On 28 September 1795, Charles James Fox and Elizabeth Bridget Cane (AKA Mrs. Armistead), were quietly in Wyton by Rev John Pery. The only attendees at the ceremony were the bride’s literal maid, Mary Dassonville, and Rev Pery’s clerk, Jeremiah Bradshaw, who signed the marriage certificate as witnesses. Why such a hush-hush wedding? Because the… Read more Foxy Lady — Mrs Armistead Becomes Mrs Charles James Fox
Mary Tudor and Charles Brandon, Viscount Lisle and future Duke of Suffolk, wed for a third and final time on 13 May 1515. The Tudor princess seems to have loved Brandon since she was a girl, and she was as determined as the rest of her siblings to marry for love. Since she was as headstrong and brave… Read more Happy Anniversary to Mary and Charles
Eleanor of Aquitaine was one of the most influential people of the medieval period, and one the most famous women in the history of Europe. She was the richest heiress in Europe at the age of 15, and arguably the greatest beauty as well. If her money didn’t hook a man, the fact she was… Read more The Death of Eleanor of Aquitaine
My eldest child has done it again. She’s gotten a year old and a that much closer to adulthood in what feels like a blink of an eye. My baby, the beautiful and bold Blossom, turned 14 today. It seems like yesterday she was a newborn … Sweet Babou and I were delirious with joy… Read more Blossom Is 14 Years Old Now
St Catherine of Siena was born on 25 March 1347, along with a twin sister named Giovanna, and was the 23rd or 24th of her 40 year old mother’s 25 offspring. With all due respect to Saint Catherine of Siena, the super-fertility of her mother, Lapa Piagenti, is as amazing to me as any of… Read more Medieval Fertility Rates
Margaret of Anjou was born on 23 March 1430, the second legitimate daughter of René, King of Naples and his wife, Isabella, Duchess of Lorraine. The 15 year old Margaret was married to King Henry VI 23 April 1445, and was crowned Queen Consort a few weeks later. She did her best to be a good wife and queen. She… Read more In Defense of Margaret of Anjou
Henry VII’s fifth wife, Katheryn Howard, was beheaded in the Tower’s icy courtyard on 13 February 1542. In spite of her youth, she was said to have made a “most Godly and Christian end”. The former queen had even asked that the headsman’s block be brought to her in her rooms, so that she… Read more Katheryn Howard’s Death
One of the most used methods of fat shaming and justification for fat hate is tell fat people you are only mocking and/or insulting them for their health. You’re not participating in the sociocultural punishment of fat because you’ve been culturally conditioned to view fat as a physical manifestation of sloth, gluttony, and lack of… Read more How Dare Fat People Be Healthy
On January 21, 1542 a Bill of Attainder was introduced in English Parliament against Katheryn Howard. Henry VIII’s fifth queen had already been stripped of her title by the king’s Privy Council on November 22, 1441 because she had led “an abominable, base, carnal, voluptuous, and vicious life” before marriage and acting “like a common… Read more The Bill of Attainder of Katheryn Howard
The least known, but arguably the best writer among the justly lauded Bronte siblings, was the youngest, Anne, who was born on 17 January 1820. Just as Jane Austen was a seminal writer in the Regency era, Anne Bronte – writing under the male pseudonym, Acton Bell – help shaped Victorian literature. More significantly, Anne… Read more Anne Bronte, Feminist and Favorite