On Queens and Windows

It's Friday! Today in class we gave you a few examples of conflicts between states during the Early Modern Age.  As states became more centralized, developed better weapons, and struggled for access to land, rivalries developed between them. Some of the more notorious rivalries were that between the Ottomans and Safavids, the English and Spanish, the English and French, and the Spanish and French (the Europeans are crazy).  Initially these seemed religious in nature, and by the end of the era, religion played little, if any, role in warfare.

One of my favorite quotes from this time period is by Elizabeth I right before the Spanish Armada arrived:

I know I have the body of a weak and feeble woman, but I have the heart and stomach of a king!

You go, Elizabeth. On a related note, one of my favorite movies is Elizabeth (1998) starring the lovely and talented Cate Blanchett (Galadriel from the Lord of the Rings trilogy).  

We might have thrown around the word defenestration in class this week - it literally means to throw someone out of a window.  One of the more important defenestrations occurred in the city of Prague in 1618 (apparently the Czech defenestrated people often enough that there are multiple Defenestration of Pragues in history), thus beginning the Thirty Years' War.  Don't be sad for them, though...they landed on a soft pile of poop, although Catholic accounts suggest that the delegates were saved by angels. 

Whoopsie Daisy!

We hope you have a wonderful long weekend and enjoy your extra day off. Remember - there will NOT be a Current Event on Tuesday because of the holiday!