Was Descartes murdered by a priest?

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Was Descartes, founder of modern philosophy, murdered?

Yes, according to academic Theodor Ebert — poisoned by an arsenic-laced communion wafer given to him by a Catholic priest.

The more common theory was that Descartes died from the winter cold and early morning hours imposed upon him by Queen Christina of Sweden, his student.

However, Descartes's doctor described having found "something wrong" in Descartes urine — blood, Edbert concludes: "That is not a symptom of pneumonia; it is a symptom of poisoning, chiefly of arsenic." Also, Descartes asked his doctor to prescribe an emetic to make him throw up, which Ebert believes shows that Descartes may have believed he had been poisoned.

Ebert researched this for a long time, and I have to assume he did his homework. I'm unable to find the title of his new book, but I hope it helps to answer some of the questions that come to mind: How much arsnic can one get on a communion wafer? for example, and couldn't it be tasted? 

For more on this, see this article in the U.K. Guardian: 
http://bit.ly/Descartes

Also, this blog post adds to the discussion:
http://bit.ly/Descartes_murder

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A tragic legacy

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Am I the last to know?

While researching the family life of Pierre Corneille, the great French dramatist, I discovered that one of his descendants was Charlotte Corday, the 25-year-old woman who stabbed Marat to death on July 13, 1793, while Marat was in his bath.

The geaneology goes like this:

1. Pierre Corneille
2. Marie Corneille (Pierre's daughter)
3. Françoise de Farcy (Marie's son)
4. Jacques Adrien de Corday, seigneur de Launay-Cauvigny (Françoise's son)
5. Jacques François de Corday, seigneur d'Armont (Jacque A's son)
6. Charlotte Corday (Jacques F.'s daughter) 


How bizarre that a writer of tragedy should beget a tragedy.


(Painting: La Mort de Murat by Jacques-Louis David,  1793.)


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Adventures in Pdf land

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I continue to be astonished by the research that's possible on the Net. I've been reading, on computer, a pdf of a rare book, Racine et Voisin, that I was able to download from the Internet Archive. 

The author quotes an entry in Registre de La Grange. La Grange worked for Molière's troupe, and dutifully recorded daily tallies (and much else). The date given for the entry in Racine et Voisin seemed wrong according to my notes. A short Net search revealed that La Grange's notes were available on Open Library — a searchable version, no less, and I was quickly able to verify my suspicions.  

There is a wealth of information in La Grange's notes. With respect to this particular event, Molière's troupe had invested a considerable amount in producing the young and aspiring playwright Jean Racine's tragedy, Alexander, and were thus — according to La Grange's note — rather surprised to discover that the same play was also being performed by a rival theatrical troupe ... and that this had been Racine's doing.  

Jean Racine (see image above) was a genius, a writer of great power, but he was also, to be blunt, a rat. 

To see Registre de La Grange, go to: http://bit.ly/LaGrangeRegister (You may have to join Open Library, first.)

To see Racine et Voisin by Marc de Monifaud, go to: http://bit.ly/Racine_et_Voisin

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Beautiful Versailles: discovered

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I came upon this stunning image of Versailles on a blog yesteday and asked if anyone knew the artist's name and date. Voilá! Anthony (see his comment below) discovered that the artist is Isidore Laurent Deroy (1797-1886). In its original form (click here) the colors are duller. Clearly, the original has been re-colored — I like the almost surreal vibrancy of this doctored version. Too, it's possible that the colors of the original faded over time.

Virtual tour of Louis XIV, the man and the king

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Can't get to Versailles? This virtual tour of "Louis XIV, the man and the king," the current exhibition there, is amazing. It's a little clunky — our technology has yet to evolve — but it points to a future where it will be possible to see a museum exhibition from afar. For now, it's simply fantastic.

The French were the first, to my knowledge, to put an extensive digitized library collection on-line (long before Google). Might this virtual tour of an exhibition be a first, as well?

The Age of Comfort goes to bed

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I've been sick-a-bed this week, and pleasantly returned to reading The Age of Comfort, by Joan DeJean. Appropriately, Chapter Ten: The Bedroom.

Not surprisingly, the history of beds is even more interesting than the history of sofas. I'm rather shocked by how much I didn't know.

Before the 1670s, the sleeping area was a public space, open to everyone in the household. Over the next four decades, the private bedroom was born.

Beds, before, were movable, and simply curtained off. They tended to be single rather than double in size. Until late in the 17th century, most beds were moved around in the home rather than left in one room. The bed was made mostly of fabric, and, since fabric was expensive, it was the most expensive piece of furniture in the house.

A horsehair mattress provided springiness. A feather mattress on top make it plush. The less fortunate made do with straw mattresses.

Remember: there wasn't much to sit on in the home in those days (other than the storage trunks, which served for storage until closets and armoirs were created). The bed, thus, was the social center of the room, a rather large sofa by day, and a bed by night:

" . . . it's surface was used for all types of social interaction" (page 166).

Once again, it was the King's mistress Athénaïs, Madame de Montespan, who lead the revolution. The first grand bed-frames — the first beadstead, that is, a "bois de lit" — were created for her Porcelain Trianon at Versailles. No doubt she had a great deal to do with the over-the-top design: the garlands of tassels, fabric swags topped with bouquets of plumes, the curtains replaced by a grand canopy. Mirrors set into the headboard called attention to the frame (and, one might add, to the lovers, as well).


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How trying to stay young can kill you

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This isn't a 17th century discovery, but "Dying to look good" is an interesting article on the recent discovery of gold in the bones of Henry II's mistress, Diane de Poitiers. Liquid gold was believed to preserve youth, but it likely killed her.

It makes me wonder what Louis XIV's mistresses resorted to. Certainly Athénaïs, the Marquise de Montespan, took witchy remedies of various kinds. 

It also makes me wonder what effect they might have had on her many children by the King.