#570-574 Prosthetics and Götz of the Iorn Hand

 #570

The Roman Calculators

The history of Prosthetics is long but largely consisted of little innovation throughout it’s span of time. The reason for this is simple: While losing body parts was never an uncommon thing (such as Mal-formation, to farming accidents) it was uncommon for people missing these limbs to have the money or expertise to make anything besides crude prosthetics. The earliest example comes from a 3,000 year old egyptian mummy with a Prosthetic big toe which shows evidence of use. 

The First Famous example includes Roman history which had an Emperor around the year 211 put together an Auxilia (Same number of infantry as a Roman Legion but made of  Disgraced or nonRoman citizens) made completely of Amputees known as “The Men of Wood and Iron" and also putting Rome at 400 Total Auxilia and 33 Legions. Auxilla 400 which often had its named shortened to just “Men of Iron" became known for self teaching their troops math and writing making them more valuable than average infantry and soon began loaning their infantry to advise the Roman Generals as calculators until the fall of Western Rome to vandals in 476AD

Unfortunately no images or prosthetics remain from the Men of Wood and Iorn and quite frankly the Egyptian toe is disgusting so here is an image of Roman Gladiators from around The 1st century AD taken from a Tomb of Gladiators discovered in Ephesus, Turkey. Interestingly The city (capital of the province of Asia–Modern day Turkey) had a Gladiator school known as “The Idus” where roman citizens could learn to be gladiators but if they became amputees before they graduated then they’d be taught to play flutes or sing to sing in the stands while other gladiators died in the fights below. Making The Grand Theatre of Ephesus unique for its “Fight Music”. 

Thanks as always for reading and please have a wonderful day!

#571

The Imperial Knight Götz 

Born on November 15th, 1480 as the 5th son of a minor Lord in southern Germany, life did not expect much of Götz Von Berlichengen. His only inheritance was a suit of armor which he decided to make use of rather than become a monk as his father wished.

 Soon at 17 Götz  was an imperial knight of The Holy Roman Empire under the Command of The Hapsburgs and soon made a name for himself as a competent and Charismic leader, who often got into fistfights with other commanders who harmed the people under his command.  Yet at 18 he was part of the disastrous war against The Swiss Confederacy who fielded the best Pikeman in the Medieval world. The Hapsburgs could do nothing but lose and die against them. After the war Götz decided that his men deserved better, and seeing an opportunity to make money, He formed his own mercenary army as their Captain at only 19 years old. 

During his escapades, Duke Albert of Bavaria hired him to assist in a siege over a succession crisis at The City of Landshut (Capital of lower Bavaria). Götz famously promised his men that this would be a siege to remember and soon set up alongside none other than The Hapsburgs cannon line. During the battle preparations he got into an argument with the Commander of the Hapsburgs after one of his men was beaten by The Hapsburg Cannoneers. During this argument one of the Hapsburg Cannons went off firing the cannon wadding while Götz was standing just in front of the cannon. It was indeed a siege to remember as Götz lost his right hand just below the wrist. Thus began the life of Götz of the Iron Fist. 

17th century Engraving of Götz

Fun Fact #572

The Imperial Fist

After healing from the loss of his hand in 1504, Götz commissioned the forging of an Iron hand by a local blacksmith and saddlemaker. This first hand was a rather simple construction being essentially a lump of metal with hinged fingers that could “Imitate” holding something but was largely nonfunctional. He then spent the part of 1505 in –as he would later write --“drunk as a duck” although he makes note that his fist-fights became far more fun. One morning he was an observer to a peasant’s duel where he witnessed one peasant lose most of his arm, but still win the duel by picking up the sword in his other hand and killing his opponent before succumbing to his injuries himself. This showed him that just because he was an amputee it didn't mean he couldn't still fight and win against actual weapons. Thus he called up his allies and once again went forth as a mercenary army now known as “The Glovers” at the age of 25. 

To aid him he worked with a blacksmith from his home in Swabia whom he had been friends with since an early age. Together they crafted a new hand using springs, pins and a home-made ratcheting system to be able to lock the fingers in a variety of poses once again giving him use of quills (for writing), reigns (for horseback riding), and most importantly giving him the ability to use a sword again –albeit clumsily relying mostly on heavy wide blows. 

Lastly because how he lost his hand was seen as an embarrassment for him, he began telling people that the first cannonball from The City of Landshut hit his sword hanging by his side and propelled his sword through his wrist. Thus starting the Battle which his army handedly won using Götz's plan despite his injuries

#573

The Swabian Salute

Now known as Götz of The Iron Hand, Götz led his Mercenary army “The Glovers” into combat and kept winning. Yet he quickly became loved as a champion of the People for his habit of taking up the cause of peasants without pay. One such example is when he went and sacked 6 whole cities because a peasant (Joseph) wasn’t given his prize money of 400 Gulden for winning an archery contest. Not only did the peasant get his money, but The Glovers took everything of value leaving the cities in poverty and ruin taking several decades to be rebuilt. Because of this Götz became known among the German nobility as “Lord of the Peasants" and known for habit of “Taking a head for an eye” no matter whose eye it was. He used this money to buy Horburg castle as a home base for his army to operate out of, and became a true Lord by holding land.

 Then came the infamous Peasant Revolt in the northern territories of The Holy Roman Empire (North Germany). Götz wasn’t worried about it though as Swabia (a region in southern Germany) where he lived was far from the fight. He became notably more concerned when he woke up one morning to find a little over 10,000 armed peasants outside his castle. Their demand was simply to become their leader in the revolt, or they would lay siege and kill him. Soon they were sacking cities across Germany until Götz learned that the Swiss Confederacy were sending their Prized Pikeman against him and promptly hired someone else to lead the revolt while he retired to his castle. 

Soon the Swiss and Holy Roman Empire’s armies were outside his castle demanding his surrender so he could be brought before The Emperor to face judgement. Götz responded with the first recorded use of the phrase “He can lick my A*s”. While he likely did not coin the phrase this did popularize its use becoming known for Götz’s home as “The Swabian Salute”. When “The Peasant Lord” was brought before the Emperor he was asked about this exchange and the war.  In short Götz’s response boiled down to ‘well it could have been worse, I could have sacked your city’. Apparently the Emperor thought this was hilarious and pardoned him –after 4 years of being confined to Hornburg castle and fined 4,800 Gulden. His army meanwhile continued winning battles and even sacking more German cities. Götz ended his confinement approximately 20,000 Gulden richer than when he started. 

Image of Gotz with the inscription of his response to 

Fun Fact #574

Journey of The Hand

After the Peasant's Revolt, Götz Of the Iron Hand went on to become commander in Chief of The Holy Roman Empire’s Army during his 60s until his death at the age of 81 in 1562 (long story). While Götz’s story ended at his death, his hand went on to have adventures and a legacy of its own. 

The story starts with Götz’s death where his Iron hand was taken by The Emperor who already held his first hand. There it was studied and the techniques used for pin and place fingers were adapted for use in prosthetic elbow and knees greatly improving the lives of amputees all across Medieval Europe. There the hand would remain on display until 1630 when it was studied again where its ratcheting mechanism would be adapted for the creation of the first Flintlock Firearm in history and helping to give rise to the Military position of “Musketeer”.

Once again both hands would then go on display being almost forgotten as a footnote in history and eventually finding their way back to The Hornburg Castle (Götz’s home) until near the end of World War 1, when the Hand was brought forth to be studied once again as it was still one of the most advanced prosthetics in existence at that time. A number of copies were made and sent with German Amputees so they could still serve in the war reading and writing letters for the German army and a number we captured by various armies around the world. In many places the ratcheting mechanism was combined with more crude threaded attachments to make the amputees able to dig trenches, use hammers, ride horses, aim artillery, and even drive clutch. These advances gave rise to some of the first Modern Prosthetics and are still used in most Prosthetics today –although the technology and materials has continued to advance after it really picked up speed in 1975.

In a less impactful legacy a WW2 Panzer-Grenider Division was named after Götz, and the name of his mercenary army “The Glovers” was used by author George R.R. Martin as the name of a northern House  in his hit Game of Thrones novels. Additionally the character “Guts” in the Japanese Manga Berserk is loosely based upon Götz if he were in an occult-magic based world where he fought The Legions of Hell.

Image of the Second Iron Hand of Götz