I want to define a word that I use frequently in my day-to-day, and which I have seen a few times. 'Wikipedia Hole', or wiki hole, or a state of being in which the mind becomes slave to the ever extending series of infomatics opened in new tabs. I am frequently victim to the dreaded Wikipedia Hole, and have found myself passed out on the side of the information highway with only my history page as the only memory of how I got there. I know we are still getting used to each other, but I guess you should know that these wiki hole's can get kind of dark, and very rarely have a purpose.
That being said, my last wiki hole was a pretty light stomp through history. Sometime around 11:36 PM I began looking into the miracles attributed to recent Catholic saints and blessed figures. I'm not even going to try to get into the controversies and support surrounding the various Catholic celebrities, but somehow I wound up looking into Mother Teresa, and then John Paul II. This led to subsequently to an investigation of italian banker Roberto Calvi, the dark masonic lodge Propaganda Due, former primer minister Silvio Berlusconi, and eventually around 12:47 AM to Emanuele Filberto and Prince Amedeo and their battle over control of the House of Savoy. Just for the record, Prince Amedeo seems kinda rude.
That's where things started to get even stranger. This led into one of my favorite Wikipedia traps, the crazy criss-crossing genealogy of the European royal houses.I started in Italy, worked backwards into Spain, and then wound up in my second favorite place in history, pre-revolutionary France and the last seven Louis' reigns.
Wikipedia can fill you in on the details but basically it goes Henry IV, Louise XIII Louis XIV, Big Louis, Little Louis, Louis XV, Louis the Prince, Louis XVI, Louis XVII, and then the cousins and uncles start coming and Game of Thrones begins to sound easy. Somewhere along the way three Louis and more are outlived by their fathers and children. Louis XVI, the 16th, the one that got guillotined, was actually the younger brother. His reportedly awesome older brother, "Burgundy" fell/was pushed off a toy horse at age 9, didn't tell anyone out of fear of repercussions, and died of an infection. The world was left with Louis XVI, in my own opinion an okay if indecisive king who was at the wrong end of a deficit and a huge propaganda machine. Don't get me wrong, I'm a Danton man myself, and love playing the mob.
The complicated relationship between Louis XV and the Philippe d'Orleans II, the crazy cousin and grandson of Philippe, Philippe Egalete, who joined the revolution only to be later killed for his son Louis Philippe's desertion of the army. The same Louis Philippe who would later become the last King of the French.
There was just so much intrigue, betrayal, and chance that played out between 1700 and 1850 it is a credit to the spirit of French nationalism that their country came out in pretty much one piece. It's also interesting to note the role the French support of the American revolution helped bankrupt the country, and the way a lying investment banker, Jacques Necker, helped destroy the monarchy.
I'm not exactly sure if I had an original intention with this post, or if I just wanted to talk about miracles, monarchic intrigue, and the way that politics never seems to change. I finally snapped out of it sometime around 4:00 AM coming back to the Catholic church and the St. Bartholomew's day massacre. It was a bit of a dark place to go to sleep on, but I figure Henry IV is probably as good a place as any. I hope this finds its way into some of the future stories, maybe Eggsaberroar will meet a royal or two and get involved in some intrigue.
Anyway, it's getting late, and I have more things to work on before I get started on the next crazy jam packed week. I thank everyone for reading, recommend they check out One Hour Anniversary, and be on the look out for the next chapter of Eggsaberroar!
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