One of the most tragic stories of the English monarchy – and one that has captivated people for centuries – is that of the two Princes in the Tower. The two Princes in question were Edward V of England and his younger brother Richard, Duke of York. When they were 12 and 9 years old,... Continue Reading →
When people think of medieval princesses, they often think of an almost fairy-tale like person. A beautiful young woman who was married off at a young age to a foreign prince, traded as a political pawn, with little agency of her own. Of course, this was often far from the truth, and one such example... Continue Reading →
Jadwiga of Poland was a very remarkable woman, and one who is sadly neglected by those in Western Europe. Living in the fourteenth century, she was the first female monarch of Poland – beating England by nearly 200 years – and despite leading a short life, she left a legacy that continues to today. Jadwiga... Continue Reading →
At the time of Joanna of Castile’s death in 1555 she was 75 years old and had been Queen of Castile for over 50 years. However, for over 45 years she had been effectively imprisoned for her alleged insanity. So who was Joanna, and what led to her fate? Joanna with her parents, Isabella and... Continue Reading →
I recently received a request for some Dutch history, and I am always happy to oblige. In all honesty, I know fairly little about Dutch history on its own, with most of what I do know being how the country was used by the French, English, and Spanish for their own gains. One person who... Continue Reading →
As my blog has been up and running for just over 6 months now, I thought I would return to the topic of my Masters dissertation: Fifteenth-century English royal witches. My first post here was about Eleanor Cobham, the aunt-by-marriage of Henry VI who in 1441 was scandalously tried for using witchcraft, with her accomplices... Continue Reading →
For this latest post in my Royal People series I go back a lot further than most of my posts have focused on so far, to Roman Britain. Boudica is one of the most famous women in English history, and as I grew up in one of the towns she burnt to the ground, I... Continue Reading →
It has been said that if you are of vaguely European descent, you are almost certainly related to Charlemagne. In fact, due to maths calculations, you are probably related to pretty much anyone alive in ninth century Europe who left descendants. As this week’s blog post was delayed because I took a trip to Germany,... Continue Reading →
As my last blog post on medieval English royals was about a woman from my masters dissertation, I thought I would continue the trend and go back to my undergraduate dissertation for the next in the series. For this we go back to the previous century, the early fourteenth century, and look at the wife... Continue Reading →
