Most of the time, failures come from the fact that you require from him too much, in not enough time. But a horse remembers good as well as bad habits equally quickly.

3. An excellent memory. The storage abilities of a horse are very important, he is able to carry out very complex training.A horse forgets nothing. See the famous example of the mule of the pope Boniface of Avignon at least according to Daudet. For this reason punishment is never a solution with an animal like the horse. The only thing that he will remember it is the Man is really as bad as his instinct taught to him, therefore that it is preferable for him to flee or to defend himself. On the contrary, if you are as nice as possible and as firm as necessary, without losing your patience, then a relation of love and confidence will be able to be established with him.

4. A big potential of desensitization.

It is very easy to inactivate all the fear stimuli in a horse. But it is to us to make the first move in order to gain his trust and to rather place us as guardians than as predatory animals. Take a plastic bag for example, a horse is afraid of it. You have two possibilities which are offered to you: either let him find by himself they are not dangerous (for him who will not be stupid enough to put his head inside), or explain to him that he has nothing to fear. Show him that you are with him and not against him. Remember his quality of perception. The horse is a true bundle of nerves who is able to release a fabulous energy combined with a deep instinct of escape or struggle for his survival.

5. An instantaneous reactivity. Horse reacts instantaneously and he is regarded as one of the fastest animals on the planet. But he is especially a social animal, and his group is for him synonymous with safety. As life in a group obeys rules, horse therefore developed various qualities to conform to it.

6. Communication. The main part of communication in the horse goes through body language.

7. Notion of hierarchical order. In the group a social order is established that each one respects.

8. Recognition of the “leader “. Within hierarchy leaders of the movement of the group stand out. Each individual recognizes them clearly and accepts them.

9. An early animal. To finish the enumeration of all the qualities accumulated by horse during his evolution, it is necessary to mention his earliness. With his birth, horse has the use of all his senses and all his qualities. Foal is able to act like an adult horse. This is why certain methods of impregnation the young equid work so well.

10. The escape. It is his best defense. If escape is impossible, horse will fight to save his life!

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HORSE ART AND PHILOSOPHY (MANDUBIANISM) BECAUSE

TO SPEAK ABOUT HORSE IS TO SPEAK ABOUT MAN FINALLY.

4 to 5.000 years of living together with man by Bjarke Rink.

At the beginning of the Quaternary, image of horses appears by the side of the Neanderthal man in his almost final shape. But if rock paintings of horses are among the oldest known artistic achievements (up to 30.000 years before our era), they are, however, only wild horses.

The great plateaus, the grassy plains, the fat pastures, are behind the concentration of large herds in certain parts of the Globe.

It is only between 4000 and 3000 before our era, a long time after the domestication of the cattle that, the first, nomads of Eurasia, in the north of the Caucasus, in Kazakhstan (culture of Botai) domesticate and breed horses, probably of Prezwalski type. Today ponies are descendants of Equus Prezwalski gracilis, a primitive pony with a bulky hair and a broad breast; our today cold-blooded horses are descendants of the Equus Prezwalski Robustus, whose subspecies are up to 1,80 m high (at the level of the withers).

Captured with a lasso, he is kept in reserve in parks until culling. It will be so until Metal Age. Consequently, the history of Mankind will be related to that of the horse. The use of horses is initially domestic. The horse is like ass and cattle, used in farming.

In Bronze Age, around the 3rd thousand years before our era, the wandering Indo-Europeans having lived in the great plains of Eastern Russia, in the mountains of the Caucasus and on the plateaus in Iran; harnessed the horse, particularly to chariots; but do not seem to have usually mounted him. As of the second thousand years before our era, horse enters Mesopotamia, then Egypt. Around 1800 years before our era, Kassites hurtle down the Zagros mountains towards the Middle East. Around -1650, Egyptians, in turn, adopt harnessed chariot. Four centuries later, the Achaeans descend upon Greece and the Celts impose thanks to their horses.

What would have been Mankind without horses and horsemanship?

The answer suggested by Bjarke Rink is the following one: If horses had disappeared like mammoths, there would have been no car, no plane, no computer, no internet web. Without horses and horsemanship, the world would be still at the time of the Old Testament (I quote from memory).

In the second part of his book about the myth of the centaur, the author indeed raises many basic questions in connection with horsemanship.

To understand its neurological complexity, he analyzes this phenomenon from the point of view of biology, physiology,neurophysiology and biomechanics.

What is really horsemanship?

Why does a horse allow a human being to mount him?

How is it possible for the rider to guide a horse?

How a human being and a horse can form a biomechanical being adapted to work?

Horsemanship known as sensitive or natural (Mandubianism) is the result of the combination of the survival ability of the horse and of the man-brain, with speed. This alliance was formed in Central Asia during the late Neolithic Era. This is in fact the constituent principle of horsemanship.

Why biologists didn't realize the deep impact that the symbiosis man-horse could have on the planet?

Why anthropologists didn't identify the role of horsemanship in the spreading of our technological change?

Why historians didn't understand that the equestrian cultures of Central Asia founded the world history, from Antiquity to Renaissance ?

Why sociologists didn't realize that a new social order was established with the rise of equestrian cultures and horsemanship?

With horses, human being could break with the dimension of his own space-time and in Eurasia the means of cultural exchange and spreading reached the speed of horses.

But who said that? Einstein in his Theory of relativity, Bjarke points it out. If on horseback, it is possible to reach a place when, on foot, two days would have been necessary, the value of the relation who connects space to time was indeed changed, as Einstein showed to us. But the impact of the notion

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of space-time was really never understood well by biologists, archeologists, historians and sociologists.

It is probably because the brain working in men is coordinated with the original swiftness of his legs. The speeding-up of the historical process was simply ascribed to human mind and not to the speed of horses.

Scientists discredited the theory according to which American Indians were less intelligent than their European colonizers. It is the absence of the time acceleration related to horsemanship, which explains this delay of development, the progression of these civilizations was related to the only swiftness of their legs. Incas and Mayas, only separated by 2.500 kilometers (the distance which separates New York from Austin) were unaware of their reciprocal existence *.

What this author also points in his book, it is the loss of importance of horses and horsemanship consecutively to the technological “jump “of the 19th century. The anthropocentrism of people brought up in towns. The loss of the biological comprehension of the natural world by urban people . Arrogance of the civilized Man for the animal world.

In the third part of his book, our author describes his vision of the future of horsemanship. And explains to us how, with the increase in the comprehension of interaction between the horse and the rider, the future of horsemanship seems guaranteed as an instrument of teaching principles; as discipline, courage, authority, solidarity, team spirit, patience and tenacity. The horse tests the psychological and bodily limits of riders.

Some forms of horsemanship can be practiced by riders of all ages and even by bodily and mentally handicapped people. Contrary to sports which require a balloon or some vehicles, horsemanship requires bodily and mental abilities exceeding genetic program of Man. To control this lately got speed and strength, the rider must form new connections between his neurons, horsemanship is the most complex biological technique ever finalized .

If no scientific research was undertaken on the neurophysiology of horsemanship (or how nervous systems of human beings and horses are in harmony? Start resonating?) it is perhaps because of very pedestrian reasons.

After the invention of the automobile car, horses were obsolete, many people then saw horses only as simple motors. Thus becoming unaware of the possibility of unifying human and equine nervous systems to form only one, like their ancestors dit it. Natural horsemanship (mandubianism) disappeared.

Twentieth century was the first non-equestrian century. And therefore little people among us find interest to excavate the ruins of the Old world to save the black boxes of horsemanship which have, in fact, founded the society directed towards the speed, in which we live and which has the internet as a peak.

Even if some scientists are for the arguments of Bjarke Rink, many think he exaggerates. To perceive that horseshoes could be the founding reason of our industrial society is perhaps difficult to understand for urban people.

* N. B. Einstein gave us the solution to the Amerindian question: “ We can't solve problems by using the same kind of thinking we used when we created them“. What also means the problems of ecology, sustainable development, public health or policy, in the urban areas - States-towns - cannot be solved by those who produced them. What also means that the generalization of language in the inevitable shape of a universal Globish, causes a drop in the intellectual level of Mankind or in its average in this field because it goes without saying in the case of English practiced by non-native speakers (the Globish) that all the subtleties of the language (idiomatic phrases) and therefore of the thought, fall. There is impoverishment of the language and consequently of the thought.

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THE GODDESS OF HORSES.

Oldest information on this goddess-or-demoness, or fairy, of horses, is in Juvenal (Satires VIII, 155 sq).

Epona was, at the time of imperial Rome especially, a goddess-or-demoness, or fairy if this word is preferred, of the foreground. Her name contains an allusion to horse: “epos“ means horse indeed, and the suffix “- ona “ means simply “relative to “. The great Queen Epona is therefore a goddess-or-demoness, or fairy, guardian of mares and foals.

Juvenal writes precisely: “… iurat/solam Eponam et facies olida as praesepia pictas “.“He swears by no other deity than Epona, and the images painted on the reeking stables “.

The Greek Agesilaus, speak to us about her birth:

“ Fulvius Stellus hated women and used to consort with a mare and in due time the mare gave birth to a beautiful girl and they named her Epona. She is the goddess that is concerned with the protection of horses “.

It is also referred to Epona in the racist Christian authors of the Roman decline as Minucius Felix (Octavianus, XXVIII, 7): “Nisi quod vos et totos asinos in stabulis cum vestro vel [sua] Epona consecratis “.“You even consecrate whole asses in your stables, together with your Epona“.

The Great Queen Epona is a goddess, or a demoness if you want Mr. Minucius, or a fairy also if this term is preferred, very popular, on the evidence of the large number of figurations of her we know, particularly the terra cotta figurines of the department of Allier, of which we know t they were particularly widespread. The representations of goddess-or-demonesses, or fairies if you want, are varied. Sometimes a mare nursing her foal (museum of Beaune), that some people even consider as the prototype of the goddess-or-demoness, or fairy if you prefer; and others, as a simple influence of Hellenistic art; sometimes a female rider sidesaddle sitting on a mare or sometimes laid down, more exceptionally standing upright close to the mare. They are there only the broad outlines of the iconography relating to her. There are many variants ,we can try to gather according to various geographical units. In the Moselle and in Luxembourg, she sits in a side-saddle .

Elsewhere (Rome, Bulgaria, North Africa), she sat and gives a symbolic grazing (some fruits) to a group of horses. In Burgundy, the mount sometimes puts her hoof on a rock. Her attributes are varied: a horn of plenty, sacrificial bowl, whip, riding crop, key. For some authors, the worship of the Great Queen Epona would have originated in the Balkans. But the three areas which deliver a great abundance of documents to us are Burgundy, the valley of the Moselle river, and the valley of the Rhine. Interpretations of iconography are difficult and, to tell the truth, contradictory, all the more so as epigraphy hardly brings additional precise details. Latin authors saw in our rigantona Epona a protective goddess of horses and stables. Nowadays, a trend makes her also a protective deity of home, such fairies of Matres type. In Burgundy the mare often nurses a foal, piece of evidence she is a feeding deity. For others, she rather evokes the voyage of the soul/mind towards the hereafter, and fulfills a function of protection with respect to mortals. This funerary nature is shown by the attitude of the rigantona Epona in various low-reliefs of Luxembourg or Luxeuil, making the blessing gesture. Or by attributes as the whip (which is found in the hands of the Dioscuri) or the key which opens the doors of hereafter. The foal means the continuity of life through descendants… It would be wise in every case to speak about a plurality of Epona. On the stele of Hagondange (department of the Moselle River), two female riders are reproduced next to a central goddess, or demoness yous Mr. Minucius, or fairy. Nothing informs us about the share of confusion which could occur, before even the Roman conquest, between our great Queen Epona and some local guardian deities of horses. What nevertheless makes her single, it is her loneliness and her resolute celibacy, a rare thing in the divine society of then, as well as the presence of horses. This exceptional nature will guarantee the success of our rigantona Epona in the Roman Empire, outwards even of the dedications made by Celts enlisted in the Roman army.

In Italy a calendar of the first century (that of Guidizzolo) fixes her festival at XV Kalendas Januarias, the 15th day of the Calends of January, therefore around December 24th: single honor assigned to a Celtic deity in Rome even.

* Who, of course, systematically compares the angels the saints or the Virgin Mary of the others with demons or demonesses ("These impure spirits, therefore - the demons- as is shown by the Magi“.Octavianus XXVII).

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ON INSTINCT AND EXTRAORDINARY FOREKNOWLEDGE OF HORSES (HIPPOMANCY).

Consequently it is therefore hardly astonishing that various peoples of Antiquity ascribed to horse more or less mysterious abilities. Horses who stamp the ground announce the rain or the presence of a spring under their shoes. “The four sons of Aymon “ a poem of the end of the 12th century, published by William Caxton, made famous Bayard, an ordinary horse as concerns the height, but who lengthened to carry the four brothers of this name, and who was able to move at very high speed. Bayard left many prints: that of one of his hooves in the Forest of Soignes in the south-east of Brussels and that of one of his horseshoes on a rock close to Dinant (Belgium). He is especially famous for the springs he made spouting out, from where the great number of Bayard fountains. Man understands better besides why inns, particularly in the former Celtic areas, are announced by a white horse, often drawn on the door or the sign. Besides this belief that horse guesses the presence of hidden springs, seems common to Europe and the United States, where it is recommended to dig at the place where he sniffs the ground, lies down and rolls himself.

Some equine attitudes are indeed full of teaching. Neigh is a good omen (except the night for the English); to hear it at dawn announces some good news. The one who snorts during a journey announces good fortune, and if he makes his dung in front of your house, you will receive money; but if he stops or kicks out without reason, it is that he had to feel a demoniac presence or a phantom (his kicks can also announce a cold and wet time). Watch out the storm and the bad weather when horses turn their croup towards a hedge or run in the meadows. The caprioles of a horse in the wild are signs of war.

The bronze horse discovered on May 27, 1861, in Neuvy-en-Sullias, 28 km in the south-east of Orleans, French county of the Loiret (height: 1,05 m, weight: 54 kg without the base); is undoubtedly to put in connection with this veneration of Ancients for horses. Four rings fixed on the base made it possible, thanks to shafts, to carry him in procession. Majestic, head up, he is standing still, his attitude (raised left foreleg) can be compared with some ancient Roman statues. His proportions are a little stocky, but they strengthen the impression of power.

On the base there is the inscription below.

AVG RVDIOBO SACRVM CVR CASSICIATE D S P D SER ESVMAG ? VS SACROVI ? SERIOMAGLIVS SEVERV FC

Some people restitute the following reading.

AVG. RVDIOBO SACRVM

CVR. CASSICIATE D. S. P. D SER. ESVMAGIVS SACROVIR SERIOMAGLIVS SEVERVS.

F.C.

In other words.

AVG (usto) RVDIOBO SACRVM

CVR (ia) CASSICIATE D (e) S (ua) P (ecunia) D (edit) SER (vius) ESVMAGIVS SACROVIR,

SER (vius) IOMAGLIVS SEVERVS

F (aciendum) C (uraverunt).

Others suggest the reading below.

AVG (ustis) RVDIOBO. SACRVM

CVR (ator) CASSICI ATE D (e) S (ua) P (ecunia) D (edit) SER (viens) ESV MAG (n) VS SACROVIB (is)

SER (viens) I (ovi) O (ptimo) MAGI (n) VS SEVERVS

F (aciendum) C (uraverunt).

According to one of our French penfriend named Jacques PONS, it would be in this case a mixture of Latin and Celtic language (rudiobo cassiciate esu sacrovib) meaning what follows:

To the majestic higher gods

The administrator of the worship space (curator) made this offering (dedit) at his own expense (de sua pecunia).

The great Incumbent (serviens magnus) of Esus SACROVIBIS

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and the great Incumbent (serviens maginus) of Jupiter (lovi) Geat Benefactor (Optimo) SEVERUS

Were responsible for the realization (faciendum curaverunt).

Therefore it is no longer a question here of the god-or-demon “Rudiobus “and the equating with the god-or-demon Mars is no longer appropriate . On the other hand, the druidic god-or-demon Esus makes his appearance, before even Jupiter, and his incumbent has an indigenous name (sacrovir). It is the Roman (SEVERUS) who is tasked with honoring JUPITER.

Then, whom to believe??

It is necessary to every druidicist , to every thoroughly Celtic-minded man , or to every person being a little bit interested in this forever disappeared Atlantis; to have notions of common Celtic or of old P Celtic even Q Celtic . And it is strongly advised besides, for the one who wants to get involved more completely in this way, to have more than rudiments of old Celtic or common Celtic, in order to better understand basic concepts or certain myths. But our message survived the disappearance of the idiom having borne it originally and it can therefore be conveyed by other languages today (too bad for Fenius Farsaid!)

In any case, the inscription of Neuvy-en-Sullias makes us guess quite a few things about the romanization of subdued peoples.

First, that the occupiers supported religious and social practices of the subjected populations, like their taste for equestrian sport and rural festivities. No ounce of religious persecution in all this, the Romans were religiously tolerant by definition since polytheists. The Romans only forbade certain specific practices of worship and forbid to be at the same time a druid and a Roman citizen (Augustus) or to be officially a Druid (senatus consultum of Tiberius and Claudius) which resulted in the fact that each one from then on had to become for himself his own druid (Protestantism before the word is invented). The occupier, however, wanted to introduce Romanity in these local practices: the curator of the worship center thus pays out of his pocket a splendid bronze horse comparable with those of his country.

Then, that the local god-or-demons were systematically compared with Roman god-or-demons. Specialists spoke for a long time about interpretatio Romana of deities. It is admitted rather now that there was interpretatio gallica of imported from Italy god-or-demons. The high knowers of the druidiaction (druidecht) honored rather abstract deities. They Romanized them not without a little help, and we must even add not without irony or, at least, not without humor.

For example, the Swiss inscription DEAE ARTIO (in reality: artiom or artion, nasal finals being often elided). Official translation (for the Romans and their spiritual heirs): “to the goddess of arts “ i.e. “to Minerva, Dea Artium “.

Meaning for the natives: “to the goddess bear “ because artiom/artion means “of bears “and the goddess-or-demoness is represented with a bear. In Neuvy-en-Sullias in any case, the resistance of local religion is marked with vehemence: the god-or-demon Esus is honored like Jupiter Optimus. But there would not be, despite everything, a small crack between the respective worships of these two god-or-demons? We are well forced to note indeed that the priest of the Celtic deity has an “ad hoc “ name, and that the priest of the imported god-or-demon has a Roman name. Sacrovibis is responsible for honoring Esus and Severus for honoring I (ovi). What implies there was therefore rather juxtaposition of the two religious habits than complete assimilation.

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HIPPOTHERAPY OR EQUITHERAPY.

The Nazarene High Rabbi Jesus cured through laying on of hands , it was his panacea; we uns, High Knowers of the third thousand years we recommend hippotherapy, it is more effective, at least in certain cases.

Whatever its name: horse therapy , rehabilitation through horsemanship, hippophysiotherapy, equitherapy, therapeutic horsemanship, equestrian therapy, it is a technique using the walk of the horse as a tool. The rider does not act on the horse. He requests nothing from him. He “undergoes “the movements caused by the walk of the animal.

It goes without saying that the choice of the horse in this case is primordial. Size, height, symmetry, length stride, as well as temperament,are to be assessed for each rider according to his objectives.

There is no race particularly adapted to hippotherapy. But, in certain cases, it can be interesting to use horses of “mandus “ type, i.e., with small size like those of Mandubians. A nation of Antiquity specialized in the breeding of this kind of horse and known to live in symbiosis with it (Mandubii means men horse in the concrete sense of riders or in the figurative meaning of centaurs, Bjarke Rink would have said).

Diderot, in 1751, wrote in his Encyclopedia a treatise entitled: “On horsemanship and its consequences to keep healthy or to recover “. In this treatise, he explains why, whatever the time, body exercises were always used to keep healthy. He also specifies that horsemanship is in the foreground of these exercises, and that it can not only cure certain diseases, but also prevent them.

In 1875, in Paris, a specialist suggested that a contact with a horse was very beneficial in the treatment of hemiplegia, of paraplegia, or central nervous system disorders. He had noticed, through his experience of a rider, that horsemanship improved the balance sense, strengthened or softened the muscles of the legs, and cheered up.

These authors traced the way of horsemanship with therapeutic goals. At our time, others looked further into these studies and improved techniques used.

The use of horses in a therapeutic intention is not the training of horsemanship and even less of competition. The hippotherapy is a therapy of body approach. It is a therapy with body mediation, it uses horses as a means of being well, in one’s body and one’s head.

The care given to a horse as well as the comprehension of his behaviors are essential. In addition to the work based on the relational aspect, a horse may be used as a mediator making it possible to work on precise objectives, generally relating to improvements; on the psychomotor level (body diagram, space, coordination, dissociation, laterality, tonus, balance…) ; with regard to the psychic field (relaxation, self-confidence, discovery of hidden aspect of oneself, communication, relation with others…) ; in the cognitive field (particularly in the cases of blocking with other didactic means); and in the level of the social status (the indoor arena creating a meeting space).

Marie-Claire de Selliers, a predestined name, psychologist and former president of the Belgian Association “Reins of life” defines Hippotherapy as being a therapy at the same time full and complementary, always taking into account the human being in his bodily as well as psychological whole, and using horse as a partner.

The hippotherapy is therefore a multidisciplinary therapy, cooperation between various health professionals in order to bring somebody a bonus. This requires the schooling of the concerned therapist : nobody can become hippo-therapist without training.

According to Marie-Claire de Selliers, hippotherapy “uses all the aspects of a horse to help a person to develop on the various levels: emotional, physical, psychomotor and relational “. Relational need for horse is real and is expressed through various attitudes: search for bodily contact, playing pleasure. It is a vector being addressed to the body and psychic entirety of the individual.

It is necessary to allow horses used to relieve their stress (by letting them roll themselves on the ground in the beginning or at the end of a session for example): they often make great efforts when they are mounted by handicapped people.

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The horse, noble, powerful, mythical, legendary, animal, is also soft, warm, alive. Imagine what it is possible to feel when you are able to make yourself obeyed by an animal weighing 500 kg.

The relation we establish with him is more sensory than intellectual. It exists through touch, feeling, movement. No need to use a human language in order to communicate with a horse.

Horse has a second essential characteristic compared to Man: he is absolutely not judging. Nothing in his glance or his attitude implies rejection, dislike, incomprehension. That supports many things.

The objective of equitherapy are multiple.

1. On the functional level.

- Notions of balance.

- Strengthening usable musculature.

- Correction of the chest position.

- Work on the muscular tonus.

2. Socialization.

- Integration in a group.

- Adapation of behavior.

- Facilitation of relationship.

- Training for autonomy.

3. In the psychomotor field.

- Balance.

- Body Diagram and images of the body.

- Rhythm.

- Laterality.

- Space orientation.

- Time structuring.

- Coordination.

- Dissociation.

- Sensory wakening.

4. Communication.

- Archaic communication.

- Sensory communication.

- Verbal communication.

- Nonverbal communication.

The movement of a horse is an invaluable therapeutic tool, it makes it possible to stimulate or improve balance.

It makes it possible to improve balance, coordination and articular mobility. It also makes it possible to increase tonus and muscular force. By riding a horse, it is possible to succeed in forgetting awhile the weight of one’s own body (as in a swimming pool). The rider is assimilated to the movement of the horse. It is a form of physiotherapy, but which is practiced outdoor and with a rather impressive tool.

For some people, it is therapeutic to be in contact with a noble animal, beautiful, big and strong and which, in spite of his robust appearance, is soft. That can be a method of most motivating to do exercise. Moreover, a horse transports us without balking, he accepts us such as we are. We feel thus enhanced. It is pleasant for some people to form a couple (horse-rider) or to have a pleasant time with one’s partner of the animal world.

The hippotherapy combines various: bodily and psychological, but also emotional and relational, aspects. The rider must indeed learn how to position oneself in a saddle, to better “inhabit “in one’s body, and using it to make the horse move. Various exercises are proposed: psychomotor function, horse mounting, work of self-confidence, always by respecting persons, their difference, and in the respect of the horse.

Horse offers many advantages. The center of gravity of a man sitting on a horse is similar to that he has when he walks. Moreover, the walk of a horse has a pace very close to the heart rate, what contributes unconsciously to the confidence building of a human being.

To ride a horse, it is initially necessary to dare to approach him, to learn how to communicate with him. Horse reacts more to the acts than to the voice, they are the movements of the body and the gestures which will make it possible to communicate with him, even if you suffer from problems in your verbal expression!

Moreover, hippotherapy will contribute to instilling a notion of prolonged exertion , it requires time and work.

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It is also necessary to take responsibilities: it is necessary “to be in charge “of the horse, to make decisions and to act instead of letting go.

In hippotherapy, horse exerts an influence on his rider, and not the reverse like in the case of the other forms of horsemanship. The goal is to improve in patients their posture, balance, mobility, as well as functional abilities.

Walk in the human being, produces a three-dimensional movement on the level of the pelvis: forth and back rocking, rotation and side rocking. This movement is transmitted from the horse to the rider. The movement of the back and of the pelvis of the horse walking is an important even essential instrument in the training for the control of the trunk and of the basin, in the human being.

To work in a stimulating background, amusing and new, what could be better to surpass oneself or improve one’s life quality? To date, no device managed to reproduce the movement of a horse, hence the importance of hippotherapy.

It is a method which considers Man in his entirety, by exerting its action on the double physiological and psychological level, in an unbreakable way. A session of hippotherapy therefore embodies primarily a favored relational moment. Horse is an excellent companion stimulating motivation and communication, improving sensory perceptions, image of oneself and expression.

While respecting physiology, pace and apprehensions of each one, the purpose of hippotherapy is the maintenance, even the improvement, of the functional, physical and psychic (mental or bodily) abilities, under optimal security or comfort conditions.

A horse is a powerful animal: to feel him, to touch him,to speak to him, to tame him, for lastly letting oneself carried by him, constitutes an experiment in itself.

Relation with a horse is therefore primordial, the warmth of the animal, the calming down rhythm of his walk, the trusting relationship which is established gradually, will produce a visible well-being.

The animal takes part in the phenomenon of socialization; it is not an object, it is not a bicycle, it is a living being which has its reactions, and with which a harmony must be got. In addition, a horse being a reactive and sensitive being, he reflects constantly, almost like a mirror, the behavior of the one who approaches him or mounts him.

The horse makes consequently the discovery of independence possible. If nothing is required from him, horse does nothing or follows his instinct, what involves, in the rider, reactions of fear or frustration. This one is consequently constrained to react, to act, and tends thus little by little towards a better autonomy within the framework of an intense relational bond. But the rider must also be different, be distinguished, clearly, of his mount, to be able to guide him. Distance between one’s will and that of the horse, then reveals one’s own specificity. The mainly body and gestural language makes it possible to dialog or to be expressed without using words.

On the psychomotor level, hippotherapy makes it possible to exert in an effective way one’s motor coordination, one’s body diagrams and one’s orientation in space. The warmth of the horse, his rhythmic walk, cause a true massage during which a regulation of muscular tonus as well as an improvement of back musculature can be observed.

Therapist always deals with the same person, who always works with the same pony. He surrounds himself with assistance: an accompanying adult for each couple rider/horse.

Used gaits. Walk is the gait used par excellence, because it is a symmetrical rhythmic gait. It is a pace which supports relaxation. This is all the more effective as the rider goes up without stirrups. It is reassuring because relaxing.

Trot is a rhythmic gait , but which has an aspect at the same time stimulating and traumatizing. It seems to be a difficult gait in equitherapy and of which it is necessary to be wary.

The gallop could be more frequently used, because it has a relaxing pace, but the big difficulty lies then in the passing from the walk to the gallop (which would have, in ideal, to be done without having to resort to trot). The gallop therefore seems a difficult use.

We can consequently realize the risks of falls or accidents are tiny since 85% of equitherapy are done walking.

The Highland pony is originating in the High-Lands of Scotland, as well as in the islands located offshore on the West Coast. 5.000 years ago, three types of horses were domesticated, of which the ancestor of the Highland pony, which was a very resistant horse, coming from northern Asia and from Europe.

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His origins date back to the glacial era, as the frequent archaic characteristics of his coat (color mouse-gray , eel stripes, stripes on the legs, socks *) and his resemblance to the horses of Lascaux frescoes in France, shows it.

Some mandus probably settled in Great Britain during prehistory, whereas English Channel did not exist, and Great Britain was still connected to Europe by a “natural “ bridge. The ancestors of the Highland pony are undoubtedly this small migrating equine animal.

Since always, the New Forest in Great Britain is considered to have lodged ponies. The nine categories of ponies found in Great Britain (of which Highlands ponies) would be originating in it. The herds would have separated as the grounds were cultivated, giving different characteristics to each race, according to the new habitat and their use.

With regard to the Highland pony, it is proven that small horses were settled, in the 8tth century before our era, in the sterile and windswept High-lands, in the North of Scotland.

* My father who had been a member of a company of anti-riot police around 1938 (our Canadian friends say, “mounted police”) often repeated to me : “one white sock a worthless horse, two white socks the horse of a pauper, three white socks the horse of a king, four white socks ….a horse to be slaughtered.”

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EQUESTRIAN ART.

We should not mix up hippotherapy or equitherapy, which comes under physiology and medicine, with horsemanship, which concerns another aspect of the role of horses (see Arrian).

All the peoples endeavored to use horse energy , by trying to harness his driving force as well as possible. His outline was refined, his legs lengthened, his size and his speed increased.

As an armed troop with horses, cavalry occurred in Asia and, during a large number of centuries, formed man force of armies.

Populations of these regions with strong density in horses become peoples of herdsmen and riders . Their wealth and their pride lie in the possession of the greatest possible number of horses.

Herdsmen became warriors, conquerors, and plunderers, until the day when the circumstances settle them on the ground they had invaded.

The equestrian techniques of Antiquity are little known to us.

The major role of the horse in Antiquity, it is the war. The driving of the horse is carried out mainly with legs, reins remaining on the neck to make the use of weapons possible, which are always missile weapons.

The oldest tract of horsemanship in the world (the art of taking care of horses and of training them) is that there is eighteen centuries a man by the name Kikkuli wrote on clay tablets (see the translation of it made by Anthony Dent).

This Mitannian rider, who had come and taught equestrian art to Hittites, makes us discover that at that time, already, horse was used both for transport and wars. Particularly that these peoples of riders started against Pharaoh Rameses II. This Hittite text in wedge-shaped characters deals with progressive training of horses used for the pulling of the chariots.

The second treatise of horsemanship known to date is Greek. Xenophon speaks to us about horsemanship without saddles, with sometimes a coarse carpet or a cover, but never stirrups. Until 500 before our era, horses are always ridden bareback or with a simple cover.

During Xenophon’s time, roads were especially made of scree, hence the importance of having a solid foot. Xenophon therefore recommends dry and paved stables, even walks on river shingles! In a pool, the horse is brought to trample round pebbles. According to Xenophon the horn hardens after such an exercise.

The Romans, a people of archetypal infantrymen , were never great riders. They ride mounted on a simple carpet. chariots and wagons are connected to the horse through a thin strap passed around his neck which chokes the horse; they do not know the collar leaning on his shoulders, nor the breast harness leaning on his chest , what explains so low effectiveness of their land transports. They sometimes protect hooves with hipposandals, protection out of leather which holds with thin straps that they will substitute for the horseshoe, however, already invented by Danubian Celts in the fourth century before our era.

The Roman cavalry was recruited almost exclusively in the rich class, particularly among knights, of course. It had neither instruction nor solidity; so it was defeated every time it was faced with disciplined troops or with riders like Celtiberians. Hannibal owed his victories to the judicious use of his Numidian cavalry. Thereafter, Roman armies were endowed with two kinds of cavalry: one, weak, which like the previous one, was composed of Roman citizens; the other, excellent, made of contingents provided by the allies or (Celtic and Germanic) overcome peoples.

Greek and Roman historians have especially looked into the military use of this animal, but horse is found everywhere. In the graves and the farms, on the coins; up in the landscape itself, as the horse 100 m long directly dug in the ground itself at Uffington, in the south of England, shows it. During the final Bronze Age, inhabitants of Central Europe used him as a draft animal. They hitched him by means of a yoke and harnessed him with bridles and bits of leather, as well as side pieces out of wood, sometimes out of bone.

At the end of the urnfields period , the elements of harness in bronze are spread. At the beginning of the period known as Hallstatt C, Europe is inundated with them.

The discovery of a skeleton dating back to the Bronze Age (around 500 before our era???) equipped with a bit and blinkers; and the awareness by natives of bits as sophisticated as those which are used by the Greeks in the fourth century; show the oldness of the equestrian traditions of Celts. In their army, mounted or harnessed element is dominant, but it should nevertheless not be forgotten that the

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Celtic horse before the second century before our era was of mandus type, in other words, a pony. These during winter hairy horses were indeed sober, rustic, fast and untiring, but their size generally did not exceed 1,40 m at the level of the withers, and they were endowed with a “difficult nature “. It was necessary for this reason being an excellent rider on the battle field.

Around - 700, the use of horses seems to spread quickly: a sudden surge of horses of Eastern type seems to occur. That results from the appearance of a new system of exchanges, following a migration of populations from Pontic steppes to Hungarian plain. For Celts, horse becomes then a prestige animal that powerful ones sought to have.

In the rich burials of Hallstatt and La Tene, the funerary chariot was buried with the dead , the chariot which had transported him into his last resting place; but not the horses themselves, because of their commercial value and more still of customs. These rites contrast with these the riding people in the East of Hungary observed.

In some Hallstattian graves, harnessing of draft horses , but also some horses mounted by chiefs were discovered.

It is a piece of evidence of the generalization of horsemanship. At the same time the long sharp sword, particularly appropriate to combats fought on horseback, spreads, additional evidence of the importance of cavalry: the spatha, that the Romans thus borrowed from Celts (what makes, if we understand well, that as regards the terminology used in the fencing world, the word epee – broad sword- comes from the designation of a Celtic weapon). The lance was also one of the favorite weapons of our distant ancestors.

At the end of the seventh century before the common era, combats fought on horseback formed an integral part of the Celtic civilization. The horse was used particularly to pull chariots . A chariot driven by a shaggy Celt is one of the most frequent patterns observed on the reverse of Celtic coins.

“In their journeys and when they go into battle the Galatians use chariots drawn by two horses, which carry the charioteer and the warrior. When they encounter the cavalry in the fighting, they first hurl their javelins at the enemy and then step down from their chariots and join battle with their swords “ (Diodorus of Sicily, book V XXIX).

Also let us point out the existence of the trimarcisia, a tactical unit made up of a chief and two companions, comparable with that which was formed in the Middle Ages by a knight accompanied by his squire. The two members of this escort were responsible for looking after their chief and providing him a new horse if that was necessary.

The hooves of the animals are sufficiently resistant to guarantee a good protection of their feet. They have a natural repairing power, the hoof growth , matching a hoof increase approximately one centimeter long a month, which compensates for the progressive wear of the horn in contact with the ground. But the harnessed animal must provide a work much more important than when he is free, and the wear of the hoof becomes faster than its growth. The horseshoe avoids this wear. Celts will be the first to shoe horses: they are excellent technicians and they have an iron metallurgy of a remarkable level. The permanent horseshoe, fixed by nails, was invented by the Celts remained in the Danubian zone at the end of the fifth century or at the beginnings of the third one. In addition to the protection of hooves, horseshoes improve circulation on rock ground, gravels, etc. Celtic horseshoe thus radically improved the practical use of horses, which became through this invention a crucial factor in their warlike fights.

Celtic equestrian martial art (chariotry and cavalry) breaks up into two very distinct phases or two disciplines.

1. Chariot races. The horses of Celts being then rather the pony type, they were especially used to pull chariots.

The only one who really understood horses in Rome is Virgile (it is true that his great-grandfather was a druid).

“But if your bent is more towards war and proud squadrons, or to glide on wheels by Pisa’s Alphean waters, and in Jupiter’s grove to drive the flying car, then the steed’s first task is to view the arms of gallant warriors, to bear the trumpet call, to endure the groaning of the dragged wheel, and to hear the jingle of bits in the stall; then more and more to delight in his trainer’s caressing praise, and to love the sound of patting his neck. And this let him venture, soon as he is weaned from his mother, and now and again let him entrust his mouth to soft halters, while still weak and trembling, still ignorant of life.

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But when three years are past and the fourth summer is come, let him soon begin to run round the circuit, to make his steps ring evenly, to bend hi legs in alternating curves, and be as one hard laboring: then, then let him challenge the winds to a race, and, skimming over the open plains, as though free from reins, let him scarce plant his steps on the surface of the dust – and when the gathered North Wind swoops down from Hyperborean coasts, driving on Scythia’s storms and dry clouds, then the deep cornfields and the watery plains quiver under the gentle gusts, the treetops rustle, and long rollers press shoreward; on flies the wind, sweeping his flight the fields and seas alike. Such a horse will either sweat towards the Elean goal, over the vast courses of the plain, and fling from his mouth bloody foam, or will bear more nobly with docile neck the Belgian car. Then at last, when the colts are now broken, let their bodies wax plump with coarse mash; for ere the breaking they will raise their mettle too high, and when caught will scorn to submit to the pliant lash, or obey the cruel curb.

But no care so strengthens their powers as to keep from them Venus and the desire as well as the stings of secret passion, whether one’s choice is to deal with cattle or with horses. Therefore men banish the bull to lonely pastures afar, beyond a mountain barrier and across broad rivers, or keep him well mewed beside full mangers. For the sight of the female slowly inflames and wastes his strength, nor, look you, does she, with her soft enchantments, suffer him to remember woods or pastures; oft she drives her proud lovers to settle their mutual contest with clash of horns. She is grazing in Sila’s great forest, a lovely heifer: the bulls in alternate onset join battle with mighty force; many a wound they deal, black gore bathes their frames, amid mighty bellowing the leveled horns are driven against the butting foe; the woods and the sky, from end to end, re-echo. Nor is it the rivals’ wont to herd together, but the vanquished one departs, and dwells an exile in unknown scenes afar. Much does he bewail his shame, etc...etc.“ (Publius Vergilius Maro… Georgics. III).

N.B. We gave up translating this text into lines of verses, impossible mission. My seven years of Latin are too far. We therefore left it in the form of a prose text.Same thing with the extract below.

“The speed is not as great when the two-horse chariots hit the field in their race, shooting from their stalls:and the charioteers shake the rippling reins over their galloping team, straining forward to the lash.So the whole woodland echoes with applause, the shouts of men, and the partisanship of their supporters,the sheltered beach concentrates the sound and the hills, reverberating, return the clamor,“ (Publius Vergilius Maro… Aeneid. V).

The Latinists will not be annoyed with me , I hope for it, to point out to them that this chariot race on a beach, makes me also much think of the long beaches of North Sea, of Great Britain or old Ireland. Once again was this because Virgil’s grandfather was a druid?

Chariot was not unknown in Europe. We found representations of them on Swedish graves of the tenth century before our era, Myceneans also knew it very well. However, in the hands of the Celts of the third and second centuries, it then became a frightening element of military equipment.

In the middle of the first century before our era, at the time when Caesar attacked Celtica, new methods for combat of cavalry nevertheless had already replaced the old ones, following the familiarization of Celts with the classical world. Romans met, opposite them, only infantrymen and riders. It is only by getting a toehold in Great Britain that they dealt with chariots. Caesar describes us the tactics of the chariot combat of Bretons. They traverse in all directions the battle field, while casting their javelins so as to cause an indescribable disorder.

“In the whole of this method of fighting since the engagement took place under the eyes of all and before the camp, it was perceived that our men, on account of the weight of their arms, inasmuch as they could neither pursue [the enemy when] retreating, nor dare quit their standards, were little suited to this kind of enemy; that the horse also fought with great danger, because they [the Britons] generally retreated even designedly, and, when they had drawn off our men a short distance from the legions, leaped from their chariots and fought on foot in unequal [and to them advantageous] battle. But the system of cavalry engagement is wont to produce equal danger, and indeed the same, both to those who retreat and to those who pursue. To this was added, that they never fought in close order,

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but in small parties and at great distances, and had detachments placed [in different parts], and then the one relieved the other, and the vigorous and fresh succeeded the wearied “.

When you know that Cassivellaunus, the leader of Breton resistance, had four thousand similar chariots, we understand better the difficulties encountered by the Romans.

Chariots intervened in all big battles which opposed the Bretons to the Romans. When in 83 or 85, Agricola fights in the North of Scotland, we still find accounts evoking the crash of chariots maneuvering at full speed between the two armies (battle of the Grampians).

A Parisian luxury chariot was even discovered in Wetwang Slack (Yorkshire) in 1984, it was that of a woman. The BBC made even a reconstruction of it.

Chariot fittings made of iron or bronze were found in funerary chambers and votive offerings in marshes (as in Llyn Cerrig Bach in Wales). All these elements enable us to have a precise idea of Celtic chariots. Equipped with two wheels, as reduced as possible, it constituted, in expert hands, a fatal weapon.

2. Equestrian vaulting

Equidae higher than races of pony types or mandus types having been introduced in the first century before our era; except, as we saw, among the Bretons in Great Britain, where chariots will continue to prevail; horses from now on are therefore mounted by fighters and cavalry replaces chariotry; hence the appearance of horsemanship in these regions.

The schools of Spanish and Portuguese horsemanship were strongly influenced by the art of bullfights , but the Horsemanship of High schools like Saumur or Vienna gives back to mounted horses all the grace of the attitudes and movements he has naturally in the wild. It is therefore a question of perfecting nature by art subtlety. An art particularly worked on by Mandubians according to their name, who used certain movements to impress their enemy on the battle field (see Arrian).

If we refer to the History, the vaulting was therefore initially the training of warriors. Games of skill and of audacity, this practice was used in hunting and war. Mandubii developed these figures to protect themselves, to hold weapons or to pick up some objects.

This training was performed under the leadership of experienced riders such Diviciacus.

Celts, a little like Cossacks later, were extremely skillful in all that we could call acrobatics and stunts.

Acrobatics made easier by the small size of Celtic horses originally (a horse of mandus type) but which persisted after the appearance of the great horse of Eastern type. Although for some authors the highest horse in the world had already been observed by Caesar who in his commentary refers to black great Equidae present in the north of England that we call “shire ” today. But the subject remains discussed because horses pulling chariots were well of mandus or pony type. Then who believe ? But let our readers be reassured, this point does not form part of the broad outlines of druidism.

Horse dressage was, of course, extremely important, so that he crosses fords, is flattened, and so on. And the equestrian martial art of men as Diviciacus undoubtedly included what every rider was to know. Perfect control of his horse, harmony with him (a speciality of the Mandubians), show jumping, behaviors during the river crossings, leap from banks even from cliffs, bodybuilding of his back to resist long hours spent on horseback; and to preserve a solid sitting in order to fight.

Lastly, to resist to infantrymen : same weapons as him, special weapons for dismounting adversaries, and huge sabers called spathas to cut to pieces infantrymen.

At the time of the Caesarean wars in Celtica , Roman cavalry was frequently crushed by Celtic riders and the remarks of Arrian (Ars tactica) show that then it took over for itself their attack maneuvers.

Born from the combat, equestrian art is, like the war according to the word of Napoleon: “an art simple, everything is a matter of execution “.

The respective roles of the rider and the horse, in war, required that the first one could dispose of the second one with control and safety, on pain of death.

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Such a stake was to necessarily lead to the greatest possible improvement, nonacademic improvement, of which there remains something, nowadays, in the bullfight horsemanship.

The equestrian trick-riding therefore initially developed as a warfare art . It was a tactic of cavalry by itself. The beauty of this exercise laid in the complexity of the choreography, which required the perfect obedience of the horse to the lightest indications of his rider. The Celts carried out charges and javelin or assegai castings in all the imaginable positions.

Chapter XXXVII.

It is here that good horsemanship is especially required, so as to be able simultaneously to throw a javelin at those riding past and to use the shield to protect the right side. When the cavalryman rides parallel to the target, he must swivel to the right in order to throw the javelin. And in making a complete about-turn, he must perform what is called the petrinos in the Celtic language, which is the most difficult of all. For he must turn right round, as far as the tender nature of his sides will allow, to face the horse's tail in order to throw backwards as accurately as possible. When he has done this, he has to turn quickly forward again and bring his shield to cover his back, since if he turns without his protection, he will expose his unprotected back to the enemy.

Editor’s note. To visualize these very complex maneuvers of the Celtic riders (Cantabrians and others) refer to the three illustrations in the book by Ann Hyland, pages 120,123 and 135. The Cantabrian flag was indeed a Celtic labarum.

Chapter XLII.

When this voluntary display of javelin-throwing is over, then the outstanding senior officers of the company order the names of all horsemen to be called out in order, first the decurio and after him the duplicarius and the sesquiplicarius (literally, who gets pay and a half), and then the other members of the turma in turn. The man whose name is called must answer 'Present' with a great shout and simultaneously gallop forward carrying three lances. The first of these he must hurl at the target from the edge of the dug-out area, the second when level with the tribune and while his horse is still galloping straight forward; and, if he will follow the rules laid down by the emperor, he must hurl the third as his horse veers to the right, aiming at another target which on the emperor's instructions they set up for this very purpose, namely to receive the third lance. This is the most difficult throw of all, since it is made at the very moment that the horse is turning and before it has completed the turn. A throw made in this way goes by the name of xynema in the Celtic language. The man who is successful in this has performed the feat called xynema (in the Celtic language), and this is not easy even with any (iron) head to the lance.

Chapter XLIII.

The exercises do not end at this point. They advance holding their spears projecting straight out in front, and then as though they are pursuing an enemy in flight. Others, as if acting against another enemy, wheel their horses round and swing their shields over their heads so that they are behind them and maneuver their spears as tough to deal with another enemy's attack. The Celts call their maneuver the toloutegon. Furthermore, they draw their swords and make different kinds of strokes, whatever is best suited to bring down a fleeing enemy, or kill a man already lying on the ground, or to do anything involving attack from the flanks. What is more, they practice all kinds of ways of jumping onto their horses, all the different forms and methods by which a man can get on his horse. They end by demonstrating how a man in full armor can leap on his horse when it is galloping, a practice that some describe as the 'traveler.'

Chapter XLIV.

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All these exercises have been understood by the Roman cavalry and have long been practiced. The emperor indeed seeks out foreign practices with which to train them, for example the maneuvers of the horse archers of the Parthians and Armenians, the wheeling and evolutions practiced by the lance-bearing cavalry of the Sarmatians and the Celts as the horses charge in formation, including the many, varied methods of skirmishing that are very useful in battle, and the native war cries that each race has, namely Celtic war cries for the Celtic cavalry, Getic for the Getic cavalry, and Raetian for cavalry from Raetia.

Furthermore, their cavalry practices jumping across ditches and leaping over small walls. To sum up, of the ancient exercises there is none that the Romans have omitted and not practiced from the beginning” (Arrian. Ars Tactica).

The only GENUINE AND UNQUESTIONABLE ancient druid, the Aeduan Diviciacus, was a specialist in horses besides. While being a druid… Diviciacus led a cavalry brigade indeed.

At least, it is what we can understand with the reading of the passage of Bello Gallico, book II, 5, where Caesar explains how he used Aeduan troops at the time of the first campaign of Belgium in 57 before our era.

“ He [Caesar], addressing himself to Divitiacus, the Aeduan, with great earnestness points out how much it concerns the republic and their common security, that the forces of the enemy should be divided, so that it might not be necessary to engage with so large a number at one time; that this might be affected if the Aedui would lead their forces into the territories of the Bellovaci, and begin to lay waste their country. He dismissed him from his presence with these instructions “.

With its great horses, the Treviran cavalry will have much success, initially against Romans (Caesar will admit that thickset and massive horses of Trevirans - Ardennes horses - and the level of their riders, are by far higher than those of Roman legionaries). Then within Roman armies, and even in Rome. It is true that these Celtic riders used already a back carpet and thin straps which were used as stirrups. Whereas the Romans, like the Greeks, rode without saddle nor stirrup.

In Rome, you win initially victories thanks to infantry, but with the annexation of Celtica to Empire, Celtic cavalry will become the preferred cavalry of the Roman army.

The troops of cavalry that the Romans will deploy at the end of the Empire will be mainly of Celtic origin. And the goddess -or demoness, or fairy if you prefer, druidic, of horses, will therefore ingratiate her with the Roman army, which will even make set up statues in her effigy. Generally, she was shown as a woman riding a rapid steed, her coat undulating behind her.

In fact consequently it is probably riders of Celtic origin who brought equestrian art into Rome.

The tripudium practiced in these indoor arenas was a stamping with the feet, ancestor undoubtedly of the today piaffe (Vladimir S. Littauer). More liked gaits at that time, and communal to all the peoples of Western Antiquity until the invention of the saddle and of the stirrup to finish, were the ambulatoria (ambling) as well as the canterius (canter); two travel gaits the least tiring for the rider.

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(CRITICAL) HISTORY OF THE FRENCH CAVALRY.

“The horses of my cuirassiers are not supported by patriotism, they fall along the roads “. General Nansouty to Prince Murat (1812).

“Stallion and mares make the foal, but it is the stock breeder who makes horses. In other words, the horse question is a matter of customs more than of money “. Charles Mourain de Sourdeval (1800-1879), secretary of the Bethmont-Fould committee (1848).

“The today stock breeder cannot make riding horses, for this excellent reason the riding stallion does not exist in France “. Maurice de Gaste (1859-1947), founder of the warhorse society (1898).

“No horsemanship, no cavalry; too much horsemanship no cavalry also“. Lieutenant General de Castries, inspector of cavalry (1769).

Of course the author thinks , with Wellington that the French cavalry was the best in Europe as regards the courage of its riders. Therefore, the soldiers and their recruitment are not in question in this work. This is why this study relates only to horses and French cavalry.

CAVALRY AND MANNERS OF THE FRENCH.

“For four centuries, remount of the cavalry was a difficult problem for the French society. Most former specialists: du Bellay or Tacquet in the 16th and the beginning of the 17th century, informed us about this fundamental fact: Western Europe, and singularly France, was never, in the past, breeding countries of riding horses! (Except for the Iberian peninsula that Geography and History a long time attached to the Maghreb.)

The reason for it is simple. Organized starting from the Parisian region, France was always a country of plain and high plateau settlers. Its inhabitants used horse for his energy utilized in pulling, thanks to the invention of the “shoulder collar “.

The fact is noted as of the 12th century in the tapestry of Queen Matilda in Bayeux. The collecting of this energy was useful, initially for the agricultural work (tilling); then for the carriage of burdens and goods.

French reality, it is therefore the draft horse, the question of the riding horse in France was consequently aroused, little by little, as of late Middle Ages . It is checked, once again, that it is always necessary to observe the facts as well as the things over the long term. Back from the Italian wars, the new riders were called “Light horsemen “ by contrast with the last knights: the “men-at-arms “who rode heavy horses. As of this time the question of the creation of a riding horse was aroused in the kingdom of France.

By whom? By the soldiers, and only by them!

In our country of settled farmers, the notion of riding horse is initially military. This prospect makes it possible to ask the question in a more relevant way: how the rural society answered the request of creation of a new category of horses: the riding horses?

The State intervention.

BEFORE 1789.

The evolution of war since du Bellay having resulted in the primacy of infantry *, cavalry was only , until Rossbach (1757) a supplementary force, succeeding only sometimes in being determining, like in Rocroi and Fontenoy where the famous Irish brigade of the wild geese ** lost hundreds of men before being helped by the French cavalry. In Belgium a Celtic cross commemorates still this deed besides.

The State which, at the same time, had chosen the standing army, had many difficulties to support this structure which was expensive for it. Colbert had one goal: to limit generally horses imports.

Some esthetes, whose Louis XIV, and some old soldiers, whose Maurice of Saxony, were interested nevertheless in the riding horse. They made experiments in their stud farms of Saint-Leger, or Chambord, but they were without continuations.

D’Auvergne in 1769, theorized the fundamental truth of any cavalry: horses make riders “. However, the French riding horse was bad. The quality of the (riding) horses of our country was so poor that this master of military horsemanship had to make this very mediocrity itself the base of his method. Horsemanship of soldiers will be horsemanship reduced to its simplest terms.

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The persons in charge of this time accepted the thing, and made all their efforts directed towards the organization of the purchases management, and the training of riders, captains, or colonels (the minister Choiseul and the general inspector de Castries).

AFTER 1789.

This mediocrity had a serious military consequence. The French cavalry had, thereby, to limit its interventions to the mass action in battle fields. We find still nowadays the traces of this irrational feeling which inclined our ancestors towards the armored cavalry: the museum known as “of the cavalry “in the school of Saumur. In addition to the fact that Louis XIV is presented as the founder of the French cavalry (which is a mistake), we see there initially and especially memories of cuirassiers… which is a historical nonsense! Whereas, confirmation of evolution over time, the French popular speech shows little consideration for the “armored cavalry “ became a synonym of drastic actions.

Indeed, in the imagination of the people, it is “the light cavalry “which wins general approval. They are the hussars and even the dragoons, never the cuirassiers, who make the people dream. Some readers will even remember perhaps the song of their grandparents: “The dream passes… “.

The last century of the history of the French cavalry was gloriously lightened up by the feats of arms of Africa’s cavalry.

At the end of the 19th century and at the beginning of the 20th , the problem of mounted troops will be lastly solved in North Africa. The regiments of Africa’s chasseurs and spahees, called in by Empire and Republic in all the theaters of operations will give to the French cavalry its best performances.

The infantry, queen of battles had finally the supplementary melee weapon which had been so often missing for it. Its efforts were prepared, continued then utilized by the cavalry, the queen of open spaces. Infantry had lastly its lines of operations and supply, or its routes of approach and retreat.... recognized and protected …. Moreover, as in Sedan, this light cavalry could , in battle fields, sacrifice itself through charges with swords drawn , hitherto reserved for the “armored cavalry “.The circumstances required it, the men could do it with and thanks to their horses from North Africa.

The end of the French cavalry.

The practical application of the strange Act 1874 had as a result, the “nonsense “of a cavalry made of draft horses, unfit to wage war under a rider. An expert noted one day: “Since 1870, the impulse given to the breeding (of horses) was not in the direction of the needs of the army “(Bonie, the French remounts, Paris) .

This state of affairs was the fact of a rural society, of settled farmers, framed by agro-business lobbies. What made the same author (op. cit.) write that the complex question of the breeding and of the stud farms was dealt almost exclusively by “civilian elements “of the French society.

Later, during the First World War, these farmers, basic citizens of the Republic, who were the majority in the country, were also the majority in the weapons known as “melee “or, of “battle field “ weapons. They will be therefore also the main victims of this questionable defense policy. Indeed, after the (not used) victory of the infantry, and the failure of the cavalry upon the Marne River, where the first invasion was stopped (1914); they will be the farmers, true martyrs of the trench war who, with their chests, will definitely stop the second invasion, at Verdun (1916). Cavalry will take no part in it!

This whole of social phenomena which we have just described, beggars the rational analysis… Historical ponderousness of a nation was seldom illustrated in such dreadful ways.“

* Evolution started in England after the battle of Bannockburn which had as a consequence 400 years of independence for Scotland.

* * The Regiments of Clare, Lally, Dillon, Berwick, Roth, and Buckley. O'Brien, Lord Clare, was in command.

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THE IBERIAN RIDING SCHOOL .

“I saw in the glance of horses a world previous the passaging of men “(Bartabas).

Bartabas is a rider a little particular. He is the leader of the equestrian troop of Zingaro Circus. With the horses of the Academy of equestrian shows in Versailles, he designed and staged , under the title “Voyages into Gallant Indies “ an extraordinary show telling us the adventure of a small ship’s boy of the 18th century.

The Spanish Riding School (German: Spanische Hofreitschule) also known under the name Spanish School in Vienna is a school of horsemanship internationally well known. The horses who are broken in here are only Lipizzan stallions and whose shows are performed in the winter indoor arena (Winterreitschule) located close to the imperial palace in the Hofburg.

The dressage methods used by the school date back to the writings of Robichon de la Gueriniere, published in Paris in 1729-1730.

Iberian horse is the name given to the races of horses and ponies originating in the Iberian Peninsula. These races have a long history dating back to the first times of a perhaps independent horse domestication, and were spread in the Americas from the 16th century to the 17th century. In 1518 indeed, the conquistadors of Cortes brought eleven horses and six mares of whom two had a black and white coat color and five others an Appaloosa coat color. The legend tells some of them are escaped or were caught by Indians. They would be therefore the ancestors of our famous mustangs.

To come back to Portugal, the Sorraia is a distant descendant from the tarpan. The very particular coat color of the Sorraia links him a little with a zebra, as for the Lusitano it is, like the pure race Spanish horse, a horse of Celtic origin who was marked very early by the influence of the Barbe horse from North Africa. It is the oldest riding horse in the world.

There are two main types of bullfighting, on foot bullfighting, best known, mostly Spanish, with a matador on foot and picadors on horseback to help him, and equestrian bullfighting, rarer in Spain (bullfights "de rejon") in which it is a little the opposite: the matador is on horseback but his assistants the peones are on foot. Equestrian bullfighting is omnipresent in Portugal under the name of tourada.

As regards the outfits of the riders let us note that as regards bullfighters on horseback , those are clothed in Andalusian "trajes cortos or camperos" - generally for Spaniards - whereas Portuguese show themselves "in the style of Frederick II of Prussia ” or in a “French ” outfit ; inspired by the clothes which were worn in the court of Louis XV, more precisely at the time of François Robichon de la Gueriniere, with a three-cornered hat inspired by the 18th century.

High horsemanship would be only a sport or know-how if it resulted only from the scrupulous application of tested techniques. In high horsemanship, the horse is not broken in, he is educated. Moreover it is necessary that he is gifted. Equestrian art is distinguished through there from dressage, simple web of processes.

Equestrian art involves the development of a consummate technique, supported by a thorough study.

The technique of the dressage of horses in high school lies initially in the setting up, by contiguous association, of reflexes and practices. Starting from this conventional language, it is possible to indicate, without using force, the starts, the stops, the direction changes, and the “rein backs “.

It is often on foot, in order to spare his sensitivity at maximum and to put him in the most favorable mood, that these initial contacts must be established.

The voice, the touching with the dressage sticks or the hand, the soft indications given by the reins, the caresses and the delicacies; contribute to creating a communication network which; outside every duress of terror; will make the horse able to understand the desires of his rider.

The mental conditioning of a horse should never go beyond this objective, or else we move away from true horsemanship, which is very little dressage and much gymnastics.

Horses chosen for equestrian art must have good and favorable proportions, be well balanced on their stands, endowed with regular and also elastic gaits, and especially have a fine and generous temperament.

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This last condition prevails over all others, because a horse without ardor requires permanent impulse efforts which block any artistic expression. But the ideal horse does not exist. Each horse has his style that the rider has as a role, to reveal. The artist, it is the horse. The rider is only his stage director . Horsemanship is an art, through the talent, the feeling and the taste in the working out, it requires from the rider,as well as through the beauty of the equestrian show.

The dressage of a horse consists, by a precise methodology, in putting him in various positions which lead him to react and to produce the expected gaits and figures (the quality of the variations in the accomplishment defines the high school). The changes of the good balance of the horse, in all his gaits, in all dressage figures and in all uses, are innumerable.

The body of the rider must constantly hug them or delicately be dissociated from them only insofar as he seeks, by balance variation, to vary the gait, the figure or the cadence, or to change them.

The huge difficulty of the school horsemanship is due to the very small number of means available for the rider as well as to their simplicity. They are some touch, nuances made possible by the almost indescribable communication which must be established between the man and his mount, on penalty of a radical failure.

Art, here, does not consist in the invention of gaits and of dressage figures never seen, horse bodily structure makes only a limited number of them possible. It is born, like the dance, from a gestural grace, from an unquantifiable harmony.

The singular characteristic of equestrian art is that it requires two actors, and that both manage to form the same being.

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NECESSARY QUALITIES TO PRACTICE HORSEMANSHIP.

Nobody can be a good horse man if he does not know the use of his helps, and if he cannot make the bodily means of horses profitable, if he is unaware of the elements of animal psychology and physiology. It is necessary that mind imagines them at the same time as body is accustomed to them.

Theory and practice provide mutual and continuous assistance.

To be a rider, of course, doesn't the bodily condition of a Marathonian, but the rider is nevertheless a sportsman without knowing it. Horsemanship is no longer the reserved luxury of an elite , what it was still, a few years ago; it became a sport within the reach of everybody, hence the interest to know the medical aptitude of riders for the practice of their favorite sport.

1) A rider must especially know if he is medically fit for practicing a sport in general. This examination applies to a rider as to all sportsmen. He must undergo a complete examination with a meticulous anamnesis, in order to eliminate an infectious, osteoarticular or metabolic, pathology, being able to jeopardize his favorite sport. Ideally, he must undergo a complete clinical examination, as well as an electrocardiogram, in order not to ignore a subjacent pathology.

In addition to the traditional general contraindications to the practice of sports in general, a particular attention had to be paid to the osteoarticular examination; in order to make oneself sure that there is no important curvature of the spine (kyphosis or scoliosis *).

2) What are bodily qualities necessary to practice horsemanship?

a) First of all, the rider must have an optimal control of his emotions. Horse reactions are sometimes unforeseeable.

b) Energy-giving systems used for horsemanship are, on the one hand, the aerobic energy system and occasionally the anaerobic alactic energy system for jumps. Riders must therefore have an excellent endurance and a good explosiveness.

c) Balance is essential, just as sensorimotor coordination on the level of the lower limbs.

d) Muscular force of lower limbs has to be developed, as well on the level of quadriceps and hamstring muscles as adductors.

e) Suppleness of spine and peripheral joints is not negligible.

f) Lastly, a passion for horses is necessary, as well as the technical knowledge of horsemanship, which cannot be done in a makeshift manner.

3) Training.

To carry out good performances, the rider must, of course, practice a regular training.

This one concerns primarily what follows.

a) Work on general physical condition and particularly of endurance.

b) Bodybuilding in order to work on the strength of lower limbs is useful. Quads and hamstring muscles as well as adductors are concerned.

c) Anaerobic alactic energy system can also be worked, in order to optimize preparation of riders by working on their explosiveness.

d) Spine bodybuilding is essential also as well as a proprioceptive work particularly with a permanent rebalancing of pelvis and a work of abdominal muscles.

e) Lastly, as in any high-level sport, a good warm-up is essential before practice, but an appropriate stretching with a stretching of all muscular groups is also necessary after the effort.

* It appears that I had a scoliosis being young (discovered during my admission to the Military Academy, in 1963? In any event mysteriously flown away at the end of three or six months of remedial gymnastics.

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APPENDIX No. 1.

Three versions of horse’s prayer.

First version.

To my master.

I gave you my freedom,

Never forget this granted wholeheartedly gift.

Do not be brutal, because I have memory,

Always be firm but fair,

And I will forget my spirit of independence.

Accept in exchange my docility, my strength,

My courage and my fidelity.

You say that I am your most beautiful conquest,

I what I wish is to be your best friend.

Second version.

To you my master.

Do not see in me

Only prestige and nobility.

Entrust to me heavy loads,

I have all my strength to share.

Speak to me also with tenderness

I will understand so much better.

Make your gestures softest,

Brutality will bring nothing to you.

Guide me also with firmness,

Where you want I will take you along.

Since together we will have

To traverse the road of life,

Then more than a companion

I would like to be your friend.

Third version.

My master, my friend,

Much more than your noblest conquest,

I am your most faithful companion.

Orders given with softness

I will obey without restriction.

I will never have

A stubborn attitude with you

Grant me your confidence

And I will remain loyal.

Entrust to me painful tasks

I will give you my strength and my bravery.

And for price of my freedom

I want only to remain your best friend.

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NEW CONSIDERATIONS ON HUNTING.

Hunting has always been, as of prehistory, a vital activity for Man, bringing to him animal proteins and lipids that the gathering of berries, fruits, vegetables, and roots, could not provide him. But hunting, as fishing, supposes then the transport and the share of the game, within the group, what requires a preliminary cutting-up.

Australopithecus was primarily vegetarian, but he could also behave as a carrion feeder.

Homo habilis, there are two million years, was also mainly vegetarian, but he hunted small praise and used the carcasses of big herbivores, he cuts with rudimentary stone tools.

Homo Ergaster was the first true hunter, able to track then to slaughter big games with clubs and spears equipped with a carefully worked biface.

But they are especially Neandertals our very distant and very partial (30% of our genes placed end to end) ancestors who were very good hunters, not hesitating in fact to attack cave bears. They shared the meat and the osseous marrow coming from the bones they broke. They got dressed in skins and furs they prepared carefully.

Cro-Magnon men lastly, around - 50.000 to - 25.000, still improved their stone tools, and manufactured assegai heads as well as barbed harpoons, with bones and antlers of reindeers. They invented the thrower, which increased the range of missile weapons, as well as the cateia or the boomerang.

The Celtic ancestor as for him bred excellent, very sought after, hounds, in the ancient world, and hunted a wild, aggressive and dangerous bull, called urus (aurochs), described by Julius Caesar. Besides he hunted it so well that it remains none of them and that we find it no longer than in a state of fossilized skeleton.

And the Germanic ancestor hunted with an ardor such that, in his short Salic law, several paragraphs deal with this hobby. Einhard, celebrating the sporting merits of his master Charlemagne (swimming, horsemanship, etc.) notes: “ He constantly took exercise both by riding and hunting. This was a national habit; for there is hardly any race on the earth that can be placed on equality with the Franks in this respect. He took delight in the vapor of naturally hot waters, and constantly practiced swimming, in which he was so proficient that no one could be fairly regarded as his superior “.

A lord who had, to take up his time, neither public war, neither private war, neither crusade, neither tournament, nor joust, could still entertain himself while waging war on animals. Hunting offered to him these pleasures of which he was so fond: outdoors, violent exercise, handling of weapons. No country produced more hunters nor more treatises of hunting, and it is still a matter on which its people and its books are authoritative.

Like tournament and joust, hunting inspired passions, erasing even the sense of duty. Monks, abbots, bishops, devoted themselves to it, in spite of reiterated prohibitions by religious authorities. They were caricatured, mocked in songs, they were condemned; the abuse persisted! Of all tempter demons, demon of hunting was one of most insidious.

Like the tournament and the jousting, hunting was a pleasure which came to be added to the greatest pleasure of the time, i.e., the true war. Until the Renaissance and beyond, war and hunting go hand in hand. First care of William of Normandy, when he had conquered England, was to announce such rigorous hunting laws , that his new subjects were amazed. One of them, who depicted according to nature the portrait of his master, notes that he “loved the stags as much as he were their father “.

What wants to say that he reserved for himself the pleasure of killing them, a father in the manner of Saturn devouring his own children therefore (Anglo-Saxon chronicle of Peterborough, the rime of King William).

Hunted animals were or are, aurochs (disappeared), wolves and bears (practically disappeared), wild boars, roe deer, deer, hares foxes, and, of course, stags. The kings, going to war, took along them in their wake, troops of soldiers and packs of hounds. Edward III was accompanied, when he invaded France, by “sixty couple of strong hounds and as many greyhounds,” without speaking of “thirty falconers on horseback, laden with birds”; and servants carrying fishing machines, which were of great use every day and especially during Lent, at least for the lords, Froissart adds, because for commoners, lent or not lent, “they made use of what provisions they could get,” the salvation of their soul having less importance apparently.

Hunting opportunities were offered to all the inhabitants of the territory when, on periodic complaints of the General Estates, the king decided to restrict old warren, and to remove the new ones, of which swarming population in the kingdom ate wheat in the blade. Ordinances of 1355, of 1356, great

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Cabochien ordinance of 1413, etc.: “We give license to each one to hunt without any fine… “. Hunting for wolves, foxes,badgers, otters, was, moreover, accessible to everybody, in every season. It was hunting useful for the good of the country, recommended to good citizens, and even sometimes made obligatory.

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THE HUNTING BOOK BY GASTON PHOEBUS.

Gaston III known as Phebus, count of Foix, Viscount of Bearn, born on April 30, 1331, in Orthez, died in 1391, following a hunting party.

A skillful diplomat, frightening war leader and wise strategist, he will be able to benefit from the war to grow rich. In Launac, on December 3, 1362, he crushes his neighbor the count of Armagnac, and makes him prisonner. The enormous ransom he will then receive for his release, will enable him to keep during many years a sumptuous court.

The life of Gaston will take place in continual wars. He went to the war for the first time in 1345 against the English. He leaves in 1356 to Prussia, to fight unbelievers, in the lines of the Teutonic knights.

He won fame with his valor and his impressiveness, but his contemporaries reproached him for his violent temperament and he was even accused of having caused the death of his own son. The young prince, accused of having wanted to poison his father, indeed was imprisoned then cruelly ill-treated by Gaston. He let himself starving to death in his prison in 1382.

Gaston Phebus wrote then an astonishing book, the first of this kind due to a layman, and entitled Huntsman’s Prayer book. Here he speaks directly to God while reasoning like a sophist philosopher, while arguing by means of thirty-seven prayers around a central theme: God must save his creatures, because he is responsible for their misdeeds like for their good deeds.

Gaston Phoebus is regarded as one of the greatest hunters of his time and wrote a book which was a long time a reference book (Buffon will still use it at the end of the 18th): the "Hunting Book “ one of the best medieval treatises devoted to the subject. The work was dictated to a copyist from 1387 to 1389.

As far as we can see through the translation of it which was made in the beginning of the 15th century by Edward of Norwich, second duke of York, and prefaced by Roosevelt in 1904 under the title “the Master of the game,” it is made of a prologue and of an epilogue framing several chapters dealing with the nature of animals, of dogs, which constitute in fact the beginning of a descriptive natural history. N.B. We do not recommend the reading of this work because we are American but because Roosevelt inserted in it at the end (p. 282) an excellent glossary, because old Englisch and old Frensh are no longer within the reach of everybody.

This very personal and very original treatise wants to be an undertaking of salvation which finds in itself its own justification. The one who hunts carries out his salvation: on the one hand because hunting gets pleasures which, unlike others, are not sins, therefore do not endanger soul ; on the other hand, because hunting is an excellent remedy against idleness, since idle hands are the devil's workshop. Action prevents impure thoughts, and therefore forms an antidote to the evil.

In a way a metamorphic melting of two original druidic ideas. 1) To be killed in action gives warriors a direct entrance to the next world parallel with ours, called Heaven. 2) The stag is a messenger or a guide to the other world.

Central Europe knew a similar myth of which we have a representation: the bronze chariot of Strettweg, discovered in Austria, represents a giant female deity indeed, holding above her head, horizontally, a disc. Around her a rider as well as a troop of armed pedestrians hunting a stag. A head of stag is placed beside the pursued animal… Indeed perhaps hunters can also chase a wild boar, the sun chariot of Merida too, also represents, at least according to Jose Maria Blazquez (equestrian heroization) a wild ride like the wild hunt of King Arthus. We see there a rider holding a spear in his right hand, and who chases , accompanied by a hound, a wild boar. The horse has a bell to his neck, and the back of the chariot is provided with several small bells. This chariot could at the same time represent a sun rider pursuing darkness or a wild hunt.

With the advent of Christianity, these rides were considered a procession of damned people. According to the region it is spoken about Arthus hunt (hunting for the magic wild boar of Arthus, Twrch Trwyth) or about Pwyll and his red-eared white dogs, but elsewhere this cursed and wild hunt can be led by another lord as in the case of Hellequin’s hunt in Normandy. Like the Swizz Roi-tschäggättä and Silvesterklausen, Hellequin’s people surrounded themselves with ringing and bells. The countless local traditions relating to the wild Hunter, etc.,etc. are unexplainable, for anybody who is unaware of this narrow association between hunters and a certain other world (MYTHOLOGY OF FORMER SWITZERLAND. Raymond Christinger and Willy Borgeaud).

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BODILY AND MORAL BENEFITS OF HUNT.

Jacqueline Stuhmiller, of the University of Wisconsin - Milwaukee, makes it an instrument of salvation of souls in her 2012 essay published as part of the review of study of rural space in the Middle Ages.

The Master of Game.

Chapter I The prologue [Translation overseen by Theodore Roosevelt].

….For he that flees the seven deadly sins as we believe, he shall be saved, therefore a good hunter shall be saved, and in this world have joy enough and of gladness and of solace, so that he keeps himself from two things.

One is that he does not leave the knowledge nor the service of God, from whom all good comes, for his hunting. The second that he does not lose the service of his master for his hunting, nor his own duties which might profit him most.

Now I will prove how a good hunter may not be idle, and in dreaming may not have any evil imaginations nor afterwards any evil works. For the day before he goes out to his office, the night before, he shall lay him down in his bed, and shall not think but for to sleep, and do his office well and busily, as a good hunter should do. And he shall have nothing to do, but think of all that which he has been ordered to do.

And early in the dawning of the day he must be up to go unto his quest, that is called searching, well and

busily.

When he shall come again to the assembly or meet, then he has most to do, for he must order his finders and relays * to move the hart. With that he cannot be idle, for he needs to think of nothing but to do his office, and when he has uncoupled, yet is he less idle, and he should think less of any sins, for he has enough to do to ride or to foot well with his hounds and always to be near them and to hue or rout well, and blow well, and to look after which he hunts and which hounds are van chasers and parfiters *, and redress and bring his hounds on the right line again when they are at fault or hunting a rascal.

And when the hart is dead, then is he less idle, for he hath enough to do to think how to undo the hart and to raise that which appertains to him, and to do his curee well. And he should look how many of his hounds are missing from those that he brought to the wood in the morning, and he should search for them.

And when he has come home, should he less think to do evil, for he has enough to do to think of his supper, and to ease himself and his horse, and to dry himself of the dew or peradventure of the rain and to sleep, and to take his rest, for he is weary.

And therefore I say that all the time of the hunter is without idleness and without evil thoughts, and without evil works of sin, for as I have said idleness is the foundation of all vices and sins. And the hunter may not be idle if he would fill his office correctly, wherefore he must go into paradise.

Now shall I prove how hunters live in this world more joyfully than any other men. For when the hunter rises in the morning, and he sees a sweet and fair morn and clear weather and bright, and he hears the song of the small birds, the which sing so sweetly with great melody and full of love, each in its own language in the best wise that it can, according that it learned of its own kind.

And when the sun is arisen, he shall see fresh dew upon the small twigs and grasses, and the sun by his virtue shall make them shine. And that is great joy and liking to the hunter's heart.

After when he goes to his quest or searching, he shall see or meet immediately with the hart without great seeking, and shall harbor him well and readily within a little compass (Gaston de Foix : destournera et en court tour), it is great joy and liking to the hunter. And after when he shall come to

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the assembly or gathering, and he shall report before the Lord and his company that which he has seen with his eyes, or by scantilon (measure) of the trace (slot) , or by the fumes (excrement) that he shall put in his horn or in his lap. And every man shall say : Lo, here is a great hart, etc. "…….

When he begins to hunt and he has hunted but a little and he shall hear or see the hart start before him and shall know well that it is the right one, and his hounds that shall this day be finders, shall come to the lair (bed), or to the fues (track), and shall there be uncoupled without any be left coupled, and they shall all run well and hunt, then has the hunter great joy and great pleasure. Afterwards he leaps on horseback, if he be of that estate, and else on foot with great haste to follow his hounds.

Yet I will prove to you how hunters live longer than any other men, for as Hippocras wrote : " Full repletion of meat slays more men than any sword or knife."

But hunters eat and drink less than any other men of this world, for in the morning at the assembly they eat a little, and if they eat well at supper, they will by the morning have corrected their nature, since then they have eaten but little, and their nature will not be prevented from doing her digestion, whereby no wicked humors or superfluities may be engendered. And always, when a man is sick, men diet him and give him to drink water made of sugar and tisane and of such things for two or three days to put down evil humors and his superfluities, and also make him void (another purge).

But for a hunter one need not do so, for he may have no repletion on account of the little meat, and by the travail ** that he has.

Therefore it seems to me I have proven enough. Physicians ordain for a sick man little meat and sweating for the terminating and healing of all things. And since hunters eat little and sweat always, they should live long and in health.

Men desire in this world to live long in health and in joy, and after death the health of the soul.

And hunters have all these things. Therefore be you all hunters and you shall do as wise men. Wherefore I counsel to all manner of folk of what estate or condition that they be, that they love hounds and hunting and the pleasure of hunting beasts of one kind or another, or hawking even goshawking. For to be idle and to have no pleasure in either hounds or hawks or goshawks is no good token. For nobody saw never a good man that did not have pleasure in some of these things, were he ever so great and rich.

For men say in old saws : " The lord is worth what his lands are worth." *** and also it is said in the aforesaid book that nobody never saw a man that loved the work and pleasure of hounds and hawks or goshawks, that did not have many good qualities in him ; for that comes to him of great nobleness and gentleness of heart of whatever estate the man may be, whether he be a great lord, or a little one, or a poor man or a rich one.

Editor’s note. The argument of Gaston Phoebus is a little strange, but it is nevertheless certain that the one who hunts in this way has to burn quite a lot calories in his day, that is undeniable!

* Roosevelt glossary. There were several planned relays for the hounds who were quickly tired in this kind of hunting. The first dogs formed the van chasers pack, the hounds released in third and last place formed the pack “of the six parfiters” (in fact ten or twelve of them).

** Trauaille travayle = work or labor.

*** Gaston de Foix says precisely: "Tant vaut seigneur tant vaut sa gent et sa terre.”

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HUNT.

Animals could be hunted in two ways during the Middle Ages: with horses and dogs (what our English friends still call by force even by force of dogs ) or still with horses and dogs but also with a bow ,and some beaters. What is clearly less glorious (the animal has no chance in this case).

It is with the taming of horses for leisure that the hunt discipline appeared. Hunting, it is the quest, the chase of an animal, until its encirclement. Intended to hunt fast animals, hunt became a sport. Hunt was also developed in America by Englishmen who imported, with their horses, the red foxes from Europe.

Venery is all that has a relationship with a hunt (the group of hunters called hunting party , but also the horses, the horn calls and so on). Venery is therefore the art of forcing wild beasts by putting hounds on the traces left by their scent. Exercise as old as mankind, it is often said . The dog (canis familiaris) appears to be the first domestic companion of Man. Dog is attentive, hearty, docile; his memory is faithful, his sense of smell very selective. All-eating through education, he is flesh-eating by nature, and his instinct drives him to chase preys in order to devour them; an instinct that the primitive Man used to move an animal, to pursue it, to encircle it and, consequently, to approach it within knife range in order to destroy it.

Initially a need, this hunting mode became an art, and this art stuck to the behavior of the pack followed by riders. Venery had been born.

The history of venery can be reduced to the history of the progress of dogs, as a result of a patient selection seeking the heredity of the learned characteristics: nose, speed, obedience, sturdiness and throat.

Since oldest times, hunting, particularly pictorial, provided to art one of its favorite topics. The drawings found on the walls of the prehistoric caves represent hunting scenes: it is therefore the first subject which tempted Man as an artist.

We may add that the subject has also tempted many writers, there are indeed many hunting scenes in Gawain and the Green Knight. Almost as much as amorous dialogs.

Venery is therefore an art according to William Twich, the art to take an animal with the only help of horses and hounds you must select, train, lead without disturbing them , even help if you can.

Classification of beasts for hunting.

The oldest of our treatises on the subject, that of William Twich, Twici, Twiti, written around 1320 (Craft or venery, or Art of hunting) is not very clear despite his stated desire.

"Ici comence le art de venerie le quel mestre Guyllame Twici, venour le roi d'Engleterre, fist en son temps pur aprendre autres ."

What, translated into our today language, would give us:

" Here begins the art of hunting, which Master William Twici, huntsman of the king of England, made in his time to instruct others."

In addition to harts wolves wild boars and hares which form the beasts for hunting par excellence of every hunt, Twici seems to distinguish what he calls

-The Beasts "of sweet flight" which are "red beasts" herbivorous deprived of aggressiveness: stags, hinds, fallow deer and roe deer.

-The beasts " of stinking flight" which are carnivorous "black beasts " : foxes, otters, wild cats, badgers.

Notes.

Specialists call big game hunting the hunt chasing : harts (stags), deer, wolves, and wild boars.

They call small game hunting the hunt chasing : roe deer, hares, badgers and other small-sized animals.

Races of dogs. Regular visits of dogs make the hunter able to know them, to appreciate them also, and therefore to hunt with them in perfect harmony.

Terminology.

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The dogs of a hunt, of course, are all basically hounds whose purpose is to pursue or catch the game.

There are some dogs which hunt on sight, they are very fast dogs of the greyhound kind, and dogs which hunt on the odor whose specialty is not the speed but the smell (there are also some ones which content themselves to indicate the presence of the game to the hunter, the pointers, and others to report to their master the aforementioned game, the retrievers).

The scent * (odor left by the animal when he moves) is far from being an indelible trace that the hounds would only have to follow, all is subtlety, even difficulties: this residual smell is changing, discontinuous, volatile, more or less strong according to the animal, the territory, as well as the weather conditions; it is the fundamental parameter of hunting, because all is based on the olfactory perception of dogs.

In the hunt the dog which hunts on the smell is also a dog which hunts in packs and behaves like a single animal, like an EGREGORE ** The whole pack is attentive and at disposal of whoever leads it during the hunting. This availability

of the hounds results as much of their origin than from the training carried out by man, daily in the kennel and regularly in hunting. This is why the hounds, despite their natural instinct to chase " par force" a wild animal, are by no means aggressive.

A hunt party had no chance to take if the hounds do not hunt in packs using the talents and personalities of each component of the group or if they chased several animals during a same uncoupling (hounds unleashing) and even less if they were not already trained to chase a precise animal species.

In other words, in hunting, the hounds which chase while following with their nose the scent trail ( olfactory track) of the animal, competing with him in tricks and endurance, until forcing him; at the end of a long chase several hours long; to face them and to surrender (it is the kill, old French la mort) must also be pack hounds.

Before everything, it is initially necessary to determine the place where the animal spent the night, to isolate it from the other animals without making it flee prematurely. It is observed, its age, its gender and its strength, are determined, according to its attitude, its foot, as well as the damage it caused to vegetation. It is to the limer led leashed by a helper that this delicate task falls, they seek and harbor (locate) the animal before hunting.

Being very young, as a page the helper began by learning how with a master to locate then to identify the traces (the line) of the animals left on the ground or the trees: fumes (excrement) , footprints, broken branches, crushed foliage… When he becomes a valet of dogs * ** he leaves alone, with his limer , in search of the marks which will betray the game. Then, to the place of the assembly, where the hunters stay before the beginning of hunting itself, he will have to report to his master what he has seen.

When he will be twenty years old, after having been successively page and valet, the apprentice huntsman will be promoted assistant. Now that he had therefore got a perfect knowledge of hounds and game, he is allowed to ride. A hunt is made up of mounted men accompanied by hounds and men on foot keeping on a leash search dogs (called limers).

The hunt proceedings are marked by a horn call announcing each phase. Thus the morning there is the "waking up" call, a little as the reveille is sounded for the soldiers, which accompanies the beginning of the search for the game by the limers kept on a leash by a “valet of dogs,” who locates an animal, tries to isolate him, then to gage him, without making him flee.

The valet then returns to submit his report at the meeting place of the hunters (the assembly).

A horn announces the “moving off “and huntsmen, on horseback , leave accompanied by hounds .

The men and the dogs guide themselves mutually, the first using their local knowledge, others their sense of smell. The animal tracked suchlike is constrained to flee. It is said that the game then is moved. He will twist and turn, sometimes involuntarily, to escape his chasers. Each one of his ruse is the subject of a different French horn call, announcing to all the configuration of hunting.

Only one hunting on three or four brings back an animal, because this one can succeed in escaping by changing of forest or by leaving the delimited perimeter of the hunting.

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* From Old French to feel or perceive a line of scent.

* * On the notion of egregore in new druidism, succeeding that of “god” in former druidism, see our next lessons. In short let us say that it is only the application of the well-known principle of synergy: the whole is more than the simple number of the parts.

*** Dog handler. This was the first rank in which a boy interested in hunting could start a career. He dealt with the hounds for a whipper-in.

THE HART AND HIS NATURE.

« …An old deer is wonderfully wise to save his life, and to keep his advantage when he is hunted and is uncoupled to, as the bloodhound moves him or other hounds finds him without bloodhounds, and if he have a deer with him that be his fellow he leaves him to the hounds, so that he may save himself, and let the hounds chase after that other deer. And he will abide still.

If he be alone and the hounds find him, he shall go about his haunt cunningly and wisely and seek the change of other deer, for to make the hounds go off the scent and to look where he may abide. And if he cannot abide, he takes leave of his haunt and begins to fly there where he knows of other change and then when he has come thither he herds among them and sometimes he goes away with them. And then he makes a ruse on some side, and there he stalls or squats until the hounds be forth after the other deer the which be fresh, and thus he changes so that he may abide. And if there be any wise hounds, the which can bodily enchase him from the change, and he sees that all cannot avail, then he begins to show his wiles and ruses to and fro. And all this he does so that the hounds should not find his tracks in intent that he may be freed from them and that he may save himself.

Sometimes he flees forth with the wind and that for three causes, for when he flees against the wind it runs into his mouth and dries him and does him great harm. Therefore he flees oft forth with the wind so that he may always hear the hounds come after him. And also that the hounds should not scent nor find him, for their tail is in the wind and not his nose. Also, that when the hounds be nigh him he may wind them and hie him well from them. And when he shall hear that they be far from him, he hies him not too fast.

When he is weary, and hot, then he goes to yield, and soils to some great river. And some time he foils down in the water half a mile or more before he comes to land on any side. And that he does for two reasons, the one is to make himself cold, and for to refresh himself of the great heat that he has, the other is that the hounds and the hunter may not come after him nor see his tracks in the water, as they do on the land.

And if in the country there is no great river, he goes then to the little one and shall beat up the water or foil down the water as he likes best for the extent of a mile or more before he comes to land, and he shall keep himself from touching any of the brinks or branches but always keep in the middle of the water, so that the hounds should not scent of him. And all that does he for two reasons before said.

When he can find no rivers then he draws to great pools and ponds or to great marshes. And he flees then mightily and far from the hounds, that is to say that he has gone a great way from them, then he will go into the pool, and then he will come out again by the same way that he went in, and then he shall ruse again the same way that he came, the length of a bow shot or more, and then he shall ruse out of the way, for to stall or squat to rest him, and that he does for he knows well that the hounds shall come by the tracks into the pool where he was. And when they should find that he has gone no further they will seek him no further, for they will well know that they have been there at other times.

IN SHORT. IN OTHER WORDS, AND TO SUM UP.

We have already touched upon the subject with some technical words essentially borrowed from old French : change, foiling or double scent lines, beating up the water, forlogne. For more information see Theodore Roosevelt's Glossary.

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Let's first point out that the hunter must know his territory, dogs and horses, in order to provide them the best care. Nevertheless it is not without interest to return there because it is a true duel between the dogs and the game, at least with a hunting party respecting the hunter's ethical code.

The hunting is a cruelly ecological hunting because the hounds always take on nature the weakest, sick or wounded animals, that is why huntsmen must also submit them to a certain ethic.

For the stag for example, hinds must not be hunted, hunters do not hunt several animals in one day, and if a lady or somebody else requests a stag is “ reprieved ” it is done.

As we saw earlier in the famous hunting book that we tried to decipher the hunted animal can "put off the scent" by merging its line of scents with that of another stag (change in old French) and by making him take his place in the chase. As another ruse the hunted stag can run back over his own trail

and then move away from it suddenly by leaping to depart in a completely different direction, what is called "foiling," or he may take to a river and swim, what is called "beating up the water," so that there is also here again "foiling." When the main pack is misled by such ruses, the valet of bloodhounds and their searching hounds are called for recovering the good line of scent, that of the hunted animal and to put back the pack on the right track again. As a last resort the stags can, it is said take a mighty leap into an impenetrable thicket in which the hounds are unable to follow him.

The chase can therefore last several hours until the pursued game is constrained to face or to capitulate, encircled by the hounds and completely exhausted. It is said then that the animal is at bay and huntsmen sound “the mort “ (old Frensh the stag’s death). The animal stuck on all sides is killed by hounds or by a man using a knife.What is not without danger when it is a splendid hart; this is why, in what concerns us, we rather advise killing the animal with a firearm in this case.

Best cuts are removed, they are generally distributed to friends or neighbors on the estate of whom you went. The cheap cuts are gathered on the skin of the animal as on a table cloth, and they are given to the dogs. “curee “ is sounded.

No firearm is thus used in hunting, except possibly if required to destroy the animal (final blow), and only a hunt on three or four brings back some game. Hunt is a selective mode of hunting, unlike shooting.

Derr hunting ensures for example, in a natural way, the maintenance of populations of big deer, keeping their original qualities of strength and cunning, which only made it possible the species to survive during thousand years. Its practice is an art requiring important hunting parties chasing on vast territories.

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ANCIENT HUNTING.

Flavius Arrianus is a historian and Greek philosopher born in Nicomedia in Bithynia around 95 of our era. Consul then governor of Cappadocia before withdrawing himself in the city of Athens, he wrote and published various books on the teaching of Epictetus, a book on the expedition of Alexander (Anabasis) and lastly a treatise on hunting entitled On coursing.

With some exceptions, this book is inspired by the Celtic customs and habits (hare hunting, dog breeding, etc.).

Besides Arrian admits it in XXXIV.1, “I follow with my fellow sportsmen this Celtic custom “.

And it is indeed a question of hunting according to the paragraphs III 1. “Much of the Celts as hunt for the beauty of the sport,and not as a means of livelihood,never make use of nets” and XIX 1: “The most opulent Celts, who live in luxury, course in the following manner. They send out hare finders early in the morning to look over such places as are likely to afford hares in form; and a messenger brings word if they have found any, and what number. They then go out themselves, and having started the hare, slip the dogs after her, and follow on horseback “.

The treatise by Xenophon as for itself, does not speak about qualities of hunters or of huntsmen themselves, but of those who help them in their tracking (beaters and others…). The difference is significant and perhaps comes from the Celts mentioned further by Arrian.

The Celts indeed expected from dog trainers themselves, even if they were greatest warriors,the same personal qualities. Endurance, sense of smell, good vision, a little as these still required from Fenians in Ireland during the Middle Ages, Fenians who also made themselves helped by true big hounds in their warlike expeditions.

“ The clerics saw Cailte/Caletios and his band draw near them; and fear fell on them before the tall men with their huge wolf dogs that accompanied them, for they were not people of one epoch with the clergy……

-Good now, Patrick said to Cailte/Caletios, what is your name?

-I am Cailte son of Ronan.

For a long while the clergy marveled greatly as they gazed on them; for their tallest man reached but to the waist, or else to the shoulder of any given one of the others and they sitting.

-Patrick said again: “Cailte/Caletios , I am fain to beg a boon of you.

Cailte/Caletios answered: If I have but that much strength or power,it shall be had; at all events, enunciate the same.

Patrick answered : To have in our vicinity here a well of pure water, from which we might baptize the people of Bregia, of Meath, and of Usnach.

-Noble and righteous one, said Cailte/Caletios, that I have for you.

And they came out crossing the fortification's circumvallation; in his hand he took Patrick and right in front of them they saw a well, sparkling and translucid. The size and thickness of the cress and of the brooklime, that grew on it was wonderment to them “ (Acallam Na Senorach. Tales of the Elders).

In the Celtic field, the dog is linked to the world of warriors. Unlike what happens among the Greco-Romans, the dog is, among the Celts, the object of flattering comparisons or metaphors. Our greatest hero, Cuchulainn, is the hound of Culann, and we know that all Celts, as well island as continental, have had dogs trained for fight and hunt. To compare a hero with a dog was to honor him , or to pay homage to his warlike valor. Every pejorative idea was absent.

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ARRIAN: ON COURSING.

You should course the stag, or any game of equal size in the same way, slipping high-couraged hounds ; for the animal is large, runs a long while, and is by no means safe to contend with ; - indeed there is no little danger of a greyhound being destroyed by a stag.

But where the plains are adapted for riding, as in Mysia, Dacia, Scythia, and Illyricum, they are in the habit of coursing deer with Scythian and Illyrian horses.

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Counter-lay (commentary ) No. 1.

All these areas were more or less Celtized. Mesia (Moesia) was a Roman province conquered under Augustus. It was divided into two: Upper Moesia (= Serbia) and Lower Moesia (= approximately Bulgaria) or Ripa Thracia (Thracian bank), which stretched to the Black Sea. Singidunum (Belgrade) was the capital of the Upper Moesia. Around Gets (today Romania and Subcarpathian Ruthenia: Ukraine), Bastarnae were more or less Celtic, just like some peoples settled in Illyria, the Scordisci (today Serbia and Croatia).

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These horses, though slow at first in pursuit, and utterly despicable, as far as appearance goes, by the side of those of Thessaly, Sicily, or Peloponnesus, hold out to the last under the most severe work. On such occasions you will see the huge, swift, proud-looking horse flagging, and this lean and scrubby little animal at first passing him, then leaving him behind, and at last even driving the stag away from him. He holds on indeed until the stag gives out and stops, gasping with distress ; when you may, if you choose, spear him at close quarters as if enfettered, or throw a noose over his neck/ and lead him away alive.

In Africa there is a mode of coursing on Libyan horses, called Nomades, on which the sportsmen, mounted, catch not Wild Asses, only red and roe deer (for these are taken with little effort, and the horses are not esteemed good in consequence) but also wild asses, which excel in speed, and power of holding out for the greatest length of their course.

For when the Greeks marched with Cyrus, the son of Darius, against the great king (in which expedition Xenophon

was engaged, who relates the circumstance) while they were passing over the plains of Arabia, there appeared herds of wild asses, but not one could be caught by any single horseman,and therefore the Greeks pursued them with relays of horsemen at stated distances ; and after the asses had held out for a long while against several, they sank at last from fatigue.

Thus even Cyrus himself, the son of the great king, and the brother of the great king, did not have horses good enough for this chase ; and yet the Libyan boys, some at eight years of age, and others not much older, mounted on their naked

steeds, and guiding them with a switch, as the Greeks employ the rein, press these wild asses so closely in pursuit, that at last they throw a noose around their necks and lead them away quite subdued.

Such are the methods of coursing adopted by those who have fleet hounds and horses : they neither ensnare the animals with toils, nets, or springs nor employ, in short, any other tricks or wily inventions, but contend with them in a straightforward trial of speed. And to me, the two spectacles appear nowise akin : the former being like thievish depredation ; the latter, like a battle fought out with main strength : the one class of sportsmen resembling pirates in their clandestine attack, while the other are as openly victorious as were the Athenians over the Medes in the naval engagement at Artemisium, or at Salamis and Psyttalia, or again at Cyprus : they triumph over their adversary in a fair fight (ARRIAN). In the greatest respect of fir fer, Cuchulainn would have said.

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STAGS IN THE DRUIDIC TRADITION.

Celts ascribed to animals imaginary properties, often marvelous, which made it possible to locate each animal in the universe and to endow it with a symbolic and fabulous value. The symbolism of the stag is very vast and it deals with the primordial states of being. The Celtic legends say that Sadv, the mother of Ossian was changed into hind by a druid. Because in Ireland, the son of our great hero of the Ossianic cycle, Finn, is called by a name (Ossian) which means “fawn, “ while saint Patrick changes himself and changes his companions into stags (or “deer “) to dodge the men of King Loegaire having ambushed him. For lack of an overall study, we must temporarily restrict ourselves to point out longevity and abundance symbolism. The animal is the bearer of a lot of symbols, all related to the obscure field of vital force. And firstly his antlers, through which nature "speaks.” These two pedicles spiked with antlers, these antlers whose name, form and color seem to go from trees and that each year therefore prunes like deadwood. Each year remakes them to give the visible piece of evidence that everything is reborn, that everything returns to life. By the fall and the growing back of these branchy bones which grow with a completely vegetable speed, nature maintains that its intense force is only a perpetual resurrection, that everything has to die in it and that, however, nothing can cease.

So it bound the deciduous horns of the stag to the vital dash of which it is the perennial demonstration. The profusion of the sap which feed them joins in him the richness of the semen, so that he represents the unmemorable fertilizing vigor, the power of a tireless sexuality. His rutting season stages them in a way which grabs men’s imagination.

So the animal was taken as an expression of the very manliness, and through that of the power, then of the supremacy. During centuries, stag and lord were dedicated one to the other, he was made “noble “ there was a taboo about his meat, his poaching was liable to the death penalty. Only kings of the men could hunt the king of the forests.

The stag in the fables.

The authors of fables during the Middle Ages inspired by the ancient druidic tradition, place their stories in the animal world, what largely contributed to the success of this literary genre.

Ascribing human behaviors to animals, by stressing specific properties of each animal, as cunning, strength, mischievousness, fables draw from them a moral which must be useful. If fables emphasize the beauty of the stag and of his horns, the latter is often in them the archetypal victim.

The chapters dedicated to the stag are found in many bestiaries and encyclopedic compilations of the Middle Ages. Like reindeer, roe deer, stags seems to have played the part of a psychopomp (which leads the soul/minds of the dead) in certain traditions. The Morholt in Ireland, uncle of Iseult, slain in singular combat by Tristan, is depicted lying dead, sewed in the skin of a stag.

If, indeed, in the Christian culture, white stag symbolizes Christ; in Celtic mythology, he often embodies a messenger of the other world, the ferryman or the guide of the soul/minds towards the world of the dead, the divine country or the “fairyland “.

We find this outline in the Welsh tale entitled “Pwyll Prince of Dyfed “ in the four branches of the Mabinogi, where Pwyll hunts a stag on the edge of a clearing in a wood, and thus meets Arawn, king of Annwn (or Annwfn = the Other World).

We could add to these examples the hind of the lay of Guigemar in Marie de France. Lastly, in the Arthurian legend , hunting for the white stag leads the knights ahead of their fate; like that which vainly pursued by Gawain in the story of the Grail by Chretien de Troyes; who is also a border sign between the Other World and the “reality “of the Court; although it is there doubled with sexual symbols.

In Erec and Enide, the White Stag keeps through his color the function that the previous imaginary system had assigned to him. i.e., that of a “marvelous guide, “towards the Next World and its adventures (it is the same function the White Hind fulfills in the lay of Guigemar, by Marie de France).

But some authors see there also a symbol of the need for exogamy. The white stag was an almost legendary animal because of his scarcity; who killed him drew much honor from that. The habit was that who could kill him had, in whole legitimacy, without whoever can be opposed to it, to give a kiss to the most beautiful maiden in the court. If the kiss in itself were not an insult to somebody, many quarrels arose at the time of choosing most beautiful: each knight wanted this quality to be recognized for his lady.

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“One Easter Day in the Springtime, King Arthur held court in his town of Cardigan.Never was there seen so rich a court; for many a good knight was there, hardy, bold, and brave, and rich ladies and damsels, gentle and fair daughters of kings. But before the court was disbanded, the King told his knights that he wished to hunt the White Stag, in order to observe worthily the ancient custom.

When my lord Gawain heard this, he was sore displeased and said: "Sire, you will derive neither thanks nor goodwill from this hunt. We all know long since what this custom of the White Stag is: whoever can kill the White Stag must forsooth kiss the fairest maiden of your court, come what may.

But of this there might come great ill, for there are here five hundred damsels of high birth, gentle and prudent daughters of kings, and there is none of them but has a bold and valiant knight for her lover who would be ready to contend, whether fight or wrong, that she who is his lady is the fairest and gentlest of them all.“

The King replies: "That I know well; yet will I not desist on that account; for a king's word ought never to be gainsaid. To-morrow morning we shall all gaily go hunting, the White Stag in the forest of adventure. And very marvelous this hunt will be.

On the morrow, as soon as it is day, the King gets up and dresses, and dons a short jacket for his forest ride. He commands the knights to be aroused and the horses to be made ready. Already they are mounted, and off they go, with bows and arrows “.

Mihaela VOICU and Ana-Maria BUBOLEA, University of Bucharest, summarize in this way the rest .

“Erec is struck by a dwarf, whereas he answered a request of Guinevere. The offense has to be avenged, the knight thus leaves in the pursuit of the treacherous person , who proves to be a servant of Yder. In the court of Arthur, the kiss of the white stag is put off doing, it is necessary to wait for the return of Erec and the outcome of this case. Erec pursues the dwarf up to Laluth, the village of Yder. He is received there by a subvassal who teaches him that a festival will take place the following day: the prize, a sparrowhawk, will be allocated to the knight who will have the most beautiful friend. Erec falls in love with the daughter of his host, Enide, and at the time of the festival, he triumphs over Yder in singular combat and gains, for his lady-love, the sparrowhawk. In the evening, Yder arrives at the castle of Cardigan, with his damsel and his dwarf, to give oneself up. The queen sets them free. In Laluth, it is an evening of jubilation at the subvassal, around Erec and Enide. The following day, Erec arrives at Cardigan, where he presents Enide, his bride-to-be, to the king and the court. Guinevere gives Enide a sumptuous dress and Arthur, according to the habit of the white stag, gives the kiss to Enide before all the assembly of the knights of the Round Table.

On Pentecost, the wedding of Erec and Enide is celebrated in Cardigan, and gives rise to luxurious rejoicings. The festivals last one month, and are completed by a great tournament where Erec distinguishes himself more than every other knight. After the tournament, Erec returns in the company of his wife in the kingdom of his father. The husbands experiment here a perfect happiness… “(Mihaela VOICU and Ana-Maria BUBOLEA, University of Bucharest).

Written in 1165, Erec and Enide is the first known example of Arthurian legend in Romance language. Chretien de Troyes defended in it courtly love in marriage. The English translation was made by W.W.Comfort (1874-1955).

We must not forget the tales combine hunting with the ritual of ascending sovereignty. It will be the final destiny of Erec. Before reigning and in order to be worthy of that, the hero will have to conquer a wife. Sovereignty thus is attached not only to the possession of the woman who, according to druidic mythology is the dispenser of it, but to love and marriage. Moreover, this new bond between hunt and love conquest, appears in the personality of “ heroic hunter “such Tristan or Guigemar.

In short, mystery of stags exceeds, in the eyes of hunters, the adventures of hunting.

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STAGS IN THE CHRISTIAN TRADITION.

The stag, and particularly the white stag, thus became, in the medieval iconography, the symbol of Christ or his envoy. A stag indicates to the young Dagobert the place of the graves of saint Denis and of his companions; a stag or a hind accompanies the saints having taken refuge in the desert or in the hermitages (Saint Gilles). Also let us note that in Armorica or in Brittany, saint Edern is represented riding a stag.

There are few saints having got the appearance of a cruciferous stag: among them, we will quote saint Eustace (in the second century), saint Julian the Hospitaller (in the fourth century), then saint Hubert (at the end of the seventh century).

Placidius was a general of Trajan at the beginning of the second century. He was a hunter, and a day that he pursued a stag, the animal did an about turn : a luminous cross appeared between his antlers and a voice asked at once Placidius: “Why do you chase me? I am the god you honor unknowingly “. Placidius converted and was baptized with the name of Eustace (fruitful, in Greek).

His life was no longer from then on only a succession of terrible ordeals and miracles. One day of the year 117,he was invited to a religious ceremony in order to celebrate the victory over the Parthians.

His refusal to be present caused his loss: himself as well as his wife and his children were locked up in a bronze bull at once white-hot. Three days later, the bodies were extracted from it: they were intact.

(For Christianity, in what concerns its saints, a lie never made any difference.)

The life of saint Eustace being the piece of evidence that of saint Hubert is only a plagiarism, any self-respecting hunter must take great delight in honoring him! Feast day on September 20th.

Saint Hubert . The first bishop of Liege died in 727. Just like Eustace, Hubert hunted but it is Hubert who remained the patron saint of hunters. The legend of saint Hubert developed in the Middle Ages when episodes belonging to the life of saint Eustace, in particular that of his meeting with a stag, joined his history.

Having left to hunt during the Holy Week, Hubert pursues a white stag for five days, without never being able to reach him. On Friday at three o'clock (time of the crucifixion according to tradition) the stag reverses him with his antlers, some cross-shaped antlers , and Saint-Hubert hears a voice which shouts at him: “Hubert, Hubert, why do you chase me? Until when the passion of hunting will make you forget the salvation of your soul? “

Hubert changed his life, withdrew himself in the Ardennes’s forest , and succeeded to saint Lambert on the episcopal see in Maastricht about year 705. In 722, he moved his see to Liege, of which he became the first bishop. Saint Hubert is regarded as the evangelist of Ardennes. His worship is especially widespread in the Netherlands and in the Rhine Valley. He is the patron saint of hunters and the protective saint of hunting dogs. He is called upon against rage and bites of snakes. Feast day : November third.

Editor’s note.

What is the share of truth in this legend? Difficult to know it, Christianity having always had a problem with the truth. (See the answer of Pilate to Jesus.) It is probably from incipient Christianity in this area a recovery of the legend of Hornunnos. The Church had for a long time many difficulties to oblige the small lords to get into line, or rather into churches. Hunting at any time, when they condescended to go into churches, it was only in the company of their pack. Hunting passion was not besides a prerogative of nobility: popes, until the end of the Middle Ages, had to enact bulls in order to prohibit it for church people! It is therefore quite possible that the legend of saint Hubert owes his success to the need for Christianizing hunting habits. In any case, the hound known as saint Hubert is the heir to the famous Celtic Segusian dogs, whose Arrian had already noticed the melancholic expression.

Julian the Hospitaller. We know little things about Julian the Hospitaller. Julian was a noble young person who, at the time of hunting for the stag, was warned by his prey itself that one day he would kill his father and his mother. In order to avoid this disastrous destiny, Julien left his native land at once. He arrived in a foreign court, put himself at the service of the king, was made knight, get married to a wealthy widow and received as a dowry a splendid castle. But during this time, his parents sought him unceasingly. One day that Julian was absent, they arrived in the castle of their son. The wife of the latter recognized them and gave to them her room. When Julian was back, his wife being gone to

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church, he entered the room and saw the bodies of a man and a woman in the bed. Believing it was his wife with her lover, he stabbed the two extended forms wildly, then, outgoing of the castle, he met his wife and discovered then his terrible mistake.

Consumed with remorse, Julian gave all his goods and promised to achieve an adapted penitence. He settled, with his wife, at a ford, built a hospice for the poor and the travelers and, following the example of saint Christopher, helped in crossing the river. One night in winter, he answered a cry for help, found a traveler sick and almost dead with cold. He brought back the man, a leper, in his house and gave him his own bed, but could not save him. Whereas the man died, Julian had the vision of his soul/mind who left. He took this appearance as a sign that God (or the Demiurge) had accepted his penitence, and died shortly after with his wife. Feast day: February 12th.

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SMALL GAME HUNTING.

By Arrian.

The advantages that accrue to mankind from hunting, and the regard of the gods for those instructed in it by Chiron,

and their honorable distinction throughout Greece, have been related by Xenophon, the son of Gryllus.

He has pointed out the similitude between Cynegetical and Military science ; and the age, constitution, and frame of mind, that essentially qualify for entering on the chase ;—has given a description of purse nets, long nets, and road nets, such as are necessary to be prepared —the mode of fixing snares for animals that may be entrapped —the natural history of hares, their food, haunts, forms, and the method of searching for them—what dogs are clever at scenting, and what faulty—and how, by their shape and work, each may be ascertained.

Some few remarks are also left by him on the boar hunt, the stag, bear, and lion chases—how these animals may be taken by cunning and stratagem.

The omissions of his work (which do not appear to me to have arisen from negligence, but from ignorance of the Celtic

breed of dogs, and the Scythian and African horses) I shall endeavor to fill up : being his namesake and fellow citizen, of similar pursuits with himself, as a sportsman, a general, and a philosopher—writing under the same feeling that actuated him, when he thought fit to amend the imperfections of Simon's work on horsemanship ; not out of rivalry with its author, but from a conviction that his labors would be useful to readers.

II.

In my opinion, no proof is required that Xenophon was ignorant of the Celtic breed of dogs, beyond this : that the nations inhabiting that district of Europe were unknown, except the parts of Italy occupied by the Greeks, and those

with whom they had commercial intercourse by sea. And that who was unacquainted with any other breed of dogs, resembling the Celtic in point of swiftness, is evident from these words :—" whatever hares," he says, " are caught by dogs, become their prey, contrary to the natural shape of the animal, or accidentally."

Now, if he had been acquainted with the Celtic breed, I think he would have made the very same remark on the dogs ; " whatever hares the dogs do not catch at speed, they fail of catching in contradiction of their shape, or from some accidental circumstance." For assuredly when greyhounds are in good condition, and of high courage, no hare can escape them ; unless the country present some obstacles, either a covert to conceal her, or a hollow deep pit to break off the course, or a ditch to favor her escape while out of sight of the dogs.

To this ignorance, in my opinion, is to be attributed the length of his instructions on driving the hare into nets, and if she passes them, pursuing and recovering her by scent, till she be taken, at last, completely tired out.

But he has nowhere said either that fleet dogs altogether supersede the necessity of a sportsman having nets, or of his hunting by the scent after the hare has escaped them. Indeed he has described only the mode of hunting which is practiced by the Carians and Cretans.

III.

But such of the Celts as hunt for the beauty of the sport, and not as a means of livelihood, never make use of nets.

And yet they have a variety of dogs not less clever at hunting on the scent than the Carian and Cretan, but in shape sorry brutes. In pursuit these give tongue with a clanging howl like the yelping Carians, but are more eager, when they catch the scent. Sometimes, indeed, they gladden so outrageously, even on a stale trail, that I have rated them for their excessive barking—alike on every scent, whether it be of the hare going to form, or at speed. In pursuing and recovering her, when started, they are not inferior to the Carians or Cretans, save in the one point of speed.

It is a good sport, if they kill but a single hare in the winter , so much resting time do they give her in the chase; unless, indeed, by being frightened out of her wits at the tumultuous uproar of the pack, she becomes an easy prey.

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These dogs are called Segusians, deriving their name from a Celtic people, among whom, I suppose, they were first bred, and held in repute.

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Counter-lay (commentary) No. 2.

Responsible ecologists before even this notion exists , Celts therefore did not hunt in summer in order to let hares breed. Same kind of concern undoubtedly in Great Britain according to this quotation of Caesar: “ They do not regard it lawful to eat the hare, and the cock, and the goose; they, however, breed them for amusement and pleasure” (Caesar. B.G. Book V. 12).

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But all that can be said about them has been anticipated by the elder Xenophon. For they manifest nothing different from others in their mode of finding, or hunting their game ; —having no peculiarity, unless one were inclined to speak of their shape, which I scarce think worthwhile, except merely to say, that they are shaggy and ugly ; and such as are most high-bred are most unsightly. So that the comparison of them to mendicants on the highways is popular with the Celts. For their voice is dolorous and pitiful ; and they do not bark on the scent of their game, as if eager and savage, but as if plaintively whining after it.

About these, then, I do not think anything memorable can be written. But the swift-footed Celtic hounds are called in the Celtic tongue vertragi ; — not deriving their name from any particular nation, like the Cretan, Carian, or Spartan dogs : but, as some of the Cretans are named ai diaponoi from working hard, itamai (the braves) from their keenness, and ai mixtai (mongrels) from their being compounded of both ; so these Celts are named from their swiftness.

In figure, the most high-bred are a prodigy of beauty ;— their eyes, their hair, their color, and bodily shape throughout. Such brilliancy of gloss is there about the spottiness of the parti-colored, and in those of uniform color

such glistening over the sameness of tints, as to afford a most delightful spectacle to an amateur of coursing.

IV.

I will specify the indications of speed and good breeding greyhounds, and by attention to what points ill-bred and slow ones may be distinguished from them.

In the first place, let them be lengthy from head to tail, for in every variety of dog, you will find, on reflection, no one point so indicative of speed and good breeding as length ; and on the other hand, no such mark of slowness and degeneracy as shortness. So that I have even seen dogs with numerous other faults that have been, on account of their length, both swift and high-couraged. And farther, the larger dogs,when in other respects equal, show higher breeding than small ones on the very score of size. But those large dogs are bad, whose limbs are unknit, and destitute of symmetry ; being indeed, when so formed, worse than small dogs, with an equal share of other faults attached to them.

Your greyhounds should have light and well-articulated heads ; whether hooked or flat nosed is not of much consequence : nor does it greatly matter whether the parts beneath the forehead be protuberant with muscle. They are alone bad which are heavy-headed, having thick nostrils, with a blunt instead of a pointed termination. Such then are well-headed hounds. Their eyes should be large, upraised, clear, strikingly bright. The best look fiery, and flash like lightning, resembling those of leopards, lions, or lynxes. Next to these are black eyes, provided they are wide open and grim-looking ;and last of all, gray : nor are these to be considered bad, nor indicative of bad dogs, provided they are clear, and have a savage look.

For I have myself bred up a hound whose eyes are the grayest of the gray ; a swift, hard-working, courageous, sound-footed dog, and, in his prime, a match, at any time, for four hares.

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He is, moreover (for while I am writing, he is yet alive), most gentle, and kindly affectioned ; and never before had any dog such regard for myself, and friend and fellow sportsman, Megillus. For when not actually engaged in coursing, he is never away from one or other of us.

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Counter-lay (commentary) No. 3. Megillus was undoubtedly a Galatian huntsman or dog handler engaged by Arrian. It is probably from him that all this Arrian’s knowledge comes as regards hunt including besides most contestable or folk (the recipe of bullock’s liver cooked over hot coals, etc.).

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But while I am at home he remains within, by my side, accompanies me on going abroad, follows me to the gymnasium and, while I am taking exercise, sits down by me. On my return he runs before me, often looking back to see whether I had turned anywhere out of the road ; and as soon as he catches sight of me, showing symptoms of joy, and again trotting on before me.

If I am going out on any government business, he remains with my friend, and does exactly the same towards him. He is the constant companion of whichever may be sick ; and if he has not seen either of us for only a short time, he jumps up repeatedly by way of salutation, and barks with joy, as a greeting to us. At meals he pats us first with one foot and then with the other, to put us in mind that he is to have his share of food. He also has many tones of speech more than I ever knew in any other dog—pointing out, in his own language, whatever he wants.

Having been beaten, when a puppy, with a whip, if any one, even at this day, does but mention a whip, he will come up to the speaker cowering and begging, applying his mouth to the man's as if to kiss him, and jumping up, will hang on his neck, and not let him go until he has appeased his angry threats.

Now really I do not think that I should be ashamed to write even the name of this dog ; that it may be left to posterity that Xenophon the Athenian had a greyhound called Horme, of the greatest speed and intelligence, and altogethersup remely excellent.

Let the ears of your greyhounds be large and soft, so as to appear, from their size and softness, as if broken. Such are best : but it is no bad indication if they appear erect, provided they are not small and stiff. The neck should be long, round, unci flexible ; so that if you forcibly draw the dogs backwards by their collars, it may seem to be broken, from its flexibility and softness. Broad chests are better than narrow.

Let them have shoulders standing wide apart, not tied together, but as loose, and free from each other, as possible—legs round, straight, and well jointed—sides strong—loins broad, firm, not fleshy, but sinewy—upper flanks loose and supple— hips wide asunder—lower flanks hollow—tails fine, long, rough with hair, supple, flexible, and more hairy towards the tip—haunches sweeping, and firm to the touch : —with regard to their legs, if the hind ones are longer than the fore, the greyhound will run best uphill ; if the fore legs are longest, downhill ; but if both are equal, he will run best on a flat. Since, however, it is more difficult to beat a hare on an acclivity, because she runs best uphill, those are deemed the best class of dogs, whose hind legs are longer than their fore ones.

Round and strong feet are decidedly best.

VI.

The color of greyhounds is not of any importance; nor does it matter if they are perfectly black, red, or white ; nor is a simple, uniform color to be suspected as feral. The colors, such as they are, should be bright and pure ; and the hair, whether the dog be of the rough or smooth sort, should be fine, close, and soft.

The best dogs are such as are large and well put together, and resemble bitches in point of suppleness ; and the best bitches are such as resemble dogs in spirit, and muscularity of the body.

Now if anyone pays attention to these hints, as to the shape of greyhounds, they will fully supply him, in my opinion, with the indications of good blood for his kennel, and the opposite of the reverse.

VII.

Nor will the temper of greyhounds afford fewer indications of good and bad blood to a careful observer.

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Such hounds, in the first place, as are crabbed to all persons alike, are not of a generous breed. But if you find any cross to strangers, and good-tempered to their feeder, it is rather a favorable sign than otherwise.

I once knew a greyhound, who was dull and sullen at home, and took no pleasure in any of the persons about him ; but, when led out hunting, was beyond measure delighted, and showed, by smiling and fawning at everybody that came near him, that he was vexed at staying at home. This may be held a good sign.

The best dogs, however, are those of most attachment to man, and to whom no human countenance is strange. Such, on the other hand, as are afraid of people, and astounded at noise, obstreperous, and often excited without cause, are senseless brutes of no pluck. Like men that are timid and frightened out of their wits, such dogs as these can never be deemed of generous blood. Those, too, are bad, which, when let loose from couples in a field, do not come back at the call of their keeper, but gallop away. If you call them in mildly, they pay no attention to you ;—if threateningly, they keep aloof from fear.

For when a greyhound has had his gallop, and has run about, he ought to come back to his keeper, even without a call—showing that he is under command at will ; but, if the keeper does not choose to take him up, let him again bound away, and again return. Such dogs are well broken in as, at the voice of their keeper, crouch before him ; not from fear, but regard and respect for their feeder, cowering like the worshippers of the Great King. It is no good sign for a hound to stand still, when let out of couples on an open plain, unless he happens to be advanced in age, for it shows sluggishness. The most high-bred greyhounds have a prominent brow, and look proud. Their tread is light, quick-stepping, on their toes ; and they walk sideways, extending their necks like horses curveting.

VIII.

Some greyhounds eat voraciously, others with delicacy. The latter mode of feeding indicates a dog of better blood than the former. Good dogs are not bad feeders, but fond of bread or gruel. This kind of farinaceous food is most strengthening to them, and there is no fear of their gorging themselves too much with it. I prefer, however, their liking food quite dry ; and yet, if it be moistened with water, and they still relish it, it is no evil.

When a dog is sick, administer the broth of fat meat to him, or having roasted a bullock's liver over some hot coals, and rubbed it abroad, sprinkle it like flour into the broth.

This is good also for puppies to strengthen their limbs when they are first weaned from milk. But milk is the best food for the support of puppies till the ninth month, and even longer ; and is serviceable to the sick and delicate, both as drink and aliment. Fasting too is beneficial to a sick dog.

IX.

There is nothing like a soft and warm bed for greyhounds ; but it is best for them to sleep with men :—as they become thereby affectionately attached—pleased with the contact of the human body, and as fond of their bedfellow as of their feeder. If any ailing affect the dog, the man will perceive it, and will relieve him in the night, when thirsty, or urged by any call of nature. He will also know how the dog has rested. For if he has passed a sleepless night, or frequently groaned in his sleep, or thrown up any of his food, it will not be safe to take him out coursing. All these things the dog's bedfellow will be acquainted with.

Nothing can be worse than for dogs to sleep with each other ; and more especially so, if they touch one another in bed. For as all cutaneous irritation is removed by a man sleeping with them, so, when they sleep together, they generate every sort of foulness of skin by warmth and close contact, and are generally full of mange. To which cause must be referred the very offensive and pungent stench on entering a place [a kennel] where many hounds are confined together.

Rubbing the whole body is of great service to the greyhound no less than to the horse. For it is conducive to the firmness and strength of his limbs—renders his hair soft, and skin shining, and cleanses it from all foulness. The back and loins you should rub with your right hand, placing your left under the belly ; lest the dog, being forcibly pressed down upon his knees, should suffer injury. The

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sides should be rubbed with both hands at once, and the haunches quite down to the feet, and the shoulders in the same way.

When the dog seems to have had enough of it, lay hold of his tail, and lift him up by it; and then having drawn it through your hand, let him go. As soon as he is at liberty, he will shake himself, and show that he is pleased with the operation.

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Counter-lay (commentary) No. 4.

Massage technique is, of course, as old as humankind itself and was to also apply to hunters, even to the hunters of men, the warriors, mutatis-mutandis.

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XI.

It is a point of equal importance with any other that greyhounds be confined during the day ; otherwise they will unavoidably become intractable, and, whenever fastened with a collar, will be impatient under the restraint, and whine, and gnaw the straps, go as even to require chains like malefactors.

Besides, a hound that is at liberty must needs eat everything that falls in his way ; and, from running about during the daytime, lose the acme of his speed. But, though generally at rest, they should still have their appointed times for walking out.

XII.

Four times a day, at least, take your dogs out of the kennel to a level and open field, and there loose them from couples, to empty themselves, gallop, and run about. But if they have quite ceased coursing, let it be done more frequently. Slip them in pairs, a brace at a time, so that by contending and playing with each other, they may enjoy their pleasure, and take their exercise together. But on no account let many loose at once, as they sometimes do great mischief by falling on each other. Never slip a strong and full-grown dog with a puppy ; for the old dog is an overpowering and distressing antagonist for the youngster, easily overtaking him in pursuit, and as readily running away from him, and leaving him behind ; whereby the pup must, of course, be cowed and dispirited, having in either case the worst of the contest. And farther, such as are spiteful towards each other, never give these their liberty at one and the same time, lest they injure one another. For there are dogs, as well as men, with mutual antipathies, and others again with mutual attachments. Those of the same sex are particularly inimical to each other, dogs to dogs, and bitches to bitches ; and this generally from spiteful jealousy. These matters are not to be made light of.

XIII.

In the winter feed your dogs only once a day, a little before the evening ; for the days are short, and the greyhounds are to be so managed that if you need their services for coursing till a late hour, they may be able to bear the necessary fasting. But in summer it is right to give them a little bread in addition, that they may not be exhausted by the length of the day ; and if thirsty, they will drink with less detriment after having eaten. To thrust down a dog's throat a piece of salted suet is also found beneficial. But if the weather be very hot, I would have you take an egg in your hand, open your dog's mouth, and push it down, that he may swallow it at one gulp. This will be nourishment enough for him, will cherish his wind, and quench his thirst.

XIV.

You may go out coursing frequently in spring and autumn, these seasons being attended with the least risk to your dogs but rarely in summer, lying by, generally, when the heat is oppressive. For greyhounds are impatient of heat, and often, when pursuing a hare with all their might, have been suffocated from a stoppage of their wind. To guard against which, a courser should carry eggs with him, and administer them entire, if his hound's breathing be exceedingly distressed. For there is no better refrigerative, nothing that appeases difficulty of breathing so much. It is not unattended with danger for a dog, under these circumstances of distress, to drink immoderately.

For the reasons given, then, be cautious of coursing in hot weather. Never go out in winter when the cold is severe, and, on no account, when the ground is frozen hard. For dogs bruise themselves in frost, lose their nails, lacerate thesoles of their feet, and if very high-couraged, break even the bones of their toes against the frozen ground from running with excessive eagerness. Whereas the hare is light, with woolly and soft feet, and trips along without injury in frost.

XV.

Whoever courses with greyhounds should neither slip them near the home , nor more than a brace at a time ; for though the hare be remarkably swift-footed, and have often beaten many dogs, yet being just started from her form, she cannot but be fluttered at heart, and terrified at the hallooing, and the hounds pressing close upon her :—and in this way, many a noble hare has often ignobly perished without an effort, showing no diversion worth mentioning.

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Let the hare, therefore, creep away from her form as if unperceived, and recover her presence of mind. And then, if she be a racer, she will prick up her ears, and bound away from her seat with long strides ; and the greyhounds, having capered about as if they were dancing, will stretch out at full speed after her. And at this time is the spectacle worthy indeed of the pains that must necessarily be bestowed on these dogs.

XVI.

Those are the strongest hares which have their forms in open and exposed places ; for, from boldness, they do not conceal themselves, but seem to me to challenge the dogs.

When coursed, they do not fly to the woods or groves, however near, for immediate liberation from danger, but stretch away to the open country ; and during the contest, if they are pursued by slow hounds, they moderate their own speed according as they are pressed ; but if their pursuers are fast, they run with all their might.

Often when they have turned aside to the champaign country, if they perceive a fleet dog following so close as to overshadow them, they throw him off by frequent ricks and turns, and again make for the woods, or wherever they know of a place of refuge and this should be deemed a proof that the dog has beaten the hare. For coursers, such at least as are true sportsmen, do not take their dogs out for the sake of catching a hare, but for the contest and sport of coursing ;and are glad if the hare meet with an escape : if she flies to any thin brake for concealment, though they may see her trembling and in the utmost distress, they will call off their dogs, and more particularly so, when they have run well.

Often, indeed, when following a course on horseback, have I come up to the hare as soon as caught, and myself saved her alive: and then, having taken away my dog, and fastened him up, allowed her to escape. And if I have arrived too late to save her, I have struck my head with sorrow that the dogs had killed so good an antagonist. On this point alone, I cannot agree with my namesake. I allow indeed that a man may forget every other object of which he is enamored, when he sees a hare found, and pursued at speed ; but to see her taken is, I own, neither a pleasant nor striking spectacle ; but disagreeable rather, and not at all likely to make us forgetful of other objects of attachment.

And yet we must not blame Xenophon, considering he was ignorant of greyhounds if even the capture of a hare appeared to him a grand sight. I am aware (even if my instructions were opposed to it), how strong the inducement is to halloo, when following a course, and that even a dumb man might break forth, as is related of the son of Croesus.

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Counter-lay (commentary) No. 5.

Celts thus hunting therefore behaved more as sportsmen than as merchants (of meat) or butchers.

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XVII.

It is proper sometimes to speak to the greyhounds ; for they are pleased at hearing their master's voice, and have the consciousness of his presence, and of their brilliant running not escaping his notice, as an encouragement and reward for their exertions.

There is no objection to your cheering your hound as often as you like in his first course ; but in his second or third, when it is probable that he is fagged, I think it wrong to cheer him very often by name, lest from his ardor, and desire of pleasing his master, he exert himself beyond his strength, and suffer some inward rupture ; an accident which has been fatal to many a high-bred greyhound. But he should be allowed to slacken his running as he chooses.

For the contest is by no means equal between the hare and greyhound : the hare runs where she likes, and the dog pursues ; she shifts her course, throws him off, and darts forward ; and if thrown out by this double scent line, the dog is wide of the hare, and must again stretch away after her ahead, and recover what he has lost of the course by overshooting himself. Moreover, the natural difficulties of the country are more in favor of the hare, than the dog—such as rough and stony grounds, steeps and inequalities of the surface—both because she is light, and because her feet, from their woolliness, are not liable to be lacerated by the roughness of the ground ; and the running for her life, too, takes away all sense of difficulties.

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Counter-lay (commentary) No. 6. Phenomena well known by the current doctors: it is the production by the body of endorphins, a substance which anesthetizes the pain in a way.

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XVIII.

When the greyhound has caught the hare, or been otherwise victorious in the course, you should dismount from your horse, pat him with your hand and praise him, kissing his head, and stroking his ears, and speaking to him by name—." Well done, Cirras !"—." Well done, Bonnas !"—" Bravo, my Horme !"*—calling each hound by his name ; for, like men of generous spirit, they love to be praised : and the dog, if not quite tired out, will come up with joy to caress you. At this time, it is a good sign for him to roll himself on the ground, as we see horses do ; for it shows that he is not done up with the course, and, at the same time, rolling refreshes him.

XIX.

The most opulent Celts who live in luxury, course in the following manner. They send out hare finders early in the morning to look over such places as are likely to afford hares hare in form ; and a messenger brings word if they have found any, and what number. They then go out themselves, and having started the hare, slip the dogs after her, and follow on horseback.

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Counter-lay (commentary) No. 7. The things had obviously not changed during the time of Gaston Phoebus count of Foix, even in the case of harts.

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XX.

But others, who have no hare finders, go out on horseback, collecting a large party of fellow sportsmen together ; and finders coming to likely lying-ground, when a hare is started, they slip their dogs. While others again, who are more of workmen at the sport, sally forth on foot ; and if anyone accompanies them on horseback, it is his duty to keep up with the dogs.

They beat the ground in a regular array, with an extended front, proceeding in a straight line to the completion of a certain extent of country ; and then, wheeling about in a body, return in the same way by the side of their former track, omitting as far as possible none of the likely lying.

But it is necessary, if many dogs are taken into the field, that they should not be left at random, and without arrangement. For when the hare is started from her form, not a man would refrain from slipping his hound after her : one from eagerness to see his own dog run, and another from being startled and beside himself at the hallooing ; and the hare would be caught, in consequence of the crowd and confusion of the dogs, without a struggle, and the whole value of the spectacle destroyed.

On which account a steward should be appointed over the sport, should match the dogs, and give orders to the field : if the hare start on this side, you and you are to slip, and nobody else ; but if on that side, you and you. And let strict attention be paid to the orders given.

XXI.

The Celts sometimes course with a mixture of sagacious and swift-footed hounds: and while the dogs of scents are trying,they stand apart with the greyhounds, leading them in their hands where it is most probable the hare will direct her course, that they may slip them at her when she breaks cover. And here the greyhounds answer the same purpose its Xenophon's nets.

But the courses in this way are irregular and confused, and the hare, however good, is generally so terrified at the barking of the finders that, unless she get far enough ahead to be able to recover herself, she is easily caught, being frightened out of her wits. Whoever, therefore, is a good slipper, should not let go his dog while the hare is at all bewildered (unless he would destroy the sport) but should allow her to make her first turns, and then slip.

XXII. Let it be deemed unlawful to slip to a young hare; but rather, in obedience to my namesake, spare such for the Goddess.

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Counter-lay (commentary) No 8.

What goddess-or-demoness, or fairy if this name is preferred? Probably for Megillus and the other hunt companions of Arrian, a Celtic goddess or fairy, of the type Artio, Arduinna, or others.

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If possible, indeed, you should endeavor to call off the dogs on the scent; though they are with difficulty checked, being intractable from hunger, and so keen at devouring whatever prey they take, that you can scarce drive them away, even by beating them with sticks.

XXV.

As to the age at which greyhounds should begin coursing, you may take a bitch out after the eleventh month ; or, if she be well set, and not loose-limbed, you may let go a hare from your hand before her, in an open field, a month earlier than this, starting the pup close to the hare, that she may enjoy the sight of her game, and, by seeing it quite close, may work with eagerness.

But presently slip another good dog to the hare, that the puppy may not suffer by too long a course, nor flag from over-fatigue ; and the second dog turning the hare with ease again and again will drive her into the puppy's mouth, when the latter should be allowed to tear her with her teeth till she has killed her.

As soon as the season arrives for taking out your puppies, let them be first walked over such roads as are rough ; for this exercise is conducive to forming and strengthening their feet. Then station the man who leads them upon a conspicuous and elevated spot, and be sure that he does not slip a puppy when the hare has got much ahead, and is out of sight ; (notwithstanding the elder Xenophon advises it in regard to dogs that are to be practiced at running on the scent;) for if you slip a greyhound puppy out of sight of her game, she runs wide, and jumps about, and is beside herself and bewildered.

And after she is full-grown, if a hare happens to escape her, she is never at rest, neither returning to her keeper, nor obeying his call, but, from eagerness for a course, continuing to run about wildly, like a mad dog, after nothing.

Let the man, then, that holds the puppy stand on such a spot as I have stated, concealed from view at the point where it is most probable the tired hare will come in the course of her turns ; and when he sees her quite weary, let him slip the puppy close to her, neither before, nor directly opposite to her ; for the bitch rushing right upon her will overshoot herself, and the hare, with a wrench, easily skimming by, will, of course, leave the bitch far behind ; the latter with difficulty turning herself, as galleys sailing briskly ahead cannot readily tack, unless the rowing be much slackened before they are brought about.

Let the hare, therefore, just pass by, and then let him slip obliquely after her. Someone should follow up quickly, as soon as the hare is caught, before the dogs are gorged with her blood. Not that the flesh of a hare is to be accounted of much worth by a person who courses for the beauty of the sport but it is a bad thing to teach a greyhound to eat a hare. Many a dog, too, has been destroyed by gorging himself while out of breath, after a long course, and has died of suffocation.

XXVI.

Dog-puppies must not be taken out coursing until they are two years old, for their limbs become set at a much later period than those of bitches. Besides it is attended with no little puppies, danger to take them out earlier, many a greyhound having been prematurely destroyed by a severe course before he was full-grown, and especially those of the greatest spirit and highest breeding ; for, in consequence of their spirit, they run to the very utmost of their power.

The other practical points, already insisted on in reference to bitches, are equally to be attended to in regard to the other sex.

Dogs are to be kept from copulation within the age stated ; for the seed being not yet matured in them is generally weak and evanescent.The puppies themselves too are so utterly ruined by it that you can never afterwards, do what you will, remedy the error. The proper and seasonable time for sexual intercourse is from the completion of the third year.

XXVII.

And it should be thus managed:— watch the opportunity of the bitch being clear of vaginal blood ; for if she receives the seed before, it generally is not retained, but is washed out by the blood; and you must here pay her particular attention, as it is only for a short interval of time that she preserves her

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heat after the vaginal blood has stopped. A bitch’s age may be considered good for the purpose from the second to the seventh year.

XXVIII.

It is best for the dog and bitch to be shut up by themselves, and to be out of sight while together. For open and public copulations, if we may believe sportsmen, are not prolific but such as are effected by dogs in private are reported to succeed.

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Counter-lay (commentary) No. 9.

Folklore of Celtic dog breeders probably, just like the 60-day period further mentioned, or the determining role of the breath of the mothers in the growth of the dog puppies.

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Bitches, after being warded, may be led out, as walking about is conducive to their strength ;but they must not be slipped again to a hare, for fear of being destroyed by overstraining or excessive fatigue.

The dog likewise should not be let loose after a hare until he is recovered from his exhaustion, and invigorated by an interval of at least sixty days' rest. After which there will be no obstacle to his being coursed.

XXIX.

The most favorable season for breeding is the spring of the year, as the temperature is mediate between hot and cold. Winter is not propitious for rearing puppies, more especially on account of the want of milk : and summer is distressing to the dams for suckling. Autumn is worse than spring for this reason that the winter arrests the whelps before they are thoroughly formed.

XXX.

If you wish a brood bitch to recover her previous speed, you must not let her suckle her whelps except merely to lighten any excess of milk—and then put them to other bitches, selecting such as are well bred : for the milk of degenerate curs is not congenial to high-bred puppies. If, however, the dam herself appear no longer serviceable for coursing, it is best to leave the whelps with their own mother, and not to put them under a foster parent. For the growth is stinted by a stranger's nursing, as the other Xenophon declares, but the mother's milk and breath are cherishing to her puppies.

XXXI.

When puppies can run about, Xenophon properly recommends that they be fed with milk ; for the filling them with heavy food distorts their legs, and causes diseases in their bodies. And as to giving dogs short names of easy pronunciation, in this we should also attend to him ; for the names which he has enumerated (in part the invention of others, and some of his own creation), are cleverly composed.

But if you do not as yet wish your bitches to breed up any puppies, you must take the greatest possible care of them while under distress in consequence. For when they have ceased to give suck, their teats become turgid and full of milk, and the parts beneath the belly distended.

At which time, it is not safe to loose them after a hare—for their flanks may be burst asunder : nor should you let them play with another dog, as, by contending and striving with him beyond their strength, they may be placed in equal danger. It is best to wait till their teats are become flaccid. And you will have a proof that it is safe to take them out, when the hair falls off abundantly, as you stroke it with your hand.

They are then, I think, free from the distress they labored under on account of their milk, and are ready for coursing.

XXXII.

The greyhound bitch is fleeter than the dog, but the dog has more bottom than the bitch ; and, because he can run through the whole year, is a much more valuable acquisition : and as good bitches abound, but it is no easy thing to meet with a thorough-good dog, the latter is on this account more precious : and again, it is fortunate if bitches preserve their speed to the fifth year,whereas dogs retain theirs even to the tenth. For all which reasons, in my opinion, a really good high-bred dog; is a great treasure—one that falls not to the lot of a courser without the favor of some god.

XXXIII.

For such a blessing, then, he should sacrifice to Artemis. He should sacrifice, too, whenever successful in his sport, dedicate the first fruits of his spoils to the goddess, and purify his dogs and sportsmen, as regulated by the established rites of the country.

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XXXIV.

Some of the Celts have a custom of annually sacrificing to Artemis while others institute a treasury for the goddess, into which they pay two oboli for every hare that is caught, a drachma for a fox (because he is a crafty animal, and destroys hares,) and four drachmae for a roe deer, in consideration of his size, and greater value as a game.

When the year comes round, on the return of the nativity of Artemis, the treasury is opened, and a victim purchased out of the money collected ; either a sheep, or kid, or heifer, according to the amount of the sum : and then, after having sacrificed, and presented the first offerings of their victims to the Goddess of the chase,according to their respective rites, they give themselves up, with their hounds, to indulgence and recreation, crowning the latter on this day with garlands, as an indication of the festival being celebrated on their account.

XXXV.

This Celtic custom I follow with my fellow sportsmen and declare no human undertaking to have a prosperous issue without the interposition of the gods.

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Counter-lay (commentary) No 10.

If this sacrificial habit is well Celtic, of course, in this case, it is not Artemis, but a Celtic goddess-or-demoness of hunting, of Arduinna or Artio type. According to Strabo, it was, however, wild game that people offered in sacrifice, and not kids, sheep, or calves. The Celts were indeed great game hunters: if they often adopted Diana and Silvanus, they did not less continue to honor their wood and hunting deities. It was besides one of their characteristics, to sacrifice wild beasts (theria) to the god-or-demons, in addition to domestic animals and men (Strabo IV, 4,5).

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For that mariners, who regard their safety, supplicate the gods at embarkation and, after dangers escaped, offer up sacrifices of gratitude to the sea-deities, Poseidon, Amphitrite, and the Nereids. Cultivators of the soil do the same to Demeter, her daughter, and Dionysus ; artificers, to Athena and Hephaestus, Professors of instruction, to the Muses, Apollo Musagetes, Mnemosyne, and Hermes ; Lovers, to Aphrodite, Eros, Pitho and the Graces.

And, upon the same principle sportsmen should not be neglectful of Huntress Artemis , nor Apollo, nor Pan, nor the Nymphs, nor Hermes, the conductor and president of the highways, nor any other mountain gods that there may be.

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Counter-lay (commentary) No. 11.

They are undoubtedly local patron god-or-demons : any height being a point of the ground lifted by an internal power. Garra is the eponymous god-or-demon of the Pyrenean peak called today peak Du Gar, Poeninus that of the Great Saint-Bernard in Switzerland, Baeserta is the goddess-or-demoness, or fairy if you prefer, of the Pyrenean mountains of Basert (hence our Lady of Basert), Alambrina that of the Mont d’Alambre or Mountains of Alambre in France, and so on.

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Otherwise their pursuits must turn out abortive, their dogs injured, their horses lamed-and themselves disappointed.

XXXVI.

And of this, Homer gives evidence in his poem. Teucer, he says, the best bowman of the Greeks, in the archery contest hit the cord only, and cut it asunder, because he had offered no wow to Apollo ; but that Merion, who was no archer at all, by having invoked Apollo, struck the bird when on the wing.

Again, the posterity of those, who fought against Thebes with Polynices, captured the city, " to omen trusting and with the aid of Jupiter" whereas their fathers, not at all inferior to them in valor, perished before it, because they were disobedient to the signs vouchsafed to them by the gods.

And lastly, Hector, inattentive to Polydamas when he objected to an attack on the Grecian fleet (because the Trojans would not return from it with honor to themselves, as he inferred from a serpent dropped by an eagle) was soon afterwards taught otherwise by experience that no good comes of being refractory towards the Deity.

Following these examples, it is right in field sports, as in everything else, to begin with adoration of the gods ;and, after having obtained success, to offer thanksgiving sacrifices and libations, with auspicious

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words, and crowns, and hymns, and to dedicate the first fruits of the captured game, as the conqueror does of the spoils of war [which are offered to Nike the goddess of victory] .

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Counter-lay (commentary) No. 12.

Except for the allusion to the Greek goddess-or-demoness, or fairy, if you prefer, of victory, Nike or Nicé (and still, such a habit also existed among Celts, as the excavations performed in Gournay-sur-Aronde or in Ribemont-sur-Ancre, showed it); this last point seems to be a simple development of chapters 33 and 34 about the way in which Celts honor the goddess-or-demoness of hunting.

Flowers to decorate, for example garland shaped.

Prayer to the god-or-demons.

Sacrifice of thanksgiving, libations.

Meditations.

Songs.

Offerings to the god-or-demon of the first results or of the first fruits of the work (the first fruits in the religious meaning of the word).

Purification of the present persons or of the participants in the sacrifice.

Meal, festival, and relaxation.

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FOX HUNTING.

Our English friends having made the triple mistake of abolishing fox hunting, while yielding to the pressure of INCONSISTENT ecologists (what my Parisian pen-friends call some “bobos”, a contraction of middle-class man and bohemian), a few words now on what is done among us in this field since it is only in our beautiful country this freedom remains.

A fast and littered with race, the fox hunting is primarily a high-class horse performance , requiring bold riders and horses totally sure in jumping. In terms of hunting, let us specify that it is necessary to use fast dogs, going ahead and not fearing the rough and thorny vegetation of moors. A good nose is not here necessary: the line of the scent of the fox is so strong that even a man perceives it. On the other hand, it is fugacious.

Hunters attack in sixes and sevens, after the fox has been previously spotted by a finder, in edges or coverts, with the whole pack (12 or 18 hounds). Flushed out, at sight, through fields, the animal will hardly succeed in putting the hounds at fault by throwing them off the line of scent, nor in outdistancing them (Roosevelt’s glossary : forlogne). It is admitted that hounds change to another fox seen by them ** , and the hounds are then deliberately cheered with haloos or horns to pursue a changed fox, at least at the beginning of the hunt ( when the hounds are uncoupled). The animal that can no longer run will seek a shelter into a warren or a sett of badger, in the conduit of a rustic bridge or on the top of a pollarded willow, etc. No curee on the spot. Hounds tread the animal, but do not touch its flesh. The trophy is its brush

(cf. David Crockett, the most famous descendant of the Irish Mr. De Croquetagne. Being approximately 9 years old my mother had then made for me a dress of David Crockett, but all things considered I wonder well how she did, since we had only rabbit skins at home).

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In any event what is sure it is that it is not David Crockett who brought fox hunting into America but a certain Colonel Robert Brooke, who settled with his family in what is now Maryland, with hounds come from Great Britain in 1650. He is generally said to have had the first hunt pack in North America.

By the early 1700s, fox hunting was growing in Maryland, Virginia and in other colonies located in the center of the Atlantic coast. The earliest surviving record of modern fox hunting in America, that is to say of hunt organized by a group of foxhunters rather than by a single major landowner like in England, date back to the pack instituted by Thomas, sixth Lord Fairfax, around 1747 in northern Virginia. The Blue Ridge Hunt today hunts over much of his former territory. Much of what little is recorded about early hunting comes from letters written by Lord Fairfax and the diaries of George Washington.

The first president of the United States was indeed an ardent foxhunter who owned his own pack of hounds.

Washington’s diaries are laced with frequent references to fox hunts near the capital. On one occasion while congress was in session, hounds ran near the capital. Many congressmen ran outside to watch hounds and some jumped on their horses and joined the chase.

Through the years, American fox hunting has developed its own distinct flavor that is noticeably different from British fox hunting. The most obvious difference is that in America the emphasis is on the chase rather than on the fox kill. In addition, a large number of hunts chase coyotes, rather than foxes. Coyote population has increased by large numbers throughout the United States and Canada.

The coyote is bigger, stronger and faster than a fox. In Great Britain the goal is to kill foxes. Because there are no rabies in the British Isles, the fox population is extremely high and foxes are considered as vermin. Farmers who have sheep want the fox population is controlled. In America, this is not

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normally the case. A successful hunt ends when the fox is accounted for by entering a hole in the ground, called an “earth” rightly.

Once there, hounds are rewarded with praise from their huntsman. The fox gets away and is chased another day. When hounds do not account for a fox by chasing him to an earth, the vast majority of time hounds lose the scent of the fox and that ends the hunt. In many cases indeed scent is in no way sufficient for making the hounds run. They cannot run because they can't smell. But even these days which drag out a little are pleasurable because the landscape is always beautiful, and fellow hunters enjoy the friendship that the show of the hounds trying to find again the fox, brings.

That means not that foxhounds in America never kill their prey, but it is always an exception.

An adage says, “Some people ride in order to hunt, others hunt in order to ride.” And in the 21st century, it’s truer than ever.

Nobody remains insensitive to this gallop through the countryside on a fine horse who jumps the fences well, and the show of the pack of hounds in full cry, is always breathtaking. But today's hunters also have another reward: the authorization to ride on public or private lands that form the open ground. No corporation is more aware than they of this privilege, no society is more anxious to protect the game or preserve environment than fox hunters.

N.B. The Masters of Foxhounds Association is a nonprofit corporation formed to improve the breeding of foxhounds, to encourage fox hunting, to approve and register territories on official maps, to encourage shows (where hounds from various hunt parties are put together and judged for their hunting ability), and lastly to lead fox hunting.

Human voice is used to hunt hounds and is only for hounds. But the huntsman also carries a hunting horn.

The latter signals to both hounds and participants what is happening and where the pack is. He uses the following appropriate horn calls.

“Leaving the meet” : a short blast alerting hounds and the field of riders the hunt has begun.

“Finding the fox” : usually intermittent short blasts of the horn to let hounds and riders knowing where he’s located.

“Keeping in touch” : short blasts of the horn to let hounds knowing where their huntsman is located (not used by all huntsmen).

“First strike” : a series of short and fast notes of shortened duration (staccatos) when hounds first strike ( to encourage the pack to join).

“Gone away” : a series of fast rattles of the horn used to excite hounds to join others that have found the fox who’s broken from the covert and to tell the field the chase is on.

“Gone to ground” : a long call blown over an earth where the fox has escaped, to excite the hounds and reward them for chasing the fox to ground.

“The kill” : very similar to gone to ground but a higher pitch with more rattle.

“Whipper-in call” : a note the huntsman uses to bring his whippers-in to him.

“Riot call” : a very sour long note on the horn to indicate hounds are hunting riot and to call them off.

“Going home” : a very long, beautiful call to signify the end of the day and to call back any hound still out.

In conclusion, fox hunting “ is the union of man and animal in the beauty of nature’s setting. Mounted men and women are privileged to follow and watch this timeless drama of hunter and hunted. The fox

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or coyote maneuvers, circles, runs and dodges, trying cunningly to escape the pack. The hounds pursue across plains or through woods, over fields or across creeks, into marshes and over rock walls and fences. All the while, the music of hounds in full cry and the stirring call of the horn echoes through the chase. It’s a crescendo of sounds and sights that thrills you beyond imagination.

Fox hunting is the grand opera of hunting. Mother Nature is the stage manager; baying hounds and hunting horns are the orchestra; pack and prey are the actors. Huntsmen and horses—in front-row seats—make up the audience. As they watch, the plot gradually plays out before them until the prey at last is lost, accounted for or goes to ground. Every performance is unique; no show is ever repeated.“ ( Dennis J. Foster, Executive Director of the Masters of Fox Hounds Association).

N.B. In France there exist only 44 fox hunts parties. Hunting is very regulated (to consult local federations of hunting). It is possible to hunt it as in the United States. But foxes being classified “vermin” it is possible to shoot them (a hunting license is required in this case). A fox can also be unearthed. This practice consists in driving back the animal in its "earth" with small hounds like Terriers fittingly .

If it was decided to dig out and kill the fox, all but one of the holes, are blocked and a terrier released into the unblocked entrance. Before releasing the terrier below ground, it would have been fitted with a locator collar which had a transmitter attached to it. This would emit a signal which was picked up by a receiver operated a terrier hunter so that the terrier could be located. Once the fox had been found by the terrier, it would either fight the fox or keep it at bay. The hunter would then dig down to the fox and after removing the terrier the fox would be killed (a type of hunt called earth stopping) , normally by a hunter with a gun. Alternatively nets may have been placed over the other holes so that the fox could be bolted into one of the nets and dispatched that is to say killed.

You may also make it leave its earth through the intervention of the terrier before shooting it with a gun when it goes out. Fox being classified “ vermin” , this practice is authorized all the year.

In what concerns us, we clearly prefer the hunt which gives the game all its chances and which is therefore nobler.

* I prefer “inconsistent ecologists.”

** Ruses of the animal thus defined by the glossary of Dennis J. Foster, of the Masters of Foxhounds Association (MFHA): “There is change when hounds have left their hunted fox and changed to another.”

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HAWKING AND GOSHAWKING.

Archetypal Arab speciality, being intrinsically related to hunting and consequently, to the desire of feeding oneself, hawking and goshawking have to date back to time immemorial ( Paleolithic age ?).

It seems to have its origin in the high plateaus of Central Asia, in areas where, still now, we find the greatest natural concentration of birds of prey ready to be manned (trained). Kirgiz people, nomads and hunters, could have been formerly the first falconers.

The first written traces dealing with hawking appear in the seventh century before our era in a Japanese book reporting hunting of a Chinese emperor named Wen-Wang; it gave rise to the art of falconry in Japan: the takagari. Quickly adopted by the court which even appropriate it by prohibiting it for the common run of people, it becomes particularly popular among samurais in the 13th century: they used falcon fights to settle the problems of land and buildings.

Buddhist temples, as land owners, were opposed to these practices. By reaction falconer lords found a theoretical justification for their art in Shinto religion and it is therefore on Shinto principles that several schools of falconry were founded.

Japanese falconry is based on Sino-Korean methods, and to appropriate it, noble people published their first falconry handbook in 818, thus enabling them to establish their authority on the matter.

More in the West it is said that Ulysses, after Troy, brought back this type of hunting in Greece; that Turks taught this tradition to Persians, then Persians to Arabs.

N.B. the Greek and Latin ancient world is informed of this art without practicing it but the Greek historian Ctesias mentions the use of eagles in the north of India.

The appearance of this hunting in Europe is undoubtedly due to Barbarian invasions and exchanges between populations which followed.

On a side by taking the Northern road: Asia, Eurasia, Germania, Western Europe. A plate buckle of Gallo-Roman belt evokes falconry besides…

On another side by taking the Southern road: Asia, Eurasia, Persia, Persian Gulf, Mediterranean basin, North Africa, Iberian peninsula, Europe.

According to periods and areas, it was largely practiced by everybody, or, on the contrary, was the jealous expression of nobility, even a royal prerogative.

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THE FALCONRY BOOK BY MOAMIN AND GHATRIF.

So prominent was the part of hounds in hunting, that of the falcons was not poor either. This hunting was honored by a recognition which was worth of many others. The most authoritative hunting treatises placed great emphasis on hawks; there were old ones and modern ones, in lines of verse and prose, practical or allegorized. The treatises of this last kind taught virtues under the pretext to explain the manners of hawks: it was a great congratulation.

The Falconry book by Moamin is the first medieval treatise on goshawking and falconry. Its text dates back to an Arabic original (there is only the French translation which makes it come from a Hebrew original).

Gathrif was the great falconer of the tenth caliph of the Umayyad dynasty in Damas (724/743) and he would have in fact adapted a veterinary work initially written in the Greek language. The great contribution of the Muslim-Arab empire to universal civilization will have been indeed to make the ideas as well as the inventions circulate from one end to another of the old world.

The Latin version was the work of a certain Theodore the philosopher; a doctor of the emperor Frederick II of Hohenstaufen (1194-1250), according to this Arabic work entitled then probably kitab Al-mutawakkil. The work was then translated from Latin into vernacular language, in the Globish of the time in a way , by the Italian Daniel Deloc de Cremone.

The very strange Italian language of the foreword also maintains that it would have been personally re-examined and corrected by the son of the emperor Frederick II in Bologna and before his death (apres ce qe je ai, la merci nostre seignor, fini le livre de Monayn fauchonier) what would give us then a writing date ranging between 1249 and 1272 but many contradictions remain all that.

“ Livres de Moamyn fauconier.... translatiez de latin en françois par Daniel de Cremone, servenz et hom

lige du noble roi Henri de Sardaigne, et coreit par le roi meeme en la cité de Bologne .”

Transposed in modern terms that would give us, “books by Moamin the falconer ...... translated from Latin by Daniel de Cremone , servant and liege man of the noble King Henry of Sardinia, and corrected by the king himself in the city of Bologna.”

In spite of its mistake about the original language (Hebrew instead of Arabic), the version of Daniel de Cremone seems nevertheless rather faithful to the Arabic text that it is possible to reconstruct just like the name of his author besides: Honayn.

Such is at least what we can conclude from the thesis defended during 1945 in Stockholm by Hakan Tjerneld.

N.B. The chapters on the hounds make us think that, like the OneYousand and One Nights, the work in the beginning was undoubtedly written by a Persian scholar.

! ------------------------ ------------------------- ---------- !

It is through Spain that falconry was put in as one of the most refined arts, as of the eighth century Moors bring there with them indeed Persian and Arabic knowledge as regards falconry.

It is generally thought this passion settled in Europe during the reign of Clovis, but it is Charlemagne (748-814) a sovereign, however, concerned about the emancipation of his subjects, who prohibited this type of hunting on almost the totality of his kingdom in order to reserve it for noblest of his subjects.

We are in the ninth century and consequently hawking is to become over time a more and more coveted privilege. The lords of all provinces will devote themselves to this hunting, some will become great falconers or like richest will employ people very well paid to go and find raptors in northern countries or in Scotland. The highlands of Scotland were always indeed an ideal hunting ground for the raptors, Mary Stuart (rest in peace) will know to remember it.

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This knowledge will be increased by the crusades or jihads during which Christian knights will discover these others impassioned of hawking who are Muslims in the area.

The orders of Christian knighthood founded starting from the 12th century, had a different approach of hawking practice.

Within the Order of the Temple, falconry was prohibited.

On the other hand, it was the only method of hunting authorized within the Order of the Hospital of Saint John of Jerusalem, whereas the Teutonic knights were entitled to all forms of hunting.

It is with the return from the crusade of these warlike monastic orders that this science will return to us more precisely and with birds of the East: the saker falcon of Jerusalem very used by Arabs (the word saker comes from the Arabic saqr) , the lanner falcons also just like the peregrine ones.

Welshmen have a reputation to be great falconers and their peregrine ones are very required in all Europe.

The Scandinavian and Germanic goshawks, for their sizes and their strength, are the subject of hard negotiations.

The gyrfalcons especially if they are white have much value and are reserved for greats of this world.

Some people went to Scandinavian countries in order to buy strong sized birds.

They were petted and the responsibility of hunt masters was great because birds were to be able to go in hunting at the behest of the lord.

They are the prizes of tournaments and challenges ((see the episode of the sparrowhawk that follows the episode of white stag hunting in Erec and Enide by Chretien de Troyes or the Welsh mabinogi of Gereint ac Enid); they are causes of prestige.

The reputation of such or such hunt party does that people are proud to invite them to an organized hunting.

Their know-how in the same way as that of a knight is the proof of the nobleness, if not of the money, at least of their heart and of their soul, so that people of lower nobility not having the means of prestigious hunt parties will be called hobereaux in old French from the name of their falcons (hobbies).

Hunting is scheduled in advance and is the subject of verbal jousting on the courage of such bird or the deeds of such a hunting party; they also are the subject of beauty pageants. A whole economy surrounds the falconry, trappers are employed to train hunt birds on living preys, etc.

The birds are taken in their nest then cherished and trained to hunt, best are the subject of bidding and give prestige and money to their falconer.

Different birds are used for each specialty. Moreover each organized hunting day is a means to show his rank and the ostentation which goes with it; it is also the opportunity of festivals and romantic encounters where you meet and where you get in touch from noble families to noble families. A little like in the case of archery later during the Victorian era (i.e., in England of the 19th century).

Some lords require to have their more beautiful birds with them in their bed as during banquets. The whole medieval society lives through the art of hawking and goshawking.

To everybody his bird. A text of the 12th describes us what must be the bird and his falconer.

Gyrfalcon for the king.

Saker for the duke.

Eleonora’s falcon for the lady.

Kestrel for the damsel.

In 1486 the book of St . Albans will develop this hierarchical order, not without some mistakes besides, done by his editor, Wynkyn de Worde, when he plagiarized the Chronicles of England published in 1473. Vultures for example are not birds used in falconry (is it a mistake due to the phonetic proximity to the French “autour”??? Nobody really knows but what is certain it is that the first four books of the schoolmaster printer were printed in French language).

During this time, on the Continent, and in Burgundy more precisely, whoever was accused of having stolen a hawk was to pay with his own flesh 6 ounces (184 gr. taken on him and served up to birds). What a Sharia Law !

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As tradition grew, also privileges, so that at the time of the second crusade/jihad (1147) the king and his knights had falcons on their fists at the time for their departure.

In Europe the technique is refined little by little, especially thanks to the use of the lure and of the hood brought back from the East by Christian jihadists in 1247.

High flight becomes little by little reserved for the kings and the nobility who practice it as a pastime, with gerfalcons, sakers and lanners as main birds.

Low flight is practiced by more disadvantaged, even poor hunters, and make it possible some of them to improve their poor daily meal.

In the fifteenth century, the feud was very strong .To have a hunting party which follows you everywhere is a privilege that only great lords can support, to give a bird is a sign either of respect or of great allegiance. Some people bring their birds for attending vespers and prayer even into a church and ecclesiastics too supported hunting parties. It was not rare that a priest or a bishop has a perch behind the altar.

The famous poet Guillaume Cretin summarized the feud in his charming Debate between two noble women on the relative merits of hunting with falcon versus hunting with dogs.

The interest comes from what the ladies, instead of being satisfied with general information, paint from life scenes which were familiar to them. What an entertainment “ the lady with a sparrowhawk ” says , to see falconers entering water and beating rushes to make the game leave, you look up , the prey and its enemy are lost in the blue of the sky.

Hawks just like hounds were, in the eyes of the old nobility, animals privileged like itself, and almost sacred , from where the pun with the Arabic word saqr, we will return there a little further.

Our ancestors did not separate from her, in any circumstance. They had long discussions with their birds, rubbed their back or stroked their mail (the feathers of their breast), dispensed all kinds of attention to them, sometimes going up to refresh them as they could with water. And, in order to accustom them to be afraid of nothing in their company, they carried them to the places where there were most crowds and noise. They led them to hear the pleadings in the law courts, to see the gatherings in the streets, and even to attend solemn services in the churches.

This constant familiarity with the bird of prey is explained: it was almost a need. The hawk provides a service as much better than she knows her master very well; the animal is, by nature, difficult and rebellious; it is only by a skillful mixture of deprivations, care, attention, strokes, that you can overcome her; it is only by living with her a common life, that you can make her a friend for you. So our ancestors did not separate from her in any circumstance.

With the Renaissance and the absolute monarchy, the art of hunting with birds of prey becomes a privilege and only nobles will support hunting parties. The people as for it has no longer access to this type of hunting. Refinements and subtleties make it possible feats. The birds fly in companies (in teams), each one playing a distinct part!

The beautiful and so unhappy queen of Scotland and England (and of France besides, for one year) Mary Stuart, was crazy about hawking , and Shakespeare himself spoke much about it in his works.

In France Charles VII (1403 - 1461) will separate the offices of the great huntsman and of the great falconer, in 1616 the falconry of the king will have 300 birds subdivided in six specialized hunting parties.

HUSBANDRY TRAINING AND EQUIPMENT.

As we had the opportunity to see, the Englishman Thomas Malory ascribes the invention of the hunt but also of the hunt with birds of prey to Tristram de Lyonesse or Leonois in old French (the Tristram of the famous Isolde).

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" Every day Tristram went hunting, for he was the noblest chaser in the world and the inventor of the best practices of hunting and hawking. Gentlemen hunters still praise him and pray for his soul " (Morte d’Arthur. Chapter 53 Tristram meets Sir Palomides).

The reality is somewhat different and refers to the preponderant role of Arabs in this art.

The Quran is clear, and explicitly declares halal animals captured using other animals especially trained for that (Chapter 5 verse 4):“ … beasts and birds of prey which you have trained as hounds are trained….. so eat of that which they catch for you and mention God’s name upon it."

Here what we can deduce from Arabic treatises on falconry….

You do not begin by “training ” a bird of prey, like you train a horse, you start initially by accustoming her to man, to live with men and all that goes with them. It is what is called to man a bird of prey. The hunt training itself comes only after.

Falconers prefer therefore to capture young birds, because they are, of course, easier to man than adults. Once taken, birds are put in a building, a kind of tower also called “mew” or “falconry.” In this structure built aside , an artificial aerie was arranged in a room open on three sides, equipped with water basins and perches. It is there that the young hawks “taken from their aerie” (taken from their nest), “airworthy,” go and come, learn contact with man.

Before beginning training itself, the bird must be equipped with jesses, fixed at the legs, which will make it possible to the falconer to better hold the bird on his fist. With the “manning,” a particular relation is established between the raptor and his master. By respecting the lifestyle of the bird, a falconer makes her give up her natural aggressiveness and increases her courage in order to incite her to hunt game larger than she would do in the wild.

All the hunting treatises insist on the manning which requires from falconers love for their birds and continuous attention. Because this one will necessarily share most of tiredness to which he subjects the bird, carrying her continuously day and night, without allowing one moment of rest to her. It is a question of overcoming the resistance of the bird. The method can appear “hard”: it is only through exhaustion, by exploiting hunger and tiredness, that the falconer can succeed in getting the beginning of a submission.

To help the manning, to calm the bird, to accustom him more quickly to the presence of a man and to make her accept his company, the bird is “seeled.” The process consists in making a thread pass through the lower eyelids and tying it above the head of the bird, in order to keep them up, thus depriving the hawk of her sight. Loosened little by little, the thread opens them gradually to full light: the hawk is then “unseeled.”

Another process, the hood (Arabic burqa), is mentioned by Frederick II in his treatise. A hood is a small flexible leather headdress which prevents the hawk (or the other birds of prey) from seeing , in order to calm her during the manning , to control the aggressiveness of the bird during the trips, for also preparing her to hunt. With the hood on her head, the hawk is plunged in darkness and remains quiet; the headdress once removed, the bird sees prey immediately and flies better. As soon as the bird accepts having a hood put on her head and put off without problems, the training for hunting can start.

In the first times of manning, falconer must handle his bird with precautions and gentleness, this one being frightened quickly. It can happen that it is necessary “to spray” hawk “in order to give her confidence: the falconer fills up his mouth with cold water he sprays on the breast feathers (called “mail” in falconry) of the bird in order to calm her when she twists and turns or defends himself too much.

As soon as hawk shows signs of docility, the falconer encourages her “to make the jump to his fist” in order to seek there a “bechin,” a small piece of meat. In doing this a falconer does nothing but apply the conditioning principle and the conditioned reflex principle, described by Pavlov before they were discovered, by “stimulating” the bird.

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This first step of the manning is completed when the bird is accustomed to her trainer: taking her “diet”

i.e., her food, quietly, from the hand of her falconer.The hawk is then ready to live in contact with men and animals in the most various places.

Falconer begins with exercises simulating hunting itself. The bird learns how to return without hesitating after his calling off, a particular cry shouted out by the falconer, that will start the reflex of the immediate return of the hawk to her master.

The training continues on living lures (pigeon, crane…) with handicapped movements (a heron with legs beforehand broken for example) * so that the raptor grows bolder until to seize them in all the positions. The falconer generally chooses the type of bird to be hunted later: the hawk is thus specialized in the flight of a determined game. It is besides a process identical to that which we find in the hunting with the hounds, which can be specialized in a given type of game.

Manning is completed by accustoming the bird to the company of horses and dogs. In the Middle Ages indeed, hounds are used in falconry to locate and to flush game, also to provide assistance to the hawk and to help her in immobilizing her prey when this one is important.

Once the hawk become “self-assured” i.e., flying freely and returning without hesitation on the calling off from the falconer, the first flight “for real” comes then, an always critical and determining time .

Falconry birds are trained to come back for food. When released to hunt, they are free to return to the wild, but most return to their master time and time again ; the bird realizing well that the falconer provides good quality food, safe habitat, and security.These birds come down to their master because they have chosen to continue their relationship.

The birds are not left free in falconry but are settled on perches or wooden “roosts” to which they are linked. There are several types of them.

It can even be a “block” of stone or wood, even a pedestal topped with a round plate covered with felt or leather because hawks in order to rest, need to extend their claws. It is supplemented by a spike with a ring to attach the leash.

The block can be moved outside the building of the falconry, in the courtyard to make the bird sunbathe.

The leash is the second essential piece of the equipment of a hawk. Tied with the rings of the jesses, it is also tied firmly with the perch or the block where the bird sits.

To all that bells are also added, some small bells attached to the ankles of the bird by a leather thin strap. Thanks to their sound, the falconer can more easily follow the coming and going of his bird and locate her at the time of the hunt.

A glove or gauntlet protects the hand and the left front arm of the falconer who, with the other, holds a wing or a not very fleshy bird's leg in which the hawk can nibble, thus making her keep quiet during transportation or handling.

The equipment of the falconer is supplemented with a bag called still “gamebag” or “falconer's bag,” hung to his belt, enabling him to carry the pieces of meat with which he will reward the bird. Broad enough, it is to be easy to handle with one hand.

To be easily transported, the falcon is immobilized in a “sock” (latin maleolus) a kind of bag of linen restraining the wings and the feet and letting only the head and the end of the tail pass.

Each day the falconer takes the birds out, in the yard of the falconry, so that they sunbathe while waiting for their diet, their usual food. And nothing such as a sunbath to fight against the parasites

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(lice, worms, ringworm) and the diseases (particularly the “ gout” or rheumatism which affects the feet or hands -legs- of the bird).

The hawks require an adapted diet to be kept in an adequate hunting condition: poultry, particularly chicken, rather than red meat, eggs, milk, cheese if necessary. The diet varies in the year and according to activities. Thus the hawk it is more fed in molting times, just as in winter. On the other hand, the day before the hunt, the bird must be slightly undernourished: her ration is reduced, its food is restricted.

Once a year, the hawks renew their feathers. The “molt” takes place in spring and in summer. During this period, the bird cannot fly, it is put in a room reserved for this purpose: there, the falconer takes care attentively of the bird, of her food, of the new growth of her feathers. It is indeed a delicate time: every ruffled , broken or badly come feather will have annoying incidences on the flight of the bird. A perfect plumage is one of the essential conditions for a good hunting.

To train well a hawk was formerly an art of first importance.The hawks thus manned were sought in foreign countries. Many books perpetuated the methods, indicated the kinds of deprivations which were to make the character of the bird more flexible, dealt with her diseases.

This art was different according to whether the hawk had been taken from her nest or had been taken as an adult. In the first case, manning was easier, but the animal captured very young usually remained less undertaking and daring: it is what was called a hawk “fallen from her nest,” from where old French “niais,” English “eyass” but it is only in French at least according to the author we consulted for compiling this heading that this epithet kept something of its original meaning. We leave him the whole responsibility for the matter.

In the other case, the bird caused initially a lot of trouble to her masters and seemed “desperate,” so much the loss of liberty was hard for her; the latter was called with a word which also passed in formal language : haggard.

But it is only in the English lexicon of falconry that the term kept its original meaning ( wild, not tamed).

The hawk was provided with leather anklets passed around her legs.

These anklets had little bells which made it possible to follow her work when she disappeared in the thickets, as well as a ring to which the leash holding the animal back on her perch, even on the fist of the hunter, could be tied. The falconer carried the bird on his left fist and wrapped his hand with a leather glove very thick in order to protect his fingers from the powerful pressure of the claws. His right hand held the lure, formed of two pigeon wings that the hunter waved to make the bird come back; and in order to give her the habit and the desire of doing that, she was trained to take her food between these two wings. A hood often extremely elegant, crested with colored feathers or with a knot of ribbons, was put on the head of the hawk: it was removed at the time when it was to fly.

Such were the main uses for the high-flying birds (hawks themselves in their different varieties: peregrine falcon, gerfalcon, saker falcon, etc.). There was less difficulty with the low-flying birds (goshawks, merlin, sparrowhawks), less difficult of nature, which were used more especially in useful hunting, i.e., in the capture of edible preys.

As we already have had the opportunity to say, in the majority of the old civilizations, the hawking revealed a certain status and some species of birds carried on one’s fist, as hawks were the symbol of a high social position. In ancient Egypt, for example, the hawk was the incarnation of the god Horus, ancestor of all the pharaohs. We can also point out Cleopatra and her two hawks. Besides Ibn Khaldun mentions hawks in his prolegomena (Muqaddimah) and also the existence of them in the court of Abbasid caliphs .

The most usually used raptors remain the saker falcon and the peregrine falcon. Those were formerly caught along the coast during autumn migrations , then trained for hunting before being released in spring. But often also, when the bird was of exceptional quality, the falconer kept her with him.

Once the falconer had succeeded in taking one of these very required birds, he had then two or three weeks only to prepare her to the hunting for houbara bustards which arrived in migration.

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The falconer proceeded by developing a true feeling of confidence in the raptor, what required much know-how and therefore explains why these characters were very respected in the whole world. It was necessary that the training is finished as of the arrival of the first bustards and hunting lasted the whole winter.

Although bustards were the preferred prey of Bedouins, Arabs also used hawks to catch stone curlews as well as hares.

A passion for the yesteryear emirs and princes, the art of falconry , or hawking, disappeared from Algeria and hardly resists in Tunisia but it is a practice which experiments an exceptional revival in all the Arab-Persian Gulf; the hunting excursions of the kings, princes and emirs in the area are impressive; they imply the trip in arid zones of several hundreds of people provided with all modern equipment: vehicles and air-conditioned caravans, but the hunting technique is still the same, for 3000 years. Two specialized veterinary clinics , the Abu Dhabi Falcon Research Hospital and the Dubai Falcon Hospital, were even built to heal and cure these birds of prey.

To have a good voice is often necessary to be heard by the birds. Led far away, the bird can be lost from sight and it is then a question of finding it. In addition, it is not rare that the hawk “checks at” i.e., it is diverted from her game by the pursuit of another easier prey. The same phenomenon is found in hunting with hounds. It is therefore necessary to react very quickly. Hawking often ending up in river hunting, to know how to swim is obligatory to seek lost hawks.

To be a falconer requires various bodily and moral qualities. Some are communal to any hunter: to have a good health, to be skillful, to have perfectly developed senses (sharp sight , a very keen hearing for example). Others are particular to falconers: the temperance of a camel, to smell good (hygiene) and a good memory. To be medium-sized , and to be dressed in a neutral way.

To finish here below a splendid small poem translated from Arabic and devoted to falconry.

When you will know how to choose your high-flying bird, to dispense to her care reserved only for princes and to make her a powerful, proud and frightening athlete.

When you have by your calm, your skill and thousand small gestures, won her confidence.

When thanks to the flexibility of your arm, your companion will regard your glove as a pleasant resting place and that you will be able to run or jump without making bells tinkle.

When you will make the bird placing herself suitably on your fist, with a skillful gesture of your wrist, without helping you with your hand.

When nothing, in the mews, will be ever missing.

When for the first time, you will contemplate her, moved and free, rising in the sky and to be intoxicated by the speed… etc.,etc.

* In the United States, falconry is legal in all states except Hawaii and Washington (District of Columbia). A falconer must have the necessary licenses in order to practice the sport.

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OF THE THOROUGH ECOLOGIST NATURE OF THIS TYPE OF HUNTING.

The nature is not less cruel, which sees wolves daily cutting the throat of Bambi and the sharks devouring swimmers. And obviously in this case it is always the weakest sickest or oldest of preys which succumbs. Nature is badly made, God should not have created carnivores. He would have been better inspired by creating only herbivores. Carnivores and raptors like cats and dogs should not have the right to live, because predators make fun of the laws and of the bobos (urban lower-middle-class persons), they play their part that’s all and the world goes on.

Hunt or hunting, with hounds, is, with hawking and goshawking, the mode of hunting most natural, most ecological and most genuine, which can exist, because it is based on the relationship prey/predator between the animal and the dog or the raptor. Man intervenes only as a supervisor or a referee.

The hounds hunt while following the odor that animal leaves at the time of its flight or other trails. What is called in hunting terms a line of scent. All the dogs proceed thus, instinctively, as wolves and foxes do it.

Around this diagram, men built rules, so that hunting is in conformity with the respect of animals and natural environment. The pleasure of hunting is not the pleasure of killing, but ecological balance inevitably goes through the regulation of wildlife, because animal overpopulation is never a good thing.

The hunters of Antiquity behaved besides more as sportsmen than as bazaar merchants* meat traffickers or butchers, at least according to the Greek Arrian.

“ Whoever courses with greyhounds should neither slip them near the home , nor more than a brace at a time ; for though the hare be remarkably swift-footed, and have often beaten many dogs, yet being just started from her form, she cannot but be fluttered at heart, and terrified at the hallooing, and the hounds pressing close upon her :—and in this way, many a noble hare has often ignobly perished without an effort, showing no diversion worth mentioning…..

For coursers, such at least as are true sportsmen, do not take their dogs out for the sake of catching a hare, but for the contest and sport of coursing ;and are glad if the hare meet with an escape : if she flies to any thin brake for concealment, though they may see her trembling and in the utmost distress, they will call off their dogs, and more particularly so, when they have run well.

And the great master of the game that was Gaston Phoebus even warned against the disappearance of certain animal species in the 14th century since he wrote in his famous book of hunting "because I should teach to take the animals only by nobleness and for the nice gesture -old French biaux déduits- so that there are more animals and they were not killed cowardly, but that we always find some of them to hunt .”

"Hunts that use such base techniques are fit only for “vilains” * precisely (61:11,63:9), humans who are nearly beasts themselves. There is a fine line between beating the animals at their own game and stooping to their level of moral corruption.

Ultimately, the noble and gentle hunter does not rely on elaborate devices or stratagems, but, like the valiant knight, confronts his foes openly and honestly. He hunts any animal that can run fast and far “en force”: that is, on horseback, accompanied by packs of dogs led by dismounted underhunters.

He carries a sword and a dagger and may use a spear, but generally eschews weapons that allow him to avoid physical danger, at least until the final confrontation with the quarry, when such weapons may become necessary. The defining characteristic of the true hunter is la maistrise, mastery" (Hunting as salvation, Jacqueline Stuhmiller, University of Wisconsin‐Milwaukee).

*Old French peasants.

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Here below what another famous hunter (John-Paul Harroy) said, there are several tens of years already. But these remarks remain valid and show that the awareness of the need for protection of nature, for a long time touched, within the world of hunting, many of its followers, enthusiasts, but responsible. They show thus that to like, defend and protect nature, it is first necessary to be in communion with it, to live it, and to practice it, before finally being able to speak about it.

“It is good that the hunter worthy of this name knows that those who style themselves the guardians of nature are for him allies much more than some opponents. They are, indeed, the impoverishments caused by the recent extension of human occupations, which make a little everywhere the search for game more difficult than only one century ago.

But, precisely, these impoverishments are denounced even fought by the guardians of our nature. By doing this, they act therefore as friends of hunters.

To provide for his needs, man has always taken in nature the raw materials, bases of his economy. These taking away are carried out at the expense of irreplaceable substances, as minerals, or some substances which are renewed only when certain conditions of utilization are respected: plant products, skins of animals. The future of mankind, in vertiginous numerical increase, is based therefore on the more or less wise management of the biological capital that nature leaves at its disposal: soils - with their hydrographic network – vegetative cover, fauna.

Since Man domesticated plants and animals, plants and wild animals do not cease moving back, to give way to species, richer in useful products; which are the subject of farming and breeding.

The behavior of modern Man with regard to wildlife from now on is conditioned by four main considerations, we can summarily define as follows.

1. The Man draws aside by all means, from his farming and his pastures, the wild animals which come in them as destructive animals of the farmed or bred species.

2. He leads extermination campaigns against the animal species he judges “harmful “ to his interests. His fatwas, often based on impressions more than on scientifically checked observations, aim at mammals, birds, reptiles, and many insects.

3. He seizes, sometimes without being much worried to guarantee the durability of his undertaking, wild animals of which skins offer an appreciable trade * value: meat, grease, skin, fur, feathers, ivory* , etc.

4. He has fun by hunting species of which the slaughter offers difficulties, what forms the charm of hunting sport.

Nature guardians are concerned with these four forms of attack that modern Man, with much more intensity than formerly, and with much more powerful weapons, directs against wild animals which still remain. Safety can be hardly hoped, for wild beasts in the habitat of which farmers or herdsmen settled. Two hundred years ago, Africa was the uncontested field of wild animals, field only sprinkled, here and there, with some tiny human occupations, from which the inhabitants moved away only armed or with their eye on watch. Today, the roles are reversed. Africa is the field of Man, and fauna is no longer really in safety but in natural preserves, as in some distant areas, each year more restricted and rarer.

What was, at the beginning of the 20th century,a huge paradise for hunters, loses unceasingly this quality in front of the uninterrupted advance of farming and breeding. Because it is out of the question to ask the authorities, even less to the farmers, to pardon the predatory animals surprised destroying a harvest or being prejudicial to a domestic herd.

The position of the species now considered as vermin is less desperate. The facts already often took care of showing that such bird "of prey" such carnivorous mammal, such reptile, which had a price put on its head, in the final analysis formed an invaluable auxiliary of farming, of which it was unreasonable to stop the services. It is possible to hope the progress of ecology will establish that the species which do not have to play, at least indirectly, in the great balance of nature, a role useful for mankind; are rare, very rare. And that it is consequently reckless to undertake the systematic elimination of one of them. In the same way, the development of scientific research, encourages using with more moderation than yesterday, this powerful, blind, and still badly known, weapon of mass destruction, that are the large modern insecticides. Stimulated by the scarcity of albuminoids, the high prices of meat, the improvement of the weaponry, commercial hunting * takes, largely the responsibility for the continual reduction of the game preserves in the world.

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In countries with a high population density, the phenomenon ended today. In Europe, it was blocked by the fast appropriation of hunting estates , of which the reduction, which did not cease being increased, was the consequence of farming development. In North America, it was at its height in the beginning of the 19th century, with the massacres of bisons. In Africa, it already entered unfortunately its last phase, the meat traders, encouraged by the indifference of the authorities in this matter, currently finishing of emptying from their big game the last territories until now spared by farming.

Only a severely applied regulation - vehemently claimed by the nature’s guardians - could put an end to a wrongfully tolerated abusive exploitation to the benefit of some people and to the detriment of the general interest.

The hunter who reads these lines has undoubtedly not found himself yet in the previous headings. He will have the honors of this last paragraph; but, before, it will be still pointed out to him that the conditions in which he practices his sport, are notoriously compromised by the phenomena which have just been described, and which the guardians of nature endeavor to fight.

In many areas in the world, in Europe and North America particularly, game survives today only insofar as hunters wanted, could, and knew, to act so that it remains. In some places, this wild game is even practically the object of a breeding. Powerful hunting companies take care of its protection. The behavior of sporting hunter towards his game, consequently, is no longer conditioned by hostility, as when man tracks a predator, or by covetousness, as with regard to prey the hunter wishes to eat or sell. A code of honor spontaneously occurred, which recognizes the esteem, if not the sympathy, the hunter professes towards the animal he pursues. The well-understood sport is doubled with a science, even with an art . The thorough knowledge of game manners is necessary there. And, gradually, the only search for the beautiful trophy replaces the pleasure of the vast tally, with, as a result, in some difficult hunting, the replacement of the gun by an ultramodern camera.When they are mature , many great hunters, especially in the Tropics, experiment this evolution. Without losing something of their hunting enthusiasm , often unconsciously, they came to line up at the sides of the disinterested nature’s conservationists.

* Ivory traffic particularly is a true disaster considering the poaching it causes. The mercenary attitude regarding business which characterizes our modern middle-class societies in which everything is an excuse to make cash (if the inventor of fire of lukewarm water or wheel had had the idea to patent that, we would be still paying royalties to his descendants) will be studied in our essay about ethics. But how did Homer to write Iliad and the Odyssey without royalty? How on earth could God write the Bible and the Quran without royalties??? In our modern societies, everything can be sold even life or honor, and intellectuals as well as journalists, including the majority of politickers…. explain to us

a) that it was always thus in the history of mankind since million years, that lands forests rivers and mountains were always private properties on earth

b) that it is what explains the lightning moral progress of mankind

c) that it was never possible to live differently

d) that it is therefore necessary to be insane not to adore money

e) that God is for the money

f) that only the devil Cuba and the Hitlero-Trotskyism are against money at all costs

g) and so on….

Bazaar merchant is the worst species of men which can exist. To earn one’s living honestly, including by working hard, OK ! But to make cash at all costs with everything and anything, to make money for money, should neither be praised to the skies by media neither defended nor even excused! ! A responsible ethical code must determine the limits that every legitimate aspiration to live in an acceptable way by earning well one’s living should not exceed.

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MODERN BOW AND ARROW HUNTING.

Animals could be hunted in two ways in the Middle Ages: with horses and dogs (what our English friends still call en force even by strength of hounds) or with bows and arrows. Much time is needed to hunt with bow and arrow . It is a weapon which requires a constant training, because it requires an additional physical effort. Primarily solitary unlike hunting "en force" or "par force" , it is hunting from a blind or a stalking. It asks for much patience, perseverance and self-discipline.

The invention of firearms made obsolete bow and arrow hunting . If you want to eat (or quite simply to bring back some game), it is better to leave and hunt with a shotgun that with a bow.

The origins of modern bow hunting can probably be traced back to two well-distinct events.

The first is the end of the American Civil War, which, let us repeat, was not started to end slavery but to end the secession of the southern states which did not want to admit Abraham Lincoln as their president, as early as 1860 with regard to South Carolina, with first bombings in April 1861 in Charleston by order of Jefferson Davis (anti president since February 9, 1861).

Defeated Southerners having no longer the right to have firearms they therefore reused bow to hunt .

The second event at the origin of the revival of bow and arrow hunting is the surrender to the authorities of Ishi, the last survivor of the Yahi Indians in California who had been exterminated by the White Man.

In 1911, lshi surrendered and was entrusted to the anthropologist Alfred Kroeber; he lived at the University of California, where he made for him sincere friends, to whom he handed over a little of his knowledge. Among them, let us quote Art Young and Saxton Pope, who were the first Americans of the 20th century followers of bow and arrow hunting.

Let us not forget either Fred Bear, born on March 5, 1902, on a farm in Pennsylvania. In 1929, Fred Bear went to the hunt with a bow for the first time, but he was six years old before to kill his first stags.

Taking as a starting point the former Mongolian recurve bows , and Indian bows also recurve, strengthened with sinew to increase their output, Fred Bear “invented” the glass fiber strengthened recurve bow. All what belongs to the arsenal of modern bowman is due to the genius of this man. He invented the bow which can be dismantled and the removable arrowhead, of which the first hunting arrowhead, sharpened like a razor.

Consequently, bow and arrow hunting caused a growing passion (see the case of the ambiguous heroine of the movies series Hunger Games because it is obvious that Peeta -like bread- is the only one to love really) and currently it has millions practitioners in the world.

Far from every polemic, bow and arrow hunting is, of course, the most difficult of hunting practices…

Difficult by the constraints it imposes as regards mental and bodily training, of stalking shooting. It is a whole bodily and moral commitment dictated by an irreproachable ethical code of which its many detractors would do well to be inspired, who, by bad faith or ignorance, in France, consider bow hunting as a process of poacher.

Some hunters maintain, and it is exact, that it takes at least 3 years of daily training for shooting, of stalking attempts and of exploration of one’s territory, to begin to hunt . At the end of these experiments years , a hunter knows the animal he will take off. Complicity, in the most genuine Indian tradition, was established between game and hunter (today true druidism it is that also: to know nature).

Conditions for an ideal shooting are seldom gathered and so, failures are much more numerous than successes. To stalk a yearling roebuck 15 meters away is not an easy thing and the experiment should often be reiterated. Hence the permanent getting of knowledge about animals and the natural environment in which they move.

Which game we can hunt with bow and arrow ?

All! From smallest to biggest: mice, rats, snakes, birds, foxes, wild boars, Cervidae

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The rule is simple: the bigger the animal is, the more the bow has to be powerful. But the shooting distance has to be shortest possible.

10-20 meters seem to be the best choice. Beyond, it is difficult to be certain to hit one’s target. Of course, more the animal is big, more it is possible to think of being able to shoot it by far. But let us not forget that arrow has to absolutely pierce the lungs (or the heart) to kill the animal quickly, and without making it suffer. That therefore it restricts as much the zone to be reached. Twenty meters, for a rabbit, it is already too much!

The arrow has to be able to enter the skin, if necessary to break a coast, then to cross lungs and heart. It is the minimum to kill an animal without making it suffer.

Bow hunting dating back the Magdalenian time is paradoxically one of the most modern hunting systems, which will prevail in what must be the hunting of the future (Hunger games). Nowadays, hunting has two goals: it is an outdoor leisure, and it must contribute to controlling fauna in a selective way. It must therefore provide a maximum of outing days with a less pressure on fauna.

Bow-hunting matches exactly this definition of the hunting of tomorrow.

There is a choice between three great types of bows:the traditional longbow, modernized insofar as it is no longer made of yew but out of wood strengthened with glass fiber; the recurve bow ; the compound bow.

The compound bow was invented in the years 1960 by Holless Wilbur Allen. The compound bows are out of aluminum or of composite materials. At the end of each limb, there is a pulley through which some cables pass. The advantage lies in the fact that, at approximately half of the drawing, the necessary force decreases by 40% to 60%, even more, what makes it possible the bowman to hold a long time in full drawing without tiredness, while a traditional bow once drawn, has to be released quickly, if not the arm of the bowman gets tired, trembles and the shooting accuracy decreases. The string accelerates the arrow after the release what gives it more force. The speed when the arrow is loosed can be 90 m/s. The arrow flight has very little parabola, what increases the shooting accuracy.

Many archers consider that this model cannot transmit the bodily feelings felt with a recurve bow or a longbow, primordial as regards hunting at the time when only the instinct of the hunter indicates the precise moment of shooting.

To cut any sterile polemic off, let us remark that all these bows are effective, when it is a reliable material and of an excellent quality, and that only the preference of hunter dictates his choice. The archer pays special attention to the arrow intended to kill. This one has to be adapted to the power of his weapon, in order to straighten the flight of the arrow up, as soon as possible. Japanese maintain that, for loosing well, you should not be aware to open your hand, but to feel the string crossing your fingers. They are not wrong!

The compound bow is the type of bow which joins together the greatest number of qualities able to be used in the big game hunting. At twenty meters away, limit distance for hunting shooting , the recent and powerful version of compound bows send an arrow of forty grams at a speed coming close 350 kilometers per hour. If it is known that such a projectile is provided with a head the steel blades of which cut like razor blades, any animal receiving such an arrow in the rib cage succumbs very quickly to the internal bleeding due to the cutting of the blades in the network of blood vessels.

Crossbow was prohibited by the second council of Lateran held in 1139. Without going to this point, we can nevertheless wonder whether the use of the compound bow should not be reserved for the case when hunting is become necessary, either to control the population of such or such a big game, or in the event of lack or simply of increasing scarcity , of food. It is nevertheless more sporting and even riskier (but victory without risk is a triumph without glory), to face a wild boar only armed with a spear, or with a traditional bow.

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THE RODEO.

Spanish conquistadors and Mexican vaqueros (cowboys) contributed major components to rodeo. Horses arrived in 1519 in Mexico with Hernando Cortes, and cattle soon followed in 1521 imported by the viceroy of New Spain, Gregorio de Villalobos, via Santo Domingo.

In the sixteenth century, these vaqueros, or Mexican cowboys, already used the reata (lasso) put on chaperajos (leather chaps consisting of huge leggings and a belt) wore sombreros and, on their spirited mount from North Africa, kept the robust Spanish longhorns arrived a few years earlier as calves coming from Santo Domingo.

The word rodeo comes therefore likely from the Spanish rodear meaning encircling, round up and originally consisted in gathering livestock in order to mark it (branding operated by guardians in Provence), to treat it or to sell it. This seasonal event was, of course, an opportunity for different challenges playing the tough guy and parade.

Some areas, particularly in deep South Texas, had the environment conducive to the proliferation of stray cattle and horses. By the 1600s and 1700s Spanish-Mexican settlements and haciendas started in areas such as the lower Rio Grande.

As expeditions moved north transplanting cattle and horses, the man working cattle, or vaquero in Spanish, became the man on horseback who contributed many of the techniques and much of the equipment and rodeo terminology used by the American cowboy today. Riding, roping, and branding, along with the lasso, saddle, spurs, chaps, and even the word rodeo itself are some of the contributions.

The travel diaries of an Irish officer, Captain Mayne Reid, dated 1847, are probably the first documents that describe the lassoing and releasing of the cattle in the streets of Santa Fe ( New Mexico) by vaqueros).

The 1800s will be therefore a landmark period for rodeos; the era of the American cowboy began. In the early 1820s, the first Anglo-American settlers moved into Texas, a blending of the Anglo-Saxon and Spanish-Mexican cultures occurred. With the Spanish-Mexican knowledge of riding, roping, herding, and branding still available in the area, events occurred that culminated in the Southwest cattle industry.

Bull wrestling had been part of an ancient tradition throughout the ancient Mediterranean world including Spain. The ancient Crete Minoans practiced bull jumping, bull riding, and bull wrestling. Bull wrestling may have been one of the Olympic sports events of the ancient Greeks.

The events spread throughout New Spain and were found at fairgrounds, racetracks, fiestas, and festivals in the nineteenth century. However, unlike the roping, riding, and racing, this contest never attracted a following among Anglo cowboys or audiences. It is, however, a favorite event included in the charreada, the style of rodeo which originated in the Mexican state of Jalisco after the disappearance of haciendas.

American bull riding nevertheless originated in Mexican equestrian contests known as charreadas, during which vaqueros wrestled steer to the ground by riding up behind it, grabbing its tail or its horns, and twisting it to the ground.

SHORT REMINDER ON THE HISTORY OF TEXAS.

In 1821-1822, Moses Austin and his son Stephen Fuller Austin, two Americans who became Spanish citizens and subsequently Mexicans, as legal empresario officially recognized by Spain and then by Mexico became independent, made 300 Anglo-Saxon families come in the near-desert region along the Brazos River in Texas. The small colony had as administrative center San Felipe (future county of Austin, west of Houston), first alcalde (mayor in Spanish language) James (Jack) Cummins, when Stephen Austin set up a justice and a militia, ancestor of the famous Texas Rangers. In total 23 other empresario (not recognized by Mexico this time) came to add to the demographic growth of the region,

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its development and its defense against Indians. Many of these Anglo-Saxon immigrants owned slaves. The Mexican government realized that Anglo-Americans refused to integrate, sought to live separately and did not respect the laws concerning slavery, officially abolished in Mexico since 1829. Mexican President Anastasio Bustamante threatened the settlers with a military intervention, took measures to discourage Anglo-Saxon colonization and eventually banned the new settling of Americans in Texas. In order to prevent American immigration, forts were built along the border with the United States. But these measures did not prevent the influx of Americans to Texas: From 7,000 around 1830 their number increased to 30,000 by 1834 against only 7,800 Mexicans.

In 1827 and 1829, American presidents John Quincy Adams and Andrew Jackson tried to buy the region from the Mexican government, with no result. In 1832, American settlers attacked the garrison of Anahuac and on June 26 they lost the battle of Velasco. In October, 55 delegates formed the 1832 Convention in San Felipe and wrote petitions to the Congress of Mexico. They called for the repeal of laws prohibiting American colonization and the recognition of Texas as a fully-fledged state, but still within Mexico. A second convention was held the following year in order to write a constitution for Texas. It was brought to President Antonio López of Santa Anna in Mexico City by Stephen Fuller Austin who was arrested on November 21, 1833, for high treason.

The Mexican government made concessions: Article 11 of the colonization laws was repealed, allowing new American immigrants to settle in the territory. Texas was divided into three departments: San Antonio-Bexar, Brazos and Nacogdoches. English was recognized as a second language. The capital was transferred to Monclova in March 1833. But when the Mexican government wanted to suppress federalist system in order to establish a more administrative centralization, the civil war resumed in October 1835 ,with the battle of Gonzales between the Anglo American Texan troops and the Mexican troops . Autumn was marked by several skirmishes and clashes. On November 7, 1835, the representatives of the various Texas colonies met in San Felipe and declared that they wanted to defend the Federalist Mexican Constitution of 1824. They set up a provisional government and elected parliament. In 1835-1836, Samuel Houston was appointed head of the Texas Army in order to lead the war of independence. The Mexican General Santa Anna decided to lead an expedition intended to annihilate the rebellion. From February 26 to March 6, he besieged Fort Alamo, a former San Antonio mission occupied by rebels. The 5,000 Mexican soldiers ended up in defeating the insurgents and entered the fort. The battle killed about 200 people among the Texans, including the famous Davy Crockett (the most famous descendant of Sir de Croquetaigne). The survivors were executed. The suppression fell and the Mexican army engaged in various plundering with as only result to bring American settlers together. The men who fell in Fort Alamo quickly became heroes for Texan settlers who were eager to take revenge. Meanwhile, on March 2 in Washington-on-the-Brazos, the 59 Texan delegates of the 1836 Convention signed a declaration of independence from Mexico,this time.

The final confrontation took place on April 21, 1836, at the Battle of San Jacinto (with the help in men money and weapons from Washington): Sam Houston led the Texas Army (about 900 men) to victory against a part of the Mexican army of General Santa Anna who was captured shortly after the battle. The latter had to sign the Velasco Treaty on May 14, 1836, which recognized the independence of Texas, which also was officially recognized by the United States in March 1837.

In 1837, Samuel Houston established the capital of the Republic in a new city which took his name, before it was transferred to Austin in 1839. The new state had difficulty in delimiting its borders and therefore asked for its unification with the United States.

Most Texans favored the union of their Republic with that of the United States. The urgency of joining the powerful neighbor was felt when the Mexican troops captured San Antonio on September 11, 1842. A militia led by Mathew Caldwell finally released the city, but American abolitionists were anxious about the entry of Texas, a Slavery state, in the Union. This reluctance was removed when James K. Polk became President of the United States in 1844.

Washington did not hide its intentions to set the Texas border on the Rio Grande (and not on the Nueces River) and also to annex Mexican California.

On May 8, 1846, the forces of the American General Zachary Taylor marched on the Rio Grande in reaction to the capture of Fort Brown by the Mexican Mariano Arista; they won the Battle of Palo Alto near present-day Brownsville. The Americans finally invaded Mexico and took its capital on September

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14, 1847. The treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, signed on February 2, 1848, yielded what is called the Mexican cession, or 1.36 million square kilometers, namely the territories of Upper California and Santa Fe de Nuevo México, with southwest Wyoming (the remainder being part of the former French Louisiana), as well as the Colorado and the rest of the West of Texas, to the United States.

THE TEXAN SHOW

The rodeo is, all at the same time, a show and a sports event made up of various tests illustrating the work of cowboys. As a show rodeo begins with an opening ceremony (Grand Entry in American English) during which organizers and competitors parade on horseback with flags.

The roping (capture of calves with a lasso).

It is a question for the candidate of throwing his lasso around the neck of a calf, of making it fall and of binding it in a minimum of time. This event of the rodeo is inspired by the work of the cowboys when they must catch again calves which were lost or which fled in the middle of nowhere.

The bronco riding is the rodeo event during which the rider must hold eight seconds or ten if the horse has a saddle, on the back of a completely wild horse.

The bull riding is an event of rodeos during which the rider must mount a bull of Brahma race and to stay in the saddle with only one hand for eight seconds.

Let us go down now a little more towards the south because rodeo everyone knows among us since Hollywood made movies about it. On the other hand, its events involving bulls or steers must not be confused with Mexican bullfighting, which is very different.

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THE MEXICAN BULLFIGHT

(not to be confused also with the charreada which is similar to rodeo).

The Mexican bullfight is, of course, originating in Spain but it developed some specificities quickly.

The first bullfight in Mexico City, ordered by Hernando Cortes took place on August 13, 1529, feast day of Saint Hippolytus and commemoration of the surrender of Tenochtitlán (Aztec name of Mexico City) with bulls imported from Spain. Prohibited in Mexico only once, from 1867 up to 1887, the bullfight has here the larger arena in the world with 50.000 places.

General information on the bullfighting now.

Bull is an animal whose bodily (and sexual) power strongly impressed men of Prehistory or Antiquity. The taming of animals is often a dangerous activity that various civilizations sometimes made sublime as collective or initiatory rites. It does not seem that bull was for them the partner of a play if we exclude from this last word all idea of struggle and confrontation.

Three points are to be considered for our matter.

There is initially bull hunting and capture for ritual sacrifices, before domestic animals were used for these ceremonies.

The second point relates to the sacrificial and symbolic side ; it would be tiresome to approach it here.

Lastly, in the arena and in front of a large audience, the confrontation of the man and bull, initial form of bullfighting. The Latin word venatio which means hunting, and which was almost synonymous with bullfighting, in gladiatorial shows and circus games, defines this aspect of things perfectly.

During the Paleolithic age , Man hunted aurochs called bos primigenius or primitive cattle. Man represented aurochs on the walls of caves; then, in the Neolithic age, domesticated it. These powerful and savage animals lived in small troops in the areas of open forest as well as along rivers. They were met at the beginning of our era in the most temperate parts of the Near and Middle East; like in North Africa, in Egypt, in Iran and India.

As for Western Europe what is undeniable, it is that reproductions of bulls decorate the wall of the caves in which the first inhabitants of the South of what today France is, took refuge. We can therefore maintain that a bull,

morphologically similar to that we currently know, impressed already our ancestors, in the very first steps of our age. Because only a few animals, indeed, had the privilege to be represented in the cave paintings of this era. Horse and bull belong to the first artistic works carried out by Man.

Let us try to imagine how the Man of this time integrated the bull in his existence. Obviously, this ruminant was initially provider of food. The skeleton of an aurochs, found in Denmark, and dating back to a period ranging from 10.000 to 8.000 years before our era, presents three arrowheads of flint in the level of its chest. But, very quickly, the ardor, the strength, the horns of what only a game was, made it a mythical animal, symbolizing the generous and powerful life (cf. the legendary tervagan, in other words, the tarvos trigaranos of ancient Celts, and the not less legendary dun bull or termagant of Cooley, In Ireland). There is, of course, at the origins of bullfighting, a share of worshipping the animal, but let us rather endeavor to see how hunting also determined the relationship between man and bull. The confrontation and the fight against an extremely dangerous animal undoubtedly quickly had an impact very different as well as a meaning very different of that of a simple hunting intended to provide for the survival of a family or a tribe. The deeds of boldest hunters looked like examples, and emulation quickly had to preside over some one-to-one discussions with the animal endowed with fatal horns. That took perhaps a ritual nature… The bullfight was a speciality of the Celtic tribe of Volcae Tectosages as we could see it in Fernand Lequenne's essay entitled "The Galatians, Evreux 1959), more specifically the races of bulls and wild buffaloes.

"The Galatians, like every lord of the highlands, had always loved to chase the wild animals to put them to death with the sacred spear that is driven in full race in the back of the neck at the precise point known as knot of life: the gesture of Mihra, son of the light" (page 183). Repetere = ars docendi. Repetition being strongest of the figures of speech, let us not hesitate here to give this quotation. Again.

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“Accordingly the Volcae Tectosages seized on those parts of Germania which are the most fruitful [and lie] around the Hercynian Forest...Which nation to this time retains its position in those settlements, and has a very high character for justice and military merit....There is a third kind, consisting of those animals which are called uri. These are a little below the elephant in size, and of the appearance, color, and shape, of a bull. Their strength and speed are extraordinary; they spare neither man nor wild beast which they have espied. These the inhabitants take with much pains in pits and kill them. The young men harden themselves with this exercise, and practice themselves in this kind of hunting, those who have slain the greatest number of them, having produced the horns in public, to serve as evidence, receive great praise. But not even when taken very young can they be rendered familiar to men and tamed. The size, shape, and appearance of their horns, differ much from the horns of our oxen. These they anxiously seek after, bind at the tips with silver, and use as cups at their most sumptuous entertainments (Caesar. B.G. VI, 28).

The thus described show evokes, of course, that of hunting (venationes) the Romans gave in arenas: bestiarii gladiators fighting bulls, aurochs, bears, bisons, stags.

In the Belgian Ardennes during the time of Charlemagne, aurochs were still hunted on horseback and King Philip Augustus is considered as having killed the last of them.

Like all the Quaternary higher mammals, aurochs disappeared for still badly known reasons.

The last wild aurochs was an old female aurochs, killed in 1627, in the forests of Poland (area of Jaktorowska south-west of Warsaw). Some people tried to reconstruct the species by interbreeding parents belonging to the races which appear most primitive: thus get “aurochs “ currently exist in certain parks, but it is not, of course, the fossil species, Bos primigenius. They resemble old descriptions, but their genetic inheritance is different. They are currently used to clear of undergrowth some grounds and their meat is also marketed.

It is thought commonly the bull of the Camargue guardians is a direct descendant of aurochs, but nothing is less sure.

What is certain, on the other hand, it is that from the Celtic myth of the termagant or tervagan (cf. the Tarvos Trigaranos found in Saint-Remy-de-Provence) to the Middle Ages and even until today, bulls were always present in the South. And there exists a multitude of games organized around him, like the branding 7 in Camargue), the release or the running of bulls in the street (bandido in Provence, encierro or running of bulls in Spain), the Camargue or Landes bullfighting for the rosette.

In 1564, the annals of the town of Arles report, on November 16th: “Charles IX and the queen, his mother, were welcomed in Arles… there were, on the lists, a beautiful horse race, and a bullfight, on the place of the Market “.

It will be noted that horses and bulls were already important components of festivities.

In February 1596, a young German Swiss student , Thomas Platter the younger, visits Arles and the Camargue. He writes: “It is full of herds of cattle, both bulls and cows, which are not tended in any way, the owners contenting themselves by branding them with a hot iron before they are let loose. It is an interesting spectacle, they say,which takes place inside a palisade of carts, and attracts the curious from all the neighborhood “.

It is impossible to be more explicit ! The enclosures delimited with carts therefore existed already around the end of the 16th century, even if the show which took place in them did not consist yet in hooking attributes (rosettes, etc.) tied between the horns of the animal. But let us return to the account of Platter.

“ At Aigues Mortes especially, as well as elsewhere, but principally in the Camargue, the butchers have their own particular way of subduing cattle. They hunt them on small light –footed horses, and chase them over the country until they fall exhausted. Then they brand them with their hot irons and join them to their own herds, which amount to several hundred heads, and are kept in the little woods. They also have long poles with three iron points at the end, with which they prick the muzzle of any animal that may attempt to attack them; but sometimes they send themselves head over heels, which causes them less amusement than it gives the spectators “.

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A kind of rodeo in full heart of old Europe in a way with cowboys called guardians in the language of the country (the Camargue).

In the Camargue as in Texas in every case, the bull is unavoidable since many things depend on him.

Its breeding is the single means of making a good use of certain grounds. Around the bull ineradicable traditions were forged, which caused events the repercussions of which are very important for the country.

To tackle the bull (called biou) is a challenge which is a part of the Provence culture, as the success of the Camargue bullfighting and of the “ abrivade “ 2) shows; this running of the bulls in the street, of course, led by the guardians (cowboys in the local language) , which makes the guy next door, able to defy him. Nothing to do with the running of the bulls in the streets practiced in Spain in Pamplona for the festivals of saint Fermin (cf.Hemingway) even if its afeciounados (Spanish aficionados) are often the same ones. From time immemorial, man played with the bull.

Various kinds of bullfighting therefore remained. The Landes course. The branding of the cattle (ferrade in Provence 7). The Camargue course. The abrivade 2). The encierro in Spain. The running of the bulls in the street (the bandide in Provence). The mounted bullfighting (called tourada in Portugal, rejoneada in Spain). The pedestrian bullfight.

The criteria making it possible to assess the quality of the show are the following ones.

- Bravery of man: the man takes significant risks (even if accidents remain very few) and must therefore face without weakening an animal whose strength is considerable.

- Bravery of the animal: the bull is bred to be especially aggressive; its charge, its will to fight, are liked.

- Authority of the man over the animal. The connoisseurs appreciate the ability to impose his will on the bull (by forcing him to follow precise charge trajectories, or by leading it here and there , a bull tending to always place itself at the same place in the arena).

- Elegance: in particular for the cape passes which are very codified movements.

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THOUGHT ABOUT THE BULLFIGHTING FOR THE ROSETTE AND THE SPORT.

The history of the Camargue course falls within the festive tradition of this country straddling Provence and Languedoc. The first traces of similar plays are in the spontaneous entertainments where the farm workers, in a closed courtyard or in the delimited space of a palisade of carts 1), played to prove their bravery by provoking a bull. The owner of the farmhouse, in order to complicate the play, sometimes attached a reward to the horns of the animal (sausage, etc.). The play was made of higher bids and challenges. The festive entertainment then moved to the village feasts, and all those who wanted could take part in the bullfight. The snatching of the rosette was carried out bar-handed , in a certain scramble.

The violent and non-coordinated anticipation of the spectators had during a long time caused problems for the police force. The bullfight was the opportunity of important gatherings, even an opportunity of disorders.

Gradually, this free participation of commoners, this lack of differentiation of the place of the festival and of the place of the bullfight, changed. The bullfighting specialized then found its place as an event of the festival, but in a specific building: the bullring. The participants were limited: particular dress, authorization, restricted number. The habits and customs of a given era in a way have been imposed, or more exactly are being imposed. The variations concerning the number of razeteurs are still frequent. On the whole the Camargue bullfight is established as a sport. However, its transformation is still unfinished. It keeps a complexity close to the original traditional play. Like in Texas it has still as a center the community of work and culture, just as the traditional festivals and it is not centered around the theoretical pattern of the sport and the sporting society only. The effects of the work of the marquis of Baroncelli-Javon, in order to found a tradition, a nation of guardians (Camargue cowboys), slow down perhaps the complete conformity with sport, of this type of bullfight.

The analysis of the rituals of the rosette bullfight shows indeed that it is more a traditional play that a sport. Indeed, it is not a purified model of competition which is staged - a model in which competitors are classed on a hierarchical basis in the closed world of the sporting speciality -; but a complex pattern in which the work of stock breeders is developed and in that the Camargue bullfight is the exact equivalent of the rodeos of our childhood. Just like the Texan rodeo, the Camargue course is the opportunity of interactive exchanges with the whole of the society.

The sporting great events are preceded by ceremonies (of opening), opportunities of festivals gathering many spectators. These ceremonies can be first compared with what abrivade 2) is within the context of the Camargue bullfight. However, a more attentive analysis of the contents of these preliminary ceremonies shows a noticeable difference, in the very subject of the show.

In the case of sporting events the opening ceremonies stage sportsmen themselves, to whom a show as a welcome is offered. This show is open to the paying spectators of the event. This spectacle is, within the Olympic Games, according to the wishes of Coubertin, a cultural work in a broader sense. It is the same thing in the other opening ceremonies, parades for sportsmen, parades including sportsmen. These shows are always renewed, they are each time original and specific to each event.

In the case of the Camargue bullfight, the show is given to all inhabitants of the villages. It does not present the sportsmen, in fact, the razeteurs 3), but the bulls which are the cause of the staging of the agricultural work, of the equestrian experience of the mounted guardians (cowboys), that of the manade 4). And, highlight, it is always identical.

In that Camargue bullfighting resembles much the rodeos dear to Hollywood.

It is possible to interpret things in this way.

The rituals of the sporting event are turned towards the athletes, the spectacles are offered to them, and the festive possibility to mix with them is a homage.

The rituals of the Camargue bullfight are turned towards the traditional agricultural activities which form the heart of the country. What the ritual stages it is the agricultural work, of herdsmen or of cowboys (guardians): abrivade 2), bandide 5).

The ritual is attentive to the excellence of the work of men and animals, to the quality of dress and harnessing. This excellence of the work is taken to the extreme, since the ritual tolerates that crowd can disorganize the convoy (abrivade). The “attrapaires “6) seek to make the bulls escape from the

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circle made up by the cowboys (guardians). The quality of mounted herdsmen is appreciated through their control of these disturbing elements.

In light of the differences noticed on the level of the rituals, we can therefore remark that the rosette bullfighting is more a traditional play than a sport. The pattern of the ritualized actions of Camargue bullfight is much less rational than the pattern we find in sport; and which stages the fundamental values of the equality of opportunity for the inequality of results, which highlights the great heroes (the champions), the establishment (the public figures) and the brothers or sisters ((the spectators). The Camargue bullfight, as for it, stages a pattern of village life in the manner of a ritual. The well-done work of the cowboy (guardian) , the audacity necessary to approach the bulls (the work of the razeteurs)

The reward of best is paid like a work, by bonuses. The sporting reward, the trophy or the medal, is added. Moreover, the hero of the Camargue bullfight is a prop, the true star, it is the bull, it is him, who receives the honors of music, it is him who is sometimes represented on the village squares.

Two competitions are superimposed in fact: that of the razeteurs, that of the bulls. These two competitions are not hermetic. The owners of a manade (of a herd) have an interest in having their bull victorious. They are also interested in having the razeteur emphasizing the bull. It is not only a question to take off the rosettes and to score , it is necessary that the community is satisfied, that the show runs smoothly, that the organizer attracts a crowd, that there is some emotion, that the man takes risks. This delicate balance moves away the razeteur from an only performing attitude, only effective. It is necessary for him to emphasize the combativeness of the bull and, at the same time, to outbid also, on the risky service of his competitors. It is the bidding of the risk which is more important.

We find there a remain of the traditional play: to show one’s valor, one’s knowledge of bulls, by taking more risks than other young people in the village. Complexity of the bullfighting does not stop with the two superimposed competitions (men/bulls) and with the two ways of excelling (score and style), it is necessary to include the role of "turners" 8). Razeteurs are indeed helped by "turners" 8), but "turners" 8), whose part is to place then to make the bull leave on a trajectory which will be crossed by a razeteur, are not bound to particular razeteurs. They can, by their play, make the razeteurs succeed or fail . What the Camargue bullfighting sets up they are therefore networks of complex and ambivalent relations. But ambivalence indeed does not form part of the patterns of relations in sport. So the Camargue course remains a traditional play.

Notes.

1. A palisade of carts s is a circle or a closed square formed by carts, beams as well as boards.

2. The abrivade is the leading of the bulls, from the meadows into the bullring. This “convoying “is done at an accelerated pace. Today abrivade belongs to the show given in opening. The animals used on this occasion are animals specialized in this task, and are not the bulls which really will fight in the bullring. The leading proceeds from the entrance of the village into the arenas.

3. Raseteur. The name given to the white-dressed man who passes very close to the head of the bull in order to snatch the attributes fixed between his horns (rosette, etc.) by using a hook.

4. Manade. Manade designates at the same time the herd of cattle or horses, and the place where it grazes on huge spaces. By extension, the word manade designates the whole of the breeding with its personnel, his afeciounados (connoisseurs), its lands. People say “ganaderia “in Spain and in the South-west of France. Ranch in America

5. The bandide is the return of bulls in meadows. The victorious ranch, sorry, manade, leads the bulls back. It is an opportunity for picturesque parades today. The animals used in theses circumstances are also specialized animals, they are not the bulls having really run in the bullring.

6. Attrapaire. The name given to those who try to catch the bulls at the time of an abrivade or of a bandide, to make them escape. (That can be learned –it is better – opposite to them the bulls, as for them, know, instinctively!)

7. The branding (Provence ferrado) is not, at the origin bullfighting play. It consists in branding bull calves each spring. A very long time before our era, artists reproduced similar scenes. Young people mounted on small horses chase bulls morphologically close to Camargue bull. One of them leaps from his mount on the bovine, by clinging on its horns. Another controls a bull on the ground… Today, this ancient tradition gives rise to a true festival, during which spectators encourage the herdsman or the cowboy , who must capture the bull calf, to immobilize it then to brand it with the initials of his owner.

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Of all the bullfighting acts, the ferrade or branding in American ranches is undoubtedly that which remains nowadays nearest to its initial proceedings. It appears to be also the hyphen between the various forms of bullfighting.

8) Tornaire. Provence Tournaire. Man who makes the bull turn, or who places the bull in a position favorable to the razeteur. Concretely the turner gets the attention of the bull in order to cause his charge. The Razeteur then crosses in front of the animal and tries to tear off one of the attributes fixed between his horns.

But let us return to our sheep, or more exactly to our bulls.

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THE ABRIVADE (ENCIERRO IN SPAIN).

The word family “brivos “is well established in the South of Europe. Spanish, French, Portuguese, and Italian, brio, are borrowed from Occitan. The Oïl languages (old French) especially took up the verb “abriver, embruer = to launch, to start, “. Derived from the Celtic * brivos = “strength , courage, promptness “ attested in the Celtic languages and in old Occitan briu “impetuosity, eagerness “. The old Occitan verb abriva, or abriva “ to hurry,to rush “means in the beginning of the 18th century, “to catch somebody “. In Provençal of Barcelonnette, the meaning was specialized: s’abrivar = “to throw oneself abruptly on something, for example on food “.

The abrivade, just like the ferrade (branding), are not a bullfighting play in the beginning. The abrivade is a tradition which dates back to the time when the owners of cattle breeding led their rosette bulls into bullrings, by surrounding them with cowboys (Provence guardians). In the beginning, this word therefore designated quite simply the arrival in the villages of the bulls selected for the rosette bullfighting.

Today, the goal is to succeed in making a bull escape from the circle of cowboys who accompany the herd.

Early in the morning, the herdsmen or cowboys gather the bulls in a stockyard or an enclosure, to carry out the sorting.

The riders draw aside, carefully, the dominant males of the herd (simbeus or cimbeous in Provençal language) to work more easily and to gently take out the animals chosen for the bullfight.

They then form the point of a triangle in which they enclose the bulls. When they are fighting bulls, they are generally accompanied by well-trained oxen (cabestros) or by cows, which are used to guide them.

Generally, they are young bulls it is frequent to see thrown into a panic by spectators lacking shivers.

The first difficulty then consists in leaving this stockyard or this enclosure (bouvaou in Provençal language).

The abrivade thus traverses a way defined in advance, to the bullring by following the streets of the village. There, young people do all what they can in order to draw aside horses, and to make the bulls escape; all or almost is allowed: throwing flour, firecrackers, streamers coming out of nowhere in order to try to frighten horses. But generally, the riders just like their mounts stand fast and thwart the obstacles. The abrivado arrives safe and sound in its destination, the bullring, to start in it the show, “the free bullfight “ “the Provence bullfight “or “ the rosette bullfight “ called today rather bouvine in French or Camargue bullfight.

What it is?

Three “attributes “ are fixed at the forehead of the bull (or of the cow or of the ox): a red rosette and two white wool tassels. The three objects are kept by “strings “rolled up at the base of horns. Young people dressed in white and holding in their hand a metal quadruple hook - the razet - try to tear off these “attributes “of the bovine which defends itself as it can by charging all those who approach it. To escape the animal, the “razeteurs “are often forced to leap over the wood barrier which delimits the arena. The animal, carried along by its momentum, runs up against the barrier more or less violently. This shock, known as “barrier blow “ proves, according to the connoisseurs or afeciounados, the combativeness, as well as the valor of the animal. At the end of fifteen minutes, the bovine , it has or not lost its “attributes “ is led back in the bullpen and the following animal is led into the bullring.

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THE BULLFIGHT OF THE “BIOU “(OF THE BULL).

1. First trumpet call (long): announces the exit of the bull from the bullpen.

2. The bull (biou) leaves the bullpen and seeks his " camp “ a place in the arena where it will be able to defend himself (generally an angle).

The presidency announces the name of the bull (if he has one), the name of the manade (of the ranch in America), and the bonuses matching the attributes (rosette tassels).

3. Second trumpet call (short) which invites razeteurs to provoke the biou (the bull).

4. The “razet“ or meeting is held in four times.

First time: the turner, a former razeteur, by his voice and gestures, draws the attention of the bull “to place" him as it is necessary, and to prepare a good race for the razeteur (preparation of the razet), the razeteur puts himself in position.

Second time: the razeteur begins to run and thus triggers the charge of the bull.

Third time: the bull and the razeteur meet , it is the meeting, the “razet“. With his hook, the razeteur tries to remove an attribute: the rosette first , then tassels, and lastly , the 1st and the 2nd string.

Fourth time: escape of the man over barriers.

The good bull (ox or cow, unlike Portugal and Spain) pursues man until running up against the obstacle: it is the famous “barrier blow“ often greeted by an extract of CARMEN, the comic opera (in fact a tragedy) in four acts by George Bizet, composed in 1875, according to the eponymous short story by Prosper Merimee .

5. The bull remains maximum 15 minutes in the ring.

A 3rd call indicates the return of the bull in the bullpen as soon as he was stripped (or not) of all his attributes (rosette tassels strings), or as soon as he “ran his fifteen minutes “.

Sometimes, the bull may refuse to come back into the bullpen: the simbeù (ox leading the manade or the herd having a bell around its neck) is made going out , and generally the rosette bull joined it.

If the bull does not follow the cimbeou, a guardian or cowboy comes to threaten him with a steel-tipped goad ( precisely a three-pronged fork) to incite him to return. The trophies won by the razeteurs are given by public figures accompanied by young women in traditional costume.

Succeeding the bullfight a come back of the animals to meadow can then be organized: the release of bulls (Provence bandido). The cowboys accompany the bulls according to the same principle as that of abrivade.

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LANDES BULLFIGHTS.

The main figures of the Landes bullfighting are the swerving, the leap, the swerving after a jump and the swerving after a dodge.

The swerving. The swerver must therefore be courageous enough to await the charge of the animal. At the last time, he dodges the horns of the cow by turning on the spot and by arching his back.

The second figure is the leap. The leaper can gain momentum. He can also await the cow and leap over her when she lowers her head to butt: it is the jump with both feet, sometimes performed with his feet imprisoned in his beret, his legs bound by his tie. There is also the swan dive, the somersault, the somersault with a twist.

The swerving after a jump. The swerver awaits the animal with his arms upraised; when the animal is a few meters away, he carries out a vertical jump, falls down flush with the nose of the cow and pivots when he arrives on the ground, the cow slipping into the small of his back.

The swerving after a dodge. The swerving-dodging is performed without a jump. The swerver waits, motionless, with his arms crossed. By a light inclination of his trunk, he makes the cow believe that he will turn towards a side, but at the time when the animal is on the point of butting, he pivots towards the other side.

The Landes bullfighting is practiced for a long time in the South-west of France. The recorded oldest authentic document , mentions in 1457, an immemorial custom consisting in making cows and oxen running in the streets of Saint-Sever at the time of the Saint John's day.

It is during the 19th century that the Landes bullfight became what it is today. Two major events made it enter modernity. First of all, it was the obligation to practice bullfighting in closed buildings surrounded by bleachers, and not freely in the street as it was the case up to that point. It is in this limited space of the arena that swerving, then jump, the two artistic figures of the Landes course, appeared initially.

Like all the arena games , the Landes course results from a simple principle: the opposition of the intelligent skill of man and of the aggressive strength of the wild beast.

The Landes cows are used in this play for many years. Other races of cows and bulls were considered, but none could equalize the Landes cow with regard to the agility as well as the show. It is besides why this sport is called “races of Landes cows. “

Explanation of the word "cows" for those of you not conversant with Gascony Occitan.

But by the way first why some cows and not bulls as in the Camargue??

That is explained by the weight. A cow weighs approximately 250 kg, is very fast and nimble, whereas a bull, weighs approximately 600 kg, and is not as lively. But when he charges, he is comparable with a tank: impossible to stop it.

These “cows “have nothing to do with the farm cows. So do not think there are in the south-west of France a lot of cows with big udders charging human beings in arenas, because there's not. To avoid any misunderstanding, fans besides are speaking of young cows and not just of cows period.

It was at the origin meadows wild cows, of the same race as the bulls for bullfights. They are now bred especially for this use. They are not intended for consumption and do not produce milk.

These animals, kindred of the bulls fought in bullfights, belong to stock breeders called ganaderos (manadiers in Camargue, rancheros in America ) and live in the forest. Because unlike the bulls in Spain, these cows ARE NOT KILLED and take part in the bullfighting during several years (no lance, sword… is used). The Landes course is only a succession of exercises, of acrobatics, of gymnastics and skill, between the man and the animal.

The sport consists in provoking the animal and in dodging it skillfully. From where the name of swerving given to the exercise and that of swerver (Gascon language escartur) allocated to players.

The game opposes a cow to a team, called “cuadrilla “. The cow is a wild animal which begins its career when it is 3 or 4 years old, and continues it until it is13 or 14 years old. The cuadrilla is made up of seven swervers (dressed in a bolero) and of four men in white (the leaper two positioners -Gascon language entrenaires-, the rope holder -Gascon language courdayre-).

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The principle is very simple. It consists in putting the cow in an arena, to place oneself in the center of the ring , to provoke her charge , and to dodge it at the very last time. Either by the technique of the swerve , or by leaping over. But in order to organize that, four men are needed in the ring at the same time. The swerver or the leaper in the center (the swerver or the leaper); the second one who lures the cow towards him after she was avoided by the first one; the positioner (Gascon entrenaire) who places the cow close to a protection barrier or a refuge making possible to protect oneself; and the rope holder (Gascon courdayre).

When the swerver (Gascon escartur) dodges the cow, it is said that he makes a swerving. The main figures of the Landes bullfighting are indeed the swerving, the leap, the swerving after a jump and the swerving after a dodge.

It is at the end of the 19th century that the bullfighters in Landes took the suit they wear still today: white pants and colored bolero decorated with silver or gold sequins. The rope and the rope holder (cordier in French cordaire/courdayre in Gascon language) appeared at the same time, as well as the pads at the end of the horns of most dangerous cows. Traditional sport of Gascons, Landes bullfighting remains today still the main event of the village feasts. It takes place in an arena of the traditional type (rectangular and closed by a half-moon at one of the ends) or of modern Spanish type (circular).

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THE ENCIERRO OR BULL RUNNING IN THE STREETS.

The encierro is a kind of abrivade, but with a difference : there is nobody on horseback to escort bulls. Best known is the encierro in Pamplona which is held at the time of the saint Fermin days,patron saint of the town (Feria of San-Fermin or Sanfermines) from July 6th until July 14th.

This practice seems to be come from that which consists in releasing the selected animals to make them cross the town a few hours (or a few days) before the official bullfight. It is in an atmosphere of huge popular jubilation, of liberating orgies, that these bull runnings in the streets of the town are performed as of eight o’clock in the morning. The bulls who will fight in the same evening are released in the streets according to a precise route 800 m long, which lead them into the bullrings in a few minutes. White dressed young people, with a red beret, scarf and belt, and brandishing a rolled newspaper, go to the meeting of the bulls who rush with all their horns ahead, and begin to run in front of them.

For more details see Hemingway who has well conveyed the atmosphere of that in his novel entitled “the sun also rises.” Therefore useless to insist longer on the question. It is enough to buy the book.

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THOUGHTS ABOUT TAUROCHTONY.

Every talk concerning bullfighting would be incomplete without some mention of the controversy surrounding the words by Hemingway in this field : "Anything capable of arousing passion in its favor will surely raise as much passion against it."

Statistically speaking the chances are that the first bullfight any spectator attends may not be a good one artistically; so that it happens, there must be good bullfighters and good bulls; artistic bullfighters and poor bulls do not make interesting fights, for the bullfighter who has the ability to do extraordinary things with the bull which are capable of producing the most intense degree of emotion in the spectator but will not attempt them with a bull which he cannot depend on to charge : so, if the bulls are bad,that is only vicious rather than brave,undependable in their charges, reserved and unpredictable in their attacks, it is best that they be fought by bullfighters with knowledge of their profession,integrity,and years of experience rather than artistic ability.

In fact, I do not agree completely with Hemingway on Spanish pedestrian bullfighting, and I clearly prefer the bullfighting in the south of France or even in Portugal, where there is no public killing of the animal.

That being said, Hemingway is not completely wrong either because it is quite true that "(Spanish) Bullfighting is the only art in which the artist is in danger of death" (Ernest Hemingway, Death in the Afternoon).

Death in the Afternoon was published by Scribner's on 23 September 1932 to a first-edition print run of approximately 10,000 copies.

Hemingway became a bullfighting aficionado after seeing the Pamplona fiesta in the 1920s, which he wrote about in The Sun Also Rises. In Death in the Afternoon, a history of bullfighting, Hemingway has a go at the metaphysics of bullfighting that he considered analogous to an art.

Death in the Afternoon is a non-fiction book about the ceremony and traditions of Spanish bullfighting. The book provides a look at the history and what Hemingway considers the magnificence of bullfighting. It also contains a personal thought by Hemingway on the nature of fear and courage.

In turn, let us sketch a few words on the subject, for the sake of not leaving its monopoly to Hemingway.

One of the central images of the worship of Mithra is the “taurochtony,” which represents with constant iconographic characteristics the ritual sacrifice of the sacred bull by Mithra: Mithra appears wearing a Phrygian cap and looks at his victim with compassion; leaned towards the bull, he cuts its throat with a sacrificial knife; grains leave the wound of the bull ; close to the bull animals appear: a scorpion threatens with its pincers the testicles of the bull; a snake; a dog which eats the grain leaving the wound. Sometimes also a lion and a cup appear. The image is framed with two torchbearers , called Cautes and Cautopates. The scene appears located in a kind of cave, which can be the representation of the mithraeum itself or according to other interpretations depict the representation of the cosmos.

Historians have been much mistaken on this subject. The worship of Mithra was never the coarse and rough cruelty of which Christian racists (were there nonracist Christians besides at the time?) have kept harping on about it to us.

Of course because of their similarity to the central rite of this religion, the sacrifice of the bull of which the blood like that of the Paschal lamb among the Jews was shed for our salvation (an inscription which says about Mithra: he saved us through his shed blood, has been found).

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The sacredness is the field of frightening forces of life and death, sexuality and violence, that man must control but which are dangerous. In order to come into contact with these sacred energies the man of formerly implemented rites through which he hoped to pick up and dominate these energies.

Every sacred action is framed in a precise sacral space, in the case of the Spanish bullfight it is the ruedo”, in a time delimited “a la cinco de la tarde”in Spanish language and in the time allotted for each fight, especially in a ritual which makes it possible to get the control over dark forces.

The sacral rituality has a sequence of clearly marked opening and a sequence of closing. Olympic Games, for example. For the bullfight: the trumpet calls, the paseo, and in addition the exit of the cuadrillas delimit this particular time…

A sacrifice is composed of three essential characters: a victim, a sacrificer and an offering person. The one who sacrifices, the druid for example, is not necessarily the offering person; the offering person is the one who gives the victim.

It was necessary that the victim was agreeing or at least seemed to agree!

When we see the bullfighter adjust the way in which the bull holds its head at “the moment of truth” and that he makes it raise and lower its head, we cannot but think of the Antiquity priest, of the “druid” (a vate perhaps) who was to make the bovine before the sacrificial pit nod, a gesture through which symbolically this victim assented to its own death. There are gestures which exceed their own technicality.

Because there was then a kind of complicity between the druid and the victim. The ancient druid was not a murderer, a bloodthirsty man. He liked the victim. He took care of it, he honored it. Because as we have said , in a way the victim was always deified.

All the religions in the world insist on the quality of the victim. The human victims in the former Celtic sacrifices were carefully prepared and well fed. When the substitution victim is an animal, people take care of its bodily integrity. In the Jewish Paschal sacrifice, the victim must be a lamb without flaws, one year old, first-born, etc. A sick or disabled animal has not to be sacrificed. Same thing still in the Islam of today.

Did the victim of sacrifices in antiquity have chance? Yes, it had the chance to have been selected as a victim. The victim was deified, idolized, gazed lovingly and fulfilled an essential function. It could not dream of a greater destiny. The question of the chance a bull can have to receive indulto (to be spared) is not a question which arises for an aficionado. You don’t go to the bullfight while hoping the bull will be reprieved. More basically, the bull is liked, looked at, admired and, let us risk even the word, “deified but it ends life in arenas.

Sacral function of the bull.

The bullfighter in the arena, and normally the participants on the bleachers when they are aficionados, respect the bull. You should not misunderstand at first glance, Hemingway could have said, about the meaning of the applause of the arrastre (team of mules) pulling out of the arena the corpse of a bull who was very brave; they are in fact only symbolic applause of the victim.

In the Greek sacrifices, the victim does not have to see the weapon before the fatal moment. It was hidden under corn grains. The habit which consists in not fighting bulls with the death sword has undoubtedly something to do with this old sacred ritual. There still it is possible to give technical reasons: the death sword is heavy. But in any event, the bullfighter always keeps this sword in his right hand while hiding it in the folds of the muleta. The technical reasons are right but non-exclusive of the others.

Let us not forget nevertheless that the torero in the arena is a substitute. He fights in our place. Besides he often offers us the combat before fighting it. When he makes it a success, it is therefore us who succeed through him. We identify with the bullfighter who fights in the arena. We like well he is good because it is good for us!

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FIR FER AS REGARDS BULLFIGHTS, “FIR FER” OR MORE EXACTLY RIGHTS OF THE ANIMALS.

Since the famous Volcae Tectosages of Caesar, the bullfight always aimed at showing a wild bull and making it fought by man. But the bull which arrives in the arena must be in perfect health, and looking good,

i.e., having a beautiful imposing presence, “well armed “with intact horns, endowed with beautiful shape. If it limps, if it has a vision problem or some other handicap of this kind, we should not hesitate to send it back, the credibility of the fight is based on such respect.

Very strict laws regulate the minimum weight of the bull and its age, according to the category of the arena. For an arena of the first category like the Plaza de toros in Madrid, it must be 469 kg minimum (second category, 435 kg; third, 410 kg) and must at least be five years old.

Illegality made before the fight. The cheating consists in fighting an animal younger than it was announced (in spite of the branding of birth year and of birth certificates, often counterfeited by the stock breeders); to dope it in order to make it more docile, to saw its horns. Other practices exist, as purgation, the stunning of the bull put in a cage that men do turn, some sandbags on the spinal column for crushing it a few hours before the bullfight, etc.

This does not form part of the living conditions of the bulls in a natural state,and distorts the duel by putting the bull in a weak position. The regulation about the wounds the man has the right to inflict the bull during the bullfight is very strict.

Illegality voluntarily practiced during the fight consist, for example, in jabbing the muzzle with the tip of the stick of the muleta, or to drive in banderillas in the wound of the lance; time given to deal the death blow should not be exceeded either. All these cheating tend to put the spotlight on the man and to make him fight the appearance of a bull, what is contrary to the principle of a loyal confrontation which requires equal opportunities.

The carcasses of the dead animals besides are often examined to see whether there was, or not, illegality of the blows.

Editor’s note. About 1860 the use of dogs at the end of the bullfight was prohibited, then about 1880 the use of the media luna (a lance with a half-moon shaped cutting edge fixed at its end to cut the backs of the knee of the bull).

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THE PORTUGUESE TOURADA.

WARNING TO THE READER.

There is no public killing in Portuguese bullfighting (tourada, from touros = bulls).

Let us signal honestly nevertheless that it seems well that the animal is killed (destroyed?) behind the scenes.

It goes without saying that we advocate rather…

a) a better treatment of the bull in the arena, bringing the show closer to the one given in the Camargue or Landes bullfight.

b) veterinary care to rehabilitate and give the bull a well-deserved retirement.

The bullfighting on horseback, a specialty of Portugal, is called tourada or corrida de touros (corrida = run, touros = bulls). The tourada highlights qualities appreciated by Portuguese: skill, courage. The horse's performance and its ability to thwart the bull's movements in the bullring are very important factors in its selection. This explains the look of the horse, which has a very powerful neck and massive shoulders. This form of mounted bullfighting proves, generally, an equestrian show authenticating the mastery of the horse and of its rider. The focus is on the refinement of the stallion, its beauty as well as its skill. The devastating charges of the bull, which must be dodged at the very last minute by the horse, require a series of maneuvers demonstrating at the same time the great agility as well as the richness of the behavioral repertoire of the latter. Such events require almost perfect control from the rider as well as a very strict training of the horse.

The Portuguese tourada itself takes place in four stages totaling about ten minutes.

First there is the parade of participants: the cortesias.

Then begins the first third time that of the placing farpas. The rider holds a farpa, a kind of lance with a harpoon fixed at the end. After the exit of the bull, the rider provokes the animal and drives in its body this harpoon which by coming off from the handle, releases a little flag wrapped around. This makes the rider able to follow the bull, thus studying its behavior. The rider is entitled to three farpas

The second third time is the placing banderillas by the rider (6 to 9 according to the capacity of the bull) at the level of the muscles on the neck of the animal, which tries to make them fall. It is easy to understand, the bull then becomes more and more aggressive, and charges the horse.

NOTE FROM THE AUTHOR: THESE BANDERILLAS COULD BE REPLACED BY ELECTRIC SHOCKS.

Portuguese have respect for the animal and honor its courage as well as its bravery. They consider it a fight, but exclude a public humiliation in suffering, of the loser. This respect for the animal goes so far as to face it as an equal. There is no "picador" either to lay banderillas from the top of his horse. The rider provokes the bull's charge by galloping towards him, dodging the horns, driving a banderilla while he is passing, and runs away, pursued by the bull. But the horse being faster, the pursuer is not long in stopping the pursuit. The rider grabs a new banderilla, provokes his opponent again, dodges it, drives the banderilla, and runs away.

The last third time is that known as pega, carried out by 8 young people called forcados (because they used to have musket forks).

The presence of forcados in the Portuguese bullring is a survival of the old companies of musketeers previously responsible for guaranteeing the safety of the royal box and of the spectators by encircling the track. The two-pronged pike that was laid in the ground to fire with the musket was called forca, fork . It is sometimes carried in a purely decorative way by forcados during the cortesias, the ceremonial ceremony opening the show.

When the animal, approaching the spectators, made the use of firearms too dangerous, it was necessary to seize it with bare hands in order to put it back on the track. This is how pega was created

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and codified. It became a separate phase of the show when the first closed bullrings rendered the presence of armed men useless.

Other remains of this military past: the leader of the team is still called cabo (corporal in Portuguese language). Similarly, the wool cap is none other than the piece of cloth that the old soldiers put on before the helmet in order not to hurt their scalp with its metal bumps.

Progress of this third and last time.

Then comes the comic part of the tourada: the arrojado. This second part of the bullfight consists in immobilizing bull with bare hands.

This feat would be very difficult to perform with an animal fighting fit. This is why the forcados do not intervene until the end of the "tourada" once the bull has been completely exhausted by the rider.

Forcados (also called mozos de forcado or pegadores) act in teams, under the control of a leader. Their role is to immobilize the bull according to precise rules, the best known being the "pega de cara.” The leader of the forcados wearing a green cap provokes the bull, the charge of which has become shorter, by coming in front of it face to face. He has his beret in his hand and insults the bull.

When the animal lowers its head in order to charge, the man hurls himself between the horns and clings vigorously to them.

The other members of the team rush in turn, grab the bull (withers, tail, etc.) and join their forces to immobilize it. The shocks are quite violent. In what we may consider as the final act, all the forcados withdraw, except one which holds back the tail of the animal. The bull then turns in circles trying to reach the thing that pulls his tail, but never succeed.

The ethic of the forcados requires that the team restarts as many times as necessary in case of failure.

In Portuguese, this often spectacular maneuver is called pega (pegar: catch). The violent frontal shocks that it generates can cause serious head or chest injuries and sometimes lead to death.

The different types of pega

There are several types of pega according to the physiognomy and the attitude of the bull. In all cases, the role of the leading forcado (pegador) is important because it is responsible for luring the animal by controlling its charge. The complete success of the operation requires perfect coordination with his partners.

After the pega, the bull is brought back to the bullpen then, in principle, taken to the slaughterhouse.

N.B. It can also be reprieved which is always a good gesture, the slice of meat on your daily plate can well wait, for once.

The horns of the bull are « capped» (that is to say, it has its horns neutralized by a leather ball or cup often finished with a small round and / or blunt piece of wood.

This is inconceivable for some aficionados of Spanish bullfighting, but obviously reduces the risk of fatal injuries to the rider or his mount.

The horse also wears a kind of padded blanket (a caparison) so as not to suffer too serious blows if the bull is charging. Despite this, injuries and broken

The show being given in a bullring of a rather small size, the speed of the horse is not really very useful for it, so it is therefore necessary to make precise maneuvers. It is therefore the art of dodging that will prove important for the horse and its rider, which are constantly followed, a few centimeters away, by the beast. The opening parades before the fighting are very important. They highlight the costumes of the participants which are known as Louis XV style of "French style" of the eighteenth century (for what reason? We wonder well) for the riders (cavaleiros), the elegance of horses, equestrian figures ... What makes some people say that the tourada or corrida of touros is a bullfighting art raised to its higher level, because these bullfights are not centered on the shedding of blood or domination. The purpose is more to demonstrate the talents and training of the mount, rather than the ability to kill an animal.

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The training work is impressive: the horse is an animal that instinct pushes to escape the danger, but its training leads him to become an active participant in the tourada. The horse is attentive, gives the impression of naturally using his tail to lead the charge of the bull, tries to capture the attention of the bull. The dummy moves facing this one are spectacular.

There are also other more singular shows of bullfighting, among others in small villages of the Ribatejo (North of the country). Battles between two huge bulls, usually of Barrosa race (which reminds of the famous Dun termagant of Cooley in the Irish legends).

In the Azores bullfights are a little different. Riders (or in this case picadors) sometimes use puyas (huge lances with a sharp tip) like those used in the Spanish arena.

On the island of Terceira (the third island of the Azores), a long rope is tied to the neck of the beast, which is then released in the streets of the city; and pursued by sometimes frenetic participants, pulling and loosening the rope. The noise made by the explosion of a firecracker warns the locals that a bull is in the street, and that the "game" will begin. The goal is to come as close as possible to the bull without being touched.

In short, the Portuguese tourada has nothing to do with Spanish bullfighting. The main clash in Portugal is on horseback, while it is rather on foot in Spain. The peculiarity here is that the hero of the show is the rider, called cavaleiro in Portuguese language, not the bullfighter as it is the case in Spain, and that there is a comical finale performed by bullfighters facing the bull barehanded.

The tourada is more than just a fight. It is a demonstration of skill, courage, but also a real show worthy of the greatest emotion, action, and, oddly, sometimes even humor, movies.

It emanates from a tourada a kind of magic. The show takes place as well in the bullring as on the bleachers. Everything is special and unique. The atmosphere, the emotion, the brilliant images, the sensations felt, acrid smell of the red earth covering the ground ...

Whether a partisan or an opponent, attending a tourada at least once in his life, is certainly a highlight.

Unlike Spanish "bullfights,” in "touradas" there is no killing publicly of the bull (no matador therefore).

People make the exhausted bull going out of the arena lured by cows or oxen and it is simply led to the slaughterhouse the next day or treated and then taken back to the green pastures of its childhood after having defended itself bravely.

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LETTERS TO THE EDITOR.

“I am anti bullfight, I absolutely do not accept that Man misuses animals for his pleasure!!!

But in the Landes bullfight , I never saw shocking gesture against coursieres * (the young cows), on the contrary they are idolized or liked to the extent that I have had difficulties in understanding it at the beginning! Greatest have

names which make the coursaires (the fans ) tremble. FEDERALE, ESTAGNITA, MARCIACAISE, ARMAGNACAISE… “the Gold Horn “which takes place at Nogaro in Gers, rewards the best young cow of the year. The coursaires ** have a great admiration for these animals, just as much as they have some for the other actors of bullfights!

To fight against the mistreatment of animals, I am completely all right . But I consider that if you are against the Landes bullfight , you should also be against horsemanship, for example!

In these conditions, no sport should be practiced with animals, that is completely ridiculous!!!

We love the animals and we make them take part in different ways in our life, there is no mistreatment there in that!!! Here what I think! “

Michelle 974. December 14, 2004.

"The example or training you dare to offer to young people is appalling, even the role-playing games for hyperactive or somewhat half-witted boys are better. You are a very poor educator.”

Renee 713. January 12, 2005.

* Coursiere. Cow taking part in bullfighting. In Gascony (south of Bordeaux).

** Coursaire. A human being lover or connoisseur of this kind of show. In Gascon language.

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ANSWER : LIFE IS NOT A VIDEO GAME.

The author of this overview of various sports out of fashion is reproached with having, in his clumsy defense of Hemingway, compared the druids of the current Bobo folklore and the priests who officiated during a tauroctony or an ancient suovetaurile.

But the real druidiaction it is not that of video games of the type role-playing games or massively multiplayer online role-playing games for teenagers like dungeons and dragons or others of the same kind, in which the druid is an archetype close to the wizard, a class of characters close to wizards.

NEVERTHELESS LET US BUILD THE NEW MAN WITH THE BEST OF THE FORMER ONE.

The new man of today must first be a "high-knower" and then only a healthy mind in a healthy body similar to that of martial arts, but especially not a superhero (who matches rather gods of antiquity).

On the other hand, those who have looked a little deeper into the question also know that Druidism has never been against animal biodiversity. Neither even against human biodiversity, which is perhaps not the case with the majority of defenders of the current left and right globalization of capitalism (disappearance of languages and cultures in a universal frogs and snails pudding with chocolate for Casimirs)

To tell the truth, there is nothing more truly ecological than druidiaction, but of a well-understood ecology, coherent, without hypocrisy, and not schizophrenic or with a brain handicapped by a big Mariotte blind spot.

I speak knowingly, the proof is that: I attach in the appendix more than 10 documents proving what I say even if some of them are mostly counter-examples of what must be avoided, or some starting points for discussion. Anyway these are examples covering a little all the areas IN ORDER TO BUILD A NEW MAN WITH THE BEST OF THE FORMER ONE.

As for the first letter, that of Michelle, here is what I can say about it.

My dear Michelle, what you say is at the same time very right but also a little light. Naive and deprived of steps back , without profoundness . A little like the writings of our modern philosophers or journalists besides, but you, you have an excuse, you are very young. Which is not their case.

Allow me to begin by far in order to answer your objection. We uns, high-knowers of the druidiaction of today are by no means against horsemanship, which can do much good to certain sick young people (hippotherapy). To ride and to garden or breed (useful) animals, personally, should belong to the activities of every self-respecting political official, he would be so down-to-earth. To spend half of their time (for the rest they are able to pay secretaries and ministers with their head full of information) to work the soil with their own hands or to breed useful animals would make them wiser. Less idiots!

RULES OF THE GREAT ROLE-PLAYING GAME,

Druidic class or class-passing according to me (there I do what I want since the creator of the game it is me, and as for druids I rely on my personal knowledge in this field and not necessarily on their usual or traditional roles in the games known to date, which vary a lot besides; as for me my model is the Irish Catubatuos, a warrior druid ).

Let us point it out, first of all, to begin that the religious philosophy, the spirituality and the practice of the main characters of this class, of this first class which gathers the main of policy, do not come from a so-called revelation made to men by Joshua’s trumpet calls or from the vaticinations of so-called prophets, but call on reason and thought, about twelve books like the Fenians, on a whole Alexandrian library, and not about one book. By definition, therefore, they can only evolve, within a triangle the corners of which are atheism, pantheism and agnosticism. What matters in this case is the spirit, or the outline, not the letter. Hence the first rule of the game below, finally still, in my opinion, and my design of the role of this class of individuals.

Rule N ° 1.

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The human great adventure can be possible only through an experiment lived at the cost of an intensive training. The harder the training is, the more the acquired experience and the effectiveness will be large. The secret cannot be handed down from a man to another, it is to be conquered. What you will have learned by listening to the words from the others you will forget it quickly, what you will have experimented with the whole of your body, you will remember it throughout your entire life.

Unlike Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, this druidism of high-knowers recognizes all the paths being able to help to return into the Big Whole in good conditions (after a more or less long stay in a better world, of course, just like the Buddhist tradition of Western Pure Land) and rejects none of them on the face of things even the Mithraic tauroctony, which is also part of the universal heritage of humanity. At most it thinks that some are faster than others, and can therefore in a way be short cuts.

Its teaching transcends most rigorous asceticism as well as most sensual hedonism.

Over centuries this first-class druidism listed, and made it possible , an opening to various awareness levels. Thanks to various techniques, sometimes even using external artifices, often bodily processes. Motionless meditation in the Hornunnos way, sitting beneath an oak in the forest, in the case of the druids of aventieticos type in Wales (Merlin); or external but also ecstatic dynamic practices,in the case of warriors druids (Catubatuos in Ireland).

Real life is not a video game we said. Role-playing games or Massive Multiplayour Online Role Playing Games form nevertheless an incontestable germ of spirituality according to Veronique Donard and Eric Simar in their article "The video gods. On the adolescent spiritual dimension in video games " in the quarterly journal of psychoanalysis" Adolescence "( GREUPP Editions) published in 2013."

"Spirituality, recent work has amply shown it, is a dynamic process essential to the psychic structuring of the individual. It is set up from birth, driven by the imperative need for meaning of human beings ... .

Notwithstanding, if this spiritual dynamic peculiar to the human psyche can exist independently of any explicitly religious feeling, only sublimation makes it able to open to a superior authority holder of meaning identified as such. Now, whoever says sublimation also says idealization, its dangerous and alienating twin, which, like the first one, takes root on the ground of values and is put in place when danger threatens the subject's object and identity markers. As Ph. Gutton explained, the process of belief as an "act of thinking on which the feeling of being is built" plays a primordial role in the separation between internal world and external objects. There is a certain category of video games that promotes and uses, both on the substance and on the form, the adolescent belief process. This type of game belongs to the Role-Playing Games category as well as to their online multiplayer upgrade, the Massive Multiplayer Online Role Playing.

Generally, RPGs and MMORPGs offer universes built around graphic and narrative elements that come out from the line of Medieval-Fantastic and Heroic-Fantasy. They make the gamer able to immerse himself in an imaginary world, centered around the period of the Middle Ages and populated by fantastic characters who come within legendary and mythical fields. Knights, dwarves, orcs, trolls, ogres, unicorns, vampires .... This particular configuration of the game's universe makes it overflowing with elements rich in spiritual and religious symbolism.

In the scenarios, first of all, we find common points such as a pre- or post-apocalyptic approach in which the world is threatened with being torn apart, divided or in the process of extinction, using a hero with a messianic destiny who, by his courage and bravery, would bring salvation to it. A hero intended, of course, to be embodied by the gamer ...... We cannot here skip the very strong initiatory dimension underlying the progression of the character played by the gamer. To accomplish his mission, the latter will have to face ordeals called quests which, once accomplished, will bring skills, power and recognition, to his character. But it happens that if in these quests some are traditional enough, others refer clearly to spiritual or religious spheres.

NB. It goes without saying that the characters of the type "thief" or "dwarf" or "magician" or “vampire” etc. These games cannot be structuring elements of true spirituality in the process of formation.

And that for this adolescent spirituality ceases to be too Manichaean or matures and becomes suitable for adults worthy of the name it would be necessary to put back somewhat in the spotlight the third class of characters in these modern role-playing games, that of producers farmers craftsmen workers, etc.

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Even to insert in them a fourth class of individuals that we could call atectai or shudras, for lack of adapted Indo-European terminology.

It will be therefore possible to usually distinguish in our own druidism 4 main paths according to the highlighted technique.

- The path of the first function or way of knowledge, which aims at the independence of mind by an awareness about the relativity of the things and an interrogation on the “who I am? “ As all things fit together in this lowly world (Mediomagos the world of human beings), it is a question of distinguishing what is false from what is true (the notion of truth was always very important for the high knowers of ancient druidiaction), what is real from what is not real, and what is eternal or immortal from what is not. “To you alone it is given the gods and celestial powers to know or not to know “(Lucan Pharsalia, Book I). Recitations by heart of texts and of various other formulas (lorica, etc.) characterizes this first function druidism.

A variant of this druidism or psychophysical meditation, the druidism of aventieticos type (rajah yoga in Hinduism), is practiced in a complete immobility of one's body and of one's soul/mind, through the meditative techniques, used to realize one’s true nature. See Hornunnos or Merlin sitting cross-legged beneath an oak in the forest.

- The path of the second function. That of action and of body discipline , through various postures

but also the control of one’s breath as well as the work on mental energy. It is the path of the druid of lucterios type or that of the warrior of Catubatuos or Ambicatus type, also known as Setanta way. Bodhidharma in the Far East.

- The path of the third function or way of the selfless action (karma yoga in Hinduism) in which man does his duty without seeking to collect at all costs the fruits of it. As Veronique Donard and Eric Simar remarked it well in 2013 in their article "The video gods. Of the adolescent spiritual dimension in video games " of the quarterly journal of psychoanalysis" Adolescence " (GREUPP Editions) the third productive function is the big loser not to say the great missing in video games. And let's not talk about the class of vanquished peoples, the Atectai or Shudras in India.

"If the characters of RPG or MMORPG type in video games are obviously modeled on the model of the Indo-European tripartite functions brought to light by G. Dumezil - priestly, warlike and productive function - the choice of classes intended to be embodied by gamers abandons the productive function for the benefit of the warrior and of the priesthood, the productive function intervening rather as a complement of the character, whether a priest or a warrior .”

But it's not because teenager video games skip this third productive function that we uns, high-knowers of the real world, have to do the same thing. It is therefore important for the benefit of our societies to repair this injustice implanted in our minds since adolescence, given the importance of manual labor in the general balance of the individual even for our survival to all in the near future according to collapsologists (our authors speak of a post-apocalyptic world).

In other words (in a made sublime way), this path consists in fulfilling one’s obligations, without wishing or waiting reward for that. It is a kind of daily sacrifice, an incentive to work permanently for the higher Good of mankind even of the world. Including while devoting oneself to a given trade or to all kinds of communal services, to do without being concerned with any personal profit. There is also in this druidism of third function, sexual energy utilization (fruitfulness) what also relates this druidic path with the Indian Tantra yoga.

But the spirituality of the (built with the best of the former one) new world, to come, must also look into the destiny of the vanquished by globalization, from the Irish Atectai to the Indian Sudras and for them largest indulgence is required.

It is not a question of "betraying" the rule of the Aryan Tripartition dear to Dumezil, BUT OF ACCOMPLISHING IT. A bit like the great Nazorean rabbi Yehoshoua Bar Yosef did for the Law of Moses (Matthew 5:17).

Many thinkers, such as Professor Peter Sauzeau, believe that the best way to strengthen a sociological law is to contribute to its evolution by enlarging it.

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Along with his brother Andrew, he proposes adding a fourth function to the three identified by George Dumezil in Indo-European mythologies, a fourth function that groups together what is marginal, strange and foreign, what escapes Cosmic Order; and that would economically complete, without distorting it, the Dumezilian trifunctionality.

For Dumezilian trifunctionality does not explain everything. The limitations of the theory become clear when one considers the importance of the data it has to forego explaining or the complications it entails. Dionysius, Apollo, Artemis, Hecate - all of them interrelated - can illustrate trifunctionality in one way or another, but they cannot be situated in a strictly trifunctional analysis of the pantheon, as Dumezil himself acknowledges.

This fourth function would group together, for example, the Vedic god Rudra, the Scandinavian Loki, or the Greek Apollo, who do not find their place in the three Dumezilian functions, or mythical or legendary figures such as Robin Hood (a Fenian ?) or Ulysses.

N.B. The hypothesis of a fourth function was put forward in 1961 by Alwyn and Brinley Rees on the basis of Celtic tradition, and in particular the traditional geography of Ireland: 4 provinces plus a center. G. Dumezil had not condemned it, but thought it was a local innovation.

He was wrong in that it is found among the Galatians of Asia Minor with their tetrarchy and drunemeton. Let's say that it is a peculiarity specific to the Celtic world and let's not talk about it anymore.

The quadrifunctional theory of the Rees sees in the Indian varnas system an application of a pan-Indo-European quaternary conceptual model. And whatever the origin of the shudras: the fact that they may have been non-Indo-European in no way excludes the fact that they were assigned a functional place in Indo-European ideology. The varna of the shudras is indeed the fourth term of a quadrifunctional series, both homologous to the others (as varna in its place, the last one, in the hierarchy of varnas) but also heterogeneous to the others (as varna excluded from sacrifices).

Hence our…

- Path of the cursed or the damned of the earth, the path of the fourth function, that of the defeated peoples who have become "dhimmis" or the path of total devotion to the gods (or demons *): the defeated rely on their grace (bhakti yoga in Hinduism). This last path was quickly confused with the previous one, that of the small people of free men. It can be summed up in the worship of the different Celtic deities, which today is like "finding salvation in the faith" (in Jehovah, Jesus, or Allah, it doesn't matter!).

Let us not forget nevertheless that all these ways lead theoretically to the same goal, the access into the Big Whole, the Great Universal Including, because metaphysical knowledge or surrender to one’s destiny, are not the only paths being able to lead to this reinstatement (after an ultimate improvement in the Next World).

Whereas in the first function druidism, the way making it possible to reinstate the Big Whole, the Pariollon (through a more or less long stay in a better world we have said), is that of knowledge, and very secondarily of meditation; second function druidiaction gives less importance to knowledge and much more to mental focusing, in the true sense of the word.

Salvation also can, so to speak, be conquered after a hard fight , through a technique being able to lead to thorough control of the body and of the soul/mind. The goal of this technique is to replace the normal awareness by another, qualitatively superior. It is perhaps besides what Ammianus Marcellinnus caricatured by writing, “ Many individuals of the lower orders, whose senses have become impaired by continual intoxication, which the apothegm of Cato defined to be a kind of voluntary madness, run about in all directions at random.” We uns , high-knower of the druidiaction of today, that rather makes us think of the awenyddion in Welsh tradition. In vino veritas. Well, anyway, let us go on!

Rule of the game No. 2.

What is sure in any case it is that, to be able to be focused, it is necessary to stop the swirl of the inferior state of awareness, to be no longer angry for example, because if you quarrel with a sweep,

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you'll get blackened; and for this reason it is therefore necessary to experiment first such state of awareness . Far therefore from the unrest and swirls of life.

These states of awareness are in unlimited number, of course, but it is possible to approximately classify them in two categories: mistakes and illusions.

This elimination from the ordinary awareness of perception mistakes, of reasoning mistakes, of confusions… In short, of the almost totality of ordinary daily psychological experiments (all that we feel, thinks, all that crosses the mind of the man in the street)….

Is nevertheless not so easy to get. In addition to the knowledge, it also implies a practice, and a certain form of asceticism: the path of the second function, that of the strength of the body.

For that, the Celtic vercinget or berserk of the role-playing games must control the techniques advised by his lucterios (his master); to respect the Kission i.e., the whole of the tripartite, or better, quadripartite, ethical and religious prohibition by his profession (his gessa); to practice the focusing or the fixing of the mindset which leads to the enlightenment of the auentieticos type (awenydd in Welsh). Which ideally is achieved in a state of a metamorphic fusion of body and soul/mind, which is not “ outing from oneself “ but on the contrary "return to the self,” and to the genuine nature of the soul. Because there is indissoluble unity of the human being, who is not only a body +one soul, but who is “body + soul + mind “ (cicos+ anamone + menman). At least according to what we can know of former druidic anthropology (and not from today druidry).

The goal of the Celtic martial arts taught in a grianon by its lucterios (warrior druid) is to connect the anamone or individual soul, with the eternal cosmic soul (awentia or awenyddia). The Celtic warrior moves indeed in a holistic understanding of the world: he knows vital energy and the way in which it is spread in the Bitos or Universe.

By the control of his mindset , he can slacken his body, let go, and contain his negative emotions, in order to become more effective. The whole is gotten by the practice of various postures as well in Celtic wrestling as in the handling of the stick or of the sword (asanas in Hinduism); of breathing control (pranayamas in Hinduism); and, of course, of focusing.

The warrior shaman- hunter thus liberated receives what the divine will brings to him, he became the master of his earthly nature, and has conquered his spiritual being.

He uses his imagination and the power of his inner vision to sharpen his perceptions, to change his natural intuition into a sixth sense even some clairvoyance. He discovers the transcendence-immanence in the events of nature which surrounds him.

He immerses himself in it naturally… and nature answers him, by offering to him, “powers“. Natural or supernatural or preternatural? The question is not there! Supernatural is only some immeasurable naturalness…

The druidism of the warrior type, of the lucterios or catubatuos type, is therefore a way of being, of sharpening one’s perceptions in order to serve his community, while remaining free.

It places true (non-hypocritical) compassion in the center of its values, i.e., it suffers from the sufferings of the other without falling into sentimentality or mushiness because it prefers the Weberian ethic of responsibility to the ethic of conviction, to teach how to fish that to give a fish, and lives according to a principle of maturely weighed word,

“The truth in our hearts, the strength in our arms and the art of making a good speech “. “Firinde inàr croidhedhaibh, 7 neart inàr làmhaibh, 7 comall inàr tengthaibh “ which brings a true serenity to its message, to its teaching, and to those who follow them. Even if the Fenian warrior likes to laugh, because to live in harmony with the forces of nature makes naturally merry; he will be careful not to joke by humiliating anyone. Because mockery (like anger or resentment) sullies the one who indulges in it , thus depriving him of his powers.

See the “deontological “ advice in a way, that Cuchulain of Muirthemne gives to his foster son, Lugaid of the red stripes , the future king of the kings in Ireland. Cuchulainn who, let us point it out, in the event of war, never killed “charioteer, nor messengers, nor unarmed men “.

“Do not be a cause (taerracht) of vehement and fierce quarrels ! Do not be arrogant (discir), hard to reach, haughty. Do not be intransigent, hubristic, bad-tempered, impulsive. Do not be overcome with the drunkenness of great riches, like a flea that is drowned in the ale of a king's house ?? “ etc.

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The warrior druid therefore is a warrior without other weapons that the power of his lucky influence: by his simple presence, by his standpoint, he contributes to the weakening of negative forces and to the development of the society in which he lives. Best example is still the Lug/Hermes mentioned by Martial, and who had no longer even to fight in order to overcome, so much was great moral strength (the magic some people would say) issuing from himself.

“Hermes is skilled in all kinds of arms; Hermes is a gladiator and a master of gladiators, Hermes is the terror and awe of his whole school…Hermes is skilled in conquering without a blow; Hermes is his own body of reserve “.

But if it becomes necessary to fight bodily (in order to protect some not guilty people , for example), the high-knower of the druidiaction (druidecht) turns into a master of martial arts. In their purest expressions, martial arts taught in the grianon by lucterios like Scathache were indeed disciplines using the maximum control of oneself, body, soul, and even mind, which makes it possible to disarm an enemy… in order to be able to spare it. Let us have faith in the power of the Mind which can guide us individually or collectively in our walk towards the role model. But the self-confidence of a warrior should not be that of the average man.

The latter seeks to be strengthened in the eyes of the passers-by and calls that self-confidence. The true warrior seeks impeccability in his own eyes and calls that: humility. The common man clings to his fellow human beings, while the warrior lives only for the infinity.

What characterizes the lucterios or warrior druid, it is this Orphic descent in the middle of oneself. Because in Man a whole multiplicity of universes and humanities live, universes and mankinds of which he is hardly aware, but of which some fragmentary elements sometimes reappear in his dreams, or in his visions (aislingi). Unless he contacts them deliberately, what the warriors druids like Catubatuos do. For them, the concept of imagination does not exist, what is imagined is a reality for the mind. Moreover all that Man invented was imagined (put in images) before, and was dreamed. And if it was the minds which built the world? Imagination being precisely the first of the powers, the power of the Soul/Mind.

Catubatuos 1° prophesied one day that beautiful Deirdre would cause the destruction of Ulster, and that his grandson Cuchulainn would have a glorious existence, but short. And it was what happened!

Main vocation of Celtic martial arts concerns only indirectly fight. Its original goal is to unify the various levels, bodily, psychic and spiritual, of a human being, in order to bring him closer to the Big Whole or Pariollon (after a more or less short stay in the Hereafter for an ultimate purification of course). Celtic martial arts therefore aim at liberating the (human) being of the human condition.

The purpose of their techniques is to help man to free himself from his limits and to transcend his condition. On the mental level, the life of a human being is a constant shock of various states of awareness , always sources of mistakes and illusions. A step in the way of the liberation from these human limits is gotten by the removal of these states of awareness (anger, the fact of being misled, etc.) , the subject thus being able to find again his genuine substance.

There exist different methods in touch with the various temperaments and according to the needs for each one to reach this result. Celtic martial arts are this set of methods and of bodily and mental techniques, having for finality to harness together the faculties as well as the energies of your body and the of the pair of forces soul/mind (anamone/menman) 2°.

What druidiaction advocates it is self-control, domination of instincts; not the suppression without discrimination of all the desires of the human being, embracing in the same disapproval natural tendencies like healthiest sexuality and deviations of this feeling when we are not free (when we live like animals in a zoo). The true high-knower of the druidiaction (druidecht) cure heal and improve, they purify through different cathartic techniques and rectify, they do not destroy. Their goal is not the suppression of the life itself.

What the high knowers of the druidiaction (druidecht) teach, it is the ordeal can be a way leading to happiness in the other world … shorter than others. Druidry does not remove suffering, it ennobles it, makes it fertile, makes it the instrument of every progress, the pledge of our future greatness, because it is also through the sacrifice that we can save or be saved. Then Celtic Fenian or berserker of Vercinget type is liberated , as well from suffering as from fear, and exceeds the illusions or afflictions of the world. A man thus liberated receives what the will of the gods has wanted to bring to him, he is become the master of his earthly nature, and has conquered his spiritual being.

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The one who reached this goal draws aside, with laughs and scorn, the whirling sphere that is the Earth. But the value of the suffering depends, of course, on the use we make of it , of the virtues of which it is the opportunity: humility, self-detachment, etc. differently it makes embittered.This is why no one has the right to ignore the evils of others (hospitality for example is the duty of every well-born Celt). The accomplishment performed by the warrior druid master (lucterios) gives him not very common powers which, of course, can be sought for themselves, at the expense of the spoiling of the will required by the spiritual path. From where its danger as well as the need for a Kission, a very strict tripartite or quadripartite ethical code at least according to Seathrún Céitinn (Geoffrey Keating) in connection with the Fenians in his Foras Feasa ar Eirinn (History of Ireland). To be notIced, Keating calls this Kission “fiach” in his Gaelic text , and not “geis” as we could have expected it. In other words, the notion of ethical debt or injunction.

Other rules of the game therefore.

There were four injunctions placed on everyone admitted to the ranks of the Fenians (Celtic berserkers of the vercinget type).

The first injunction was not to accept a dowry with a wife, but to choose her for her good manners and her accomplishments; the second injunction, not to force a woman (cf.Quran, chapter 4, verse 34 : "As for those from whom you fear rebellion, admonish them and banish them to beds apart, and scourge them..." ** ) the third injunction, not to refuse a man asking for valuables or food; the fourth injunction, that none of them should flee before less ten warriors.

The following are the other conditions.

1)No man was received into the Fenians 3° until his father and mother and clan and relatives gave guarantees that they would never demand any retribution from anyone for his death, so that he might look to no one to avenge him but to himself.

2) No one was admitted into the Fenians until he had become a velede and had not learned up the twelve *** books of the veledae (fili 4°).

3) No one was admitted into the Fenians until a large pit reaching above his knees had been made for him, and he was placed in it with his shield and a hazel staff as long as a warrior's arm in his hand; and nine warriors, with nine spears, were to approach him, leaving the space of nine immaire ? between him and them and they hurled nine spears together at him. If he were wounded in spite of his shield and his hazel staff, he would not be received into the Fenians.

4) No man was admitted into the Fenians until, having his hair plaited, he was sent through several woods with all the Fenians in pursuit of him with a view to wounding him, while he got but the odds of a single tree over them.

5) No man was admitted into the Fenians whose weapons trembled in his hand.

6) No man was admitted among them if a branch of a tree in the woods unloosed from its plait a single braid of his hair ****. ****

7) No man was admitted among them if he broke a withered bough beneath his feet*****

8) No man was admitted among them unless he leaped over a tree as high as his forehead, and unless he stooped beneath a tree as low as his knee, through the great agility of his body.

9) No man was received into the Fenians unless he could pluck a thorn from his foot with his hand without stopping in his race for the purpose.

10)No man was admitted among them unless he had sworn to the king 5° of the Fenians that he would be faithful and submissive to him.

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Last point now, Celtic martial arts could not be atheistic materialists. According to Strabo, some Celts and particularly the Galicians in Spain were atheistic. Is it possible or is it rather a lack of nuance in the thought of Strabo, unable to understand the subtleties of Druidic Schools. In any case here is the quotation. “Some say the Callaicans have no god, but the Celtiberians and their neighbors on the north offer sacrifices to a nameless god at the seasons of the full moon, by night, in front of the doors of their houses, and whole households dance in chorus and keep it up all night “ (Strabo, Geography III, 4,16).

In any case, Celtic martial arts postulate the existence of a higher Being, who, of course, is not an anthropomorphic creator personal god-or-demiurge, as in Judaism, Christianity or Islam (because why on earth, God, if he exists, would have created the world, to then to destroy it one day in addition) but who can be the subject of meditations. They also admit the existence of a plurality of god-or-demons, representative of other truth levels, being able to be personally felt (seen, and heard) by human beings.

* We write “demons” here because generally, in every religion, the gods of the other people are compared with “demons.” It is enough to see a little what the first Christians thought of the gods of the other peoples. Even our unhappy Belin/Belen/Belenos was compared with the Hebraic demon Abaddon in the apocalypse of Saint John (9,11). In the person of his Greek interpretation Apollo, it is true. See also Tertullian and the other Christian racists of this species (all first Christian authors in fact).

** The professional liars already quite at work with the word Jihad (takkiyist by profession politicians journalists or intellectuals), maintain, of course, that the Arabic verb zaraba means in no way corporal correction in this case but a simple getting back on the straight and narrow way through the breakup itself. These wise asses who try to make us think the moon is made of cheese, quite simply forgot ..... that the same is not envisaged by God in the Quran (the wife “scourging ” her husband, etc.). But as idiots were never missing among journalists for swallowing such a takkiya, why to mind?

The whole question is: “how the average Muslem, the Muslem in the street, understood this verse over the centuries.” As regards the lawyers of Islam we know, they call that “a right of light correction for a husband.” Quran is, of course, a perfect work but the fact is that, concerning this point, it should have been clearer.

*** Why twelve? It is, of course, a symbolic figure meaning especially that Fenians were not to be people of a book and only of one book (like Jews Christians and Muslims). They must have read many books and if possible on most various, though fundamental,subjects.

**** Strange image which is there perhaps only to mean that they were to be experts in the art to move in forest.

***** Editor’s note. There Keating describes a Kission or an ideal that all, of course, endeavored to reach, but that very little were to approach.

1° Cathbad. Catubatuos. A prophet and first druid of Ulster, husband of Queen Ness and father of King Conchobar. He is responsible for instructing young heroes to divination, and to the art of determining what days are favorable or not for precise exercises or activities. He is at the same time druid and warrior. His name means “who kills in fight “and “who threatens “. Counselor of King Conchobar, he will curse him, him and his fortress of Emain Macha, when the king is cruel. It was also him who prophesied that Deirdre, endowed with a great beauty, would cause the destruction of Ulster. He will also predict that the life of Cùchulainn would be glorious, but short.

2° Anaon. The anaon, it is the soul and the mind, the anamon and the menman (cf. precisely Sanskrit manman which means “mind “). What survives after death, what goes into another world after death, it is not only the soul, but the duo, the couple, the horse and carriage in a way, “soul + mind “.

3° Fenians. Kind of Celtic vercingets or berserker thus called in Gaelic language.

4° Fili. A druid of the velede type.

5° Prince or king of the Fenians. Most famous was Vindos/Finn whose bodily training was outstanding and almost “animal“ but who also had the gift of knowing everything only by putting his thumb under his wisdom tooth.

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WORKING DOCUMENTS.

To be a good confidant druid of anamocaros type is not evident and is not obvious. Even if the druidicist is honest, that he tries through no means to exploit credulity or human misery, and that he often has intuitions compared to others. The confidant druid of anamocaros type should not project his own lacks of satisfaction on the problems of others, and must know how to resist the temptation, always large, to exert a power on them. A good anamocaros druid is the one who knows how not create psychological dependence in who confides in him,

but just give him the boost or the little help necessary (to his evolution) in order to then let him get on with his own life in an autonomous way. In any event, it is not a question to subject everyone to the evoked previously way of life (that of the Fenians for example, or that of the Celtic berserker of vercinget type) but to help, through example, those who want, in becoming better and stronger.

Nothing replaces the personal meditation, including about obscure or incomprehensible lays of certain texts. These lays are not dogmas to be followed blindly and literally. As you know, perhaps, it is necessary to be wary of the letter, like of the plague. Letter kills,only the spirit gives life.”

“Nor do they regard it lawful to commit these to writing, though in almost all other matters, in their public and private transactions, they use Greek characters. That practice they seem to me to have adopted for two reasons....nor those who learn among them, to devote themselves the less to the efforts of memory, relying on writing; since it generally occurs to most men, that, in their dependence on writing, they relax their diligence in learning thoroughly, and their employment of memory” (Caesar, B.G. book VI, 14).

Nothing replaces either personal experience, because it is by walking that we find the way (Setanta). Therefore rely only on your own forces in this search for the Grail. What is important it is the attitude to be cultivated in the life and not the details of the dogma. Druidism has less importance than druidiaction. They are therefore only working documents , starting points for a thought, the end result will be that you will keep.

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WORKING DOCUMENT No. 1.

REJECTION OF THE NUCLEAR FAMILY

ON EDUCATION OF CHILDREN AMONG CELTIC PEOPLES.

“They differ in this from almost all other nations that they do not permit their children to approach them openly until they are grown up so as to be able to bear the service of war; and they regard it as indecorous for a son of boyish age to stand publicly in the presence of his father “.

This remark of Caesar (book VI, 18) caused a lot of ink to flow. As Alix MacAnTsaoir magnificently explained it , it was in fact the systematic fosterage habit.

The very beautiful Irish text entitled “the nurture of the houses of the two milk buckets” shows us besides that this practice of the fosterage of children in a distant family was also very widespread in Ireland. The Celts of the time indeed were satisfied by no means with the nuclear family in the narrow senses of the word (father mother children). They had a broader idea of the family, widened for them to the whole community. It was therefore on their part a kind of revolt (before the expression has been invented) against the family in the narrow sense of the term (nuclear) and of a systematic practice of fosterage (see the French concept of boarding school as regards the schooling of children) in the house of distant members of the aforesaid nuclear family, habit which offered many advantages as we will see, beginning with that to supply a kind of godfather and godmother for the child, what is always useful for the case when ......

Among racial Celts or Celtic-minded people , the family was always very important (derbfine). But it related to the four generations resulting from the same grandfather. The land did not belong to individuals, but to this extended family which could also sometimes pay for its members (from any point of view).

Being given the high level of solidarity prevailing in these extended families, adoption was always a very serious affair which was not taken lightly.

It vas possible to be adopted by an entire family, literally to put oneself under its protection, through the payment of a tribute called log foesman, or on the simple decision of one of the members of the group (thacair fin). Adoptions were to be approved by the chief of these extended families and were the object of a detailed contract with regard to the use or the property of the family land.

We wonder much (if it is not because of a common question of sex and of adulterous desire ,of debauchery, of Muhammad) why God in the Quran prohibited adoption for Muslims.

In any case among Celts, the fosterage (boarding school) of children was a very old habit which persisted for a long time.

Daniel O'Connell himself (1775-1847)was brought up in this way in Ireland. Some of the children of the family remained at home, but some ones could be sent to other families for various reasons, until they are fourteen years old for the girls, and seventeen years old for the boys. There were several types of fosterage (boarding school).

One was the fosterage for emotional reason (altramm serce). No pension was then versed. There also existed paying fosterage or for the payment of expenses.

The third type of fosterage was a kind of training where the relations between pupil and master resembled a little these which can exist between a ward and his tutor 1).

This practice of the fosterage up to partial adoption was so widespread that in old Irish sometimes the same words were used to designate the parents through “fosterage” instead of the biological parents. And the law recognized even this kind of tie (particularly to determine the amount of the damages in the event of murder).

The parents through fosterage were held to treat the children according to their rank, and to teach them what was expected from them, once arrived at adulthood.

Horsemanship or playing tablut (a kind of chess ) for the sons of noble families, the breeding of animals and agricultural works for the boys coming from the people. Couture and embroidery for the

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daughters of a good family, the cooking and the household for the girls coming from a more modest home. [Editor's note: we are no longer obliged to accept such a social discrimination].

In the fosterage of training type, the tutor was supposed to teach to his pupil all the secrets of his art, whether it is medicine, poetry, or another thing.

This type of fosterage was also very supervised by the law, it was a true contract, and allowances or compensations were envisaged in the event of an unjustified breach by one or the other of the parties. For example, if the biological father took again the child, or if this one was brutalized. The ties between the tutors and the child or the biological children of the tutors (their foster brothers) were not completely broken by the end of this training period, the law kept some of them. But the parents through fosterage of a child having no longer alive biological parents, became completely responsible for him.

1) It was besides the normal operating process of teaching among Celtic peoples. You did not go to school to come back at midday or the evening: you remained in boarding school in the house of a master who treated you a little like his child. What implied a number of pupils enough limited per teacher, automatically, but also, at least to begin, pedagogues of the type non-specialized teachers rather than specialized professors.

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WORKING DOCUMENT No. 2.

GRIANONS.

This institution (druidiaction of the “warrior” type, vercingets or Fenians in Ireland, berserker in the Germanic world, as well as the boarding schools for children) does not have the role to enlist all the human beings in its way of life, but to help them, by their example, in becoming better. In order to reach serenity then to reach one day to the infinity of another world better, before the ultimate reinstatement in the Big Whole or Pariollon after a more or less stay in the Celtic heaven different from the Western pure land of Amidist Buddhism).

People call green “martyrdom “ the fact of living a more natural life and for example to be satisfied only with organic food coming from one's own garden. Case of the current followers of the degrowth and of the voluntary simplicity of life.

Green martyrdom hardens the bodies and makes the pupils (in fosterage in grianons) become aware of the greatness of the soul/mind , able to control material desires.

It should be said that people did not joke formerly indeed with this kind of concern. Regarding the Scotland of the warrior queen Scathache, Dio Cassius for example reported to us what follows.

“There are two principal races of the Britons—the Caledonians and the Maeatians. The titles of the rest have all been reduced to these two. The Maeatians live near the cross wall which cuts the island in two, and the Caledonians are behind them. Both inhabit wild and waterless mountains, desolate and swampy plains, holding no walls, nor cities, nor tilled fields, but living by pasturage and hunting and a few fruit trees. The fish, which are inexhaustible and past computing for multitude, they do not taste. They dwell coatless and shoeless in tents, possess their women in common, and rear all the offspring as a community. Their form of government is mostly democratic and they are very fond of plundering.

Consequently they choose their boldest spirits as leaders. They go into battle on chariots with small, swift horses (some ponies?) There are also infantry, very quick at running and very firm in standing their ground. Their weapons are shields and short spears, with a bronze apple (a small bell?) attached to the lower end , so that when the instrument is shaken it may clash and inspire the enemy with terror. They also have daggers. They can endure hunger and cold and any kind of wretchedness. They plunge into the swamps and exist there for many days with only their heads above water. In the forests they support themselves upon bark and roots and in all cases, they have ready a kind of food of which a piece the size of a bean when eaten prevents them from being either hungry or thirsty. Of such a nature is the island of [Great] Britain, and such are the inhabitants that the enemy's country has” (Cassius Dio, Roman History, book LXXVI section 12. Preserved in a summary –epitome- by John Xiphilin - written in the last half of the 11th century-. a Byzantine monk nephew of the Patriarch of Constantinople. Editor’s note. Cassius Dio must confuse the ordinary inhabitant of these highlands of Scotland before the word exists with the survival training of their elite warriors, whose commandos of today would not be ashamed).

!---------------- --------------------------------------------- !

The future berserker of vercinget or Fenian type begins to follow the principles which save the bodies by raising the soul/mind. That needs a state of mind requiring a high moral value.

Let us note to begin that grianons from an architectural point of view has to be buildings enjoying a maximum of shine and this in the interest of children (almost some solariums). See our commentaries about that of Queen Scathache and of the Hesus Cuchulainn .

In the center of the architectural complex which houses them, a sanctuary or a temple has to be there. Around this one, the rooms of the pupils (Culdee monks said cells) and the other dwellings. With some exceptions (the shrine, etc.), the residences have to be ecological...

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What meant formerly made of wood and clay (branches covered with dry earth ) or of cob and half-timbering, on stone foundations. With a thatched roof, an excellent material which can last hundred years.

Nevertheless it is possible to make still much better today (thatch more or less replaced by solar panels, etc. Let us not refuse technological progress stupidly!)

The whole is to be surrounded by a palisade or a protection wall. The cemetery - or the columbarium intended to collect funeral urns in the event of incineration - is always near the shrine and delimited by a barrier a hedge or a low wall of dry stones. Generally, there is also a round tower reminding of a pillar stone or a standing stone, equipped with a lantern of the dead.

As we have had already the opportunity to say it, but repetere = ars docendi, any man who entered the order of the Fenians (of the vercingets) was subjected to four obligations or rules.

The first injunction was not to accept, etc., etc...loyalty to the king of the Fenians that he would be faithful and submissive to him.

Such an assault course obviously is in no way to be taken literally and only its spirit is to be taken over.

Young people enter these academies in fosterage when they are seven years old, the age of reason . The young people who wish to enter the guild of the berserker of vercinget type or of Fenians are then consecrated by a first ritual (see chapter devoted to this subject). They spend there then seven years in order to win their spurs. The grianon look after their education and teaching.

Celtic people through race or heart were known, not for their will of hoarding money like misers, but for their propensity to give. It was for them the first of the qualities of a true chief. The venerable Bede says it besides expressly about noibo Colman of Lindisfarne, and about the abbey of the same name. Hospitality must be the rule, even if it is necessary not misuse it.

The life to be lived in these grianons therefore has to be also very simple.It vas said formerly “Noblesse obliges” but what is to be said today it is “Degrowth obliges !” It is masters and teachers (including lucterios) service personnel (operarii in the jargon of St. Columba of Bobbio), pupils (juniores/gillacht) or elders (seniores/séndacht).

Let all live under the discipline of one man and in a community with several, in order to learn from one humility, from other patience, from a third gentleness. In the premises pupils will have to be quietest. They will owe to the director of their grianon or of their grianons network , the obedience due to the chief of their clan. Let they accept as single wages all that will be given to them willingly let they are satisfied with little.

The nine basic values are the following ones.

Discipline.

Poverty.

Food moderation.

Respect.

Patience.

Hardening of bodies.

Improvement of minds.

Calmness and silence.

Recitation (to recite various texts is essential to maintain and strengthen memory).

Prayer. Because prayer has always been a double human experiment: a psychological process combined with a spiritual technique. These two functions of prayers can never be entirely separated.

In addition to prayers, days will also be taken up by study, work and training.

As we could see, it existed two main methods.

a) Motionless meditation, sitting in the Hornunnos way, beneath an oak (cross-legged) in the forest.

b) Focusing at the time of the dynamic physical exercises developed in this intention.

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Postures and movements.

Breathing.

Control of feelings.

It is this last category which is favored in this kind of academy, but the first one ( meditation in the Hornunnos way, motionless, sitting beneath an oak) should not be forgotten.

The academy must be self-reliant and produce itself its (organic) food . To all that therefore agricultural work, tilling, the care of the animals, and all the amount of the daily works of maintenance or of repair of the buildings, have to be added. The pupils must also work the land, breed cattle, spin, weave, make their clothing, repair tools,machines, utensils.

Lastly, let all go to bed only exhausted or almost sleeping upright already. The sleep must be deep, but repairing.

The young person, at the end of these seven years of training, will therefore be dubbed (about this rite of passage see the chapter devoted to rituals) after having done a short exam.

And will consequently commit himself to respect the following gessas (fiacha according to Keating): always to tell the truth or not to lie (except for protecting one’s life or that of his), be clean (hygiene), not to make up or grant too much importance to beauty, never to accept money without providing in exchange a real and serious counterpart.

Then he will be free to leave at any time or to stay in order to continue in this way.

As the case of the Culdees shows, masters or pupils become adult can be married.

N.B. White martyrdom is the fact of living no longer even within the framework of a grianon under the leadership of a lucterios, but as a hermit in the vicinity, while accepting the principles which save the body and elevate the soul/mind.

This discipline cannot be indeed only founded on the mechanical application of a rule, it must be accepted fully, and not undergone. The young people become adult will be, in this case, equipped with a leather bag provided with a strap and called taig lebair, in order to transport the material essential to their spirituality.

These bags out of leather carried with a shoulder belt could be decorated with interlacing and spirals on the four sides.

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WORKING DOCUMENT No. 3.

SCHEDULES (to be tried then to be adapted).

It is inertness, it is not good, heavy sleep,

It is adding enervation to incapacity for combat.

Long sleep is [the same as] drinking beyond a surfeit.

Debility is only second to death (Serglige conculaind).

Notice for the persons in charge. Everyone is not a demigod like the hesus Cuchulainn. The sleep therefore has to be enough restorative.

3:00 to 7:00 according to cases (season, age, etc.).

When the signal is given by the person in charge of the barrack room, everyone gets up , gets washed, gets dressed, and will have a solid breakfast in the refectory.

Each one having taken what he needed, always within the limit of what is allowed to him, when the signal is given by the person in charge of the tables and chosen by him, a prayer is recited; before sitting down, always after the signal is given by the person in charge of the tables.

Everyone must keep quiet while eating.

The only allowed word is that the needs of others claim (rule of noibo Columban of Bobbio). Once the breakfast eaten each one brings back his cutlery.

4:00 to 8:00 according to cases (season, age, etc.).

Morning service to hail the sunrise (matins in the rule of noibo Columban).

5:00 to 9:00 according to cases (season, age, etc.).

Instruction, work or bodily exercises, psychophysical training.

Instruction (praeceptum in the rule of noibo Columban).

The pupils attend classes according to their level. They sit down only when the signal is given by the master, those who were punished stay standing.

During their trips inside the grianon (inside the institute), the pupils should not forget the rules of elementary courtesy. In each meeting, to lean down in front of the masters. Nobody comes into a room wearing a hat (rule of noibo Columban) even for the girls.

Work. It happens that students “Leave in little groups, even in important groups, to work. If this communal work outside is tiring: harvest, skidding 1), enclosed fields to repair, etc. the superior may decide on a snack. “.No comments.

Bodily exercises.

Same thing. Young and less young people can be allowed to have a light meal. Then immediate resumption of work or exercise, because it is eaten really, really only in the evening.

The psychophysical training. Teaching of martial arts (rule of noibo Bodhidharma of the grianon in Shaolin). Let us not be stupidly Eurocentrists!

16:00 - 20:00 according to cases (season, etc.).

EVENING MEAL.

Each one having taken what he needed, always within the limit of what is allowed to him; after the signal is given by the person in charge of the tables and chosen by him, a prayer is recited, before sitting down, always when the signal is given by the person in charge of tables. Everyone must be quiet while eating.

The only allowed word is that the needs of others claim (rule of noibo Columban).

Passages of spoken (or written) literature are recited (or read) by “the Foreigner on duty “during this time. The meal finished, each one brings back his cutlery.

6:30 - 20:30 according to cases (season, etc.).

Pupils go to study room in order to be there questioned about what they heard it was spoken or recited by “the Foreigner on duty “at the time of the meal.

21:00 or 22:00 according to cases (ages, season, etc.).

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After having washed oneself then having changed one’s clothing for the night; after the signal is given by the person in charge of the room, and chosen by him, a prayer is recited, before going to bed; always after the signal is given by the person in charge of barrack room (then lights out).

From there, any word is prohibited apart from exceptional cases. The noise itself must be punished.

N. B. In turn according to their seniority, including during the bad season, each one will have to go from there to recite a prayer in the place envisaged for this purpose. So that in no time of the night the amber chain linking men with god-or-demons, is stopped 2).

The days of atenoux and divertomu, before the semi-monthly service 3) all, except determined needs, will gather, so that nobody is missing for this Holy Sacrifice; except the cooks as well as the gatekeepers, who, however, will make an effort too, as much as possible, to take part in it.

1° And for having accompanied my father being young, when sometimes it happened to him to haul away lumbers with his old GMC, I can assure you that can even frighten (I was then 8-10 years old).

2° Ogmios in 2006 edition.

3° “When the thunder of the divine message will make itself heard “ the rule of noibo Columban of Bobbio specifies, what is nevertheless a little strong.

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WORKING DOCUMENT No. 4.

SUPPLEMENTARY RULE.

People eat in the following way.

…

1 The masters (lucterios etc.) and their assistants sat on leather or wicker armchairs, or on stools, fit with skins of animals, wolves, dogs, sheep…

2 Around a round table a).

3 Pupils sat in one or more circles by ground,

4 Or on bale of hay even of straw,

5 Around one or several lower round tables out of wooden.

6 They use a knife (formerly a personal knife placed in a special sheath along the sleeve of the swords),

7 A spoon (out of wood or metal),

8 A fork (obvious concession to modernity),

9 A bowl for soups or broths,

10 A wooden or earthen soup plate.

11 No individual glass. You sip in a large earthen or metal cup, that some personnel or pupils on duty , or the table master (according to the grianons) make circulate from left to right, or put in the middle of the table.

12 The drink to be served is placed, in the refectory, in large earthen vases with two handles or in a cauldron, provided with a ladle to fill the cups with drinking.

13 Soups or broths are in cauldrons.

14 For bread or fruits some containers out of wood or of basketry (wicker).

15 The one who must read in the refectory (the Foreigner on duty) must be standing up in the honor place of the main table.

16 The one who directs the Academy (the lucterios) sits beside him on his right.

17 Then on each side teachers or other eminent members of the educative community, according to their rank and their seniority (oldest in the highest rank first).

18 Then pupils according to their class and their age (oldest in the highest classes first).

19 When the service is ready as regards food and when a piece of meat is presented, the lucterios, or the table master, decides to whom best piece (the haunch for example) is to be given.

20 If a show (wrestling, fencing) must be given during the meal, this piece will have to be kept for the winner.

21 …..Then each one chooses a piece of the animal, takes it with two hands, or cuts it with his knife, then eats it cleanly.

22 To wipe one’s fingers you do not use any more the tablecloth but a napkin (another concession to modernity).

23 If there is one table, the staff or the pupils on duty (according to the grianons) pass behind,

24 serve the plates from left to right

25 And present the drink cup from left to right after having filled it.

26 If there are several tables, it is the table master who must serve.

27 The table of honor (that of the lucterios and of the foreigner of the day) remains served as far as possible by people or pupils appointed for this purpose.

a) In a celicnon the table of the fraternal or peer banquet was round. In the house of Romano-British or Gallo-Roman wealthy persons, steles show us participants sitting on leather or wicker armchairs, or on stools.

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WORKING DOCUMENT No. 5.

Suggestion of Rule for the pupils of grianons by the high-knower of druidiaction Hesunertus (work base to modulate or adapt, it is therefore a first attempt at reconstruction of the operating process of a local ancient druidic high school. Signal mistakes to us PLEASE ).

PREAMBLE.

The periods of long fast are the following ones: 30 days before Samon (November 1st), 30 days before Ambolc (February 1st), 30 days before Beltene (May 1st), 30 days before Lugnasade (August 1st). Divertomu: full moon. Atenoux: new moon.

1. The lessons or the sacred texts to be known are read by a reciting one called Foreigner. This Foreigner on duty reads the texts standing after having eaten before everyone a meal which he will have had the faculty to eat quietly and copiously. The prayers or the other texts to be recited in the refectory are chanted in standing position.

2. It is usual to make a brew of thick milk with honey added in it ,on the eve of the chief festivals, i.e., Samon, Ambolc, Beltene and Lugnasade. It is lawful to make a feast or drink ale even wine, on these days, the festival having to take place.

3. At the time of atenoux or divertomu occurring during the periods of long fast, those undergoing penance will not be entitled to have butter, only a draft of milk will be allowed to them. Up to a half-measure in the evening.

On the days of atenoux or divertomu as well as feast days not occurring a day of fast, a greater quantity of milk (a half-measure) could be taken. Pupils and teachers must nevertheless always have the same quantity of bread, even on the festivals. They will be allowed only to have more drink, condiments, or other foods of this kind on these days.

4. If there chance to be any kale, dressed with milk, not butter [some sauerkraut?] the quantum of bread will not diminish , because they regard kale thus prepared as a condiment. As for a piece of fish, a little beestings, cheese, or hard-boiled egg or apples, none of these things has to diminish the quantum of bread, so long as not more than a little of any of them is eaten. Of apples, five or six along with the bread will be enough if they are big, while if they are small, each one is allowed to eat twelve.

5. Leeks (three or four heads per person) are allowed. Curds as medg (whey) are not eaten by them but are used as solids. The reason why curds or medg (whey , mesgus in old Celtic ) are forbidden as they are, may be that they count as bread. Curd and medg (whey) are not drunk alone but are mixed with small water (or used to make cheese). Flummery, on the other hand, is not forbidden, provided that no rennet is put into it.

6. For Beltene Festival (caisc na ngenti) eggs, lard, and the flesh of wild swine and deer, are permitted .

7. It is usual to lay penance on cooks, on milkers , and on scullions , on account of spilling the produce, both milk and corn or others.

8. You may have flesh meat in long fast when other things are scarce, but it is nevertheless better to keep the fast, yet unless lives are in danger (if one’s health condition really requires that).

9. On principal feast days, i.e., Samon, Ambolc, Beltene and Lugnasade, a quarter of measure (a goblet) of ale, wine, or medg (whey) is allowed. If it is impossible to serve medg (whey), ale, or wine, then a small mess of gruel will be made instead , that is a quarter ration, will be given instead of that. When there chances to be a goblet of ale , it is not drunk at a draft, though they may be thirsty, but in sips, because these quench thirst and you do not have less sense of pleasure from them in your drink .

10. No measure of butter is made , but instead of them a draft of medg (whey) is taken every alternate evening (even except if it is a feast day) as well as the days after a great festival, even apart from the fast periods.

11. To a draft on new milk , if there is no other milk mixed with it, a fourth part of water is added.

12. With the pupils,castigation is not inflicted on a man by himself , but by someone else .

13. The first-year pupils must help a little bit to the organization of Samon Festival. Second-year pupils must take part in the same way in the festivals of Samon and Ambolc. Third-year pupils must take part in the festivals of Samon, Ambolc and Beltene. Fourth-year pupils must take part in the four great festivals, i.e., Samon, Ambolc, Beltene and Lugnasade. Fifth-year pupils must take part in all the great festivals, as well as in the services of the solstice and equinox, sixth-year student must take part

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in the service of divertomu. Seventh-year students must take part in the services of each end of a fortnight (atenoux and divertomu).

14. Morning prayers are recited facing east, with both hands raised to heaven , then thus similarly facing each quarter. This they called a dextratio (deisil). But first an hour or two are spent in prayers, and the name of this is a prayer armor (lorica).

15. When anyone fails to be present at the atenoux or divertomu ceremony, three days after he will offer himself a sacrifice in the part of the institute reserved for the worship. Because to wait until the next divertomu or atenoux, would be too long a delay for one who is very devoted to rites (dagolitus): for these cases , two days will always be specially observed by them for attending the next atenoux or divertomu services.

16. The minor faults kind impure thoughts, idleness, bitter words, anger, and so on, have to be confided to one’s spiritual counselor immediately as they are committed, and not for the atenoux or divertomu which follows.

17. He that confides in a spiritual adviser, if he does as he directs, needs not to speak then to another anmchara, excepting such faults as he may subsequently commit.

18. To frequently confide in a spiritual adviser, however, does not profit, if the transgression of his pieces of advice be also frequent.

19. The day following the festival of Beltene (Caisc na ngenti) nothing, except a draft of milk or a goblet of ale, even of wine, and, it may be a spoonful of honey. Because to eat or drink more is usual on the eve of solemn days and high festivals without an all-night vigil or a castigation. Medg (whey) and bread are the diet for this day: a sermon on the need for being also bodily clean is also preached, and then dinner.

20. At the time of the morning washing of this day, the suitable prayers are recited as long as the washing lasts. After that comes the second sermon on the need for also being morally clean.21. When intercession is made for anyone at the celebration of a service, his initiatory name is used, and not the name as indicated in his civil status.

22. When the lessons or the sacred texts to be known by heart are recited, a part is said standing , and the next sitting, because when they remain seated, it begets sleep, while to remain too long standing, it is wearisome.

23. The recitation of twelve sacred texts is worth 50 prayers.

24. A mess of gruel is allowed to penitents on festivals and on atenoux or divertomu, but they have no exemption from vigils before, except for one evening of very principal festivals, Samon, Ambolc and Beltene.

25. He that regularly abstains from flesh all the year, takes a small particle at Beltene (Caisc na ngenti) as a precaution against the occurrence of dearth or famine during the year. For he that does not relax on that day will have no opportunity to do so till the following Beltene.

26. The druid who betrays the Sodality will be eluded, i.e., excluded from sacrifices, even though he does penance after, since it is not admissible for a man without faith nor honor, to be used as a go-between the god-or-demons and the men.

27. To be missing in the evening vigil of a main feast day (Samon, Ambolc, Beltene, Lugnasade) could be excused in some cases

28. Delicate is the matter of the spiritual counselors because if the proper remedy is prescribed, it will be more often forgotten or neglected than fulfilled, while the spiritual adviser does not prescribe it, liability fall upon him . For there many who deem it already sufficient to confide in them, without doing penance. So it is better for a spiritual counselor to spontaneously admonish them of what is profitable for them in their case, without waiting for every other thing.

29. Recourse may be had , if necessary, to another spiritual adviser, on obtaining leave from the original spiritual adviser.

30. It is not the practice to sleep in the part of the institute reserved for worship. The practice is that two pupils remain there all night , and recite sacred texts, by taking turns there two by two.

31. It is the practice that while pupils are at dinner , one of them reads aloud a suitable text (the aforementioned Rule, a fragment of mythology, a philosophical commentary, etc.). To the end that their minds may bet set on the divinity (“Nate nate mento beto to devo “ his mother repeated to the future noibo Symphorian of Autun) and not on the meal; and the man who reads (the Foreigner on duty) has his dinner in the afternoon , and the course of the next day they are questioned severally about the subject of the recitation in question, to see whether their minds were occupied with in, on the previous night, or not.

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32.He that has not attended the service of atenoux or divertomu must recite one or more texts having to be learned by heart, standing in a closed cell or room: this is the price that he will have to pay for his absence.

33. However much a man may suffer from thirst, he may not take a drink before midnight.

34. If you are angry with a member of the staff, and there are no cursing and abuse , you must first receive raps on your knuckles and also pass that night on bread and water.

35. II is not lawful for a pupil to drink anything just after having gone to his bed if he suffers from incontinence.

36. All the community keeps a fast once a month, namely half-rations of bread and half-rations of medg (whey).

37. It is proper to refuse the confidences of one who does not observe the pieces of advice given by his spiritual adviser. If anyone does not happen to find a spiritual counselor sufficient for him (i.e., an anamchara having thought about the codes of conduct to follow, or the examples to be followed, etc.); and if the precepts he brings from the spiritual adviser whom he first met are well observed , and if there be, moreover, some one in whom he may confide, if repairs be done thereafter according to the use about minor faults; it is no matter in whom, in fact, he will confide, even though it be a high-knower of the druidiaction (druidecht) or an older pupil.

38. There are two things for which no penance can be done on earth. To divulge confidence or some secrets, by saying or writing, “this what this man did “; and to do base things when you have been invested with higher responsibilities (when for example you have been established a druid).

39. Some persons aver that the small delicate diet is safer and better for the soul/mind than the large coarse diet.

At the time of the great festivals or during atenoux and divertomu, a change of diet (that is something more delicate than other fare) is proper, rather than an increase.

40. Further, when you are thirsty, half a liter of medg (whey) or buttermilk, with water added , may be taken for example, but this is to be drunk in sips.

41. Anyone who eats before the time, or takes such food that is not customary for him to take, must fast for doing so two days on bread and water.

42. Privies and urinals will always have to be places of an impeccable cleanliness.

43. The food that is in a house when anyone has just died in it ought to be distributed among whom is needing it. To eat in place would be an unworthy behavior, however hero the dead person may be.

44.Anyone who deserts his country save by removing from the east of it to the west and from the north to the south (cf. Rogations, Breton language tro minihi = tromeny) is a denier of our gods or demiurges, as well in the sky as on the earth.

45. This is what Maelruain heard by venerable persons. What somebody does for the soul/mind of one who dies always helps it . Children ought to pray for the rest of the soul/mind of their dead parents. Maedoc of Ferns and all his community had a full year on bread and water, in order to accelerate the release of the soul/mind of Brandub mac Echach from the place where it had temporarily fallen.

46. If a man should desire to practice abstinence, and if it has not been his habit to subtract from his ration, let him begin by removing from it one eighth for a period of six months. And what he can bear then throughout that period in point of abstinence or in foregoing part of his sleep will abide with him till his death. If he desires further abstinence, then let him subtract another eighth of his rations in the same way, up to three, four or five eighths. He can bear all amount, provided he does it gradually. And in the same way, what he will subtract by degrees from his sleep, will not be harmful to him. A man, however, who already disciplines himself severely , and whom disease or some handicap distresses through his abstinence, must impose upon himself only a little additional , like a child. If he endures for six months, he will be able then to bear the further imposition until death.

47. People should not have a bath while using a polluted water, who will wash by using this water, will be soiled. The high knowers of the druidiaction (druidecht) will have to take care to be washed from it carefully.

48. If you give your ration to god-or-demons, and consume only the other half yourself , this serves instead of a fast.

49. When disease attacks a pregnant woman so that she is near to death, a doctor druid (vate) will have to make the mother taking medication so that it also treats the child. Then the name of Flann or Cellach will have to be given to the child (each one of these names being common to man or woman), if he survives.

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50. During their menstruation, the women will be excused from vigils, morning and evening, so long as it lasts, and gruel will be made for them, whatever the moment when that will occur. Because it is normal to pay attention to every life demonstration.

51. Food that is brought from a distance as an ateberta or offering to the god-or-demons, it is not lawful to eat, but we should distribute it among the poor.

52. The castigation of atenoux or divertomu evening will be administered on the following day.

53. Druidic tonsure will be regularly performed once a month.

54. Legacies and gifts made to the institute are left at the discretion of their givers.

55. There are three profitable things in the day: prayer, training, and study; or it may be prayer, teaching, and manual work, or any other possible profitable work you can do; so that none be idle. Because an idle mind it is said, is the devil's workshop.

56. Do not eat till you be hungry, do not sleep till you be ready for it , speak to none till there be cause

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57.The Institute will have to be most independent possible compared to the civil society. Its only obligations in exchange will be, name ceremony for the pupils, dubbing, prayers, sacrifices, boys to help the divine sacrifice on every altar; particularly in the honor of the god-or-demon or goddess-or-demoness of the fights honored in this place. Scotia, Scota, Scatha, or Scathache known as Buanan, Andarta or the goddess-or-demoness Artio, Mabon/Maponos/Oengus, etc.

The establishment will be entitled to no legacy neither gift, neither heriot cow, nor atebertas or offerings intended for the local god-or-demon; if it does not carry out like it is appropriate to whom needs them, name ceremonies , initiation of the young people, and prayers, if divine sacrifices of the days of atenoux or of divertomu are not celebrated there ; and if altars are not provided with all what is needed. The institute which does not have what is necessary for that (in equipment or in services) is not worthy of the compensations due to the fact of being a grianon.

58. Any druid of the grianon or detached by it outside will have to be maintained by the institute. Which will namely have to provide him a house, a garden, a bed, some food, and a habit every year, as every reasonable demand of his, as far as possible. On his part again, in exchange, and in addition to his teaching; there will have to be: the rites of the name’s ceremony,dubbing of the young people, intercessory prayers for the living and the dead possibly, the divine service each day of atenoux and divertomu and every chief festival, unless hindered by teaching or care of the soul/minds. A high-knower of the druidiaction (druidecht) who has no lawful title nor sufficient skill , to discharge the duties of his office, and therefore to be entitled to celebrate the divine sacrifices in the presence of everybody; that they are kings or privates, queens or simple shepherdesses; will have no claim to the privileges reserved for true druids in the institute.

59. Any chief druid who establishes druid anyone who is not worthy nor capable of exercising the duties of his office, as well as in what regards the morality as the knowledge or the attention to be paid to the others; then that chief druid will be guilty before the god-or-demon of druids and before men; for what he has done will be an affront to the true druidism, that of our spiritual ancestors. Let him, therefore, do six years’ penance and let him pay a fine (several tens of silver ounces, what in fact to buy a whole herd of cows).

60.Let there be a chief druid to deal with the care of the soul/minds in each main province of the country is a need. For ordaining new druids, for consecrating places of worship, for advising the kings and the other druids, for blessing their children, for appointing the labors of every place of worship, and for teaching to young people our religious philosophy. For if some boys and girls are not ready at all seasons to hand down this knowledge, the druidic Ollotouta will die, and the Celtic minded paganism will disappear definitively from the land.

61. If anyone devotes the tithe of the fruits of his body to god-or-demons for the purpose to make him somebody educated in our spirituality, it will be the same as if he renovated the temples of the land or for the nation, and restored his soul/mind after it had vanished. Whereas if anyone withdraws his son from study after offering him to god-or-demons, it is as if he outrages them.

62. Any one, moreover, with whom the boys study, who are dedicated to the god-or-demons, has a claim to reward and fees as remuneration for the fact he has taught, till the student is worthy of the motto of the Celtic berserker called vercingets. “The truth in our hearts, the strength in our arms and the art of good speech “. “Firinde inàr croidhedhaibh, 7 neart inàr làmhaibh, 7 comall inàr tengthaibh “. But the milch cow will be removed immediately after the student will have publicly proven his knowledge; moreover the doctor or expert before whom proof of this control will have been made, will also be entitled to the value of a board, that is out of ale or various foods, for five persons the same day.

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63.This is the most excellent of all labors, to wit work in piety, for the kingdom of the god-or-demons is granted to him who directs study, and to him who studies, and to him who support the pupil who is studying . It is therefore the duty of every one in the institute , with whom these boys study, to give them a good hiding, to correct them, and to press them, in order to get the best results from them [Editor’s note. Well, it is not necessary, however, to exaggerate either!]

64.It is the duty of any one among the high knowers of the druidiaction (druidecht) inside or outside the institute , to listen to the problems of men, boys, women and girls, attending it, in order to advise them; on the other hand, if any one will not accept the advice of his spiritual counselor, so that he shows thus that he subjects himself neither to god-or-demons nor to men, he will be excluded from sacrifices (eluded).

For it is right to show reverence to the high knowers of the druidiaction (druidecht) and to follow them as interpreters of the divine wills. Because it is only through them that the other world is to be won, by means of the name ceremony,and the initiation of young people, and the intercession, and by the sacrifices, and by teaching ,and by their defense of the druidic Ollotouta, etc.

65. Anyone therefore, who attacks the druidic Ollotouta, that is who desecrates and ridicules the god-or-demons, so who desecrates the druidic Ollotouta, who buys or sells its goods out of greed envy and hatred; sells also with… the resting place of his soul/min in the Hereafter. If otherwise he might reach it. For this is indeed the worst bargain a man makes in the world, to sell his seat in the Next World and to sell his soul.

For this cause he will have nothing of his own, either body, or soul/mind, or land, because he will be eluded (excluded from sacrifices). Through him, the Celtic minded paganism will be able to die out and the woe will fall down on earth. The god-or-demons will appease their revenge on stupid people or on bad powers that be . As on their henchmen, who infringe the will of the god-or-demons, by not respecting the druidic Ollotouta, by destroying, by seizing, or selling, its goods.

So that their reward hereafter will be in the loneliness of the frozen next world. But he that protects or defends the druidic Ollotouta , with modesty and fidelity, may he will receive a hundredfold as of this lowly world, and he will inherit a reserved seat in the eternal other-world of the god-or-demons! May we dwell therein for ever and ever. May the force be with us, Sunartiu!

Commentary by Peter DeLaCrau. END OF THIS FIRST ATTEMPT AT RECONSTRUCTION OF THE RULES AND REGULATIONS Of A LOCAL DRUIDIC INSTITUTE .Best in a sense is perhaps nevertheless to skip these last points (these last nine points) quickly.

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WORKING DOCUMENT No. 6.

LIST OF PUNISHMENTS FOR NON-OBSERVANCE OF THESE RULES.

Those who are responsible for looking after the wounds of others must carefully take into account the age and the gender of the individual who failed. What education he has received, what is his strength, what is the disorder which led him to be at fault, with what kinds of passions he is tormented, how long he lived in the error; at which point he is detached from the things of this world.

The in charge druids, by adjusting the punishments, must take care not to correct by simple caning a crime deserving the sword or to punish with the sword a sin deserving only a simple drubbing.

The punishments have to vary according to the importance of the fault.

Even the heretic identified as Columban of Bobbio recognized it himself: “diversity of offenses implies diversity of penitence. The doctors of the soul must look after in various ways the wounds of the mind “.

Chattering must therefore have as punishment silence, hubris the putting in solitary confinement , absenteeism the exclusion, the gluttony the fast, and so on.

The principal punishment for any breach of these rules generally the deprivation of food, complete or partial.

The person in charge of the Institute may, for example, to choose the complete fast for a variable length (except as regards drink, always pure water at will).

For example, for the supper.

Most usual punishment is nevertheless the putting on bread and water, for a variable length.

Or on bread and water, but with salt and garden vegetables, according to the penitential of Columban. Even simply, a deprivation of meat and wine, according to the penitential of Finnian.

The person in charge of the institute will also be allowed to choose a partial deprivation of supper (a half only in Gildas the wise).

A straw mattress very scantily filled with hay to spend the night (Gildas the Wise). Let us say a not very comfortable bed. Recitations of prayer or sacred text.

Additional work (Gildas the Wise).

Bodily ordeals: simple kneeling, kneeling lying face down then. We would say today: a series of inflections of the two knees, arms horizontally outstretched.

Insulation in a room. And lastly exclusion.

To these penalties harder but shorter punishments can be substituted, if the one who is punished asks that to the person in charge, and if the latter agrees to commute the punishment thus. Particularly blows with a rule, with a stick (penitential of Finnian) or with a whip (penitential of Columban of Bobbio).

The number of blows replacing these punishments (several days on bread and water or a more or less long complete fast, etc.) varies, but can range up to 50,150,200. Maximum being 365, what matches a punishment extending on all parts of the body, 365 being roughly the number of joints and sinew in the human body.

Also let us quote as alternative sentences which can be granted at the request of the “person at faulty“: to recite prayers with the arms raised to heaven without one’s elbows are touching his body; or lying on the ground, face down and both arms laid flat by the sides.

Three days and three nights standing upright while being occupied with one’s usual tasks, but without sitting down, lying down, sleeping (except a short time during the night ).

To spend a whole night standing without support or prop to rest on it, to recite the sacred texts.

The same thing, but with the arms raised to heaven without one’s elbows are touching his body, while concentrating on the divinity with enthusiasm. “Nate, nate, mento beto to devo “ his mother (Augusta) unceasingly repeated to the future noibo Symphorian of Autun, from the top of the city walls.

To recite each day and during X days, 50,100,150,200, or 365 sacred texts, standing without support or prop to rest on it, without the possibility of lying down… but of only sitting down.

Three days and three nights in the dark without any possible entertainment and without least usual food; but only bread and three water sips, by day; match a complete fast three days.

Three days and three nights without drinking neither eating nor sleeping, the first night spent in ice-cold water, the second one on a nettles bed, the third one on a nut-shell bed.

Three days and three nights without drinking, neither eating, nor sleeping, in a grave,lying down naked, in a crypt or a tomb while reciting prayers a).

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Three days and three nights without drinking, neither eating, nor sleeping, in a cave. Favorite method of St. Patrick (between on June 1st and on August 15th on the islet of Island Station in the middle of the Lake Derg). Because St. Patrick did nothing but to take over quite a former practice, of course.

Nights in an icy place or in one’s cell, to stay awake as well in prayers , without sitting down, neither lying down, nor sleeping.

Some months cloistered on bread and water, without a bed to sleep.

Walk can also be used as punishment. It is a well-known method of today soldiers.

It has to be performed barefooted in this case (like that which takes place on the sacred mountain in Ireland located in County Mayo, last Sunday of July).

These rites date back, of course, to time immemorial and Patrick did nothing but to recover them.

a) Some Christian penitentials * say, “beside a corpse “ but it is a little excessive, that looks even somewhat Lugiferian even Satanist!

* Commutation 32 A of the Old Irish Table of commutations.

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WORKING DOCUMENT No. 7.

DRUIDIC PSYCHOSOMATIC MEDICINE .

The lorica or prayer ascribed (wrongly besides) to Gildas the wise. The lorica of Gildas also known as lorica of Loding or Laidcend and which is in the book of Cerne, a 9th century English prayer book (this is the fourth prayer). The text is probably due to Loding or Laidcenn an Irish monk of Clonfert Mulloe died in 661, because it is some Hiberno-Latin: Hanc loricam Loding cantavit ter in omni die ..... annotated in old English.

There is also the same kind of idea (enumeration of different parts of the body) in the lorica of the abbot Mugron of Iona at the end of the 10th century (or of Columban himself).

LORICA DE LAIDCEND.

Be you safest shield, for my limbs, for my entrails,

That you may thrust back from me the invisible nails of stakes, which enemies fashion !

Be you the helmet of salvation on the head; for forehead, eyes, triform brain,nose, lips, face,temples,chin,

cheeks,jaws, for teeth, tongue, mouth, throat, uvula, windpipe, bottom of the tongue, nape, for cartilage,

Cover with strong corselet, along with shoulder blades, shoulders and arms.

Cover elbows with elbow joints and hands, fists, palms, fingers with their nails.

Cover backbone and ribs with their joints,

Hind parts, back, nerves and bones.

Cover surface, blood and kidneys,

Haunches, buttocks with the thighs.

Cover hams, calves, thighs, knee-caps, hollows of the knee and knees.

Cover ankles, shins and heels,

Legs, feet with the rests of the soles.

Cover the branches that grow ten together,

With the toes with the nails ten.

Cover chest, its join, the little breast,

Paps, stomach, navel.

Cover belly, reins, genitals,

And paunch, and vital parts also of the heart.

Cover the triangular liver and fat,

Spleen, armpits with nerves

Cover flesh, groin with the inner parts,

Spleen with the winding intestines.

Cover bladder, fat and all

The numberless orders of joints.

Cover hairs,

And the rest of my limbs,

whose names, may be, I have passed by.

Cover me,

Cover me all in all with my five senses, and with the ten doors formed for me,

So that, from my soles to the top of the head,

In no member, without within, may I be sick;

That, from my body, life be not cast out.

The small likeness in a way educational and meticulous, even fussy, of this lorica, carefully distinguishing various parts of the human body (some rudiments of medicine) or of space (above, below, in front, behind, on the right, on the left, etc.); is obviously of druidic origin.

Here what the excellent web site Druid Network wrote on this subject (I quote from memory and according to my notes).

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It is impossible to understand what druidic medicine is without understanding what druidism itself is. This idea of the world (our German friends would say Weltanschauung) come through the ages does not dissociate the human being from his past, his present, his future, does not cut off him from his ancestors, of his children. The high-knower of the druidiaction (druidecht) has his feet deeply planted in the ground of his Mother, the Earth, his head well opposite the horizon of the present, and his arms launched towards the Sky, like the branches of a tree… He is not cut off from other vegetable , mineral, animal, kingdoms. He considers that the whole of the elements composing the cosmos, as the whole of the entities inhabiting it, belong to an inseparable unit, the Bitos. “We may compare things human with divine “ Ausonius formerly wrote (eclogue on the use of the word libra). All is interdependent within a cyclic spiral which connects in a kind of universal gravity or gravitation, poets would tell in an extraordinary gesture of love, the Man with the Earth, with the Sky and with the five elements which are Earth, Air, Water, Fire and Mist. Let one of these parts is therefore touched and the others collapse. Let one kingdom suffers, and the others also suffer… The high-knower of the druidiaction (druidecht) simultaneously son of the Earth and of the Sky lives at the same time with his solar face and with his lunar face, his luminous side and his dark side. There is what visible (body, matter) is and what invisible is (the anaon, in other words, the pair of forces soul/mind) the whole constituting Life. It results from that therefore the human being itself is a unit. This whole made of the physical, mental and spiritual body, is not only inseparable, but interdependent. It will not be possible therefore to imagine for him a medicine dissociating his body or the various parts of the body.

The quality of the exchanges between its various components will define the health condition of a human being, the bodily but also mental, emotional and spiritual, inheritance, as well by the family line as by its possible reincarnation [Editor’s note. “Possible “is the term which is appropriate, because nothing proves, in an irrefutable way, that reincarnation, ON EARTH, was a druidic theory]. The exchanges between these various components and the elements coming from the environment, the nature of the soil, drunk water quality, etc. will have as much influence. If this approach makes the druidicist a follower of alternative medicines, he therefore will not be not open to the cases of absolute necessity or emergencies implying to resort to the chemical treatments given out by the official Western medicine of today. The difference lies in the way of managing this approach and of using it. There are cases, rare, but real, where it is necessary to use antibiotics (which in the beginning are besides only mushrooms like penicillin!) some therapeutic emergencies legitimizing the use of chemotherapy (can we imagine besides to be appendix operated without having been anesthetized?) What characterizes the druidicist, it is he resorts only parsimoniously to such practices, only in extreme and urgent cases, when the disease is already arrived at an advanced stage, very dangerous, and that he uses as much as possible alternative therapies to compensate for or bring to his organism necessary supplements.

Whatever the medical treatment to be practiced, the high-knower of the druidiaction (druidecht) never loses sight of the primary call to Nature herself, the interdependence of everything, their entirety.

What was about the ancient high knowers of the druidiaction (druidecht)? Excellent works on druidic medicine describe us perfectly various druidic, magic or surgical medicines, of the time. It is an advanced medicine since it can use the techniques of its time. Texts, myths and other sources, evoke a certain use of plants, and especially of plants known as “magic “ i.e., dangerous if misused… Druidic medicine is also able to call upon the unconscious forces. It is a medicine respectful of Man and of his environment since it always acts in the direction of the Natural laws and with natural techniques.

Every medical act is in druidism a sacred act, since it is done for a human being himself sacred, living, moreover, in total interdependence in a natural universe also sacred to. The goal of this medicine is to get back on the straight and narrow way of the universal harmony those who were mislaid, lost, or cut off from the world, and who consequently suffer from that…

If a man is not separable from his environment, if his body is not separable from his soul/mind, medical techniques are not either separable , the doctor druid will therefore act on all levels, from most subtle to most bodily. This remedial method abolishes borders between the inner and external universes, and does not distinguish the mental sufferings from the other torments.

We have already said it, the ancient high knowers of the druidiaction (druidecht) hardly hesitated to use the corrective surgery i.e., to intervene physically and scientifically over a body (trepan, operation, surgery of eyes…). But that could not, however, be done independently of a parallel intervention in the subtler levels that are mind, soul, and the other worlds.

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What a magic medicine, if not a technique which appeals to what some people will call other worlds and other people unconscious forces?

It is more than ever a question of “therapeutic exams “ “holistic naturopathy “and other new terms of this kind by which medicine recognizes or treats as much the soul/mind as the body, the mind of the patient as the evil spirit, even the spirit of the drug.

Is this so different from the ancestral techniques which “drove out “the spirit of the diseases? When we call upon the subconscious forces connected to the collective unconscious are we really far from the requests for miraculous cures through a divine intervention, of our ancestors (bratou decantem or ex-voto thrown in the springs of the Seine)?

The respect of life in all things, the animist, pantheist, approach, do so that druidiaction endeavors more to prevent than to cure. It therefore recommends especially a lifestyle worthy of the name: self-respect as well in the spiritual as in the moral or in the bodily level.

When disease and suffering appear, therapeutic tools are primarily natural.

Best known technique (as well among the Ancients as today) is phytotherapy.

It is tempting to say that there does not exist one, but some druidic medicines, as there does not exist one Druidism, but some Celtic Spiritualities that each one can live in one's way. However it is easy to remark that all that relates to this approach, as well spiritual as medical, is centered around the same axis; the knowledge and respect of the living, the Cycle of the Lives and Deaths, the respect of natural laws. If an intervention must be practiced, whatever this intervention, surgical, magic, incantatory, may be, it will be in harmony with natural laws. That implies an acceptance of the death as downwards movement of a cycle, in which active part or life would not be kept at all costs, even less generated at all costs. The clones and other manipulations of the living things are contrary to druidic thought, which always endeavors to serve the Life in which Energy wants to bloom out! (Syd.)

We agree, of course, at least generally, with such an analysis, but this approach requires to be moderate by other points of view.

Syd evokes in his article interventions in subtler levels that are mind, soul, and other worlds… intervention on the other worlds is done by the practice of acts known as magic and by other invocations of this kind. However what a magic medicine is if it is not a technique which calls on what some people will call other worlds and some “unconscious forces.”

It is not possible to say better, and there exists indeed many examples confirming his study about this point.

Druidic medicine is resulting from the prehistoric shamanism, or at least dates back to ancient times.

Liaig is, in old Irish, a traditional word designating a high-ranking person considered or respected. Now it is certain this word is not a substitute or a recent qualifier forged by Irishmen. It dates back to Antiquity, necessarily before Christian times. Brittonic language replaced it besides by Latin medicus (Welsh meddyg, Breton mezeg).

The Celtic doctor, the leigis (old Irish liaig) therefore used primarily three types of medicine.

- Psychosomatic medicine (hypnosis, autosuggestion).

- Surgical medicine. We have found in Germany, in a grave discovered at Obermenzing in Bavaria, the body of a man who was probably a surgeon druid about the year 200 before our era. He had been buried with a sword, a lance and a shield. But he was above all a doctor and not a warrior; since we have found in his grave a trephine (making it able to remove from the cranium small sections of bone in order to reduce the pressure exerted by the brain-pan on the brain), a probe, and a retractor (Cf Jose Maria de Navarro and his study on the grave of a Middle Latene doctor, published in 1955 by the Prehistoric Society).

- Medicinal medicine (through plants: phytotherapy).

An example of psychosomatic and medicinal medicine.

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“The Hesus Cuchulainn slept his deep slumber at the Burial Mound in Lerga till the end of three days and three nights. It was right that the length of the sleep should correspond to the greatness of his weariness, for [on lúan re samain sainriuth cossin cétaín iar n-imbulc] from the first moon day after Samon (ios) exactly until the Wednesday after Ambolc, the Hesus Cuchulainn had not slept in that time, except when he dozed for a little while leaning against his spear after midday, with his head on his clenched fist and his clenched fist about his spear and his spear resting on his knee, but he was striking, killing,cutting down, and slaying the four great provinces of Ireland during that time. Then the warrior put plants from the sídh, healing herbs (lubi ícci & slánsén i cnedaib), into the wounds and cuts and gashes and many injuries of the Hesus Cuchulainn so that he recovered in his sleep without his perceiving it at all“.

The text of the divine injunction recited by Lug, was preserved to us by the Lebor na hUidre or book of the dun cow. Here in Gaelic : Canaid a chéle ferdord dó, contuli friss co n-accae nách crecht and ropo glan.

The ferdord is a kind of humming or song having the power to send to sleep the patients. From fer “man “and dord “song, complaint, buzz “. Among Fenians, on the other hand, it was a kind of song or chorus being sometimes accompanied by the shock of their lance shafts on the shields. In the story entitled Longes Mac nUislenn, the word andord seems to designate the song of a tenor voice.

An example of surgical medicine. In his surgery book, the book VII of his treatise, Celsus makes a particularly interesting remark on the treatment of some eyes diseases. In 7,15 I, he deals with the flow of a not very thick rheum which deteriorates the state of eyes.

Celsus carefully distinguishes the cases (incurable that should not be touched) from the curable cases for which it is necessary to act quickly. The treatment is dictated by the idea that this mucus comes from the brain, by surface vessels. From where the Grecian method, an African method, and the Celtic method.

“There is nothing better than the practice in Transalpine ; there they pick out blood vessels in the temples and crown of the head“ [and they are cauterized].

This remark is, of course, to compare with the annoying problem of the practice of the eyes doctors and of their famous seals. Another example of the surgical skill of the Irish doctors is the case of Conchobar’s doctor, Fingen. Cunocavaros/Conchobar having been fatally wounded in his head by a sling stone, his doctor was brought to him.

“Well,” said Fingen, “if the stone is taken out of your head, you will be dead forthwith. If it is not taken out, however, I would heal you, but it will be a blemish for you.”

“It is easier for us,” said the Ulaid, “to bear the blemish than his death.”

His head was then healed; and it was stitched with thread of gold, for the color of Conchobar’s hair was the same as the color of gold. The physician said to Conchobar that he should be on his guard lest anger should come on him, and that he should not mount a horse, that he should not have connection with a woman, that he should not eat food greedily, and that he should not run.

Examples of basic (very simple) medicinal treatment.

In the first century, Pliny and Aretaeus report that Celts know a kind of soap which can be used in the treatment of skin diseases. Aretaeus, in the chapter of the cure of Elephas (therapeutics of chronic disease, II, 13), wrote. “There are many other medicines . . . . . . of the Celts....... those alkaline substances made into balls, with which they cleanse their clothes, called soap, with which it is a very excellent thing to cleanse the body in the bath. And purslane and houseleek with vinegar....are also very efficient “. Pliny points out that doctors can use it in the treatment of scrofulous sores: “…Scrofulous sores are dispersed by applying the gall of a wild boar or of an ox, warmed for the purpose…Soap too, is very useful for this purpose, an invention of the continental Celts for giving a reddish tint to the hair. This substance is prepared from tallow and ashes, the best ashes for the purpose being those of the beech and the best tallow the goat tallow : there are two kinds of it, the

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hard soap and the liquid, both of them much used by the people of Germania, the men, in particular, more than the women (H. N. 28, 191).

But if the doctor druid calls for his scientific and “magic “knowledge, he also leaves the god-or-demons like Belin/Belen/Belenus, inspire him, perhaps after a long prayer.

Belenus is indeed the god-or-demon of medicine, and he has many epithets.

The Canadian neo-druid Michel-Gerald Boutet (Boutios) also insists on the role of noiba Brigit in Ireland.

The medicine of the high-knower of the druidiaction (druidecht) is therefore a coherent and complete medical system, just like Ayurvedic medicine. The doctor druid seeks to cure the patient by helping him to find again his lost balance, what, according to this School, forms the true cause of the disease. The principle of druidic medicine is that a being in harmony with one’s environment , and whose lifestyle is balanced, will be naturally happy and in good health. It is when this balance is broken the disease appears. The doctor druid then uses various techniques to understand of what type of man his patient is a member, to identify the particular imbalances which cause his disease, and to help him in finding again his natural state of happiness and health.

The upholders of this druidic medicine consider that the person is a microcosm of the Bitos or Universe, “Divinis humana licet componere “. “We may compare things human with divine “. Ausonius (eclogue on the use of the word libra).

As Syd saw it well, in this type of ancient medicine it is the patient who is looked after, not the disease. Patients suffering from “the same “ headache may be treated in extremely different ways, according to their constitution, the origin of their sick, as well as the specific characteristics of their headache.

Everything is interdependent within a gigantic cyclic spiral, and particularly the five elements which are Earth, Air, Water, Fire and Mist .Therefore if one of these parts is therefore touched , the others collapse . If one kingdom suffers, the others also suffer…

But let us skip these five elements which are perhaps a little too good to be true.

According to Strabo, for the ancient high knowers of the druidiaction (druidecht), the two basic elements forming the Bitos or Universe, were only fire and water. “One day fire and water will “ (Strabo IV, 4). Therefore not earth, air or mist!

Diagnoses.

Whether they are two or five for the high knowers of the druidiaction (druidecht), disease results from an imbalance between these various fundamental forces forming human beings. The excess or the deficiency of one or of another will cause a metabolic disturbance, and the disease then will appear.

In muscular tissue for example, a surplus of fire will cause infection, whereas too much water makes it swell. The causes of disease are consequently to seek in what, on the level of the lifestyle, of the practices and of the environment of the person in question, caused an imbalance between these fundamental forces.

More concretely, the doctor druid takes initially the pulse of his patient, a technique which, in druidic medicine, well exceeds the number of beats a minute. He examines the bodily characteristics of his patient, the nature of his skin, his hair, his appetite, the state of his eyes, his nails, his tongue, his urine, and his feces.

The attentive study of all these signs informs him about the nature of the discomfort which affects his patient. An experienced doctor druid is able even to perceive the signs of an imbalance likely to cause a disease, whereas it did not appear yet.

Example the doctor druid or vate (faith- liaig) of the king of Ulster Cunocavaros/Conchobar, Fingen already mentioned. But it is not useless to come back to this character because his case illustrates well what the population then expected from doctors.

Fingen indeed was endowed with a surprising skill.

Fingen would know from the smoke that arose from a house how many were ill in that house, and also every disease that was in it.

In his examination of the wounds inflicted to Cethern (cf. the saga of the rustling of the cows of Cooley) he will show himself strongest of all medical examiners, even stronger than those of our modern television series. What will hardly earn him the respect of the aforementioned Cethern nevertheless apparently. But this passage of the story is undoubtedly intended to make the audience

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laughing or smiling at the expense of the character (Cethern) who, although being “on the good side” is the very type of lout.

The saga of the rustling of the cattle of Cooley is explicit in this respect.

Ticedh cach d'fechain a cnedh agus a creacht, a n-gon agus a n-galar cuici-siomh agus no innisedh a galar da cach aón agus do beredh freapaidh íca dá cach aón, agus isedh tic fri cach aon an galar indisios doibh. As nert liaig-gaoisi, as slanugudh cnedh, as díchur euga, as esbaidh cach enirt in fer sin, ar Fergus, .i. Fingin fathliaigh liaig Concobair co leaghaibh Uladh uime. As é sin do ber aithne ar galar in duine tre diaig in tigi imbí d'faicsin no tre na cnet do closs(tin). A coimeta leghis, as iat na ferbolga do connarcais aca.

"He is the power of leechcraft; he is the healing of wounds; he is the thwarting of death; he is the absence of every weakness, that man, said Fergus, namely Fingen the vate mediciner, the physician of Cunocavaros/Conchobar, with the leeches of Ulidia around him. It is he that knows the sickness of a man by the smoke of the house wherein he lies, or by hearing his groans. And their medicine chests are the sacks which you saw with them."

This extraordinary ability to diagnose disease is, of course, mythical and we do not have the piece of evidence that the doctor druids of the time were really capable of such foreknowledge. But the fact to retain is that Celtic legend considered its doctor-druids capable of such deeds.

The doctor druid can thus help his patient to correct imbalances, or to prevent the appearance of the disease. This preventive aspect is crucial besides, in druidic medicine: it tries to wake up the innate intelligence of body and of mind, to restore their natural faculty to fight diseases, and to support love of life and serenity. It endeavors to strengthen natural defenses of the organism, and to stimulate the elimination processes of toxins or impurities in order to preserve health.

Treatment strategies.

To restore lost balance, druidic medicine has a crowd of techniques aiming at changing body and soul/mind. For example, an adapted diet, some preparations of medicinal herbs, baths, hydrotherapy, massages, various bodily exercises, in short, a whole program intended to change the lifestyle of patients, even if he is he a great king like Cunocavaros. There exists even a druidic surgery as we could see it in the excavations of certain graves of La Tene.The doctor druid is a kind of adviser who guides patients on the way of the cure.

Dietetics occupies a privileged place. Each food and each medicinal plant are made up, in variable proportion, of the same elements which form the body and the soul-mind. Whether they are Earth, Air, Water, Fire and Fog, or simply Fire and Water in the dualistic system of Strabo.

The properties thus given to food and plants by the elements which compose them are used to help the patient to rebalance his fundamental forces. For example, green vegetables, crudites, leguminous plants and meat, stimulate the force which governs the biological movements and gives rhythm to metabolism: breathing, elimination, heartbeat, intracellular exchanges, sympathetic nervous system; whereas dairy products, nuts, fish, and seafood, calms it.

The food choice,combination and preparation, belong to the therapeutic program worked out by doctor druids.

PHARMACOPEIA.

Several plants of the druidic pharmacopeia are still known today. Some examples, among many others.

Adarca = “reed efflorescence “ (in Pliny).

Agranio = “sloe. “

Albolon = “pennyroyal. “

Alus = “comfrey. “

Anepsa = “hellebore. “

Baditis = “water lily. “

Belenuntia = “henbane “a plant which, in large amount, is a narcotic causing hallucinations.

Beliocandos = (Irish bile, “[sacred] tree“ and cand-, “hundred “).

Berula = “cress. “

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Betidolen = “burdock. “

Blutthagio = an herb which cures earaches. Herbam quae Galicia dicitur blutthagio, nascitur lotis humidis, eam teres, succumque eius auribus instillabis (Marcellus, 26-41).

Bolusseron = “ivy. “

Bricumus = “wormwood. “

Calliomarcus = “coltsfoot “ literally “a horse testicle “ also called ebulcalium according to the Corpus Glossariorum Latinorum 3,582,35 (Welsh ebol, Breton ebeul, “foal “) even epocalium 3,586,63 (Gallic language epo- “horse “).

Calocatanos = “poppy, corn rose. “

Corna = “a species of prickly poppy “ according to the pseudo-Dioscorides.

Cremo = “garlic. “

Drageno = “thorn. “ Old Irish draigen.

Doukone = “danewort. “ According to the pseudo-Dioscorides.

Ercinon = “germander. “

Exagon = “common centaury. “

Gelasonen = “cottonsedge or cottongrass .“)

Gigarus = “dragon arum. “

Gilarus = “ wild thyme. “

Lagonon or laginon = “ white veratrum or hellebore. “

Limeon = poison??

Mentasone or mentadione = “mint. “

Merioitoimorion = “lemon balm. “

Mulicandos = “yarrow. “

Odocos = “danewort. “ Cf. the above-mentioned doukone?

Oualoida = “chamomile. “

Usuben = “spurge-laurel, butcher’s broom ?“.

Pempedula = “cinquefoil. “

Ponem = “wormwood. “

Ratis = “fern. “

Rhodora or rodarum = “meadowsweet or queen of the meadow. “

Sapana = “scarlet pimpernel. “

Sistrameor = “wild fennel. “

Scobies = “elder tree. “

Scubulum or scobilo = “black nightshade. “

Sparno = “hawthorn. “

Suibitis = “ivy. “

Tarbelodathion = “plantain “according to Holder, literally “tongue of a young bull. “

Tauruk = “gladiolus. “

Thona = “greater celandine. “

Titumen = “wormwood. “

Vela = “treacle-mustard or wormseed wallflower. “

Vernetus = a plant to treat ears according to Marcellus Empiricus???

Vettonica = “betony. “

Viridis (?) Marcellus Empiricus XXXV, 15, herba britannice viridis, cum radicibus, suis contusa et expresse.

Visumarus = “clover, trefoils. “

Uroica > bruca = “heather. “

We have said henbane. But there existed, of course, a lot other herbs or plants to be used according to the cases. Psilocybe semilanceata, seems for example, a relatively common sacred mushroom. It grows in a group in pastures, from September to November. Chewing oak acorns is also mentioned in the Bernese scholiast of Lucan who writes, in connection with the line of verse 451: ” dryadae glandibus comestis divinare fuerant consueti”.

In any event, doctor druids did not resort, always, to only one of these plants. They also used complex mixtures of which total effect was synergistic (the famous magic potions called philters in the Middle Ages).

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The Health Fountain combining the power of purificatory water and the virtues of the plants, best known in Antiquity, since the 6th century before our era at least, was located in Narbonnese, in Glanum (Saint-Remy-de-Provence).

A healing spring known from Prehistory was there indeed the residence of a druidic god-or-demon, Glanis, and of his beneficial partners, the Glanic Mothers. In spite of the fall of the Saluvian power , the city, from now on called Glanum, will continue to thrive thanks to the reputation of its healing water; its former druidic god-or-demons living with Apollo or Hercules, even perhaps making oneself up as a Latin divinity, such this Valetudo, Roman goddess-or-demoness, or fairy, of health, who seems well to be the reincarnation of one of the Glanic Mothers.

Medieval Ireland too has, just like in the case of Glanum, synthesized in the same medical technique the spa treatment and the cure through plants.

On several occasions, some variants of her texts report us indeed a joint use of the two techniques around the aforementioned well.

“The Fir Bolg Gauls too had their physicians brought to them. They brought healing herbs with them, and crushed and scattered them on the surface of the water in the well, so that the precious healing waters became thick and green. Their wounded were put into the well, and immediately came out whole“ (First battle of Mag Tured).

“This then is what used to revive the warriors who were slain there, so that they were swifter on the morrow.

Dian-cecht and his two sons, Octorevillos and Medocios, and his daughter Armeditrina, were singing prayers (dicetul) over the well named Healing (Slaine). Now their mortally wounded men were cast into it as they would be slain. They were alive when they would come out. Their mortally wounded became whole through the might of the prayers (dicetail) of the four leeches who were about the well“ (Second battle of Mag Tured) .

“Lusmag. it is thence that Diancecht brought every herb of healing, and grated them on Slainge’s well in Achad Abla to the north-west of the mounds plain , when the great battle was fought between the god-or-demons of the goddess-or-demoness, or fairy, if you prefer, Danu (bia) and the gigantic anguipedic wyverns (Andernas on the Continent, Fomorians in Ireland). Everyone of the god-or-demons of the goddess-or-demoness, or fairy, Danu (bia) whom they would lay under that water of herbs, would rise up smooth and healed of his wounds “(cf. Rennes Dindshenchas).

It is not a miraculous resurrection well, since they are not some dead who were laid under the water. But all the casualties, on the other hand, whatever the seriousness of their wounds apparently, are cured by water on which the divine doctors pronounced, or rather sung, invocations. We do not know too much with which medicine we have to deal exactly, if it is not with an alliance of the incantatory medicine of Indo-European first function and of the vegetable medicine of third function if the well contains plants. Let us notice nevertheless that these invocations have effects only in connection with the water of a spring or of a sacred well.

It is on this same health well, that the god-or-demon-blacksmith Gobannos/Goibniu will go, after being wounded by a traitor. He went to the well and was healed. Let us not be astonished therefore if the gigantic anguipedic wyverns (who are called Andernas on the Continent, Fomorians in Gaelic language) then try to dry up or to fill such a source.

“There was a famous warrior with the gigantic anguipedic wyverns called Fomorians, even Octorigillacos, son of Indicios son of the goddess Domnu , son of the anguipedic wyvern king. He told them that each man of them should bring a stone of the pebbles of the Drovesa River to cast into the well of Healing in Acate Abellion to the west of the plain of the stone pillars ,and to the east of Loccos Alixias. So they went, and a stone for each man was brought on the well. Wherefore the cairn thus made is called Octriallach's Cairn. But another name for that well is Lake of healing herbs, for Dian-cecht used to put into it one of every healing herb that grew in the land “.

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See also the following example (it is an extract of the Rustling of the cattle of Cooley, the archetypal great Irish saga: the scene takes place after a violent fight between Cuchulainn and his former brother-in-arm Ferdiad).

“There came now to help and succor the Hesus Cuchulainn a few of the Ulaid, namely, Senall Uathach and the two sons of Gegg, Muredach and Cotreb. They took him to the streams and rivers of Conaille Muirthemne to wash and cleanse his wounds and his stabs, his cuts and many sores, against the current of those streams and rivers. For “dabertis Tuatha De Danand lubi 7 lossa icce 7 slansen for glassib 7 aibnib crichi Conailli Murthemne, do fhortacht 7 do fhorithin Conculaind, comtis brecca barruani na srotha dib “.

For the god-or-demons of the goddess-or-demoness, or fairy, Danu (bia) therefore used to put herbs and healing plants and sacred signs on the streams and rivers in Conaille Muirthemne to help and succor the Hesus Cuchulainn, so that the streams used to be speckled and green-surfaced from them “.

The exaggeration is literary, but at the very least proves the combined use of water and plants.

DRUIDIC MASSAGES.

The massage technique is, of course, old as the hills since even Arrian speaks about it, in connection with the hounds, but the principle remains the same one.

Arrian, Hunting, 10. Rubbing the whole body is of great service to the greyhound….. no less than to the horse. For it is conducive to the firmness and strength of his limbs.The back and loins you should rub…. The sides should be rubbed with both hands at once, and the haunches quite down to the feet, and the shoulders in the same way.

This was to also apply to the hunters, even with the men hunter - warriors - mutatis mutandis naturally.

These druidic massages are based on the knowledge worked out in Far West for thousands years around a harmonious development of the body and soul/mind.

The tattooing borne by Ötzi (l small groups of parallel lines on the lumbar vertebrae and the legs) are comparable with others analogous therapeutic practices attested by old ethnography and sources. An Austrian team noticed besides that, among the 15 groups of lines with which Ötzi was tattooed, nine were close to the points of Chinese acupuncture 1).

These druidic massages result thus from a long tradition that of shamans. They combine the knowledge from comrunos or initiated warriors, with these from experts in medicine therapists.

By bringing and causing comfort and relaxation, their main effect is to invigorate the whole body: they increase the energy level of individuals through a total rebalancing.

These massages wake up deep muscles which are never or seldom in demand. They contribute to thus improving or refining the awareness as well as the bodily sensitivity of each one.

These massages get a feeling of total well-being, and decrease the effects of daily stress. They are beneficial for venous circulation, and cause a major lymphatic drainage. They also support muscular relaxation. Emphasis is laid on the quality of gestures, the precision of centering, the fluidity of movements, and the accuracy of exerted pressures.

The teaching of techniques of breathing and relaxing, some exercises of ergonomics, and some rites of motionless meditation “sitting in the Hornunnos way beneath an oak in the forest “ to restore the inner peace of the individuals, underlies this regenerative or maintenance medicine. The druidic massage is practiced preferably on the ground with an application of various ointments. The druidic massage stimulates our different energy points and simultaneously the various elements of our body. Some recipes arrived until our days. Best known is the use of soap for the treatment and the massage of the hair, therefore of the head.

Length of the studies.

Caesar reports to us the studies lasted twenty years. It was undoubtedly the minimum length of the course necessary to arrive at the highest level. But the first ranks, with the priestly status for those who were to go until the end, could, of course, be got quite before. The case of the Irishman called Nede is typical, for the needs for a competitive exam, he must put a false beard on his chin. We do not know

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where the great 19th-century French specialist who was d’Arbois de Jubainville, took that druidic system imposed itself (how?) on the Christian clergy, with some twenty-five-year-old priests.

That leaves us nevertheless within these 21 years of teaching from the elementary school, five to seven years in order to train somebody in the practice of druidic medicine; the first years of these twenties and one years being devoted to general knowledge, even to rudiments (to learn how to well express oneself, to count, even to write, in Lepontic runes or in Greek letters, etc.).

1. Otzi is the name given to a frozen then mummified corpse discovered fortuitously on September 19, 1991, 3200 meters above sea level; at the border between Italy and Austria, in the Alpine massif of Italian Dolomites ( Otz’s Alps , from where its name). This mummy is that of a man approximately forty-five years old, 1,59 meter and 40 kilograms. People found at his sides a bow, some arrows, an axe, a knife in a sleeve out of nettle fabric, and some mushrooms threaded on a leather thin strap, probably with a medicinal use. His body was still wrapped in a part of his clothing, forming three successive layers: a loincloth, a jacket in stag skin, a plant fiber cape. He carried a small bag including a fire kit (tinder, flint…). After carbon dating, it results from it that this hunter lived at a period ranging between 3350 and 3100 before our era.

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WORKING DOCUMENT No. 8.

FOOD.

Since Arrian any breeder can tell it to you, the way in which an animal is fed influence its behavior and, although we often preferred to forget it, it is the same thing for Man, because Man IS ALSO AN ANIMAL. He is not only an animal, but he is also an animal!

Our diet therefore influences thoroughly our bodily , mental and spiritual well-being.

The beneficial food it is these which calm down the mind and is therefore good for spiritual development. This food is “fresh but also pleasant “and includes most part of fruits and vegetables, cereals, honey, spring water and milk, some well-prepared fish (salmon for example) and some meats (pork). Within sight of intensive farming modern techniques, which use large amount of pesticides and artificial fertilizers, only the products of organic farming can be still regarded as concerning this category.

The partially beneficial food. It is that which feed your body, but which also excites your mind. Spiced foods, stimulative products, alcohol in excessive amount, etc., etc. This food has to be avoided by those who seek inner peace, but may be consumed by people having an active lifestyle. See the recommendations of doctor druid Fingen to the Irish King Conchobar.

Dangerous substances.

The food which generates the apathy of your body and of your mind and benefits neither the one, nor the other. They include alcohol and drugs, as well as rotten or toxic food. To eat too much is dangerous. The high knowers of the druidiaction (druidecht) never recommend filling one’s stomach completely and to leave a table while being still a little hungry. Noibo Columban said: we must fast daily as we must pray daily.

Abuse of this food is therefore to avoid. One or two glasses of wine for example and per day are enough to benefit from its beneficial effects.

N.B.1° The nature of food can, of course, change. Cooking, for example, makes honey toxic. Cereals improve with time, but certain fruits, of course, rotted and become dangerous.

To eat well, it is also to eat at the right time. It is recommended to dine at least three hours before going to one’s bed, in order to have finished digesting before sleeping. And the way of eating is also very important.

Lastly, food must have good taste, because if it is necessary to eat with sobriety, it is important also to eat with pleasure. It is necessary to eat with pleasure, but this pleasure is to be simple!

N.B. 2° In large amounts active ingredients of certain plants can be drugs and no longer condiments or food. Even some elements of rituals. Examples: the haoma or soma of Aryans, and even quite simply ale or mead (sacred intoxication). Not forgetting the various more or less magic philters (cf. henbane). The psilocybin for example, is a hallucinogen mushroom known including in Mexico.

Let us start with some remarks of Strabo quoting Ephorus in the fourth century before our era. In IV, 4,6, he writes indeed : “They endeavor not to grow fat or pot-bellied, and any young man who exceeds the standard measure of a certain girdle, is punished“.

Let us pass then to Posidonius quoted by Athenaeus (Deipnosophists, book IV).

" The Celts place food before their guests, putting grass for their seats, and they serve it up on wooden tables raised a very little above the ground; and their food consists of a few loaves, and a good deal of meat brought up floating in water, and roasted on the coals or on spits. They eat their meat in a clean manner enough, but like lions, taking up whole joints in both their hands and gnawing them; if there is any which they cannot easily tear away, they cut it off with a small sword which they have in a case fixed at the sheath of their battle sword. Those who live near the rivers eat fish also,

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and so do those who live near the Mediterranean Sea, or near the Atlantic Ocean; they eat it roasted with salt and vinegar and cumin seed. Cumin seed they also throw into their wine. But they use no oil, on account of its scarcity; and because they are not used to it, it seems disagreeable to them. When many of them sup together, they all sit in a circle; and the bravest sits in the middle, like the coryphaeus of a chorus; because he is superior to the rest either in his military skill, or in birth, or in riches, and the man who gives the entertainment sits next to him; and then on each side the rest of the guests sit in regular order, according as each is eminent or distinguished for anything. And their armor bearers, bearing their large oblong shields, called thureoi, stand behind; and their spear bearers sit down opposite in a circle, and feast in the same manner as their masters. And those who act as cupbearers and bring round the wine, bring it round in jars made either of earthenware or of silver, like ordinary casks in shape, and the name they give them is still (Greek ambikos]. And their platters on which they serve up the meat are also made of the same material; but some have brazen platters, and some have wooden or plaited baskets. And the liquor which is drunk is, among the rich, wine brought from Italy or from the country about Marseilles; and this is drunk unmixed, but sometimes a little water is mixed with it. But among the poorer classes what is drunk is an ale made of wheat prepared with honey, and oftener still without any honey; they call it korma. And they all drink it out of the same cup, in small drafts, not drinking more than a cyathus at a time but they take frequent drafts. A slave carries the liquor round, beginning at the left hand and going on to the right; this is the way in which they are waited on, and in which they worship the gods, always turning towards the right hand."

According to the famous penitential of Gildas the Wise, the archetypal diet was the following one.

Bread with a very little fatty meal , vegetables from the garden (we would say today “organic”) some eggs, Breton cheese (what it is called today English cream? ?), a quarter of a liter of milk, a pint (one half-liter) of medg (whey), or buttermilk, as regards drink.

Notice by Peter DeLaCrau. Pliny reports that the three-month-old wheat was known all over the Alps, and that the vatusicus of Ceutrons was a cheese liked to Rome (some tomme cheese?). Following the fall of the Roman Empire and Barbarian invasions, Benedictines and Cistercians monasteries became important centers of cheese production throughout the Middle Ages. Several French cheeses bear names evoking such an origin (Saint-Paulin cheese, Pont-l'Eveque cheese, Munster cheese...).

The medg (whey) or milk whey, is the liquid part resulting from the curdling of milk (the solid part being the curd). The buttermilk is a liquid with a sour taste which separates from the cream during butter formation. It is possible to eat it raw, but also cooked and it takes a creamy consistency then. Today, it is possible to get the buttermilk by adding a bacterial culture into milk. It is a natural emulsifier used in the bakery, in the pastry making, and in the ice cream manufacture. It is excellent to prepare fresh sauces added with aromatic herbs and lemon juice. It can happen buttermilk is replaced by fresh milk (250 mil), to which ten mil of vinegar are added.

Let us add to that water in sufficient quantity to quench one’s thirst and every three days a small extra according to needs. Plus once a week some bread at will as well as butter.

Bread (with beer foam as a leaven). Farmhouse bread, possibly wholewheat, wheat or rye bread, various cereals (spelt wheat and so on) bread. Muesli, bread with nuts, olives, lardons, raisins, anchovies, in some areas, etc. of approximately 200 grams (paximacia).

Gruel or corn, millet, spelt, wheat, flat cakes . Cereal pulp (porridge).

Cheeses (tomme cheese, and so on.).

Dairy produces, colostrum, whey mixed with curdled milk, buttermilk.

Poultry.

Frogs’ legs.

Snails ((Let us not be stupid, man may eat everything , and when it is necessary, of course, it is not God who will say the opposite, what childishness, there are only elementary rules to respect in the preparation of these dishes, besides what is important especially it is sauce. The well-cooked pork is in no way dangerous , and the globefish prepared like it is necessary by specialists who know their trade (there are some o them in Japan) either! There it is called fugu. Japanese are not idiots even if they are neither Jewish nor Muslim.

Eggs (possibly sucked).

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Various fruits. Apples, nuts, fruits of wood (for example blueberries , hazel nuts…). It is even possible to make oil with beechnuts, so….

Hunting represents less 5% of meat-based food. Moreover it relates only to the aristocracy (wild boar, stag).

For the others, it is spoken about ox, sheep, goats, but also breeding dogs (see the taboos of Cuchulainn). Chinese have nothing invented on the matter.

Roasted fish too, with salt, vinegar, cumin or garum (a kind of nuoc mam???).

Fishing is an activity necessarily varied in a country which has long coastal strips, rivers, lakes and ponds, offering abundant resources. Some private remarks by Ausonius inform us about the adopted techniques.

Our ancestors particularly liked salmon, tuna and the mullet or gray mullet they fished with a three-pronged fork. A list which we can supplement by the turbot, the sturgeon, stingray, plaice, monkfish, sculpin, perch, shad, swordfish, anchovy, sardine, red mullet … Of course they used a whole fishing kit made up of nets, lines, fishing baskets and baits. The fish was dried or salted.

Shore fishing offered many shells and shellfish at low tide: limpets, warty venus, cockles,mussels, cross-cut carpet shells, scallops, great scallops, crabs… Oysters are known and liked . Sometimes salted, they are conveyed in vases filled with sea water or on straw. They circulated thus to Rome, but also in Switzerland and Germania, where many layers of shells were discovered.

Man was not unaware either of piscicultural and fresh-water fishing techniques, net fishing or angling.

However, no meat or fish every day, but when there are some of them, meats (and particularly pork) are always cooked in juice, or are roasted on ember, even spit roasted. They are also eaten dried, smoked or salted.

Salted vegetable dishes rather have to form daily and everyday fare. The whole cleanly served , in wooden or earthen dishes. Dried or green vegetables from gardens: cabbage, leeks, cucumber, carrot, salads (of cress for example), turnips, taproots, black radishes, beets, peas, vetches, vetchling or sweet peas, lentils, fava beans, chickpeas, onions, not forgetting picking products (mushrooms, and others.).

Condiments:more or less salted butter (atenoux or divertomu days) cream, lard, salt, vinegar, cumin, garum. But also kale (having fermented in milk = sauerkraut?) mint, pennyroyal, rosemary, sage, fennel, savory, lovage, tansy.

Sweety salty seems to be the standard.

Spices are used to enhance the flavor of dishes even of drinks. Olive oil cooking has its place in the South.

Drinks: fresh water, milk, more or less watered down (with or without cumin, with or without honey) colostrum, whey mixed with curdled milk, buttermilk. Possibly corn or barley ale (cervesia-barley ale, curmi- coirm in Gaelic language ?) and mead on feast days (sometimes a little amount of embrecton, some more or less watered down wine).

Frequency and schedules: twice a day. “In the winter food a little before the rising of the sun, because the days are short and you must not think of eating when you work “(Arrian). And the evening.

People should not eat between meals, the day must be devoted to training, work, reading, worship, and so on.

Some days, of course, the staple diet may and even must, be improved (normal meals with meats, ale, dessert custard kind **, etc.).

* The establishment of the vine is quite former the arrival of the Romans. Pips of wild vine dating back to 12 000 before our era were found in Switzerland on the banks of the lake Geneva. Specialists also found traces of wild olive dating back to the same time in the Pyrenees Mountains. Traces of oil mills former to the first century before our era were found in Glanum and elsewhere.

** Custard. Has, of course, nothing specifically English. The binder properties of eggs are known from time immemorial (see the case of omelets for example).

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WORKING DOCUMENT No. 9.

HYGIENE AND CLOTHING.

HYGIENE.

In order to daily wash oneself , to use soap, or for the girls some beer foam for the face (in order to look after the skin). At least take a bath once a week.

If need be (if work were very dirtying or if there were important bodily exercises): shower or sauna. But you don’t shower without permission and you don’t wash yourself , but with others, in groups. Same thing for the sauna.

Sweat huts were known by prehistoric men of the temperate or cold areas in the northern hemisphere.

The tribes in Siberia and the Indian tribes of the current United States or Canada are the evidence of that; many of them used sweat lodges at the time of the arrival of Europeans. They were branches buildings in which were brought white-hot stones. The patient or the warrior wanting to purify himself isolated himself in this summary house that other members of the tribe closed hermetically.

Initially, the sweat houses were improved in buried sauna then, with the benefit of the wood work mastery , the hovels became lodges out of piled up wood, in the way of the log houses, in a good part of Europe. They are the saunas known as “smoke saunas “ Finnish savusauna, in short steam rooms.

In the Middle Ages, the Catholic Church devoted much energy to eradicate the practice of the steam rooms and public baths.

But this practice survived in Russia and in Scandinavian lands, more tardily Christianized, where the Orthodox and Lutherans churches could perceive their hygienic benefits. Sweden (under the name of bastu) and Finland improved excessively the technique of the dry steam bath. At the beginning of the 20th century, Finnish athletes in Olympic Games, then the soldiers of the Winter War in 1939, made the sauna known by the whole world , and have combined its qualities with their deeds. Here below the main reasons for the sauna practice.

- Hygiene: that remains a radical means to eliminate lice, fleas, and other crab lice, as well from the person (entirely naked) as from the clothing (hanged up as a long time as necessary in the “drying oven”).

- To calm the nerves: what the relaxation and rest phases get.

- To eliminate the stress by the evenness of temper which follows a sauna.

- To drive out tiredness.

- To stimulate blood circulation, what has as a consequence a greater oxygenation of the body.

- To strengthen the immune system against the colds and chills.

- To release the airways by deep inhalations (supported by the use of essential oils).

- To eliminate toxins from the organism.

- To accelerate sweating and thus to clean then to improve skin elasticity.

- To soften muscles even to eliminate muscle tensions.

Original sauna is dry: between 3 and 20% of dampness. This is why temperatures are much higher there than in a hammam: 80°C to 90 °C on average. It is, however, not rare for Finns, to have 100 °C saunas, the world record being held by a Finn having spent approximately fifteen minutes in a heated 120 °C sauna.

In sauna, nakedness is the standard, for women as for men. The wearing of a bathing suit is regarded as unhygienic, heat and dampness supporting the development of bacteria there. A towel is put between the bench and the skin, to absorb sweat and to protect your skin from wood heat.

In the mokki, the Finnish country houses, it is usual , and in every season, to bathe in the lake (jarvi) or the river (joki), located nearby, rather than to have a traditional shower after a sauna. In the middle of winter the practice of saunas therefore begins with the maintenance of the hole in the ice envisaged for that purpose. In the countryside, during the heat bath , you can also benefit from that to whip

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yourself slightly using young birch branches (rauduskoivu) forming a kind of semi-rigid small whip called vihta or vasta, in order to stimulate still more your blood circulation.

Russian popular traditions combine the “bannik “with the bathhouses: it is a domestic spirit, sometimes joker, sometimes cruel, who haunts this place called “banya “.There it is understood that such a practice * was hardly in the good books of the Church. Some specialized Russian newspapers as Zdorovie (health) advise daily morning ablutions with ice-cold water to have a better health, but also a soft and firm skin. Among the proposals of “cold remedies “ are also advised barefoot walk in snow - to invigorate the body and to strengthen the organism - ten minutes a day; and fifteen minutes of gymnastics on your balcony (or in your garden). Whatever outside temperature!

The undoubtedly most surprising practice is that of the “morjs “- literally “walruses “-, these men and women who, when winter arrives, bathe in frozen water after having as a preliminary dug a hole in the ice… at the beginning this practice was combined with that of the banya, because these were generally built on the bank of a river or of a lake; it happens still nowadays that groups “bathe “- and this, without going as a preliminary in the steam room to be warmed -; January 7 (Christmas Day among Orthodox ones), and make the baptism of children celebrated by immersion in ice-cold water. These children will be then vigorous and in good health, for many years…

In short, it is the principle of the Finnish sauna but without its first part.

During cold baths, blood vessels are closed , heart beat and blood pressure increases, what explains the invigorating effect felt then.

In reaction to the physical shock – you go through opposite environmental conditions - your body exudes endorphins. The baths clean your skin, because heat supports the opening of cutaneous pores, whereas cold closes them. The technique is as old as the hills. Among the Romans the part of the ancient thermal baths where you have cold baths was called frigidarium (opposite: caldarium).

Haircuts for masters and teachers. The head front completely shaved from one ear to the another. Behind this line, the hair may remain long. Cf. the Msecke Zehrovice stone head in the Czech Republic. It is the haircut of Ogmius or Scottus Eriugena.

Haircuts for pupils or young people. Brush-cut style with straight hair made red using an ad hoc soap, and fixed with plaster water or lime. Straight so much so that it is possible to stick apples (humor) there! Or then to wash one’s hair with lime water, even with soap, then to do one’s hair by pulling it backwards from the face, towards the temples and the nape, with a comb.

The beard is authorized, but it is also allowed to shave it (to let a solid mustache grow then).

Mirrors are not prohibited and toothbrushes either, of course, even if this invention does not date back to most ancient times, unlike toothpicks!

CLOTHING.

Fabrics: flax, wool, silk, leather and fur… Colors: indigo blue, crimson, yellow, black… not forgetting white, green, brown, etc. (in short tartan). Jewels and ornaments as torcs or rings.** Tunic out of wool or flax, short, without sleeves, or a shirt, long, with sleeves (the camisia is a tunic shorter and finer than tunica). Pants. Baggy trousers (bracca or braga) with multiple folds ***, kept by a belt going through loops and attached to ankles. Over, a coat with a cap or a hood, length (bardocucullus, monk chasuble, cowl) or short (caracalla). The caracalla is a kind of hooded tunic, formed of several bands of fabric sewn together. It must be short and loose, so as to not obstruct either body movements or walk. Some people replace them with a coarse wool cover (a sagum) put on shoulders and attached under your chin with metal clasps (in short, a plaid). In rainy weather if no hood, possibly a felt or fabric hat (therefore a beret). Leather shoes (wooden-soled shoes). In fact, every pair out of soft leather ankle boots, on condition they are hobnailed. The caliga (plural caligae) is a kind of sandal attached to feet by belts, sometimes provided with more or less worked metal tags. The same model as that which was taken over by St. Benedict for his monks.

For more details on the manufacture and the sale, see the web site of Mara Riley, a specialist in the Welsh costume. From the manufacture of the fabrics and their treatment with a natural dyeing (woad for glasson or indigo blue , murex - a mollusk - for crimson, St. John’s wort for yellow, elderberry for black…) ; up to the clothes making (tunic, breeches…).

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* By way of a prediction it was to be undoubtedly deductions or ideas inspired suddenly by such a relaxation of their organism: their brain functioned better.

** More or less discreet, of course.

*** Or narrow and close-fitting in some cases.

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WORKING DOCUMENTS No. 10.

NOTES IN CONNECTION WITH THE GENUFLECTIONS INFLICTED AS PUNISHMENTS

IN MEDIEVAL ABBEYS.

In fitness, exercises concern all muscle groups. Each movement has to be performed again three or four times, with eight to ten movements a series.

If you are a beginner, you will quickly feel a burn in the concerned muscle (particularly in your abdominal muscles, which suffer more). It is normal, but nevertheless try to continue for the longest time you can, in spite of pain. You will observe that after a few weeks, on the condition of training regularly, you will have made significant progress.

Think of breathing, on a fast pace. A exhalation or an inhalation has to match each movement . A succession of controlled exhalations as it is necessary and successive, makes muscle effort easier.

It is not a question, of course, of detailing in an exhaustive way here all these bodily exercises, but here some example.

The genuflections (require to be able to get up on something, a bench for example).

The genuflection on a leg.

Concerned muscles: rectus femoris, vastus medialis muscles, vastus lateralis muscles , (ischium, glutei, muscles).

Important load on anterior muscles of the thigh. Excellent proprioception exercises which does not require a weight, but a motive adjustment making high the intensity of the task.

Advised: five genuflections on each leg.

The bodily exercise called crossfigill (Irish arm abduction).

Standing crossfigill, well spread feet, legs slightly bent. The rest of the body has to remain stable throughout the movement and arms should not exceed the height of the shoulders.

Stretched arms, slightly bent, you raise them horizontally, shoulder high, then you lower them . You repeat the movement ten times.

Arms horizontally straight, do small flexion elevations , very fast, for one minute. Alternate with the previous movement. Start again all the series with weight in each hand.

Take a stick. In standing position, with your two slightly bent legs, take the stick on your shoulders, behind your nape. Stretch your arms, then lower again gently the stick on the level of your shoulders, ten times with a large amplitude, then with a series of small short movements on the level of your shoulders.

You may also perform this crossfigill with dumbbells.

Crossfigill lying.

Lying face downwards, with your arms stretched out wide, raise your arms without them exceeding the height of your body. Then lower them again to the starting position.

You may also carry out this crossfigill with dumbbells .

Prostration.

Corresponding to the famous triad of Cailte: “The truth in our hearts, the strength in our arms and the art of making a good speech “. “Firinde inàr croidhedhaibh, 7 neart inàr lamhaibh, 7 comall inàr tengthaibh “.

The basic exercise is the flexion extension of arms in lying position … very known by soldiers. To perform this exercise correctly, stretch your arms maximum, then bend them until your nose touches the floor. Your feet have to be in demi-pointe *,your legs stretched. Breathe out thoroughly during the descent. Do a fast series of ten of them, and do again two to three times. This exercise, difficult, is intended to men primarily. If you perform it every day, you will quickly notice an increase in force of your arms.

Let us not forget either the rest position in the way of Cuchulainn. A chend ar a dorn, a dorn imm a gai, a gai ar a glùn. With his head on his clenched fist and his clenched fist about his spear and his spear resting on his knee.

*Usual ballet terminology. That is to say supporting one's body weight on the balls of both feet, heels raised off the floor.

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It goes without saying that we have nothing against classical dance and that we cannot too much recommend it for girls who are not thrilled by the medieval fight in armor about which their big clumsy brothers are mad . And this despite the strangeness of its vocabulary, a memory of the time when France has been a great nation (May 15, 1685, the Doge of Genoa will even come to Versailles for that). But it was nevertheless Russia that brought this art to perfection with Marius Petitpas from the end of the 19th century. Let's not neglect the classical Indian dances that are certainly less sporting but just as choreographic as the Swan Lake **.Its best known styles are Bharatanatyam, Kathak, Kathakali and Odissi. The Bharatanatyam was also originally a martial art which brings us back to our starting point. As a result of which this type of dance is also open to men. Phew! The politically correct is safe! By cons in Thailand, the lakhon is practiced only by women and requires a rock solid health given its bodily performance. Which does not tarnish their grace and beauty besides.

** The Celtic version (Aislinge Oenguso) has a happy end: Caer Ibormaith and Mabon / Maponos / Oengus get married.

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WORKING DOCUMENT No. 11.

Carnyx is one of the most elaborate musical instruments in the world. This type of instrument appears with bronze, a metal which upset the ancient sound landscape. The carnyx is a big vertical trumpet, with an animal head shaped bell, often, but not always, the head of a wild boar, an animal recognized and venerated for its combativeness.

The power of its sounds makes carnyx an instrument even more adapted to war than Scottish bagpipes. Some archeologists or anthropologists think carnyx was not only used to make the most possible noise at the time of attacks (a little like bagpipes). They think it was also used to communicate remotely like alphorns (known from Switzerland to Ukraine) or at the time of some ceremonies. To announce for example the arrival of the king or to draw the attention of the god-or-demons.

As it is held vertically, the noise that it makes resounds almost four meters high and thus planes above the noise of the battle. We can reconstruct carnyx starting from iconographic representations of archeological discoveries and from the ancient texts which describe thus the sound it makes: “For there were among them such innumerable horns and trumpets, which were being blown simultaneously and in all parts of their army, their cries were so loud and piercing that the noise seemed not to come merely from trumpets and human voices, but from the whole countryside at once “. To make a hellish noise night as well as day was besides a technique of psychological warfare used by the Scot until the 14th century (Otterburn battle) , according to Froissart.

“Les Escots ont un usage que, quand ils sont ainsi ensemble, les hommes de pied sont tous parés de porter à leurs cols un grand cor de corne à manière d'un veneur, et quand ils sonnent tous d'une fois et montent l'un grand, l'autre gros, le tiers sur le moyoun et les autres sur le délié, ils font si grand'noise, avec grands tabours qu'ils ont aussi, que on l'ouït bien bondir largement de quatre lieues angloises par jour, et six de nuit; et est un grand ébaudissement entre eux et un grand effroi et ébahissement entre leurs ennemis.”

What, “translated” in today language , gives us: « It is the usage of Scots, that when they are thus assembled in arms, the footmen bore about their necks big horns in the manner of hunters, so that when they blow all at once, they make such a noise, that it may be heard approximately four leagues off [four of five kilometers away]: thus they do to frighten their enemies and to rejoice themselves.”

The last person to use this technique was John Macpherson in 1884, at Glendale in the island of Skyou (in order to mobilize small farmers against great landowners who expelled them).

The carnyx reconstructed in Edinburgh is the work of a multi-field team gathering craftsmen, archeologists and musicians. The wild boar head shaped bell , of this carnyx, is a very exact copy of an authentic piece found at Deskford, in the North-East of Scotland, about 1816.

John Kenny is the first contemporary musician to have really again used carnyx as a musical instrument. Besides he regards this horn as most fantastic of all the wind instruments. It should be said that carnyx sound is enough enchanting.

Iconography shows that the instrument was to be held up very straight, and with a bell exceeding by far the head of the player. The carnyx is obviously designed to be used outside, and its music is heard far away. The same thing applies to alphorns.

Carnyx & Co, c/o John Kenny, Spottiswood Street 69. Edinburgh EI-19 1 DLL. Scotland. United Kingdom.

To sound carnyx requires a great control of breathing. More still, that requires the use of a technique named continuous murmur , or circle breathing. The best method to play carnyx is indeed that which is used to play alphorns.

Instruments similar to the alphorn (Australian didjeridu for example) exist for nearly 100,000 years. The early instruments were used to signal warnings often for military use ; but in the mountainous area of the Alps, it was more commonly used to announce daily activities. Archeological records of the

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alphorn in Switzerland date back to the Celtic tribes on the northern slopes of the Alps about more two thousand years ago

A Swiss alphorn varies in shape according to the locality, being for example curved near the bell in the Bernese Oberland.

It is carved from the trunk of softwoods, generally spruce but sometimes pine. Formerly cabinetmakers would find a tree bent at its base in the shape of an alphorn, but modern alphorn makers content themselves with adding another piece of hardwood to make the bell and thus the instrument is complete.

Like carnyx, an alphorn has no lateral openings and therefore produces only the pure harmonic series able to naturally come out from a (open) pipe. The harmonics are more or less easily gotten according to the small diameter of the bore in relation to the length. The notes of the natural harmonic series match, but without covering them exactly, the notes found in the usual chromatic scale in standard Western equal temperament. Most remarkable within the alphorn's scale are the 7th and 11th harmonics, because they fall between adjacent notes in the chromatic scale.

In the hands of a skilled composer or arranger, the natural harmonics can be used to cause depressed or captivating effect or, by contrast, to give a charming pastoral flavor, as in the hectic "Ranz des vaches" * and in the works of Brahms, Rossini, and Britten.

* The "Ranz des Vaches" is a traditional Swiss melody which describes the time of bringing the cows to the mountain pastures upon cheese-making time. Rossini inserted the "Ranz des Vaches" into his William Tell, along with many other melodies made for alphorns and Brahms in his Symphony No. 1 in C minor.

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WORKING DOCUMENT No. 12.

SUGGESTIONS FOR THE PERSON IN CHARGE OF A GRIANON (LUCTERIOS OR WARRIOR DRUIDS, A FUNDAMENTAL CLASS OF CHARACTERS IN OUR POLITICAL, IN THE NOBLE MEANING OF THE WORD, ROLE-PLAYING GAME).

Above all, do not yield to the siren’s song of the ancient Greek agôn, alas, once again become consubstantial with the politico-economic system in force since the universal triumph of bourgeoisie and of the Industrial Revolution (Blanqui 1837) which have ruined our planet and its biodiversity, fallen under the blows of the (invisible) hand of Adam Smith; and which is therefore only the polemos of everybody against everybody (the law of the jungle, the law of the strongest) brought up to date; but to adopt the motto of Pierre de Coubertin: "l'important dans la vie n'est pas le triomphe mais le combat ; l'essentiel n'est pas d'avoir vaincu mais de s'être bien battu "(the important thing is not to win but to take part). Because the time is today to SELECTIVE growth coupled with a JUST AS SELECTIVE degrowth. In short, the construction of a new man made from the best of the old one.

Handwritten notes of Peter DeLaCrau.

First of all, before every bout, every training ,make the first two parts of the triptych of the great science which enlightens (ambividtu, Gaelic imbas forosnai) carried out systematically.

1.A ateberta or offering to deities (pupils must bring to them in sacrifice, in the place planned for that, some small change, flowers, products of the earth or of hunting, etc.). And even a small wine amphora, symbolizing blood, which is given up as is or from which the content is poured, after having opened it, or to have broken its neck ritually. It is the famous Sanskrit “dadami se dehime “: I give you so that you give me (the deity then is in a way obliged to give the same), formula coarsely translated by Romans with their “do ut des “.

Shortest solemn rite is the offering to fire, in which ateberta are burned by pupils. For example, in the honor of Mabon/Maponos/Oengus, Artio, or Andarta. Or of Scotia, Scota, Scatha, Scathache, also known as Buanan. Her name means “immortal “. Goddess-or-demoness of the war and goddess-or-demoness, or fairy if this word is preferred, worshipped in Scotland (it is besides from her that Scotland took its name, before that the land was called Caledonia) on the Isle of Skyou (Hebrides). She appears in the legend of Hesus/Cuchulainn and in the adventures of Vindos/Finn, where she is described as “mother of Fenians “. She initiates the warriors to most various martial arts, but also teaches them how to warm themselves or more generally to survive.

2.A prayer, “Nate, nate, mento beto to devo “his mother (Augusta) unceasingly repeated to the future St. Symphorian of Autun, from the top of the walls of the city.

The bout starts after the signal of the referee. The signal of the referee consists in sounding the carnyx or the horn (tumultus gallicus).

A) PHILOSOPHY OF STRUGGLE.

With the race, wrestling is, of course, most universal and oldest of activities linked to the survival of man. By referring to its various forms through History, to its purposes like as to the very nature of its internal logic, this activity may call upon varied knowledge. Other disciplines of our teaching (the history of Tailteann games until 1170 and so on) will make it possible to better approach cultural dimensions and the operating process of techniques, as well as their consequences on the human body.

The confrontation represents the central stake of the practice of wrestling. Nevertheless, to have an educational value, the opposition level has to be adapted to pupils, to their technical-tactical abilities, to their aptitude in leveraging their resources. The ethics and the symbolic system of wrestling make it possible the pupil to understand that bodily confrontation is only a reason to manage opposition in the etymological meaning of the word (that is the fact to have an opponent) , and that it contributes to forming personality.

In wrestling, the produced performance matches the realization of an operation, for which the expected result aims at the same time the effectiveness and the technical control.

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Initially, the choice of a partner makes it possible the pupil to limit emotional charge and allows himself to define the difficulty level to solve. This activity, complementary to the search for a form of performance assessed according to the wrestling code, makes it possible the pupil to express his mastery of the technical gestures in a co-operation situation where the partner plays the part of an opponent. The effectiveness remains closely related to this technical control, also safety factor since it depends on the accuracy of the placements and of the relevance of produced actions. More than victory, the warrior druid (lucterios) must favor the quality of confrontation. For the not very disposed to combat pupils , the formal and personalized shows can be an intermediate method of practice enabling them to succeed in this activity. In this respect, the show trial represents an additional means, for the pupil as for the warrior druid (lucterios), to check the level of attainment.

In keeping with the spirit of the Breton gouren, respect of opponents and self-control support the expression of the will to overcome, within a framework delimited by shared rules. They strengthen the importance attached to the values of effort, courage, and discipline. It is for this reason that ethics inherent in wrestling, as in any other combat activity, must be preserved, and as its expression in a with strong overtone ritual, applied.

According to the context and to the project of pupils, the warrior druid (lucterios) may consider the learning wrestling or other combat activities, according to distinct methods, by favoring what follows.

- A competitive dimension defined by the production of a performance within the framework of a known and accepted rule.

- A dimension related to the execution mastery: the complexity or the diversity of technical and tactical elements, as well as the self-control, are then in the center of the training and of the knowledge having to be acquired.

- Or a dimension related to culture: the discovery of various forms of traditional (Icelandic, Cornish, Breton…) wrestling raises awareness among pupils about background, as about compliance with specific rules, and about respect for others.

Like every combat activity, more than an individual practice, wrestling is initially a group practice which, through confrontation, attaches particular importance to social behaviors.

By looking after a variety of partners and opponents, of the same sex and of the same age group nevertheless, the warrior druid (lucterios) makes his pupils able to accept individual differences. To surpass oneself facing stronger than oneself, to control oneself facing weaker, to lend one’s body to lead his partner to progress, give to each one the means of experimenting actively, tolerance and respect for others.

The history and the culture specific to combat activities show the interdependence of these ways of practicing. Consequently, and although sporting evolution increases differences between activities, it matters these practices are nevertheless approached in a supplementary way.

Although it is central in the event of conflict, combat should not be primary. It should be proposed to a pupil only when he has sufficiently got experience to express oneself or to benefit from a confrontation of which the lucterios or warrior druid will have beforehand defined accessible levels of opposition and intensity. Situations must be adapted to the technical knowledge, and to the aptitude of each one in controlling one’s emotional reactions.

As we have had the opportunity to say above about the Tailteann games in Ireland,History and Geography can also give an account of the cultural dimension of combat activities. Anatomy, combined with physiology, on the one hand, with physics and mechanics, on the other hand, explains in what the knowledge of the human body is a factor of effectiveness of wrestling techniques. Philosophy makes it possible to better understand the symbolic dimension and the ritual, which found the ethics (Fir Fer) of combat activities, and privilege the values of effort, courage, self-confidence but also respect for others.

Like any other combat bodily activity, wrestling practice makes it possible to develop the notions of autonomy starting from the getting of information, the decision-making, and the management of the opposition in the strictest sense of the word (the fact to face an opponent).

Getting of specific skills related to activities of grappling combat (freestyle wrestling, Greco-Roman, gouren…) or of striking combat (with weapons: fencing, staff cane… or not: English and French boxing ); support the control of emotional factors, as self-knowledge and respect for others. The training to these activities develops ethics, thus giving to the respect for places and persons a central

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position, in opposition to the violent behaviors in various forms. The lived experiment of the hand-to-hand makes it possible to express one’s will to overcome by respecting communal rules and codes which guarantee equity and safety for each one. Combining self-assertion with mutual respect, the special features of these practices ly in the situations of opposition they organize by using bio-informational , cognitive, bio energetic, bio mechanical and social emotional; resources.

Handwritten notices by Peter DeLaCrau.

B) NEGATIVE PROPRIOCEPTION.

Method of Gildas. Check that you feel nothing so that everything works by focusing successively on):

Skull, head, hair and eyes,

Forehead, tongue, teeth and their enamel,

Neck, chest, sides, back,

Size, grease around the kidneys and the two hands.

To recite the following formula.

“Be you the helmet of salvation on the head; O Sunartion, be a shield for my neck “.

To focus then successively: on the top of one’s skull and one’s hair, one’s forehead, one’s eyes, the three lobes of one’s brain, one’s nose, one’s lips, one’s face, one’s temples, one’s chin, one’s beard, one’s eyebrows, one’s ears, one’s cheekbones, one’s cheeks, one’s nasal septum, one’s nostrils, one’s pupils, one’s irises, one’s lashes, one’s eyelids.

Again one’s chin, then one’s breath, one’s cheeks, one’s jaws, one’s teeth, one’s tongue, one’s mouth, one’s throat, one’s uvula, one’s gullet, the underside of one’s tongue, one’s nape.

A. For a better proprioception the principle is that of the warrior nakedness of the Gaesati (or of the Greeks in the gymnasium).

B. Contrary to the case of Gaesati (torcs, etc.), it is necessary to make sure the jewels are removed. Safety first!

C. Pupils therefore train more or less naked according to the cases.

D. Completely naked for certain forms of fight.

E. Half-naked (short pants and flexible leather birnie) as regards English or French boxing.

F. Leather or metal covered as regards medieval fencing.

G. etc.

H. In the event of important nakedness combat could not be mixed sex.

I. It is with regard to pupils, fighters, spectators, teachers, or lucterios (masters).

J. It is necessary to make sure of the body cleanliness of opponents.

K. And of the length of their nails (short nails are needed).

L. It is necessary to avoid a more than 5 kg weight difference between wrestlers.

M. You must be sure, as a security measure, that the thrower accompanies the thrown opponent in his fall, and release his hands at the time of the aforesaid fall.

C) WRESTLING.

Freestyle shows.

The pupil shows his mastery of various techniques according to various opportunities of attacks or assaults ( guards, holds, various moves, combat situations…). He shows the forms of direct, even combined attacks (standing and on the ground), and the defense forms he knows.

The compulsory part has to make it possible for the warrior druid to fix minimal requirements of getting knowledge , the free part makes it possible the pupil to express oneself. The show therefore must have a sufficient minimum length (two or three minutes).

Fulfillment background.

On the assumption of a competitive approach, the lucterios (the warrior druid) may emphasize the level of effectiveness in view of the performance carried out, within the framework of rules adjusted to the age and the level of pupils.

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If the control of the execution is favored; the warrior druid (lucterios) may attach an additional importance to the criteria of assessment of the technical performance, to the precision and to the quality of controls, to the variety of actions and combinations.

Examples of free combat with a moderate opposition.

In the case of fights with topics, the free combat style makes it possible to assess the value and the sincerity of the offensive and defensive actions of the pupil, his technical and tactical abilities ; as his moral qualities as a combatant (self-confidence, will to overcome, control of one’s emotions, clearness).

By determining himself, or after a talk with his pupil, the level of difficulty of attacks or assaults, the warrior druid lucterios chooses to make an oriented test carried out.

- Either towards the research of a personal effectiveness (strong level of opposition).

- Or towards a more conventional mastery of techniques and tactical patterns, mastery favorable to the development of personal balance (level of opposition chosen by the pupil according to his capacities or to his aspirations, assessment of execution control).

In each case, the druid of lucterios type (of warrior type) must show a great requirement as for the compliance with the golden rule (not to hurt), the control of emotions, and the techniques carried out.

In the grianon, the search for performance can be only relative. Demonstrations of techniques have to remain in addition a means of developing self-control.

Examples of free combats.

- Standing: confrontation "in the long term" (at least two minutes) . It is attacks, not defenses, which are emphasized, combatants not having to take the risk to be wounded by refusing the fall. The assessment can relate to the score as to the complementarity of attacks, sequences, counter-attacks (relevance, precision, control of offensive and defensive actions).

- On the floor: confrontation "in the long term" (at least two minutes) starting from a position of endangerment. A fall does not stop the combat. Bridges and actions on the nape of an opponent are forbidden, except decision of the teacher who can consider that the level of control of both combatants enables them to carry out these actions without danger.

EDUCATIONS FOR BEGINNERS.

If the pupil begins, the teacher must firstly remove fears which can result from his apprehension of falls and bodily contact.

In view of the combat situations prepared by the lucterios or warrior druid, according to rigorous orders (safety, acceptance of the falls, etc.); the heterogeneity of the morphologies and of the levels of skill of the pupils represents a richness on the technical level, as from the point of view of the interpersonal exchanges linking the most experienced pupils to beginners.

The druid of the lucterios type (of the warrior type) may thus propose to his pupils some demonstration topics (various types of controls, of finals…) and to leave them free of their shows through techniques chosen by themselves. For safety reasons, the lucterios (warrior druid) will judge if it is preferable or not to make these pupils fighting only on the floor, according to their level of technique knowledge.

Examples of linkage of knowledge.

- Aimed for skill: “To build offensive and defensive actions “.

The sequence of actions is the direct consequence of the behavior of the opponent. So that he continues his action effectively, the pupil who fights must be able to do what follows.

- To keep the imbalance of the opponent by avoiding every breaking in control.

- To transmit strength to one's opponent and to perceive the reactions of the latter, from grappling to control.

- To move or to take one’s bearings to perform the offensive sequence (direct attack, simple combination) or the defensive sequence (dodging, parry) until one final on the floor.

- Remembered knowledge (examples).

- Information: effectiveness principles one control, elements of terminology…

- Techniques and tactics: to defend oneself by blocking an opponent’s attack, do one after another two attacks in the same direction or in opposite directions, to release oneself from a position of danger…

- Self-knowledge: to define and implement an individual project according to one’s technical and morphological capabilities, according to one's opponent…

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- Social know-how: to use or recognize in combat situations the words, "action “ “grand amplitude hold “ red zone“ and so on…

- Examples of implementation: “To build offensive and defensive actions “.

- In delimited areas or according to axes fixing the surfaces of fall, the attacker uses the pulling or pushing of the defender. The defender reacts and the attacker, on the other hand, does a series.

- Repetition of sequences with one (or several) opponent (s) , combined or not with a fall (on a landing mat).

FINAL EDUCATIONS.

Practices previously evoked, depend on the projects of the teacher and of the pupils (tournaments, self-control and cultural approach). The demonstration test and that of combats are retained, according to the level of requirements from the (warrior) lucterios druid, which will evolve, according to the technological and tactical progress of pupils.

Level 1.

- Aimed for skill: “To use one’s resources in order to fight an opponent according to a tactical project “.

Pupil creates favorable conditions to attack according to the sequence, “pre-action/opportunity/technique“.

- Remembered knowledge (examples).

- Information: principles of using opportunity, pre-action, elements of terminology…

- Techniques and tactics: standing , to reverse one's opponent in at least two different directions after a pre-action and after a reaction from the opponent…

- Social know-how: to apply or make the rule of the endangerment, of the passivity, etc.applied

- Examples of implementation.

- Sequences of opposition between two opponents by varying guard, initial control, reactions of the defender, etc.

Training through global situations aiming at favoring execution speed and bodily effort.

Level 2.

- Aimed for skill: “To manage one’s resources according to the characteristics of the opponent in order to fight the bout in an individualized way “.

The development of a simple or more worked out technical-tactical complex integrates particularly the choice of a favored technique resulting from preferential opportunities (pre-action, opponent reaction, taking advantage of the reaction, causing the reaction…).

- Remembered knowledge (examples).

- Information: sequence standing/floor, counter-attack, technical-tactical combination.

- Technique and tactics: to organize one’s bout in time and space in order to reverse one’s opponent forwards and downwards after a feint of attack.

- Self-knowledge: to impose one’s guard, one’s grappling, one’s moves, to one's opponent.

- Examples of implementation.

- Working out and application of a preferential technical-tactical complex and choice of the most favorable opportunities, taking into account the aptitudes, the balance of power, the possible reactions of the opponent, etc.

- Training of the sequences according to the reactions of the opponent.

Elements of progressiveness. Elements of progressiveness organizing previous examples take into account various elements the first of which relating to the educational approach, which favors the work of both combatants, and which aims through a communal emulation, at making each pupil progress in interaction. By favoring alternatively attack and defense, the lucterios (the warrior druid) prepares the pupil to manage the power balance , by increasing the level of opposition gradually, to go from easy situations (work with a partner) to others more difficult (fight against an opponent). The training of an opposition requires the experiencing of total and analytical situations, which successively make it possible to be confronted, to discover, to understand, to repeat technical solutions in order to get these last ones, and to try out them according to each opponent.

As for the level of difficulty, the warrior druid or lucterios must make sure he adjusts the complexity of proposed tasks well to the level of his pupils. In his implementations, the teacher will be very attentive to the individual combativeness of each one, as much as to his attitude with opponents and partners.

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WORKING PAPER No. 13.

Vocabulary : venan = old French visiting team. Tenan = old French home team, defenders.

WHAT IS A PAS D’ARMES.

In accordance with historical likelihood, knights of the Round Table began as a troop of bucellarii (horsemen) in the service of a fifth century Romano-British war chief, at least in the period following the famous rescript of Honorius in 410 (who answers the Roman cities in Great Britain to take care of their own defense, that is, tacitly accepts that they are from now on independent). One of the hypotheses would be that this initial dux bellorum was the leader of a part of what remained of the Roman army in the territory, stationed at York (Ambroisius Aurelianus?). The (heavy) cavalry nevertheless became the queen of battles only after the eighth century.

In order to make a charge work, massed knights needed to coordinate their charge, and this required practice. The tournament was a tool for such practice. These early encounters were barely less than war-often villages and crops were destroyed, men taken prisoners and even killed. Essentially it was a war for fun and profit. The church early put bans on such tournaments, but they continued apace, popular in France, Spain, the low countries, Eastern Europe, and from time to time in England.

Our ambassador in Washington at the beginning of the 20th century looked much into the question in his book on the subject (Sports and Exercise Games) in 1901.

By the 14th century, this dominance had been successfully challenged by footmen and bowmen. The role of the tournament also changed gradually, becoming less training for war and more of an engine for renown by individual and small groups of knights (known in Germany as tournament societies). More and more regulation was found, and there was more emphasis on individual jousts and contests. The round table, pas d'armes, hastilude and emprise like that of the Joyous Garde castle in Saumur in 1446 under Rene d’Anjou, all became popular.

The pas d'armes probably grew out of the popular knightly tradition of single challenge. Accounts of knights meeting one another head-on in a clash of splintering lance and cleft shields held a powerful place in the iconography and the knightly culture as it rose and changed from the 9th century to the 16th. It was an image that was clung to by the chivalry even as the military reality changed completely.

Tourneying gradually became more expensive, and more specialized. The good pages of Enguerrand de Monstrelet, a popular chronicler of the early 15th century or the chronicles that speak of Rene d'Anjou are peppered with accounts of such feats.

Organizing lords would first declare their intention, either at an event such as a feast or a knighting ceremony, and then set about spreading words such that other knights and squires could attend. They might set up a simple pavilion, or they might sponsor a large festival which might last as long as a month. They would then arrange for shields, spears, weapons and sometimes armor to be available for their erstwhile challengers. Refreshments and gifts of extreme generosity were often given-it was an opportunity to display hospitality and the virtue of largesse. The more generous a knight was -even to the point of impoverishing himself-the greater the virtue. Consider this quote from the 13th-century romance Cliges by Chretien de Troyes:

What produces in 13th English…."Biax filz, fet il, de ce me croi que largesce est dame et reïne qui totes vertuz anlumine, ne n'est mie grief a prover.

A quel bien cil se puet torner, ja tant ne soit puissanz ne riches, ne soit honiz se il est chiches ? Qui a tant d'autre bien sanz grace que largesce loer ne face ? Par soi fet prodome largesce, ce que ne puet feire hautesce ne corteisie ne savoir ne gentillesce ne avoir ne force ne chevalerie ne proesce ne seignorie ne biautez ne nule autre chose ; mes tot ausi come la rose est plus que nule autre flors bele, qant ele neist fresche et novele, einsi la ou largesce avient, desor totes vertuz se tient et les bontez

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que ele trueve an prodome qui bien se prueve et a .V.C. dobles monter. Tant a en largesce a conter que n'an diroie la mitié. "

What produces in our today jargon…..

"'Dear son,' he said, 'believe me when I tell you that largesse is the queen and lady who brightens all virtues, and this is not difficult to prove……Largesse alone makes one a prodome (an exemplary man), not high birth, courtesy, knowledge, gentility, possessions, strength, chivalry, prowess, lordship, beauty, or any other gift. But just as the rose, when it buds fresh and new, is more beautiful than any other flower, so largesse, whenever it appears, surpasses all other virtues…..There is so much to be said of largesse that I could not tell you half."

Essentially the pas d'armes is a challenge a plaisance, that is to say fought with non-sharpened weapons. One or more defenders, known popularly as the "tenans," would make it known that they would hold a particular place on a particular day "such place such day...'" Such challenges were designed to showcase the prowess, courtesy and in general to celebrate the office of knighthood with a demonstration of arms. This was no game -it was more serious than a round table (more theater than fighting) but less deadly and more friendly than an emprise (where knights of different nations generally challenged one another to accept rough and often bloody jousts and contests with weapons of war).

All three styles were popular during the late 14th and 15th centuries.

Holding themselves ready for the hour, day or even the month of the challenge, the "tenans" would await their opponents. These were, in the pas d'armes, met with friendship. In an " emprise,” they would be met with more caution, respected enemies who must be defeated. Not so with the pas d'armes. The attackers, the 'venans,' would array themselves as they might, frequently coming incognito, costumed, and often bedecked in their best finery. They might bear minstrels or ladies with them-or even dwarves (a medieval custom). Sometimes the tenans held the field role-playing; Edward III once attended a pas d'armes costumed as a pope, followed by his twelve cardinals. Such things were part of the spirit of the pas d’armes, not so much acting as bringing interest and amusement to the gallery while simultaneously testing their prowess.

Both "prowess.’-skill in arms-and courtesy were important. There are many accounts surveying the ferocity of the combatants, but side by side with these accounts is equal space devoted to the largesse and courtesy of even the most deadly fighters. The pas d'armes was a chance to celebrate all the knightly virtues -not just the warlike prowess and not just the courtesy. And although there was frequently a 'gallery' of spectators present, most often there were no spectators-it was held for pleasure and for the glory and renown to be earned in such an honorable fight.

In this regard, let us also pay tribute to the efforts of our friend Brian R. Price, professor of history at the University of Hawaii and founder in 1996 of the Society for Creative Anachronism, a group devoted to the Middle Ages "as they ought to have been, choosing elements of the culture that interest and attract us.”

In other words, "how to build a new man with the best of the former one.” Which is our motto to uns, high knowers of the druidiaction.

Within the SCA, The Company of Saint George strives to present the pas d'armes as a tournament format. We believe that this format is a useful tool for exploring all parts of the knightly character that we expect of all combatants whether belted or not. In the pas d'armes, fighters challenge one another for the pleasure of the combat and not for victory. They speak of their motives, their consorts, of the virtues of their opponent and of the other knightly virtues -loyalty, courage, generosity, humility, fidelity, faith (in our ideals), a sense of justice and the duty of defense (victims and your people). These things are what people will remember because they are the yardstick by which tourneyers are measured when they fight on the field, the stage, where the soul is more or less naked under the stress of the fight. The 'gallery' and your opponent can still see who you are; it is hard to be deceptive of your motives and your sincerity in such contests….. for that reason therefore we freely offer our knowledge

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in how to run such a list. As of July 1996, we have organized more than ten pas, building up thus a vast base of information that we are happy to share.

The Society for Creative Anachronism (SCA P.O. Box 360789 Milpitas, CA 95036-0789) is an international, not-for-profit, educational organization dedicated to the study, research, teaching, preservation and re-creation of pre-17th century European culture, known as the Middle Ages and Renaissance eras. The SCA is similar to many of the Civil War battles re-enactment groups, but simply covers a different (and wider) span of time and a larger number of countries.

The SCA is a living history organization, as it takes an approach different from many other study groups. Rather than just reading about history or just visiting museums, we research aspects of history and attempt to produce the items associated with the research. For example, after finding armor, we then make actual replicas of the armor, which we use in the re-creation of combat.

ORGANIZATION OF A PAS D’ARMES.

The proceedings of a pas d'armes organized by AEMMA (Dupont Street, Toronto, ON M6H 1Z1 ) focuses on combats " on foot" only, therefore, and encompasses numerous uses of the late 14th century and of the early 15th century projected to satisfy the expectations of today spectators in a 21st century context by making them able to see extraordinary improvised armored single combats, while preserving their historical character and providing opportunities for the combatants to demonstrate their prowess and technique through the challenges presented in the bouts by defendants or tenants (the home team). As recorded in historical accounts of the pas d'armes, if the visiting venan did not have weapons or a horse, one may be provided by the tenans. At AEMMA, the Academy provides all the weapons to be used during this event. This enhances the safety factor and reduces the probability of weapons failure injuring spectators.

Planning the pas d'armes.

The pas d'armes are planned and scheduled on a periodic basis (annual or biannual events), with invitations to two or more external parties whose members are referred to as the venans (in short the "visitors" ). Members of the "home team" are referred to as the defenders or tenans . In theory the venans team is made of representatives from other schools or similar academies. But other groups can be associated with it in order to "balance" the number of combatants.

Once a date to hold the pas d'armes is decided by the defenders (the hosting organization) and the place where the pas d'armes is to take place is agreed by the guests , an invitation proposing an agreement detailing the rules, regulations and requirements is communicated to the venans through their respective organizations. The invitation and agreement describe the various types of combats which can be undertaken and the regulations regarding harness and weapons. The date and place are determined by the defenders, however, in some instances, in coordination with the venans, a mutually convenient date and location may be decided. The venans and defenders may, if agreed, decide to share the cost of the pas d'armes, however, an entry fee to be defined for the pas d'armes will be possibly paid by each pas d'armes participant.

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WORKING DOCUMENT No. 14.

Let's come now to another type of armor than the one evoked by our SCA friends in their self-presentation, a more spiritual or psychological armor this time: the loricae.

LORICAS USEFUL FOR THE PRACTICE OF MARTIAL ARTS.

Editor's note.

This kind of text has always intrigued researchers. However, we have had the opportunity to see that the hypothesis of proprioception, in the positive meaning of the word, had only a relatively weak explanatory value for them.

Another hypothesis sees in them remains or reminiscences of anatomy lessons learned by heart. But here also the explanatory force of such an assumption is rather weak in view of the general belief in their effectiveness.

Pierre-Yves Lambert in his study published in 2005 in Zaragoza by Francisco Marco Simon under the title "international conference on magical practices in the Latin West,” makes it sometimes magical charms sometimes kinds of (preventive) confessions .

But the best thing about these litanies is perhaps, in the end, to adopt a prayer definition, new, in relation to what is usually understood with this word today, more psychosomatic, less naive, and therefore more rational; or at least falling within the framework of rational analyzes or rational behaviors, as a last chance, from an individual in difficult or even desperate situation. Because prayer was always or will always be, a double human experiment: a psychological technique combined with a spiritual process. Both functions of prayer can never be entirely separate.

“Nate, nate, mento beto to devo “his mother unceasingly repeated to the future noibo Symphorian of Autun.

The enlightened prayer must recognize that the higher Being is including and impersonal*. But in many cases, a more effective technique will consist in fact to consider than the deity to whom we speak , is a kind of interlocutor, exactly as the primitive mind was accustomed to doing it. For example, Cassibodua and her favorite animal the crow, or Andarta/Andrasta, even Ogmios or Mabon/Maponos/Oengus. The divine one is also in Man (Gdonios), so that Man can talk, so to speak, face to face, with the divinity who lives in him.

Prayer very often carries out important and durable changes in the person who prays. The lorica often generates much relief, mental peace, calm, courage, self-control, even joy. At least in those who are spiritually Celts and don’t fear.the ice of hell or of the punishment of an avenging god-or-demon like Allah or Jehovah.

Prayer is a subjective gesture, but it establishes contact with objective powerful realities of the human experience; it is a significant try to reach supra-human values. It is most powerful stimulating of spiritual growth.

Words have hardly importance in prayer; they are simply the intellectual channel the river of our supplications takes. The verbal value of a prayer is socio-suggestive in the group prayers, but purely self-suggestive in the devotions prayer. It can cause in these cases (Cassibodua, Andarta, Ogmios…) important productions of adrenalin or endorphin in our body, being able even in extreme cases to lead to a true murderous madness (vergio/ferg of the berserkers).

Adrenalin is at the same time a hormone and a neurotransmitter. It is a part of the fight or flight reflex. It accelerates the speed of breathing, dilates the pupils, and increases the heart rate. A high dose puts the body to the highest alert state. Adrenalin also plays an important role in the enthusiastic reaction in front of a challenge; but an excess of adrenalin in normal life causes nervousness, even paranoia.

Endorphins are endogenous morphines, which perform the task of neurotransmitters. Their crucial role is that of pain medication, but they also cause a feeling of happiness or euphoria. When you are in a way drunk after an important bodily effort, that is partly caused by endorphin emission.

* Although being able to be personally felt in a personal form.

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THE RECONSTRUCTED ORATION OF NOIBO BRENDAN.

Uediiu-semi!

May be my soul/mind and body armor,

By all these binding me

At home and abroad,

From sole of the foot up to the crown of the head,

In sight, sound, odor, taste, touch,

Flesh and blood, and in all the bones

And nerves and innards, veins,

Marrows, limbs,

And securing me from death:

Through you indeed my god,

May all my members be made to live, breathe, and be healed.

Protect me, my god, on the right and on the left,

Before and behind, below and above,

In the air, on the earth, in the water, in the sea,

In bowing, in rising,

In walking, in standing still,

In all motion and on every day,

At every hour, in every place,

On every night, and all the days of my life.

May the force be with me!

Sunartiu!

THE RECONSTRUCTED PRAYER OF NOIBO FURSA, FURSY or FURSEY.

Uediiu-semi!

The arms of gods be around my shoulders,

The touch of the Sacred Spirit upon my head,

The sign of the labarum upon my forehead,

The sound of the Sacred Spirit in my ears,

The fragrance of the Sacred Spirit in my nostrils,

The vision of gods in my eyes,

The conversation with the gods on my lips,

The work for the druidic Ollotouta in my hands,

The service of the gods and the neighbor in my feet,

A home for the gods in my heart,

And to the heavenly Father my entire being.

Just like not long ago it belonged to our underground father.

May the force be with me!

Sunartiu!

THE RECONSTRUCTED PRAYER OF NOIBO COLUMCILLE.

Uediiu-semi!

Alone am I upon the mountain;

O Royal Sun, be the way prosperous;

I have no more fear of anything whatsoever

Than if there were six thousand with me.

If there were six thousand with me of people

Though they might defend my body,

When the appointed moment of my death shall come,

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There is no fortress that can resist it.

They that are ill-fated are slain even in a sanctuary,

Even on an island in the middle of a lake;

They that are well fated are preserved in life,

Though they were in the first rank of the battle.

Whatever god destines for one,

He shall not go from the world till it befalls him;

Though a Prince should seek anything more

Not as much as a mite shall he obtain....

O Royal sun true living God!

Woe to him who for any reason does evil.

What you see not come to you,

What you see escapes from your grasp.

Our fortune does not depend on sneezing.

Nor on a bird on the point of a twig,

Nor on the trunk of a crooked tree,

Greater is He on whom we depend,

I reverence not the voices of birds,

Nor sneezing, nor any charm in the wide world,

Nor a child of chance,

My druid is Hesus , the Son of God.

May the force be with me!

Sunartiu!

THE RECONSTRUCTED LORICA OF MUGRON ABBOT OF IONA COARB TO COLUMBA.

The lorica of Mugron asks for the blessing of the sunertio or standing stone (Clochafarmore) of the Hesus Cuchulainn on all parts of the body. The idea is that the divinity fills all our bodies, so we do not need to be afraid. In one manuscript this lorica was called “The Lorica of Columkille” (or Columba).

The Sunertio upon this face,

And over this ear,

The Sunertio upon this eyou.

The Sunertio upon this nose.

The Sunertio upon this mouth.

The Sunertio upon this tongue.

The Sunertio upon this throat.

The Sunertio upon this back.

The Sunertio upon this side.

The Sunertio upon this belly …

The Sunertio upon my hands,

From my shoulders to my palms.

The Sunertio over my legs,

The Sunertio with me before me,

The Sunertio with me after me,

The Sunertio to face every trouble

In the valley and hill.

The Sunertio as I look east.

The Sunertio towards the sunset.

In the north and south never stopping,

The Sunertio always there.

The Sunertio over my teeth,

To protect from harm and danger.

The Sunertio over my stomach.

The Sunertio over my heart.

The Sunertio up to highest heaven.

The Sunertio down-to-earth.

There shall come no evil nor suffering

To my body or to my soul.

The Sunertio at my sitting.

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The Sunertio at my lying.

The Sunertio over my community.

The Sunertio in the next world.

The Sunertio in this.

From the top of my head

To the sole of my foot,

O Hesus Cuchulainn,

I trust in the protection of your stone

The Clochan Fhir Mhor.

There are three deaths. The first is when the body ceases to function. The second is when the body is consigned to the grave. The third is that moment when your name is spoken for the last time.

THE RECONSTRUCTED PRAYER OF GILDAS THE WISE OR LAIDCENN (an Irish monk of Clonfert Mulloe died in 661)

Uediiu-mi !

Help unity of the triad,

Have pity trinity of unity;

Help me, I pray, thus placed

As in the peril of a great sea,

So that the plague of this year draw me not with it,

Nor the vanity of the world.

And this very petition I make unto the high powers of the gods warfare,

That they leave me not to be harried by enemies,

But defend me with their strong armor;

That, before me in the battle, go their armies.

.................... ..................

Be you safest shield, for my limbs, for my entrails,

That you may thrust back from me the invisible nails of stakes, which enemies fashion !

Be you the helmet of salvation on the head; for forehead, eyes, triform brain,nose, lips, face,temples,chin, cheeks,jaws, for teeth, tongue, mouth, throat, uvula, windpipe, bottom of the tongue, nape, for cartilage,

Cover with strong corselet, along with shoulder blades, shoulders and arms.

Cover elbows with elbow joints and hands, fists, palms, fingers with their nails.

Cover backbone and ribs with their joints,

Hind parts, back, nerves and bones.

Cover surface, blood and kidneys,

Haunches, buttocks with the thighs.

Cover hams, calves, thighs, knee-caps, hollows of the knee and knees.

Cover ankles, shins and heels,

Legs, feet with the rests of the soles.

Cover the branches that grow ten together,

With the toes with the nails ten.

Cover chest, its join, the little breast,

Paps, stomach, navel.

Cover belly, reins, genitals,

And paunch, and vital parts also of the heart.

Cover the triangular liver and fat,

Spleen, armpits with nerves

Cover flesh, groin with the inner parts,

Spleen with the winding intestines.

Cover bladder, fat and all

The numberless orders of joints.

Cover hairs,

And the rest of my limbs,

whose names, may be, I have passed by.

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Cover me,

Cover me all in all with my five senses, and with the ten doors formed for me,

So that, from my soles to the top of the head,

In no member, without within, may I be sick;

That, from my body, life be not cast out.

May the force be with me!

Sunartiu!

THE RECONSTRUCTED BREASTPLATE (lorica) OF NOIBO PATRICK.

STAG CRY.

I arise today

Through a mighty strength,

The invocation of the Triads,

The belief in the Triad,

Through the confession of the oneness of the Higher being.

I arise today

Through the strength of sky:

Light of sun,

Radiance of moon,

Splendor of fire,

Speed of lightning,

Swiftness of wind,

Depth of sea,

Stability of earth,

Firmness of rock.

May their force be with me!

Sunartiu

I arise to day

Through gods’ strength to pilot me:

Gods’ might to uphold me,

Gods’ wisdom to guide me,

Gods’ eye to look before me,

Gods’ ear to hear me,

Gods’ word to speak for me,

Gods’ hand to guard me,

God’s way to lie before me 1),

God's shield to protect me,

Gods’ host to save me

From everyone who shall wish me ill,

Afar and anear,

Alone and in a multitude.

Gods to shield me today

Against poison, against burning, against drowning, against wounding,

I summon today all these powers

Between me and those evils,

Against every enemy power

That may oppose my body and soul/mind,

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Against incantations of false prophets,

Against black laws of Judeo-Christianity,

Against every knowledge that corrupts man's body and soul/mind.

CAMBITA.

Uediiu-mi !

Hesus with me,

Hesus before me,

Hesus behind me,

Hesus in me,

Hesus beneath me,

Hesus above me,

Hesus on my right,

Hesus on my left,

Hesus when I lie down,

Hesus when I sit down,

Hesus when I arise,

Hesus in the heart of every man who thinks of me,

Hesus in the mouth of every one who speaks of me,

Hesus in every eye that sees me,

Hesus in every ear that hears me.

May his force be with me! Sunartiu

I arise today

Through a mighty strength,

The invocation of the Triads,

The belief in the Triad,

Through the confession of the oneness of the Higher being.

Hesus is salvation

Setanta is the path.

May your force Lord be with me!

Sunartiu ! Sunartiu ! Sunartiu !

1) It is there perhaps in the beginning an allusion to the HESUS/CUCHULAINN whose initial name, SETANTA, means the walking one (especially considering what follows: he notions of before behind, etc.).

251

WORKING DOCUMENT No. 15.

EULOGY OF THE KNIGHTS TEMPLAR BY NOIBO BERNARD OF CLAIRVAUX.

ADAPTATION AND TRANSPOSITION BY PETER DELACRAU

IN ORDER TO SEE WHAT THAT WOULD PRODUCE IN PAGAN MODE.

( Rough draft found crossed out in a wastepaper basket by the heirs to Peter DeLaCrau.)

It seems that a new kind of knighthood has recently appeared on the earth, and precisely in that part of it which the rising sun from on high visited in the flesh. As he then troubled the princes of darkness in the strength of his mighty hand, so there he will destroy their satellites, the children of disbelief. Even now he brings about the redemption of his people raising up again a horn of salvation for us in the house of David’s children.

This is, I say, a new kind of militia and one unknown to the ages gone by. It ceaselessly wages a twofold war both against flesh and blood, against evil spirits in the air.

When someone strongly resists a foe in the flesh, relying solely on the strength of the flesh, I would hardly remark it, since this is common enough. And when war is waged by spiritual strength against vices or evil , this, too, is nothing remarkable, praiseworthy as it is, for the world is full of men [and women] fighting this combat. But when the one sees a man powerfully girding himself with both swords and nobly marking his belt, who would not consider it worthy of all wonder, the more so since it has been hitherto unknown?

He is truly a fearless soldier (Latin miles) and secure on every side, for his soul/mind is protected by the armor of faith just as his body is protected by armor of steel. He is thus doubly armed and need fear neither gods neither demons nor men.

Not that he fears death, no, he desires it. Why should he fear to live or fear to die when for him to die is gain? Gladly and faithfully he stands for his god, but he would prefer to be freed from the ties of his body and to be with him, by far the best thing.

“Death is only the middle of a long live … whence this lack of care put to save a life which must be given back to you? ” (Lucan. Pharsalia. I).

Go forth confidently then, and repel the foes of the labarum (voice or word of the fate) of true faith with a stalwart heart. Know that neither death nor life can separate you from your god , and in every peril repeat these words, " Nate memento beto to divo . Whether we live or whether we die, we are the Lord's."

What a glory to return in victory from such a battle! How blessed to die there as a martyr!

Rejoice, brave athlete of the gods, if you live and conquer in the Lord; but glory and exult even more if you die and join your Lord. Life indeed is a fruitful thing and victory is glorious, but a holy death is more important than either. If they are blessed who die in the Lord, how much more are they who die for the Lord!

The soldiers (Latin milites) of the gods may safely fight the battles of their Lords, fearing neither offense if they smite (Latin caede) the enemy, nor danger at their own death; since to inflict death or to die for gods is no sin, but rather, an abundant claim to glory. In the first case one gains for the gods, and in the second one gains the gods themselves. The gods indeed freely accept the death of the foe who has offended them, and yet more freely give themselves for the consolation of their fallen soldier .

The soldier of the gods, I say, may strike with confidence and die out more confidently, for he serves gods when he strikes, and serves himself when he falls.

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Neither does he bear the sword in vain, for he is the minister of his god, for the punishment of evildoers and for the praise of the good. If he kills an evildoer, he is not a man-killer, but, if I may so put it, a killer of evil. He is the avenger of the druids god towards evildoers and he is therefore rightly considered a defender of believers.

Should he be killed himself, we know that he has not perished, but has come safely into port. When he inflicts death, it is to gods profit (Latin lucrum) , and when he suffers death, it is for his own gain.

What then? If it is never permissible for a druid to strike with the sword, from where comes that we see here or there in the sacred texts, some druids carrying one of them? Diviciacus, for example. Even if it is not a very good example, it is true (he served objectively speaking foreigners party).

Of course it is proper that the nations who love war should be scattered, that those who trouble us should be cut off, and that all the workers of iniquity should be dispersed from the city. They busy themselves to possess our sanctuaries.

Let both swords (a) of Ambicatus fall upon the necks of the foe, in order to destroy every high thing exalting itself against the knowledge of the divinity that is to say against …..etc.

a) Cf. also Ambicatus = “who fights on both sides”

The rough draft found crossed out stops there and begins again as follows, according to us…

Some contemporary druidic heresies (and by heresy we want to say having nothing to do, or almost, with the ancient , genuine and proven, druidism) make Bernard of Clairvaux a comrunos or a druidic initiated person. Others make knights Templar guardians of the Grail. All that is, of course, completely… false! .

The original text of St. Bernard of Clairvaux is typical of a certain Christianity *, i.e., distressing (it is a cultural other world that which is ours today: logorrhea, inconsistency, obsessions, generally accepted ideas, hypocrisy, total lack of originality of personality even of pride, servility towards the dogmas and the dominant ideology of the time, complete absence of step back, of profoundness and of philosophy, etc.).

There are also in this text of St. Bernard an obvious justification of crusades jihads or ver sacrum. Let us recognize nevertheless well readily that Islam similarly justifies violence of this type; so much it is true it is in human nature to want to defend oneself or defend his. The important thing is therefore to channel or frame this violence inherent in human nature at least to symbolic violence or catharsis.

.All the question is to know

- Firstly, from when we can consider that a war is right.

- Under which conditions this right war must be waged (on this subject see our next essay on the ethics of the warrior or in time of war).

P.S.: Sorry for the quality or the faithfulness of the translation, my 7 years of Latin are far away

* Of every genuine Christianity besides.

253

AFTERWORD IN THE WAY OF JOHN TOLAND.

Pseudo-druids with fabulous initiatory derivation (the famous and indescribable or hilarious perennial tradition) having multiplied since some time; it appeared us necessary to put at the disposal of each and everyone, these few notes, hastily written, one evening of November, in order to give our readers the desire to know more about true druidism.

This work claims to be honest but in no way neutral. It was given itself for an aim to defend or clear the cluto (fame) of this admirable ancient religion.

Nothing replaces personal meditation, including about obscure or incomprehensible lays strewing these books, and which have been inserted intentionally, in order to force you to reflect, to find your own way. These books are not dogmas to be followed blindly and literally. As you know, we must beware as it was the plague, of the letter. The letter kills, only spirit vivifies.

Nothing replaces either personal experience, and it’s by following the way that we find the way. Therefore rely only on your own strength in this Search for the Grail. What matters is the attitude to be adopted in life and not the details of the dogma. Druidism is less important than druidiaction (John-P. MARTIN).

These few leaves scribbled in a hurry are nevertheless in no way THE BOOKS TO READ ON THIS MATTER, they are only a faint gleam of them.

The only druidic library worthy of the name is not in fact composed of only 12 (or 27) books, but of several hundred books.

The few booklets forming this mini-library are not themselves an increase of knowledge on the subject, and are only some handbooks intended for the schoolchildren of druidism.

These simplified summaries intended for the elementary courses of druidism will be replaced by courses of a somewhat higher level, for those who really want to study it in a more relevant way.

This small library is consequently a first attempt to adapt (intended for young adults) the various reflections about the druidic knowledge and truth, to which the last results of the new secularism, positive and open-minded, worldwide, being established, have led.

Unlike Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, which swarm, concerning the higher Being, with childish anthropomorphism taken literally (fundamentalism known as integrism in the Catholic world); our druidism too, on the other hand, will use only very little of them, and will stick in this field, to the absolute minimum.

But in order to talk about God or the Devil we shall be quite also obliged to use a basic language, and therefore a more or less important amount of this anthropomorphism. Or then it would be necessary to completely give up discussing it.

This first shelf of our future library consecrated to the subject, aims to show precisely the harmonious authenticity of the neo-druidic will and knowledge. To show at which point its current major theses have deep roots because the reflection about Mythologies, it’s our Bible to us. The adaptations of this brief talk required by the differences of culture, age, spiritual maturity, social status, etc. will be to do with the concerned druids (veledae and others?)

Note, however. Important! What these few notes, hastily thrown on paper during a too short life, are not (higgledy-piggledy).

A divine revelation. A (still also divine) law. A (non-religious or secular) law. A (scientific) law. A dogma. An order.

What I search most to share is a state of mind, nothing more. As our old master had very well said one day : "OUR CIVILIZATION HAS NO CHOICE: IT WILL BE CELTISM OR IT WILL BE DEATH” (Peter Lance).

What these few notes, hastily thrown on paper during a too short life, are.

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Some dream. An adventure. A journey. An escape. A revolt cry against the moral and physical ugliness of this society. An attempt to reach the universal by starting from the individual. A challenge. An obstacle fecund to overcome . An incentive to think. A guide for action. A map. A plan. A compass. A pole star or morning star up there in the mountain. A fire overnight in a glade?

What the man who had collected the core of this library, Peter DeLaCrau, is not.

- A god.

- A half god.

- A quarter of God.

- A saint.

- A philosopher (recognized, official, and authorized or licensed, as those who talk a lot in television. Except, of course, by taking the word in its original meaning, which is that of amateur searching wisdom and knowledge.

What he is: a man, and nothing of what is human therefore is unknown to him. Peter DeLaCrau has no superhuman or exceptional power. Nothing of what he said wrote or did could have timeless value. At the best he hopes that his extreme clearness about our society and its dominant ideology (see its official philosophers, its journalists, its mass media and the politically correct of its right-thinking people, at least about what is considered to be the main thing); as well his non-conformism, and his outspokenness, combined with a solid contrariness (which also earned to him for that matter a lot of troubles or affronts); can be useful.

The present small library for beginners “contains the dose of humanity required by the current state of civilization” (Henry Lizeray). However it’s only a gathering of materials waiting for the ad hoc architect or mason.

A whole series of booklets increasing our knowledge of these basic elements will be published soon. This different presentation of the druidic knowledge will preserve nevertheless the unity as well as the harmony which can exist between these various statements of the same philosophical and well-considered paganism : spirituality worthy of our day, spirituality for our days.

Case of translations into foreign languages (Spanish, German, Italian, Polish, etc.)

The misspellings, the grammatical mistakes, the inadequacies of style, as well as in the writing of the proper nouns perhaps and, of course, the Gallicisms due to forty years of life in France, may be corrected. Any other improvement of the text may also be brought if necessary (by adding, deleting, or changing, details); Peter DeLaCrau having always regretted not being able to reach perfection in this field.

But on condition that neither alteration nor betrayal, in a way or another, is brought to the thought of the author of this reasoned compilation. Every illustration without a caption can be changed. New illustrations can be brought.

But illustrations having a caption must be only improved (by the substitution of a good photograph to a bad sketch, for example?)

It goes without saying that the coordinator of this rapid and summary reasoned compilation , Peter DeLaCrau, does not maintain to have invented (or discovered) himself, all what is previous; that he does not claim in any way that it is the result of his personal researches (on the ground or in libraries).

What s previous is indeed essentially resulting from the excellent works or websites referenced in bibliography and whose direct consultation is strongly recommended.

We will never insist enough on our will not be the men of one book (the Book), but from at least twelve, like Ireland’s Fenians, for obvious reasons of open-mindedness, truth being our only religion.

Once again, let us repeat; the coordinator of the writing down of these few notes hastily thrown on paper, by no means claims to have spent his life in the dust of libraries; or in the field, in the mud of the rescue archaeology excavations; in order to unearth unpublished pieces of evidence about the past of Ireland (or of Wales or of East Indies or of China).

THEREFORE PETER DELACRAU DOES NOT WANT TO BE CONSIDERED, IN ANY WAY, AS THE AUTHOR OF THE FOREGOING TEXTS.

HE TRIES BY NO MEANS TO ASCRIBE HIMSELF THE CREDIT OF THEM. He is only the editor or the compiler of them. They are, for the most part, documents broadcast on the web, with a few exceptions.

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ON THE OTHER HAND, HE DEMANDS ALL THEIR FAULTS AND ALL THEIR INSUFFICIENCIES.

Peter DeLaCrau claims only one thing, the mistakes, errors, or various imperfections, of this book. He alone is to be blamed in this case. But he trusts his contemporaries (human nature being what it is) for vigorously pointing out to him.

Note found by the heirs to Peter DeLaCrau and inserted by them into this place.

I immediately confess in order to make the work of my judges easier that men like me were Christian in Rome under Nero, pagan in Jerusalem, sorcerers in Salem, English heretics, Irish Catholics, and today racist, sexist, homophobic, Islamophobic, person, while waiting to be tomorrow kufar or again Christian the beastliest antichrist of all the apocalypses, etc. In short as you will have understood it, I am for nothingness death disease suffering ……

By respect for Mankind , in order to save time, and not to make it waste time, I will make easier the work of those who make absolutely a point of being on the right side of the fence while fighting (heroically of course) in order to save the world of my claws (my ideas or my inclinations, my tendencies).

To these courageous and implacable detractors, of whom the profundity of reflection worthy of that of a marquis of Vauvenargues equals only the extent of the general knowledge, worthy of Pico della Mirandola I say…

Now take a sheet of paper, a word processing if you prefer, put by order of importance 20 characteristics which seem to you most serious, most odious, most hateful, in the history of Mankind, since the prehistoric men and Nebuchadnezzar, according to you….AND CONSIDER THAT I AM THE COMPLETE OPPOSITE OF YOU BECAUSE I HAVE THEM ALL!

Scapegoats are always needed! A heretic in the Middle Ages, a witch in Salem in the 17th century, a racist in the 20th century, an alien lizard in the 21st century, I am the man you will like to hate in order to feel a better person (a smart and nice person).

I am, as you will and in the order of importance you want: an atheist, a satanist, a stupid person, with Down’s syndrome, brutish, homosexual, deviant, homophobic, communist, Nazi, sexist, a philatelist, a pathological liar, robber, smug, psychopath, a falsely modest monster of hubris, and what do I still know, it is up to you to see according to the current fashion.

Here, I cannot better do (in helping you to save the world).

[Unlike my despisers who are all good persons, the salt of the earth, i.e., young or modern and dynamic, courageous, positive, kind, intelligent, educated, or at least who know; showing much hindsight in their thoroughgoing meditation on the trends of History; and on the moral or ethical level: generous, altruistic, but poor of course (it is their only vice) because giving all to others; moreover deeply respectful of the will of God and of the Constitution …

As for me I am a stiff old reactionary, sheepish, disconnected from his time, paranoid, schizophrenic, incoherent, capricious, never satisfied, a villain, stupid, having never studied or at least being unaware of everything about the subject in question; accustomed to rash judgments based on prejudices without any reflection; selfish and wealthy; a fiend of the Devil, inherently Nazi-Bolshevist or Stalinist-Hitlerian. Hitlerian Trotskyist they said when I was young. In short a psychopathic murderer as soon as the breakfast… what enables me therefore to think what I want, my critics also besides, and to try to make everybody know it even no-one in particular].

Signed: the coordinator of the works, Peter DeLaCrau known as Hesunertus, a researcher in druidism.

A man to whom nothing human was foreign. An unemployed worker, post office worker, divorcee, homeless person, vagrant, taxpayer, citizen, and a cuckolded elector... In short one of the 9 billion human beings having been in transit aboard this spaceship therefore. Born on planet Earth, January 13, 1952.

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BIBLIOGRAPHY OF THE BROAD OUTLINES.

As regards the bibliography of details see appendix of the last lesson because, as Henry Lizeray says it so well, traditions that must be interpreted. It is there the whole difference which exists between former druidism and neo-druidism.

Lebar Gabala or The Book of Invasions. Paris 1884 (William O'Dwyer)

Base of the druidic Church. The restored druidism. Henry Lizeray, Paris, 1885.

National traditions rediscovered. Paris 1892.

Aesus or the secret doctrines of the druids. Paris 1902.

Ogmius or Orpheus. Paris 1903.

CONTENTS.

Prolog Page 005

Oratory precaution Page 007

Introduction Page 009

The path of the warrior (faicseanaiocht) Page 009

Rights of the opponent (fir fer) Page 011

Unarmed fight (grascar lamh) Page 014

Breton druidism Page 018

Gouren Page 020

Glima and axlatok Page 022

Self-defense (feinchosaint) Page 023

Kick-Boxing Page 024

Boxing (dornalaiocht) Page 025

Savate defense (speachoireacht/speachadh) Page 026

Clessa or handling of weapons Page 026

Staff (bataireacht) Page 031

Canne of combat Page 035

Fencing Page 038

Gladiatorial art Page 039

The christian case Page 046

Gladiatorial art continuation Page 050

Life and death of gladiators (Crixus Spartacus) Page 063

Tournaments Page 066

Tournaments jousting and bohorts Page 068

Pas d’armes Page 073

The code of the Round Table Page 076

The Highlanders Page 078

Scottish medieval fencing Page 081

Modern fencing (pionsoireacht) Page 084

Scottish dance of the High-Lands Page 086

Hunting Page 088

Cateia or boomerang Page 090

Archery Page 094

Short history of archery and of St. Sebastian Page 099

And of St. George now. Page 102

Art and philosophy of archery Page 105

Horses Page 103

Horse Art and philosophy (mandubianism) Page 109

Epona Page 112

257

Hippomancy Page 113

Hippotherapy Page Page 115

Equestrian art Page 079

Critical history of the French cavalry Page 125

The Spanish Riding School Page 128

Necessary qualities to practice horsemanship Page 129

Appendix: horse’s prayer Page 130

New considerations on hunting Page 131

The Book of the master of game Page 133

The hunt Page 136

The ancient hunting of big animals Page 140

The stag in the druidic tradition Page 142

The stag in the Christian tradition Page 144

The small game hunting (Arrian) Page 146

The fox hunting in the USA Page 156

Hawking Page 160

The falconry book of Moamin and Ghatrif Page 161

Of the thorough ecologist nature of the hunting we tolerate Page 168

Modern bow and arrow hunting Page 171

Rodeo Page 173

Mexican bullfight Page 176

Thoughts about the race for the rosette Page 179

The abrivado Page 182

The bullfight of the “biou” Page 183

The Landes bullfight Page 184

The encierro of Pamplona in Spain Page 186

Thoughts about the taurochtony in Hemingway Page 187

Portuguese tourada Page 190

Letter to the Editor Page 193

Answer Page 194

Working document No. 1 Page 203

Working document No. 2 Page 205

Working document No. 3 Page 208

Working document No. 4 Page 210

Working document No. 5 Page 211

Working document No. 6 Page 216

Working document No. 7 Page 218

Working document No. 8 Page 228

Working document No. 9 Page 231

Working document No. 10 Page 234

Working document No. 11 Page 236

Working document No. 12 Page 238

Working document No. 13 Page 243

Working document No. 14 Page 246

Working document No. 15 Page 252

Afterword in the way of John Toland Page 254

Bibliography of broad outlines Page 257

BOOKS BY THE SAME AUTHOR.

1 Quotations from the ancient authors speaking about Celts or druids.

2. Various preliminary general information about Celts.

3. History of the pact with gods volume 1.

4. Druidism Bible: history of the pact with gods volume 2.

258

5. History of the peace with gods volume 3.

6. History of the peace with gods volume 4.

7. History of the peace with gods volume 5.

8. From Fenians to Culdees or “The Great Science which enlightens” volume 1.

9. Irish apocryphal texts.

10. From Fenians to Culdees or “The Great Science which enlightens” volume 2.

11. From Fenians to Culdees or “The Great Science which enlightens” volume 3.

12. The hundred paths of paganism. Science and philosophy volume 1 (druidic mythology).

13. The hundred paths of paganism. Science and philosophy volume 2 (druidic mythology).

14. The hundred ways of paganism. Science and philosophy volume 3 (druidic mythology).

15. The Greater Camminus: elements of druidic theology: volume 1.

16. The Greater Camminus: elements of druidic theology: volume 2.

17. The druidic pleroma: angels jinns or demons volume 1.

18. The druidic pleroma angels jinns or demons volume 2

19. Mystagogy or sacred theater of ancients Celts.

20. Celtic poems.

21. The genius of the Celtic paganism volume 1.

22. The Roland’s complex .

23. At the base of the lantern of the dead.

24. The secrets of the old druid of the Menapian forest.

25. The genius of Celtic paganism volume 2 (liberty reciprocity simplicity).

26. Rhetoric : the treason of intellectuals.

27. Small dictionary of druidic theology volume 1.

28. From the ancient philosophers to the Irish druid.

29. Judaism Christianity and Islam: first part.

30. Judaism Christianity and Islam : second part volume 1.

31. Judaism Christianity and Islam : second part volume 2.

32. Judaism Christianity and Islam : second part volume 3.

33. Third part volume 1: what is Islam? Short historical review of the set QUR.HAD.SIR. and SHAR.FIQ.MAD.

34. Third part volume 2: What is Islam? First approaches to the set QUR.HAD.SIR. and SHAR.FIQ.MAD.

35. Third part volume 3: What is Islam? The true 5 pillars of the set QUR.HAD.SIR. and SHAR.FIQ.MAD.

36. Third part volume 4: What is Islam? Sounding the set QUR.HAD.SIR. and SHAR.FIQ.MAD.

37. Couiro anmenion or small dictionary of druidic theology volume 2.

259

Peter DeLaCrau. Born on January 13, 1952, in St. Louis (Missouri) from a family of woodsmen or Canadian trappers who had left Prairie du Rocher (or Fort de Chartres in Illinois) in 1765. Peter DeLaCrau is therefore born the same year as the Howard Hawks movie entitled “the Big Sky.” Consequently father of French origin, mother of Irish origin: half-Irish, half- French. Married to Mary-Helen ROBERTS on March 12, 1988, in Paris-Aubervilliers (French department of Seine-Saint-Denis). Hence three children. John Wolf born May 11, 1989. Alex born April 10, 1990. Millicent born August 31, 1993. Deceased on September 28, 2012, in La Rochelle (France).

Peter DELACRAU is not a philosopher by profession, except taking this term in its original meaning of amateur searching wisdom and knowledge. And he is neither a god neither a demigod nor the messenger of any god or demigod (and certainly not a messiah).

But he has become in a few years one of the most lucid and of the most critical observers of the French neo-druidic or neo-pagan world.

He was also some time assistant treasurer of a rather traditionalist French druidic group of which he could get archives and texts or publications.

But his constant criticism both domestic and foreign French policy, and his political positions (at the end of his life he had become an admirer of Howard Zinn Paul Krugman Bernie Sanders and Michael Moore); had earned him, moreover, some vexations on behalf of the French authorities which did everything, including in his professional or private life, in the last years of his life, to silence him.

Peter DeLaCrau has apparently completely missed the return to the home land of his distant ancestors.

It is true unfortunately that France today is no longer the France of Versailles or of Lafayette or even of Napoleon (who has really been a great nation in those days).

Peter DeLaCrau having spent most of his life (the last one) in France, of which he became one of the best specialists, even one of the rare thoroughgoing observers of the contemporary French society quite simply; his three children, John-Wolf, Alex and Millicent (of Cuers: French Riviera) pray his readers to excuse the countless misspellings or grammatical errors that pepper his writings. At the end of his life, Peter DeLaCrau mixed a little both languages (English but also French).

Those were therefore the notes found on the hard disk of the computer of our father, or in his papers.

Our father has certainly left us a considerable work, nobody will say otherwise, but some of the words frequently coming from his pen, now and then are not always very clear. After many consultations between us, at any rate, above what we have been able to understand from them.

Signed: the three children of Peter DeLaCrau: John-Wolf, Alex and Millicent. Of Cuers.