Lady Catherine Willoughby, the only surviving child of Maria de Salinas, Lady Willoughby, and William Willoughby, 11th Baron Willoughby de Eresby, was born 22 March 1519. Catherine’s father died when she was seven, and King Henry VIII gave wardship over the rich young orphan to his best friend and brother-in-law, Charles Brandon, Duke of Suffolk. A… Read more Catherine Willoughby
Thomas Cranmer, the Archbishop of Canterbury under King Edward VI and Queen Jane, was a brilliant writer and theologian, finishing the Book of Common Prayer in 1549, revising it again in 1552, and basically creating the Anglican church. On March 21, 1556 the elderly prelate was burned at the stake on the ordered of… Read more Cranmer’s Coerced Confessions
Charles Grey, future Prime Minister, 2nd Earl Grey, and progressive hero, was born on 13 March 1764 to General Charles Grey, who was created 1st Earl Grey and Viscount Howick in 1806. A genius, Charles Grey wowed his way through Trinity College, Cambridge and was only 22 years old when he was elected to Parliament for… Read more Happy Birthday Charles Grey, 2nd Earl Grey!
Thomas Boleyn, 1st Earl of Wiltshire and 1st Viscount Rochford, passed away on 12 March 1539 at his family home of family home, Hever Castle, Kent, where he had been born some 61 years before. The only members of his family to survive him were his eldest daughter, Mary Boleyn, and his three grandchildren, Catherine… Read more Thomas Boleyn, Villain or Victim?
Jousting was a dangerous sport, and on 10 March 1524 King Henry VIII was very nearly maimed — or killed — during a tournament. Edward Hall’s Chronicle recounts: “Then [Charles Brandon, the Duke of Suffolk] set forward and charged with his spear, and the king likewise unadvisedly set off towards the duke. The people, seeing… Read more Justly Jousting in 1524
The beloved Georgina era author, poet, and editor Anna Laetitia Aikin Barbauld passed away on 9 March 1825, and she was largely forgotten until feminists dragged her work back out into the spotlight and made the literati admit that the woman was immensely talented. Her most controversial work was her epic poem Eighteen-Hundred and Eleven.… Read more Remembering Regency Poet Anna Barbauld
Richard de la Pole, fifth son of John de la Pole, 2nd Duke of Suffolk and Elizabeth of York, was a Yorkist claimant to the English throne and a definite thorn in the side of Henry VIII. De la Pole, known by his moniker ‘The White Rose’, had a claim to the crown that was arguably more valid than… Read more An Heir’s Breath Away
David Rizzo, or to use his birth name — David Riccio di Pancalieri in Piemonte – was a personal musician for Mary, Queen of Scots. The queen favoured the witty violinist, and often chose him to sit with her and her ladies-in-waiting. Mary was very musically inclined and had been raised in the refinement of the… Read more The Murder of David Rizzo
One of the essential plot points of Jane Austen’s revered novel Pride and Prejudice is that the opportunistic Mr. Wickham tried to elope with the 15 year old Georgiana Darcy in order to secure her dowry. It is strongly implied that this would have been a disaster, for as soon as Wickham had wedded and… Read more What Could Mr. Darcy Have Done?
John of Gaunt was born on 6 March 1340, the sixth child of King Edward III and Philippa of Hainault. He had two older brothers who lived to adulthood, and two younger brothers who did likewise. As the third of five sons, he was was incredibly unlikely to come to the throne or father a… Read more Happy Birthday To a Man Who Sired MANY Monarchs!