During the Song dynasty, China witnessed the advent of countless new inventions as well as the popularisation and refinement of existing technologies.

From moveable type printing to weaponised gunpowder, here are 8 crucial inventions and innovations of China’s Song dynasty.

1. Movable-type printing

Block printing had existed in China since at least the Tang dynasty, but the system of printing was made more convenient, popular and accessible under the Song. The early process involved a primitive system where words or shapes were carved onto wooden blocks, while ink was applied on the surface. The printing was fixed and a whole new board had to be made for different designs.

In 1040 AD, during the Song dynasty, inventor Bi Sheng came up with the ‘movable-type printing’ system. This ingenious development involved the use of single tiles made of clay for common characters which were placed in order within an iron frame. Once the characters were set close together the result was one solid block of type. Over the years the use of clay to create the tiles was changed to wood and later metal.

2. Paper money

An illustration of a Song dynasty banknote from 1023, from a paper about the monetary history of China written by John E. Sandrock.

Image Credit: John E. Sandrock via Wikimedia Commons / Public Domain

Throughout ancient history, Chinese citizens had carved their writings on oracle bones, stones and wood, until a new paper-making process was invented by Cai Lun, who was a eunuch court official of the Eastern Han dynasty (25-220 AD). Paper had existed before Lun’s process, but his genius was in improving the complicated process of paper production and popularising the commodity.

In the 11th century, under the Song, the first known paper money in history emerged, in the form of notes which could be traded in exchange for coins or goods. Printing factories were set up in Huizhou, Chengdu, Anqi and Hangzhou, printing regionally accepted notes. By 1265, the Song introduced a national currency that was valid across the empire.

3. Gunpowder

Gunpower was probably first formulated under the Tang dynasty, when alchemists, searching for a new ‘elixir of life’, discovered that mixing 75% saltpeter, 15% charcoal and 10% sulphur created a loud fiery bang. They named it ‘fire medicine’.

During the Song dynasty, gunpowder was introduced as a weapon of war in the guise of early landmines, cannons, flame throwers and fire arrows known as ‘flying fire’.

4. The compass

In its early guise, the compass was used to harmonise houses and buildings to principles of feng shui. The earliest compass model, based on the works of Hanfucious (280-233 BCE), was a south-pointing ladle or spoon called Si Nan, which means ‘south governor’ and was made with lodestone, a naturally magnetised mineral that aligns itself with the earth’s magnetic field. At this time, it was used for divination.

A Song dynasty navigational compass

Image Credit: Science History Images / Alamy Stock Photo

Under the Song, the compass was first employed for navigational purposes. The Song military employed the device for orienteering by around 1040, and it is thought to have been in use for maritime navigation by 1111.

5. The astronomical clock tower

In 1092 AD, statesman, calligrapher and botanist Su Song went down in history as the inventor of the water-driven astronomical clock tower. The exquisite clock contained three sections: the upper being an armillary sphere, the middle a celestial globe and the lower a calculagraph. It informed of the time of day, day of the month and the phase of the moon.

The clock tower is not only recognised as the forefather of the modern clock drive but also the progenitor of the active roof of the modern astronomical observatory.

6. The armillary sphere

An armillary sphere is a globe comprising various spherical rings, each of which represents an important line of longitude and latitude or a celestial circle, such as the equator and the tropics. Although the instrument first emerged during the Tang dynasty in 633 AD, consisting of three layers to calibrate different astronomical observations, it was Su Song who developed it further. Su Song created the first armillary sphere to be powered and rotated by a mechanical clock drive.

7. The star chart

Rubbing of a stone Suzhou star chart from the Song dynasty.

Image Credit: Stone carving by Huang Shang (c. 1190), rubbing by unknown (1826) via Wikimedia Commons / Public Domain

From 1078 AD, the Song dynasty’s bureau of astronomy systematically carried out observations of the heavens and made extensive records. Song astronomers drew up a star chart based on the records and had it inscribed on a large stele in Suzhou, Jiangsu province.

Star charts had existed in various forms since ancient times, but the Song dynasty’s famed chart mapped no fewer than 1431 stars. At the time of its creation, it was one of the most comprehensive charts in existence.

8. Solar terms calendar

In ancient China, astronomical observations typically served agriculture. Early in the Song dynasty, a lunisolar calendar was introduced although there was a discrepancy between the phases of the moon and the terms of the sun which often resulted in delays to important farming events.

In order to establish the precise relationship between moon phases and solar terms, Shen Kuo, a polymathic scientist and high Song official, proposed a calendar displaying 12 solar terms. Shen believed the lunisolar calendar was extremely complex and suggested that lunar month indications be left out. Based on this principle, Shen Kuo developed a solar terms calendar comparable to the Gregorian Calendar used by many nations today.

Mary married twice in her life, first to William Carey, one of the king’s courtiers, and again in secret, to William Stafford. This second married was deemed unacceptable by King Henry and Queen Anne, and Mary was banished from the family.

Ironically, after the downfall of the Boleyn family in 1536, when both Anne and her brother George were executed, Mary briefly became the sole survivor of the once-powerful dynasty that had disowned her.

Here are 10 facts about Mary, the ‘other Boleyn girl’.

1. Mary Boleyn was one of Henry VIII’s mistresses

As a product of their affair, Mary is rumoured to have borne King Henry VIII two children, although none were recognised as the king’s or afforded ‘royal bastard’ status and privilege. It is thought Mary’s affair started with King Henry VIII after he had been invited to her wedding on 4 February 1520 to William Carey. There, the story goes, the illicit relationship began after Mary caught the king’s roving eye. The affair with Mary Boleyn repeated a pattern established by Madge Shelton and Bessie Blount, King Henry’s previous mistresses.

2. Mary Boleyn may have had an affair with King Francis I

Mary is believed to have had an affair with Francis I, King of France, while in Paris with her father Thomas Boleyn, who had become the new English ambassador to France. Francis allegedly referred to her as ‘The English Mare’.

Mary had acted as maid-of-honour to Mary Tudor, King Henry VIII’s sister who married the elderly King Louis XII of France. After Queen Mary was unexpectedly widowed, the young Mary Boleyn remained in France with Louis’ daughter, Claude of France, and son-in-law, Francis I, the new king. This was when, according to rumour, Mary embarked on an affair with Francis.

3. Mary and Anne were far from kindred spirits

The Boleyn siblings weren’t always close and often moved in different circles. Anne viewed her sister’s treatment by King Henry, discarded as a former mistress, as the path not to take and pushed for marriage with him, promising the male heir he desired.

When queen, Anne did help to settle Mary’s debts when she was widowed to her first husband, Carey. Anne also offered wardship to her nephew, Mary’s son Henry Carey, benefiting his education. But Anne never reinstated her sister’s position at the Royal Court.

4. Henry’s affair with Mary was used to invalidate his marriage to Anne

Desperate to find excuses to rid himself of Anne, his second wife, Henry looked at the possibility of using his affair with sister Mary as a tactic to invalidate the marriage. Henry’s liaison with Mary before Anne rendered the marriage unlawful, according to the Dispensation Act. The sexual relationship between Henry and Mary was seen as a possible impediment to Henry marrying Anne, making the union invalid due to accusations of an incestuous nature.

Portrait of Henry VIII (1491-1547) by Hans Holbein the Younger in 1540.

Image Credit: Galleria Nazionale d'Arte Antica / Public Domain

5. Historians debate who was the eldest daughter in the Boleyn household

In most history books, as well as movies and television dramas, Mary Boleyn is depicted as the elder of the sisters. However, there may be evidence that Anne was the eldest: she first secured an appointment to reside within the household of Margaret, Archduchess of Austria, when Anne’s father Thomas Boleyn was an envoy to the regent of the Dutch court. This fact is seen by some historians as the primary evidence that Anne was the elder sister, as the elder child would typically receive such an opportunity first.

6. Henry VIII first set eyes on Mary at one of Cardinal Wolsey’s extravagant banquets

On Shrove Tuesday 1522, Mary Boleyn, then just 14, was one of eight women, including sister Anne, who participated in a celebration at York Place, Cardinal Wolsey’s home for the benefit of visiting imperial ambassadors. A large construction had been made called Chateau Vert with three towers bedecked with banners. The ladies were dressed in white satin with bejewelled headdresses, and all were given virtuous names.

Anne played ‘Perseverance’ and Mary was ‘Kindness’. Henry VIII watched the spectacle as Mary and Anne, along with other virtuous ladies, took part in a bizarre staging of the fake chateau under siege. The extravagant banquet was possibly the first time the king had set eyes on the teenage Mary.

7. Mary was ostracised from the Boleyn family for marrying a man she loved

In what appears to be a particularly cruel reaction to a sibling simply falling in love with an ‘unsuitable’ paramour, Mary was banished from the royal court by Queen Anne Boleyn and King Henry for having secretly married without their permission. Mary’s crime was to fall in love with a soldier, William Stafford, and become pregnant by him.

William was considered below Mary and her family’s station and with few prospects. Not only was Mary banned from the royal court but she was also disowned by the Boleyn family. She died 7 years later, having never seen her ill-fated sister Anne again.

Portrait of Mary Boleyn, Hever Castle, Kent, UK.

Image Credit: Ian Bottle / Alamy Stock Photo

8. The Boleyn family arranged Mary’s first marriage when she was a child

William Carey, a man from nobility, was 24 when contracted to marry a 12-year-old Mary Boleyn. A teenage bride, Mary gave birth to her first child, a son, when she was 16. The marriage was endorsed by King Henry who gave the newlyweds a cash present of 6 shillings and 8 pence. Mary’s subsequent affair with King Henry when she was 17 afforded her a place at the court and enriched her husband William with two keeperships, a stewardship, an annuity and manors in two counties.

9. Mary Boleyn may have had a son with King Henry VIII

Mary’s affair with King Henry ended in mid-1525. Less than nine months later, in March 1526, she gave birth to a son she named Henry. The boy was widely assumed to be the ‘bastard son of the king’. Although there is speculation over the matter, the boy’s physical likeness to the red-haired monarch was often remarked upon.

King Henry never acknowledged young Carey in the same way he did his other illegitimate son, Henry Fitzroy, as it may have been embarrassing to recognise a child by his wife’s sister. Young Henry Carey was eventually ennobled by his aunt, the formidable Elizabeth I who gave her nephew the title Lord Hudson.

10. Disowned by her family, Mary never saw Anne again after 1534

Mary Boleyn lived until 1543, dying in obscurity in her mid-40s at Rochford Hall in Essex, a Boleyn property, after she was banished from court. Anne was executed on 19 May 1535. It is unlikely Mary had any contact with her niece, Elizabeth I, who was to become one of the most iconic monarchs in English history.

In the shocking aftermath of 9/11, the name most searched for on the internet was Nostradamus, possibly fuelled by a desperate need to find an explanation for the horrifying event.

The 16th-century astrologer, alchemist and seer’s reputation is based on the one thousand, four-line verses or ‘quatrains’ which herald many of the world’s most important and historical events from the execution of King Charles I to the Great Fire of London and the rise of Hitler and the Third Reich. His predictions also allegedly allude to the assassination of President John F. Kennedy and the dropping of the atomic bomb on Hiroshima. 

Critics of Nostradamus’ prophecies point to their vague nature and ability to be interpreted to fit events that have already happened. Because Nostradamus never mentioned specific dates for his predictions some disbelievers say that important historical moments can be made to fit his prophetic verses. Here are 10 surprising facts about the world’s most famous fortune-teller of doom.

1. He started life as a shopkeeper

Before Nostradamus became the most famous soothsayer on the planet, his early life was mundane and conventional. He married in his early 20s and trained as a doctor before opening his own apothecary shop, the equivalent to today’s street pharmacy.

Nostradamus’ store offered a range of treatments for sick customers and provided herbal medicines, sweets and even the means to gamble by taking bets on the sex of an unborn child.

2. His first prophecies stemmed from grief

It has been said that the tragic death of Nostradamus’ wife and children to a plague outbreak in France was the catalyst that set the future scryer on the path to foretelling events.

During this harrowing time, grief-stricken Nostradamus began writing his predictions, setting out on a journey around Europe. For over a decade he absorbed what was then new ideas about the occult, from Jewish mysticism to astrological techniques.

When he returned to Provence, he published the first of his prophecies in 1555 and what became his greatest work, Les Propheties (The Prophecies), which was made up of 942 doom-laden predictions.

A copy of Garencières’ 1672 English translation of Nostradamus’ The Prophecies.

Image Credit: Public Domain

3. His fame spread via the printing press

Les Propheties was to make Nostradamus a famous name throughout the world largely due to the then modern invention of the printing press. Compared to his predecessors, who made predictions by word of mouth or through pamphlets, Nostradamus benefitted from the new printing technology where it was possible to produce printed books on a vast scale and disseminate them across Europe.

The printers of the time were keen to find best sellers and the subjects of astrology and prophecy were popular, making Nostradamus’ book one of the most widely read. What appealed to readers was his unique style where he wrote as if visions were coming straight from his mind, in a dark and foreboding poetic style.

4. He gained the patronage of Catherine de’ Medici

Catherine de’ Medici, the Italian Queen of France between 1547 and 1559, was superstitious and looking out for people who could show her the future. After reading Nostradamus’ work, she plucked him from obscurity and to fame and celebrity in Paris and the French court.

The queen was troubled by a particular quatrain that appeared to predict the death of her husband, King Henri II of France. It was to become the first time Nostradamus successfully predicted the future: he foresaw Henri’s death 3 years before it occurred.

The young King Henri died on 10 July 1559. He had been jousting when his opponent’s lance shattered through Henri’s helmet, piercing his eyes and throat. This tragic death aligned with Nostradamus’ uncannily accurate account, which had detailed the long painful death of the king.

Henry II of France, Catherine de’ Medici’s husband, by the studio of François Clouet, 1559.

Image Credit: Public domain

5. He feared accusations of witchcraft

Nostradamus’ Jewish background meant that in a time of increasing anti-Semitism by both the state and church in France he would have been aware of authorities watching his every move for committing ‘heresy’. 

Fearing accusations of practicing sorcery and witchcraft, which carried a punishment of death, may have led Nostradamus to write his predictions using codified language.

6. He also worked as a healer

As well as being known as a ‘diviner’, Nostradamus considered himself a professional healer who practiced somewhat dubious methods to treat plague victims, such as ‘bloodletting’ and cosmetic appliances.

None of these practices worked, which were listed by him in what was little more than a medical cookbook containing materials and ideas from others. Nor are any of his healing methods known to have cured victims of the plague.

7. He was accused of plagiarism

In the 16th century, authors frequently copied and paraphrased other works. Nostradamus used one book in particular, the Mirabilis Liber (1522), as a major source for his prophecies. The book, which contained 24 biblical quotations, had limited influence due to having been written in Latin.

Nostradamus paraphrased the prophecies and it is believed also used a bibliomancy to randomly select a book from history as inspiration for his own prophecies.

8. Hitler believed in Nostradamus’ prophecies

The Nazis were convinced that one of Nostradamus’ quatrains alluded not only to the rise of Hitler but also to the Nazi victory in France. Seeing the prophecy as a propaganda tool, the Nazis dropped pamphlets of it by plane over France with the aim of encouraging French citizens to flee to the south, away from Paris and allow an unobstructed entry by German troops.

9. He predicted the world would end in 1999

From the Great Fire of London to the dropping of the atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, to JFK’s assassination in Dallas, Nostradamus is thought by his believers to have foretold every major world event from his time to ours.

In 1999 the French designer Paco Rabanne cancelled his Paris shows because he believed Nostradamus had prophesised the end of the world in July of that year. After stock markets dipped, they soon recovered, and the world continued. To date, no one has made concrete predictions of future events using Nostradamus’ book of prophecies.

10. His visions were aided by trances

Nostradamus believed that he was gifted with paranormal abilities to conjure visions of the future. Most shamans and ‘seers’ who claimed to have visions used techniques to trigger apparitions. Nostradamus had his own ‘triggers’ which involved going into a room where a bowl of dark water would induce him into a trance-like state as he looked into the water for lengthy periods.

With his knowledge of hallucinatory herbs, it is claimed by some that Nostradamus may have assisted his visions. Once he had his visions he would codify and interpret them through intuition and the mystical tradition of Kabbalah and astrology.

The events of this extraordinary trial in 399 BC saw Socrates fighting for his life and the reputation of philosophy everywhere. The 70-year-old philosopher and ‘gadfly’ passionately defended himself and is alleged to have goaded the jurors to find him guilty.

In a relatively democratic society, why was Socrates put on trial, what happened, and how did this ultimately lead to this ancient philosopher’s demise?

Background to the trial

Socrates had considered it his almost religious duty to engage his fellow citizens in philosophical conversation, usually by asking probing questions which often highlighted and exposed their complete ignorance of subjects – a pedagogical technique since deemed the ‘Socratic method’.

Whilst Socrates was keen to profess an awareness of his own ignorance on a number of subjects under his investigation, he was also full of strong conviction for certain matters. At this time, there was a sense of anxiety in Athens about the dangers of religious unorthodoxy and the political consequences that religious deviation could bring. Thus Socrates became a widely recognised and controversial figure, and a frequent figure of mockery.

‘Alcibiades Receiving Instruction from Socrates’, a 1776 painting by François-André Vincent

Image Credit: François-André Vincent, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Socrates’ trial occurred soon after Athens’s defeat at the hands of Sparta in the Peloponnesian War. Amongst his admirers had been Alcibiades (who had betrayed Athens in the Peloponnesian War) and Critias (one of the Thirty Tyrants imposed on Athens after the city’s defeat by Sparta). Socrates’ connections with these two men in addition to his controversial exposure of the ignorance of his fellow citizens led to his trial.

The Charges

Socrates faced two sets of charges known as the ‘old’ and ‘new’ accusations, the latter presented by the Athenian Greek Meletus who was determined to bring about a guilty verdict against the philosopher for alleged atheism and corrupting the youth of Athens.

The Old Accusations

• He used rhetorical tricks to make weak arguments appear strong.
• He studied things in the sky and below the earth that had no relevance to normal living.
• That he is taught such views to others as a teacher.

The New Accusations 

These were presented by the Athenian Greek Meletus who stated that Socrates was guilty of:

• Corrupting the young
• And the more serious charge of not believing in the gods.        

The second charge was one that could put Socrates to death as Atheism wasn’t an acceptable view in ancient Greece as it was seen as a threat to the welfare of citizens. The danger for Socrates was that if the prosecutors could prove Socrates corrupted the youth of Athens it would mean the death sentence.

Socrates’ self-defence 

Socrates realised his accusers such as Meletus were persuasive speakers. He denied that he was an accomplished speaker in that he purposely deceived others and maintained that he was just a truth-teller speaking in a simple manner. Socrates pointed out that he was a victim of misrepresentation by biased playwrights who had influenced his judges since childhood. Regarding the accusation that he was an ‘atheist’ he protested that such charges were based on malicious slander. 

Philosophy seen as irrelevant

Socrates admitted that his investigations, asking questions in the streets had made him unpopular in Athenian society causing him to appear in court. He knew that the odds were stacked against him as he was aware that many citizens of Athens didn’t understand or appreciate philosophy. They saw it as a waste of time and impractical. The search for wisdom to many Athenians was baffling. 

Portrait of Socrates. Marble, Roman artwork (1st century), perhaps a copy of a lost bronze statue made by Lysippos

Image Credit: Sting, CC BY-SA 2.5 , via Wikimedia Commons

The verdict and punishment

The jury voted 280 to 221 against Socrates, who was said to have looked surprised that the vote was so close. The result indicated that the long-term bias against the philosopher and philosophy in general weighed against him. 

Following tradition Socrates was allowed to present his preferred punishment. But despite having been offered a pledge of money to pay a fine, Socrates admitted that if was allowed to live he could never stay quiet and desist from continuing being a philosopher asking questions. His famous quote reflecting on his decision for self-sacrifice was “An unexamined life is not worth living” meaning that non-reflective people aren’t really living because being reflective is what makes us human. He chose death. 

Execution by self-poisoning

The death of Socrates in 399 BC, as reported by Plato in the Phaedo, is one carried out by taking poison, possibly by drinking hemlock. The progressive paralysis that the condemned philosopher experienced, causing him to lay on his back as his legs gave way, is indicative of the drug’s effects on the body. The growing paralysis eventually reached his heart and killed him.  

The Death of Socrates (1787), by Jacques-Louis David

Image Credit: Public Domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Legacy

Socrates’ philosophical legacy to his people was that he gave citizens the tools to be happy, not just play at being contented. His many famous quotes such as ‘The unexamined life is not worth living’, ‘Be kind, for everyone you meet is fighting a hard battle’ and ‘There is only one good, knowledge, and one evil, ignorance’ first said over sixteen hundred years ago are still relevant in today’s modern world of politics and social relationships. 

Below are some seriously oddball creations which, apart from their entertainment value, never should have made it into existence. From a blade-wielding contraption that could shave 12 men at once to a 1930s hat which doubled up as a portable radio, here are 10 bizarre inventions that were always destined to end up in the museum of curiosities.

1. The Urban Window Baby Cage

Invented by health worker Mrs Robert C. Lafferty in 1913, and inspired by an increasing awareness of outdoor fresh air benefits for youngsters, the ‘Window Baby Cage’ was designed as a solution for apartments without a garden or outdoor space.

Unsurprisingly, the very idea of putting a precious baby to play in a cage made of wire mesh and hanging outside a widow several floors above street level was too nightmarish for most parents.

2. The Portable Hat Radio

A prototype of a hat installed with a portable radio. Featured on the cover of Radio-Electronics, June 1949, Volume 20, Number 9.

Image Credit: Radio Electronics via Wikimedia Commons / Public Domain

Decades before the mobile wonders of the Walkman, iPod and the mobile phone, the idea of being able to listen to the radio on the move was inconceivable due to the bulky apparatus of early radios. Thought to have been created by an inventor in Berlin during the 1930s, this bizarre apparatus was essentially a straw hat with two large antennas sticking out on top of it.

Despite other versions of the radio hat being made in an array of different materials, none caught on with the public. Not only was it cumbersome but there were issues with radio signals. The invention of the Transistor Radio in 1955 eventually revolutionised listening to radio and music on the go.

3. The Mass Shaving Machine

In the early 19th century, as walrus moustaches and beards declined in popularity, it became more socially acceptable for men to be clean-shaven. Because such morning rituals were time-consuming, a culture of stopping off at the barbers for a clean shave and shoeshine became common. The problem was that a barber could only serve one customer at a time.

The solution was a ‘group shaving machine’ which could seat several men in a row, where the first part of the device applied foam to all faces. Then a large blade would be used to trim their facial hair. The device could, in theory, shave 12 men at once. However, its limitations meant the machine couldn’t alter its movements depending on the shape of an individual face, leaving uneven results and at worst, cuts and abrasions from the blade.

4. The Face Glove

An advert from 1895 demonstrating a beautifying ‘face glove’ for bleaching and preserving the skin and removing complexional imperfections.

Image Credit: Chronicle / Alamy Stock Photo

Developed in the US at the turn of the 20th century, this eerie-looking mask or ‘Face Glove’ was designed to be used by ladies ‘of refinement’ to beautify and preserve youthful skin, while also removing blemishes and imperfections. Resembling something from a creepy horror film, the main problem with this unproven treatment was its health issues.

Designed for ‘medicinal purposes’, as claimed by its inventor and milliner Madame Helen M. Rowley, the mask was originally made from flexible Indian rubber and meant to be worn overnight. The science behind its claims was that the mask would encourage the opening of pores through perspiration. The masks became popular, prompting other companies to make their own versions. But worryingly, materials such as asbestos, sulphur and lead, were used, making the masks hazardous and causing more skin problems than they were meant to cure.

5. The Dynasphere

Looking like a creation from a vintage sci-fi film, the Dynasphere, invented by a Dr J. A. Purves, was an alternative road vehicle from the 1930s. It was one giant monowheel where the driver sat, along with a passenger, in a cabin mounted on tracks. The head-turning machine rolled as the wheel spun and could reach a top speed of 30mph.

In theory, the weight of the motor and the driver was enough to keep them parallel with the ground. To onlookers, the spectacle resembled a spinning giant donut on the street. Due to a lack of practicability, particularly in comparison to car designs of the time, as well as having no protection from the elements, the Dynasphere never caught on.

6. The Loop-to-Loop Double Bicycle

In 1905, decades before BMX bikes were somersaulting in the air, an inventor called Kay Lang came up with a bicycle he thought could do an impressive loop to loop within a circular track.

Lang designed a double bicycle, which was essentially two bikes welded together with one sitting upside down above the other. The rider sat encased between the two. The idea was that all four wheels could connect with all surfaces as the upper part would take over from the bottom wheels while riding on a flat surface. Little is known about Lang’s experiment but the improbability of the design plus its potential to injure or kill the rider was possibly the reason the invention never passed the patent stage.

7. The Necomimi

Hanako Miyake demonstrates the ‘Necomimi’, a device that measures brainwaves to control a cat-ear headband.

Image Credit: REUTERS / Alamy Stock Photo

This novelty headgear, invented in Japan in 2012, utilises impressive science for what many may see as a frivolous gimmick. The wearer dons a set of large, mechanical cat ears attached to a headband which measures brain waves and allows the ears to react to the wearer’s moods at the time.

When relaxed, the ears droop. When alert and focused, they perk up and wriggle. One drawback apart from the expense is that the Necomimi is also fragile and can break easily, which is why the manufacturer advises not to wear it in the car.

8. The Ostrich Pillow

Possibly inspired by the ‘Isolator’ hood invention decades before, the Ostrich Pillow, funded on Kickstarter in 2012, was designed to allow the wearer to escape the world, whatever their environment, be it at home, travelling or working in the office, in order to catch forty winks or enjoy silent meditation.

Resembling a fluffy hood with three holes, one for the head and two for the hands, it was promoted primarily as a way to be able to take time out from the noisy world in order to decrease stress and increase productivity.

Despite its popular name, the conflict spanned a period of 112 years, though was marked by periods of intermittent truces. It involved five generations of kings and led to various innovations in the development of military weaponry. At the time, France was the most populous and advanced of the two sides, yet England initially stole several key victories.

Ultimately, the war ended with the House of Valois holding control of France and England being stripped of almost all its territorial possessions in France.

Here are 10 facts about the Hundred Years’ War.

1. The Hundred Years’ War was started over territorial disputes

After the conquest of England in 1066 by the Dukes of Normandy, England, under the rule of Edward I, was technically a vassal of France, despite England occupying territories in France such as the duchy Aquitaine. Tensions continued between the two countries over territories, and by the rule of Edward III, England had lost most of its regions in France, leaving only Gascony.

Phillip VI of France decided that Gascony should be part of French territory in 1337 because England has rescinded its right to French territories. After King Philip confiscated the duchy of Aquitaine, Edward III responded by pressing his claim to the French throne, beginning the Hundred Years’ War.

2. Edward III of England believed he was entitled to the French throne

King Edward III, son of Edward II and Isabella of France, was convinced his French parentage entitled him to the French throne. Edward and his armies won a major victory at the Battle of Crécy on 26 August 1346, resulting in the deaths of several key French noblemen.

The English army faced France’s King Philip VI’s larger army but won due to the superiority of English longbowmen against French crossbowmen. Longbows had immense power as their arrows could penetrate chain mail with relative ease making plate armour more and more necessary.

Hundred Years’ War: surgeons and craftsmen of surgical instruments being forced to go with the English army as part of the 1415 invasion of France. Gouache painting by A. Forestier, 1913.

3. The Black Prince captured the French king during the Battle of Poitiers

In early September 1356, the English heir to the throne, Edward (known as the Black Prince because of the dark suit of armour he wore) led a raiding party of 7,000 men but found himself pursued by King Jean II of France.

The armies fought on 17 September even though a truce was arranged for the following day. This gave the Black Prince the time he needed to organise an army in the marshland near the town of Poitiers. The French King Jean was captured and carried off to London and held in somewhat luxurious captivity for 4 years.

4. England held the upper hand militarily at the beginning of the war

For much of the Hundred Years’ War, England dominated as the victor of battles. This was due to England having a superior fighting force and tactics. Edward embarked on a unique strategy during the first period of war (1337-1360) in which he fought skirmish wars, continually attacking and then retreating.

Such tactics demoralised the French and their desire to wage war against the English. Edward also managed to create an alliance with Flanders allowing him to have a home base on the continent from which he could launch naval attacks.

5. During England’s victories, French peasants rebelled against their king

In what became known as the Peasants Revolt (1357-1358), or the Jacquerie, the locals in France started rebelling. This was a series of peasant wars that took place around the French countryside and city of Paris.

The peasants were upset that France was losing, which led to a truce in the form of the Treaty of Bretigny (1360). The treaty was mostly in favour of the English because King Philip VI, having overseen several French military losses, was on the backfoot. The treaty allowed England to keep most lands that were conquered, including England no longer having to refer to itself as a French vassal.

6. Charles V turned France’s fortunes around during the war

King Charles V, the ‘philosopher king’, was seen as the redeemer of France. Charles reconquered nearly all territories lost to the English in 1360 and reinvigorated the cultural institutions of the kingdom.

But despite Charles’ successes as a military leader he was also hated in his country for raising taxes which caused disaffection amongst his own subjects. As he prepared to die in September 1380, Charles announced the abolition of the hearth tax to ease the burden on his people. His government ministers refused the request to reduce taxes, eventually sparking revolts.

7. England’s victory at Agincourt achieved enduring fame

At Agincourt in 1415, a French hamlet south-east of Boulogne, King Henry V of England’s soldiers were an exhausted and bedraggled army facing an enemy four times its size.

But Henry’s masterful use of strategy together with his archers, who devastated the enemy’s infantry, saw the battle won in half an hour. Less than chivalric was Henry’s ordering of all prisoners to be killed in a massacre carried out by his own guard of 200.

Miniature depiction of the Battle of Agincourt. c. 1422. Lambeth Palace Library / The Bridgeman Art Library.

8. Joan of Arc was condemned to death and burned at the stake in 1431

Joan of Arc, a 19-year-old peasant girl who claimed to hear God’s commands, led the French army to victory recapturing Orleans and Reims. She was captured on 24 May 1430 by the Burgundians at Compiegne who sold her to the English for 16,000 francs.

Joan’s trial took longer than most as the judges assembled under the leadership of the infamous Bishop of Beauvais. Found guilty of heresy, Joan was burned at the stake. She cried out for a cross as the flames leapt around her, and one was hurriedly made by an English soldier from two sticks and brought to her. Five centuries later, Joan of Arc was declared a saint.

9. The conflict led to many military innovations

The only projectiles in war that had an advantage against a knight on horseback bearing a lance was a short bow. However, it had the disadvantage of being unable to pierce knightly armour. The crossbow, mainly used by French soldiers, had adequate velocity but was a cumbersome contraption and took time to rearm.

With the adaption of the longbow into the English army, it neutralised the speed and power of the enemy’s mounted knights. The cheaply made longbow, which could be fashioned out of all kinds of wood, just required one long single piece that could be carved. A volley of arrows from the longbow archers could be rained down on the enemy from the backlines.

10. France clawed back territories during the last years of the conflict

After the successes of Joan of Arc winning back cities Orleans and Reims, France in the final decades of the war took back various other territories formerly occupied by the English.

At the end of the Hundred Years’ War, England held just a handful of cities, the most important of which was Calais. Roughly 200 years later, Calais itself was lost to France.

The intelligent and diligent cardinal had an uncanny ability to give the king what he wanted, making him the most trusted ally of the notoriously temperamental monarch. But in 1529, Henry VIII turned on Wolsey, ordering his arrest and causing Wolsey’s downfall.

Here are 10 facts about Cardinal Thomas Wolsey.

1. Cardinal Wolsey was an ambitious and trusted advisor to King Henry VIII

Wolsey, who first became King Henry VIII’s chaplain, quickly rose up the ranks to become a cardinal in 1515 by appointment of Pope Leo X. But his highest position was as Lord Chancellor and the king’s chief advisor which enriched his status and wealth.

Physically he was a short, corpulent man of earthy humour, known for his arrogance, vanity and his greed. But he was also an outstanding administrator, and such talent, combined with his all-consuming ambition, had helped him to run England successfully for almost twenty years until his downfall in 1529.

A depiction of Wolsey from a 1905 book entitled, The Life and Death of Cardinal Wolsey.

Image Credit: George Cavendish via Wikimedia Commons / Public Domain

2. Wolsey responded to threats to his power by vanquishing his enemies

Wolsey possessed a Machiavellian streak motivated by self-preservation. Not only would he go to great lengths to neutralise other courtiers’ influence, but he masterminded the fall of prominent people such as Edward Stafford, 3rd Duke of Buckingham. He also prosecuted Henry’s close friend William Compton as well as the king’s ex-mistress, Anne Stafford.

Conversely, Wolsey’s shrewd nature saw him influencing King Henry not to execute Charles Brandon, 1st Duke of Suffolk, after he secretly married Henry’s sister Mary Tudor, as Wolsey feared repercussions to his own life and status.

3. Anne Boleyn allegedly hated Wolsey for separating her from her first love

As a young girl, Anne Boleyn had become involved in a romantic relationship with a young man, Henry Lord Percy, Earl of Northumberland and heir to great estates. Their affair took place against the background of Queen Catherine’s household where Percy, who was a page to Cardinal Wolsey at court, would make visits to the Queen’s chamber in order to see Anne.

Wolsey, realising that his master King Henry had taken a liking to Anne (possibly using her as a mistress in the same way he had seduced her sister Mary) put a stop to the romance, dispatching Percy away from court to separate the couple. This, some historians have speculated, may have incited Anne’s hatred of the cardinal and her desire to eventually see him destroyed.

4. Wolsey grew powerful despite his humble background

Wolsey’s humble origins as a butcher’s son in Ipswich ensured that he owed everything to royal advancement. But as a man who had the ear of King Henry and was one of the most powerful men in England, he was also hated by nobles who viewed Wolsey’s humble background as unworthy of his status.

Protected by Henry from attack, Wolsey had the freedom to influence foreign affairs and make reforms. As long as he was in the king’s favour he was untouchable, even though his enemies waited for opportunities to bring him down.

5. He had big plans for architectural changes in England

As well as Wolsey’s influence over foreign affairs and domestic laws, he was also passionate about art and architecture. He set out on a building campaign that was unprecedented for an English churchman, bringing Italian Renaissance ideas into English architecture.

Some of his lavish projects included additions to York Palace in London as well as renovating Hampton Court. Having spent a fortune on its refurbishment and staffing it with over 400 servants, Hampton Court marked one of Wolsey’s first mistakes with King Henry, who thought the palace far too good for a cardinal. After Wolsey’s demise, King Henry took over Hampton Court and gave it to his new Queen, Anne Boleyn.

6. King Henry asked Wolsey to be godfather to his bastards

King Henry fathered an illegitimate son with one of his favourite mistresses, Bessie Blount, who had been a lady in waiting to Henry’s wife Catherine of Aragon. The baby was given his father’s Christian name, Henry, and the traditional surname of a royal bastard, Fitzroy.

In an indication of official favour for the boy, Cardinal Wolsey was made Fitzroy’s godfather. He had also been made godfather to the baby’s half-sister, Mary, nearly three years earlier.

7. Wolsey negotiated a failed marriage contract between Princess Mary and Emperor Charles V

By 1521 King Henry, still without a male heir, entertained thoughts about having a powerful grandson through his daughter Mary’s marriage to the most powerful man in Europe, Holy Roman Emperor Charles V. Wolsey negotiated the marriage treaty, and his wording made it clear that Princess Mary would succeed her father.

Wolsey poured over dowry arrangements that were fiercely discussed between himself and King Henry. But one problem stood in the way of the marriage taking place: Princess Mary was just 6 years old at the time and her betrothed was 15 years her senior. Ultimately, Charles was too impatient and married another princess.

8. Wolsey helped arrange the Field of the Cloth of Gold summit

This vastly expensive summit between King Henry VIII and King Francis I of France involved thousands of courtiers and horses, and took place at Balinghem in France, 7-24 June 1520. It was a triumph for Cardinal Wolsey who organised much of the grand meeting between the two kings.

A British school depiction of the Field of the Cloth of Gold in 1520.

Image Credit: via Wikimedia Commons / Public Domain

It was named ‘Field of the Cloth of Gold‘ after the tents and dazzling costumes present. Under the guidance of Wolsey, it was primarily a way for both kings to show off their wealth, while at the same time aiming to increase the bond of friendship between two traditional enemies.

9. Wolsey was the Pope’s most senior officer in England

Wolsey was crowned Papal legate in 1518, essentially rendering him a high representative of the Pope’s authority in England. In 1524, Pope Clement VII extended Wolsey’s appointment as legate for the duration of the Cardinal’s life. This made permanent the Cardinal’s position as the pope’s deputy for the whole English Church, granting Wolsey more papal agency, but also placing him in a difficult position as a loyal servant to King Henry VIII.

10. Wolsey failed to free Henry VIII of his marriage to Catherine of Aragon

Wolsey’s most fatal error, which instigated his downfall, was his failure to gain Henry an annulment of his marriage to Catherine of Aragon. Despite Wolsey’s efforts, the Pope sided with the Spanish Queen under pressure from her nephew, the Holy Roman Emperor Charles V.

Wolsey was cast out from the court he served, charged with high treason and summoned for trial. His fortune was stripped as well as his assets. On 28 November 1530 Wolsey arrived at Leicester Abbey in the custody of Sir William Kingston, the lieutenant of the Tower of London. Sick at heart but also in body, he lamented his fate: “had I but served God as diligently as I have my king, He would not have given me over in my grey hairs.”

Wolsey died at the age of 55, probably of natural causes, before he could be executed.

Archaeological traces of this “golden age” of Chinese seafaring and exploration remain elusive and rare to find, but there is evidence of several key explorers from the era.

Here are 5 of the most influential explorers in Chinese history.

1. Xu Fu (255 – c. 195 BC)

The life story of Xu Fu, who was employed as a court sorcerer for the Qin dynasty ruler Qin Shi Huang, reads like a mythical tale complete with references to sea monsters and a magician purportedly 1000 years old.

Entrusted with the task to find the secret of immortality for emperor Qin Shi Huang, Xu undertook two journeys between 219 BC and 210 BC, the first of which was a failure. His primary mission was to retrieve the elixir from the ‘immortals’ on Mount Penglai, a legendary land of Chinese mythology.

A 19th-century woodblock print by Kuniyoshi depicting Xu Fu’s voyage of around 219 BC to find the legendary home of the immortals, Mount Penglai, and retrieve the elixir of immortality.

Image Credit: Utagawa Kuniyoshi via Wikimedia Commons / Public Domain

Xu sailed for several years without finding the mountain or the elixir. Xu’s second trip, from which he never returned is believed to have resulted in him landing in Japan where he named Mount Fuji as Penglai, making him one of the first Chinese men to have set foot in the country.

Xu’s legacy may not include the finding of the secret of immortality but he is worshipped in areas of Japan as the ‘god of farming’ and is said to have brought new farming techniques and knowledge that improved the quality of life of the ancient Japanese.

2. Zhang Qian (unknown – 114 BC)

Zhang Qian was a diplomat during the Han dynasty who served as an imperial envoy to the world outside China. He expanded sections of the Silk Road, making a significant contribution to the culture and economic exchange across Eurasia.

The Han dynasty was eager to form allies against their old enemy, the Xiongnu tribe in modern Tajikstan. Someone was needed to travel thousands of miles across the hostile Gobi Desert to form an alliance with the Yuezhi, an ancient nomadic people. Zhang stepped up to the task and was granted the staff of authority in the name of Emperor Wu of the Han dynasty.

Zhang set off with a team of a hundred envoys and a guide called Gan Fu. The dangerous journey took 13 years and his discovery of the Silk Road was the unintended consequence of undertaking the mission. Zhang was captured by the Xiongnu tribe whose leader, Junchen Chanyu, took a liking to the intrepid explorer and decided to keep him alive, even offering him a wife. Zhang stayed with the Xiongnu for a decade before managing to slip away.

Having crossed the vast Gobi and Taklamakan Desert, Zhang eventually reached the land of the Yuezhi. Contented with their peaceful lives they resisted Zhang’s offers of riches if they became allies in war.

Zhang returned back to his homeland, but not before he was captured again by the Xiongnu and this time treated less favourably. His imprisonment lasted less than a year before making it back to Han China in 126 BC. Out of the 100 envoys who originally set off with him only 2 of the original team survived.

A depiction of the Chinese explorer Zhang Qian on a raft. Maejima Sōyū, 16th century.

Image Credit: Metropolitan Museum of Art via Wikimedia Commons / Public Domain

3. Xuanzang (602 – 664 AD)

During the Tang dynasty, an inquisitive interest in Buddhism encouraged the religion’s popularity throughout China. It was this growing fascination in the religion that lay behind one of the greatest odysseys in Chinese history.

In 626 AD, the Chinese monk Xuanzang made a 17-year journey in search of Buddhist scriptures with the aim of bringing its teachings from India to China. The ancient Silk Road and China’s Grand Canal assisted Xuanzang on his epic journey into the unknown.

By the time Xuanzang returned back to the city of Chang’an along the Silk Road, after many years of travel, the journey had taken him along 25,000 kilometres of roads to 110 different countries. The famous Chinese novel Journey to the West was based on Xuanzang’s journey to ancient India to acquire Buddhist scriptures. Over a decade, he translated around 1300 volumes of Buddhist scriptures.

4. Zheng He (1371 – 1433)

The Ming dynasty’s great treasure fleet was the biggest fleet assembled on the world’s oceans until the 20th century. Its admiral was Zheng He, who from 1405 to 1433 undertook 7 treasure voyages in search of new trading posts in Southeast Asia, the Indian subcontinent, Western Asia and East Africa. He sailed 40,000 miles across the South China Seas and the Indian Ocean.

Zheng’s childhood had been traumatic when his home village was attacked by Ming troops and he was captured as a boy and castrated. As a eunuch, he served in the Ming Royal Court before becoming a favourite of the young prince Zhu Di, who later became the Yongle Emperor and Zheng’s benefactor.

In 1405 the great treasure fleet, consisting of 300 ships and 27,000 men, embarked on its maiden voyage. The ships were five times the size of those built for Columbus’ voyages decades later, at 400 feet in length.

The maiden voyage resembled a floating city carrying valuable products such as tons of China’s finest silks and blue and white Ming porcelain. Zheng’s voyages were hugely successful: he set up strategic trading posts which would contribute to spreading China’s power across the globe. He is often cited as China’s greatest seafaring explorer.

5. Xu Xiake (1587 – 1641)

An early backpacker of the late Ming dynasty, Xu Xiake traversed thousands of miles across mountains and deep valleys in China for 30 years, documenting his travels as he went. What makes him stand out from other explorers throughout Chinese history is that he didn’t set out on his explorations in pursuit of riches or to find new trading posts at the request of an imperial court, but purely out of personal curiosity. Xu travelled for the sake of travelling.

Xu’s magnum opus of his travels was a 10,000-mile journey to the southwest where he travelled from Zhejiang in eastern China to Yunnan in southwestern China, which took 4 years.

Xu wrote his travel diaries as if his mother was reading them at home and following his journey, which makes his famous book Xu Xiake’s Travels one of the most original and detailed accounts of what he saw, heard and thought during his travels.

In what is regarded as one of the most shameful episodes in British history, the government-chartered East India Company, desperate to cancel its own debts, encouraged the sale of opium to China in the 18th and 19th centuries. The trade of opium contributed to mounting tensions between Britain and China that, amongst other disputes, culminated in the Opium Wars and two Chinese defeats.

Here are 6 of the chief causes of the Opium Wars.

1. British economic interests

In 1792, Britain needed new sources of revenue and trade after it had lost its colonies in America. Wars had dented the national treasury, as had the cost of maintaining military bases across the vast British Empire, particularly in India.

By the 1800s, the East India Company (EIC) was reeling in debt. The EIC looked to Asia for new trading partners and in particular China as the country that could provide a new lucrative exchange of goods. A hugely profitable demand in England for Chinese tea, along with other goods such as silk and porcelain had led to a three-pointed trade operation, where Britain shipped Indian cotton and British silver to China in exchange for China’s highly desired goods.

The problem for Britain was a trade imbalance between the two countries, mainly due to the fact that China had little interest in British products. Even an envoy mission from Britain to China by ship laden with a treasure trove of goods that included clocks, telescopes and a carriage, failed to impress emperor Qianlong. Britain needed to find something the Chinese desperately wanted.

2. The tea craze

Britain’s demands for black tea were high as Britain’s households discovered a new recreational pastime. In 1792, the British were importing tens of millions of pounds (weight) of tea every year. Within two decades import duties would account for 10% of the government’s entire revenue.

Tea was one of the major drivers of the British economy and was so essential to the country that the Canton system (where all foreign trade into China was restricted to the southern port city of Canton, present-day Guangzhou) was no longer acceptable to British traders and the British government.

The European ‘factories’ at Guangzhou (Canton) China ca 1840. Engraving based on a drawing made during the First Opium War by John Ouchterlony.

Image Credit: Everett Collection/Shutterstock

As a result of British demand for tea, Britain was running a huge trade deficit with the Chinese: silver was flooding out of Britain and into China, and it desperately wanted to change that. For all Britain’s power, it didn’t have the raw currency needed to continue paying for its tea habit.

3. The scourge of opium

By the 19th century, the East India Company was reeling under the staggering debt it owed the British government for underwriting its military conquests in India. As China had shown little interest in importing products from Britain, the EIC needed to find something other than silver that the Chinese wanted to import, to offset the massive cost for Victorian’s need for tea. The answer was opium.

It seems morally repugnant that any country from the industrialised West could justify trading opium to make a profit. But the view in Britain at the time, under the leadership of Prime Minister Henry Palmerston, was that getting the empire out of debt took precedence.

Where the East India Company’s plans to grow cotton in India had gone awry, it discovered that all that available land was suitable to grow poppies. A new trade was set up converting poppies into opium in India, then selling it at a profit in China. The profits bought the much sought-after tea in China, which was then sold at a profit in Britain.

Illustration of opium smokers in China, created by Morin, published in Le Tour du Monde, Paris, 1860.

Image Credit: Marzolino/Shutterstock

4. China’s crackdown on opium smuggling

The distribution and use of opium was illegal in China at the time. This reality caused a problem for the EIC, which had plans to swamp China with the addictive substance. As it didn’t want to risk being banned from China and losing its access to tea, the company set up a base in Calcutta, India, near to the Chinese border. From there, smugglers, with the endorsement of the EIC, handled the distribution of large quantities of opium into China.

Indian-grown opium turned out to be more potent than China’s domestically-grown product, resulting in opium sales in China skyrocketing. By 1835, the East India Company was distributing 3,064 million lbs per year into China. The figure was to become even bigger by 1833 when the British government decided to revoke the EIC’s monopoly on the opium trade, allowing an unregulated trade of the lethal product into China and driving prices down for buyers.

5. Lin Zexu’s siege of foreign opium traders

In response to the influx of opium in China, Emperor Daoguang (1782-1850) appointed an official, Lin Zexu, to address the effects of opium on the country. Zexu saw the morally corrupting effect of opium on the people of China and implemented a total ban on the drug, to the point of death sentences for those who traded in it.

In March 1839, Zexu planned to cut off the source of opium in Canton, arresting thousands of opium traders and putting addicts into rehabilitation programmes. As well as confiscating opium pipes and closing down opium dens, he turned on the western traders forcing them to surrender their stores of opium. When they resisted, Zexu rounded up troops and put the foreign warehouses under siege.

The foreign traders surrendered 21,000 chests of opium, which Zexu burned. The opium destroyed was worth more than the British government had spent on its empire’s military the previous year.

Further to this, Zexu ordered the Portuguese to eject all British from the port of Macau. The British retreated to what was then an insignificant island off the coast, which would eventually become known as Hong Kong.

Hong Kong was a small British settlement in the early 1840s. After the Opium Wars, China ceded Hong Kong to Britain.

Image Credit: Everett Collection/Shutterstock

6. British desires to trade with China outside of Canton

Emperor Qianlong (1711-1799) had seen foreign traders as a potentially destabilising influence on China and placed strict controls on foreign trade, limiting trade to just a few ports. Traders weren’t allowed to set foot in the empire except for a handful of cities, and all trade had to go through a trade monopoly known as the Hong, who taxed and regulated foreign trade.

By the middle of the 18th century, trade for the British was restricted to a single port, Canton. Foreign traders, including the EIC and the British government, were firmly opposed to this system. Straining under debt, they wanted to open China up to unrestricted trade.

After the Opium Wars, China surrendered a number of ports to foreign trade. In June 1858, the treaties of Tianjin provided residence in Beijing for foreign envoys and the opening of new ports to Western trade. Foreign travel in the interior of China was also sanctioned and freedom of movement for Christian missionaries was granted.

Many miracles are ascribed to St David and he founded many churches, with over 50 named after him. His shrine at St David’s Cathedral in the town of the same name in Wales is today a popular place of pilgrimage.

Not a great deal is known about St David’s life: most information is based on the Latin writings of Welsh scholar Rhygyfarch, who wrote the hagiography Buchedd Dewi  (‘Life of David’) some 500 years after St David lived.

Here are 10 facts about the patron saint of Wales.

1. St David was conceived through rape

It is alleged that St David was conceived after his mother, St Non, was raped by the chieftain Sant. Both parents descended from royalty and St David’s grandfather was King Ceredig and founder of Ceredigion, a minor kingdom in west Wales.

2. St David was born during a storm

Rhygyfarch writes in his documents that St David was born during a ferocious storm on a cliff-top rock near Capel Non (Non’s Chapel) in Pembrokeshire in southwest Wales. During the storm, which prevented anyone reaching St David’s mother to assist her, a bolt of lightning is said to have struck the rock, spitting it in two.

The spot of St David’s birth is marked by the ruins of Non’s Chapel and a holy well, believed to have healing powers and which is a place of pilgrimage.

3. St David is associated with several miracles

St David is associated with several documented miracles that have contributed to his reputation as a holy man with healing powers. One of the first and most notable is when it is claimed he restored the sight of his tutor St Paulinus. He is also said to have brought a dead boy back to life.

One of the most famous miracles associated with St David is when, while preaching to a crowd, where some were unable to see him, the ground beneath his feet rose to create a hill. At that moment as he levitated, a white dove landed on his shoulder, which became the saint’s emblem.

Historian John Davies remarked that one can scarcely “conceive of any miracle more superfluous” in that part of Wales than the creation of a new hill.

4. St David led a monastic and vegetarian lifestyle that bordered on the extreme

Vegans today have nothing on St David: centuries before supermarkets stocked plant-based fare, St David was leading a very strict and austere life, eating only bread, herbs and vegetables. His only drink was water which led to him becoming known as Aquaticus or Dewi Ddyfrwr (the water drinker) in Welsh.

St David’s commitment to holy orders included adherence to practising penance by standing up to his neck in a lake of cold water and reciting scripture. He also refused his fellow monks to use oxen to plough their fields and insisted they do it by hand, pulling the ploughs themselves.

5. 50 churches in Wales are named after St David

Saint David’s Cathedral, Pembrokeshire, Wales, UK.

Image Credit: Shutterstock

Many churches can be found throughout Wales and England named after St David. He became a preacher founding monastic settlements and churches in Wales, sub-Roman Britain and Brittany including St David’s Cathedral, the site of his original monastery, in the town named after him in Pembrokeshire.

St David also founded 12 monasteries including Glastonbury and at Menevia (now the city of St David’s) where he was named Archbishop of Wales in 550 AD. There are over 50 churches named after him throughout Wales.

6. Shakespeare immortalised St David’s emblem of the leek

St David may be famously associated with the white dove after one of his miracles, but his symbol, also that of Wales, is the leek, which inspired a reference in William Shakespeare’s Henry V. The scene, Act V Scene 1, sees the character Fluellan discussing the vegetable:

“If your Majesty is remembered of it, the Welshmen did good service in a garden where leeks did grow, wearing leeks in their Monmouth caps, and I do believe, your Majesty takes no scorn to wear the leek upon Saint Tavy’s day”.

King Henry responds: “I wear it for a memorable honour; for I am Welsh, you know, good countryman”.

7. Today the resting place of St David’s relics are still unknown

The relics of St David, including his remains and burial artefacts, were originally kept in a portable casket on the stone base of the shrine at St David’s Cathedral in Pembrokeshire. In the 13th century, the cathedral was attacked by Vikings during raids, and the shrine was stripped of its precious metals.

A new shrine was constructed in 1275 restoring the ruined base. King Edward I came to pray at the shrine in 1284. However, during the Reformation centuries later, the staunch Protestant Bishop Barlow stripped the shrine and confiscated St David’s relics.

Welsh bishop Saint David on stained glass window in Chichester Cathedral, UK.

Image Credit: Shutterstock

8. St David’s Cathedral is a site of pilgrimage for Christians

After Pope Callactus II canonised St David in 1120, his influence as patron saint of Wales took hold around the world, leading the Pope to declare that two pilgrimages to St David’s Cathedral in Pembrokeshire equalled one to Rome by the faithful, while three were worth one holy journey to Jerusalem.

9. St David’s aphorism to assist daily life for believers is still remembered today

St David’s simple and concise motto, to assist followers in their daily lives, simply suggests that people focus not on the big picture but on small things to make life better for them and those around them.

‘Do the little things’ comes from a sermon David made to his followers the Sunday before his death. ‘Be joyful, keep the faith, and do the little things that you have heard and seen me do.’ The phrase gwnewch y pethau bychain (‘do the little things’) is still well-known in Wales.

10. Candles prophesising imminent death were inspired by St David

Probably one of the more bizarre things associated with St David is ‘corpse candles’, mysterious lights that would warn or foretell of the imminent death of someone in the community. The candles were small balls of yellow or blue light that are said to have appeared on certain roads, also called corpse roads, that were old highways in the middle ages for taking dead bodies for burial.

St. David is said to have prayed for his people to have some warning of the death of a family member, so that they could prepare themselves, and in a vision was told that believers would be forewarned by the dim light of mysterious tapers where the end of a life was to take place.