"Then Herod, seeing himself mocked by the Magi, was very angry, and sent to beat up all the babies in Bethlehem and in all its borders, from two years old and below, according to the time that he learned from the Magi."
(Gospel of Matthew 2:16.)
Massacres are not unusual in human history. It was decided to root out the population of those cities, which decided to resist the conquerors. So it was in the era of the Ancient World, this was repeated more than once in the Middle Ages. But one of the most terrible crimes of this kind in the history of mankind is traditionally considered the massacre of little boys in Bethlehem, allegedly committed on the orders of the Jewish king Herod. Information about this tragedy, however, although it is revered by both Catholics and Orthodox Christians, is contained only in one of the four canonical Gospels, namely in the Gospel of Matthew, while neither Mark, nor Luke, nor John do not report. Matthew did not indicate the number of babies killed, but later the numbers 12, 12, 20, 40 and even 64 thousand killed appeared. All of them, of course, immediately got into the saints, as well as icons, but where these numbers came from is unknown to anyone. The discrepancy is also incomprehensible - in the Syrian tradition there were 64 thousand killed, in the Byzantine tradition - only 12. But … "maybe there was no boy"? Rather, boys, because where, in a relatively small town of Bethlehem, was it possible to get such a bunch of boys aged from several days to two years old, and there were also female babies there. Were they all gathered there from all over Syria?
The famous Jewish historian Josephus Flavius, who tastefully told in his writings about the multitude of all kinds of abominations committed by Herod, does not write about this drama either. And I could have written about this crime of his, too? However, he did not say a word about it … So most likely this "horror" was born as a legend, designed to influence the weak minds of the then illiterate inhabitants. And how the Romans (namely, they were the real rulers of Judea at that time) would allow him to do this? Men are producers and taxpayers. And to kill them just like that, in their opinion, it was unreasonable. The prisoners were sold into slavery, given to gladiators, but the conquered peoples lived under their rule, in general, not bad at all. By the way, the Romans, 10 years after the death of Herod, just deprived the throne of his son Archelaus, although he did not kill anyone. All serious questions were to be asked of the Emperor Augustus. Didn't ask - he lost his throne and power - such was the level of capabilities of the then "kings of Judah".
Nevertheless. faith is good because it is "absurd, therefore I believe." On the other hand, any event requires that it be illustrated, imprinted in marble, because, again, this is how information about events comes best. So the "killing of babies" has become one of the very popular themes in European medieval art. The pages of manuscripts are full of images of the scene of the murder, they were depicted on church tapestries and represented on bas-reliefs in churches and cathedrals. They were created at different times - that's why, just like in the case of the image of the fight between the boy David and the giant Goliath, we can use them as an important historical source!
Well, since we are in VO and our theme is armor and weapons from 1050 to 1350, let's try to consider how their changes were reflected in the miniatures depicting "killing babies". In principle, someone can even compare to what extent the images of soldiers and their weapons in these scenes correspond to the miniatures depicting the duel between David and Goliath, but the author believes that this study in this case would be clearly redundant. For now, it will be best to just see what kind of soldiers and in what weapons the authors of miniatures drew on this "cruel theme".
So, one of the earliest images of this scene (of those images that are available to a modern researcher today) is a miniature from the Winchester Psalter of 1150, which depicts warriors in helmets with nose pads and a forward-curving crown, reminiscent of a Phrygian cap. Chain mail is long, with wide sleeves. In the center of the warrior, the scabbard of the sword is under the chain mail. But in the same way, they are worn by some characters of Bayesso embroidery in 1066, so most likely this is not a fiction. (British Library, London)
Miniature 1190-1200 from the Psalter of Saint Louis, which belonged to the canonized French king Louis IX. Now two such psalteries are in Paris and Leiden, and are considered excellent examples of manuscripts performed in the Gothic (French) and Romanesque (English) styles. On the miniature from the Leiden Psalter, the images of the warriors are drawn very carefully. They wear domed helmets with nose pads, and chain mail with long but narrow sleeves ends with chain mail gloves. Something like a shirt is clearly worn under the chain mail. On the legs there is also chain mail protection, but of the "old model", known from the Bayesian painting of 1066. That is, a strip of chain mail, which is held on the leg in front by means of numerous ties at the back. The swords are long, chopping, with a disc-shaped pommel. (Leiden University Library, Netherlands)
Psalter with calendar 1200-1225 from Oxford (British Library, London). Here we see a warrior with a sword dressed in the same way as in the previous miniature. That is, such weapons were quite typical for the late XII - early XIII centuries, at least in England.
Capital letter from a manuscript from Lyons, 1215-1240 (Municipal Library of Lyon) Here the soldier on the left is wearing an early topfhelm helmet. And both warriors are dressed in surcoats. The shape of their swords is also indicative. The blades are clearly tapering towards the point for the purpose of inflicting not only a chopping, but also a thrusting blow.
Miniature from the English Psalter 1250-1270 (Cambridge University Library) On the warrior in the center, the helmet is almost the same as on his "colleague" from the Lyon manuscript. The cruelty of what is happening is emphasized by the fact that the unfortunate babies are not just killed, but also hacked to pieces.
This miniature is from a 1280 German manuscript in the British Library in London. On it we see three warriors in typical multi-layered protective weapons. In particular, like the effigi of St. Moritz, over their chain mail hauberks, they have a head and neck, as well as a part of the chest and, apparently, a back, protected by a chain mail hood - kuaf with rectangular inserts in the front and back. The extreme left warrior is content with chain mail, but the warrior in the center and on the right on his legs has additional means of protection in the form of knee pads and “pipes” made of “boiled leather”. Noteworthy are their swords and pommels of hilts. The blades begin to stretch, which will later find its embodiment in the thrusting and chopping blades of the 14th century.
Thumbnail from the Litany of the Saints book of hours, circa 1300. Usually the litany contains records of prayers in which the saints are listed. The reader pronounces the name of each saint out loud, followed by the phrase: ora pro nobis (pray for us). But this book is unusual in that it contains illustrations of each saint next to his or her name. (Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles) Ellets on the shoulders are an accurate sign of the times
Miniature from the Psalter of Peterborough, England, 1300-1325. (Royal Library of Belgium, Brussels) Armor and syuorkos have not changed, but two little "trifles" have appeared - ellets on the shoulders and bulging knee pads.
Breviary (compendium or prayer book in Latin) 1323-1326 (National Library of France, Paris) Only 25 years have passed and, as we can see in this miniature, overhead plates on the forearms, elbow pads and leggings have been added to chain mail armor. Globular helmets with nose or visor.
Miniature approx. 1340 Austria (City Library of Schaffhausen)
Miniature approx. 1360 Regensburg, Germany. (Pierpont Morgan Museum and Library, New York). Warriors on the left in armor typical of the mid-14th century. Short jupons, sword straps on the hips, the swords themselves have blades tapering to the point. On the hands - plate gloves instead of the former chain mail gloves or "mittens" with a cut in the middle of the palm. The left warrior has a chapel-de-fer on his head, the right one has a typical bascinet helmet.
Casket with the scene "Killing babies". Village of Montflanquin (Lot et Garonne), Limoges, France. Last quarter of the 12th century Enamel and gilded copper. (Louvre, Paris)
Thus, it is obvious that the images of armor and weapons on miniatures in the manuscripts of the Middle Ages exactly correspond to the effigies dated the same years and are confirmed by other material artifacts that have come down to our time, including countless written sources verified, moreover, by cross-references. Changes in the objects of material culture are just as obvious and consistent. And it is enough to add up all the time intervals during which certain artifacts take place, as it turns out that the duration of a given epoch exactly coincides in time with the traditional chronology. There is simply nowhere to squeeze in an "unconventional" history with chronology, as well as to make thousands of effigies, write thousands of manuscripts with miniatures, cover the walls of castles and cathedrals with frescoes, hew out statues, make reliquaries and aquamanilas, forge helmets, swords and so on, and just then, to … change the duration of the Middle Ages as an era in the eyes of descendants! What an abyss of labor and what is the benefit from it? It is difficult to imagine a great stupidity …
