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And including Emperor Joseph II!

from Derek Beales: Joseph II, Volume 2: Against the World, 1780 - 1790:

Joseph's alleged comment to Mozart about the Entführung, "Too many notes", has been taken as evidence of his ignorance. But he probably said something like, "Too beautiful for our ears, and monstrous many notes." It is always necessary to bear in mind, when appraising the emperor's remarks, his peculiar brand of humor or sarcasm. He was usually getting at someone. And he did not use the royal "we". The ears in question were those of the Viennese audience, whom he was mocking for their limited appreciation of Mozart's elaborate music.

(though not gonna lie, I think it is a LOT of notes)

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From:

luzula

Hi salon, I have not kept up with you, but I thought I'd come by and tell you what 18th century stuff I've read. I finally found a good dictation program, so I don't have to hurt my hands by typing anymore! \o/

Britain’s Lost Revolution, by Daniel Szechi (2015)
I was fascinated by the stuff in his other book about how Jacobite policies rapidly became less and less about autocratic kings and more and more about guaranteeing the power of parliament. This book goes deeper into how that shift happened in the early 1700s, and about the failed Jacobite rising of 1708. Apparently the author has dug deep into French archives, so there's a lot about the diplomatic maneuvering between the French court, the Jacobite court, and their British supporters. Queen Mary of Modena seems to have been a skilful politician. It also goes through the important actors in the French court at that time and the motivations of the French as regards the Jacobites. It also has more on Anne Errol, the competent conspirator.

I am currently reading the novel Clementina, by A E W Mason, from 1901. It is a fictionalized version of how James III’s bride Clementina was arrested by the Holy Roman Empire on her way to Italy, and then rescued by a guy called Charles Wogan and three fellow officers of the Irish brigade. I almost stopped reading the book in the beginning when a woman was described as a childlike and fragile flower, because I hate that sort of thing, but I kept reading and luckily it turned out this was unreliable narration and she was an enemy spy. So far the book is about half swashbuckling and half tragically falling in love with the wrong person. It is perhaps not great literature but I'm enjoying it so far. I am grateful to salon for enabling me to understand the offhand references to Sophia Dorothea and Königsmarck. (ETA: Also, it's kind of weird how BPC’s lover Clementina Walkinshaw was actually named after his mother! Apparently there was a trend of Jacobites naming their daughters Clementina around the time when James III got married.)

I also wanted to thank Mildred for digging up that 1740s British parliament act where among other things they attainted the Stuarts (my dictation program cannot spell attainted, or it could not the first time, and learned it the second time! \o/). I am currently writing a story where one of the plotlines is that BPC gets captured at the end of the 45 when he's just about to escape to France, and then executed. I figure he can get to go out in a blaze of glory and hold a defiant speech and martyr himself, instead of slowly descending into abusive alcoholism... The only thing I wonder is whether he would get his head chopped off like a peer, or be treated like a commoner and get the scaffold.

Hmm, what else? I read about 1/3 of Christopher Hill's The World Turned Upside Down, from 1972, about radicals in the English Civil War, before it had to be returned to the library. But that's 17th century. : )

Edited Date: 2022-01-24 06:50 pm (UTC)

From:

mildred_of_midgard

Ahhh, I am short on time to reply and haven't even started my 50-page quota of German for tonight, so only hasty notes:

- Szechi is still on my list of authors to check out, thanks to you. One day I will find time!

- Clementina: I remember that! That bit of trivia stuck in my memory for over 20 years. :)

- Peer is my guess, but I have no evidence to base it on.

- BPC "fix-it": This counts as a fix-it and I approve!

From:

luzula

No worries, I get that you're busy.

Yes, I'll go with peer, I think. I agree that it counts as a fix it, but probably BPC himself would prefer the fix it where he won the war… *g*

From:

selenak

The only thing I wonder is whether he would get his head chopped off like a peer, or be treated like a commoner and get the scaffold.

My instinct would be to go with the peer chopping, if only because of how conscious of The Nobility Of The Blood most people in the first half of the 18th century were, even/especially when executing someone. Then again, if one looks at medieval precedence, there's always Edward I. popularizing the drawing and quartering by inflicting it on Davydd ap Gruffyd, and later on William Wallace, both of whom were nobles seen by him as rebelling. (Never mind that Wales and Scotland were still separate realms).

From:

luzula

Thanks for the input! : ) Yes, I think I'll go with chopping his head off.

From:

cahn

Yaaaay for 18th C stuff and for Jacobites! (OMG I keep forgetting to go comment on

regshoe's last readthrough post, I've also finished Heron and it was very good and tropey and very sad!)

It also has more on Anne Errol, the competent conspirator.

I am always happy to hear more about her :D

but I kept reading and luckily it turned out this was unreliable narration and she was an enemy spy.

Excellent!

I figure he can get to go out in a blaze of glory and hold a defiant speech and martyr himself, instead of slowly descending into abusive alcoholism...

Yeah, I also agree this is a fix-it :P Though certainly I see your point below that there are fix-its he would like better :PP

From:

luzula

I am so glad you came along on the read through of Flight of the Heron, and that you enjoyed it! : D Yes, very good and tropey and sad is a good description…