The Basiliscoe Mercury 345

The Basiliscoe Mercury


TheInternet newsletter for the arms and armour community


Few stand-out stories this fortnight, but a few more museums open. Otherwise more Baltic wrecks, more woolly mammoths and, best of all, what they found in the attics of Oxburgh Hall.



Arms and armour in the news


Beasts of assorted varieties…


Bronze Age children played with toy pigs

https://www.thefirstnews.com/articl...igging-up-bronze-age-childrens-toy-pigs-14965


Woolly mammoth found in Russia

https://www.themoscowtimes.com/2020...upon-mammoth-remains-in-russias-arctic-a71238


Ancient Battles


Feature on the Battle of Actium

https://www.historyextra.com/period/roman/battle-actium-31-bc-mark-antony-downfall/


Grave stories


Some Yorkshireeffigies and their history

https://www.keighleynews.co.uk/news/18674492.bloody-family-history-written-rocks/


Investigating Westminster Abbey

https://www.theguardian.com/science...ieval-sacristy-uncovered-at-westminster-abbey


Through the arrow-slit . . .


Rochester castle is falling down…

https://www.kentonline.co.uk/medway/news/historic-castle-could-be-closed-for-weeks-232671/


What they found under the floorboards at Oxburgh Hall- fascinating story!

https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news...vers-tudor-and-elizabethan-finds-oxburgh-hall



Scottish castle for sale

https://www.medievalists.net/2020/08/16th-century-castle-sale-scotland/


Cannons to the left, cannon to the right


Roaring Meg and the siege of Worcester

https://www.worcesternews.co.uk/news/18675593.siege-worcester-cannon-rained-death-says-richard-shaw/


Windsor Castle east terrace opens for the season- you can see some very fins 18th century cannon there!

https://www.rct.uk/event/east-terrace-garden-08-2020#/


(you can read about them here- worth the journey; https://drive.google.com/file/d/1LwSw9AsGmagbDTWJBqbX-pNi7TJ2LJJd/view)


Cannon returns to upstate New York community

https://www.thedailynewsonline.com/...cle_823fae30-781b-503e-8a24-91a46e19b003.html


Miscellany


Finds including armour fragment and arrows found in excavations in the Kremlin

https://sputniknews.com/science/202...elite-in-kremlin-dating-back-to-14th-century/


Exploring 500 years of history underground in Safed

https://www.jpost.com/archaeology/f...centuries-of-history-unveiled-in-safed-639081


Ideal home for self-isolating

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/uk-en...ree-portsmouth-island-forts-go-on-sale-for-9m


Exploring graffiti in the New Forest

https://www.theguardian.com/environ...h-marks-graffiti-carved-into-new-forest-trees


Back to the front


Battlefield in South Carolina from Revolutionary war found

https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smar...ld-where-patriot-john-laurens-died-180975626/


1845 battle in Argentina investigated

https://elpais.com/cultura/2020-08-...a-ultima-gran-batalla-colonial-argentina.html


Café Basiliscoe


Wine windows for modern time of plague

https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/wine-windows-florence-medieval-disease-180975517/


Medieval shellfish stew from Jersey

https://jerseyeveningpost.com/news/2020/08/17/archaeological-finds-shed-light-on-medieval-grouville/


Washed down with Mesopotamian beer

https://theconversation.com/brewing...-ancient-drinking-culture-back-to-life-142215


Nautical news


Origins of England’s navy investigated

https://phys.org/news/2020-08-medieval-texts-reveal-false-royal.html


Latest finds from the 15th century Pandanan shipwreck site https://mb.com.ph/2020/08/24/natl-museum-unveils-rare-14th-century-chinese-bowl-in-virtual-series/


Finnish team find Dutch fluit in the Baltic

https://www.euronews.com/2020/08/21/a-400-year-old-ship-has-been-found-in-the-baltic-sea


When HMS Victory re-opens, visitors can walk underneath

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-hampshire-53728614


C19 slows work on the Franklin expedition ships

https://www.prpeak.com/covid-19-puts-brakes-on-further-exploration-of-franklin-wrecks-1.24187359


Museum news and exhibitions


News


Singapore’s’ war museum and other museums

https://www.straitstimes.com/lifestyle/six-secret-museums-to-check-out


Internationalinstitutions to help culture damage in Beirut

https://www.theartnewspaper.com/news/beirut-museums-size-up-the-explosion-damage


National Trust to drastically cut curators and openings

https://www.theartnewspaper.com/comment/national-trust-restructuring-plan-job-cuts

https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news...enies-dumbing-down-in-drive-for-new-audiences


New Museums and re-openings


Royal Armouries in Leeds announces re-opening dates

https://www.leeds-live.co.uk/best-i...l-armouries-announces-reopening-date-18818615

https://royalarmouries.org/venue/royal-armouries-museum/


Met re-opens

https://artdaily.com/news/127685/Th...rab-your-timed-ticket-and-view-Jacob-Lawrence


Museum developments


Online exhibitions from Historic Scotland

https://www.historicenvironment.scot/archives-and-research/online-exhibitions/


Museum Musings- statues on the move again..


British Museum’s Hans Sloane bust moved

https://www.theartnewspaper.com/news/british-museum-sloane-bust

https://www.theguardian.com/culture...s-defends-moving-bust-of-slave-owning-founder


Scotland and India and country houses

https://www.nts.org.uk/stories/throwing-new-light-on-difficult-histories


Conservation corner


British Museum gets ready for re-opening

https://www.theguardian.com/culture...usts-itself-down-as-163-day-closure-nears-end


Objects


High price for Napoleonic eagle

https://artdaily.com/news/127618/Ma...tches-almost--pound-50-000-at-Dix-Noonan-Webb


Exhibitions


Paintings from Royal collections to go to gallery for the duration

https://www.theartnewspaper.com/news/beirut-museums-size-up-the-explosion-damage


Soldiers in WW2 at National Military Museum Soesterberg, the Netherlandshttps://artdaily.com/news/120924/Ex...ies-from-both-a-Canadian-and-a-German-soldier



Books


Matthew Moss; The PIAT; Britain’s anti-tank weapon of World War II

https://ospreypublishing.com/store/military-history/upcoming-books/available-this-month/the-piat


New book on Hapsburgs’ homes

https://www.theartnewspaper.com/review/habsburgs-house-collections


Events


Diary Dates


ICOMAM conference – new dates

Toledo, Spain

17 – 21 May 2021

https://ejercito.defensa.gob.es/eventos/icomam_toledo_2021/


Sales Fairs and auctions

Fort Paull, Hull, sold and contents to be auctioned https://www.yorkshirepost.co.uk/her...c-fort-has-been-sold-subject-contract-2950557

23 Sep 2020 London

Fine Antique Arms & Armour Including An Important Group Of British Firearms

https://www.bonhams.com/auctions/25976/#/!


25 Sept 2020 castle of Greding.

From castles and palaces - selected art and works of art from antiquity to the 20th century

https://www.hhttps://us19.campaign-archive.com/home/?u=a84329d90ebce21https://openhouselondon.org.uk/

http://www.medievalists.net/2019/09/medieval-sites-to-see-during-open-doors-festival-in-wales/

http://www.doorsopendays.org.uk/

https://www.heritageopendays.org.uk/

http://www.europeanheritagedays.com/Home.aspx



News from Paris

https://www.musee-armee.fr/collections/ressources/le-magazine-du-musee.html


1066 etc: Just 100 years war

https://www.medievalists.net/2020/08/bascot-mauleon/

https://www.medievalists.net/2020/08/hundred-years-war-end/


Finally


This fortnight I enjoyed Matthew Champion’s tweets on Oxburgh Hall, particularly a long sequence a few days back on theunder-the-floorboards- worth scrolling down for! https://twitter.com/mjc_associates


https://twitter.com/Basiliscoe


Compiled by Ruth Rhynas Brown – 2020


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