Oil Drum Lane

This is a post about the Fairytale King of Bavaria, AKA Mad Ludwig, his glitteringly irresponsible life, and the crazy, colourful, wonderful palaces he built. Europe in the early 1800s was in turmoil, largely due to Napoleon, and Germany as we know it today did not exist. Bavaria had been  an Electorate within the Holy Roman Empire, but in 1806 it emerged from the chaos as a kingdom. Its Elector, Maximillian I, became a constitutional monarch, and they gained a parliament, albeit mainly comprising the elite.  He was succeeded in 1825 by his son Ludwig I, a patron of the arts, who unfortunately fell in with an Irish showgirl and courtesan going by the name of Lola Montez, who irritated enough people to get him deposed in favour of his son, Maximilian II. There is no space here, but Lola deserves a post in her own right.  Lola Max II was a popular, effective and modernising monarch; he preserved Bavaria’s precarious independence and had two sons by his wife, Marie of Prus...

There have been few people in history who have created as much havoc outside of war, and who are so little remembered as John Law, a rake, murderer, gambler, and brilliant rogue economist. He was the first to introduce paper money to Europe,  which led to the bankruptcy  of France, which in turn   gave a major leg-up to the nascent British Empire. In an era of bubbles, tulips, and other financial manias, he was the outstanding maniac.  Born in 1671, he was fortunate. His father, William, was a financier and dealer in gold. Precious metals were the linchpin of mercantilism, the dominant economic ideology of the age. An objective of trade was its accumulation. The goldsmiths had safes where people could store their gold, getting a receipt in the process. In addition, they could charge interest on loans secured on the deposited gold. Those receipts and written promises were used by some as paper money. William did well enough from all this to buy Lauriston Castle, a g...