Lost Worlds - Braveheart's Scotland 1/5
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Sir William Wallace Aka Braveheart
Sir William Wallace (Scottish Gaelic: Uilleam Uallas; 1272 – 23 August 1305) was a Scottish knight and landowner who is known for leading a resistance during the Wars of Scottish Independence and is today remembered in Scotland as a patriot and national hero.
Along with Andrew Moray, he defeated an English army at the Battle of Stirling Bridge, and became Guardian of Scotland, serving until his defeat at the Battle of Falkirk. A few years later Wallace was captured in Robroyston near Glasgow and handed over to King Edward I of England, who had him executed for treason.
Wallace was the inspiration for the poem, The Acts and Deeds of Sir William Wallace, Knight of Elderslie, by the 15th-century minstrel, Blind Harry and this poem was to some extent the basis of Randall Wallace's screenplay for the 1995 film Braveheart.
Background
Wallace was born in Elderslie, in the county of Renfrewshire, Scotland. Little is known for certain of his immediate family. The Wallace family may have originally come from Shropshire as followers of Walter Fitzalan (died June 1177), High Steward of Scotland and ancestor of the Stewart family. The early members of the family are recorded as holding lands including Riccarton, Tarbolton, and Auchincruive in Kyle, and Stenton in Haddingtonshire.
The seal attached to a letter sent to the Hanse city of Lübeck in 1297 appears to give his father's name as Alan. His brothers Alan and John are known from other sources. Alan Wallace may appear in the Ragman Rolls as a crown tenant in Ayrshire, but this is uncertain. The traditional view is that Wallace's birthplace was Elderslie in Renfrewshire, but it has been recently claimed to be Ellerslie in Ayrshire. There is no contemporary evidence linking him with either location, although both areas were linked to the wider Wallace family.
At the time of Wallace's birth, which cannot be securely dated, King Alexander III (Medieval Gaelic: Alaxandair mac Alaxandair; Modern Gaelic: Alasdair mac Alasdair) ruled Scotland. His reign had seen a period of peace and economic stability. Alexander had maintained a positive relationship with the kings of England, and had successfully fended off continuing English claims to sovereignty. In 1286 Alexander died after falling from his horse; none of his children survived him.
The Scottish lords declared Alexander's four-year-old granddaughter, Margaret (called "the Maid of Norway"), Queen. Due to her young age, the Scottish lords set up an interim government to administer Scotland until Margaret came of age. King Edward I of England (popularly known as "Longshanks" among other names) took advantage of the instability by arranging the Treaty of Birgham with the lords, betrothing Margaret to his son, Edward, on the understanding that Scotland would preserve its status as a separate kingdom. Margaret, however, fell ill and died at only seven years of age (1290) on her way from her native Norway to Scotland. A number of claimants to the Scottish throne came forward almost immediately.
With Scotland threatening to descend into a dynastic war, Edward stepped in as arbitrator — as a powerful neighbour and significant jurist he could hardly be ignored. Before the process could begin, he insisted, despite his previous promise to the contrary, that all of the contenders recognize him as Lord Paramount of Scotland. After some initial resistance, all, including John Balliol and Robert Bruce (grandfather of the Robert Bruce who later became king), the chief contenders, accepted this precondition. Finally, in early November 1292, at a great feudal court held in the castle at Berwick-upon-Tweed, judgement was given in favour of John Balliol having the strongest claim in law. Formal announcement of the judgement was given by Edward on 17 November.
Edward proceeded to reverse the rulings of the Scottish guardians and even summoned King John Balliol to stand before the English court as a common felon. Balliol supporters including Fraser, Bishop of St. Andrews and John Comyn, Earl of Buchan appealed to King Edward to keep the promise he had made in the Treaty of Birgham and elsewhere to respect the customs and laws of Scotland. Edward repudiated the treaty, saying he was no longer bound by it.[8] Balliol renounced his homage in March 1296 and by the end of the month Edward stormed Berwick-upon-Tweed, sacking the then-Scottish border town. He slaughtered almost all of his opponents who resided there, even if they fled to their homes. In April, the Scots were defeated at the Battle of Dunbar in East Lothian and by July Edward had forced Balliol to abdicate at Stracathro near Montrose. Edward then instructed his officers to receive formal homage from some 1800 Scottish nobles (many of the rest being prisoners of war at that time), having previously removed the Stone of Destiny, the Scottish coronation stone, from Scone Palace, and taken it to London.
Military career
Wallace's exploits begin
Blind Harry invented a tale that Wallace's father was killed along with his brother John in a skirmish at Loudoun Hill in 1291 by the notorious Lambies, who came from the Clan Lamont.
According to local Ayrshire legend, two English soldiers challenged Wallace in the Lanark marketplace regarding his catching of fish. According to various historians, including John Strawhorn, author of The History of Irvine, the legend has Wallace fishing on the River Irvine. He had been staying with his uncle in Riccarton. A group of English soldiers approached, whereupon the leader of the band came forward and demanded the entire catch. Even after Wallace offered half of his fish, the English refused such diplomacy and threatened him with death if he refused. Wallace allegedly floored the approaching soldier with his fishing rod and took up the assailant's sword. He set upon the entire team of English soldiers with stereotypical success. The argument had escalated into a brawl and two English soldiers were killed. Blind Harry places this incident along the River Irvine with five soldiers being killed. The authorities issued a warrant for his arrest shortly thereafter. According to a plaque outside St. Paul's Cathedral in Dundee, however, William Wallace began his war for independence by killing the son of the English governor of Dundee, who had made a habit of bullying Wallace and his family. This story perhaps has more weight because it is speculated that Wallace may have attended what is now the High School of Dundee, and spent some of his time growing up in the nearby village of Kilspindie. In 1291, or 1292, William Wallace killed the son of an English noble, named Selby, with a dirk.
Wallace's activities before 1297 are completely undocumented, but Harry states that Wallace was under the protection of his uncle Ronald Crawford, Sheriff of Ayrshire. He used this relationship to his advantage and there are unconfirmed reports of his early career as a petty criminal.
Wallace enters history when he killed William Heselrig, the English Sheriff of Lanark, in May 1297. According to later legend this was to avenge the death of Marion Braidfute of Lamington — the young maiden Wallace courted and married in Blind Harry's tale. Soon, he achieved victory in skirmishes at Loudoun Hill (near Darvel, Ayrshire) and Ayr; he also fought alongside Sir William Douglas the Hardy at Scone, routing the English justiciar, William Ormesby from cities such as Aberdeen, Perth, Glasgow, Scone and Dundee.
In 1296-97, he was allegedly involved in an event which would later come to be known as Wallace's Larder. He is said to have lured the English occupiers of Ardrossan Castle out of their holding and into the town whereupon he set upon them one at a time. After successfully retaking the castle, Wallace had the bodies of the English thrown into a tunnel which can still be seen today.
Supporters of the growing revolt suffered a major blow when Scottish nobles agreed to personal terms with the English at Irvine in July. In August, Wallace left Selkirk Forest with his followers to join Moray at Stirling. Moray began another uprising, and their forces combined at Stirling, where they prepared to meet the English in battle.
As Wallace's ranks swelled, information obtained by John de Graham prompted Wallace to move his force from Selkirk Forest to the Highlands, though there is no historical evidence to suggest that Wallace ever left the Lowlands area of Scotland other than his visit to France and his trip to the scaffold in London.
Battle of Stirling Bridge
On 11 September 1297, Wallace won the Battle of Stirling Bridge. Although vastly outnumbered, the Scottish forces led by Wallace and Andrew Moray routed the English army. John de Warenne, Earl of Surrey's professional army of 3,000 cavalry and 50,000 infantry met disaster as they crossed over to the north side of the river. The narrowness of the bridge prevented many soldiers from crossing together (possibly as few as three men abreast), so while the English soldiers crossed, the Scots held back until half of them had passed and then killed the English as quickly as they could cross.
Stirling Bridge, 2006A pivotal charge, led by one of Wallace's captains, caused some of the English soldiers to retreat as others pushed forward, and under the overwhelming weight, the bridge collapsed and many English soldiers drowned. Harry claims that the bridge was rigged to collapse by the action of a man hidden beneath the bridge. The Scots won a significant victory which boosted the confidence of their army. Hugh Cressingham, Edward's treasurer in Scotland, died in the fighting and it is reputed that his body was subsequently flayed and the skin cut into small pieces as tokens of the victory. The Lanercost Chronicle records that Wallace had "a broad strip [of Cressingham’s skin] ... taken from the head to the heel, to make therewith a baldrick for his sword"(The claymore sword the brave of heart, the blade is 2" wide and 42" long. Overall length 55-1/2". )
William Crawford led 400 Scottish heavy cavalry to complete the action by running the English out of Scotland. It is widely believed that Moray died of wounds suffered on the battlefield sometime in the winter of 297, but an inquisition into the affairs of his uncle, Sir William Moray of Bothwell, held at Berwick in late November 1300, records he was "slain at Stirling against the king."
Upon his return from the Battle of Stirling Bridge, Wallace was knighted along with his second-in-command John Graham and his third-in-command William Crawford, possibly by Robert the Bruce, and Wallace was named "Guardian of Scotland and Leader of its armies".
In the six months following Stirling Bridge, Wallace led a raid into northern England. His intent was to take the battle to English soil to demonstrate to Edward that Scotland also had the power to inflict the same sort of damage south of the border. Edward was infuriated but he refused to be intimidated.
Battle of Falkirk
A year later, Wallace lost the Battle of Falkirk. On 1 April 1298, the English invaded Scotland at Roxburgh. They plundered Lothian and regained some castles, but had failed to bring Wallace to combat. The Scots adopted a scorched earth policy in their own country, and English quartermasters' failure to prepare for the expedition left morale and food low.Edward, however, was not able to take advantage of the momentum, and the next year the Scots managed to recapture Stirling Castle.
But Edward's search for Wallace would not end at Falkirk.
Wallace arranged his spearmen in four "schiltrons" — circular, hedgehog formations surrounded by a defensive wall of wooden stakes. The English gained the upper hand, however, attacking first with cavalry, and breaking up the Scottish archers. Under the command of the Scottish nobles, the Scottish knights withdrew, and Edward's men began to attack the schiltrons. It remains unclear whether the infantry firing bolts, arrows and stones at the spearmen proved the deciding factor, although it is very likely that it was the arrows of Edward's bowmen.
Either way, gaps in the schiltrons soon appeared, and the English exploited these to crush the remaining resistance. The Scots lost many men. Wallace escaped, though his military reputation suffered badly. John Graham was killed and William Crawford became Wallace's second. According to one account, during his flight Wallace fought and killed Brian de Jay, master of the English Knights Templar in a thicket at Callander.[citation needed]
By September 1298, Wallace had decided to resign as Guardian of Scotland in favour of Robert Bruce, Earl of Carrick (the future king) and John Comyn of Badenoch, King John Balliol's brother-in-law. Bruce became reconciled with King Edward in 1302, while Wallace spurned such moves towards peace.
According to Harry, Wallace left with William Crawford in late 1298 on a mission to the court of King Philip IV of France to plead the case for assistance in the Scottish struggle for independence. Backing this claim is a surviving letter from the French king dated 7th of November 1300 to his envoys in Rome demanding that they should help Sir William. Whether or not Wallace made it to Rome is unsure. Harry also states that on their trip down the English coast, the small convoy ran into the infamous pirate Thomas Longoville, also known as the Red Reiver for his red sails and ruthless raids. Hiding in the hold of the ship while Crawford and a small contingent of men sailed, Wallace surprised the pirates as they boarded the ship. Longoville was captured and taken to Paris where the Scots convinced Philip to grant amnesty so that Longoville could prey on English ships. This last story is one of many recorded by Blind Harry for which there is no evidence. Harry also invented a major action against Edward I at Biggar, which, though often cited, never actually occurred.
In 1303, Squire Guthrie was sent to France to ask Wallace and his men to return to Scotland, which they did that same year. They slipped in under the cover of darkness to recover on the farm of William Crawford, near Elcho Wood. Having heard rumours of Wallace's appearance in the area, the English moved in on the farm. A chase ensued and the band of men slipped away after being surrounded in Elcho Wood. Here, Wallace took the life of one of his men that he suspected of disloyalty, in order to divert the English from the trail.
In 1304 he was involved in skirmishes at the Happrew and Earnside.
Wallace's capture and execution
Wallace evaded capture by the English until 5 August 1305 when John de Menteith, a Scottish knight loyal to Edward, turned Wallace over to English soldiers at Robroyston near Glasgow.
The 'false' Menteith, has gone down in Scottish legend as the betrayer of Wallace, but he acted as many others would have. Menteith was no English lackey, and in 1320 he put his seal to the Declaration of Arbroath.Bound, Wallace was marched through England in the middle of summer reaching London on August 22, where he was ceremoniously paraded to the heart of the city, as if he were a sort of military trophy.
On August 23rd, he was brought before a bench of noblemen in Westminster Hall, where he was tried for treason and was crowned with a garland of oak to suggest he was the king of outlaws. Wallace did try to speak out at one point. Records show that he yelled out that he admitted all the charges against him except treason. How could he be guilty of high treason if he had never sworn allegiance to the King of England?
"I could not be a traitor to Edward, for I was never his subject." With this, Wallace asserted that the absent John Balliol was officially his king. Wallace was declared guilty.
The Wallace Monument, near Stirling Castle, commemorates the actions of William Wallace during the Wars of IndependenceFollowing the trial, on 23 August 1305, Wallace was taken from the hall, stripped naked and dragged through the city at the heels of a horse to the Elms at Smithfield.(onto the grounds of the St. Bartholomew Hospital). He was hanged, drawn and quartered — strangled by hanging but released whilst he was still alive, emasculated, eviscerated and For the crimes of sacrilege to English monasteries, his heart, liver, lungs and entrails were cast upon a fire, burnt before him, beheaded, then cut into four parts. His preserved head (dipped in tar) was placed on a pike atop London Bridge. It was later joined by the heads of the brothers, John and Simon Fraser. His limbs were displayed, separately, in Newcastle upon Tyne, Berwick-upon-Tweed, Stirling, and Aberdeen.
William Wallace Statue, Aberdeen.A plaque stands in a wall of St. Bartholomew's Hospital near the site of Wallace's execution at Smithfield.
The Wallace Sword, which supposedly belonged to Wallace, although some parts are at least 160 years later in origin, was held for many years in Loudoun Castle and is now in the Wallace Monument near Stirling. In 2002 William Wallace was ranked #48 as one of the 100 Greatest Britons in an extensive UK poll conducted by the BBC
"This is the truth I tell you: of all things freedom's most fine. Never submit to live, my son, in the bonds of slavery entwined." William Wallace - His Uncle's proverb, from Bower's Scotichronicon c.1440s
"Wallace had behind him the spirit of a race as stern and as resolute as any bred among men. He added military gifts of a high order. Out of an unorganized mass of valiant fighting men he forged, in spite of cruel poverty and primitive administration, a stubborn, indomitable army, ready to fight at any odds and mock defeat."
Sir Winston Churchill*
More on William Wallace : The Trial of William Wallace
Source : Wikipedia
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Pic 4-5-6 as shown on www.slaveryimages.org,
The Zong Massacre
The Zong Massacre was the name given to the mass-killing of African slaves that took place in 1781 on the Zong, a British slave ship owned by James Gregson and colleagues in a Liverpool slave-trading firm.
The resulting court case, brought not by the authorities as a mass-murder charge against the ship-owners, but as a civil action by the ship-owners seeking compensation from the insurers for the slave-traders' lost "cargo," was a landmark in the battle against the African slave trade of the eighteenth century.
The term "Zong Massacre" was not universally used at the time. It was usually called "The Zong Affair," the term "massacre" being used mainly by those considered to be "dangerous radicals," as late eighteenth-century politics stood. At the time, the killing of slaves—individually or en masse—was not considered to be murder. In British law, the act was completely legal and could be freely admitted to the highest court in the land, without danger of prosecution. The publicity over this case was, however, one of the factors that led to the legal situation being completely changed within a few decades.
The British ship Zong, out of Liverpool, had taken on more slaves than it could safely transport when it sailed from Africa en route to Jamaica on September 6, 1781. By November 29, 1781, this overcrowding, together with malnutrition and disease, had killed seven of the crew and approximately sixty African slaves. With the journey prolonged by contrary winds and inept navigation, Captain Luke Collingwood found himself with a large number of dying slaves on his hands. If he delivered them and they died onshore the Liverpool ship-owners would have no redress; but if they died at sea they were covered by the ship's insurance. As in law the slaves would be considered cargo, the "jettison clause" covered the loss of this human cargo at £30 a head.
“ The insurer takes upon him the risk of the loss, capture, and death of slaves, or any other unavoidable accident to them: but natural death is always understood to be excepted: by natural death is meant, not only when it happens by disease or sickness, but also when the captive destroys himself through despair, which often happens: but when slaves are killed, or thrown into the sea in order to quell an insurrection on their part, then the insurers must answer. ”
Collingwood called his officers and proposed that the slaves should be thrown overboard. Although the First Mate initially disagreed, the plan was agreed, and so, over three days in the mid Atlantic Ocean, 122 sick slaves went over the side: 54 on 29 November, 42 on 30 November and 26 on 1 December. Another ten, in a fine display of defiance at the inhumanity of the slavers, threw themselves overboard and, "leaping into the sea, felt a momentary triumph in the embrace of death."
Later, it was claimed that the slaves had been jettisoned because it was required "for the safety of the ship" as the ship did not have enough water to keep them alive for the rest of the voyage. This claim was later disproved as the ship had 420 gallons of water left when it arrived in Jamaica on December 22.
The ship's owners filed their insurance claim, but the insurers disputed it, backed by the evidence of the First Mate. In this first court case, even with the First Mate's testimony – the ship had plenty of water, Jamaica was near – the court found for Collingwood and the owners. The insurers appealed. It is at this point that Granville Sharp, one of the first of the anti-slave-trade activists, enters the story. He was visited on 19 March 1783 by Olaudah Equiano, a famous freed slave and later to be the author of a successful autobiography, and told of the horrific events aboard the Zong. Sharp immediately became involved in the court case, facing his old adversary over slave trade matters, Lord Chief Justice Lord Mansfield.John Lee notoriously declared that "the case was the same as if horses had been thrown overboard" but Lord Mansfield ruled that the ship-owners could not claim insurance on the slaves because the lack of sufficient water demonstrated that the cargo had been badly managed.
No officers or crew were charged or prosecuted for the deliberate killing of 133 slaves. Indeed, the Solicitor General, John Lee, declared that a master could drown slaves without "a surmise of impropriety". He stated:
“ What is this claim that human people have been thrown overboard? This is a case of chattels or goods. Blacks are goods and property; it is madness to accuse these well-serving honourable men of murder. They acted out of necessity and in the most appropriate manner for the cause. The late Captain Collingwood acted in the interest of his ship to protect the safety of his crew. To question the judgement of an experienced well-travelled captain held in the highest regard is one of folly, especially when talking of slaves. The case is the same as if wood had been thrown overboard. ”
Sharp's attempts to mount a prosecution for mrder never got off the ground.
Two famous activists who emerged from the Zong Massacre were Thomas Clarkson, who wrote an "Essay on the Slavery and Commerce of the Human Species", and James Ramsay, who wrote an "Essay on the Treatment and Conversion of African Slaves in the Sugar Colonies".
Slave ship
Slave ships were large cargo ships specially converted for the purpose of transporting slaves, especially newly purchased African slaves.
The most important routes of the slave ships led from the northern and middle coasts of Africa to South America and the south coast of what is today the Caribbean and the United States of America. The captains and sailors of the boats were allowed to do whatever they wanted with the slaves. This included rape, murder, and torture because the slaves were considered their property. As many as 20 million Africans were transported by ship. The transportation of slaves from Africa to America was known as the Middle Passage. The African slave trade was outlawed in 1807, by a law passed jointly in the United States of America and the United Kingdom, the applicable UK Act was the Abolition of the Slave Trade Act and outlawed slavery throughout the British Empire. The US law took effect on January 1, 1808. After that date all US and English slave ships leaving Africa were legally pirate vessels subject to capture by the American and British navies. In 1815, at the Council of Vienna, Spain, Portugal, France and The Netherlands also agreed to abolish their slave trade. During this time, the slave ships became smaller and more cramped in exchange for improved performance in their new role as smuggling craft and blockade runners.
Only a few decades after the discovery of America by Europeans, demand for cheap labor to work plantations made slave-trading a profitable business. The peak time of slave ships to the Atlantic passage was between the 17th and 18th century when large plantations developed in the English colonies of North America.
In order to achieve profit, the owners of the ships divided their hulls into holds with little headroom, so they could transport as many slaves as possible. Unhygienic conditions, dehydration, dysentery and scurvy led to a high mortality rate, on average 15% and up to a third of captives. Only the most resilient survived the transport. Often the ships transported hundreds of slaves, who were chained tightly to plank beds. For example, the slave ship "Henrietta Marie" carried about 200 slaves on the long Middle Passage. They were confined to cargo holds with each slave chained with little room to move..
Conditions for the crew of a slave ship in the Triangular Trade were appalling. A slave ship needed skilled sailors to man the ship but extra hands in order to control the slaves. These men were often drunks or dupes who had been shanghaied themselves and having landed the slaves in the Caribbean were not actually needed on the journey back. Quite often they were simply abandoned on the quayside with the "unsaleable" slaves. Death rates amongst the slaves were one in eight, but among the crews were one in five, largely from malaria, but the captain's had no incentive in keeping surplus crew members alive. Some were so badly fed that they actually begged for food from the slaves themselves, or would crawl into the slave hold for safety, being required to sleep on the open deck.
List of slave ships
Adelaide, French slave ship, sank 1714 near Cuba.
Aurore, along with the Duc du Maine, the first French slave ships that brought the first slaves to Louisiana.
La Amistad, cargo ship which sometimes carried slaves .
Braunfisch, a Brandenburgian slave ship lost in 1688 in a revolt.
Brookes, sailing in the 1780s.
Clotilde, burned and sunk at Mobile, in autumn 1859.
Cora, captured by the USS Constellation1860.
The Creole case was the result of a slave rebellion in 1841 on board the Creole, a ship involved in the United States coastwise slave trade.
Duc du Maine, along with the Aurore, the first French slave ships that brought the first slaves to Louisiana.
Fredensborg, Danish slave ship, sank in 1768 off Tromøy in Norway, after a journey in the triangular trade. Leif Svalesen has written a book about the journey.
Gorch Fock , a double mass ship that made multiple shipments to Florida and Louisiana.
Henrietta Marie. Sank 1701 off Key West, Florida.
Hope
Jesus of Lubeck 700-tonne ship used on the second voyage of John Hawkins to transport 400 captured Africans in 1564. Queen Elizabeth I was his partner and rented him the vessel.
Kron-Printzen, Danish slave ship, sank in 1706 with 820 slaves on board.
Le Concord. Slave ship turned pirate ship aka Queen Anne's Revenge, Sank 1717.
Lord Ligonier. See Roots: The Saga of an American Family by Alex Haley.
Madre de Deus (Mother of God) 1567 John Hawkins captured this ship and transported 400 Africans.
Margaret Scott confiscated and sunk as part of the Stone fleet in 1862
Pons (ship) American built barque captured by the USS Yorktown 1 December 1845 with 850-900 slaves
Salamander, Brandenburgian slave ship.
Sally, of Newport, Rhode Island - reviewed in the Report of the Brown University Steering Committee on Slavery and Justice.
Tecora, Portuguese slave ship that transported the slaves who would later revolt aboard La Amistad.
Triton captured by the USS Constellation 1861.
Trouvadore, wrecked in Turks and Caicos 1841. 193 slaves survived. Project commenced in 2004 to locate the ship.
Wanderer, formerly last slave ship to the U.S. (Nov. 1858) until Clotilde reported.
Wildfire, a barque, arrested off the Florida coast by the US Navy in 1860; carrying 450 slaves.
Whydah Gally, slave ship turned into pirate ship-sank 1717.
Zong, a British slave ship famous of the massacre which occurred aboard in 1781.
More on The Zonk massacre and slaveships : Virginia.edu
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The Zong replica arriving in London
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Arthur Mole's "Living Photographs"
Arthur S. Mole (born 1889 in England - died 1983 in the United States) was an English commercial artist who became famous for a series of "living photographs" made during World War I, in which tens of thousands of soldiers, reservists and other members of the military were arranged to form massive compositions. Although if viewed from the ground or from directly above, these masses of men would appear meaningless, when seen from the top of an 80-foot viewing tower, they clearly appeared to be various patriotic shapes. The key was to photograph the people from the one place where the lines of perspective would resolve themselves into intelligible images. His partner in this endeavor was John D. Thomas.
Mole worked as a commercial photographer in Zion, Illinois, north of Chicago. During World War I, he traveled to various Army, Marine and Navy camps to execute his massive compositions. He is considered a pioneer in the field of performed group photography. Executing photographs using such large numbers, and relying on lines of perspective stretching out more than a hundred meters, required a week of preparation and then hours to actually position the formations.
Ten images are most famous from this period. They include images of Woodrow Wilson, the Liberty Bell, Statue of Liberty, an American eagle as well as emblems of the YMCA and the Allied flags. The Human U.S. Shield required the placement of 30,000 people; The Liberty Bell 25,000.
Mole's work is featured in the collections of the Chicago Historical Society, Metropolitan Museum of Art, San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, and the Library of Congress. The photographs were again presented to the public in the July 2007 issue of "Martha Stewart Living." Eight of the images are displayed in a feature article.
Specifications
Sincerely yours,Woodrow Wilson : 21,000 officers and men, Camp Sherman, Chillicothe, Ohio; Brig. Gen. Mathew C. Smith, commanding.
The Human U.S. Shield : 30,000 officers and men, Camp Custer, Battle Creek, Mich; Brig. Gen. Howard L. Lauback, commanding.
Human Statue of Liberty : 18,000 officers and men at Camp Dodge, Des Moines, Ia.; Col. Wm. Newman, commanding; Col. Rush S. Wells, directing.According to a July 3, 1986, story in the Fort Dodge Messenger, many men fainted as they were dressed in woolen uniforms the temperature neared 105deg;F. The photo, taken from the top of a specially constructed tower by a Chicago photography studio, Mole & Thomas, was intended to help promote the sale of war bonds but was never used.
An Anchor And Target : U.S. Naval Rifle Range, Camp Logan, Ill.; Ensign S.M. Abrams, commanding officer.
Y.M.C.A. emblem : formed by officers, men, and camp activity workers at Camp Wheeler, Ga.: Lt. Gen. J.B. Moss commanding.
The Living allied flags : Bluejackets at U.S. Naval Training Station, Pelham Bay, New York; William B. Franklin, commander.
The Human Liberty Bell : 25000 officers and men at Camp Dix, New Jersey; General Hugh L. Scott, commander.
Machine Gun Insignia : Machine Gun Training Center; 22500 officers and men, 600 machine guns; Camp Hancock, Augusta, Ga.; Brig. Gen. Oliver Edwards, commanding; Lt. Col. E.P. Pierson, directing.
The Human American eagle : 12,500 officers, nurses and men; Camp Gordon, Atlanta, Ga.; Maj. Gen. George H. Cameron, commanding.
The Zion Shield : Arthur Mole’s formative religious ties in part explain what drew him to this spectacular type of photographic activity. Born in England, Mole immigrated to the United States at age twelve because his family followed the teachings of Dr. John Alexander Dowie, a Scottish-born Christian communal utopian who had established the city of Zion, Illinois, in 1901 in answer to the call of “Salvation, Holy Living, and Divine Healing.”
Eventually, other photographers, appeared on the scene, a bit later in time than the activity conducted by Mole and Thomas, but all were very clearly inspired by the creativity and monumentality of the duo's
production of the Living photograph.One of the most notable of those artists was Eugene Omar
Goldbeck.He specialized in the large scale group portrait and photographed important people (Albert Einstein), events, and scenes (Babe Ruth) New York Yankees in his home town, on San Antonio both locally and around the world Among his military photographs, the Living Insignia projects are of particular significance as to how he is remembered.
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The Heaviest Man in the World Jon Brower Minnoch.
Jon Brower Minnoch (1941–1983) was the heaviest man recorded in history. At his peak weight, he was approximately 1400 lb (635 kg, 100 stone). This figure was only a close estimation, however, because his extreme size, poor health, and lack of mobility prevented use of a scale. He was a resident of Bainbridge Island, Washington.
Jon suffered from obesity from childhood. At the age of 12, he weighed 292 lb (132 kg, 21 stone), and by age 22 he was 6' 1" (1.85 m) in height and weighed 392 lbs (178 kg, 28 stone).
His weight continued to increase steadily until his dramatic hospitalization in March 1978 at age 37 due to cardiac and respiratory failure. That same year, he broke a record for the greatest difference in weight between a married couple when he married his 110-lb. wife Jeannette and later fathered two children. Minnoch was diagnosed with massive generalized edema, which caused his body to accumulate excess extracellular fluid. Upon his hospital admission, it was estimated by endocrinologist Dr. Robert Schwartz that over 900 lbs (408 kg) of his overall body mass was retained fluid.
Transportation for Minnoch was extremely difficult. It took over a dozen firefighters and rescue personnel, a specially modified stretcher, and a ferry boat to transport him to University of Washington Medical Center in Seattle. There, he was placed on two beds pushed together, and it took 13 people to simply roll him over for linen changes
He was discharged from the hospital after 16 months on a strict diet of 1,200 calories per day. He weighed 476 lb (216 kg), with his weight loss of approximately 924 lb (419 kg) being the largest ever documented. However, he was readmitted to the hospital just over a year later in October 1981, after his weight doubled to 952 lbs (432 kg). With his underlying condition of edema being incurable and difficult to treat, the decision was made to discontinue treatment, and he died just 23 months later on September 10, 1983, at age 42 and a weight of 798 lbs (362 kg) with a 105.3 BMI.
The Heaviest Living Man Manuel Uribe.
Manuel Uribe Garza (born June 11, 1965) is a man from Monterrey, Nuevo León, Mexico, and was one of the heaviest people in medical history.After reaching a peak weight of around 597 kg (1,316 lb) and being unable to leave his bed since 2001, Uribe lost approximately 400 lbs (one third of his body weight) with the help of doctors and nutritionists, and by following the Zone diet.
Uribe, who is also known as Xavier, drew worldwide attention when he appeared on the Televisa television network in January 2006, but turned down offers for gastric bypass surgery in Italy.
In March 2007, Uribe set a goal to lower his weight to 120 kg (265 lb). Uribe has also been featured on "The World's Heaviest Man", a television documentary about his bedridden life and attempts to lose weight.
By October 26, 2008, Uribe had reduced his weight to 360 kg (800 lb). His weight loss efforts continue.
Marcus Garza's diet consists of 2,000 daily calories, with six meals (egg-white omelets, fresh salads, chicken fajitas, fish fillet in a bed of spring greens). Dr. Barry Sears, who made the diet said: "Manuel's ability to lose more than 400 pounds without resorting to weight loss surgery is a remarkable accomplishment.".
Garza, on October 3, 2008, gave diet advice to a fellow Mexican, critically obese and bedridden José Luis Garza (450 kg, about 990 pounds). A former chef at a bowling alley, Garza, who was unable to get out of his bed for four months, said: "Manuel inspires me with courage and the will to live. I understand that this is matter of life and death and that I have to follow the instructions that are given to me." Uribe sent girlfriend Claudia Solís to Garza's home with kiwifruit, grapefruit, pears, and protein supplements, and promised to help Garza get a wheel-equipped iron bed.
Garza has announced plans to launch the Manuel Uribe Foundation to educate Mexican people about nutrition, to combat obesity problems. He has asked Guinness World Records to certify in July 2008, his second title: "The world's greatest loser of weight".
After four years together, Uribe—who hadn't left bed for six years, and weighed in at 800 pounds after shedding 592 pounds—on October 26, 2008, married Claudia from his bed. He said: "I am proof you can find love in any circumstances. It's all a question of faith. I have a wife and will form a new family and live a happy life." He was transported to the civil wedding on his specially-reinforced four-poster bed, draped with cream and gold and adorned in bright sunflowers, on the back of a truck. Donning a white silk shirt with a sheet around his legs he waited to greet Claudia as she walked down a flight of stairs wearing a strapless ivory dress and a tiara before over 400 guests. Discovery Channel's The World's Heaviest Man Gets Married documentary will be the third TV show featuring Uribe.
List of heaviest men : Wikipedia
More on Manuel Uribe : Official Manuel Uribe Website
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Manuel Uribe getting married
The Heaviest Woman in the World Carol Yager.
Carol Ann Yager (1960-1994) holds the distinction of having been one of the most severely obese people in medical history.
Yager is perhaps more notable for having lost the most weight by natural (non-surgical) means, in the shortest documented time (521 lbs. in three months). While others have registered larger total weight loss, some were assisted by bariatric surgery and/or cosmetic procedures to remove excess tissues, and all were over longer periods of time; 19 months (with surgical assistance) in the case of Guinness' record holder, Michael Hebranko, and 16 months for John Brower Minnoch, (said to be the heaviest man ever recorded). Guinness' female record holder, Rosalie Bradford's weight loss took over 1 year (420 lbs. in the first year), and she underwent at least five surgical sessions to remove tissue during that time.
When Yager died in 1994 at the age of 34, she weighed about 1200 lbs (544 kg), and was 5' 7" (170 cm) in height. Bizarre magazine reported that she was estimated to have been more than 5' wide (152 cm), although this measurement has not been verified by Yager's medical team or family members. Shortly before her death, however, she was able to fit through her custom-built 48" (121 cm) wide front door. Published reports quoted her then-boyfriend as stating that he estimated her peak weight at about 1600 pounds (727 kg), but when questioned about this estimate, Yager's doctor declined comment.
Yager stated that she had developed an eating disorder as a child in response to being sexually abused by a "close family member," although in later interviews, she indicated that there were other contributing factors to her severe obesity, or "skeletons in my closet," and "monsters," as she was quoted.
She lived throughout most of her life in Beecher, Michigan, in Mount Morris Township, near Flint, Michigan, and was cared for in her final years by health care professionals, friends, her daughter Heather, and other family members, many of whom visited daily. Eventually, she was moved into a nursing home.
She appeared on The Jerry Springer Show, and was the subject of attention from several dieting gurus.
In January 1993, she was admitted to Hurley Medical Center, weighing-in at 1189 pounds (539 kg).She suffered from cellulitis (her skin was breaking down due to a bacterial infection), and immunodeficiency (weakened immune system). She stayed in the hospital for three months, where she was restricted to a 1200 calorie diet, and while there lost 521 pounds (236 kg), though most of this was believed to have been fluid. (Severely obese people often suffer from edema, and their weight can fluctuate with astonishing speed as fluid is taken up or released.) Yager suffered from many other obesity-related health problems as well, including breathing difficulty, a dangerously high blood sugar level, and stress on her heart and other organs.
As is common in extreme cases of obesity, Yager was not able to stand or walk, because her muscles were not strong enough to support her, due to atrophy. Yager was frequently hospitalized, 13 times in two years, according to Beecher Fire Department chief Bennie Zappa. Each trip required as many as 15 to 20 firefighters from two stations to assist ambulance workers to convey Yager to the ambulance in relay fashion. One team inside the house would pass her through the doorway to another team on the outside, who would pass her to another team inside the ambulance, where she would ride on the floor. Each trip cost the township up to $450.00 per station.
A short time before her death, Yager's latest boyfriend, Larry Maxwell, who was characterized by her family as being "an opportunist who courted media attention for money-making possibilities," married her friend, Felicia White.[4] Maxwell had said that the only donation in Yager's name he ever received was for $20, although numerous talk shows, newspapers, radio stations, and other national and international media are reported to have offered her cash and other gifts in exchange for interviews, pictures, etc. Diet maven Richard Simmons was quoted as saying that he was "angry that Yager's story was actively peddled to tabloid and television media by Maxwell and others."
Yager's death certificate lists kidney failure as the cause of death, with morbid obesity and multiple organ failure as contributing causes.
Yager was buried privately, with about 90 friends and family members attending memorial services.
The Guinness World Record for most weight lost by a woman Rosalie Bradford.
Rosalie Bradford (August 27, 1943 – November 29, 2006) holds the Guinness World Record for most weight lost by a woman.
Ever since childhood Rosalie Bradford was what she herself termed a “foodaholic”, due apparently to depression. Abandoned by her mother, she had been in foster care, and after the death of her foster mother she used food as a way to cope. As the years passed she continued to gain weight. At age 14, she weighed 202 lb (92 kg). At 15, she weighed 309 lb (140 kg).
In her twenties she met a man and they were married. The couple eventually had a son. Bradford found herself staying home with their son and cooking a lot. Her weight continued ballooning. She eventually tried several diets and even joined Weight Watchers with little success.
Finally, after a blood infection landed her in the hospital, Bradford gave up on exercise altogether when the necessary bed rest allowed for her weight gain to accelerate. She remained immobile for eight years. She reached a peak weight of 1,199 lb (544 kg) in January 1987. In 1988, she became so depressed and frustrated that she attempted to commit suicide with painkillers.
A concerned friend contacted Richard Simmons, a familiar face in the weight loss industry. Simmons then contacted Bradford and spoke to her at length. She recalled Simmons saying “God doesn’t make junk and you are worth the effort.” After the phone call she received a package from him containing some exercise tapes and an eating plan.
She started small by clapping her hands along to the videos. “It was the only movement I could do,” she explained. She focused in on her diet and stuck to Simmons’ plan. After a year she had dropped 420 lb (190 kg). Eventually she got some more outside help from a physiotherapist and soon her weight dropped to 500 lb (226 kg), a total weight loss of 699 lb (317 kg). Bradford persisted with her weight loss plan and eventually reduced her weight to under 300 lb (136 kg), claiming a total weight loss of 917 lb (416 kg). The lymphatic system in her legs was damaged in one of five sessions of surgery to remove excess skin during her weight loss.
Bradford appeared on the Channel 4 television programme BodyShock giving advice to Patrick Deuel. The episode was first broadcast in August 2007
Rosalie Bradford posthumously continues to hold the world record for having lost the most weight. She died on November 29, 2006 at a hospital in Lakeland (near to her Auburndale, Florida home). She was 63 years old, and was survived by her husband Robert Bradford and son Robbie.
List of heaviest people : Wikipedia
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