Category Archives: history

And so the King and Queen were dead as well as thousands of other “Enemies of the republic.”  There were now two governments in France; the Commune or the government of Paris and the Convention, the elected government o France. … Continue reading →

The National Assembly had written a constitution for France and, after two years, considered its work at an end.  It was for others to implement the details. The Assembly voted to dissolve itself and in doing so made one final … Continue reading →

The Estates General, which declared itself the National Assembly began work on a Constitution for France while still in Versailles and before its move to the Tuileries which occurred only days after the King and Queen were “invited to live … Continue reading →

Tuileries Palace With the ruling by Louis XVI that the three classes shoud meet as one body the National Assembly convened.  Months had gone by since the first meeting of the Estates General.  The Assembly now appointed a committee on … Continue reading →

King Louis XVI It was the middle of the 1780s and the King of France was broke. Extravagant levels of spending by the monarchy and nobility, both of whom and the church were exempt from taxation on their lands or … Continue reading →

The Queen’s Chamber at Versailles What was it like to be a common man, a member of the Third Estate in the time just before the French Revolution, which was to change the course of European history?  How bad did … Continue reading →

Photo post-card of the Chief Eunuch of the Ottoman Sultan Abdul Hamid II, photographed at the Imperial Palace. The Qizlar Agha, (the Keeper of the Firls) was one of the most powerful and sometimes the richest men in the Ottoman … Continue reading →