Today's titular topic is Bastille Day, standing in as a place holder for The French Revolution. It had profound effects not only in France, but throughout Europe and arguably well beyond. It should be noted that this was not merely a political uprising, but, in a real sense, a religious one as well. For centuries, The Church had ruled Europe with an iron hand, forcing outsiders to convert and non-conformists to conform, not just in general but right down to the minutae of dogma, doctrine, rite and ritual. They did this through torture, terror, crusades and other wars, often with genocidal goals and purpose such as with the Albigensian Crusade and certain others and, on a more personal scale, inquisitions with generally fatal outcomes. Part of The Church's holy dogma was The divine right of Kings (and Queens, where unavoidable) as well as lesser nobility. The lesser Royals as well as the Hoi Polloi obeyed the King in all things because kings were chosen, appointed and anointed by God herself himself. Of course, god never showed up for the ceremonies, relying instead on her his interlocutors and deputies, and, ergo, the Kings and Queens bloody did what The Church told them to, lest they wind up on the short end of the stick. But, by the 1700s this reign of terror was beginning to unravel.

A handful of kings had defied The Church on some one or more points and, while they were excommunicated, they were not exterminated. Then came the Hussites. Jan Hus, a reformer who disagreed with The Church on many things was lured into its clutches with a pack of lies, seized, tried, and burned at the stake On July 6, 1415. This greatly displeased his followers who became more strident and activist. This continued to the point where a Fatwah Crusade was declared against the Hussites and it was on. The Hussites had some capable leaders like Jan Žižka and would use then novel tactics while the Crusaders were the usual . On July 14, 1420, Hussite forces under Jan Žižka decisively thrashed a numerically superior Crusader army at the Battle of Vítkov Hill. This did not end the war, but was a clear signpost and in the end The Church called it a draw and, after 5 consecutive failed Crusades against the Hussites, agreed to a compromise. The Church, of course, turned around and reneged on this agreement later, but that is a different can of worms. What we see here is the Hoi Polloi getting uppity, feeling their oats and openly defying The Church, not the odd oh so special monarch, but the masses. They did it and got away with it. (Though the Hussite Wars are considered to be a draw, I consider it a clear victory for freedom of thought and much more insofar as the failure of The Church's Crusaders to kill or convert all of the Hussites is a clear loss and it led to further losses down the road.

This, then brings us to the storming of the Bastille in Paris on July 14, 1789 which is generally treated as marking the start of The French Revolution. Following the initial uprising and its immediate aftermath, there was a short lived interregnum where an attempt was made to have a Constitutional Monarchy. On September 3, 1791, the National Constituent Assembly forced Louis the King to accept the French Constitution of 1791, thus turning the absolute monarchy into a constitutional monarchy. Meanwhile, the 1790 Civil Constitution of the Church subordinated The Church to the French state, required loyalty oaths from the French clergy, starting a period of attacks on churches, the clergy, religious holidays, Christianity and Christian cultural artifacts, and The Church in general. This constitutional monarchy lasted until September 21, 1792 when it was succeeded by the French First Republic. Somewhere along the way, Louis the King lost his divine right and, subsequently, his head. The French were free, and Europe was aghast.

A year to the day after the storming of the Bastille, July 7, 1790 the French held a Fête de la Fédération in celebration. 14 Juillet is till a French national holiday.

European royalty is highly inbred, it is almost as if any of them is at least second cousin to a lot of them. Hence, an attack on some French "Comte de whatever" will also be an indirect assault on some German "Graf von whodat", an English "Baron somesuch" , sundry Dukes, and a Spanish Grandee or two, not to mention various knights and chevaliers. Beyond that the British (and their US kindred) truly love their royals to an unfathomable extent. Ergo the French treatment of their royals was profoundly distasteful to the citizenry of Merrie Engelonde. Thus, on July 14, 1791, the good folk of Birmingham, England launched into 10 days of rioting and property destruction targeting Joseph Priestley and his assorted friends and family for being supporters of the French Revolution. (In addition, Priestly was both a scientist and a dissenter and hence triply cursed.)

The first amendment, without stuttering or using ambiguous phraseology says, in part:

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.

Nonetheless, US politicians quite routinely demonstrate their illiteracy, stupidity, or both by doing exactly that. As often as not, the judiciary goes along with it, especially if the government invokes unseen and unknowable magikal threats to "national sekuritat". One such case was the passage of the Sedition Act of 1798 which became law in the US on July 14, 1798. AND, yes, BTW, you can shout "Fire" in a crowded theater, kindly forget you ever heard or read that meme

On this day in history:

1420 – Jan Žižka's Hussite forces beat a Crusader army under Sigismund, Holy Roman Emperor, at the Battle of Vítkov Hill

1769 – An expedition led by Gaspar de Portolá left its base in San Diego and set out for the Port of Monterey

1789 – The storming of the Bastille in Paris kicked off the French Revolution.

1790 – The inaugural Fête de la Fédération was held to celebrate the unity of the French and national reconciliation.

1791 – The Priestley Riots in Birmingham targeting Joseph Priestley as a supporter of the French Revolution.

1798 – The Sedition Act of 1798 becames law in the United States

1865 – The first ascent of the Matterhorn was completed by Edward Whymper and his party

1874 – The Chicago Fire of 1874 burned 47 acres of the city, destroyed 812 buildings, and killed 20 people.

1881 – Billy the Kid was shot and killed by Sheriff Pat Garrett in the Maxwell House at Fort Sumner, New Mexico.

1900 – Armies of the Eight-Nation Alliance captured Tientsin during the Boxer Rebellion.

1902 – Peruvian explorer and farmer Agustín Lizárraga discovered Machu Picchu, the "Lost City of the Incas".

1957 – Rawya Ateya took her seat in the National Assembly of Egypt, the first female parliamentarian in the Arab world.

1958 – The Iraqi monarchy was overthrown by popular forces led by Abd al-Karim Qasim

1960 – Jane Goodall arrived at the Gombe Stream Reserve in present-day Tanzania to begin her study of chimpanzees in the wild.

Some people who were born on this day:

Each of us has his own alphabet with which to create poetry.

~~ Irving Stone

1454 – Poliziano, poet and scholar
1610 – Ferdinando II de' Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany, another damn Medici
1671 – Jacques d'Allonville, astronomer and mathematician
1801 – Johannes Peter Müller, physiologist and anatomist
1825 – Georgiana Hill, cookery book writer
1859 – Willy Hess, violinist and educator
1861 – Kate M. Gordon, activist and suffragist
1862 – Florence Bascom, geologist and educator
1862 – Gustav Klimt, painter and illustrator
1868 – Gertrude Bell, archaeologist and political officer
1889 – Ante Pavelić, fascist (Ustase) dictator during World War II
1894 – Dave Fleischer, animator, director, and producer
1901 – Gerald Finzi, composer and academic
1903 – Irving Stone, author and educator
1910 – William Hanna, animator, director, producer, and actor, co-founded Hanna-Barbera
1912 – Woody Guthrie, singer, songwriter, and guitarist
1921 – Geoffrey Wilkinson, chemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate
1923 – Robert Zildjian, businessman, founded Sabian
1932 – Del Reeves, country singer and songwriter
1938 – Tommy Vig, vibraphone player, drummer, and composer
1939 – Karel Gott, singer, songwriter, and actor
1941 – Maulana Karenga, philosopher, author, and activist, created Kwanzaa
1945 – Jim Gordon, rock drummer and convicted murderer
1949 – Tommy Mottola, businessman and music publisher
1952 – Bob Casale, musician, Devo
1960 – Kyle Gass, Amusician, comedian, and actor
1960 – Angélique Kidjo, singer, songwriter, activist and actress
1986 – Dan Smith, singer, songwriter and record producer
1987 – Dan Reynolds, singer and songwriter

Some people who died on this day:

To be totally understanding makes one very indulgent.

~~ Germaine de Staël

1817 – Germaine de Staël, French philosopher and author
1827 – Augustin-Jean Fresnel, French physicist and engineer, reviver of wave theory of light, inventor of catadioptric lighthouse lens
1881 – William H. Bonney aka Billy the Kid, American gunfighter and outlaw (
1966 – Julie Manet, French painter and art collector
1984 – Philippe Wynne, American soul singer (The Spinners)
1993 – Léo Ferré, Monacan singer, songwriter, pianist, and poet

Some Holidays, Holy Days, Festivals, Feast Days, Days of Recognition, and such:

Bastille Day (France and dependencies)
International Non-Binary People's Day
National Grand Marnier Day
Shark Awareness Day
National Mac and Cheese Day
National Tape Measure Day
Pandemonium Day

Isn't every day Pandemonium Day these days? Which devils are missing?

Today's Tunes

le 14 juillet (Bastille Day)

Chicago Fire

Willy Hess

Gerald Finzi

Woody Guthrie

Tommy Vig

Jim Gordon

Bob Casale

Angélique Kidjo

Augustin-Jean Fresnel,

Billy the Kid

Philippe Wynne

Léo Ferré (Le Chant des Partisans)

Just for grins

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Ok, it's an open thread, so it's up to you folks now. What's on your mind?

Cross posted from http://caucus99percent.com

open thread, Bastille Day, Vítkov Hill, Sedition Act, Chicago Fire, Woody Guthrie, Angélique Kidjo, Augustin-Jean Fresnel