Happy birthday to one of England’s most notable monarchs, King Edward I, who was born on 17 (or the early hours of the 18th) June 1239 to King Henry III and Eleanor of Provence at the Palace of Westminster. Edward’s moniker as king was Longshanks because he was so tall, but he could have justifiably been called Edward the… Read more Edward Longshanks, the Great and Terrible
Contrary to popular belief, the Wars of the Roses wasn’t over when the Plantagenet king, Richard III of England, died at the Battle of Bosworth Field and the reign of King Henry VII began. The last pitched engagement of that war was not until two years later, on 16 June 1487, at the Battle of… Read more The REAL Final Battle of the War of the Roses … Almost
Thomas Cromwell was a human being, and like the rest of us he was caught somewhere between an ape and an angel. He was a man, and both the monster and the maven were a myth. He was devoted and ruthless, loyal and backstabbing, loving and heartless. To those whom he felt himself pledged he… Read more Cromwellian Complexity
On 3 June 1839 a Chinese patriot, moralist, and scholar-official of the Qing dynasty named Lin Tse-hsü (his name was also spelled Lin Zexu, and he additionally went by the courtesy name Yuanfu) ordered the destruction of approximately 1.2 million kg (2.6 million poiunds) of opium from British merchants in Guangdong Province. There was so… Read more The Beginning of the Opium Wars
On 25 May 1553, Lady Jane Grey married Lord Guilford Dudley, the fourth son of John Dudley, Duke of Northumberland, at the insistence of the dying King Edward VI. Although the whole thing was young king’s idea, poor Northumberland was cast as a criminal mastermind using a union between Lady Jane and his son to… Read more The Unjust Unpopularity of John Dudley, Duke of Northumberland
The Battle of Tewkesbury occurred on 4 May 1471 and cemented the reign of King Edward IV by destroying the hopes of the House of Lancaster. Although their king, Henry VI, was still alive, his only son and heir, Edward of Westminster, Prince of Wales, who was only a 17 year old boy, was defeated… Read more The Death of Edward of Westminster
On 26 April 1923, the Duke of York, Albert Frederick Arthur George (the second son of King George V and his queen Mary of Teck, known as Bertie to his family) wed Lady Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon at Westminster Abbey, thereby gaining an admirable wife and even more admirable father-in-law. Lady Elizabeth Angela Marguerite Bowes-Lyon was born… Read more Happy Anniversary to King George VI and the Queen Mum!!
I dislike Oliver Cromwell, who born on 25 April 1599, in much the same way oceans are “damp”. That is to say, I dislike him a LOT. In fact, I loathe and detest him with the fire of 1000 suns. Why? Because he committed an ethnic cleansing, that’s why. Moreover, the people he attempted to… Read more A Monster is Born
Henri II of Navarre was born on 18 April 1503 to Queen Catherine and King John III. Ferdinand II of Aragon invaded Navarre in 1512 and claimed kingship for himself. In spite of Navarre’s struggles for independence and a failed reconquest attempt of Navarre in 1516, Ferdinand’s grandson Charles V continued to proclaim himself king… Read more Happy Birthday to Henri II of Navarre
Prince William Augustus was born on 15 April 1721, the third son and sixth child of King George II and Caroline of Ansbach. When he was four his parents made him the Duke of Cumberland, Marquess of Berkhampstead, Earl of Kennington, Viscount Trematon, and Baron Alderney. He was his parents’ best loved son, so much… Read more Billy the Butcher’s Birthday