JANUARY 18 "PRISONERS OF OUR OWN APPETITES"

Thomas Costain’s history, THE THREE EDWARDS, described the life of Raynald III, a fourteenth century duke in what is now Belgium. Grossly overweight, Raynald was commonly called by his Latin nickname, Crassus, which means ‘fat.”
After a violent quarrel, Raynald’s younger brother Edward led a successful revolt against him. Edward captured Raynald but did not kill him. Instead, he built a room around Raynald in the Nieuwkerk castle and promised him he could regain his title and property as soon as he was able to leave the room.
This would not have been difficult for most people since the room had several windows and a door of near-normal size, and none was locked or barred. The problem was Raynald’s size. To regain his freedom, he needed to lose weight. But Edward knew his older brother, and each day he sent a variety of delicious foods. Instead of dieting his way out of prison, Raynald grew fatter.

When Duke Edward was accused of cruelty, he had a ready answer: “My brother is not a prisoner. He may leave when he so wills.” Raynald stayed in that room for ten years and wasn’t released until after Edward died in battle. By then his health was so ruined he died within a year …a prisoner of his own appetite. 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

OCTOBER 15 "RE-UP - MARRIED AGAIN!"

Paul Chudnow, 71 and Phyllis Chudnow, also 71 decide after 50 years to get hitched for another 50. The mood was lighthearted before the 7:30 p.m. service. "I figured if you can last 50 years, you might as well look for another [50 years]," said Phyllis Chudnow, 71, who will be married to Paul Chudnow, 71, for 51 years in June. "It's something to celebrate," Paul said. The couple lives in Fort Lauderdale . What happened 50 years ago I’m sure is very special to this couple, but even more special, even more meaningful, is that 51 years later, whatever they felt, whatever moment they had, 51 years ago, it’s still going on 51 years later! This couple, “has it going on” beyond what any deluded teenager thinks about “how they have it going on”, this is the real deal!
Read more

MAY 13 "EVOLUTION VS. CREATION"

WHY VENUS SPINS THE  WRONG WAY -AMERICAN SCIENTIFIC JOURNAL Our neighboring planet Venus is an oddball in many ways. For starters, it spins in the opposite direction from most other planets, including Earth, so that on Venus the sun rises in the west. Not that it happens often: a day there lasts a little more than 243 Earth-days, actually making it longer than a Venusian year, which is only about 224 Earth-days long. Many scientists believe that the long days are a result of the sun's strong pull on the planet. But scientists are still puzzled by Venus's retrograde, or backward, rotation. Evolution teaches that creation started by the "Big Bang Theory"; thence sending all sorts of particulars flying through the explosion through the momentum of a blast. If that were the case, the momentum of the blast, if we can somehow take a grand leap of faith that the blast created planets (big leap I know) than we can only conclude the planets would all be spinning in t...
Read more

FEBRUARY 14 "71 YEARS OLD & STILL IN LOVE"

Paul Chudnow, 71 and Phyllis Chudnow, also 71 decide after 50 years to get hitched for another 50. The mood was lighthearted before the 7:30 p.m. service. "I figured if you can last 50 years, you might as well look for another [50 years]," said Phyllis Chudnow, 71, who will be married to Paul Chudnow, 71, for 51 years in June. "It's something to celebrate," Paul said. The couple lives in Fort Lauderdale, Fl. What happened 50 years ago I’m sure is very special to this couple, but even more special, even more meaningful, is that 51 years later, whatever they felt, whatever moment they had, 51 years ago, it’s still going on 51 years later! This couple, “has it going on” beyond what any deluded teenager thinks about “how they have it going on”, this is the real deal!
Read more