Magic Flute Guide

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8
The Magic Flute
A Selected Cultural and Historical Timeline
1778 1781 1782 1783
The opera house La Scala opens in Milan,
Italy.
Los Angeles is founded under the name El Pueblo de
Nuestra Senora La Reina de los Angeles de Rio de
Porciuncula by a group of Spanish settlers.
Treaty of Paris ends the American Revolution.
Mozart’s mother dies in Paris while
accompanying him on a tour of Europe.
Joseph II, Holy Roman Emperor and King of Austria,
abolishes serfdom and passes an edict of religious
tolerance.
The last witch burning in Europe occurs in Switzerland
when a woman named Anna Göldi is accused of
practicing witchcraft. (In 2008, the Swiss government
pronounced her a victim of “judicial murder.”)
Mozart breaks with his employer, the
Archbishop of Salzburg and has to
teach lessons to make ends meet.
Against his father’s wishes, Mozart
marries Constanze Weber on August
4. They will have six children; only two
sons survive to adulthood.
First successful hot-air balloon flight takes
place at Versailles.