The Magna Carta, Millennia, and Marriage

Came across this in an article on the thorny history of the Magna Carta, noting the marital lowlights of its author, King John. I was reading this the same week SCOTUS justices fretted they would be tinkering with "millennia" of marital history.

In 1189, John married his cousin Isabella of Gloucester. (When she had no children, he had their marriage ended, locked her in his castle, and then sold her.) ... In 1200, he married another Isabella, who may have been eight or nine; he referred to her as a “thing.” He also had a passel of illegitimate children, and allegedly tried to rape the daughter of one of his barons.

Read more

Wouldn't want to mess with the pristine millennia of marital history, now, would we?

latest tweets

4 of my #failedchildrensbooktitles on Twitter

1. Oh The Places You Would Have Gone -- Before the Economic Downturn

2. Bert and Ernie Clarify Their Relationship

3. Bambi Versus the NRA

4. Aesop's Ethical Quandaries

4 Funny #failedchildrensbooktitles on Twitter

1. @schmiss: Where The Wild Things Were Prior To Widespread Residential and Commercial Construction

2. @rkref: The Wealth Redistribution Tree

3. @lehmannchris: Horton Has an Auditory Delusion

4. @misstripentaxi: Dear God, It's Me, Margeret, & I Believe You Owe Me an
Explanation Regarding the Problem of Evil.

4 Web Programming/Coding Languages I've Learned to Read

1. CSS
2. JavaScript
3. PHP
4. jQuery

4 NCAA 1st Round Games to Watch

4 NCAA 1st Round Games to Watch

1. UCLA vs. VCU, East

2. Illinois vs. W. Kentucky, South

3. Siena vs. Ohio St., Midwest

4. Marquette vs. Utah St., West

-espn

4 Unforgettable Sports Championships in 2008

4 Unforgettable Sports Championships in 2008

1. New York Giants over New England Patriots in Super Bowl

2. Tiger Woods over Rocco Mediate in U.S. Open playoff

3. Rafael Nadal over Roger Federer at Wimbledon

4. Michael Phelps over Milorad Cavic by .01 of a second at the Olympics

-time

4 Interesting Top Ten Lists

4 Interesting Top Ten Lists from Time's Top Ten of Everything 2008:

1. Top 10 Underreported News Stories

2. Top 10 Non-fiction Books

3. Top 10 Museum Exhibits

4. Top 10 Photos

-time

4 Cool Things about an Obama Post-Presidency

4 Cool Things about an Obama Post-Presidency

1. Presidential museum and library in Chicago

2. Convention speeches every 4 years for life

3. State funeral

4. Monument in Chicago; maybe D.C.

-nb

4 Key Demographics in the Obama Win

4 Key Demographics in the Obama Win

1. African Americans

2. Latinos

3. Young Voters

4. Parents

-fivethirtyeight