Tea at Trianon: Royal Purple

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, February 18, 2021

Royal Purple

They claim Jesus wore it but only during His Passion. From The BBC:

A purple dye dating back to the...reign of the Biblical King David has been identified on a piece of fabric by Israeli archaeologists. The dye is said to have been more valuable than gold and was associated with royalty. It is the first time textile from that period with the colour has been found in the region. Israel Antiquities Authority expert Dr Naama Sukenik called it a "very exciting and important discovery". The fragment was unearthed during excavations at a site in Timna, about 220km (137 miles) south of Jerusalem.
"In antiquity, purple attire was associated with the nobility, with priests, and of course with royalty," said Dr Sukenik.
"The gorgeous shade of the purple, the fact that it does not fade, and the difficulty in producing the dye, which is found in minute quantities in the body of molluscs, all made it the most highly valued of the dyes, which often cost more than gold." (Read more.)

julygirl said...: It is even mentioned in the Bible (Acts of the Apostles in the New Testament). There was a woman mentioned named Lidia (?), "seller of purple" who was a wealthy benefactor in the early formation of Christianity before it even began being called Christianity.; February 18, 2021 at 9:27:00 AM EST