On this day in history, the death of Jacques Marquette

Jacques Marquette was born in Laon, France. He would grow up to become a Jesuit that traveled to Quebec in Canada. He went on to travel the Northern Mississippi, founding cities like Sioux Ste. Marie (modern day Michigan & Canada), the city that would become Ashland, Wisconsin, Portage, Wisconsin and tromped around important Great Lake cities that would eventually become Chicago and Green Bay. He traveled down the Mississippi River until he started to encounter a bunch of Natives that carried Spanish trinkets. Fearing an encounter with Spanish conquistadors he traveled back up the river after having reached the Arkansas River. He passed away at the site would eventually become Ludington, Michigan. Marquette has been remembered in much of the Midwest, with cities or parks in Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, Wisconsin and Iowa bearing his name. The University of Marquette in Wisconsin is named after him. He died when he was only 38. Had he not died so young, there may have been many other states that had cities named after him. Can't you imagine a Marquette, Missouri, Marquette Falls, Minnesota or Marquette Bluffs, Louisiana? Sadly though, his early death cut down an aspirational exploratory career.

On this day in history...the birthday of Charles Peace

Peace, after sipping on a bitter beer.

Ain't too often that this American gets to share a thing or to with a man confident enough to claim, and strong enough to prove, "I am not an American, I am the American." Unfortunately for me, another of Mark Twain's quotes suits me a bit more than this bravado. When Twain wrote, "Noise proves nothing. Often a hen who has merely laid an egg cackles as if she had laid an asteroid" might have been anticipating a post or two of mine. But, today, we celebrate the 180th birthday of Charles Peace on This Day in History here at the The History of Europe Podcast.

Charles Peace was born in Sheffield, England. His life of crime has been romantacized and retold in works that range from Sherlock Holmes to Mark Twain's final work, Captain Stormfield's Visit to Heaven. Peace was a strange fellow, but a pretty darn good burglar. He had a robbing and killing spree that would span England. For his crimes he'd spend time in penalty servitude and at prisons in London, Southeast England and even in Gibraltar. He spent some time stateside where he undoubtedly continued his crime spree, but we don't have any strong records of this. Its just that his character seemed to have demanded him steal something in his few years in America. Eventually, his burglary and murders to keep from getting caught would end up with him caught and executed.

Peace was a bit of a wild man. He staged dramatic robberies and shot wide at people to get them to leave him alone when his plans didn't quite go off as he imagined they would. When this warning shot didn't have the desired effect of creating cowardice in the police that pursued him, he'd shoot to kill. In this, he ended up getting an innocent man sentenced to death for one of his crimes. He was in the courtroom to see the guilty verdict. He did have a couple of endearing and redemptive qualities though. He taught himself to play the violin and in spite of only playing on one string, was a bit of a virtuoso at it. In a slightly redeeming quality, he did exonerate the lucky man who had been found guilty of his crime and luckily, the innocent dude's sentence had been changed to life in penal servitude. The innocent man was released after serving three hard years.

As he was going to his death he happened to pass a preacher that was "ministering" to the condemned. When the preacher nonchalantly read a passage about eternal damnation in his casual and disinterested way, Charles Peace looked at the man and said, "Sir, if I believed what you and the church of God say that you believe, even if England were covered with broken glass from coast to coast, I would walk over it, if need be, on hands and knees and think it worth while living, just to save one soul from an eternal hell like that". It would seem that this pointed words did nothing to sap the apathy of the Church of England. For some reason I have this notion of lukewarm water and spewing come to mind...

Sylvester Stallone, A truly Historical Figure

I don't often get a chance to search the Yahoo! headlines for something to blog about on the History of Europe Podcast Blog because a) Yahoo! generally doesn't cover things of a historical nature and b) their writing is usually incomprehensibly poor. Only the comments deriding the poor grammatical structure that contain spelling and grammatical errors are more insufferable. But, I'll step down from my lofty and self-appointed elite status to borrow from them here today.

A 20 year old was touring the Holy See the other day and happened upon a humble painting by the Renaissance master Raffaello Sanzio da Urbino (I use his Italian name here so as not confuse anyone, lest the conjure the image of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle, Raphael). The painting is of Pope  Gregory IX approving the Vatical Decretals dating from 1511. The painting is nice and everything, but our fantastic modern sensibilities have led us to notice, not the centerpiece of the painting Gregory IX, but an onlooker who strikingly resembles Sylvester Stallone (figure on the far left of the painting).

The obvious conclusion is that the Italian Stallion was about fifty years old in 1511 and got his big break into show biz through this painting. If we do the math, that would make Sly about 551 years old, meaning he looks pretty damn good for his age. However, he's still too old to be making action movies and it is likely that his decrepit façade in the second installment of The Expendables will invoke a mixture of horror and pity in our conscientious moviegoing public. The regular moviegoers however will lap it up and hit up the local Jim Dandy's, Friendly's or Big Boy's to order oversized portions of greasy foods after sitting through this affront to cinema. Ignorance may be bliss, but bliss may turn out to be overrated. Uh-oh, I think I've climbed back on to my unearned elitist's pedestal. Yep, I sure have. This rarefied air certainly is tastier than any Fishamajig. On the other hand, I do enjoy a trip to the local Shoney's for the Hot Fudge Cake. Even the culturally elite, such as myself enjoy slumming it for tasty treats every now and again.

On this day in History, The Thomas Blood Heist

In 1671 Thomas Blood, an Irish fighter named Thomas Blood decided that it was in his best interest to steal the Crown Jewels from the Tower of London. Thomas Blood was born in County Clare, towards the Southwest of Ireland in 1618. He would play a part in the English Civil War, starting as a Royalist and eventually, conveniently switching to become a supporter of the Roundheads when it looked like the Parliament would win. At some point he decided to steal the crown jewels from the Tower of London. He undertook this venture on May 9, 1671.

St. Edward's Crown was
hammered to be flat by
Blood and his men so it
could fit in somebody's
trousers on the way out
of the Tower of London.

Prior to actually attempting the theft he had befriended the guard of the Crown Jewels. He went so far as to provide the guard with a promise of marriage for the guard's daughter that would include a nice little inheritance. Having tricked the old guard (he was in his 70's at the time), he entered the Jewel House with a number of accomplices who were aided by the use of canes. These canes were not necessary for the aid of walking, rather, they contained hidden swords, shanks and single shot pistols to aid the would be robbers. Once inside they clubbed the old guard and stabbed him before gagging him. Thomas Blood and his fellow cohorts then got their hands on St. Edward's Crown, the Sovereign's Orb and the Sceptre with the Cross and mangled them so that they would fit in their clothing in a concealed way.

The heist failed spectacularly. Blood was caught before leaving the Tower of London and his capture meant certain death. But in a weird twist of fate, Blood would be pardoned. His pardoning came because of two reasons, which may may or may not be mutually exclusive. It's possible that King Charles II decided to pardon Blood because Blood had a large enough following that King Charles II didn't want the headache that would follow Blood's execution or, that Charles II was so amused by the bodacious bungled burglary that he decided to pardon Blood on account of amusement. Much to the chagrin of English lords, Blood was not only pardoned but given land in Ireland and a title. Whoever said that crime doesn't pay was either lying or completely ignorant of this massive, albeit unsuccessful heist.

The heist was doomed, but daring enough to be celebrated centuries later. There have been 3 movies made about the theft, the most recent one being made in the 1960's. Given the current market of Hollywood it wouldn't surprise me if some epically terrible movie remake of this was in the works right now. But, in addition to awful 30's, 50's, 60's and subsequent remakes to come in the future, the heist inspired an incredibly nerdy board game called Outrage! The game basically has the objective to steal the crown jewels. It's not super fun. It's pretty lame in fact, but it's got a weird cult following. The following was popular enough that somebody decided that the game should include real jewels that were supposed to resemble the real crown jewels. This more expensive set retails for nearly $15,000, making it the world's most expensive board game. But, you can find it on eBay for about $19, minus the expensive jewels.

The Madness of Christopher Smart

On May 6, 1757 Christopher Smart was admitted, and by admitted I mean forced into, St. Luke's Hospital for Lunatics as a "Curable Patient". Christopher Smart was an English writer that began his poetic career very early on. At the age of four he penned a poem about how to defeat a rival to win the affections of a twelve year old girl. From this early start he began to craft a number of works that would eventually lead him to the lunacy hospital, a place that was undoubtedly unpleasant.

Smart's poetry was mostly of a religious nature, but he dabbled in other forms as well. He wrote a scathing mock epic poem called The Hilliad to critique and belittle another English author, John Hill. But picking on this botanist turned literary critic was not what landed him at St. Luke's. What landed him at the asylum was Smart's quarrels with his father-in-law, John Newbery. Newbery was a publisher and forced Smart into a 99 year contract that effectively forbade him to publish with anyone else. The stress of this contract seems to have led to a couple of possibilities, each of which could be explained as the Madness of Christopher Smart, that led to a new poetic style in his celebrated works Jubliate Agno and A Song to David. These poems left the normal styles of 18th century England and are seen as introducing a new and introspective religious fervor. Whatever the madness was, it helped Smart to write some pretty good poems.

Possibility #1 - Christopher Smart was a talented poet that received good remarks from fellow writers at the time, but the poetry was not sustaining him and his family. He decided to make a translation of Horace into English, a degrading and disappointing venture for someone who could write so well. This however didn't pay the bills either so he was signed by Newbery to write for a weekly publication for the remainder of his life. This literary imprisonment led to a nervous breakdown and he entered into various asylums that furthered his depression. Out of this depression came the two aforementioned works.

Possibility #2 - After not having the financial success he was hoping for and being forced into that draconian contract by his father-in-law, Smart took up drinking. The drinking would lead to bits of "madness" that ended up landing him in the asylums where he became depressed. The depression then produced the new poetry.

Possibility #2, corollary B - The drinking led him to have outbursts when he was drunk. His outbursts were expressed in signs of over-religious behavior. He took up praying without ceasing and interrupted meetings and gatherings with loud, drunken expressions of prayer. This embarrassed the crap out of his father-in-law. Newbery had him confined to the asylum as a punitive measure.

Possibility #3 - Failure led Smart to become intensely religious. He expressed his newly intense religious devotion publicly, leading to the stogy English becoming uncomfortable with his sensibilities. They used these outbursts to classify him with a curable madness. Smart indeed wrote, "for I blessed God in St. James' Park till I routed all the company...for the officers of the peace are at variance with me, and the watchman smites me with his staff" (Jubliate Agno). They locked him up because free religious expression is embarrassing and dangerous.

Possibility #4 - Smart was in fact, afflicted with madness.

Either way, the madness of Christopher Smart led his poem A Song to David to be regarded as the ramblings of a madman during his life and Jubliate Agno wasn't published until the 20th century. After this publication Smart's entire body of work was reassessed in a new light and this is when the madness of Christopher Smart was reassessed and his poetic genius was heralded anew. But, it still didn't make him any money...

The death of Napoleon I

On this day in the History of Europe we'll mark the death of Napoleon Bonaparte, the Emperor of France that through all of Europe and the Americas into disarray. Napoleon was born on the island of Corsica to Genoese noble parents. He ended up as a distinguished soldier on the French Mainland and became emperor of France. As Emperor he would unleash a whole host of wars on the continent that would see all of Europe running around fighting for a few decades. But, we'll focus solely on his death because otherwise this post would be unwieldy and impossible to follow.

After his wars and exile and escape from the island of Elba, Napoleon was sent to the island of Saint Helena in the South Atlantic Ocean. The island was used to exile a number of prisoners after Napoleon by the English, including Dinuzulu kaCetshwayo, a king of the Zulu and some prisoners from the Boer War. While in charge of things, Napoleon commanded great respect throughout Europe. This continued even in his exile on Saint Helena. He had some English support in Lord Holland and Lord Cochrane. The Napoleonic wars had set into motion disruptive revolutions in the New World. These two English lords had the idea of moving Napoleon to Brazil or Chile to establish a South American empire there. There was even a plot from Texas by former members of Napoleon's Grande Armée to have him come to the lone star state and establish an empire there. But, it was not meant to be. Napoleon died of stomach cancer on May 5, 1821. Some have claimed he died of poisoning, but there is scant evidence of this.

Napoleon's death mask.

He was buried on the island against his wishes. In 1840 his remains were brought home to France were he was entombed at Les Invalides in Paris, where he has been ever since. During his life he spread the ideals of the French Revolution all over Europe. Though he is remembered as the short general and the Napoleon Complex was named after him, he was actually about 5'6", an average height for the time. His family would be involved in the French political sphere for decades after his death. But, his legacy was more than what his progeny produced. His impact continues to play in France and Europe through the Napoleonic Code. The Napoleonic Code has influenced many modern societies' civil law codes, advocating for a meritocracy and the freedom of religion. While he will always be remembered for his wars, this code has had the deepest impact on European and really, the world's societies.

Forgive Me!!!

Please forgive me. I have neglected my duty. This is a post for yesterday's  Today in the History of Europe... I mean yesterday, (May 4) Peter Minuit, a Walloon from Wesel (modern day Germany) decided to cross the Ocean Blue, though much later than the 1492 year in which we get this fantastically memorizable line for children, to discover and found the colony of New Netherlands. It was Peter Minuit who purchased the island of Manhattan (in 1614) for the Dutch at a price of 6o Guilders. Peter got a pretty good deal on the landscape that would become New York City.

On this day in history, the world's second constitution

The Constitution of May 3 is widely considered the second oldest constitution in the world. It was an act of the Lithuanian-Polish Commonwealth, a country that existed from about 1569 - 1795, before being split up into the Kingdom of Prussia, the Kingdom of Galicia and Lodomeria and the Russian Empire. The Constitution was aimed to right the ship of the Lithuanian-Polish Commonwealth as the magnates of this nation had come to have enormous power over both the government and the people. Basically, a massive amount of class warfare had been going on between the nobles (szlachta) of the commonwealth and the commoners. This class warfare threatened to tear the commonwealth apart so the the parliament, called the Sejm put into place a constitution to level the playing field between the local folk and the big wig Szlachta. However, outside players were having none of this compromise as it limited their influence in the commonwealth.

Catherine the Great of the Russian Empire invaded the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. The Prussians didn't like the new powers of the Polish-Lithuanian king because it might have led to a demand on Prussian lands that were once in the hands of the Poles. Other powers didn't like it because it was a threat to the notion of absolute monarchy and these threats could've caused some political instability. All in all, the Constitution was regarded contemporaneously as a nuisance. The Russian invasion and the discontent of its neighbors leaked into the second partition of Poland. This led to Polish and Lithuanian lands falling into the hands of the Russians and Germans. The bourgeoisie of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth were beaten back and the old magnates returned to their former glory under the Prussians and Russians. Poland would lose independence until the 20th century on account of this constitution. While this might be sad for most Poles, the constitution retained power long after it was abandoned as a symbol for what is right and good about the Polish culture. It became a beacon in the history of democracy and has inspired countless other democratic movements. It now stands as both a Polish and Lithuanian holiday marking the democratic spirit of both peoples.

On this day in history, the King James Bible

The Bible has been around for a few millennia in certain forms. The Old Testament has been held sacrosanct since before Jesus was born. The present rendition was put together around 300 AD. The canonization of the Scriptures is fascinating, but we'll broach the topic at a later date. The Old Testament was mostly written in Ancient Hebrew. The New Testament was largely written in Greek. Then it was translated into Latin. For a long time the Latin translation was the only option for Bible readers. This was rather unpalatable for the English who wanted a version for themselves.

The English had a go at the translation earlier than the King James Version. The Wycliffe Bible was published in the 15th century, but was banned. King Henry VIII had yet to split with the Church so most priests decided that an English version was not only unnecessary, but heretical. William Tyndale had a go at publishing the Bible in English in 1525 that served as King Henry VIII's template for the Great Bible. It also served as a template for the Geneva Bible, an English language Bible printed in Geneva, Switzerland by English ex-pats. The English not living life abroad however, wanted something English made. They produced the Bishop's Bible. The Bishop's Bible would go on to be the base text for the King James Bible we're talking about today.

The KJV was printed by Robert Barker, the Royal Printer in 1611. It sold for ten or twelve shillings depending on the binding. Barker was meticulous in his first printing, but subsequent printing produced the Wicked Bible. The Wicked Bible misquoted Scripture saying, "Thou shalt commit adultery". The Wicked Bible was destroyed, but countless humans have followed the mantra of the Wicked Bible, fornicating where ever and whenever they saw fit.

The KJV has been revised over the years, but it's initial publishing in 1611 marked a paradigm shift in the religious life of the faithful. For centuries, Christians relied on the Latin speaking clergy to relate to them in the common tongue the sayings of Jesus and the prophets that preceded him. The KJV marked the beginning of the end to a cleric dominated understanding of the Scriptures. It is for this reason that the printing of the KJV in 1611 makes us mark, this day in history....

On this day in History

Today is May 1, 2012. May 1 has a rich European History, one which has reverberations that we feel today. On May 1, 1707 the English and Scottish Parliaments decided to join together to form the Parliament of Great Britain. The idea had been in the works since at least 1606. The two separate nations had possessed kings that had ruled both kingdoms before. But this union brought about the Union of the Parliaments, a political coup for both sides.

Why is this important? Well, the Scottish referendum for independence is coming up probably next year. This would mark a divorce in a 300+ year marriage. The convergence hasn't always been an easy thing to maintain. Scots have every now and again called for independence. The English have long held some notion of cultural superiority over their northern neighbors. Sometimes this was prominent, other times the slight was completely made up on the Scottish side. Either way this helps us know why history matters. If the United Kingdom were to split, it could create some fairly difficult times for both nations. The English nuclear submarine fleet would have to leave the deep lochs of Scotland. This would likely mean that the Loch Ness Monster would be unleashed on the public. Scotland meanwhile would instantly face a currency crisis. Would they stick to the pound? Would they get automatic bid to the Euro? These are tough legal questions. If they didn't get that stalwart Euro they would find themselves in a monetary, but not fiscal union with England. Considering how well this has served Europe recently, this might not be a great idea. Either way, it was on this day in 1707, that the two Parliaments came together, and for this reason the Act of the Unions is our this day in history focus...