Today – Page 13 – General History

The Spanish Road Tax (Rodaje)

I would need to be told what other EU countries do about charging road tax to vehicle owners. In Britain it is simply called Road Tax, and you pay according to type of vehicle. The annual sum is set by the government of the day, and the quite enormous income generated by the Tax is supposedly used in the maintenance of roads and everything to do with them. It does not matter if you live in North Yorkshire or South Devon, you will pay the same road tax according to what vehicle you use. It is well known that ‘Spain in Different’, and in the case of the Rodaje the difference is stupefying. (more…)

By Dean Swift| 2012-07-09T17:41:35+00:00 July 9th, 2012|English Language, EU History, Humour, Spanish History, Today|0 Comments

Virginia & the Virginia Campaigns

At one time a British colony, Virginia is a state in North America that consists of ‘tide-water’ land in the central-Atlantic coastal plain of the United States of America. The waters drain into Chesapeake Bay and Piedmont on the eastern side of the Allegheny Mountains.

Jamestown was the first permanent British colony, settled in 1607 by the Virginia Company of London, a company given that name by Sir Walter Ralegh in honour of Elizabeth the Virgin Queen. The colonists survived and became prosperous through the growing, sale and shipment of tobacco. ‘White’ tobacco all round the world is still called ‘Virginia’, as opposed to the blackish product originating from Turkey and the Middle East. The name ‘White’ probably comes from the fact that the plant was originally grown and tended by white servants on the farms, but this did not last long. After 1690 tobacco was cultivated (but not owned) by black slaves. (more…)

By Dean Swift| 2012-07-01T13:31:53+00:00 July 1st, 2012|English History, English Language, History of the Cinema, Today, US History, World History|0 Comments

Bond films that weren’t, thanks to Harry

Caine in The Ipcress File produced by Harry Saltzman / esbilla.wordpress.com

We’ve been having a bit of a Michael Caine season recently. We’ve seen the masterpiece Sleuth, the original of course, with old Sir Laurence pitted against young Mr. Caine (a simply dreadful remake was thrust upon us recently). Then there was the even younger Caine in Zulu, in which acted the father of Mr Blair’s terrible wife, name of Anthony Booth, whom I remember as a bit of a drunk, but then who wasn’t in the Sixties? In Zulu Michael Caine produced an false Etonian accent that jarred a bit, but does the stiff-upper-lip well. And then we watched the movies produced by Harry Saltzman that struck a certain note; a certain frisson. What was it about The Ipcress File, Funeral in Berlin and Billion Dollar Brain that strikes you and won’t let you go? (more…)

By Dean Swift| 2012-06-27T09:40:24+00:00 June 27th, 2012|History of the Cinema, Philosophy, Today, US History|0 Comments

What is ‘primogeniture’?

The word comes from the Latin, as do so many words connected with the Law. Nevertheless, the law of primogeniture is still operative in many originally Anglo/Saxon states, whereas it has been partially phased out in Latin ones: with notable and sometimes peculiar exceptions.

It means ‘the condition of being first-born’. It is the system whereby the estate of the father descends to the oldest son to the exclusion of any other children, legitimate or otherwise. In England this apparently unfair law was introduced from Western Europe in the late 11^th century by Norman lawyers. It was a means by which the landed wealth of the barons could be preserved intact as the basis of their (the barons’) military duties and service to the Crown. (more…)

By Dean Swift| 2012-06-25T17:13:22+00:00 June 25th, 2012|English History, Philosophy, Spanish History, Today|0 Comments

A tangled skein: the War of the Spanish Succession

A battle in the War of the Spanish Succession / historyfiles.co.uk

Not even Frodo trying desperately to cut his way out of Shelob the Spider’s thick cobwebs is like my trying to explain the War of the Spanish Succession. Let us go at it in stages, keep a clear mind and watch out for the snags:

Charles II (Carlos Segundo) died childless in Spain in 1700. A sister had married Louis XIV (the Sun King of France). Another sister had married the Holy Roman Emperor (q.v.) Leopold I. Consequently, both the French Bourbons and the Austrian Habsburgs (q.v.) claimed the right to rule Spain itself and the Spanish Empire. The latter included the southern part of the Netherlands, Milan, Naples, and almost all of Central and South America. There was a lot at stake. (more…)

By Dean Swift| 2012-06-21T18:42:04+00:00 June 21st, 2012|Austrian history, Dutch History, English History, French History, German History, History of the Low Countries, Italian History, Spanish History, Today, World History|0 Comments

The Thirteen Colonies (or should it be fourteen?)

If you are a crow, living in the United States of America, and on a whim you decided to fly directly north to the northernmost part, from the southernmost part of the most southerly of the original Thirteen Colonies on the eastern seaboard, you would cover 750 kilometres or 500 miles. Though I am not a crow, I have done the journey in a Chevolet Impala (not mine) at a time when the President of the USA found it convenient, safer and cheaper for Americans to drive no faster than 55 m.p.h., even on the finest roads in the world. (more…)

By Dean Swift| 2012-06-13T10:45:14+00:00 June 13th, 2012|English History, English Language, Today, US History, World History|2 Comments

The English Monarchs

Modern historians do not ascribe as much importance to the kings and queens of Britain as they used, say in the time of G.M. Trevelyan. Nevertheless, these tiresome but oil-annointed ladies and gentlemen (some were neither) do pop up frequently in examinations. Thus it is is better to know at least when they reigned. Their nicknames or achievements, failures etc. are noted.

Thanks to Mr Ben Schott, a scholar, I can confirm that in the Danish Line there were six kings, all men; in the Norman Line twelve, all men; in the Lancastrian Plantagenet line there were three, while in the Yorkist Lancastrian Line there were three too. The House of Tudor (Oooer!) there were six, but the last three were women. The first Queen of England, though only for 9 days, was poor little Jane Grey. (more…)

By Dean Swift| 2012-06-11T11:24:20+00:00 June 11th, 2012|English History, Today, World History|0 Comments

History of the Commonwealth of Nations

Mistakes made by leaders of powerful countries have been legion throughout history. Enormous losses in the human and animal races have been the result. It is arguable that had George V of England and Kaiser Wilhelm of Germany not disliked each other, and had had more control over the ambitions of their respective political leaders, there would not have been a First World War. Again, if Blair, Aznar and Barroso had exhibited more guts on that island in the Azores, they might have persuaded George Bush Jun. to stop telling himself and them what he (and they) knew to be a lie – that Saddam was storing massively dangerous secret weapons in Iraq – and better methods than medieval ones could have been used to depose a dictator. And 100,000 Iraquies would not have died, nor nearly 4000 young servicemen and women from the USA. (more…)

By Dean Swift| 2012-06-09T10:31:18+00:00 June 9th, 2012|African History, Asian History, English History, German History, History of New Zealand, History of the Low Countries, Russian history, Today, US History, World History|0 Comments

Roman law, Roman religion & Romance Languages

The Romans believed in law, and tried to live by it, frequently failing when political necessities seemed more important, or integral to the purpose. Roman Law developed (in Rome) for around one hundred years before the birth of Christ, and continued after his death to circa. 220 AD.

Nevertheless, more centuries were needed before the Emperor Justinian (justly named: 482-565) codified it in his Corpus Juris Civilis which we translate as ‘Body of Civil Law’. Then, a long time after lawless Germanic bands had destroyed Rome itself and the remnants of its Empire (q.v.) Roman law emerged again in the 11^th century as a popular subject for study in Italian universities. (more…)

By Dean Swift| 2012-06-06T09:33:23+00:00 June 6th, 2012|French History, Greek History, History of Rome, Italian History, Today, World History|0 Comments

A teacher’s definition of Socialism

Everyone who bothered about such things was delighted that a new young teacher, female, distinguished at the university, liberal in outlook, and an active member of the local Socialist Party would start the new term at the State school as a member of the teaching staff.

She was perfectly able (and qualified) to teach a number of subjects. The Head Teacher gave her a notoriously difficult class, 5b, to launch her into the mine-strewn fields of elementary school teaching. The subject was History. After subduing the customary row that greeted a new teacher, by the simple method of talking in a gradually decreasing tone to the pupils until they stopped gassing altogether – so that they could hear her voice – she asked for questions. (more…)

By Dean Swift| 2012-06-04T06:41:08+00:00 June 4th, 2012|English Language, Humour, Philosophy, Today, World History|2 Comments