#spain 1808

[josefavomjaaga]

Letter from Duroc to Eugène about events in Spain

Apologies, I’m lazy. This letter is a bit shorter than the one from 1805 that I actually wanted to translate. I’ll do this one first.

Historical context: This letter is written from Spain, a couple of weeks after the Spanish Bourbon double abdication at Bayonne and the Dos de Mayo uprisings. Joseph has already been made king of Spain, Murat king of Naples. For the moment, everything seems fine. Several marshals and generals, Soult among them, are still in Germany, administering the occupied Prussian provinces.

[Probably Marrac, ca. 17 – 21 July 1808] Monseigneur, the Emperor is about to leave on a tour of Pau, Toulouse, Bordeaux, Rochefort, Nantes, Angers, Tours and Blois and if from there or on the way we are not recalled by the affairs of Spain, we can go hunting in Rambouillet or else we will return to Marrac.

The Empress is going to take the waters at Barège, and there has been fighting in Spain. Bessières, with 15,000 men against 35,000, had what can be called a battle and cut to pieces 35,000 men, half peasants, half troops of the line, from the garrisons of Galicia and Asturias. This was a very fortunate event because the forces gathered in the kingdom of Leon were at a point that was essential for army communications and for interesting outposts. Marshal Moncey, after defeating the insurgents in Valencia, has taken up a position closer to Madrid to obtain all that he needs from it.

Madrid is very quiet and the King will soon arrive there. The Grand Duke of Berg - King of Naples - is recovering at the spa. The Grand Duchess has gone to Paris from where she will set off for her kingdom. She is uncertain whether she will pass through Milan. It has occurred to me that there has been a lot of talk about you here and that the Emperor has expressed his satisfaction with you and the hopes he has placed in you. He made no secret of the fact that if circumstances forced him one day to return to the head of the armies, he would take you as his lieutenant in the same way as the Grand Duke. I'm sure that now you'll be making all sorts of wishes for war.

I thought you would be very pleased to know this and I am very happy to know it too. Please accept, Monseigneur, the assurance of my respect and attachment. Le duc de Frioul

[P.S.:] General Sorbier hopes to have returned to favour and to be able to continue as your aide-de-camp. He was very sad to think that he would have to give that up.

-

Events indeed soon would have recalled Napoleon to Spain, with the defeats of Baylén and Vimeiro and Joseph being chased from his throne. Except he didn’t go there because he chose to meet Alexander in Erfurt first and to let Joseph hang a little longer. He will only return late in the year.

Of course Duroc will praise Bessières’s victory to best buddy Eugène. 😁

There is indeed some indication that Eugène’s name was floated around during the discussion in Bayonne, at least such rumours were mentioned in newspapers. This may have been only to distract from Napoleon’s true plans, however. As far as I am aware, he only offered the crown of Spain to his brothers Louis, Jérôme and possibly Lucien (?) before giving it to Joseph and letting Murat choose between Portugal and Naples.

However, there must have been an earlier letter from Duroc to Eugène that is now lost, hinting at Eugène possibly being a candidate for the throne of Naples if Joseph left for Spain. We know this because Eugène, as a footnote states, mentions this letter from Duroc in a letter to his sister in June 1808. And his reaction to that veiled proposal was quite characteristic, too: Dieu me garde de cette galère! - God save me from this mess!

So, presumably, Eugène for once was grateful to Murat for picking Naples as his kingdom.

The passage in which Duroc gossips about Napoleon being satisfied with Eugène’s work reminds me a bit of the brief congratulation to Murat that I posted earlier. Napoleon was not in the habit of praising people to their face, so Duroc made sure they knew that the emperor thought they had done well.

General Sorbier by the way had been Eugène’s aide de camp since 1807 but had then received a promotion and had to move on to take a command in the army of Portugal. I’m not sure why he would have been in disgrace, maybe that’s just a figure of speech. In any case, he did return to Eugène’s side as his ADC, only to get mortally wounded during the battle of Caldiero in 1809. There’s a letter from Eugène to his wife mention that "poor Sorbier has been seriously wounded". Sorbier was transported back to Verona but died of his wounds some time later.

[josefavomjaaga]

After seeing one of the answers to your post I'm a bit disconcerted but ... well, I was surprised at Napoleon's kind tone, actually. For some reason, I had imagined him being angry at Murat after the 1808 events in Spain. But at least his letters do not seem to show this, he truly seems very much concerned about Murat's health, and that's the first thing on his mind.

There also is not even much admonishing (yet?) with regards to governing Naples. Napoleon telling Murat to send proper reports and to use the proper channels etc., that's far from unusual. (I remember coming across a letter by Napoleon from Joseph's early time as king of Naples, telling his older(!) brother to "send me weekly reports, like the Viceroy does" - Do your homework, man, like the boy!). And the tone is much friendlier and more personal than I had imagined, at least much friendlier than the tone of some letters to Joseph I've come across. Surely more personal than many of those he wrote to Eugène which are for a large part business letters.

Glad to see more details on the business about the Düsseldorf horses! So Napoleon claims to only be worried about the impression this will make on the locals? Riiight 😁. Why did Eugène then have to stop the horses again in Milan, when they had long left the country of Berg? - Napoleon was desperate for money at the time, if memory serves. Next year he will all of a sudden decide to not send anymore money to Spain.

It's also interesting what he does not write about. I may have missed it but - Baylén? Joseph high-tailing it out of Madrid? Insurrection in Spain? - Oh no. Only bragging about Erfurt and the troops charging to "Vive l'Empereur!"

The first of what will probably be many posts translating Napoleon's letters to Murat (a project made infinitely easier thanks to the Fondation Napoléon's recent online publication of Napoleon's entire correspondence).

[histinart]

the third of may 1808 by francisco goya (1814)

[worldhistoryfacts]

Goya's the Third of May 1808 can be called the beginning of modern anti-war art.

There’s so much going on in this painting: the anonymous soldiers whose expressions we can’t see, the bloody deaths of the already-executed men, the pleading expression on the face of the man in the white shirt, the man with his head in his hands, unable to bear the awfulness of it all. It adds up to one of the most iconic anti-war statements in art history. As Jackson Arn writes,

The Spanish government officials who hired Goya must have thought they were commissioning a memorialization and, by the same token, a celebration of Spain and Spain alone. What they got instead celebrated nothing and condemned war, no matter who waged it or why. As the Napoleonic Wars faded into history, the painting’s universality became clearer. To 21st-century eyes, the figures in The Third of May don’t seem particularly French or Spanish. It is simple enough to imagine this shadowy, pared-down scene playing out in Germany in 1942, in Chile in 1973, or in Iraq in 2006. Small wonder, then, that artists from around the world continue to turn to Goya when realizing their own anti-war visions.

[secular-jew]

I keep hearing that, as Muhammad's murderous jihadis crusaded their way across the Middle East, Africa, and Asia, the Islamic overlords "respected and even protected their subjects' right to practice their own religion, especially the Jews." If this is respect, I'd hate to see what the bad side of Islamic ethnic cleansing looks like: 622 - 627: Ethnic cleansing of Jews (who comprised roughly 50% of the population of Medina) carried out by Muhammad and his Jihadis. Over 800 Jewish men and boys (based on a pubic hair check), were killed by beheading. Women were forced into sexual slavery, and the children were given to Islamic Jihadis as slaves. Mohammad force-married Safiyyah, after murdering her husband and father.

629: 1st Alexandria Massacres of Jews, Egypt.

622 - 634: Exterminations of Arabian Jewish tribes.

1033: 1st massacre of Jews in Fez, Morocco.

1066: Granada Massacre of Jews, Muslim-occupied Spain.

1106: Ali Ibn Yousef Ibn Tashifin of Marrakesh decrees death penalty for any local Jew, including his Jewish Physician, and as well as his Jewish military general.

1148: Almohadin of Morocco gives Jews the choice of converting to Islam, or expulsion.

1165 - 1178: Jews of Yemen given the choice (under new constitution) to either convert to Islam or die.

1165: Chief Rabbi of the Maghreb was publicly burnt alive. The Rambam (Maimonides, Moses ben Maimon), forced to flee Spain to Egypt.

1220: Tens of thousands of Jews massacred by Muslims Turkey, Iraq, Syria, and Egypt, after being blamed for Mongol invasion.

1270: Sultan Baibars of Egypt resolved to burn all the Jews, a ditch having been dug for that purpose; but at the last moment he repented, and instead exacted a heavy tribute, during the collection of which many perished.

1276: 2nd Fez Pogrom (massacre) against Jews in Morocco

1385: Khorasan Massacres against Jews in Iran

1438: 1st Mellah Ghetto massacres against Jews in Morocco

1465: 3rd Fez Pogrom against Jews in Morocco, leaving only 11 Jews left alive

1517: 1st Safed Pogrom in Muslim Ottoman controlled Judea

1517: 1st Hebron Pogrom in Muslim-controlled Judea, by occupying Ottomans

1517: Marsa ibn Ghazi Massacre of Jews in Ottoman-controlled Libya

1577: Passover Massacre throughout the Ottoman Empire

1588 - 1629: Mahalay Pogroms of Jews in Iran

1630 - 1700: Yemenite Jews considered 2nd class citizens and subjugated under strict Shi'ite 'dhimmi' rules

1660: 2nd Judean Pogrom, in Safed Israel (Ottoman-controlled Palestine)

1670: Expulsion of Mawza Jews in Yemen

1679 - 1680: Massacres of Jews in Sanaa, Yemen

1747: Massacres of the Jews of Mashhad, Iran

1785: Pogrom of Libyan Jews in Ottoman-controlled Tripoli, Libya

1790 - 92: Tetuan Pogrom. Morocco (Jews of Tetuan stripped naked, and lined up for Muslim perverts)

1800: Decree passed in Yemen, criminalizing Jews from wearing clothing that is new or good, or from riding mules or donkeys. Jews were also rounded up for long marches naked through the Roob al Khali dessert

1805: 1st Algiers Massacre/Pogrom of Jews in Ottoman-controlled Algeria

1808: 2nd Ghetto Massacres in Mellah, Morocco

1815: 2nd Algiers massacres/pogroms of Jews in Ottoman-controlled Algeria

1820: Sahalu Lobiant Massacres of Jews in Ottoman-controlled Syria

1828: Baghdad massacres/pogroms of Jews in Ottoman-controlled Iraq

1830: 3rd massacre/pogrom of Jews in Ottoman-controlled Algiers, Algeria

1830: Ethnic cleansing of Jews in Tabriz, Iran

1834: 2nd massacre of Jews in Ottoman-controlled Hebron, Judea

1834: Massacre/pogrom of Safed Jews in Ottoman-controlled Palestine/Judea

1839: Massacre of the Mashadi Jews in Iran

1840: Damascus Affair following first of many blood libels against Jews in Ottoman-controlled Syria

1844: 1st Cairo Massacres of Jews in Ottoman-controlled Egypt.

1847: Dayr al-Qamar massacre of Jews in Ottoman-controlled Lebanon

1847: Ethnic cleansing of the Jews in Jerusalem, Ottoman-controlled Palestine

1848: 1st Damascus massacre/pogrom, in Ottoman-controlled Syria

1850: 1st Aleppo massacre/pogrom of Jews in Ottoman-controlled Syria

1860: 2nd Damascus massacre of Jews in Ottoman-controlled Syria

1862: 1st Beirut massacre of Jews in Ottoman-controlled Lebanon

1866: Massacre of Jews by Ottomans Kuzguncuk, Turkey

1867: Massacre of Jews by Ottomans in Barfurush, Turkey

1868: Massacre of Jews by Ottomans in Eyub, Turkey

1869: Massacre of Jews in Ottoman-controlled Tunis, Tunisia

1869: Massacre of Jews in Ottoman-controlled Sfax, Tunisia

1864 - 1880: Massacres of Jews in Ottoman-controlled Marrakesh, Morocco

1870: 2nd Alexandria Massacres of Jews in Ottoman-controlled Egypt

1870: 1st Istanbul massacre of Jews in Ottoman Turkey

1871: 1st Damanhur Massacres of Jews in Ottoman-controlled Egypt

1872: Massacre of Jews by Ottomans in Edirne, Turkey

1872: 1st Massacre of Jews by Ottomans in Izmir, Turkey

1873: 2nd Damanhur Massacres of Jews in Ottoman-controlled Egypt

1874: 2nd Izmir massacre of Jews in Turkey

1874: 2nd massacre of Jews in Istanbul Turkey

1874: 2nd massacre of Jews in Ottoman-controlled Beirut, Lebanon

1875: 2nd massacre of Jews in Ottoman-controlled Aleppo, Syria

1875: Massacre of Jews in Djerba Island, Ottoman-controlled Tunisia

1877: 3rd massacre of Jews in Ottoman-controlled Damanhur, Egypt

1877: Massacres of Jews in Mansura, Ottoman-controlled Egypt

1882: Massacre of Jews in Ottoman-controlled Homs, Syria

1882: 3rd Massacre of Jews in Ottoman-controlled Alexandria, Egypt.

1890: 2nd massacre of Jews in Ottoman-controlled Cairo, Egypt.

1890: 3rd massacre of Jews in Ottoman-controlled Damascus, Syria.

1890: 2nd massacre of Jews in Ottoman-controlled Tunis, Tunisia

1891: 4th massacre of Jews in Ottoman-controlled Damanahur, Egypt.

1897: Targeted murder of Jews in Ottoman-controlled Tripolitania, Libya.

1903 &1907: Massacres of Hews in Ottoman-controlled Taza & Settat, Morocco.

1901 - 1902: 3rd set of massacres of Jews in Ottoman-controlled Cairo, Egypt.

1901 - 1907: 4th set of Massacres of Jews in Ottoman-controlled Alexandria, Egypt.

1903: 1st massacre of Jews in Ottoman-controlled Port Sa'id, Egypt.

1903 - 1940: Series of massacres in Taza and Settat, Morocco.

1907: Massacre of Jews in Ottoman-controlled Casablanca, Morocco.

1908: 2nd Massacre of Jews in Ottoman-controlled Port Said, Egypt.

1910: Blood libel against Jews in Shiraz, Iran.

1911: Massacre of Jews by Muslims in Shiraz, Iran.

1912: 4th massacre in Ottoman-controlled Fez, Morocco.

1917: Baghdad Iraq Jews murdered by Ottomans.

1918 - 1948: Yemen passes a law criminalizing the raising of a Jewish orphan in Yemen.

1920: Massacres of Jews in Irbid Jordan (British mandate Palestine).

1920 - 1930: Arab riots resulting in hundreds of Jewish deaths, British mandate Palestine.

1921: 1st Jaffa (Israel) riots, British mandate Palestine.

1922: Massacres of Jews in Djerba, Tunisia.

1928: Jewish orphans sold into slavery, and forced to nvert to Islam by Muslim Brotherhood, Yemen.

1929: 3rd Hebron (Israel) massacre of Jews by Arabs in British mandate Palestine.

1929 3rd massacre of Jews by Arabs in Safed (Israel), British mandate Palestine.

1933: 2nd Jaffa (Israel) riots, British mandate Palestine.

1934: Massacre of Jews in Thrace, Turkey.

1936: 3rd riots by Arabs against Jews in Jaffa (Israel), British mandate Palestine.

1941: Massacres of Jews in Farhud, Iraq.

1942: Muslim leader Grand Mufti collaboration with the Nazis, playing a major role in the final solution.

1938 - 1945: Full alliance and collaboration by Arabs with the Nazis in attacking and murdering Jews in the Middle East and Africa.

1945: 4th massacre of Jews by Muslims in Cairo, Egypt.

1945: Massacre of Jews in Tripolitania, Libya.

1947: Massacre of Jews by Muslims in Aden, Yemen.

2023: Massacre, rape, torture and kidnapping of ~1,500 Israelis (mostly Jews) by Muslims in numerous towns throughout southern Israel.

[josefavomjaaga]

Yes! It's there! 💖

Thank you so much for this, dear and lovely Pixel! I had been looking very much forward to this because it was sounding like fun (and now that you posted, I almost would have missed it because - tumblr! Thank you for tagging me!). Glad to read that it was indeed.

Now if only I knew Spanish...

On a sidenote, I find it fascinating that Joachim Murat has such a big role in the series, compared to Joseph or the marshals actually in Spain, when in reality he only spent a couple of weeks there before moving to Naples. Is that due to the symbolic meaning of "Dos de Mayo"? Or does the series really only take place in 1808? (Is it even possible to tell?)

And of course one major question: Did they cast a handsome enough actor for Murat 😁?

Thanks a lot, petal, I hope you've had some fun researching for this post!

MALMAISON MEDIA SALON SOIRÉE 19: LA MÁSCARA NEGRA(1982)

1. The Introduction

Greetings, Neighbors. I missed you and hopefully you missed me too!

Anyway, you already know that I kept rescheduling because a lot of stuff has happened, so let’s not waste time on explanations and talk about this obscure swashbuckling TV series made in Spain in 1982.

I found it on IMDb a while ago, under the category of Napoleonic movies and series. Since I have a soft spot for swashbuckling stories and hadn’t seen anything of the genre set during Peninsular War, you can imagine how curious I got.

Luckily, the entire 11 episodes can be found on YouTube, but only in Spanish so yeah… it’s a bit of a bummer, unfortunately.

Either way, I do speak Spanish fairly well, so at the very least I can make a review out of the series! Let’s see if it’s actually an interesting subject. Also, this review is dedicated to @josefavomjaaga , @that-enragee and @koda-friedrich .

2. The Summary

Obviously, the classic swashbuckling formula with a masked hero definitely applies here. Our protagonist is one Don Carlos de Zaráte, an adventurer who returns to Madrid right before the beginning of the Peninsular War.

Although reluctantly, Don Carlos eventually assumes the identity of The Black Mask, a folk hero fighting the French and their collaborators, all while pretending to be a collaborator himself by day.

3. The Story

The swashbuckling genre in its classic form isn’t exactly known for that much originality, but, as someone who grew up on such stories, I don’t actually mind the classic formula, as long as the story and characters still appeal to me.

Luckily, here the story has a twist: Don Carlos is not the original Black Mask, but rather he assumes the mantle of the hero at the beginning of the story, succeeding the person who had the alter ego beforehand.

And at first Don Carlos is reluctant to do it until he decides to fight the French invaders, which makes room for some nuance in the story and the character arc. The show could have benefited from having nuance in the French characters too, but usually swashbuckling stories don’t have the most complex villains so there’s that.

I did like the pacing, the semi-episodic story structure and a bit of an ambiguous ending that still neatly wrapped up the plot.

Also, I find it refreshing that many historical events are a backdrop for the actual plot, unlike all the stories I’ve seen where characters help shape history (nothing wrong with either btw).

4. The Characters

Don Carlos is actually a pretty complex character. Instead of merely pretending to be a foppish aristocrat, he actually used to be one before the story and only during the series it becomes merely a facade to ward off suspicions. He grows and matures a lot over the course of the story while still remaining the same person at his core, so the change feels realistic.

He’s also very cunning and ingenious, using various tricks to aid him in his escapades. Not above seduction or gambling, but, again, often uses it to maintain cover and gather information.

Then there’s Elodia, a young hat maker who Don Carlos takes under his wing. While she is too young to help The Black Mask, sometimes she does have an important role in the adventures and she also has a found family kind of dynamic with Don Carlos, which is sweet! She is very mature, but still a realistically written child.

Don Diego, younger brother of Don Carlos, is a much more hotheaded and idealistic youth than his brother and his role, while quite small, still sets the main events in motion.

Francisco Goya, who is basically a minor recurring character, stays neutral (at least publicly) but in reality is appalled by the war and isn’t afraid to speak through his art, even though it’s still very dangerous. He even plays a prominent role in one of the episodes.

Joachim Murat, who makes a few appearances, surprisingly isn’t made stupid! Sure, he is very ruthless, but at the very least he’s smart.

Joseph Bonaparte is name dropped and at least one character calls him a drunkard, but not Pepe Botellas.

Soult is mentioned as well but doesn’t appear in the series.

5. The Setting

Actually I like the setting. Not very high budget but still quite nice and seems accurate enough, at least to me.

I especially liked all the landscapes like hills, the shores, etc.

6. The Acting

Amazing job all around, especially when it comes to Sancho Gracia, who plays Don Carlos. This particular actor actually appeared in a lot of media set during peninsular war. A few actors are a bit too old though, like the one who played Murat.

7. The Conclusion

Honestly, I did enjoy the series! Flaws aside, it’s a pretty solid adventure story with an interesting twist on the usual masked avenger formula so, if you do know Spanish and are looking for a fun series to kill time, I recommend it!

Anyway, that would be all for today’s soirée. Thank you for coming and stay tuned for more reviews!

Love,

Citizen Green Pixel

[mapsontheweb]

French Expressions based on Other Nationalities

by u/Beurreboule

These expressions come from various online platforms, with a strict focus on those whose etymology can be linked to specific nationalities. It is important to note that this map is not intended to offend, but rather to explore the linguistic interaction between cultures.

I've picked expressions that are tied to people or nationalities. For instance, “To have the Portugueses sanded” (Avoir les portugaises ensablées) refers to a type of oysters, not the people of Portugal.

Here is the list of these expressions, along with their origins:

To take a Scottish shower (Prendre une douche écossaise): This French expression dates back to the 19th century and refers to a hydrotherapy practiced at that time in Scotland. In a figurative sense, it describes a situation where a combination of sensations, events, or impressions swiftly transition from being positive to turning negative.

The English have landed (Les anglais ont débarqué): In comparison to the British armies which, during the Napoleonic wars, were dressed in red.

To slip away the English way (Filer à l’anglaise): Probably an alteration of the English "to take French leave", dating from the 19th century.

To talk like a Spanish cow (Parler comme une vache espagnole): According to the most plausible hypothesis, it would be a distortion of the Occitan expression “parlar coma un gavach espanhòl” (to speak like a Spanish gabatch). The word “gabatch” designates here the mountain dweller from the Pyrenees.

A Spanish wanking (Une branlette espagnole): The origin of this 20th century expression is obscure and mysterious.

A Spanish inn (Une auberge espagnole): This expression was used in the 17th century to describe the poor quality of inns/hostels in Spain, which were widely used because they were on the road to Santiago de Compostela.

A German quarrel (Une querelle d’allemand): The most commonly accepted theory is that the Holy Roman Germanic Empire was made up of numerous small states. These rulers frequently looked for opportunities to engage in battles with neighboring states, aiming to capture land and increase their power and influence.

To be drunk like a Pole (Être saoul comme un polonais): This expression, which has become pejorative, was not so at its beginnings. After a decisive battle, the Polish lancers of Kozietulski in Spain in 1808 were paraded before Napoleon as heroic survivors of this elite unit. Jealous French generals, wanting to downplay the role of the Poles, claimed that they were drunk. The Emperor responded to them, "Well then, gentlemen, learn to be as drunk as the Poles!". Another version states that Napoleon, in admiration, said, "One had to be as drunk as a Pole to accomplish that."

The Russian mountains (les montagnes russes): The concept of Russian Mountains originated from toboggan races held on snow-covered hills, especially in the vicinity of Saint Petersburg. In the late 1700s, these races gained immense popularity, prompting entrepreneurs to explore the idea in other countries. This led to the development of rides using wheeled cars on tracks. In 1812, the company "Les Montagnes Russes" constructed and operated such rides in the Belleville district of Paris. The term was subsequently used to describe roller coasters, and this analogy led to the emergence of the expression.

A Roman’s job (Un travail de romain): From the reputation of the Romans for having accomplished Herculean works, especially the construction of aqueducts and ancient roads.

To be strong like a Turk (Être fort comme un turc): This expression comes from the 15th century and refers to the period of the Ottoman Empire when the Turks achieved many conquests through their sheer strength and ruthless behavior, showing no mercy. Thus, during that time, the Turks represented the ultimate enemy, seen as unbeatable.

To be the Turkish head (Être la tête de turc): This expression is based on the entertainment found at French fairs in the late 19th century. These amusements involved gauging one's strength by hitting a head wearing a turban, evoking the stereotypical image of a Turk.

To send to the Greek calends (Renvoyer aux calends grecques): From the Calends, which were not Greek but Roman, is an expression used by Suetonius in The Twelve Caesars to say “never”.

To go get lost at the Greeks (Aller se faire voir chez les grecs): This expression indirectly refers to the alleged common homosexuality among Greeks since ancient times, including practices like pederasty. Notably, Plato's work "The Symposium" illustrates this, featuring figures like Socrates.

[whencyclopedia]

Louisiana Purchase

The Louisiana Purchase was a land deal made in 1803, in which the United States purchased 828,000 square miles (2,144,510 km²) of land west of the Mississippi River from France for $15 million, or an average of three cents per acre. The purchase nearly doubled the territorial size of the United States and fostered the westward expansion of the young republic.

Background: The Louisiana Territory

The colony of Louisiana was founded on 9 April 1682, when French explorer René-Robert Cavelier, Sieur de La Salle reached the mouth of the Mississippi River. La Salle erected a cross at the spot, and, in a ceremony performed before his own men and his Native American guides, he proceeded to claim the entire Mississippi Basin for France, naming it Louisiana in honor of King Louis XIV of France (r. 1643-1715). Shortly thereafter, he returned to France, where he convinced the king to give him control of the new colony. La Salle then embarked on another expedition to fortify the mouth of the Mississippi by establishing another French colony around the Gulf of Mexico. This expedition, however, was beset by difficulties from the start. La Salle was unable to rediscover the mouth of the Mississippi and was ultimately assassinated by mutineers in 1687.

Over the next several decades, scattered settlements began popping up around the Mississippi River. New Orleans was founded in 1718, on the site where La Salle had made his proclamation 36 years earlier, and quickly turned into a rich port city. Timber, agricultural produce, and high-quality furs were shipped down the Mississippi River to New Orleans, where they would be sent on to Europe or New Spain. Despite the wealth generated from New Orleans, the Louisiana Territory as a whole was not highly valued by France. In 1710, Louisiana governor Antoine de La Mothe Cadillac reported that "the people are aheap of the dregs of Canada" and that the colony was "not worth a straw at the present time" (Smithsonian). Therefore, at the end of the Seven Years' War in 1763, France agreed to cede control of the entire Louisiana Territory to Spain. The exact boundaries of ‘Louisiana' were still murky, and the terms of the treaty granted Spain control of all lands west of the Mississippi River. At the same time, France ceded its northern colony of Canada to Britain, thereby unburdening itself of all continental colonies so that it could focus on its much more lucrative sugar colonies in the Caribbean.

Spain enjoyed a tenuous hold on the Louisiana Territory, which it viewed with disinterest, as little more than a buffer between British North America and Mexico. In 1783, the United States won its independence and gained control of the eastern banks of the Mississippi River. This led to rising tensions between the US and Spain, as each nation claimed the right to navigate the Mississippi, which had become a vital waterway for trade. This dispute was settled on 27 October 1795, with the signing of the Treaty of San Lorenzo, also known as Pinckney's Treaty. The agreement gave the Americans the right to navigate the entire Mississippi and allowed American merchants to store goods in New Orleans warehouses. While the treaty de-escalated tensions between the US and Spain, it increased American influence in the region at the expense of Spanish power, which had never been strong to begin with in the Louisiana Territory and was now on the decline.

La Salle Claims Louisiana for France, 1682

Jean-Adolphe Bocquin (Public Domain)

Then, on 1 October 1800, Louisiana changed hands once again. Napoleon Bonaparte (1769-1821) – who had risen to power in France a year earlier – made a secret deal with King Charles IV of Spain (r. 1788-1808) in the Treaty of San Ildefonso. In it, Spain agreed to cede the entire Louisiana Territory back to France, in exchange for control over the Kingdom of Etruria in Italy, which King Charles wanted to give to his daughter. Napoleon was pleased by the easy acquisition of the Louisiana Territory, seeing it as the first step in re-establishing France as an imperial power in North America. He envisaged Louisiana as a breadbasket of sorts, shipping food and supplies to France's Caribbean colonies of Guadeloupe, Martinique, and Saint-Domingue, all highly valuable for their production of sugar. A significant condition of the Treaty of Ildefonso was that France could not turn around and sell the Louisiana Territory to a third party, as Spain was worried about having a hostile power so close to Mexico. At the time, Napoleon intended to adhere to this condition, although his plans would soon be turned upside down.

Continue reading...

[city-of-ladies]

(Photo: Carmen Escobar Carrio)

Juana Galán - Heroic guerrillera 

When the French invaded Spain during the Peninsular War, some women were determined to resist. Among them was Juana Galán (1787-1812), the daughter of a prosperous tavern keeper. 

On June 6, 1808, a column of 1,000 enemy troops attacked the town of Valdepeñas. Juana rallied the townswomen under her command. They manned the windows and threw boiling water and oil at the enemy.

Juana went to the street armed with a club. She reportedly pulled several French soldiers from their horses and dispatched them with a blow to the head. The townspeople’s fierce resistance forced the French to retreat and never return.

Juana didn’t live to see the end of the war. She died in 1812 while giving birth to her daughter. Her legacy lives on and she was made a local heroine and a symbol of resistance. She now has her own monument in Valdepeñas.

Like Juana, other women fought in desperate situations or during riots, sometimes with improvised weapons. In 1809, an unnamed woman armed with a sword rallied the inhabitants of Penafiel (northern Portugal) and led them in battle against the raiders. In 1811, María Marcos, a tavern keeper from La Palma del Condado, played a key role in repelling a small group of French soldiers. 

There were also cases of women involved in guerrilla warfare. The Catalan Somatén, a paramilitary defense organization, had female members such as María Escoplé, Magdalena Bofill, Margarita Tona, María Catalina and Catalina Martín. Francisca de la Puerta reportedly fought in Extremadura and commissioned the Junta of her province for permission to form her own guerrilla band. 

Wanting to avenge her father and brother, Martina de Ibaibarriaga Elorriagafora disguised herself as a man and led a guerrilla band until she gained a commission in the Spanish army. An unnamed woman was given the command of a troop by the Junta of Molina de Aragón in 1809. A British officer also mentioned women serving with bands of irregulars as active combatants. 

For more heroines of the Peninsular War, see Agustina de Aragón. 

Feel free to check out my Ko-Fi if you want to support me!

Further reading

Esdaile Charles J., Women in the Peninsular War

Sheldon Natasha, “Juana Galan: A Spanish Heroine of the Peninsula War”

[metalpunky]

Update on the situation in Venezuela 🇻🇪

Arrests:

(9/9/2024 9th September 2024)

There is a total of 1808, of which:

1582 are men and 226 are woman

1651 are civilians and 157 military

1748 are adults and 60 teenagers (from 14 to 17 y/o)

There are 150 people with a sentence and 1,658 without a sentence.

In the last week there's been 16 arrests.

Political asylum for Edmundo:

Spain has given political asylum for Edmundo González Urrutia because of the political and judicial harassment that Maduro's government was doing to him. He arrived the 9 of September 2024 and today (11 September 2024) The Spanish Congress has recognized him as the president of Venezuela.

The president of Spain has said "Any political reading is inappropriate, it is a question of humanity" ("Cualquier lectura política es inapropiada, es una cuestión de humanidad") about the political asylum.

[mysteriousanderfels]

I guess if I had to choose one alternative universe, out of the most credible ones, it'd be to see Leon join the STARS and be familiar with Wesker before the big betrayal. To see his relationship with Chris when he was still a rookie kid and see his big blue eyes go wide and as he stands up before Wesker (You know the fanart haha).

Also to see how Wesker's betrayal would impact Leon, too, how he would have fared in the mansion in the re1 events, if he would have been with Chris and Jill when they would go after him later, If he would have marked Wesker in any way like Chris did, etc...

Even if Leon would have gone his own way with the goverment and Chris in the BSAA, it's interesting to imagine that Wesker knows Leon intimately while they were in spain.

[josefavomjaaga]

Bessières and Soult in Spain

After the battle of Baylèn in 1808, King Pepe Joseph had been driven from Madrid for the first time. Napoleon could not come to his brother’s aid immediately, because he first had to watch some theater plays together with Alexander during their meeting at Erfurt. Priorities. However, among others, Bessières was still holding out in Spain (under direct orders of Joseph which cannot have been much fun), leading second corps.

When the congress of Erfurt had ended, Napoleon hastily threw all available troops into the peninsula, including a certain marshal Soult who was destined to take over second corps. And while Soult’s presence usually caused his fellow marshals to adapt a slightly hostile attitude, Bessières, waiting in front of the enemy fortress of Burgos and not quite daring to attack, might be the only example of the marshal species who even wished for Soult's prompt arrival. It even seems that, on learning on 6 November 1808 that Soult was on his way and that he himself would take over Murat’s former position at the head of the cavalry reserve, he deliberately postponed all action and rather chose to leave the job to Soult:

The day of 8 November was lost unnecessarily by Bessières, and this was a blunder [...] The Marshal gave no serious excuse for his inaction; was it the high number of men attributed to the enemy that stopped him, was it that he waited for Soult's arrival in order to hand over command of the 2nd corps to him and to concern himself only with the cavalry? In a first letter to Berthier, he announced that "a full-scale battle" was needed to take the vicinity of Burgos, but he did not dare or did not want to fight it. In a second letter, he wrote: "I would very much like Marshal Soult to arrive soon... Marshal Soult and I will get on very well together."

As weird as that sounds, he was right about that latter point. Bessières also seems to have been delighted at the idea of rejoining Napoleon’s guard and at taking over the cavalry. Sounds as if he, learned cavalryman that he was, had not been very comfortable with commanding infantry.

Soult set out from Vittoria towards Briviesca on the evening of the 8th and joined Bessières on the morning of the 9th, who handed over command of the 2nd Corps to him.

Bessières: Oh, for god’s sake, you’re here! Look, I’m perfectly fine with the cavalry stuff but … there’s also all these folks who have uniforms and weapons – but no horses? Do you know what those are? What are we supposed to do with them?

Soult took command of his troops and began his offensive movement: he stopped on the evening of the 9th at the entrance to the defile which from Quintanapalla through Villafria leads to Gamonal and opens onto the Burgos plain. He wrote to Berthier: "His Excellency Marshal Bessières has kindly agreed to come with me as far as Burgos…"

Soult: Oh, c’mon, Bessie, I’m sure the emperor can wait another day. We’ve not even had time to properly catch up on everything…

Bessières: Okay. But only as far as Burgos. I’m not in the mood for another of Nappy’s lectures...

Bessières was to lead the cavalry, Soult the infantry. Soult had only expected an "avantgarde engagement" to take Burgos: it was a battle that had to be fought, as Bessières had thought, but the battle was a brilliant victory. On 10 November, at noon, Soult wrote to the Emperor from Burgos: "Your Majesty is master of Burgos: the corps of Estramadure, 12,000 strong, is destroyed. There are already more than 1,000 prisoners, 10 cannon, many caissons: the ground, for more than a league, is covered with corpses, weapons and debris; two flags have also been taken. Marshal Bessières has already passed Burgos and is pursuing on the road to Madrid all those who fled in a rout..."

[Translated from: A. Rabel, Le Maréchal Bessières, Duc d’Istrie]

Seeing somebody work well together with Soult in Spain is a nice change for once. Unfortunately it was pretty much the only time.

[josefavomjaaga]

Now that I've finally had time to check the letters in full, I have to agree about the tone being rather rude and patronizing. Though as to the content, I'm still not convinced it's that much worse than what Eugène heard in reply to his first attempts at playing viceroy. But with Eugène it's usually a tone of bitter disappointment (maybe that's what worked better in his case?).

I've also checked some other letters he wrote at the same time, just to compare. His tone with Joseph is much more indulging - but if I remember correctly, Joseph for his part was very upset and felt humiliated because he had wanted to join Napoleon's army and never received a reply.

There's also this letter to Joseph from 18 December 1808:

My brother, I am sending you Monsieur de Cabarrus's memoir. It is nothing but ridiculous prattle. In order to live in a year's time, you have to live today; in order to live today, you need money; Monsieur de Cabarrus declaims and does not propose any means. I only see 13 million in the public coffers and 11 million in the consolidation and other coffers, which makes 24 million, 8 of which you have reported 32 million. They must be realised, either by pledging them to capitalists in the capital [sic], or by any other means. It is up to the Minister of Finance to propose these means. A fortnight has gone by already, and these are the most precious times, since they are the times of force. There is therefore not a moment to lose to obtain a resource of about thirty million reals in money.

No clue what numbers he's juggling there again, by the way. But there is a letter to Belliard (governor of Madrid) that is also in a rather unpleasant tone. So maybe, in order to spare his brother's feelings, he rather directed his anger at Joseph's subordinates?

I'm looking forward to the letters from April and May 1809, by the way, if there are any 😁. That's when Eugène was the one at the receiving end of all imperial wrath.

Part two of Napoleon's letters to Murat (3 November - 15 December 1808). This is really where Napoleon starts coming down hard on Murat and criticizing and/or ridiculing practically everything he does. (I had to laugh at the multiple complaints about Murat's doling out of the Order of the Two Sicilies, for, um, reasons.)

[royalty-nobility]

Ferdinand VII on Horseback

Artist: José de Madrazo y Agudo (Spanish, 1781-1859)

Date: 1821

Medium: Oil on Canvas

Collection: Museo del Prado, Madrid, Spain

Ferdinand VII of Spain

Ferdinand VII (Spanish: Fernando VII; 14 October 1784 – 29 September 1833) was King of Spain during the early 19th century. He reigned briefly in 1808 and then again from 1813 to his death in 1833. Before 1813 he was known as el Deseado (the Desired), and after, as el Rey Felón (the Criminal King).

[moonlitmistyforest]

Frederico de Madrazo y Kuntz - Amalia de Llano y Dotres, Countess of Vilches, 1853 oil on canvas, 126 x 89 cm Museo del Prado

This is a masterpiece of Spanish Romantic portraiture and the most attractive of Madrazo’s female portraits. It is undoubtedly the most emblematic work of the 19th-century collections of the Museo del Prado. Amalia de Llano y Dotres (Barcelona, 1821–Madrid, July 6th 1874) was thirty-two years old when Madrazo painted her portrait. On October 12th 1839, she married Gonzalo José de Vilches y Parga (1808–1879), who was to become the first Count of Vilches in 1848. Two portraits of him are located in the Museo del Prado. The Countess of Vilches was an outstanding defender of the monarchist cause since the fall of Isabella II, Queen of Spain. Furthermore, she was an amateur writer and also published the novels Berta and Ledia. She was a close friend of Federico de Madrazo, which could explain the unique beauty and exquisite refinement that the painter achieved in this portrait. The Countess frequented the Madrazo house, especially on their musical soirées, in which she even sang accompanied by the piano.

In this portrayal, Madrazo succeeds in perfectly combining all the artistic resources he had developed throughout his mature period. The artist, with this painting, reached his most painstaking refinement, at the service of one of the most beautiful and charming women of Isabelline Madrid. The portrait is imbued with a distinctive French flair, very much suited to the elegance of the model. Madrazo learnt this technique during his training period in Paris with French painter Ingres. The lady’s pose conveys a degree of sensuality quite foreign to the Spanish tradition. However, the model’s flirtatious pose is informal, which provides the work with a sense of graceful movement duly calculated detail by the artist. Due to the illumination used by Madrazo, the whiteness of the female complexion both stands out against the marked darkness of the background and highlights the chromaticism in the overall tone. The culmination of the accomplishments of this superb portrait lies in the subtlety of some of the model’s gestures, such as the delicacy with which she holds the fan, the almost imperceptible contact of her fingers with her oval face and her charming smile, mirrored by her seductive gaze.

[artandtheirstories]

The Spanish Series: El Tres De Mayo 1808 - Francisco Goya (1814)

"...More than 2000 of the troublemakers have been killed. I have in Madrid 60,000 men who have nothing to do. We took advantage of this affair to disarm the city."

Letter by Napoleon Bonaparte to his son, 6 May 1808

This painting is the second of Goya's depiction of the 1808 Madrid Rebellion, which many regard to have begun the disastrous Peninsular War.

As Napoleon writes in his letter, French soldiers massacred thousands of rebels after they crushed the resistance; El Tres de Mayo is Goya's remembrance of it and the Spanish people who died.

While Goya was considered a supporter of the French Revolution and its values, he felt very strongly about the mass murder of people in his country of Spain. His thoughts would be affirmed by Napoleon, who, according to the aforementioned letter, thought that the lives of the Spanish people could be thrown away easily.