[lit-ideas] Re: Plock and the Golden Bulls (was J.S. Bach on Fitba') and the Ashkenazi Jews
- From: David Ritchie <ritchierd@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: lit-ideas@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Wed, 25 Jun 2008 13:41:52 -0700
On Jun 25, 2008, at 8:03 AM, wokshevs@xxxxxx wrote:
Whom to root for?? What kind of a question is that tovarish? And hope
for a
Germany-Russia final.
Returning to preparations for today's game, and maybe a bit of tennis,
And how would we prepare for such a final? Re-viewing "Enemy at the
Gates"? Or something about Tannenberg?
BTW, Wikipedia on the first battle of Tannerberg, aka the battle of
Grunwald and the battle of Zalgiris, (could plausibly be called the
battle of Lodwigowo, or the battle of Zielone Pole) reads like Terry
Pratchett wrote the first draft of the script.
The Teutonic Order received the territory of Prussia via golden bulls
from the Emperor and papal edict, which gave them effective carte
blanche as owners of a new Christianized state of Prussia, instead of
the pagan native land of Terra Prussiae. They later received the
territory of further north Baltic coastal regions of what are now
Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia, and showed every sign of further
expansion.
The Order of Dobrin was established by Konrad of Masovia previously
and had received land around Plock. They were just a handful and were
therefore ineffective, so by papal order they were combined with the
Teutonic Order. They built many towns, including Culm. The Prussians
fought against takeover of their territory. In order to further their
war efforts against the (pagan) Lithuanian state, the Teutonic
Knights instituted a series of crusades, enlisting support from other
European countries.
In 1385 the Union of Kreva joined the crown of Poland and Lithuania,
and the subsequent marriage of Grand Duke Jogaila of Lithuania and
reigning Queen Jadwiga of Poland was to shift the balance of power;
both nations were more than aware that only by acting together could
the expansionist plans of the Teutonic Order be thwarted. Jogaila
accepted Christianity and became the King of Poland as Władysław
Jagiełło. Lithuania's conversion to Christianity removed much of the
rationale of the Teutonic Knights' anti-pagan crusades. It can be
said the Ordenstaat lost its raison d'etre.
Is there a connection between Zielone Pole in old Polish and Polska,
does anyone know? Is Poland the land of green fields?
Looking at the Wikipedia entry on Poland, I found a photo of a wisent
and was reminded of Simon Schama's, "Landscape and Memory." Also of
a question that had occurred to me earlier in the week, "Why did
Sephardic Jews who were displaced by the inquisition choose, in
addition to the Netherlands, Poland as a new homeland? Because the
Ashkenazis were already well established?"
This only tells me what happened after they settled:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pale_of_Settlement
This tells me that Ashkenazi Jews get their name from the Rhineland,
which is a long way from Poland.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ashkenazi_Jews
So how was it that Ashkenazis went from three percent of the world's
Jewish population to ninety two percent in 1931?
Paul Johnson, "A History of the Jews" marks the beginning of the
Polish Jewish population growth in the sixteenth century: 1500 20 to
30 thousand Jews in Poland (total pop. of Poland 5 million), by 1575
the Polish population as a whole had risen to seven million whereas
the Jewish population had risen to 150,000, "and thereafter the rise
was still more rapid."
What did he think was making this growth possible? Grain growing
that fed the expanding population of Western Europe. "The Polish
magnates [snip] owned or conquered the land. The ports were run by
German Lutherans. The Dutch Calvinists owned most of the ships. But
the Jews did the rest. They not only managed the estates but in some
cases held the deed as pledges in return for working capital.
Sometimes they leased the estates themselves. They ran the tolls.
They built and ran mills and distilleries. They owned the river
boats...[snip]...they were in soap, glazing, tanning and furs..."
How? "A new kind of credit instrument, the mamram, emerged and got
rabbinical approval. In 1607 Jewish communities in Poland and
Lithuania were also authorized to use heter iskah, an inter-Jewish
borrowing system which allowed one Jew to finance another in return
for a percentage. This rationalization of the law eventually led
even conservative authorities...[snip]...to sanction lending at
interest."
So? Booming economy and a good system of credit. Answer
enough...but it doesn't mention what role soccer played.
May Walter's serve be faultless.
David Ritchie,
Portland, Oregon
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