SUMBA

1. What features animism define the believes of Sumba?

The spirits of the ancestors are around them and are close to them. These spirits, which can be also found in every other thing in nature, are living within the  people of the village.
 Anismism believes that everything in nature has its onw essence.

2. Who is the Ratu for the village? 

Is a priests that listens to the spirits. He has to guess when the new year starts by looking at the Niali, a seaworm.

3. Which are the examples of dualism that appear in the video?

In dualism, everything has two different sides. For examples, there are two entrances for the temple, one for men and one for women. There are also two columns that sustain the Earth, which represent day and night, Sun and Moon, men and women, evil and good... We can also find it in the sheath (masculine), and the nut (feminine).

4. Explain the universal symbols that appear in the video and how they adapt to the believings of the village

For example, when a person died, they use stone to keep that spirit around them, as stones represents what is everlasting. Trees also represent something special. In this case, they are axes that connect the Gods in the sky with the humans on Earth. There is an important tree which is the centre of the city. Moreover, there are engraved symbols in columns that represent fertility.

These symbols are connected to the animism because they have a close relation with the animist view of everything having an essence. We can see this, as an example, in the rocks. To keep the spirits of their ancestors around them and to live within them, the people of the village uses rocks to make that everlasting.

5. Explain the symbols of the house, what parts and how they decorate

The house is divided in three floors. The bottom part is for animals, the middle for persons and the top is for Marapu, or Gods. The hens life with the humans in the middle part of the house. The house is decorated with buffallo skulls, animals that they had previously sacrified to the gods. Inside the house, there are two columns that sustain the Earth, and represent men and women, evil and good, Sun and Moon, etc. and other opposite nature things found in the dualist believes.

6. Who is Marapu?

The Marapu are the spirits who are around the people in the village. They are mainly the ones of their fathers and grandfathers who died.
7. Explain the symbolism of the Loom and explain the drawing of Ikats 

The drawings of the Ikats tell the past of their land and village. We can see in some of them representations of the portuguese conquerors, when they arrived at the island. There are also representations of spirits and horses, sacred animals which were carried from Arabia to Indonesia.

8. How do the Sumbe anounce the new year?

The Ratu listens to the spirits and observates the Niali, a seaworm. When the time of the year in which the Niali goes to the shoars to reproduce, the new year is about to come, because they indicate the new anual moon. After the Ratu has received this information, he preaches this to all the village.

9. Explain the symbolsim of Pasola

Pasola is an event where the villagers ride horses (sacred animals) with spears, handkerchiefs and hats on their heads. The horseriders fight inside of a circle limited by spectetators. In this event, there has to be blood for the Pasola to be good, as the blood spoiled gives fertility. Also, the Pasola calms the spirits.

10. How the ratu tell the future of the village?

He listen to spirits by praying and singing. This way, he communicates with the Gods and the spirits which are around him, and these tell the Ratu the future of the village. When he had recopilated all this information, the Ratu preaches the destiny of the village to his fellow.

FICTIONAL INTERVIEW TO MARTHIN LUTHER

Today, we are interviewing Marthin Luther, the founder of the Protestant Church. He lived from 1483 to 1546. During that time, he defended the religious freedom. Good morning, Mr. Luther.

-Good morning

1. How was your early and academic life?

Well, I was born in the 10th of November of 1483 in Eisleben, then part of the Holy Roman Empire. I was baptized as a Catholic next morning. In 1484, we moved to Mansfield. My father was very strict and worked as a copper-smelter. He wanted me to study law, but I left and entered the Augustinian order. In 1507, I obtained the priesthood, and in 1508, I entered the University of Wittenberg to study theology.

2. How do you make everyone know your 95 theses?

The 31st of October of 1517, I nailed a paper in which I wrote my 95 theses in the wooden doors of the church of the German town of Wittenberg. The next day, when everyone went to church, they read the theses and, as a consequence, started the Reformation.

3. How did The Church reacted to your theses?

They weren’t happy about my theses. They condemned me as an heretic monk, removed me from priesthood and banned my writings. As a challenge to authority, something, I burned one of the papal bull. This action moved the religious debate on from divine authority imposed from above, and brought into the conversation a sense of protest against that.

4. Are you conscious of the impact of Reformation?

Of course I am. I know that, apart from a social and religious revolution, it also caused a serious damage on religious art. For example, 800 monasteries in England were seized, and lost of books and manuscripts destroyed. However, new and reformatted art was born in Europe.

5. What do you think of the Catholics?

I think they were very blind, as they took their time to see the Protestant movement I was beginning. They had their problems with selling their bulls, as there was corruption in the Church. The Reformation not only made the Church split, but also made the catholics think again about if what they doing was right.

6. Did you ever meet Calvin?

No, but I’ve heard he is one of my followers. His ideas, which are close to mine, were spread in Scotland, France and the Low Countries. He contributed quite well the Reformation, although with another but similar point of view about the one I started. It is said that if it wasn’t because of Calvin, the Protestant movement wouldn’t be as important and revolutionary as it has become nowadays.

7. Have you made up any non-religious riots apart from the Reformation?

It is hard to answer, because in 1524, peasants in Germany, influenced by my Reformation, rise up against feudal lords and other authorities, apart from the ones involved in Religion. However, my prior goal was to face the corruption and control the Catholic Church has, not to fight against nobility. My Reformation movement was just a spark.

8.  What do you think about the Counter-Reformation?

I expected that to happen. The Catholic Church wasn’t happy at all about what I was saying about the religious liberty and the selling of bulls. They had previously removed me from my priesthood, and watching the number of people I was convincing, it was a matter of time that they had to do something about it. However, I never gave up and I didn’t let anyone say what can and can’t do, so we were stronger.

9. How did you organise the Church?

Organising the new Church was not an easy task. For not confusing the people, I avoided extreme changes. I based it on the Saxon Model, and said from the distance to the parish priests of the churches in new territories what were they doing wrong. I also worked closely with the elector John the Streadfast on the break with the Catholic Church.

10. How long it took you to translate the Bible?

Around 14 years. It took me a really long time translating the New Testament from Latin to German, despite the fact that the printing press helped. I published it in 1522, and the complete Bible in 1534. My intention was to make it accessible to more Germans, as not everyone knew Latin. However, most people in the Catholic Church didn’t like it, and burned some copies which were made with the printing press.

11. What do you think about our Pope Francis I?
Well, I think he is a really revolucionary person. He breaks the stablishmets of the Catholic Church. However, his efforts of reconnecting both Churches will be useless. It's impossible to forgive each other and respect each other, although we pray to the same god.


Mr. Luther, thank you so much for your time
Thank you. It is a pleasure.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/oct/29/reformation-luther-pope-francis-catholics

FICTIONAL INTERVIEW TO A PIKEMAN FROM THE "TERCIOS OF FLANDES"

Today, we are interviewing Juan Carlos del Valle del Ágape, a pikeman from the Tercios of Flanders, an army created by Charles V to battle in Flanders, and that proved to be one of the best military units of the 16th and 17th centuries. Good morning.

Good morning

1. What are the Tercios?

The tercios a combination of different military units in Spain. The soldiers are honor men loyal to the King that want to fight for the Catholicism in Flanders, and most of them are professional volunteers.

We have a both close range and fire weapons prepared for the fighting, as a consequence of the combination of the military units. These weapons are basically pikes and carabiners, and this combination makes a really good job on the battlefield.

2. How were the Tercios of Flanders born?

When our king Charles V governed, he found problems in maintaining the territories of Milan, Napoli and Sicily. For defending and keeping them, the king had to reorganise his armies. As a consequence, the first three Tercios were founded: the Napoli, Sicily and Lombardy ones. Later on, new Tercios were created due to the huge success this military units had.

3. What are your strategies?

As I mentioned in the first question, the combination of knives and guns proved to be very effective. We first open up the battle with the muskets at quite a big range. After approaching half the distance, it was the arquebuses turn, and finally, the pikes. The pikes easily smash the enemy’s infantry, and are a defense against horses. If the horse riders tries to assault us, he will find a lot of spikes that will knock his horse.

4. What would you say the most important weapon of the Tercios is?

Undoubtedly, the pike, because of its huge effectiveness against the horses. Me and all the pikemen line up in two different groups, the “armadas”, which consists on pikeman with armor; and the “secas”, which pikemen have almost no gear. With this two lines of pikes from four to six meters long, the horsemen have no chance against this incredible weapon.

5. How is the life of a pikeman?

It is worse, compared to the other soldiers of the Tercios. When you are a “soldado biñoso”, that is to say, when you first enter the Tercio, unless you have experience with fire weapons, you are given just enough money to buy yourself a pike. Moreover, if you have no money to buy some armor or extra equipment, you are named “pica seca”, which as I mentioned before, this pikemen lack from gear.

However, regardless of the role or equipment we have, we all seem to be proud of fighting for the Spanish crown and to be part of such unrivaled teams the Tercios are.

6. What white weapons do you use in the Tercios?

Mainly daggers and swords. They are used for our defense, and the dagger seems to be really useful in this task. It gives us an advantage on the battlefield, because this little knife, combined with the sword, are used mainly to stop enemy’s melee assaults and attack them by surprise on the back when the opportunity presents.

7. What guns do you use in the Tercios?

They are divided into muskets and arquebusiers. The gunmen stay at distance to attack the enemy at range and protect the pikemen. They use a total of twelve loads of gunpowder in tubes of wood that they call “the twelve apostles”.

At first, there was a quite big difference between the muskets and the arquebusiers in terms of usage on the battlefield: the muskets were only fired from the walls as a defensive, sniping weapon. However, this changed. Nowadays, the arquebusiers, which used to fight on foot, now are on horse; and the soldiers with the muskets are struggling on foot.

8. What uniform do you wear?

We don’t wear any, we just wear what we could afford, and only can decorate or improve our clothing after payday or looting a city. The only clothe we have in common is a red sash in our arms, and also in our pikes.

In addition, the pikemen don’t use a dress coat, while the soldiers with the muskets wear a small variety of hats and helmets.

9. Have you discard any weapon?

Actually some of them. At first, there were what we called “rodeleros”, a unit armed with a tipped sword and a small, metal shield. They were also protected by an armor that only covered the upper part of the body. Although they were very good in melee, the time ended up removing this military unit, as we sometimes have to reorganise the Tercios.

We have also discarded the crossbow, which were also used in the first years of the Tercios, but it was proved that replacing them by fire guns was a more intelligent idea.

10. What kind of missions do you do?

The most common missions are exploration, ambushing and catching the enemy off-guard. These three missions are important for knowing the opponent and fainting it when we surprise them with sudden, unpredictable attacks.

One strategy we have related to this operations is the “encamisada”, which were some men that, with only a knife and a shirt, introduce in the enemy’s territory at nighttime to make some damage. This strategy is very effective and most of the times the “encamisados” came back to our base untouched and successful.

http://www.abc.es/historia-militar/20130727/abci-tercios-espanoles-europa-201307261535.html