Category Archives: Stuff I feel like reblogging

When brother-in-law King Charles seized her late husband’s lands, Gerberga decided to fight for her sons’ inheritance and her own power as queen mother and regent.

After Frankish King Carloman died at age 20 in December 771, Charles moved swiftly to seize the kingdom. Was it determination or desperation that made Gerberga flee with an entourage to Lombardy? Was it her idea or did her late husband’s magnates persuade her?

We don’t know how she reached the realm of Charles’s ex-father-in-law. She would have either had to cross the Alps or go by sea. The slow travel in general posed the danger of brigands, but add winter weather and at least one boy too young to ride, and this journey becomes especially risky.

We don’t know much about Gerberga, except that she was a Frankish noblewoman selected by father-in-law Pepin to marry Carloman, but we can make a few guesses…

“Women should avoid dressing like sluts.”

I could not agree more with this statement.

How dare we wear the clothes that we feel comfortable in and go out with the hopes of being raped.

How dare we even consider exposing any more than 2 inches of skin in public, because we’re looking to get forcefully laid.

How dare any of us suggest that the perpetrator is the reason for rape, when we were the ones who decided to wear jeans and a sweater outside of the house, where such disgraceful dress sense should be confined.

No, ladies. It is definitely all our fault. We were asking for it from the moment we chose that outfit. It has nothing to do with the fact that he didn’t care when he heard the word “no”. It has nothing to do with the fact that he proceeded after hearing that word.

It has…

I have a deliciously exotic post for you for Steampunkapalooza. Today, April 12, is national licorice day. Those amazing ancient Egyptians were the first to discover the wonders of licorice. Generous amounts of licorice were found in King Tut’s tomb and the use of licorice in an ancient beverage is recorded in Egyptian hieroglyphics. The Victorians loved licorice. It’s a perfect candy for a tea party. You can place a stick of it in your tea to stir it. Also a crystal dish filled with colorful Licorice Allsorts, a favorite English candy since 1899, will liven up your tea table. Of course licorice was just one of many ancient Egyptian influences on Victorian culture.

The Victorians loved costumes and Cleopatra influenced costumes were quite fashionable, used in the theater and to wear to balls. Of course actual Ancient Egyptian clothing and the Victorian idea of it were two different things. Pictured here…