October 9 – Superb and valiant knight

October 7, 2013

Baron Athanase-Charles-Marie Charette de la Contrie Born at Nantes, 3 Sept., 1832; died at Basse-Motte (Ille-et-Vilaine), 9 Oct., 1911. His father was a nephew of the famous General Charette who was shot at Nantes, 29 March, 1795, during the rising of the Vendee. His mother, Louise, Countess de Vierzon, was the daughter of the Duc […]

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Knights Hospitallers of St. John of Jerusalem

October 7, 2013

(Also known as KNIGHTS OF MALTA). The most important of all the military orders, both for the extent of its area and for its duration. It is said to have existed before the Crusades and is not extinct at the present time. During this long career it has not always borne the same name. Known […]

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October 4 – He chose a greater chivalry

October 3, 2013

St. Francis of Assisi Founder of the Franciscan Order, born at Assisi in Umbria, in 1181 or 1182 — the exact year is uncertain; died there, 3 October, 1226. His father, Pietro Bernardone, was a wealthy Assisian cloth merchant. Of his mother, Pica, little is known, but she is said to have belonged to a […]

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Our Lady of the Most Holy Rosary Saves the Philippines from the Invading Dutch Fleet

October 3, 2013

THE BATTLES OF LA NAVAL DE MANILA Our Lady of the Most Holy Rosary Saves the Philippines from the Invading Dutch Fleet Inside the Dominican church of Santo Domingo in Quezon City sits in celestial splendor and glory one of the most venerated and beloved image of the Most Holy Virgin in the Philippines. Among […]

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Labour MPs consider Royal 12% profit insufficient, demand more control

October 3, 2013

According to The Guardian: Gareth Thomas, chair of the Co-op party’s group of 33 Labour MPs, said…“Modernising the rules governing the crown estate could, for example, allow it to invest in up-and-coming property markets… or in new technology businesses…” The estate manages the £8.6bn of land and property that the crown owns, but which the […]

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Palace reminds joggers to be polite

October 3, 2013

According to AFP: Japanese joggers are being warned to mind their manners when they run around the Imperial Palace in central Tokyo, after a spate of rudeness. Officials say tourists and older visitors to the grounds have complained of runners crashing into them from behind and then trotting off without saying sorry. While the emperor’s […]

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MacArthur rebukes the Congressmen who insulted him

October 3, 2013

While Chief of Staff, MacArthur was called before a Congressional Committee to make a report. It is the intolerant practice of some congressmen and senators to throw monkey-wrenches into the wheels of progress in an attempt to make themselves important in the eyes of their constituents back home. Instead of constructively trying to get at […]

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The Feudal Bond Involved Mutual Responsibility

October 3, 2013

The strength of this feudal bond leads James Westfall Thompson to observe that “no more intensely personal form of government was ever conceived than that of feudalism, and the cardinal principle of it was mutual responsibility.”(1) That is to say, it was not a unilateral bond of submission, but a highly personal bond in which […]

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October 3 – Military turned monk

October 3, 2013

St. Gérard, Abbot of Brogne Born at Staves in the county of Namur, towards the end of the ninth century; died at Brogne or St-Gérard, 3 Oct. 959. The son of Stance, of the family of dukes of Lower Austrasia, and of Plectrude, sister of Stephen, Bishop of Liège, the young Gérard, like most men […]

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October 3 – Mother Théodore Guérin

October 3, 2013

Many of the early pioneers faced the hardships of this country where wars, famine and disease were the norm. Leaving everything behind, heroic souls came not only to save the souls of Indian nations, but also to minister to these frontier families. One such person was St. Mother Théodore Guérin, who became the eighth American Saint […]

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October 3 – Enemy of King St. Louis, but still his friend in Christ

October 3, 2013

St. Thomas of Hereford (THOMAS DE CANTELUPE). Born at Hambledon, Buckinghamshire, England, about 1218; died at Orvieto, Italy, 25 August, 1282. He was the son of William de Cantelupe and Millicent de Gournay, and thus a member of an illustrious and influential family. He was educated under the care of his uncle, Walter de Cantelupe, […]

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October 5 – St. Galla

October 3, 2013

A Roman widow of the sixth century; feast, 5 October. According to St. Gregory the Great (Dial. IV, ch. xiii) she was the daughter of the younger Symmachus, a learned and virtuous patrician of Rome, whom Theodoric had unjustly condemned to death (525). Becoming a widow before the end of the first year of her […]

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October 6 – Princes and popes coveted the advice of this silent man

October 3, 2013

St. Bruno Confessor, ecclesiastical writer, and founder of the Carthusian Order. He was born at Cologne about the year 1030; died 6 October, 1101. He is usually represented with a death’s head in his hands, a book and a cross, or crowned with seven stars; or with a roll bearing the device O Bonitas. His […]

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New Coat of Arms for Duke and Duchess of Cambridge Includes Diana Label

September 30, 2013

According to their official website: The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge have a new Conjugal Coat of Arms which will represent them in heraldic terms as a married couple. Designed by The College of Arms in London, Conjugal Arms traditionally show the separate shields of a Royal husband and wife, side by side. Both shields […]

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A British Royal Comes to America to Tell the Catholic Story

September 30, 2013

by Austin Ruse Next week Washington DC will be treated to the arrival of a pro-life Catholic who is also a member of the British royal family. How is that possible? Nicholas Windsor gave up his place in line to the British throne when he converted to the Catholic Church in 2001. He became “the […]

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Democrats Heckle Royals

September 30, 2013

According to AFP: Belgium’s newly-crowned royals, King Philippe and Queen Mathilde, faced a crowd of separatist hecklers on their first foray into the rebellious port city of Antwerp on Friday. Though several hundred people lined up to greet Philippe…an equally big crowd of republican separatists massed nearby shouting “Death to Belgium” and waving the Flemish […]

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The Feudal Bond: Establishing Friendship not Hatred

September 30, 2013

While there were exceptions, the feudal bond tended to generate ties of great friendship. Those who swore such bonds, Bloch notes, were addressed as “friend” to the point that “friend” and “vassal” were considered synonymous. There was a true linking together of lives, a great interpenetration of interests and ideas. In general, feudal bonds were […]

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Honor above all, even at the cost of freedom and life

September 30, 2013

Egas Moniz de Ribadouro, the Tutor, (1080 – 1146) was a rich man in the County of Portucale (from which Portugal would later be born). He hailed from the noble lineage of the Ribadouro, one of the five great families of the county of Entre-Douro-e-Minho in the 12th century. Henry of Burgundy, Count of Portucale, had entrusted the […]

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September 30 – The cantankerous noble who became a saint

September 30, 2013

St. Jerome, Father and Doctor of the Church Born at Stridon, a town on the confines of Dalmatia and Pannonia, about the year 340-2; died at Bethlehem, 30 September, 420. He had a brother much younger than himself, whose name was Paulinian. His father, called Eusebius, was descended from a good family, and had a […]

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October 1 – The martial and pious death of Don John of Austria: “A man sent by God”

September 30, 2013

Alarm was ended on the fourth day, seeing that the fever and other ills left D. John. But the next day, which was a Saturday, he suddenly grew worse, and while the other invalids went on getting better and became convalescent, he showed other symptoms of a strange illness, palpitations which made him get up […]

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October 1 – St. Thérèse of the Child Jesus, Prologue: The Parentage & Birth of Marie Françoise Thérèse Martin & Chapter I: Earliest Memories

September 30, 2013

ST. THÉRÈSE OF LISIEUX Excerpts from THE STORY OF A SOUL: THE AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF ST. THÉRÈSE OF LISIEUX SOEUR THÉRÈSE OF LISIEUX, THE LITTLE FLOWER OF JESUS ______________________________ PROLOGUE: THE PARENTAGE & BIRTH OF MARIE FRANÇOISE THÉRÈSE MARTIN “To the Sacred Memory of Louis Joseph Stanislaus Martin and of Zélie Guérin, the blessed parents of […]

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October 2 – Falsely charged, mutilated and martyred

September 30, 2013

St. Leodegar (also Leger or Leodegarius) Bishop of Autun, born about 615; died a martyr in 678, at Sarcing, Somme. His mother was called Sigrada, and his father Bobilo. His parents being of high rank, his early childhood was passed at the court of Clotaire II. He went later to Poitiers, to study under the […]

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Pontifical Orders and Titles of Nobility

September 30, 2013

Pontifical decorations are the titles of nobility, orders of Christian knighthood and other marks of honour and distinction which the papal court confers upon men of unblemished character who have in any way promoted the interests of society, the Church, and the Holy See. The titles range all the way from prince to baron inclusive, […]

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MacArthur warns Congress of military defeat’s dire consequences for America

September 26, 2013

General MacArthur, sitting before the Committee of Military Affairs in the House of Representatives, on April 26, 1933, spoke in firm tones… If ever there were more prophetic words, they are not recorded in history…. “There is nothing more expensive than an insufficient army. To build an army to be defeated by some other fellow’s […]

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King Begs for Help

September 26, 2013

According to AFP: Jordan’s King Abdullah II on Tuesday pleaded for more support for the swelling number of Syrian refugees, warning that his country was overwhelmed. Abdullah said that Syrian refugees already were the equivalent of one-10th of the Jordanian population and could reach 20 percent — or one million people — by next year. […]

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Crown Prince and Princess of Japan visit Fukushima refugees

September 26, 2013

According to Royalty News: The Crown Prince Naruhito and Crown Princess Masako returned to visit some of the…refugees in Fukushima who have been unable to return home since the earthquake and have been living temporarily in Koriyama because of the still ongoing issues at Fukushima…site of the worst nuclear disaster since Chernobyl. They also visited […]

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The feudal bond was a generalized bond

September 26, 2013

We note that this intense family-like and hierarchical relationship existed in varying degrees throughout all levels of medieval society—not just among feudal lords. In fact, any individual could be at once both servant and master. These multiple bonds actually set the standard for unifying society beyond mere family and clan-like ties. French historian Marc Bloch […]

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September 27 – These exemplary nobles personified virtue

September 26, 2013

Saint Elzéar of Sabran, Count of Arian, and Saint Delphina of Glandenes St. Elzear (also spelled Eleazarus) was descended of the ancient and illustrious family of Sabran, in Provence; his father, Hermengaud of Sabran, was created count of Arian (Ariano), in the kingdom of Naples; his mother was Lauduna of Albes, a family no less […]

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September 27 – St. Vincent de Paul had special charity to the impoverished nobility

September 26, 2013

St. Vincent de Paul founded a special organization for the relief of the nobility of Lorraine who had sought refuge in Paris during the Thirty Years War. In that period of the war known as the French period Lorraine, Trois-Evechés, Franche-Comté, and Champagne underwent for nearly a quarter of a century all the horrors and […]

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September 28 – Good King Wenceslaus

September 26, 2013

(Also Vaclav, Vaceslav.) Duke, martyr, and patron of Bohemia, born probably 903; died at Alt-Bunzlau, 28 September, 935. His parents were Duke Wratislaw, a Christian, and Dragomir, a heathen. He received a good Christian education from his grandmother (St. Ludmilla) and at Budweis. After the death of Wratislaw, Dragomir, acting as regent, opposed Christianity, and […]

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September 29 – The Angelic Inspiration of Chivalry

September 26, 2013

Saints Michael, Gabriel, and Raphael _____________________ Saint Michael the Archangel: “Who is like God?” In Hebraic, mîkâ’êl, means “Who is like God?” The Scriptures refer to the Archangel Saint Michael in four different passages: two of them, in Daniel’s prophesy (chap. 10, 13 and 21; and chap. 12, 1); one in Saint Jude Thaddeus (single […]

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September 29 – In battle or in prison, he never missed Mass

September 26, 2013

Blessed Charles of Blois (1320- September 29, 1364) Charles is the son of Guy I of Blois-Châtillon, count of Blois, by Margaret of Valois, a sister of king Philip VI of France. Early in life, he felt a call to be a Franciscan friar, but political duty kept him in secular life. Following his marriage […]

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September 29 – Military Orders of St. Michael

September 26, 2013

Military Orders of St. Michael (1) A Bavarian Order, founded in 1721 by Elector Joseph Clemens of Cologne, Duke of Bavaria, and confirmed by Maximilian Joseph, King of Bavaria, 11 September 1808. Pius VII, 5 Feb. 1802 granted to priests decorated with this order all the privileges of domestic prelates. Under Louis I it was […]

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September 24 – Our Lady of Ransom

September 23, 2013

Feast of Our Lady of Ransom (also known as Our Lady of Mercy) 24 September commemorates the foundation of the Mercedarians. [Nobility.org note: The most current historical dates and facts can be found in the Mercedarian history book, available here: http://orderofmercy.org/charism.html] On 10 August, 1223, the Mercedarian Order was legally constituted at Barcelona by King […]

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Court upholds obligatory oath to Queen

September 23, 2013

According to CTV News: Forcing would-be Canadians to take an oath to the Queen as a condition of citizenship is constitutional…an Ontario court ruled Friday. The Citizenship Act requires applicants for citizenship to swear or affirm they will be “faithful and bear true allegiance to Queen Elizabeth the Second, Queen of Canada, her heirs and […]

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Swedish royal family will begin to teach government how a budget works

September 23, 2013

According to The Local: Starting next year, the royals must provide a proper balance sheet and income statement detailing how they spend the money they receive from the state, complete with comments and notes, according to the government’s budget bill presented earlier this week… King Carl XVI Gustaf and his family receive an annual sum…of […]

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The Duke of Alba gave everything to serve his king

September 23, 2013

Far more than merely a general, [the Duke of Alba] was also an active creator of Spanish military power. For over forty years he led the campaigns of the crown in the peninsula and in Europe, administered the army’s supplies, coordinated military and naval movements, organized payments and liaised with the soldiers. His family alliances […]

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A Family-like Relationship

September 23, 2013

The feudal bond was an extremely personal relationship imbued with the family spirit. In fact, the institution began when desperate families entered the households of local leaders who led them in the fight for survival from barbarian invasion and social strife. Historian Franz Funck-Brentano notes that, in this way, a relationship was formed “whose members […]

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September 23 – He ensured the immunity of non-combatants in warfare

September 23, 2013

St. Adamnan of Ireland, Abbot He was the eighth in descent from the great Nial, king of Ireland, and from Conal the Great, ancestor of St. Columbkille. His parents were eminent for their rank and virtue. He was born in the year 626, at Rathboth, (1) now called Raphoe, in the county of Donegal, and […]

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September 25 – Princely Umpire in a deadly sport

September 23, 2013

St. Albert of Jerusalem Patriarch of Jerusalem, one of the conspicuous ecclesiastics in the troubles between the Holy See and Federick Barbarossa; date of birth uncertain; died 14 September, 1215. He was in fact asked by both Pope and Emperor to act as umpire in their dispute and, as a reward, was made Prince of […]

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September 25 – St. Aunarius

September 23, 2013

St. Aunarius (Or Aunacharius). Bishop of Auxerre in France, born 573, died 603. Being of noble birth, he was brought up in the royal court, but evinced a desire to enter the clerical state, was ordained priest by St. Syagrius of Autum, and eventually was made Bishop of Auxerre. His administration is noted for certain […]

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Princess Royal to first name request: “Actually, I prefer Mrs.”

September 19, 2013

According to The Telegraph: Traditionally, the Prime Minister makes an annual visit to Balmoral during September. In 2011, David and Samantha Cameron visited on the weekend of the Braemar Gathering, of which the Queen is chieftain. Tony Blair’s visit to the Highland Games in 2003 was notable for the lack of enthusiasm exhibited by his […]

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Fidelity to royal crown and mace

September 19, 2013

According to BBC News: Prince Edward, Earl of Wessex, visited Jersey to mark 350 years since the Royal Mace was given to the island by King Charles II. The current Bailiff of Jersey, Sir Michael Birt, said he felt the mace was an important part of island history and felt privileged to be part of […]

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King Willem-Alexander: Welfare state is “unsustainable”

September 19, 2013

According to the Associated Press: King Willem-Alexander delivered a message to the Dutch people from the government Tuesday in a nationally televised address: the welfare state of the 20th century is gone. …the monarch’s traditional annual address on the day the government presents its budget for the coming year. It was Willem-Alexander’s first appearance on […]

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King describes Muslim Brotherhood as “wolves” and “Masonic”

September 19, 2013

According to the Gatestone Institute: Jordan’s King Abdullah has turned down a request from Hamas to re-open its offices in his country, according to informed sources in Amman. The sources said that the Qataris offered hundreds of millions of dollars in aid to Jordan in return for allowing Hamas to open offices in the kingdom. […]

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Abbé Edgeworth: King Louis’ Irish Confessor

September 19, 2013

by Rev. George W. Rutler Among the singularities of the French monarchy was the tradition of having Scottish bodyguards. Scottish history has not been riddled with pacifism, and the Scots along with the fiery Castilians, were used as mercenaries as early as Charlemagne. An “Auld Alliance” between Scotland and France was sealed in 1295, and in […]

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The Feudal Bond Was Practical and Flexible

September 19, 2013

[T]he feudal bond was a flexible bond especially in times of crisis. It arose during a period of chaos and barbarian invasions before the ninth and tenth centuries when families and individuals were overwhelmed by the nearly insurmountable obstacles of surviving amidst the disorder. We might liken the emergence of the feudal bond to the […]

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Prince Metternich and the world-renowned Sacher torte

September 19, 2013

Culinary prowess fits well with diplomatic achievement. Fine cheeses and Prince Talleyrand’s genius, for example, saved France from being carved up by its victors during the Congress of Vienna, in the wake of Napoleon’s defeat. Austria’s great champion in this Congress of nations gathered in Vienna, was Prince Klemens Wenzel von Metternich. While he may […]

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September 19 – She begged donations to ransom Christian captives

September 19, 2013

Blessed Mary de Cervellione (or De Cervello) Popularly styled “de Socos” (of Help) Saint, born about 1230 at Barcelona; died there 19 September, 1290. She was a daughter of a Spanish nobleman named William de Cervellon. One day she heard a sermon preached by Blessed Bernard de Corbarie, the superior of the Brotherhood of Our […]

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September 19 – The Pope asks Princess Mary to marry James II of England

September 19, 2013

Another voice, the most august of all, was now to break silence. The arguments of Kings, Cardinals, Ambassadors, and of her own family had failed to shake the purpose or convince the mind of the young Princess. Moved by a desire to benefit the Catholics of England, and as much perhaps by the solicitations of […]

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September 20 – Court preacher to Charles V

September 19, 2013

Saint Alonso de Orozco Mena Alphonsus de Orozco was born in Oropesa, Province of Toledo, Spain, on the 17th of October 1500, where his father was governor of the local castle. He began his studies in the nearby Talavera de la Reina and for three years he was a choir boy in the Cathedral of […]

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Royal Navy toasts the birth of Prince George

September 16, 2013

According to the Sunday Mirror: Six hundred sailors have gathered to toast the birth of Prince George in a tradition dating back hundreds of years. The Royal Navy personnel gathered at Portsmouth Naval Base, Hampshire, to “splice the mainbrace” – a celebration involving drinking a tot of rum. Splicing the mainbrace…refers to fixing the main […]

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General MacArthur: 1942 Father of the Year

September 16, 2013

“Arthur,” the General admitted, “is the only one who can tolerate my singing.” Arthur learned the old army songs fast, and Mrs. MacArthur would hurry breakfast along when she heard, down the hall, the bellowed duet of “Old soldiers never dieeee—” followed by shrieks of boyish laughter. Thus the Commander in Chief of the Southwest […]

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Defining the Misunderstood Feudal Bond

September 16, 2013

The feudal bond is any of a broad range of mutually beneficial relationships within the rule of law that bind individuals together in society from top to bottom. It is characterized by one party that seeks protection and another that seeks service. It often involved the distribution of land and offices in return for these […]

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September 16 – The pope who exacted tribute from the Mohammedan ruler of Tunis

September 16, 2013

Pope Blessed Victor III Born in 1026 or 1027 of a non-regnant branch of the Lombard dukes of Benevento; died in Rome, 16 Sept., 1087. Being an only son his desire to embrace the monastic state was strenuously opposed by both his parents. After his father’s death in battle with the Normans, 1047, he fled […]

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Turkish war tents turned into Mass vestments after 1683 victory in Vienna

September 16, 2013

The spoils of war from King Jan Sobieski’s great victory on September 12, 1683, against the 150,000 Muslim Turks outside Vienna were immense, but perhaps none received a better fate than the war tents. They were brought back to Poland, where loving and pious hands turned some of them into rich Mass vestments, as can […]

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September 17 – Noble calm in all controversy, even when correcting the pope

September 16, 2013

St. Robert Francis Romulus Bellarmine (Also, “Bellarmino”). A distinguished Jesuit theologian, writer, and cardinal, born at Montepulciano, 4 October, 1542; died 17 September, 1621. His father was Vincenzo Bellarmino, his mother Cinthia Cervini, sister of Cardinal Marcello Cervini, afterwards Pope Marcellus II. He was brought up at the newly founded Jesuit college in his native […]

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September 17 – Stigmata of St. Francis of Assisi

September 16, 2013

Early in August, 1224, Francis retired with three companions to “that rugged rock ‘twixt Tiber and Arno”, as Dante called La Verna, there to keep a forty days fast in preparation for Michaelmas. During this retreat the sufferings of Christ became more than ever the burden of his meditations; into few souls, perhaps, had the […]

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Military, Social, and Religious History of Chivalry and Knighthood

September 16, 2013

Chivalry (derived through the French cheval from the Latin caballus) as an institution is to be considered from three points of view: 1) the military, 2) the social, 3) and the religious. We shall also here consider: 4) the history of chivalry as a whole. 1) MILITARY In the military sense, chivalry was the heavy […]

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In her anguish, the Marchioness of Cadiz appeals to her husband’s mortal enemy to rush to his aid

September 12, 2013

The perilous situation of the Christian cavaliers pent up and beleaguered within the walls of Alhama, spread terror among their friends, and anxiety throughout all Andalusia. Nothing, however, could equal the anguish of the Marchioness of Cadiz, the wife of the gallant Roderigo Ponce de Leon. In her deep distress, she looked round for some […]

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