Here are the latest responses to our Back-in-Time Survey, in the order of their arrival. Thank you Sandsurfer, Gwendolyn and Gayle for your thought-provoking replies!
M&PB Shelley,Byron,Polidori
You said you'd bend the rules, so I chose the famous foursome that stormy day/night when Mary Shelley came up with the idea for Frankenstein. Far from interrupting their fascinating conversation, I would stay in the background and listen. I'd be in awe to hear and see the interaction - to see Polidori react to the others, especially Byron, & to see if he was really the wimp he's made out to be. To see the handsome, aristocratic Byron in his element, among friends, and find out if he was totally at ease. To see the rapport between Mary and Percy, and Byron, too.If I had time, I'd love to wander a bit outside to experience the terrible storm which gave birth to their writings that night.
The date: September, 1816
That was when the famous stories were written, due to the nasty weather that day in Switzerland. It was, after all, one of the coldest years of the entire Little Ice Age. If it had not been for the weather, Frankenstein would probably never have been written. Carpe diem.If not interrupting anything, I'd like to pull up a chair & ask/answer anything pertinent to the discussion, like more about Mary's dream, or whether or not Polidori would write a vampire story based on Byron (& attribute it to him). If it came up, I might mention the future, and how famous (posthumously) Mary would be. I would like to mention the Little Ice Age, and its immediate consequences on their story-telling.
Would you try to convince them you're from the future, and warn them against events that are yet to happen?
No. Definitely not warn against anything. Yes, they all died not too far into the future, but on divergent paths. And how can you convince rebels from doing what they want to do?What would you bring with you from the future?
A camera, to take pictures. Good paper & pen for use by them & myself (& maybe bring back autographs!).Sandsurfer
Although Sandsurfer's time trip is outside the medieval period, I could not resist including his answer here. For those of you who are interested in the history of the 1800s, please check out our site on Nineteenth-Century History.
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King Arthur
i would love to be able to talk to a king and see all of his crown jewels. it would be nice to be able to stay in his castle. I would like to talk to him about all of his battles and the knights of the round talbe. i would ask him to have one of his big parties so that i can meet all the princes, princesses, queens, and everyone else that is a member of his court.gwendolyn
The truth about whether or not a real King Arthur existed is a hotly-debated topic. For more information, check out our page of net links on the Historical King Arthur.
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At first blush, my mind frenetically seized upon the chance of meeting Godefroi IV de Bouillion, the man who refused to wear a crown of gold in the same place where Jesus wore a crown of thorns, and thereby bore the title of 'Advocate of the Holy Sepulchre' rather than 'King of Jerusalem' (1099). Then I got greedy. If I were to choose that marauding Infidel, Saladin, at the point when he was besieging the castle of Krak-de-Montreal, my four hours would include the wedding of Humphrey de Toron to Isabelle, Queen of Jerusalem, (c1181) and the mother of the groom, Stephanie de Milly (who managed to delay the siege until after the wedding by sending a slice of cake out to Saladin, as a reminder of their past; thereby persuading him to subsequently give orders to leave the tower, wherein the wedding-couple consummated their vows, standing) and Balien Ibelin, the greatest negotiator of all time! Enticing as that may be, my actual choice would have to be Elizabeth, Dame de Bruse. (Okay, so the run-ons enabled me to cheat...but how does one otherwise decide?)At a time when women were supposed to cower before the men in their lives, Elizabeth took the reins in her own hands, literally! Shocking though it were, she often traveled without seeking approval from a husband, brother, father or son, and, at times, even without a male escort! On one such occasion she dared to oppose the ancient custom of Primogeniture, not wishing her eldest son to inherit everything, whilst her favorite received naught. Defeat was not within her vocabulary; she succeeded in recovering part of her maritagium for her youngest son.
Elizabeth endured that which no woman should: she outlived all of her children. Though her life was fraught with turmoil, she exhibited more courage and infrangibility than most women of today. Although paralyzed in her later years, Elizabeth continued acting every inch the virago, making sure that the youngest of her grandsons would still have a place in life which befitted his station. His father had died, and his mother, well, Elizabeth made it no secret that she considered the woman naught but useless. As far as she was concerned, there were lands which still belonged to her, as long as she drew breath. Before any of his brothers or male cousins could contest it, Elizabeth saw to it that her youngest grandson possessed a portion of her dower lands. Even long after she could no longer walk, dress or feed herself, Elizabeth found work which needed to be done and did it. Though our past is full of men and women who could impart some of Life's most precious secrets to us, I believe four hours with Elizabeth de Bruse would most profoundly effect my soul.
Would I attempt to change history at all? Not on your life! Aside from the obvious paradoxical affects, history its the ultimate teaching tool we possess! If we cannot learn from our past, what hope do we have for the future?
Gayle
One of the reasons I so enjoy maintaining this site is that I learn a great deal from my visitors. Special thanks go to Gayle for sharing a wealth of information with us about historical figures I had yet to encounter in my studies.
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If you missed the Back-in-Time survey, you can still contribute your 2¢. Use our survey page, answer via email, or head on over to our bulletin board and respond to the post, Back-in-Time Survey. While you're there, check out some of the other replies.
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