Wayne Paul Poetry

The Dutch Boer guerrillas fought the British during the Second, or Great, Boer War in present-day South Africa.  Following the inconclusive outcome of the First Boer War (1880-81), the Boers (Dutch for "farmer") and the British continued to vie for territory and resources.  The discovery of gold deposits in the Transvaal region in 1886 brought thousands of mostly British foreigners to the region and exacerbated already tense British-Boer relations.  After an uprising incited by British miners against Dutch farmers had failed, the Boers declared war on the British in 1899.  The Boers scored some early successes against less-organized British forces, but heavy English reinforcements arrived in 1900, seized the Dutch capital of Bloemfontein, and effectively crushed Boer battefield resistance.  By the fall of 1900 Boer commandos, most notably Louis Botha, Christiaan De Wet, and Jacobus H. De La Ray, turned to guerrilla tactics to continue the war effort.  These cunning leaders and their determined troops attacked railroad depots, communication lines, outposts, and ambushed small British detachments with impunity.  Outnumbered by a ratio of about 500,000 to about 90,000, the Boers consistently evaded British pursuit and discovery in the rugged South African countryside.  The British reacted swiftly and savagely in their frustration to the harassment of the elusive Boers.  British General Lord (Horatio) Kitchener adopted the notorious policy of moving Dutch civilians, mostly the families of the fighting Dutch, into concentration camps.  Lacking adequate shelter and provisions while enduring other cruel treatments, over 28,000 of the imprisoned died.  This mini-holocaust was effective, however, in wearing down guerrilla resistance, and, low on resources, the Boers capitulated to British authority on May 31, 1902.  British sovereignty was recognized in the contended areas, and a large indemnity was paid by the Dutch to the victorious British.  The reason the Dutch Boer guerrillas are historic badasses is because of their partially-effective military resistance in the face of overwhelming British troop strength.  For 2 years, the Boer guerrillas fought with daring and desperation to drive the annexing British from their ancestral homeland, overcoming the brutal treatment of their families to fight on against the military authority of British mining-oriented expansionism.  Although ultimately unsuccessful in their conflict, the Boer guerrillas embody the noble spirit of tenacious resistance.

Charles Baudelaire was a French poet and founder/leader of the Symbolist Movement.  Born in 1821 in Paris, the young Baudelaire was a boarding student at the College Royal in Lyons.  From 1836 to 1839, he attended the Lycee Louis-le-Grand in Paris and immersed himself art and literature.  After he had completed his studies, he traveled abroad to Africa and the Indian Ocean, voyaging as far as Mauritius.  In 1842, Baudelaire returned to Paris and began writing articles critiquing the artistic sensibilities of the Parisian middle class.  It was during this period that he began to compose verse.  An ardent admirer of Edgar Allan Poe, Baudelaire completed the first of his several French translations of Poe's work in 1856, titled Les Histoires Extraordinaires.  The following year, a collection of poems were published with the title Le Fleurs du Mal (The Flowers of Evil).  One of the most original and influential poetry volumes of the 19th century, Le Fleurs du Mal delved into dark fantasy, perversion, and satanism  while exploring the boundary of imagination and the unknown. The impact of this work is impossible to overstate; the literary world was shaken to its core.  A few months after publication, Baudelaire was forced to stand trial for obscenity, which resulted in the banning of six poems from the book.  Nevertheless, the work was a phenomenal success for Baudelaire.  He continued to write articles on art, including a moving piece about the Symbolist painter Delacroix in 1861.  He traveled to Belgium in 1864 for a lecture tour but returned to Paris two years later because of health problems.  There he died in 1867.  Baudelaire was the pre-eminent French poet of the 19th century.  As a leading member of the Symbolist Movement, his intense imagery and taboo-infused themes helped to create what would be called "modern" poetry.  While not the most prolific poet in terms of quantity, his stunning contributions to the written arts are truly immeasurable.  Charles Baudelaire is an historic badass in every sense of the expression.

Hugh O'Neill (Gaelic for "chieftan) was a nobleman and revolutionary who challenged English-Tudor authority in his native Ireland.  Born in 1565, O'Neill's childhood was marked by an intensely-violent rivalry amongst his brothers and cousins for control of the powerful O'Neill clan in Ulster.  Hugh O'Neill eventually emerged the victor in the familial power struggle, and as a teenager gained valuable military service while serving with the English to subdue Irish (enemies of the O'Neill clan) and Scottish rebellions.  As head of the O'Neill clan, he duplicitously bribed both English and Irish officials to secure his position and form alliances.  Like most Irish clan leaders, O'Neill strongly resented both the taxes levied against the Irish by England and the ecclesiastical policies of the Protestant Queen Elizabeth I.  After months of careful planning and discretion, he decided for revolt.  His diplomatic skill and strategic thinking led him to unite dissenting Irish clan leaders, mobilize the people (instead of hiring mercenaries, which was common at the time), and appeal to Spain and Scotland for aid.  In 1595, the Nine Years War commenced as the English were routed by O'Neill's well-organized and equipped force in the Battle of Clontibret.  By 1598, O'Neill had defeated other English forces and the Irish were clearly winning the war.  Elizabeth had spent over 2 million pounds to quell the rebellion; in her frustration, she sent the earl of Essex with 16,000 men to crush O'Neill.  O'Neill defeated Essex in a series of small engagements, forcing Essex to conclude an un-authorized truce with the Irish.  Meanwhile the Spanish, who had been supplying the Irish with gunpowder and weaponry, attempted to land reinforcements but were trapped by the English and forced to surrender at the Battle of Kinsale.  O'Neill's fortunes began to fade without Spanish aid, and the English destroyed Irish crops, livestock, and villages in a savage campaign of reprisal and submission.  O'Neill was forced to surrender by 1603, the same year that Queen Elizabeth died.  He was forced into exile by disgruntled clan leaders feuding over territorial claims, and he sought a pardon from King James I.  He fled first to Spain, and later Rome for papal support, and there he died in 1616.  Hugh O'Neill helped to orchestrate the most serious threat to Tudor power in Ireland, combining diplomatic and military expertise to embarass and nearly overthrow the once-invincible English.  His rebellion ultimately ended in failure, but after the Nine Years War the complexion of the English occupation of Ireland was forever altered and policy reform initiated.  Hugh O'Neill embodied the spirit of just revolution and is an historic badass.

A medieval Islamic philosopher and scientist whose vast intellectual contributions make him the most renowned Muslim scholar in world history.  Ibn Sina, or Avicenna, was born in 980 AD in what is now southern Uzbekistan (then part of Persia) during the apex of Islamic power, culture, and learning there.  A gifted and prodigious child, he had memorized the Koran by age 10 and soon outgrew his teachers. In his teenage years he had self-educated himself in the fields of law, metaphysics, mathematics, and medicine.  Throughout his adult life, Ibn Sina delved into many other realms of knowledge, becoming an accomplished physicist, geologist, chemist, statesman, theologian, and mystic poet.  Ibn Sina was a champion of Islamic universalism and cultural superiority.  He served as court physician to the emir (ruler) of a small Persian kingdom, and was frequently accused by jealous rivals of scandal and intrigue, the most serious being that he had burned the royal library of the Samanids in order to conceal the sources of his great knowledge. Political and military instability in Persia forced Ibn Sina to adopt a nomadic lifestyle, offering his services and scholarship to any emir who would have him.  During this tumultuous period, in which he was briefly imprisoned, he wrote two of history's most influential works. The Book of Healing, a compendium of science and philosophy, was completed around 1020 and published in 1027. The other, known as The Canon of Medicine, is an encyclopedic text based on the teachings of the ancient Greek physicians that was completed in 1025.   The latter was widely used and studied in the West, where Ibn Sina was popularly known as the "Prince of Physicians".  His final years were spent as a physician-adviser to a conquering emir, and on a gruelling march through enemy territory he was stricken with colic and became gravely ill.  A few weeks before the end, when his friends advised him to rest instead of study, he reportedly told them that he preffered "a short life with width than a narrow one with length."  Eventually he succumbed, and died in 1037 at the age of 57.  His intellectual contributions to medicine, philosophy, and mathematics are uneclipsed in the annals of Islamic, medieval history, or scientific history.  Probably no other figure in world history was as prolific and knowledgable in so many diverse areas of learning as Ibn Sina.  He was one of the most prodigious, brilliant, and vigorous thinkers of all time, and his scholarship and genius helped to bridge the intellectual tradition of Greece and Rome with the scientific and cultural advancements of Rennaissance and Enlightenment Europe. Ibn Sina is the ultimate badass.

 

Benjamin Disraeli was a prominent British statesman and author of the 19th century.  A Jew by birth, Disraeli was born in 1804 and was baptised into the Anglican church at age 13.  After attending two small schools where he studied law, Disraeli travelled abroad to modern-day Belgium, France, and Germany.  He returned to Britain in 1824 and amassed a small fortune, which he then lost, through stock specualtion in several South American mining companies.  Disraeli began writing for financial reasons, first business and political pamphlets, then novels and non-fiction works.  He published many novels of political satire, the most well-known being Vivian Gray in 1826 and Sibyl (part of a trilogy) in 1845.  He wrote until the his death, completing a total of 24 books.  Most were well received by the public, but a few made political and literary enemies for Disraeli because of the criticisms of Tory sensibilities and upper-class British mores.  During the 1830's, he became directly involved in national politics.  Although considered by some to be a Radical, Disraeli won a seat in the House of Commons after running as a Tory in 1837.  Over the next few decades, his career in Parliament was marked by intense rivalry with opposition party leaders, most notably William Gladstone and Viscount Palmerston, and by tenuous party alliances with which he helped pass major reform legislation.  His frequent political maneurverings led to important shifts of power within both Houses of Parliament.  He was an ardent supporter of British imperialism and a close friend of Queen Victoria.  In 1868, partly because of this royal patronage, he became Prime Minister as a member of the Conservative Party.  Re-elected in 1874 to this highest post, Disraeli's moderate policies promoted religious rights for Catholics and worker's rights issues.  He was elevated to the House of Lords in 1876 and titled by Queen Victoria as the Earl of Beaconsfield and Viscount Hughenden.  Soon after Disraeli and the Conservatives lost the 1880 to Gladstone's Liberals, he became ill and died in April 1881.  His political record stands as one of the most remarkable in Parliamentary history or 19th century Western politics.  His moderate, flexible, and savvy statesmanship altered the nature of British government and, combined with his prolific literary talent, are the reasons why Benjamin Disraeli is a historic badass.