The Passing of Henrietta Maria

Author Stephanie Mann writes of the exiled Queen, saying:

Perhaps she led the widowed life in exile denied Marie Antoinette. There are certainly other parallels between the two monarch couples--the strained relationship at first; the deepening love and interdependence; the loyalty and faithfulness; the queen's role in the king's difficulties in ruling the nation--the role of the executed monarch as a saintly figure--except that Louis XVI had been deposed and Charles I still held his title. The great difference between them is that Henrietta Maria escaped.

More about Henrietta Maria, including her connection to Maryland, HERE.

In the lone tent, waiting for victory,  
She stands with eyes marred by the mists of pain,
Like some wan lily overdrenched with rain:
The clamorous clang of arms, the ensanguined sky,
War's ruin, and the wreck of chivalry
To her proud soul no common fear can bring:
Bravely she tarrieth for her Lord the King,
Her soul a-flame with passionate ecstasy.
~from "Henrietta Maria" by Oscar Wilde

A review of the movie Cromwell, HERE. Share

Radical Feminism

The unfinished business. Rebecca Walker shares her story.

The ease with which people can get divorced these days doesn't take into account the toll on children. That's all part of the unfinished business of feminism.

Then there is the issue of not having children. Even now, I meet women in their 30s who are ambivalent about having a family. They say things like: 'I'd like a child. If it happens, it happens.' I tell them: 'Go home and get on with it because your window of opportunity is very small.' As I know only too well.

Then I meet women in their 40s who are devastated because they spent two decades working on a PhD or becoming a partner in a law firm, and they missed out on having a family. Thanks to the feminist movement, they discounted their biological clocks. They've missed the opportunity and they're bereft.

Feminism has betrayed an entire generation of women into childlessness. It is devastating.

But far from taking responsibility for any of this, the leaders of the women's movement close ranks against anyone who dares to question them  -  as I have learned to my cost. I don't want to hurt my mother, but I cannot stay silent. I believe feminism is an experiment, and all experiments need to be assessed on their results. Then, when you see huge mistakes have been paid, you need to make alterations. 
Read More.

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Mean Girls of History

A delightful rant from historical novelist Susan Higginbotham on the misogyny that is perpetrated by some popular authors in their romance novels. To quote:

Now, as we've discussed on this blog, there is no evidence--only Yorkist propaganda in Margaret's case and Richard III's unproven allegations in Elizabeth's--that Margaret had extramarital affairs or that Elizabeth Woodville was a practicing witch. These allegations were politically useful to those who made them. They also have their roots in misogyny and sexism, accusations of sexual misconduct and of sorcery being convenient weapons to use against women one needed to discredit or to get out of the way.

Which brings me to my point (you knew I would get there soon or later, didn't you?). The author of the novel I mentioned above is a woman, as are the authors of most other novels that depict Margaret of Anjou and Elizabeth Woodville in this manner. Why would a female novelist want to perpetuate these stereotypical views of these women, or of any other historical woman? Why not make an effort to separate fact from propaganda?

The quick answer, for female and male novelists alike, is laziness. After all, most of the novelists who deal in stereotypes of historical women also deal in stereotypes of historical men. One can write a novel that's unsympathetic to, say, Margaret of Anjou or Elizabeth Woodville without turning Margaret into a slut or Elizabeth Woodville into a sorceress, but it requires a little more work on the author's part. Sadly, many authors appear unable or unwilling to undertake such labor.

Gareth Russell agrees, naming names. Share

American Public Education

The Prussian Connection.

Prussia was prepared to use bayonets on its own people as readily as it wielded them against others, so it’s not all that surprising the human race got its first effective secular compulsion schooling out of Prussia in 1819, the same year Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, set in the darkness of far-off Germany, was published in England. Schule came after more than a decade of deliberations, commissions, testimony, and debate. For a brief, hopeful moment, Humboldt’s brilliant arguments for a high-level no-holds-barred, free-swinging, universal, intellectual course of study for all, full of variety, free debate, rich experience, and personalized curricula almost won the day. What a different world we would have today if Humboldt had won the Prussian debate, but the forces backing Baron von Stein won instead. And that has made all the difference.

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The Cause of Katherine of Aragon

A brave defense of Katherine the Queen. To quote:

Her story speaks loudly enough for itself and serves as the perfect justification as far as I can see for either placing her name on the list and gifting her with the title of Blessed Katharine of Aragon or given a special recognition by the Church. From everything history tells us we know that Katharine of Aragon lived a model life of piety, patience and faith. She proved herself a worthy daughter of the Church. Her example of faith and perseverance should no longer be forgotten. The people of Peterborough – Anglicans not Catholics – have never forgotten this good woman and continue each year to recognize and honor her. Perhaps I overstate or over-dramatize when I go so far as to suggest that she should be named the patroness for the cause of reunification between the Roman Catholic and Anglican Church; perhaps not.

Under his holiness, Pope John Paul II, many were made blessed and many made saints. And although Katharine may not qualify for martyrdom, surely she has earned recognition by the Church – some title that would honor her faith and her defense of the sacrament of marriage. The Holy Father recognized the importance of acknowledging holy people and I believe that Katharine of Aragon earned her right to be placed among them.

More HERE.

Over 500 years ago a Spanish Princess become Queen – beloved by the people of her adopted English homeland, and dying in the arms of the friend who had accompanied her to their new world when they were girls.  Yet she died abandoned by her husband of nearly 25 years, cast out from the royal life she was born to, separated from her daughter, so poor she had to be provided with food by the people in the village who loved her and , at last, dying in conditions less than hospitable or decent.  Such was the end for Katharine of Aragon, Queen of England – wife of King Henry VIII and the central figure of the English Reformation.

She was abandoned by her husband, by her nephew, Charles V, the Holy Roman Emperor and by the Roman Catholic Church.  And yet, she never waivered in her faith.  Katharine of Aragon lived the model Christian life; one of piety and devotion to her faith.  Why then, has she never been considered a holy person worthy of recognition by the Roman Catholic Church.  If not recognition by including her on the List of English Martyrs or sainthood, then some special recognition acknowledging her faith and sacrifice as a devoted daughter of the Church and true Servant of God?

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The Company Town

A book review.

The prince of "The Company Town" is Milton Hershey, the chocolatier who dreamed of a city with "no poverty, no nuisances, no evil." Hershey, Pa., located far from the candy-craving crowd but surrounded by dairy farms, clean water and "industrious folk," was informed by the Mennonite values of Milton's childhood. Milton frowned on drunkenness and immorality on Chocolate Avenue. He despised the uniformity of other planned communities, so his streets, he decided, would exhibit more variety than his candy bars. Hershey provided a zoo, a library, a golf course, free schools, a model orphanage and a "cornucopia of benefits" for workers. "Employees seemed to find contentment in the well-appointed town of Hershey," writes Mr. Green. He also singles out Maytag (Newton, Iowa), bane of appliance repairmen, and Hormel (Austin, Minn.), bane of gourmets, as companies that, in their heyday, cultivated a sense of community.

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Murder in the Vatican

Here is an interview with author Ann Margaret Lewis about her new collection of Sherlock Holmes stories.

EMV: Ann, congratulations on the publication of your most recent book, Murder in the Vatican.  I commend you for reviving the characters created by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle in a series of new adventures. I enjoyed becoming reacquainted with Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson. You captured the essence of the original Holmes stories, while finding your own voice in the telling of the tales. What were some of the challenges of writing a novel with characters who are already so well-known?

AML: The real challenge is to being true to the original. With Holmes pastiches, that is often not the case, so there are many bad ones. Sir Arthur Conan Doyle created a specific character that folks know, so I had to make sure Holmes and Watson lived up to their expectations. If I deviated at all, I needed to give a very good reason for it. In other words – I needed to remain “orthodox.” I wasn’t going to make any major changes to Holmes or Watson, or even to Father Brown who has a cameo in the book or the Holy Father Pope Leo. To be true to all of them, I really had to know them like I know my own family.

EMV: Your portrayal of Pope Leo XIII is especially vivid.  Pope Leo has long had my admiration, but after reading Murder in the Vatican, I feel as if I have had an audience with him. Can you share a little about what it was like to depict the pope in a work of fiction?

AML: Intimidating. I wanted to wear a veil as I typed.  

Seriously, I wanted to reflect him as he was, but I knew to tell a story about him some literary license would be necessary. It was like the process of converting a book to film. To make a novel work in another medium, one has to tweak the storytelling, To make a real person (Leo) into a character in a story, I had to tweak him ever so slightly—and yet remain true to who he was. Nevertheless, I felt guilty even doing the mild change I did. I repeatedly asked his forgiveness for taking what license I did. (I had him be a little more physically active than I’m sure he really was—but no Jackie Chan moves from this pontiff!).

EMV: I enjoyed the scenes that take place in Rome and at the Vatican, and while I was reading I thought that you must have spent time Italy because you really transport the reader there. Am I guessing correctly?

AML: Back when I was in college I stayed in Italy for three months studying Italian language and Renaissance art. But I really only managed to stay two days in Rome. Wisely, I spent most of that time at the Vatican. So, I was relying on my memories, photographs and books I purchased while I was there as well as others I checked out of the library to remind myself of where everything was. The difficult part was the inside of the papal palace, though, because one can’t go in there. So I lucked out in that I found an article from an 1890s magazine that described the inside of the palace as it was during Leo’s reign. And the artist even made sketches! So that helped a good deal.

EMV: Fascinating! Many historical details of what was going on in the Church and the world are subtly woven into your narrative, which enrich the impact of the mysteries that Holmes must solve. Could you tell us a little about the research that went into crafting a mystery in an authentic historical setting?

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Prince William's Bride

Is Kate Middleton the only option? The reason that royalty in the days gone by would usually marry into other ruling families was not just to make a foreign alliance for diplomatic purposes, but to insure that the bride and groom both came from a similar background. When a foreign bride was a princess, it was a given that she would have some basic experience of court life and of the lack of privacy that goes with it, as well as understanding that a royal marriage was about duty and service, not glamor and fun. One of the problems that Marie-Antoinette experienced as a teenager at the French court is that, even as a daughter of the Imperial house, her upbringing had been informal compared to life at Versailles. Share

Jacques-Louis David

                                                               Napoleon's nieces
The artist of the Revolution. To quote:

David was as political an artist as ever lived. He was a leader of the French Revolution, a prominent member of the radical Jacobin party, and a close friend of leader (and infamous tyrant) Maximilien Robespierre. He organized over-the-top propaganda festivals for France’s new republic. He even did jail time for his role in the Reign of Terror.

                                                                            David

                                                               Coronation of Napoleon

                                              Marie-Antoinette on her way to the guillotine
More HERE. Share