FYI March 31, 2020

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On This Day

1146 – Bernard of Clairvaux preaches his famous sermon in a field at Vézelay, urging the necessity of a Second Crusade. Louis VII is present, and joins the Crusade.[2]
The Second Crusade (1147–1150) was the second major crusade launched from Europe. The Second Crusade was started in response to the fall of the County of Edessa in 1144 to the forces of Zengi. The county had been founded during the First Crusade (1096–1099) by King Baldwin I of Jerusalem in 1098. While it was the first Crusader state to be founded, it was also the first to fall.

The Second Crusade was announced by Pope Eugene III, and was the first of the crusades to be led by European kings, namely Louis VII of France and Conrad III of Germany, with help from a number of other European nobles. The armies of the two kings marched separately across Europe. After crossing Byzantine territory into Anatolia, both armies were separately defeated by the Seljuk Turks. The main Western Christian source, Odo of Deuil, and Syriac Christian sources claim that the Byzantine Emperor Manuel I Komnenos secretly hindered the crusaders’ progress particularly in Anatolia, where he is alleged to have deliberately ordered Turks to attack them. Louis and Conrad and the remnants of their armies reached Jerusalem and participated in 1148 in an ill-advised attack on Damascus. The crusade in the east was a failure for the crusaders and a great victory for the Muslims. It would ultimately have a key influence on the fall of Jerusalem and give rise to the Third Crusade at the end of the 12th century.

The only significant Christian success of the Second Crusade came to a combined force of 13,000 Flemish, Frisian, Norman, English, Scottish, and German crusaders in 1147. Travelling from England, by ship, to the Holy Land, the army stopped and helped the smaller (7,000) Portuguese army in the capture of Lisbon, expelling its Moorish occupants.

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Born On This Day

1823 – Mary Boykin Chesnut, American author (d. 1886)
Mary Boykin Chesnut (née Miller) (March 31, 1823 – November 22, 1886) was an American author noted for a book published as her Civil War diary, a “vivid picture of a society in the throes of its life-and-death struggle.”[1] She described the war from within her upper-class circles of Southern planter society, but encompassed all classes in her book. She was married to a lawyer who served as a United States senator and Confederate officer. Chesnut worked toward a final form of her book in 1881–1884, based on her extensive diary written during the war years. It was published in 1905, 19 years after her death. New versions were published after her papers were discovered, in 1949 by the novelist Ben Ames Williams, and in 1981 by the historian C. Vann Woodward. His annotated edition of the diary, Mary Chesnut’s Civil War (1981), won the Pulitzer Prize for History in 1982. Literary critics have praised Chesnut’s diary—the influential writer Edmund Wilson termed it “a work of art” and a “masterpiece” of the genre[2]—and the most important work by a Confederate author.

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FYI

Vector’s World: Tower crane assembly and more ->
 
 
 
 
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Angela Gonzalez, Athabascan Woman Blog: Keeping Hope
 
 
 
 
Matt Goff: Sitka Nature Show #207 – Josh Lane
 
 
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Alternative-Read: #SaturdaySpotlight #Interview with bestselling #author #HarlanCoben @HarlanCoben #SaturdayShare
 
 
 
 

Chuck Wendig Terrible Minds: My Statement To NPR On The Internet Archive’s Emergency Library
 
 
 
 
Sahara Foley: April 2020 Free & Discounted eBooks Multi Genre–1st to 15th
 
 
 
 

Recipes

Sandra’s Alaska Recipes: Sandra’s Herb Dipping Oil/Sauce (for Homemade Bread)
 
 
By Julissa Roberts, The Kitchn: We Tried 8 Egg Substitutes for Baking and Found a Clear Winner
 
 
Food Network Kitchen: How to Pickle All Your Spring Vegetables
 
 
Meghan Telpner: Crispy Crunchy Chickpeas
 
 
Beth Tomkiw, Tastge of Home: Slow Cooker Sandwich Recipes for the Easiest Dinner Ever
 
 
Caroline Stanko, Taste of Home: 40 Flourless Cookies You Need in Your Cookie Jar
 
 
Betty Crocker Kitchens: Easter Treats That Are (Almost) Too Cute to Eat