348
submitted 3 months ago by Don_Dickle@lemmy.world to c/til@lemmy.world
top 18 comments
sorted by: hot top controversial new old
[-] MajorHavoc@programming.dev 119 points 3 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago)

(relevant section from Wikipedia: )

In medieval chess, as an attempt to make the pieces more interesting, each pawn was given the name of a commoner's occupation:[5]

  • Gambler and other "lowlifes", also messengers (in the left-most file, that direction being literally sinister)
  • City guard or policeman (in front of the left-side knight, as knights trained city guards in real life)[6]
  • Innkeeper (in front of the left-side bishop)
  • Doctor (in front of the queen)
  • Merchant/money changer (in front of the king)
  • Weaver/clerk (in front of the right-side bishop, as they worked for bishops)
  • Blacksmith (in front of the right-side knight, as they cared for the horses)
  • Worker/farmer (in front of the right-side rook, as they worked for castles)[7]

The most famous example of this is found in the second book ever printed in the English language, The Game and Playe of the Chesse. Purportedly, this book, printed by William Caxton,[8] was viewed to be as much a political commentary on society as a chess book.[7]

[-] Viking_Hippie@lemmy.world 33 points 3 months ago

The Game and Playe of the Chesse

This man likes Es and he doesn't care who knows it!

[-] get_the_reference_@midwest.social 14 points 3 months ago

I wish that I had Chesse's girl

[-] Viking_Hippie@lemmy.world 3 points 3 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago)

Chesse paint your pictures
About how it's gonna be

[-] lemonmelon@lemmy.world 2 points 3 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago)

By now I should know better
Your queen is never free

So tell me about your little
Gambit on file c

Chesse you can always sell
En passant to me

[-] Rai@lemmy.dbzer0.com 6 points 3 months ago
[-] unemployedclaquer@sopuli.xyz 7 points 3 months ago

Uhhhhhggggghhhh medieval marketing is the worst!

[-] expatriado@lemmy.world 38 points 3 months ago

now they are all grouped as unskilled minimum wage laborers

[-] milicent_bystandr@lemm.ee 4 points 3 months ago

Employees are a fungible commodity.

[-] ramble81@lemm.ee 3 points 3 months ago

So not much has changed since they all functionally act the same.

[-] BarrelAgedBoredom@lemm.ee 21 points 3 months ago

Is village idiot somewhere in there? Relating to characters helps my immersion

[-] milicent_bystandr@lemm.ee 8 points 3 months ago

I think he was there in passing

Or in the French...

[-] Sylvartas@lemmy.world 3 points 3 months ago

Well, the bishop is called the "fou" which literally translates to mad/insane, but iirc it's a recent name

[-] milicent_bystandr@lemm.ee 1 points 3 months ago

With his famously oversized headwear, would that make him...

The Mad Hatter

[-] Etterra@lemmy.world 11 points 3 months ago

I guess they had to find something to entertain themselves before there were video games.

[-] Twinkletoes@lemm.ee 10 points 3 months ago
[-] Knock_Knock_Lemmy_In@lemmy.world 6 points 3 months ago

Pee on who?

[-] Balthazar@lemmy.world 3 points 3 months ago

I thought the one on white's far right was named "'Arry the H pawn".

this post was submitted on 17 Aug 2024
348 points (97.8% liked)

Today I Learned

17809 readers
493 users here now

What did you learn today? Share it with us!

We learn something new every day. This is a community dedicated to informing each other and helping to spread knowledge.

The rules for posting and commenting, besides the rules defined here for lemmy.world, are as follows:

Rules (interactive)


Rule 1- All posts must begin with TIL. Linking to a source of info is optional, but highly recommended as it helps to spark discussion.

** Posts must be about an actual fact that you have learned, but it doesn't matter if you learned it today. See Rule 6 for all exceptions.**



Rule 2- Your post subject cannot be illegal or NSFW material.

Your post subject cannot be illegal or NSFW material. You will be warned first, banned second.



Rule 3- Do not seek mental, medical and professional help here.

Do not seek mental, medical and professional help here. Breaking this rule will not get you or your post removed, but it will put you at risk, and possibly in danger.



Rule 4- No self promotion or upvote-farming of any kind.

That's it.



Rule 5- No baiting or sealioning or promoting an agenda.

Posts and comments which, instead of being of an innocuous nature, are specifically intended (based on reports and in the opinion of our crack moderation team) to bait users into ideological wars on charged political topics will be removed and the authors warned - or banned - depending on severity.



Rule 6- Regarding non-TIL posts.

Provided it is about the community itself, you may post non-TIL posts using the [META] tag on your post title.



Rule 7- You can't harass or disturb other members.

If you vocally harass or discriminate against any individual member, you will be removed.

Likewise, if you are a member, sympathiser or a resemblant of a movement that is known to largely hate, mock, discriminate against, and/or want to take lives of a group of people, and you were provably vocal about your hate, then you will be banned on sight.

For further explanation, clarification and feedback about this rule, you may follow this link.



Rule 8- All comments should try to stay relevant to their parent content.



Rule 9- Reposts from other platforms are not allowed.

Let everyone have their own content.



Rule 10- Majority of bots aren't allowed to participate here.

Unless included in our Whitelist for Bots, your bot will not be allowed to participate in this community. To have your bot whitelisted, please contact the moderators for a short review.



Partnered Communities

You can view our partnered communities list by following this link. To partner with our community and be included, you are free to message the moderators or comment on a pinned post.

Community Moderation

For inquiry on becoming a moderator of this community, you may comment on the pinned post of the time, or simply shoot a message to the current moderators.

founded 1 year ago
MODERATORS