It starts at 'The Cross In Hand', where by legend, Norman knights gathered in 1095 before going on the Crusades........It transpires from the evidence here presented, that there is more than an element of truth in this legend.
At a conference in 2010, I posed that humans became conscious by the discovery and use of hand-held-mirrors in the age of metals.
My Film THE ICEMAN, 2017, posed the effect that such a mirror might have before the age of metals. It postulated the accidental discovery of a polished piece of metal or nugget which could be used as a hand-held-mirror, in the stone age, before the age of metals.
Below is a technical description of what happened to hominids when this event first occurred (as it must have) but can be ignored and taken as read (or just watch the film THE ICEMAN 2017)
My argument was simply that reflections in water weren't useful to early hominids and so were ignored. Only with the discovery and widespread use of metals did mirrors become generally available to hominids. The use of hand-held mirrors, with the advent of the age of metals caused a radical and massive re-organisation of neuronal connectivity in the brain - so complex that it could not be reversed. In particular, synesthetic-connectivity between hand and eye when holding and using a mirror for the first time and a concomitant simultaneous explosion of feedback and resonance in the 'mirror-neuron' system, derived from this neuronal system copying or 'imitating itself' when it first viewed the external effects of 'it's own internal actions' in a hand-held-mirror, caused an effectively permanent change in brain function and structure.
Thus subsequent to the use of hand held mirrors in the age of metals, hominids as a species, no longer depended upon shared group behaviors as their key identifying characteristic.
In short 'self' suddenly emerged - with the use of hand-held-metal mirrors - together with all of its traits which we recognize today. (A similar observation, - of the rapid instantiation of consciousness over the last three thousand years (over the same age of hand-held-mirror use) was made by Julian Jaynes, although my explanation of the events of history are driven by a combination of evolution and the accidental discovery of the reflective characteristics of metals and their utilization for their then unique attribute of a robust reflection which can be held in the hand and manipulated - unlike the reflection in water - which would have only been perceived and absorbed subliminally (humans never having realized the physical changes that mirrors had brought about in their brains). In effect, -until the advent of hand-held-mirrors, hominids (and other species had suffered 'auto -prosopagnosia' or... ''self-face-blindness' when viewing oneself in a mirror'' as I explained in the 2010 conference (Did Mirrors Cause Consciousness?. Toward A Science Of Consciousness Peter.T.Reynolds ....and subsequently at the same conference in 2012 - Interlaken Switzerland) until the advent and widespread use of 'hand-held mirrors' - there were in effect, no mirrors and no self image to recognize) (water not providing enough stimulus for hominids to realize a 'self-image'- in respect of their own faces - water having no practical use in this respect). The state of mind which predisposed the hominid brain and led to this explosive utilization of hand-held-mirrors and the multi-faceted traits which it instilled in the species, as we see today, (e.g. your ability to read this description) , and the germ of creative technology which then resulted in the technological world we know today, as a result, was predetermined by the evolution of the ability of hominids to a point where - unlike any other species, they had developed enough control of their environment to support deaf and blind populations. From these populations emerged art, music and complex language, albeit, that, until the discovery and use of hand-held mirrors these abilities were purely reflexive and unconscious. (Peter T. Reynolds Toward A science Of Consciousness 2012 Interlaken) for example, the act of constructing the pyramids of the Pharoahs and indeed the Incas, being conducted by an army of automatons guided by a few who had become conscious by their regular use of good mirrors, especially of gold ("lesser mortals" (literally - possessing 'lesser'-consciousness- using cheaper less reflective metals). This elite were in effect Gods, or Pharoahs - who had discovered self-consciousness through their use of mirrors in the age of metals. Utilizing mirrors purely for their usefulness in applying make-up or in dentistry etc. and unknowingly instantiating self consciousness through their repeated use, especially the images being of good quality because they were made of gold, which was much more reflective than other metals without the need for continued polishing. "Mirror - Mirror, On The wall - Who is the fairest of them all?"
But nevertheless, the use of these mirrors had left a vast change in the almost infinite connectivity of neurons in the brain. To the point that their use had in reality created a species of super-hominids. Or what we think of today as 'Humans'.
Historically, some individuals would have be more affected by their introduction to a hand-held-mirror, (That is - literally - their first conscious experience) than others. Ubiquitously I proposed that the introduction to a 'hand-held-mirror reflection', would have had an earth shattering effect - it would have been a religious experience of itself). With this in mind, I proposed that uniquely, one man, among all others, only needed to see his image in a hand-held-mirror, once, and the radical change in neuronal connectivity which resulted' was in he alone, permanent and realized an optimum template, or 'bauplan' - which could be seen as maximizing the future potential of the species. Thus a real 'God' was formed or realized among others, and instilled amazement in all of those around him, so that those who used hand-held-mirrors and were thus effectively given the use of complex language (of many tongues) and would use this, together with their simultaneous gift of the written word, to write about him and their own religious experience of realizing themselves, through his greater self: unbeknownst to themselves, through their own use of hand-held-mirrors and his different neural make-up and the phenomenal effects which his introduction to a hand-held -mirror, instantiated in him.
I proposed the mirror which that man used became known as the 'Holy Grail'. However - the consequences of using this particular hand-held-mirror might have only been understood by its user, as unlike others, his unique neural make-up allowed him to discard the mirror after its only occasion of use - he, unlike others, subsequently not needing the 'self-reassurance' of hand-held-mirrors to substantiate their self image or their own self.
Jump forward 1000 years and the Normans have been sponsored by the pope to conquer the Holy land and bring back - this - 'Holy Grail'. The Knights Templar formed to fund the conquest of those kingdoms which held stead over it -and its 'magical properties'. Not knowing that it was, in fact, just a humble hand-held-mirror, albeit that it had indeed instantiated a unique religion, which the Pope himself had followed and which was responsible for his very existence.
I show how the Normans under William had developed a modern war machine, with a very precise modus -operandi, exercised against an ancient highly evolved warring strategy based upon stone age methods, which had been effective for thousands of years until it came up against the lateral thinking William and based upon cavalry to take control of England and create the wealth which would further allow them to buy off traditional, ancient nomadic peoples or 'Hestengs' (Danish -meaning 'horse-followers') (I pose in this thesis the Hestengs, a 700000 year old race and explain this assertion ) giving them a foothold in foreign lands, where they could use the simple but very precise battle tactic, which allowed them to overcome a highly evolved and effective means of warfare, developed over thousands of years, based upon the use of 'beacon hill-forts', as designated defensive positions on hilltops.
'The Battle of Hastings being an exemplar of his methodology, beginning with the 'buying off' of the 'Hestengs' or nomadic horse followers of Southern England who naturally opposed the land owning, tax -raising farmers or Saxons and Anglo-Saxons (from Seaxe - I suggest meaning 'plough' - Anglo from Eng or meadow in Danish)),, thus gaining an unopposed foothold in England (Danish - Ploughed land - like 'Poland') from which to apply his highly developed and synergistic cavalry-led tactical denouement and masterpiece. A tactic which he would use repeatedly to conquer the country and form the financial bedrock from which the Normans would begin their quest for the mythical ' Holy Grail' (In fact, they had such hand-held-mirrors in their own possession, albeit that until the advent of silvered glass mirrors, hundreds of years later, they would have recognized and realized that different individuals would have possessed mystical 'god-like qualities'. (unbeknownst to them derived from the greater use of good quality polished mirrors - and William and his 'Knights' would have access to such mirrors through their armorers and their technique of producing hammered sheet armor and polished mirrors - and so William and his 'Knights' would possess the vision necessary to -'see passed' the historic ancient- stone age derived and highly evolved fighting method of Harold - and out-think him at every turn).. It was thus apparent in their day that there might be a 'Holy Grail' from which such mystical, magical, god-like powers spring forth. (That mystical power in fact being the self -consciousness and self-confidence which the use of good hand-held-mirrors imparts)
This then more a pamphlet which describes William's tactics as a response to Harold's highly evolved 'stone-age' derived fighting modus-operandi (ubiquitous throughout the known world and having evolved naturally over thousands of years from the stone age) - culminating in my exposure of the site of the Battle Of Hastings at the Cross In Hand and the site of Harold's body on the shore at Hastings in a castle with a large signal tower or light-house - designated as a 'Boum' -literally a tree of sound. on a 1798 map (Hastings Observer 12th Feb - Did William Land his horses at Hastings? - which had probably guided William across the channel. (The lighthouse both being used to signal using light and sound)
More a detective story with the aid of pictures analyzing the 'Battle Of Hastings', from its inception, as a campaign, to its final execution in a planned unopposed landing on the beach, at the site of the modern Hastings, at 10.55am on the 28th September 1066 (crucially minutes later than the time of High Spring Tide at Pevensey) when William landed his fleet, to the meeting of Norman Knights at the 'Cross In Hand' in 1095 - on their way to the first crusades - sponsored by the Knights Templar, on a Quest for 'The Holy Grail'. 'The fountain of All Things'. My discovery of his methodology as outlined in the 12th February issue of the Hastings Observer (Did William land His horses at Hastings? Peter Reynolds) and of the actual site of the battle at the (later called ) Cross in Hand beacon, fortified hill. And moreover - - as described above, I have already explained their illusory goal.
This all based initially upon research of my own unique and accurate painting of the site of William's castle on the beach at Hastings in 1797 , by Joseph Farington and of the tidal- lagoons on the shore, never before seen, in which William landed in 1066.
This then, about a six A4 page guide to the campaign of 'The Battle Of Hastings' leading to the ultimate Quest for the Holy Grail and the meeting of Norman Knights at the Cross In hand in 1095 before leaving for the Crusades. The tale of a military genius who saw himself in a mirror, in a way that few had before. Indeed my discovery of William's castle at Hastings (Hastings Observer 12th Feb 2021 Peter Reynolds) and of the site of the Battle Of Hastings on the Becon- hill (Beacon-Hill) at Cross In Hand would have been 'The Holy Grail' for many a battle historian. Wiped from the record by it's burial beneath the roots of the appropriately named 'English Woodland Tree Nursery' in 1912, still owned by the Templars, the modern descendants of Norman Knights, before which it was known as 'The Battle of Heathfield'.
The quality of the printing is not great but the informed exposition of the pictures is the most powerful insight into the Battle Of Hastings and of the 'Battle Of Heathfield' - in a thousand years. At every level, From understanding the true physical drivers of William's actions, including the physical mechanism driving his unusual neurological condition to the tactical and military mechanisms which he invented and used to conquer a country with very little man-power and which laid the foundation for the subsequent Crusades and a bank (The Knights Templar) directed at funding a military tactic invented by William.
It is interesting to note that an EU funded study in 2014 (Archaeology, Art & Coastal Heritage: Tools to Support Coastal Management (Arch-Manche) investigated the changing coast at Hastings by examining art from the early 1800's - but the study completely failed to mention the most significant change to the coastline occurring during the period of the study and since well before Roman times. That in particular being the blowing up of the White Rock headland in 1832. (Although this area is clearly defined within the remit of that study and is mentioned in the Hasting Observer blog, from which other observations are taken which are included the 2014 study)). The headland, from which the present painting was executed, created the lagoons also shown in the present painting; and which led the area to be refered to as 'Pond Bay' in the 1795 guide to Hastings and also made the site perfect for William to land in 1066. The headland also led to the Speed map of 1574/1610, describe Hastings as 'Hastings Haven Inunded', meaning that a protected harbour was still active at Hastings at high tide, as would also have existed in 1066. (The White Rock protecting Hastings from the great storms of the 13th century and the consequent and subsequent silting up which happened all along the coast) One might ask whether this omission of the removal of the White Rock headland in 1832, in the 2014 study, was deliberate, as the EU funded study must have been expensive and thorough. And this removal of the headland would have removed the protection of the whole sea-front and area of study, from long-shore drift and from storms. Likewise , modification of the sea-front by Boyket Breeds, and the creation of the 'America-Ground' in the early 1800s is not mentioned.
Crucial to the detail of the present painting, the view is from sea-level - looking back to the beach. The 2014 EU funded study also highlights the importance of such 'sea-level' paintings in identifying the profile of the sea-front and it also highlights the significance given to the known accuracy of the artists conducting the painting, and their likelihood to use artistic licence to embellish their paintings. In this context, that of objectivity, Farington would be at the top of any list as he was used by the military to map the 'Siege Of Valenciennes' and could well have been in Hastings on this particular occasion to scope the lay of the land for the specific purpose of siting an 18inch gun captured at the battle of Cape St Vincent, on the White Rock headland soon after (later the same year) this painting was made (as is recorded). (notably - the siting of this gun is not mentioned in the 2014 study although the siting of other guns at this time, at Hastings, is considered, again removing mention of the White Rock headland as though it never existed.)
The last picture above, drawn by William Daniell in 1821 was used by the 2014 EU project looking at changes in coastal topography over time. It shows that by 1821 - just 24 years after Farington's painting, the whole area beneath the 'castle headland' had been flattened and used to build on. Including the flattening of William's Motte.