Tea at Trianon: 7 Real Characters from Arthurian Legends

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, June 2, 2024

7 Real Characters from Arthurian Legends

From The Collector:

Sir Uriens is one of the most popular characters in the Arthurian legends. In the most traditional version of the story, he leads a group of rebel kings who fight against a young Arthur when he first becomes king. After his defeat, he becomes a valuable ally to Arthur as one of the most powerful Knights of the Round Table. His name is also often spelled “Urien,” without the “s” at the end.

In line with his role in the legends as one of the most powerful of Arthur’s knights, Sir Uriens was a historically powerful king. In reality, he was King Urien of Rheged. He seems to have ruled over a portion of northern England and southern Scotland, although his exact territory is uncertain. He probably ruled more on the western side of Britain than the eastern side. He is accepted as historical because he is mentioned in a number of Welsh poems which most scholars agree go back to about the year 600. (Read more.)