1 JANUARY 2015. WHAT’S GOING ON? AND WILL YOU REMEMBER IT?

Let’s see now. What happened on 1 January 1915?

HMS Formidable was sunk by a German U-boat.

What happened on 1 January 1815?

The British started the bombardment of New Orleans.

What happened on 1 January 1715?

A homeless Scot was sentenced to be transported to a plantation in Virginia (Yes, there is a Directory of Scots Banished to the American Plantations). But really, who cares?

As David Hume pointed out in his treatise Of Personal Identity: Our memory is short. Who can tell me, for instance, what were his thoughts or actions on the 1^st of January 1715?

There you go. Whatever happens on 1 January 2015, don’t worry. You’ll soon forget it.

HAPPY NEW YEAR! 

VIENNA AFTER WW I: THOSE COMMONERS RUIN EVERYTHING! 

Bad Ischl, an Austrian spa resort, became famous when Princess Sophie went there in 1828 to cure her infertility and within 2 years gave birth to the future Emperor Franz Joseph. It became the spa of choice for the imperial family.

But WW I put an end to the empire  -- and the glory of the resort. To quote the author of an essay lamenting the decline of the spa in 1922:

Chin up, old boy, and don’t spoil the joy of your 30^th visit to Ischl. Accept that the times have changed.

And how did the times change the resort?

The aristocratic circle of courtiers has been replaced by a society which is the symbol of the new Austria: High-rollers with lips like negroes and hands like Cyclops, obliging ladies drawn by the money bags like iron by a magnet, the next generation of rascally teenagers who spend their money at the Café Zauner, the pastry shop in the Pfarrgasse… the fairy-tale automobiles whose owners have made their money in questionable transactions, and a mixed mob of currency-rich foreigners, who strut around here.

Well, Bad Ischl has survived the onslaught of the commoners, and the pastry shop Zauner still serves customers in the Pfarrgasse. According to the town’s official website, Bad Ischl is a charming place which offers tranquillity, the fragrance of unspoiled nature, and spectacular views. And the company of high-rollers, judging by the number of luxury hotels.

(Source: Essay in Neues Wiener Tagblatt quoted by Karl Kraus, Die Fackel, November 1922; my trans) 

NEED AN ANTIDOTE TO CHRISTMAS ? CHEER GETTING TOO RELENTLESS?

HERE ARE A FEW NON-CHRISTMAS TREES FOR YOU. 

AND A BAH HUMBUG TO ALL!

GIRL PARTIES WHILE PARENTS ARE AWAY. A CASE OF LOST VIRGINITY, 1536.

Kids partying while parents are away isn’t a modern phenomenon. It happened in Basel, 1536. Except then it was serious business for a young woman to lose her virginity. It made her damaged goods and hard to marry off.

And marriage wasn’t something that concerned only the two lovers. The cohabitation of a man and a woman is a civic matter and must therefore be agreed upon in public. Yes, the state had a say in what went on in the citizens’ bedrooms!

In this case, a young woman invited a young man to dinner while her parents were away, and dinner wasn’t the only thing that was consumed. She gave up her virginity to her lover because he had promised her marriage. The question was: Is a promise of marriage legally binding?

The answer in 1536: No, that would reward the dirty rascal with the woman he deceived. Besides,  an unmarried woman is under the authority of her father. Why then should anyone make her his own, against her father’s will? 

Oh morals! Oh laws! What times we are living in! The gist of the matter is: A virgin has lost her grace and honour, which we consider the principal part of her dowry. Who will marry her thereafter when she is marked by such a stigma? If someone steals my new clothes and returns them torn and stained with dirt, will he not be sentenced to return what he has taken away – that is, the clothes in their original state?

Unfortunately, virginity cannot be restored, so the scoundrel who took it should be made to pay a penalty. Let’s just go by the Old Testament law: if a man finds a virgin who is not betrothed …and lies with her, and they are found together, the man who lay with her must give the father fifty shekels.

There you are. Value of virginity: fifty shekels.

(Source: The Correspondence of Wolfgang Capito, Vol. 3 forthcoming; my translation)

WHEN CITY COUNCILLORS WERE IN CHARGE OF MORALS.

Here in Toronto we had until last year a mayor who smoked crack and had a problem with alcohol. So, he probably wouldn’t have endorsed moral laws. And I bet he never got a letter like the one received by the city councillors of Strasbourg in 1535:

Strict, noble, valid, circumspect, honourable, wise, and beloved lords! We urge you to punish vices promptly and to promote discipline and honourable conduct in the community.

To begin with, let’s get rid of fortune-tellers like the man called Batt von Haguenau. For a fee he’ll point out thiefs, adulterers, and other evil persons. In consequence citizens harbour grave suspicions against each other.

And then there is the painter who offers for sale shameful idols, causing great scandal. We are good Protestants. We don’t want any paintings of saints. You should prohibit such filth and stop him from making a living through blasphemy.

Because of your negligence, vices have seriously gained ground, such as excessive drinking. And young people have started to be disobedient to their elders and masters on account of such incitements.

Not to speak of the whores, who walk around in satin and velvet and other fine garments. There is bound to be trouble if wicked woman are free to indulge in all pleasure, pomp, and luxury. They give wrong ideas to pious women who are young and good-looking.

God forbid that they, too, would want to wear fine dresses!

Thank God, Torontonians don’t have to worry about that. The weather enforces a moral dress code. The women are all in black and bundled up. Not to worry about satin and velvet or any (goose)flesh showing in public.

(Source: The Correspondence of Wolfgang Capito, vol. 3 forthcoming, my trans.)