Categotry Archives: History
Ah Maria, “But That All Lay in the Future.”
It has been said that the War of the Austrian Succession was, in fact, the first world war. By the time it ended with the Peace of Aix-la-Chapelle, in October of 1748, not only had all of Europe been pulled into it to one extent or another, but fighting had taken place all over the globe. Because of Spanish involvement there was fighting in South America. Fighting between France and England in North America and Asia. Most of this fighting […]
Ah Maria, Hungarians and the Underdog
Queen Maria Theresa of Austria faced her first year as queen with an invasion. Sweet young thing as she was, everyone assumed she would roll over and hand her kingdom off. Silly men should have known better. Maria, in the face of the intense opposition of nearly all her advisors, traveled to Pressburg, the then capital of Hungary. The Hungarians were, to put it mildly, an unruly lot. Their leaders were fervently nationalistic, fond of fighting among themselves and your […]
Ah Maria, the Whole World is Against Her!
Queen Maria Theressa of Austria took over an empire already teetering on the brink of ruin. Her crown had hardly warmed to her head before Frederick of Spain decided to take a chomp out of her kingdom. This sweet young girl with no formal training had to face a bevy of enemies, including the ambassador from England. One remarkable fact began to impress it itself on everyone at the time of Sir Thomas Robinson’s meeting with Her Majesty; they weren’t […]
Ah Maria, It’s War!
Queen Maria Theresa began her rule with giants breathing down her neck, all quite interested in her loss of Silesia to Frederick. . Frederick’s invasion of Silesia, the opening move in what became known as the War of the Austrian Succession, was rather modest as eighteenth century European battles went. Considering that it would become a war that would end up involving England, Russia, Spain, France, Sweden, Bavaria, The Dutch Republic, the kingdoms of Sardinia, Naples and Sicily, Saxony and […]
Ah Maria, A Girl Takes The Throne
The struggles of Marie Antoinette’s mother, Queen Maria Theresa, included a shaky start. “I do not think anyone would deny that history hardly knows of a crowned head who started his rule under circumstances more grievous than those that attended my accession.” Maria Theresa wrote this many years after the fact, but she was hardly exaggerating. The ministers surrounding her were the men who served her father and even her grandfather. They were old, old men who had grown adept […]
Ah Maria, What Did Daddy Do?
The story of Marie Antoinette’s mother: If Maria Theresa was unschooled in the finer points of empire management she was not unprepared. Although her father, Charles VI, had excluded her from public affairs he could not prevent her from observing them. She was also very conscious of something her father chose to willfully and unrealistically ignore for years; the fact that mom would never bear a male child. Maria Theresa knew she would one day be queen. If not as […]
Ah Maria: Where to Begin
We begin a whole new series of history posts by Mr. Al today. For those who don’t know yet, Mr Al is my husband. I talked him into doing a series about the wives of Henry VIII, and then about the life of George IV. Somewhere along the way he became interested in the mother of Marie Antoinette, Maria Theresa. Welcome, Mr. Al, and thank you for letting me twist your arm yet again. In the autumn of the year […]
A Brief History of Underwear
In honor of the episode of Suzie’s House in which Ben wears his underwear on his head to convince Gene he’s serious about an apology (you’d have to read it – both part one and part two – to understand) I’m going to focus on the history of the whitey tighty this week. I was going to start with the loincloth, since consensus has it that counts as the first ever men’s underwear. The idea was to take a long […]
By George! It’s the Bitter End
Alas. This week’s installment of By Geroge!, Mr. Al’s discussion of the life and times of George IV, brings this series to an end. Thank you for well over a year fo entertaining history, Mr. Al. There will be other series in the future. Drop by next week to discuss it. Among all the paraphernalia acquired over a lifetime of profligate spending were packets of love letters. Big packets of love letters. And among the letters were found “quantities of […]
By George! The King is Dead. Time to Party!
AUTHORS NOTE: I know I said this would be the last George blog, but I lied. My summing up will have to wait until next week because I haven’t dealt with His Majesties funeral or anything! My bad. 🙁 Said The Times of his Majesties passing: “There never was an individual less regretted by his fellow creatures than the deceased King. What eye has wept for him? What heart has heaved one throb of unmercenary sorrow?…For the Leviathan of the […]
By George! I’ll Give This to You, and That to You, and…
While there may have been some who viewed the George IV’s imminent demise with sorrow, this outlook was not shared by many of those who knew him best. Which certainly says something. His brothers were beside themselves at the prospect of better days. Wouldn’t it be nice to have the government spend real money on them for a change? The people the King counted as real friends were pretty much gone. Fox had died long ago, the Earl of Moira, […]
By George! They’re on His “Manbits”
The year 1829 closed with little of His Majesty’s situation changed. This was as he preferred it. He still dodged official business. Indeed, he would go so far as to ask parliament to appoint someone to act and sign papers in his name. Parliament told him that the only way they could legally do so would be with reports from His Majesty’s doctors that he was beyond help. Such reports would have to made public. You know, like the situation […]
By George! How to Rule from Bed
The year of 1829 marked both a high and low for his Majesty. While his health continued to deteriorate, his relations with his Ministers improved. At least after the contentious Catholic Relief Act was finally passed. But the improvement was quite gradual, and not all Ministers were treated equally. At Ascot he had “a whole party of Canningites in his house (box) and not one Minister. He gave a bad reception to all the friends of government who went to […]
By George! Wellington It Is.
When last we saw His Majesty, he had exiled himself to his bed chamber. The physical reasons were the usual, gout and rheumatism. Various other ailments. This lasted all through January and well into February of 1828. And, as usual, the physical ailments were a wonderful excuse to avoid political problems, of which he had a basket full. Harriette Wilson made a re-appearance at this point. She had published her memoirs in Holland in four small volumes in 1825. These […]
By George! It’s One Man After Another
In the few short years after finally becoming king, and not merely regent, George IV had a devil of a time finding good people to fill the post of Prime Minister. The death of Canning meant, of course, that his Majesty needed to find yet another Prime Minister. Such a bother, particularly since his Majesties priorities were not necessarily those of the government. This was something that all concerned were deeply, painfully aware of. As the Duke of Wellington had […]
