18th June 1815, the Battle of Waterloo; the armies of the seventh coalition under the Duke of Wellington, and the Prussian army under Field Marshal von Blücher, totalling 118,000 troops face the French army of 73,000 under Napoleon Bonaparte in Belgium. The last battle of the Napoleonic Wars, which had ravaged Europe and had been fought across the world since 1803; ends with Napoleon’s defeat in a hardwon and carnage filled battle, with Wellington stating, ‘believe me, nothing except a battle lost can be half so melancholy as a battle won’. The battle stayed in the public imagination for a hundred years, ensuring relative peace in Europe until the first world war. The armies of Wellington and Blücher lost 22,000 dead or wounded, with Napoleon’s armies losing 24,000 to 26,000. Human remains were still visible upon the battlefield for at least a year after. The site also became a place of salvage for the teeth of the dead, with thousands being made into dentures, known as ‘Waterloo teeth’. Four days after the battle Napoleon abdicated, and was eventually exiled to the British island of Saint Helena in the South Atlantic Ocean. 20th June 1743, birth of radical English poet, essayist teacher and writer Anna Laetitia Barbauld. Outspoken at a time when women were considered ignorant of politics, Barbauld not only expressed political opinions, but also vehemently published them, and also enlightenment poetry which contributed to the development of British Romanticism, alongside William Wordworth and Samuel Taylor Coleridge. A supporter of the abolition of slavery, she published works in support of William Wilberforce In 1791. In 1812 she published ‘Eighteen Hundred and Eleven’, (Continued in the comments) #battleofwaterloo #battleofwaterloo1815 #napoleonicwars #napoleónbonaparte #arthurwellesley #waterloo #19thcentury #19thcenturyhistory #18thcentury #18thcenturyhistory #samueltaylorcoleridge #williamwordsworth #frenchrevolution #historicaltarot #regencygothic #tarotillustration #tarotart #tarotartist #historicalillustration #deathcard #deathtarot #deathtarotcard #annalaetitiabarbauld #romanticism #romanticismart #tarotillustration #tarotcards #tarotcardsdeck https://www.instagram.com/p/CQRKNQlHkFm/?utm_medium=tumblr
