Table of contents for No. 92 in All About History

MARY DELLUC BELGIAN PRE-1900s - C.1950s Opening her first chocolate shop in Brussels in 1919, Delluc focused on the excellence and quality of her handmade chocolates, emphasising them as a luxury product that should be relished. Not only was she the first woman to pioneer Belgian chocolate, but her company, Mary Chocolaterie, was awarded the Royal Warrant by King Leopold II in 1942, becoming one of only four Belgian chocolatiers to receive such an honour. Today, there are now Mary Chocolaterie shops all around the world, including in Tokyo and Riyadh. FRANCESCO REDI ITALIAN 1626-1697 Redi was the head physician to Cosimo III de’ Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany, who commissioned him to create a chocolate recipe to rival the chocolate produced by the Spanish. Redi developed a chocolate drink…

Hanbo This variation covers only the lower part of the face, from the mouth downwards. As the masks were steel and therefore could become incredibly hot, a small hole was located underneath the chin to allow for the drainage of sweat. The interiors of the masks were usually lacquered in stark reds and golds. Menpo The majority of samurai masks were of this type, covering the nose and face directly below the wearer’s eyes. This helped protect the majority of the face while still providing clear and uninterrupted vision. They would also help secure a samurai’s helmet to his head – this would also shield the upper part of the face. Somen A somen is a type of mask that covered the warrior’s entire face. Developed during the Muromachi period,…

Thanks to the lies she propagated herself, Lola’s life is irrevocably twisted with myths and falsities. In this respect she was most certainly a con artist and she repeatedly attempted to defend her fake backstory as a native Spaniard, changing the year of her birth, birthplace and even who her father was, despite newspaper articles presenting evidence to the contrary. However, in getting wrapped up about her colourful life, it’s easy to forget that she was more than just a seductress with an ugly temper. After all, Lola mingled confidently in the artistic and literary circles of the day, charming some of the greatest minds in Europe with not only her physical allure but also her intellectual conversation. She was even photographed by Nadar, who captured portraits of some of…

When the Romans conquered Britannia they were not facing one unified nation as we might know it today, but several smaller tribal states spread across the British Isles. Most have been lost to time, but one remains at least moderately known. The name of the Iceni has survived not so much because they were an exceptional people in terms of record-keeping, building or craftsmanship, but because they stood up to the Romans with their queen, Boudica, becoming one of Britain’s legendary leaders. The Iceni were based in what is now Norfolk, reaching out to Cambridgeshire and Suffolk, and were initially supporters of the Romans during Claudius’ invasion of the island in 43 CE, remaining independent until the death of King Prasutagus in 60 CE. When the Romans attempted to seize…

SULTAN ALP ARSLAN The second sultan of the Seljuk Empire, Alp Arslan, managed to defend the north and southwest of his kingdom while also solidifying the control he had over the region. His victory at Manzikert was the death knell of the Byzantine Empire, but perhaps also the catalyst for the crusades that followed. SLAVE ARMY Arslan’s army was composed of professional ghulam soldiers. Ghulams were Turkic slave soldiers used by Islamic armies of conquest that preceded the Seljuks. The ghulams were expert horsemen who fought clad in protective mail with spear and sword. The Seljuks began integrating these fearsome soldiers into their field armies following their occupation of Baghdad.…

The main reason for Labour’s landslide victory in the postwar general election is down to its groundbreaking policies of social reform, outlined in 1942’s Social Insurance And Allied Services, better known as the Beveridge Report. The report was so widely published that it actually became a bestseller. Created by liberal economist William Beveridge, it proposed widespread social reform in order to combat what he termed “Five Giants” on the road to reconstruction. These giants were “Want, Disease, Ignorance, Squalor and Idleness”. In his report Beveridge described a “cradle to grave” approach to social reform after his pre-war work for a charitable organisation convinced him that only through such reform could poverty and social inequality be eradicated. The Acts that the Labour government introduced to try to achieve this were the…

Author Leopold Schwarzschild Price £28.99 Publisher I.B. Tauris Leopold Schwarzschild was a German-Jewish journalist who fled to Paris in 1933. There he mounted a furious attack on the European powers who were taken off guard by the Nazi ascendancy. Schwarzschild was a myth-buster, who revealed that Hitler was in fact, “a defeated man when victory was gifted to him. His play for power had already failed when he was offered the opportunity to gain it by the back door.”…

CHOPPING DOWN The key tool for harvesting the pods from a cocoa tree is a long staff like this one with a flat blade on the end. Since cocoa pods ripen at different rates, mechanisation of this process isn’t possible and clipping pods off the tree remains the method used today, as are many of the other techniques. The blade might also have a small spur to get behind the pod stem and chop it from behind. READY TO SHIP After the long process of fermenting and drying is complete the finished beans are packed into sacks ready to be shipped off for industrial production, where they are roasted, turned into a liquor and mixed with other ingredients before being transferred into moulds (a new invention for the process during…

Q. TELL US WHAT SPARKED YOUR INTEREST IN THE HISTORY OF CHOCOLATE? A. Growing up in York, home to the Rowntree’s and Terry’s confectionery companies, I was surrounded by chocolate. The smell of chocolate often wafted through the air! I knew lots of family and friends who worked at the factories and an early memory is of queueing up to buy so-called ‘waste chocolate’ outside Rowntree’s. My grandmother always had a stash of waste chocolates in her sideboard – KitKats with no wafers were a special prize if you could find them! But as well as the chocolate itself, the confectionery industry had left a broader legacy in York, and this was something that I wanted to know more about. Institutions such as the Joseph Rowntree School, Joseph Rowntree Theatre,…

Muso Jikiden Eishin-ryu This sword-fighting style placed great emphasis on awareness and speed. Its most famous move, seen often in modern depictions of samurai, is the quick drawing and cutting action with a katana. Jigen-ryu This school of swordsmanship was all about getting an instant kill with a powerful first strike. Practitioners of this style tended to hold the sword high and vertically so they could sweep down through the body. Tenshin Shoden Katori Shinto-ryu The oldest school of swordsmanship in Japan, dating back to 1447, pupils were given multidisciplinary training using swords, spears, staffs and jujitsu hand–to–hand combat. Many pre-Edo warriors would go into this bracket. Mugai-ryu Combining both kenjutsu (sword-fighting) and iaijutsu (quick-drawing), this school was most interested in duels and making sure its practitioners were highly skilled…

Beautiful. Manipulative. Salacious. These are just a handful of the words used to describe Lola Montez, the Irish woman who achieved international fame and notoriety thanks to her sensual performances and her fake identity as ‘the Spanish dancer’. Continuing her deception, she managed to become the mistress of King Ludwig I of Bavaria, an illicit relationship that helped trigger the downfall of his reign. So who exactly was the real Lola Montez and how did she bring down a king? Born as Eliza Rosanna Gilbert in Ireland, 1821, she was the daughter of Edward Gilbert, a British army officer and Eliza Oliver, a milliner’s assistant and the illegitimate daughter of Charles Silver Oliver, an MP and the former high sheriff of Cork. The family moved to India in 1823 but…

The ancient Maya believed that cacao had magical properties and that it was a gift to humans from the god Kukulkan (known as Quetzalcoatl to the Aztecs), a feathered serpent. To consume cacao, they would harvest the beans from the trees before fermenting, drying and grinding them into a paste, which would then be mixed with water, cornmeal and chilli peppers to create a bitter, spicy drink – far different from the sweet chocolate that we are used to today. The mixture was then poured repeatedly from one cup into another until the desired frothy texture was achieved. This chocolate drink played an integral role in Maya society and was used in official and religious ceremonies, as well as feasts and rituals surrounding birth, death and marriage, with the bride…

1 MUSEU DE LA XOCOLATA BARCELONA Located just a three-minute walk from Ciutadella Park, the Museu De La Xocolata traces the origins of chocolate and its importance to Mesoamerican cultures such as the Maya and the Aztecs, and how it was eventually brought to Europe by the Spanish conquistadors, becoming an element straddling myth and reality. Visitors will get to learn about the manufacturing of chocolate and how it has developed through time, with machines such as those used to grind cocoa beans and mould chocolate bars on display. For more information, there’s even an audiovisual presentation of the history and industrial production of chocolate. The museum also boasts chocolate models of iconic buildings such as La Sagrada Familia, Barcelona’s famous minor basilica, as well as chocolate imitations of famous…

Han kote Armoured gloves, these were a variation of kote that would sometimes extend to the shoulder. Made initially from cloth, they were then covered with numerous small iron plates in order to provide protection. Others were quilted with either the metal or animal hide sewn inside. Yari The samurai often carried a yari into battle. These spears were usually topped with a straight blade that could vary in length from several centimetres to one metre more. There were numerous types of yari blade. each with its own name and history. The most popular design was shaped like a dagger and had a razor-sharp edge that allowed it to cut as well as stab. Datemono/tatemono These crests often adorned the top of a samurai’s helmet. This decoration could vary and…

AMORITES Era: c.2000-1595 BCE Location: Assyria and Akkad One of many Mesopotamian cultures that competed over the region for centuries, the Amorites built up the small town of Babylon into one of the most prominent cities of the region and founded several other cities. ELAMITES c.2700-646 BCE Location: Elam Located in the west of modern-day Iran, the Elamites rose and fell many times in wars with states such as Sumer and Akkad. Its culture went on to be formative in the Achaemenid dynasty and its language continued to be used. KUSHITES c.1000 BCE – 350 CE Location: Nubia Southern neighbours to the Egyptians, it’s been speculated that the better-known civilisation may have learnt a great deal from the Kushites. In fact, the pharaohs of the 25th dynasty of Egypt were…

1835 James Pratt and John Smith become the last men to be executed in the United Kingdom for homosexuality. 1885 Criminal Law Amendment Act is passed, making all sexual acts between men a criminal offence. 1895 Oscar Wilde placed on trial for ‘gross indecency’ after his affair with Lord Alfred Douglas was made public. 1953 President Eisenhower signs an executive order banning homosexuals from working for the Federal Government. 1957 Wolfenden Report suggests decriminalising homosexuality. 1961 Illinois becomes the first US state to decriminalise homosexuality. 1967 The Sexual Offences Act decriminalises homosexuality. 1969 Stonewall Riots: police raid the Stonewall bar in Greenwich, New York City, leading to protests. 1972 London holds its first Pride march. 1973 Lambda Legal is founded – the first legal organisation to fight for LGBT+ rights.…

In this 14th century Arthurian tale, Sir Gawain is challenged by a stranger clad in green who promises to give his axe to anyone who will play a game: a man must strike him, but in a year and a day the stranger will strike back. Gawain agrees, chopping off the Green Knight’s head. Yet he merely picks it up and rides away. A few days before their arranged meeting, Gawain stays at a lord’s castle. A bargain is struck that he will give Gawain whatever he catches on the hunt, while Gawain must give anything he himself gains. The lord’s wife tries to seduce Gawain, which he resists. He gives in to her last offer: for three kisses, she will bestow a belt that will ensure his safety. Gawain…

EMPEROR ROMANOS IV DIOGENES Empress Eudocia specifically married Romanos on the understanding that the Byzantine army needed to be rebuilt and his military expertise were required to achieve this. However, his short three-year reign was a calamitous failure that ended in his overthrow. A DECLINING MILITARY Following the death of Emperor Basil II of the Macedonian dynasty in 1025, the Byzantine military capability had been in steep decline. Most of the rulers who had held the throne for the past four decades had deliberately starved the imperial army of manpower and resources in order to prevent military coups. BETRAYAL OF DUKAS It’s suspected that Andronicus Dukas deliberately withdrew from the battle in order to leave Romanos vulnerable and usurp him. Romanos had placed his forces in the rearguard for precisely…

What was the immediate backdrop and run-up to the election? The July 1945 election was the result of an agreement between the ruling coalition that once victory had been achieved in Europe, a general election would be called. Winston Churchill wanted to stay in office until Japan was defeated but was obliged to step down as prime minister beforehand. By this time the country was very war fatigued. We’d been at war since September 1939 and Churchill had been prime minister since May 1940. The general feeling was one of relief but also hope that maybe now there could be a new start. There hadn’t been an election for some time and people felt that the time was right. What was this run–up like for Churchill himself? Churchill was undoubtedly…