Tea at Trianon: Mary Queen of Scots Documents

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

Friday, March 22, 2019

Mary Queen of Scots Documents

From The BBC:

A group of documents believed to have been signed by Mary Queen of Scots have come to light at the Museum of Edinburgh after decades spent unseen. Files showed they were gifted in 1920 but they had been lost in storage until recent inventory work by curators. The handwritten documents are said to provide a "fascinating insight" into commercial life in Edinburgh in the 16th Century. They can be viewed online and will hopefully go on display in future. For the time being, the documents will remain in safe storage at the Museum of Edinburgh because of their fragile state. Future plans are to have them assessed by a conservator and for further research to be done on them by experts on Mary's reign, after which the hope is to exhibit them for residents and visitors to enjoy. Meanwhile, the new discovery can be viewed online. (Read more.)

From Smithsonian:

The papers date from 1553 to 1567, spanning Mary’s time in both France and Scotland. This in turn suggests that she kept a close eye on domestic affairs, even when she was abroad. Some of the documents bear Mary’s signature, others were signed by her third husband James Hepburn and still others by James, Duke of Chesterault, Mary’s regent until 1554. Among the newly unearthed trove is an order from 1567, signed by both Mary and James Hepburn, granting ground for salt-making to London merchants. Another extends privileges to “fleshers” selling meat, and yet another deals with the rights of deacons and tradesmen.

It’s not the zestiest content, but the documents offer some insight into Mary’s reign, Vicky Garrington, history curator at the Museum of Edinburgh, says in a statement. “We all know the story of Scotland’s Queen, her eventful life and eventual execution, but in these documents, we see a different side to Mary. Here, she can be seen carefully managing the everyday affairs of Edinburgh and Scotland,” Garrington says. (Read more.)