Caz
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A True Songbird – Eva Cassidy
“You left in autumn, the leaves were turning I walk down roads [of] orange and gold I see your sweet smile, I hear your laughter You’re still here beside me every day . . . ‘Cause I know you by heart . . . “ In November of 1996 the world said goodbye to the great talent that was Eva Cassidy. At the age of just 33, after a short battle with cancer, she passed away in her family home in Maryland US. Eva’s fame would only continue to grow after her death, as new generations discovered her beautiful, soulful voice, and effortless harmonies. Born in Washington, on February 2nd…
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Prostitution: the world’s oldest profession?
Many people have heard prostitution being referred to as the oldest profession in the world and it may well be one of them. It was first referred to as such by author Rudyard Kipling in back in 1888, however, the trade of money or goods in exchange for sex goes back way before then. The earliest mention of prostitution occurs in records dating back to 2400 BCE. Karkid, the Sumerian word for female prostitute appears in lists of professions from that period. The ancient Mesopotamian religious practices seem to have effectively given birth to the sex trade. The Sumerians worshipped Ishtar, the goddess of love, fertility, and war, born anew…
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Medieval Guilds
In the 10th and 11th centuries Europe began to flourish, with towns being established and growing larger. This lead to an influx of merchants, who had, up until this time, mostly sold their wares by travelling from place to place personally carrying out all of their own trading transactions. With the increase in these peddlers roaming from town to town with their goods, came the opportunity for robbery, so many merchants banded together in order to protect themselves from bandits. The craftsmen mainly chose to form associations with those of the same trade, such as textile workers, carpenters, glass workers and masons, probably to ensure the protection of trade secrets…
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Zugarramurdi – The Town of Witches
In northern Spain lies the town of Zugarramurdi, home to just under 250 people. This small town, situated next to the border of France and Spain, and nestled in the foothills of the Pyrenees, is famous for being a major part of the Basque Witch Trials of the 17th century, the biggest witch hunt ever undertaken by the Spanish Inquisition. It began in the year 1609 and by the end around 7000 suspected cases of witchcraft had been examined. Basque witches, or priestesses also known as Sorginak, are the assistants of the Goddess Mari in Basque Mythology. Before the arrival of Christianity, the indigenous people of the area that is…
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Anne Askew
There are many protestant martyrs mentioned in John Foxe’s Actes and Monuments, but none quite like Anne Askew. Born in Lincolnshire in around 1521, to Sir William Askew, and his wife Elizabeth Wrottesley, Anne was one of five children, two brothers, and two sisters. After her mother died her father married Elizabeth Hutton Hansard, a widow from South Kelsey, and she produced two half-brothers for the Askew children. Sir William had been knighted by King Henry VIII in 1513 in Touraine, and had attended the King at the Field of the Cloth of Gold in 1520. He was High Sheriff of Lincolnshire and a Member of Parliament in 1521. Anne’s…
