Arthur Wellesley, future 1st Duke of Wellington, was born on 1 May 1769 in Dublin, Ireland, the fourth son of Anglo-Irish Protestant aristocrat Garret Wesley, 1st Earl of Mornington, and the Hon. Anne Hill-Trevor, eldest daughter the 1st Viscount Dungannon. Until he became a military man, Wellington was bone idle. His mother despaired when he… Read more The Duke of Wellington
Edmund de la Pole, 3rd Duke of Suffolk, 6th Earl of Suffolk – fourth born but now oldest surviving son of John de la Pole, 2nd Duke of Suffolk and his wife Elizabeth of York, grandson of Richard, 3rd Duke of York and nephews of King Edward IV and King Richard III, and thus the… Read more The Execution of Edmund de la Pole
King Edward IV of England was born at Rouen, France on 28 April 1442. Edward’s father, Richard Plantagenet, 3rd Duke of York, who had been on the continent as a commander during the final decades of the Hundred Years War, had left for England a few months prior to his son’s birth, opening up later accusations (from his supposedly… Read more Happy Birthday Edward IV
Want to avoid bringing debts into your new marriage? Well, there was a way to shift them away … During the 18th and 19th centuries many people in the UK thought (without any legal basis whatsoever) that if a woman got married in her shift (or smock) rather than a gown then any premarital debts… Read more The Shift Marriage
Richard Boyle, 3rd Earl of Burlington and 4th Earl of Cork, was born on 25 April 1694. He was a very talented architect who is credited with bringing Palladian architecture to the United Kingdom and Ireland in the 18th century, and one of his descendants is currently sitting on the British throne. Howard Colvin, who… Read more The Earl of Architecture and the Prince of Wales
King Edward II of England was born on 25 April 1284, the fourth son of King Edward I and his first wife, Eleanor of Castile, but the eldest son to survive to adulthood. Most people know more historical myths about Edward II – that he was the embodiment of the limp-wristed pouf negative stereotype like… Read more Happy Birthday Edward of Caernarfon!
Mary, Queen of Scots wed François, the Dauphin of France, at Notre Dame de Paris in a lavish ceremony (did they have any other kind for a royal wedding??) on 24 April 1558. The young couple, who had been raised together since Mary was 5 years old and the Dauphin only 4, seem to be… Read more Mary Marries Merrily
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
Isabella I of Castile, co-ruler of Aragon and queen of most of the Iberian peninsula, one of the strongest monarchs of the Medieval period, was born on 22 April 1451 in Madrigal de las Altas Torres, Ávila. She was the eldest child of John II of Castile and his second wife, Isabella of Portugal. Her… Read more Isabella I, Strong and Devout and Cruel
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