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Captain Henry Hudson (1570 - 1609)

10/24/2013

 
The dates above are speculative because there isn’t concrete evidence of the year he was born and the year of his death isn’t quite certain because he disappeared as I’ll explain later. Captain Hudson is a famous explorer who has several places around the world named after him including in North America the Hudson Bay (twice the size of the Baltic Sea), and the Hudson River.  
 
Ever since Henry was a boy he served on various ships doing every job available in hopes of becoming a sea captain someday (apprenticeships were required back then versus attending school). It was recognized early on that he was a natural seaman especially when it came to navigating a ship and maneuvering it. 

The reason having someone this young commanding his own ship was out of the norm is that a ship whose role is to explore is a high risk/high reward business. Captains in this role would go around from investor to investor trying to convince them it would be financially rewarding to back him on an expedition. These trips were typically looking for better trade routes for existing trade, more lucrative ones where the captain
discovers new trade opportunities (of course a discovery of gold was well
received), and land to be acquired like Britain and France did in North America. 
 
Investing in expeditions was extremely risky because the investor had to provide all resources up front including a ship many of the times. The ships would often travel to places no one had ever been so it could be easily lost at sea which would be a huge financial hit for its investor. Then there are also those times when a captain would return home empty handed which meant the investor lost everything. 
 
But Captain Hudson had a reputation for delivering results to the point where several countries sought him out for specific missions and a lot of companies like the East India Trade Company did the same. When he became a captain and started turning in amazing results he never had to grovel again for investment funds. As a bonus during one of Hudson’s voyages Britain gave him the ship he commanded and it was called the Discovery. 
 
I can’t go into all the places he sailed as it would take up a lot of space but it did include a lot of cold places like Greenland and the Arctic Circle. As you can imagine these aren’t the kind of places most captains and crews were willing to go because they’re so do dangerous for a variety of reasons plus could you imagine working topside in
those cold conditions? Because of his expertise in these hazardous conditions he
was the most often called upon to do northern excursions including in Canada and
New Found Land where the Hudson Bay and Hudson Straight are located.

Just a guess on my part but I think one of the reasons Captain Hudson hasn’t gotten some of the historical coverage that explorers like Lewis and Clark did is because his missions were usually different. He was a money-maker so to speak. His missions were very clear and a big chunk of it was to create better trade routes so shipping could be efficient and effective. As you can imagine the faster and safer a trade route could be
meant a lot more revenues for those in the supply business. His primary job wasn’t to look for new lands but to get the most out of discovered lands as quickly and safely as possible. 

I mentioned at the beginning of this piece the year of Captain Hudson’s death is unknown. Expeditions took a long time and it always took its toll on the crews who were away from their family and friends. They were at the base of the Hudson Bay when the weather became too difficult to continue sailing so they settled on shore for a few months until the weather improved. Once conditions were good Captain Hudson wanted to continue exploring since they already travelled thousands of miles to get there but most of his crew wanted to go home. While underway the crew committed
mutiny. They didn’t dislike the captain they just wanted to sail home. They gave
Hudson and four of his officers a small boat along with supplies so they could make it back to shore. Unfortunately this was the last time anyone saw them so his death couldn’t be confirmed.

As I’ve demonstrated several times there are some amazing stories that many of us don’t have a clue about. There are some amazing men and women throughout our history who get little to no credit in our history books. Captain Hudson is one of those men. He was a phenomenal captain who sailed on very dangerous seas on a ship that certainly wasn’t like the ones we have today. He was a winner in every sense of the word as he never had a shortage of business; as soon as he got back from one trip another trading company our country would send him on another excursion. Having such outstanding  credibility in a very challenging and expensive industry is difficult as it is but for someone in his 20’s to be called on again and again is absolutely
amazing. Captain Hudson’s life was a short but he sure packed a lot in it; as
someone once said: “It’s not length of your life that counts but its
depth.”
                          

Joan of Arc (Two Minutes to Read)

10/24/2013

 
Joan of Arc (1412 – 1431), is a folk heroine of France and a Roman Catholic Saint. She was born a peasant girl in what is now eastern France. Claiming divine guidance, she led the French army to several important victories during the Hundred Years' War, which paved the way for the coronation of Charles VII of France. At the time, King George V was aggressively expanding his territory with the goal of becoming King of France along with King of England. 

Joan's parents owned about 50 acres of land and her father supplemented his farming work with a minor position as a village official, collecting taxes and heading the local watch. Because of Joan’s successes the family was made nobles. They lived in an isolated patch of eastern France that remained loyal to the French crown despite being surrounded by Burgundian territory (Burgundy wine). Several local raids occurred by the English army during her childhood and on one occasion her village was burned;
thus her hatred of King George V. 

Because the French were often on the run the Hundred Years' War was mostly fought in France, and the English army burned down village after village which devastated France’s economy. The French population had not recovered from the Black Death of the previous century and its merchants were isolated from foreign markets because of the war. At the outset of Joan of Arc’s appearance, the English had nearly achieved their goal of a dual monarchy under English control and the French army had not achieved any major victories for a generation and instead losing land to the English more each year. 

Joan testified that she experienced her first vision around 1424 at the age of 12 years, when she was alone in a field and saw visions of figures she identified as Saint Michael, Saint Catherine, and Saint Margaret, who told her to drive out the English. With the French losing many battles Joan predicted victories in certain locations that came true and word made its way to the king. At first they thought she might be a witch
because of her numerous visions but quickly ruled it out because of the types of
visions she was having and that she was a devout Catholic.  
 
At the age of 16, and knowing her country was at risk of losing the war she did something no other girl had done before and that was she petitioned the Royal French Court and asked them to allow her to go into battle. Think about how small and innocent she must have looked. She told King Charles VII who met with her one on one (something very rare), that she wasn’t afraid to fight because she knew God was with her; she even guaranteed him victories. 

After years of one humiliating defeat after another, both the military and civil leadership of France were demoralized and discredited. When the King granted Joan’s urgent request to be equipped for war and placed at the head of his army, his decision must have been based in large part on the knowledge that every rational option had been tried and had failed. Only a regime in dire straits would pay any heed to an illiterate farm girl who claimed that the voice of God was instructing her to take charge of her country’s army and lead it to victory. Let this sink in, how amazing must she
have been to convince them to lead an army. In my opinion this is one of the most amazing events throughout our history.

Joan of Arc rejected the cautious strategies that characterized French leadership during previous campaigns which infuriated various military commanders because she was basically saying they were completely wrong; which based on their track records they were. During one of the sieges she opposed a military commander at a war council and demanded another assault on the enemy. He wanted to wait for reinforcements before moving on. She summoned the townsmen and common soldiers and forced the mayor to unlock a gate. Disregarding the commander’s decision, she insisted on
attacking the main English stronghold called "les Tourelles." A rout ensued that decimated the main body of the English army and killed or captured most of its commanders.

Contemporaries acknowledged her as the heroine of the engagement after she was wounded in the neck by an arrow but returned to lead the final charge. In one of the main battles after this, she withstood a blow from a stone cannonball to her helmet as she climbed a scaling ladder. Think about how brave this was as rocks and hot tar were used to get the soldiers off the ladders. In one of her final battles she took a crossbow arrow to her leg and still fought until the battle was over. She was one tough warrior
and in no doubt in my mind, God ordained. 
 
Joan was finally captured at the age of 19 and burned at the stake. They made the execution a huge event because they thought it would demoralize the French Army. Twenty-five years after her execution, an inquisitorial court authorized by Pope Callixtus III examined the trial, pronounced her innocent, and declared her a martyr. Joan of Arc was beatified in 1909 and canonized in 1920. She is – along with St. Denis, St. Martin of Tours, St. Louis IX, and St. Theresa of Lisieux – one of the Patron
Saints of France. 

Before I forget, Joan’s vision and promise came through as she helped get England out of France laying the groundwork for King Charles to remain on the throne; King George of England never again attacked France. 

Joan of Arc has amazingly been a popular figure for over 600 years. Cultural depictions of Joan of Arc have continued in film, theatre, television, video games, music, and performances to this day. If I were to pick a top five of the most amazing people in history, she’d be on that list.


    Author: John Mann

    Picture

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