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Mark Yeah, which slightly meliorates the matter, but there is no reason to suppose that the Simon de Montfort who summoned the 1265 Parliament (it was the first to insist on elected representatives) would not have approved of his father's actions against the heretics (they were respectively SdeM's IV & V btw, not as I previously stated: medieaval baronial dynasties are a headache). And as a soldier the latter Simon was still responsible for a great many deaths. It was quite interesting here the other week to encounter some new information about the would-be private armies and the resignation of Harold Wilson: it had been clear for some time that there were people in bodies sucha s the Secret Servicees who were plotting some kind of military coup in the 1970's but what I didn't know was that Lord Mountbatten was prepared (indeed, keen) to become acting dictator of the emergency government they planned with the apparent approval of the Queen Mother. Good luck with those American names on the map. Best Dave ----- Original Message ----- From: "Mark Weiss" <[log in to unmask]> To: <[log in to unmask]> Sent: Friday, March 31, 2006 8:54 PM Subject: Re: Truly an aside to an aside Re: Feminism: an aside > Good to know. I still have to deal with all the American mass > murderers whose names sit on the map. > > Mark > > > At 02:24 PM 3/31/2006, you wrote: > >Mark > > > >since you visited I sorted out a certain confusion: the places named in > >Leicester are all after Simon (IV) de Montfort not Simon (III) de Montfort > >who were father and son and successively Earls of Leicester. Simon (III) led > >the campaign against the Cathars while Simon (IV) (d 1265 at the Battle of > >Evesham) is credited as a kind of founder of parliamentary representative > >democracy. > > > >Which is not to say that Simon (IV) was not a ruthless soldier (and too he > >accompanied his father on the Cathar exterminations) > > > >Best > > > >Dave > > > > > >----- Original Message ----- > >From: "Mark Weiss" <[log in to unmask]> > >To: <[log in to unmask]> > >Sent: Friday, March 31, 2006 5:08 PM > >Subject: Truly an aside to an aside Re: Feminism: an aside > > > > > > > When Dave B. took me around Leicester, we passed Simon de Montfort. I > > > was astonished to see a university named after him: like having a > > > Hitler U. Even by medieval standards he was pretty awful. Got me > > > thinking of all the Jackson Colleges in the US--whatever his virtues, > > > Jackson was a genocidal bastard, and, like all but two of his > > > presidential forebears, a slaveowner. > > > > > > OK, back to the topic. > > > > > > Mark > > > > > > At 10:58 AM 3/31/2006, you wrote: > > > >De Montfort University, Leicester, UK. So fairly urban, but not > >metropolitan. > > > > > > > >Some of the asian female students were strongly active - very focussed > > > >on getting good grades, often asking whether something would be in the > > > >exam or should be mentioned in their essay. I'm really remembering one > > > >or two people here, who probably stick out in my mind because they > > > >conformed so surprisingly to a stereotype. > > > > > > > >The rest of the more active students were generally either a) mature, > > > >b) misfit autodidacts or c) both of the above. But possibly I'm > > > >over-remembering the ones I liked best. There were others who > > > >participated who were just normal, well-rounded late-teenagers. But > > > >you know how rare those are. > > > > > > > >Some seminars were more lively than others; those dealing with > > > >Victorian fiction were better than those dealing with Poetry, for > > > >example. Almost all of my students hated studying poetry. > > > > > > > >Class - it's hard to tell. DMU's 18-21yr-old intake always seemed > > > >fairly uniformly lower middle-class to me, with the odd slightly more > > > >affluent person who'd stuffed up their A-levels and come in through > > > >"clearing". The mature students were much more diverse in terms of > > > >background. > > > > > > > >Dominic > > > > > > > >On 3/31/06, Mark Weiss <[log in to unmask]> wrote: > > > > > Dominic: It would help to know where this was (at least what part of > > > > > the country, urban, suburban, rural) and what the demographics were, > > > > > as best you can tell. Did the more active students in any way differ > > > > > in background, age, ethnicity, from their more passive classmates? > > > > > > > > > > Mark > > > > > > > > > > At 10:24 AM 3/31/2006, you wrote: > > > > > >Most of the undergrads I taught English to were female. Some of the > > > > > >groups were pretty passive and quiet. Anybody with something to say > > > > > >could dominate the conversation pretty much by default. Occasionally > > > > > >someone did; it was a blessed relief, since then at least there was > > > > > >some conversation. > > > > > > > > > > > >It's possible that I was just a lousy teacher; I certainly found it > > > > > >difficult to care about the ones who weren't alert and engaged, > > > > > >although occasionally one of them would turn in an absolutely > > > > > >first-rate essay (some people prefer to sit quietly, listen and > > > > > >think...) > > > > > > > > > > > >Dominic > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > >-- > > > >Shall we be pure or impure? Today > > > >we shall be very pure. It must always > > > >be possible to contain > > > >impurities in a pure way. > > > >--Tarmo Uustalu and Varmo Vene