Today I learned...

[Rath Darkblade]

Today I learned that Helen Keller got her eyes removed in 1911 for cosmetic reasons, because apparently her left eye was bulging out slightly and it ruined the 'magnificent beauty' of her face so out both eyes went and she wore glass eyes for the rest of her life.

That ... sounds like Helen Keller was suffering from a lack of perspective. (Yes, literally too ... sigh).

Today I was reading a book of royal anecdotes and learned a few funny ones.

At one point, King Edward VII of England was being conducted around HMS Victory. His guide drew his attention to a plaque on the deck and said: "This is where Nelson fell, Your Majesty."

"I'm not surprised," replied the King, "I nearly tripped over the damn thing myself."

Edward VII was a stickler for a precise dress code. Once, when an admiral's daughter arrived at a party with a dress once inch above her ankles, he commented, "I'm sorry, I'm afraid you must have made a mistake. This is a dinner, not a tennis party."

Edward's successor, George V, became king in 1910. In 1935 (a year before his death), he met the author John Buchan and told him, "I don't get much time for reading, but when I do I enjoy your books, The Thirty-Nine Steps and so on. Now before you go, the Queen would like to have a word with you." Buchan soon met with Queen Mary who told him, "The King does not get much time for reading, but when he does, I'm afraid he reads the most awful rubbish."

Jumping back to the 18th century for a bit: George II was no fan of English literature. He once asked: "Who is this Pope that I hear so much about? I cannot discover his merit. Why will my subjects not write in prose! I hear a great deal of Shakespeare, too, but I cannot read him; he is such a bombast fellow."

 

[Link the Writer]

In 1409, the young prince Henry (future Henry V) had an arrow to the face in the Battel of Shrewsbury fighting a rebel army led by Harry 'Hotspur' Percy. John Bradmore, a renown English surgeon wad tasked to pull the thing out to save the young man's life, so he designed the Bradmore screw to get in there to get the arrowhead out. Keep in mind, this was a prince, so if Bradmore failed and the prince died? Well... he'd be FUBAR'd. Didn't help he was accused of counterfeiting coins to purchase or sell surgical equipment. Though pardoned by Richard II in 1386, this was a king who had been overthrown by Henry Bolingbroke (Henry IV) in 1399 who was known to be extremely paranoid. So yeah, by 1409 with the prince's life in his hands? Poor Bradmore must've been sweating bullets... er... arrows.

The TL;DR:

- John Bradmore was accused of counterfeit.
- Was pardoned by Richard II in 1386.
- Richard II overthrown by Henry IV in 1399.
- Battle of Shrewsbury in 1409. Prince Henry used to be an adventurer like you, but then he took an arrow to the face.
- John Bradmore has to save this prince's life.
- I don't think Henry IV would've cared about the pardon enacted by the recently deposed king if the boy died in Bradmore's care.

He also wrote lengthy treatises about surgeries he partook in or was consulted in and they came to be known as Philomena.

This is likely the tool he would've used. Yeesh, imagine that going into your face... That poor, poor prince. And keep in mind, this was before chloroform or any other anesthesia, so yes, he would've felt it.

 

[Naomasa298]

Edward Bulwar-Lytton, the man who wrote the opening line "It was a dark and stormy night" also came up with the phrases "the almighty dollar" and "the pen is mightier than the sword" (amongst others).

 

[Rath Darkblade]

In 1409, the young prince Henry (future Henry V) had an arrow to the face in the Battel of Shrewsbury fighting a rebel army led by Harry 'Hotspur' Percy. John Bradmore, a renown English surgeon wad tasked to pull the thing out to save the young man's life, so he designed the Bradmore screw to get in there to get the arrowhead out. Keep in mind, this was a prince, so if Bradmore failed and the prince died? Well... he'd be FUBAR'd. Didn't help he was accused of counterfeiting coins to purchase or sell surgical equipment. Though pardoned by Richard II in 1386, this was a king who had been overthrown by Henry Bolingbroke (Henry IV) in 1399 who was known to be extremely paranoid. So yeah, by 1409 with the prince's life in his hands? Poor Bradmore must've been sweating bullets... er... arrows.

The TL;DR:

- John Bradmore was accused of counterfeit.
- Was pardoned by Richard II in 1386.
- Richard II overthrown by Henry IV in 1399.
- Battle of Shrewsbury in 1409. Prince Henry used to be an adventurer like you, but then he took an arrow to the face.
- John Bradmore has to save this prince's life.
- I don't think Henry IV would've cared about the pardon enacted by the recently deposed king if the boy died in Bradmore's care.

He also wrote lengthy treatises about surgeries he partook in or was consulted in and they came to be known as Philomena.

This is likely the tool he would've used. Yeesh, imagine that going into your face... That poor, poor prince. And keep in mind, this was before chloroform or any other anesthesia, so yes, he would've felt it.

View attachment 595

Ack. Yep, I've heard of this ... and yes, the early 1400s were a brutal time (as was any time marked by prolonged warfare).

But it's not quite right to say there was no form of anesthesia. From the wiki-article on the history of general anesthesia:

Throughout 1200 to 1500 AD in England, a potion called dwale was used as an anesthetic. This alcohol-based mixture contained bile, opium, lettuce, bryony, henbane, hemlock, and vinegar.

Surgeons roused their patients by rubbing vinegar and salt on their cheekbones. One can find records of dwale in numerous literary sources, including Shakespeare's Hamlet, and the John Keats poem "Ode to a Nightingale".

In the 13th century, we have the first prescription of the "spongia soporifica"—a sponge soaked in the juices of unripe mulberry, flax, mandragora leaves, ivy, lettuce seeds, lapathum, and hemlock with hyoscyamus. After treatment and/or storage, the sponge could be heated and the vapors inhaled with anesthetic effect.

The same article also tells me (in the section on Antiquity) that general anaesthetics were developed as long ago as either 4,000 BC (ethanol) or 3,400 BC (opium), both in Sumeria. Needless to say, the evidence is disputed, so I'm taking this with a large grain of salt.

However, poppies and their efficacy were definitely known to the ancient Greeks, as the gods Hypnos (Sleep), Nyx (Night), and Thanatos (Death) were often depicted holding poppies. (Why would they be depicted that way if the Greeks weren't aware?)

The ancient Egyptians had some surgical instruments, as well as crude analgesics and sedatives, including possibly an extract prepared from the mandrake fruit.

Further, before the introduction of opium to ancient India and China, these civilizations pioneered the use of cannabis incense and aconitum. The Sushruta Samhita (a text from the Indian subcontinent on Ayurvedic medicine and surgery, c. 400 BC) advocates the use of wine with incense of cannabis for anesthesia. (By the 8th century AD, Arab traders had brought opium to India and China).

 

[CatrionaGrace]

In the fourteenth century, they used monotone readings of Chaucer for anesthesia.

 

[Iain Aschendale]

Hybristophilia is the phenomenon characterized by sexual interest in and attraction to those who commit crimes.

 

[DLC]

which reminded me of Canada's greatest ever book - Bear (novel) - Wikipedia

 

[Rath Darkblade]

Hybristophilia is the phenomenon characterized by sexual interest in and attraction to those who commit crimes.

Hmm. In ancient Rome, many women (especially those of a high social standing, like senators' wives) were attracted to, and even fantasized about, gladiators.

So, given that people became gladiators because they committed crimes (e.g. petty thievery, defaulting on a debt, or just being on the wrong side of a country that picked a war with Rome) ... would the aforementioned women be hybristophiliacs?

 

[Rath Darkblade]

which reminded me of Canada's greatest ever book - Bear (novel) - Wikipedia

OK. I watched the entire thing, and now I have to ask: what the ever-loving ****???

Obviously I'm in the wrong market. Instead of writing historical fiction (where mythology/fantasy plays a small role), I should be writing fantasy porn, market it to BookTokers, make a gazillion dollars, retire to a little island with lax tax codes and no extradition treaty, and drink piña coladas 'til my liver waves the white flag. ;-P

Sure, it's not going to happen. But wouldn't it be fun if it did? ;-)

 

[Louanne Learning]

Hybristophilia is the phenomenon characterized by sexual interest in and attraction to those who commit crimes.

From what I understand, it's most commonly observed in females, and risk-taking is often associated with masculinity

 

[Louanne Learning]

risk-taking

here's some interesting data - "health risk-taking" increases up to age 30, but "anti-social risk-taking" peaks at ages 16-20, then drops off