http://tspwiki.com/index.php?title=1527
Here are some one liners...
The Sack of Rome -- The Swiss Guard go down hard in a holding action to give the Pope time to escape the Imperial Stormtroopers! (Obewan! You're my only hope!) All respect goes to the Swiss Guard. They still remember that one.
King Henry the 8th Wants a Divorce -- Yeah. The old lady is all played out so the King wants to trade her in on a new model... a couple of new models... maybe three.
In a Word: Eavesdropper -- That drip, drip, drip is the sound of moisture from the roof and becomes associated with "drips" hanging around the window.
The Sack of Rome
Imperial troops of the Holy Roman Emperor head for Rome to express his displeasure with Pope Clement the 7th. To be fair... the Pope has been about as reliable as a politician after election season. He has just switched sides again, and frankly, the troops have missed too many paychecks so when they get to Rome they take their pay out of the Pope's hide. 147 of the Swiss Guard go down hard on the steps of Saint Peter's Basilica in a delaying action to allow the Pope to escape to the Castle of the Holy Angel. The Pope ransoms his freedom for 400,000 ducats (about $53 million in February 2015 money). For perspective, Venice bought the entire city of Zadar, Croatia for 100,000 ducats in 1409. Thereafter, the Pope is careful not to make the Emperor upset. [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6]
My Take by Alex Shrugged
The Sack of Rome was out of proportion to any offense of the Pope. Granted, the Pope was being bad, but that doesn't explain all the destruction. The troops were using churches as horse barns. That kind of disrespect can only be explained by a general discontent with the Church at the lay-level. Some historians mark this event as the beginning of Church reform, but frankly, the Church will find justification for "business as usual" even after this debacle. The only Church officials that are reforming are the ones going Lutheran. The Catholic establishment is hunkering down.
The Sack of Rome was out of proportion to any offense of the Pope. Granted, the Pope was being bad, but that doesn't explain all the destruction. The troops were using churches as horse barns. That kind of disrespect can only be explained by a general discontent with the Church at the lay-level. Some historians mark this event as the beginning of Church reform, but frankly, the Church will find justification for "business as usual" even after this debacle. The only Church officials that are reforming are the ones going Lutheran. The Catholic establishment is hunkering down.
King Henry the 8th Wants a Divorce
King Henry the 8th of England has been having a reasonably secret affair with Elizabeth Blount and maybe Mary Boleyn, the sister of Ann Boleyn. The King is currently married to Catherine of Aragon, so he sends an envoy to Pope Clement the 7th in Rome to get an annulment. However, by the time the envoy gets there, Rome has been sacked and the Pope is holed up in the Castle of the Holy Angel... leaving the Pope at a disadvantage. This allows King Henry to lean fairly hard on the Pope. The King's argument is that his wife is too closely related to himself (which is true) and that she is too old to produce children. (She is around 42 years old at this point.) It will take a few years but eventually the marriage will be annulled. [7]
My Take by Alex Shrugged
Hmmm... King Henry was hot to marry Catherine in the first place, but she became focused on reading and religious study. While the King liked reading, he also liked sex and apparently he wasn't getting any at home so he was often "gone to Jericho," a cottage in Essex that he leased from the local priory. (Wink, wink.) He believed that affairs with married women made more sense so as to cover up any pregnancies. That may be why he arranged a marriage for Mary Boleyn with an understanding fellow at court. He eventually pursued Mary's sister, Anne Boleyn and married her. These sort of shenanigans were tolerated as long as it was kept out of public, but when the King started divorcing and beheading wives, it became intolerable and very disruptive to the government. [8] [9]
Hmmm... King Henry was hot to marry Catherine in the first place, but she became focused on reading and religious study. While the King liked reading, he also liked sex and apparently he wasn't getting any at home so he was often "gone to Jericho," a cottage in Essex that he leased from the local priory. (Wink, wink.) He believed that affairs with married women made more sense so as to cover up any pregnancies. That may be why he arranged a marriage for Mary Boleyn with an understanding fellow at court. He eventually pursued Mary's sister, Anne Boleyn and married her. These sort of shenanigans were tolerated as long as it was kept out of public, but when the King started divorcing and beheading wives, it became intolerable and very disruptive to the government. [8] [9]
In a Word: Eavesdropper
That "drip, drip, drip" is the sound of moisture from the roof falling from the eves and becomes associated with "drips" hanging around the window. People would share the latest gossip or hear conversation at the window so they began to be called eavesdroppers at this time. [10]
My Take by Alex Shrugged
The Japanese have a similar idea of "listening at the gate". The Kanji symbol for eavesdropping is a picture of two gate doors and an ear in the center. [11]
The Japanese have a similar idea of "listening at the gate". The Kanji symbol for eavesdropping is a picture of two gate doors and an ear in the center. [11]
No comments:
Post a Comment