tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4413130168723738166.post3304525265215035154..comments2024-02-26T00:59:26.907-08:00Comments on Ana the Imp: Voices of the PastAnastasia F-Bhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01284602529524462457noreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4413130168723738166.post-66915226341371160942012-07-01T16:04:16.405-07:002012-07-01T16:04:16.405-07:00It always does, Bil. :-)
Thanks for your thoughtf...It always does, Bil. :-)<br /><br />Thanks for your thoughtful comment. Actually it was the Wars of the Roses that, in severely decimated England’s traditional aristocracy, began the process that ended in Tudor absolutism. In a way the Tudors stepped into a kind of political vacuum, creating a wholly new structure in the process. Medieval monarchs, even monarchs as seemingly powerful as John, were a little like the early Roman emperors - <i>primus inter pares</i>, first among equals, rather than absolute rulers. The Tudors established the state on an entirely new basis, with the monarch as the dominant element, a process that had begun earlier in France in the reign of Louis XI. The Reformation merely confirmed the realities of the new political order in England, with the monarch as Caesar and Pope. No medieval monarch had ever combined those powers. <br /><br />I think I expressed myself badly in the comment about the Irish. So far as I understand it Irish Catholicism had a much more primitive quality than its English or French equivalent. It’s only in the country’s fairly recent history that some of the more backward assumptions have been questioned.<br /><br />Yes, I am interested in witchcraft and ancient religions, far, far more than primitive superstition. :-)Anastasia F-Bhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01284602529524462457noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4413130168723738166.post-51056136636530335822012-07-01T02:16:51.778-07:002012-07-01T02:16:51.778-07:00Been meaning to comment on this for a few days, bu...Been meaning to comment on this for a few days, but life gets in the way. Just watched Richard II on the Beeb and it reminded me that I must.<br /><br />I know you are a historian, read far more than I, and are more learned than I, but what both Henry VII and Henry VIII did was reduce the power of the Baronies and increase the power of the monarch. England hadn't had a truly sovereign and supreme monarch since John's capitulation in Magna Carta. The Reformation in my mind was most definitely not about national sovereignty but an attempt to return England to an absolute and supreme monarchy.<br /><br />I agree with your analysis of English Catholics: take spiritual solace from Rome but whose secular loyalty was to the land of their birth. As an English Catholic I am very English, having served in the RAF, and very catholic. However, I have felt the tyranny of Protestantism in the land of my birth for the whole of my life. Who are the tyrants?<br /><br />Couple of points about your comments. You mention the backward Irish and their superstitions - do you not profess an interest in things witchcraft and ancient arts? I note that others comment on the depravity of Rome, and of course Rome has a complete monopoly on depravity? No Protestent or Protestant splinter group has ever done anything depraved. Not to defend the Church, but examples can be found of depravity in all societies and religions.<br /><br />On the whole a good post and I must say that I do enjoy reading all that you write.<br /><br />Cheers.Bilhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14779523839427591746noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4413130168723738166.post-66057783040631949282012-06-26T16:19:16.651-07:002012-06-26T16:19:16.651-07:00Indeed so, Calvin. The other thing Duffy neglecte...Indeed so, Calvin. The other thing Duffy neglected to mention was just how backward and primitive Catholic Ireland was, how immersed in superstition, compared with the other nations of northern Europe. But I suppose that can be dismissed as the nefarious effects of English imperialism, the usual slight of thought.Anastasia F-Bhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01284602529524462457noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4413130168723738166.post-30531838964875439752012-06-26T16:13:53.628-07:002012-06-26T16:13:53.628-07:00Myths are so important, Anthony, they always have ...Myths are so important, Anthony, they always have been.Anastasia F-Bhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01284602529524462457noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4413130168723738166.post-16796604325152948122012-06-25T19:14:42.544-07:002012-06-25T19:14:42.544-07:00It is good to be reminded that fanatics such as Du...It is good to be reminded that fanatics such as Duffy still exist. There is a power in some ideas that - wielded by the ambitious - can overwhelm weaker minds. I read his DT article, and noted, as did many others, how he blithely ignored the vice and corruption into which the church of Rome had descended long before the Reformation.<br /><br />I always thought it ironic that Constantine's attempt to preserve Rome led to 1000 years of cultural amnesia and primitivism that almost lost the entire West to the nightmare Islam by absorbing so much creative energy into the monastic system where it was stifled.Calvinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10640148105202971907noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4413130168723738166.post-80359284860220391292012-06-25T16:18:25.322-07:002012-06-25T16:18:25.322-07:00All this turmoil over a myth that just won't g...All this turmoil over a myth that just won't go away.anthonyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02931330128135957439noreply@blogger.com