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If you could go back in time and live in another century...?
A man (women are so underrated my gosh) in the late 1400s - like between 1450 and 1490, in Florence. I would be a member of the Medici's Platonic Academy at Villa Careggi, and make the acquaintance of Lorenzo de Medici and Marsilio Ficino and Gentile Becchi and Poliziano... And I would be there for Giuliano's murder and Savonarola's bonfire and the time that lightning struck the top of il Duomo...
Aloha Emma:You have a stronger stomach than I have. I did a bit of research on Savonarola's death for my upcoming novel, and I wouldn't want to be anywhere near Piazza della Signoria that day. The cruelty of the medieval period is stunning (though of course if I were born in that era I would probably be used to it).
Lightning struck the Duomo?
I've always had a fascination with the Hundred Years War so I think I would like to live in that era. As a man of course and certainly not the life of a peasant either, much too difficult. I would love to see the battle of Agincourt and Joan of Arc.
Laurie:Seeing Joan of Arc in person would be electric! A warrior mystic saint within arm's reach would be a life-changing experience.
Yeah on the night if April 8/9 1492. When Lorenzo de Medici died. Supposedly lightning struck the top of the duomo when he took his last breath.And not that I'd be proud to be there on Easter in 1478 when they tried to murder the Medici, I'd be just as freaked as everyone else. It's just that I'm writing about it and want to see how it happened :)
Great question. I would not live in the past, but if I could visit, with all modern immunizations, I would be a Russian boyar in the reign of Ivan the Terrible. So many unanswered questions for which I would finally have answers!
A courtier/lady-in-waiting during the first Tokugawa Shogunate in Japan. Though I'd like to try just one day as a geisha also.Same during Shakespearean London, without the geisha part ;)
Senator-class in the Rome of Pompey and Caesar, before he crossed the Rubicon.
Ancient Egypt, maybe during Ramses or Akhenaton and Nefertiti.
Aloha C.P.Just visit? I'm disappointed in you! If you're going back in time to Russia, you need to live it to really know it. Right? :)
I'm curious as to what answers you would be seeking...
Emma wrote: "Yeah on the night if April 8/9 1492. When Lorenzo de Medici died. Supposedly lightning struck the top of the duomo when he took his last breath.And not that I'd be proud to be there on Easter in ..."
Aloha Emma:
The lightning story is apocryphal, invented by the Medici to apotheosize his passing? Or did historians actually record such an event?
Nope I've read quite a few accounts of it, including Poliziano's, and he was there :)
Wow, the Medici really did have friends in high places...
Yep. They truly did. I've been researching a lot for my writing and I went as far as to buy stuff in Latin (well it's also Italian, an Italian translation. So I'm translating a translation. Quite confusing at times...) to find out the truth! Or the presumed truth from back then.
There are probably many eras that I would have liked to visit, at least as a man, but I have always been interested in experiencing La Belle Époque in Paris or maybe Berlin during the Weimar Republic. Of course living in the Roaring Twenties in any big city would have been interesting. As it happens, I just started a book published in the 1928, the debut novel of a 20-year-old Mika Waltari, written mainly in Paris and I believe it also happens partly there and also in Berlin. One of the characters in the novel was based on Minna Craucher, who, among other things, was suspected of being a spy for Cheka and was murdered four years later. http://content.time.com/time/magazine... Another has characteristics of Olavi Paavolainen who visited Germany in 1936 and wrote a travel journal of the trip. It is pretty interesting, I've been told, been meaning to read it. He also visited the Soviet Union in 1939 but never wrote a book about that trip, something else came up... (Btw, he had been involved with Craucher and was later in a relationship with a daughter of O.W. Kuusinen, a well known Communist politician herself, too.)
@Michele, Waltari's The Egyptian has been praised of its authenticity. It's set during the reign of Akhenaton.
Michael wrote: "Aloha C.P. Just visit? I'm disappointed in you! If you're going back in time to Russia, you need to live it to really know it. Right? :)I'm curious as to what answers you would be seeking..."
Yes, just visit. Sorry to be such a wuss, but I know enough about the medical and dentistry disasters of the past to want a ready out.
As to the rest, there are many, many questions about Ivan the Terrible's reign that cannot be answered based on the sources now available—including the death of his mother, the influence of various figures early in his reign, the formation of his version of the Terror, and the death of his oldest son. It would be great to zip back, ask some well-informed locals, grab a few good sources, and return to the present. :-)
P.S. I would also hang around the steppe long enough to really get a sense of the people I write about.
As a woman I would like to experience Egypt during the time of Ramses II or Britain before the arrival of the Romans.
Michele wrote: "A courtier/lady-in-waiting during the first Tokugawa Shogunate in Japan. Though I'd like to try just one day as a geisha also.Same during Shakespearean London, without the geisha part ;)
Senator..."
Aloha Michelle:
Four lives and four countries. Ambitious!
.
Sally wrote: "As a woman I would like to experience Egypt during the time of Ramses II or Britain before the arrival of the Romans."Aloha Sally:
Why those two specific periods?
I'm old enough to remember the radio program "You Are There," narrated by Walter Cronkite. Reporters would go back in time to the date of some important event and Cronkite would switch to each reporter at a particular vantage point of the event. They would do interviews as well as report what they saw. "And now we go to Bob Smithers at the Little Roundtop. What are you seeing, Bob? Has Longstreet assembled his forces down there in the Devil's Den? Wait a minute. I'm getting a message that Phil Armsted has General Longstreet beside him right now. Phil, take it away."
Because I have researched and am writing about it now, I'd love to go back temporarily and witness the first encounter of Walter Raleigh's initial explorers with the Algonquians near Roanoke Island in 1584.
hmm I'm quite fond of the basic human rights we've got in our modern age, but if I could take a time travel journey, I would want to visit Paris in different time periods.I'd love to explore medieval Paris (and there's quite a list of events I'd like to see that happened in the 14th and 15th century, though I have no appetite to live through them). Also, I'd love to see the artistic life during the fin du siecle and the 1920's/1930's, like the movie Midnight in Paris. I love that city, there's so many things to see.
C.P. wrote: "Great question. I would not live in the past, but if I could visit, with all modern immunizations, I would be a Russian boyar in the reign of Ivan the Terrible. So many unanswered questions for whi..."Like C.P., I would not like to live in the past, but a visit of a relocation nature - to move for a few years - would be grand.
Of course my preference goes to Tenochtitlan (Aztec Capital) of the late 14th or early 15th centuries. And yes, like already mentioned in regard to Europe of the same time - NOT as a peasant.
A noble or traders class would do ;-)
Michele wrote: "A courtier/lady-in-waiting during the first Tokugawa Shogunate in Japan. Though I'd like to try just one day as a geisha also..."
Also yes, later on, if offered another relocation, I might like to live in Republican Rome of Caesar and Pompey for a while, and yes, a lady-in-waiting for the first Shogunate of Tokagawa sounds appealing enough.
Ok, Ancient Egypt of Akhenaton and Nefertiti will do too.
In short, when you are off to all those places, Michele, let me know unless you like to travel alone :D
I would love to be in Alexandria during the era of Ptolemaic rule - but I second the proviso of visiting with modern medicine!
Michael wrote: "Sally wrote: "As a woman I would like to experience Egypt during the time of Ramses II or Britain before the arrival of the Romans."Aloha Sally:
Why those two specific periods?"
Mostly out of curiosity but also because I have the impression that women in those places and time periods had a more equal status with men than they would in other societies. I would really love to see what was going on at Stonehenge right after it was built!
I'll have to think about this. I think I would want to be more of a time traveler and see different events/periods rather than stay in one place.
Sally wrote:...Mostly out of curiosity but also because I have the impression that women in those places and time periods had a more equal status with men than they would in other societies..."
You may wish to move to the 12th century upstate New York, then :)
(the Iroquois Confederacy was the only democracy in the world for many centuries to come to let women vote :), Not to mention all the rest of equal right they enjoyed :))
We had a TV version of "You Are There!" when I was in elementary school. Haven't thought of that in years.I always liked it. (I liked ABC's Our World, too, when I was older. I swear I've inherited my mother's ability to kill TV shows.)
Sanne wrote: "hmm I'm quite fond of the basic human rights we've got in our modern age, but if I could take a time travel journey, I would want to visit Paris in different time periods.I'd love to explore medi..."
Aloha Sanne:
Midniught in Paris was great fun! Woody Allen has produced some gems in his later career.
Sally wrote: "Michael wrote: "Sally wrote: "As a woman I would like to experience Egypt during the time of Ramses II or Britain before the arrival of the Romans."Aloha Sally:
Why those two specific periods?"
..."
Aloha Sally:
I guess the question with Stonehenge would be "exactly when was it finished?" I seem to remember reading somewhere that it was built in stages, over several centuries? If so you might need several lives/visits...
Isis wrote: "I would love to be in Alexandria during the era of Ptolemaic rule - but I second the proviso of visiting with modern medicine!"Aloha Isis:
And why the Ptolemaic instead of, say, the Fourth Dynasty, when you could see the Great Pyramid rise up? What draws you to the end?
It would have to be sometime after medicine for epilepsy or I wouldn't have lived to be as old as I have. My husband always dreams of the old west lol
Lived, no. I don't think so. Visit? I have a long list. The short list has the American West at the very top. ;-)
If I had to go back in time to live, probably the Roman Empire at its height.
I'd pass. I love modern day conveniences, like indoor plumbing. :o)
Julie wrote: "Shawn wrote: "I'd pass. I love modern day conveniences, like indoor plumbing. :o)"I personally fear the deficit of things like toilet paper! lol"
Aloha Shawn and Julie:
Two more reasons for me to personally prefer late 19th century London. Thomas Crapper had already popularized indoor plumbing and water closets, and I just Googled -- rolled, perforated toilet paper was invented in 1880. So as a gentleman and member of parliament, I would have undoubtedly enjoyed both.
Aloha TammyLet's say you could go back with toilet paper and without epilepsy -- where and when then? Just curious
Emma wrote: "Yeah on the night if April 8/9 1492. When Lorenzo de Medici died. Supposedly lightning struck the top of the duomo when he took his last breath.Michael and Emma, I'm writing about Lorenzo de' Medici and Renaissance Italy, as well. In fact, my debut historical mystery novel was published last year. It begins with my main character witnessing Giuliano's murder in the Cathedral. It's called "The Sign
of the Weeping Virgin." I'm currently writing the next book in the series.
Aloha AlanaCongratulations on your series!
Thank you so much:) As for where I would like to go back in time or now--it is always Florence...hands down.
Like you, Michael, I would go Victorian. I write about end of Victorian/beginning of Edwardian era myself and I find it such a fascinating time. So much had changed and was continuing to change so quickly. I also love Dickens and would love to experience east end London during that time...not too poor, though :).
Lisa wrote: "Like you, Michael, I would go Victorian. I write about end of Victorian/beginning of Edwardian era myself and I find it such a fascinating time. So much had changed and was continuing to change s..."Aloha Lisa:
I'm with you. The modern world was being born daily back then. Congratulations on your book "The Porter's Wife." Looks like a wonderful story!
Cheers,
Mike
either early 800s scandinavia or 1710-1718 before the mast in the carabean as a pirate (pyrate). those years would be well worth a short life and a death at the gallows!
"Paris 1890. I'd make a beeline to the Moulin Rouge, say hi to Toulouse-Lautrec, buy him a drink (maybe two or three) and ask him to read The Devil in Montmartre.Seriously, a great time and place for art, literature, and music. And Victorian London's just a boat-train trip away.
The Devil in Montmartre: A Mystery in Fin de Siecle Paris
Gary wrote: "Paris 1890. I'd make a beeline to the Moulin Rouge, say hi to Toulouse-Lautrec, buy him a drink (maybe two or three)
an..."I spent three hours walking around Montmartre looking for Moulin Rouge a few years ago. It was a hundred degrees out. Finally gave up and we decided to sit at a nice outdoor restaurant for a glass of wine, looked across the street and voila. We found it after we had given up. Loved seeing it...at least from the outside.
That's a tough question to answer, but I'm inclined to agree with C. P. and say I would like to visit with all my immunizations- I wouldn't want to get the Black Plague, for instance. I've always had a fascination with the Revolutionary War, so getting to see that would be cool.Michael made the Victorian era sound really interesting though, particularly when he started talking about how everything wasn't homogenized, like it is today.
Lisa wrote: "Gary wrote: "Paris 1890. I'd make a beeline to the Moulin Rouge, say hi to Toulouse-Lautrec, buy him a drink (maybe two or three)[bookcover:The Devil in Montmartre: A Mystery in Fin de Siecle Paris..."Moulin Rouge is at the bottom of the hill, Sacre Couer is at the summit. You must have got plenty of exercise that day! :)
Gary
Melissa wrote: "That's a tough question to answer, but I'm inclined to agree with C. P. and say I would like to visit with all my immunizations- I wouldn't want to get the Black Plague, for instance. I've always h..."A major consideration for any period prior to the late 19th century--primitive medicine and dentistry. Ouch!
Gary wrote: A major consideration for any period prior to the late 19th century- primitive medicine and dentistry. This is true.
Michael wrote: "Aloha Tammy
Let's say you could go back with toilet paper and without epilepsy -- where and when then? Just curious"
I really don't know. The time periods I like to read about such as Tudor England I wouldn't want to live. Maybe the time period of Charles II or prehistoric America.
Let's say you could go back with toilet paper and without epilepsy -- where and when then? Just curious"
I really don't know. The time periods I like to read about such as Tudor England I wouldn't want to live. Maybe the time period of Charles II or prehistoric America.
Gary wrote: ""Paris 1890. I'd make a beeline to the Moulin Rouge, say hi to Toulouse-Lautrec, buy him a drink (maybe two or three) and ask him to read The Devil in Montmartre.Seriously, a great time and place..."
Aloha Gary:
Looking forward to reading your book!
Cheers,
Mike
Historical Fictionistas
Books mentioned in this topic
A Moveable Feast (other topics)The Paris Wife (other topics)
The Devil in Montmartre: A Mystery in Fin de Siècle Paris (other topics)
The Devil in Montmartre: A Mystery in Fin de Siècle Paris (other topics)
The Sign of the Weeping Virgin (other topics)
More...
Authors mentioned in this topic
Olavi Paavolainen (other topics)Mika Waltari (other topics)
I’d live in the late Victorian age. I’ve read almost all of Dickens’ books, and thrilled to Arthur Conan Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes stories. I’ve also devoured most of H.G. Wells (The Time Machine, War of the Worlds, etc.). The intellectual, political and technological ferment of that era is so heady – Darwin, Marx, suffragism, steam trains and telegraphs and a flood of mechanical inventions that transformed our world; the looming collapse of a haughty but doomed aristocratic social structure; and the grinding poverty which accompanied industrialization and led to World War I and the birth of the modern era. Its appeal never seems to die. I’m not surprised Steampunk resonates with young people. Life is more colorful, emotional, the highs higher and the lows lower than today’s more boring, homogenized, global consumer society.
My life in that era? I’m a man, of course (a woman’s life would be too confining), and I’m not too poor; maybe a minor member of Parliament, with a flat in Mayfair, a country house in Kent and membership in the Arts Club where I dine with my friends Dickens and Kipling as they discuss the British Raj in India and how to handle a pushy, upstart America; debate poor house laws and women’s emancipation; wonder over Rontgen’s discovery of x-rays; and shake their heads at the French Impressionists. Hard for me to imagine a more interesting historical time and place to be alive in!
When and where would you live?