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Something that will teach me my arithmetic at last
As photographic evidence that I have been where I say, I present one photograph from Readercon, one from Wiscon. I'm hoping for more from both, but since I almost never remember to take photos myself, I am unfortunately dependent on the good graces—and working cameras—of others. In future, perhaps I should remember this before I leave . . .
(Cut to avoid browser freakout, and for ancestry.)
From left to right: Vandana Singh, me, John Benson, Mike Allen, Sean Wallace, Darrell Schweitzer, Drew Morse. Yes, that is a cellphone in my pocket; I'm not that happy to see you. Courtesy of Anita Allen.
From left to right:![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-syndicated.gif)
grailquestion, ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
yuki_onna, me, godlyperspectiv. Courtesy of . . . somebody at the Livejournal party and yuki_onna's camera.
Off to the library now to read Demosthenes, although what I really want to do is research Graf Eduard von Taaffe and his son. All the seventeenth-century Irish stuff, Theobald Taaffe and the Carlingford Papers, was news to me this summer; but I've known since I was relatively young that I had an ancestor who was Prime Minister of Austria, even if his claim to popular fame may be mostly his involvement in the Mayerling affair.* Up until I was in college, we even thought my father's family was in the direct line of descent from him. (They're probably some species of cousin. It's unclear. My father's father was born in San Francisco before the turn of the twentieth century: his birth certificate, and no doubt many other useful documents, went up in flames in 1906. Whoops.) Ah, the romanticism of aristocracy fallen on hard days . . .
What I had not known, however, is the reason there are no more Viscounts Taaffe. Does the phrase "Titles Deprivation Act 1917" ring a bell? The whole bit about any persons enjoying any dignity or title as a peer or British prince who have, during the present war, borne arms against His Majesty or His Allies, or who have adhered to His Majesty's enemies . . . Now, I am reliably informed by a professor of mine that the title wouldn't have lasted much longer anyway—Austria took them all out in 1920, when it became a republic. But the fact that Britain revoked the Irish viscountcy because its possessor was on the German side of the war is almost as weird as having the last Baron of Ballymote be named Heinrich in the first place.**
And, all historical weirdness aside, the character sketch of Eduard von Taaffe on Wikipedia intrigues me. Beneath an apparent cynicism and frivolity Taaffe hid a strong feeling of patriotism to his country and loyalty to the emperor. All right, judging by the language, I suspect this was simply transferred from an out-of-date print encyclopedia. But didn't they know I'm a total sucker*** for the sort of character who keeps his heart hidden? Captain Renault in Casablanca. Lord Peter Wimsey, who has frivolity-as-mask down to an art form. And I'm related to one? I must investigate this.
And wasn't that more about the family Taaffe than you ever wanted to know . . .
*Which means that if I had the time, I could see him portrayed as a character in a ballet, which is just fantastically weird. Also several films. And a TV production where he's played by Raymond Massey, which practically guarantees that he's the villain of the piece. I am amused.
**And here I crib from memory and multiple online sources. The connection with Austria seems to go back as far as Theobald, whom Charles II sent as Envoy-Extraordinary to Leopold I in 1665 and whose brother Francis started as a page in the Austrian court and worked his way up to chancellor to the Duke of Lorraine. (Wikipedia says, unhelpfully, "having greatly distinguished himself at the siege of Vienna and in the other Turkish campaigns." I think I need a real book.) On Theobald's death in 1667, his cousin Nicholas picks up the Austrian and Irish titles; in 1703, is challenged for his Irish estates by a Protestant heir—did I mention they were Catholic? From my perspective, that may be the single strangest feature about this whole genealogy—settles out of court with Parliament, takes the money and acquires the estate of Ellischau in Bohemia; and in 1860, a Committee of Privileges of the House of Lords recognizes the right of the Taaffes to keep their Irish titles. Which is presumably how you get people with names like Ludwig Patrick Taaffe. Whoa.
***Not romantically, before anyone gets squicked by the implied ancestral incest. I don't fall in love with characters. This generally means I have to alter the wording of a whole number of memes before I can answer them . . .
(Cut to avoid browser freakout, and for ancestry.)
From left to right: Vandana Singh, me, John Benson, Mike Allen, Sean Wallace, Darrell Schweitzer, Drew Morse. Yes, that is a cellphone in my pocket; I'm not that happy to see you. Courtesy of Anita Allen.
From left to right:
grailquestion, yuki_onna, me, godlyperspectiv. Courtesy of . . . somebody at the Livejournal party and yuki_onna's camera.Off to the library now to read Demosthenes, although what I really want to do is research Graf Eduard von Taaffe and his son. All the seventeenth-century Irish stuff, Theobald Taaffe and the Carlingford Papers, was news to me this summer; but I've known since I was relatively young that I had an ancestor who was Prime Minister of Austria, even if his claim to popular fame may be mostly his involvement in the Mayerling affair.* Up until I was in college, we even thought my father's family was in the direct line of descent from him. (They're probably some species of cousin. It's unclear. My father's father was born in San Francisco before the turn of the twentieth century: his birth certificate, and no doubt many other useful documents, went up in flames in 1906. Whoops.) Ah, the romanticism of aristocracy fallen on hard days . . .
What I had not known, however, is the reason there are no more Viscounts Taaffe. Does the phrase "Titles Deprivation Act 1917" ring a bell? The whole bit about any persons enjoying any dignity or title as a peer or British prince who have, during the present war, borne arms against His Majesty or His Allies, or who have adhered to His Majesty's enemies . . . Now, I am reliably informed by a professor of mine that the title wouldn't have lasted much longer anyway—Austria took them all out in 1920, when it became a republic. But the fact that Britain revoked the Irish viscountcy because its possessor was on the German side of the war is almost as weird as having the last Baron of Ballymote be named Heinrich in the first place.**
And, all historical weirdness aside, the character sketch of Eduard von Taaffe on Wikipedia intrigues me. Beneath an apparent cynicism and frivolity Taaffe hid a strong feeling of patriotism to his country and loyalty to the emperor. All right, judging by the language, I suspect this was simply transferred from an out-of-date print encyclopedia. But didn't they know I'm a total sucker*** for the sort of character who keeps his heart hidden? Captain Renault in Casablanca. Lord Peter Wimsey, who has frivolity-as-mask down to an art form. And I'm related to one? I must investigate this.
And wasn't that more about the family Taaffe than you ever wanted to know . . .
*Which means that if I had the time, I could see him portrayed as a character in a ballet, which is just fantastically weird. Also several films. And a TV production where he's played by Raymond Massey, which practically guarantees that he's the villain of the piece. I am amused.
**And here I crib from memory and multiple online sources. The connection with Austria seems to go back as far as Theobald, whom Charles II sent as Envoy-Extraordinary to Leopold I in 1665 and whose brother Francis started as a page in the Austrian court and worked his way up to chancellor to the Duke of Lorraine. (Wikipedia says, unhelpfully, "having greatly distinguished himself at the siege of Vienna and in the other Turkish campaigns." I think I need a real book.) On Theobald's death in 1667, his cousin Nicholas picks up the Austrian and Irish titles; in 1703, is challenged for his Irish estates by a Protestant heir—did I mention they were Catholic? From my perspective, that may be the single strangest feature about this whole genealogy—settles out of court with Parliament, takes the money and acquires the estate of Ellischau in Bohemia; and in 1860, a Committee of Privileges of the House of Lords recognizes the right of the Taaffes to keep their Irish titles. Which is presumably how you get people with names like Ludwig Patrick Taaffe. Whoa.
***Not romantically, before anyone gets squicked by the implied ancestral incest. I don't fall in love with characters. This generally means I have to alter the wording of a whole number of memes before I can answer them . . .
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Aren't ballymotes those things you see swimming around your eyes when you stare at the sky? They much make fascinating baronies...
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