<<Spenser profited directly from his participation. He received large and valuable pieces of property...taken from his victims.>>
I think the practice of fraudulent conveyance should be considered with this as well.
<<Like it or not, an artist's personal biography has a profound effect upon the value of his work...indeed, sometimes biography is the only thing that gives an artistic work value.>>
I fundamentally disagree with this position, but anyway, thanks Mike Shipley and all for wonderful threads as of late!
From: Mike Shipley <
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Reply-To: Sidney-Spenser Discussion List <
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Subject: Spenser and the Cavalry
Date: Tue, 18 Mar 2003 19:59:00 EST
On the question of Spenser's complicity (or culpability...the two words
are not the same) in the devastation of Ireland.....
Unlike the cavalry officers of, for instance, the Black Hills War of
1876-77, Spenser profited directly from his participation. He received large
and valuable pieces of property...taken from his victims.
The cavalry officers of the Black Hills War (with the exception of
George Custer, who was probably playing for the presidency) stood to profit
almost nothing from their participation.
In Spenser's day, certainly, the definition of a "professional" soldier
was different. There was a presumption that a soldier would be paid for his
service partly in plunder and siezed property. The professional soldiers of
the 1870's were paid directly for their work, and were officially forbidden
to profit by plunder.
Still, if Spenser had been tried in a modern court...by the Nuremburg
tribunals, for instance...he would most certainly have been implicated in war
crimes, the same way that some minor Nazis were convicted.
I also believe that our view of Spenser's guilt, innocence or
"culpability" in the 16th century's Irish tragedy has to bear directly upon
our enjoyment of his work. Like it or not, an artist's personal biography
has a profound effect upon the value of his work...indeed, sometimes
biography is the only thing that gives an artistic work value.
It certainly changes our view of the Irish countryside that helped to
inspire Spenser's words if we remember that he also joined in the devastation
of that pastoral scene.
MRS
