1147
A 9th century Irish monk scribbled some verses about a beloved cat into his copy book.
An anonymous ninth-century Irish monk – possibly Sedulius Scottus, driven onto the Continent by Vikings – penned a little poem about his cat Pangur Bán (Fuller the White) into his scrapbook, sharing the precious space with Latin hymns and noble quotations.
Picture: From the British Library, via Wikimedia Commons. Licence: Public domain.. Source.
Posted April 12 2017
1148
The Nazi-collaborating Vichy government in France paid Rugby League the supreme compliment: they banned it.
In France, Rugby League is not perhaps the most fashionable code of Rugby. But it does have the proud distinction of having been banned by the Nazis’ French friends, making it a form of the game with special appeal to those who see themselves as a bit of a rebel.
Picture: © Gerard Barrau, Wikimedia Commons Licence: CC-BY-SA 3.0.. Source.
Posted April 10 2017
1149
The less glamorous code of Rugby football, but the best for sheer speed and strength.
Rugby League is a form of the sport of Rugby Football that dominates in northern England, but is overshadowed in the south by more fashionable Rugby Union. Once the only professional form of the game, over the years Rugby League has became the faster, harder, and arguably more exciting code.
Picture: © Gerard Barrau, Wikimedia Commons. Licence: CC-BY-SA 3.0.. Source.
Posted April 10 2017
1150
Abbot Elfric expounds a Palm Sunday text to explain how Christianity combines orderly behaviour with intelligent and genuine liberty.
In a sermon for Palm Sunday, Abbot Elfric (955-1010) of the monastery in Eynsham in Oxfordshire drew on the Biblical account of Jesus’s entry into Jerusalem to show that Christianity tames the wildness of man not by the bridle of coercion and law, but by the wisdom of reason and freewill.
Picture: Via Wikimedia Commons. Licence: Public domain.. Source.
Posted April 8 2017
1151
The British encountered no stouter resistance in India than Mysore’s gifted commmander Hyder Ali and his son, Tipu.
The Princely State of Mysore was for many years one of the most prosperous and pro-British kingdoms of the Raj, but in the late eighteenth century it was briefly dominated by two of Britain’s most bitter and successful opponents, Hyder Ali (?1722-1782) and his son Tipu (1750-1799).
Picture: © Jean-Pierre Dalbéra, Wikimedia Commons. Licence: CC BY-SA 2.0.. Source.
Posted April 7 2017
1152
For Jesus Christ to step down alive from his cross would have been a mighty miracle, but not the mightiest.
In a sermon for Easter Day, Abbot Elfric (955-1010) reminded his congregation that the people of Jerusalem thought it would be a miracle worthy of God for Jesus to step down alive from his cross. A miracle, yes; but not so worthy of God as the one he then performed.
Picture: Via Wikimedia Commons. Licence: Public domain.. Source.
Posted April 6 2017