Tea at Trianon: Old Sarum

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

Friday, June 21, 2024

Old Sarum

From Rural Historia:

Old Sarum is a significant archaeological site of multiple historical periods, situated on a chalk spur facing west, above the River Avon and north of today’s Salisbury, England. Its earliest signs of human activity trace back to the Neolithic era, around 3000 BC, with remnants of an early farming community. Nearby lie the monumental Stonehenge and Avebury circles. Archaeological finds suggest human presence here from around 3000 BC. By 400 BC, an Iron Age hillfort emerged, overseeing crucial trade routes and the Hampshire Avon. The Romans maintained the site, transforming paths into roads. In the 6th century, Saxons captured it, fortifying it against Viking raids. The Normans added a motte and bailey castle, a stone wall, and a grand cathedral. King Henry I established a royal palace here, frequented by Plantagenet kings. (Read more.)