The Nine Worthies

In the sidebar of 'Musings', there is the picture to the right:

It was at the top of my previous blog, The New Crusade. It depicts, anachronistically, King Arthur as King of England.

It's a pretty picture, and the text in it is what I'm trying to do with this blog. But, beneath the picture is the caption, 'The Nine Worthies are calling you'. Who are the 'Nine Worthies?

They are nine warriors of our Græco-Roman Catholic Civilisation and Culture, three Pagans, three Jews, and three Christians.

In chronological order they are Hector, Alexander the Great, Joshua, King David, Judas Machabeus, Julius Cæsar, King Arthur, Blessed Charlemagne, and Godfrey of Bouillon.

Hector, of course, is the hero of the Trojans in Homer's Iliad. He was killed by Achilles, but not before slaying 31,000 Greek warriors, according to Homer.

Joshua (Feast Day 1 September), son of Nun of the Tribe of Ephraim, was Moses' lieutenant during the Exodus from Egypt, one of the spies sent into Chanaan, and the leader of the Israelites in their conquest of Chanaan.

King David (Feast Day 29 December) was the author, under the inspiration of the Holy Ghost, of the Psalter, and general of King Saul's armies before he himself became King.

Alexander (20/21 July 356 BC – 10/11 June 323 BC), was the King of Macedon. In his short life of 32 years, he added the titles Hegemon of the Hellenic League and Strategos Autokrator against the Achaemenid Empire, Pharaoh of Egypt, King of Persia, and Lord of Asia to his titles, conquering basically all the known world east of Rome, bringing it to the sphere of Hellenic culture.

Judas Machabeus (Feast Day 1 August, along with his Mother and Brethren) was a Priest of the Temple who, along with his father and brethren, led a revolt against the Seleucid ruler Antiochus IV Epiphanes who had desecrated the Temple. He defeated Antiochus and cleansed the Temple.

Julius Cæsar conquered Gaul, bringing it into the sphere of
Græco-Roman civilisation, and preparing it for Christianisation as France, the Eldest Daughter of the Church.

King Arthur may or may not have existed, but as one writer said, whether he did or not, someone seems to have done all the things he is claimed to. He was probably a Romano-British war leader who was successful in holding off the heathen Saxons for a short while after the Romans abandoned Britain, thus preserving Christianity in Wales, and possibly Cornwall.

Charlemagne, Ever Augustus Emperor of the Romans (Feast Day 28 January), is Pater Europae, the 'Father of Europe' for his unification and Christianisation of Western Europe, much of which was conquered from heathen tribes.

Godfrey of Bouillon was one of the leaders of the First Crusade against the jihadist horde of Muslims who had conquered the Holy Land. After the Conquest of Jerusalem, he was offered the crown. He refused to be crowned king "upon the plea that he would never wear a crown of gold where his Saviour had worn a crown of thorns", taking the title 'Advocate of the Holy Sepulchre.

They are all worthy models for those engaged in the battle to restore Christendom and our Græco-Roman Catholic Civilisation and Culture.

The Arms of the Nine Worthies