Our BetterMost Community > The Holiday Forum
When is it too late to still have Holiday decorations up?
Jeff Wrangler:
Chrissi and I must have read the same Wikipedia article. :laugh:
I was surprised that there was no tree at the Vatican until the time of JP II.
Now we have to find out who on earth were the Brotherhood of Blackheads! :laugh:
Front-Ranger:
I guess the Brotherhood of Blackheads was a merchants guild in Estonia that got started in the 14th century:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brotherhood_of_Blackheads
Sounds positively Sherlockian!
What puzzles me is that they were Christians and were persecuted for being so. What was the prevalent religion there then, I wonder? ???
Jeff Wrangler:
--- Quote from: Front-Ranger on January 08, 2013, 05:31:27 pm ---I guess the Brotherhood of Blackheads was a merchants guild in Estonia that got started in the 14th century:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brotherhood_of_Blackheads
Sounds positively Sherlockian!
What puzzles me is that they were Christians and were persecuted for being so. What was the prevalent religion there then, I wonder? ???
--- End quote ---
Well, if you follow the link to the Brotherhood of Blackheads article, and then from there the link to the article on the St. George's Night Uprising, it would seem that as late as the middle of the 14th century the region of the Baltic states was only superficially Christianized. It might be useful or interesting to research something like "Christianity in Estonia," or perhaps that business about "renouncing Christianity" was a lie thrown in by those who ultimately crushed the rebellion to make the rebels who had killed priests and monks--whom I'm guessing were ethnic Germans, not natives--seem even more awful.
Edit to Add:
Article on the history of Estonia: http://www.lonelyplanet.com/estonia/history
Front-Ranger:
This is getting creepy! I was just looking at an Infographic of emotions for which there is no English word and zeroed in on Viitsima, which is Estonian. I'm starting to think I'm destined to travel to Estonia this year in search of Aurochs. 8)
brianr:
I have a photo of the House of Blackheads which I toured in 2008. It is in Riga, Latvia, do not remember anything of that name in Estonia. (on the right)
It is one of the few photos I still have of my trips from 2008 to 2010. I had posted it on my blog. My hard drive crashed last month and although I sent it to a lab all was lost. :(
I now have an external hard drive which backs up every hour the new computer (MacBook Air) is turned on. A bit of overkill really.
Our vicar told us just recently that Jesus was probably born in September. Therefore all of the Christmas festivities are just a Christian take over of the pagan Mid Winter celebrations. Of course for me it has always been mid summer and most traditions are rather ridiculous.
I took down my cards, the nativity scene and a small santa ornament last Sunday (Epiphany). The only person to see them was the electricity meter reader anyway. I will keep the cards and show them to my sister when she visits in March.
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