1 00:00:00,520 --> 00:00:03,680 Speaker 1: Welcome to Noble Blood, a production of I Heart Radio 2 00:00:03,920 --> 00:00:08,200 Speaker 1: and Grim and Mild from Erinminkie. Listener discretion is advised. 3 00:00:11,240 --> 00:00:15,440 Speaker 1: In eighteen thirty seven, just a few months before Queen 4 00:00:15,560 --> 00:00:19,160 Speaker 1: Victoria would become the monarch of an empire at age eighteen, 5 00:00:19,840 --> 00:00:23,079 Speaker 1: a group of six ambassadors arrived to England from the 6 00:00:23,160 --> 00:00:27,840 Speaker 1: island of Madagascar. The six ambassadors had made the perilous 7 00:00:27,920 --> 00:00:31,200 Speaker 1: journey from the eastern coast of Africa to London on 8 00:00:31,320 --> 00:00:36,080 Speaker 1: behalf of their queen, the Queen of Imerna, Queen Ranavalanu. 9 00:00:37,440 --> 00:00:41,480 Speaker 1: Emerna or the Merna Kingdom, was the largest and most 10 00:00:41,560 --> 00:00:46,120 Speaker 1: powerful kingdom on the Madagascar island. It was dense with 11 00:00:46,280 --> 00:00:51,640 Speaker 1: natural resources and had achieved military supremacy and near full 12 00:00:51,720 --> 00:00:55,760 Speaker 1: island dominance during the reign of Rotima, who allied with 13 00:00:55,800 --> 00:01:00,480 Speaker 1: the British Empire, but that allegiance ended the moment Ratama 14 00:01:00,480 --> 00:01:06,200 Speaker 1: died and his wife Ranavala became Queen. Ranava tore up 15 00:01:06,319 --> 00:01:11,040 Speaker 1: all the arrangements with European powers, ejected their ambassadors, and 16 00:01:11,120 --> 00:01:14,760 Speaker 1: declared that the Marna Kingdom would exist under a policy 17 00:01:14,840 --> 00:01:19,319 Speaker 1: of complete isolation, with an emphasis on returning back to 18 00:01:19,480 --> 00:01:23,920 Speaker 1: native traditions and cultures. There would be no more Christian 19 00:01:23,959 --> 00:01:28,160 Speaker 1: missionaries in in Marna. The mRNA people who had already 20 00:01:28,160 --> 00:01:31,720 Speaker 1: converted would be accepted for the time being, but by 21 00:01:31,760 --> 00:01:35,319 Speaker 1: the end of her reign they would suffer bloody persecution. 22 00:01:36,720 --> 00:01:41,080 Speaker 1: Queen Ranavolina had one priority to return Amerna to the 23 00:01:41,080 --> 00:01:44,720 Speaker 1: way it had been before European settlers, and she would 24 00:01:44,760 --> 00:01:48,360 Speaker 1: kill as many people as necessary in order to achieve 25 00:01:48,400 --> 00:01:53,160 Speaker 1: her vision. I suppose that single mindedness does reveal a 26 00:01:53,280 --> 00:01:59,160 Speaker 1: second priority, preserve her own power, protect the crown at 27 00:01:59,200 --> 00:02:03,280 Speaker 1: any cost. The six ambassadors who came to meet with 28 00:02:03,320 --> 00:02:06,279 Speaker 1: the British King William the Fourth were given a lovely 29 00:02:06,360 --> 00:02:10,560 Speaker 1: diplomatic tour of England. They went to the mint, the dockyard, 30 00:02:10,680 --> 00:02:15,079 Speaker 1: the Tower of London, the zoological gardens. But however pleasant 31 00:02:15,080 --> 00:02:19,480 Speaker 1: their stay, the ambassadors refused to budge from their message. 32 00:02:20,080 --> 00:02:23,160 Speaker 1: The queen had sent them with two letters. She dictated 33 00:02:23,400 --> 00:02:28,119 Speaker 1: in polite but unambiguous language, the law of her country 34 00:02:28,320 --> 00:02:33,640 Speaker 1: would not be dictated by Europeans. Christianity would not be tolerated. 35 00:02:34,520 --> 00:02:39,040 Speaker 1: Europeans were forbidden from living in Madagascar, with the exception 36 00:02:39,120 --> 00:02:43,520 Speaker 1: of those soldiers taken as prisoners. Of war to England 37 00:02:43,639 --> 00:02:47,000 Speaker 1: about to welcome their own queen to the throne. Runovalinot 38 00:02:47,120 --> 00:02:51,440 Speaker 1: was an object of fascination. Depictions of her in Victorian 39 00:02:51,480 --> 00:02:57,040 Speaker 1: sources ranged from bewilderment to outright racism. In contrast to 40 00:02:57,200 --> 00:03:02,000 Speaker 1: tiny Queen Victoria, standing only five tall, a paradigm of 41 00:03:02,080 --> 00:03:09,480 Speaker 1: domesticity and Christian femininity, Queen Navolina was terrifying, a bloodthirsty 42 00:03:09,639 --> 00:03:12,919 Speaker 1: despot who would slaughter her own people, are enslave them, 43 00:03:13,400 --> 00:03:17,560 Speaker 1: who refused trade alliances with Europe, and who obey traditional 44 00:03:17,639 --> 00:03:22,960 Speaker 1: rituals that the nineteenth century Europeans seemed strange and superstitious. 45 00:03:23,960 --> 00:03:26,520 Speaker 1: The problem wasn't that she was a woman, no, of 46 00:03:26,560 --> 00:03:29,160 Speaker 1: course not. Their next monarch was about to be a woman. 47 00:03:29,880 --> 00:03:33,400 Speaker 1: But Victoria was going to be the right kind of woman, 48 00:03:33,919 --> 00:03:39,720 Speaker 1: a civilized, domesticated woman. Run of Alina, they wrote, was 49 00:03:39,760 --> 00:03:43,000 Speaker 1: what would happen if a woman allowed her bassist, most 50 00:03:43,080 --> 00:03:49,040 Speaker 1: heathenistic impulses to run unchecked. It's no wonder, then, that 51 00:03:49,120 --> 00:03:51,880 Speaker 1: the few depictions we have of Queen Ronavolina in the 52 00:03:51,920 --> 00:03:56,920 Speaker 1: English language are sparse and heavily woven with racism. She 53 00:03:57,040 --> 00:04:01,600 Speaker 1: tops lists of the most bloodthirsty queen in history, often 54 00:04:01,640 --> 00:04:06,680 Speaker 1: casually referenced as Queen Ronovolna the Bloody or Queen Ronovolna 55 00:04:06,960 --> 00:04:10,960 Speaker 1: the cruel. Recently, there's been a small school of thought 56 00:04:11,000 --> 00:04:15,040 Speaker 1: that attempted to recast her as a feminist hero, someone 57 00:04:15,080 --> 00:04:18,440 Speaker 1: who fought off the imperialist forces in order to protect 58 00:04:18,440 --> 00:04:22,960 Speaker 1: her kingdom. But that doesn't really fit her either. She's 59 00:04:23,080 --> 00:04:29,800 Speaker 1: both and she's neither. Ronavolina was cruel, her reign was bloody. 60 00:04:30,120 --> 00:04:34,279 Speaker 1: She was a selfish and paranoid ruler, but she was 61 00:04:34,320 --> 00:04:40,000 Speaker 1: also politically adept and militaristically minded. She continued the expansion 62 00:04:40,040 --> 00:04:43,720 Speaker 1: of the Marina Kingdom that her husband began to this day. 63 00:04:43,760 --> 00:04:46,839 Speaker 1: The few preserved relics of traditional Malagas culture that we 64 00:04:46,920 --> 00:04:50,359 Speaker 1: do have are mostly thanks to her. So I begin 65 00:04:50,480 --> 00:04:54,000 Speaker 1: this podcast with the disclaimer that there are very few 66 00:04:54,160 --> 00:04:58,359 Speaker 1: reliable English language sources that present a clear picture of 67 00:04:58,440 --> 00:05:02,440 Speaker 1: Ronovolna's reign. Many of the writings come from the Christian 68 00:05:02,440 --> 00:05:06,920 Speaker 1: missionaries that she expelled, who would have purposefully exaggerated their 69 00:05:06,960 --> 00:05:11,080 Speaker 1: stories of her cruelty. All we can do is attempt 70 00:05:11,080 --> 00:05:14,040 Speaker 1: to tease out what we do know from the sources 71 00:05:14,080 --> 00:05:17,960 Speaker 1: we do have. The story beneath is of a distant 72 00:05:18,160 --> 00:05:23,480 Speaker 1: and challenging woman who defied European supremacy, a woman who 73 00:05:23,520 --> 00:05:30,080 Speaker 1: would rather kill than compromise. I'm danishchwartz and this is 74 00:05:30,120 --> 00:05:41,080 Speaker 1: noble blood. There are few details about Queen Roanevolina's early life, 75 00:05:41,680 --> 00:05:45,560 Speaker 1: but most historical accounts put her birth in seventeen eighty eight. 76 00:05:46,760 --> 00:05:50,720 Speaker 1: Sometime during her childhood, her father saved the life of 77 00:05:50,720 --> 00:05:55,279 Speaker 1: the mRNA king from an assassination attempt. In thanks, the 78 00:05:55,400 --> 00:06:00,159 Speaker 1: king betrothed his son Radama to Ranevolina and promise that 79 00:06:00,240 --> 00:06:03,520 Speaker 1: she would be his senior wife and that their children 80 00:06:03,600 --> 00:06:07,760 Speaker 1: would be prioritized in the line of succession. The two 81 00:06:07,760 --> 00:06:11,960 Speaker 1: were married and an eighteen time, Radama's father died and 82 00:06:12,080 --> 00:06:17,760 Speaker 1: Radama became king of Inmerna. Radama was seventeen and Ronevolana 83 00:06:18,040 --> 00:06:22,919 Speaker 1: was twenty two. As a leader, Rodama the first focused 84 00:06:22,960 --> 00:06:27,680 Speaker 1: on expansion. His priority was building up the Marina Kingdom 85 00:06:27,720 --> 00:06:32,039 Speaker 1: to one day control the entire island of Madagascar. To 86 00:06:32,160 --> 00:06:35,640 Speaker 1: that end, he made a deal with Great Britain. They 87 00:06:35,640 --> 00:06:39,039 Speaker 1: would provide him with weapons and Western style training for 88 00:06:39,160 --> 00:06:44,080 Speaker 1: his army, and in return, Radama would eliminate slavery, which 89 00:06:44,080 --> 00:06:46,839 Speaker 1: had been the cornerstone of most of the economies of 90 00:06:46,839 --> 00:06:50,960 Speaker 1: the kingdoms on Madagascar. The deal with the British, which 91 00:06:51,000 --> 00:06:53,799 Speaker 1: had been meant to secure the future of the Marina economy, 92 00:06:54,120 --> 00:06:58,040 Speaker 1: would in fact do the opposite. Eliminating the slave trade 93 00:06:58,040 --> 00:07:00,520 Speaker 1: had been a strategic move on the part of the British, 94 00:07:00,839 --> 00:07:04,960 Speaker 1: not one of benevolence. They undercut the economy of the kingdom, 95 00:07:05,080 --> 00:07:08,200 Speaker 1: and before it could be rebuilt, they arrived in order 96 00:07:08,240 --> 00:07:12,880 Speaker 1: to trade under incredibly lucrative and one sided turns. If 97 00:07:12,880 --> 00:07:15,760 Speaker 1: Madagascar could be made into a colony, all the better 98 00:07:16,280 --> 00:07:19,680 Speaker 1: to keep it from the French first, but more importantly, 99 00:07:19,960 --> 00:07:23,840 Speaker 1: it was a strategic stronghold, a resource rich island in 100 00:07:23,880 --> 00:07:31,200 Speaker 1: the Indian Ocean. Under Rodama, the first nobles began to 101 00:07:31,240 --> 00:07:35,880 Speaker 1: adopt a new Latin alphabet of the Malagas language. A 102 00:07:35,960 --> 00:07:39,720 Speaker 1: brief side note, the native language on Madagascar is spelled 103 00:07:40,280 --> 00:07:44,520 Speaker 1: Malagasy phonetically, but pronounced to the best of my ability 104 00:07:44,520 --> 00:07:50,160 Speaker 1: and understanding, Malagas. The Malagas written language had previously been 105 00:07:50,160 --> 00:07:55,040 Speaker 1: closer to Arabic, and along with westernized militarization and language, 106 00:07:55,480 --> 00:08:00,920 Speaker 1: Radama also welcomed Christianity missionaries throw I had done the island, 107 00:08:01,200 --> 00:08:04,960 Speaker 1: setting up schools and converting mostly lower class Malagas people. 108 00:08:06,080 --> 00:08:10,080 Speaker 1: The queen watched all of this but said nothing. Her 109 00:08:10,160 --> 00:08:14,080 Speaker 1: husband's eagerness was understandable. They both wanted their kingdom to 110 00:08:14,160 --> 00:08:18,320 Speaker 1: be strong. They both wanted to control the resources of Madagascar, 111 00:08:19,120 --> 00:08:23,000 Speaker 1: but he didn't seem to understand the threat of Christianity. 112 00:08:23,760 --> 00:08:28,280 Speaker 1: Christianity meant worshiping a new God, for going the spiritual 113 00:08:28,320 --> 00:08:32,240 Speaker 1: traditions of the Malagas people, the traditions that had given 114 00:08:32,280 --> 00:08:35,920 Speaker 1: the monarchy it's very power. The king was only the 115 00:08:36,040 --> 00:08:39,440 Speaker 1: king because the blood of holy ancestors flowed through his veins. 116 00:08:41,080 --> 00:08:45,440 Speaker 1: Ruhama died at age thirty five, though the exact nature 117 00:08:45,480 --> 00:08:48,600 Speaker 1: of his death isn't known. He was a heavy drinker, 118 00:08:49,160 --> 00:08:52,200 Speaker 1: prone to fits of rage and violence when he was drunk. 119 00:08:53,160 --> 00:08:57,439 Speaker 1: It was a combination of poor health, erratic behavior, and alcohol. 120 00:08:58,679 --> 00:09:01,960 Speaker 1: His wife had given him no children, and so before 121 00:09:02,040 --> 00:09:04,640 Speaker 1: his death, he decreed that the next in line for 122 00:09:04,679 --> 00:09:09,720 Speaker 1: the throne would be his nephew. But Ronavolino was prepared. 123 00:09:10,600 --> 00:09:14,000 Speaker 1: The night her husband lay dying, she gathered a small 124 00:09:14,040 --> 00:09:18,120 Speaker 1: group of noblemen and military guardsmen and took the throne 125 00:09:18,240 --> 00:09:24,319 Speaker 1: for herself, declaring herself Queen, the nephew, and the rest 126 00:09:24,360 --> 00:09:28,720 Speaker 1: of her husband's family were brought to the palace. Any 127 00:09:28,760 --> 00:09:30,840 Speaker 1: one of them could have a claim to the throne, 128 00:09:31,480 --> 00:09:34,600 Speaker 1: could declare that she was illegitimate and raise an army 129 00:09:34,679 --> 00:09:39,800 Speaker 1: to oppose her, and so Ranevolina ordered that every single 130 00:09:39,880 --> 00:09:44,400 Speaker 1: one of them be killed. Because there was a superstition 131 00:09:44,600 --> 00:09:49,839 Speaker 1: that forbade spilling of royal blood, Ranavola had every death 132 00:09:50,120 --> 00:09:56,680 Speaker 1: done by strangulation. Hers would be a bloodless coup. Technically, 133 00:10:01,880 --> 00:10:04,640 Speaker 1: according to the writings of a missionary who was expelled 134 00:10:04,679 --> 00:10:08,120 Speaker 1: by Ranevolna a few years later into her reign, during 135 00:10:08,120 --> 00:10:11,920 Speaker 1: her coronation ceremony, the new queen was anointed with the 136 00:10:11,960 --> 00:10:16,520 Speaker 1: blood of a freshly killed bull. That little anecdote an 137 00:10:16,520 --> 00:10:20,560 Speaker 1: attempt to paint her as primitive and barbaric, is almost 138 00:10:20,600 --> 00:10:24,440 Speaker 1: certainly not true. There are no other sources corroborating that. 139 00:10:25,480 --> 00:10:29,079 Speaker 1: What we do know about her coronation on May twenty seventh, 140 00:10:29,200 --> 00:10:32,760 Speaker 1: eighteen twenty nine, is that she wore a dress in 141 00:10:32,800 --> 00:10:38,040 Speaker 1: the French style, constructed from embroidered red velvet and silk, 142 00:10:38,600 --> 00:10:42,360 Speaker 1: embroidered with her initials and rice stocks, a symbol of 143 00:10:42,400 --> 00:10:46,319 Speaker 1: the indigenous plant life on the island. Her dress had 144 00:10:46,320 --> 00:10:51,480 Speaker 1: a row of gold buttons. Ranevolina had specific tastes in 145 00:10:51,520 --> 00:10:57,480 Speaker 1: her clothing, high quality European fabrics and silhouettes with specifically 146 00:10:57,520 --> 00:11:02,440 Speaker 1: Malaga's details. Clothing wasn't the only thing that the new 147 00:11:02,559 --> 00:11:06,240 Speaker 1: queen had strong opinions on. As soon as her coup 148 00:11:06,400 --> 00:11:09,800 Speaker 1: was complete, she dissolved the treaty her husband had made 149 00:11:10,000 --> 00:11:14,640 Speaker 1: with the British. Both in terms of national and personal policy, 150 00:11:15,760 --> 00:11:20,280 Speaker 1: Ronovolna was intensely private. Unlike members of the court, she 151 00:11:20,440 --> 00:11:24,640 Speaker 1: refused to be photographed. She almost never spoke in public, 152 00:11:24,960 --> 00:11:28,240 Speaker 1: perhaps insecure about her lack of complete literacy in the 153 00:11:28,320 --> 00:11:31,800 Speaker 1: new written Malagas alphabet, which would have made her unable 154 00:11:31,800 --> 00:11:36,120 Speaker 1: to read long speeches, and so her few appearances in 155 00:11:36,200 --> 00:11:41,800 Speaker 1: public were spectacles of red silk and imposing crowns. Her 156 00:11:41,840 --> 00:11:46,199 Speaker 1: power was protected through fear and rumor, and she kept 157 00:11:46,280 --> 00:11:50,240 Speaker 1: a close circle of nobles and officials, with whom she 158 00:11:50,320 --> 00:11:58,200 Speaker 1: consulted on matters of the state. Though Ronavolino never remarried, 159 00:11:58,480 --> 00:12:00,880 Speaker 1: she did take a number of love hers after her 160 00:12:00,920 --> 00:12:05,480 Speaker 1: husband's death, whom she would then make prime minister. But 161 00:12:05,559 --> 00:12:09,280 Speaker 1: even they weren't immune from her wrath. Far from it. 162 00:12:10,240 --> 00:12:13,960 Speaker 1: One of those lovers turned Prime minister, a man named 163 00:12:14,040 --> 00:12:19,760 Speaker 1: Andreami Haja, was chastised for his pro European ideology, and 164 00:12:19,800 --> 00:12:23,120 Speaker 1: so he was sentenced to undergo one of the ultimate 165 00:12:23,160 --> 00:12:29,800 Speaker 1: horrors of ronav Alamo's court, the Tanginna ordeal. The idea 166 00:12:29,880 --> 00:12:33,679 Speaker 1: of trial by ordeal was nothing new on Madagascar, nor 167 00:12:33,800 --> 00:12:36,400 Speaker 1: was it something new in Europe, especially not during the 168 00:12:36,400 --> 00:12:42,320 Speaker 1: witch trials, but Ranavalina gloried in it. During the Tangina Ordeal, 169 00:12:42,480 --> 00:12:46,480 Speaker 1: a suspect would be given a poison tanginent nut. He 170 00:12:46,640 --> 00:12:49,600 Speaker 1: or she would then be forced to eat three pieces 171 00:12:49,640 --> 00:12:53,480 Speaker 1: of chicken skin. If the poison forced them to vomit 172 00:12:53,559 --> 00:12:56,680 Speaker 1: up all three pieces of chicken skin, they were innocent. 173 00:12:57,280 --> 00:13:00,200 Speaker 1: If they failed to vomit up all three pieces, or 174 00:13:00,240 --> 00:13:02,960 Speaker 1: the poison just killed them out right, that meant they 175 00:13:02,960 --> 00:13:07,040 Speaker 1: were guilty and deserved to die. And the queen's lover 176 00:13:07,440 --> 00:13:10,880 Speaker 1: refused to undergo the ordeal, and so he was killed 177 00:13:10,920 --> 00:13:15,000 Speaker 1: on the spot. About one in three people who underwent 178 00:13:15,040 --> 00:13:20,439 Speaker 1: the Tangina ordeal survived. Nobles and slaves alike were sentenced 179 00:13:20,440 --> 00:13:24,520 Speaker 1: to the ordeal. When Ronovolina's niece died of whooping cough, 180 00:13:24,840 --> 00:13:27,760 Speaker 1: all of the slaves that had served her were accused 181 00:13:27,760 --> 00:13:31,440 Speaker 1: of witchcraft and sorcery and forced to undergo the ordeal. 182 00:13:32,559 --> 00:13:37,000 Speaker 1: There were other malogust traditions that Ronovolina were vitalized. Her 183 00:13:37,040 --> 00:13:41,280 Speaker 1: spirituality revolved around the sun or golden idols that were 184 00:13:41,280 --> 00:13:45,200 Speaker 1: heavily guarded, and she made policies based on a process 185 00:13:45,240 --> 00:13:48,440 Speaker 1: called sick kid, which you threw dried beans on a 186 00:13:48,480 --> 00:13:52,320 Speaker 1: board and used mathematical formulations to come to a decision. 187 00:13:53,480 --> 00:13:56,840 Speaker 1: But Ronovolina was also one who recognized the utility of 188 00:13:56,880 --> 00:14:00,880 Speaker 1: Western technology, especially when it came to technology that would 189 00:14:00,920 --> 00:14:05,200 Speaker 1: help keep her island entirely self sufficient, and a gift 190 00:14:05,360 --> 00:14:08,960 Speaker 1: came to Madagascar in the form of a French adventurer 191 00:14:09,040 --> 00:14:12,920 Speaker 1: by the name of Jean la Board. In eighteen thirty one, 192 00:14:13,160 --> 00:14:16,280 Speaker 1: Jean la Board was sailing off the coast of Madagascar 193 00:14:16,840 --> 00:14:20,040 Speaker 1: attempting to rescue treasure from other ships that had sunk 194 00:14:20,080 --> 00:14:25,080 Speaker 1: in the Indian Ocean. Surprise, surprise, La Board himself was shipwrecked, 195 00:14:25,320 --> 00:14:29,320 Speaker 1: and thanks to a royal decree, everything and everyone that 196 00:14:29,400 --> 00:14:33,200 Speaker 1: washed up on shore became property of the Marina government. 197 00:14:34,360 --> 00:14:38,520 Speaker 1: La Board was summoned to Ranavalina's court. La Board wasn't 198 00:14:38,560 --> 00:14:42,440 Speaker 1: just an adventurer. He was also a brilliant engineer, and 199 00:14:42,560 --> 00:14:47,160 Speaker 1: he and Ronavolina immediately struck up a mutually lucrative partnership. 200 00:14:47,960 --> 00:14:50,600 Speaker 1: He would be given all of the land and resources 201 00:14:50,640 --> 00:14:54,520 Speaker 1: he needed in order to manufacture military equipment for Marina, 202 00:14:54,720 --> 00:14:57,680 Speaker 1: so that Ranavolina would have no more need for trading 203 00:14:57,800 --> 00:15:04,640 Speaker 1: at all. La Board set to work. The man began 204 00:15:04,840 --> 00:15:08,840 Speaker 1: with an arms and munitions factory, but soon he had 205 00:15:08,920 --> 00:15:14,960 Speaker 1: created an entire city of production, complete vertical integration. He 206 00:15:15,080 --> 00:15:19,160 Speaker 1: had blast furnaces to produced cast iron, pudding mills for 207 00:15:19,240 --> 00:15:22,800 Speaker 1: wrought iron, a steel plant, cement plant, a textile mill. 208 00:15:23,480 --> 00:15:29,880 Speaker 1: He produced not only cannons and swords, but bricks, tiles, pottery, glass, porcelain, silk, soap, 209 00:15:29,960 --> 00:15:34,800 Speaker 1: and candles. The city he built, according to a Malagas novelist, 210 00:15:35,200 --> 00:15:38,000 Speaker 1: had risen from the ground by the will of a 211 00:15:38,120 --> 00:15:43,120 Speaker 1: single individual and the industry of a multitude. After all, 212 00:15:43,240 --> 00:15:46,560 Speaker 1: la Board didn't work alone. He had the assistance of 213 00:15:46,600 --> 00:15:49,880 Speaker 1: as many slaves as he needed, thanks to the system 214 00:15:49,920 --> 00:15:52,920 Speaker 1: in place in which the poor could pay their taxes 215 00:15:53,200 --> 00:15:57,880 Speaker 1: not with money but through forced labor. Some claim, with 216 00:15:58,000 --> 00:16:01,480 Speaker 1: no evidence, that la Board and Queen Navlna became lovers. 217 00:16:02,200 --> 00:16:04,560 Speaker 1: It maybe a nice story, but there's no way to 218 00:16:04,600 --> 00:16:07,200 Speaker 1: know one way or the other. She did have a 219 00:16:07,240 --> 00:16:10,760 Speaker 1: son born before Laborde arrived, by one of her early 220 00:16:10,800 --> 00:16:14,640 Speaker 1: prime ministers, but she tactfully pretended that the father was 221 00:16:14,640 --> 00:16:19,320 Speaker 1: her deceased husband, the king, even though mathematically that was impossible. 222 00:16:20,560 --> 00:16:24,280 Speaker 1: But labor became a circuit father to her son through 223 00:16:24,360 --> 00:16:28,040 Speaker 1: mentoring him and teaching him. He would give him tours 224 00:16:28,120 --> 00:16:32,040 Speaker 1: of his factories, teach him the science behind the technology. 225 00:16:32,680 --> 00:16:37,360 Speaker 1: The two confided in each other became each other's closest confidants. 226 00:16:37,400 --> 00:16:42,320 Speaker 1: As rone Volna's reign began to become deadlier, and it 227 00:16:42,440 --> 00:16:51,440 Speaker 1: was about to become far deadlier. In thirty five, rone 228 00:16:51,520 --> 00:16:55,720 Speaker 1: Volna became sick with a mysterious illness. She lay in 229 00:16:55,800 --> 00:16:59,560 Speaker 1: bed for days, a fever, wedding her brow with sweat 230 00:16:59,760 --> 00:17:03,120 Speaker 1: and stored in her vision. No one was allowed in 231 00:17:03,320 --> 00:17:06,240 Speaker 1: or out of the palace, but words still traveled fast. 232 00:17:06,920 --> 00:17:11,000 Speaker 1: The queen was going to die, but then a miracle 233 00:17:11,960 --> 00:17:14,840 Speaker 1: one morning, when the sun shone through the windows of 234 00:17:14,880 --> 00:17:17,560 Speaker 1: the new palace that Laboord had helped construct for her, 235 00:17:18,200 --> 00:17:23,000 Speaker 1: Ronavolino had returned to health. It was a miracle she knew, 236 00:17:23,520 --> 00:17:26,760 Speaker 1: sent to her by the gods of her ancestors, and 237 00:17:26,840 --> 00:17:30,760 Speaker 1: it was a sign that Christian missionaries needed to leave 238 00:17:30,840 --> 00:17:36,480 Speaker 1: the island. She had tolerated Christianity for a while, tolerated 239 00:17:36,480 --> 00:17:40,760 Speaker 1: it among the lower class of Malagas people, but Christianity 240 00:17:41,040 --> 00:17:45,280 Speaker 1: had started to infiltrate the nobility, and Ronevalina knew that 241 00:17:45,320 --> 00:17:49,000 Speaker 1: if it continued to spread, it would erode every cultural 242 00:17:49,000 --> 00:17:54,160 Speaker 1: tradition that her kingdom maintained. Christianity would become a parasite, 243 00:17:54,520 --> 00:17:57,960 Speaker 1: sucking at Mariner culture, blotting it out like ink on 244 00:17:58,000 --> 00:18:03,000 Speaker 1: a page. Christianity was an invading force, and so Rona 245 00:18:03,080 --> 00:18:10,520 Speaker 1: Volna became a queen at war. After her recovery, Ranavalina 246 00:18:10,600 --> 00:18:14,520 Speaker 1: outlawed the baptizing of Malagas subjects, and she banished all 247 00:18:14,560 --> 00:18:18,560 Speaker 1: of the non native missionaries. The next year, she would 248 00:18:18,600 --> 00:18:22,800 Speaker 1: begin executing not just the European Christians, but her own 249 00:18:22,960 --> 00:18:28,480 Speaker 1: converted subjects. Christians who refused to renounce their new religion 250 00:18:28,760 --> 00:18:32,520 Speaker 1: were subject to enslavement at best, or trial by ordeal 251 00:18:32,600 --> 00:18:36,960 Speaker 1: and execution at worst. Missionaries were turned home to Europe 252 00:18:37,040 --> 00:18:40,960 Speaker 1: salivating at the mouth with stories of Rona Volna's brutality 253 00:18:41,200 --> 00:18:45,360 Speaker 1: and the martyrs of their sacrificed Christian brothers and sisters. 254 00:18:46,359 --> 00:18:48,720 Speaker 1: There was a thirty seven year old woman, they said, 255 00:18:49,000 --> 00:18:52,159 Speaker 1: named ross Lama, who was speared to death and hurled 256 00:18:52,200 --> 00:18:56,000 Speaker 1: over a cliff. Other Christian converts were burned at the stake, 257 00:18:56,280 --> 00:19:01,240 Speaker 1: or boiled alive or brutally dismembered the There are estimates 258 00:19:01,280 --> 00:19:05,800 Speaker 1: that by eighteen forty one, five of the native population 259 00:19:05,840 --> 00:19:10,200 Speaker 1: of Imrina had been killed through the Tanginna ordeal. There 260 00:19:10,200 --> 00:19:13,320 Speaker 1: are some estimates that any given servant who had worked 261 00:19:13,400 --> 00:19:18,200 Speaker 1: under Runevalina for twenty years would have survived seven ordeals, 262 00:19:19,160 --> 00:19:23,639 Speaker 1: seven times, taking the poison vomiting up all three chicken 263 00:19:23,680 --> 00:19:29,320 Speaker 1: skins to prove their innocence. European powers would see Ranavalina's 264 00:19:29,400 --> 00:19:33,000 Speaker 1: ruthlessness in person one more time before her reign was over. 265 00:19:34,040 --> 00:19:38,800 Speaker 1: In eighteen forty the Queen declared that all European trade 266 00:19:38,880 --> 00:19:44,439 Speaker 1: would be cut off entirely. The British and French stirred uncomfortably. 267 00:19:45,280 --> 00:19:50,640 Speaker 1: Madagascar was a prime and important location. Those resources were 268 00:19:50,720 --> 00:19:56,280 Speaker 1: incredibly valuable, and it would make an incredibly lucrative colony, 269 00:19:57,000 --> 00:20:01,280 Speaker 1: and so in a rare moment, of cooperation from historic enemies, 270 00:20:01,880 --> 00:20:06,280 Speaker 1: the British and French joined forces to jointly attack the 271 00:20:06,320 --> 00:20:15,879 Speaker 1: coast of Madagascar. Renevlina annihilated the advance almost immediately. The 272 00:20:15,960 --> 00:20:20,080 Speaker 1: British and French were fooled by primitive, cheap facade on 273 00:20:20,119 --> 00:20:25,080 Speaker 1: the island coast behind it was the real fortress. The 274 00:20:25,160 --> 00:20:28,480 Speaker 1: European vessels were forced to flee, and the soldiers that 275 00:20:28,520 --> 00:20:33,320 Speaker 1: had attacked on the shore were quickly dispatched with Navalina 276 00:20:33,480 --> 00:20:37,960 Speaker 1: had their skulls, the skulls of twenty European casualties affixed 277 00:20:37,960 --> 00:20:41,080 Speaker 1: to pikes and placed on the shore to ward off 278 00:20:41,119 --> 00:20:46,959 Speaker 1: any future attacks. There were no polite diplomatic apologies. I 279 00:20:47,040 --> 00:20:50,600 Speaker 1: find it very odd Renevalina said that the British and 280 00:20:50,640 --> 00:20:54,320 Speaker 1: French would interfere in my affairs. How would Queen Victoria 281 00:20:54,400 --> 00:20:56,840 Speaker 1: and Louis Filippe take it if I were to meddle 282 00:20:56,880 --> 00:21:00,280 Speaker 1: with their countries. I have as much right to nail 283 00:21:00,359 --> 00:21:03,040 Speaker 1: my enemy's head at the end of a pole as 284 00:21:03,080 --> 00:21:07,960 Speaker 1: Queen Victoria has to send her prisoners into exile. The 285 00:21:08,080 --> 00:21:12,800 Speaker 1: humiliating defeat for the European powers was better retold than 286 00:21:13,280 --> 00:21:17,680 Speaker 1: as a story of Ranevolna's evil and brutality her quote 287 00:21:18,160 --> 00:21:24,280 Speaker 1: unparalleled reign of terror and fear. Ranavolina's final challenge would 288 00:21:24,320 --> 00:21:27,359 Speaker 1: come another decade later, when she put down a coup 289 00:21:27,640 --> 00:21:31,280 Speaker 1: from a wealthy French European slave trader who had managed 290 00:21:31,320 --> 00:21:35,160 Speaker 1: to entice to his side the two men Ranevolna held 291 00:21:35,240 --> 00:21:40,560 Speaker 1: closest to her her son and la Board. The French 292 00:21:40,600 --> 00:21:44,800 Speaker 1: slave trader, a man named Limbert, wrote a charter giving 293 00:21:44,920 --> 00:21:47,600 Speaker 1: himself the right to exploit all of the minerals and 294 00:21:47,640 --> 00:21:51,520 Speaker 1: forests of Madagascar, with a provision to give ten percent 295 00:21:51,600 --> 00:21:54,679 Speaker 1: to the monarchy. He went around to the courts of 296 00:21:54,720 --> 00:21:58,679 Speaker 1: Europe attempting to gather support and raise an army. It 297 00:21:58,680 --> 00:22:01,639 Speaker 1: would be a lucrative proper position if they succeeded and 298 00:22:01,800 --> 00:22:06,000 Speaker 1: overthrew Ronavolina. They were sure that they could convince her 299 00:22:06,040 --> 00:22:10,119 Speaker 1: son to sign the agreement, but the sting of past 300 00:22:10,160 --> 00:22:13,560 Speaker 1: defeat put off England and France from another attempt to 301 00:22:13,720 --> 00:22:19,200 Speaker 1: challenge Ronavolina, and so without a European army, Lambert came 302 00:22:19,240 --> 00:22:23,480 Speaker 1: directly to Madagascar himself and managed to win the support 303 00:22:23,560 --> 00:22:27,680 Speaker 1: of the Crown Prince and the engineer Lombard. They had 304 00:22:27,720 --> 00:22:32,600 Speaker 1: seen the queen's ruthlessness firsthand and her viciousness, and Marina 305 00:22:32,760 --> 00:22:37,280 Speaker 1: was isolated and traditional, yes, but at what cost? Maybe 306 00:22:37,280 --> 00:22:41,359 Speaker 1: the future was European, and so the prince agreed to 307 00:22:41,440 --> 00:22:51,119 Speaker 1: join in on the rebellion. It failed almost instantly. For 308 00:22:51,240 --> 00:22:54,879 Speaker 1: all of the depictions of Ronavolina as a hedonistic madwoman, 309 00:22:55,560 --> 00:22:59,479 Speaker 1: she was an efficient and effective leader with a network 310 00:22:59,520 --> 00:23:03,760 Speaker 1: of spy and the loyalty of her military. After the 311 00:23:03,800 --> 00:23:08,040 Speaker 1: small coup was dispatched of her son was forgiven. He 312 00:23:08,200 --> 00:23:12,600 Speaker 1: was just a young man led astray. But after that 313 00:23:12,680 --> 00:23:17,919 Speaker 1: she banished all Europeans from Imerna, including La Board. He 314 00:23:18,040 --> 00:23:21,600 Speaker 1: had been a close friend and confidante for over twenty 315 00:23:21,760 --> 00:23:26,600 Speaker 1: five years, but he had betrayed her. He left Madagascar 316 00:23:26,720 --> 00:23:31,240 Speaker 1: on her orders and returned to France for a queen 317 00:23:31,320 --> 00:23:35,120 Speaker 1: they said was insane and bloodthirsty. It struck me as 318 00:23:35,160 --> 00:23:37,639 Speaker 1: odd that he would be allowed just to leave and 319 00:23:37,680 --> 00:23:42,320 Speaker 1: return home. After all, that's a strategic decision to protect 320 00:23:42,400 --> 00:23:47,920 Speaker 1: her kingdom from French retaliation. To me, sending Lombard home 321 00:23:48,400 --> 00:23:52,040 Speaker 1: reads as a woman who was less emotional in her violence, 322 00:23:52,200 --> 00:23:56,320 Speaker 1: less well insane than the writings of angry Europeans and 323 00:23:56,400 --> 00:24:00,280 Speaker 1: vengeful missionaries would have led you to believe. There are 324 00:24:00,280 --> 00:24:03,520 Speaker 1: only a few Malagas women who wrote account of Ranovolina, 325 00:24:04,240 --> 00:24:07,160 Speaker 1: but one is a woman named ran I Raka, who 326 00:24:07,160 --> 00:24:11,080 Speaker 1: wrote in a letter after Ranavalina's death, the late Queen 327 00:24:11,320 --> 00:24:15,000 Speaker 1: is not so cruel as she's been represented. Many of 328 00:24:15,040 --> 00:24:18,439 Speaker 1: her subjects have really been killed by her orders, but 329 00:24:18,520 --> 00:24:21,679 Speaker 1: it was not wanton cruelty. It was through the laws 330 00:24:21,720 --> 00:24:26,560 Speaker 1: of her late predecessors. You have seen her. She is intelligent. 331 00:24:28,080 --> 00:24:32,560 Speaker 1: It's estimated that during Ranovolina's reign as many as fifty 332 00:24:32,640 --> 00:24:36,800 Speaker 1: percent of the Marina population was killed, and thanks to 333 00:24:36,840 --> 00:24:40,680 Speaker 1: both her torture and executions, but also from the famine 334 00:24:40,800 --> 00:24:44,360 Speaker 1: caused by the scorched earth policies her armies took when 335 00:24:44,400 --> 00:24:52,040 Speaker 1: it came to enemy kingdoms. From Ranovolna's perspective, violence wasn't capriciousness. 336 00:24:52,080 --> 00:24:55,200 Speaker 1: She was a woman who believed fiercely in the religious 337 00:24:55,280 --> 00:24:58,240 Speaker 1: right of the Tanginna ordeal, which allowed the gods to 338 00:24:58,320 --> 00:25:01,800 Speaker 1: decide who lived and who didn't. She was steadfast in that, 339 00:25:02,320 --> 00:25:06,480 Speaker 1: not making decisions based on anger or emotions. If people 340 00:25:06,520 --> 00:25:09,840 Speaker 1: needed to die, so be it, but the Marina people 341 00:25:10,040 --> 00:25:13,720 Speaker 1: as a whole wouldn't die. That was the important thing 342 00:25:14,560 --> 00:25:24,360 Speaker 1: preserving the kingdom itself. That's the story of the quote 343 00:25:24,440 --> 00:25:28,440 Speaker 1: bloody Queen Renovalina, But stick around after a brief sponsor 344 00:25:28,520 --> 00:25:31,240 Speaker 1: break to hear about her death and what happened next. 345 00:25:40,600 --> 00:25:43,480 Speaker 1: After the Queen's death, her son and then her son's 346 00:25:43,480 --> 00:25:46,840 Speaker 1: wife took over the throne and in Marina almost immediately 347 00:25:46,880 --> 00:25:51,920 Speaker 1: reverted back to European influence. The francohovah Wars, which began 348 00:25:52,000 --> 00:25:55,560 Speaker 1: in three led to the end of the Marina Kingdom 349 00:25:55,680 --> 00:25:58,960 Speaker 1: and the creation of the French Protectorate, which then became 350 00:25:59,000 --> 00:26:03,200 Speaker 1: the Colony of Matta Gascar. French claims to the property 351 00:26:03,280 --> 00:26:06,560 Speaker 1: that Laboard had left in Madagascar gifts from the queen 352 00:26:07,200 --> 00:26:11,840 Speaker 1: became the pretext for their armed invasion. There's one detail 353 00:26:11,960 --> 00:26:15,360 Speaker 1: about Queen Roneval in his funeral that seems worth mentioning. 354 00:26:16,359 --> 00:26:19,840 Speaker 1: The queen died in her sleep at age three after 355 00:26:19,960 --> 00:26:24,080 Speaker 1: a thirty three year long reign, but during the funeral 356 00:26:24,480 --> 00:26:28,600 Speaker 1: and arrant, spark flashed and caused a nearby barrel of 357 00:26:28,680 --> 00:26:34,960 Speaker 1: gunpowder to explode. Several bystanders were killed. Even in death, 358 00:26:35,320 --> 00:26:44,359 Speaker 1: Ronavolana maintained her reputation. Noble Blood is a production of 359 00:26:44,359 --> 00:26:47,600 Speaker 1: I Heart Radio and Grimm and Mild from Aaron Manky. 360 00:26:47,800 --> 00:26:50,320 Speaker 1: The show was written and hosted by Danis Schwartz and 361 00:26:50,400 --> 00:26:54,960 Speaker 1: produced by Aaron Mankey, Matt Frederick, Alex Williams, and Trevor Young. 362 00:26:55,560 --> 00:26:58,560 Speaker 1: Noble Blood is on social media at Noble Blood Tales, 363 00:26:58,840 --> 00:27:00,719 Speaker 1: and you can learn more about the show over at 364 00:27:00,760 --> 00:27:03,720 Speaker 1: Noble blood tails dot com. For more podcasts from I 365 00:27:03,800 --> 00:27:07,400 Speaker 1: Heart Radio, visit the i Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, 366 00:27:07,600 --> 00:27:11,440 Speaker 1: or wherever you listen to your favorite shows. M hmm.