I've added former UK Prime minister Sir Edward Heath to my list of EPIC proportions, and I've done a bit of work in the sections for royalty and politicians, along with filling out more info about lots of the more obscure notable people who have been included in my list, and I've also added more references to the GARGANTUAN references list.
I happened to notice an art documentary on the tellie the other day, and the narrator was discussing the tragic Hapsburg/Habsburg dynasty of horrifically inbred but extremely powerful Spanish royalty. I've been meeting quite a few men lately who happen to have noticeable Habsburg lips, like the strange-looking jaws of the Hapsburg kings. I don't go out looking for the company of such interesting people, interesting people seem to be attracted to me. That's fine with me, I like interesting people (well, most of them). Years ago I worked briefly for a bloke who had quite a striking Hapsburg lip, and he was also quite a mad dictator, but perhaps not quite as offensively bonkers as his powerful relative, who also has a bit of a funny look about him. Is there a link between horrific underbites and megalomania in men? I've got to wonder, I really do. So what has this got to do with my list of famous autistics? Well, when I saw this documentary about art and the Hapsburg kings, I wondered if I had one of these Spanish kings in my list. I did - King Philip II of Spain (1527–1598) - more fascinating information to delve into and share around. What a dreadful mess the Habsburg dynasty ended up in, as the result of repeated inbreeding generation after generation. Being all good religious people in the times before scientific knowledge of genetics and such matters, these Spaniards thought the many maladies of the last Hapsburg king were the result of some evil spell. I'm so grateful to live in the age of science.
There are actually a few people in my list who were a bit inbred, and also some who married their cousins. There is one world-changing autistic genius in my list who was from an inbred family and who also married a first cousin. I don't think I'd be quite so daring. I chose to not muck about with any of my cousins, a number of times actually. My advice is just say "NO!" firmly, or if you are from a nice middle-class family say "No thank you dear cousin".
A referenced list of 174 famous or important people diagnosed with an autism spectrum condition or subject of published speculation about whether they are or were on the autistic spectrum
http://incorrectpleasures.blogspot.com/2006/09/referenced-list-of-famous-or-important.html
Yup, sometimes it's better not to marry, 'specially if you are Elizabeth Tudor. She is one of my favorite wimmin in the entire history of the whole world.
ReplyDeleteThe heart and stomach of a King, indeed, she had.
Elizabeth I of England, the Virgin Queen. I guess she was the great enemy of the Hapsburg king who is in my list, Philip II of Spain.
ReplyDeleteAccording to Wikipedia there were "several petitions from parliament" that she should marry. These days some single people complain about their mother nagging them to settle down and get married. That pressure seems like small potatoes in comparison!
I find Elizabeth's motto interesting "video et taceo" ("I see, and say nothing"). I'd be interested to know more about how this is relevant to the way she ruled.
I often feel that it could be my motto - I have seen lots of most peculiar and interesting things in my life, some important things that I am sure no other soul in the world has noticed or fully understood. Anyone who is familiar with the Sherlock Holmes stories will understand that most people posess a sense of sight, but at the same time often don't really see. As a consequence of all of this seeing I am bursting full of secrets, because there are so many reasons why the truth cannot be told.
I've just acquired a fascination for 16th century Latin mottoes:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.shipbrook.com/jeff/mottoes2.html