Tea at Trianon: Medieval Inventions that Changed the World

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, July 6, 2023

Medieval Inventions that Changed the World

From Medievalists:

1. Mechanical Clock
Timekeeping devices have emerged since the ancient world, but it was not until the 13th century that technology was invented that allowed mechanical clocks to accurately keep track of time. In monasteries and towns one can see continuous improvement in these mechanisms that made use of falling weights to power their delicate instruments.
The knowledge of not only what hour it was, but even what minute and second it was, would change the way people scheduled their days and work patterns, especially in urban areas. Today, we take for granted the importance of time and knowing what time it is when comes to managing our day-to-day affairs. It was only in the Later Middle Ages that this concept began to emerge. (Read more.)