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| British and Austrian Infantry Advance on Blindheim Village¹ Source |
Sir John Churchill, 1st Duke of Marlborough, was a member of the family which gave the world Sir Winston Churchill as well as Diana Spencer, Princess of Wales. (Whose older brother Charles wrote an excellent account of the Battle of Blenheim which I'm nearly done reading.) He's the general you may or may not have heard of and the victor at Blenheim.
In order to rectify any gaps in your knowledge of European history which might exist, I give you the following, from a fellow on YouTube known as The History Chap². Sorry lads and lassies if I've given ye another way to waste time. But history is important. And sometimes it rhymes ...
So yes, I'll be spending some more time with The History Chap and I'm starting to hear from The Muse that the War of the Spanish Succession might be a great setting for a bit of historical fiction. It's a fascinating period in European history what with Louis XIV³ throwing his weight around.
By the way, the aforementioned war was fought because the King of Spain died without leaving an heir. So Louis XIV volunteered his grandson to take that throne. Other European countries, particularly Austria, objected. So, true to European custom (and truth be told, human custom), they fought a war over it, killing thousands to benefit the few.
The "noble" few.
Sigh, there's an old story there. Which is why we Americans threw off that particular yoke.
Do we ever learn?
Hard to say.
Editor's Note: As I write this, it's snowing, again. Yay, sarcastically, of course. It's pretty, but enough already!
¹ Blindheim is known as Blenheim in English.
² The fellow is a great storyteller, though his pronunciation of Bavaria drives me nuts. Then again, I know it as Bayern, not Bavaria, regardless of that latter name's pronunciation. 🙄
³ The Sun King, surely you've heard of him? (Sorry for calling you Shirley ...)
Interesting. Might have to add that to the research list.
ReplyDeletejuvat
A most interesting time period.
DeleteOops. I forgot the weather report. High was 80 yesterday, sky was clear. Same forecast today. Just sayin’
ReplyDeletejuvat
25°, snowing though it's starting to let up.
DeleteNow we wait for the 20 mph (gusting to 40) winds and subzero temps.
Quite the contrast between there and here!
Laundry's done and so is the ironing, time for a vid or three....thanks Sarge. 14F here and partly cloudy, going to warm to the mid-twenties!
ReplyDeleteAbout the same here, on Monday. Right now we're expecting high winds and sub\\zero temps.
Delete**they fought a war over it, killing thousands to benefit the few. The "noble" few.** - **Sigh, there's an old story there. Which is why we Americans threw off that particular yoke.**
ReplyDeleteThe noble few who benefited, has that really changed? Look at the US, Europe & the rest of the world, has that really changed? From where I'm sitting it's Trump vs the "noble few" (the cabal) here in the US and the rest of the world doesn't have Trump.
The "noble" few still benefit in everything. There are no rules, nor consequences, for our so-called "elites."
DeleteThat needs to change.
This guy has been popping up on my you tube. Going to subscribe now.
ReplyDeleteHe's good.
DeleteHaving acquired a thin veneer of historical knowledge, I recognized Blenheim as the family home of the rightly worshiped Winston S. Churchilll, but must confess ignorance of the origin of the name. Thanks for fixing that, and explaining the War of Spanish Succession. Two more trivial bits to stack on the rest. History is FUN!
ReplyDeleteHighs in 50's again today in the mountain west- praying for snow, lots of it, and might get a little Tuesday.
JB
The study of history is indeed fun. The living of it, often not so much.
DeleteSarge, I have to confess that prior to reading on Blenheim, I had very little idea of this period of time and no idea that British troops had marched so far into the Continent. Just another part of history to read up on (sigh. the list keeps getting longer and longer....).
ReplyDeleteI have a theory, when that list stops growing, then perhaps we've stopped living.
DeleteHuh, always wondered where 'Blenheim' came from.
ReplyDeleteThe time period of the Sun King and after was a time of great strife and war. The 'crusade' against the Huguenots being one of them. Followed by, of course, the 30 Years War and stuff like that.
The Sun King was rather bloody minded.
DeleteAh, so fate has finally led you to good Queen Anne's War.
ReplyDelete