Happy Birthday to Georgiana Spencer Cavendish, the 5th Duchess of Devonshire! She was born on 7 June 1757, the eldest child of John Spencer (who would later become 1st Earl Spencer) and Georgiana Poyntz. As a girl she was affectionately called “Little Gee” by her family, and she was an indirect ancestress of Lady Diana Spencer’s. During their… Read more Georgiana Cavendish, an Amazing Woman
Depression isn’t a modern disease. It’s been recorded throughout history, and many English kings – including Henry VIII – were believed to have suffered from what their doctors would have called “excessive melancholy”. Shakespeare immortalised the symptoms of depression in Hamlet, wherein the titular Prince of Denmark complained that, “I have of late, but wherefore… Read more Be of Good Cheer
On 12 May 1553, the imperial ambassador, Jean Scheyfve, wrote to HRE Charles V to update him on King Edward VI’s illness. Scheyfve had only bad news to report, declaring that “it is held for certain that [Edward] cannot escape. The physicians are now all agreed that he is suffering from a suppurating tumour (apostème) on… Read more Where did Edward VI’s skin ulcers come from?
On 15 April 1923 insulin became widely available and the people dying of Type I diabetes had, for the first time in history, a chance to LIVE. Before Dr. Frederick Banting and a medical student named Charles Best figured out how to get insulin out of a dog’s pancreas in the early 1920s, a diagnosis of… Read more Thank you, Dr. Banting and Dr.Best
Arthur Tudor died at the young age of 15 on 2 April 1502 at Ludlow Castle, on what was considered the Welsh boarder at the time. It is springtime here in south Wales, and hills are covered with wildflowers and fields full of woolly little lambs. It seems exceptionally sad that Arthur died at this… Read more The Death of Arthur Tudor
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
I’m currently reading a fascinating book, written by Matthew Champion, about church graffiti of the medieval period. It is all kinds of interesting, not only for the information about witch marks and symbology, but also for the various cultural/historical asides it contains. For example, he explained the medieval – nay, pre-Christian – roots behind the shape of… Read more From Little Acorns Mighty Oaks Grow
On 30 January 1607 the Bristol Channel experienced a sudden influx of flood water, which scientists and historians believe was either a severe storm surge or may even have been the result of a tsunami. The flooding effected several hundred miles of coast along both the Welsh and English sides of the channel, inflicting severe… Read more A British Tsunami? The Great Flood of 1607
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
The newly ascendant King Henry VII of England, having won the crown by ‘right of conquest’ wed Elizabeth of York, eldest daughter of King Edward IV and his queen, Elizabeth Woodville, on 18 January 1486 in Westminster Abbey. He had pledged to marry Elizabeth of York the Christmas before his invasion of England, a union… Read more A Loving Couple, A Genetic Curse