Table of contents for No. 110 in All About History

BETTY LINDEROTH SWEDEN, 1822 – 1900 Betty Linderoth was trained by her father, a watchmaker, after demonstrating an aptitude for watchmaking at a young age. Despite the male apprentices’ disparaging remarks, she continued her apprenticeship and went on to become an award-winning watchmaker, and was the first female watchmaker to display her work at the London World’s Fair in 1862. She married fellow watchmaker Gustaf Wilhelm Linderoth in 1844, and after his death in 1891 Betty took over his clockmaking business. Peter Henlein Germany, 1485 – 1542 Peter Henlein was a horologist and locksmith who worked in Nuremberg. Around the year 1510, he invented the mainspring, which improved the accuracy of his clocks. Henlein is widely credited as the inventor of the portable timepiece. His pocket clocks, which were shaped…

Were the Hospitallers in competition with the Templars? They do end up competing a bit, because they’re both religious institutions and supposedly both working to look after the poor, as a charity, and defending pilgrims and the Crusader states. They’re also both landlords and they’ve got properties and they both have political power. This does lead them into conflict, as sometimes they disagreed about strategy and competing for land and donations from the same sorts of people. So, they do end up having conflicts in the 1200s, the 1240s and 1250s onwards, as the Kingdom of Jerusalem starts falling into a lot of political disputes between internal factions. Sometimes, the Hospitallers back one faction and the Templars, the other. The Templars became famous for their wealth and developing early banking…

EXPERT BIO MICHAEL DYLAN FOSTER Michael Dylan Foster is Professor of Japanese and Chair of the Department of East Asian Languages and Cultures at the University of California, Davis, where he teaches courses on Japanese folklore, heritage, tourism and popular culture. He is the author of The Book of Yōkai: Mysterious Creatures of Japanese Folklore (2015). By some accounts, Japan is a country littered with strange and mysterious creatures. For instance, if you bathe in a river on a hot summer’s day then beware turtle-like monsters that snap at you from the water, threatening to pull you in and consume you. Travellers walking moonlit roads should be heedful of warnings of vast skeletal ghouls, whose chattering teeth and rattling bones can be heard on the wind. That’s not all: watch…

Long-tongued umbrella monster Certainly one of the less fearsome forms of Yōkai, these creatures are Chinese-styled paper umbrellas come to life. With a single eye, long tongue and hopping around on a lone leg, they are primarily used in more comedic Yōkai stories. As opposed to attacking humans, they tend to sneak up behind them and deliver a large oily lick with their tongue. These Yōkai are related to the concept of Tsukumogami, where a household object becomes sentient after 100 years.…

Snow Woman These creatures appear as beautiful women with long jet-black hair and dark eyes. They hunt travellers lost in heavy snowstorms and a single touch is enough to give a person a deep unshakeable chill. They feed on a person’s life force, sucking it from their mouths and simultaneously freezing their victim to death. One story about a Yuki Onna tells of a man whose wife would never take a warm bath. One day, as a snowstorm raged, he demanded she take one – only to see the water turn to ice when she got in.…

Mother Country: Britain’s Black Community on the Home Front, 1939-45, The History Press During WWII many Black people in Britain volunteered as civilian defence workers and helped to unite their communities. Bourne tells the story of some of the forgotten Britons whose contribution to the war effort has been overlooked until now. The Motherland Calls: Britain’s Black Servicemen & Women 1939-45, The History Press Black volunteers from across the British Empire joined the armed forces and did their part for the war effort during WWII. Bourne pays tribute to the Black servicemen and women whose contribution to fighting for peace has too often been ignored. War to Windrush: Black Women in Britain 1939 to 1948, Jacaranda Books In War to Windrush, Bourne celebrates the contribution of Black women to British…

VO NGUYEN GIAP Rising up through the ranks of the Viet Minh during the Japanese occupation of Vietnam in WWII, Giap was a history teacher by training, but would prove himself to be a great military strategist in the First Indochina War and Vietnam War. He went on to be minister of defence and deputy prime minister. HO CHI MINH Leader of the Viet Minh independence movement from 1941, Minh was the founder of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam (often called North Vietnam) which was firmly established by victory at Dien Bien Phu, followed by the Geneva Accords that partitioned Vietnam at the 17th parallel. HOÀNG VĂN THÁI Dropping out of school at 13 because of his family’s financial problems, Thái took work as a barber and miner, becoming a…

INTERVIEW WITH DR P JOHN D LAMBSHEAD John is a retired science research leader at the Natural History Museum, London in marine biodiversity, ecology and evolution, and regent’s lecturer at the University of California. His book, The Fall Of Roman Britain And Why We Speak English, will be published shortly. The publication of Charles Darwin’s pinnacle work was to ignite a fire of fierce debate about the origins of the natural world, and even of mankind itself. The future of both scientific thought and deeply rooted religious beliefs hung in the balance, as rival theories and the traditionally unquestioned acceptance of how the natural world came to be was turned on its head. The debate over On The Origin Of Species challenged fellow scientists, and even questioned God’s creation. The…

GENDER ROLES IN HOROLOGY Clockmaking was once thought to be a male-dominated profession, but women played an important and underappreciated role in the industry. They were often responsible for metal engraving and dial painting, and there is evidence that women made clocks prior to industrialisation. CONTROLLING TRADE The Worshipful Company of Clockmakers, one of the first guilds for clockmakers, was founded in London in 1613 to control the horological trade in the city. The company established a library and museum in 1813 and it remains the oldest surviving horological institution in the world. CLOCKMAKER’S TOOLS A clockmaker required specialised tools in addition to common tools like pliers, hammers and screwdrivers for their highly intricate work. For example, a piercing saw was used to repair the ends of clock hands, and…

What is the difference between clocks, watches and timepieces? Clocks, watches and timepieces all primarily have the same function, which is to measure the passing of time. The word ‘clock’ is derived from the medieval word ‘clogga’, which translates as ‘bell’. As early clock technology came to England from the European low countries, our word ‘clock’ came from the Dutch word ‘Klocke’. A clock is categorised as such by it having a bell to strike the hours, whereas a timepiece needs to tell the time without the need for a chime. Watches can either be pocket watches or wrist watches and are categorised by their being wearable. Just to confuse matters more, some watches, in particular early pocket watches, strike too and these are known as clock-watches. Can you tell…

Founding of the Templars 1119 Hugues de Payens, with eight companions, swore the monastic vows of obedience, poverty and chastity in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem. All nine men were experienced soldiers, trained for war from a young age, and now they were dedicating their skills to the protection and defence of pilgrims to the Holy Land, and to the defence of Outremer itself. Recruiting to the Order 1128 The Order grew only slowly in its first few years. However, when Hugues de Payens travelled back to Europe – to France, England and Scotland – he recruited many men to the Order, as well as securing its finances with the gifts of estates and incomes in Europe. The future of the Order was secure for the time…

Long-necked spirit This creature appears as an ordinary woman, but has the ability to either grow its neck incredibly long or detach its head. This allows the head to fly around freely of its own accord at night while the body sleeps blissfully unaware. Unlike other Yōkai, who are born as monsters, Rokurokubi are usually the result of a curse or by someone committing an indescribable sin. Sometimes these sins are not committed by the Rokurokubi but by their husbands or fathers, but it is always the women who are punished.…

Yōkai, perhaps due to their bizarre visual traits, remain a popular subject for filmmakers. One of the most notable examples is a trilogy of Tokusatsu films (live-action films making heavy use of special effects) beginning with 1968’s Yōkai Monsters: 100 Monsters. The film tells of a rich and evil landowner who incurs the wrath of a group Yōkai after holding a Hyakumonogatari Kaidankai ceremony. A success, it was its sequel Yōkai Monsters: Spook Warfare that became arguably the most beloved of the three. This saw the Yōkai facing off against Daimon, a fictional Babylonian spirit, whose usage shows the lack of desire to portray the Yōkai as evil. Indeed, in all three films they are presented as vengeful protectors with the final film Yōkai Monsters: Along With Ghosts showing them…

CHRISTIAN DE CASTRIES Born into the noble French family of Castries, Christian started his military career in the cavalry but left for a short time to pursue equestrian sports, before rejoining the army as WWII began. He was captured in 1940, escaped a prisoner of war camp in 1941 and ended the war commanding the 3rd Moroccan Spahis. He spent time stationed in Vietnam before defending Dien Bien Phu. HENRI NAVARRE Navarre had fought in both the first and second World Wars before taking overall command of French forces in the First Indochina War from 1953 as the war appeared to be unravelling for the French. His task was to stabilise events so that a peace agreement could be made with the Viet Minh, however he risked an offensive in…

1832-36 THE SEED IS SOWN It was his voyage as naturalist on HMS Beagle from 1832 to 1836 and exploration of the Galapagos Islands that triggered Darwin’s early thinking and formed the foundation of his theories. The variety of species he discovered there that had adapted to their environment inspired and fuelled his research. He began to move further away from other areas of scientific thinking on evolution, and continued his research, but it was many years before he was ready to unleash his theory on the world. 1859 THE BOMB EXPLODES Scientific debate over evolution was already underway prior to publication in 1859, but in general it was restricted to relatively closed circles of the academic world. Lamarck’s theory was based upon acquired characteristics passed from one generation to…

Book Film TV Podcast Games Other THE COURIER A solid, somewhat old-fashioned spy thriller that will delight espionage fans Certificate: 12A Director: Dominic Cooke Cast: Benedict Cumberbatch, Rachel Brosnahan, Merab Ninidze Released: Out now For our money the golden age of the British spy thriller was the 1960s, the era of authors such as John Le Carré, Len Deighton and Adam Hall. Not the fantastical James Bond epics featuring Sean Connery behind the wheel of a gadgetladen Aston Martin (though they have their own charm), but movies like The Spy Who Came in From the Cold and The Ipcress File. Down-to-earth, full of cigarette smoke and battered rain macs. Dominic Cooke, the director of The Courier, is clearly something of a fan too. Based on the true story of Greville…

C.3000 BCE STONEHENGE AND THE SOLSTICE The prehistoric stone circle in Wiltshire, UK, along with many other monuments, is built along the axis of the sun on the summer and winter solstice, allowing important moments of the year to be identified. 520 CE THE CANDLE CLOCK A candle is burned with markings (or next to markings) of the hours allowing for time to be told indoors, in the dark, or on cloudy days. Alfred the Great is credited with the invention of the candle clock in England in the 8th century, and they continue to be refined. C.1500 BCE THE WATERCLOCK Water flows out of a vessel at a known rate – it can therefore be used to measure time accurately, whether it be hours or minutes. These begin in…

1 PRAGUE ASTRONOMICAL CLOCK PRAGUE, CZECH REPUBLIC Mounted on its tower in 1410, Prague’s Astronomical Clock is a sight to behold. Created by imperial clockmaker Mikuláš of Kadaň, its uniqueness is a reflection of Prague’s multicultural community at that time. As a result, it never stopped evolving. In 1490, a calendar plate was added that always shifts to the next day at midnight, and the rotating lunar sphere system was made in 1659. But the clock and its tower didn’t escape World War II unscathed. An incendiary shell in the final days of the conflict almost destroyed the clock mechanism as well as most of the exterior decorations. It would take three years before it was operating again, and its 1948 restoration also saw the bell and drum set to…

Robert de Craon 1109-69 Although he was known as ‘the Burgundian’, Craon was born in the French province of Anjou. He rose to become second grand master of the Knights Templar in 1136. Craon was serving as grand master when Pope Innocent II issued his papal bull titled Omne Datum Optimum, granting extensive privileges to the Knights Templar. Everard des Barres 1113-74 Known for his bravery and piety, Everard des Barres was serving as preceptor of the Knights Templar in France when he was elected grand master in 1147. Shortly after his election, he travelled to the Holy Land with King Louis VII of France. It is believed that the Templars were given the right to wear the red cross of martyrdom on their robes at this time. Bernard de…

The rolling hills of the Veneto and Friuli Venezia Giulia regions in northern Italy have been home to winemakers for centuries. Although the name ‘Prosecco’ didn’t necessarily exist before the 16th century, ‘castellum nobile vinum Pucinum’ did. But it wasn’t just known as a fashionable drink. In Ancient Rome, prosecco was a delicacy, and enjoyed by the upper classes. More than that though, it was thought to have been medicinal. Seen by some as an elixir that allowed the drinker to live a long life, a lengthy list of Romans drank it. Among them was Livia, who actually credited it for allowing her to live well into her 80s. She enjoyed a glass a day for most of her adult life. Pliny the Elder was another who swore by it,…

A merchant seaman and Royal Naval Reservist, New Zealander Frank Worsley (1872-1943) had 27 years’ maritime experience before he joined the Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition. Shackleton appointed Worsley as captain of the Endurance and he was known by all as Skipper. Even though Endurance was crushed by ice and sunk in October 1915, Worsley’s worth to the expedition ironically increased thanks to his prodigious navigation skills. His successful navigating of Endurance’s lifeboat the James Caird to Elephant Island made him indispensable to the crew for the journey to South Georgia. The success of the voyage entirely depended on the accuracy of Worsley’s navigation. Finding the tiny island in a huge ocean with atrocious weather conditions was a herculean task. His equipment consisted only of a sextant, compass, chronometer and navigation tables…

Terrifying demon Easily one of the most famous, if not the most famous, creatures of Japanese folklore. Oni are large ogres or demons with red or blue skin, long hair and huge fang-like tusks. They are born when an evil human dies and descends to one of the Buddhist hells. They spend their days punishing the damned, dishing out a number of brutal punishments to souls who are not wicked enough to become Oni themselves. Depictions of Oni can be found all over Japan and there are many stories of their terrifying nature.…

Fleshy fiend These grotesque creatures look like huge blobs of flesh, with sagging skin and fatty folds giving the impression of face-like features. In Edo-period publications none of the characteristics or habits of this bizarre monstrosity were known and it was only later that the Nuppeppō was christened the ‘Spirit of the Flesh’, haunting deserted and ruined temples. They reek of rotten meat and are known only to appear at night. They’re not particularly dangerous, with their only negative attribute being their ability to turn an individual’s stomach. Despite their appearance, they’re quick on their feet and hard to catch.…

I haven’t had any criticism about being white. I always state that not all white people come from all-white families. My Aunt Esther was a young adult when my great grandmother adopted her into my family during the Second World War. By the time I was born she was part of my family and that was normal. I’m thankful to have come from a family that had that diversity. Those who have been suspicious, wary or critical, are white middle-class people. I don’t have a chip on my shoulder – some of my best friends are white and middle class! But if they don’t know me, or if they do and know my background, they still don’t get it. White working-class people get it, Black people get it, but the…

1950s THE ‘HAVES’ AND THE ‘HAVE NOTS’ How an ever-growing global population can be properly fed, especially in developing countries, has become a major focus, and without the groundwork done by Darwin, the knowledge and ability to produce crops that are more pest resistant and with higher yields may have developed far more slowly, if at all. Countries unable to produce enough food would forever be at the mercy of those who could supply them, unable to fend for themselves, bringing unstable governments and devastating poverty in an even more unequal world. 1953 BUILDING BLOCKS OF LIFE REMAIN A MYSTERY The mapping of genes was one of the major leaps forward in human ability to understand all living things. The evidence of DNA confirms Darwin’s central thinking: that heritable variation…