Swastikas in Spain

On the following link you will find a short history of the symbol of the swastika and how it became a symbol of the "Aryan race" and was adopted by the Nazis in Germany.

https://www.ushmm.org/wlc/en/article.php?ModuleId=10007453


They reached the point of including the swastika in Germany's flag between 1933 and 1945:

But as we studied in class, the swastika has been used  as symbol of good luck, the eternal return, birth and death... since the Neolithic. In Spain we have some old remains from the past that contain swastikas: 

Celtiberian vessel found in Numantia, Soria

Source: https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Esv%C3%A1stica#/media/File:Vaso_celt%C3%ADbero_con_anillas_colgantes_(M.A.N._Inv.1920-37-94)_01.jpg

Roman mosaic in La Olmeda, Palencia

Source: http://www.minube.com/rincon/villa-romana-la-olmeda-a92997

Helping disfigured soldiers

As many soldiers were disfigured during WW1, there was a series of artists who thought tthat they could help them using their art to design masks that could cover their wounded faces.

Source: http://www.npr.org/2014/09/25/351441401/one-sculptors-answer-to-wwi-wounds-plaster-copper-and-paint

The first initiative appeared in the United Kingdom in 1916. Sculptor Francis Derwent Wood created a team of sculptors in the 3rd London General Hospital, where they designed metallic masks for the traumatized soldiers who had lost part of their faces. The soldiers called this department the "Tin Noses Shop"

Source: http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-london-27592604

American sculptor Anna Coleman Ladd read an article about the "Tin Noses Shop" and decided to move to Paris, settle down there and open the Studio for Portrait Masks,  administered by the Red Cross. There, she statrted working. Every mask took a month to be finished. Thewy were many by copper and later painted manually. The patient had to wear the mask while Anna painted it, so that the colours used were as closely as possible to their real colour.

There were around 20,000 soldiers with facial wounds. Not all could receive a mask and many of them had to live with their wounds in residences or isolated villages, so that their faces didn't disturb the "normal" people.

Here you have some links if you want to learn more about this topic:

http://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/faces-of-war-145799854/?no-ist

http://www.npr.org/2014/09/25/351441401/one-sculptors-answer-to-wwi-wounds-plaster-copper-and-paint

http://www.theguardian.com/world/postcolonial/2014/may/26/broken-gargoyles-the-disfigured-soldiers-of-the-first-world-war

http://shm.oxfordjournals.org/content/early/2011/02/27/shm.hkq095.full#xref-fn-31-1

This day in history: a decisive marriage

On the 21st October 1496 a decisive marriage took place in the city of Lille, in Burgundy: Joanna of Castille and Aragón, later known as Joanna the Mad, married Philip of Burgundy, later known as Philip the Handsome. This marriage, together with another one between John of Castile of Aragón and Margaret of Austria in 1497, sealed the double alliance between the Catholic Monarchs and the Habsburg dynasty. In 1500 Joanna the Mad and Philip the Handsome had a baby called Charles, who would later become king and emperor: Charles V.

Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/8e/PhillippeJeanne.jpg/250px-PhillippeJeanne.jpg

On this link you have some more information about Joanna's trip to Burgundy and the love at first sight Philip and her had the first time they met: 

http://madmonarchs.guusbeltman.nl/madmonarchs/juana/juana_bio.htm

And here you have a short video from the TV series Isabel with some curiosities about Joanna's trip to meet her future husband and the first time they saw each other: 

¿Cómo fue el amor a primera vista de Juana y Felipe?

To end with Baroque: Rembrandt's The Night Watch flash mob

This is a flash mob made last year in Amsterdam to commemorate the re-opening of the Rijksmuseum, where you can find many of Rembrandt's paintings. We watched this video in 4th ESO C-D the other day, but José Luis forgot to include it. I hope the people who didn't watch it can enjoy it now. 

The figures in The Meninas and Dorset's version

Here you have the names of all the figures who appear in The Meninas: 

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Velazquez-Meninas-key3.jpg

The apparent centre of the painting is (1) Infanta Margarita Teresa, five- year old at the moment. She his attendent by two ladies-in-waiting or meninas, Doña Isabel de Velasco (2) and Doña Agustina Sarmiento de Sotomayor (3). This one is kneeling before Margarita and offering her a drink. To the right, there are two dwarfs, who acted as jesters: Maribarbola (4) and Nicolás Pertusato (5), who is bothering the dog. Behind this group, Doña Marcela de Ulloa (6), Margarita's chaperone and a guardadamas or bodyguard (7), who hasn´t been identified. In the background, to the right, the man in the doorway is José Nieto Velázquez (8), the queen's chamberlain and head of the royal tapestry works. One of his tasks was opening and closing the doors to the monarchs. Velázquez (9) portrayed himself in his workshop and retouched his chest some years later, when he was accepted as member or the Order of Santiago. Finally, the mirror in the background reflects the figures of Philip IV (10) and his wife Queen Mariana of Austria. 

There is a smaller version of The Meninas in the United Kingdom, preserved in the country house of Kingston Lacy, in Dorset. Its colours are lighter, the light is less strong, the monarchs are noy reflected in the mirror and there are pencil lines in the Infanta's face

Source: http://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2013/oct/02/velazquez-las-meninas-pradio-museu-madrid

This painting was supposed to be a copy of the original one. But last October, professor Matías Díaz Padrón, former curator of El Prado Museum, affirmed that this painting might have been a model painted by Velázquez before finishing the big one, maybe to show the king the definitive version. However, there is no agreement about this. Other experts say that the Dorset version was painted later, because it reflects the definitive version and not the retouches made by Velázquez. Another opinion says that this version was painted by Juan Bautista Martínez del Mazo, Velázquez's son-in-law. 

If you want to read more about these other Meninas, here you have an article from The Guardian:

http://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2013/oct/02/velazquez-las-meninas-pradio-museu-madrid

The Meninas in 3D

If you click on the painting, you will see a 3D recreation of Velázquez's most famous painting: 

e 

More about pentimenti

As we studied yesterday, Velázquez used to retouch his paintings many times. As he was the court painter, he had constant access to the paintings he had painted for the Crown and this allowed him correct what he didn't like or what he wanted to improve. As Ángela has explained on her journal, as time goes by, the oil mixed with linseed oxidizes and parts of the painting covered by the painter become visible and we can observe what the creative process of the painter was like. Here you have some more examples of Velázquez's pentimenti: 

-  Jester Calabacillas: the pumpkin on the right has moved in the definitive version

Source: http://0.tqn.com/d/arte/1/0/I/3/-/-/Velazquez-bufon-calabacillas.jpg

- King Philip IV: Many changes were made on this painting: the hat, the cloak and the right hand of the king have a different position with respect to the original one. 

Source: http://www.frick.org/sites/default/files/archivedsite/exhibitions/velazquez/conservation.htm

- Philip IV Hunter: the legs of the king and the harquebus had a different position originally:  

Philip IV Hunter

Source: http://www.foroxerbar.com/viewtopic.php?t=3779

- On Don Diego de Acedo, El Primo' s portrait, we can observe that while Velázquez was working on this canvas, he cleaned the brush in the background. Later, he covered the  background with a layer of grey colour, but now the dark lines are visible. 

Don Diego de Acedo, el Primo

Source: http://es.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Archivo:Retrato_del_buf%C3%B3n_don_Diego_de_Acedo,_el_Primo,_by_Diego_Vel%C3%A1zquez.jpg

If you want to learn more about pentimenti, here you have some additional links: 

http://www.wga.hu/frames-e.html?/html/v/velazque/09/0901vela.html

http://100swallows.wordpress.com/2009/09/04/velasquezs-pentimenti/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pentimento

El Escorial Crypt

Source: http://elzo-meridianos.blogspot.com.es/2010/04/el-lugar-donde-acaban-los-reyes-el.html

One of the most curious spaces of the Royal Monastery of El Escorial is the royal crypt, where many of the former monarchs of the Hispanic Monarchy and Spain are buried. As we studied, the monastery was built by Philip II, who conceived it as his residence ans also as resting place for him and the members of his family. That's why he ordered the construction of a crypt or pantheon beneath the church.

A. Altar of the Basilica

B. Burial place 

C. Crypt (Panteón de Reyes, s. XVII)

D. Choir of the Chapel (Panteón de Infantes, s. XVII)

E.  Choir for the monks

F. Tabernacle

G. Philip II's summer room

Source: http://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cripta_Real_del_Monasterio_de_El_Escorial

The crypt contains 26 marble sepulchers plus two additional ones over the entrance and it's reserved for the ruling monarchs and  and their spouses. The monarchs' tombs are on one side and their spouses are on the opposite side. Isabella II is the only queen on the monarchs' side and Francisco de Asís' tomb, her husband, is located on the spouses' side. On the following drawing you can observe the distribution of the tombs: (the monarchs on the left and their spouses on the right): 

  

Source: http://www.unofficialroyalty.com/royal-burial-sites/spanish-royal-burial-sites/spanish-royal-burial-sites-of-the-kingdom-of-spain-1516-present/

The first monarchs to be buried there were Philip II's parents, Charles V and Isabella of Portugal. The ruling monarchs who are not buried in the crypt are the following: 

- Philip V, buried at La Granja Palace, in Segovia

- Ferdinand VI, buried at the Royal Monastery of Las Salesas Reales, in Madrid. As his wife Bárbara of Braganza didn't have children, she didn't have the right to be buried in El Escorial (the spouses only have the right to rest there if they were mothers/fathers of kings) and she was buried in Madrid. Ferdinand VI decided to rest with her

- Joseph I and  Amadeus I, foreign monarchs who didn't finish their reign in Spain

The last monarchs to be buried in the crypt were Alphonse XIII and his wife Victoria Eugenia. There are two tombs reserved for Juan of Borbón and his wife Mª de las Mercedes, King Juan Carlos I's parents. They didn't reign, but as they were the king's parents, they are going to be buried on the right side. 

There is a rotting room (el "pudridero"), where the corpses of the dead remain for some years until they can be placed inside the funerary urns. At the moment, the King's parents are in this rotting room. This is the only existing picture of the rotting room:

Source: http://elzo-meridianos.blogspot.com.es/2010/04/el-lugar-donde-acaban-los-reyes-el.html

Other members of the royal family (infantes, infantas and the queens who were not mothers of a king) are buried in the Pantheon of Infantes, which includes several rooms that host around 100 corpses. There is a curious tomb, with the shape of a birthday cake, reserved for the infants who died before having received the first communion. Here you have it: 

Source: http://www.travelinginspain.com/el_escorial_Crypt.html

If you want to read more about El Escorial Royal Pantheon, here you have two more links: 

http://www.unofficialroyalty.com/royal-burial-sites/spanish-royal-burial-sites/spanish-royal-burial-sites-of-the-kingdom-of-spain-1516-present/

http://www.travelinginspain.com/el_escorial_Crypt.html

More about Charles II

Charles II wearing the robe of the Order of the Golden Fleece, 

painted by Juan Carreño de Miranda in 1677

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Carlos_II;_Koning_van_Spanje.jpg

If you want to learn more about Charles II's genetics and health problems, here you have some more links. You will discover some curious facts about the supposed spell he had been given and the people who were punished for this reason and what was his ordinary life like: 

http://www.nndb.com/people/901/000097610/

http://drvitelli.typepad.com/providentia/2011/09/the-bewitched-king.html

http://scienceblogs.com/notrocketscience/2009/04/14/how-inbreeding-killed-off-a-line-of-kings/

Inbreeding coeficient in the Habsburg dynasty

Source: http://scienceblogs.com/notrocketscience/2009/04/14/how-inbreeding-killed-off-a-line-of-kings/

The horrifying Duke of Alba and April Fools Day in the Netherlands

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Tizian_060.jpg

Fernando Álvarez de Toledo y Pimentel (1507-1582), the third Duke of Alba, was one of the best generals who worked to Charles I and Philip II's orders. He participated in the conquest of Tunis and in the Battle of Mühlberg as well.  He was also in charge of the government of several parts of the Hispanic Monarchy, such as the Duchy of Milan, Kingdom of Naples and the Kingdom of Portugal. But his role in the Low Countries was so authoritarian that he was known as the "Iron Duke" and his decisions contributed to the origin of the Black Legend of the Hispanic Monarchy. even at present he is considered to be as the Bogeyman in the Netherlands.

Philip II sent the Duke of Alba to the Low Countries in 1567  to re-establish public order after the Storm of the Images. The Duke created the Council of Troubles to punish the ringleaders of the religious protests. But the actions of this council were so drastic that people called it the Council of Blood: around 12,000 people were prosecuted and 1,000 of them were executed. This policy and the tax increase (10% tax on all sales) to supply the troops led to a general revolt in the Low Countries. The local nobles formed an army and started fighting against Alba. On the 1st April 1572 the Dutch rebels got their first importany victory against Alba's troops, when they seized the city of Brielle. This victory is taught to the Dutch children with a rhyming phrase: “Op 1 april verloor Alva zijn bril”, which means "On April 1, Alba lost his glasses" ("Brielle" sounds very similar to "bril", glasses, in Dutch). The 1st of April is April Fools' Day in the Netherlands. So the Dutch have a double commemoration on that day. 

Capture of Brielle

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:%C2%B4t_Veroveren_van_Den_Briel,_op_den_eersten_april_des_jaars_1572_(Jan_Luyken,_1679).jpg

Since then, the Duke of Alba´s name has been used to frighten the Dutch children and even at present he is considered to be as the Bogeyman in the Netherlands. His name is used to scare children or to threaten them when they don´t want to do something, such as eating the soup or going to bed early. They tell them: The Duke of Alba is coming!

Sources: 

http://magazine.dutchancestrycoach.com/the-duke-of-alba-favorite-april-fool-of-the-dutch

http://www.cafebabel.co.uk/culture/article/bogeyman-and-his-european-friends.html

Hygiene in the Modern Era

A Woman Bathing in a Stream, Rembrandt van Rijn (1654)

Source: http://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/paintings/rembrandt-a-woman-bathing-in-a-stream-hendrickje-stoffels

As we learnt last Friday, hygiene customs have changed a lot with respect to the Modern Era. After the Black Death epidemics, the idea that water was a dangerous  way of transmission of illnesses extended. People thought that water carried diseases into the skin and public baths were closed in many cities. There was also a moral reason.against taking baths: as people had to be naked to have a bath, this could induce them to debauchery and depravation. People only cleaned their hands and face regularly and they took baths from time to time. The rich people had more resources and they sometimes had special rooms with a tub to take a bath. They used scented oils, parfums or flower petals mixed with water. But even if they had the means, they didn't wash frequently: once a month or one or two times per year. Even kings were very dirty: 

- Isabella I, the Catholic queen of Castile didn't change her shirt until they conquered Granada. The campaign lasted 10 years

-  King Henry IV of France was described as "stinking of sweat, stables, feet and garlic"

- Queen Elizabeth I of England bathed only once a month and James I, her succesor, only cleaned his fingers and wore the same clothes for months 

- Louis XIV of France, the Sun King, had dozens of bathrooms at Versailles, but he didn't take baths. His servants ruubed his hands and face with alcohol and he only took therapeutic baths from time to time. 

James I of England

Source: http://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jacobo_I_de_Inglaterra_y_VI_de_Escocia

In different countries men didn't take their hats even when they were eating, in order to avoid the lice falling into their plates. People used parfums to hide the smell. 

The poor people had more difficulties to have access to water and they commonly cleaned with a rag and plain water (no soap, because it was a luxury product). When they took a bath, alll the family did it in the same water: first the oldest members of the family and the youngest in the end. This custom is the origin of the expression "Don't throw the baby out with the bath water", which means "not throwing or spoiling good things when you get rid of something you don't need anymore. 

If you want to read more about this, here you have some links. They are really interesting: 

http://www.historyundressed.com/2008/07/history-of-hygiene-bathing-teeth.html

http://www.economist.com/node/15108662

http://hubpages.com/hub/A-History-of-Dirty-Habits

http://www.andreazuvich.com/history/the-hygiene-of-the-17th-century/

http://www.skin-science.com/_int/_en/topic/topic_sousrub.aspx?tc=SKIN_SCIENCE_ROOT%5EWORDS_RITES_AND_CUSTOMS%5EWATER_HYGIENE_AND_BEAUTY

Michelangelo's Last Judgement and the Sistine Chapel

This is a short analysis of Michelangelo's Last Judgement in the Sistine Chapel, made by the Khan Academy experts. You can read a summary of their explanation on the following link: 

http://smarthistory.khanacademy.org/last-judgment-sistine-chapel.html

Here you have a more detailed explanation of the different scenes and figures of the fresco. It includes the information I gave in class: 

http://www.italian-renaissance-art.com/Last-Judgement.html

And this article by The Telegraph includes 50 fascinating facts about the Sistine Chapel: 

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/destinations/europe/italy/rome/9917841/Romes-Sistine-Chapel-50-fascinating-facts.html

The different Mona Lisa versions

Sources: http://elpais.com/elpais/2012/02/02/inenglish/1328163642_850210.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isleworth_Mona_Lisa

Here you have three different versions of Leonardo Da VInci's Mona Lisa: 

- The painting on the left is considered to be the original one and it's located in the Louvre Museum, in Paris (France).

- The work in the center belongs to El Prado Museum. It was stored in the basement of the museum and was discovered and restored in 2012. It is supposed to be a copy made by Salai, Leonardo's pupil, at the same time that Leonardo painted the Mona Lisa. On the following link you can read more about its discovery and restoration: 

http://elpais.com/elpais/2012/02/02/inenglish/1328163642_850210.html

On this video in Spanish you can see the restoration process of this painting: 

- The painting on the right is called Isleworth Mona Lisa. It was discoverd by a British art collector called Hugh Blaker, who bought it and brought it to his studio in Isleworth, London. There are a lot of doubts about its authenticity, but last year the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology said that this painting was made before the Louvre Mona Lisa. Here you have more information about this  painting: 

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/02/14/isleworth-mona-lisa-declared-authentic-swiss-institute-real-painting_n_2685047.html

The following video tells the story of this supposedly earlier Mona Lisa: 

And this is another article which analyzes Mona Lisa' s similarities with Salai and the theory about the real model for this painting: 

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1352915/Mona-Lisa-model-man-Was-Leonardo-da-Vincis-male-apprentice-model.html

And finally, here you have a link with a small biography of Leonardo Da Vinci that includes data about his sexuality: 

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1352915/Mona-Lisa-model-man-Was-Leonardo-da-Vincis-male-apprentice-model.html

Which version you prefer?

Recent news about Coca-Cola formula

As some of you were interested in the story of the formula of Coca-Cola the other day, here you have some   more information and recent news about it: 

Coca-Cola was invented by a pharmacist from Atlanta (Georgia) called John Pemberton in May 1886. The name was suggested to Pemberton by his bookkeeper  Frank Robinson, who also designed the famous logo of the brand, with the flowing letters everybody knows.  Originally Coca-Cola was sold as a medicine. Pemberton claimed that it was good to cure many diseases, such as headache, dyspepsia impotence, nerasthenia and morphine addiction. In 1887 another pharmacist, called Asa Candler, bought the formula to Pemberton and they started producing the beverageon large scale.  At the beginnig Coca-Cola was sold at soda fountains. Later it started being bottled and this way production and distribution could increase and expand to other parts of the country and the rest of the world. 

The original Coca- Cola bottle

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Coca_cola_Bottle.png

Coca-Cola includes extracts of cocaine (from coca leaves) and kola nut, which contains caffeine. This composition caused some problems with the Food and Drug Administration in the past and the company had to prove that the quantities didn't create addiction. The current ingredients are carbonated water, sugar (sucrose or high -fructose corn syrup, depending on the countries), caffeine, phosphoric acid, caramel colour and natural flavourings. In 1985 Coca-Cola company launched a new formula, known as New Coke, but the public rejected it and the company had to come back to the classic coke. The original formula of Coca-Cola is placed in an air-conditioned vault at the World of Coca-Cola interactive exhibit in Atlanta, Georgia. 

World of Coca-Cola building

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Newworldofcocacola.jpg

The legend says that only two executives of the company have access to the formula at the same time, but in fact there are other people who know all the production process. 

There have been some recent news about the secret formula of Coca-Cola: 

- A historian called Mark Pendergrast has recently published a book, where he states that Frank Robinson's family gave him the secret formula. The book's name is For God, Country and Coca-Cola: The Definitive History of the Great American Soft Drink and the Company That Makes It and tells the story of the origins of the company. 

At the same time, an antiques dealer from Georgia called Cliff Kluge has tried to sell  another formula on E-Bay. He started the auction with 5 million dollars and wanted to sell it for 15 million dollars, but no one bid for the formula. 

Here you have the complete story: 

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/the-real-thing-historian-publishes-cocacolas-secret-formula-8619076.html

- And here you have the experiment The Independent made with Mark Pendergrast's formula. They tried to concoct Coca-Cola following the recipe included in his book and this was the result: 

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/not-quite-the-real-thing-cocacolas-secret-formula-is-out-of-the-bottle--but-can-the-famous-flavour-be-recreated-at-home-8621636.html

The four Napoleons

In the background, Napoleon I and his son Napoleon II

In the foreground,  Napoleon III and his son Napoleon IV

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Napol3.jpg

At Enrique Pérez´s request, here you have a post about the four Napoleons:

- As you know, Napoleon I was the Emperor of France  from 1804 to 1814 and he died in Saint Helena, after being definitiveley defeated at the Battle of Waterloo. 

- Napoleon II was the son  of  Napoleon I and his second wife, Marie Louise of Austria's. He was born in 1811 and appointed Prince Imperial and King of Rome. After Napoleon I´s defeat at the Battle of the Nations in Leipzig, he named his son Emperor, but the coalition that had defeated Napoleon didn't accept this fact and he was obliged to withdraw. After Waterloo Napoleon II went to live in Austria, with his mother. He was called "Franz" and received the title of Duke of Reichstadt. He died in  1832 in Vienna. 

- Napoleon III was Louis Napoleon Bonaparte. Napoleon I´s grandnephew. Louis Napoleon was Luois Bonaparte´s son. Louis Bonaparte was one of Napoleon I´s brothers and was appointed King of Holland by him. He reigned in Holland from 1806 to 1810. After Joseph Bonaparte´s death without any successors, Louis Napoleon Bonaparte became Napoleon I´s heir. 

- Napoleon IV was Napoleon III´s son. He was born in 1856 and was the only child of Napoleon III and Empress Eugenia de Montijo. He was appointed Prince Imperial, but after Napoleon III´s abdication, his early death in 1879 broke up the hopes of a further Napoleonic restoration in France. 

Curious stories about some inventions of the Industrial Revolution

Yesterday I told you the story about the flutes James Watt forged to get the money he needed to for his experiments with the steam engine. You can read the full story here: 

http://todayinsocialsciences.blogspot.com.es/2012/01/what-do-flutes-have-to-do-with.html

This is the link to the story about the true inventor of the telephone, who was not Alexander Graham Bell, but Antonio Meucci. Graham Bell is supposed to have copied Meucci´s invention and registered it in his name: 

http://todayinsocialsciences.blogspot.com.es/2012/01/antonio-meucci-true-inventor-of.html

The story  of electricity is very curious as well. Everybody considers Thomas Alva Edison, the Wizard of Menlo Park, to be one of the biggest inventors ever. He accumulated 2,332 patents worldwide (1,093 in the USA), but he didn´t invent all the products people commonly attribute him. Many of them were improvements of previous inventions and other were developed by his workers in his laboratory in Menlo Park. Edison was more a business man who got the money for his projects. Here you have a complete list of all the inventions patented by Edison: 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Edison_patents

Edison was also involved in the so called War of Currents with Nikola Tesla, a great inventor. Edison defended direct current and Tesla defended alternating current. Tesla received George Westinghouse´s financing and Edison tried to discredit alternating current by all means. He reached the point of inventing the electric chair with an old Westinghouse generator. The first executed criminal was William Kemmler, who died in an awful spectacle. Later Edison  executed a circus elephant which had killed three men to show how  dangerous alternating current could be. But despite all his efforts, finally Tesla and Westinghouse proved that alternating current was cheaper and more efficient. 

Source: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/edison-and-the-electric-chair-mark-essig/1100311873

If you want to read more about the War of Currents, here you have some links: 

http://www.pbs.org/tesla/ll/ll_warcur.html

http://blogs.smithsonianmag.com/history/2011/10/edison-vs-westinghouse-a-shocking-rivalry/

http://inventors.about.com/od/hstartinventions/a/Electric_Chair.htm

Medical improvements in the 18th century

As we have studied today, medical improvements strongly contributed to the reduction of mortality and population growth in the 18th century. There were several discoveries which led to an extraordinary advance in healthcare. For example, Anton van Leeuwenhoek, a Dutch scientist, improved the microscope and discovered red blood cells, bacteria, and protozoa. The Italian doctor Giovanni B Margagni founded pathologic anatomy and the French biologist Marie François Xavier Bichat developed histology. But the most transcendent improvement was made by Edward Jenner, a British doctor who improved inoculation and created the first vaccine to prevent smallpox. The story of this invention is very curious: 

The principle of vaccine is inoculating a small dose of the virus you want to prevent, so that your organism is able to create the antobodies to combat the virus by himself. Jenner discovered that milkmaids didn´t get the smallpox and thought that this might be related with the pus inside the blisters milkmaids had from cowpox (a disease cows suffer, very similar to smallpox). He extracted the pus from one of these blisters and inoculated an 8-year-old boy with this liquid and the boy became immune to smallpox. That´s why the word "vaccine" comes from "vaccinus,-a, -um" (bovine in English) and "Vacca,-ae" ("cow" in English). The cow that contributed to the invention of vaccine was called Blossom.

At the beginning people were not convinced of the effectiveness of vaccines and many thought that  if they were inoculated with cowpox they would become cows. Here you have a 1802 caricature which shows doctor Jenner vaccinating patients who were afraid of the "secondary effects" of vaccination: 

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:The_cow_pock.jpg

There was also a Spanish contribution  to the history of medicine: the Balmis and Salvany smallpox expedition: 

Source: http://blogs.ua.es/epidemiasalicante/

In 1803 Doctors Francisco Xavier Balmis and José Salvany proposed to vaccinate all the children in the American colonies. Their expedition was financed by King Charles IV, because his daughter, infant María Luisa, had suffered from smallpox. The problem was how to transport the vaccine to the Indies, because they didn´t have means of preserving it. Balmis had the idea of taking 22 orphans and inoculating the vaccine to some of them and passing it from ones to others. This way, the virus could arrive in America and they could start the vaccination campaign. This expedition was very important. They took the vaccine to the Canary Islands, Colombia, Perú, Ecuador, México, China and the Philippines and they inoculated thousands of children in two years. This expedition is considered to be the first international healthcare expedition in history. Edward Jenner himself was admired by this important achievement.

Map of the smallpox expedition

Source: http://cid.oxfordjournals.org/content/41/9/1285/F1.expansion.html

If you want to learn more about other medical improvements, click on the following link: 

http://www.historyworld.net/wrldhis/plaintexthistories.asp?paragraphid=kvb

Joseph I´s reputation in Spain

After the awful episode of the Abdications of Bayonne, Joseph Bonaparte was appointed king of Spain by his brother Napoleon. He was the official king of Spain during the Peninsular War, even though he was a convinced republica. Joseph I tried to modernize the country, but he was not loved by his subjects. The Spaniards invented several nicknames to mock him and spread rumours about his supposed vices. For example, he was called "Pepe Botella" and "El rey de copas", because rumours said that he was an alcoholic. However, he didn´t drink alcohol: he was a teetotaler. The story of his supposed passion for alcohol comes from his petition of wine for his troops when they were close to Calahorra, in La Rioja. 

Joseph I was also called "Pepe Plazuelas" in Madrid, because he ordered to demolish several churches and convents to open squares in this city (for example, the Oriente Square, in front of the Royal Palace). Other nicknames he received were "El Empeorador" (although his reforms were aimed to improve the Spanish administration and modernize the country), "El rey Pepino" (probably because his first name was Giuseppe and the Italian diminutive of Giuseppe is Beppino or Peppino), "Pepino el Tuerto" (he was not one-eyed, but he used a monocle), "Rey Pepe, Pepino, Pepillo y Pipote", "José Postrero" (instead of José Primero)...

Joseph I tried to gain the love of his subjects. He hated bullfighting, but he restored it (it had been forbidden by Charles IV) and allowed free bullfights to gain the people´s sympathy. He was also accused of being a compulsive gambler, only because he allowed the sale of playing cards. 

His wife didn´t come with him in Spain. During his stay, he had several mistresses. One of them was the Marchioness of Montehermoso. The Marchis of Montehermoso agreed with this relationship and in exchange for his "consent" he received the Royal Order of Cavalry and was appointed Grande de España. Here you have a popular tune the people sung about this relationship:

La señora marquesa

tiene un tintero

donde moja la pluma

José Primero.

These are some satirical drawings depicting Joseph I:

Source of the pictures above: 

http://www.cervantesvirtual.com/bib/portal/reyes_y_reinas/pcuartonivel.jsp?conten=imagenes&pagina=imagenes3.jsp

Source: http://numismatico.wordpress.com/2010/06/23/las-piezas-grandes-de-jose-i/

Ni es caballo, ni yegua,  ni pollino en el que va montado, que es pepino

Source: http://elpais.com/diario/2008/02/29/cultura/1204239603_740215.html

If you click on the link below, you will have a complete explanation of this last satirical drawing: 

http://ceres.mcu.es/pages/ResultSearch?txtSimpleSearch=Caricatura%20de%20Jos%E9%20Bonaparte&simpleSearch=0&hipertextSearch=1&search=simpleSelection&MuseumsSearch=MHM%7C&MuseumsRolSearch=25&listaMuseos=%5BMuseo%20de%20Historia%20de%20Madrid%5D

And these are some popular tunes sung "in his honour": 

Es mi voluntad, y quiero

ha dicho Napoleón

que sea Rey de esta Nación

mi hermano José Primero. 

Es mi voluntad, y quiero

responde la España ufana

que se vaya a cardar lana

este rey José Postrero.

¿Los franceses a España

a qué han venido?

A robar gallinas

y a beber vino.

Pepe Botella, baja al despacho,

no puedo ahora que estoy borracho. 

Pierde cuidado, Pepe, 

que aunque no quieras, 

has de ser rey de España 

por tus botellas, 

pues ellas solas 

te harán 

de tus estados 

gran rey de copas... 

Anoche, anoche 

Pepe Botella 

se emborrachó 

y le decía su hermano: 

borracho, tunante, perdido, ladrón...

Tráelo, Marica, a Napoleón, 

Tráelo, y le pagaremos la contribución

Ya viene por la ronda

José I

con un ojo postizo

y el otro huero

Ya se va por las ventas 

el rey pepino, 

con un par de botellas para el camino

If you want to learn more about Joseph I as king of Spain, here you have some links in Spanish:

http://www.elmundo.es/suplementos/magazine/2008/437/1202649365.html

http://www.publico.es/culturas/75557/jose-i-el-rey-de-las-buenas-intenciones

http://www.diarioinformacion.com/cultura/2012/03/04/pepe-botella-feo-tonto-borracho/1230157.html

Madame Guillotine

The guillotine at the Revolution Square, Paris

Source: http://www.herodote.net/1er_decembre_1789-evenement-17891201.php

Guillotine comes from Joseph Ignace Guillotin, a French surgeon who was a deputy of the National Constituent Assembly. As the French revolutionaries decided not to abolish death penalty, Guillotin recommended a more “humanitarian” way of executing people. Since that moment, the nobles were executed with an ax or a sword and the poor people were hung at the gallows or tortured to death at the wheel. Guillotin proposed decapitating people with a device with a cross-cutting blade, which would make death faster. But Guillotin didn´t invent this device. Similar machines had been used in other places since the 12th century. 

The designers of the French device known as guillotine were three people: Laquiante, an officer of the Strasbourg criminal court, Tobias Schmidt, a German engineer, and Antoine Louis, Louis XVI´s physician and Secretary to the Academy of Surgery. They designed the guillotine drawing inspiration from other devices used in different places: the Mannaia (used in Italy), the Scottish Maiden (used in Edinburg) and the Halifax Gibbet (used in England). 

The Legislative Assembly decided to adopt the guillotine as execution method on the 23th April 1792. People called it The National Razor or Madame Guillotine. The first executed by guillotine in France was a highwayman called Nicolas Jacques Pelletier, accused from robbery and murder. He was beheaded on the 25th April 1792 at 3:30 in the afternoon at the Hôtel the Ville Square, the traditional place for public executions. A large crowd attended to his beheading to see the new method of execution and they were deceived by his quick death and shouted “Bring back our wooden gallows!” 

On August 1792 the guillotine was moved to the Tuileries Palace and executions took place at the Carrousel Square.  The first executed were people who had committed violent crimes, but during the Reign of Terror many suspects of being counter-revolutionary were sentenced to die on the guillotine. That´s why this device has been always related to this historical period. Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette were among the most illustrious sentenced to death. But also Antoine Lavoisier, the father of modern chemistry, and most of the leaders of the revolution, such as Danton, Desmoulins, Robespierre or Saint-Just died guillotined. The amount of people executed in Paris until July 1794 was 2,639 (1,515 of them between June and July 1794). Other regions in France were more severe: for example the Revolutionary Tribunal in Nantes (in the Vendée Region) ordered the execution of 8,000 people in three months. In France there were around 17,000 executed (16, 594). Eight per cent of them were nobles, 6% were members of the clergy, 14% belonged to the bourgeoisie and around 70% were workers or peasants, accused of escaping conscription, hoarding, desertion from the army or rebellion. 

The guillotine continued to be the execution method in France until 1981, when death penalty was abolished. The last public execution took place in 1939 and the last person executed by guillotine died in 1977. 

Mercantilism and gold reserves

Mercantilism was the first economic theory in history and the predominant economic policy developed by the  first State-nations between the 16th and 18th centuries. It was based on the idea that the power of a country was related to the quantity of precious metals it could accumulate. The wealthier a country was, the more powerful it would be. And the best way of getting more precious metals was reducing imports, promoting exports and developing international trade. That´s why the main European powers built colonial empires, supported trading companies during the 16th-18th centuries and imposed tariffs to the foreign products  that arrived in their ports. This policy could be considered a precedent of protectionism. 

Jean- Baptiste Colbert promoted mercantilism in France

Source: http://economyblog1.blogspot.com.es/

If you want to learn more about mercantilism, you can visit the following links: 

http://www.econlib.org/library/Enc/Mercantilism.html

http://www.investopedia.com/terms/m/mercantilism.asp#axzz2DSm8UA6t

The States started accumulation gold and silver reserves during the Modern Era. In the 17th Sir Isaac Newton, the famous scientist, was the first to establish the gold standard (the correspondence between the gold reserves a country had and the amount of coins that could be minted and circulate). But the gold standard wasn´t officially adopted in Great Britain until 1774. In other countries gold and silver standards coexisted until the 19th century. The British were also the first to create a central bank, in charge of minting the official currency of the country. In 1844 the Bank Charter Act established that every currency minting had to be supported by gold reserves. That was the origin of the gold reserves every country stores in their central banks. In war times different countries left the gold standard temporarily, in order to print more banknotes to be able to buy the resources they needed. In the Spanish case, the government of the Second Republic had to transfer 510 tonnes of gold (72.6% of its gold reserves) to the USSR to finance supplies and weapons to defend legality against those who had rebelled against the government. This was the so called Moscow Gold

As the USA became the main world economic power after World War 2, many countries started accumulating dollar reserves (foreign exchange) together with gold. But this created a problem to the USA, because they didn ´t have enough gold to cover all the dollars stored in many countries. In 1971 USA president Richard Nixon decided unilaterally to suspend the direct convertibility of the dollar to gold and this meant the end of gold standard as the way of organizing the international monetary relations. However, the States continue to accumulate gold reserves. Here you have a graph where you can see the top 20 countries in gold reserves: 

Source: http://www.moneymorning.com.au/20121122/china-is-now-the-worlds-biggest-gold-producer-and-consumer.html

And here you have a more complete list: 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gold_reserve#Officially_reported_gold_holdings

The price of gold has increased a lot in the last years, because it is considered to be a refuge value, a safe investment. If Spain sold its gold reserves (281.6 tonnes), the price would be around 11,335 million €

Bank of Spain gold vault 

Source: http://elpais.com/diario/2007/09/16/economia/1189893604_850215.html

Gold is supposed to be a safe value, but we shouldn´t forget that it´s only a scarce metal humans have decided to consider very valuable. 

If you want to learn more about gold reserves, here you have another interesting link: 

http://goldratefortoday.org/history-gold-part-1-ancient-history-mediaeval-times-early-modern-times/