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Post by artraveler on Jun 17, 2019 14:07:42 GMT -8
The most critical 20 years of the Renaissance --1490-1510.
During this slight period Western Europe changed in dramatic fashion. Not only did the renaissance revive art and literature but as we all know Columbus sailed the ocean blue, proving what sailors had known for at least 2000 years, the earth was round. Henry VII solidified his reign in England and began the process of enclosure that 100 years later would send thousands of English to North America. Moslems had recently overturned the Byzantine Empire and beginning incursions into Eastern Europe that only stopped with the defeat at Vienna in 1621. Catholic monarchs Isabella and Ferdinand ended Moslem domination of Iberia, and then they promptly expelled every Jew in the kingdom. Pope Alexander VI (aka Rodrigo Borgia) holds the throne at St. Peters and successfully navigates between his enemies to remain Pope. An obscure legal student in Wittenberg is struck by lightning and vows to become a priest and starts a religious revolution less than 30 years later.
Kind of makes our own times boring doesn't it?
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Post by timothylane on Jun 17, 2019 14:17:00 GMT -8
Actually, Muslim incursions into southeastern Europe considerably predated the fall of Constantinople. They already largely controlled Greece, Bulgaria, and Serbia by then, and had won the Battle of Kosovo one dark June 28 (another dark June 28 was the one in 1914, of course). But they hadn't yet reached Hungary. Mohacs would change that, and lead to their first attempt to take Vienna, in 1529. (Their second attempt was in 1682, with much of the credit for its defeat being earned by Polish King John Sobieski.)
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Post by kungfuzu on Jun 17, 2019 16:44:13 GMT -8
Not to be picky, but the famous Siege of Vienna was in 1683. Having lived and studied there, this is not something one forgets.
The Turks slaughtered thousands of Austrians around Vienna. There is a town named Hainburg about an hour's drive east of Vienna. The Danube runs past it. There in 1683 the townspeople of Hainburg had prepared their escape from the Turks, by having boats ready and waiting on the banks of Danube should the Turks breach the town's walls. Of course they did and the townspeople ran toward the river. Unfortunately, the gates opened inward and the crush of people made it impossible to open them thus keeping the citizens of Hainburg from making it to the boats. I forget how many were slaughtered that day, but I believe only three people survived. They did this by hiding inside a huge oven, as I recall. There is a small memorial plaque there to this day.
The street on which this took place is named Blutgasse (Blood Street) or something similar.
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Post by timothylane on Jun 17, 2019 16:49:14 GMT -8
Oops. I was going from memory. This was the beginning of a long war between Habsburgs and Ottamans, the war in which Austria's possibly greatest general, Prince Eugene of Savoy, became important. (Eugene offered his services to Louis XIV, who thought him too short to be a great general. His mistake. His main rival as greatest Austrian general would be Marshal Radetzky.)
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Post by kungfuzu on Jun 17, 2019 17:16:00 GMT -8
The Austrians held Eugene in very high regard. He took up residence in Vienna and built both a winter and summer palace. Both were beautiful, but the summer palace Belvedere is spectacular.
Radetzky has a March named after him and it is played at every New Year's Day Concert at the Musikverein in Vienna.
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Post by kungfuzu on Jun 17, 2019 17:42:08 GMT -8
 Here is a photo of a memorial plaque in Hainburg recalling the slaughter of her citizens by the Turks in 1683.
It says:
"In memory of those residents of Hainburg, who on July 12, 1683, were slaughtered by the Turks after they stormed the city."
"Erected on the occasion of the 1000th year celebration of the founding of the City of Hainburg. 1894."
The little sign on the side says "Fisher Gate, youngest of the city gates, built in the late 13th century."
The name of the street is Blutgasse which translates to Blood Lane.
Below is a picture of Hainburg's main gate. It's claim to fame is that it is the tallest city gate in all of the German speaking area.
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Post by timothylane on Jun 17, 2019 17:46:12 GMT -8
I read a biography of Eugene that includes photos of some of his art collection. One of my music folders is a collection of marches that includes the Radetzky March.
Napoleon once implicitly listed Eugene among the 7 greatest generals in history (Frederick the Great and Turenne were also listed, as well as 4 ancient generals). Radetzky was perhaps most famous for his 1848 and 1849 campaigns in Italy, but also came up with the strategy that defeated Napoleon in 1813: avoid fighting against Napoleon himself until they had enough of an advantage, but fight his subordinates. Marmont warned Napoleon, as he scattered his forces at times, that the day might come when he won a victory onto to find out that his subordinates had lost several battles. And indeed that happened after Napoleon won a major victory at Dresden -- Ney was beaten at Dennewitz, Vandamme at Kulm, and Macdonald on the Katzbach.
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Brad Nelson
Administrator
עַבְדְּךָ֔ אֶת־ הַתְּשׁוּעָ֥ה הַגְּדֹלָ֖ה הַזֹּ֑את
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Post by Brad Nelson on Aug 5, 2019 20:34:35 GMT -8
Yes, but we've got: computers, cars, airplanes, iPhones, velcro, Viagra, television, moving pictures, radio, man on the moon, penicillin, and cameras. I think we're doing pretty good. I think we're shitting it all away. But we're going to have fun until then.
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Post by timothylane on Aug 5, 2019 21:00:04 GMT -8
This is a point SF writer John Ringo made in an author's note to (I believe) one of his Posleen novels. We're living in a decadent age. Such ages can be very pleasant. But if a societal emergency hits (such as invasion by a voracious alien race in that series), a decadent society may not be able to deal with it. And emergencies have a remarkably tendency to happen. (His novels tend to focus on this concern.)
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Brad Nelson
Administrator
עַבְדְּךָ֔ אֶת־ הַתְּשׁוּעָ֥ה הַגְּדֹלָ֖ה הַזֹּ֑את
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Post by Brad Nelson on Aug 5, 2019 21:08:19 GMT -8
If the Borg come and say "You will be assimilated," most can say, "You're too late. We've had television for over 70 years now."
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Post by timothylane on Aug 6, 2019 6:00:30 GMT -8
Decades ago I came up with the term "elad" for an electronic addict. I had become something of one, but this changed when I went to college. They had a single TV in the dorm, plus whatever the residents brought with them. (I never had one, and neither did most of my roommates.) So I saw very little TV during my school years, and never went back to watching as much.
Of course, now I spend most of my waking time on the computer, but at least it isn't pure passive entertainment. And there's not much I can do otherwise -- my storage capacity for actual books (as opposed to e-books) is very limited. And being bedridden, there's not much I can do.
Unfortunately, a lot of people today are even more tied in to their computers (etc.) than I am, despite having other possibilities.
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Brad Nelson
Administrator
עַבְדְּךָ֔ אֶת־ הַתְּשׁוּעָ֥ה הַגְּדֹלָ֖ה הַזֹּ֑את
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Post by Brad Nelson on Aug 6, 2019 7:26:57 GMT -8
Re: Computer time
My own goal is to try to do something positive with it, thus the emphasis on doing (hopefully) useful reviews. But it’s pretty clear right now (another issue we’ve been at least a couple years ahead of) that “social media’ is really anti-social media. It’s a garbage dump for the human mind.
The words “all is vanity” come to mind. There’s just way too much posturing and prima-donna-ing. Man is a social creature, for sure. But he’s also one that defecates. And not enough separation is made between the two, despite the inherent distance from the mouth to the anus.
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Post by timothylane on Aug 6, 2019 8:04:05 GMT -8
Ultimately, I hope what I write is helpful to others in some way -- as entertainment, as information, or simply as expressing a viewpoint that should be expressed. Or some combination thereof.
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Post by artraveler on Aug 6, 2019 9:13:35 GMT -8
Tim
We and others here have the advantage of living through some of the most interesting times of the last 100 years. I believe that some day our decedents will stumble over our comments on the times and wonder how we could be so smart. Recall, Mark Twain commenting on youth, "When I was 16 I wondered how someone as old as my father could be so stupid. By the time I was 25 I was amazed at how much the old man had learned in just a few years."
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Post by kungfuzu on Aug 6, 2019 10:44:10 GMT -8
That's a good saying by Twain. Over the last 40 years I have used a similar line, to wit "It's amazing how much smarter my parents became, the older I got."
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Post by artraveler on Aug 6, 2019 11:48:40 GMT -8
The Twain quote I use the most is about golf, "A good walk, spoiled", never fails to aggravate the golf junkies.
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Post by kungfuzu on Aug 6, 2019 11:55:24 GMT -8
"Golf junkies"
Boy is that right! I played 9 holes of golf once and could see how it might be interesting, but would take at least three days a week to get any good at. I figured there would be no way to work and play golf well, so I opted for work.
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Post by timothylane on Aug 6, 2019 12:20:45 GMT -8
My father was a golfer, but I never had any interest in it. Except for miniature golf. I was fairly good at that in my younger days.
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