The Democratic press. [volume] (Ravenna, O. [Ohio]) 1868-1901, 1895-04-03
THE GIANTS" OF OLD TIMES.
Men of Present Day Taller and Broader
Than the Men of the Middle Ages.

According to the popular opinion, we
men of the present time are singularly
degenerated and are nothing more
than diminutives and reductions of the
men of medieval times.
It is said that the warriors of that pc
riod were giants, clad in iron, and that
their muscles were of steel. That is
what the legend says, and what nearly
everybody repeats. We might conflne
ourselves to an invocation to logic in
this case. In medieval times hygiene
was deplorable. The barons ate too
much and the peasants did not eat
enough. Gymnastics were neglected
and bathing was little known. The
population was crowded in towns and
villages. The castles were practically
barracks and the cottages huts. There
was a need of pure air everywhere.
From this manner of living there re-
suited, necessarily, deplorable genera
tions.
Our learned physiologists, after hav-
ing measured hundreds of skeletons,
testify that the men of our times are
from one to two centimeters taller than
the men of the middle ages. But the
bones of our ancestors are not the only
testimony left by them in regard to
their stature. We also possess their
war garments We have measured
several of them, and it turns out that
we appear not only to have grown
taller since the time when they were
manufactured, but our shoulders could
never fit into the steel corsets of our So
called athletic forefathers.
Moreover, this proof has been made
on more than one occasion. The Comte
de Nieuwerkerke, the superintendent of
the museums under the second empire
wishing to put on the armor of Francis
l., the largest of all in the Museum of
Artillery, was obliged to give it up. 1t
was too little for him. And, neverthe-
less, the comte, although a fine man,
was in no sense a giant.
And here is another example. At
Soleure, in Switzerland, recently, on
the occasion of a gymnastic tourna-
ment, the young men, wishing to close
the festivities by a procession with his
torical costumes, asked the authorities
for permission to borrow the arms and
armor of the arsenal, which possessed a
remarkable collection of them, aud the
permission was granted. But it is evil
dent that their ancestors. people of little
foresight, never thought of their grand
children and these grandchildren were
unable to put on the armor. ltwas too
small for them.
And now let US see what Machiavelli
says of the Swiss, for the latter, also
according to the legend, passed for
giants among the giants, and, if we
were to take the testimony of the pict-
ures, their stature was herculean. After
having celebrated the valor of the Swiss
troops who fought in Italy at this time,
the Italian adds: "They were all little
men, dirty and ugly"
History may, perhaps, be right in de-
claring that the battle of Marignan was
a combat of giants, but the combatants
were not gigantic. So much for the
stature of onr ancestors.
Now, as to their strength, we have no
other proof beyond the weight of the
equipment of the men-at-arms. what
enormous strength they must have pos
sessed to be able to move about loaded
with metal" So say the innocent bour-
geois. who. on Sundays, walk through
the halls of the Hotel des Invalides.
Our soldiers of the present time would
faint under such fearful burdens"
Now, in the first place, the harness of
the knights was very much lighter than
it was supposed to have been. Accord
| ing to one of the catalogues of the Mu-
scum of Artillery, the weight of the
complete armor did not, as rule, ex-
ceed fifty pounds, and inasmuch as
those who wore it were horsemen it
was the horse that had to bear the great
est part of the fatigue.
But why has this legend become SO
thoroughly rooted in the mind of the
public? We might content ourselves
with this simple reply, because it is a
legend. The brain of the public is
marvelousy prepared for the reception
of error. and the crowd advances to-
ward absurdity just as duck goes to q
| pond. But it must be said that human
| ity, contrary to the laws of optics, has
a tendency to enlarge everything that
is far off and to belittle that which is
close by. Instinctively. we are dis
! posed to lift our ancestors upon the
backs of our contemporaries. Ever
Homer, speaking of the athletic game!
after the death of Patroclus, refers tt
! the strength of the ancients, and Adam
! is probably the only man who has no
| DOaSteQ OF MS ancestors.
But let US conclude by saying that i
our greatgrandfathers were to come
back to this world again, and by reason
of the military laws were obliged tt
pass before the council of revision, many
among them would be rejected on ac
count of their small stature. And theI
if, on leaving the council, they shoult
enter any gymnasium they would in al
probability be unable to handle tn
dumbbells that we put up with ease
| Figaro.