This subject arouses all kinds of passions in men’s hearts. Historians are right when they say that subjecting leaders defeated in a war or wars to a tribunal…
Category: French History
The Crusades in brief
They were a series of military expeditions ranging from the 11th to the 14th centuries, meant to secure Christian rule over the holy places of Palestine controlled by…
Figures in a Revolution: Joseph Fouché – survivor
The French politician was born at Nantes in 1759. As a very young man he was an ardent admirer of Robespierre (q.v.), touring the provinces in 1792/93 shouting…
De Gaulle, a great Frenchman
Charles A.J.M. de Gaulle was born in Lille in 1890. An average schoolboy (apart from his great height), he graduated from the Military Academy at St. Cyr in…
The Communist Parties
The word itself – ‘Communist’ – was certainly first heard as long ago as the 1840s. Both Karl Marx (q.v.) and his promoter Engels used the word, but…
Elisabeth Báthory, ‘The Blood Countess’
In a recent post on this blog, Gilles de Retz or Rais was discussed. France has its Gilles de Retz, and Hungary has its Elisabeth Báthory. The connection…
Figures in a Revolution: Two French revolutionary leaders
The former government in Spain, evicted by a powerful majority of votes last November 20, had two Robespierres and one Fouquier-Tinville. I refer to leaders of the French…
Merry King Charles II and his Ladies
At the same time as Felipe IV reigned in very grand Spain, and Louis XIV in very rich France, the ‘Sun King’s’ cousin Charles II was living a…
Anti-Semitism
My inspiration to write more on this spiny subject came from one of the published Comments on this site. The Comment can easily be found under the subject…
The unfortunate House of Stuart
Genealogy: The Stuart dynasty was important in the shaping of Britain and brought little luck to the family; they started as Stewards of Dol in Brittany around the…