403
Walter Map was so tired of being on the road in the entourage of King Henry II, that he began to wonder if the whole court was under a spell.
King Henry II (r. 1154-1189) spent much of his reign on the road, in England and his estates in France. This gruelling schedule of marches took its toll on his retinue, among whom was Walter Map, a churchman and lawyer. It was as if Henry, he complained, had been laden with the burden of King Herla. What follows here is a summary of the tale that Walter then told.
Picture: By the Underworld Painter (fl. 350-300 BC). Photo by Marie-Lan Nguyen, Wikimedia Commons. Licence: Public domain.. Source.
Posted July 4 2021
404
A bee asks a blessing of the king of the gods, but what she gets from him is not quite what she had in mind.
This Fable is a reprimand to those who go beyond protecting themselves from attack, which is very reasonable, and take to visiting harm on everyone whom their fears inflate into a threat. It is not only unjust, but self-defeating: after all, where would bees be without beekeepers, and beekeepers without bees?
Picture: © Ray Bird, Geograph. Licence: CC BY-SA 2.0.. Source.
Posted July 3 2021
405
In 1756, the Nawab of Bengal allowed his frustration with British merchants in Calcutta to get the better of him.
With the Seven Years’ War brewing in Europe, no one was more pleased than Louis XV of France when in June 1756 the Nawab of Bengal, Siraj ud-Daulah, grew frustrated with the British in Calcutta and seized Fort William and all its wealth. The horrific sequel has been told in many ways: what mattered then was how it was told the following December to Admiral Watson, the man whose job it was to respond.
Picture: © BT2_AbhishekDey, Wikimedia Commons. Licence: CC-BY-SA 3.0.. Source.
Posted June 28 2021
406
Before Siraj ud-Daulah became Nawab of Bengal in 1756, his grandfather begged him to keep the English sweet, and put no trust in Jafar Ali Khan. If he had only listened...
Robert Clive’s victory on June 23rd, 1757, over the Nawab of Bengal at Plassey near Murshidabad was vital to Britain’s successful defence of her colonies in the Seven Years’ War (1756-63) against Louis XV of France, and fixed the British East India Company as the Mughal Emperors’ chief European trade partner. For Hari Charan Das, it was also a judgment on the Nawab’s refusal to listen to his grandfather.
Picture: © Amitabha Gupta, Wikimedia Commons. Licence: CC-BY-SA 4.0.. Source.
Posted June 26 2021
407
When Alexander the Great threatened the people of Scythia, their ambassadors reminded him that a conqueror has many more burdens to carry than an ally has.
In 329 BC, during his Persian Campaign, Alexander the Great defeated the Scythians at the Battle of Jaxartes near Cyropolis, now Khujand in Tajikistan. Prior to the battle, the Scythians (a people of the steppes) warned him that allies were better then enemies, and customers better than slaves, and that those who thought themselves exceptional should not behave like everyday tinpot tyrants.
Picture: © Шухрат Саъдиев (Shukhrat Sadiev), Wikimedia Commons. Licence: CC BY-SA 4.0.. Source.
Posted June 25 2021
408
When Julius Caesar defied the Senate’s explicit order to resign his military command, he knew there could be no turning back.
Success in the Gallic Wars (58-51 BC) made Julius Caesar, the great Roman general, a popular hero to the Republic. His bitter rival in the Senate, Pompey, found him increasingly difficult to handle, but on January 1st, 49 BC, Pompey managed to get the Senate to overrule the tribune Gaius Scribonius Curio, who had been blocking him at every turn, and require that Caesar lay down his military command.
Picture: © Sergio bellavista, Wikimedia Commons. Licence: CC BY-SA 4.0.. Source.
Posted June 24 2021