Watchman's Teaching Letter #164 December 2011

This is my one hundred and sixty-fourth monthly teaching letter and continues my fourteenth year of publication. This is the third consecutive interruption of my series The Greatest Love Story Ever Told, which I started with WTL #137, and have been expanding on it in greater detail in seven stages as follows: (1) the courtship, (2) the marriage, (3) the honeymoon, (4) the estrangement, (5) the divorce, (6) the reconciliation, and (7) the remarriage. As you will remember, I got sidetracked from the subject of Israel’s honeymoon with her Husband, Yahweh, and because of the seriousness of the lies that are being circulated about Queen Charlotte of England (who was the wife of King George III), by black Nubian Times, I find it my Christian duty, and have no other alternative but to set the record straight!

In order to determine whether or not the Vandals were negroid, I was quoting from: roman-empire.net/articles/article-016.html (with all needed editing, especially where the author wrongly declares the Alans to be non-Germanic, which will be corrected in [ ] ):

History of the Vandals continued from WTL #163:

... General Basiliscus at St Sophia: Emperor Leo was shocked that the expedition was not successful. A fleet, after all, whose costs would keep the Empire near bankrupcy [sic] for many years. The public was outraged and Basiliscus was forced to seek sanctuary in the church of St Sophia in Constantinople, the capital of [the] Eastern Roman empire. Leo blamed him for the failure to destroy the enemy kingdom and the loss of so many fine Roman soldiers and sailors. General Aspar was [a Germanic]-Alan and Arian and may have secretly sided with his fellow-Arian Gaiseric, who was after all king of the [White]-Vandals and [Germanic]-Alans. If this was true, then Aspar may have helped Gaiseric by bribing Basiliscus to betray his emperor on his expedition. However, there is no evidence.

Gaiseric’s Old Age: The early AD 470’s saw some major changes within the imperial hierarchy. Aspar was murdered by emperor Leo. [The] next year Ricimer died. The following year emperor Leo died. The Vandals still were raiding the coasts of [Italy] and Greece as Gaiseric was angered over Aspar’s family being wiped out, revealing the special relationship they enjoyed. The new emperor Zeno tried to end the Vandal War by negotiating. His embassador [sic], Severus, met with surprising success at Carthage. Used to buying the services of imperial agents, Gaiseric presented him with rich gifts and money, but Severus refused. ‘In place of such things, the reward most worthwhile for an ambassador is the redemption of prisoners’. Malchus records that Gaiseric acquiesced. ‘Whatever prisoners I, along with my sons, have obtained, I hand over to you. As for the rest who have been shared out among my followers, you are at liberty to buy them back from each owner, but even I [was] unable to compel their captors to do this against their will’

In addition to the freedom of prisoners, Severus wanted to end the cruelty to Catholics. Gaiseric appears to have wanted to impress the rest of the Mediterranean with his tolerance and civilisation. Emperor Zeno recognised the full extent of the Vandal kingdom, including all of western Africa, the Balearic Islands, Corsica, Sardinia and Sicily, ensuring an end to the raids on the empire.

During the long reign of Gaiseric, the western Roman empire broke up into numerous Germanic kingdoms. Many different emperors had held the throne in both west and east. He had outlived all the great warlords: Aetius, Attila, Theoderic, Ricimer and Aspar. He witnessed the deposition of the last emperor of the western Roman empire. The following year, Gaiseric, in his advance[d] old age, died a natural death on 25th January, 477, aged either 77 or 87, forty-eight years after landing in Africa.

Huneric, The Vandal King, AD 477-484: His son, Huneric, succeeded Gaiseric. Huneric would not keep his great kingdom together. The [White]-Moors revolted. No one could command the respect Gaiseric had won.

Huneric had problems with the different churches, Arian and Catholic. He resolved to suppress Manichaeism at the start of his reign, but backed down upon finding many Manichaeans among the Arian clergy. At the request of emperor Zeno, Huneric, owing to his fear of Constantinople, allowed the election of a Catholic Bishop of Carthage in AD 481, named Eugenius. Eugenius was wise and popular, and attracted not only Catholics but also many Vandals, which alarmed Huneric.

Gunthamund, The Vandal King, AD 484-496: Huneric died and was succeeded by his nephew Gunthamund (though he had desired his son to rule). Under his reign the Catholics were free from molestation from government. He also restored the Basilica of St Agileus, a Catholic [as opposed to Arian; not ‘Catholic’ as we know today].

Thrasamund, The Vandal King, AD 496-523: Gundthamund died and was succeeded by his brother Thrasamund, who at first sought to bring the Catholics into line with Arianism through gifts and persuasion. But as this did not work he resorted to threats and torture. He deported 120 bishops to Sardinia. At times though he feared an invasion by Theodoric the Great, the Ostrogothic King, who now controlled Italy.

Hilderich, The Vandal King, AD 523-530: After the death of Thrasamund, a great grandson of Gaiseric and mildly homosexual[?] bachelor named Hilderich became king of the Vandals. He favoured the Catholics and granted religious freedom. He recalled the exiled bishops, one of whom was Fulgentius, an important leader [of] monastic houses, but only sixty bishops could be mustered. For the next seven years, the church underwent a process of reorganisation. There was a revolution in the palace [that] threatened to bring back the days of persecution. His cousin Gelimer, who raised the banner of national Arianism, opposed King Hilderich’s policy. Gelimer had won several victories against the Berber ([White]-Moors) in the south. He was supported by most of the Vandal nobility seiz[ing] the throne for himself. Hilderich was put into [a] prison cell along with his few supporters; his children perhaps were granted refuge at the court of Constantinople. From prison Hilderich appealed to emperor Justinian for help.

Gelimer, The Vandal King, AD 530-34: Eastern emperor Justinian the Great had hoped to bring the Vandal Kingdom back into the imperial fold without the loss of a single Roman soldier. King Hilderich was a Roman on his mother’s side: Princess Eudocia, daughter of Valentinian III, who had been brought back to Africa with her mother and sister after the Vandal sack of Rome. Hilderich had so far adopted Roman ways as to renounce the Arian heresy of his forefathers and embrace the orthodox faith. Gelimer finally lost patience and had put Hilderich in prison, [and] repl[ie]d to Justinian the Great’s immediate protest with a letter pointing out that ‘nothing was more desirable than that a monarch should mind his own business.’

Peace with Persians: The Eastern Roman empire had negotiated an end to the war with the Persians and kept the Germanic and Slavic tribes [to] the north in check. Emperor Justinian the Great was free to deal with Gelimer and his kingdom. Justinian the Great wanted North Africa to be reconquered from the Vandals. First he had to find [the] right person – finally he found a young General Belisarius from Thrace who had had several successes in the war with the Persians, including a victory at Dara. He could be trusted to command an expedition to North Africa.

Justinian the Great’s advisers, including John of Cappadocia, warned against launching an expedition to North Africa, fearing a repeat of Emperor Leo’s failed expedition 65 years earlier and the huge drain it represented on the imperial treasury. The invasion fleet would be sailing over 1,000 miles into Vandal waters, with no reinforcements available, when they landed in North Africa. The invasion fleet might have its supply-lines cut between Belisarius and the empire. John of Cappadocia said to Justinian, ‘Even if you are victorious, you will never hold Africa while Italy and Sicily are in the hands of others, while if you are defeated your breach of a treaty will put the whole empire in jeopardy. Success, in short, will bring you no lasting gain, while failure will risk the ruin of your flourishing and well-established state.’ However, an eastern bishop had informed him of a dream in which the Almighty had promised his assistance in a holy war against the Arian Vandals. Justinian responded, that God was on their side.

Departures: On about Midsummer Day 533, Justinian the Great stood at the window of his palace to watch the departure of the expedition under Belisarius. They travelled in a fleet of 500 transports with support by 92 dromons (the smallest type of eastern warship, designed for lightness and speed). The fleet carried 10,000 infantry which was collected from the eastern frontier, together with 5,000 trained cavalry, including 600 [White]-Huns and 400 Heruls ([a] Germanic tribe), all mounted horse archers. On the flagship was, along with his military secretary Procopius, his wife Antonina.

Belisarius hanged two drunken Huns on the hill above Abydos for murdering one of their comrades. Disaster struck when 500 men were poisoned from the sacks of biscuit[s] provided by John of Cappadocia, which were found to be mouldy. Finally, they arrived at Sicily, once ruled by the Vandals but bought from Gaiseric by King Odoacer of Italy some 60 years [earlier] in return for an annual subsidy (it was a total mistake for the Vandals to give this island to Odoacer). Sicily was now controlled by the Ostrogoths, who had conquered Italy from Odoacer under their King Theodoric. The Ostrogoths were friendly with Belisarius and his army, providing a useful vantage-point from which Belisarius could prepare his fleet for the final attack. Procopius was sent south to Syracuse, where he accidentally ran into an old boyhood friend, a slave who had returned only three days earlier from Carthage.

Gave Orders to Sail: Procopius took his old friend to see Belisarius to report some unbelievable news. The slave [told that] King Gelimer had indeed recently sent his major expedition of over 120 ships, carrying 5,000 Vandals under his brother Tzazo, to put down a rising in Sardinia, a Vandal province. Gelimer still [had] not yet heard anything of the approaching imperial fleet. Belisarius decided to sail at once via Malta. When they reached the coast of North Africa, somewhere in south of Carthage, he held a council of war with his generals, [whether] one should land the army along the coast or if one should sail directly into the port of Carthage. It was decided to disambark [sic] the army on dry land rather than to sail into [the] Carthage port, as they didn’t know the Vandal fleet’s location. They landed at Caput Vada, modern Ras Kaboudia in Tunisia and found support there by people who were opposed to rule by the Vandals. The cavalry and the infantry set off to the north towards Carthage, over 140 miles, with the fleet keeping pace with them offshore. During their march, Vandal towns fell to them without a fight, as many old fortifications were razed during the reign of King Gaiseric. The reasons for this razing of fortifications had been to deny the Romans a strong base from which to begin a rebellion and to prevent the emperor from capturing a city and establishing a stronghold from which to trouble the Vandals. Procopius wrote that, would it have been a five day journey for an unencumbered traveller, with their baggage and equipment; it took the army twice that time to march toward Carthage before meeting the Vandal army at the tenth Milestone from the capital on 14th September, AD 533.

The Battle of Ad Decium (near Tenth Milestone): Once the Roman fleet had been sighted off the coast and then landed [in] Vandal territory, Gelimer knew [he was] in trouble, with part of his army and fleet away in Sardinia and the Roman’s marching on Carthage. He needed to wait for his brother to return from Sardinia, but he had only two options: abandon Carthage or offer a battle. He ordered his cousin Hilderick, an old king who was in prison to be killed, and acted quickly, organising his available army at home. The number of his army was much larger than that of Belisarius’ (over 30,000 Vandals compared to about 16,000 Romans/allies).

Gelimer chose a place at the tenth Milestone for the confrontation. He divided his main army into three groups: his brother Ammatas would attack the vanguard, his nephew Gibamund, with 2,000 men, would attack the Roman left flank via a salt plain, and he himself with his main army would fall upon Belisarius’ rear by far marching around the Roman left. His plans seemed to be working, [but] unfortunately for him, his communications let him down.

Ammatas moved too early. Belisarius was informed about the enemy’s movement and so was allowed to wait for the advance of Ammatas with his few men. Ammatas and his men ran into the vanguard. He was killed after he had accounted for a dozen Romans. His men saw their leader fall, lost heart and fled toward Carthage, leaving half the force to be cut to pieces around him.

The flanking attack was no more successful. If Gibamund had moved in quickly enough to the assistance of Ammatas, the two divisions might yet have saved the day. But Gibamund, at the salt plain, met [the White]-Huns and [the] Romans who outnumbered him at a ratio of 3:1 and was killed.

Gelimer, with his main army advanced at Belisarius’ rear. Roman and [White]-Hun cavalry rode to meet the Vandals. Gelimer ordered a halt and began carefully drawing up his army in the line of battle before facing the enemy cavalry. The Vandals won as the Roman and [White]-Hun cavalry were in disorder and rode back to the main force. Belisarius feared for his main force, as Gelimer would have won by riding through the Roman force and killing them before heading for Carthage. Gelimer started well, somehow contriving to cut Belisarius and his generals off from the main army. But Gelimer got upset by noticing the dead body of his brother Ammatas and the fight went out of him. He remained motionless, refusing to leave the spot until the corpse had been carried from the field and arrangements made for it’s proper burial. Belisarius saw his chance and took advantage, [by] leading his main army down upon the Vandals at the right and left sides. This battle was over; the Vandals fled westward into the deserts of Numidia as a path to Carthage was blocked by the Romans. Carthage lay open to Belisarius and his army.

Carthage opens its Gates: The day after the battle, Belisarius marched on Carthage. He ordered his army not to camp outside the city walls, suspecting a Vandal trap. Before entering the city, he ordered his army not to kill or enslave any of the people of Carthage, as they were Roman citizens under the Vandal tyranny for a century. Carthage now in Belisarius’ hand, [allowed] many citizens [to welcome] him and his army as they entered through the wide-open gates. Carthage became a Roman city again for the first time in nearly a century. He went straight to the palace where he sat on the throne of the Vandal King. He set to rebuilding the fortifications of the city, and his fleet sought shelter in the lake of Tunis five miles south of Carthage.

The Battle of Ticameron: Gelimer sought not to struggle on alone from his temporary refuge at Bulla Regia in Numidia, some hundred miles west of Carthage. He sent an urgent message to his brother Tzazo who was still on his Sardinian expedition with his army. Victorious Tzazo received the bad news and rushed back to North Africa to reunite with Gelimer and his forces. Gelimer settled down to reorganise and regroup his own army and called to his aid local Punic and Berber tribes. He offered them generous rewards for every Roman head that they could lay before him. He sent his secret agents into Carthage to persuade the [White]-Huns and some citizens who were fellow-Arians to transfer their allegiance, to betray Belisarius. When Tzazo and his army joined Gelimer early in December, AD 533 he felt himself strong enough once more to take the offensive. He ordered his army to ready itself to march out of Bulla toward Carthage. With the two brothers at the head of the army, the Vandal force paused on the way to demolish the great aqueduct on which the capital chiefly depended for it’s water supply.

Belisarius had spent the weeks since the Battle of Ad Decium strengthening the city defences. He did not want to face a siege and he was beginning to grow suspicious of the loyalty of the [White]-Huns and other barbarians under his command, knowing some of his army was being approached by agents of Gelimer. He gave the order to march to [and] meet the [White]-Vandals in battle, putting the [White]-Huns and barbarians in the rear of his force.

The battle was fought on 15th December, AD 533. Belisarius places the Roman cavalry in the first line and the infantry formed the second line. Immediately the Roman cavalry charged three times into the thick of the Vandals ranks: hand to hand fighting [ensued]. In the third charge, Tzazo was cut down in front of Gelimer, who lost heart. The Vandal lines began to retreat in a rout. Gelimer fled back into Numidia, his army pell-mell after him. The battle was over, the Vandals having lost over 3,000, either killed or taken prisoner. Belisarius marched on the city of Hippo, which opened its gates to him at once.

Gelimer was aware that his kingdom was lost but did not at first surrender. He planned instead to transport his part of Vandal treasure and surviving supporters to Visigothic Spain where he would seek refuge. In Spain were some long lost Vandal cousins, descendents of those who had remained in the south of Spain when King Gaiseric led the big migration of his people to North Africa a century earlier.

But the Romans intercepted Gelimer, who lost his treasure and fled into the mountains, sheltered by Berber tribesmen. The year after he was found and surrounded by a Roman force under commander Pharas the Herulian who urged him to give up. Gelimer received emperor Justinian’s word that the Romans would treat Gelimer as a king and would arrange for him a dignified and comfortable retirement. But he refused and asked to be sent a sponge and a loaf of bread. In the book I read, it doesn't say whether his wishes were granted or not. In March, after a long and extremely disagreeable winter, Gelimer finally surrendered to Belisarius at Mount Papua. The Vandal Kingdom was at an end in North Africa. The Vandal provinces of Sardinia, Corsica and the Balearic Islands were returned to [the] Eastern Roman Empire without a fight.

Triumph: After Belisarius had loaded all captured treasure and Vandal prisoners aboard his fleet, he returned to Carthage, from where he was recalled by emperor Justinian to Constantinople as Justinian feared he might make himself king of Africa. Belisarius’ fleet carried all prisoners, treasure as well as the chained Gelimer back to Constantinople. The people of the great city greeted general Belisarius as he led his army and allies into the Hippodrome, followed by Gelimer, his family and all the tallest and best looking Vandal prisoners. Wagons that carried the spoils of war including the menorah, that sacred seven-branched candle stick that had been brought to Rome by Emperor Titus in AD 71 from the Temple of Jerusalem and which had then been taken to Carthage by King Gaiseric nearly a century ago. [underline at “his family ...” mine, CAE]

Gelimer, The last King of the Vandals: Gelimer was led into the Hippodrome in chains, to the cheers of Roman citizens, where he saw an emperor seated on a throne at the end of [the] Hippodrome. ‘Vanity of vanities, all is vanity’ the last King of the Vandals is said to have murmured as he grovelled in the dust beside his conqueror. He refused the offer [of] Patrician rank for which he would have to abandon his Arian faith. He accepted Justinian’s offer of rich estates in Galatia where he and his family were to spend their lives in safety, free to worship as they liked. Over 2,000 Vandal prisoners were less fortunate and were formed into five imperial regiments known as the Vandali Justiniani. They were marched off to the Persian front to fight for Justinian’s empire and to survive as best they could.”

After all of this History of the Vandals by Brian Adam (‘Gaiseric’), are we to believe that the Vandals (who took on the epithet of “Moor”, derived from the geographic area known as “Mauretania”) were negroid? Mauretania was a Roman province and should not be confused with today’s Mauritania, although at sometime in the past there may have been some small connection. Mauretania extended roughly from today’s Casablanca to today’s Tunis (ancient Carthage), and was a strip roughly 150 to 300 miles in width along the southeast shore of the Mediterranean Sea in northwestern Africa. The most important thing we must understand about the city of Carthage is that it was founded by Israelite Phoenicians who can be identified with the tribes of Dan, Asher, Zebulun, Gad and Naphtali (according to William Finck in his research of Biblical and Classical history). Descendants of these, along with those of many later Roman colonists, comprised the pre-Vandal population of the area. Now that we have covered the fundamental history of the Vandals, of which Queen Charlotte’s mother was a descendant, we will address:

The History Of Queen Charlotte from:

wikipedia.org/wiki/Charlotte_of_Mecklenburg-Strelitz

Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz (19 May 1744 – 17 November 1818) was the Queen consort of the United Kingdom as the wife of King George III. She was also the electress consort of Hanover in the Holy Roman Empire until the promotion of her husband to King of Hanover on 12 October 1814, which made her Queen consort of Hanover.

Queen Charlotte was a patroness of the arts, known to Johann Christian Bach and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, among others. She was also an amateur botanist who helped expand Kew Gardens. George III and Charlotte had 15 children, 13 of whom survived to adulthood.

Early life: Schloss Mirow Sophia Charlotte was born on 19 May 1744. She was the youngest daughter of Duke Charles Louis Frederick of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, Prince of Mirow and his wife, Princess Elizabeth Albertine of Saxe-Hildburghausen. Mecklenburg-Strelitz was a small north German duchy in the Holy Roman Empire.

She was a granddaughter of Adolf Frederick II, Duke of Mecklenburg-Strelitz by his third wife, Christiane Emilie Antonie, Princess of Schwarzburg-Sondershausen. Her father’s elder half brother reigned from 1708 to 1753 as Adolf Friedrich III.

The children of the duke were all born at Schloss Mirow, a modest palace, or rather country house. The daily life at Mirow was nearly that of the family of some simple English country gentleman. The morning was devoted to study and instruction in needlework, embroidery, and lace-making, in which the daughters were very skillful. They were brought up in the most careful way, receiving an admirable education, and were grounded in religious principles under the direction of their mother. They were further directed by M. Gentzner, a Lutheran minister of many accomplishments, who had a particular knowledge of botany, mineralogy, and science.

Marriage: When King George III succeeded to the throne of Great Britain upon the death of his grandfather, George II, it was considered right that he should seek a bride who could fulfill all the duties of her exalted position in a manner that would satisfy the feelings of the country at large. George was originally smitten with Lady Sarah Lennox, sister of the Duke of Richmond, but his mother the Dowager Princess of Wales and his political advisor Lord Bute advised against the match, and George abandoned the idea.

Charlotte’s husband, George III of the United Kingdom Colonel Graeme, who had been sent to the various courts of Germany on a mission of investigation, reported the charms of character and the excellent qualities of mind possessed by the seventeen year old Princess Charlotte. While she certainly was not a beauty, her countenance was very expressive and showed extreme intelligence; she was not tall, but had a slight, rather pretty figure; her bright eyes sparkled with good humour and vivacity; her mouth was large, but filled with white and even teeth; and her hair was a beautiful light brown colour.

The King announced to his Council in July 1761, according to the usual form, his intention to wed the Princess, and Lord Hardwicke was despatched to Mecklenburg to solicit her hand in the King’s name. Charlotte’s brother Adolf Friedrich IV, Duke of Mecklenburg-Strelitz and widowed mother, who actively sought a prominent marriage for the young princess, received him with every honour that the little court was capable of showing him, and he returned within a month of departure after having completed all the necessary preliminaries, well pleased with his mission.

By the end of August 1761, the escort arrived that was to conduct Princess Charlotte to England: the Duchess of Ancaster, the Duchess of Hamilton, both Ladies of the Bedchamber; Mrs. Tracey, [the] Bedchamber Woman; Earl Harcourt, Proxy for the King; and General Graeme, set out on their route. A most dreadful storm of thunder overtook them, and lightning set fire to several trees along a road through which they had to pass.

They arrived nevertheless in safety at Cuxhaven, and embarked on a squadron of British yachts and warships under Admiral Anson (including the specially renamed HMY Royal Charlotte). They were nine days at sea due to a storm, the voyage being usually accomplished in about three days. Instead of going on to land at Greenwich, where everything was prepared for the reception of the Princess, Admiral Anson thought it better to make for the nearest port and docked at Harwich, where they remained at anchor for the night. This was on Sunday, the 6th of September, and landing the next morning they travelled to Essex, where they rested, and then continued their journey towards London. Arriving at St. James’s Palace on 7 September, she met the King and the royal family. The following day at nine o’clock (8 September) the ceremony took place in the Chapel Royal and was performed by the Archbishop of Canterbury, Thomas Secker.

Life as Queen: Queen Charlotte with her children and brothers, by John Zoffany, 1771-72: In 1767, Francis Cotes drew a pastel of Queen Charlotte with her eldest daughter Charlotte, Princess Royal. Lady Mary Coke called the likeness ‘so like that it could not be mistaken for any other person’. Unfortunately, there can be little doubt that the early married life of the young Queen was scarcely a happy one. The King was worried with ministerial troubles, and the princess dowager, secure in the support of the favourite Lord Bute, was able to exert all the influence and authority which age and knowledge of the world and the position of a parent would give her over a young and inexperienced couple. The young queen was unable to resist, and a sort of palace despotism developed where her mother-in-law controlled all her actions. The king himself, strongly under his mother’s influence, was not inclined to interfere, and assumed that all was done rightly. Already she was not allowed to be too intimate with the English ladies of her household. It was laid down as being formal etiquette of the court that they should not approach her save under the direction of her German attendants. Card-playing, which she loved, was presently interdicted.

Naturally, too, there were the German and the English factions of dependents; each jealously contending for their royal mistress’s favour, dictating the terms and conditions of their service, and threatening to go back to Germany unless particular privileges were given them. The poor queen had about as much anxiety and trouble with her dependents as her husband had with his insubordinate ministers or servants.

Despite this the marriage was a success, and on 12 August 1762, the Queen gave birth to her first child, the Prince of Wales, who would later become George IV. On 13 September, the Queen attended the Chapel Royal to offer the usual thanksgiving which took place after childbirth. The ceremony of christening the Prince of Wales, which took place at St. James’s Palace, was attended with every circumstance of splendour. The cradle upon which the infant lay was covered with a magnificent drapery of Brussels lace. In the course of their marriage, they had 15 children, all but two of whom (Octavius and Alfred) survived into adulthood.

Around this time the King and Queen moved to Buckingham House, at the western end of St. James’s Park, which would later be known as Buckingham Palace. The house which forms the architectural core of the present palace was built for the first Duke of Buckingham and Normandy in 1703 to the design of William Winde. Buckingham House was eventually sold by Buckingham’s descendant, Sir Charles Sheffield, in 1761 to George III for £21,000 (£3,000,000 as of 2011). The house was originally intended as a private retreat, and in particular for Charlotte, and was known as The Queen’s House [as] their 15 children were born there. St. James’s Palace remained the official and ceremonial royal residence.

Interests and patronage: ‘Patroness of Botany, and of the Fine Arts’ George III and Queen Charlotte were music connoisseurs and passionate admirers of George [Frederick] Handel; both had German taste, and gave special honour to German artists and composers. In 1764 Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, then aged eight, arrived in Britain with his family as part of their grand tour of Europe and remained from April, 1764, until July, 1765. The Mozarts were summoned to court on 19 May, and played before a limited circle from six to ten o’clock. Johann Christian Bach, eleventh son of the great Johann Sebastian Bach, was then music-master to the Queen, [and] put the difficult works of Handel, Bach, and Abel before the boy. He played them all at sight, and those present were quite amazed. Afterwards he accompanied the Queen in an aria which she sang, and played a solo work on the flute. On 29 October, they were in town again, and were invited to court to celebrate the fourth anniversary of the King’s accession. As a memento of the royal favour, his father Leopold Mozart published six sonatas composed by Wolfgang, known as Mozart’s Opus 3, and were dedicated to the Queen on 18 January 1765, dedication she rewarded with a present of fifty guineas.

Queen Charlotte was an amateur botanist who took a great interest in Kew Gardens, and, in an age of discovery, when travellers and explorers such as Captain Cook and Sir Joseph Banks were constantly bringing home new species and varieties of plants, saw that the collections were greatly enriched and expanded. Her interest in botany led to the magnificent South African flower, the Bird of Paradise, being named Strelitzia reginae in her honour.

Among the royal couple’s favored craftsmen and artists were the cabinetmaker William Vile, silversmith Thomas Heming, the landscape designer Capability Brown, and the German painter Johann Zoffany, who frequently painted the king and queen and their children in charmingly informal scenes, such as a portrait of Queen Charlotte and her children as she sat at her dressing table ....” (The rest of Queen Charlotte’s history will be continued in the next lesson.)

The first historically known occupants of Mauretania were the White Israelite Phoenicians, who settled colonies all around the western Mediterranean, along both the northern and southern shorelines. In Mauretania alone, (Strabo, xvii, 826) speaks of 300 cities on the Mauretanian coast beyond the Pillars of Hercules. As a result, the Phoenician colonists and Carthaginians stamped west Africa with a thoroughly Phoenician character, including their language, (1894 Encyclopedia Britannica, 9th edition, vol. 18, page 819). Originally, the Moors were White! How absurd to claim otherwise!