Speaker 1: Welcome. This is Marcia for Radio I and today I
Speaker 1: will be reading National Geographic History Magazine. As reminder, RADIOI
Speaker 1: is a reading service intendient for people who are blind
Speaker 1: or have other disabilities that make it difficult to read
Speaker 1: printed material. Please join me now for the first article,
Speaker 1: titled The Tragic End of Hypatia of Alexandria by Clelia
Speaker 1: Martinez Maza. In eight fourteen four fifty one, a mob
Speaker 1: of Christian fanatics attacked and murdered the philosopher Hypatia of Alexandria.
Speaker 1: That at least is the traditional story. But taking a
Speaker 1: closer look, does a strictly religious motive hold up. Hypatia
Speaker 1: reigned as not only the greatest philosopher of her native
Speaker 1: Alexandria in the late fourth and early fifth centuries a d.
Speaker 1: But also as one of late Antiquity's greatest thinkers. These
Speaker 1: feats alone would merit sufficient preservation of her name through
Speaker 1: the ages, yet this is not history's account. Instead, Hypatia
Speaker 1: is remembered mostly for her earth murder in eighty four
Speaker 1: fifteen at the hands of a fanatical Christian mob. Contemporaneous
Speaker 1: sources recount the murder and detail the Christian authors Socrates, Scholasticus,
Speaker 1: and John of Nikiu, as well as pagan authors including
Speaker 1: the Greek neoplatonist philosopher Damascius, agree in their descriptions of
Speaker 1: her death. She was forcibly dragged from her chariot in
Speaker 1: Alexandria and brought to a church called Caesareum. There she
Speaker 1: was stripped, naked, flayed, and brutally murdered. After dismembering her body,
Speaker 1: the mob burned her remains. Other accounts state she was
Speaker 1: giving a lecture when the mob found her, and after
Speaker 1: taking her to the church, she was dragged through the streets. Cyril, Patriarch,
Speaker 1: archbishop of Alexandria, plotted her murder and ordered it carried out.
Speaker 1: Whichever version is more accurate, it has long been believed
Speaker 1: she was assassinated by the rabble of Christian fanatics for
Speaker 1: her philosophical beliefs, that is, she didn't support Christianity in
Speaker 1: a world in world which Christians and Pagans were at odds.
Speaker 1: But there's more to the story. Ancient Alexandria at the
Speaker 1: time of Hypatia's birth around eighty three sixty, the important
Speaker 1: cultural intellectual center of her native Alexandria was Waning, founded
Speaker 1: by Alexander the Great in three thirty one BC. This
Speaker 1: great city was the site of the Pharaoh's Lighthouse, one
Speaker 1: of the ancient world's Seven Wonders, and the Musayan, which
Speaker 1: included the famous Library of Alexandria, said to have served
Speaker 1: as a training ground for the ancient world's best writers, doctors, scientists,
Speaker 1: and philosophers. After Julius Caesar conquered Alexandria in forty eight
Speaker 1: BC and burned part of the city's great library, Alexandria
Speaker 1: began a slow decline. In AD three sixty four, the
Speaker 1: Roman Empires split into and Alexandria remained in the eastern portion,
Speaker 1: controlled by Constantinople modern Istanbul. Around this time, disputes erupted
Speaker 1: between the cities. Christian Denys, one ancient writer, noted that
Speaker 1: there were no people who loved to fight more than
Speaker 1: those of Alexandria. Then, in AD three eighty, Emperor Theodosius
Speaker 1: the First declared Christianity the official religion of the Roman Empire,
Speaker 1: including Alexandria, mandating punishment to non believers. Tensions rose between
Speaker 1: Christians and non Christians. Against this backdrop of religious and
Speaker 1: political strife, Hypatia received an excellent education under the guidance
Speaker 1: of her father, the renowned mathematician and astronomer Theon, who
Speaker 1: taught at the Mousayon. He introduced her to a wide
Speaker 1: range of subjects, including mathematics, astronomy, philosophy, and literature. Early on,
Speaker 1: Hypatia demonstrated exceptional intellectual abilities and a passion for learning.
Speaker 1: She delivered detailed commentaries on the great works of mathematics
Speaker 1: and astronomy that had been produced in the Alexandria centuries
Speaker 1: earlier in the times of the Ptolemies three o five
Speaker 1: PC to eighty thirty. However, it wasn't Hypatia's talent for
Speaker 1: mathematics and astronomy, or even her inventions that had the
Speaker 1: greatest impact. She would earn renown. Primarily as a philosopher,
Speaker 1: Hypatia espoused a school of thought known as Neoplatonism, re
Speaker 1: interpreting the ideas of ancient Greek philosopher Plato. This teaching
Speaker 1: emerged in the third century a d combining spirituality in science.
Speaker 1: It applied mathematics and astronomy to philosophy as a way
Speaker 1: to understand the universe and the individual's place in it.
Speaker 1: These scientific disciplines were all roots to knowledge of the One,
Speaker 1: the supreme being from which all things emanate. While Hypatia's
Speaker 1: philosophy was seen as pagan, Christians identified the One with
Speaker 1: their God, and as such both Pagans and Christians could
Speaker 1: abide this philosophical framework. Hypatia taught at the Neoplatonist's School
Speaker 1: of Philosophy and drew large crowds of Pagans and Christians
Speaker 1: to her lectures. She didn't appear to have been a
Speaker 1: devout pagan ann didn't practice theogy, the use of magic
Speaker 1: and oracles that many Neoplatonists saw as another path to
Speaker 1: the One. While all around here Christians and Pagans were
Speaker 1: involved in clashes that were tearing the city of Alexandria part,
Speaker 1: she seemingly maintained a neutral position. Hypatia certainly remained distance
Speaker 1: from the events that in AD three ninety one culminated
Speaker 1: in the ancient Serapium Temple of Alexandria being destroyed by Christians.
Speaker 1: Other pagan intellectuals, meanwhile, were active in defending the great
Speaker 1: Temple dedicated to the god Serapis, and even boasted of
Speaker 1: murdering Christians. So the traditional view that Hypatia's violent death
Speaker 1: was the result of ideological conflict between Pagans and Christians,
Speaker 1: doesn't tell the whole story. Instead, there's another angle that
Speaker 1: makes more sense. One clear thing stands out in regard
Speaker 1: to Hypatia's murder. The act was highly ritualized, a feature
Speaker 1: it has in common with the violent deaths of two
Speaker 1: Alexandrian patriarchs, the extreme Arion George of Cappadocia, who was
Speaker 1: killed in AD three sixty one, and Protarius, who was
Speaker 1: killed in A D four five seven. Although the circumstances
Speaker 1: surrounding each of the deaths of these bishops differ from Hypatius,
Speaker 1: all three murders do fit similar patterns. The patriarch's corpses were,
Speaker 1: like Hypatias, paraded by their murderers along the Canopic Way,
Speaker 1: Alexandria's main thoroughfare. The victim's bodies were dismembered in portions
Speaker 1: of their remains transferred to each of the city's districts
Speaker 1: for subsequent cremation. It's interesting to note that in AD
Speaker 1: three ninety one, after the assault on the ancient Serapium Temple,
Speaker 1: the statue of the Greco Egyptian deity Serrapus itself was
Speaker 1: subjected to the same ritualized violence seen in this context,
Speaker 1: hypatius death could be interpreted as a premeditated assassination rather
Speaker 1: than a spontaneous act by a bloodthirsty mob. It's possible
Speaker 1: she was used as a pawn in the political maneuvering
Speaker 1: of the moment, and there is one very clear political
Speaker 1: standoff that fits. Hypatia became involved in the showdown between
Speaker 1: two men who were both Christians, Cyril, Patriarch of Alexandria,
Speaker 1: and Orestes, Alexandrius, Roman governor. Their motives at the time,
Speaker 1: Cyril engaged in ruthless power politics to stamp out pagan
Speaker 1: influences in Alexandria. He wasn't afraid to use violence to
Speaker 1: achieve his goals. Hilso was involved in the expulsion of
Speaker 1: the Jews from Alexandria following their attacks on Christians. Entered
Speaker 1: the Roman prefect Orestes, who, in the Imperial administration's efforts
Speaker 1: to preserve Alexandria's stability, had to count on support from
Speaker 1: the municipal aristocracy, who mostly worshiped pagan gods. Orestes also
Speaker 1: needed to avoid sparking opposition from the Jews, while garnering
Speaker 1: support from the Christians who opposed Cyril and his violent
Speaker 1: lias methods Arrestes, Unlike Cyril, needed to appeal to a
Speaker 1: diverse group of people, Orestes turned to his friend Hypatia.
Speaker 1: She was a suitable intermediary because of her status as
Speaker 1: a philosopher and because she had stayed at arm's length
Speaker 1: from actively defending Holytheism. She was well regarded by those
Speaker 1: across the Alexandrian elite, who were neither agitators for one
Speaker 1: side or the other, nor favored violence. Another aspect that
Speaker 1: made Hypatia stand out was that over many years, she
Speaker 1: had cultivated a network. Her contacts included former students within
Speaker 1: powerful Christian circles, both in Constantinople, seat of the Roman Empire,
Speaker 1: and in Alexandria. Cyril thus viewed Hypatia as a possible
Speaker 1: threat to his hold over the city's Christians. The plot
Speaker 1: to neutralize Hypatia, it seems that Cyril mounted a smear campaign,
Speaker 1: accusing Hypatia of black magic and describing her as a
Speaker 1: dangerous witch using spells to lure people to her lectures.
Speaker 1: It was claimed she had enstared arrestees into skipping masts
Speaker 1: and allowing non Christians into his house. Socrates Scolasticus notes
Speaker 1: that as she Hypatia had frequent interviews with Orestes, it
Speaker 1: was calominously reported among the Christian populace that it was
Speaker 1: by her influence he was prevented from being reconciled to Cyril.
Speaker 1: All these cliches, which have been used through the ages
Speaker 1: to discredit women who occupy positions other than the traditional
Speaker 1: ones of wife and mother, were intended to frame Hypatia
Speaker 1: as a dangerous public enemy. Cyril couldn't commit the murder himself,
Speaker 1: nor did he have to. He instead relied on his prabalani. Originally,
Speaker 1: this group of lay Christians acted as a charitable organization
Speaker 1: caring for the city's neediest people, but by the time
Speaker 1: Cyril was in charge, the pirabalani had become more like
Speaker 1: an armed militia in the patriarch's service. Although there is
Speaker 1: no proof that Cyril ordered Hypatia's murder, everything suggests that
Speaker 1: Cyril had much to gain from her death, and that
Speaker 1: the peribalani did the deed on his behalf. Her assassination
Speaker 1: ended the threat she posed to Cyril through her support
Speaker 1: for orestes policy of tolerance. Her death served as the
Speaker 1: breaking point between religious authority embedded by Patriarch Cyril and
Speaker 1: civil authority embodied by Prefect Orestes. It was Cyril who
Speaker 1: run the day. Hypatia's death, however, was not a defeat
Speaker 1: for the Pagans. Christians and Pagans continued to coexist in
Speaker 1: Alexandria for more than a century. Eoplatonism thrived until the
Speaker 1: Arab conquest of Egypt in the seventh century, encountered both
Speaker 1: Christians and Pagans among its adherents. In the sixth century,
Speaker 1: the director of the school was a Pagan Ammonius Hermi Hermia,
Speaker 1: while his deputy and the editor of his works was
Speaker 1: a Christian John Philipponos. After Hypatia's killing, no more was
Speaker 1: heard of Orestes. Though the Christian leaders didn't eradicate pagan
Speaker 1: philosophy from the city, they did crack down on secular authorities.
Speaker 1: Hypacious story lived on. Her character and intellect were noted
Speaker 1: even by hostile Christian writers. In the eighteenth century. Voltaire
Speaker 1: wrote about her to condemn an over zealous church. The
Speaker 1: Christian clergyman Charles Kingsley and of Victorian romance about her.
Speaker 1: She is the heroine of the two thousand nine Spanish
Speaker 1: movie Agoras, whose fictitious plot has her saving the Alexandria
Speaker 1: Library from Christian fanatics. Her endurance in a patriarchal society
Speaker 1: makes her a feminist hero up to the present day,
Speaker 1: and she merits more recognition in history beyond the sensation
Speaker 1: of her horrific murder hiding in plain sight. When Raphael
Speaker 1: showed a draft drawing of his school of Athens Fresco
Speaker 1: to the Church fathers in the sixteenth century, the bishop
Speaker 1: allegedly asked him to remove Hypatia in the front and center.
Speaker 1: Knowledge of her runs counter to the belief of the faithful,
Speaker 1: he said. Rafael obliged, but in an act of unflinching deception,
Speaker 1: he covertly moved her to the left, disguising her face
Speaker 1: to resemble that of the ruling pope's nephew. But there
Speaker 1: she sits, the only figure among fifty of the greatest minds,
Speaker 1: staring straight out at the viewer, as if beseeching you
Speaker 1: not to forget that she too belongs in this venerable
Speaker 1: gathering of scholars, Or does she. Rafael never admitted he
Speaker 1: did this. Others claimed the figure as actually Marguerita Luti
Speaker 1: Rafael's mistress, Francesco Maria de la Rovert, Duke of Urbino,
Speaker 1: or even Rafael himself. Death of a God. The chain
Speaker 1: of attacks that culminated in the Serapium's destruction in AD
Speaker 1: three ninety one started when Christians began erecting a church
Speaker 1: on an abandoned sight. According to theologian and monk Tyranius Rufinus,
Speaker 1: workers unearthed the remains of Grotto's and ritual objects linked
Speaker 1: to the Mithras cult. When they treated the artifacts disrespectfully,
Speaker 1: Pagans became infuriating infuriated, sparking a clash that killed several people.
Speaker 1: The Polytheius sought refuge in the Serapium and to prevent
Speaker 1: an escalation of violence. The authorities showed clemency to both sides,
Speaker 1: but the Christians launched an assault on the temple, beheading,
Speaker 1: smashing and burning the statue Cyril of Alexandria. The appointment
Speaker 1: of Cyril as patriarch of Alexandria in eighteen for a d.
Speaker 1: Four twelve was controversial. He had not been expected to
Speaker 1: succeed his uncle, so he made a show of his
Speaker 1: authority in an attempt to gain the loyalty of the
Speaker 1: city's Christian community. Despite the opposition of some Christians, he
Speaker 1: attacked Polytheius and Jews in the city, expelling or massacring
Speaker 1: the latter in a d four fourteen Cyril was initially
Speaker 1: backed by a band of monks from the Nirian desert,
Speaker 1: where he had trained in an isolated monastic community. He
Speaker 1: then used the Carabalani, who originally cared for the sick,
Speaker 1: to carry out his acts of violence. He was declared
Speaker 1: a doctor of the Church in eighteen eighty three. Alexandria's
Speaker 1: greatest mind, Hypatia, lived at a time when women were
Speaker 1: not given status equal to men, no matter how brilliant
Speaker 1: they were. Yet this largely unsung scholar is considered one
Speaker 1: of Antiquity's last great philosophers before the Middle Ages. She
Speaker 1: is the first known woman to study and teach mathematics, astronomy,
Speaker 1: and philosophy, and she drew students from far and wide
Speaker 1: across the Roman Empire. Many scholars believe she edited the
Speaker 1: surviving text of Ptolemy's Armaguest, based on the title of
Speaker 1: her father's commentary on Book three of the Armaguest. She
Speaker 1: even donned the robes of the academic elite, even though
Speaker 1: men only were allowed this honor at the time. Michael Dieton,
Speaker 1: in his two thousand seven book Hypatia of Alexandria, wrote,
Speaker 1: almost alone, virtually the last academic she stood for intellectual values,
Speaker 1: for rigorous mathematics, ascetic neoplatonism, the crucial role of the
Speaker 1: mind and the voice of temperance and moderation, and in
Speaker 1: civic life. Next, the poisonous price of beauty. Blonde hair,
Speaker 1: of pale complexion and outrageously red cheeks made the fashionable
Speaker 1: look that Spanish women saw it in the sixteen hundreds,
Speaker 1: despite the dangers hidden in their cosmetics. Writing her travels
Speaker 1: into Spain in sixteen seventy nine, French author Marie Catharine
Speaker 1: de Humein de Barneville, known as Madame d'Al noi, recorded
Speaker 1: her less than flattering impressions of the complexions of Spanish women.
Speaker 1: I've never seen boiled crayfish of a more beautiful color.
Speaker 1: The effect of redness that startled Madame d'l noi was
Speaker 1: produced by rouge blush, applied in staggering quantities elsewhere. Madame
Speaker 1: d'l noi requotes how a Spanish lady took a cupful
Speaker 1: of rouge, and with a big paintbrush. She put it
Speaker 1: on not only her cheeks, her chin, under her nose,
Speaker 1: under her eyebrows, and under ears, but she also re
Speaker 1: daubed the inside of her hands, her fingers, and her shoulders.
Speaker 1: But Madame del Nois was looking back on her experiences
Speaker 1: of living in Spain. In the sixteen seventies, the final
Speaker 1: years of what historians traditionally called Spain's dad do Oral
Speaker 1: or Golden Age, beginning with Spain's rise as a European
Speaker 1: superpower and its colonization of swaths of Central and South
Speaker 1: America from fourteen ninety two, the Golden Age waned as
Speaker 1: Spain's economic problems worsened in the late sixteen hundreds, While
Speaker 1: the last in many aspects of Spanish culture, including literature
Speaker 1: and theater, were lavishly celebrated. Traveler's accounts note how the
Speaker 1: country's great wealth and power were reflected in women's appearances.
Speaker 1: Richard Wynn, a politician who accompanied Prince Charles the First
Speaker 1: of England on a trip to Spain in sixteen twenty three,
Speaker 1: wrote that of all these women, I dare take my oath,
Speaker 1: there was not one unpainted so visibly that you would
Speaker 1: think they rather wore wizard's masks than their own faces
Speaker 1: extreme makeopers. According to ural historian Amanda Vunder, author of
Speaker 1: the book Spanish Fashion in the Age of Lusca's Yale
Speaker 1: University Press, in terms of fashion and beauty, Spain was
Speaker 1: going in a different direction than the rest of the
Speaker 1: European continent. Whereas the French and English leaned toward natural complexions,
Speaker 1: Spanish beauty was all about being the fanciest and most
Speaker 1: elaborately made up. She explained, the Spanish court set the
Speaker 1: standard for the rest of society. By then, the wealthy
Speaker 1: were much more visible in public than they had been
Speaker 1: in the Middle Ages. Nobility and royalty appeared regularly at
Speaker 1: the theater or hung their likenesses in portraits in public
Speaker 1: spaces during festivals. The ideas of beauty they projected spread
Speaker 1: down through the different levels of society. Everyone was putting
Speaker 1: on layers of make up, from the queen downward. This
Speaker 1: was a cross class phenomenon, explained Wunder. To achieve the
Speaker 1: sought after appearance in Spain's Golden Age, ladies would put
Speaker 1: themselves through a long and complex grooming process. They even
Speaker 1: had special room set aside for this purpose. A kind
Speaker 1: of boudoir known in Spanish as a togador. The term
Speaker 1: was originally used to designate the cap that men and
Speaker 1: women wore to bed, but it later came to refer
Speaker 1: to the room itself. The togador was where ladies would
Speaker 1: dress and take care of their hair and make up.
Speaker 1: It was here that ladies kept their skin and hair treatments,
Speaker 1: make up, and beauty paraphernalia. The box used to store
Speaker 1: this beauty kit was also called a togador. Some of
Speaker 1: these boxes were beautifully crafted. Inside, cosmetics were kept in
Speaker 1: pots and bottles, and in the center was a small mirror.
Speaker 1: Depending on a lady's wealth, the mirrors might come in
Speaker 1: lavish frames of Indian ebony, stained wood, or even silver.
Speaker 1: Beyond the pale In seventeenth century Spain and beyond the
Speaker 1: ideal of feminine beauty was blonde hair and a deathly paler.
Speaker 1: In Spain, it was a relatively common practice for women
Speaker 1: to bleach their faces. Suleiman, a cosmetic made from mercury preparations,
Speaker 1: was used for this purpose. Its chemical composition could do
Speaker 1: lasting damage to the skin. Meanwhile, bleaches diluted to varying
Speaker 1: strengths were used to lighten hair, as Madame Delnois had
Speaker 1: so memorably observed. The staple in the Spanish tuggador at
Speaker 1: the time was rouge, known in Spanish as color de
Speaker 1: granada pomegranate color. It was sold wrapped in sheets of
Speaker 1: paper that were kept in small cuffs called sarsaias. Having
Speaker 1: made their faces very pale, women then painted their lips
Speaker 1: and cheeks with this rouge and darkened their eyebrows with
Speaker 1: a mix of alcohol and black minerals. To keep their
Speaker 1: hands white and soft, they would apply a paste made
Speaker 1: from almonds, mustard, and honey, Among other chemicals used in products,
Speaker 1: Sulfur was perhaps the most widespread. Some of these components
Speaker 1: were harmful. Women occasionally whitened their faces with bismuth oxychloride,
Speaker 1: sometimes known as Spanish white, a skin and eye irritant,
Speaker 1: or they used lead precipitates, which are toxic. The composition
Speaker 1: of ruse rouge has changed over the centuries, but in
Speaker 1: Spain's Golden Age it was often made from charred sulfur, mercury, lead, minium,
Speaker 1: a lead compound, and other substances. These preparations could cause headaches,
Speaker 1: permanently alter the skin and damage eyesight because of their toxicity,
Speaker 1: dangerous effects that were noted at the time. Commentators saw
Speaker 1: that saw other toxic effects in beauty products. To the
Speaker 1: mainly male writers of the period, make up was tantamount
Speaker 1: to deceit. A literary trope of the time was to
Speaker 1: reproach a women who artificially embellished herself. When the time
Speaker 1: came for her to be seen without a doormance, her
Speaker 1: lover would be disappointed. The moralist Juan de Zabaleta, in
Speaker 1: his book Eldea de fes fiesta purromagnana ipuracarde, published in
Speaker 1: sixteen fifty four, attack these of cosmetics on religious grounds.
Speaker 1: He said, the action in the Tugadore of a lady
Speaker 1: getting ready on the morning of a holiday, she places
Speaker 1: at her right hand side the box of beauty medicines
Speaker 1: and begins to improve her face with them. This woman
Speaker 1: does not consider that if God wanted her to be
Speaker 1: as she paints herself, he would have painted her first.
Speaker 1: God gave her the face that suited her, and she
Speaker 1: takes on the face that does not suit her. Saboletta's
Speaker 1: work is part of the history of misogynous literature that
Speaker 1: condemns women's beauty rituals as tampering with God's creation. Some
Speaker 1: women agreed that such rituals were fatuous, but for very
Speaker 1: different reasons. Maria Desiaus, a golden aged Spanish writer today
Speaker 1: considered a proto feminist, viewed the social pressures on women
Speaker 1: to apply make up as a means to prevent them
Speaker 1: from emancipating themselves. In a novel from the sixteen thirties,
Speaker 1: she has one of her characters say that if women
Speaker 1: applied themselves to training with weapons and studying the sciences
Speaker 1: instead of growing their hair and shading their faces, they
Speaker 1: could already have surpassed men in menay things. As Spain's
Speaker 1: imperial fortunes waned in the late sixteen hundreds in the
Speaker 1: Golden Age ended, the heavy use of make up in
Speaker 1: Spain also diminished. With the French Revolution in seventeen eighty nine,
Speaker 1: a more natural look swept through Europe, and elaborate wings
Speaker 1: and make up were shunned. Attitudes towards make up, however,
Speaker 1: are often cyclical. Safer zinc oxide based powders later replaced
Speaker 1: toxic lead based recipes, and make up's usage rebounded in Europe.
Speaker 1: Then in the mid eighteen hundreds, heavy make up fell
Speaker 1: out of fashion, associated with actresses and prostitutes facial artifice.
Speaker 1: Artifice came back to the forefront with the advance of
Speaker 1: theatrical cosmetics and became widely commercialized in Europe and North
Speaker 1: America in the nineteen twenties. Since then, its use in
Speaker 1: the context of femininity and feminism has been as heatedly
Speaker 1: discussed as it was in the Golden Age of Spain.
Speaker 1: This article by Barbara Roussillo. The Spanish Infanta, the eldest
Speaker 1: princess of King Philip four Maria Theresa, is depicted in
Speaker 1: Diego Velasquez's sixteen fifty one to fifty four portrait. She
Speaker 1: is in her early teens. The viewer's gaze is arrested
Speaker 1: both by her elaborate headdress, as adorned with butterflies, and
Speaker 1: the heavy amounts of rouge applied to her whitened face.
Speaker 1: Participating in the royal delegation to Spain in sixteen twenty three,
Speaker 1: English courtier Richard Wynne commented on very young women at
Speaker 1: the Spanish court being made up. They were painted more
Speaker 1: than the ordinary women, though some of them were not
Speaker 1: thirteen years old. The purpose of Velaska's famous portrait was
Speaker 1: to attract a future husband. In sixteen sixteen sixteen sixty,
Speaker 1: at age twenty two, Maria Theresa married Louis the fourteenth
Speaker 1: of France. The dressing table gets a makeover. The room
Speaker 1: where Spanish ladies beautified themselves was called the tocador, as
Speaker 1: was the box in which they kept their products and accessory.
Speaker 1: Another key piece of furniture was the table where ladies
Speaker 1: sat for their toilette, the act of getting ready for
Speaker 1: the day. In the seventeenth century Dutch interior, the woman
Speaker 1: is being dressed and beautified at a normal table. Soon
Speaker 1: after this piece of furniture became a status symbol in Europe,
Speaker 1: the wealthy began to commission luxurious, specialized furniture, and dressing
Speaker 1: tables started looking like the more vertical units familiar today.
Speaker 1: New features included folding tops, basins to wash off makeup,
Speaker 1: and of course, a built in mirror. In the twentieth century,
Speaker 1: the dressing tables, glamour and luxury were often reflected in
Speaker 1: the movies of the nineteen twenties and thirties. Later, the
Speaker 1: use of dressing tables waned as beautifying shifted to the bathroom. Today,
Speaker 1: social influencers have brought the dressing table back, albeit in
Speaker 1: a compact form. Next, Percy fawcett tragic search for the
Speaker 1: Lost City of Z. Convinced by old documents that a
Speaker 1: lost civilization lay in the Amazon Rainfall, Percy Fawcet set
Speaker 1: out to find it in nineteen twenty five. His disappearance
Speaker 1: sparked a century of speculation as to his fate. When
Speaker 1: the Spanish first ventured into the Amazon Basin in the
Speaker 1: fifteen forties, they recorded indigenous accounts of a lost city
Speaker 1: of fantastic wealth that they called El Dorado, the Golden
Speaker 1: Over the centuries, many vain attempts were made to locate
Speaker 1: a lost civilization in the Amazon forest. The last significant
Speaker 1: attempt to find such a culture was undertaken by British
Speaker 1: explorer Percy Fawcet. Between nineteen o six and nineteen twenty four,
Speaker 1: Fawcet made seven expeditions across the Amazon Basin, concluding with
Speaker 1: this doomed quest to find the city he called Z.
Speaker 1: Fawcet was inspired by his extensive reading of historical sources,
Speaker 1: including a mysterious document known as Manuscript five twelve. A
Speaker 1: man of extraordinary mental and physical stamina. Fawcett was working
Speaker 1: at a time when the Amazon region was still largely
Speaker 1: undocumented by Europeans who sought to explore its jungles and waterways,
Speaker 1: seeking ancient cities and riches. His disappearance during his search
Speaker 1: for z in nineteen twenty five in the Matto Grosso
Speaker 1: region of Brazil continues to intrigue writers and filmmakers. Perzy
Speaker 1: Harrison Fawcett was born in eighteen sixty seven in Torquay, Devon,
Speaker 1: the English county that had produced many famous explorers and mariners,
Speaker 1: including Francis Drake and Walter Rawleigh. The son of an
Speaker 1: aristocrat who had lost his fortune, Fawcett described his childhood
Speaker 1: as lacking in affection. At age nineteen, he was commissioned
Speaker 1: as a lieutenant in the Royal Artillery and sent to
Speaker 1: outposts of the British Empire. In nineteen oh one, Fawcett
Speaker 1: joined the Royal Geographical Society of London and traveled to
Speaker 1: Africa as a surveyor in the service of the British State,
Speaker 1: tasked with gathering military intelligence. In nineteen o six, he
Speaker 1: was commissioned by the Society to lead an expedition to
Speaker 1: the Amazon. Arriving in South America was the moment to
Speaker 1: ina whole life changed. Setting out from LAPAs to map
Speaker 1: the vast territory on the borderlands of Bolivia and Brazil,
Speaker 1: Faucet often faced hostility from indigenous peoples angered by rubber
Speaker 1: Bereans who had invaded their lands to extract rubber free
Speaker 1: use in car and train manufacturing. For nearly a decade
Speaker 1: he roamed the Amazon Basin, often the first European to
Speaker 1: record geographical features such as waterfalls. His writing gives a
Speaker 1: sense of the awe he experienced above us wrote the
Speaker 1: Ricardo Franco Hills flat topped and mysterious, their flanks scarred
Speaker 1: by deep quibrads ravines, they stood like a lost world,
Speaker 1: forested to their tops, and the imagination could picture the
Speaker 1: last vessiges of an age long vanquished. The outbreak of
Speaker 1: World War One interrupted this rich period of exploration, forcing
Speaker 1: him to return to Europe. Although in his fifties, Fawcet
Speaker 1: was in peak physical condition and he proved to be
Speaker 1: an outstanding soldier. This concludes readings from National Geographic History
Speaker 1: Magazine for to day. Your reader has been Marshall. Thank
Speaker 1: you for listening. Keep on listening and have a great day.