King Henry VII of England-
Lord Howth was his cousin by marriage,
and a reliable supporter of his Tudor dynasty

"We seem too stupid to survive."

I fear this story will contain little but venom, for I'm finally understanding the meaning of British aristocracy. It was traditionally a means for legally stealing property under various Might Makes Right Statues going back into antiquity. If people had been respectful and decent, they would have had no good reason ever to violate their neighbor's sovereignty with bogus claims of superiority. I'm afraid it became a habit inherited from antiquity. Those who didn't commit atrocities justified by some deity seemed to have been the rare exceptions. They produced little history due to the traditional difficulty of producing an acceptable story once your head's been separated from your body. Service in the Roman Army seems little different than service in the British or the French or the Spanish; it was all slash and burn, kill and eventually be killed, futility elevated to lifestyle. A few enjoyed great wealth, but only when it was possible to enjoy a celebration atop a mountain of moldering bodies.

Norman/British lords invaded Ireland in the late twelfth century under the justification that controlling the Eastern edge of Ireland would make it more difficult for a hostile power to launch an invasion from there. They invaded with the belief that it might prevent invasion, which is perfectly circular reasoning. Over the following centuries, those British Lords created a Little Britain there, subjugating natives and maintaining defenses, fighting the occasional chieftain audacious enough to think themself the real owners of the property the British had stolen fair and square. Some races must have seemed particularly clueless to their betters.

Over time, the British expanded their holdings, which means they managed to overwhelm ever more of the natives. Also, the original Lords became somewhat more Irish and less British, so the British parliament began battling with the Irish parliament. The Norman invader's families became known as Old Irish, by which their superiors in London meant uppity and in need of some reform. Henry VIII proposed regranting all the land in Ireland, retaking possession by the crown, and then granting possession back for a renewed promise of loyalty to the king. Everything became more complicated. The original liberators became suspected collaborators and then subjected to refreshingly renewing humiliation. This is how more wars began.

Eventually, Oliver Cromwell brought an army to insist Catholicism desist in Irish territory. This attracted the Catholic Spanish king whose invading troops were quickly seiged into submission. Cromwell's crew performed unspeakable atrocities, routinely killing even those who willingly surrendered. He brought widespread famine and plague to the country. My ancestors were there, sometimes in positions of considerable power, like Robert St Lawrence, 3rd Baron Howth, "leading nobleman and statesman in 15th-century Ireland who held the office of Lord Chancellor of Ireland. Through his second marriage, he was closely connected to the new Tudor dynasty, to which his son was staunchly loyal." [Wikipedia] He was undoubtedly one nasty bit of business, as were all of the British there, Old as well as new.

They used Ireland as the proving ground for a practice they proliferated worldwide. Move in, subjugate the locals, take over, and extract just as much wealth as possible. The British, like all colonial powers, possessed no apparent compunctions. They would guiltlessly enslave anyone and hold them responsible for whatever terrible punishments might have befallen them in the process. They'd bring along clergy to help justify their hegemony—no better advisor than God Almighty. There is no better master than the one who made it a practice never to intervene. These people, even my forebears, were evil. If I believed in such a thing, I'd probably wish them to Hell, though they seemed to need no escourt there. They seemed bound and determined to get there under their own power.

Eventually, the British invented a Two-State Solution in Ireland, one which might look familiar to the ones proposed for the Middle East and Ukraine. Subjugating powers can never withdraw, admitting their grave mistake. They seek fairness from a landscape they scraped bare of fairness before discussions began. They want to hold onto just as much of the land they deigned to steal fair and square under the ageless rules of colonial engagement. If I want it, I have the right to take it if I can. Damn anyone who denies me permission to satisfy my god's sacred mission. We seem too stupid to survive.

©2024 by David A. Schmaltz - all rights reserved

Tags: #Fambly, #PureSchmaltz