A Printer's Devil and a Bastard King

Dear Folk,

On August 14th, an illegitimate son won the independence of a nation spawning a generation of explorers, and the first printed book was published by a man who was then accused of witchcraft.

Let us talk of the book first. It was on this day, 1457, that the first book ever printed was published by a wandering astrologer who lived mostly in Germany. It was The Book of Psalms, which was part of a project of his to print the entire Bible. He had begun that project seven long years before.

He carried several of his newly printed editions with him to Paris, thinking to sell them there. He made a small mistake: he showed more than one copy at a time. He was thrown in prison on the suspicion that he had been dealing with the Devil. Why? Well, looking at the copies anyone could see that they were exactly alike. No one could do that unless they were practicing witchcraft.

Now when I say "witchcraft" I am not talking about how we understand Wicca as (do this in a single breath) a European pre-Christian folk faith based upon the turning wheel of the year. Trust me on that. These Parisian folks were worried about the Devil (with the big D) who was out to ensnare men's souls by granting them temporary gifts. That was sort of like the military recruiters are today.

In order to prove his innocence the traveler had to show the folks what was behind his uniformly printed documents. In doing so, he opened the way for the spread and advancement of this technology. No, he wasn't in league with the Devil. However, he became grist for some authors' mills. You may have heard of this jailed German; his name made it as the prototypic deal with the Devil: Dr. Faust.

Today also marks the battle of Aljubarratto fought in 1385 between John of Portugal and John of Castile. It ensured that Portugal achieved its independence from the kingdom of Castile (later part of Spain) beyond any dispute.

To set the stage just a little, here are some kings of Portugal. King Diniz (the Worker) who ruled from 1279 to 1325 was a poet who raised the education level of his people, made commercial treaties with England, started the Portuguese naval activity which was to win so much of the New World. He had help from Venice and Genoa on that. His son, Alphonso IV (the Brave), ruled from 1325 to 1357. Alphonso had his problems: the Moors and his own family. He solved the Moorish problem by allying with Castile (he married Beatrice who was the daughter of Sancho IV of Castile) to beat them pesky Moors at the battle of Salado. His family problems he handled in sort of the same way.

Alphonso's son Peter had a mistress, Inez de Castro, whom he later married. Alphonso had her killed in 1355. The why of that escapes me but evidentially most Portuguese know about this. Peter was very unhappy with dad for doing this. Wouldn't you be? I think dad was upset because Peter was originally married to Constance of Castile in another effort to keep things cool with the Castilians. Peter, after a brief revolution, ruled from 1357 to 1367. Peter and Constance's kid, was Ferdinand I who ruled from 1367 to 1383. But Peter and Inez also had a child named John. More on him in a second.

Ferdinand I (the Handsome) was a rather wishy-washy king. He also ignored grandpa's thing about Castile and conveniently forgot his betrothal to a Castilian princess. He married for his heart's sake Leonora Telles. Castile was having quite enough of these amorous Portuguese. There was a tiny war now declared. Ferdinand and Leonora had a daughter, Beatrice (named for Ferd's grandma), whom they betrothed to John I of Castile. Ah, that should re-cement things. Ferdinand died and left Leonora as regent for Beatrice.

The only problem was that the folks of Portugal detested Leonora, her new lover (no, I am not naming names) and the Castilian meddling. Enter John, the illegitimate son of Peter I and Inez. He led a revolution to drive out Leonora and her Castilian friends. Although crowned king, John I (1385 - 1433) had the counter-revolutionary forces of the Castilians to deal with. They invaded Portugal twice and even besieged Lisbon.

It was at the Battle of Aljubarrato on August 14, 1385 that John I of Portugal defeated the forces led by John I of Castile (Beatrice's hubby.) Portugal won and Castile was finally thrown out. Portugal entered probably the greatest period in its history. John was a capable and enlightened ruler. In the Treaty of Windsor (May 9, 1386) Portugal permanently cemented peaceful relations with England. To cap it off, John I married Phillipa, daughter of John of Gaunt, Duke of Lancaster and son of Edward III. One of John I and Phillipa's children became King Henry the Navigator who sponsored Vasco de Gama's explorations.

What have we learned from this? Kings should be careful whom they marry? Bastards can make pretty good kings? Local rule is often the only acceptable practice? How about "sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic?" I offer mention in a following column for the first person who tells me who originally said that quote.

If you wish to impress the French (or anyone else) by sending them my column, please keep my name and sig attached.

Printing my own stuff,
J. Ellsworth Weaver

SCA - Sir Balthazar of Endor
AS - Polyphemus Theognis
TRV - Sebastian Yeats