Posted on 06/03/2018 10:19:54 AM PDT by Beowulf9
A hidden diary written by a carpenter on the floorboards of a French Alpine chateau provides a rare insight into the private lives of villagers in the late 19th Century, writes Hugh Schofield.
(Excerpt) Read more at bbc.com ...
Looks like early tagging to me. Vandals!
Wow, reading the story, it looks like instead of abortion, upon a pregnancy, infanticide was initiated right after birth to cover up the dastardly deeds of the fornicators, WOW!
Looks like a wooden tombstone to me. 38 years old.
We look at another time and another place and we see infanticide and we say “How horrible!”
We should also look at our time and our place and should see abortion and should say “It’s not different! How horrible!”
Achieving bodily pleasures at the expense of the unborn, (or born, as in this case), has always happened throughout our history.
Fascinating story. And who knows how many other houses (even here in America) might carry similar tales? I read an account of a house in Massachusetts or Maryland, whose owner was repairing or renovating the roof, and found the (18th century) spectacles of one of the original builders.
This Joachim was a literate carpenter who wrote well with his stub of a pencil. Beyond graffiti, a real diary, a treasure.
The book is on Amazon, no reviews yet.
Thanks so much for the link and the post. :D
Of Interest
Wow! Was he ever wrong, he could not have imagined an electronic newspaper that would be published world wide almost instantaneously with millions of readers insatiably clamoring for something new/old to read.
7
Thanks freds6girlies.
I predict a hoax. Way too 21st century expectation of 19th century village scandal IMHO.
Anti religious sentiment? Check
Scandal of infanticide in place of legal abortion. Check
Sex obsessed celibate clergy giving marital advice. Check
Childbirth in a stable without medical care. Check
No distinction between Protestant and Catholic. Check
This literate carpenter did not have access to paper. Check
Is the phrase “screw up” one commonly used in that era? I don’t know.
Infanticide did exist but people were not stupid a women who was pregnant on a rather steady basis but somehow always managed to not have an infant would have aroused suspicion even then. They did have death certificates. And magistrates/coroners. Also there were “baby farms” where illegitimate children often were parceled out (so to say). So a quiet birth out of town and “sad news” would be more likely. Unless it is suggested this woman’s pregnancies were kept hidden. Not likely.
Is this expectation on the part of the BBC who published this story, the editor of the book, or the carpenter Joachim himself?
I did pick up that the BBC story seemed to focus a great deal on the sexual and religious issues through the lens of modern morality. The article dryly notes, "The killing of babies was certainly a criminal offence but at a time before contraception was available it was perhaps not that uncommon." and "The 1880s were a time of rapid change. France's Third Republic was bedding in, having seen off a final challenge from the monarchists, and across the country reforms were being introduced that limited the powers of the church... What the episode shows is how such priestly prying [into marital matters] created resentment, and thus contributed to the growing anti-church feeling."
More reviews at the Amazon.fr site.
It is isn’t it. It actually gave me a kind of introspective morning full of wonder at the world and all the people and centuries before us. It’s nice to ‘keep in touch’ with those past times, imho.
I am not sure. I don’t think on the part of the historian as educated experts have blind spots and no doubt can be fooled easily enough. So I am not sure of the origin. I do know most secret diaries do turn out to be less than all that after first glance and initial excitement.
I’ve not read any other excerpts but I would certainly expect a man in Joachim’s position to mention the non sexual, non homicidal scandals of the village. Does he? What about labor movements and world politics?
I am at a disadvantage as I don’t read French.
Montaigne carved Epictetus into the beams of his tower library, this carpenter wrote a more earthy history on the wooden floor planks and then covered them with marquetry.
I’ve read about digs around old homes in Annapolis. Finding the old home’s privy is like finding archeological gold.
There was a dig started on Paul Revere’s last fall.
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