̽��ֱ�� of Cambridge - monarchy

Lines of Thought: Telling the Story of History

Anonymous — Fri, 16 Sep 2016 14:31:13 +0000

Since March, some of the world’s most valuable books and manuscripts have been on display as Cambridge ̽��ֱ�� Library celebrates its 600th birthday. This fortnight is the last chance to see this once-in-a-lifetime free exhibition of its greatest treasures.

̽��ֱ��objects in Lines of Thought: Discoveries that Changed the World, which will close to the public on September 30, communicate 4,000 years of human thought through the Library’s unique and irreplaceable collections. More than 70 per cent of the exhibits are displayed to the public for the first time.

̽��ֱ��exhibition investigates through six distinct themes how Cambridge ̽��ֱ�� Library’s eight million books and manuscripts have transformed our understanding of life here on earth and our place among the stars.

In Telling the Story of History, curator John Wells traces the way in which literature has treated the monarchs and heroes of history.

Long before the development of evidence-based history, this was done through story-telling. Stories that elaborate on myths, legends and folk memories accumulate down the years, connecting successive ages with their past, and influencing writers of the present. In the Western European tradition fables inherited from classical antiquity have been passed down the centuries to inspire countless reinventions and retellings. Themes and characters from Homer’s Odyssey, for example, surface again and again in literature, from James Joyce’s Ulysses to Margaret Drabble’s novel ̽��ֱ��gates of ivory.

"Homer stands at the head of the Western European tradition of narrative, and there are no epics older than the Homeric epics – the influence that these texts have had is really quite incalculable," says Wells.

̽��ֱ��plays of William Shakespeare, gathered here in the ‘First Folio’ of 1623, are a highwater mark of imaginative literature. Their fictional depiction of real people and real events, such as Henry V at the Battle of Agincourt, can shape our understanding of historical events.

" ̽��ֱ��'First Folio' of Shakespeare, the collection of his plays which was published soon after his death by his friends John Heminges and Henry Condell, collects many plays which never saw print in Shakespeare's lifetime," explains Wells. "If it hadn't been for the work of Heminges and Condell, so many plays which are at the peak of English literary tradition would simply not be known to us."

"Shakespeare's views and interpretations of his characters really have affected the way in which we now think of historical figures," says Wells.

Fantastical fictional writings such as Dante’s Divine comedy also draw on figures of the past for their protagonists, or use allusion to pass on subtle messages. Folk stories, whether written on ancient papyri or in a modern novel, weave their way through Cambridge ̽��ֱ�� Library’s collections and through our collective imaginations.

"Our line of thought, which we began with a papyrus fragment of Homer, leads right to the end of the 20th century now with Cambridge-educated novelist Margaret Drabble," says Wells.

"In her novel ̽��ֱ��gates of ivory, Drabble sets her characters against the great sweep of history, and in particular the revolution in Cambodia in the 1970s. ̽��ֱ�� ̽��ֱ�� Library is actively acquiring the archives of literary authors because we know that they are going to be subjects of study in the years to come - the notes and drafts which are accumulated are sources of scholarship in their own right."

Inset image: Homer, Fragments of the Odyssey, XII, ll. 250–304, Second century CE.

Shakespeare's 'First Folio', Dante's Divine Comedy, and fragments of Homer's Odyssey from the second century CE, are among the objects in our final film celebrating Lines of Thought at Cambridge ̽��ֱ�� Library.

̽��ֱ��influence that these texts have had is really quite incalculable

John Wells

Lines of Thought: Telling the Story of History

Mr. William Shakespeares comedies, histories, & tragedies: published according to the true originall copies (the ‘First Folio’) London: printed by Isaac Jaggard and Edward Blount, 1623

̽��ֱ��text in this work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. For image use please see separate credits above.

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̽��ֱ��Royal Wedding… of 1736

sjr81 — Wed, 27 Apr 2011 17:02:25 +0000

Every bride knows how complicated the arrangements for weddings can be: will the right flowers turn up? Will the car be on time? Those marrying into the royal family have a particular set of pressures to consider. Media attention focuses on the smallest of details and familial relationships are inevitably put under strain.

And while the spotlight will fall on Kate Middleton this Friday, she is not the first royal bride to negotiate a complicated set of rules and customs in the run up to her big day. However, she will be hoping for a more peaceful married life than some of her predecessors.

A new biography of George II by Cambridge ̽��ֱ�� historian Andrew C. Thompson sheds new light on his reign, including his complicated family and private life – and the marriage of his son, Prince Frederick to Augusta of Saxony-Gotha.

̽��ֱ��book includes groundbreaking research and makes use for the first time of material in German archives to uncover the rich and varied nature of George II’s public and private life.

At the end of April 1736, Augusta of Saxony-Gotha arrived in London to marry Frederick, Prince of Wales, eldest son of George II. Augusta and Frederick did not enjoy the luxury of a long courtship – Augusta had met Frederick’s father on one of George II’s visits to Hanover and this was sufficient to seal the deal.

She had been chosen because the provisions of the Act of Settlement (1701) made it imperative for members of the royal family to marry Protestants to retain their inheritance rights. George II’s relations with some of the major protestant powers, like Prussia, were strained and therefore brides had to be sought from lesser German princely families.

Her first meeting with her future husband was a few days before the wedding. Augusta found herself in a foreign country, knowing virtually nobody and with little idea of what to expect. Her parents had told her that there would be no need to learn English as they assumed that after twenty years of rule by German princes, everyone in Britain would now be speaking German.

Frederick’s sisters were irritated when the Prince of Wales tried to alter seating arrangements for family meals to give his future bride precedence over them.

̽��ֱ��wedding itself took place in the Chapel Royal in St James’s palace and featured a new work composed for the occasion by the royal family’s favourite composer, George Frederick Handel. Prints of the ceremony were produced and circulated widely – commemorative memorabilia is nothing new. Augusta, however, had little say in the decoration of the venue. Just as this year, Easter was very late in 1736 so there was little time between Easter services on 25 April and the wedding on 27 April to do much to the Chapel Royal.

275 years after Augusta’s marriage, Kate Middleton faces similar difficulties in acclimatising to a new role. She, at least, has had the chance to get to know her future husband in advance. Augusta’s marriage was not for love but for politics.

Her major task was to help perpetuate the royal line by providing an heir. A son, the future George III, was born in 1738 but by this time, Augusta found herself in the middle of a bitter argument between her husband and father-in-law.

Unhappy with both his uncertain political role and lack of financial means, Frederick had quarrelled with his father and had been banned from attending court. Much of Augusta’s early married life was spent away from court in Kew and Cliveden. Frederick and Augusta tried to cultivate a popular image, spending time at fashionable spots such as Bath and supporting English trade. ‘Rule Britannia’ was first performed for the couple at Cliveden in 1740. After her husband’s death in 1751, Augusta became an important political player in her own right, guiding her eldest son, the future George III, through the trials and tribulations of court politics.

Augusta quickly learnt the value of presenting herself as a supporter of British culture. Her English improved quickly and was less accented than that of other members of the royal family. Her public image was that of the good mother and supportive wife and she was always meticulous about ensuring her clothes were made from native fabrics. Her status as a fashion trendsetter helped the British textile industry considerably.

Andrew Thompson’s new biography of George II will be published by Yale ̽��ֱ�� Press in May 2011 It uses newly available diary evidence to reconstruct life at court in his final years. Careful reading of the letters and papers of those around the king enable Thompson to show the centrality of George for foreign political decision-making and shed new light on the importance of the king’s frequent visits to Hanover.

For those at the heart of this week's Royal Wedding, the big day will be full of stress and worry. But that's nothing compared with the experiences of Augusta of Saxony-Gotha, daughter in law of George II. A book by a Cambridge historian draws on new sources to reveal what happened.

Her parents had told her that there would be no need to learn English as they assumed that after twenty years of rule by German princes, everyone in Britain would now be speaking German.

National Portrait Gallery

A portrait of Augusta of Saxony-Gotha from the time of her wedding in 1736

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̽��ֱ��Athenians: Another warning from history?

bjb42 — Fri, 02 Oct 2009 00:00:00 +0000

In a new history of the 4th century BC, Cambridge ̽��ֱ�� Classicist Dr. Michael Scott reveals how the implosion of Ancient Athens occurred amid a crippling economic downturn, while politicians committed financial misdemeanours, sent its army to fight unpopular foreign wars and struggled to cope with a surge in immigration.

̽��ֱ��book, entitled From Democrats To Kings, aims to overhaul Athens' traditional image as the ancient world's "golden city", arguing that its early successes have obscured a darker history of blood-lust and mob rule.

Other reputations are also taken to task: ̽��ֱ��"heroic" Spartans of Thermopylae, immortalised in the film 300, are unmasked as warmongering bullies of the ancient world. Alexander the Great, for all his achievements, is described as a "mummy's boy" whose success rested in many ways on the more pragmatic foundations laid by his father, Philip II.

Perhaps more significantly, however, the study suggests that the collapse of Greek democracy and of Athens in particular offer a stark warning from history which is often overlooked.

It argues that it was not the loss of its empire and defeat in war against Sparta at the end of the 5th century that heralded the death knell of Athenian democracy - as it is traditionally perceived. Athens' democracy in fact recovered from these injuries within years. Instead, Dr. Scott argues that the strains and stresses of the 4th century BC, which our own times seem to echo, proved too much for the Athenian democratic system and ultimately caused it to destroy itself.

"If history can provide a map of where we have been, a mirror to where we are right now and perhaps even a guide to what we should do next, the story of this period is perfectly suited to do that in our times," Dr. Scott said.

"It shows how an earlier generation of people responded to similar challenges and which strategies succeeded. It is a period of history that we would do well to think about a little more right now - and we ignore it at our peril."

Although the 4th century was one of critical transition, the era has been overlooked by many ancient historians in favour of those which bookend it - the glory days of Athenian democracy in the 5th century and the supremacy of Alexander the Great from 336 to 323 BC.

This, the study says, has led to a two-dimensional view of the intervening decades as a period of unimportant decline. Instead, Dr. Scott argues that this period is fundamental to understanding what really happened to Athenian democracy.

Athens was already a waning star on the international stage resting on past imperial glories, and the book argues that it struggled to keep pace with a world in a state of fast-paced globalisation and political transition.

In an effort to remain a major player in world affairs, it abandoned its ideology and values to ditch past allies while maintaining special relationships with emerging powers like Macedonia and supporting old enemies like the Persian King. This "slippery-fish diplomacy" helped it survive military defeats and widespread political turbulence, but at the expense of its political system. At the start of the century Athens, contrary to traditional reports, was a flourishing democracy. By the end, it was hailing its latest ruler, Demetrius, as both a king and a living God.

Dr. Scott argues that this was caused by a range of circumstances which in many cases were the ancient world's equivalent of those faced by Britain today. Athens, for example, committed itself to unpopular wars which ultimately brought it into direct conflict with the vastly more powerful Macedonia. Its economy, heavily dependent on trade and resources from overseas, crashed when in the 4th century instability in the region began to affect the arterial routes through which those supplies flowed.

̽��ֱ��result was a series of domestic problems, including an inability to fund the traditional police force. In an effort to cope, Athens began to create a system of self-regulation, described as a "giant Neighbourhood Watch", asking citizens not to trouble its overstretched bureaucracy with non-urgent, petty crimes.

Ultimately, the city was to respond positively to some of these challenges. Many of its economic problems were gradually solved by attracting wealthy immigrants to Athens - which as a name still carried considerable prestige.

Democracy itself, however, buckled under the strain. Persuasive speakers who seemed to offer solutions - such as Demosthenes - came to the fore but ultimately took it closer to military defeat and submission to Macedonia. Critically, the emphasis on "people power" saw a revolving door of political leaders impeached, exiled and even executed as the inconstant international climate forced a tetchy political assembly into multiple changes in policy direction.

̽��ֱ��name of "democracy" became an excuse to turn on anyone regarded as an enemy of the state, even good politicians who have, as a result, almost been forgotten. Dr Scott's study also marks an attempt to recognise figures such as Isocrates and Phocion - sage political advisers who tried to steer it away from crippling confrontations with other Greek states and Macedonia.

"In many ways this was a period of total uncertainty just like our own time," Dr. Scott added. "There are grounds to consider whether we want to go down the same route that Athens did. It survived the period through slippery-fish diplomacy, at the cost of a clear democratic conscience, a policy which, in the end, led it to accept a dictator King and make him a God."

From Democrats To Kings is published by Icon Books.

̽��ֱ��collapse of Greek democracy 2,400 years ago occurred in circumstances so similar to our own it could be read as a dark and often ignored lesson from the past, a new study suggests.

It shows how an earlier generation of people responded to similar challenges and which strategies succeeded.

Dr. Michael Scott

eguidetravel from Flickr

Athens acropolis

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