[Tidbits] An Emperor's Brooch

The center depicts an Imperial Eagle. The frame is held by two
griffons. It has pearls, diamonds, and an enamel crown. Within its
confines there resides a concealed locket. And I am assuming by its
looks that it is 18 karat gold.

And now… let’s see if you know who our Emperor was. As always… no
internetalizationing.

He and his elder brother, Franz Joseph, were the grandsons of Francis
II, Emperor of Austria. Before he was an Emperor he was a mere
nobleman born in Vienna in 1832. By 1867 he was dead… a mere lad of
35 years … executed by Benito Juarez for being the Emperor of
Mexico. He was not able to unite a people who resisted unity.

It’s a sad story… this tale of an Emperor who tried to unite the
divided factions of this country over which he was elected to
preside… and was murdered for his inability to do so. Ineptness in
them thar days… was clearly not rewarded with adulation and glory.

It was however… rewarded with rather beautiful jewelry. I always
say… if a man can’t do the job for which he was elected… by
Jove… hire a jeweler and make him a gold medallion. A quick
digression here… lest some of you think he had no talents. T’ain’t
so folks. He was recognized as quite a good horseback rider. He was
also a rather sickly fellow and was often not well. In my book …
these alone are reasons enough for a country to want a total stranger
who could not even speak their language to become their Emperor.

I myself am not able to ride a horse. Nor am I able to speak
Senegalese. And I catch cold every once in a while. These facts alone
–based on the above circumstances–should qualify me to become King
of Republic of Senegal in Western Africa. Given enough time… some
jeweler might see fit to make a trinket of gold for me. Should any of
you folks out there agree and want to contribute to this noble
cause… send me your designs and I will choose the one I like best.
On the other hand… perhaps some of you have a favorite personage who
you find to be totally inept and for whom you would like to create a
magnificent medallion inversely proportionate to his/her abilities
which he/she can wear with pride upon a ragged vest draped shabbily
over his/her prideful chest. If so… I urge you to do so post- haste.

So… all that said… any of you know the identity of this Emperor
of Mexico who could not speak the language and was born in Vienna and
could ride a horse pretty well and was often rather sickly?

Tell me what you think. And then I’ll tell you what I think. And then
we can all discuss what we all thunked.

For those of you who are new to this thing called Tidbits…may I
direct you to my home page at http://www.tyler-adam.com where you
will scroll down the left side menu till you get to the area that
says Current Tidbits… click it… and you will see represented on
our pages a gold medallion made for an emperor.

And there ya have it.
That’s it for this week folks.
Catch you all next week.
Benjamin Mark

You are of course talking about my old friend Max of Max-a-million
fame.

That’s easy, Maximilian. I can’t think of another Habsburg who was
Emperor of Mexico.

I’ve been thinking … Didn’t Maximilian have a brother Thanx?