Reign season three continues to give us a wildly entertaining and dramatic life of Mary, Queen of Scots. This time we have a new antagonist; Queen Elizabeth I of England. Historically, Elizabeth was Mary’s natural rival. They both had a claim to the English throne and being of opposing religions gave the people an obvious… Read More Everything Wrong with Reign (Season 3)
Babe wake up, new Starz drama just dropped. That’s right today (at time of writing) the much anticipated Mary and George is appearing on screens. Last time out I provided some background on the titular characters and the king they schemed to get close to. This time we’re continuing with the story of King James’… Read More The History Behind: Mary and George Part II
New historical drama alert! Early March will see the mini-series Mary and George find our screens and it looks like it’s going to be dramatic. For a start, it’s produced by Starz so we can expect a liberal disregard for history in favour of ridiculous and way over the top drama. The story follows George… Read More The History Behind: Mary and George Part I
Many moons ago, in the long-distant days of 2004, historian John Guy published My Heart is My Own: The Life of Mary, Queen of Scots. It was a comprehensive biography of Mary, Queen of Scots and for some of us [read: me] it would become required reading for the various school work on Mary, Queen… Read More Everything Wrong (and sometimes right) With Mary, Queen of Scots (2018)
Content Warning: As the title suggests, here be discussion of historical rape and pregnancy loss. The most asked question on this blog is; Was Mary, Queen of Scots raped? Reign, Starz’ highly dramatised series about the life of Mary, uses the threat of rape against the Queen frequently and on one occasion it goes ahead… Read More The R*pe of Mary, Queen of Scots
The sexuality of King James VI of Scotland & I of England has been long debated by historians. He is long held as an example of an openly gay king parading his lovers for all the court to see. Meanwhile, his passionate love letters to his ‘male favourites’ are held up by those who disagree… Read More Queer Kings & Queens: Was James I & VI gay?
At the risk of making myself immensely unpopular, I finally watched Reign and I enjoyed it. There, I said it. It bears no resemblance to history, the costumes are ridiculously anachronistic, more than half of the characters never actually existed, the storylines are insane, there isn’t a chaperone to be found, and yet, I love… Read More Everything Wrong with Reign (Season 1)
21 months ago I posted this as we waited for the announcement of the royal baby’s name. They beat me to it this year though, and last week we heard that the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge have named their daughter Charlotte Elizabeth Diana. Recent changes to the law assure that Charlotte’s place in the succession… Read More The Second-Borns who took the Throne
To Mrs Arabella Hunt Dear Madam –Not believe that I love you? You cannot pretend to be so incredulous. If you do not believe my tongue, consult my eyes, consult your own. You will find by yours that they have charms; by mine that i have a heart which feel them. Recall to mind what… Read More ‘Cold’ Arabella
‘The Merry Monarch’ was very merry indeed. Known for his love of partying and women Charles II brought fun back to England in a big, big way. Even before his return to England however, Charles was having fun in his own way, mostly with women. He acknowledged over a dozen illegitimate children with several mistresses,… Read More The Courtesans of Charles II
