April 2018

Suicide by Seven Stab Wounds

French Admiral Pierre-Charles-Jean-Baptiste-Silvestre de Villeneuve committed “suicide” on 22 April 1806 by stabbing himself in the right lung six times and once through the heart. Villeneuve was in command of the French and the Spanish fleets that were defeated by Nelson at the Battle of Trafalgar, but his early career had been marked by victories.… Read more Suicide by Seven Stab Wounds

The Nun of Kent

Elizabeth Barton, known as the “Holy Maid of Kent” or the “ Nun of Kent”, was executed on 20 April 1534 along with a handful of her followers, for the ‘crime’ that she predicted a bad end for King Henry VIII if he continued to flout the will of Rome and separate his kingdom from… Read more The Nun of Kent

Marie Antoinette’s Wedding Day

Fourteen year old Austrian Archduchess Maria Antonia Josepha Johanna married  the future King Louis XVI of France by proxy on 19 April 1770, and the bride’s name was officially changed to the Francophone pronunciation of Marie Antoinette … a name still associated with extravagance, foolishness, and tragedy. Marie Antoinette became the Queen of France and of Navarre… Read more Marie Antoinette’s Wedding Day