AM 560 The Answer

This week's installment of @MorningAnswer's "In-depth History" with Frank the History Teacher from Arlington Heights, who is recommended by 4 out of 5 dentists (read and you'll get it), tackles the DSA...because there's nothing new in this world, it's just the history you don't know and Frank does. +++ Aquafresh Good Morning! One life lesson I always tell me students is to floss daily. I usually go through the various problems they may face later like Crowns and Root Canals. But then I also talk about how not doing so leads to bad breath. I sometimes even show the old George Kennedy Breath Assure Commercial to get my point across. But when Going to Church in Medieval Times bad breath, well, would have been the least of your worries. Churchgoers generally had to stand the whole time – there were no pews, except for the wealthy. And they would have all smelled just AWFUL! In an age of no deodorant, toilet paper, soap, or running water, one can only imagine the stench. It’s actually why they burned so much frankincense and myrrh in Medieval Churches. One just had to go too, as the ruling Cosmology of the Age insisted that the Afterlife was paramount, so not following the rules would mean more time in Purgatory at least. For the more recalcitrant ones though, Excommunication was a punishment that would deny you the Sacraments if you persisted in your wayward behaviors. Anathematization though, is another punishment altogether. Usually reserved for heretics, it involved a Papal ceremony and the sinner being completely separated from the faith community. In the Middle Ages, sometimes even animals were Anathematized. Secular courts often held full trials with defense attorneys for the accused fauna. The most common defendants were pigs who killed children. Ecclesiastical courts though, would also try rodents, pests and insects, especially those who ruined crops. One famous case in St Julien, France in 1587 was over the failure of a wine crop. The insects’ defense attorney argued the Bible said they were here before man, so they had rights to eat this crop. But the court decided they should be anathematized and were restricted to a specific nearby field. Not sure if the bugs complied. This sounds crazy. But really no more so than today’s Bolshevik Democratic Party and anything it spits out. But a form of Anathema might improve our world today, and it involves kicking out of the Republican party the turncoats who either support or work for that bad Oliver Platt impersonator down in Springfield.