| History Carnival 114 |
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| Festivities & Entertainments |
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One of the aims of this blog is to focus on various aspects of entertainment throughout history, it therefore seems very apt that it should be hosting a carnival! For the month of October, The History Carnival has found a home with Abraham Adcock - Handel's favourite trumpeter - and has welcomed an eclectic mix of blog posts and reader recommendations. An initial appeal on Twitter brought no response and then another brought a flurry of contributions to add to the ones you've all shared at the The History Carnival site. I beg your indulgence with my latest article included here because it links nicely to another recommendation.
Starting in the Roman Republic, Augustus Van Dusen in the first of three articles entitled Defensive Imperialism: The Roman Republic – Part 1, proposes that Roman imperialism was not a deliberate policy, but an answer to the perceived threats to their vital interests by outside influences. I look forward to the next two articles on the subject.
In his article What’s in an ethnonym? Theories on the word 'Viking', Jonathan Jarrett discusses the etymology of the word 'Viking' and puts forward three well-known theories (well-known to experts, fascinating to the rest of us). The comments that follow are as informative as the preceding text and it seems very much up for further discussion.
Journeying forward in time to the 11th century and the blog ZOUNDS! Your Daily Dose of History, we are reacquainted with tale of Lady Godiva courtesy of Christopher M. Cevasco. This post was included in the History Carnivalesque #89, but I thought it was worth including here. It asks the questions, did the famous horseride actually take place? Would a pious noblewoman have ridden naked through the streets of Coventry?
In a similar fashion, Jonathan Dresner explores the historicity of Marco Polo's travels in his article Reconsidering Marco Polo. Were Polo's writings eyewitness accounts attributed in their entirety to his own pen or were they plagiarized from other sources? It is worth reading this article and the original one mentioned in the text for a complete overview of the argument.
I was already aware of Elizabeth Brownrigg from studying the plight of apprentices in 18th century London. She was not unique, the newspapers were full of similar stories of torture, neglect, and mistreatment, but her sadistic practices were particularly vile. She was executed for her crimes and details of her trial with associated literature is the subject of a post at Executed Today.
At Historical Trinkets, Caz examines the life of George IV's wife and her association with west London in her blog post Fallen comrades: Caroline of Brunswick's life and death in Hammersmith. She relates the fascinating story of how two of Caroline's local supporters were fatally wounded in the melée that followed the cortege's route through London.
In her article Cooking Kosher in Regency England, Libi Astaire tells the remarkable story of Lady Judith Montefiore author of the first Jewish cookbook in the English language. For years the identity of the author had remained a mystery, then two researchers accidently stumbled upon the answer and unmasked Lady Judith. The Jewish Cooking manual was intended as a guide and an attempt to educate the "young Jewish housekeeper in the luxury and economy of ‘The Table.’"
In The Other Vector, Brett Holman looks at the psychological effects of counterbombing German cities. He argues that scholars may have underestimated the support for reprisals by individuals directly affected by the blitz. This is one of several posts on the subject of Reprisals on his blog Airminded.
At the Voluntary Action History Society blog, Frank Christianson examines Charity in the Novels of Charles Dickens and explains how the author used characters and plot devices to draw attention to his philanthropic vision.
In her blog post A Visit to Vilnius Kelly Hignett explores the remnants of the Soviet occupation in Lithuania. In a journey around the city she encounters reminders of its past, from the Soviet-era kitsch wares on sale at the local flea market, to the powerful exhibits at the Museum of Genocide Victims.
The reduced opening hours and closure to general access of the Georgia State Archives is the subject of Jennifer Pinkley's blog post at Discover Historic Travel. The reduction in staff and the appointment only admittance system may seriously encumber future access to the Archives by researchers. Sign the petition on the site to voice your opinion.
There were no contributions on the subject of entertainment or theatre so I have included a couple of articles that I picked up during the month of August. Yes, a little outside the brief of the carnival guidelines, but relevant to the content of this site:
How did the Scottish church react to the prospect of the first performances of the opera La Traviata in Scotland? The church had lost its power of prohibition by the 19th century and could no longer exert its didactic agenda on theatrical performance. The church had few options but to sermonize. The blog at Opera Scotland relates how the Rev. Norman Macleod railed against an opera that recounted 'the life of a French prostitute' in a post entitled Kirk reaction to La traviata.
At Jane Austen's World, Lucy Warriner explores The Acting Career of Mary Darby Robinson (1758–1800), actress, writer, and fashionable member of the haute ton. Robinson was famous for her affairs with the Prince of Wales and Banastre Tarleton and was persistently shadowed by the press throughout the 1780s until she left for northern Europe. She returned to England in 1787 and established herself as a poet and novelist. Robinson probably courted the attentions of the press and the elite and she no doubt had a rivalry with the subject of the next post, Sarah Maria Adcock.
Sarah Maria was once described as the most 'notorious actress' of the era, but her notoriety has been obscured by her early death and a lack of any creative output on paper. In a recent blog post and an adjunct to the main article on the side menu, I continue the story of the 'Courtesan Actress' and her relationship with the press in More from the Frail Sisterhood.
MJ Holman @mishjholman
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| Last Updated on Monday, 01 October 2012 11:39 |