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MICROSTORY OF ART MICROSTORY OF ART ![]() Dedicated to the Study of History
![]() The Hundred Years’ War (23.8.2023) The study of history? Is it worth it? Tough question, you might say, and further ask: who’s asking anyway? Answer: It’s me, I am asking (myself), if the study of history was worth it. I am asking retrospectively, which means: I am asking as a historian (of myself), if the study of history was worth it. So the answer can probably not be a simple ›no‹, because otherwise I would not be asking as a historian (of myself), if the study of history was worth it. But the answer might not be a simple ›yes‹ either. If academic historians declare that the humantities (read: them, respectively: their jobs) are important anyway, don’t trust them without further questions. My answer is not a clear yes, nor a clear no. It is not that simple, and the study of history might not be something for everyone, nor might it be something (as in my case) that someone (me) is ready and willing to do his whole life (for example in the role of an academic historian). So be it. It is not that simple. And now we can start to look back on how my study of history began: with an undergraduate seminary on the Hundred Years’ War. Which I am using as my prism, to ask the question in various ways now. Is the study of history worth it, and if yes, why? ![]() (Picture: DS: Mad King Statue) 1) The Mad King If I am doing a series of paintings on the motif of the ›Mad King‹ (Charles VI of France), I feel to be in touch with my own history, which encompasses a study of history, as well as, and as a part of that, an undergraduate seminary in which I probably heard of the Mad King for the very first time. The motif of the Mad King does still inspire me, so that I have put here (on the left) a version which is called Mad King Statue (and above a historical miniature showing this very motif). What is my painting about? Answer: It shows the mad king as a statue, placed at the entrance to a forest, in which all kind of objects are placed, meant to trigger scenes of madness, to be displayed by the king, so that other political figures may find justification to take over power, and to dethrone the king due to his madness (as having been displayed in the forest, or on other occasions). I have begun my study of history with an undergraduate seminary on the Hundred Years’ War, but also with undergraduate seminaries on the Swiss Peasant War, as well as on the history of the Cold War. The end of the Cold War years I have lived through myself, and the Swiss Peasant War is part of the history of Switzerland, the country in which I have spent much of my own life. But nothing, I must stress, nothing does actually link my own personal history with the history of the Hundred Years’ War. At least not obviously. So actually, it might have been an odd choice to study this endless series of calamities, which the Hundred Years’ War is a name for. But no, actually not so odd a choice, since the function of this undergraduate seminary was to introduce students to the study of history, no matter, actually, the subject. And it makes a difference if you look at the topic remotely, or if you feel to be a part of the story (its aftermath, and, perhaps, do identify with one side in this particular war, or even with various sides). The Hundred Years’ War is not that easy to sum up. The endless series of calamities starts with a game of chess between Westminster and the Louvre, one might say, to make things easier (the English king did decline further to be a loyal vessel of the French king, and he declared to be the legitimite king of France as well). And perhaps the layman is willing to follow the summary up to the plague interrupting the war. Which, however, does continue, and never seems to end. And part of the experience to study the Hundred Years’ War might be the experience to feel lost in chaos and dissolution of any existing order, which, as you will notice somewhat later, is actually quite a good summary of what the Hundred Years’ War was about, at least for many people experiencing it. Did the Hundred Years’ War take place at all? I must say that, during an undergraduated seminary, you will not get original historical documents on your table usually, but I got some, since, as a student of history, I did work for some time, if somewhat later, for a trader of autographs on the other side of the street (in which the seminary did take place), and I definitely got documents from the Hundred Years’ War on my desk, which again, must have raised the question how to to be certain that events that you read about, or structures, really did have an existence in history. If, as it is often the case, as a historian, you do study the work of other, and very often of other very naive historians rather than the past itself. 2) On Jeanne d’Arc and On How She Was Possible Barbara Tuchman who, with The Distant Mirror, did write a still immensely popular and readable book on the calamities of the 14th century, did write on large parts of the Hundred Years’ War, but not a history of the Hundred Years’ War as such. One might still discuss today if it really was a good idea to reflect about the parallels of the 14th and the 20th century at all, but the point is here: in her influential narrative the Hundred Years’ War goes on to a certain point, but the books ends without Tuchman having told us about the role of Jeanne d’Arc in the same detail as she, for example, does cover the plague. 3) The Dangers of Looking Back There are situations in life in which it is not particularly helpful to look back methodically. This is when real problems have to be managed immediately. But even then a brief look into the prestory of a particular situation is often necessary – to understand the situation as well as to realize that it might be dangerous – now – to speak about the past in too much detail.
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