The Theater at Trianon

Fabulous detailed photos from Tweedland:

The Petit Théâtre de la Reine (English: The Queen's Theatre) is a small theatre at Versailles near the Petit Trianon. It was designed and built in 1780 on the orders of Marie Antoinette. Her favorite architect Richard Mique did the work. The theatre seats only 100. It was intended for performances by the Queen and her family and friends. At the period, many aristocrats had such small theatres on their country estates to pass the time performing plays and operas.

Mique's exterior is plain, simple, and even severe. The interior is rich with gold, blue, and white decoration. The interior is a wooden room painted to resemble marble. The stage machinery still exists.

In 1780, the Queen and her friends played Pierre-Alexandre Monsigny's Le Roi et le fermier (The King and the Farmer, 1762) in the little theatre. The original forest set and rustic cottage set have survived. They were restored in the 19th century. They were in use in February 2012 for performances of Le Roi at the Versailles Opera. (More here.)

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Ness and Hoover

From Smithsonian:

At dawn on April 11, 1931, a ten-ton truck with a steel bumper rammed through the double doors. Alarm bells clanged as Prohibition agents rushed inside and nabbed five brewery workers. Then they set about blowtorching the brewing equipment, upending vats, hacking barrels open. They sent a cascade of beer worth the modern equivalent of $1.5 million into the sewer.

Eliot Ness had struck again. “It’s funny, I think, when you back up a truck to a brewery door and smash it in,” Ness told a reporter. No one had so brazenly challenged Capone before, but then, the Prohibition Bureau had few agents like Ness. In a force known for corruption and ineptitude, he was known for turning down bribes bigger than his annual salary. He was 28, a college graduate, with blue-gray eyes, slicked-back dark hair and a square-set jaw, and he had a way with the press. When he took to calling his men “the Untouchables,” because the abuse they took from Capone’s men reminded Ness of India’s lowest caste, reporters adopted the nickname as a metaphor for the squad’s refusal to take bribes. Soon newspapers across the country were celebrating Ness as Capone’s nemesis.

But two years later, Ness’ flood of raids, arrests and indictments was running dry. Capone was in prison, the Untouchables had been disbanded and the last days of Prohibition were ticking away. Ness had been reassigned to Cincinnati, where he chased moonshiners across Appalachian foothills. Hoping for another chance at glory, he applied for a job with J. Edgar Hoover’s budding Division of Investigation—the future FBI.

A former U.S. attorney in Chicago wrote to recommend Ness. Hoover expedited a background investigation. One of his agents crisscrossed the Windy City and collected testimonials to the applicant’s courage, intelligence and honesty. The current U.S. attorney told the agent Ness was “above reproach in every way.” (Read more.)

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Arthur, Duke of Connaught

Victoria and Albert's youngest son.

Queen Victoria didn't like babies much, but her seventh child, Prince Arthur, seems to have been the exception to that rule. Born at Buckingham Palace on 1 May 1850 (the same day as the Duke of Wellington, who was chosen as his godfather), the little prince had an easy-going and obedient nature that appealed to the Queen right from the start. The adoring mother gushed that he was "dearer than any of the others put together", probably because, unlike his siblings, he "has never given us a day’s sorrow or trouble". (Read more.)

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Emperor Augustus’ Frescoes

From Archaeology:

A limited number of visitors to the Palatine Hill will now be able to view the restored frescoes in the homes of the Roman Emperor Augustus and his wife Livia. The 2.5 million euro project refreshed the well-preserved frescoes, which depict garlands of flowers on Pompeian red backgrounds, temples, and landscapes. “We had to tackle a host of problems which were all connected, from underground grottos to sewers—and I’m talking about a sewer system stretching over 35 hectares (86 acres),” Mariarosaria Barbera, Rome’s archaeological superintendent, told the AFP. By limiting the number of visitors, conservators will be able to control the amount of dust and humidity at the site. “Looking at the houses, the buildings he had built, we understand he was a man of power, of great strength, who knew what went into making a political man at the head of such a big empire,” said Cinzia Conti, head restorer. (Read more.)

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Miniatures of the Bourbons

Via Anna Gibson. Share

Scotland Before the Union

What was it like? From History Extra:

Scotland on the brink of union was a fiercely patriotic nation cherishing a vivid concept of the realm as an ancient and honourable kingdom. If you’d asked many Scots of the time to relate their national story, they’d have told you a tale that began with an intrepid Trojan prince and a pharaoh’s daughter named Scota whose descendants established an unbroken line of kings in Scotland from 330 BC.

Most Scots accepted that their nation was not a powerful or rich one, but they cherished its martial history, and the fact that it had maintained its independence for (it was thought) 2,000 years. Many more regarded the prospect of union as a dishonourable conquest by England. A 1706 Poem Upon the Union labelled the English “inveterate enemies who trample on our laws, and us despise”, and asked: “and shall we our scars forget? And to our ruine be now more unite?”

So how did unionists of 1707 counter this perception? Perhaps surprisingly, they did not articulate a compelling vision of a British kingdom. Instead, they saw Scotland as a once-proud but much-reduced kingdom for whom a bright future could come only from closer ties with England. (Read more.)

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The White Lady

As mentioned in the novel Trianon. Via Tiny-Librarian. To quote:

The “White Lady” is a ghostly apparition of a woman dressed all in white, who is said to appear whenever a descendant of the House of Habsburg is about to die.
According to folklore, she was seen at the Hofburg Palace in Vienna the night before Marie Antoinette was executed. She was also reported to have been seen by some near Mayerling, where crown Prince Rudolf committed suicide, and by his mother, Empress Elisabeth, shortly before she was assassinated.

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Meriam Speaks

From Aleteia:

“God is good.”

With those words, a beaming Meriam Ibrahim, a 27-year-old Sudanese woman who became an international symbol of religious persecution, delivered a speech to 500 people at the Values Voter Summit Saturday night. Her words were spoken in halting and broken English, but the audience at the Omni Shoreham Hotel in northwest D.C. heard them. The crowd clapped, whistled, and cheered its approval. To Ibrahim’s left was her wheelchair bound husband, Daniel.

Ibrahim described her captivity in a jail cell in the country’s capital of Khartoum. The daughter of a Christian mother and Muslim father, Ibrahim had been imprisoned and given a death sentence for allegedly apostasizing from Islam. She said the most difficult episodes were the visits of her husband to see her and the couple’s young son, Martin. Prison rules proscribed the visits to no more than 10 minutes. “Martin wanted to go with (Daniel) after the time limit was up, and I could do nothing to help him,” Ibrahim said. “I am not a criminal. The Lord is with us.”

Ibrahim gave birth to a daughter, Maya, while in shackles, according to media reports. Religious and political leaders, including Pope Francis, urged Sudanese officials to release her. In July, they got their wish after Ibrahim reunited with her husband, an American citizen. The couple lives in New Hampshire with their two children.

Ibrahim thanked many people who worked to secure her release, including Reps. Christopher Smith (R-N.J.) and Mark Meadows (R-N.C.). She also praised God.

“We must believe in the Lord and follow him with all of your steps because he loves us,” she said before ending her 10-minute speech with one last spiritual exhortation. “Be strong and the Lord will be with you.” (Read more.)

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In Search of Catholic Scotland

From Regina Magazine:

In matters of religion, however, Scotland has a fascinating story. It may surprise some, but for a thousand years Scotland was a deeply devout Catholic country, converted by Irish monks in the 500s. 

But the 1500’s Scottish Revolution — the traditional term ‘Reformation’ does not do that conflagration justice — touched off a tidal wave of rebellion throughout Christendom. Over the ensuing centuries, the ‘ripple effect’ extended around the world. 

First, to America with Scottish emigrants and from there to the Far East as Scottish Presbyterians worked assiduously to spread their version of the Faith – Bible-based, puritan and fiercely anti-Catholic. (The ‘Scottish Rite’ of the Masonic cult is a case in point.) 

Regardless of where it took root, Presbyterianism stressed hard work and thrift. It also taught ‘pre-destination’—that God had chosen His favorites from the beginning of time. (How to spot the ‘elect’? Stern adherence to Calvinist ideas, and worldly success.)

Presbyterianism was an ideology perfect for the industrial revolution, and it spawned success stories from Andrew Carnegie in the 19th century to the economic ‘miracle’ of Presbyterian South Korea in the 20th century. 

In recent decades, it has morphed into the world-wide ‘mega-church’ phenomenon. What some disparagingly term ‘Christianity-lite’, this new version is short on doctrine and long on socializing, perfect for millions of Christians set adrift from their ancient Faith. (Read more.)

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