Jane Austen and Samuel Richardson

From Austenprose:

Academics and critics have been arguing for years about who wrote the first English novel. Some argue for Defoe and Robinson Crusoe, others for Fielding, but I’ve always been a firm supporter of Pamela, which Richardson published in 1740. Pamela is a novel-in-letters, written by a young serving-maid to her parents, in which she describes her master’s attempts to seduce her. But as the subtitle (‘Virtue Rewarded’) suggests, all’s well that ends with a wedding. It sounds pretty standard stuff now, but at the time it was a publishing sensation.  There were 5 editions by the end of 1741, with an estimated 20,000 copies sold. It was also the first book to have what we would now call a ‘promotional campaign’. As a printer himself, Richardson employed all the tricks of the book-trade, including newspaper leaders and celebrity endorsement, and may even have encouraged the publication of a pamphlet that denounced the novel as pornographic, which certainly had a predictably healthy effect on sales! (Read more.)

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Allegory of the Birth of the Dauphin

Louis XVI and Marie-Antoinette with Louis' brothers and their wives rejoice in the birth of a Dauphin. Share

After ISIS

From The Washington Examiner:

Christians have found a new hope for a future in Iraq as the remaining pockets of Islamic State fighters continue to be defeated by Iraqi security and Peshmerga forces. However, considering the current state of the Nineveh Plains as they have been left by the fanatics known locally as Daesh, the region may not be ready for Iraqi Christians to return. The Nineveh Plains, considered by many as the cradle of Christianity, is home to one of the oldest Christian communities in the world. Rebuilding the Nineveh Plains will require an estimated $200 million. Moreover, instability and the lack of a consistent security force have prevented many Iraqi Christians from returning to their homes.

Even though some NGO representatives and government officials want to establish a "safe zone: in the Nineveh Plains, many of the presented proposals refer to quasi or fully autonomous governorate rather than a traditional safe zone. Traditionally, safe zones are set up as secured and contained areas to protect a vulnerable population from violence and forced displacement and have nothing to do with self-governance. (Read more.)

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Principles of Politeness for the Georgian Gentlemen

From Geri Walton:

Steele was onto something as this came to be the modern parlance for the term beginning in the early 1700s. Thus, based on Steele’s idea of gentlemanly behavior, one eighteenth century writer provided 35 politeness tips for the Georgian gentleman. I have summarized these 35 points in the following list:

1. Honor the dinner table and your guests by carving meat well.
2. Pay attention to your behavior at the dinner table by not spitting, scratching, or blowing your nose.
3. Do not drink healths* as they are out of fashion and no longer the custom.
4. Do not comply with every solicitation of company if it is unwise. For example, drinking more than appropriate even if another person thinks it is appropriate or proper.
5. Be singular, declare your sentiments, and contradict the multitude when necessary. In other words, do not pass your life following the crowd. Do not allow others to control you or behave in ways that are in opposition to your own understanding. An example would be having an inability to refuse a glass of alcohol, drinking to excess, or making a fool of yourself.
6. When playing cards play well and genteelly. Do not laud your triumph over the loser. Also, play for small sums.
7. Write legibly, with proper grammar, and in a pleasing style that is not studied or affected but rather in style of how you would talk to a friend.
8. Spell words correctly because “a woman of a tolerable education would laugh at, and despise her lover, if he wrote to her, and the words were ill-spelled.”[3]
9. Avoid any defect in manner, air, or address that might result in a nickname as that could result in ridicule being fixed upon you.
10. Avoid being a man of pleasure or a rake because temperance and moderation mark a gentleman. “Attend carefully, then, to the line that divides them; and remember, stop rather a yard short, than step an inch beyond it.”[4]
11. Select your amusements wisely and preserve “propriety in every part of [your] conduct; knowing that any imitation of the manners of the mob, will unavoidably stamp [you] with vulgarity.”[5]
12. Keep a secret because if you are tattler you will find yourself in constant scrapes.
13. Pulling out your watch in company unasked, either home or abroad, is the mark of ill-breeding.
14. Never be in a hurry rather be steady, cool, and deliberate because hurrying “is the proof that business we embark in is too great for us.”[6]
15. Have familiarity with people and do not rely on mere formal visits to acquire this Steele was onto something as this came to be the modern parlance for the term beginning in the early 1700s. Thus, based on Steele’s idea of gentlemanly behavior, one eighteenth century writer provided 35 politeness tips for the Georgian gentleman. I have summarized these 35 points in the following list:
    
16. Honor the dinner table and your guests by carving meat well.
17. Pay attention to your behavior at the dinner table by not spitting, scratching, or blowing your nose.
18. Do not drink healths* as they are out of fashion and no longer the custom.
19. Do not comply with every solicitation of company if it is unwise. For example, drinking more than appropriate even if another person thinks it is appropriate or proper.
20. Be singular, declare your sentiments, and contradict the multitude when necessary. In other words, do not pass your life following the crowd. Do not allow others to control you or behave in ways that are in opposition to your own understanding. An example would be having an inability to refuse a glass of alcohol, drinking to excess, or making a fool of yourself.
21. When playing cards play well and genteelly. Do not laud your triumph over the loser. Also, play for small sums.
22. Write legibly, with proper grammar, and in a pleasing style that is not studied or affected but rather in style of how you would talk to a friend.
23. Spell words correctly because “a woman of a tolerable education would laugh at, and despise her lover, if he wrote to her, and the words were ill-spelled.”[3]
24. Avoid any defect in manner, air, or address that might result in a nickname as that could result in ridicule being fixed upon you.
25. Avoid being a man of pleasure or a rake because temperance and moderation mark a gentleman. “Attend carefully, then, to the line that divides them; and remember, stop rather a yard short, than step an inch beyond it.”[4]
26. Select your amusements wisely and preserve “propriety in every part of [your] conduct; knowing that any imitation of the manners of the mob, will unavoidably stamp [you] with vulgarity.”[5]
27. Keep a secret because if you are tattler you will find yourself in constant scrapes.
28. Pulling out your watch in company unasked, either home or abroad, is the mark of ill-breeding.
29. Never be in a hurry rather be steady, cool, and deliberate because hurrying “is the proof that business we embark in is too great for us.”[6]
30. Have familiarity with people and do not rely on mere formal visits to acquire this familiarity, as it true friendship the provides this trait.
31. In acquiring new acquaintances, be careful not to neglect your old friends.
32. Possess graceful manners when conferring favors and accepting favors.
33. Guard against vanity. In other words, avoid being a coxcomb and remember, “A man’s intrinsic merit does not arise from an ennobled alliance, or a reputable acquaintance.”[7]
34. If in the company of an inferior, do not let the person feel his or her inferiority. “This rule is never more necessary than at the table, where there cannot be a greater insult than to help an inferior to a part he dislikes, or a part that may be worse than ordinary, and to take the best yourself.”[8]
35. Never say ill-natured things or be witty at the expense of anyone present. This includes laughing at or ridiculing another as “it will make the person, perhaps, at whose expense you are merry, your enemy forever after; and even those who laugh with you, will, on a little reflection, fear you, and probably despise you.”[9] (Read more.)
36. familiarity, as it true friendship the provides this trait.
37. In acquiring new acquaintances, be careful not to neglect your old friends.
38. Possess graceful manners when conferring favors and accepting favors.
39. Guard against vanity. In other words, avoid being a coxcomb and remember, “A man’s intrinsic merit does not arise from an ennobled alliance, or a reputable acquaintance.”[7]
40. If in the company of an inferior, do not let the person feel his or her inferiority. “This rule is never more necessary than at the table, where there cannot be a greater insult than to help an inferior to a part he dislikes, or a part that may be worse than ordinary, and to take the best yourself.”[8]
41. Never say ill-natured things or be witty at the expense of anyone present. This includes laughing at or ridiculing another as “it will make the person, perhaps, at whose expense you are merry, your enemy forever after; and even those who laugh with you, will, on a little reflection, fear you, and probably despise you.”[9] (Read more.)

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Monsters and the Exotic in Early Medieval England

From Medievalists:

In the early Middle Ages, the dominant literate culture – male, European, and Christian – often represented itself through its comparison to exotic, fantastic beings, monsters, and monstrous humans. So pervasive was this fascination with and reflexive identification through the literally monstrous other that when experientially real and known cultural and religious others, such as Jews and Muslims, were evoked in early medieval Christian literature, they were often rendered in precisely the language of the monstrous. (Read more.)

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The Scary Truth

From Your Modern Family:

CNN recently interviewed Dr. Jean Twenge, author of iGen and her interview worried me – because I saw the truth that I would be facing in just a few short years. Dr. Twenge started doing research 25 years ago on generational differences, but when 2011 -2012 hit, she saw something that would scare her to the core. This is the year when those having iPhones went over the 50% mark.

The results of that should scare all of us.

• This was the year that more kids started to say that they felt “sad, hopeless, useless… that they couldn’t do anything right (depression).”
• They felt left-out and lonely.
• There is a 50% increase in a clinical level depression between 2011-2015.
• A substantial increase in suicide rate.Before I give you any more, I want you to look at these graphs and look at how the information correlates to the iPhones being released. They aren’t hanging out with friends nearly as much.

(Read more.)

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St. John the Baptist and the Durieux Sisters

Here is a holy card of St. John the Baptist, one of Marie-Antoinette's patron saints, which she gave to her main femme de chambre, Thérèse Durieux and her sister Barbe Durieux. The sisters were members of the Archduchess Antoine's entourage, who are mentioned in the letters of the Empress Maria Theresa to the Marquise d’Hennezel.  She was to leave the sisters behind in Austria. The card was given to them on the occasion of Antoine's marriage-by-proxy in April 1770 in Vienna in which she became the Dauphine of France. Her words to her maids are, in Latin and French:  

Auspice Deo / Soyez persuadée chere Durieu que je penserai toujours a vous et que ne n’oubliere jamais les peines que vous avez eu avec moi c’est dont vous assure / votre tres fidele / Antoine Archiduchesse

Auspice Deo literally translates "Under the auspices of God" which means not only having faith in God but to place oneself trustingly inside God's plan. A rough translation of the rest of the message reads:  "Be persuaded, dear Durieu, that I will think always of you and the pains you have taken with me, may this assure you. Your very faithful, Archduchess Antoine." One can only imagine the trouble the handmaid went through with her turbulent adolescent charge while preparing Antoine to leave her home forever and become a future Queen of France.

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The Order of the Psalms

From Vultus Christi:

The rabbis of old referred to the Torah, the Law, as “the way, the truth, and the life”. When the Our Lord applied these three words to Himself, saying, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No man cometh to the Father, but by me” (John 14:6), He was, in effect, revealing Himself as the true Torah, the fulfillment of the Law and of the Prophets. For us, Psalm 118 becomes a litany of love addressed to the Word, a long contemplation of the Face of Christ, a confession of His holiness, His beauty, His goodness, and His mercy. Blessed Paul Giustiniani writes somewhere of the Body of Jesus as the New Torah Scroll written in blood; rolled open and fixed with nails to the wood of the Cross, the five wounds of Jesus are the new pentateuch in which the love of the Father is revealed. “For the law was given by Moses; grace and truth came by Jesus Christ.” (John 1:17).

There is a fresh spiritual joy in the weekly return of Psalm 118. It is an integral part of the Day of the Lord, spilling over into the feria secunda, the second day of the week. Of all the psalms, it is the one that I can pray most directly to Christ, offering Him verse after verse in adoration and in love. Saint Benedict begins the weekly psalter with Psalm 1 on Monday at Prime; he assigns the Gradual Psalms or Psalms of Ascent to the Little Hours of Tuesday through Friday. Thus do we pass from the psalm that begins, “Blessed are the undefiled in the way, who walk in the law of the Lord” (Psalm 118:1) to walking all the way to the heavenly Jerusalem. “I rejoiced at the things that were said to me: We shall go into the house of the Lord” (Psalm 121:1).(Read more.)

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Medieval Pilgrim Badges

From History Today:

It is no wonder that pilgrims, like the modern tourist, demanded souvenirs at their destination. At first, they simply took stones or shells from the locality, leading in some cases to the erosion of shrines. It is likely that phials and badges were produced both to boost revenues and to limit this kind of damage. Between the 12th and the 16th centuries they were sold in their thousands at famous destinations including Jerusalem, Santiago de Compostela, Rome and Canterbury, as well more locally known locations including Willesden, now subsumed by London, and Wilsnac in the Low Countries. The cult of saints affected everyone in medieval Europe and a voracious souvenir market was one of its consequences.

It would be anachronistic to claim too precise a parallel between contemporary tourist souvenirs and medieval pilgrim badges. They must frequently have served a devotional purpose their modern counterparts do not. However, comparing the two can helpfully dramatise a medieval artifact to which time has not been kind. Nowadays, the overwhelming majority of pilgrim souvenirs and secular badges are dark grey and fragmentary, but this was not originally the case. They were, in fact, sparkling, even colourful, objects, carefully designed to appeal to the pilgrim and advertise the shrine.

What parallels can be safely drawn between the medieval pilgrim souvenir and contemporary tourist paraphernalia? Affordable material is one. The use of lead alloy was important; though cheap, it lends itself to thin casting and detailed low-relief imagery, allowing for the production of delicate, objects bearing legible pictures. Additionally, it is silver-bright when fresh from the mould. Lead alloy pilgrim souvenirs were affordable for the majority of medieval people, who often collected a range of pilgrim souvenirs over a lifetime. (Read more.)

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