Chronicles of Old London Exploring England's Historical Capital by Kevin
The history of London is lost in the fog of the time because she has an ancient history populated by the domination of Romans. The nation had also a great catholic history 'till at the arrival of Henry VIII, who, for a reason or another, officially he wanted to divorce from one of his numerous wives and the Pope said no, decided of breaking the relationship with Rome with the creation of the Anglican Church. Luther had previously done the same in Germany followed by Calvin in Switzerland. Temptatives of a return to the past and the catholicism? Of course, with Mary I, Queen of England, second wife of Felipe II,the so-called nicknamed Bloody Mary. She killed all the possible protestants, punishing with her paranoid behavior a lot of innocent people.
Elizabeth I was a special character. Beautiful when young, when not anymore so fresh, she asked in a daily base to everyone if she was as attractive as she was before. They could be servants or important people.
The big love story with Essex was in part tragi-comic. For various reasons the two stayed separated at long and once returned, Essex asked for his price. He entered in the bedroom of the Queen, finding her as she was before make-up and various embellishment and his surprise was pretty, ahem, shocking. He was imprisoned and considering that the Queen remained nasty with him after all he publicly declared that: “Her conditions are as crooked as her carcass!”
After all he was executed and that beautiful head, once the Queen was in love forwas severed from the rest of the body after three strokes.
It's in this period that a lot of fertile authors became successful and some of them like Shakespeare and Marlowe immortals:
Christopher Marlowe, Ben Jonson and William Shakespearem Sir Philip Sidney, Edmund Spenser, John Donne, Thomas Nashe, Thomas Chapman and many more.
The Great Fire of London from the 2-5 September 1666 helped under many ways the plague and its disappearance. It seems that from the kitchen of the Queen something went wrong and a little burn started to take place, invading later all London. It was the most profound chaos, reported diligently also by Samuel Pepys in his famous Diary and the destruction of London.
I found touching the love story between Keats and Fanny Brawne. One of my favorite british poets, John Keats lived a short life, died at just 25 years, loved a girl that couldn't never become his wife because he was too poor, but his production is immortal and fresh as if written today or just yesterday.
Charles Dickens is another tribulated genius of british literature. His lifepretty complicated, he gave us back masterpieces like The PickWick Papers, A Christmas Carol and much more.
Queen Victoria inaugurated also the period called by everyone the Victorian-one; lights and shadows would have characterized this reign.
Everything started on Nov 9 1888, when in one of the poorest corners of London a prostitues Mary Jane Kelly is found killed and ripped. If you look on the net at the imagine of the faces of all these girls once dead you will notice their personal desperation, fear and horror. Also once dead they could not find peace. A peace removed by a still unknown serial-killer. Between April 3, 1888, and February 13, 1891, there were at least eleven cases of prostitutes being killed. London was in a complete chaos. People wanted justice, but this justice never arrived and the murder of these crimes hasn't never had a name. Why this?
A lot of important people ended in the list of the potential murders including, can you belive it? Alice in Wonderland author Lewis Carroll and Jekyll and Hide actor Richard Mansfield. As known and as also reported here, it sounded that a member of the entourage of the Queen loved to spend his free time in that places and in company of prostitutes; other names evidenced a lot of lack of imagination but strangely, after a while the Ripper didn't kill anymore anyone. Who knows why?
Oscar Wilde: I adore this writer, I will always adore him and no one is in grade of writing as profoundly as he did.
Oh: he wasn't perfect at all. He was married but he was also homosexual and in UK this one was a terrible crime once and for this reason there was a trial on 1895. Recognized guilty Oscar Wilde died poor, deaf, friendless mostly, and devastated. In prison he wrote the De Profundis, the longest love-letter never written before.
He was a special and authentic soul in a land of falsity.
With the new century we discover Winston Churchill and later The Beatles, the band maybe more famous in the world.
Without forgetting the great big sadness left by Lady Diana, gone too soon, a new wonderful wedding cemented the union between Prince William and Kate Middleton.
The book as always suggests various walks: Kensington, Chelsea, Westmister, Strand and Covent Garden, Soho, Bloomsbury, and more.
London is like a magnet. A magnet for everyone because London contains, also your own history to live in that city.
Characters, writers, musicians, it's impossible to remain insensitive at a city like this one!
I thank Museyon Books for the copy of this book.
Anna Maria Polidori
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