genealogy

Joan of Valois: Princess, Queen, Duchess, and Saint

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

Horatia Nelson

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

Circumstances of Usurpation

There was a fascinating study about Bombus terrestris — European buff-tailed bumblebees — that was recently published in Royal Society Open Science: Social insects are well known for their high level of cooperation. Workers of the primitively eusocial bumblebee Bombus terrestris are able to produce male offspring in the presence of a queen. Nonetheless, they… Read more Circumstances of Usurpation

Guest Post: Henry Tudor and the King Arthur Claim by Mary Anne Yarde

(Today I am lucky enough to have a guest blog post by Mary Anne Yarde, the fabulous author of the fabulous Du Lac Chronicles. The books are set in the Dark Ages Britain, when politics was still a matter of combat and moistened tarts lobbing swords at you from overly-large ponds, and are great reads!… Read more Guest Post: Henry Tudor and the King Arthur Claim by Mary Anne Yarde