CP Historical Figures Draft (Round 14) (pick anytime)

[Five-hole]

In the category of Innovator / Humanitarian, team Five-hole selects Martin Luther.



The first line of his wikipedia entry says it all: "Martin Luther (10 November 1483 - 18 February 1546) changed the course of Western civilization by initiating the Protestant Reformation."

I'm assuming there aren't too many more people whose biographies begin like that. He:

- singlehandedly split the Catholic Church in half
- told the Pope to eff off
- authored the first translation of the Bible according to "Protestant" doctrine
- argued that National Defence could be a just cause of war (as opposed to war on religious grounds)
- perhaps the first man in history to have a sudden "15 minutes of fame" ("The 95 Theses were quickly translated from Latin into German, printed, and widely copied, making the controversy one of the first in history to be aided by the printing press. Within two weeks, copies of the theses had spread throughout Germany; within two months throughout Europe.")

He joins Nicolaus Copernicus in team Five-hole's Illustrious Roster of Men Screwing the Catholic Church.

Wikipedia entry

[RougeUnderoos]

So is this an AK for Itse?

[GirlySports]

Originally Posted by RougeUnderoos

So is this an AK for Itse?

Yup, once the time passes you can just go cause that's when your clock starts!

[RougeUnderoos]

Team Captain Obvious Except For Jimmy Conway picks in the Women Category.

Catherine The Great (1729 - 1796)



I won't pretend to be some great scholar here but I will tell you why I think she was kind of a cool bird. She started climbing the charts to run Russia when she was a teenager. By the time she was about 33 her husband (Tsar Peter III) had been bumped off by her boyfriend and Catherine (who was born in Poland and didn't have a real claim to the throne) took over and kept tooking over for the next 34 years.

Catherine II, called Catherine the Great (Russian: Екатерина II Великая, Yekaterina II Velikaya; 2 May [O.S. 21 April] 1729 – reigned as Empress of Russia from 9 July [O.S. 28 June] 1762 until 17 November [O.S. 6 November] 1796). Under her direct auspices the Russian Empire expanded, improved its administration, and continued to modernize along Western European lines. Catherine's rule re-vitalized Russia, which grew ever stronger and became recognized as one of the great powers of Europe. Her successes in complex foreign policy and her sometimes brutal reprisals in the wake of rebellion (most notably Pugachev's Rebellion) complemented her hectic private life. She frequently occasioned scandal — given her propensity for relationships which often resulted in gossip flourishing within more than one European court.

There has been a persistent rumor for lo these past 213 years since she died that her death was the result of a sexual misadventure with a horse. This is not true but it sure is a weird thing to say.

The niftiest thing about this woman is the legend of the Potemkin Villages. I don't know if "legend" is the right word, but some people think it's a legend, some people think it was based in reality.

Either way, the story goes like this -- One of her pals, a cat by the name of Potemkin, invaded the Crimea on behalf of Catherine and Russia. It was something of a desolate place and maybe didn't look like it was worth the effort. This Potemkin guy had some fake villages mocked up for Catherine and her cronies to gawk at when they drove by having a look at the new territory "they" had conquered. I don't know exactly how they pulled this off, but I picture it like they built something like film sets on the sides of hills and on the riverbanks.

Catherine wasn't stopping to mingle with the local serfs, so it looked like real actual villages as she rode by in her carriage. Far as she could tell, they hadn't taken over an empty wasteland, but a real happening joint. Like I said, this may or may not be true, but I like that story, whether it's true or not. Knowing what we know about politics and politicians (let alone tyrannical foreign women taking over the largest country in the world) it sounds plausible enough.

And further to that -- I went to Disneyland when I was a kid. I saw that Magic Castle and thought "wow, that's a hell of a thing" and then went in and there was a gift shop on the ground floor and a bunch of locked doors. No princesses, no knights, secret passages or dining halls. My sister bought a porcelain rainbow there and dropped it on the concrete half an hour later and started bawling.

Years later when I read about the Potemkin Village I thought "that's what the goddamn Magic Castle was, a Potemkin Village".



At least I got to ride the monorail to the Magic Castle though, and not some stupid old Pumpkin Carriage.

[Yeah_Baby]

My favorite Prussian that ruled Russia!

[RougeUnderoos]

Originally Posted by Yeah_Baby

My favorite Prussian that ruled Russia!

Yeah, Prussia, not Poland. Where she was born (Stettin, Prussia) is in Poland now, apparently. All that Prussia/Russia business is too confusing for me.

[Itse]

Sorry for being late. What's the situation on Genghis, did he become available?

[Aeneas]

Since Alexander is gone, I will take Vlad Dracula in the Military Leader category.

I am not taking the fictional character in a book, but the real living person who lived in what is now Rumania, in the 15th century.


I choose this picture as it is the only one of him.

Vlad Dracula's father ruled as a prince of Wallachia, and Vlad was taken off as a hostage to his father's good behaviour to the Ottoman empire at a young age. He learned much from the Ottoman Turks, some of what he learned there would make him famous later as The Impaler.

Vlad was a member of the order of the Dragon. It was an order of knights formed by King Sigismund of Hungary to defend Europe and Christianity from the invading Turks. Vlad would spend most of his short life defending Wallachia (and neighboring states) from the Turks.

One of the reasons the Turks were so successful in taking the Balkans and into Hungary and Austria was that the powers of Europecould rarely trust each other long enough to work together. Usually they were fighting each other at the same time as the Turk. It was no different for Dracula and perhaps worse.

He was betrayed by a succession of Hungarian leaders and by his own cousin Steven of Moravia. Dracula faced more trouble from within Transylvania, a region north of Wallachia that he had control of. Dracula held the title of prince through heredity but Wallachia had no rule by primogeniture. The prince was elected by vote of the boyars, a group of wealthy land owning nobles. The boyars in Transylvania caused Dracula no end of trouble through his adult life. They were mostly of Saxon German descent. Dracula usually had massive support of the common people in both Wallachia and Transylvania.

Even today, Romanians hold Dracula in esteem. A census conducted just before the breakup of Yugoslavia had a large percentage of people still considering themselves "Vlachs" or Wallachians.

Vlad's father ruled Wallachia through careful balancing between the two powers Hungary and Ottoman Turkey. John Hunyadi of Hungary launched an attack and was soundly defeated. Hungary was angered that Vlad's father (Vlad II) did not put his whole support behind this attack. However the Turks were unhappy That Vlad II did support Hunyadi with his son Mircea.

This waffling between two superpowers of the day and area, led to the punitive agreements between the Ottomans and Wallachia. Vlad II had to send money and young boys to the Turks to be raised a Janissaries. Vlad III and his younger brother were such hostages.

With Hungary's help the boyars rose up in Transylvania and assasinated Vlad II, Vlad Dracula's father. His older brother Mircea was buried alive. Vlad Dracula took out a severe revenge on the boyars and merchants of Tirgoviste who were responsible for the deaths. It was this revenge which would make him infamous forever.

Before the return and revenge though was a period where Vlad III was courted by the Turk and Hunyadi in turn. Alliances came and went. Vlad rode the currents between the opposing forces until he could take power.
He held it three separate times, the longest for 7 years.

During that time, Wallachia and Transylvania was considered the safest place in Europe. The penalty for all crimes was death by impalement. All could have been well, except the boyars never forgave Vlad III for his revenge upoon their fellows. When he found those responsible for the deaths of his father and brother, he invited them to a feast then killed most of them.

But these boyars woul dcause Vlad III to have a very difficult and short rule.

I am forced to cut this shorter than I'd like, he is a fascinating fellow for all of his atrocities. The children are wanting to be fed.

Here is a good site for more information:
http://www.donlinke.com/drakula/vlad.htm

I will fill in the rest of his life later...

[troutman]

I select in the Explorer/Discoveror category, SIR FRANCIS YOUNGHUSBAND:



I am a direct descendant of Younghusband (my mother's maiden name). He had some wacky new age ideas, and was part of a massacre of 600-700 Tibetans, but he did have an interesting career. I think he also founded the scouting movement along with Lord Baden Powell.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sir_Francis_Younghusband

Lieutenant Colonel Sir Francis Edward Younghusband, KCSI, KCIE (31 May 1863 - 31 July 1942, Dorset[1]) was a British Army officer, explorer, and spiritual writer. He is remembered chiefly for his travels in the Far East and Central Asia—especially the 1904 British invasion of Tibet, which he led—and for his writings on Asia and foreign policy. Younghusband held positions including British commissioner to Tibet and President of the Royal Geographical Society.

In 1886-1887, on leave from his regiment, Younghusband made an expedition through Manchuria, crossing the Gobi Desert and pioneering a route from Kashgar and India through the uncharted Mustagh Pass.[2] For this achievement he was elected the youngest member of the Royal Geographic Society and received the society's gold medal.

The Great Game, between Britain and Russia, continued beyond the turn of the century. Younghusband, among other explorers such as Sven Hedin, Nikolai Przhevalsky and Sir Aurel Stein, participated in earnest.[3]

Rumors of Russian expansion into the Hindu Kush and a Russian presence in Tibet prompted the Viceroy of IndiaLord Curzon to appoint Younghusband, by then a Major, to serve as British commissioner to Tibet from 1902-1904. In 1903-1904, under orders from Curzon, Younghusband, jointly with John Claude White, the Political Officer for Sikkim, led a British expedition to Tibet, whose putative aim was to settle disputes over the Sikkim-Tibet border but whose true aim was to establish British hegemony in Tibet; the expedition controversially became (by exceeding instructions from London) a de facto invasion and occupation of Tibet.[4] About one hundred miles inside Tibet, on the way to Gyangzê, thence to the capital of Lhasa, a confrontation outside the hamlet of Guru led to the massacre, by the expedition, of 600-700 Tibetan militia.[5] The British force was supported by King Ugyen Wangchuck of Bhutan, who was knighted in return for his services.

In 1904, Younghusband received the title of Knight Commander of the Order of the Indian Empire; and in 1917, the superior title of Knight Commander of the Order of the Star of India.

Later in life my mother became an accomplished artist, and painted a series of abtract paintings on Tibetan themes. She became a supporter of the Canadian Tibetan society, and has met the Dalai Lama on a couple of occasions.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/history/...isode_74.shtml

Younghusband was one of the first to champion the idea of climbing Everest.

http://www.tibet.ca/

http://www.tibet.org/Resources/TSG/G...ib.friend.html

[Aeneas]

Kids dealt with.
The reason I chose Vlad Dracula to be my military leader is that he had such a violent life. I would say that most of his adult life and a fair bit of his childhood, he faced death daily. Through this adversity he managed to take and hold power of a small realm surrounded by much larger foes.

Any day he could be assassinated by his own people, or killed in battle. He fought several successful campaigns against the Turks and never shied away from the battle itself.

He had to contend with usurpers from his own extended family backed by the Turks, or Steven of Moravia or even his oft time ally Hungary.

The boyars of Sibiu, Brasov, and Tirgoviste certainly wanted him dead.


He ruled with an iron fist and murdered enemies from within and without with wild abandon. He certainly did impale people without mercy, killing them by the thousands in the most painful way imaginable.

To defend him, I suppose he did these things to send a message. One Turkish army retreated upon entering the "forest" of impaled Turkish soldiers captured in battle. I suppose defending his atrocities by pointing out the low crime rate may compare with admiring Adolf Hitler for building nice roads.

However, they say history is written by the victors; and in this case the "history" of Dracula was written by the Germanic boyars who gained access to printing pamphlets that were very negative to his memory. If you choose to believe the worst of what he did, then you must credit some of the other things he is said to have done.

The torture and death by impalement were not invented by him, he learned well from his Turkish masters. Perhaps Machiavelli could have found him an interesting study.

Some stories about him:

He once nailed the hats on some ambassadors who did not take off their hays.
He left a golden cup on the well in the main square of Tirgoviste for all to drink from. It was stolen twice, the first time the man who stole it and some dozen of his family were impaled. The second time the family of the thief turned him in to be impaled.
He impaled thoudands of boyars then dined amongst them. When one man was holding his nose, Dracula had him impaled on a high stake so he could be above it.

The Turks finally ousted Dracula and he fled to Hungary where he was arrested. The King of Hungary never gave Dracula the promised support against the Turks. He was a prisoner on the danube bend and at court for some 10-12 years. Russian stories have it that the Hungarian king Mattias Corvinus liked to have Dracula present to frighten ambassadors.

Eventually he married into Mattias family and fathered two sons. He was killed in battle trying to re take Wallachia with an under manned army.

Rumoured to be buried at Snagov monastery.



His castle on the river Arges stands (ruined) today, I think I read that the Rumanian government is re building for tourism. Most associate Castle Bran with Dracula, but that is incorrect.

[troutman]

I can't see the google draft board at home or at work.

[Aeneas]

Originally Posted by troutman

I can't see the google draft board at home or at work.

Nor I.
Hey you picked another military guy from Western Europe, hmmm.
Not to nit pick, but what did Younghusband have to do with the Scout movement?

[troutman]

Originally Posted by Aeneas

Nor I.
Hey you picked another military guy from Western Europe, hmmm.
Not to nit pick, but what did Younghusband have to do with the Scout movement?

I thought I read in his biography that he was directly involved, but it could be he was only admired by Lord Baden-Powell:

http://www.absoluteastronomy.com/top...s_Younghusband

World-Leader, the Supreme Embodiment of the Eternal Spirit which animates the Whole (1927). (This last was admired by Lord Baden-Powell, the Boy Scouts founder.)

[Yeah_Baby]

Originally Posted by RougeUnderoos

Yeah, Prussia, not Poland. Where she was born (Stettin, Prussia) is in Poland now, apparently. All that Prussia/Russia business is too confusing for me.

That is what happens when you break up, create, partition, break up and re create a country.

[GirlySports]

Can anyone see the draft board? It's open to everyone. I can see if even if I don't log in to my google account.

[GirlySports]

Originally Posted by Itse

Sorry for being late. What's the situation on Genghis, did he become available?

He's not available.. you'll have to trade for him.

[octothorp]

I can see it here from work, and I know I was able to see it from home last night...

[troutman]

Now I can see the draft board. Were the settings changed?

[GirlySports]

Originally Posted by troutman

Now I can see the draft board. Were the settings changed?

Nope

[Aeneas]

Originally Posted by GirlySports

Can anyone see the draft board? It's open to everyone. I can see if even if I don't log in to my google account.

See it now, could not see it earlier.