On this day in 1429 the Battle of Herrings took place near Rouvray, just north of Orléans, France. The battle of was part of the larger conflict later to become known as the Hundred Years War between England and France and their allies.  ​

The cause of the battle was an attempt by French and Scottish forces to intercept an English baggage train on its way to supply Englis forces laying siege to the city of Orléans. It’s from this train that the battle get’s it’s weird name, as it happened to be carrying a lot of herring at the time  

The English army had started the siege on October 12th 1428.  The convoy of supplies included cannons, cannonballs, crossbow shafts and herring and consisted of around 300 carts and wagons which had been sent from Paris.  The herring were included as Lent was approaching and meat would not be a part of the army's diet during this period.  In support of the supplies was a military force led by Sir John Fastolf.  

As the convoy approached Orléans a French force, supported by their Scottish allies intercepted them.  The force, numbering between 3,000 and 4,000 outnumbered the English and was led by Charles of Bourbon and the Scot Sir John Stewart of Darnley.  The English used their wagons to form a defensive barrier with sharped spikes in front to add extra protection, making use of the successful tactic employed at the Battle of Agincourt.  

Merry Christmas folks! Today we come to you with a festive themed blog on the Nativity. Yes, the Nativity, the Christian tradition of creating an artistic representation of the birth of Jesus.

Nativity scenes take it inspiration from the accounts of the birth of Jesus in the Gospels of Matthew and Luke. Luke's narrative describes an angel announcing the birth of Jesus to shepherds who then visit the humble site where Jesus is found lying in a manger, a trough for cattle feed. Matthew's narrative tells of "wise men", or Magi,  who follow a star to the house where Jesus dwelt, and indicates that the Magi found Jesus some time later, less than two years after his birth, rather than on the exact day. Matthew's account does not mention the angels and shepherds, while Luke's narrative is silent on the Magi and the star. The Magi and the angels are often displayed in a nativity scene with the Holy Family and the shepherds although there is no scriptural basis for their presence.

The first nativity scene is thought to have been created by Saint Francis of Assisi in 1223 at Greccio, central Italy, in an attempt to place the emphasis of Christmas upon the worship of Christ rather than upon secular materialism and gift giving. The nativity scene created by Francis is described by Saint Bonaventure in his Life of Saint Francis of Assisi written around 1260. Staged in a cave near Greccio, Saint Francis' nativity scene was a living one with humans and animals cast in the Biblical roles. Pope Honorius III even gave his blessing to the exhibit.

Such re-enactments became hugely popular and spread throughout Christendom and within a hundred years every church in Italy was expected to have a nativity scene at Christmastime. Eventually, statues replaced human and animal participants, and static scenes grew to elaborate affairs with richly robed figurines placed in intricate landscape settings. 

Different traditions of nativity scenes emerged in different countries. A tradition in England involved baking a mince pie in the shape of a manger which would hold the Christ child until dinnertime, when the pie was eaten. When the Puritans banned Christmas celebrations in the 17th century, they also passed specific legislation to outlaw such pies, calling them "Idolaterie in crust". We do not think they would have approved of our “Idolaterie bricks”.
 
Anyway, we wish you a merry Christmas filled with idolaterie bricks! 

These scenes were built by James Pegrum; please be sure to follow and support us on  Facebook, Twitter and Instagram!

Recently we went back to the events leading to the Mayflower’s voyage and looked at how the Separatists decided to leave England. The Separatists, a group of Puritan Christians who wanted to see the reformed church in England go through further reform, were having to meet in secret, which was against the law in England. This led to their persecution and a number of members from the Scrooby congregation leaving England for Holland where there was a greater level of religious tolerance. 

In 1607 the congregation from Scrooby, led by John Robinson, had travelled by foot the 60 miles to Boston and after being betrayed to the authorities by the captain of the ship they were going to escape on they spent a short time in the cells of Boston’s Guildhall.  There is however no record of any convictions of offence.  The second escape attempt wasn’t much more successful. Attempting to leave via the coastal town of Immingham in Lincolnshire, the Sepratists attempted to board a Dutch ship, Hoy. However, with the men aboard the ship the boat carrying the woman and children got stuck in the tidal mud. As they tried to free themselves a group of armed horseman came to seized them.  The captain of the Hoy panicked and fled, leaving the woman and children to be captured and sent to prison. 

Meanwhile the men on Hoy sailing to Holland were not having an easy time and were caught in a North Sea storm.  The storm was so severe that even the crew came below board, leaving the ship to its fate.  The ship was blown of course ending up near Norway. Eventually the men arrived in Holland.  Back in England the woman and children were set free following protests by the locals and they later joined the men in Holland.  William Brewster, who would become a senior colonist in North America, arrived in Holland in autumn 1608 with another future Mayflower passenger, John Robinson, following a few months later. ​

Furthermore, the religious tolerance that initially attracted them to Leiden began to trouble them. The Separatists disapproved of Leiden’s officials turning a blind eye to the presence of a small Catholic community as well as the city’s lax observance of Sabbath observations. In an attempt to counter this within their community they banned their youngsters marrying outside the congregation.  This led the authorities to ban the Separatists from carrying out their own marriages.  This led some of the Separatists to believe that they had fled one set of persecutions for another.  At the same time there was a growing threat of war recommencing with Spain as the Twelve Year Truce was due to end in 1621. 

This combination of factors led the Separatists to reconsider life in Leiden.  England was not an option and so they looked further afield to North America. The search for a ship was on. Yet despite their growing dissatisfaction with Holland, their time in Leiden would influence their ideas about their future society. For example, they bought to civil marriage to America, which was a Dutch invention brought in to allow those outside the state church to be married. 

On this day in 1620 the Mayflower Compact was signed aboard the eponymous ship. The Compact was the first governing document of Plymouth Colony and was written by the male passengers of the voyage, consisting of separatist Puritans, adventurers and tradesmen.

The Mayflower was originally bound for the Colony of Virginia but storms forced it to seek anchor at the hook of Cape Cod in Massachusetts. Owning to a lack of provisions it was considered unwise to continue and that a colony should be established there. Because they would not be settling in the agreed-upon Virginia territory this inspired some of the non-Puritan passengers to proclaim that they "would use their own liberty; for none had power to command them". To prevent this, the Pilgrims determined to establish their own government, while still affirming their allegiance to the Crown of England. Thus, the Mayflower Compact was created, forming a social contract in which the settlers consented to follow the community's rules for the sake of order and survival. Historian Nathaniel Philbrick has argued that this  provided “the basis for a secular government in America”.
 
The original document has long been lost, but three slightly different versions printed later in the 17th century still exist. A modern version of the wording goes as follows:
 
"IN THE NAME OF GOD, AMEN. We, whose names are underwritten, the Loyal Subjects of our dread Sovereign Lord King James, by the Grace of God, of Great Britain, France, and Ireland, King, Defender of the Faith, &c. Having undertaken for the Glory of God, and Advancement of the Christian Faith, and the Honour of our King and Country, a Voyage to plant the first Colony in the northern Parts of Virginia; Do by these Presents, solemnly and mutually, in the Presence of God and one another, covenant and combine ourselves together into a civil Body Politick, for our better Ordering and Preservation, and Furtherance of the Ends aforesaid: And by Virtue hereof do enact, constitute, and frame, such just and equal Laws, Ordinances, Acts, Constitutions, and Officers, from time to time, as shall be thought most meet and convenient for the general Good of the Colony; unto which we promise all due Submission and Obedience. IN WITNESS whereof we have hereunto subscribed our names at Cape-Cod the eleventh of November, in the Reign of our Sovereign Lord King James, of England, France, and Ireland, the eighteenth, and of Scotland the fifty-fourth, Anno Domini; 1620."

Forty-one of the Mayflower’s 101 passengers signed the document. This was done on the 11th November under the Old Style Julian calendar, since England did not adopt the Gregorian calendar until 1752. The Gregorian date would be November 21st.
 
Next year is the 400th anniversary of the Mayflower’s voyage with many events planned to commemorate the event.  So… who wants to guess what our big build of 2020 will be?
 
These scenes were both built by James Pegrum; find out more by following us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.