121-year-old time capsule found at bridge near Kingussie
History
I love time capsules!
Wonder how long it will be until someone tries the whisky? 
Forum Activity for @tatiana-dokuchic
History
back finally with a new gown
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Tatiana
Queen only days away from becoming longest-reigning British Monarch
History
The Queen is just 19 days away from becoming the longest-reigning monarch in British history, overtaking great-great-grandmother Queen Victoria.
According to Royal Central s calculations, The Queen will overtake Queen Victoria on 9th September at 4.18pm.
Reliable records show Queen Victorias reign spanning from 2.12am on 20th June 1837 to 6.30pm on 22nd January 1901, a total of23,226 days, 16 hours, 18 minutes!
The time of Queen Elizabeths accession however is slightly more obscure to calculate, as George VI had died in his sleep. Best estimates suggest he died around midnight on 6th February 1952.
Palace officials have been keen to stress that the momentous date will pass without celebration for The Queen, with official plans being made to focus efforts on Her Majestys 90th birthday instead next year.
Despite this, an official appearance will be made by The Queen on the day of the record being broken as she and the Duke of Edinburgh board a steam train fromEdinburgh Waverley Station in Scotland to Newtongrange and thenTweedbankas part of the trains historic journeyalong the longest domestic railway to be built in the UK in over one hundred years. The Queen will be joined by the First Minister of Scotland Nicola Sturgeonamong other officials.
Read more (including a countdown clock) ...
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Kind of cool that this will happen in our lifetimes 
updated by @tatiana-dokuchic: 06 Oct 2016 06:36:20AM
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updated by @tatiana-dokuchic: 06 Oct 2016 01:58:51PM
Exiled! - A Royal Family in Greenwich Connecticut - Casting Call
Communty News & Events
This is an exciting new twist!
Looking forward to seeing the story unfold.
Have researchers unlocked the mystery of Mona Lisa’s famously enigmatic smile?
History
Researchers from a British university believe they have unlocked the mystery of the Mona Lisas famously enigmatic smile by analysing another, recently-discovered masterpiece by Leonardo da Vinci .
By looking at La Bella Principessa, the portrait of the daughter of a Milanese nobleman, researchers found intriguing clues as to how the Renaissance genius managed to paint the Mona Lisa in such a way that her coy smile appears most pronounced when viewed from an angle and less so when looked at directly.
The researchers, from Sheffield Hallam University, believe that in the case of both portraits, the same effect was created by a painting technique known as sfumato, meaning soft or pale in Italian , in which subtle colours and shades around the mouths of the subjects create a clever optical illusion.
If one focuses on the eyes of the subject, the lips appear to slant delicately upwards in a tentative smile, but if one looks at the mouth directly, they appear flatter.
In both paintings, Leonardo expertly exploited differences between our peripheral vision and direct sight.
The research suggests that the Mona Lisas dancing smile was no fluke , but a deliberate technique by Leonardo that he had already perfected in La Bella Principessa, an earlier work.
As the smile disappears as soon as the viewer tries to catch it, we have named this visual illusion the uncatchable smile, wrote the researchers, Michelle Newberry and Alessandro Soranzo, from Sheffield Hallam University.
They organised a series of experiments in which people were asked to look at the Mona Lisa and La Bella Principessa from different distances and angles.
They were also shown digital copies of the paintings which had been blurred to different degrees.
The blurring mimicked the effects of peoples peripheral vision, in which objects are seen less distinctly. The more blurred the images were, the more Leonardos subjects appeared to smile .
If you look at Leonardo da Vinci's Mona Lisa at different angles, her mouth appears to change slant
La Bella Principessas mouth appears to change slant depending on both the viewing distance and the level of blur applied to a digital version of the portrait, they wrote in a paper published by the journal Vision Research.
Through a series of psychophysics experiments, it was found that a perceived change in the slant of La Bella Principessas mouth influences her expression of contentment.
The volunteers involved in the experiments said that both the Mona Lisa and La Bella Principessa appeared more smiley when viewed from a distance or when their portraits were slightly blurred.
The scientists also showed the people in the tests images of the two women with their mouths or eyes blacked out.
In the images with the mouths obscured, the volunteers reported that they could discern no change of expression in the portraits, suggesting that the key lay with the mouths.
Read more: Have researchers unlocked the mystery of Mona Lisas famously enigmatic smile?
updated by @tatiana-dokuchic: 06 Oct 2016 06:36:20AM
Elizabeth I’s Challenge to the Masculinity of the Royal Body by Susan Bordo
History
I agreeBordo used the term "monarch" rather loosely when she spoke of Anne Boleyn & Katherine of Aragon as they were each aQueen Consort rather than a Queen Regnant. As an interesting note, both Katherine of Aragon and Katherine Parr were granted temporary powers to rule the country while Henry was off fighting in France.
I didn't get the sense thatBordo thought they should be portrayed in a more masculine manner but rather that their primary function (in Henry's eyes at least) was to produce a male heir. This failure meant (again to Henry) they were not mystically aligned with God and therefore had to go. Anne's image was later rehabilitated as the "mother ofa new age" by the Protestant faction.
I quite enjoyed this assessment of Elizabeth:
The more plausible idea, and as suggested by the historical evidence, is that Elizabeth was both a smart politician and a woman who genuinely enjoyed and did not merely simulate courtly banter, flirtatious teasing, and the admiration of the men around her. She didnt have to fake either side of her personality; if her father and mother are any evidence, she came by both quite naturally".
From what I understand Elizabeth believed that rulers were chosen by God and it was one of the reasons that she "allowed" her successor to be James I who had the best claim with regard to primogeniture but whose line had been skipped over entirely by Henry VIII.
Elizabeth I’s Challenge to the Masculinity of the Royal Body by Susan Bordo
History
Yes, probably the fact that we now find it shocking goes towards how much attitudes have changed. Though, you're right, there's still a ways to go.
It's fascinating to see how female rulers adapted (or not) in an attempt to control their situations. I love following the female networks: Elizabeth I learned from Katherine Parr and followed some of the same "rules of conduct" set up by the first queen regnant of England, her sister Mary I (daughter of Katherine of Aragon, granddaughter of Isabella of Castile). Then there were the examples of Marguerite de Navarre, Margaret of Austria etc. (I could go on & on).
All those women making a mark in the world during exceedingly difficult times.
Elizabeth I’s Challenge to the Masculinity of the Royal Body by Susan Bordo
History
I've been a big fan of Susan Bordo ever since I read The Creation of Anne Boleyn: A New Look at Englands Most Notorious Queen 
Here's an interesting article that gives you a taste of her thought provoking style. I'll also post a few snippets to get you started
Elizabeth Is Challenge to the Masculinity of the Royal Body by Susan Bordo
Lacey Baldwin Smith has written that Tudor portraits bear about as much resemblance to their subjects as elephants to prunes. A slight exaggeration, maybe. But it is true that the historical accuracy of the depictions in Tudor portraits, particularly of royalty, was often at war with symbolic iconizingthe use of imagery to represent the persons character, position or role.
The symbolism could include inscriptions, emblems, mottos, relationships with other people, animals, or objects, and it could also be written into the body itself. A famous example is Hans Holbeins sketch of Henry VIIIthe painting itself was destroyed in a firewith the king posed to emphasize his power, authority, and resoluteness: legs spread and firmly planted, broad shoulders, one hand on his dagger, and a very visible codpiece (larger, art historians have noted, than portraits of other men at the time.) His stance, as Suzannah Lipscomb points out, mimics the stance of a man standing in full armoursparking associations with martial glory. Lipscomb also points out an interesting detail: in the draft sketch, Henrys face is turned to a angle. But in the final painting, as we know from 16th century copies done within Henrys lifetime, Holbein has Henry looking straight ahead, confronting the spectator with an unblinking stare that is still symbolic of masculinity today.
[[snip]
When the monarch is female, however, the situation is very different. The female body, being famously associated with inferior intelligence, emotional instability, and indeed, as French philosopher Beauvoir wrote, with the body itself, weighed down by everything peculiar to it is virtually defined by its imperfections. And when reproduction fails, of course, it is the Queen who is to blame. So, Katherine of Aragons, and then Anne Boleyns failure to produce a male heir was taken by Henry as a sign from God that he was married to the wrong woman. It was unthinkable that it should be Henrys fault, for as we have seen, when the monarchs body is male, the biological body and the second, more mystical body of kingly authority operate in tandem, a supportive pair. The biological body of the queen, in contrast, like all female bodies an undependable quagmire of female stuff, only becomes mystically aligned with God when chosen by the King, and that mystique only lasts so long as she produces heirs.
So its no wonder that Annes daughter, Elizabeth I, felt the need to dissociate herself from that female body, as in her famous speech at Tilsbury, to the troops about to fight the Spanish Armada.
Enjoy!!
updated by @tatiana-dokuchic: 06 Oct 2016 06:36:20AM
Site Changes: Forum Categories Updated
Site News & Guidelines
Hello Everyone
Some long overdue changes to our Forum Categories:
Getting Started has become Site News
Court News, Rules & Activities has become Community News & Events
History has been added as a brand new category.
I went through the General category and reassigned discussions up to about January 2012. If youfind other discussions that you've authored please move them as well.
It was great to see how many History articles we have and nice to acknowledge that content with it's own category. General is just so .... general
Questions & Comments? Give me a shout.
Thanks!
updated by @tatiana-dokuchic: 06 Oct 2016 06:49:59AM