18th Century– tax –
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The Enlightened Emperor Joseph II and His Devotion to His Lost Wives
Joseph II, Holy Roman Emperor. Few monarchs in 18th-century Europe embodied such passion and contradiction in equal measure. As an enlightened despot, he relentlessly pursued reforms—abolishing serfdom, promoting religious tolerance, and... -
Marie Antoinette’s Secret Love for Count Fersen
Born in Austria, and forever remembered in the storm of the French Revolution—Marie Antoinette. She is often spoken of merely as a “symbol of waste and extravagance.”Yet if we trace her life carefully, behind the dazzling gowns and the g... -
Benjamin Franklin’s Romances from Philadelphia to Paris
Benjamin Franklin. Born in 1706 in Boston, the fifteenth of seventeen children in the household of a humble candle maker,he grew up surrounded by noise, warmth, and light. As a statesman, he helped draft the Declaration of Independence.A... -
Mozart’s Love for Constanze and the Music It Inspired
Just saying his name seems to make the air lift, light and shimmering—Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. He began composing at the age of five, a prodigy who dazzled all of Europe. The Marriage of Figaro and The Magic Flute shine wi...
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