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The Origins of Chess

A Tribute to Dr. Ricardo Calvo - Part 2

Part 1 Tribute to Dr. Calvo
Part 2 The Renaissance Thread Page 1
Part 3 The Renaissance Thread Page 2

From: Delphi "Chess Goddesses and Everything Discussion Forum"
A friendly and informative dialogue with Dr. Ricardo Calvo

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From: ALPHETA 10/18/99 2:16 am To: RICALVO (41 of 232) 18.41 in reply to 18.40 Ricardo, darling! You are just full of surprises! Gnostic chess secrets expropriated by the Templars? An Egyptian Princess-Mummy Curse on the Titanic? EEK! I shall track these references down (alas, not all of your links came through) and have lots of fun in the attempt. In the meantime, I hope you will visit Goddesschess and see what Terpsy has wrought there - she is a Genius! We now have your 1998 presention to the ICC in Vienna, Austria posted under "Ch'essays" and the entire new section I did up on the 1999 World Chess Championship is there too. I am continuing my research on Teresa - she will be the first entree under "Chess Patronesses", the first one of many to follow...

From: RICALVO 10/18/99 3:43 am To: ALPHETA (42 of 232) 18.42 in reply to 18.41 Good evening, Madam Now that you seem to be glad, I must point to a small controverse. Teresa was not aristocratic. Her father was simply a rich merchant, but in those years, a working Spaniard could never be considered a noble man. Among the mess of my books, I must still have the photocopy of an unprinted book, handwritten by St. Teresa, but don«t tell anibody about it. Carmen and me shall be glad to show it you in your future visist to Madrid (Vienna is near from here) Terpsy is a genius, of course, but too reflective.

From: ALPHETA 10/18/99 5:43 am To: RICALVO (43 of 232) 18.43 in reply to 18.42 Dear Ricardo, Are you telling me that you are the possessor of a heretofore unknown manuscript by Teresa of Avila? If this is true, you ARE tempting me to take a European junket. I was invited for a visit a few months ago by Herr Josten, but declined his gracious invitation; however, if you have "hidden" chess history assets, I might very well be persuaded to change my mind and wing my way to the Europe...perhaps in the springtime... As for my assertion that Teresa was the daughter of an "aristocratic family", I quoted from http://www.st-teresas.org/Background/history.html - and the extensive background information gleaned from a link at that site to the 'Catholic Encyclopedia' would seem to affirm the assertion that Terese was of an aristocratic background. Subsequent events in her life point to the lady being "well-connected" - links upon which no woman of humble origins could ever have prevailed... Without knowing anything about the mores of Midieval Spanish society, it seems logical to me that Teresa would have come from a privileged background. First, is the usage of the titles of "Don" and "Dona" with respect to her father and mother, titles that I believe would NOT have been granted to parents of a more plebian background; second, is Terese's extensive knowledge of Chess; there is no evidence that The Game was a widely spread past-time of the middle-class and merchant-class in Renaissance Spain -- your own article (set forth in prior posts at this site) points, instead, to Chess being [at the time] a game and entertainment of the aristocracy and upper classes, and not a game of which the common man would have any knowledge. It is admitted that Terese went into the Convent between the ages of 20 and 21, to be cloistered away from society. Arising out of a background that frowned upon educating females, Terese's knowledge of The Game (as well as of other subjects) bespeaks the indulgence of a kind and loving father and mother (her mother died when Terese was fourteen - an age at which a "woman" would have been considered "marriageable"). Indeed, her first "nunnery" is described as "large, relaxed, frequently visied by ladies and gentlemen of the town and the nuns were allowed to leave the enclosure." Whence, then, had Teresa the opportunity to learn The Game - Chess? It seems logical that her intimate knowledge of The Game could only have arisen from extensive contact with it PRIOR TO her removal to the Carmelite Convent! No mere neophyte of The Game could have written as intimately as Teresa did about her personal relationship with God and His Son, Jesus Christ, in an analogy to Check and Checkmate. No! Such eloquence speaks of a thorough and long-standing knowledge with the principles of The Game, as well as a depth of spiritual knowledge - "gnosis" - that defies our present-day imaginations! Enough for tonight...

From: ALPHETA 10/20/99 1:04 pm To: ALL (44 of 232) 18.44 in reply to 18.43 Hi, all. Ricardo Calvo sent me the following, which I am posting here in its entirety: "The oldest preserved book on moderns chess is the printed incunabulum of Lucena, published in Salamanca 1497 and bearing a curious title "Repetici—n de amores y Arte de axedrez"*. The subject is rather odd, because a mixture in the same book of amatory literature with chess is, to say the least, unusual in our days. "There are however precedents in the late Middle Ages. In France, "Les ‘checs amoureux" with no less than six MS still preserved today, (listed in van der Linde "Geschichte und Literatur des Schachspiels" Berlin 1874, band I, Beilage, p 149-150), deals with love and chess in poetic fashion. This precious French MS aparently had only a limited geographical influence. Around 1495 a copy was jewelled with 24 beautiful miniatures by Ma”tre Antoine Rolin, a bibliophile and painter, son of a chancellor in Bourgogne, who lived in Hainaut. This particular MS is kept at the Biblioth�que Nationale in Paris (Manuscrit Fran�ais 9192) and has been re-edited recently ( "Les Žchecs amoureux" ƒditions du Ch�ne. Paris 1991) with a critical analysis by several experts. It is a long comment with allegoric and didactic purposes, inspired by the Roman de la Rose, which was taken from an anonimous poem finished around 1370 and polished in verse in 1400 describling a literary battle between the Love and the Lady. Its author was ƒvrard de Couty, a physician and courtier who was fascinated by myths, images and symbols. The text alludes frequently to other subjects such as cosmology, astronomy, heraldry or classical stories. "Several "Chansons de Geste" had already paved the way when referring amatory bets upon the chess board. Garin the Monglane [?] "But particularly the poem "Scachs d«amor", written in Valencia around 1470-1490, where Venus and Mars play a chess game, the first one with modern rules, may have inspired Lucena in his mixture. The links between Lucena and the literary circle of Valencia where modern chess seems to have been born are solid. (See Interconnections: Valencian, Italian, Jewish*). "The Renaissance chess literature shows a penchant for mythological correlations in the origin of the game. Particularly the gods of classical times (Jupiter, Apollo and Mercury) were included in a fabulous chess game described in another famous chess poem, the "Scacchia Ludus" by Vida*, from the middle of the 16th. century. The legend finishes with a love story between Mercury, the winner of the chess game, and a nymph named Scacchis. She inspired some 200 years later the literary creation of a chess goddess ("Caissa") in a famous poem by sir William Jones." A couple of things immediately caught my attention: (1) That several authors within a period of 50-60 years (including Caxton's earlier English text) wrote books that used the allegory of love - "amatory wars" - in connection with The Game; (2) That Ricardo references "connections" between the Jews, Valencia, and Italy. Must run along now and get ready for Officeworld!

From: RICALVO 10/20/99 10:47 pm To: ALPHETA (45 of 232) 18.45 in reply to 18.44 Dear Madam: In chess, when playing a game, the first necessity is to remain calm and to think before making a move. Your (our) group deserves a winn. Let«s play our game with quit attention. No hurry at all. Experiences Madam.

From: ALPHETA 10/21/99 1:07 am To: RICALVO (46 of 232) 18.46 in reply to 18.45 Dear Ricardo, I'm not much of one for "quiet attention" - which is probably the understatement of the century! And patience, while a virtue, is practically non-existent in the Newton family genome structure.... The result of which is that while I occasionally show flashes of chess competence, I am generally a poor player because I am a "charge ahead" type. But then, not everyone can be a general, somebody has to be a captain, leading the men into the fray... Or, to use chess terms, while there are kings who stay behind the lines of their advisors, officers and pawns, someone has to lead the charge, and my choice is the Black Knightess!

From: RICALVO 10/22/99 3:30 am To: ALPHETA (47 of 232) 18.47 in reply to 18.46 Dear Xena: Since you like nicknames, I would like to be named "Sitting Bull", but I don«t deserve it, becouse he was too great. If your style is going to be "charge ahead", am I allowed to call you "General Custer? Now seriously. May be I will absent two week from this Forum because I must go as a medical adviser to the World Junior Championship in Oropesa (Spain). By the way, I was there last year and I was able to assist the only girl representing USA, Noemi Nicole from Las Vegas. A long story. Due to my computer illiteracy, it is doubtful whether I can join your group with my new portable computer, but I shall try it, my General.

From: ALPHETA 10/22/99 4:07 am To: RICALVO (48 of 232) 18.48 in reply to 18.47 You are going away for two weeks? Well, I believe you may have a lot of reading to catch up on when you return if you are not able to "log on" with your laptop in the meantime! I shall miss you, but I shall bravely trudge on without you, Sitting Bull! (Now Ricardo, you must know that a lot of puns could be made on SUCH a name...) And when you get back, all of the revisions and updates to Goddesschess will be completed - that is, if I don't cause Terpsy to have a heart attack from overwork! I have some things to say about Teresa of Avila. I will say them while you are gone. You may have a heart attack yourself when you read my comments! It is a good thing you are an M.D., you may be called upon to render emergency medical aid to yourself... Bon Voyage, Ricardo! JX

From: PIMANDER 10/27/99 2:21 am To: ALPHETA (49 of 232) 18.49 in reply to 18.48 Hello Ricardo and Alpehta I suppose there are Bulls and there are Bulls. Some of them Papal. I am curious to know why St. Bernard of Clairvaux would have issued an edict preventing Templar's from playing chess. What perceived threat might have motivated this? In fact, through Bill Wall's Chess TIMELINE I have noticed a number of intances where the game is banned in various places - at times by Jews (Maimonides) but most often by the church. a bientot Don

From: ALPHETA 10/27/99 3:03 am To: PIMANDER (50 of 232) 18.50 in reply to 18.49 An interesting question, Pi. I will do some research and see what I can find. My initial hunch is that the church fathers well knew the connection between the Goddess and chess, and were horrified (terrified?) by it - and did their best to stamp out the game. That they failed - like they failed to prevent the Bible from ultimately reaching the hands of the "common man" in understandable languages (i.e., other than dead Latin - Jerome's Vulgate translation) - is a testament to that truism "the truth WILL out". In the meantime, I have been spinning my wheels here in the land of Green Fields attempting to track down any references to Santa Clara (aka St. Claire aka Sinclair). (The Sinclairs and St. Claires are associated with the Templars throughout their history - it is said that when the Templar treasure was secreted out of France under the very nose of King Philip by a group of most trusted Templars they fled to Robert the Bruce's court in Scotland and came under the protection of the Sinclairs, related to the French St. Claires, who are, of course, ancestors of one of the founders of the Templars). Found an intriguing American connection between Santa Clara University in California (founded by the Jesuits in 1851, California's oldest institution of higher learning - quel coincidence!) and a French/Mexican family by the name of de Saisset. Hmmmmmm.... Wonder what 'de Saisset' translates to in English? Interestingly, none of the four remaining direct descendant de Saissets had any offspring - and only one of the four siblings married. Isabel de Saisset, died in 1950, the youngest and last of the siblings, and left her tremendous fortune to the University for the founding and maintenance of the "de Saiseset Art Gallery and Museum". http://www.scu.edu.SCU/Departments/DeSaisset/information/history.html (sure hope that works). Perhaps this is a dead-end, perhaps not. The de Saissets may, indirectly, be related to the links you sent me just this evening...

From: PIMANDER 10/29/99 6:03 am To: ALPHETA (51 of 232) 18.51 in reply to 18.50 Alpheta, 'de Saisset' appears derivitive of the French verb "saisir" to sieze or to hold. It could represent a family with significant holdings - the "et" meaning "of" - just the opposite of John Lackland referred to by the French as Jean Sansterre - which directly translates as "without earth" or without land. Saisset might find an English counterpart in the name "Holder." However, because it is derived from a verb, the act of seizing or conquering appears to be implied as well. This is interesting - since it further implies a family capable of conquering and holding onto its conquests. A more proper Engish derivation might then be found in names such as "Holdsworth". If I am correct in my hunch the spelling of de Saisset indicates a very old and established family. The "de" (from or of) has connotations of a subsequent generation capable of drawing upon the glory of a distinguished ancestry. As for my previous question about edicts against the game of chess - I am curious to know how the church came to the decision and what kind of "double speak" they might have employed in the actual issuing of their bans. Some documents (albeit probably in Latin) must exist somewhere - either amid the records of city states or in the Vatican itself. The "whys" seem obvious - so I suppose I'm more interested in HOW the actual edicts were couched in terms of language - a media study of sorts. In other words, did these edicts go "public" - or were they for Templar eyes/ears alone? Was St. Bernard just being diplomatic as a means of protecting the Order or did he actually intend what he said? Who was pulling the stringss? Either way - it would be interesting to get a hold of one such document to see what attitudes and possible intrigues prevailed.

From: ALPHETA 10/29/99 8:35 pm To: PIMANDER (52 of 232) 18.52 in reply to 18.51 As you've no doubt found, there is an almost total absence of information on the net - unless I'm not doing my searches right - about the clergy's and/or rulers' periodic bans on chess. As you noted, there is Bill Wall's chess history timeline with many references to periodic bans, both by the church and by kings, throughout Europe and in the Byzantine Empire, as well as early references to bans by some of the Muslim rulers, and periodic bans by various rebbis. I found one reference at http://www.hsv.tis.net/chess/trivia/r.html (scroll down to Religion and chess) which details various bans and recissions of bans, and contains the following statement, presumably taken from a 1570 church manuscript (Spanish?): "If any of the clergy play chess, he shall be dismissed from his office. If a clerk or layman play, he shall do public penance for two years, and make 200 obesances each day, because the game is derived from the lawless Chaldeans, the priests of idols. It is a temptation of Satan." Hmmm. Interesting to note the link-up between The Game and the "Chaldeans" - another name for the ancient Babylonians, which just happens to be high on my suspicion list as the place of origin of chess. I did manage to track down the language used by Bernard of Clairvaux in an English translation of "De Laudibus Novae Militae" which he wrote in 1128 in the form of a letter to Hugh de Payens, one of the founders of the Knights Templar, although he released the letter to the "public". In part, he is talking about the type of conduct the Knights Templar, should refrain from, as exemplars of Christ. He states: "There is no distinction of persons among them, and deference is shown to merit rather than to noble blood. They rival one another in mutual consideration, and they carry one another's burdens, thus fulfilling the law of Christ. No inappropriate word, idle deed, unrestrained laugh, not even the slightest whisper or murmur is left uncorrected once it has been detected. They foreswear dice and chess, and abhor the case; they take no delight in the ridiculous cruelty of falconry, as if the custom. As for jesters, magicians, bards, troubadours and jousters, they despite and reject them as so many vanities and unsound deceptions." My take on this is that chess, like dice, is to be "foresworn" because it constituted gambling. In the larger context, Bernard envisioned a very austere lifestyle indeed for this new breed of knight - one very much at odds with the common behaviors of the day. Seen in this light, chess, as such, is not so much "evil" as it is a distraction, a frivilous vanity, like so many of the other things Bernard alludes to, the absence or denial of which would, apparently, leave a knight free to contemplate the more spiritual things of this world.

From: ALPHETA 10/29/99 8:40 pm To: PIMANDER (53 of 232) 18.53 in reply to 18.52 P.S. The English translation of "De Laudibus Novae Militae" is found at http://orb.rhodes.edu/encyclop/religion/monastic/bernard.html.

From: PIMANDER 10/30/99 1:54 am To: ALPHETA (54 of 232) 18.54 in reply to 18.53 I marvel at your ability to get that response "up" so quickly, oh Delphian wonder! Yes! Of course it got me to thinking - I read the edict you quoted as a kind of "interoffice memo" - and as you can see, the "Language" is ALL there. The Templar credo will take more concentrated study but what you quoted shows the bias clearly enough. "Lawless Chaldeans" eh? So then, the mere fact that ANY edict had to be issued - was, in diplomatic terms, based at least upon the PERCEPTION of a "disorderly" Order. Shows signs that there must have been fear of a more wide-ranging scandal - something threatening to the Vatican from the aspect of spiritual as well as domestic/cultural authority.

From: ALPHETA 10/30/99 4:30 am To: PIMANDER (55 of 232) 18.55 in reply to 18.54 An inter-office memo! OF COURSE! That's EXACTLY what "Novae Militae" is, Pi! Bernard - the man with the vision (and the power) - writing his "suggestions" (read ORDERS) within the context of a "friendly letter" to his pal, his bud, his "lowly peon/worker bee/drone", Hugh de Payens! Well, that is one interpretation that may be put upon it... More problematical is where Bernard was going with all of this. Was he TRULY suggesting an entirely new life course - pursuing a vision, per se - for a "sacred knighthood"? If so, how disappointed he must have been upon his death bed to see the much more "worldly", practical course the Templars and their fearless leaders proceeded to steer once they had Papal sanction and the "eight-pointed" Red Cross painted on their white surplices. (Note the reference to the "8", our venerable chess number...) On the other hand, Bernard was perfectly capable - perhaps even more so than most of the peers of his day - of setting forth a calculated course of "obfuscation" (today we would call it "misinformation" and "doublespeak") when it came to plotting and following a strategy that would ultimately achieve his heart's desire...whatever his heart's desire in this particular instance was... As for the "discoveries" I posted, just a lot of grunt work - thank the goddess I have a job where I am able to shut the door, so to speak, and play on the computer for the greater part of the day and still get paid, LOL! Oh well, the path of true knowledge WILL "will out". I simply did what I had previously suggested to you in a private email: I typed in a search for each and every name that showed up in the "Religion and Chess" entry in the Chess Encyclopedia and waited to see what would come up. From there I followed here, there, and yon; eventually I typed in "Bernard of Clairvaux" and the rest, as they say, is "'His'story"! LOL!

From: ALPHETA 10/31/99 7:41 am To: ALL (56 of 232) 18.56 in reply to 18.44 Back to work... Thanks, in part, to my research on the Sinclairs and their connections with the Knights Templar, I will begin to focus my "Italian" Templars research on Venice, home of the Zeno Brothers (who navigated the journey to the "new world" for Prince Henry Sinclair), home of the merchants who engaged in a "war" (on whose side the Templars stood against the Knights Hospitallier) against the merchants of (I believe) Genoa...

From: RICALVO 11/2/99 12:48 pm To: ALL (57 of 232) 18.57 in reply to 18.56 The bull is tired to remain sitting. "I shall arise and go there, and go to Innisfree" (Yeats). Since my laptop is working, I must tell you that I collected a lot of material about Chess and Religions (alas, I wrote it in Spanish, and part of it is being published) Any Church (Islamic, Byzantine, Jew, Catholic, Protestant) saw clearly at the beginning that the religion of Chess was competing against them. So they preferered to join the enemy instead of fighting hopelessly against it. The critical turning point in Christianism was the sermon of Jacobus of Cessolis, which uses chess as an allegory of the prevailinf feudal system. I shall tell you a lot more when I am back in Madrid. In the meantime, looking at the charming boys and girls who are playing chess here in Oropesa, I appreciate the ways of your discussions (Pimenter and Alpheta particularly). Sitting Bull

From: ALPHETA 11/2/99 1:04 pm To: RICALVO (58 of 232) 18.58 in reply to 18.57 Greetings, Sitting Bull. So, you're getting a sore rear-end! Now you know how I felt watching those games in Las Vegas! I will see if I can track down a copy of the "sermon" you wrote about. I read a lot of brief biographies of kings and priests and monks lately, but not one of them mentioned anything about chess. Back to work...

From: RICALVO 11/2/99 6:44 pm To: ALPHETA (59 of 232) 18.59 in reply to 18.58 Dear general Custer: The Cessolis sermon is easy to track, because it was the most popular text in the Middle Ages, even more divulgated than the Bible. The "Liber de moribus hominum et oficiis nobilium" was translated from its original Latin into (almost)every European language. For instance, the English version (The game of Cheese) was the first (others say the second) printed book in England, by William Caxton.There is a reprint available. More details when I am back in my wigwham Sitting Bull

From: ALPHETA 11/2/99 7:17 pm To: RICALVO (60 of 232) 18.60 in reply to 18.59 Greetings, Sitting Bull! Yes, I found where I could purchase a copy of "The Game of Chess" for approximately $500.00, and another rare book site that advertised its copy "sold" at $120.00. I was not able to locate the text on-line, which is what I really wanted. The Library of Congress has a copy in its rare book section in the Rosenwald Collection, so if I ever get to Washington D.C. again I will "drop" in! I am checking to see if the University of Wisconsin-Madison library has a copy (I doubt it). That is very much a problem here - if I lived in New York I might have better luck locating copies of the poems and manuscripts you have written about. Here in Milwaukee I can't find ANYTHING - not even a copy of Sir Williams Jones' poem "Caissa", and THAT'S not even so very old - 1763!

From: ALPHETA 11/2/99 7:55 pm To: ALL (61 of 232) 18.61 in reply to 18.60 Eureka! My bull-dog determination has paid off! I have located a copy of an English translation of Vida's Scacchia Ludus at UW-Madison Library, three copies of Studies in Chess containing (among other gems) "Caissa", one of which is right here at my undergraduate alma mater, UW-Milwaukee, and three copies of Caxton's printing of de Cessolis's "Game and Playe of Chess", one of which is right here at my law school alma mater, Marquette University! Cool! I am supposed to obtain these through the Library Interloan Program, but I'll see if I can pull some alumni strings...

From: RICALVO 11/2/99 8:05 pm To: ALPHETA (62 of 232) 18.62 in reply to 18.61 Really, your "charge ahead" attitude deserves admiration, my dear Custer. The reprint of Caxton is available, with a proper ISBN. If you want other originals of Cessolis in the USA, ask in Cleveland. You know how Sitting Bull

From: ALPHETA 11/9/99 10:48 pm To: RICALVO (63 of 232) 18.63 in reply to 18.62 Dear Sitting Bull, I only recently learned about the chess manuscripts kept in Cleveland - as usual, I sniffed it out after you dropped the hint. You are a sly one. What will you dangle in front of me next, I wonder? I am still doing research on Venice and the Templars, but an intriguing connection keeps popping up. It is the Jews. I must brush up on my history! I read that the Jews were expelled from Spain and Portugal at the end of the 15th century! Interesting, considering that Christopher Columbus (many researchers say he was a Jew) sailed for Portugal in 1492 - now it makes sense - a recent article I came across on the 'Net while doing research that indicated Columbus harbored his ships elsewhere than in Portugal when he returned from the New World. It made a vague reference to such an expulsion, so I am going to zero in on this and study up on the subject. Look at the timing here: Vicent writes his book in what - 1495? Scachs d'amor gets published in 1497? There are ties among "Converso" families in Spain to Italy. The Jews get booted out of Spain in 1500 or thereabouts. As Isis would say, even money on where many of them relocated! The timing fits perfectly - the first books with "modern" chess games were published in Spain just before the turn of the century; and a "few" years later, the moves of the queen and bishop, and after that, castling, and later still combining castling from two moves into one move, as well as the en passant move, all originate out of northern Italy in the 16th century. Now Ricardo, is all of this just a happy coincidence, or did you find something in your researches along just these lines?

From: RICALVO 11/10/99 6:18 am To: ALPHETA (64 of 232) 18.64 in reply to 18.63 Yes Alpheta. The Jews were expelled from Spain in 1492, after a decree in April of the same year giving them a date to emigrate or to convert. Columbus sailed for his first expedition exacly the very same day this date expired. This, and many other facts, point to a Jewish heritance in Columbus, as shown in the work of Salvador de Madariaga (long to speak about him). Yes the circle in Valencia had close connnection with the Jewish lobby. As we published here, the Sachs d«amor MS must be dated around 1474 and 1488, in any case before Vicent«s printed book of 1495. The next book is Lucena«s incunabulum of 1497. Lucena was, for sure, a converso, as I have shown in a book (alas, in Spanish). Since I like you, my dear Custer, I can prepare an English summary of my research on Lucena and his time, but I don«t feel sure that other members of the Delphi group will share our interest with the same intensity. Should we "charge ahead"?

From: ALPHETA 11/10/99 7:22 am To: RICALVO (65 of 232) 18.65 in reply to 18.64 Dear Sitting Bull, Of course we must charge ahead, regardless of what you think -or I think - what anyone else might think! Does that make sense? LOL! Seriously, I can assure you that while all those who post here may not share the same degree of "fervency" that you and I do with respect to this particular subject, they are all quite interested in our ongoing research, findings, and speculations. You have surprised me yet again! I was certain that what I had thus far discovered was just another "crumb" on the path of discovery you had laid out for me! But, if I have read your last post correctly, you are as intrigued with this current line of inquiry as I am! Ricardo, dare I presume I have caught up with you? No, it could not possibly be so! LOL! Good night, darling! JanXena

From: ALPHETA 11/10/99 7:28 am To: RICALVO (66 of 232) 18.66 in reply to 18.64 P.S. Yes, of course! Vicent first, and then Lucena! But both of them before the turn of the century (that critical century) - and both of them seemingly exhibiting a depth of "modern" play that one man alone could not possibly have dreamed up for himself. No! These publications (although Vicent's is now lost to us) obviously exhibited a depth of development of the so-called "modern game" that speaks of - at a minimum - years of development prior to their being set down in writing! Ricardo, you sly one, you have back-doored me into my previous assumptions about Northern Italy! But I am a stubborn femme! I will continue along my present lines of inquiry, to see what I might see...

From: ALPHETA 11/10/99 7:32 am To: ALPHETA (67 of 232) 18.67 in reply to 18.65 P.P.S. Pimander might have a word or two to say on the subject; I believe he has done a lot of research recently on Valencia...

From: RICALVO 11/10/99 8:16 am To: ALPHETA (68 of 232) 18.68 in reply to 18.67 My dear Custer: The so called Italy nowadays belonged in the 15th century to other powers. The crown of Aragon owned Sicily, Neaples, Milan. Even the Popes came from Valencia (Calixtus III, Alexander VI) and the family of Borja or Borgia (by the way, their coat of arms shows a bull, not yet sitting). Other city-states such as Ferrara, Mantua, Bologna and even Genova were under strong Aragonese influence. If you dont bear in mind the general cultural frame in those times, you will repeat the wrong assumptions of the so called authoritative experts. We want to learn about chess history in the Reanaissance. A fighter like you shold strive for independent thinking Sittin Bull

From: PIMANDER 11/10/99 11:32 am To: RICALVO (69 of 232) 18.69 in reply to 18.68 Dear Ricardo, Alpehta is a fighter alright. And I have all the bumps and bruises to proove it! It is good to have a Dr. in our midst. I may need one before this is over. I never dreamed the game could prove so strenuous. I lag many steps behind - having spent too much time in Scotland recently and so - I am afraid I have little of significance to offer at this point. As well, lured by the romance, I have concentrated mostly on the history of Valencia during the time of el Cid and the early Crusades. Once I began to approach the Renaisannce era I saw for myself what a formidable task it would be to encompass all the historical factors that were then in bloom. Thank you for supplying some helpful coordinates. I will try to cover as much of this new ground as possible. It concerns me that, following the demise and reconsitution of the Templar establishment, the histories of city states ruled by great families would do more to deepen the mystery of chess than illuminate it. Of course, that problem is compounded by the flight of converted Jews - whom we know held great intellectual authority in Spain - making it the light of the world up until the time of Columbus. Prior to Columbus, I assume that there must have been a period when displaced Templars and conversios walked hand in hand - as persecuted victims as well as kindred spirits. But now I am no less troubled by your revelation that a series of Popes came from Valencia. Could this have spelled a more favourable Papal view of the dispersed Templar factions - a sudden shift in the political winds as the Church attempted to absorb their doctrines as a means of comprimising them and further alienating the Jews throughout Europe? If this was not the case - could it be possible that a place such as Malta or Sicily might have been used as an offshore meeting ground for clandestine Templar/Conversio activity? Ah! Questions, questions and more questions. I shall have to do more digging. Regards Pi

From: RICALVO 11/10/99 3:01 pm To: PIMANDER (70 of 232) 18.70 in reply to 18.69 Hi Pimander: Glad to hear directly from yo. Even if I am a sly Mediterranean, I shall try to answer questions honestly. Templars were prosecuted in France, but not in other countries. In Spain, they changed simply the name of the Order into Montesa, for instance. In Portugal, the same. Valencian influence in Italy must have been very strong. In the Vatican, the officials used the expression "I catalani" to name the flow of new employees. The Jwes is another question. Of course it is relevant for the history of chess, as well as for the general history/herstorty. I made some efforts reading on this and related subjects, and I am inclined to comment on this with a Scottish fellow. The Stuarts were after all allied with the Spaniards. Sitting Bull

From: PIMANDER 11/10/99 8:34 pm To: RICALVO (71 of 232) 18.71 in reply to 18.70 Hello Ricardo I must say that I am newly arrived to the facts as you have spoken them - in chess as well as general history. Because my ancestors were, in all probablility, affiliated with the Stuart cause, I am only recently made aware of the ties between Spaniards and Highland Scots. The diaspora to the New World and the many misrepresentations of history given by the victors (and Victorias) may have obscured these to some degree. No matter. "Lux lucit in tenebris". Just as I have reclaimed a portion of my own ancestry, I hope that, in some small way, I might continue to aid in restorating the crown of chess to it's rightful heir. However, unlike Charles I, I do not wish to "lose my head" over the matter - nor, like the Bonnie Prince who came much afterward, do I intend to retreat at a poorly chosen moment. With your assistance, perhaps all our steps may be guided to the Grail of modern chess. I know you, above all, will understand, that if in my travels I should find some route apart from that which you have expertly laid before us all, I will be honour bound to tell the truth as I see it. But that is a bridge we can cross once we come to it - if ever - for although the road to the palace of promises may fork and twist beyond my sight - as it does on this day - I would be no less bound to say that it began here - in virtual Valencia. Cheers Pi

From: ALPHETA 11/10/99 9:16 pm To: RICALVO (72 of 232) 18.72 in reply to 18.68 Greetings, Sitting Bull. Are you returned home now that the world junior championships are over? Please give my regards to the Wise Whale. From the few things I have had a chance to peek at, I know I have my homework cut out for me on Renaissance Italy or, more specifically, the various principalities, city-states and independent kingdoms that made up what we think of as Italy. As for me and the "authorities", don't worry - I rejected no less an august personage than R.J.R. Murray himself, I thought his conclusions about the origins of chess were a lot of baloney, so I won't let my thinking be guided by what any of the so-called experts say (whether they are chess experts or historical experts, or any other kind of expert that might express an opinion on the matters I'm interested in). I have seen how "popular" misconceptions can be picked up from one researcher's factual base to another. For example, I have read at many sites on the Templars that after the fall of Acre and their forced retreat from the Holy Land the Knights Templar fortressed at Cypress where they continued to harrass the "enemy" up to and including 1307. The truth of the matter, however, is that it was not the Templars at all, but the Knights Hospitallier (with their roots in northern Italy, an interesting little connection, n'est ce pas?) who holed up on Cypress and later, on Malta (remember the Maltese cross? it is actually the Hospitallier cross represented in that image, not the Templars' cross), and maintained a base of operations on Malta until they were finally booted off by Napoleon himself! AND I also learned that the Knights Hospitallier to this day are an independent principality, although they have no land base, and they are able to issue their own passports and visas! Amazing! In fact, I am finding this whole side-issue of independent principalities very intriguing. I found one that I forwarded the information to Pimander, about Seborga; I also located another one, but I can't remember the name of it right now. Seborga is apparently on the Mediterranean coast, somewhere between France and Italy. Interesting location. And then of course there is the historical enmity between the Templars and the Hospitalliers, and the fact that the Templars fought for Venetian interests and the Hospitalliers for Genoese interests in one of the many commercial wars that erupted during European occupation of the Holy Land; and I'm wondering how the Lombards fit into all of this. And then, to further complicate the picture, there are all of these dynastic marriages taking place all over - this princess from this kingdom marrying that duke from that principality, who is the grandson of the King of this or that place! EEK! Matrilinear succession; patrilinear succession; and so many people bumping off so many other people that even with a score card I can't keep the players straight! So, I have a plan! It may turn out to be not a very good plan, but I shall see how far it takes me. I'm going to look at the Converso immigration issue, and I'm going to look at castles. This will probably take a while.

From: RICALVO 11/11/99 3:33 am To: PIMANDER (73 of 232) 18.73 in reply to 18.71 It is evident that you are already Glamys and Cawdor. Before obtaining the Kingdom, lets play carefully. Am I allowed to nickname you Wallace? Sitting Bull

From: PIMANDER 11/11/99 6:41 pm To: RICALVO (74 of 232) 18.74 in reply to 18.73 Ah Ha! Skillful tracking Sitting Bull... Mics and Macs of all tribes pay tribute. On the subject of my European roots - I may be little "Wal-dense" perhaps - but what true Scot could refuse a name like Wallace?! "Scots wae hae..." Specifically, you will find my ancestors in the Silver Tower at Duart castle on the Isle of Islay. MacLean of Duart. Clan MacBeath, (our scheming, murdering, cousins!) developed as a "sept" of the Clan MacLean - so, you are 100% correct in assuming Glamys and Cawdor are known to me! Very astute. Well done! And well done Alpheta, for supplying an Iberian port of www departure, for a seafaring Scot. I will put it to better advantage once I get used to all the rigging. It is a very big ship and I have already struck a reef. While searching for Templar symbols in the military orders of Iberia (medals) I discovered that in Portugal, the Orders Aviz, Santiago and of Christ passed completely from the control of the Vatican into the hands of the Crown under the reign of Dom Duarte I. (Head of the Most Serene House of Braganza) - circa 1551. Duarte? Very interesting...from a MacLean point of view. It is also interesting to note the gradual process of secularization that led up to this incident and the rampant claims of knighthood (a means of "clensing" the blood line and ensuring entitlements through the Crown) that caused the entire structure of Orders to dissipate and expand, while Jews and other "undesirables" were pushed out of the picture. So the Crown galvanized its own structure while making it more difficult to detect the Papal influence. On some level however, it was ethnic clensing. Moreover, I note the one time dominance of Castille over Aviz and the checkerboard that ensued as a result of the split between Avignion and Rome. More discrimination of a sort. While I need to have a better overview of Spanish history and its military orders, (next stop perhaps) I discovered that in Portugal, the Jews were dispersed at a later date than was the case in Spain. This struck me as significant, for if the Jewish enclave remained in tact for a longer period in Portugal, this might have furnished an additional sanctuary for Conversios expelled from Valencia. Sebroga, Monaco and other City States seem also likely candidates - and so I see, from some up to the minute experience, that blood ties and religious alliances were a fundamental issue when it came to determining who would settle where - both in Europe and in America. The very Wild Wild West - on both sides of the Atlantic.

From: ALPHETA 11/11/99 7:15 pm To: PIMANDER (75 of 232) 18.75 in reply to 18.74 Wallace?! Ha! You get to be Wallace and I'm stuck with Custer's Last Stand! Gee thanks, Sitting Bull. I'd much rather be Patton. At least then I'd get to smoke stinky cigars and wear a lot of medals and act like George C. Scott. Several thousand Jews did move their base to Portugal in 1492 rather than convert, but you could say they saw the handwriting on the wall and knew it would most likely be, at best, a temporary hiatus. I found quite a bit of material on the expulsions but haven't had time to settle in and read it. I also found a nice site on Leon which not only was the site of a Templars base but also has a magnificent cathedral inspired by Chartres, which many claim the Templars built, and many claim also encompasses sacred geometry and secret knowledge decipherable only to initiates. I'm going to have to bone up on my geography. Pi, have you come across the sites by Childress? (I believe that's his name) It was his site that tipped me to the info where Columbus dropped anchor after his return from the New World.

From: RICALVO 11/11/99 8:47 pm To: PIMANDER (76 of 232) 18.76 in reply to 18.74 My dear Wallace: Our tribe takes note of your ancestors. Being in fight against historical mistakes, I shall travel to Hamburg (25-28 november). There is a special meeting of chess historians, the so called "Initiativ Gruppe Kšnigstein". I am a foundational member, but ther are other people, among them the great historian of Linconshire Ken Whyld. I could arrange for you an invitation, Wallace. Answer pleas, via Patton, even if a tank is slow compared with Indian horses.

From: PIMANDER 11/12/99 9:40 am To: RICALVO (77 of 232) 18.77 in reply to 18.76 Mon Dieu! Monsieur Sitting Bull, I realize that yesterday was Rememberance Day, but am I correct in assuming that you have just dropped a "bomb"!? Once I recover from the shock, (and a hangover) I will communicate with Patton to see if Air Force One is available for Nov.25-28. As it is, I cannot remember very much about Remeberance day at this time. Wallace has been drinking beer with his Legion friends and as Patton knows, Wallace and beer are a rare and unlikely combination. (*hic) %-)

From: RICALVO 11/12/99 10:30 am To: PIMANDER (78 of 232) 18.78 in reply to 18.77 Wallace: The beer in Hamburg deserves tha credibility of the council of my tribe. The meeting is organized by the major bibliograph on chess history, a pioneer named Egbert Meissenburg who owns 15.000 books on this and related subject. Also Lothar Schmid, who has the biggest cjess library in the world (bigger than Cleveland and The Hague) will be there. Ken Whyld, Averbach, and other historians are invited. I have confirmed my participation together with Wise Whale. My speech, at the beginning, deals with ancient gnosis and chess ecolution. Rather boring, but Wise Whale insists on the compromise.. You would be a welcome assistant, Wallace. Your personal campaign would find an important reinforcement with the contacts in Hamburg. Our tribe can help you, if Patton sleeps.The rain us coming, so don`t waste your time Sitting Bull

From: PIMANDER 11/12/99 1:36 pm To: RICALVO (79 of 232) 18.79 in reply to 18.78 Somebody, wake up the General! You have marked your man Ricardo. I, for one, could never be bored with the topic of your lecture. On the other hand, the stature of these magnificos...you must understand - I am just a poor boy, from a poor family...very Bohemian in my own "write". I have known of a Deep Goat, but of a Wise Whale...? Perhaps a friend of Jonah? Compelling. He must be very vast - but in my dependacy, I am humbly inclined to ask if he is vast enough to swallow Wallace whole and carry him to Hamburg? (The local treasury having recently been squandered on, er... beer... but, I hasten to add, it was VERY GOOD BEER - Milwaukee's finest!) Even so... "Is this the real life? Is this just fantasy? Caught in a landslide, No escape from reality Open your eyes, Look up to the skies and see, I'm just a poor boy, I need no sympathy, Because I'm easy come, easy go, Little high, little low, Any way the wind blows doesn't really matter to me, to me..." But the "rain" is perhaps another story. And there are many types of "rain". Perhaps I cannot remain neutral in my feelings about certain kinds of wet weather. Am I correct in assuming that I am being called to take part in a deluge? I have much to learn Ricardo. Can you tell me more about the weather in Europe, if it is not too confidential? Yours faithfully, Wallace

From: ALPHETA 11/12/99 3:25 pm To: PIMANDER (80 of 232) 18.80 in reply to 18.79 The General is awake on all suits and Air Force One is ready for departure whenever you've firmed up your travel arrangements. Get your passport in order, Monsieur, you are going to Hamburg. You are the best possible representative Goddesschess could have. Who could ignore our very own fire-breathing Dragon, and an erudite one at that! The contacts made and the information obtained will put Goddesschess on the map and fuel this site for months, I've no doubt. I only wish I could come too but, alas, t'is impossible.

From: RICALVO 11/12/99 7:37 pm To: PIMANDER (81 of 232) 18.81 in reply to 18.79 First of all, Wise Whale/Wild Impetus calls you Duncan, instead of Wallace. Secondly, Custer never sleeps, until I made some treatment. I understand your concerns about the rain in Spain. Our tribe is going noy only to Hamburg, but also to Las Vegas when buffalos are enjoying the summer. "I will arise and go there" Sitting Bull

From: PIMANDER 11/12/99 10:21 pm To: RICALVO (82 of 232) 18.82 in reply to 18.81 Sitting Bull, Patton; I have just picked up my passport application. It will take 5 working days to have it officialized. It appears as though neither rain, nor snow, nor sleet, nor hail will keep me from delivering the mail to and from Hamburg. By whose good graces? We have only known the general for a little while but already we owe her a great - an unpayable - debt of gratitude. By gifts of spirit I shall attempt to make amends. I will ask my Mic Mac cousins to speak to the wind and the rain, so that it may trouble neither myself nor my horse. a bientot D.

From: RICALVO 11/12/99 10:57 pm To: PIMANDER (83 of 232) 18.83 in reply to 18.82 Tam-Tams are quick, Wallace. Ask the general for necessary logistic information. Wild Impetus is curious about seeing you. Don«t be afraid of the magnificos, Brave Heart Sitting Bull

From: PIMANDER 11/12/99 11:25 pm To: RICALVO (84 of 232) 18.84 in reply to 18.83 Dear Sitting Bull, Nothing to fear but fear itself...and bad movies on the plane. Patton has furnished the draft of an itinerary. There are details to be determined but I think we can work through these in short order. Wallace

From: ALPHETA 11/13/99 1:41 am To: RICALVO (85 of 232) 18.85 in reply to 18.84 Wild Impetus (I call her "Simply Irresistible") has good taste in men. Hey, I almost single-handedly won WWII for the good old USA. Issuing a few orders and arranging a few minor details for a trip to Hamburg and back is small potatoes. Anyway, in this General's opinion the IGK Group could use a little North American (and Goddesschess) blood to shake up it's outlook! LOL! "I called the New World into existence to redress the balance of the Old." George Canning (1770-1827), "The King's Message", December 12, 1826. Ha!

From: RICALVO 11/13/99 11:59 am To: ALPHETA (86 of 232) 18.86 in reply to 18.85 Patton, Wallace: A warning. The atmosphere in chess historical meetings is very passionate.In my experience since 1991 (foundation of IGK) it costs you not only money, but several enemies. We will have allies as well. Ask for more details, but rememember: This meeting in Hamburg can be of paramount importance for the chess herstory. Sitting Bull

From: ALPHETA 11/13/99 4:52 pm To: RICALVO (87 of 232) 18.87 in reply to 18.86 Greetings, Sitting Bull. I am confident that Wallace will acquit himself as befits a chess-playing dragon/Scots military leader of renown and representative of Goddesschess. Particulars on some of the principals and the tribes they represent will be welcome. And he will not be coming to Hamburg totally unarmed - he will have the White Lady guarding his back with a fearsome claymore!

From: Isis (GEORGIA18) 11/15/99 4:17 am To: RICALVO (88 of 232) 18.88 in reply to 18.86 Sitting Bull are there any women members in the IGK Group? LOVE Isis May the Hand of the Goddess Always be with You.

From: RICALVO 11/15/99 4:53 pm To: Isis (GEORGIA18) (89 of 232) 18.89 in reply to 18.88 Yes Madam, they are several women. Antje Kluge-Pinsker, who published a book on chess sets. Barbara HollŠnder, professor at the University of Aachen. Renate Seyd, sirector of an archeological museum. My favorites are a certain Mealanie, who researches on medieval chess figures and Anna, who researchess in medieval literature. They are not yet famous, as they deserve. Glad to hear from you, sweet Georgia Brown. Sitting Bull

From: Isis (GEORGIA18) 11/16/99 4:13 am To: RICALVO (90 of 232) 18.90 in reply to 18.89 Sitting Bull it is good to hear from you also. I won't be at the Group meeting in person, but, I will be there is spirit. I am happy to hear the Group has brilliant men and women working together wonderfully as we do here with Goddesschess. I am very happy that DeLion (Don McLean) is going to represent us in Hamberg, I know that everyone will love him as we do. We love you too Sitting Bull. LOVE Sweet Georgia Brown May the Hand of the Goddess Always be with You.

From: ALPHETA 11/26/99 11:01 pm To: ALL (91 of 232) 18.91 in reply to 18.90 Greetings, All! Just a brief update on my ongoing research. I have dug down less than one inch at the tip of a gigantic iceberg which is information on the Jewish expulsions from Spain and Italian Renaissance history, whew! I'm exhausted already, but will gamely plod onward... Here is one famous Jew who left Spain rather than convert: Judah Abravanel (Abarbanel), c. 1460-c.1523. Here is what the Columbia Encyclopedia (Fifth Edition) says about him: "Jewish philosopher, physician, and poet, son of Isaac Abravanel, b. Lisbon; he is also known as Leone Ebreo. he fled (1483) from Portugal to Spain with his father and, after the expulsion (1492) of the Jews from Spain, went to Naples, where he became (1505) physician to the Viceroy. Philosophically, Abravanel was influenced by the scholars of the Platonic Academy of Florence, most notably Marsilio Ficino and Giovanni Pico della Mirandola; in addition, there are clear indications of philosophical influence from Maimonides and Ibn Gabirol. In his most celebrated work, the Dialoghi di Amore (published posthumously, 1535; tr. The Philosophy of Love, with introduction by Cecil Roth, 1937), Abravanel gave a classic exposition of platonic love. Holding love to be the dominating and motivating force within the universe, and seeing as its end a union of the lover with the idea of the beautiful and the good as embodied in the beloved, he posited as the ultimate goal of all creation a union with the sublime goodness and intellect that are contained within God. A 'circle of love' is thus formed between the universe and its creator in which all things find sustenance and fulfillment. The work had a profound effect upon philosophers into the 17th cent., most notably upon Giordano Bruno and Baruch Spinoza." Holy Goddess! Darlings, I may be losing my mind here, but doesn't this sound, at least in part, like our exposition on the Goddesschess Home Page under the heading "Is Chess the Game of the Goddess?" - read, compare, and judge for yourselves! A few notes: (1) Isaac Abravanel was attached to the Court of Ferdinand and Isabella and pleaded with the King to rescind his edict; however, the King refused to change his mind, apparently under the influence of Isabella! Now why Isabella would have been so adamant that the Jews either convert or be expelled...t'is a mystery to me, have not yet discovered anything that tenders a possible explanation for her motivations (if, indeed, this was the case and not merely a misperception on Isaac Abravanel's part). (2) When it became clear that the edict would not be rescinded or modified, Isaac Abravanel and another influential Jew, Abram Seneor, wrote scorching letters of reprimand to the Queen, and had them delivered; then they both fled for their lives, the Queen's men hot after them and their families! The Abravanel family fled to Naples! (3) Which I find most peculiar, because as Sitting Bull noted in a prior post, Naples was part of the Kingdom under the influence of Ferdinand and Isabella! If you were fleeing, why flee where your enemy could easily reach you? And yet, apparently, the Abravanels and many other Jewish refuges resided in Naples (and in other kingdoms in Italy) quite unmolested. [There are terrible horror stories about what the families had to go through to get there, and many thousands upon thousands of fleeing people never made it; these stories, however, while compelling, do not bear on my current research and will not be addressed here.] (4) Note the connection between Judah Abravanel and Florence (northern Italy, where the Templars had a large presence, and geographically a hop, skip and a jump away from the independent principalities of Monaco and Seborga). (5) Although I have no present backing for the following suppositions, based upon my general knowledge of how royal courts in general worked, and the often tight-knit, insular and closed world of the aristocracy, landed gentry, wealthy sycophants and court officials, I believe it very likely that Abravanel (both Isaac and his son, Judah) were, perhaps related to through blood ties or marriage to at least some, and not only knew but likely socialized and played chess with several, of the persons that composed the Valencia chess circle. Sitting Bull would, perhaps, have some information to offer on this, when he gets home from Hamburg. (6) Note the general time frame - the Abravanel family, and many others - fled to kingdoms, city-states and principalities in Italy in 1492. Traditional chess history points to 16th century Italy as the birthplace of the changes which made The Game into the "modern" one we know today. Right now, I am working on transcribing the English translation of Vida's epic "Schaccia Ludus", written in Italy and begun in 1507, first published c. 1527. Again, I am struck by the time-frame. Can this all just be coincidence? I will continue to dig...

From: Isis (GEORGIA18) 11/27/99 8:13 am To: ALPHETA (92 of 232) 18.92 in reply to 18.91 It is very interesting you mentioned Queen Isabella. Last week I was helping my daughter with her homework, the assignment was to read a book about the explorer Christopher Columbus, and I read that the original journal of Columbus's first voyage to the Americas was presented to Queen Isabella and has not been seen since. I would like to read the original journal and learn the truth. Even money it can be found in the vatican archieves. Do you think they will let me check it out to read? Don't laugh too hard. LOVE Isis May the Hand of the Goddess Always be with You.

From: ALPHETA 11/27/99 11:27 pm To: Isis (GEORGIA18) (93 of 232) 18.93 in reply to 18.92 Isis, Perhaps the Vatican has the log book but then, again, perhaps not. I would not be at all surprised to learn that the present-day Spanish Monarch King Juan Carlos has the book in his possession. I have to ask, what "truth" do you think it might contain? Queen Isabella deserves her own thread, I think, although I am withholding my judgment on this Grande Dame, pending further scrutiny. Funny - I remember studying about her and Ferdinand in gradeschool years ago, and even in high school, and there was never any mention of a Jewish expulsion from Spain in 1492. In any event, I have started an entirely new thread devoted exclusively to Isabella, and whatever we may find out about her - and her role in The Game.

From: ALPHETA 11/29/99 9:44 pm To: ALL (94 of 232) 18.94 in reply to 18.93 Greetings, All! Well, I had a long message ready to go and somehow I erased the darn thing, so here I go starting all over again! Isis, Dr. Westerveld writes extensively about checkers (draughts) in the article I posted by him in the Isabella Thread. I found his statement that it was the Jews who were expelled from Spain in 1492 that lead to the rapid spread of the changes that modernized The Game a most compelling and logical explanation. I invited Dr. Westerveld to join our intrepid little band; unfortunately, he has not time because he is involved in an intense research project in preparation for writing a book which traces the history of the Muslims in one particular Spanish town. Sounds like a fascinating project. Traditional historians point to the Muslims as the ones who spread The Game to Spain and to Italy. I wonder if any of the Valencian chess circle were Templars/Masons? How many of them were "conversos", how many of them Jews who left in 1492 rather than convert? Dr. Westerveld's new project has given my thoughts yet another direction as well - if Muslims were still part of the general population in Spain (although no longer in power), might they have had a hand in the changes to The Game? So many questions, and no answers, just more questions! Well, I'll keep digging...

From: RICALVO 11/30/99 10:48 pm To: ALPHETA (95 of 232) 18.95 in reply to 18.91 Yes, Patton, your guess is correct. Abravanel«s family fled to Neaples from the ports in Valencia. The chess circle, and above all, the Santangel Family, must have helped them. More about it in my book. In Italy they were safe, because the Spanish influence came only from the Aragonese crown (i.e. King Ferdinand). He, on the contrary of his wife Isabella, protected the Jews as far as he could, but she was the most powerful one in the couple. Does it make sense to you, Patton? By the way, King Ferdinat had a Jewish heritage, via his mother Juana Enriquez.

From: ALPHETA 12/1/99 4:43 am To: RICALVO (96 of 232) 18.96 in reply to 18.95 Welcome home! We missed you! When Wallace returns our circle will, once again, be complete. A Queen more powerful than her King? As a strong-willed (some would say mule-headed, or bull-headed [shades of Nineveh, Tyre and ancient Sumeria...]) and opinionated woman, I understand, Sitting Bull! I must again applaud Dr. Westerveld for his suggestion that the powerful Queen Isabella was the Spanish impetus for the new and powerful Queen in The Game! But that King Ferdinand was of Jewish ancestry - no - I had not discovered this in my research! I was concentrating on Isabella, and none of the sites I visited that referred to King Ferdinand mentioned the subject! When will your book be available??? (Dr. Westerveld said his book was no longer available, and when it was, it was in Dutch, so I am out of luck there...) My head is spinning! These are such rich topics to explore - the 1492 expulsion and dispersal of the Spanish Jews; the uniting of the kingdoms of Castile and Aragon and the powerful queen; the conquering of the last Muslim stronghold on the Iberian peninsula; Christolpho Columbo; and possible Templar connections! EEK! What's a goddess with limited time on her hands to do? Yes, Sitting Bull, I am still chasing after the mystical Templars. I found one of those little "coincidences" in a website that showed up when I decided to do a Yahoo search combining the words "Jews" and "Templars": http://cbs.infoplease.com/ce5/CE056993.html I quote it here in full, in case the link does not work: Zefat Pronunciation: [zef«Št] (key) town (1989 est. pop. 22,600), NE Israel. One of Israel's four holy cities, it has a thriving artists' colony and many museums and ancient synagogues. Ceramics, diamonds, and handicrafts are produced in the town, which has a large Orthodox Jewish population. Founded A.D. c.70, Zefat is referred to as Tzefiya in the Talmud. Flavius Josephus, a Jewish historian and soldier, built fortifications that later formed the foundations of a 12th-century Crusader castle built by the Knights Templars; its ruins still stand. After the expulsion of the Jews from Spain in 1492, many learned Jews moved to Zefat and made the town an important center of rabbinical and kabbalistic (see kabbalah) studies, which it remained through the 17th cent. Joseph Caro, the last great codifier of rabbinic law, lived in Zefat from 1536 to 1575 and wrote the Shulhan Aruk there. In 1563 the first Hebrew printing press in the Holy Land was established in Zefat; its books were much in demand worldwide. Largely destroyed by an earthquake in 1769, Zefat was repopulated by Russian Hasidim in 1776. The Arabs forced most Jews to leave Zefat in 1929, but Jews returned after the 1948 Arab-Israeli war. The name also appears as Safad and Safed. The Columbia Encyclopedia, Fifth Edition Copyright ©1993, Columbia University Press. Licensed from Inso Corporation. All rights reserved. Interesting that this ancient Jewish town of scholarship and "sacred mysteries" should happen to be the site of a Templar castle; and is it only coincidental that some of the 1492 Spanish Diasporsa Jews relocated there? Interesting, too, that this town was founded, apparently, after the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 CE by the Romans, which had resulted in yet another dispersal of the Jews... Is this merely a case of "what goes around, comes around"? Or, is it something more? What was it the Templars reportedly uncovered during their extensive excavations of the Temple Mound and environs back in the late 12th century? How did Prince Henry, that scion of the House of Sinclair, know that he would make landfall by sailing west? Was his the map, nearly 100 years later, that Christopho Columbo consulted shortly before altering the course of his his three ships, only to make landfall days later in the "West Indies"? And why does the name "Santangel" stick in my mind - I must have come across this name before...

From: RICALVO 12/1/99 7:24 pm To: ALPHETA (97 of 232) 18.97 in reply to 18.96 Dear Patton: It is a pleasure to observe how your tanks are approaching the objective. It was not only Quen Isabella. In Valencia, the wifes of two Aragonian Queens had created a circle of humanism.A relative of Queen Isabella, a nunn named Isabel de Villena, was the most famous feminine author in the late Middle Ages, and her book "Vita Christi" described the Passion from the point of wiew of a woman. Queen Isabella paid the cost of the printing, which by the way, was finished on 22.8.1497 by Lope de Roca Alemany, the same German printer who produced the lost chess incunabulum of Vicent. The Jewish ancestry of King Ferdinand is documented in an inquisitorial treatise betittled "Tizon de la Nobleza". Santangel, from Valencia, was the man who backed finantially the first expedition of Columbus. He was related to the chess players of "Scahs d«amor". Look at mi (next) book. Bravo Patton! Safad or Zefat is closely connected to chess. The Arab mathematician "Safadi", a disciple of Ibn Khallikan died in 1363, published there a magic square of numbers which can be considered with solid proves "the genetic code of chess". I have described the process in several publications and speeches, which are summarized in the Amipro document I sent to you. The explanation requires, alas, graphics, which cannot be posted here. The Templars must have known it, because some graphics of the so-called Knight«s Tour show the Templar crosses upon the chess board. Again, it is impossible to explain without graphics. Leave me in peace for a while Paton, and stop smoking your stinky cigars.

From: ALPHETA 12/1/99 8:08 pm To: RICALVO (98 of 232) 18.98 in reply to 18.97 Great minds think alike, Sitting Bull! After my last post I got busy and hunted down some information on Santangel because I knew I'd read that name SOMEWHERE, I just couldn't remember where! But it was right in some information I printed off the Net about Queen Isabella! What a lot of fascinating facts and speculation, almost all of it contained in articles discussing whether Cristobal Colon was a Converso, and also one fascinating article written by a Muslim who really slammed "the discoverer of America" for bigotry! Anyway, I found that Luis De Santangel, a Converso, variously described as the Keeper of the Exchecquer, the Finance Minister, or a Receiver of certain church income from King Ferdinand's Aragon, apparently convinced Queen Isabella, who in turn convinced the King, to fund Colon's voyage although, as you wrote, some articles say that Santangel advanced the funds for the first voyage himself (in which case, the Queen and King would have funded the second voyage, the money for which came out of property confiscated from the expelled Jews). I discovered a site that quoted from the original order that also granted Colon a 10% share in whatever loot he would find, and also make him the Governor General "in all said islands and main land". http://xroads.virginia.edu/~CAP/COLUMBUS/door3.html (hope this link works). Now I find this reference interesting because supposedly Colon was going to discover a western route to get to India; and he, and the Court, must have known that India had it owns rulers, etc. It was not as if the country was unknown, after all! So, I'm wondering if Colon actually knew he wasn't going to get to India at all, but was going to hit land - the Americas and the islands of the Carribean! The map(s) he had were apparently done by a Jewish scholar of great renown - didn't write his name down, will report more on him later. I discovered a site that contains a 108 page list of Sephardic Jewish names that I have a feeling is going to come in real handy as I progress in my research! This is all so fascinating - Templars, Magic Squares, Conversos...

From: ALPHETA 12/1/99 8:22 pm To: RICALVO (99 of 232) 18.99 in reply to 18.97 P.S. You know you don's REALLY want me to leave you in peace. What on earth would you do for excitement without Alpheta JanXena Patton bothering you like a pesky gnat? I am going to purchase a Lotus Word Pro program so I can convert those documents you sent to me to Word, and get them posted on Goddesschess!

From: RICALVO 12/2/99 10:33 pm To: ALPHETA (100 of 232) 18.100 in reply to 18.99 Alpheta, Isis, Terpsy: I am remembering about some chess goddesse/patroneseses. The Caliph Harum-ar-Rashid played once against a slave, who won three chess games in a row. He asked her whot she wanted as a reward, and she demanded the freedom for a certain prisoner named Al-Mamun. No need to call Sherlock Holmes to deduce that this particular slave loved Al-Mamun. The story is in Murray, chapter "Chess under Islam " (I am too lazy to look after the page). A second one is Dilaram, a name meaning something like "Enjoyement of the heart". Her lover was a chess player who bet her during a chess game. At the critical moment, she cried in desperation: :"Sacrifice your two rooks, but don«t sacrifice me!". The Dilaram position, involving the sacrifice of two rooks, was very popular in all compilation of problems during the Middle Ages. I shall think about more chess goddesses, Patton. This is an interim notice while waiting for Wallace to join us. Sitting Bull

From: ALPHETA 12/3/99 12:28 am To: RICALVO (101 of 232) 18.101 in reply to 18.100 Greetings, Sitting Bull. Wallace will soon be winging his way back home. And then he said he's going to pass out on the sofa for the next two days! So, we must not expect him to join us before Sunday, at the earliest! I have read the story about Dilaram several times - in fact, I came across it again today while I was researching on the computer at Officeworld instead of attending to my business (Naughty JanXena Patton). You're right, she would be a wonderful addition to "Chess Patronesses". I wish I had my own copy of Murray. Unfortunately, when I tried to find one to purchase at Amazon.com the only copy they came up would have cost me - either $650 or $950, I forget which, but far too expensive. Soooooo, I will trek down to the main library this weekend and ask to see the book at the Reference Book (it is so valuable and rare, they do not allow people to check it out or take it out of a certain guarded area!), look up the story, and copy the pages. "The Unnamed Slave", hmmmm, provocative, I like it! I am working on several more profiles for "Chess Patronesses", they will be ready to be sent to Terpsy soon!

From: RICALVO 12/3/99 9:28 am To: ALPHETA (102 of 232) 18.102 in reply to 18.101 Patton, your wishes are orders. There is a reprint of HJR Murray Oxford edition which was available for $ 40 at: Benjamin Press Northampton, Mass. 01061 P.O. 112 Phone: (413) 586-6272 In case it is sold out, our tribe can provide you with a copy Sitting Bull

From: ALPHETA 12/4/99 2:12 am To: RICALVO (103 of 232) 18.103 in reply to 18.102 WOW! Thanks for the tip, I shall check it out as soon as possible! Oh oh, watch our, chess world! JanXena Alpheta Patton with her very own copy of Murray's Bible? OH NOOOOO!

From: PIMANDER 12/4/99 6:23 am To: ALPHETA (104 of 232) 18.104 in reply to 18.103 The worm has returned! - Flying KLM, (choice of Dragons) - despite weather delays, turbluence and near-cancellations - through wind and rain and hail - I have arrived safely home with news of a previously undiscovered chess world! Who knew? Ah...but unfortunately, a good portion of what is in my little black bag appears written in German and it may take some doing before we can crack the code. Patton - you are strategically located in a fabled part of the western front where Geist meets Greely. How do you wish to handle this next offensive? I have some thoughts...but you may consider them...er...somewhat un-American. It must be the recent Euro influence. Wallace in Wunderland... While in Hamburg we entertained the erudite presence of many marvellous personages: a most generous White Knight and his wise White Queen, a Whyld White Rabbit, as well as a curious caterpiller and noted Chess Collector. There were many other characters as well - all of whom enlist the stuff of dreams and fond memories. Provocative! Wallace has been given much to think about. But for now, I must deposit him on his sofa, where, in due course, I am sure his ears will finally pop and ideas decompress. Viva la Goddess! a bientot Pi

From: ALPHETA 12/4/99 7:09 am To: PIMANDER (105 of 232) 18.105 in reply to 18.104 Greetings, darling, and welcome home! After much thought on the subject (Nah!), I've decided the best way to proceed is to hire a local translator (after all, German here is practically a second language - this is the midwest's largest still intact depository of the Poles and Germans). So, if you scan, fax, air express or snail mail me all of your German language materials, I will line up a likely candidate to do the translation job. Snap of the fingers! Sweet dreams, Wallace, World Traveller!

From: PIMANDER 12/4/99 2:53 pm To: ALPHETA (106 of 232) 18.106 in reply to 18.105 Good Morning Alpheta On the flight back from Hamburg, Pi encountered an Albatross. They appear to have become good friends.... "It is a ancient Mariner And he stoppest one of three "By thy long grey beard and thy glittering eye Now wherefore stoppest thou me? The Bridegroom's doors are open wide, And I am the next of kin; The guests are met, the feast is set: May'st hear the merry din." He holds him with his skinny hand "There was a ship", quoth he "Hold off! unhand me greybeard loon!" Eftsoons' his hand dropped he He holds him with his glittering eye - The Wedding guest stood still, And listens like a three years' child: The Mariner hath his will..." (Coleridge: The Rhyme of the Ancient Mariner) Consider it done! I'm not sure if the local post office is open this morning, although you can expect a package to arrive in the mail as soon as I sort out all the goodies. As I think I mentioned earlier, there are additional items that should show up at my door in the coming days. Be prepared for a barrage of paper ballast - white sheets - the mares upon which the Goddess travels over sea and air. As for my more personal reportage and ramblings - I am not sure exactly what to do about these. Perhaps I will drop them off, one by one, at the special alter created for IGK here at Delphi. The plane has stopped, my ears have popped, My sea legs - I have three Though modem speed is what I need Forthwith I shall entreat... Pi

From: ALPHETA 12/4/99 4:47 pm To: PIMANDER (107 of 232) 18.107 in reply to 18.106 Good morning, Wallace. Pi adopted an albatross and you've got three sea legs? Oh oh, I think we're in deep trouble in River City! Me thinks you need more rest, sir! The sofa calls... Drop the goodies in the mail to me when you can. I expect most of it will be posted eventually at Goddesschess, once I secure proper permissions, etc. Did you get pictures??? Oh, and Pi, we will want to put up the presentation you gave to the IGK Group as part of the package. BTW, got your pre-trip packet in the mail a few days ago - the Goddesschess brochure was really cool! My sincere thanks to you for taking on this assignment on behalf of Goddesschess! It's been a whirlwind! Perhaps now things will settle down into a more normal mode...NAH!

From: RICALVO 12/4/99 7:29 pm To: ALPHETA (108 of 232) 18.108 in reply to 18.107 Patton, Wallace: This is going to be a rather boring and long message. First of all, before I forget it, give me please the e-mail of Wallace. When I asked him, he was not sure of his memory, but since he relies on you he delivered to you this question. May be one day I should write him privately. Secondly, not everything written in German is worth translating. There were rubbish papers too. So, a summary of many of them would be appropiate. Since I am am more fluent in German than in English, I dare to give you herewith my own opinion. The lectures began (26. 11, at 09.30), after the customary speeches of welcome etc, with a minor paper of prof. Koichi Mazukawa in German (he doesn«t want to speak in English) dealing with the introduction of European chess in Japan I still don«t know how Wallace, sitting at his site in a dinner, managed to talk and talk making Mazukawa laugh loudly several times. Mazukawa is an expert in Shogi, and Japanese Shogi experts are incredibly respected in their feudal society. No government would take a serious agreement, in war as well as in peace, without consulting before a Shogi expert, and Mazukawa is one of the greatest. Then came the lecture of Peter Banaschak. He is an Orientalist (Japanese and Korean history) but is recently tilted to the history of Chinese chess. After him, I spoke on "Ancient Gnosis and Chess evolution". I am preparing an English version for our group. Not so important. LŸdders, the man in charge of the Kiel chess library was a boring German. The best of his speech was the end, when I met a just arrived visitor ("Mr. Wallace, I suppose") We had lunch together with others, and Wallace went to the atelier of Elke Rehder, a woman-painter specialist in chess subjects. The Dutch P. De MontŽ spoke next day about the origins of modern chess, having no idea about decissive Spanish texts. Helmut Faust, in German, warned about politically induced distortions of chess historians. Barbara HollŠnder initiaded a listing of Medieval termini technici in chess. Most interesting was prof Ulrich SchŠdler paper on Astrological Chess. In the afternoon, de Monte spoke again about the history of castling. Then, a German scholar named Suwe had a lecture on a medieval miniature portraying margrave Otto of Augsburg. Prof. Hans HollŠnder had discovered a German poet from the Illustration in the 18th century named Ramler. At the end, prof Bauer told us that Mozart knew chess, but was too nervous as a person to play it regularly. The last day was more technichal, centered in chess problems during the Middle Ages. The great Yuri Averbach showed the evolution of chess composition, the even greater Ken Whyld the tricks of medieval chess gamblers. Suwe talked again in German on self-mate problems (Flatlander would have liked it ) and several free speaches followed, among them the brilliant presentation by Wallace of the Chess Goddesses. Both, Wild Impetus and myself liked Wallace, though his restlessness is at times uncomfortable. But we sincerely like him. I know you prefer not to speak too much about him, Patton. Anyway I shall scan for you some pictures of Wallace taken in Hamburg, if you don«t object. This is all for today, Patton, Wallace. Sitting Bull

From: ALPHETA 12/4/99 9:22 pm To: RICALVO (109 of 232) 18.109 in reply to 18.108 Greetings, Sitting Bull. I take due note of your assessment and will plan accordingly. I am sending you a private email. What on earth are "self-mate" problems, LOL! I'll ask Flatlander - maybe he understands what you're talking about!

From: RICALVO 12/5/99 9:29 am To: ALPHETA (110 of 232) 18.110 in reply to 18.109 Patton: A normal chess problem is "White plays and gives mate in n moves". Among the many chess variants, there are problems where white White plays and forces Black to mate the Wite king in n moves. These are known as "self-mate problems". In a way, this is what Flatlander did with you. SB

From: PIMANDER 12/8/99 10:59 am To: RICALVO (111 of 232) 18.111 in reply to 18.110 Surpise and Serendipity on the Road to Hamburg: Part I It didn't take very long for incidents to start accumulating. Once Sir Frank had deposited me and my baggage at Dorval Airport in Montreal, I did my currency exchange and wandered around aimlessly for a few minutes before I came to rest at a hospitality site, where Thanksgiving football and beer were being served. As I turned the corner to enter the queue, I came face to face with a jovial Green Man carved into a cement divider. Yes, I thought, this will be a good trip after all. And so it was. Flight 672 from Dorval took off without a hitch and arrived in Amsterdam about one half hour ahead of schedule. Needless to say, the movie offered on board that flight HAD to be for my exclusive benefit (LOL!) and I watched when I should have been sleeping, or trying to. But, who could resist Sean Connery and and his wily female couterpart? And what "Wallace" could overlook that a good portion of the movie "Entrapment" was filmed in the ancestral MacLean family home of Duart Castle, located on the cliffs of the Isle of Mull? Moreover, no self-respecting chessayist could disregard the complexity that took place in the endgame! Surely, Our Lady of Fortresses and Towers must have had her finger on the fast-forward button for that final crop of scenes! Perhaps we shall never know - alhough, the connecting flight from Amsterdam to Hamburg went just as smoothly and despite my usual problems with decompression, I disembarked with all parts still in working order and baggage fully present and accounted for. I suppose it was a combination of many things that had me a little too revved-up at times. You could say that Wallace was in Wunderland - a place where there was no shortage of things to wonder about. Setting foot outside the airport and into a foreign world, I stumped across my first German Intersection, scanned for a cab - but found none in sight. The bags were getting heavy and I put them down on the curb while, reaching into my coat pocket, I produced the note with all the directions Sitting Bull had smoke-signalled in an earler e-mail. Soon the number 109 pulled up in front of me and I was having my first encounter with a German bus driver whom, as I had feared, spoke neither English nor French. I knew from the beginning that I might have been pressing my luck by boarding public transit in order to connect with the IGK convention but, as things worked out, negotiating the bus line proved less of a problem than coping with the Byzantine intricacies of the local subway system. Once inside the station I felt completely disoriented. There were many choices of passenger routings and despite my directional map, I was having difficulty picking out the appropriate terminal. Asking directions from an in-station shopkeeper may have not have been the soundest idea. Relying upon what I "thought" his broken English might have meant, I transferred incorrectly and before I knew it, I had explored half of Hamburg's "green belt", arriving at the end of the "U1" line, many stops in the wrong direction. It had been a nice relaxing ride into the countryside - a way to get the lay of the land from a polite distance - yes - but I was chafing. Sitting Bull had already completed his opening address to the convention and here I was, with miles to go... God only knew what other important information I might have been missing. I marshalled my baggage and my bone-weary body across the subway platform and rode a seemingly endless route to my appropriate destination - Wansbecker Strasse - where I hoped to proceed in a flawless beeline to the Ibis Hotel. Blind man's bluff! The Wandsbecker subway station was a-gaggle and a-gog with people rushing every which way. The pletora of various signs, maps and pedestrian traffic made me feel totally scattered about which direction I should have been following. To complicate matters, a young man strolled by casually - the smell of Sitting Bull's "stinky cigars" wafting in his wake. What kind of place was this anyway? Was Hamburg really Istanbul? I looked around attentively for more signs of "trouble" - found none - but, nonetheless, sped away from the station area, to a quiet corner of a busy intersection from which vantage, I spied something resembling a commercial outlet for a local Travel Agency. A shrine! And what better place to get local directions? It took about another five minutes before I was even discovered at the agency counter. Still, I was relieved to find a person who could address me in an English I understood. With confirmation that my final and ultimate destination lay some five hundred yards further along the Strasse, I marched along down the avenue, crossed the intersection to the Ibis, checked in, threw my baggage down in room 117 and then, legged it back to the lobby. Everything seemed to be taking longer than it should have and the clock read 1:30 p.m - which I thought was utterly impossible! The white rabbit was irredeemably late for a very implortant date! Thoughts of Patton screaming "Off with this head!" made the moment a little more tight-collar than I would have appreciated... but if that was the energy I needed to at least make an appearance at the tea party, I would try to use it some benefit. I looked around for help at the front desk, dreading the idea that I had perhaps arrived in a sleepy part of the world - some kind of Bavarian idyll, where people took their time about things and the hours jumped ahead without any warning. In due course, however, a phone call brought a cream-coloured Mercedes cab to the front of the hotel. With difficulty, the cabbie succeeded in coming to terms with my directions for the Hamburger Schachklub, although we wound up snared in some unexpectedly busy traffic along the Wandsbecker Strasse. I could feel my gut tightening just a bit - and indeed, by the time I had arrived at the club, I was at least an hour overdue and had missed a second key lecture. Quite concerned and equally disoriented, a combination of hand signals and indeciperable verbal directions from a hospitable German women sent me scrambling up to the second floor of the Hamburger Schachklub where, at about 2:00 p.m., German time, I opened the door to a large meeting area and proceeded to mingle in the midst of a milling crowd of well-heeled ladies and gentlemen. It was obvious that I had just in time to witness the aftermath of the first day's meeting even as it was breaking up before my very eyes. This was not a very auspicious beginning. However, I did manage to single out the man whom I suspected was "The Chief". Playing my hunch, I introduced myself to the person whom I somehow knew had to be Sitting Bull! We shook hands and exchanged brief tribal greetings as he introduced me almost immediately to his wife, Carmen as well as a number of the gentlemen gathered there at the convention. I was at sea of course. A Spanish gentleman was introducing me to German, Russian, Dutch, Austrian, Japanese and Czech alike. Too naive to know whether I should be awed or not by the company, I just kept smiling and shaking hands, bearing in mind the whimsicality of the situation. Certainly I was "out of the loop"...(for the complete text of Wallace's adventures, see Wallace in Wunderland - Goddeschess - International Chess )

From: ALPHETA 12/9/99 4:29 am To: PIMANDER (112 of 232) 18.112 in reply to 18.111 LOL, darling! It's gratifying (aaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhh) to know this Goddess inspires so much fear in the Hearts of Man... We want more, more, more... But we will wait patiently for the next installment.

From: PIMANDER 12/9/99 9:56 am To: ALPHETA (113 of 232) 18.113 in reply to 18.112 Thank you kindly Alpheta Patton Moo! And thinks for overlooking my faux pas. I will move the thread over to IGK folder, where, I have just discovered, it probably belongs! Sorry if I disturbed this thread... Even the following references might not belong - (pre-renaissance) although some of the pics and other information included at these sites is seductive ------- Alfonso X, the Cortes, and government in medieval Spain (in MARION) http://library.ncsu.edu/marion/AJX-1489 Alphonso X Book of GamesHome Page Baseball and chess in medieval Spain? See for yourself! http://www.geocities.com/Yosemite/Gorge/3154/ More Alphonso? http://faculty.washington.edu/petersen/alfonso/alfonsox.htm Thats Alfonso for now!

From: Isis (GEORGIA18) 12/11/99 5:34 am To: RICALVO (114 of 232) 18.114 in reply to 18.110 1492 CE This is a very interesting time, Chris Columbus sailed the ocean blue in search of SPICE. Mmmmmmm What do you know about the Spice trade in 1492? It was VERY BIG BUSSINESS. Cha Ching! $$$$ Follow the money. Chris Columbus was from Genoa. One of the popes in 1492 was Innocent VIII (Giovanni Battista Cibo): Genoa; August 29th (Sept.12), 1484, to July 25th, 1492. It is interesting that the MiV pope was from Genoa.Mmmmmm. August 11(26), 1492 Alexander VI (Rodrigo Borgia): Jativa (Valencia); became the pope after the death of InnocentVIII in 1492. Now where have I heard of the name "Borgia", and where is Valencia?, Spain.Mmmmm Manna for thought. LOVE Isis May the Hand of the Goddess Always be with You.

From: Isis (GEORGIA18) 12/11/99 9:13 pm To: Isis (GEORGIA18) (115 of 232) 18.115 in reply to 18.114 Great and Honorable Sitting Bull, I have to beg your pardon for the brevity of my last post. I am famous for my brevity:-) I forgot to Thank You for taking such good care of our Green Knight, Wallace, in Hamberg. Wallace has come home inspired, and that inspiration has added new vitality to Our Weave. Right now I am working on some reasearch about Prince Henry of Portual. I will post as soon I gather all the pieces together. I have put together a Web page, with the encouragment of Patton,(When Patton wants something she gets it, or else, off with her head:-) http://members.delphi.com/georgia18 Please send my regards to your lovely wife Carmen, and tell her I will take her SHOPPING, in Las Vegas, when she gets here in August:-) And I will take you to the dice table and teach you how to shoot the dice :-) LOVE Sweet Georgia Brown May the Hand of the Goddess Always be with You.Edited 12/11/99 4:30:47 PM ET by GEORGIA18 Edited 12/11/99 4:37:37 PM ET by GEORGIA18

From: RICALVO 12/12/99 8:22 pm To: Isis (GEORGIA18) (116 of 232) 18.116 in reply to 18.115 Sweet Georgia Brown: In His/Herstory, everything depends whether you believe or not all what professors wrote. To summarize my inquiries on Columbus, he came from a family of conversos from Majorca settled down in Genoa at the end of the 14th century. The Borgia (Borja ) family, has its roots in Valencia, more precisely Gandia. The terrible history of several of them (Pope Alexander VI, Cesare Borgia) is in the books. Our tribe recommends to your independent mind to read two historical novels about the Borgia family by Jean Plaidy "Madonna of the Seven Hills" and "Light on Lucrezia". Original edition by Robert Hale Limited. Old men in our tribe think Lucrezia shared with you many common experiences, good and bad. How Sitting Bull

From: RICALVO 12/13/99 5:53 pm To: Isis (GEORGIA18) (117 of 232) 18.117 in reply to 18.114 Patton and Wallace deserve a surprise. You, SGB, showed interest for the Borgias. Well, their passionate story has planty of incest, killings and posonings. Cesare's sister, Lucrezia Borgia, b. Apr. 18, 1480, d. June 24, 1519, was renowned as a master of political intrigue as well as a patron of the arts. She was married three times: first, to Giovanni Sforza, lord of Pesaro, a marriage annulled by her father in 1497; second, to Alfonso (illegitimate son of Alfonso II of Naples), who was assassinated in Rome in 1500; and finally, to Alfonso d'Este, who became duke of Ferrara in 1505. Lucrezia then presided over a brilliant Renaissance court in Ferrara that included the poets Ludovico ARIOSTO and Pietro BEMBO and the painter TITIAN. The most important aspect for us is that LUCREZIA BORGIA PLAYED CHESS. A very recent discovery has unearthes documents showint at her court of Ferrara, she payed the salary of a Spanish chess teacher for her (A Sanvito "Il maestro di scachi spagnolo di Lucrezia Borgia". L« Italia Scacchistica. Decembre 1999 pp. 392-393). So, she has the right to be considered a chess patroness, at least from 1508 on, during her activities in Ferrara. Our tribe can scan for your web site some pic featuring Lucrezia. The best one was painted by Lorenzo Lotto, circa 1528, and is kept at the National Gallery. London Since you stated in your site that music interest you, there is a famous Opera by G. Donizzetti on Lucrezia. SopranoSutherland sings her role marvellously. How Sitting Bull

From: Isis (GEORGIA18) 12/14/99 4:14 am To: RICALVO (118 of 232) 18.118 in reply to 18.117 Great and Honorable Sitting Bull, I want to thank you for the information about Lucricia, I will visit the bookstore this weekend and order the books you suggested I read, this should be fun. Is this for grade.:-) I like reading about interesting people, especially women, all though, I find it frustrating when I read MiV approved herstory, it is terribly slanted against women, they do their best to put a woman in the worst light possible, look what they did to Cleopatra. And because of this I have learned how to read between the lines. Thank you again. Sweet Georgia Brown. May the Hand of the Goddess Always be with You.

From: Isis (GEORGIA18) 12/14/99 10:26 pm To: RICALVO (119 of 232) 18.119 in reply to 18.117 Great and Honorable Sitting Bull, I was up late last night doing research about Lucrezia Borgia and her extended family. One needs a score card to keep track of who is related to whom.:-) At most of the sites I looked at they presented the MiV version of Lucrezia's life, then I found at the "Netscape, Electric Encyclopedia", a version of her life that helps straighten out herstory. The Electric Encyclopedia explained that the Miv version of Lucrezia's life was not supported by the historical evidence. (What comes to mind is the fictious history of Christopher Columbus. I have my own interpretation of his story, which I will discuss at a later date.) It stated that Lucrezia was well loved by her subjects, and was a good Mother. It was refreshing to read something good about a very gifted and intelligent woman. I think to myself; What terrible thing happened to the MiV that would have motivated such hatred of their Mother and other women? Peace Sweet Georgia Brown May the Hand of the Goddess Always be with You.

From: ALPHETA 12/15/99 3:53 am To: Isis (GEORGIA18) (120 of 232) 18.120 in reply to 18.119 Isis, could you write a little more about Lucretia Borgia - I really don't know anything about her other than that she was a reputed poisoner (you know, the ring that would open and dump out arsenic or whatever into a glass of wine...). We may have to do a "Patronesses of Chess" biography on her. In the meantime, I am hung up on my Italian castles research. I have determined that some of the expelled Spanish Jews from 1492 who survived the dangers of the journey settled in the Kingdom of Naples and also in northern Italy, specifically in the Piedmont and Lombardy Regions, and in Milan, Mantua, Taranto, Ferrarra, Ancona and Livorno. Historically there has been a small Jewish community in Italy, dating at least as far back as 2000 years ago. The Piedmont region served as a refuge for persecuted Jews at least as far back as the 14th century; and the neighboring Lombardy region since the 12th century. I have more research to do; however, remember a post done awhile back on the independent Principality of Seborga? Well, I found a wonderful website on it, an article in the Washington Post from 1997, at http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp/srv/style/daily/feb/12/seborga.htm It explains how the Principality came into modern being. Geez, only in Italy! For a look at the history of Seborga, I suggest its official website at http://www.masterweb.it/seborga/eng-2.htm Seborga is in the Piedmont region of Italy; Seborga was originally ceded as a principality to the Cistercians (remember them?) and was controlled by the Knights Templar for many years; it is reportedly one of the places where the Holy Grail is said to be hidden, carried there by Hugh de Payen and the original Knights Templar in the founding days of the Order! Be that as it may, I am attempting to focus on port cities with ties to both the Templars and the Marranos/Conversos, whew!

From: PIMANDER 12/15/99 6:50 am To: ALPHETA (121 of 232) 18.121 in reply to 18.120 Nice work Alpheta Gamma Moo and thanks for the links. Pi has been busy noodling around in more unlikely places lately. It is as much diversion as it is curiosity that has sent him island hopping... in search of the Dark Isle, the Ring Lords and other fancy stuff... Georgia - do you have Borgia connections? There appear to be a few "Alberts" associated with the family. In any case - here's a paella of links that I have been meaning to drop off for some time now. Some are definitely more spicy than others... and not all may be good history...

FT May 1999: Columbus and the Beginning of the World http://www.firstthings.com/ftissues/ft9905/royal.html Community of Valencia:

Capital - Valencia http://www.sispain.org/SiSpain/english/politics/autonomo/valencia/index.html

AltaVista - Web Results - Borgias
http://www.altavista.com/cgi-bin/query?sc=on&q=Borgias&kl=XX&pg=q&search.x=21&search.y=8

Classic Crime Stories - The Crime Library (Borgias) http://www.crimelibrary.com/classicstories.htm

The Borgias: History and Biography http://www.geocities.com/Area51/Shire/5254/bio.html

AltaVista - Web Results Alfonso X
http://www.altavista.com/cgi-bin/query?sc=on&q=+Alfonso+X&kl=en&pg=q&search.x=34&search.y=11

Picasso's Secret Guernica http://web.org.uk/picasso/secret_guernica.html

The Ancient Greek World - Cult Statues http://www.museum.upenn.edu/Greek_World/Religion_death/Religion_cult.html

The Catholic Tradition and Theology of Statues, and Paintings. http://landru.i-link-2.net/shnyves/Catholic_Tradition_art.html

Betty Hennessey, Rita Perry - Italian Renaissance Art: An Introduction http://edweb.sdsu.edu/courses/EDTEC572/final_projects/renaissance_art/pre_ren.html

Geography of Renaissance Italy http://members.aol.com/amazinamy1/geo.html

Philosophical Research, Line Art From Rare Manuscripts http://ww