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Eilmer of Malmesbury

2007 Schools Wikipedia Selection. Related subjects: British History 1500 and
before (including Roman Britain); Historical figures

   Stained glass window showing Eilmer, installed in Malmesbury Abbey in
   1920 in memory of Rev. Canon C. D. H. McMillan, Vicar of Malmesbury
   from 1907 to 1919.
   Enlarge
   Stained glass window showing Eilmer, installed in Malmesbury Abbey in
   1920 in memory of Rev. Canon C. D. H. McMillan, Vicar of Malmesbury
   from 1907 to 1919.

   Eilmer of Malmesbury (also known as Oliver due to a scribal miscopying,
   or Elmer), an 11th century English Benedictine monk. He is best known
   for an early attempt at flight using mechanical wings during his youth
   in the early 11th century.

Eilmer

   Eilmer was a monk of Malmesbury Abbey who studied mathematics and
   astrology. All that we know of him is told by a fellow-monk William of
   Malmesbury, writing around 1125 in his De Gestis Regum Anglorum (Deeds
   of the English Kings). There is little reason to doubt the accuracy of
   William's story as it was probably derived directly from Eilmer himself
   when an old man.

   As to Eilmer's age, later historians have guessed at it based on a
   quotation in William's "Deeds", in regard to Halley's comet which
   appeared in 1066: You've come, have you? … You've come, you source of
   tears to many mothers. It is long since I saw you; but as I see you now
   you are much more terrible, for I see you brandishing the downfall of
   my country. From this quotation, later historians wrote that Eilmer may
   have seen Halley's comet 76 years earlier as a youth, putting his birth
   date as early as 985, making him about 5 years old the first time (old
   enough to remember). However the periodicity of comets was likely
   unknown to Eilmer's age and thus his remark "It is long since I saw
   you" could have been about a different comet. We know for certain that
   he was an "old man" in 1066, and made the flight "in his youth",
   placing it some time in the early 11th century. In any case, William
   recorded the quote by Eilmer not to establish his age, but to show that
   his prophecy was fulfilled later that year when William the Conqueror
   invaded England.

The Flight

   William records that, in Eilmer's youth, he had read and believed the
   Greek fable of Daedalus. Thus, "mistaking fable for truth, he might fly
   like Daedalus", Eilmer fixed wings to his hands and feet and took to
   flight from a tower of Malmesbury Abbey:


   Eilmer of Malmesbury

     "He was a man learned for those times, of ripe old age, and in his
   early youth had hazarded a deed of remarkable boldness. He had by some
    means, I scarcely know what, fastened wings to his hands and feet so
      that, mistaking fable for truth, he might fly like Daedalus, and,
   collecting the breeze upon the summit of a tower, flew for more than a
      furlong [201 m]. But agitated by the violence of the wind and the
    swirling of air, as well as by the awareness of his rash attempt, he
             fell, broke both his legs and was lame ever after."


   Eilmer of Malmesbury

   Crippled for life but undaunted, Eilmer believed that he could make a
   more controllable landing if his glider were equipped with a tail, and
   he was preparing for a second flight when the abbot of Malmesbury Abbey
   forbade him from risking his life in any further experiments.

   William of Malmesbury tells that he flew for 'more than a furlong' -
   220 yards or 201 metres. Given the geography of the Abbey, his landing
   site, and the account of his flight, he must have remained airborne for
   around 15 seconds. We don’t know exactly where he flew over, or how
   long he was in the air, because today’s abbey isn’t the abbey of the
   11th Century. The abbey was probably smaller, but the tower was
   probably close to the present height. A lane off the present day High
   Street, which would have existed in the early 10th century, is named
   'Oliver's Lane', and is approximately 200m from the site of the abbey.
   Local stories hold that to be the place he landed. This would have
   taken him over many buildings. Maxwell Woosnam's study concluded he is
   more likely to have descended the steep hill off to the south west of
   the abbey, rather than the town centre to the south.

Flight analysis

   To perform the manoeuvre of gliding downward against the breeze,
   utilizing both gravity and the wind, Eilmer employed an apparatus
   somewhat resembling a gliding bird. However being unable to balance
   himself forward and backwards, as does a bird by slight movements of
   his wings, head and legs, he would have needed a large tail to maintain
   equilibrium. Eilmer would have failed of true soaring flight in any
   event, but he might have glided down in safety if he had a tail.

   William of Malmesbury says that Eilmer's flight was inspired by the
   Greek legend of Daedalus and Icarus "..so that, mistaking fable for
   truth, he might fly like Daedalus". Williams source for this, direct
   from Eilmer himself or colorful speculation, is unknown, however we
   know that William probably spoke directly with Eilmer as an old man,
   and is thus a primary source of which we have no reason to disbelieve.

   Another source of Eilmer's inspiration is discussed by American
   historian Lynn White who speculates that "a successful glider flight
   was made in the year 875 by a Moorish inventor named Abbas Ibn Firnas
   living in Cordoba, Spain. It's entirely possible that word of Ibn
   Firnas' flight was brought to Eilmer of Malmesbury .. by returning
   Crusaders."

   Eilmer typified the inquisitive spirit of medieval enthusiasts who
   developed small drawstring toy helicopters, windmills, and
   sophisticated sails for boats. As well, church artists increasingly
   showed angels with ever-more-accurate depictions of bird-like wings,
   detailing the wing's camber (curvature) that would prove beneficial to
   generating the lifting forces enabling a bird -- or an airplane -- to
   fly. This climate of thought led to general acceptance that air was
   something that could be "worked." Flying was thus not magical, but
   could be attained by physical effort and human reasoning.

Historical traditions

   Other than William's account of the flight, nothing has survived of
   Eilmer's lifetime work as a monk.

   The story of Eilmer's flight has been retold many times by medieval
   scholars, later encyclopaedists, and by early modern proponents of
   man-powered flight. Lynn White , the first modern scholar to research
   Eilmer's efforts in depth, mentions a few who have written about Eilmer
   over the years: Helinand of Froidmont, Alberic of Trois-Fontaines,
   Vincent of Beauvais, Roger Bacon, Ranulf Higden (who was the first to
   misname him "Oliver") and the English translators of his work, Henry
   Knighton, John Nauclerus of Tübingen (c.1500), John Wilkins (1648),
   John Milton (1670), and John Wise (1850). More recently Maxwell Woosnam
   examined in more detail the technical aspects such as materials and
   glider angles and wind effects in his book first published in 1986 (see
   References).

   One example of a retelling of the story is that of the French historian
   Bescherelle who in his 1850s Histoire des Ballons (History of
   Ballooning) described the experiment based on Williams account:


   Eilmer of Malmesbury

     "Having manufactured some wings, modeled after the description that
     Ovid has given of those of Daedalus and having fastened them to his
   hands, he sprang from the top of a tower against the wind. He succeeded
     in sailing a distance of 125 paces (185 m); but either through the
    impetuosity or whirling of the wind, or through nervousness resulting
   from his audacious enterprise, he fell to the earth and broke his legs.
    Henceforth he dragged a miserable, languishing existence, attributing
     his misfortune to his having failed to attach a tail to his feet."


   Eilmer of Malmesbury

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