James Baquet Look up the word “escalade” today and you’ll probably find images of a very fancy car. The word is French, and means something like “the act of climbing” or “scaling.” (The connection with the words “escalator” and “escalate” is very clear.) It should not be surprising, then, to discover that at least one military operation is named after this action, as in “scaling the walls” of a fortress. And sure enough, there was such an event, in 1602, and it has become the focus of an annual festival, the “Fete de l’Escalade” (Festival of the Scaling) in Geneva, Switzerland. Geneva, at the time of the original Escalade, was Protestant — and rich. Her neighbor, Savoy, was Catholic, and also rich. But can one ever have enough money? So when Charles Emmanuel became Duke of Savoy in 1580, he made the taking of Geneva a priority, both for its wealth and so he could revert it to Catholicism. Easier said than done. In 1602, on the winter solstice — the longest, “darkest” night of the year — the Savoyard forces attacked Geneva, at 2:00 a.m. The plan was for some of the Duke’s men to scale the walls and open the gates to let the main force in. But the citizens of Geneva fired on the climbers with cannons, and fought hand-to-hand with the few who made it over. Church bells pealed out, and all of the people congregated. Isaac Mercier, who was on guard at the main gate that night, cut the rope that was used to raise the portcullis, so that, should the Duke’s men reach it, they would have no way of raising it. The gate was secure. The Duke had sent over 2,000 men. Fifty-four died, as opposed to only 18 Genevese. The people hanged the 13 Savoyards they had taken prisoner. So much is history. But legend says that a woman named Catherine Cheynel, whose family lived above one of the town gates, had been cooking soup in a heavy cauldron. She grabbed it and hurled it and its boiling contents down on the attackers. The cauldron’s weight killed one of the men scaling the wall, and the noise woke her neighbors to rise to the defense. Defeated, the Duke accepted a peace settlement, ratified in the Treaty of St. Julien the following July. Vocabulary: Which word or phrase above means: 1. gathered together 2. threw 3. mechanical “moving staircase” 4. a heavy grill protecting a gate 5. a proverb meaning “it’s difficult” 6. top concern 7. large, heavy cooking pot 8. rang 9. confirmed, agreed to 10. change (it) back | 