Origins of Fascism

Here is an in-depth article on the socialistic origins of the modern ruling elite. To quote:

To establish this new system, to create a New Order which was a modernized, dressed-up version of the ancien régime before the American and French revolutions, the new ruling elites had to perform a gigantic con job on the deluded public, a con job that continues to this day. Whereas the existence of every government from absolute monarchy to military dictatorship rests on the consent of the majority of the public, a democratic government must engineer such consent on a more immediate, day-by-day basis. And to do so, the new conservative ruling elites had to gull the public in many crucial and fundamental ways. For the masses now had to be convinced that tyranny was better than liberty, that a cartelized and privileged industrial feudalism was better for the consumers than a freely competitive market, that a cartelized monopoly was to be imposed in the name of antimonopoly, and that war and military aggrandizement for the benefit of the ruling elites was really in the interests of the conscripted, taxed, and often slaughtered public. How was this to be done?

A New Play

There is a new play about Marie-Antoinette being produced this August at the Courtyard Theatre in London. The Trial of Marie-Antoinette by Peter Langdon goes beyond the stereotype of the frivolous queen and seeks to bring the audience in touch with the real woman in the midst of her ordeal. According to the official website:

Paris. 1793. The King is dead, and the revolution is entering its most chaotic, terrifying phase. In a medieval prison, Marie Antoinette awaits trial before her people for the crime of being Queen.

The Trial of Marie Antoinette is a new play by Peter Langdon. It's the story of the last days of one of history's most infamous women, going beyond our image of the 'let them eat cake' Queen to examine the truth behind her life and her downfall, and understand Marie Antoinette as a human rather than icon. The play considers how new political ideas and the hatred of the people became so powerful that Marie Antoinette had to die. Based on extensive research and historical records, this play is the first in English to put the trial on stage. With a cast of 11 and an epic sweep, The Trial of Marie Antoinette brings the turbulent times of the French Revolution vividly to life.

The play has already received some critical acclaim. Here is a review by Richard Langton of The Richmond-Twickenham Times:

This is as fine a new play as I have seen for many a year and the enthusiastic reception it was accorded as the lights were raised confirmed my view.

It is a historical play as the title states, about a woman hated, and vilified, with a whole country screaming for her blood, and the courage and dignity with which she faced this ordeal.

As Marie Antoinette, Julie Tallis gives a fine performance, an enthralling mix of fire and steel and although I have not enough knowledge to decide whether history has been unfair to her, only a heart of stone could not but agree that the harsh judgement against her was unwarranted.

The author, who specialises in historical plays, tells us in the programme that the remark “let them eat cake” which was done so much to establish her unfeeling reputation was in fact made years previously by a man.

Her gaolers, traducers from the Paris streets and her impossibly handicapped defending counsel are vividly brought to life as the play unfolds, and James Hayward as Fouquier her prosecuting counsel is a study in evil cynicism.

The cast of eleven is a large one on the Tabard stage small but the director and author, Peter Longdon manages to make it uncrowded and swift-flowing.

I do wholeheartedly recommend it, particularly to anyone who enjoyed either the play or film A Man For All Seasons, which told a not dissimilar tale.

It sounds wonderful. I encourage our readers in London to see The Trial of Marie-Antoinette if they can. My thanks to the author Peter Langdon for writing and letting us know about his new drama!

Social Media

It can open the door to real life socializing.

Rediscovering Ferber

Some thoughts from author Regina Doman about the American novelist Edna Ferber.

More about Edna Ferber, HERE.

Jeffersonian Politics and Independence Day

The Western Confucian talks about the American experiment, linking to several articles. To quote:

"I am often asked if I am a republican or a monarchist," said Archduke Otto of Austria. "I am neither; I am a legitimist." His Imperial and Royal Highness explained: "I am for legitimate government. You could never have a monarchy in Switzerland, and it would be asinine to imagine Spain as a republic."

It would be just as asinine to imagine the American Republic as a monarchy. Let us not be ashamed that our country's founding was somewhat unique and unprecedented.

The History of Peanut Butter

A tribute to the American horticulturist George Washington Carver. Amid the things we are ashamed of (such as slavery), there is much of which we can be proud.

Le Parc Monceau

One of the Revolutionary leaders and greatest adversaries of Marie-Antoinette was Philippe d'Orléans. Although Philippe Égalité, as he came to be called during the Revolution, liked to portray himself as a man of the people, he was not averse to creating his own stately gardens. The Parc Monceau was in the English style, like the gardens of Trianon. According to A View on Cities:

In 1769, the Duke of Chartres (later the Duke of Orleans) purchased a small parcel of land on which he hoped to build a garden. A pavilion was built in the center and the Duke planned to expand the area throughout the next decade.

The Duke hired Louis Carrogis Carmontelle to design the gardens in an English style. Such gardens are much less formal than the traditional French garden, which is what distinguished it from many other parks in Paris. Carmontelle added random sculpture of famous Frenchmen as well as small-scale architectural features such as a windmill, pyramid, and some Corinthian pillars.

There are said to be many masonic references in the designs of the park, which is not surprising since Philippe was a dedicated adept. The Parc Monceau is featured in the novel Madame Royale as the setting of the picnic to which Louis-Philippe invites Thérèse.


(Photos)

Swiftly Tilting

Some reflections about Madeleine L'Engle, time travel and conversion.

The Name of the Rosary

While editing and rewriting sections of my novel about medieval France I have been researching the development of the rosary. I came across a fascinating blog called Paternosters which was a name given to prayer beads in the medieval period. Here is an article about the origins of the the word "rosary" which I found quite interesting. To quote:

To get back to beads, however, traces of the earlier meaning of bid/bede as "a prayer" still remain. For instance, a wealthy patron in the Middle Ages may have supported poor bedesmen, who had promised to pray for the patron, and may have provided a bedehouse for bedesmen or bedeswomen to live in. Likewise, “bidding one’s bedes” in the Middle Ages does not so much mean praying with a literal string of beads, as it means praying for one’s bedes, that is, the people or requests one is obliged to pray for.

The word “rosary” originally meant a garden devoted to the growing of roses (c1440, “This mone is eke rosaries to make, with setes [seats]”)....Probably both the rose-garden concept and the book title contributed to the idea of referring to a collection of written prayers and devotions as a (metaphorical) rosary, such as the 1526 Rosary of Our Savyour Jesu or the 1533 Mystik sweet Rosary of the faytheful soule.

From here it was a short step to applying the term “rosary” to the specific prayer practice we have been discussing, including its string of beads.

Other European languages also call the rosary by a name referring to roses. In German it is a rosenkranz, in French a rosaire, in Italian and Spanish a rosario, and in Hungarian it is a rózsafüzért (literally a “rose string”). However in Austria it is more commonly a betschnur (“prayer string”) and in France, often a chapelet.

A Modern Prophetess

Marie-Julie Jahenny.

Blind, deaf, dumb and crippled, she had subsisted miraculously on the Blessed Sacrament alone, for the last many years of her life. Surely then, we will not pass over lightly what God has confided to her for the benefit of our own sad days.

L'Ordre du Saint-Esprit

Last week Karen posted an antique drawing of the badge of the Order of the Holy Spirit on her blog. The Ordre du Saint-Esprit was founded by Henri III in 1578 to celebrate his succession to the throne on Pentecost Sunday. It became the highest of French chivalric orders. According to Heraldica:

The main [orders of chivalry] under the Old Regime were the Ordre de Saint-Michel (created in the 15th c. by Louis XI) and the Ordre du Saint-Esprit (Holy Ghost), created in 1578 with a limit of 100 on the number of knights: it was the most prestigious order in France, usually forbidden to foreigners (but the Spanish Borbons were often made knights in the 18th c.). Both were abolished in 1789, recreated in 1815 and abolished in 1830. A recipient of the Saint-Esprit always received Saint-Michel at the same time (they were collectively known as les ordres du Roi) though the converse was not true, of course. There was no requirement of nobility for Saint-Michel, but there were stringent ones for Saint-Esprit. The pendant of the Saint-Esprit was a Maltese cross azure, bordered argent, with a dove displayed pointing downward, and fleurs-de-lis between the branches of the cross. The necklace is made of alternating elements all shown surrounded by flames: the letter H surrounded by royal crowns (for Henri III, founder), a fleur-de-lis, and a military trophy. The sash of the Saint-Esprit was blue, and it was called in French le cordon bleu, though how the expression came to mean a first-rate cook I do not know.

Princes of the royal family were given the cordon bleu at birth but were not formally received into the Order until age twelve. The King of France was the Grand Master; below is a picture of young Louis XVI receiving the homage of the Chevaliers du Saint-Esprit, among whom unfortunately were his Orleanist cousins. How ironic, since the purpose of the Order was to unite the princes to their king.