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= = Taxonomy and naming = = |
Inocybe praetervisa was first described by Lucien Quélet in the first volume of Giacomo Bresadola 's 1883 publication Fungi tridentini . The species was moved to the genus Astrosporina by Joseph Schröter in 1889 , but this was rejected , and the name Astrosporina praetervisa is now considered an obligate synonym . Astrosporina praetervisa was the type species of the no longer recognised genus . The specific epithet praetervisa comes from the Latin word meaning " overlooked " . |
Within the genus Inocybe , I. praetervisa has been placed in the subgenus Inocybe . Mycologist Rolf Singer places the species in the section Marginatae ; mycologist Thom Kuyper considers Marginatae a supersection , and includes I. praetervisa along with I. abietis , I. calospora and I. godeyi . Phylogenetics has shown that , in addition to the large clade of subgenus Inocybe , I. praetervisa forms a clade with I. calospora , I. lanuginosa and I. leptophylla . The species are similar in that all four have basidiospores with small nodules ; it was this feature that defined the genus Astrosporina , with then A. praetervisa as its type species . However , when phylogenetic analysis later concluded that nodulose @-@ spored Inocybe species do not form a monophyletic group , the name Astrosporina was deemed inappropriate at a generic level . But it may be considered useful at a lower level to refer to the clade of the four Inocybe species . Of those four , I. praetervisa is most closely related to I. calospora , with which it forms a smaller and closer clade . A different study also found the close relationship between I. praetervisa and I. calospora ; it also named I. teraturgus as a part of the clade containing I. praetervisa , I. calospora , I. lanuginosa and I. leptophylla . |
= = Description = = |
Inocybe praetervisa has a bell @-@ shaped ( later expanding ) cap of 3 to 5 centimetres ( 1 @.@ 2 to 2 @.@ 0 in ) in diameter , which is a yellowish @-@ brown colour . It is fibrous , and splits from the margin ( which curves inwards ) to the centre . The stem is from 5 to 6 centimetres ( 2 @.@ 0 to 2 @.@ 4 in ) in height , and from 3 to 8 millimetres ( 0 @.@ 12 to 0 @.@ 31 in ) thick . It is white , maturing to a pale straw @-@ yellow , and the whole stem is farinaceous , meaning it is covered in particles resembling meal . The stem has a distinct bulb at the base , which is moderately marginate , and lacks a ring . The flesh is white , and discolours to yellowish in the stem . The gills are initially whitish , but later become a clay @-@ brown with toothed , white edges . They are adnexed , meaning they connect to the stem by only part of their depth , and are crowded closely together . |
= = = Microscopic features = = = |
Inocybe praetervisa leaves a clay @-@ brown spore print , while the spores themselves are rectangular with a large number of " distinct , angular knobs " . In size , the spores measure between 10 and 12 micrometres ( 0 @.@ 00039 and 0 @.@ 00047 in ) in length by between 7 and 9 micrometres ( 0 @.@ 00028 and 0 @.@ 00035 in ) in width . Inocybe praetervisa has both pleuro- and cheilocystidia which are relatively spindle @-@ shaped with apical encrustation . The cystidia have hyaline or pale yellow walls . |
= = = Similar species = = = |
The species can be differentiated from the similar I. cookei by its " irregular , lumpy spores " . It is also similar to I. rimosa , but differs in the presence of a bulb . Another species that can be differentiated by the lack of a bulb is I. numerosigibba . |
= = Habitat and distribution = = |
Inocybe praetervisa is an ectomycorrhizal species , and can be found on the ground in mixed , deciduous or even coniferous woodland . It typically favours beech . Mushrooms grow solitarily or in " trooping groups " in late summer and throughout autumn , though it is not commonly encountered species . It can be found in Europe , Asia and North America . |
= = Edibility and toxicity = = |
The species has a mild , indistinct taste , and a faint smell of flour . Mycologist Roger Phillips describes its edibility as " suspect " , recommending that it be avoided , and notes that it is possible that the species is poisonous ; most species of Inocybe have been shown to contain poisonous chemicals . Mycologist Ian Robert Hall lists the mushroom as containing the poisonous compound muscarine . Consumption of muscarine could lead to a number of physiological effects , including : excess salivation , lacrimation , uncontrollable urination and defecation , gastrointestinal problems and emesis ( vomiting ) ; this array of symptoms is also known by the acronym SLUDGE . Other potential effects include a drop in blood pressure , sweating and death due to respiratory failure . |
= Hannah Primrose , Countess of Rosebery = |
Hannah Primrose , Countess of Rosebery ( 27 July 1851 – 19 November 1890 ) was a British noblewoman , the daughter of Baron Mayer de Rothschild and the wife of Archibald , Earl of Rosebery . After inheriting her father 's fortune in 1874 , she became the richest woman in Britain . |
During the final quarter of the 19th century her husband , the Earl of Rosebery , was one of the most celebrated figures in Britain , an influential millionaire and politician , whose charm , wit , charisma and public popularity gave him such standing that he " almost eclipsed royalty . " Yet his Jewish wife , during her lifetime regarded as dull , overweight and lacking in beauty , remains an enigmatic figure largely ignored by historians and often regarded as notable only for financing her husband 's three ambitions : to marry an heiress , win the Epsom Derby , and become Prime Minister ( the second and third of these possibly apocryphal ambitions were achieved after her death ) . In truth , she was her husband 's driving force and motivation . |
Her marriage into the aristocracy , while controversial at the time , gave her the social cachet in an antisemitic society that her vast fortune could not . She subsequently became a political hostess and philanthropist . Her charitable work was principally in the sphere of public health and causes associated with the welfare of working @-@ class Jewish women living in the poorer districts of London . |
Having firmly assisted and supported her husband on his path to political greatness , she suddenly died in 1890 , aged 39 , leaving him , distraught and bereft of her support , to achieve the political destiny which she had plotted . His premiership of the United Kingdom was shambolic , and lasted barely a year . For over thirty years following her death , he wandered in a political wilderness , directionless and exceedingly eccentric , until his own death in 1929 . |
= = Early years = = |
Hannah de Rothschild was born in 1851 into a world of great wealth and luxury . She was the granddaughter of Baron Nathan Mayer Rothschild , who had founded N M Rothschild & Sons , the English branch of the Rothschilds ' banking empire . Niall Ferguson states in his History of the House of Rothschild that by the mid @-@ 19th century the Rothschilds regarded themselves as the nearest thing the Jews of Europe had to a royal family , and the equals of royalty . Whether or not this was strictly true , the many Rothschild homes and their art collections , in England , Austria , France and Germany , certainly rivalled those of the crowned heads of Europe . |
Hannah de Rothschild 's father Baron Meyer Amschel de Rothschild married his cousin Juliana Cohen in 1850 . The marriage provided the impetus for Meyer to create what he described as " an enduring monument , " a country house of monumental proportions . His daughter Hannah , aged just six months , laid the foundation stone on 31 December 1851 . Throughout her life , Mentmore Towers was to be a fixed and pivotal point . |
Within a few years of the mansion 's completion , attracted by the good hunting and proximity to London , Hannah 's relatives began to build estates nearby , all within a carriage drive of each other ; thus , Hannah grew up in an almost private world of unimaginable splendour and security . Pevsner has described this enclave of Rothschild properties as " the most conspicuous and significant aspect of Victorian architecture in Buckinghamshire . " In addition to Mentmore , Baron and Baroness Meyer de Rothschild had a large house in London , 107 Piccadilly ; The Zenaide , a luxurious yacht moored in the South of France ; and other smaller properties visited only seasonally and occasionally . |
As an only child growing up in what were , in all but name , palaces , her childhood appears to have been quite lonely . She was a companion to her hypochondriac mother and , in later life , a hostess with her father during her mother 's long periods of indisposition . She was indulged by both parents and her formal education was neglected in favour of music and singing lessons , subjects in which she was accomplished . Her parents were very protective of her , attempting to ensure that she was never exposed to the risk of sickness or even the sight of poverty . As a result , she was never allowed to enter the cottages on the Rothschilds ' estates . A cousin , who seems to have disliked her , claims that Hannah was so sheltered that the phrase " the poor " was just a meaningless euphemism to her . This is likely to be an exaggeration , as from her teens onwards she used much of her fortune to improve the lot of the poor , in housing and education . Whatever the faults of her education , she possessed great confidence , impressing her Rothschild relations , who noted her poise and competence when she hosted a large house party at Mentmore for the Prince of Wales while only 17 years of age . |
Mayer Amschel de Rothschild died in 1874 , leaving his daughter not only Mentmore ( with its priceless art collection ) , his London mansion , and innumerable investments , but also the sum of two million pounds sterling in cash ( equivalent to £ 167 million in present day terms ) . Thus , Hannah de Rothschild became the wealthiest woman in England . |
= = Betrothal = = |
Hannah de Rothschild was first introduced to her future husband , the 28 @-@ year @-@ old Earl of Rosebery , by Lady Beaconsfield , the wife of Benjamin Disraeli , at Newmarket Racecourse . The Disraelis were close friends and neighbours of the Rothschilds in Buckinghamshire . |
Archibald , 5th Earl of Rosebery , born in 1847 , had inherited his title from his grandfather in 1868 , when aged 21 , together with an income of £ 30 @,@ 000 a year . He owned 40 @,@ 000 acres ( 160 km ² ) in Scotland , and land in Norfolk , Hertfordshire , and Kent . His father had died when he was eight and he had been brought up by his mother , who had subsequently married Harry Powlett , 4th Duke of Cleveland . His mother was a distant figure , and their relationship was always strained . The Earls of Rosebery , whose family name was Primrose , were old , if undistinguished , members of the Scottish aristocracy . Rosebery was considered to be strikingly handsome and immensely cultivated . He was highly intelligent , and a brilliant future was forecast for him by his tutors at both Eton and Christ Church , Oxford . |
As early as 1876 , there were rumours of an engagement . However , several hurdles had to be overcome before a marriage could take place . While the Jewish Rothschilds were accepted into society , and indeed were close friends of some members of the royal family including the Prince of Wales , as elsewhere in Europe , antisemitic feelings were prevalent in the upper echelons of society and particularly so among those closest to the Queen at court , where following the death of the Prince Consort in 1861 the Rothschilds became pointedly excluded . The Queens equerry Arthur Edward Hardinge referred to the Rothschild 's dining tables as " resplendent with the Hebrew gold " going so far as to say a visiting Russian royal needed a " corrective " visit to Westminster Abbey following acceptance of Rothschild hospitality . Queen Victoria herself expressed antisemitic views in 1873 when it was proposed that Lionel de Rothschild be elevated to the peerage the Queen refused and expressed a reluctance to make a Jew a peer – saying " to make a Jew a peer is a step she could not consent to " and furthermore stated to give " a title and mark of her approbation to a Jew " . Lord Spencer advised the Prince and Princess of Wales against attending a Rothschild ball with the words " The Prince ought only to visit those of undoubted position in Society . " However , this did not prevent the Prince from accepting Rothschild 's invitations and gifts privately . While one could be friends with Jews and accept their hospitality , their social status was still not sufficiently elevated to include marriage into the peerage without unfavourable comment . |
Rosebery 's own mother was horrified at the thought of a Jewess , even a Rothschild , in the family . Rosebery too felt there was an impassable barrier of faith ; at this time , it was inconceivable that any children could be reared as Jews . Although it has been stated that Rosebery himself was devoid of any antisemitic views , this was not always true , especially in later life . |
This factor also worked in reverse ; while Hannah de Rothschild was keen to marry Rosebery , she was also aware of many obstacles , the foremost being that she was devoted to her faith , and to leave it would be a severe moral wrench . Another obstacle was the Rothschild family itself : it was their custom to marry cousins to keep their fortune within the family . Ironically , Hannah herself had opposed the marriage of her cousin Annie de Rothschild to the Christian Eliot Yorke , the son of the Earl of Hardwicke , in 1866 . In fact , she was to be the third daughter of the family 's English branch to marry outside of the Jewish faith , but such was the fame of the bridegroom and the resultant publicity that the Jewish elders and press felt an example needed to be made . The Jewish Chronicle announced its " most poignant grief " at the prospect , and cryptically added , " If the flame seize on the cedars , how will fare the hyssop on the wall : if the leviathan is brought up with a hook , how will the minnows escape , " demonstrating what a threat to the social fabric of the Jewish faith the Jewish elders saw in the prospect of such a marriage . The quotation , originally from the Babylonian Talmud , can be taken to mean that the elders and respected members and more notable members of the Jewish faith should set a good example by strictly following the teachings of the Jewish articles of faith which frown upon marriage to members of other religions . |
The formal engagement of marriage was announced on 3 January 1878 , a day Rosebery forever afterwards regarded as sacred . Writing to a friend in January 1878 , Rosebery described his wife as " very simple , very unspoilt , very clever , very warm @-@ hearted and very shy ... I never knew such a beautiful character . " The marriage was celebrated in London on 20 March 1878 at the Board Room of Guardians in Mount Street , and also in a Christian ceremony at Christ Church in Down Street , Piccadilly . To show " official " disapproval , no male member of the Rothschild family attended the ceremonies . However , any shortcomings in the guest list were compensated for by the guest of honour — the Prince of Wales — and Disraeli , who gave the bride away . |
= = Marriage = = |
For the first few years following their marriage , the Roseberys resided in London in the Piccadilly house Lady Rosebery had inherited from her father . However , as the couple 's social and political interests increased from 1882 , they leased the larger Lansdowne House . Lansdowne House was one of the finest of the aristocratic palaces in London , well suited to be the home of the political salon which Hannah Rosebery was to establish . Here political and social leaders of the day mixed with royalty , authors such as Henry James and Oscar Wilde , and other prominent social and intellectual figures of the time . Henry James , an occasional guest in the Roseberys ' homes , delivered one of the most unflattering condemnations of Lady Rosebery describing her as " ... large , coarse , Hebrew @-@ looking with hair of no particular colour and personally unattractive " . |
The Roseberys divided their year among their various homes : London for the social season and parliament , Mentmore at weekends to entertain both political and shooting house @-@ parties . In August the household would move north to Dalmeny for the grouse shooting . In between , occasional days and the weeklong Derby meeting would be spent at their home " The Durdans " in Epsom . Though small by comparison to their other homes , this mansion was described by Henry James as the most homely and comfortable of the Roseberys ' many homes and as a delightful house full of books and sporting pictures , with just a few Gainsboroughs and Watteaux . Together the Earl and Countess of Rosebery added greatly to not only the Mentmore collection but also to that housed at Dalmeny House , Rosebery 's Scottish seat , amassing a great library of rare and continental volumes and a collection of artefacts formerly belonging to the Emperor Napoleon I. |
= = = Relationship with Rosebery = = = |
Published commentators on the Roseberys claim their marriage was happy , and there is no known evidence that Hannah was anything other than happy in her marriage , and quite a lot to suggest she was indeed blissfully happy . However , much evidence suggests that Rosebery , while professing to be happy , was at times irritated and bored by Hannah , who was always keen to accommodate his every whim . |
There were times when Lady Rosebery 's devotion to her husband was tested . Rosebery may have not been antisemitic before his marriage ; however , the acerbic wit for which he was famous led him to make remarks that could have been taken in such a way , once his marriage had secured the Rothschild fortune . Rosebery seems to have disliked his first son , who he claimed looked " Jewish . " On seeing his son for the first time he remarked " Le Jew est fait , rien ne vas plus , " which must have been disconcerting for the child 's very Jewish mother . Rosebery , who has been described as febrile and supercilious , replied in a letter of congratulations on the birth of his heir from Mary Gladstone : " I cannot pretend to be much excited by an event which occurs to almost every human being and which may cause me a great deal of annoyance . " Rosebery then left his newborn child and wife ( who was again pregnant ) for a year @-@ long tour of Australia . On another occasion , when the Roseberys were travelling in India , Rosebery is reported to have announced " I will travel ahead , Hannah and the rest of the heavy baggage will follow the next day . " |
While the marriage was based on warmth and esteem on Rosebery 's side and adoration on Hannah 's , it seems that Rosebery often found his wife 's devotion irritating , and this sometimes caused him to be impatient with her . He was often abrupt with her in public . She , by contrast , was completely enraptured by him , and would frequently ignore her neighbours at a dinner party to listen to her husband 's conversation further down the table , a faux pas almost considered a crime in Victorian society . Those who saw the couple alone at home " could not doubt the affection as well as the comprehension that united them . " |
However , at times Rosebery 's behaviour could be eccentric . Gladstone remarked that Rosebery was , perhaps , rather too concerned with his health . Early in the marriage Rosebery decided to renovate the small ruined Barnbougle Castle ( the original Rosebery family seat ) , close to , and within sight of , Dalmeny House . Once renovation was complete in 1882 , Rosebery used it as a private retreat from his family , and began to spend his nights there alone . Always an insomniac , he claimed that the " stillness of the waters [ the nearby Firth of Forth ] were conducive to sleep . " Books were his passion , and he assembled a huge library in the small castle . Thus Rosebery was able to lead a life at Dalmeny with his wife , but also quite apart from her . |
During their marriage the Roseberys travelled extensively , usually without their children . In September 1883 the couple left their children in the care of the nannies and nursery maids , supervised by Rosebery 's sister Lady Leconfield , for a long tour of America and Australia . Lady Rosebery owned large investments in North America , including ranches in Texas and mines in Montana . Their arrival in New York was widely reported , and a full and flattering description of Lady Rosebery was reported in The Herald . The newspaper went on to describe Rosebery as looking like a prosperous farmer . Lady Rosebery was very taken with California , from where she wrote : " The inhabitants are very entertaining ... the women are very handsome , think nothing of dresses costing £ 80 , " fix up " their faces very frequently and are generally divorced . " Having toured and been fêted in America , the party moved on to Australia via Honolulu . In Australia , Rosebery chose to indulge his habit of solitude , installing his wife in a hotel in Sydney , while he went off alone to tour the outback . |
Rosebery 's frequent absences from his wife fuelled gossip that he was a secret homosexual . It has been claimed that the inscrutable air that Rosebery wore was a mask to disguise his secret homosexual life . The worry of this illegal secret , it was claimed , and fear of exposure , caused his insomnia and bouts of depression . It was even whispered that his Barnbougle Castle retreat was really a venue for clandestine assignations with young men . Rosebery 's possible homosexuality has been much discussed in recent times . Nothing conclusive has ever been found one way or the other , but it is possible that he had homosexual experiences while in the care of a paedophile housemaster at Eton in his youth . No evidence exists that his wife was aware of these rumours against her husband , or even that she would have understood them , bearing in mind her sheltered upbringing and limited education . Sex education was not part of a 19th @-@ century upper @-@ class girl 's schooling . The more public and precise accusations of Rosebery 's homosexuality by the Marquess of Queensberry did not occur until three years after Lady Rosebery 's death . |
The relationship between the couple appears at times to have been almost that of a mother and child . Rosebery , a self @-@ centred , reserved man , prone to depression , pessimism and insecurity , had a difficult relationship with his mother who had been distant and openly preferred his younger brother . Lady Rosebery , an orphan and only child , appears to have been desperate to lavish affection . Once upon entering a book shop she told her children they were entering a toy shop , and when the disappointed children pointed out the obvious she replied " to your father this is a toy shop . " Lord Rosebery 's friend Edward Hamilton recorded her " notable faculty of getting other people to work and quickening their energies . " It seems she was the driving force of the relationship , with her feet firmly on the ground . She made herself the link between the world and her " thin skinned and neurotic " husband . While her husband sulked or withdrew with hurt pride from a situation , she came to the forefront to plead his case or cause . If she was aware of his faults she gave no indication of it . |
= = = Children = = = |
The marriage produced four children : Lady Sybil Primrose , born in 1879 ; Lady Margaret Primrose , born in 1881 ; the heir Harry Primrose , Lord Dalmeny ( later 6th Earl of Rosebery ) , born in 1882 ; and finally the Honourable Neil Primrose , born the same year as his elder brother . |
As a mother , Lady Rosebery was presented with a dilemma : she was in fact already practically a mother to her husband who had no great feeling for a proximity to small babies . This was particularly evident in June 1880 when shortly after the birth of their first child Sybil , Rosebery wished to visit Germany for three months , to take a cure at a German spa ( he was recovering from what is now thought to have been a nervous breakdown ) . His wife dutifully accompanied him . However , Rosebery , clearly aware of his wife 's frustrated maternal instincts , reported that Hannah savoured every detail of the daily letters from London concerning the baby , and that she never complained at the forced separation . |
More revealing is a comment Lady Rosebery herself made to her husband , " I sometimes think it is wrong that I have thought less of the children in comparison to you " shortly before her death in 1890 , suggesting that when a choice between her children and husband was forced on her , she always chose her husband . However , the same comment also hints that she was not unaware that her choice was at the cost of her children . |
When assessing Lady Rosebery 's behaviour to her children it should be remembered that she lived in an era of plentiful nannies , wet nurses , nursemaids and governesses which the upper classes employed as the norm . These people were employed regardless of the mother 's affection towards her children ; it was inconceivable that a countess would nurse her own children , and to do so would have been breaking social conventions . Hence her seeming lack of attention to her children was not unusual – she was following the upper class conventions and " stiff upper lip " philosophies of her era . However , in spite of their prolonged absences from their children , the Roseberys do not appear to have been very distant or remote figures in the earliest stages of their children 's lives . Margot Asquith records how Rosebery loved to play and romp on the floor with the children . |
= = Politics = = |
Le souper de Beaucaire was a political pamphlet written by Napoleon Bonaparte in 1793 . With the French Revolution into its fourth year , civil war had spread across France between various rival political factions . Napoleon was involved in military action , on the government 's side , against some rebellious cities of southern France . It was during these events , in 1793 , that he spoke with four merchants from the Midi and heard their views . As a loyal soldier of the Republic he responded in turn , set on dispelling the fears of the merchants and discouraging their beliefs . He later wrote about his conversation in the form of a pamphlet , calling for an end to the civil war . |
= = Background = = |
During the French Revolution the National Convention became the executive power of France , following the execution of King Louis XVI . With powerful members , such as Maximilien Robespierre and Georges Danton , the Jacobin Club , a French political party established in 1790 , at the birth of the revolution , managed to secure control of the government and pursue the revolution to their own ends , culminating in a " Reign of Terror " . Its repressive policies resulted in insurrection across much of France , including the three largest cities after Paris , namely Lyon , Marseille and Toulon , in the south of France . |
Citizens in the south were opposed to a centralised government , and to the decrees of its rule , which resulted in rebellion . Prior to the revolution France had been divided into provinces with local governments . In 1790 the government , the National Constituent Assembly , reorganised France into administrative departments in order to rebalance the uneven distribution of French wealth , which had been subject to feudalism under the monarchical Ancien Régime . |
= = Rebellion in Southern France = = |
In July 1793 Captain Napoleon Bonaparte , an artillery officer , was placed under the command of Jean @-@ Baptiste Carteaux to deal with rebels from Marseille situated in Avignon , where army munitions required by the French Army of Italy were being stored . On 24 July , Carteaux 's troops attacked rebellious National Guardsmen , killing several citizens during the siege , before capturing the town and army supplies . Afterwards , Napoleon travelled to nearby Tarascon to find wagons with which to transport the munition . He visited Beaucaire , across the river from Tarascon , which had been holding an annual fair . Napoleon arrived on 28 July , the last day of the fair , and went to a tavern where he shared supper and conversation with four merchants – two from Marseille , one from Montpellier and another from Nîmes . |
That evening Napoleon and the four merchants discussed the revolution , subsequent rebellions , and their consequences . Speaking as a pro @-@ Republican , Napoleon supported the Jacobin cause , and explained the benefits of the revolution , whilst defending Carteaux 's actions in Avignon . One of the merchants from Marseille expressed his moderate views regarding the revolution , and reasons for supporting civil war against a central government . The merchant stressed that Marseille did not fight for the Royalist cause , but opposed the nature of the Convention itself , condemning its decrees and deeming the execution of citizens as unlawful . Napoleon concluded that the people of Marseille should reject counter @-@ revolutionary ideals and adopt the constitution of the French Republic in order to end the civil war and allow the regular army to restore France . |
Following their conversation the group drank champagne until two in the morning , paid for by the Marseillais merchant . |
= = Publication and recognition = = |
Shortly after the events , possibly on the 29 July whilst still in Beaucaire , Napoleon wrote a political pamphlet titled Le souper de Beaucaire ( The supper at Beaucaire ) in which a soldier speaks with four merchants and sympathetic to their opinions attempts to dissipate their counter @-@ revolutionary sentiments . |
The pamphlet was read by Augustin Robespierre , brother of Maximilien Robespierre , who was impressed by the revolutionary context . The pamphlet itself had little effect against the rebellious forces , but served to advance Napoleon 's career . He soon became recognised for his political ambitions by a Corsica @-@ born politician , and family friend , Christophe Saliceti , who arranged to have it published and distributed . Christophe 's influence , along with fellow Convention deputy Augustin Robespierre , advanced Napoleon into the position of senior gunner , at Toulon . |
In Memoirs of Napoleon Bonaparte , a biography by Napoleon 's private secretary , Louis de Bourrienne , he notes that Le souper de Beaucaire was reprinted as a book – the first edition issued at the cost of the Public Treasury in August 1798 , and a second edition in 1821 , following Napoleon 's death . He also states , " It was during my absence from France that Bonaparte , in the rank of ' chef de bataillon ' [ major ] , performed his first campaign , and contributed so materially to the recapture of Toulon . Of this period of his life I have no personal knowledge , and therefore I shall not speak of it as an eye @-@ witness . I shall merely relate some facts which fill up the interval between 1793 and 1795 , and which I have collected from papers which he himself delivered to me . Among these papers is a little production , entitled ' Le Souper de Beaucaire ' , the copies of which he bought up at considerable expense , and destroyed upon his attaining the Consulate . " |
= Jin – Song Wars = |
The Jin – Song Wars were a series of conflicts between the Jurchen Jin dynasty ( 1115 – 1234 ) and Han Chinese Song dynasty ( 960 – 1279 ) . In 1115 , the Jurchens rebelled against their overlords , the Khitan Liao dynasty ( 907 – 1125 ) , and declared the formation of the Jin . Allying with the Song against their common enemy the Liao , the Jin promised to return to the Song the territories in northern China that had fallen under Liao control since 938 . The Jurchens ' quick defeat of the Liao combined with Song military failures made the Jin reluctant to cede these territories . After a series of failed negotiations that embittered both sides , the Jurchens attacked the Song in November 1125 , dispatching one army towards Taiyuan and the other towards Kaifeng , the Song capital . |
Surprised by the news of an invasion , the Song general stationed in Taiyuan retreated from the city , which was besieged and later captured . As the second Jin army approached the capital , Emperor Huizong of the Song abdicated and fled south . A new emperor , Qinzong , was enthroned . The Jurchens began a siege against Kaifeng in 1126 , but Qinzong negotiated for their retreat from the capital after he agreed to pay a large annual indemnity . Qinzong reneged on the deal and ordered Song forces to defend the prefectures instead of fortifying the capital . The Jin resumed their war against the Song and again besieged Kaifeng in 1127 . The Chinese emperor was captured in an event known as the Jingkang Incident , the capital was looted , and the Song lost northern China to the Jin . Remnants of the Song retreated to southern China and , after brief stays in several temporary capitals , eventually relocated to Hangzhou . The retreat of the Song court marked the end of the Northern Song era and the beginning of the Southern Song . |
The Jurchens tried to conquer southern China in the 1130s , but they were bogged down by a pro @-@ Song insurgency in the north and a counteroffensive by the Song generals Yue Fei , Han Shizhong , and others . The generals regained some territories but retreated on the orders of the Southern Song emperor , who supported a peaceful resolution to the war . The Treaty of Shaoxing in 1142 settled the boundary between the two empires along the Huai River , but conflicts between the two dynasties continued until the fall of the Jin in 1234 . A campaign against the Song by the fourth Jin emperor , Wanyan Liang ( the Prince of Hailing ) , was unsuccessful . He lost the Battle of Caishi ( 1161 ) and was later assassinated by his own disaffected officers . An invasion of the Jin motivated by Song revanchism ( 1206 – 1208 ) was also unsuccessful . A decade later , the Jin launched an abortive military campaign against the Song in 1217 to compensate for the territory that they had lost to the invading Mongols . The Song formed an alliance with the Mongols in 1233 , and in the following year jointly captured Caizhou , the last refuge of the Jin emperor . The Jin dynasty collapsed that year in 1234 . After the demise of the Jin , the Song dynasty itself became a target of the Mongols , and fell in 1279 . |
The wars engendered an era of technological , cultural , and demographic changes in China . Battles between the Song and Jin brought about the introduction of various gunpowder weapons . The siege of De 'an in 1132 was the first recorded appearance of the fire lance , an early ancestor of firearms . There were also reports of battles fought with primitive gunpowder bombs like the incendiary huopao or the exploding tiehuopao , incendiary arrows , and other related weapons . In northern China , the Jurchen tribes were the ruling minority of an empire that was predominantly inhabited by former subjects of the Northern Song . Jurchen migrants settled in the conquered territories and assimilated with the local culture . The Jin government instituted a centralized imperial bureaucracy modeled on previous Chinese dynasties , basing their legitimacy on Confucian philosophy . Song refugees from the north resettled in southern China . The north was the cultural center of China , and its conquest by the Jin diminished the international stature of the Song dynasty . The Southern Song , however , quickly returned to economic prosperity , and trade with the Jin was lucrative despite decades of warfare . The capital of the Southern Song , Hangzhou , expanded into a major city for commerce . |
= = The fragile Song – Jin alliance = = |
The Jurchens were a Tungusic @-@ speaking group of semi @-@ agrarian tribes inhabiting areas of northeast Asia that are now part of Northeast China . Many of the Jurchen tribes were vassals of the Liao dynasty ( 907 – 1125 ) , an empire ruled by the nomadic Khitans that included most of modern Mongolia , a portion of North China , Northeast China , northern Korea , and parts of the Russian Far East . To the south of the Liao lay the Han Chinese Song Empire ( 960 – 1276 ) . The Song and Liao were at peace , but since a military defeat to the Liao in 1005 , the Song paid its northern neighbor an annual indemnity of 200 @,@ 000 bolts of silk and 100 @,@ 000 ounces of silver . |
In 1114 , the chieftain Wanyan Aguda ( 1068 – 1123 ) united the disparate Jurchen tribes and led a revolt against the Liao . In 1115 he named himself emperor of the Jin " golden " dynasty ( 1115 – 1234 ) . Informed by a Liao defector of the success of the Jurchen uprising , the Song emperor Huizong ( r . 1100 – 1127 ) and his highest military commander the eunuch Tong Guan saw the Liao weakness as an opportunity to recover the Sixteen Prefectures , a line of fortified cities and passes that the Liao had annexed from the Shatuo Turk Later Jin in 938 , and that the Song had repeatedly but unsuccessfully tried to reconquer . The Song thus sought an alliance with the Jin against their common enemy the Liao . |
Because the land routes between the Song and Jin were controlled by the Liao , diplomatic exchanges had to occur by traveling across the Bohai Sea . Negotiations for an alliance began secretly under the pretense that the Song wanted to acquire horses from the Khitans . Song diplomats traveled to the Jin court to meet Aguda in 1118 , while Jurchen envoys arrived in the Song capital Kaifeng the next year . At the beginning the two sides agreed to keep whatever Liao territory they would seize in combat . In 1120 , Aguda agreed to cede the Sixteen Prefectures to the Song in exchange for transfer to the Jin of the annual tributary payments that the Song had been giving the Liao . By the end of 1120 , however , the Jurchens had seized the Liao Supreme Capital , and offered the Song only parts of the Sixteen Prefectures . Among other things , the Jin would keep the Liao Western Capital of Datong at the western end of the Sixteen Prefectures . The two sides agreed that the Jin would now attack the Liao Central Capital , whereas the Song would seize the Liao Southern Capital , Yanjing ( modern day Beijing ) . |
The joint attack against the Liao had been planned for 1121 , but it was rescheduled for 1122 . In February 23 of that year , the Jin captured the Liao Central Capital as promised . The Song delayed their entry into the war because it diverted resources to fighting the Western Xia in the northwest and suppressing a large popular rebellion in the south . When a Song army under Tong Guan 's command finally attacked Yanjing in May 1122 , the smaller forces of the weakened Liao repelled the invaders with ease . Another attack failed in the fall . Both times , Tong was forced to retreat back to Kaifeng . After the first attack , Aguda changed the terms of the agreement and only promised Yanjing and six other prefectures to the Song . In early 1123 it was Jurchen forces that easily took the Liao Southern Capital . They sacked it and enslaved its population . |
The quick collapse of the Liao led to more negotiations between the Song and the Jin . Jurchen military success and their effective control over the Sixteen Prefectures gave them more leverage . Aguda grew increasingly frustrated as he realized that despite their military failures the Song still intended to seize most of the prefectures . In the spring of 1123 the two sides finally set the terms of the first Song – Jin treaty . Only seven prefectures ( including Yanjing ) would be returned to the Song , and the Song would pay an annual indemnity of 300 @,@ 000 packs of silk and 200 @,@ 000 taels of silver to the Jin , as well as a one @-@ time payment of one million strings of copper coins to compensate the Jurchens for the tax revenue they would have earned had they not returned the prefectures . In May 1123 Tong Guan and the Song armies entered the looted Yanjing . |
= = War against the Northern Song = = |
= = = The collapse of the Song – Jin alliance = = = |
Barely one month after the Song had recovered Yanjing , Zhang Jue ( 張覺 ) , who had served as military governor of the Liao prefecture of Pingzhou about 200 kilometres ( 120 mi ) east of Yanjing , killed the main Jin official in that city and turned it over to the Song . The Jurchens defeated his armies a few months later and Zhang took refuge in Yanjing . Even though the Song agreed to execute him in late 1123 , this incident put tension between the two states , because the 1123 treaty had explicitly forbidden both sides from harboring defectors . In 1124 , Song officials further angered the Jin by asking for the cession of nine more border prefectures . The new Jin emperor Taizong ( r . 1123 – 1135 ) , Aguda 's brother and successor , hesitated , but warrior princes Wanyan Zonghan and Wanyan Zongwang ( 完颜宗望 ) vehemently refused to give them any more territory . Taizong eventually granted two prefectures , but by then the Jin leaders were ready to attack their southern neighbor . |
Before they could invade the Song , the Jurchens reached a peace agreement with their western neighbors the Tangut Western Xia in 1124 . The following year near the Ordos Desert , they captured Tianzuo , the last emperor of the Liao , putting an end to the Liao dynasty for good . Ready to end their alliance with the Song , the Jurchens began preparations for an invasion . |
= = = First campaign = = = |
In November 1125 Taizong ordered his armies to attack the Song . The defection of Zhang Jue two years earlier served as the casus belli . Two armies were sent to capture the major cities of the Song . |
= = = = Siege of Taiyuan = = = = |
The western army , led by Wanyan Zonghan , departed from Datong and headed towards Taiyuan through the mountains of Shanxi , on its way to the Song western capital Luoyang . The Song forces were not expecting an invasion and were caught off guard . The Chinese general Tong Guan was informed of the military expedition by an envoy he had sent to the Jin to obtain the cession of two prefectures . The returning envoy reported that the Jurchens were willing to forgo an invasion if the Song ceded control of Hebei and Shanxi to the Jin . Tong Guan retreated from Taiyuan and left command of his troops to Wang Bing . Jin armies besieged the city in mid January 1126 . Under Wang Bing 's command , Taiyuan held on long enough to stop the Jurchen troops from advancing to Luoyang . |
= = = = First siege of Kaifeng = = = = |
Meanwhile , the eastern army , commanded by Wanyan Zongwang , was dispatched towards Yanjing ( modern Beijing ) and eventually the Song capital Kaifeng . It did not face much armed opposition . Zongwang easily took Yanjing , where Song general and former Liao governor Guo Yaoshi ( 郭藥師 ) switched his allegiances to the Jin . When the Song had tried to reclaim the Sixteen Prefectures , they had faced fierce resistance from the Han Chinese population , yet when the Jurchens invaded that area , the Han Chinese did not oppose them at all . By the end of December 1125 , the Jin army had seized control of two prefectures and re @-@ established Jurchen rule over the Sixteen Prefectures . The eastern army was nearing Kaifeng by early 1126 . |
Fearing the approaching Jin army , Song emperor Huizong planned to retreat south . The emperor deserting the capital would have been viewed as an act of capitulation , so court officials convinced him to abdicate . There were few objections . Rescuing an empire in crisis from destruction was more important than preserving the rituals of imperial inheritance . In January 1126 , a few days before the New Year , Huizong abdicated in favor of his son and was demoted to the ceremonial role of Retired Emperor . The Jurchen forces reached the Yellow River on January 27 , 1126 , two days after the New Year . Huizong fled Kaifeng the next day , escaping south and leaving the newly enthroned emperor Qinzong ( r . 1126 – 1127 ) in charge of the capital . |
Kaifeng was besieged on January 31 , 1126 . The commander of the Jurchen army promised to spare the city if the Song submitted to Jin as a vassal ; forfeited the prime minister and an imperial prince as prisoners ; ceded the Chinese prefectures of Hejian , Taiyuan , and Zhongshan ; and offered an indemnity of 50 million taels of silver , 5 million taels of gold , 1 million packs of silk , 1 million packs of satin , 10 @,@ 000 horses , 10 @,@ 000 mules , 10 @,@ 000 cattle , and 1 @,@ 000 camels . This indemnity was worth about 180 years of the annual tribute the Song had been paying to the Jin since 1123 . |
With little prospect of help from afar arriving , infighting broke out in the Song court between the officials who supported the Jin offer and those who opposed it . Opponents of the treaty like Li Gang ( 李剛 ; 1083 – 1140 ) rallied around the proposal of remaining in defensive positions until reinforcements arrived and Jurchen supplies ran out . They botched an ambush against the Jin that was carried out at night , and were replaced by officials who supported peace negotiations . The failed attack pushed Qinzong into meeting the Jurchen demands , and his officials convinced him to go through with the deal . The Song recognized Jin control over the three prefectures . The Jurchen army ended the siege in March after 33 days . |
= = = Second campaign = = = |
Almost as soon as the Jin armies had left Kaifeng , Emperor Qinzong reneged on the deal and dispatched two armies to repel the Jurchen troops attacking Taiyuan and bolster the defenses of Zhongshan and Hejian . An army of 90 @,@ 000 soldiers and another of 60 @,@ 000 were defeated by Jin forces by June . A second expedition to rescue Taiyuan was also unsuccessful . |
Accusing the Song of violating the agreement and realizing the weakness of the Song , the Jin generals launched a second punitive campaign , again dividing their troops into two armies . Wanyan Zonghan , who had withdrawn from Taiyuan after the Kaifeng agreement and left a small force in charge of the siege , came back with his western army . Overwhelmed , Taiyuan fell in September 1126 , after 260 days of siege . When the Song court received news of the fall of Taiyuan , the officials who had advocated defending the empire militarily fell from favor again and were replaced by counselors who favored appeasement . In mid December the two Jurchen armies converged on Kaifeng for the second time that year . |
= = = = Second siege of Kaifeng = = = = |
After the defeat of several Song armies in the north , Emperor Qinzong wanted to negotiate a truce with the Jin , but he committed a massive strategic blunder when he commanded his remaining armies to protect prefectural cities instead of Kaifeng . Neglecting the importance of the capital , he left Kaifeng defended with fewer than 100 @,@ 000 soldiers . The Song forces were dispersed throughout China , powerless to stop the second Jurchen siege of the city . |
The Jin assault commenced in mid December 1126 . Even as fighting raged on , Qinzong continued to sue for peace , but Jin demands for territory were enormous : they wanted all provinces north of the Yellow River . After more than twenty days of heavy combat against the besieging forces , Song defenses were decimated and the morale of Song soldiers was on the decline . On January 9 , 1127 , the Jurchens broke through and started to loot the conquered city . Emperor Qinzong tried to appease the victors by offering the remaining wealth of the capital . The royal treasury was emptied and the belongings of the city 's residents were seized . The Song emperor offered his unconditional surrender a few days later . |
Qinzong , the former emperor Huizong , and members of the Song court were captured by the Jurchens as hostages . They were taken north to Huining ( modern Harbin ) , where they were stripped of their royal privileges and reduced to commoners . The former emperors were humiliated by their captors . They were mocked with disparaging titles like " Muddled Virtue " and " Double Muddled " . In 1128 the Jin made them perform a ritual meant for war criminals . The harsh treatment of the Song royalty softened after the death of Huizong in 1135 . Titles were granted to the deceased monarch , and his son Qinzong was promoted to Duke , a position with a salary . |
= = = Reasons for Song failure = = = |
Many factors contributed to the Song 's repeated military blunders and subsequent loss of northern China to the Jurchens . Traditional accounts of Song history held the venality of Huizong 's imperial court responsible for the decline of the dynasty . These narratives condemned Huizong and his officials for their moral failures . Early Song emperors were eager to enact political reforms and revive the ethical framework of Confucianism , but the enthusiasm for reforms gradually died after the reformist Wang Anshi 's expulsion as chancellor in 1076 . Corruption marred the reign of Huizong , who was more skilled as a painter than as a ruler . Huizong was known for his extravagance , and funded the costly construction of gardens and temples while rebellions threatened the state 's grip on power . |
A modern analysis by Ari Daniel Levine places more of the blame on deficiencies in the military and bureaucratic leadership . The loss of northern China was not inevitable . The military was overextended by a government too assured of its own military prowess . Huizong diverted the state 's resources to failed wars against the Western Xia . The Song insistence on a greater share of Liao territory only succeeded in provoking their Jin allies . Song diplomatic oversights underestimated the Jin and allowed the unimpeded rise of Jurchen military power . The state had plentiful resources , with the exception of horses , but managed its assets poorly during battles . Unlike the expansive Han and Tang empires that preceded the Song , the Song did not have a significant foothold in Central Asia where a large proportion of its horses could be bred or procured . As Song general Li Gang noted , without a consistent supply of horses the dynasty was at a significant disadvantage against Jurchen cavalry : " the Jin were victorious only because they used iron @-@ shielded cavalry , while we opposed them with foot soldiers . It is only to be expected that [ our soldiers ] were scattered and dispersed . " |
= = Wars with the Southern Song = = |
= = = Southern retreat of the Song court = = = |
= = = = The enthronement of Emperor Gaozong = = = = |
The Jin leadership had not expected or desired the fall of the Song dynasty . Their intention was to weaken the Song in order to demand more tribute , and they were unprepared for the magnitude of their victory . The Jurchens were preoccupied with strengthening their rule over the areas once controlled by Liao . Instead of continuing their invasion of the Song , an empire with a military that outnumbered their own , they adopted the strategy of " using Chinese to control the Chinese " . The Jin hoped that a proxy state would be capable of administering northern China and collecting the annual indemnity without requiring Jurchen interventions to quell anti @-@ Jin uprisings . In 1127 , the Jurchens installed a former Song official , Zhang Bangchang ( 張邦昌 ; 1081 – 1127 ) , as the puppet emperor of the newly established " Da Chu " ( Great Chu ) dynasty . The puppet government did not deter the resistance in northern China , but the insurgents were motivated by their anger towards the Jurchens ' looting rather than by a sense of loyalty towards the inept Song court . A number of Song commanders , stationed in towns scattered across northern China , retained their allegiance to the Song , and armed volunteers organized militias opposed to the Jurchen military presence . The insurgency hampered the ability of the Jin to exert control over the north . |
Meanwhile , one Song prince , Zhao Gou , had escaped capture . He had been held up in Cizhou while on a diplomatic mission , and never made it back to Kaifeng . He was not present in the capital when the city fell to the Jurchens . The future Emperor Gaozong managed to evade the Jurchen troops tailing him by moving from one province to the next , traveling across Hebei , Henan , and Shandong . The Jurchens tried to lure him back to Kaifeng where they could finally capture him , but did not succeed . Zhao Gou finally arrived in the Song Southern Capital at Yingtianfu ( 應天府 ; modern Shangqiu ) in early June 1127 . For Gaozong ( r . 1127 – 1162 ) , Yingtianfu was the first in a series of temporary capitals called xingzai 行在 . The court moved to Yingtianfu because of its historical importance to Emperor Taizu of Song , the founder of the dynasty , who had previously served in that city as a military governor . The symbolism of the city was meant to secure the political legitimacy of the new emperor , who was enthroned there on June 12 . |
After reigning for barely one month , Zhang Bangchang was persuaded by the Song to step down as emperor of the Great Chu and to recognize the legitimacy of the Song imperial line . Li Gang pressured Gaozong to execute Zhang for betraying the Song . The emperor relented and Zhang was coerced into suicide . The killing of Zhang showed that the Song was willing to provoke the Jin , and that the Jin had yet to solidify their control over the newly conquered territories . The submission and abolition of Chu meant that Kaifeng was now back under Song control . Zong Ze ( 宗澤 ; 1059 – 1128 ) , the Song general responsible for fortifying Kaifeng , entreated Gaozong to move the court back to the city , but Gaozong refused and retreated south . The southward move marked the end of the Northern Song and the beginning of the Southern Song era of Chinese history . |
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