Wednesday, February 15, 1775. Crowning of Pope Pius VI.

Count Angelo Onofrio Melchiorre Natale Giovanni Antonio was crowned Pope Pius VI.

He clashed with Napoleon, whose troops had invaded Italy, over his temporal power and was imprisoned by the French in France, where he died in 1799.  His body was effectively held hostage and he was not given a funeral, in Rome, until 1802.

The temporal powers of popes is something we don't think about much anymore, certainly Catholics don't.  About the only ones who do are Protestant cranks who are bothered by the fact that there were Papal States.  Pope Pius VI does provide an example to the modern world, however, of somebody who refused to go along with and is well remembered for it.  Napoleon, of course, is well remembered by some as well, but more accurately remembered as a bloody megalomaniac by most.

Last edition:

Thursday, February 9, 1775. Privileged shortsightedness, then and now.

Labels: 1770s, 1775, Colonial North America, History repeating itself or at least rhyming, La tierra es de quien la trabaja, Populism, Sic transit Gloria Mundi, United Kingdom, Wyoming, Wyoming Freedom Caucus

Thursday, September 16, 1824. Death of King Louis XVIII.

 

Louis XVIII, King of France, died.

He reigned from 3 May 1814 until 20 March 1815, and then again from 8 July 1815 – 16 September 1824, following the defeat of Napoleon.  He was succeeded by Charles X.

He introduced a parliamentary form of government, payed off French indemnity imposed by the Napoleonic Wars, modernized the French Army.

Last edition:

Sunday, August 29, 1824. Battle of Gerontas (Ναυμαχία του Γέροντα).

Labels: 1820s, 1824, Battle of Gerontas (Ναυμαχία του Γέροντα), Greece, Greek Navy, Greek War of Independence, Ottoman Empire, Ottoman Navy

Friday, December 23, 1910. The Padlock Bill.

Spain's Congress of Deputies banned the creation of any new Catholic religious orders for two years until a new concordat with the Vatican was to be reached.

The same bill brought in universal military conscription.

For the most part, most Americans play very little attention to Spanish politics in any one era, let alone in the early 20th Century.  Historically minded people sort of pick up Spain with the Spanish Civil War and run through Franco, and that's about it. There was, however, a lot going on.

Something we don't note much now at all is that a wave of European anticlericalism commenced with the horrors of the failed French Revolution.  While that revolution is still bizarrely celebrated, it descended into anarchy brought about by an urban French populist mob until that was effectively brought to an end by Napoleon.  Napoleon carried on in the name of the spirit of the revolution, much like monder MAGA claim to honor the American Revolution, while at the same time suppressing it.  France did bring the theoretical ideals of the revolution, however, to Europe at large, by force.

Every European revolution and populist movement after that for 150 years looked towards the French Revolution and brought, by and large, the worst of it with them, including anti clericalism, ignoring the example of the French themselves who continually worked to address the revolution while claiming not to betray it.  As the Church stood in the way of the worst of the ideals of the French Revolution, left wing and populist movements continually sought to suppress it.

Last edition:

Thursday, December 22, 1910. The Chicago Stockyards Fire.

Labels: 1910, 1910s, Aircraft, Blog Mirror, Disaster, France, Illinois (Chicago), September 11 Attacks, Women