Season 3 of ‘The Tudors‘ shows the death of Jane Seymour and the subsequent madness of Henry VIII. Beside himself with grief, Henry retreats to his private chambers with no one but his fool, Will Somers, to attend him. The very first thing he does in this aggrieved and almost unhinged state is design a… Read More Nonsuch Palace: “a fantasy work”
Well, I suppose it was only a matter of time before someone asked for this, given the “accuracy” of Shekhar Kapur’s Elizabeth. In fact, I was asked the very same day I published Everything wrong with Elizabeth, so if anything I’m just sorry it took so long to write. While Elizabeth took historical revisionism and… Read More Everything wrong with Elizabeth: The Golden Age
A long, long time ago, I wrote that it would take too long to detail the very many historical inaccuracies present in Elizabeth (1998) and as I recently found my copy of it and have a mighty need to throw it away, that particular article just begged to be written. Described by reviewers as an… Read More Everything wrong with Elizabeth (1998)
Part one of this little series looked at the mass outbreaks of demonic possession (see also: convent hysteria) in several convents in France between 1611 and 1613. Despite geographical distance between the convents, there were a number of incidents which saw groups of nuns of varying denominations demonstrating behaviour considered to be evidence of possession.… Read More Devil Worship and Demonic Possession in French Convents Pt II
Witch hunts were not new to the seventeenth-century population, having been around since before the time of Christ, but the 1600s saw an explosion of interest (or hysteria) regarding witches and their work. During this time convents across Europe would see spontaneous outbreaks of witchcraft, devil worship and demonic possession. For the devil to gain… Read More “Out of spite for the Saviour”: Devil Worship and Demonic possession in French convents pt I
Throughout history, the death of an heir has had a mixed impact on contemporaries. Inevitably a sad event the loss of the heir apparent is not just a blow to the royal family and the court, but to the nation who had, in them, seen their future monarch. Where the heirs were popular the public… Read More “Too good to live upon earth”: The Death of an Heir
The birth of a royal baby is met with excitement from some, indifference by others and media speculation that will spin even the slightest tidbit of information into a story in itself. For three days while we waited for the announcement for the new Prince Louis’ name we were treated to live updates confirming that… Read More Celebrating a Royal Baby
Elizabeth I’s sharp tongue was legendary. Her ladies and courtiers alike were keen to avoid her displeasure for she was well known for her verbal dressing downs, and among her household was feared as much for the lingual blows she would deal on those who displeased her as the physical ones. This is a selection… Read More Quotes in Context: Elizabeth I
Anne Vavasour came to the court of Elizabeth I in the new year of 1580, probably with her sister Frances as a lady of the bedchamber. Anne quickly became a maid of honour but would be dismissed from the position in 1581 marking the permanent end of her court career. ‘Maid of Honour’ she was… Read More ‘The subject of much mirth and merriment’: The loves and life of Anne Vavasour
If you live outside the United Kingdom (or within it – in a bubble roughly the shape of West Glamorgan) you may have escaped the extreme weather that has battered Great Britain recently. Described as, ‘Britain’s Big Chill,’ ‘Britain’s Big Freeze’ and by those within the aforementioned bubble as, ‘what snow?’ it has been described… Read More The Winter of 1407-08: ‘The Great Frost and Ice’
