Welcome to Litsy!

#readaroundtheworld #sanmarino San Marino? James Bent, an amusing English archeologist, gives those of us attempting to read something from every country in the world, a book to learn about this rocky stronghold of democracy. Although written when historical writing was largely a long list of names and dates, nevertheless there are moments when it is quite readable with stories of evil popes, plotting usurpers of power and a benign Napoleon.

Update for #novelnovember!

Finish:

✅ Attachment for #authoramonth
✅ A Freak of Freedom for #readingeurope2020 #SanMarino
3. Midnight in Chernobyl for #Ukraine
4. The Historian for #Slovenia

Make progress: The Dogs of Riga for #Latvia

@Andrew65

This historical tract from 1879 was all I could find for #SanMarino that wasn‘t a travelogue. Its subject matter interested me. Unfortunately it wasn‘t very clear how the author defined “freedom” until the last chapters when he described the country‘s then-current government, economy, etc, which should have been at the beginning of the book. Otherwise a very detailed & sometimes interesting history of the area. #readingeurope2020

“Mongo‘s interview with the Council of San Marino forms a curious specimen of forensic blarney on the one hand, and uncultured astuteness on the other...”

🤣🤣🤣 A great insult from 1879: a “forensic blarney”

I put two and two together last night and figured out that the so-called “freedom” alluded to by the author is freedom from the Catholic Church. Finally, I read this today that makes it clear I was correct: “from the tower of the Rocca was seen floating in the pure air of liberty the banner of Papal slavery.”

“The year 1530 was the date of the enslavement of Italy… He henceforth imposed on his country an Austro-Spanish yoke, from the evil effects of which Italy has not yet recovered.“

This makes me curious as heck. What did the Spanish do to Italy around 1530 that affected Italy until at least 1879 when this was written? Don‘t you love when a writer just leaves you hanging, assuming the reader in 2020 will know exactly what you‘re talking about?

And another book coincidence: I‘m currently reading The Historian, which deals in part with the Oftoman takeover of Constantinople, and now when reading this 1879 tract, I‘m reading about the Ottoman takeover of Constantinople. I‘d never dream these two books that couldn‘t be more different had anything in common.

And here you have it: the source of the vast Papal library: Federico d‘Urbino

This from around the year 1300 when communities are all turning ruling families into their governing bodies, most of them anyway, but not San Marino! Hence the name of the book. I love that this concept had such early roots!!

Of course the pope wanted to exact “dues” but the people refused. I can‘t wait to see how this turns out.

If you want some backstory about the “characters” in Dante‘s Inferno, this is the book for you. The author, in this 1879 book about the history of San Marino, writes about some of the people in the Inferno who were from this region and quotes Dante quite a bit for some of the history and background. It‘s all way too detailed for my wee brain to follow (history of these Italian outposts in the 1100s) so I‘m doing a lot of scanning. #SanMarino

“Our republicans are by no means without a sense of merriment...Whosoever on the morning of [April 1] can be found in bed after sunrise, is liable to be dragged rudely from his couch, & adorned solely in his nocturnal toilette the wretched victim is placed on the back of a mule with an umbrella in his hand, & is conducted up & down the town, amidst the jangling of bells...[they] confine this punishment to the sluggards of the male sex only.” 🤣

“During a hurried visit to San Marino in the spring of 1877, I felt so interested with the simplicity of the inhabitants and their attachment to their freedom, that I determined when an opportunity occurred to investigate more thoroughly the story of this liberty of fifteen centuries‘ standing, and to ascertain whether it was bona fide, or no.”

I‘m very excited about this read! Isn‘t it a gorgeous reproduction? #readingeurope2020 #SanMarino

#backpackeurope travelogue *fictional*
Country 24: San Marino! It's so tiny and is one of the world's oldest republics. It's on a huge mountain. I toured the palace, basilica and Three Towers. Today (9/3) was San Marino Day celebrating St Marinus and the republic's founding!
This book, from 1879, gives a slice of history (legend and fact) about the region as well as a slice of life there (at least, 1800s life). It was charming and informative! 4/5

Who is Charles the Fat?!?!? 🤣🤣🤔🤔🤣🤣 #backpackeurope

*snorts*
Can you imagine pre-car San Marino with 1800s-era ladies sitting on laps as they toboggan down main street? 🤣
#backpackeurope