The 1398 Ball of the Burning Men in Froissart's Account and Edgar Allan Poe's Story

Jean Froissart describes the horrors of the “Bal des Ardents” of 1398, when a spark set alight costumes and masks made of linen soaked in pitch. Charles VI, dressed as a wild man, managed to save himself by hiding beneath the skirts of the Duchess de Berry; one or two of the guests contrived to put out their blazing attire by leaping into a vat of wine. Others perished.

Edgar Allan Poe has a story based on this appalling incident, telling of a misshapen dwarf who was carried off from his native land and made a court jester. One day the jester conceives a grudge against the king, who has struck his beautiful friend, a dancer, and devises a cruel plan. The jester proposes that the king and his courtiers dress up as orangutans for a masquerade. During the festivities he sets fire to the costumes of his enemies and escapes from the palace together with his beloved

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September digest: archaeological finds, exhibitions, museums, theatre and the Church

In the finale of the Strugatskys' Roadside Picnic, the Golden Ball is told: "Happiness for everybody, free, and let nobody go away unsatisfied!" I do not promise to offend nobody, but the digest really does come free of charge. So, here is the main business of the

Frederic Leighton

Frederic Leighton. “Daedalus and Icarus”, 1869 Daedalus warns his son not to climb too high: the heat of the sun may melt the wax, but Icarus is already gazing into the distance, and the lamentations of a foolish old man interest him not in the least

The 1398 Ball of the Burning Men in Froissart's Account and Edgar Allan Poe's Story

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September digest: archaeological finds, exhibitions, museums, theatre and the Church

Frederic Leighton

Attempts to resolve the problems of many years of uncontrolled mass migration

Characters from Gogol's "Petersburg Tales" on the pedestal of the monument to Nikolai Gogol on Nikitsky Boulevard, photograph of the 1960s