Perkin Warbeck first came to international attention in 1490, when he showed up at the court of Burgundy claiming to be Richard of Shrewsbury, Duke of York, the second-born son of King Edward IV. He said he had miraculously escaped from the Tower after his older brother, King Edward V, was murdered because his captors took pity on his youth.… Read more Perkin Warbeck
I recently read a really good book, Into the Drowning Deep by Mira Grant. It is a follow up to her equally awesome novella, Rolling in the Deep, and it is scary as hell. It takes place above the Mariana Trench, and it involves mermaids. Terrifying mermaids. Jaws meets one of H. P. Lovecraft’s beasties… Read more Dragon’s Triangle; Devil’s Sea
Queen Mary I of England, daughter of Henry VIII and his first wife, Katherina of Aragon, came to the end of her uncharmed life on 17 November 1558. The abdominal pain that had plagued her since menarche had revealed itself to be not the stirring of new life, but the growth of a deadly cancer.… Read more The Sad Reign of Mary I Comes to an End
King Henry III died of a lingering illness on the evening of 16 November 1272, at the Palace of Westminster, his loving wife of more than three decades, Queen Eleanor of Provence, at his side. He had had been the crowned head of England for 56 years, and had been an ineffectual, weak monarch for… Read more A Good Man, A Bad King
Beyond doubt, Jane Austen enjoyed reading Gothic novels. She must have read several books in this genre, particularly the ‘female Gothic’ tales of Ann Radcliffe, to parody them so knowledgeably Northanger Abbey, and multiple readings strongly indicates she read them because she liked them. Yes, she mocked the hell out of Gothic conventions, but she… Read more Schauerroman v/s Gothik
Anglophone authors and Jane Austen fans tend to think of the culture and style of the Regency era as uniquely British. While having the Prince Regent was certainly for the UK alone, the larger sociocultural trends of the Regency were European, part of a dynamic give and take of ideas that flourished in spite of… Read more Frauenroman: Deriding Women’s Romances For Centuries
The future King Edward III was born at Windsor Castle on 13 November 1312, the eldest son of King Edward II and Isabella of France. He would become one of Britain’s most dynamic, dominating, and dedicated monarchs. He was, in every way, the brutal and glorious heir of his grandfather, King Edward I. Edward was… Read more Edward III, Paragon of Past Kings
The future King Charles IV of Spain was born on 11 November 1748 in Naples, the second son of Charles, King of Naples and Sicily, and Maria Amalia of Saxony. He was christened Carlos (Charles to the Anglophone speakers) Antonio Pascual Francisco Javier Juan Nepomuceno José Januario Serafín Diego, and given the title of the… Read more Charles IV of Spain
The woman history records as Queen Matilda of Scotland, wife of King Henry I, was born Edith of Scotland in 1080 (or thereabouts), the eldest daughter of Malcolm III and his English bride Saint Margaret. Edith’s mother was an Wessex princess, sister of Edgar Ætheling, grandniece of King Edward the Confessor, whose family was displaced… Read more Matilda of Scotland
Bridget of York, the 10th and youngest child and of King Edward IV of England and Queen Elizabeth Woodville, was born on 10 November 1480 at Eltham Palace. At the time of Bridget’s birth, she had seven of nine full siblings and two half brothers still living, the only exceptions being a sister, Margaret of… Read more Bridget of York, King Edward IV’s Last Child