A French heir to the throne saves a man from suicide

November 26, 2012

As [the Duke of Berry] was out walking, he saw a very animated group of charcoal-burners, who were trying to prevent one of their number from throwing himself into the Seine. Without being recognized, he approached them and inquired the cause of the despair of the poor devil who wanted to kill himself. It was […]

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The Jacksonian Era of Popular Democracy

November 26, 2012

Andrew Jackson, elected president in 1828, was the first president of the United States who did not come from the traditional elites. His rise to the presidency marked the end of the aristocratic republic, and the beginning of a broader and more profound diffusion of the democratic ideology into the country’s political, social, and cultural […]

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November 25 & 26 – Blessed Hugh Taylor & Blessed Marmaduke Bowes

November 26, 2012

Blessed Hugh Taylor English martyr, born at Durham; hanged, drawn, and quartered at York, 25 (not 26) November, 1585. He arrived at Reims on 2 May, 1582, and having been ordained a priest was sent thence on the mission on 27 March, 1585. He was the first to suffer under the Statute 27 Eliz. c. […]

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November 27 – The king who made France “First-born daughter of the Church”

November 26, 2012

Clovis Son of Childeric, King of the Salic Franks; born in the year 466; died at Paris, 27 November, 511. He succeeded his father as the King of the Franks of Tournai in 481. His kingdom was probably one of the States that sprang from the division of Clodion’s monarchy like those of Cambrai, Tongres […]

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November 25 – The Battle of Montgisard

November 22, 2012

The Battle of Montgisard was fought between the Ayyubids and the Kingdom of Jerusalem on November 25, 1177. The 16 year old King Baldwin IV, seriously afflicted by leprosy, led an out-numbered Christian force against the army of Saladin. The Islamic force was routed and their casualties were massive, only a fraction managed to flee […]

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November 22 – The Eternal Glory of the Caecilia Family

November 22, 2012

St. Cecilia Virgin and martyr, patroness of church music, died at Rome. This saint, so often glorified in the fine arts and in poetry, is one of the most venerated martyrs of Christian antiquity. The oldest historical account of St. Cecilia is found in the “Martyrologium Hieronymianum”; from this it is evident that her feast […]

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A French Prince becomes the Good Samaritan of a hurt soldier

November 22, 2012

[The Duke of Berry] was a good husband, a good friend, and a good master. Much beloved in his own house, he established perfect order there, When he learned that one of his servants had deposited money in the savings bank, he doubled the sum, so as to encourage his domestics to practice economy and […]

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November 23 – St. Trudo

November 22, 2012

St. Trudo (also called TRON, TROND, TRUDON, TRUTJEN, TRUYEN). Apostle of Hasbein in Brabant; died 698 (or perhaps 693). Feast 23 November. He was the son of Blessed Adela of the family of the dukes of Austrasia. Devoted from his earliest youth to the service of God, Trudo came to St. Remaclus, Bishop of Liège […]

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Video – Royal Wedding: H.R.H Princess Elizabeth and Lieutenant Philip Mountbatten, November 20, 1947

November 19, 2012

 

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Riots Erupt in Jordan: The End of Absolute Monarchy

November 19, 2012

According to The Daily Beast: The blue-eyed king and beautiful queen of Jordan are facing the biggest crisis of their reign. On Tuesday night, riots and protests broke out in many of the country’s cities. Some in the crowd shouted “the people want the fall of the regime.” Others burned the monarch’s portrait. One longtime […]

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Empress Sissi was fearless in epidemics

November 19, 2012

She dried the tears of countless wretches, and brought comfort and consolation with her to many and many a stricken home. During the typhus epidemic which raged in the Hernalser-Mädchen Institute she insisted upon visiting the stricken girls, and upon personally encouraging and consoling them, quite regardless of the danger which she ran; and when […]

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Democratic Ideological Gains in the First Forty Years of the American Republic

November 19, 2012

During the four decades of national life under the Constitution which ended with the election of Andrew Jackson to the presidency in 1828, the country underwent great transformations. From an insular society, predominantly agrarian and strongly rooted in family and interpersonal communitarian ties, it became a society of continental proportions marked by a great urban […]

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A mistake while catering for elites gives rise to the famous Tarte Tatin

November 19, 2012

Just forty minutes south of Orleans, and two hours south of Paris is the town of Lamotte-Beuvron. In 1852, Napoleon III, Emperor of the French, bought the chateau. Starting then and continuing after his 1853 wedding to Eugénie de Montijo, Napoleon III made the town one of his country escapes. He renovated the chateau, built […]

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November 20 – St. Edmund the Martyr

November 19, 2012

St. Edmund the Martyr King of East Anglia, born about 840; died at Hoxne, Suffolk, November 20, 870. The earliest and most reliable accounts represent St. Edmund as descended from the preceding kings of East Anglia, though, according to later legends, he was born at Nuremberg (Germany), son to an otherwise unknown King Alcmund of […]

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November 21 – St. Albert

November 19, 2012

St. Albert Cardinal, Bishop of Liège, died 1192 or 1193. He was a son of Godfrey III, Count of Louvain, and brother of Henry I, Duke of Lorraine and Brabant, and was chosen Bishop of Liège in 1191 by the suffrages of both people and chapter. The Emperor Henry VI violently intruded his own venal […]

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Saint Margaret of Scotland: In the Middle Ages, the Marvelous Was Something Achievable

November 15, 2012

Commentaries made by Prof. Plinio Correa de Oliveira … Sovereign and patroness of Scotland, 11th century. Although it is a very good intention to comment on the life of St. Margaret, at times one does not have the slightest biographical data on a saint. For lack of a better biography, I will read here the […]

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The Aristocratic Republic (1788-1828)

November 15, 2012

The four decades following the ratification of the federal Constitution could well be called an aristocratic era when the presidency was occupied by a succession of gentlemen, whether Virginia planters or Massachusetts lawyers. As the new republic took on an aristocratic cultural character, criticisms against the aristocratic form of government waned and tolerance for elites […]

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November 15 – St. Albert the Great

November 15, 2012

St. Albert the Great Known as Albert the Great; scientist, philosopher, and theologian, born c. 1206; died at Cologne, 15 November 1280. He is called “the Great”, and “Doctor Universalis” (Universal Doctor), in recognition of his extraordinary genius and extensive knowledge, for he was proficient in every branch of learning cultivated in his day, and […]

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November 16 – St. Margaret of Scotland

November 15, 2012

St. Margaret of Scotland Born about 1045, died 16 Nov., 1092, was a daughter of Edward “Outremere”, or “the Exile”, by Agatha, kinswoman of Gisela, the wife of St. Stephen of Hungary. She was the granddaughter of Edmund Ironside. A constant tradition asserts that Margaret’s father and his brother Edmund were sent to Hungary for […]

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November 16 – St. Agnes of Assisi

November 15, 2012

St. Agnes of Assisi Younger sister of St. Clare and Abbess of the Poor Ladies, born at Assisi, 1197, or 1198; died 1253. She was the younger daughter of Count Favorino Scifi. Her saintly mother, Blessed Hortulana, belonged to the noble family of the Fiumi, and her cousin Rufino was one of the celebrated “Three […]

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November 16 – St. Mechtilde

November 15, 2012

St. Mechtilde (MATILDA VON HACKEBORN-WIPPRA). Benedictine; born in 1240 or 1241 at the ancestral castle of Helfta, near Eisleben, Saxony; died in the monastery of Helfta, 19 November, 1298. She belonged to one of the noblest and most powerful Thuringian families, while here sister was the saintly and illustrious Abbess Gertrude von Hackeborn. Some writers […]

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November 17 – St. Hugh of Lincoln

November 15, 2012

St. Hugh of Lincoln Born about the year 1135 at the castle of Avalon, near Pontcharra, in Burgundy; died at London, 16 Nov., 1200. His father, William, Lord of Avalon, was sprung from one of the noblest of Burgundian houses; of his mother, Anna, very little is known. After his wife’s death, William retired from […]

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November 13 – Pure and noble, he received Holy Communion from the hands of angels

November 12, 2012

St. Stanislas Kostka Born at Rostkovo near Prasnysz, Poland, about 28 October, 1550; died at Rome during the night of 14-15 August, 1568. He entered the Society of Jesus at Rome, 28 October, 1567, and is said to have foretold his death a few days before it occurred. His father, John Kostka, was a senator […]

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Henry the Navigator Inaugurates the Age of Discovery

November 12, 2012

Henry the Navigator Inaugurates the Age of Discovery by Jeremias Wells At the beginning of the fifteenth century, Europe lived in splendid isolation. The existence of North and South America, sub-Saharan Africa and the islands off the coast of southeastern Asia was completely unknown in Europe. Moreover, since the Arabs controlled the Red and Arabian […]

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November 13 – Grand Master of the Order of Christ

November 12, 2012

Prince Henry the Navigator Born 4 March, 1394; died 13 November, 1460; he was the fourth son of John I, King of Portugal, by Queen Philippa, a daughter of John of Gaunt. In 1415 he commanded the expedition which captured Ceuta, Portugal’s first oversea conquest, and there won his knightly spurs. Three years later he […]

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November 11 – Patron of Veterans and Soldiers

November 8, 2012

St. Martin of Tours Bishop; born at Sabaria (today Steinamanger in German, or Szombathely in Hungarian), Pannonia (Hungary), about 316; died at Candes, Touraine, most probably in 397. In his early years, when his father, a military tribune, was transferred to Pavia in Italy, Martin accompanied him thither, and when he reached adolescence was, in […]

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A saint amidst New York’s high society during the Washington presidency

November 8, 2012

The New York of these years was ablaze with pleasure and merriment. His Excellency, the President of the United States and his Lady were in residence, and this added great excitement to the life of the city. Although Mr. Washington was a man of simple tastes, the people, used to monarchy, even though it lay […]

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How elites today shirk their responsibility to “set the tone” for society

November 8, 2012

“My proposition is that the hollow elite is as dysfunctional in its way as the new lower class is in its way. Personally and as families, its members are successful. But they have abdicated their responsibility to set and promulgate the standards. “The most powerful and successful members of their class increasingly trade on the […]

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New Royal Collection Trust publication Dressing The Queen: The Jubilee Wardrobe

November 8, 2012

According to The Royal Collection Trust: In celebration of the Diamond Jubilee year, the unique publication Dressing The Queen: The Jubilee Wardrobe explores how Her Majesty The Queen has stood out from the crowd on her many engagements and maintained her unfailing sense of style. [T]he book, published by Royal Collection Trust, opens the door to the […]

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AFP: Kuwait must choose between law and chaos, says Emir

November 8, 2012

According to AFP: Kuwait’s emir called on Tuesday for his people to choose between a state of law or chaos after the oil-rich Gulf state witnessed unprecedented unrest over the disputed electoral legislation. “We are required today to choose between the state of law and constitution… or the path to chaos and undermining constitutional authority,” […]

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November 10 – First Pope to Be Called “Great”

November 8, 2012

Pope St. Leo I (the Great) Place and date of birth unknown; died 10 November, 461. (Reigned 440-61). Leo’s pontificate, next to that of St. Gregory I, is the most significant and important in Christian antiquity. At a time when the Church was experiencing the greatest obstacles to her progress in consequence of the hastening […]

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D-Day – General Patton’s advice to his son on what it takes to win in war

November 5, 2012

Dear George: At 07:00 this morning the BBC announced…the landing of Allied paratroopers…. This group of unconquerable heroes, whom I command, are not yet in, but we will be soon…. I have no immediate idea of being killed, but one can never tell and none of us can live forever. So if I should go […]

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News: Prince Carl Philip visits Afghanistan

November 5, 2012

According to the Swedish Royal Court: On 22-24 October, Prince Carl Philip visited the Swedish FS 23 troops in Afghanistan. The Prince visited the Swedish troops together with newly appointed army inspector Major General Anders Brännström. The Prince had the opportunity to meet soldiers from the Swedish Romeo Lima rifle company which, at the beginning […]

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The equality-inequality struggle in the years following Independence (1781-1787)

November 5, 2012

When hostilities ended in October of 1781, the thirteen newly independent colonies formed a loose central power regulated by the Articles of Confederation, which had been drafted by the Continental Congress. The Articles provided for a limited central power, especially regarding foreign policy, declaration of war, foreign commerce, and so on. However, it had little […]

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November 7 – He Went on Crusade to Atone for His Sins

November 5, 2012

Saint Engelbert of Cologne Archbishop of that city (1216-1225); born at Berg, about 1185; died near Schwelm, 7 November 1225. His father was Engelbert, Count of Berg, his mother, Margaret, daughter of the Count of Gelderland. He studied at the cathedral school of Cologne and while still a boy was, according to an abuse of […]

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November 6 – Duchess d’Alençon

November 5, 2012

Blessed Margaret of Lorraine Duchess d’Alencon, religious of the order of Poor Clares, born in 1463 at the castle of Vaudémont (Lorraine); died at Argentan (Brittany) 2 November, 1521. The daughter of Ferri de Vaudimont and of Yolande d’Anjou, little Margaret became an orphan at an early age and was brought up at Aix-en-Provençe, by […]

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Learn about the “Kate Effect” on French brides

November 1, 2012

According to the World of Royalty Blog: From “Kate”-inspired lace dresses to towering wedding cakes — and even British celebrants — French brides-to-be are looking across the Channel, and the Atlantic, to make their day that bit more special. Hoping to tap into this new appetite, a group of upmarket British wedding designers crossed the […]

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Prince Eugen of Savoy crushes the Turks at Zenta

November 1, 2012

Although his men had already done a forced march of over ten hours that day, Eugen gave the order to advance and then galloped ahead to see the scene at first hand. He spotted how, just above the bridge on the near side of the river, the water was shallow with a sandbank leading up […]

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Royal Forums: The Duchess of Braganza Presents the Order of St. Isabel to European Royals

November 1, 2012

According to the Royal Forums: On October 27, the Duchess of Braganza conferred the Order of Saint Isabel upon several European royal ladies in recognition of their philanthropic work. The ceremony was held at the Portuguese Catholic Cathedral of Rome, Italy. It was followed by a luncheon hosted in the Portuguese Embassy. Also present for […]

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All Saint’s Day: Is Being Noble and Leading a Noble’s Life Incompatible with Sanctity?

November 1, 2012

The current misunderstanding of nobility and the analogous traditional elites results largely from the adroit but biased propaganda spread against them by the French Revolution. Such propaganda, continuously disseminated throughout the nineteenth and twentieth centuries by ideological and political currents spawned by the French Revolution, has been challenged by serious historiography with growing efficacy. This […]

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November 3 – The patron of the hunt

November 1, 2012

St. Hubert Confessor, thirty-first Bishop of Maastricht, first Bishop of Liège, and Apostle of the Ardennes, born about 656; died at Fura (the modern Tervueren), Brabant, 30 May, 727 or 728. He was honored in the Middle Ages as the patron of huntsmen, and the healer of hydrophobia (rabies). He was the eldest son of […]

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November 3 – The Battle of Mentana

November 1, 2012

It was a dark and gloomy morning, pouring rain, when this little army of some five thousand men filed out of the Porta Pia in a colorful parade, Pius IX’s Swiss General Rafael de Courten’s papal troops leading and the French contingent bringing up the rear…. Famous since classical times as a suburban retreat some […]

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November 1 – She judged Israel

November 1, 2012

Deborah the Prophetess (also known as Debbora the Judge, Deborah the Matriarch) Prophetess and judge: she was the wife of Lapidoth and was endowed by God with prophetic gifts which secured for her the veneration of the divided Israelitic tribes and gave her great authority over them. Her wisdom was first displayed in settling litigious […]

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October 31 – He forced the devil to build a church

October 29, 2012

St. Wolfgang Bishop of Ratisbon (972-994), born about 934; died at the village of Pupping in upper Austria, 31 October, 994. The name Wolfgang is of early German origin. St. Wolfgang was one of the three brilliant stars of the tenth century, St. Ulrich, St. Conrad, and St. Wolfgang, which illuminated the early medieval period […]

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General Patton stuns Marshall Zhukov into silence

October 29, 2012

Pat Merle-Smith has told me of what took place during a second Berlin visit in the first week of September 1945. “The Russians were putting on a military review for all four occupying powers. [General Patton] was seated next to Marshal Zhukov and I, naturally, was with the standees a few rows below. I heard […]

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The American Revolution: The work of elites

October 29, 2012

The American Revolution was definitely a phenomenon of the elites. The march toward independence was possible due to a solidarity within sectors of the upper classes from all the colonies. It was the aristocrats who masterminded it from their mansions on the banks of the Potomac, the James, the Hudson, and elsewhere. “Some of them […]

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October 28 – Col. John W. Ripley: Uncommon Valor

October 29, 2012

Col. John W. Ripley: Uncommon Valor By Jeremias Wells An American Knight When a society no longer respects and honors the fighting men willing to shed their blood for its principles, the fault lies not with the fighting men but with society itself. Ingratitude is a subtle vice, but a vice nevertheless. Saint Thomas Aquinas […]

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A Saintly King Pardons a Rebellious Noble

October 25, 2012

A short time later, while the court was in Burgos, the Royal Ensign Diego López de Haro began to succumb to temptations of ambition with a face full of resentment and dissatisfaction. One day, the unhappy Don Diego, who had inherited his position and title from his father three years before, disappeared from the court. […]

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A nobleman was expected to be a symbol for his troops

October 25, 2012

In the period of the Renaissance it was the gentleman who set not only the pattern of personal bravery but also maintained an element of decorum in the operations of the armies…. In [Charles de Cossé, count of] Brissac’s general orders for his campaign in Northern Italy in 1551…. Punishment was promised for those men […]

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October 25 – Crispin Crispian shall ne’er go by, but we in it shall be remember’d

October 25, 2012

Martyrs of the Early Church who were beheaded during the reign of Diocletian; the date of their execution is given as 25 October, 285 or 286. It is stated that they were brothers, but the fact has not been positively proved. The legend relates that they were Romans of distinguished descent who went as missionaries […]

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October 25 – The original hood

October 25, 2012

Hugh Capet King of France, founder of the Capetian dynasty, born about the middle of the tenth century; died about 996, probably 24 October. He was the second son of Hugh the Great, Count of Paris, and Hedwig, sister of Otto I, German Emperor, and was about ten years old when he inherited from his […]

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October 25 – Memorial of Forty Martyrs of England and Wales

October 25, 2012

February 27 – Are You Hiding a Priest? May 4 – They believed in the religious exemption, but only at first May 22 – Queen’s Confessor                June 19 – Execution of second group of those who believed in the religious exemption, but only at first August 30 – She smuggled a priest out of prison

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October 27 – This Christian King Invaded Arabia

October 25, 2012

St. Elesbaan, King of Ethiopia, Confessor The Axumite Ethiopians, whose dominions were extended from the western coast of the Red Sea, very far on the continent, were in the sixth century a powerful and flourishing nation. St. Elesbaan their king, during the reign of Justin the Elder, in all his actions and designs had no […]

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American Canonized: St. Kateri Tekakwitha, Lily of the Mohawks

October 22, 2012

Kateri Tekakwitha was daughter of Kenneronkwa, a Mohawk chief, and Tagaskouita, a devout Roman Catholic Algonquian woman. She was born in the Mohawk fortress of Ossernenon near present-day Auriesville, New York, in 1656. Kateri’s mother was baptized and educated by French missionaries in Trois-Rivières, like many of Abenaki converts. Her chieftain father, Algonquian mother and […]

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Fabulous Luxembourg Royal Wedding

October 22, 2012

Luxembourg is celebrating the marriage of its Crown Prince Guillaume to Belgian Countess Stephanie de Lannoy. Hello! Magazine described the ceremony as “full of pomp and grandeur” and continues: In the morning sunshine the cathedral looked picturesque and crowds of people lined the streets to catch a glimpse of their new hereditary Grand Duchess. Royal […]

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Queen Margrethe of Denmark criticizes “global warming” hysteria

October 22, 2012

In times when many scientists refrain from denouncing the environmentalist “global warming” hysteria for fear of jeopardizing their professional careers, it is most comforting to see that Queen Margrethe II of Denmark was unafraid to do so. During a July 2011 visit to Greenland—a self-ruling autonomous region under the Danish crown—Queen Margrethe took hysterical warmers […]

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A dethroned Queen’s dignity amidst defeat

October 22, 2012

Queen Marie Caroline’s last days were profoundly sad. After a perilous journey of more than seven months she reached Vienna, where she had asked an asylum from the Emperor Francis, who had been her son-in-law. One of her daughters, Princess Marie Thérèse (born June 6, 1772; married September 19, 1790; died April 13, 1807), was […]

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Ludwig von Mises: The dedication of elites built our civilization

October 22, 2012

Mankind would never have reached the present state of civilization without heroism and self-sacrifice on the part of an elite. Every step forward on the way toward an improvement of moral conditions has been an achievement of men who were ready to sacrifice their own well-being, their health, and their lives for the sake of […]

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October 23 – Knight, Lawyer, Governor, Ambassador, Friar, Prisoner, Reformer, Crusader General, Renaissance Saint

October 22, 2012

St. John of Capistrano Born at Capistrano, in the Diocese of Sulmona, Italy, 1385; died 23 October, 1456. His father had come to Naples in the train of Louis of Anjou, hence is supposed to have been of French blood, though some say he was of German origin. His father dying early, John owed his […]

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October 21 – Charles “The Hammer”

October 18, 2012

Charles Martel Born about 688; died at Quierzy on the Oise, 21 October, 741. He was the natural son of Pepin of Herstal and a woman named Alpaïde or Chalpaïde. Pepin, who died in 714, had outlived his two legitimate sons, Drogon and Grimoald, and to Theodoald, a son of the latter and then only […]

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