Tea at Trianon: A Lost Medieval Stronghold

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, March 6, 2026

A Lost Medieval Stronghold

From Heritage Daily:

In the heart of the Włodawa Forests, amid an expansive forest-marsh complex, archaeologists are uncovering the secrets of a remarkable early medieval stronghold. Located near the village of Kaplonosy Kolonia in Wyryki Commune, Włodawa County, the site—first identified in 2016 through remote sensing analysis—continues to reshape understanding of settlement patterns in eastern Poland. The discovery was made by G. Mączka of the Voivodeship Office for the Protection of Monuments in Lublin (WUOZ) during an aerial and LiDAR-based survey. Initial interpretations suggested a structure resembling a hillfort, concealed beneath dense woodland and wetlands.
A large-scale reconnaissance expedition in spring 2024 brought together archaeologists to conduct systematic surface surveys, environmental assessments, and preliminary conservation analysis. Their findings were published later that year in Zeszyty Muzealne, issued by the Włodawa Synagogue Complex Museum. Building on those results, the LWKZ commissioned further non-invasive and minimally invasive research in autumn 2025. The work was formally undertaken by the Lublin-based firm Gorgona Patrycja Piotrowska, alongside a broader interdisciplinary team that will continue investigations. (Read more.)