Joan of Valois, Duchess of Berry, formerly a princess and a queen of France and now a founding member of the Order of the Annunciation of the Blessed Virgin Mary, passed away at the Annonciades of Bourges on 4 February 1505. Although she died a nun, she had not been born to wear the veil.… Read more Joan of Valois: Princess, Queen, Duchess, and Saint
On 29 January 1801 a baby girl was born, ostensibly the posthumous and orphaned offspring of a seaman by the surname of Thompson, in reality she was the daughter of Lady Hamilton and her lover, war hero Admiral Horatio Nelson. Admiral Nelson and Lady Hamilton were, in public, the babies Godparents who adopted her after… Read more Horatia Nelson
Long before Bernie Sanders shook the foundations of the Left-wing American party, Georgian Britain had to contend with Charles James Fox and the Foxite Whigs. Charles Fox was born in London on 24 January 1749, the second surviving son of Henry Fox, 1st Baron Holland and Lady Caroline Lennox. The new newborn Fox was of royal blood, since his… Read more The Foxiest of the Foxite Whigs
Sebastian of Portugal was born on 20 January 1554, the feast of Saint Sebastian, the only child and heir of John Manuel, Prince of Portugal, and his wife, Joanna of Austria. He grew up and became a half-way decent king. He was great if you were Catholic, and awful if you were anything else, but… Read more King Sebastian of Portugal
Stanisław Antoni Poniatowski was born on 17 January 1732, the fifth child and second son of a Polish aristocrat in the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth (now part of Belarus). He would, against all expectation, become the Grand Duke of Lithuania and the last King of Poland. He was also one of Catherine the Great’s lovers. The Empress… Read more The Last King of Poland and the Empress Who Loved Him
On 14 January 1507 Queen Joanna of Castile gave birth to her final child, a daughter whom she named Catarina after the baby’s aunt, Catherine of Aragon, who was languishing as an unmarried widow in England at the time. Queen Joanna would soon know something of captivity and hopelessness as well. Her husband, of King… Read more Catarina of Austria, Queen of Portugal
One of the earliest examples of a Northern European chess set is the 12th century Lewis Chessmen, gaming pieces found on the Isle of Lewis in the Hebrides of Scotland. Several pieces are on display at the British Museum in London. They are amazing. Carved sometime between 1150-1200 AD of walrus ivory, they were probably… Read more The Lewis Chessmen
Anna Lætitia Aikin Barbauld was a renown English poet and author, and her works were eagerly anticipated. She was one of the most admired female writers in the Georgian era, and was lauded both at home and abroad. (In the below picture, Nine Living Muses of Great Britain by Richard Samuel, Barbauld is the one… Read more Eighteen Hundred and Eleven, a Poem
Anne of Brittany, sole heiress to the Duchy of Brittany and therefore much desired by the French crown, was forced to marry King Louis XII of France on 8 January 1499. It was a personal tragedy for Anne, and a source of grief for her duchy. Anne thought she could escape marrying a French king… Read more Forcibly Wedded, Forcibly Bedded
The only legitimate child of George, Prince of Wales, and his estranged wife, Caroline of Brunswick, was born on 7 January 1796 – almost nine months exactly after her parent’s wedding night. It was fortunate the royal newlyweds conceived then, because they loathed each other so instantly and profoundly they would never have sex with… Read more Princess Charlotte of Wales