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
The theory that Henry VIII had McLeod’s syndrome rests largely on the king’s drastic change in personality after his 40th birthday. Henry was not the same man in 1530 that he was in 1535, and it was such a drastic change it almost requires a medical reason to explain it. Prior to the 1530s, the… Read more Why Didn’t the King Kill William Peto?
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
The future King Louis VXII was born on 27 March 1785, the second son of King Louis XVI of France and Queen Marie Antoinette, and named Louis-Charles. When his older brother, Louis Joseph, died of tuberculosis on 4 June 1789 when he was only seven years old, the four year old Louis Charles became the… Read more The Tragic Death of King Louis XVII and the Effect on Jane Austen’s Work
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
Edward Seymour, 1st Duke of Somerset, judicially murdered his own brother, Thomas Seymour, in the name of their nephew King Edward VI on 20 March 1549. Why did the duke do something so vile as to kill a sibling? To keep as much power as he could all to himself for as long as possible.… Read more The Death of Thomas Seymour
First, it should be noted that the title to this blog post should be sung like the chorus of the Pet Shop Boy’s 1984 song “West End Girls” because I am old and my mental playlist is mostly 80s hits. If you are older than 40, you too now have “West End Girls” playing in… Read more Cymru Stones and Wessex Girls
March Madness isn’t just the breeding season for hares and the bringing of college basketball tournaments in America (although Go Big Blue!). No, it is also time to enjoy the glorious spring weather in Wales (it has been raining for 2 weeks) and to deal with encroaching sheep. We currently live in a big cottage… Read more Sheep on My Trampoline and a Jack Escape
On 16 March 1190 the Jewish community of York committed mass suicide to escape being tortured to death by a mob whipped into anti-Semitic frenzy by pro-Crusade propaganda. The Norman invaders had brought the first Jewish communities into England to fulfill a special economic role as moneylenders. The Jews were even given a special status… Read more An Atrocity at York in 1190