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: Nobility
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 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 1095
They started in 1095 and ended in 1271, but the word we use today only came into existence after 1760. The word? Crusade. In 1570 France, it was croisade. It comes from the Latin cruciare, “to mark with a cross.” In this case, Cross. The Latin base is crux. At the Council of Clermont, Pope…
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 1559
This prophecy, in Quatrain #I-35, made Nostradamus famous The young lion will defeat the old one, In the field of battle in single combat, He will pierce his eyes in a cage of gold, Two wounds in one, and then a cruel death. But what did it mean? The French King, Henri II,…
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 1035
When King Cnut died in 1035, it should have been a simple matter to divide his kingdom between his two teenage sons. King Cnut had a wife, Emma of Normandy. They had a son, Harthacnut. King Cnut also had a mistress, Aelfgifu. And they had a son, Harold Harefoot. King Cnut ruled two kingdoms, the…
The year was 1745
Sophie von Anhalt-Zerbst was supposed to change her language, her religion, and even her first name to be suitable for her prospective husband’s family. While he stayed in his rooms playing with his massive collection of tin soldier armies, Sophie, alone and friendless in her new country, was studying, often pacing her suite of rooms…