"The Cardinal," Otto Preminger Directed

I first saw this movie many years ago on television. I believe it was in the late 1960s, although the film was only released in 1963. The film was directed by Otto Preminger, often considered one of the greatest directors of all time, although his personality was highly volatile, and he was known for being "difficult." Preminger did often get results, as several of the stars he directed received Academy Award nominations for their performances in the films he directed, including this film, "The Cardinal, as John Huston, better known for his own movie directing, than for acting, received an Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actor. Otto Preminger will certainly be known to you, if you've seen the movie, "Stalag 17, as he played the role of the German prison camp commandant. Never fear, Preminger was no Nazi, as he was Jewish, and he came to the United States in the 1930s, after Hitler had taken power in Germany. Earlier he lived primarily in Vienna. Preminger took on controversial subjects in some of his films, and he battled the television industry to keep his films intact, and not be cut to pieces to fit into time slots and for commercials.

The movie, based on the book of the same title by Henry Morton Robinson, which itself was loosely based on the life of Francis Cardinal Spellman, is about the rise of a young Catholic priest from Boston, Stephen Fermoyle, played by Tom Tryon, beginning in the era around World War One, and his eventual rise to the position of cardinal a couple of decades later. The movie begins with the preliminary ceremony for his appointment as cardinal, and as the necessary documents are read in Latin, Fermoyle stands and looks back on his life, and it is in this way that the film is presented. Remember he understood Latin and yet he drifted off to other matters. How about the people in attendance, likely many, who didn't understand Latin? Where do you think their minds were? *

Stephen's life reflects the stresses and strains in Catholicism, the religious doctrine, and the way every day Catholics really live their lives. Stephen's sister, Mona, played by Carol Lynley, wants to marry, but her boyfriend, Benny Rampell, played by John Saxon, is Jewish and Stephen wants the young man to convert, or at least to agree that any children will be brought up as Catholics. At first the young man agrees to being able to be persuaded, but when he and his parents are made to feel uneasy about not being Catholic and Irish, he decides not to convert. Mona goes to her brother for advice, which turns out to be the Catholic religious answer, to give up the boyfriend. Mona leaves home and, months later, she is found, in labor, and taken to a hospital, where the doctor tells Stephen that the baby will have to die to save his sister, but Stephen cannot give his consent and go against Catholic doctrine, so his sister dies, but the baby lives. This is a staggering blow to the young priest, as this is now religious belief actually having to be put into practice.

Cardinal Glennon, played by John Huston, sees Stephen as ambitious and in need of some humility, so he sends him to a very poor parish to assist and learn from Father Ned, played by Burgess Meredith. Father Ned lives a very simple life, and he is beloved by his parishioners, but the priest is seriously ill, something Stephen finally takes to Glennon, who goes off to visit his long time friend Father Ned. When the dying priest asks that he appoint Stephen as his successor, Cardinal Glennon thanks him for the suggestion, giving Father Ned the impression that's what will happen, but outside of the room, the cardinal tells Stephen he has other plans for him to become his secretary, not become the parish priest.

The pope dies (1922) and Stephen travels with Cardinal Glennon to Rome, where Glennon convinces the new pope to give Stephen a position in the Vatican, but Stephen, badly troubled by his priesthood so far, does not want the position, causing Glennon to give Stephen a leave of absence of two years for the priest to see what he wants to do. Stephen goes to Vienna (he speaks German) to teach English. He meets a young woman, Annemarie, played by Romy Schneider, and the two fall for each other, but he tells her he is a priest, and eventually, Stephen decides to stay with the priesthood.

Stephen returns to Rome, where he takes a position in the Vatican. In 1934 a black American priest from Georgia, Father Gillis, played by Ossie Davis, comes to Rome to seek help, as the only Catholic school in his area will not admit black Catholic students, and further, his church in Georgia has been burned down by the Ku Klux Klan (KKK). Stephen takes the priest to see Cardinal Giacobbi, a highly conservative close associate of the pope, but instead of helping him, Giacobbi essentially scolds Father Gillis when the priest tells him members of his congregation protested the discrimination of the school by holding a protest with signs, an act said by Giacobbi to be a method that is "inflammatory." This brings a statement from another cardinal present, played by Raf Vallone, "I'm not sure we can afford to use methods that tend to be glacial," but Giacobbi is generally unsympathetic, although Stephen tries to get the cardinal to understand the racism in the United States. The priest leaves with no help for the Catholic school racial discrimination. Stephen goes to Georgia to see what he can do and to gather information he can take back to the Vatican. He is met with hostility and both he and Father Gillis are severely beaten (even with a whip) by a group of the KKK. Standing on principle about racial justice in the American South can be very dangerous.** (Note: When this film was released in 1963, racial tensions in the U.S. were climbing.)

Finally, Hitler's influence is expanding in Europe, and heavily Catholic Austria has become a part of Germany. Stephen is sent to close the papal nuncio in Vienna (Austria is no longer a separate country), and to take a message to the head of the Catholic Church in Austria, Cardinal Innitzer, played by Josef Meinrad, to tone down his public support of Hitler and the Nazis. The cardinal seems detached from the reality of the situation, believing himself to have been non political in statements supporting Austria joining Germany. He curries favor with leading Nazis, but reality strikes when Hitler goes back on earlier promises about Catholicism in his native land. Then Nazi thugs vandalize Catholic properties. Stephen has to flee. Just as in Georgia, the same is true in Vienna, when you oppose hate and evil, be prepared for great difficulties, even possible death.

The film ends with Stephen addressing the people assembled, including his mother and other family members who traveled to Rome for the ceremonies of Stephen's becoming a cardinal.

* Originally the language of Christianity was Aramaic, a Semitic language of the Middle East akin to Hebrew (the language of the Old Testament) and Arabic. Then Christianity began to spread in the eastern Mediterranean area, a region where Greek was heavily used, making Greek a common part of early Christianity. As the religion became more popular further west in the Mediterranean and in the Roman Empire, Latin, the language of the Romans, began to be used more and more, until it became the acknowledged language by many in Christianity, with writings and masses often being in Latin. This didn't just happen one day, but rather it took place over a period from about 300, 400 and 500 AD. The interesting thing is, and it shows how religion can get out of step with, and fear, change, Latin itself was changing dramatically during these times and beyond, as it, or more specifically its dialects, were morphing into separate languages: Italian (right in what had become the center of Christianity and Latin... Rome), Spanish, Portuguese, Catalan, Romansh, French and others too, but it took time for these languages to fully emerge as distinct entities. Meanwhile, Latin was the language of Christianity, with writings and religious services conducted in Latin up until the 1960s, even though most parishioners did not understand much, if not most, of what was said. Of course, there were those little things called "the Great Schism" and "the Reformation," that caused a major split in Christianity, and in the use of other languages as part of segments of Christianity, and since the 1960s, although better late than never, Roman Catholicism has permitted the use of national and local languages, although a small percentage of Latin masses have continued. Perhaps there will be a movement to, "make Latin great again."

** While the details in the movie are vague, some white men have been arrested and charged in the church arson in Georgia. Father Gillis is scheduled to testify, but many of the white residents of the town are in an uproar, prompting the priest's superior, Monsignor Whittle, played by Chill Wills, to order Gillis not to testify and to drop the complaint. Stephen challenges the monsignor, who disparagingly uses the term "Yankee," in reference to Stephen, but then finds out that Stephen is from the Vatican. When Stephen returns to Rome and Cardinal Giacobbi, who feels Stephen has gotten the Church into controversy (heaven forbid! ... hey, what a pun!), Stephen explains there was a conviction in the case, and while not for arson, but for disorderly conduct, it was the first time in Georgia that white men had been convicted for anything based upon the testimony of a black witness (the film uses the term, "Negro," long seen by American white society, and even by many people of black society, as the proper term for black people, especially in those times, mid 1930s in the film, but also still in the early 1960s, when the film was made and released). While it's firmly implied in the movie that Giacobbi is against Stephen being named a bishop, and that he will use the incident in Georgia to try to influence the pope in that direction, the pope makes Stephen a bishop; so a bit of hope for some change comes from the ordeal, both legally and religiously.             

Photo is from the 2005 Warner Home Video DVD.

WORD HISTORY:
Cardinal-The ultimate origin of this word are unknown, but it goes back to Latin "cardo," which meant, "hinge of a door," and from this developed the notion of, "important, prime," from the idea of "a matter or a person upon which others are dependent, upon which things turn or hinge," and this gave Latin the adjective "cardinalis." The Christian church initially applied the noun form to a clergyman of a church; thus, "the prime person, or person of importance for that church." Later, Christians elevated the meaning to a bishop who became, "a prince of the Church," as an elector of the pope. English borrowed the noun from Latin circa 1100, and it borrowed the adjective from French, a Latin-based language, in the 1200s. The use as the name for a particular red and reddish brown bird began in the second half of the 1600s, from the comparison of the red attire for the religious cardinals.

"The Exorcist" Stunned Audiences, Conclusion

Much earlier, before any trouble started, the daughter had questioned her mother's relationship with the movie director (played by Jack MacGowran), seemingly fearful that her mother would marry him, thus quashing any chance of a reconciliation between her parents. When the mother learns that the director has been killed in a supposed fall down the long series of steps to the street right below her daughter's bedroom window, she begins to worry that her daughter had something to do with his death, especially when an old detective (played by Lee J. Cobb, a favorite of mine) comes to the house asking questions, and relating how the director's body had been found at the bottom of the steps with his head turned clear around. The detective then theorizes that the director had been killed by a powerful man and then his body had then been pushed down the stairway. By the time of the detective's visit, the mother had already learned that the director had been left alone with the child, as the caretaker that night had gone out to pick up the girl's prescription at the drug store. This all brings another question: was the girl's dislike of the director the real motive for his murder?

Further, a statue at the local Catholic church has been severely defaced, a case the detective is also investigating. This brings him into contact with the troubled priest and a possible connection between the director's death and the defacing of the religious statue. Since the priest sees other priests with mental problems, the detective wonders if there is a psychotic priest on the loose.

During the troubled priest's first visit to the little girl, she mentions his mother, and the game of playing on his guilty conscience begins. She spews a green vomit into his face (you may never eat split pea soup again). The priest still seeks to use logic and medical science to help the girl, even though he witnessed more than the girl acting a bit bizarrely, like her knowledge of things a normal person could not possibly have known beforehand, and her markedly grotesque facial features. He goes to the church authorities to get permission to perform an exorcism (a driving out of an evil spirit). He is told by the bishop that, while he can assist, he wants to find a priest with experience in exorcism. This brings the situation back to the old priest we encountered at the beginning. He has returned from the archeological dig in Iraq, and is waiting to be summoned to fight the battle with the demon he confronted years  before. The summons comes.

The exorcist arrives at the house and meets the other priest. Still the man of logic, the young priest offers to explain the background of the case, only to be asked by the exorcist, "Why?" They proceed into the girl's bedroom where they are met by bellowing and ranting by the ferocious demon. Obscenities fly from the mouth of the girl, as the two priests recite the exorcism ritual. The young priest wavers at the display of power and evil from the demon, and the old priest has to keep him focused. The girl's body breaks the security straps on her wrists and ankles, and the body levitates. Things subside and the old priest decides they should rest before continuing. He goes off and places a nitroglycerin pill under his tongue to help his ailing heart. The young priest, seemingly quite discouraged, sits down and the girl's mother asks him if her daughter will die. This is like a slap in the face to the despondent priest, and he emphatically answers, "No!"

He goes back to the girl's bedroom, where the old priest had returned minutes before. There he finds the old priest slumped over dead from a heart attack. The girl is sitting to the side of the bed and begins laughing. The priest grabs her, throws her to the floor and begins beating her with his fists. He yells, "Come into me," and we see a change in his face as the demon tries to enter his body, and we hear the real voice of the crying little girl in the background. During the fight on the floor, the girl snatches his Jesuit medal chain from around his neck. The priest summons all his power and crashes through the bedroom window, where he then plummets down the same long series of steps to the pavement far below. People come running from everywhere, including another priest, who is his best friend. He administers the last rites and the priest dies.

The scene jumps to when the mother and daughter are preparing to leave Washington and as they leave the house, the dead priest's friend is standing there. They talk a moment, and although we hear that the little girl doesn't remember anything from the possession, she focuses on the priest's collar, and she steps over and gives him a kiss on the cheek.

As I mentioned in the first part, this movie caused quite a stir. The special effects, complete with twisting head, levitating body, blood and green vomit, had never been seen in a "public" movie before. The vulgar language, the visual sexual references and the religious sacrilege were quite astonishing for those times, and people flocked to the theaters, as the public couldn't get enough. Hmm, who knows what dark demons lie within any of us?  

The DVD part of the photo is from the Warner Home Video 2012 DVD.

WORD HISTORY:
Demon-This word for an "evil spirit" goes back to Indo European "da/di," which had the notion of "divide, separate into pieces." This gave Ancient Greek "daimon," with the meaning "spirit of destiny/guidance;" thus also, "god," from the notion of "parceling out guidance, destiny," but it seems the word was used in religious terms for "evil spirit." Latin borrowed the word as "daemon," with the meaning "spirit," along with the religious "evil spirit." English borrowed the word in the 1200s. 

"The Exorcist" Stunned Audiences

When this movie came out in late 1973, it created a sensation in the public the likes of which I've rarely seen. Everywhere you went people were talking about this film and the theaters were packed. I went to see it twice, but perhaps three times. Many of us like to be scared, at least a little, but this film absolutely terrified some people. Based on the book of the same name by William Peter Blatty, which was published a few years before, the book sales soared along with the box office receipts. Blatty, who was raised Catholic, based his novel on a real case of exorcism performed some twenty plus years before.

The story is the classic struggle between good and evil. We can't kill evil in the true sense, for like in the Halloween movies, you think evil (Jason) is dead, but it isn't, it lives to come back at another time, and it lives within us, like a cold sore virus, waiting for an opportunity to manifest itself again. Conquering our own worst characteristics can be very difficult, especially for some, and those characteristics are then available for exploitation (the Nazis almost made a science out of exploiting the awful side of human nature, and then whipping it into pure hate). But we have choices to make, and likely you all have seen the cartoon of a person with an angel on one shoulder and the devil or a demon on other, both talking into the person's ears to convince them to choose their desired course. John Steinbeck used the same sort of theme in his great book, "East of Eden," which was another good versus evil saga, but with the idea that humans "may" choose their own course. This idea of "choice" also shows that we can't have good without evil (see Word History, below).

The story of "The Exorcist" revolves around a little girl, played by Linda Blair, living with her actress mother (played by Ellen Burstyn) in Washington, DC, while a movie is being filmed. They have a German couple (Swiss German?)* to take care of the house. The director of the movie being filmed in Washington, who is usually drunk, taunts the man for having been a Nazi, but the obviously perturbed man always uneasily says, "I'm Swiss." The girl's parents are separated, and as her birthday arrives, she overhears her mother using abusive and profanity laden words in a telephone call to the seemingly uncaring father, who is in Europe. The contrast is, the mother deeply loves and cares about her daughter, while the father, "... doesn't give a shit," per dialog from the movie. Does this lack of a father's love leave the girl vulnerable to evil? Does a possible former Nazi make the house and the girl a target?

After a series of odd noises are heard coming from the attic, the little girl begins to display behavior out of character for her, including bad language, a situation that grows increasingly worse. After all sorts of doctors and tests, and scans, the situation deteriorates further, as the child's bed shakes and quakes, even when the mother jumps onto the bed to help her daughter. The doctors insist there is a problem in the girl's brain, even when they too witness an episode of the bed shaking and even lifting off the floor. This all demonstrates their desire to apply logic to the illogical. Eventually the doctors tell the mother to seek religious help for girl, whom they say believes she is possessed by a demon.

Meanwhile, the film had opened at an archeological dig site in Iraq, where one of the artifacts recovered is a small demon-like figurine. The head of the expedition is a Catholic priest (played by Max von Sydow) who recognizes the figurine as a demon he has encountered before. He goes to an area with a large statue of the same demon. He stands opposite of the demon, thus depicting the coming battle of  "good versus evil."

Then we meet another priest (played by Jason Miller), who is in Washington, D.C., and who is a psychiatric counselor for troubled priests. The job has taken a toll on the relatively young priest, who sees clergymen who are questioning their very faith, a situation he also begins to face. The man had left home and his Greek immigrant mother, to join the priesthood, but as his mother's health declines, his conscience continues to trouble him, bringing him to a severe crisis of faith when his mother dies without him being there. When the little girl's mother seeks religious help for her daughter (they had no particular religious beliefs), she meets with this priest, who tells her the doctors are likely correct in their diagnosis of a brain problem. When he goes to the house, where the girl is now confined to bed, we see a now largely disfigured girl, whose voice too has dramatically changed.**

More and the conclusion coming next ....       

* How many Germans/Austrians claimed to be Swiss Germans after World War Two, I can't say, but the idea was not uncommon in the public mind and, thus, in the world of movies and television. The idea was, Germans/Austrians were trying to distance themselves from the Nazis and their crimes, crimes they themselves may have committed, so they presented themselves as Swiss Germans to avoid the suspicion of having been a Nazi or a Nazi sympathizer. Switzerland was neutral during the war, although more than 2/3 of the population is of German background. The claims to be "Swiss" didn't always help, however, as suspicions of anyone with a German accent lingered long thereafter. The 1960's NBC comedy "Get Smart" had an episode that demonstrated in a comedic way this whole "Swiss German" situation. Secret agent Maxwell Smart was on a remote island with some other people, including a man with a heavy German accent, who always said he was Swiss. The man also claimed to be a clock maker, but when the cuckoo clock he had struck the hour, a little Hitler figure with outstretched arm came out and shouted, "Sieg heil! Sieg heil!" When Max told the man it wasn't two o'clock, the guy answered, "If he says it's 2 o'clock, you'd better believe him."       

** The voice for the demon was done being actress Mercedes McCambridge, who much earlier had won an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress in the movie, "All The King's Men."

The photo is of the Warner Home Video 2012 DVD.

WORD HISTORY:
Evil-This word, used primarily as a noun and adjective, and of somewhat shaky distant ancestry, "seems" to go back to Indo European "upelo," which had the notion of "passing a limit/boundary." This gave Old Germanic "ubilaz," with the meaning of "bad." This gave Old English (Anglo-Saxon) "yfel," with the broad meaning, "bad, injury or illness causing, evil." This then evoled into modern "evil," but the meaning became more specific to "moral baseness, wickedness," as "bad" took over the more general meaning. The other Germanic languages have: German has "Übel" (evil, illness, nasty, wicked), Low German Saxon "övel" (ill, unwell), Dutch "euvel" (evil, flaw), West Frisian "evel" (now archaic), the North Germanic languages (Danish, Norwegian, Swedish and Icelandic) do not use forms of the word. 

How Much Is Too Much Money?

Way back in the 1960s, Supreme Court Justice Potter Stewart issued a statement about a case involving alleged pornography by saying that he couldn't define "hard core pornography," but, "I know it when I see it." To me it's similar about money and wealth, I can't say exactly how much is too much, but I know it when I see ... certain things, like: individuals or families spending millions, even tens or hundreds of millions, on political campaigns to get candidates or issues favorable to their point of view, which seems often to have to do with them making ... more money. These aren't people who are happy to be wealthy, these are people with sick egos. Then there is Ken Langone, the founder of Home Depot and a Catholic, who is worth at least two billion (obviously the poor guy is hurting), who criticized Pope Francis for his outspoken remarks about capitalism, great wealth and income disparity. Langone said Pope Francis doesn't comprehend the rich and that he is aware of one wealthy donor to Catholic causes who is so angry with the pope, he may not go forward with a large donation to help renovate St. Patrick's Cathedral in New York City (this was as of late 2013, and I do not know the end result of the blackmail ... ah, I mean the donation). I'd say it is Langone and his friends who really don't comprehend the issue, not Pope Francis. I'd advise the pope to PUBLICLY take on Langone and Company. Who do you think will win? We would then find out how people who call themselves Catholics really come down on this issue, since Christianity is NOT about giving money to rich people, or seeing to it that they get more, but it is really about helping ALL people, when they need it.

Just for some balance, here is a link to one of my other articles: "Not All Wealthy People Are The Same":

http://pontificating-randy.blogspot.com/2013/09/not-all-wealthy-people-are-same.html

WORD HISTORY:
Eight-This word for the numerical value between 7 and 9 goes back to Indo European "okto," which meant "eight." This gave its Old Germanic offspring "akhto," which then gave Old English (Anglo-Saxon) "eahta." This then became "ahte" and "aught," depending upon dialect, before the modern version, although the "gh" was pronounced back then, and the spelling never changed to reflect the change in modern pronunciation.^ The other Germanic languages have: German, Low German, Dutch and West Frisian "acht," Norwegian åtte, Danish "otte," Icelandic átta, and Swedish åtta

^  The Old English form likely had emphasis on the "h," which then produced the later spelling with "gh."

The World In Protest, Revolution or Civil War? Part Seven

This was first published in early 2012. 

"Polarization of the Spanish Civil War" Part 2

The Spanish constitution for the new republic was adopted in late 1931 and it was an attempt to right all "perceived" wrongs in Spanish society from throughout their long history. It was too much all at one time.* The new document attempted to make Spain dramatically more secular and independent of the Roman Catholic Church, as it mandated public education, banned the Jesuits, and prohibited other religious orders from teaching in the new public school system. Further, it set up secular procedures for marriage (it had been a province of the Church), and even for divorce (a major Church "no, no" in those times), and it nationalized the extensive Church properties, requiring the Church to pay rent to the government.** It also gave women the right to vote. Such fundamental change brought an immediate, and passionate, backlash. Further, the constitution provided for government confiscation of private property for the public good, although the owners were to be compensated. This alienated the large landowners, placing them against the republic.***

*What happened in Spain had not actually been a revolution, in the Bolshevik sense. Revolutionaries didn't take over the government and the government then didn't take over everything and execute or arrest enemies, real or imagined. The constitution provided for free elections and democracy (although staunch Catholics would argue otherwise, with some justification), and democracy can be contentious and messy, to put it mildly. To try to push such dramatic change onto Spanish society so quickly in a democratic nation was bound to have political consequences.

** While today some of the provisions would not be seen as terribly radical, back then, for a nation steeped in rigid Catholicism, these major changes, and their inclusion as part of the new republic, were bound to bring determined opposition, as many devout Catholics turned against the republic. Even some marginal religionists were not supportive of the new measures. The Pope (Pius XI) condemned the measures. It is probably not an exaggeration to say, these anti-Church measures went a long way toward the later outbreak of civil war.

*** There was an enormous gap between the "haves" and "have nots" in Spanish society, but just as with Church matters, many viewed the remedies as going too far and too fast. The landed segment of society (and the Church) had been protected by the monarchist government for centuries, and the new constitution suddenly turned the government from protector into a potential adversary. The land reforms were not pursued with great vigor (there was not much money available to pay for the land); consequently, the republic made enemies of the landowners just for having the policies, and the republic didn't appease the peasantry, the intended beneficiaries of the reforms.

WORD HISTORY:
Bead-The meaning of this word has changed dramatically over time, although the initial change makes the connection to its original meaning. It "seems" to go back to Indo European "bheudh," which had the meaning "request, ask;" thus also, "pray." This gave its Old Germanic offspring "bidjan/bithjan," also with the meaning "request, pray." This gave Old English (Anglo-Saxon) "biddan," a verb form with the same meaning, and the derived noun "gebed," meaning "prayer."^ By about the 1300s, the "ge" prefix had disappeared, leaving "bedu," then "bede," but the meaning had shifted to the specific "prayer bead, rosary bead."^^ Later still, the religious aspect was often lost, as the word came to be applied to many small round objects. Other Germanic languages have (all still meaning "prayer"): German has "Gebet;" some Low German dialect has "Jebäd;" Low German Saxon has "Beet," Frisian and Dutch have "gebed." The North Germanic languages have forms without the "t" or "d" sounds; Swedish "bön," for example, but whether these are related to "bead," I'm not really certain.

^ There were spelling/pronunciation variations of "biddan."

^^ English had borrowed the word "prayer" (a Latin derived word), which displaced the native word with that meaning, "gebed," ancestor of "bead."

The World In Protest, Revolution or Civil War? Part Six

This was first published in early 2012. 

"Polarization of Spain Brings Civil War" Part 1

The American Civil War was fought over "states' rights," and more specifically over the issue of slavery, and whether states had a right to permit slavery within their own borders, or whether the national government had a right to outlaw slavery throughout the land. The practice of slavery was well established in the southern parts of the country, especially, but not exclusively, on large estates (plantations), and many prominent early Americans, including George Washington and Thomas Jefferson, owned slaves. More and more Americans of those times came to view slavery as morally wrong, although opposition came to be concentrated in northern states, with states bordering the north and south facing divided public opinion.* Abraham Lincoln, the first Republican president,** was a staunch foe of slavery, and his election brought the declaration from a number of southern states that they were leaving the "Union;" that is, the United States, to form a "confederation" of states; thus, the term "Confederacy." Lincoln said states could not leave the "Union," and a violent war began to settle the issue (for those times).***

Spain was a monarchy until 1931, when King Alfonso XIII abdicated (he literally left the country). The king, the Roman Catholic Church, the army and wealthy interests, including industrialists, had had the largest say in the governance of Spain,**** and the strains on Spanish society were becoming more and more evident, as reforms to help protect workers, farmers, and regional interests were not carried through. The Spanish socialist party became increasingly popular, along with strong anti church elements, and pro-democracy elements.***** In elections in 1931, this "coalition" group won a majority in elections, the king left the country, and a "republic" was declared. All seemed well on the surface, and it appeared Spain would move forward, but opposition to the new republic from entrenched interests quickly mobilized to prevent change.

* The southern states of America were generally not as densely populated as northern states, and the availability of land for farming, combined with the longer growing season, made agriculture a major part of the southern economy, with labor intense cotton being one of the main crops, as it was also sold overseas. The long tradition of slave labor in the region carried over from colonial times to the decades after American independence.

** The Republican Party had been established with a strong anti-slavery element. Lincoln's candidacy prompted southerners to flock to the Democratic Party, where they and their descendants remained until the last couple of decades, when they began voting Republican, even if not always at first registering as Republicans. The Democratic Party maintained a staunch segregationist element from the post-Civil War era until a number of prominent Democrats began to push for an end to segregation and for laws to try to make the country fairer. More and more the segregationist elements voted Republican or became Republicans, undoubtedly causing Lincoln several turns in his grave. So historically, neither major political party is without guilt, but at least Democrats basically got over it. Republicans took their party's roots and chopped them off.

*** I say "for those times," because just in the last couple of years some Republicans in southern states, including Governor Perry of Texas, have suggested they might want to secede from the "Union," mainly because of President Obama's health care plan. Such talk has now subsided, but it is interesting that the Republican South, undoubtedly the most fundamentalist Christian (by their definition; keep reading) part of the country, and Rick Perry, who flaunts his Christianity so publicly, would talk of secession from the country, because a president wants to help Americans who don't have health insurance! I'm not saying you have to support Obama's plan (I wasn't especially thrilled by it, but for different reasons), but to essentially say to those who don't have access to adequate health care, "The hell with you! I've got mine, go get yours," is just astounding. It shows how human beings make religion to be whatever we want it to be, AT THE MOMENT. Christianity especially does NOT advocate selfishness, accumulation of wealth, turning your back on the needy or sick, but, quite to the contrary, the OPPOSITE OF THESE THINGS! Going to church, singing hymns, memorizing Bible verses, saying "God loves you," and forming social cliques is not Christianity, although many seem to believe that is its purpose. Oooo, I can feel the condemnations now! But for those condemning me, you'd better go look in that mirror and ask yourself some tough questions. And no "spinning" the answers to come out the way you want them to come out; that is, "making religion be what you want it to be, at the moment."

**** There was a military government throughout much of the 1920s, but it grew increasingly unpopular, including with the wealthy, since the government raised their taxes to help pay for public works projects. Hm, you don't think there's a similarity to modern America here, do you? The government, which was supported by the king, succeeded in angering just about every segment of Spanish society with oppressive policies or by not following through on promised reforms; thus further tarnishing the king, who already had a reputation as anti-democratic.

***** The Roman Catholic Church had had tremendous influence in Spain for centuries. Since the Church tended to support the rulers of Spain, it too was seen by a certain segment of the population as being part of the country's problems.

WORD HISTORY:
Civil-It "seems" this word, closely related to "civic" (not a Honda), goes back to Indo European "k(h)ei," with the meaning "settle, lie down;" thus, "homestead," and also the figurative noun sense, "family" (from the homestead/settle notion). This gave its Latin offspring "civis," which meant "citizen" (here again, the "homestead, settle, and family notions tie in). This then produced Latin "civilis," with the meaning "pertaining to the public, to citizens." Old French, a Latin-based language, "inherited" the word as "civil," and English borrowed it from French in the late 1300s (the Middle English period). The further notion of "courteous, polite," as in "civil discussion," seems to have been picked up by English in the 1500s, as Latin had developed that same meaning, derived from the idea of regular citizens being more polite than military and religious authorities.

The German Question, Part Twenty-Nine

"An Empress & Queen Of The Germans" Part Two of Two

When Frederick the Great first invaded Silesia, he offered a deal to Maria Theresa, that if she would give up most of the province to him, he would then side with her to defend her rights as a female ruler. Maria Theresa was advised to accept the offer, even initially by her husband, but she declined, preferring to fight for her territory. Her husband then went along steadfastly with her decision. While she did not succeed in recovering Silesia from Prussia, her determination showed that she was a force to be reckoned with, and that she would not just let her lands be taken over without a fight because she was a woman. She attempted, without success, to regain her lost Silesian territory even after the war ended (see Part 26 for a brief sketch of the "Seven Years' War," which included Maria Theresa's unsuccessful attempt to regain control over Silesia. Here is the link to Part 26: http://pontificating-randy.blogspot.com/2010/07/german-question-part-twenty-six.html ).

If you think enduring war showed Maria Theresa's character, she had SIXTEEN children (three died in infancy, far from uncommon in those times), which meant that during most of the crises of more than the first half of her rule, she was in some stage of pregnancy. Two of her sons, Joseph and Leopold, became German emperors, her daughter Maria Carolina became what was then called Queen of Naples and Sicily, and her most famous offspring, daughter Marie Antoinette, became Queen of France, a position which cost her life, as she was taken prisoner and then beheaded as a consequence of the French Revolution (as was her husband, King Louis XVI).

Maria Theresa pushed for reform of the army and of the government itself, instituting a substantial standing army that showed she was ready for war with any would-be invader, and imposing taxes on the rich and the nobility, which although not entirely successful, showed that she was not afraid of society's rich and powerful. The additional revenues more than helped balance her treasury, and the surplus further helped discourage other rulers from aggressive acts, as she had cash to support her army. She brought learned and experienced people into government to advise her on all sorts of matters, demonstrating that she was not so insecure in her position that she feared such advice. She survived an attack of smallpox in the 1760s, making her determined to try to prevent large outbreaks of this serious disease which often had a mortality rate of 25%-30%, in its most virulent form. This was before Jenner's vaccine, but there was a form of inoculation (using powdered scabs blown up the nose) used to literally give people a mild form of the disease (usually a slight rash), thus preventing further, more serious, or even fatal, infection.* She had her own children inoculated and pressed others to do the same, and her example helped propel the number of inoculated children in her territories, mainly in what is now modern Austria. Maria Theresa also tried to make it mandatory for children to attend school, but the very nature of the geography (mountains, valleys, and many isolated areas), made it virtually impossible to enforce, although she wanted parents arrested and punished for non-compliance. She also tried to force her many non-German speaking subjects to learn German to "Germanize" all of her lands. Not only did this not succeed, it had the opposite effect with many non-Germans, bringing about a certain "nationalism" or "ethnic pride," especially among the Czechs.

While obviously "enlightened" in some matters, Maria Theresa was a very devout Roman Catholic, and she was not tolerant of other religious beliefs, except Eastern Orthodox believers. She openly believed that her lands should be uniform in Roman Catholicism, and even tried harsh measures to convert non-Catholics, but interestingly, at the same time, she reserved the right of appointment of all Catholic authorities in her lands for herself, and not for the Church. She had a substantial number of Austrian Protestants relocated to Transylvania, then a part of her Kingdom of Hungary. A blot on her legacy was her commitment to extreme measures against Jews living in her territories, especially during the first half of her rule. She issued exorbitant taxes on Jews, had Jewish children forcibly converted to Catholicism, and had many Jews expelled from various parts of her lands. Later, under the influence of her son Joseph, who was far more tolerant of differing religions, she began to ease her anti-Jewish measures, even eventually offering Jews some protections, and abandoning the practice of forcible conversion of Jewish children.

Upon the death of her husband, German Emperor Franz I, in the summer of 1765, Maria Theresa lost her title as "German Empress and Queen of the Germans." Their son Joseph (Josef, in German) was then elected German Emperor as Joseph II. Maria Theresa also made Joseph her co-ruler in the Habsburg lands; he thus replaced his late father. Joseph was more "enlightened" than his mother, and the two did not see eye-to-eye on many matters, but while he had an influence on some of her ideas, she prevailed in overall matters, often even regarding policies of the German Empire, although HE was the emperor! Maria Theresa died in 1780, leaving Joseph in full control of both the German Empire and the Habsburg lands. Frederick the Great, Maria Theresa's frequent military opponent, commented that Maria Theresa's achievements were as great as many men, which was quite a compliment to a woman in those days.

*This was obviously a bit risky, as some people came down with more serious infections, but from what I've read, it seems such cases were relatively rare, and the risk of death from an outbreak of the more serious form of smallpox was eventually seen as far greater (as was the risk of severe scarring for those who survived).

WORD HISTORY:
Mesh-This word seems to go back to Indo European "mezg," with the idea of "knitted or twisted." This gave the Old Germanic offshoot "masko/mesko," which in turn gave Anglo-Saxon (Old English) "masc/max," which meant "net," plus Old English had the word "maescre," seemingly derived from the same source, which seems to have actually meant "mesh." All of these forms seem to have "meshed" together (I couldn't resist that!), later giving English "mesche," before moving on to the modern spelling. Relatives in the other Germanic languages include German "Masche," Low German "Masch," Dutch "maas," Icelandic "möskvi," Norwegian and Danish "maske," Swedish "maska." Notice that the North Germanic languages of Icelandic, Danish, Norwegian and Swedish all use the harder "k" sound, as compared to the West Germanic languages of English, German, Low German and Dutch using the softer sounding "sh/sch/s." I could not find a modern form in Frisian. 

The German Question, Part Twenty-Four

"The Thirty Years' War Brings Death, Destruction & A Partial Answer To The German Question," Part Two-"The War"

Bohemia* was a part of the Holy Roman Empire, and in the latter part of the 1300s and early 1400s, a man named Jan (John, in English) Hus was a leader of a group of political and religious reformers. He was executed as a heretic, but his popularity brought together his followers in what eventually became more of a religious movement, and they were called "Hussites," and they became a Protestant sect which dominated Bohemia, much to the chagrin of the Church and of the Habsburgs, who were staunch Catholics, and emperors of the German Empire. The territory was ruled by the "King of Bohemia,"** but when one king, Louis II ("Lajos" in Hungarian, as he was also King of Hungary) was killed in battle against the Ottoman Turks in the 1500s, he left no son as an heir. His brother, Ferdinand, who was married to a Habsburg, became king, and thus Bohemia joined the growing possessions of the Habsburgs. While the Habsburgs were Catholic, there was a bit of a truce for decades, allowing freedom of religion until another Habsburg, German emperor Ferdinand II (and also King of Bohemia), wanted to establish Catholicism throughout his lands. This brought about a revolt in Bohemia in 1618.

The revolt in Bohemia triggered other religious conflicts within the Habsburg lands, including in certain parts of Austria, where Protestants were majorities. Certain Hungarian Protestants sought to aid the other Protestants, and later still, the Danes, staunch Lutherans, joined the military operations in northern Germany to aid the Protestant German state of Lower Saxony against advancing Imperial (Catholic) forces. Then later still, Sweden, another staunchly Protestant country, joined the action in the northern/northeastern part of Germany. One major exception to the religious reasons for the conflict was France. France was heavily Catholic, but the French hated and feared the Habsburgs, and they agreed to support Sweden financially, and then later, actually entered the military conflict by declaring war on Spain (ruled by a branch of the Habsburgs) and on the German Empire/Holy Roman Empire, which had a Catholic Habsburg as emperor. The war raged on, with Catholic armies gaining ground at times, and then Protestant armies retaking many lands. The French had a difficult time, suffering some terrible defeats, with Paris itself threatened at one time by Habsburg forces.

The Protestant forces and their French allies gradually turned the tide, inflicting some devastating defeats on the Catholic forces of the Habsburgs. Both sides were exhausted, and a series of treaties were negotiated between the various participants, but two major treaties, one signed in Osnabrück and one in Münster, two German cities in the province of Westphalia (Westfalen, in German), brought about the end of the Thirty Years' War and its companion war, the Eighty Years' War between Spain and the Dutch, which had essentially become one with the Thirty years' War. See: http://pontificating-randy.blogspot.com/2010/07/german-question-part-twenty.html

To be continued, as this will require a Part Three..... (A Word History is below the notes)

* For those unfamiliar with European geography, Bohemia later became the leading part of the new nation of Czechoslovakia after World War One. It now has a similar role in the "Czech Republic." In the time period involved in this article, while it undoubtedly had a Czech majority population (the Czechs are Slavs), it had a substantial German minority, mainly formed in a German majority populated sort of semi-circle around Bohemia, but Germans were also somewhat mixed in with the "interior" Czech population.

** The individual "states" within the German Empire (Holy Roman Empire) were more like independent "countries," with some being ruled by kings, princes, dukes, archdukes, etc. Further, it was not uncommon for some rulers to carry several titles, if they ruled a variety of states: for example, one German emperor, Rudolf, was designated "Rudolf II," as his title as emperor, but simply as "Rudolf," with no numeral, in his capacity as King of Hungary and Croatia, but again as "Rudolf II" as King of Bohemia, but as Rudolf V, in his capacity as Archduke of Austria. Initially, the ruler of Bohemia was called a "duke," but later it was changed to "king," then back to duke, before returning once again to king.

WORD HISTORY:
War-This seems to go back to the Indo European root "wers." This gave Old Germanic "werso," which seems to have meant "cause or bring into confusion," and probably also "mix," which would certainly tie in with "confusion." This gave Frankish (the Franks were a Germanic tribe) "werra," seemingly with the same basic meaning. This then passed into Old French as "guerre," but in the northern dialect of Old French as "werre," with the meaning "war" (Italian and Spanish, for example, also picked this up, but as "guerra," their word for "war"). Old English acquired the word from the northern French dialect at some point prior to the Norman Invasion as "werre/wyrre/warre," later being reduced to the shorter form "war." Interestingly, the Germanic dialects, including Anglo-Saxon, of long ago did not have a set word for "war," and English used a whole variety of forms, too numerous to get into, to express the notion of "war." Modern German has the related word (ver)wirren, which still has the meaning "confuse, bewilder," but also "tangle/entangle," which also adds the "mix" meaning.

The German Question, Part Twenty-Three

"The Thirty Years' War Brings Death, Destruction & A Partial Answer To The German Question," Part One-"The Lead Up To The War"

What I've noted so many times in this series, applies to this segment too; this is a very complex, but also a very important subject (the Thirty Years' War), and I am only going to deal with the very basics. As you can see above, I've given a subtitle to this subject, and then it will be broken into at least two parts.

Basically, the the Thirty Years' War (1618-1648) was a religious war between Roman Catholics and Protestants (Lutherans and Calvinists), although there were other reasons, too, often defined by political goals of some of the antagonists. It became very extensive, involving many of the European nations of those times, with much of the heaviest fighting done in the German lands.

First, the German Empire (Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation) had been Christian; that is, with just one religion. When Luther and others (not only in the German Empire, but elsewhere in Europe) challenged some of the corruption, practices, and beliefs of the Christian rulers and system, this brought about Protestantism, from "protesters." Initially in the German lands, Lutheranism became quite popular, primarily in the northern areas. This now, for the first time, gave the empire two religions, but with the Catholic Habsburgs always as emperors. The Habsburgs (and other Catholics) didn't like the religious split, and at times tried to bring back Catholicism to the "errant" regions, like in the Low Countries, where we already covered religious strife, that then blended into the Thirty Years' War. (See Part 20) Lutherans refused to give up their new faith, and they continued to appeal to others to join them. With neither side willing to compromise, it was a disaster just waiting to happen.

John Calvin was born in France (real French name was "Jean Cauvin") and he also took up differences with Church leaders. France and its leaders remained staunchly loyal to the Church, and a backlash against Protestants caused Calvin to flee for his very life to Switzerland, then still a region of the German Empire (see Part 19). He and others in the region found fertile ground for spreading "Calvinism," as it came to be known, and it indeed spread to other areas of the empire, thus giving us three religions, and adding another element to the potential disaster.

Finally, in the mid 1500s, Emperor Karl V (Charles V), a Habsburg and a Catholic, agreed to terms that would abide by "cuius regio, eius religio," a Latin term that, fully defined, meant that the religion of the individual German princes, and NOT the religion of the emperor, determined the religion of their subjects.* So, for example, if I'm the Count of Cleveland, (hey, I had to make something up) and I've been Catholic, but I change to Lutheran, then all of my subjects must now become Lutheran too. Understand, it could be the reverse of that; Lutheran to Catholic. Subjects unwilling to change religion would be given time to move to an area where their religious preference prevailed. This whole situation weakened the already fairly weak position of German emperor,** while giving added strength to the individual states, which already were much like independent countries.

While the agreement helped cool things off for a time, no one was completely satisfied, and the Church wanted Catholic "princes" to take over Lutheran territories, thus making them Catholic again, and Lutheran rulers sought to extend their dominion over other territories (not only because of religion), sometimes Catholic, which then would have required those new subjects to change religion. There were numerous outbreaks of fighting between local rulers prior to the actual start of the Thirty Years' War, but the beginning of the disaster didn't occur until 1618.
To be continued.... (A Word History is below the notes)

* It always bears mentioning that "the German princes" was a collective term applied to the various local rulers in the empire, and it didn't necessarily mean that all carried the title of "prince," as some were kings, dukes, archdukes, counts, etc.

** The various Habsburg emperors over time were actually more important, not as emperors of the German Empire, but for the vast lands they owned and controlled within the empire, and sometimes outside of the empire.

WORD HISTORY:
Religion-This word "seems" to go back to the Indo European root "leig," which had the notion of "binding." The "re" prefix was simply an intensifier, with the basic meaning in Latin of "again," so if you do something "again," it is intensified, or solidified. The Latin offshoot was "religare," which meant "to bind tightly or hold fast." (Latin is an Indo European language related to English, but further down the family tree, although we have many words derived from Latin, many by way of French, a Latin-based language, due to the tremendous influence of the Romans.) This then gave Latin "religio," which meant "binding respect or reverence for the gods." When the Romans accepted Christianity, the term came to mean "monastic life and vows." (Of course "vows" imply "binding to certain ideas/beliefs.") "Religio" then gave Old French the word "religion," with the same "monastic" meaning. This was then taken to England by the Normans in the 11th Century and became Anglo-Norman "religiun." The idea of "monastic life and vows" developed further into "a set of religious beliefs," but while this meaning was present in English from the 1300s, it didn't completely become as common as we might think, until the 1500s!