Did The Dark Ages Exist? (NEW CONCEPTS)

[Mick Harper]

[Ishmael]

The purpose in my asking the question here was, in part, to test how intuitive the answer really is. I thought it rather amazing that my wife had exactly the same thought I did at almost precisely the same moment. And, to my mind, there really is no other answer.

In fact, I tried to prevent her from identifying the palace in question. As soon as the answer occurred to me, I injected "careful ignoral" into the question by qualifying it. I quickly restricted the geography so as to eliminate the building in my mind from consideration.

But that didn't dissuade my wife. She still gave the same answer that had occurred to me. The answer I didn't want to admit was the ideal solution.

Think obvious.

The world's superlative expression of architecture and opulence.

[Hatty]

Nonsuch.

[Ishmael]

Good thinking! But Nonsuch is a duplicate. Nonsuch is yet another overlap between the Henry VIII and Louise XIV stories. I firmly believe that Nonsuch never existed ("No trace of the palace remains on its site today" -- Wikipedia).

Nonsuch was a fiction created to account for British History, which recorded the erection by Henry VIII of an unrivaled majestic palace. The English explained the absence of this building from their geography by claiming that it had been destroyed.

The French solved the problem of a missing building by declaring an existing one to be the majestic palace recorded in their history books. They even renovated the building in an attempt to make it live up to the tale.

But what we are looking for is the real building. The one that inspired the stories. The real building that was duplicated in English history as Nonsuch, and duplicated in French history as Versailles.

What is that building?

(I'm disappointed it wasn't named immediately. I put it down to you both being so educated. Common people like me and my wife are far more likely to state the obvious)

[Hatty]

I looked at the entry for Versailles and it says Louis built his palace to outdo the Chateau de Chambord which is indeed magnificent. Interestingly, it was built for Francis I who was Henry VIII's main rival (Field of the Cloth of Gold)

[Ishmael]

Would an uneducated person have heard of this building?

I have to admit I'm completely shocked that the group hasn't said the same answer that occurred immediately to my wife and me.

[Ishmael]

So far, my experiment has failed.

I wonder what answer would be yielded by a random sampling of the population.

[Ishmael]

It's all rather anti-climactic now but, for what it's worth....

Ladies and Gentlemen. I give you...



The Taj Mahal

[Ishmael]

I submit to you that this is the most obvious answer to the question; what is the most beautiful palace in all the world? It is world's superlative expression of architecture and opulence.

[Hatty]

I didn't think of the TM as a palace but my perception has probably been 'contaminated' by Diana posing in front of it all those years ago. So now I think of it as a monument to a dead princess (which it is).

[Ishmael]

Last night I played the game again. This time with my sister. Result?

Taj Mahal.

[Ishmael]

[Wile E. Coyote]

[Ishmael]

The point is, it is the same person pictured. The labels for the paintings were changed to create four historical figures (one of the images is now missing from this post).

[Wile E. Coyote]