Tea at Trianon: Amalasuntha

John Wilson Croker on Marie-Antoinette

"We have followed the history of Marie Antoinette with the greatest diligence and scrupulosity. We have lived in those times. We have talked with some of her friends and some of her enemies; we have read, certainly not all, but hundreds of the libels written against her; and we have, in short, examined her life with– if we may be allowed to say so of ourselves– something of the accuracy of contemporaries, the diligence of inquirers, and the impartiality of historians, all combined; and we feel it our duty to declare, in as a solemn a manner as literature admits of, our well-matured opinion that every reproach against the morals of the queen was a gross calumny– that she was, as we have said, one of the purest of human beings."

~from History of the Guillotine by John Wilson Croker, 1844

Edmund Burke on Marie-Antoinette

"It is now sixteen or seventeen years since I saw the queen of France, then dauphiness, at Versailles; and surely there never lighted on this orb, which she hardly seemed to touch, a more delightful vision. I saw her just above the horizon, decorating and cheering the elevated sphere she had just begun to move in, glittering like a morning star full of life and splendor and joy. Oh, what a revolution....Little did I dream that I should have lived to see such disasters fall upon her, in a nation of gallant men, in a nation of men of honor and of cavaliers! I thought ten thousand swords must have leaped from their scabbards, to avenge even a look which threatened her with insult. But the age of chivalry is gone; that of sophisters, economists, and calculators has succeeded...."

~Edmund Burke, October 1790

Thursday, March 8, 2012

Amalasuntha

Queen of the Ostrogoths. Never heard of her until now....

Amalasuntha, born around 495, was the only daughter of Theodoric the Great, king of the Ostrogoths, and his wife Audofleda. Amalasuntha was both beautiful and smart. She grew up in Ravenna, which was a political and cultural centre at the time, and received an extraordinary education. She spoke both Latin and Italian fluently, in addition to her native language of course, and was very erudite and knowledgeable.

In 1515, she married Eutharic, a Visigoth prince from Iberia (modern day Spain). Their marriage was supposed to unite their kingdoms after Theodoric's death, but he died before that could happen, leaving Amalasuntha with two children, a boy named Athalaric and a daughter called Matasuentha. In 1526, Theodoric died too and the crown passed to Athalaric, while Amalasuntha became regent. Amalasuntha decided her son should have the best Roman education available, but this didn't go down well with the Goths. They wanted their king to be a warrior, not a scholar and interpreted Amalasuntha's plan as an attack on their values and culture. Soon, three noblemen plotted to do away with her, but their plans were discovered. They were executed. (Read entire post.)

Holly said...: I've received a few requests to open up “Pay It Forward” to posts from a bloggers own blog. I thought I'd give it a try. Although the original idea was to share what you've seen elsewhere on the internet, I recognize that each time we post something on our own blogs we are also sharing Good News, great tips, wonderful prayers, fabulous photos, scrumptious recipes, hilarious humor, unbelievable books, stories of goodwill, or good things that have knocked our socks off. I hope you’ll post something from your blog.

I'll leave the March linky open until March 14th. (Entered links will appear in two posts.) I can't wait to see what gets posted!; March 8, 2012 at 10:32:00 PM EST
Gio said...: thanks for the link, I appreciate it!; March 9, 2012 at 5:45:00 AM EST