PYF Historical Fun Fact: (USER LOSETH POSTYNG PRIVILYGES FOR FOUR AND TWENTY HOURS)

The Something Awful Forums > Main > Post Your Favorite: Carefully Curated > PYF Historical Fun Fact: (USER LOSETH POSTYNG PRIVILYGES FOR FOUR AND TWENTY HOURS)

CHIMlord: Jul 1, 2012

The talk of emergency baptisms reminded me of Edgardo Mortara, whose emergency baptism led to an international incident. Mortara was born to a Jewish family in Bologna (part of the Papal States before the unification of Italy) in 1851. In 1858, word had gotten to the Inquisition that Mortara had been secretly baptized by a Catholic employee of his parents, and he was removed from his family by the police, since it was illegal for a Catholic to be raised by non-Catholics in the Papal States. This led to a court case by his parents and the embarrassment, internationally, of the Papal States, which were seen as a an anachronism in modern Italy. Unfortunately, this story does not have a happy ending. The Mortaras lost their court case and Edgardo converted to Catholicism, never returning to his family. He was smuggled out of Italy during the wars of unification, and ordained as a priest as an adult. He died in 1940, apparently never wavering from his Catholic faith.

# ¿ Feb 7, 2021 00:02

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# ¿ Apr 24, 2024 09:12

CHIMlord: Jul 1, 2012

Gargamel Gibson posted:

Hell of a prank to pull on an employer you hate. Curse their child to a lifetime of catholicism with a quick baptism.

For what it's worth, Nina Morisi and the Mortaras got on very well until the whole baptism thing came out. However, part of the Mortaras' strategy at trial was impugning her character by calling her a slut, so they probably did not get along after that.

# ¿ Feb 10, 2021 20:24

CHIMlord: Jul 1, 2012

Carthag Tuek posted:

Here's a weird thing:

In 1838, Edgar Allan Poe published The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym of Nantucket in which a wrecked ship's crew decide to draw lots for who will be sacrificed and eaten so the others may survive. The man who proposes this, and who is ultimately eaten, is named Richard Parker.

In 1884, the Australian yacht Mignonette sank, but the crew managed to get in lifeboats. They are starving, and the cabin boy falls ill. Two of the three others decide to kill and eat the cabin boy � who was also named Richard Parker!

Richard Parker is why duress is not a defence to a murder charge under British common law (nor "law of the sea", which was another defence the sailors attempted). I always wonder why they would tell people that they killed and ate a teenage boy. Nobody would have to find out!

# ¿ Apr 30, 2021 02:01

CHIMlord: Jul 1, 2012

Yeah, I guess I forgot that they didn't have the benefit of hindsight like us. BTW, the court case regarding Parker's murder is R v Dudley and Stephens, who were the two sailors who actually killed Parker (the fourth man in the lifeboat, Brooks, refused to help kill Parker but did eat his blood and flesh). Amusingly, Parker's brother Daniel met the 3 men during their bench appearance and even shook their hands! For what it's worth, he was a seaman too.

# ¿ Apr 30, 2021 03:23

CHIMlord: Jul 1, 2012

In Irish, stail ("stallion") is grammatically feminine. B�id ("boats") are grammatically masculine but referred to with the pronoun (s)� ("she/her"). Cail�n ("girl, girlfriend") is also grammatically masculine, but for human referrents speakers are allowed to change the pronouns to match the human's actual gender.

# ¿ Mar 6, 2023 19:01

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