A Quick One Before I Leave

 Raiding my notes from Google Keep this morning before I depart for church.

A cartoon: Mike Luckovich on Donald Trump's oath of office

Kundera and the Question of Jewish-Israeli Identity: The temptation of trying to live outside of history by Yiftach Ofek. I wonder if Americans might be tempted to do the same. After all, we do not know our own history; that should be a start to living outside of history. If you have read Kundera, this offers a perspective, a criticism that might stick. But if Kundera's idea was that Europe no longer existed thanks to the World Wars grew out of a specific time, then he was not outside of history. He may have been standing still while Europe changed. I do need to read his later stuff.

I did not finish The Return of the Marriage Plot Why everyone is suddenly so eager for men and women to get hitched. So, I probably shouldn't be adding it here. My excuse? It makes a good argument that marriage as marriage is not a solution. Quality over quantity is important. And that there is more to marriage than just getting married. I do not think enough people have caught onto that idea, even now. Doing divorce work for over twenty years did give me a different perspective.

The Woman who Ruled the Papacy (with apologies to Fleetwood Mac - what makes history fun):

The years 896 to 964 are known as the Saeculum obscurum (‘The Dark Age”) for the Papacy. It was a time of chaos and corruption, with 20 Popes on the throne, and most of them having their reigns and lives radically shortened by murder.

The Papacy had lost much of its prestige and protection with the splintering of the Carolingian Empire in the ninth century. Rome was largely left to rule itself. Moreover, Romans were largely left to choose who would be the Pope of the Roman Catholic Church. Soon enough, local elites began to fight each other for power and to make their man would be the next Pope.

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It was during this time that a woman named Marozia entered the scene. Born between 890 and 892, she was the daughter of the Roman consul Theophylact, Count of Tusculum, and of Theodora, a senatrix and serenissima vestaratrix of Rome. This couple had risen to dominate Roman politics and made their share of enemies. One of them was Liudprand of Cremona, a diplomat and historian. He called Theodora a “shameless harlot…whose very mention is most foul, was holding the monarchy of the city of Rome, and not in an unmanly way.”

When Sergius III became Pope in 904 Theophylact and Theodora ensured that their teenage daughter was introduced to the Pontiff – soon Sergius and Marozia were lovers, until she became pregnant and bore him a son named John. For the Pope to have any children was a serious embarrassment, but it also gave the House of Theophylact political leverage. Afterwards, Marozia was then married off to Alberic I, Duke of Spoleto.

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At this point, Marozia knew who she wanted on the Papal Throne – her son John – but since he was still a teenager, therefore a little too young. So she had Leo VI and Stephen VII keep the chair warm until she had both of them killed, and in 931 her son, now in his early twenties, became Pope John XI. Marozia was now at the height of her power – as one monk complained, “Rome has been subjected to the power of a woman, as we read in the Prophet, ‘The women dominate Jerusalem’.”

Marozia planned to rise even further, and in early 932 she proposed a marriage with a longtime adversary, Hugo of Arles, King of Italy. If they got married they would get a very special wedding gift from the Pope – he would bestow upon them the titles of Emperor and Empress. One historian remarks: “Marozia of all people could have transformed that hollow title into a meaningful one.”

Wow - Study: Muncie among cheapest U.S. cities for rent per square foot

I still have not found this restaurant open when I am free and about town, but it looks as good as Downtown Muncie restaurant, Mama and Son, focuses on love in their food and environment. makes out.

Advice on the Future of Religion in America from a College Class, whether religious or not, this is worth reading in full.

And for A Quick One:

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