Re: The Hanged Man
51This should be easy to resolve by looking at zillions of examples of the use of Roman numerals over time. Or maybe wikipedia.
Since it the poem has to do with the hermaphrodite, it is considered by O'Neill (following Fabricius, Alchemy, p. 102) an alchemical poem. O'Neill (Tarot Symbolism p. 281) relates it to the Hanged Man:When my pregnant mother bore me in her womb,
they said she asked the gods what she wuold bear.
A boy, said Phoebus, a girl, said Mars, neither, said Juno.
And when I was born, I was a hermaphrodite.
Asked how I was to meet my end, the goddess replied: By arms;
Mars: on the cross; Phoebus: By water. All were right.
A tree overshadowed the waters, I climbed it;
the sword I had with me slipped, and I with it.
My foot caught in the branches, my head hung down in the stream;
And I--male, female, and neither--suffered by water, weapon, and cross.
After summarizing the poem, he concludes that what is represented on the card, from an alchemical perspective--and considering more alchemical references than just this one--is "the intensification of the blackening stage which began with the Hermit. The glory of the first coniunctio has faded into darkness and despair...Now at last he is ready for the total surrender which is implied in the Hanged Man. ... The Hanged Man is the stage of surrender which prepares the alchemist for the mystical death which follows" (p. 282).The tarot image is definitely related to the Epigram of the Hermaphrodite, an alchemical allegory of about 1150.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carnival_of_BaselThe Carnival of Basel (German: Basler Fasnacht) is the biggest carnival in Switzerland and takes place annually between February and March in Basel. It has been listed as one of the top fifty local festivities in Europe.
Basel became of very great importance in the period of early printing industry ... and of reformation.It remains unclear exactly why Carnival starts one week later in Basel than elsewhere in Switzerland or Germany.
The common explanation is that after the Reformation in 1520, Basel continued celebrating its Fasnacht, while the other regions officially stopped. It is said, that in order to differ from the Catholic customs, Fasnacht was scheduled one week later starting in 1529. There are no documents from this era supporting this theory, and the resolutions from 1529 were not quoted until 200 years later.
Historians note that the Catholic carnival date was rescheduled six days earlier in 1091 in the Council of Benevent, because the Sundays were excluded from the 40-day fasting period before Easter, making Ash Wednesday the first day of Lent. From then until the 16th century, the two carnival dates existed. The first one, ending on Ash Wednesday, was known as the Herren- or Pfaffenfasnacht (lords' or priests' carnival) and was observed by those members of the higher echelons of society. The second, one week later at the old time, was known as the Bauernfasnacht (farmers' carnival). Afterwards, only this second carnival was celebrated in Basel.
Today, the Carnival of Basel is said to be "the only Protestant carnival in the world".
Strassburg (130 km distance), Freiburg (70 km distance) and Basel (all three living with close connections) have together more book productions till 1500 than Rome. Especially Basel is extending at the begin of 16th century (Erasmus lives here, also others).Italy
Venice 4347
Rome 2277
Milan 1206
Florence 1066
Bologna 638
Pavia 360
Brescia 342
Neapel 332
Padova 175
Vicenza 130
Ferrara 129
Treviso 116
France
Paris 3796
Lyon 1608
Rouen 235
Toulouse 131
Poitiers 117
Germany
Cologne 1752
Leipzig 1526
Strassburg 1368
Augsburg 1348
Nurremberg 1155
Basel 937
Ulm 432
Mainz 418
Speyer 358
Luebeck 301
Reutlingen 258
Bamberg 168
Memmingen 161
Magdeburg 139
Erfurt 134
Wuerzburg 111
Burgund
Deventer 706
Antwerpen 547
Loewen 291
Delft 165
Zwolle 164
Gouda 129
Spain
Sevilla 186
Salamanca 174
Barcelona 146
Zaragossa 123
Burgos 111
Valencia 107
England
Westminster 219
London 159
Switzerland
Genf 129
Austria
Wien 111
********
In one big list it looks this way:
Venice 4347
Paris 3796
Rome 2277
Cologne 1752
Lyon 1608
Leipzig 1526
Strassburg 1368
Augsburg 1348
Milan 1206
Nurremberg 1155
Florence 1066
Basel 937
Deventer 706
Bologna 638
Antwerpen 547
Ulm 432
Mainz 418
..
Freiburg 49
1433 Paper production in BaselDas Konzil von Basel, das 1439 den Gegenpapst Felix V. wählte (→ Papstwahl am Basler Münster), tagte von 1431 bis 1449 in der Stadt. Um 1433 begann die Papierfabrikation in Basel. Ein eidgenössisches Kontingent unterlag 1444 in der Schlacht bei St. Jakob einem französischen Söldnerheer. Die Universität, die erste im Gebiet der heutigen Schweiz, wurde 1460 durch Papst Pius II. gestiftet. 1471 verlieh Kaiser Friedrich III. der Stadt das Messeprivileg. Um diese Zeit wurde in Basel auch der Buchdruck eingeführt. In der Folge kam es zu einem kulturellen Aufschwung: Neben dem Humanisten Erasmus von Rotterdam weilten auch Paracelsus, Sebastian Brant und Hans Holbein der Jüngere in Basel.
Im Schwaben- bzw. Schweizerkrieg 1499 wandte sich Basel der Eidgenossenschaft zu, der es am 13. Juli 1501 als 11. Ort beitrat. Eine Änderung in der Ratsverfassung, die den Zünften die Vormachtstellung sicherte, erfolgte 1521. Nach einem Zunftaufstand trat Basel 1529 zur Reformation über. Am 12. Mai 1529 siedelten die Domherren und Kapläne, welche nicht zur Reformation wechselten oder auf ihre Nebenpfründen zogen, nach Freiburg im Breisgau um. Am 28. August 1529 schloss das Domkapitel mit der Stadt Freiburg einen Vertrag über die rechtlichen und steuerlichen Belange, den Erwerb von Häusern, Kapitel- und Amtshaus sowie über die Benützung des Münsters. Damit war Basel nicht mehr der Sitz des Bischofs und auch nicht mehr des Domkapitels und wurde es auch nie wieder.
***************Der Rosenmontagzug in Zahlen
Länge des Zuges ca. 7 Kilometer, Länge des Zugweges ca. 6,5 Kilometer, Vorbeimarschzeit ca. 4 Stunden, 99 Fest-, Prunk-, Persiflagewagen und Kutschen, 87 Traktoren, 78 Bagagewagen (diese führen das Wurfmaterial mit), 10.200 Teilnehmer, 124 Musikkapellen und 440 Pferde. Etwa 800 Wagenbegleiter sorgen dafür, dass während des Zuges niemand "unter die Räder" kommt.
Wurfmaterial: 150 Tonnen Süßigkeiten, über 700.000 Tafeln Schokolade, über 220.000 Schachteln Pralinen, über 300.000 Strüßjer (kleine Blumensträuße), Tausende Stoffpuppen und weitere kleinere Präsente.
Verwendetes Material für den Bau der Wagen, Großfiguren etc: 4.000 Meter Dachlatten, 15.000 Meter Bindedraht, 1.500 Quadratmeter Maschendraht, 320 Quadratmeter Hartfaser-/Span- und Tischlerplatten, 1.800 Kilogramm Nägel, Schrauben und sonstige Kleinteile, 2.000 Kilogramm Farbe, 2.000 Kilogramm Kleber/Kleister, 120 Quadratmeter Schaumstoff, 40 Kubikmeter Styropor, 720 Kilogramm Papier.