What if we could go back in history with our DNA kits and do a few tests? I would go back to the time when a kingdom was inherited and a king had to have a son. And that first son, no matter what his problems, was heir to the throne at the moment of…
Category: England
The year was 1558
Suggested by Rose Kleidon People can be afraid of a lot of things. But a deathly fear of roses? Really? Elizabeth, who became queen of England in 1558, had it. And no wonder! She was the third Tudor to sit on the throne of England and the dynasty emblem was the Tudor Rose. This rose…
The Year was 1926
Missing! For 11 days, police, dogs, airplanes and 15,000 searchers scoured the English countryside for the missing wife. Was she kidnapped? Murdered? Or had she killed herself? This was straight out of a Stephen King novel. Or an Agatha Christie mystery. Wait! This was Agatha Christie. Agatha was married to the tall, dashing Archie Christie,…
The Year was 1501
On the wedding day, Nov. 14, 1501, the bride and groom were each 14. Catherine, a pale, red-haired, blue-eyed beauty with a brilliant mind, was the adored youngest child of Ferdinand and Isabella of Spain. Arthur, named for the legendary King Arthur, was the first-born son of Henry VII of England. What the king loved…
The Year was 1441
O tannenbaum, o tannenbaum… We know this is Oh Christmas Tree, oh Christmas tree…and in fact the Christmas tree comes from early German Protestant celebrations of Christmas. But where did the Lutherans get this idea of decorating greenery in the middle of winter? The Vikings made green bows part of their celebration of mid-winter, perhaps…
The Year was 1254
On November 1, 1254, when she was 13, Eleanor of Castile married her first cousin, Prince Edward. At 15, he was tall and strong. And he detested his father, England’s King Henry III. Heir to the throne he couldn’t wait to get his hands on, Edward had to wait another 16 years. Henry in fact,…
The Year was 1618
It was 400 years ago almost to the day (Oct. 29, 1618) that Sir Water Raleigh joked, “This is sharp medicine indeed.” He was talking about an axe. Raleigh had done the impossible – born a commoner, he had been knighted. In Elizabethan England, Raleigh did it with daring, intelligence, talent, and not the least,…
The Year was 1540
Court painter Hans Holbein had an off-with-your-head mess on his hands. He knew it the instant he laid eyes on sisters Anne and Amalia of Cleves. For once, Holbein’s boss, Henry VIII, was listening to his political advisor and not his heart. As Henry sought Wife 4th, his chamberlain, Thomas Cromwell, warned him, “Look for…
The Year was 1601
If ever a child was born with everything going for him, it was Robert Devereux, the 2nd Earl of Essex. His mother Lettice was first cousin to Queen Elizabeth I. When he was 10, Robert’s father died and he inherited a title, great wealth and vast estates. Essex’s genes gave him great good looks, height,…
The Year was 1564
The most successful fraud ever? True, according to none other than Sigmund Freud. And Charles Dickens. And Mark Twain. Who were they talking about? Shakespeare. William was born in April of 1564 to a wool merchant. His parents, John and Mary, his sisters and brothers and all three of his children were unable to read…