Tea at Trianon: The London Charterhouse

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

Sunday, July 18, 2021

The London Charterhouse

From The Tudor Travel Guide:

The monastery reached its zenith in the first 30 years of the sixteenth century under Prior William Tynbygh. It consisted of a particularly vast Great Cloister, measuring 340 by 300 ft, around which all the key buildings of the priory were arranged, including the priory church, chapter house, and frater, as well as individual cells accommodating each monk.

While the order prized simplicity, solitude, and silence, the monks enjoyed clean orderly living, with running water to their cell. Each cell covered 25 square feet and comprised three-four rooms built over two floors. As you can see from the image below, the kind of rooms you might expect to see inside included an entrance lobby, a prayer room, a sleeping room, and a living room. Each monk enjoyed his own secluded garden, latrine, fire, candles, running water, and fresh meals delivered to their door; handicrafts, rather than physical labour, occupied their time, including crafts such as bookbinding, writing, and illumination, carpentry, weaving or the study of topics such as medicine. Other manual tasks, which enabled the running of the monastery, such as brewing, baking, and laundry were carried out by lay-brothers. (Read more.)

More HERE.