Cromwell

Oliver Cromwell – Hero or Villain

Oliver Cromwell is one of the most confusing and misinterpreted characters of history. Some say that Cromwell is a hero, freeing England from the Royalists. On the other hand, a number of societies say that he is a murderous villain which wanted the crown for himself. Neither opinion is without drawbacks, so we will focus on the facts and find out – is Cromwell bad or good.

Let’s start with the Irish Rebellion. It is known that the Irish Catholics rebelled against the English in 1641.According to the English, the Irish committed brutal and fatal acts, but action was postponed to be dealt with after the Civil War. The Catholics of Ireland supported the son of Charles I and were clearly against Cromwell. There are several accounts of what happened at the day the assault took place. Irish writers say that the rebels surrendered, but were still put to death with their children, wives and friends. Other accounts say that the Irish refused to surrender and so the English were forced to attack. There is actually no way of knowing the truth of that incident, for both countries say their own story.

Now let us explore the matter of Cromwell and his Parliament. During the period after the Civil War, England was governed by “the Rump” – all that was left of the Long Parliament. Cromwell had hoped that it would let each Protestant worship freely and would issue elections for new Parliaments. In fact, the Parliament did none of these. Cromwell was not in the best of situations, so naturally he decided to get rid of the current ruling force. Accounts tell that Cromwell entered the House with two dozen musketeers and forcefully dissolved the parliament of that day. Barbarous, isn’t it? That is not all. The new Parliament, issued by Cromwell and the “people”, devised a new constitution. The constitution gave great power to the Lord Protector, who was Cromwell.

Now there is one question: Was Cromwell technically a king? The answer is yes and no. Cromwell did not officially take up the status of a king, but in fact did a king’s job and had more power than any king before the Civil War. In 1654 a new Parliament was elected again, but Cromwell was not happy with it. The new Parliament wanted to restrict the power to worship within the country and Cromwell was fully against the idea. So, he dismissed the Parliament once again. Charles experimented with the governing of the city – once he divided the country into eleven districts each with their own “Major General”, but that was not popular. These experiments occurred for three years, until the ideas ran out.

There was chaos and rebellion at that time. People rioted that land should belong to all. There was disarray. Many people thought that the only way to bring back order was to revive monarchy. But they were picky. They did not want Charles’s I son as king of the nation, so – as the only logical solution – they asked Cromwell, he was offered the crown. The army was against the notion – England must be ruled without a king. Though Cromwell actually refused the crown in the end, it is said that Oliver tried all possible means to persuade the officers to approve the concept. Nevertheless, Cromwell accepted a new constitution by which his son would be the next Lord Protector of the nation and a ceremony was to be held to recognize the Lord Governor, not very different from a coronation.

There is no real answer to the question if Cromwell was a hero or a villain. There is never an answer, for each person decides for himself. In my personal opinion, Cromwell was not very much different from Charles. He was arrogant and self-absorbed – a regular ruler, by all means. He was better than most and worse than some. No-one really can say the truth, for the truth does not exist.

Napoleon

Changes Made by Napoleon Bonaparte to the Domestic Governing of France

After Napoleon’s rise to the throne, many changes were made to the French Society and, specifically, to education, government and religion. It was neither Revolutionary nor monarchist – it was both at the same time, enveloping the best points of each system. In this essay, I want to cover several main areas of change targeted by Napoleon and discuss how they affected the country and its people.

Firstly, let us look at education. During Napoleon’s rule, the Churches were changed drastically. As Napoleon was a general before becoming emperor, schools became military-based and taught obedience. There were four types of schools during his rule – primary, secondary, technical and lycées. Lycées were military schools, which were kind of like grammar schools now. Napoleon took great notice of science and math. These became the key subjects in this system of education. Though it seems that Bonaparte has changed education a lot, it is not fully so. Of the many lycées established, only a meager amount was working. The system grew to its full potential only fifty years later and that is a very long time…

Next in line is government. Napoleon’s government system developed the ideas of the previous monarchists and revolutionaries into something very like what we have today. They had two National Assemblies and all men could vote, but unlike our current presidents, the emperor could not be removed. Though initially the system was very much like ours, soon after the elections ceased to take place and the country fell into a trap of corruption. All laws were made by the National Assemblies and so in theory they must have controlled the country. But in practice, Napoleon I successfully controlled the National Assembly, turning into an absolute monarch. It is as if he returned to monarchy as a successor of Louis XVI.

Third is the Church. As an emperor, Napoleon introduced many changes to religion in France during his rule. During the Revolution, the land owned by the Catholic

Church was confiscated and any religion was permitted to be practiced. But when Napoleon’s rule began, Napoleon made an agreement with the Pope, in which the Church would not get its land back, but in return Catholicism would be accepted as the major religion. It was also decided that the government would appoint the bishops. This virtually meant that the government controlled the Church. This is also confirmed Napoleon’s words – “The People must have religion, and religion must be in the hands of the government.”

Rights and Freedoms are also very important. Napoleon’s system of rights was not unlike King Louis’s or the Revolutionaries. Though officially it had many differences, the official version was mostly left for theory and not practice. Napoleon’s court was “fair” in terms of equality. Nobles and people of high-standing were not dismissed in court and were judged on the same terms as the lower classes, but it was not like this all the time. Napoleon had a “secret police”, which had the license to arrest or kill anybody without any trial on the orders of the Emperor. Freedom was a question of viewpoint at the time. Though people could vote, they did not have the freedom of speech. Newspapers and information were controlled by the government and no-one could openly say their mind. As Napoleon said:  “It is not what is true that counts, but what people think is true” and “If the press is not controlled, I shall not remain three days in power.”

We must also observe the Societies changes as Napoleon went to the throne. The new Emperor tried to suit everyone and make everyone, except women, happy. For the peasants, he made sure that they could own their land, by destroying the Feudal System and the classes. For the nobles, he guarantied stability. He sometimes awarded titles and ranks for one or another deed, though these titles gave no special privileges to their bearers. The Catholic Church was pleased as it was restored to its former power, but unlike King Louis’s rule, the peasants did not need to pay tithes to the Church. By satisfying everyone, Napoleon made himself loved and respected by the majority of France, which virtually was why he had such great authority and power.

I want to discuss Napoleon’s treatment of women at the time. Bonaparte regarded women equal to men and even once said that they are best suited only for marriage, having children and knitting. In my opinion, it is a very rude thing to say. During the time of the Revolution, many feminist communities were formed, which even fought in the wars and supported the Revolutionaries. During the rule of the first Emperor of France, that viewpoint, taken up by the Revolution, was abolished. Napoleon proclaimed: “In France women are considered too highly. They should not be regarded as equal to men. In reality they are nothing more than machines for producing children”, “Public education does not suit women, as they are not called upon to live in public… marriage is their whole estimation”, “The husband must possess the absolute power and right to say to his wife: ‘Madam you shall not go to the theatre, you shall not receive such and such a person, for the children you bear shall be mine’. Women should stick to knitting.” In the code of Napoleon, it was written – “A wife could only own property with her husband’s consent in writing. Wives were not allowed to sell or give away property.”

As we now explored the changes made by Napoleon Bonaparte during his rule, it is best to see if he could have done better and if his changes had some effect. Looking at the question of education, his reformations were quite impressive. Though most of his reforms only took power about 50 years after their formation, they are still used today and the Baccalaureate is an exam that we still use. I find the alterations in education, personally, quite well suited for a country such as France and applaud Napoleon for such changes, but there is always room for improvement. This especially concerns the treatment of women and their education. Napoleon has almost successful in evening out the say of people in the government, but in that he made himself the sole leader of the government. This resulted in a great collapse, when Napoleon went off to fight all the other countries around him, which was virtually most of the time. His rule in France was not one to be called fair, but it was somewhat better than some others at the time. Though the majority of people did not have freedom of speech and could not voice their mind, Napoleon tried to please everyone and so prevent and revolt.

The Church, the Rights, the Courts – Bonaparte changed them all. He was a great ruler, no doubt, and though we cannot judge were his decisions good or bad, we can really say that Napoleon reformed France to a great extent during his rule. One can say that though his ego kept him warring and his diplomatic skills were not at their best, his changes to France were some of the greatest in the country’s history.

By Valentina C.

Caesar

Veni, vidi, vici. 'I came, I saw, I conquered.' These are the words of the man who changed the course of Greco-Roman history.

Julius Caesar was born in Rome on July 12 or 13, in the year 100 B.C.. His father Gaius Caesar, died when Caesar was 16 years old, and it was his mother Aurelia, who proved to be quite influential in his life. Caesar's family was part of Rome's original aristocracy, called patricians, although they were not rich or particularly influential. At the time of Caesar's birth, the number of patricians was small, and their status no longer provided political advantage.

To obtain distinction for himself and his family, a Roman nobleman sought election to public office. In 86 B.C., Caesar was appointed flamen dialis with the help of his uncle by marriage, Gaius Marius. The position was one of an archaic priesthood and held no power. Nevertheless, it identified Caesar with extremist politics. Ceasar committed himself further to the radical side when he married Cornelia, daughter of Lucius Cornelius Cinna in 84 B.C.

In 82 B.C., Caesar was ordered to divorce his wife by Lucius Cornelius Sulla, an enemy of the radicals. Caesar refused and prudently left Rome for military service in Asia and Cilicia. He returned in 78 B.C. when Sulla died and began his political career as a prosecuting advocate. Caesar then traveled to Rhodes to study rhetoric and did not return to Rome until 73 B.C. During his journey to Rhodes, Caesar was captured by pirates. While in captivity, Caesar convinced his captors to raise his ransom, which increased his prestige. He then raised a naval force, overcame his captors, and had them crucified.

In 69 or 68 B.C., Caesar was elected quaestor. His wife died shortly thereafter. In a purely political maneuver, Caesar seized the opportunity to praise his uncle, Cinna and father-in-law, Marius during the funeral orations for his deceased wife. He then married Pompeia, a relative of Pompey. Caesar was elected curule aedile in 65 B.C., pontifex maximus in 63 B.C., and a praetor in 62 B.C. By this time, Caesar was making a name for himself as a political figure. He divorced Pompeia after a scandal.

Caesar was made governor of Farther Spain in 61 B.C. When he returned to Rome the next year, he joined forces with Crassus and Pompey and formed the first triumvirate. The alliance between Pompey and Ceasar was solidified further when Pompey married Julia, Caesar's only child.

Caesar's next step up the political ladder was to be elected consul in 59 B.C. During that year he also married Calpurnia. The following year, Caesar was appointed governor of Roman Gaul. During the next 8 years, Caesar successfully conquered Gallic Gaul to the north. In 49 B.C., Caesar was instructed by the Senate to lay down his command. Roman politics had changed following the death of Crassus in 53 B.C., and Pompey was appointed sole consul in 52 B.C.. In addition, Pompey's wife Julia died in 54 B.C., breaking the family ties between Pompey and Caesar.

On January 10-11, 49 B.C., Caesar crossed the Rubicon, a small river separating Gaul from Italy, signifying the start of the Roman Civil War. Pompey fled and within three months, Caesar ruled of all Italy. He then took Spain and continued to pursue Pompey all the way to Egypt. In 48 B.C., Pompey was murdered by an officer of King Ptolemy. Caesar remained in Egypt throughout the winter and dallied with Queen Cleopatra.

In 48 B.C., Caesar assumed the title of dictator. He returned to Rome for a short time in 47 B.C. but then left for Africa to crush his opponents. Caesar departed for Farther Spain in 46 B.C. to put down resistance there. In 45 B.C., Caesar returned to Rome to put his empire in order.

On March 15, 44 B.C., a day known as the Ides of March, Caesar entered the Senate House. An assassination plot had been hatched by a group of 60 senators, including Gaius Cassius and Marcus Junius Brutus. As Caesar entered the Senate, he was stabbed 23 times. After Ceasar was assassinated, Rome experienced another 13 years of civil war.

When the Roman Republic was first set up, in 500 BC, the people in charge were two men called consuls. Women were not allowed to be consuls. The consuls controlled the army, and they decided whether to start a war and how much taxes to collect and what the laws were. They both had to agree in order to change anything; if one of them said “veto”, Latin for “I forbid it”, then nothing would be done.

The consuls got advice from the Senate, which was made up of men from wealthy families in Rome. Women were not allowed in the Senate, either. Once you got into the Senate, you stayed in for the rest of your life. Most consuls eventually joined the Senate, and most senators were from families where their fathers and grandfathers had been in the Senate. Most of the time, the consuls did what the Senate advised.

There were also prefects in Rome, whose job it was to run the city – some heard court cases, some ran the vegetable markets or the meat markets or the port.

There were tribunes, who were supposed to speak for the poorer people in the Senate. Tribunes were elected by the Assembly, and they could veto (forbid) anything the Senate voted for that affected the poor (which ended up being pretty much anything the Senate voted on). These, too, were all men.

Finally, there was also an Assembly of all the men (not women) who were grownup and free and had Roman citizenship. They voted on some big issues, if the consuls asked them to – things like whether to go to war. And they elected the consuls and prefects and the Senators. But the Assembly was set up so that richer people got more votes than poorer people.

Once the Romans began conquering other places, far away from the city of Rome, they also had a system of provincial governors – men who took charge of a province of the Empire, and who heard court cases there. They were also in charge of the army while it was conquering places.

Chinese Astronomy

Introduction

Chinese scholars began by thinking of the stars, the sun, and the moon as gods. But by the time of the Han Dynasty, about 130 AD, scholars like Zhang Heng knew that the moon was a sphere, lighted by the sun on one side and dark on the side away from the sun. Zhang Heng also understood what caused solar and lunar eclipses. Chinese astronomers, like Roman and Sassanian astronomers of the same time period in Europe and West Asia, were very interested in the stars both for scientific reasons and because they believed that the skies could help predict the future. But Chinese astronomy was much more advanced than our Western one and they progressed much quicker than us.

The purpose of astronomy in the past

One of the main functions was for the purpose of timekeeping. The Chinese used a “luni-solar” calendar, but, because the cycles of the sun and the moon are different, leap days, weeks and even months had to be inserted into the calendar.

The Chinese calendars were considered to be a symbol of a dynasty. As dynasties would rise and fall, astronomers and astrologers of each period would often prepare a new calendar to be made, with observations for that purpose.

Ancient Chinese astronomers divided the stars into “fixed stars” and “guest stars”.  The supernova that created the “Crab Nebula” observed in 1054 (now known as the SN 1054) is an example of a “guest star” observed by Chinese astronomers, although it was not recorded by their European contemporaries.

Models of the Heavens

The Chinese developed three different cosmological models. The Gai Tan, or hemispherical dome, model conceived the heavens as a hemisphere lying over a dome-shaped earth. The second cosmological model, associated with the Hun Tian School, saw the heavens as a celestial sphere not unlike the spherical models developed by the Greeks. The third model, associated with the Xuan Ye School, viewed the heavens as infinite in size and the stars as floating spheres of light passing the Earth at rare intervals, and as they said: "the speed of the luminaries depends on their individual natures, which shows they are not attached to anything." The Xuan Ye School was right about the size, but the “luminaries”, as they called them, do not move “on their individual natures”, but it is the Earth that moves.

Constellations

Chinese constellations are the groupings used by the ancient Chinese to organize the stars. They are very different from the modern constellations. This is because the modern ones were based on Greco-Roman astronomy instead of Chinese astronomy.

Ancient Chinese “sky-watchers” divided their night sky into 31 regions: the Three Enclosures and the Twenty-Eight Mansions. The Three Enclosures occupy the area close to the North Celestial Pole. The stars in the Three Enclosures can be seen all year around. The Twenty-Eight Mansions occupy the “zodiacal band”. These find their equivalent in the 28 lunar mansions of western astrology. Though marked along the zodiac, they are defined by the movement of the Moon rather than the Sun.

The Chinese Constellations are:

·         The Purple Forbidden Enclosure

·         The Supreme Palace Enclosure

·         The Heavenly Market Enclosure

·         Virgo

·         Libra

·         Scorpios

·         Sagittarius

·         Capricorn

·         Aquarius

·         Aries

·         Taurus

·         Gemini

·         Cancer

·         Spica

·         Antares

·         Aquarius/Pegasus

·         Pegasus

·         Andromeda

·         Pleiades

·         Orion

·         Hydra

·         Alphard

·         Crater

·         Corvus

·         Aries

·         Sagittarius

·         Corvus

·         Orion

·         Pegasus

·         Aquarius

·         Libra

Claire Lacombe

Claire Lacombe

C

laire Lacombe, nicknamed "Red Rosa", was an actress in her early life, but is best known for her contributions during the French Revolution. Though it was only for a few years, Lacombe was a female revolutionary and a founding member of the Society of Revolutionary Republican Women.

Lacombe was born in the provincial town of Pamiers in southwestern France. She became an actress at a young age and appeared in theatrical productions in the provinces before arriving in Paris in 1792. She was not an outstanding success in the theater, and she was not entirely happy with her life. The acting company that Lacombe worked for moved from town to town and sometimes went to castles and the country houses of aristocrats. This probably had an influence in her decision to quit the company to become a revolutionary.

In the insurrection of 10 August, Lacombe fought with the rebels during the storming of the Tuileries. She was shot through the arm but kept fighting on, earning herself the lifelong sobriquet, "Heroine of August Tenth." For her bravery, she was awarded a civic crown by the victorious fédérés.

Lacombe became a frequent attendee at meetings of the Cordeliers Club through which she became involved with the most radical elements of the Revolution. In February, 1793, Lacombe and another female revolutionary, Pauline Léon, founded the militant Society of Revolutionary Republican Women. This group – also known as the Republican Revolutionary Society, or “Société des Républicaines-Révolutionnaires” – was composed chiefly of working-class women. Despite the deeply entrenched chauvinism of the time, Lacombe met a few revolutionary men who fought for women's rights. One of these men was Theophile Leclerc, with whom she lived for a while – until he left her to marry Pauline Léon.

In the Reign of Terror, the enragés were suppressed along with most other extremist groups, including Lacombe's. Barred in 1794 from any political activity, she considered returning to the theater. In April, on the night she was supposed to leave for a theater in Dunkirk, Lacombe was arrested. For the next sixteen months she was moved from prison to prison.

Lacombe was finally released on 18 August 1795. She went back to the theater but quit again after three months. Lacombe disappeared without a trace after 1798.