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  • Escape from ‘Il Piombi’

    • July 24, 2021
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    • Category: Casanova
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    On 26th July 1755 Giacomo Casanova exchanged the pleasures of the life of a Venetian libertine for that of an inmate in ‘Il Piombi’ (‘The Leads’).  His cramped, backache-inducing cell was larchwood-lined, measured eight feet by ten feet and was five feet in height (Casanova was himself over six feet).  The entrance was a lofty three
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  • The successor problem

    • July 10, 2021
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    • Category: Venice and Paris
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    From the Emperor Augustus to the Emperor Napoleon one of the biggest challenges to the stability and prosperity of any state was to ensure a peaceful succession.  Transition from one ruler to the next was often a time fraught with danger.  If an incumbent ruler had no clear successor then both domestic and foreign competitors
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  • Under arrest

    • June 19, 2021
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    • Category: Casanova
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      After almost 10 years of the high life, for Casanova the fun and games abruptly stopped.  Here’s an extract from his autobiography of the moment on 26th July, 1755 he was placed under arrest. What a strange and unexplained power certain words exercise upon the soul! I, who the evening before so bravely fortified myself
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