Richard I of England, more famously known by his moniker Richard the Lionheart, died on 6 April 1199 as the result of an infected arrow wound. One of the enduring mysteries to me is WHY Richard was such a popular king in his lifetime. In the decade of his reign he spent about 6 months… Read more A Lionheart is No Substitute for Antibiotics
Today is a seldom remarked-upon but important date in English history, resulting in the return of the monarchy. On 4 April 1660 Charles II of Great Britain issued the Declaration of Breda, promising a general pardon for crimes committed against royalist forces and the crown during the English Civil War and the Interregnum. Since one of… Read more The Merry Monarch Returns
Lady Elizabeth Howard Boleyn, the Countess of Wiltshire, died on 3 April 1538 … having lived long enough to see two of her three adult children murders by King Henry VIII. The Anne Boleyn Files did an excellent post on the potential cause of her death, and I cannot help but think she was grateful… Read more RIP Elizabeth Boleyn
Arthur Tudor died at the young age of 15 on 2 April 1502 at Ludlow Castle, on what was considered the Welsh boarder at the time. It is springtime here in south Wales, and hills are covered with wildflowers and fields full of woolly little lambs. It seems exceptionally sad that Arthur died at this… Read more The Death of Arthur Tudor
On 2 April 1536, Passion Sunday, Anne Boleyn’s almoner, John Skip (Skyppe), fired a broadside at Thomas Cromwell from the pulpit of the king’s chapel. His sermon “on the text Quis ex vobis arguet me de peccato?” was a strong defense of the clergy from the attacks of “their defamers and from the immoderate zeal… Read more A Warning for Haman