I am not a woman of feminine frivolity or fear, but I direct these letters to you for the advantage of my whole kingdom; when you receive them accept me and the whole kingdom of Lombardy. I shall give you so many cities, castles, renowned palaces, and infinite gold and silver; over all these you will have an illustrious name if you make yourself dear to me. Do not consider me bold that I approach you first. It is permitted as much to the virile as to the feminine sex to desire a legitimate spouse. Nor does it matter if a man or a woman make the first move in love as long it involves an indissoluble marriage. Which can not be except by the consent of both. Fare well.
~ Matilda of Canossa's marriage proposal for purely political reasons to Guelph V of Bavaria, her second husband.
1089 A.D.
Jeeja Yanin in Chocolate (2008).
btw now feels like a good time to plug the organizations that the kissinger death tontine accepted donations-as-submissions from!
☞ Cambodian Children's Fund ☞ Desafío Levantemos Chile ☞ East Timor and Indonesia Action Network ☞ Guatemala Forensic Anthropology Project ☞ The Halo Trust ☞ Yemen Relief Project
May 17, 1923: Jim Spear trades horses for gas; becomes first mail carrier appointed from Watertown post office.
For more than 600 years, following King Odoacer's overthrow of the last Western Roman Emperor in 476 when he officially became the King of Italy - no army based in Italy had ever defeated the German invaders.
That is until Matilde Di Canossa accomplished what seemed like an impossible undertaking. Among her many great accomplishments, her defeat of the Holy Roman Emperor - Henry IV - was a major turning point for the Catholic Church, for Western Europe and for Italy. It earned her the honorific "Madonna of War" or as she is also known, "Gran Contessa" and "Gran Duchessa" - The Grand Countess and the Grand Duchess. For indeed, she held legal claim over both titles and more.
its the last month of 2023 so i’m just gonna say it: what the absolute fuck was that
elektra-luxx:
Happy 150th Birthday Alphonse Mucha!!
the massive, poorly constructed environmental risk that spat all over the Standing Rock Sioux people's treaty rights? that dug up their sacred burial sites? the one where the oil corporation who owned it bought out a private company to do a sham of an "environmental analysis" and never consulted the tribe and STILL didn't actually get approval? the one that's literally operating illegally and without proper permits right fucking now?
yeah, that.
you remember that.
surprising absolutely no one, the army corps of engineers this week (September 8, 2023) released an EIS (environmental impact statement) draft for public comment that takes into account absolutely 0 of the tribe's concerns, and in fact did not consult with them once in the process!
what's the good news?
All you have to do is add your name, email, and zip code, and it pulls up a form with a pre-written message you can just click and submit, listing the most pressing concerns. You can also personalize it if you want, but you don't have to. This will take you two minutes. Please.
you can also donate directly to the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe here.