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
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
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
Anne Stanhope Seymour Newdigate, Dowager Duchess of Somerset, former wife of Edward Seymour, 1st Duke of Somerset, and once the most powerful woman in Britain, died in Hanworth, Middlesex, on 16 April 1587, the comparatively lowly widow of her first husband’s steward. She was born Anne Stanhope, the daughter Sir Edward Stanhope, sometime in 1510.… Read more Anne Seymour, Duchess of Somerset
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
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
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
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