The Electoral College Meets Today -- December 19, 2016

Note: these are links that might cause problems for some browsers. I don't know. I have no reason to say that but when blogger makes it difficult to "save" something I've posted, it raises a "red flag."

You can find "your own" site by googling 'electoral college live streaming December 19, 2016.'

Schedule.

Live streaming here.

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The History Page

Ivory Vikings: 

The Mystery of the Most Famous Chessmen in the World and the Woman Who Made Them 

Nancy Marie Brown

c. 2015 

And, because it's been so much fun, I will continue. I posted notes from the introduction of this book, and then notes from the chapter on bishops and then notes from the chapter on the rooks. They were the most fascinating pieces on the chess board, as far as history goes. 

But it's been more fun than I expected, so let's look at another chapter. This time ... the queens.

In the Viking Age, the queen moved only one space per turn, and only on the diagonal. Interesting, huh? And there was a reason given for that: "Women are so greedy that they will take nothing except by rapine and injustice" -- from a 13th century sermon. The queen was the weakest player on the board, even weaker than the king.

Arabic sets, at the time, had a vizier, not the queen, at the king's side. Then, the queen was kept close to home ... until .. "she went mad ... acquiring the sweeping moves of the modern game: any number of spaces, in any direction.

I wonder how that evolved. I don't recall the answer, if, indeed, an answer was given. Will there be a reference to Joan of Arc. Let's see, as we turn the page, to page 112.

It was not until 1497, when Isabella of Castile ruled Spain and its New World colonies, does a treatise on chess recognize the queen piece as we have come to know her in the modern age.

So, did Isabella inspire the "mad" queen? Nope, there are poetic verses back to 997 AD that suggest the queen has been placed next to her king.

The poet's verses come from Byzantium where kings and queens were equals. [It's interesting how often Byzantium and I are crossing paths this month.] The queen was Queen Theophanu, wife to King Otto of Byzantium (you know, the Ottoman Empire). She negotiated, at the time of her marriage, that she would be his equal. 

Otto died first; Theophanu continued to reign alone for another six years, ushering in the age of reigning queens, the 10th century. 

It is not known exactly when the "modern" queen arose, but it would have been at different times in different places. 

The rise of the chess queen, from the weakest piece on the board to the strongest, parallels three social trends, according to the author:

• the cult of the Virgin Mary, Queen of Heaven, became popular in the 11th century;
• the Christian doctrine of rex isustus, concurrently, changed the concept of kingship and queenship (newly charged to be monogamous); primogeniture caught on; the queen became, first and foremost, the mother of the true prince; and,
• she presided over the royal household 

A nice discussion of the valkyries: battle goddesses, sent by Odin, the supreme Norse God, to fetch slain heroes to Valhalla or engage the enemy on the battlefield. 

And that's where I will quit taking notes today. I will read the rest of the chapter without taking notes.