historymeetsliterature

[historymeetsliterature]

guy treating himself to a little snack fresh from the oven

"Stundenbuch der Maria von Burgund", Flanders, ca. 1470

source: Vienna, ÖBN, Cod. 1857, fol. 26 recto.

[historymeetsliterature]

How I feel during these warm days.

Engraved title of “La porte ouverte, pour parvenir à la connaissance du paganisme caché ou La vraye representation de la vie […] des Bramines. By Abraham Rogerius. Amsterdam, J. Schipper, 1670.

[historymeetsliterature]

y'all wanna see a horror story in 2 pictures?

[historymeetsliterature]

Labors of the Months/ feeding pigs

Book of Hours W.90 fol. 12v

Source: The Walters Art Museum

[historymeetsliterature]

walking fish  Bible, England 13th century.

Alençon, Bibliothèque municipale, ms. 56, fol. 250r

[historymeetsliterature]

i can't believe we are living in a world where these things are real

[historymeetsliterature]

tumblr is trending on twitter EVERYONE HIDE

[historymeetsliterature]

’’Cleopatra died more than 2,000 years ago, at the age of 39. Before she was a slot machine, a video game, a cigarette, a condom, a caricature, a cliché or a synonym for Elizabeth Taylor, before she was reincarnated by Shakespeare, Dryden or Shaw, she was a nonfictional Egyptian queen. She ruled for 21 years, mostly alone, which is to say that she was essentially a female king, an incongruity that elicits the kind of double take once reserved for men in drag.

From her point of view there was nothing irregular about the arrangement. Cleopatra arguably had more powerful female role models than any other woman in history. They were not so much paragons of virtue as shrewd political operators. Her antecedents were the rancorous, meddlesome Macedonian queens who routinely poisoned brothers and sent armies against sons. Cleopatra’s great-grandmother waged one civil war against her parents, another against her children. These women were raised to rule’’ – Stacy Schiff, New York Times 

[historymeetsliterature]

We Didn't Start the Fire, 1773-1783 (American Revolutionary War version)

I don't know why I did this, but here it finally is:

Finally. It is done! The entirety of We Didn't Start the Fire, but with people and places relevant within the context of the American Revolutionary War shoehorned into Billy Joel's catchy melody.

Some words need to be stressed in a particular way to make sense melodically and I'm not quite pleased with it, but hey, it's finished and it's here. And to be honest with you, writing it was immensely fun.

Two of my main historical gripes are that France never "sent a ginger teen"- La Fayette made that decision all by himself, the latter just suited the melody better. And of course, there were far more indigenous peoples than the Mohawk, Shawnee and Seneca involved in and above all, affected by the war. The three mentioned simply fit the rhythm best and although this is, while not entirely a parody, a somewhat fun, playful take on the original lyrics, I wanted to at least mention the fact that Native Americans were involved in and affected by the conflict.

Feel free to propose alternative verses, improve on what's there and, if it helps, I guess go off and sing it in the shower before a history exam.

Every person, group of people, place and event mentioned in the song is in the tags- enjoy!

[historymeetsliterature]

I reread this last night and teared up at the first line:

You won’t ever know the worst that happened to Nicole Brown Simpson in her marriage, because she is dead and cannot tell you. And if she were alive, remember, you wouldn’t believe her.

Amber is living proof of its truth.

[historymeetsliterature]

This will never not be funny. (If it is true, but it's on the internet so it must be true - another statement Orwell would appreciate)

[historymeetsliterature]

Der Kuss - Gustav Kimit (1908)

"I wish you to know you have been the last dream of my soul."

Charles Dickens, A Tale of Two Cities (1859)

[historymeetsliterature]

A fabric womb, dated around 1760.

In 1759 king Louis XV commissioned pioneering midwife Angélique du Coudray to teach midwifery to rural women to reduce infant mortality. Between 1760 to 1783, she traveled rural France and it is estimated that she trained about 4,000 students during that time.

Du Coudray invented the first lifesize obstetrical mannequin, called “The Machine.” Various strings and straps served to simulate the process of childbirth. The head of the infant mannequin had a shaped nose, stitched ears, hair drawn with ink, and an open mouth, with a tongue.

While the semi-creepy mannequin is not pleasant to look at, let's hope it helped to save a lot of lives.

[historymeetsliterature]

[historymeetsliterature]

Marina Ovsjannikova, an editor of the Russian state broadcaster Pervi Kanal, interepted a live broadcasting with the message "Stop war. Don't believe the propaganda. They're lying to you". Although the camera was quickly switched, her message was briefly seen on TV. She was later arrested. I admire her bravery, risking everything to do what's right: fighting propaganda about a war that is killing innocent citizens. (X)

[historymeetsliterature]

happy international women's day

"I am not free while any woman is unfree, even when her shackles are very different from my own."

- Audre Lorde