Spain

  • More Magic Beans- This History of Chocolate

    That most delicious of desserts that we all crave.  It was rightly named as “food of the gods” by the ancients.  However, the chocolate the pre-Olmec cultures were making was nothing like the chocolate we eat today.  It was consumed as a beverage, and was quite bitter.  The peoples making this drink were living in Mesoamerica prior to the cultures of the Olmecs, Mayan and Aztecs.  Anthropologists from the University of Pennsylvania have found cacao residue on pottery found in Honduras from as early as 1400 BCE.  Some sources place the discovery of chocolate even earlier at 1900 BCE.  Anthropologists surmise native peoples found the cacao plants in the tropical…

  • Three Flags Day

    The Louisiana Purchase was a big deal.  (Read more about the ins and outs of it in this post:  http://www.historynaked.com/the-louisiana-purchase/)  It was a great deal for the United States, but it was somewhat of an administrative nightmare.  The territory being turned over was huge.  Also, it technically belonged to the French as part of a secret treaty with the Spanish in 1769.  However, since the Third Treaty of San Ildefonso was secret, Spain still administered the territory to keep up appearances.  Confused yet?  So were a lot of other people.  Many of the Spanish officials didn’t know they were working for the French until it came time to turn things…

  • Treaty of Tordesillas

    So if you watched the US presidential debate last night, you would have heard one of the candidates make mention that the Iran arms deal is the “worst in history”.  This got me thinking.  No matter what your political persuasion, I think we can all agree this is hyperbole.  All of history is a very, very long time and there have been some ridiculously bad deals signed.  One that comes to mind is the Treaty of Tordesillas. In the 15th century, both Spain and Portugal were two of the world’s superpowers.  Both countries were sending out explorers and divvying up the New World (that’s another set of terrible treaties that…

  • Expedition to Spain-    George and Charles’ Not So Excellent Adventure

    Previous postings have discussed James I infatuation with George Villiers, Duke of Buckingham.  The Duke was extremely handsome, and had the king wrapped around his finger. (For more speculation this relationship, please see this post:  http://www.historynaked.com/homosexuality-throne-england-part-3/ )  The king called him “Steenie”, which was short for Stephen as the Duke bore a resemblance to a painting of St. Stephen.  Prince Charles, eventually King Charles I, was more reserved than his father so it was difficult to judge how Buckingham and the Prince got along.  However, together they did manage to embark on one of the larger fool’s errands in English history. James was angling for a betrothal for Prince Charles with…

  • Carlos II-  The Bewitched King

    When Carlos was born on November 6, 1661 there was universal rejoicing in Spain that there was a legitimate male heir.  What they did not realize that Carlos had grave health issues.  The child was not expected to live long.  Along with mandibular prognathism, a.k.a. the Hapsburg lip  (his lower jaw being larger than his upper) which made him unable to chew food properly, his oversized tongue left him prone to drooling and he didn’t learn to speak until he was four years old.  Although he was treated like an infant, Carlos survived.  He was breast fed by a series of wet nurses until he was six, however, some reports…