Tea at Trianon: 4 Villains From the 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

Wednesday, September 18, 2024

4 Villains From the Arthurian Legends

From The Collector:

One fairly well-known example is that of King Mark of Cornwall. He appears prominently in the Arthurian legends about Tristan and Isolde. He is described as Tristan’s uncle by marriage. It is very likely that the legendary King Mark can be identified as the historical Conomor, a ruler of part of Brittany in the mid-6th century. The earliest piece of evidence for this claim is the 9th-century document known as the Life of St Paul Aurelian. In this document, we find a fascinating statement. The writer informs us that the king known as “Quonomorus” was also named “Mark.” The only “Quonomorus” in this era was Conomor of Brittany. Just like King Mark of the Arthurian legends, Conomor of Brittany was infamous for his villainy involving marriages and obsession. (Read more.)