The Odyssey of Benedict Arnold: Vol. II

Available now through most online retailers, bookshop.org, Barnes & Noble, Amazon, and etc.

This is a 160 pg, 6.5 x 6.5" Print-On-Demand softcover edition continues Arnold's journey. This one contains Chapters V - VIII of the story, some extras, and a note!

Check out mongooseandson.com/store for more details and thank you for reading!

just got my literal ass beaten by three 9 year old children this is the most humiliated i've ever been

If you ever find yourself in 13th century Egypt, about to play a game of Commander against the first Mamluk sultan, here's what you might expect to see from her deck.

katie mcgrath would play the shit out of shajar al-durr though

I don't have a costume so I just dzhued myself up with crap from my after work jewelry bag. At best we can call this Shajar Al Durr inspired closet cosplay

(Fae/they)

“Thanks to TED-Ed for introducing me to Shajar al-Durr, she was the Sultana of Egypt for only 80 days after the death of her husband, the only woman to rule Egypt in the Islamic period. A former slave known for her beauty, shrewdness and determination. The Sultana played an important role in the defeat of the Seventh Crusade and Shajar al-Durr is also known for her architectural monuments, which bear her symbol, a tree lined with mother of pearl and inlaid with gold. Her name actually means Tree of Pearls, hence the symbol.” - Submitted by Anonymous

I am wrong for thinking our Beomgyu could be like Sultan Suleiman and go out of his way to marry a concubine.But our oc is not even a concubine she is whore previously a lady.Plus beomgyu is just a prince.But he can still get another wife right?!? Also hurrem wanted a male child so bad because that is what gave her the powers she wanted. oc doesn't want one now but might ask gyu later. I don't think anyone other than the king himself would ever dare to even touch or harm oc. Because gyu would not even think twice before killing them. So maybe in the end oc begs the king to send her off to some distant place where nobody would ever find her. Because after she lost her virginity in the back of her mind she knows she is not marriageable anymore. So maybe she just wants to live the rest of her life in peace in a remote place with her child(if only she would be with a child) Beomgyu goes batshit crazy and tries to find her but fails. And Taehyun is just heartbroken but he understands why oc did what she did. Idk I am just so fucking excited to know what the future holds. But when is oc fucking tae tho?!? And why do I feel like oc should tell gyu that she has already kissed taehyun( that would just cause more problem but its exciting)

-🌶️

yo i thought you were talking about Shajar al-Durr. there is apparently at least two historical precedents for this 😂

our oc would is considered a concubine though. but to her and to everyone else that's just a fancy way of saying whore. he can't get another wife though. if he could he would've done that a long time ago lol and i think oc wouldn't have been entirely too opposed to it either since it gives her the power and influence she wanted. yeah not as much as the primary wife but at least she'd have real power and wouldn't be looked at as a whore.

honestly even the king better watch his back if he thinks he can send oc away 😂

i'm excited too! and oc is gonna fuck tae in chapter 6. idk about her telling gyu she kissed tyun though she wouldn't want to set him off. you might not have noticed but he's a little possessive lol

Síguenos en Substack https://revistadehistoria.substack.com/ Lee cada día nuevos Artículos Históricos GRATIS: https://revistadehistoria.es/registro-gratuito/ ¿En qué se parecen Shajar al-Durr, la triunfadora de la Séptima Cruzada, y George Bush (hijo)?

Had some art block for days but after recently watching TedEd's new video I got inspired to draw a tarot-esque work in honor of Shajar al-Durr

The Odyssey of Benedict Arnold - Shajar al-Durr

One of those rabbit holes I went down after reading a short paragraph by Will Durant that summed up a person's life, in this case it concerned the manner of their death. Wanted to work this into the story for a long time now.

Found out a lot about Shajar al-Durr and the time period that had criss-crossed other points I've read about, but never dove in before! More to be read in the future but for now, Chapter VII has Arnold running around a museum and gallery, heavily inspired by the local Royal Ontario Museum.

Included here is a brief outline of her tale that I hope will encourage anyone to read more about the Sultana!

https://ko-fi.com/mongooseandson (For Reading Ahead + Support!)

https://www.webtoons.com/en/challenge/the-odyssey-of-benedict-arnold/list?title_no=594697(For General Comic Viewing + Subscribes!)

https://namicomi.com/en/title/re3w59Kj/the-odyssey-of-benedict-arnold/chapters?lang=en (New comic site for viewing!)

Notes:

Durant, Will. The Age of Faith. Simon & Schuster: New York, 1950.

Levanoni, Amalia. Shajar al-Durr: A Case of Female Sultanate in Medieval Islam. World History Connected, 2010.

lord I see what you've done for shajar al-durr and I pray for the same fate for joe biden

anonymous asked:

favorite royal mistresses (amarah’s pick)

Shajar al-Durr (Arabic for Tree of Pearls) was said to be of Turkish or Armenian origin when arriving to Ayyubid Court. She was described as pious, intelligent, and beautiful, and was bought by As-Salid Ayyub in the Levant before he became Sultan of Egypt. When he became Sultan of Egypt in 1240, she came with him, married him, and bored him a son named Khalil. When her husband died in 1249, his son suceeded him as Sultana of Egypt, Turanshah. Turanshah had a brief reign from 1249-50, but was abusive in power. Shajar al-Durr had him disposed and killed, and took full power as Sultana with the support of the military and court. Shajar remarried, Izz al-Din Aybak as her co-monarch becoming the second female Muslim in Islamic History to rule in her own right. When the French tried to take Egypt, she defeated them and took Louis IX as hostage until a treaty had been issued and he was released. Aybak wanted to take two more wives and Shajar did not agree with this. In 1257 he was strangled by her orders in his bath by servants. This began Shajar’s downfall, for later in 1257, she was said to be the one to do the killing by her own stepson’s ladies, and was arrested to the Red Tower. She was stripped and beaten to death, and her body was found in the Citadel. Some historians say that she was dragged by her feet and thrown into the moat, left for three days, wearing nothing but pearls and smelling of musk. Shajar laid to rest in a tomb near the Mosque of Tulun, and is decorated with a mosaic of the “tree of life”. Though her fate was harsh, Shajar al-Durr will forever be known as one of the most famous female Muslim Monarchs in Islamic History.

shout out to queen shajar al durr of egypt insisting on using the title Sultan (not sultana the female version of the title but the male one) which still exists on her extent coins today, because not a lot of historians like to admit the fact and it pisses me off. 

badass things she’s also done:

she was the second muslim queen of ever 

covered up the fact that her husband, the king, died during the 7th crusade so not to lower the army’s spirits.

secretly sent the king’s body to cairo without anyone knowing and kept on giving orders in his name that she’d write on blank papers he signed for her before he died.

sent for her husband’s son in secret, who was in another city, and secured his place on egypt’s throne all during war 

conspired to kill the king (her husband’s son) when he turned out to be a tyrant

became queen officially after that and imprisoned louis IX putting an end to the 7th crusade

even when she married later, she was still the de-facto ruler of egypt

killed her second husband when he betrayed her by having his servants strangle him during his bath

Women’s History Meme || Queens (6/10) ↬ Shajar al-Durr

Shajar al-Durr tried to operate without his authorization, believing that she had the essential thing: the support of the army, an army that under her leadership had just beaten the Crusaders at Damietta. She gave herself a title that was less long than that of her husband, but which was a gesture of defiance to the caliph because it challenged his prerogatives. The title was Malikat al-Muslimin, Queen of the Muslims.

But she did not last long, because the caliph’s rejection proved fatal to her and brought on her tragic end, despite all the talent she displayed to hold on to her position and despite her desperate struggle to overturn the rules of the power game. She seemed to have perfectly mastered its most violent and ruthless dimension, since in a very short time she had succeeded in wiping out all her rivals.

The paradox is that al-Musta’sim, who took it upon himself to ridicule Shajar al-Durr and her claim to rule, was militarily powerless. Furthermore, through his irresponsible behaviour toward the Mongols he brought on the sack of Baghdad in 1258 and the extermination of thousands of Muslims by Hulagu, the grandson of Genghis Khan. He was the symbol of a bankrupt, centuries-old Arab dynasty, in contrast to Shajar al-Durr, who was the leading star of her own rising dynasty, that of the Mamluks, Turkish slaves, who were the only ones with the power to face the Mongol armies.

— The Forgotten Queens of Islam, Fatima Mernessi

history | women throughout history | muslim women