Tag: Nicolas Robles
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The twelve children of Isabel II
Nicolas RoblesBadajoz, Spain Isabel II de Borbón, Queen of Spain from 1833 to 1868, was born in 1830 in Madrid. She was a daughter of Ferdinand VII and succeeded him to the throne in 1833 shortly after her birth. Each European power presented a candidate for consort of the Spanish queen, and the only one…
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The wild Wolf and neurosyphilis
Nicolas RoblesBadajoz, Spain Von den Bergen sacht hernieder,Weckend die uralten Lieder,Steigt die wunderbare Nacht,Und die Gründe glänzen wieder,Wie du’s oft im Traum gedacht. Gently down from the mountains,Waking the ancient songs,Rises the wonderful night,And the grounds shine again,As you often thought in your dreams. —“Nachtzauber”, Gedichte, von Joseph, Freiherr von Eichendorf Hugo Wolf, reputed as…
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María de las Mercedes, the Spanish Romantic queen
Nicolas RoblesBadajoz, Spain Ya Mercedes está muerta,muerta está, que yo la ví,cuatro duques la llevabanpor las calles de Madrid. Mercedes is already dead,she’s dead, I did saw her,four dukes were her carryingthrough the streets of Madrid.—Popular Spanish song María de la Mercedes de Orleans y Borbón was born in Madrid, Spain, on June 24, 1860.…
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John Polidori, physician and writer
Nicolas RoblesBadajoz, Spain He thought, in fine, that the dreams of poets were the realities of life.—Polidori, The Vampire Some have regarded John William Polidori as the inventor of the vampire ghost story style. Born in 1795 in the City of Westminster, he was the son of Gaetano Polidori, who had come to England in…
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King Wamba’s poisoning with cytisine
Nicolas Roberto RoblesBadajoz, Spain In AD 409, the Iberian Peninsula was invaded by the Suevi and the Vandals (of Germanic stock) and the Alans (of Asian origin). The Visigoths came next. They had entered into an alliance with imperial Rome with the purpose of ejecting these invaders from Iberia, and after several years of warfare,…
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Baudelaire’s spleen
Nicolas Roberto RoblesBadajoz, Spain Je suis comme le roi d’un pays pluvieux,Riche, mais impuissant, jeune et pourtant très-vieux,Qui, de ses précepteurs méprisant les courbettes,S’ennuie avec ses chiens comme avec d’autres bêtes.Rien ne peut l’égayer, ni gibier, ni faucon,Ni son peuple mourant en face du balcon. I am like the king of a rainy country, richbut…
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Clausewitz’s death: Cholera and melancholy
Nicolas Roberto RoblesBadajoz, Spain “Sollte mich ein früher Tod in dieser Arbeit unterbrechen”(“If an early death should terminate my work”)— Carl von Clausewitz, Vom Kriege Carl Philipp Gottfried von Clausewitz (1780–1831) was a Prussian general and military theorist who stressed the psychological and political aspects of waging war. He is remembered chiefly for his work…
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Love and syphilis: The marriage of Gustavo Adolfo Bécquer
Nicolas Roberto Robles Diego Peral Caceres, Spain Figure 1. Portrait of Gustavo Adolfo Bécquer. Valeriano Domínguez Bécquer. Museo de Bellas Artes de Sevilla. Via Wikimedia. Public domain. ¡Cuánta nota dormía en sus cuerdas, como el pájaro duerme en las ramas, esperando la mano de nieve que sabe arrancarlas! How many notes sleep in its…