Tea at Trianon: Königstein Fortress

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

Saturday, June 13, 2020

Königstein Fortress

From Ancient Origins:

Based on the documentary evidence, the fortress was founded by Duke Wenceslaus I of Bohemia (907 to 935 AD). Successive Bohemian kings used it to guard an important trade route as well as their border. By the 15 th century, the castle had been transferred to the Elector of Saxony. It was used as a military fortress by successive Prince-Electors of Saxony. This fortress was also briefly a monastery, but this was later dissolved during the Reformation. Königstein was greatly expanded during the latter part of 16th century, a time of great tensions between German Catholics and Protestants. During this period, the fortress was considered to be impregnable. (Read more.)