The Order of Brothelyngham was a gang of men who, in mid-14th-century England, formed themselves into a fake religious order in Exeter, Devon. Styling themselves as theatrical players, they terrorised, kidnapped and extorted the locals. They may well have been satirising the church, which was commonly perceived as corrupt. The group appears to have named itself after a non-existent place, "Brothelyngham". The name was probably meant as an allusion to the Order of Sempringham, which was known to enclose both monks and nuns on the same premises. Members of the Order of Brothelyngham dressed as monks. They supposedly elected a madman to rule them as their abbot, possibly from a theatrical stage, and bore their ruler aloft before them in a mockery of a bishop's throne. As one of the few such gangs known to modern historians, the order is considered significant for what it suggests of anticlerical activities and attitudes in England during the period.
Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Order_of_Brothelyngham
_______________________________ Today's selected anniversaries:
1952:
Israel enacted a citizenship law, prior to which the country technically had no citizens. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Israeli_citizenship_law
1969:
The Hawker Siddeley Harrier, the first operational fighter aircraft with V/STOL capabilities, entered service with the Royal Air Force. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hawker_Siddeley_Harrier
2001:
Same-sex marriage in the Netherlands was legalised, with the country becoming the first to do so. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Same-sex_marriage_in_the_Netherlands
_____________________________ Wiktionary's word of the day:
oo oo aa aa: (onomatopoeia) Used to represent the sound of a monkey's cry. https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/oo_oo_aa_aa
___________________________ Wikiquote quote of the day:
It is at night that faith in light is admirable. --Edmond Rostand https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Edmond_Rostand