cahn | Historical Characters, Including Frederick the Great, Discussion Post 39

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Last post, along with the usual 18th-century suspects, included the Ottonians; changing ideas of conception and women's sexual pleasure; Isabella of Parma (the one who fell in love, and vice versa, with her husband's sister); Henry IV and Bertha (and Henry's second wife divorcing him for "unspeakable sexual acts"). (Okay, Isabella of Parma was 18th century.)

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From:

mildred_of_midgard

How you can think about the Reformation, or the Thirty Years War

I mean, I can't speak for education in the UK, but I wouldn't expect an American to know what the Thirty Years' War was, and when I brought it up to my (Brazilian) wife in the last couple years, she had no idea when or what it was either.

The Reformation, though, yeah...I would expect at least some passing knowledge of that!

From:

selenak

Now I can't help imagining an English lesson of the Reformation which is all "Luther who?" and where it only started when Henry VIII wanted out of his marriage.

I wouldn't expect an American to know what the Thirty Years' War was,

Well, me neither, but like I said, Fry played in a Horrible History sketch about the Westphalian Treaty.

From:

mildred_of_midgard

Okay, well, in that case he has no excuse!

From:

selenak

Found the sketch, and it's not even from Horrible Histories, it's from "A bit of Fry and Laurie", meaning he and Hugh Laurie wrote those themselves and so one would hope did a minimum of research: here.