Another Conspiracy Theory

 Sorry couldn't resist this one as I have been re-reading some of his works:

Who Wrote Shakespeare's Plays? 

Well and what do you think? 

Alcoholism Will Kill You

 Even when you are Alexander the Great (just finished reading a book about him):

The conclusion Gerasimidis has reached after decades of research is that Alexander the Great died of acute pancreatic necrosis. This condition is believed to have been caused by cholelithiasis, or gallstones, in combination with a heavy meal and a large quantity of wine.

I was kinda taught he died of typhoid fever, but now they are saying otherwise. Keep in mind that this guy survived pneumothorax caused by a spear (or maybe an arrow, I forget which) through his lung a couple of years before, without modern medicine. He also survived many other injuries, acute pneumonia, years of heavy fighting etc only to die at 32 from too much alcohol and fat in his diet.

Many of these "died suddenly" cases conspiracy theorists love to talk about are explained very simply by drugs or alcohol or the combination of the two.

S8x: Men Vs Women

 In one country, the government did a survey on how many adults were married. To their surprise, they found out that there were many more married women than men (the country didn't allow polygamy). So when they started investigating the issue, they found out that most women living together with men outside wedlock wrote themselves down as "married", while their partners all wrote down "single".

There is this thing they don't teach girls about nowadays, because it is "s8xist". Men are very good at compartmentalising their feelings. As my Grandpa used to say, there are women you marry and there are "all the others" if you get what I mean. Feminists did their best to obscure the difference, but it still exists, especially if you venture outside Western MSM. 

I'll give you one example from the Turkish historical  TV series The Magnificent Century (I wrote about it here). One of the characters, Bali Bey (one of the most handsome men in the show, btw), though an aristocrat, falls for a daughter of a commoner and in the end, marries her, but the girl dies from plague before they can even consummate. After the funeral, he spends a night alone at her grave, sees her shadow and swears an oath to never love or marry another woman again.

 Later he visits his home province and meets his childhood sweetheart, the daughter of another wealthy landowner who rejected all her other suitors because she was waiting for him. She tells him she loves him, and Bali Bey says that he can't answer her feelings and she should find someone else as he will never look at another woman again.

And after this...he returns back to the capital and starts visiting the same wh8re-house and patronising the same pr8stitute he did before his marriage. For him, there is no contradiction, and he keeps his oath to never remarry, refusing even a foreign princess, and later, the Sultan's own daughter. Because his relationship with Helene (the Greek wh8re) has absolutely nothing to do with the kind of love he felt for his wife or could feel for any "decent" woman. That's the way many men are. Women can argue that it's unfair till they are blue in the face, but it won't change the reality.

When you are young and attractive, men will run after you and shower you with attention. They will tell you all sorts of pretty lies, with one objective in their minds. Bali Bey in the beginning wasn't even contemplating marriage to the shopkeeper's daughter. He wanted an easy fling. It's only when she rejected his advances, that his attitude changed. If the man really loves you, he should marry you. And provide for you. If you agree to anything less than that, one day, you'll regret it.

Who Doesn't Like A Good Ghost Story?

 Especially if it's true, so here comes...

We've had a darn good vacation. Too good, in fact, as we've done all the things and visited all the places we couldn't for the last 2 years:)

I'll write more about it and post pics later this week, but now about this medieval festival. One day we went to a donkey market in a village close by and discovered that this village had a castle, and not just a castle, but one with unique architecture (only 5 in the whole Europe), a violent history and its own ghost. And a medieval festival being organised, there, too, so we right away decided to attend it, which we did. 

There was a tournament, sword fighting, music, food and all kinds of entertainment so we enjoyed ourselves very much. But we didn't meet a ghost. I guess they don't run around when it's so busy. The castle was originally the property of a warrior bishop, who was ambushed and killed by his enemies, and you can see the replica of his skull with a hole in it in the cellars. The next owner was a cousin or something, and his own son rebelled against him and put his father in prison where the said father died 6 years later.

Some further in line, there was a duke who couldn't produce a heir.  The ownership then went to the line of sheriffs and somewhere in the 14th or 15th century a sheriff died and left a widow and lots of treasure which tempted his neighbour into attacking the castle. Here the ghost story begins. It has a couple of variations so I'll try to present a compilation of them. 

The widow was a lady from an old aristocratic family mentioned in European genealogy, and she was determined to fight, but first she had to secure the treasure so she divided it into 3 parts (gold, jewels and coins) and buried it in three separate chests and also signed a treaty with the Devil presumably to secure help in her martial endeavours. 

Somewhere on the ruins of the main tower they say you can see distinctly the print of a female left hand and that of the Evil one right next to it (I won't lie I didn't find it). But, as we all know sin doesn't pay, so her soldiers who all came from a nearby village  rebelled and beheaded her. So since that time, presumably, on Wednesday and Friday eve (traditional Catholic fast days) this lady wanders around with her head in her hand, kidnaps men of that village, tears their heads off and cooks them in a witch's cauldron.

It's like 5 km away from us, lol! And her treasure has never been found...

St. George's Day

 Congratulations to my English/British readers on St.George's Day:

 Take a close look at the English flag. That red cross over a white background has meaning. It’s actually St. George’s Cross — a symbol so closely intertwined with English national identity that St. George has his own national holiday.

The legend of Saint George and the Dragon describes the saint taming and slaying a dragon that demanded human sacrifices. We celebrate St. George’s Day on April 23 — the anniversary of his death in 303 AD.

The patron saint of England has captivated British imaginations since the Crusades and the Hundred Years’ War. Perhaps the most British of all holidays, this special day is a chance to let your English flag fly, literally and figuratively.

Read the whole story over here. 

The Real Story Of Arthur And Guinevere

 There was a certain blogger whom I shall not name obsessed with "chivalry" and the story about King Arthur and Lancelot to quite an unhealthy degree, in my opinion; somehow suggesting that it (and not the cultural marxism) was responsible for the modern feminism.

However, this story is apparently only one version of what really happened, and a more recent one. I'm currently reading a book called The History Of The Kings Of Britain by Geoffrey of Monmouth which is considered to be the basis of all Arthurian legends and it presents a different tale.

Arthur himself is born of adultery, since his father Uther falls in love with Ygerna, the wife of one of his military leaders, Gorlois, and uses Merlin's sorcery to change into his likeness and seduce her. Gorlois dies in battle and Uther marries Ygerna and gets a son, which is very similar to the story of David and Bathsheba, except that the child doesn't die but grows up and becomes king.

After many victories, Arthur departs to Europe to fight the Romans and leaves the kingdom in charge of his nephew Mordred who then decides to place the crown on his own head and takes Arthur's wife, Queen Guinevere, too. Arthur hears about it and returns to Britain where he kills Mordred but gets mortally wounded himself and is transported to Avalon. Guinevere feeling shame and guilt takes a vow of chastity and becomes a nun.

It's not exactly a story about chivalry and courtly love, is it? More like a cautionary tale about visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children...

Was Darwin A Fraud?

 Somehow I'm not surprised.

Dr Mike Sutton, whose book Science Fraud: Darwin’s Plagiarism Of Patrick Matthew’s Theory is published by Curtis next Saturday, said: ‘This is the biggest science fraud in history.’

He highlights similarities between key phrases and explanations and cites letters apparently showing Darwin knew Matthew’s work and covered up his debt to his rival.

In one, Darwin’s wife admitted to Matthew that evolution was his ‘original child’, but her husband had nurtured it ‘like his own’.

H/t to  VD

Did He Or Did He Not?

 Here is a fascinating story about an Indian chief said to have lived to 137. Of course, the government officials disputed it and estimated that he was between 90 and 100 years old when he died, and his wrinkled look was due to a skin condition. And we just happen to know, that the government is always right and knows what's best for you, don't we???

Chief John Smith also had 8 wives but no biological children, and adopted a son, named Tom Smith; which shows that however healthy you are (and you needed to be very healthy to live even till 100 in those conditions), you still can have this kind of problems. I just wonder whether he had all those wives one after another, or simultaneously?

George Bernard Shaw And Vaccines

 George Bernard Shaw was a very interesting person. 

A progressive who admired Mussolini and a life-long vegetarian who did use animal liver at one point to combat anemia, he was staunchly against vaccines which he called "a peculiarly filthy piece of witchcraft" and took part in campaign against mandatory smallpox vaccination. 

In his opinion, people would stop dying from infectious diseases when their nutrition and living conditions improved. 

#ourguy?

They Don't Make Them Like That Any More

 Lieutenant-General Sir Adrian Paul Ghislain Carton de Wiart,^[1] VC, KBE, CB, CMG, DSO (5 May 1880 – 5 June 1963) was a British Army officer born of Belgian and Irish parents. He was awarded the Victoria Cross, the highest military decoration awarded for valour "in the face of the enemy" in various Commonwealth countries.^[2] He served in the Boer War, First World War, and Second World War. He was shot in the face, head, stomach, ankle, leg, hip, and ear; was blinded in his left eye; survived two plane crashes; tunnelled out of a prisoner-of-war camp; and tore off his own fingers when a doctor declined to amputate them. Describing his experiences in the First World War, he wrote, "Frankly I had enjoyed the war."^[3]

^{We used to have men like this, now they want to breastfeed, oh sorry, chestfeed...}

^{Read the whole story on Wiki.}   

We Are All Wimps

 compared to Mary. They told us in the church that she had to travel 140 km on foot to Bethlehem, while being nearly 9 months pregnant. I do remember in some movie (Nativity Story?) they showed her on a donkey, but still, I doubt the journey would be very comfortable. And then they had to sleep in a stable, too. Somehow I can't imagine a modern Western woman doing anything similar, and then without moaning and complaining:) But then, how many men would be up to the task, either?

Modern civilisation has spoiled us all rotten, I guess...

A Disordered Mind Creates A Disordered Society

An interesting article about Plato's critique of democracy as it applies to the present day situation in the USA:

By “democracy” what Plato has in mind is a libertarian and egalitarian society in which “every individual is free to do as he likes.” Bourgeois restraints on appetite disappear, so that desires are checked only by competing desires rather than by reason, spirit, or even the oligarch’s middle-class stolidity....

Democracy on Plato’s account is characterized by the “diversity of its characters” and “treats all men as equal, whether they are equal or not.” In particular, it treats all ways of life as equal, no matter how puerile, irrational, or immoral.
The young “throw off all inhibitions” and celebrate “insolence, license, extravagance, and shamelessness...” 

Sounds rather familiar, doesn't it?


In general, the young set themselves against their elders, while elders fear being thought “disagreeable or strict” and are reduced to pathetically “aping the young and mixing with them on terms of easy fellowship.” The teacher “fears and panders to his pupils” but the pupils despise him anyway. Democratic man insists on “complete equality and liberty in the relations between the sexes,” and on drawing “no distinction between alien and citizen and foreigner.” Plato tells us that license is extended even to domestic animals, who freely roam the streets of the democratic city.

The man must have looked into a crystal ball, lol! I mean how could he otherwise have predicted the phenomenon of "dog's moms???"

...egalitarian societies...are dominated not by reason, not by spirit, not even by the more governable appetites of the oligarch, but by the lower and unruly appetites for sex, food, drink, and sensual pleasure in general, which are most prone to blinding reason. The very idea of a natural order of things that determines that some desires are disordered and forbidden by reason becomes hateful to democratic man.

S8x, drugs and rock-n-roll anyone?

Plato warns that art and music characterized by “ugliness of form and bad rhythm and disharmony,” and a popular culture that glorifies “bad character, ill-discipline, meanness, or ugliness,” do “cumulative psychological damage,” corrupting moral sensibilities and capacity for rational argument.

 Wow, he did predict it, too, together with the modern movies and TV shows!

The culture of a healthy society must accordingly celebrate reason, beauty, goodness, and restraint.


I had to take philosophy classes at the Uni and yet never learned all this. Now I wonder why?

Read the whole article over here.

St Nicholas Day

Don't forget that it's St. Nicholas Day today! Though we normally celebrate it's eve:)




The feast of St.Nicholas

Specially For My American Readers

Here is the place where it all started: the historical Delfshaven, from where the Pilgrims sailed to America:

The church they used to pray in:

 Some things have hardly ever changed in all these years

Americans though you may call yourselves, your roots lie in Europe

The Woman Who Above All Desired Power

Note: this is a review of sorts and it contains spoilers.

And 9 rings were given to the race of men who above all else desire power

I think most of the readers will remember this quote from the screen adaptation of LOTR
(these words aren't in the book, btw). Through the ages, there have been a lot of men like this, but there also was one woman whose ambition, will to power and mental capacities were at least equal to the best (or worst, depending on how you look at it) of these men. Though her reign was many centuries ago, she is still so popular in that part of the world, that recently they made a whole TV series about her.

I'm talking about The Magnificent Century, the most famous of the Turkish TV series, which ran for 4 seasons, had 139 (!) episodes of about 1.5 hour each and was watched by approximately 200 million people all over the world. It's loosely based on the real events which took place during the reign of Suleiman the Magnificent, hence the name. I'm not really going to discuss the historical Suleiman or the lady who became his wife, but the rather the way they were presented in the series.

First about the plot, I'll try to be as brief as possible but keep in mind the length of the show:)

The story begins when 26 year old Suleiman learns about his father's death and that he is the next sultan. He has to leave the palace where he enjoyed a rather quiet existence with his consort and their young son, his only heir and moves to the capital where he meets a young Christian slave Alexandra whose family was killed by the slavers. Her slain parents come to her at night and make her promise she'll take revenge and thus her war with the whole dynasty starts.

She uses Suleiman and his feelings for her to raise to the heights of power previously thought impossible for one of her status and position. She bears him 4 sons (5 in reality, but the last one died in infancy) and 1 daughter and he frees her and makes her his lawful wedded wife. Still, Hurrem (Alexandra's new name after she converted to Islam) isn't happy because it's Mustafa, the sultan's eldest son who is the crown prince, and not one of her own. And the laws of the Ottoman Empire are harsh: there can be only one, the next sultan will kill his brothers to avoid strife. When the princes grow up, the real fight for power begins...

Sounds exciting, isn't it? And yet, I will admit: I haven't watched the whole show. I watched Season 1, parts of Season 2 and 3, and mostly read about Season 4. I have 2 reasons for it: first, did I tell you it was a soap? I simply have no patience for 139 episodes filled up with epic cat fights and deep drama:) My second reason is the fact that there are really no positive characters in the show, and if there are, they die prematurely of unnatural causes. Evil gets rewarded in the end and about the worst of Hurrem's sons gets the crown (chiefly due to the intrigues of his European convert wife who was always the brain behind his actions).

While it's historically correct, the producers of the show took already less-than-sterling characters and made them even worse. All the women are insufferable b*tches. Those who aren't in the first season, become so as the story progresses. Take the Sultan's first consort, for instance. Mahidevran actually inspires sympathy as she lost everything what was dear to her and was reduced to poverty and nearly begging, until Selim (the next sultan) came to power and restored her rights. And yet her nastiness in the show makes it difficult to feel any sort of pity for her.

Queen Mother in reality was quite friendly to Hurrem, but in the show she is the perfect evil mother-in-law who is so blinded by her hatred of her daughter-in-law that she is ready to sacrifice the lives of her own grandkids when she accuses her of adultery.

Hurrem herself is shown in a sympathetic light (and despite her obvious evilness one can't help rooting for her as we witness her fighting against the incredible odds) but in history this lady had a functioning brain and even ruled the Empire while her husband was busy fighting wars. The whole story of her relationship with painter Leo (who never really existed) is an example of an abysmal stupidity. Her daughter was more interested in political intrigues than in family life but she didn't kill her husband etc etc...

Not that the men are any better. Sultan Suleiman, the ruler of half the world, at home is totally under his wife's thumb and doesn't even realise it. Under her guidance, he alienates his whole family, causes his sister's death by his actions, kills his best friend and executes the most worthy of his sons. He also cheats on her despite all promises while in reality, all historians agree that his marriage was monogamous.

Mustafa is really good and noble, too good for this world actually; loves his brothers and promises not to kill them, loves his wife, loves his kids (probably loved his dog, too, if he had one) that's why he dies. Ibrahim, Suleiman's best friend was a corrupted, power hungry official, but the producers also made him a sadistic bully and an adulterer who broke his wife's heart and ruined the life of his mistress. There is really no historical evidence that he ever cheated on his wife and he wasn't even married to the same lady as in the show. Etc. etc...

Here you can watch a video which is a great example of what one can expect from the series: Hurrem beats up Suleiman's sister Hatice for using black magic on her to revenge the death of her husband Ibrahim. It has English subtitles, btw. Yet, my favourite moment is this one: Hurrem triumphs over her enemies in the end of the second season. Her monologue is like a summary of her whole character, where  lust for power and revenge combine perfectly. It's not enough for her to rule in the palace, she will rule the world, her enemies will kneel before her and those who stand in her way will die by fire.

Still, the show has much to offer to those who enjoy drama and the acting is very good. It also illustrates the nature of power in this world. One doesn't get power by being nice and good, one gets power by being ruthless, cruel and lacking conscience. Somewhere there is a lesson for all of us:) You can  currently watch the series on YouTube with English subtitles. If you are interested, here's the link to Episode 1.

Women Are The Worst Misogynists

A book review of sorts. Yesterday I finished Brother Cadfael's Penance by Ellis Peters, which is the last of Brother Cadfael's Chronicles. I still have to read a book containing 3 short stories with the same character, but as far as I know they are a prequel to the events described in Chronicles since in them Cadfael hasn't joined the monastery yet, so that Penance is really the end of the cycle. I'm planning to write a post about this whole series when I'm through.

Brother Cadfael's Penance is different from the other books in the series in a number of ways. It doesn't contain any romance though it does hint on the possibility in the beginning; and while there is a crime committed, there is little if any investigation on Cadfael's part, and the whole mystery and its solution play a very insignificant role in the book. On the other hand, the author keeps the tradition by inserting a nice amount of situational ethics into this story as well.

For those not familiar with Cadfael and his adventures, he is a Welsh crusader turned a Benedictine monk who lives in England during the war between King Stephen and Empress Maud for the throne and whose hobby is investigating crimes. Somewhere half way through the series, he learns that his Palestinian mistress bore him a son who later converted to Christianity, came to England and joined the fighting. Cadfael meets and recognises him, but decides to keep his peace.

In this last novel, he learns that his son Olivier is missing in action and leaves the monastery to search for him. Cadfael soon finds out that  Olivier is kept prisoner by Philip FitzRobert, the younger son of Maud's illegitimate half-brother Robert of Gloucester. The two used to be friends and fought on the same side, until, by some reason, Philip decided to switch  his loyalties and to betray the Empress's cause. The conflict between Philip and Maud, and to some extent, his own father forms the central theme of the book.

In the first couple of Cadfael stories, it appeared to me that Miss Peters was more or less sympathetic to the Empress, but as the story line progressed, Maud was shown less positively. In Penance, she's described as a venomous, murderous *itch with vile temper, who is neither particularly intelligent, nor thankful towards those who help her cause and who manipulates naive young men with her sexual charms to get what she wishes. The one worthy of the throne is Robert, but unfortunately, he's a bastard. In Wales, where the daughters don't inherit, he'd get his rights, thinks Cadfael.

I was intrigued enough to do some research online and that is what I found out. While Stephen was the late king's nephew through his mother, Maud was his only legitimate daughter, and before he died, he made all his court swear loyalty to her. She was married off quite young to the Emperor (of the Holy Roman Empire, I think), who died soon afterwards, and then  she was married off again to the Count of Anjou who was several years her junior. She nearly died in childbirth, but went on to have several more children with her husband after this.

When Stephen took the crown, she was in France together with her husband and made no attempts to restore her rights. The rebellion was started by Robert who had sworn loyalty to Stephen before. Robert was but one of many illegitimate children of the late king, but he was his eldest son and thus the most prominent. He probably could have taken the crown for himself, but refused to do so, citing English customs of the time, even though his grandfather William the Conqueror was illegitimate, too. If his father had wanted it, Robert could have probably become the next king.

Anyway, this and the civil war that followed, were hardly the fault of his half-sister. And, while some sources described her as aloof and even arrogant, there is little evidence that she was such a nasty piece of work as she comes across in Penance, neither was the real King Stephen this nice chivalrous guy the author portrays. Also, though illegitimate, Robert was still very well provided for.

Unlike in the novel, he had many sons and not just two by his legal wife, and, in fine family tradition, several more illegitimate kids. It's also noteworthy that the Welsh, like the Irish were Celtic and tolerated de-facto polygamy and easy divorce much later than their Anglo-Saxon neighbours. I'm not quite sure whether I agree with Miss Peters that their system was better, though. This is a topic open for discussion. However, I should say all these invented details make for some fine drama. If you like escapist fiction, this book (and the series) are definitely for you!

Charles Darwin And Marriage

Charles Darwin is known for his theory of evolution which many Christians disagree with. While he was a religious liberal of his age (even though in the beginning he believed that the Scriptures were literally true), his marriage was pretty conventional, and exactly according to the prevailing morals of the Victorian age, something which modern progressives who appear to somewhat worship him, often fail to mention.

The girl who he married was his first cousin by the name of Emma Wedgwood (yes, both she and Charles were grandchildren of that Josiah Wedgwood, the one who founded the famous Wedgwood company) and at the time of their marriage she was nearly 31 years old. Now, I often read stories how women's uteruses all fall out at the age of 25 and then they become barren yet Emma Darwin went on to produce 10 (!) children (the last one at the age of 48.5), 7 of whom lived to adulthood.

It probably has something to do with the fact that she married as a virgin and we can presume that Charles did, too, since nothing is known about any affairs he could have had before he met her. Emma lived the life of a typical middle class Victorian housewife, taking care of her frequently ill husband, nursing and caring for her children, helping the parish poor and being ready to assist her husband if the need arises.

(In one of his letters, her husband entrusted her with publishing his works, if he died suddenly. I should add that before her marriage she was quite content to stay home, play the piano and take care of her handicapped mother and sister, though she did have a decent education and had traveled through Europe with her father. She also taught Sunday school to village children. Despite the famous Victorian oppression of all things female, she somehow practiced outdoor sports and became quite proficient at archery).

Darwin wasn't initially convinced whether he should marry at all (he was nearly a year younger than his wife, by the way) since he was afraid that marriage would hinder his career, restrict his freedom, reduce his financial circumstances and make him visit relatives. On the other hand, a married man would have a companion in his old age ("better than a dog anyhow":), children ("if it Please God" - somehow folks back then did understand that children were something you get, not something you take), and "a nice soft wife on a sofa with good fire and books and music."

In other words, even though he was top intellectual and stuff, his ideas about marriage included the traditional Victorian domestic bliss, not equal partnership with two breadwinners and shared housework (one of the reasons to marry for him was to have someone to take care of the house) and he basically acquired it, too; despite all the problems he and his wife had to live through, their marriage lasted 43 years. His wife survived him for 14 more years and died at the age of 88.Unlike many of our contemporary cultural icons, she wasn't remembered for her debauchery, but rather for "her patience and fortitude."

King George V

King George V was a grandson of Queen Victoria and reigned from 1910 till 1936, when he died. The Catholic Illustration published an article about him in its May, 1935 issue, since UK was celebrating 25 years of his reign. Of course, there were pictures:

King George and his wife, Queen Mary and the crowns of the Kingdom and the Empire:

A family album photo from 1873: The future King George is the one sitting, the boy standing is his eldest brother Duke of Clarence who died in 1892, making him the crown prince. The little girl in the center is the future Queen Maud of Norway, the one on the right is Princess Victoria, the girl standing next to the Duke is the eldest sister, who died young, too.

Here are George and Mary in their daily clothes, travelling through England in 1925.

King George loved the sea and in 1903 he became a vice-admiral. The picture above is out of the time of WWI and is taken on board the submarine. The king was then 52 years old but still quite agile, as you can see.

Here he is steering his own yacht.

Travelling through rural England

inspecting his Scottish gurards

riding horses with his cousin the German Emperor whom he later went to war with (we all know how this ended)

and, not for the faint of heart, hunting in India:

He died relatively young, at about 71, but I keep thinking it was probably better for him that he didn't witness the WWII and the slow destruction of everything what was still left of the Victorian England afterwards.

Catholics And Working Women

Catholic Church nowadays appears to have few problems with working women, but it hasn't always been the case. Recently I stumbled upon a second-hand book in a thrift store about a famous Dutch Catholic politician from the 1930s. Carl Romme fought, among other things, for the government subsidies for families with multiple children and against work participation for married women.

To quote the book (approximate translation mine):

To fight unemployment, the government encouraged city councils to fire female employees who were going to get married. It didn't go far enough for the Catholics and Steinmenz also proposed to fire all the married women. Romme used this opportunity to argue that...the work of a married woman was a result of ...psychoses, that of freedom and equality which for years had been undermining the strength of the people. This strength was necessary for the healthy family life and thus it wasn't allowed to encourage a married woman to look for her daily work outside the family. (p. 187).

Further in his career, when he became a minister, he was busy, among other things with prohibiting employment for married women. On the one hand, it was a necessary measure to fight unemployment, but it went further than that. Again, to quote:

A woman's duty lay within the family and nothing should keep her from it. The education of a girl had to prepare her for it and once married, she had to be prohibited from working. (p. 305).

In 1962, he got the honour doctorate from the Catholic University of Tilburg. Thus, in the beginning of the 1960s his opinions were still considered respectable. What the heck happened in the end of the 1960s? Nowadays it's quite otherwise, as a married woman's "duty" apparently lies anywhere except in her own home...

(The book in question was written by J.Bosmans, and it's called Romme. Published by Het Spectrum, 1991).

The Story Of Horatius

Publius Horatius, that is.

Horatius was an officer in the Roman army which defended the city against the Etruscan king Lars Porsena. Together with two other officers he was defending the bridge against superior enemy forces, allowing other Roman soldiers to evacuate and destroy the bridge. 

Though several times wounded, he managed to swim back to safety and was crowned as a hero.His story became an inspiration for a famous poem by T.B. Macaulay, an (early) Victorian poet:

But the Consul's brow was sad,
          And the Consul's speech was low,
     And darkly looked he at the wall,
          And darkly at the foe.
     "Their van will be upon us
          Before the bridge goes down;
     And if they once may win the bridge,
          What hope to save the town?"
           
     Then out spake brave Horatius,
          The Captain of the Gate:
     "To every man upon this earth
          Death cometh soon or late.
     And how can man die better
          Than facing fearful odds,
     For the ashes of his fathers,
          And the temples of his gods,
             
     "And for the tender mother
          Who dandled him to rest,
     And for the wife who nurses
          His baby at her breast,
     And for the holy maidens
          Who feed the eternal flame,
     To save them from false Sextus
          That wrought the deed of shame?

 Read the whole poem at Wikisource and the story of Horatius at Wikipedia