Sunday, November 10, 2024

The Marriage of Maria Theresa of Austria and Francis of Lorraine

The Wedding Feast

Maria Theresa as Queen of Hungary from the miniseries
 

The young couple

 From The History of Royal Women:

On 12 February 1736, Archduchess Maria Theresa of Austria married Duke Francis Stephan III of Lorraine. The pair had known each other since childhood and were distant cousins. Maria Theresa’s family had offered shelter to Francis’s father and grandfather who were both born in Austria, during a period of exile from their Duchy Lorraine. Despite a Duke of Lorraine being much lower in rank than a daughter of the Holy Roman Emperor, the close family bond meant that a match had been planned since Maria Theresa was a child.

The Archduchess was destined to marry a son of the house of Lorraine, but Duke Francis was not always the intended groom. From being an infant, Maria Theresa was betrothed to the Hereditary Prince of Lorraine Léopold Clément. Unfortunately, the match was ill-fated, and Léopold died of smallpox at the age of sixteen on his way to Vienna.

There was a period of uncertainty for Maria Theresa after the death of Léopold as her father planned to marry her to Charles, the heir to the Spanish throne. Luckily for Maria Theresa, this match was vetoed by many European powers. The Spanish branch of the Habsburgs had only died out in 1700, and the rulers of Europe were unwilling to allow the re-creation of such a power bloc.

Throughout the years of negotiation, Maria Theresa and Francis grew close as they were brought up together in Vienna. Though once it was finally time for the marriage to go ahead, Francis was hesitant. Maria Theresa’s father; Emperor Charles VI had put Francis in a difficult position. In order for him to be able to marry Maria Theresa, he would have to give away the Duchy of Lorraine. To help to solve the War of the Polish Succession, it was decided that Lorraine should go to the deposed King of Poland for his lifetime. Francis would be compensated by being given the Grand Duchy of Tuscany. Francis and his family were truly heartbroken about the decision; Francis even hesitated during the betrothal ceremony and put down his quill before eventually signing the documents.

The wedding took place at 6 o’clock in the evening at the Augustinian Church in Vienna. Imperial chamberlains led the procession to the church. The privy counsellors and conference members followed and after them, the Knights of the Golden Fleece in long medieval robes. The groom was clad in cloth of silver, a white hat and wearing the collar of the Golden Fleece. The bride wore a gown of silver-thread fabric studded with diamonds and pearls. She was flanked by her mother and Joseph I’s widow, Wilhelmine Amalia of Brunswick-Lüneburg. Her train was carried by her mistress of the robes, Madame Fuchs. Her younger sister followed her in the procession. The church was lit with thousands of candles and was hung with splendid Flemish tapestries. The bride and groom exchanged rings and were blessed by the papal nuncio. The celebrations ended with a Te Deum, and the wedding party had a magnificent banquet. (Read more.)

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Why Trump Won

 From Daniel McCarthy at The New York Times:

Donald Trump is returning to the White House, and while this will not change what most critics think of him, it should compel them to take a close look in the mirror. They lost this election as much as Mr. Trump won it.

This was no ordinary contest between two candidates from rival parties: The real choice before voters was between Mr. Trump and everyone else — not only the Democratic nominee, Kamala Harris, and her party, but also Republicans like Liz Cheney, top military officers like Gen. Mark Milley and Gen. John Kelly (also a former chief of staff), outspoken members of the intelligence community and Nobel Prize-winning economists.

Framed this way, the presidential contest became an example of what’s known in economics as “creative destruction.” His opponents certainly fear that Mr. Trump will destroy American democracy itself.

To his supporters, however, a vote for Mr. Trump meant a vote to evict a failed leadership class from power and recreate the nation’s institutions under a new set of standards that would better serve American citizens. (Read more.)

 

 From Dana Loesch:

For the better part of ten years I traveled around the country helping to elect candidates, canvas, raise money, and organize. It was exhausting, but I was in my twenties going into my thirties so it didn’t matter. I think back and wonder how on earth I did it with little homeschooled kids in tow.

Ten-plus years later, it’s meaner out there than it was before. There is less room for error. Cancel culture hasn’t fully receded. Not every RINO is marked. The names they, the left, have called us haven’t changed: Bigot, sexist, racist, ist-ist, whatever. What infuriates me, though, is knowing that somewhere out there a young mom is looking over her grocery list, double-checking her budget, and wincing while removing items because inflation is terrible, everyone is broke, and she just wanted to vote for a way to improve it all. For this, she’s called a battered wife, a bigot, a racist. For simply wanting to improve her station in life from the economic status which Democrats have foisted upon her she must be morally deficient. It’s easier for Democrats to excuse their incompetency by blaming the imaginary moral failures of others instead of looking within themselves. This is beyond hurt-and-rescue, it’s hurt-and-shame. (Read more.)

 

From The Daily Wire:

Trump messaged throughout his campaign that Harris and the Democrats were pushing dangerous ideology that Americans didn’t want. He argued repeatedly that the far-left policies the Democratic Party embraced were “crazy.” His assertions were based on polling, both internal and external, as The Daily Wire previously reported, showing that Americans don’t want these radical transgender policies. 

These leftist activists and lawmakers, as Trump put it, are “crazy.” 

“The sickos who are pushing sexual content in kindergartens, or providing puberty blockers to young children who have no idea what a puberty blocker is,” he said in 2022, drawing laughs from the crowd. “Neither do I, by the way. Neither do most of the people in the audience, as you smile.” (Read more.)


From John Hawkins:

In a sense, Obama kind of created that roadmap for the Left. He told every lie under the sun to sell Obamacare, but once it was in place, the attitude was, “You suckers believed me and now it’s too late for you to do anything about it.” All politicians lie sometimes, but that was extremely dishonorable and there are consequences to doing that. If people know you’ll say anything today and just do what you want later, they won’t trust you. They shouldn’t trust you. So, the idea that the Democrats were offering up anything other than radical liberalism is silly. Everyone knew Kamala Harris way lying about much of what she wanted to do and would go way off to the Left, just as she promised Democrats she would during her 2020 presidential run, if she was elected.

Yet and still, getting beyond that, liberals have started to become engaged in another very circular form of thinking that goes like so, “Liberals are the good guys, and whatever we do is good by default. The only reason anyone could oppose us is because they’re bad people. If they oppose us, they must be racist, sexist, bigots, fascists, Nazis, evil people, or maybe all of those, otherwise, they wouldn’t oppose us. (Read more.)

 

From The Federalist:

Back in July after the first Trump assassination attempt, I wrote that there can be no national unity, no burying the hatchet or cooling the rhetoric with people who have been encouraging political violence and pushing assassination prep for years. You can’t smack someone in the face with a hammer and then insist everyone calm down.

Trump’s election victory doesn’t change that. Those in the news media who spent years calling Trump a fascist and comparing him to Hitler, claiming he represents a threat to democracy and that he’ll use his presidential powers to go after his enemies, should not be forgiven. Their lies and nonstop propaganda should not be forgotten. No one should ever take them seriously again. When they try to engage the public square, they should either be ignored entirely or met with a wall of mockery and derision. They are enemies of the American people, whom they openly despise, and there can be no real unity with them no matter what they might say in the future. (Read more.)

 

From The Transom:

Loser: the “we have nothing to offer but abortions, abortions, abortions” portion of the left. Fueled in part by their overperformance on the issue in 2022, there were many on the left who seemed only interested in hammering away on their demands for unlimited deaths for unborn infants, ignoring all other subjects along the way. The single issue abortion voter exists on both sides, but they’re only part of the coalition, and the failure of multiple ballot initiatives on the subject shows that it has lost some of its salience in the years since the shock of Dobbs. What’s more, the unwillingness on the Kamala campaign’s part to sound any moderate notes was a warning sign for religious believers. Harris plummeted in support among Catholics in part because of her insistence that Catholic hospitals, too, would be forced to perform abortions and her failure to have any note of compromise even for late-term abortions. For something that was supposed to be central to her appeal, abortion may well have cost her more than it benefited her in every swing state. (Read more.)

 

From The Georgia Record:

Biden-Harris, instead, governed from the far left:

Causing an invasion of illegal aliens;

Historic high food prices;

Infecting the whole of government with racist DEI policies;

Pushing radical transgendered ideology on children and reluctant parents;

Forcing working-class taxpayers to pay off others’ college loans;

International instability and war as far as the eye can see; and

All while gleefully spending higher and higher amounts of nonexistent money.

Biden-Harris slurred Americans who disagree with them as “Jim Crowe 2.0 racist” and “garbage.”

Disdain for white-Christian-workingclass-Southern-Chick-fil-A eating type of Americans permeates Democrat programs and thinking.

This is not what Biden-Harris promised in 2020.

“Trump is crazy” compared to what?

My Trump Derangement Syndrome is over. (Read more.)


And in Maryland, the trouble with Larry. From Jan Greenhawk at The Easton Gazette:

Larry [Hogan] made some BIG mistakes over the past four years that eroded his support so much that he lost a Senate race that he should have won.

First, there's 2020 and the Pandemic. Even if we give grace to Hogan for dealing with a situation no one had ever dealt with before, so many of the things he did were not done with an attitude of caring for, helping the, and keeping the people of Maryland safe. When he made his initial announcement of closing down everything for "two weeks to flatten the curve," Hogan was dismissive, distant and uncaring about the fact that his announcement was drastic and damaging to businesses, workers, and school students in the state. He didn't even give people time to prepare for the closure. Boom, it was done in ONE DAY.

Hogan followed that up with MONTHS of disastrous decisions, opening big box and liquor stores while keeping small businesses closed, mandating masks and six-foot distancing even when outside in state parks and public areas, and then mandating an unproven vaccine to state workers upon threat of losing their jobs. And, again, his attitude was tyrannical. Remember "Wear the damn mask" in one of his videos?

When people complained he shut them down rudely, even on his public Facebook page. That act got him in trouble.

Let's not forget that he proudly proclaimed he didn't vote for the Republican nominee, Trump, for President in 2020, claiming he wrote in "Ronald Reagan" instead. He never gave a reason. He just hated Trump.

He still could have run for Senate in 2022 and possibly won. Maryland Republicans begged him. Larry said "no." He wanted to run for President. Too many appearances with sycophants on CNN, MSNBC and all the mainstream legacy media gave him the idea that he should. That died quickly when the alleged "No Labels" party couldn't raise the money or support for him.

He demeaned the Republican candidate for Governor and his followers, calling them "fringe whackos." Meanwhile, he cozied up to Democrat Wes Moore taking Moore all over the state under the guise of "reaching across the aisle." Those "fringe whackos" felt betrayed, since they helped him get elected Governor, TWICE! Did we mention he didn't even support the Republican down ballot races? (Read more.)


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Pogrom in Amsterdam

 From The National Pulse:

Israel was forced to send aircraft to the Netherlands this week to rescue Israeli soccer fans who were attacked in the streets of Amsterdam, leading to five injuries and at least 62 arrests. Videos have emerged on X and other social media platforms showing antisemitic mobs attacking supporters of the Maccabi Tel Aviv soccer club and chanting anti-Israeli slurs on Thursday, November 7.

Amsterdam Mayor Femke Halsema stated that police had to escort the Israeli soccer fans to their hotels. She added that they were targeted for violent attacks, including having fireworks launched at them. Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his office sent five airplanes to Amsterdam to help the soccer fans get home. Dick Schoof, the Prime Minister of the Netherlands, who is part of a right-wing coalition with anti-Islamist Geert Wilders‘s party, said he was “horrified” by the scenes.

“This is completely unacceptable. I am in close contact with all parties involved and have just spoken to [Prime Minister] Netanyahu by phone to stress that the perpetrators will be identified and prosecuted,” he wrote on X. (Read more.)

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Saturday, November 9, 2024

The Habsburgs: Building a Family Life

 

From the Archduke Eduard, Hungarian Ambassador to the Holy See. Share

Our Flag Is Still There

 

 

From Sebastian Gorka:

They laughed at him the first time. 

When Donald Trump came down the escalator of Trump Tower nine years ago, the commentariat thought is was all a big joke. Or at best, a publicity stunt for his world-spanning commercial empire.

It wasn’t.

Despite having to run against more than a dozen Republican primary contenders, and then the female half of the Clinton dynasty, he crushed them all. And on Tuesday night, he did it again.

Not only did the 45th President boggle the pollsters to defeat the incumbent Democrat Vice President and blast through the requisite 270 votes in the Electoral College, the brash real estate mogul and reality TV star crushed Biden’s diversity hire in the popular vote too. By more than 4,000,000 votes! And it was utterly delicious to be with my former Boss Tuesday night at the MAGA HQ that is Mar-a-Lago to watch the results come in, along with the likes of America First stars like Elon Musk and Dana White. 

So how did the man the “elite” wrote off twice pull it off again, against all the odds? What’s the secret sauce to his double-header of victories? Easy: Donald Trump. (Read more.)


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Tintagel: A Dark Age Beacon

 According to legend, Tintagel is the site of King Arthur's birth. Archaeologists have found remnants not only of a palace but of a thriving port. From Archaeology Magazine:

Scattered around the ruins of this medieval castle are the footprints of much older, smaller rectangular buildings. These are the remains of post-Roman Tintagel. English Heritage, the organization that manages the site, recently commissioned a five-year project to better understand this settlement. “The impetus of this project is to interpret Tintagel’s earlier history, which, for me, is more important than the later castle,” says Win Scutt, English Heritage properties curator.

The first excavations at Tintagel began in the 1930s, and researchers returned throughout the twentieth century. Given the small, cell-like appearance of some of the buildings, archaeologists once believed that Tintagel was the site of a secluded monastery, an interpretation researchers now question.

Nowakowski and her team are focusing on a previously unexcavated terrace clinging to the headland’s southern slope. They have found a complex of three well-preserved early buildings, the largest of which is an impressive 50 feet long with three-foot-thick walls. Tintagel’s inhabitants not only built heavily on the relatively flat central plateau of the site, but they constructed terraces along the steep hillsides in order to create more habitable land—no easy task, but one that must have been necessary. “Why would you build in such precarious positions if the whole island is not densely populated?” asks Scutt. “The civil engineering that went on at this site is phenomenal.” (Read more.)


On medieval legends. From Medieval History:

The origins of medieval legends are often shrouded in mystery, rooted in a blend of historical events and imaginative storytelling. These legends primarily originated from oral traditions before being committed to written form. Oral traditions were pivotal in disseminating stories across different regions and social classes. These tales were recited by bards, troubadours, and storytellers, who played a crucial role in preserving and adapting them to reflect their audiences’ changing values and circumstances.

Manuscripts and illuminated texts later became the primary vehicles for preserving these legends. Monasteries and scholarly communities meticulously copied and illustrated these manuscripts, ensuring their survival for future generations. For instance, the tales of King Arthur were preserved in Geoffrey of Monmouth’s Historia Regum Britanniae and later in Sir Thomas Malory’s Le Morte d’Arthur. These texts chronicled the legends and embellished them, adding layers of chivalric and moralistic themes that resonated with contemporary audiences.

Specific figures and events became central to the medieval legendary tradition, each embodying the values and aspirations of their time. Some of the most enduring of these include:

King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table: Perhaps the most enduring of medieval legends, the Arthurian cycle revolves around the mythical king and his knights, who embody ideals of chivalry, honour, and courtly love. The historical existence of King Arthur remains a topic of debate among scholars. However, his legendary status is undisputed, as the tales of his court, his quests, and the magical elements like the Sword in the  Stone and the Holy Grail continue to captivate audiences. The Arthurian legends, as recorded by Geoffrey of Monmouth and later expanded by writers such as Chrétien de Troyes and Thomas Malory, reflect the complex interplay between history and myth.

Charlemagne and the Paladins: Charlemagne, the King of the Franks and later Emperor of the Carolingian Empire, became the central figure of another important legendary cycle. The Chanson de Roland, one of the oldest surviving pieces of French literature, depicts Charlemagne’s knight, Roland, and his heroic stand at the Battle of Roncevaux Pass. This legend served to exemplify the ideals of feudal loyalty and martial valour. Scholars like Robert Morrissey have explored how the Chanson de Roland memorialized historical events and shaped the identity and values of medieval European nobility. (Read more.)

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Friday, November 8, 2024

The Truly Grim History of Hansel and Gretel

From All That's Interesting:
The true story of Hansel and Gretel goes back to a cohort of tales that originated in the Baltic regions during the Great Famine of 1314 to 1322. Volcanic activity in southeast Asia and New Zealand ushered in a period of prolonged climate change that led to crop failures and massive starvation across the globe. In Europe, the situation was particularly dire since the food supply was already scarce. When the Great Famine struck, the results were devastating. One scholar estimated that the Great Famine impacted 400,000 square miles of Europe, 30 million people, and may have killed off up to 25 percent of the population in certain areas. (Read more.)

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Trump’s Huge Gains with Black Men

 From The Daily BS:

Of all the trends on Tuesday night that stand out, one of the most remarkable ones is the shift in the black vote to the right. The shift was especially pronounced with black men.

Trump appears to have made significant inroads with black Americans, at least according to some of the preliminary exit-polling data. Several state exit polls show the former president picking up a much larger percentage of the black vote than he did in either 2020 or 2016.

Early exit polls released by CNN and Fox News showed Trump winning about 20% of black men in North Carolina and Georgia, and getting double digits among black voters in general. According to Politico, that’s a significant shift from 2020, “when Trump won 11% of black voters in Georgia and just 7% in North Carolina.”

It wasn’t just Georgia and North Carolina, however. Exit polls from NBC indicated a large shift in the black vote toward Trump in Wisconsin, as well.

“This year, Trump is pulling about 20% of the black vote, versus 78% for Harris,” NBC News correspondent Dasha Burns wrote on X. “Four years ago, Trump won only about 8% of black voters in the Badger State.”

While there will certainly be more data in the days to come, there’s little doubt that at least some shift in the black vote has taken place. That’s after years of hysterical media screeching about how Trump is a racist and that Republicans want Jim Crow 2.0.

It turns out that the man who Democrats tried to portray as fascist and Hitler in their closing arguments to the American people did very well with a long list of minorities.

Maybe the bigger issue here is the increasing irrelevancy of the corporate media to drive narratives, but that’s a longer discussion for another day.

Something is happening in American politics that goes beyond Trump doing better with black men, who have actually just followed the general trend of men leaning toward the GOP. What Republican pollster Patrick Ruffini and others have called a “multiracial populist coalition” is remaking American politics. (Read more.)

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