The future King Henry IV was born in Bolingbroke Castle on 15 April 1367 to Blanche, the younger daughter of the Duke of Lancaster, and her husband John of Gaunt, the third surviving son of King Edward III. Although Henry of Bolingbroke was the grandson of a king he had no expectation of inheriting the… Read more Henry of Bolingbroke
The Battle of Barnet was fought on 14 April 1471, and it was during this engagement that Richard Neville, 16th Earl of Warwick, known as the Warwick the Kingmaker, was slain while retreating before the victorious Yorkists commanded by King Edward IV. Neville was the 16th Earl of Warwick and the most powerful nobleman in the… Read more A Kingmaker Dies
Eliza Hancock was Jane Austen’s cousin and future sister-in-law, and many speculate she was also the model for some of Austen’s most vivacious characters, including my perpetual favorite — Mary Crawford. If so, it seems to indicate that Austen loved her cousin … yet was nonetheless jealous of the attention the sparkling Eliza could command… Read more Was Eliza Hancock the Model for Mary Crawford?
William III of Orange, who was the grandson of English King Charles I, and his wife (and first cousin) Mary of England, who was also a grandchild of King Charles I, became William III and Mary II of England on 11 April 1689 after a ginormous kerfuffle. King Charles II, who had recently reclaimed the throne… Read more William and Mary and Carrots
Roger de Mortimer, future 4th Earl of March, was born on 11 April 1374 at Usk Castle in Monmouthshire, and was heir to the throne of Richard II while that monarch remained childless. Roger was the eldest son of Philippa of Clarence, the only child of King Edward III’s second son, Lionel of Antwerp. His… Read more There Was Very Nearly a King Roger of England
Although I think Katherina of Aragon was daffy to risk so much just to fight her divorce from Henry VIII so long, I have all kinds of respect and admiration for the strength and smarts it took to do so. Occasionally I stumble onto things that remind me of how effect her tactics were –… Read more Weak as Steel
I just went for a walk in the woods up Ryans Creek Mountain here in Whitley County with my mom and dad, and as usual, I got to learn a lot about my families’ subsistence methods when they were still in thrall to the coal mining camps of the region. As you walk up the… Read more A Walk in the Kentucky Woods
The future Christian IX of Demark was born on 8 April 1818, the fourth son of Friedrich Wilhelm, Duke of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Beck and Princess Louise Caroline of Hesse. Although he was not really in line for any throne, the newborn was related six ways to Sunday to the crowned heads of Europe. Among other connections, his… Read more Happy Birthday to Christian IX of Demark, Direct Ancestor of BOTH Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip
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