Truth or Fiction

Okay, what do the following things have in common:

French Kissing

French Toast

French Tip Manicure

French Horn

French Braid

French Fries

If you answered; none of them are French, then congratulations! Yeah, you can also add to that list the beret and the croissant. None of these things really have anything to do with France, except for popularity there and the ongoing concept that things are classy if they come from France.

That's what today is all about. Misconceptions.

The croissant is Austrian, the tip manicure was created by Max Factor in Hollywood and French Kissing seems to be connected to Alexander the Great. Let's crack on.

It seems that for the longest time, people assumed that Machiavelli's great work The Prince was satire. This explanation came up to counter the accusations that it was a thoroughly immoral book. I've read it several times and I promise you, it's neither funny or immoral. It's much worse: The Prince is practical and utterly pragmatic. Even cynical if you wish, but it's not funny, I promise

You may have heard about how when a Pharaoh died, they slaughtered his servants and buried them in the same tomb, so that they could keep serving their god-king in eternity. Seemingly, this actually happened, but not always and mostly just in the earlier dynasties. I guess a civilization that spanned over 3000 years has to change a little from time to time.

One of the standard go-to's when people describe how brutal and cruel the Spartans were, is the fact that they killed all deformed babies. And it's true, they did. But so did everyone else. For millennia, pretty much every culture ever, used to quietly get rid of babies that would grow up as nothing but a burden, because life was much harder back then. It seems monstrous to us, (and it is) but that's how it was.

Finally let me ask this: who expected the Spanish Inquisition?

If you answered: no one, then you have been watching too much Monty Python. In fact they gave everyone 60 days notice so that they could get their affairs in order. Further more, they asked every accused person for a list of their enemies. If their accuser was on said list they usually let them go and arrested the accuser instead. Beyond that they were a terrible, awful organization. But fact is fact.

Another fact is that we're done for this time, and until next we meet, you should have a good week!