Marquis de Sade: Originally christened Donatien Alphonse François, the Marquis de Sade revelled in debauchery and his name even gave rise to the term ‘sadism’. A French revolutionary, aristocrat and lover of the hedonistic lifestyle, de Sade wrote many short stories and plays, often violent, pornographic and outrageously blasphemous towards the Catholic Church.
He was renowned for employing prostitutes and then poisoning them, and for engaging his wife’s sister in an affair. For thirty-two years of his life, the Marquis was imprisoned in various institutions and insane asylums throughout France, including the Bastille and the Conciergerie, before dying in 1814, shortly after the beginning of an affair with a thirteen year old girl. To this day, he is still known as one of the most notorious libertines to have lived.
Letter of Marque: a virtual pirate’s charter; Issued by the British government from the early 1700s to the late 1800s, Letters of Marque were official warrants granted to private parties that worked under strict instruction to search property, seize goods and destroy assets belonging to the country’s enemies or those so reckless and naive as to break the law.
Most commonly, they were used to raid merchant ships of enemy nations. Sir Francis Drake and William Kidd were amongst those that received these commissions, however, Kidd was himself later brought-up on charges of piracy.
Danse Macabre: Translated as the Dance of Death, recognised in many languages across Europe and seen as an indelible allegory on both the finite nature of mortality and the universality of death.
First mentioned in artistic form as part of a fresco in Paris’s Church of the Holy Innocents in 1424, the Danse Macabre usually depicts the personification of death leading skeletal forms of human life, from kings and emperors to the newborn, to their graves in a dire caper. A haunting image created to remind us all of the fragility of existence, and that no matter one’s creed or walk of life, death ultimately unites us all.
Claddagh: Originating in the Irish fishing village of Claddagh, near Galway, the giving of the Claddagh ring is a long-held custom first brought about in the 17th century. Usually featuring two hands (denoting friendship) clasping a heart (love) and surmounted by a crown (loyalty), it is traditionally gifted as a token of love or a wedding ring, and brought about the phrase:
"With my two hands I give you my heart, and crown it with my loyalty."
Wearing the ring in different positions can give away the wearer’s romantic availability; for instance, worn on the right hand with heart facing outward implies that the wearer is searching for love. Turned inwards on the same hand, it means the wearer’s heart has already been ensnared by another. On the left hand and pointing outwards denotes engagement, while inwards indicates marriage.
St. Lorenz: One of the most important medieval churches, situated in Nuremburg, Bavaria. While building began in 1270, the structure took more than 200 years to complete; its intricate design and Gothic traceries over the arched doorway depict heavenly, biblical themes of redemption – from the sins of Adam and Eve, to the ultimate atonement of God’s Final Judgement.
While bombings during the Second World War left St. Lorenz badly damaged, much of its interior remains in its original resplendence; decorated with intricate carvings and stained glass dated from the 14th century.
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