Today, I am delighted to welcome Tony Riches back to my blog, this time to celebrate his recent release, Queen Anna Anna was born a Danish princess, daughter to the keen amateur chemist Sofia of Mecklenburg and Fredrik II. Her mother was a big fan of Tycho Brahe, not so Anna’s brother, Christian IV, both […]
Queen Anna – welcoming Tony Riches and his latest release Read More »
Medieval princesses had it tough. Rarely did they experience the joy of a loving union—Eleanor of Castile and her Edward is one of the major exceptions to that—often were they sent off to lands unknown, never to return. Yes, they were raised to do this. They were educated and buffed and polished, and many likely
Poor little Maria – the sad story of a medieval princess Read More »
There are benefits to ushering book babies into the world vs real babies – like it doesn’t hurt quite as much. The labour behind a book baby is, however, in many ways as significant as that behind delivering a child. Hours and hours of research; days, weeks, months writing and honing your text; moments when
Welcoming my 24th book baby – Queen of Shadows is here! Read More »
Oh my, oh my. When I first picked up Ms Appleyard’s latest release, I was expecting to find it interesting. I did not quite expect to become so utterly engrossed I spent hours breaking off to research further, or to break off my reading to turn to hubby and say “did you know…” before launching
In 1328, fifteen-year-old Maria of Portugal married Alfonso XI of Castile. He was a couple of years older than her, still a teenager, had been king since he was a baby and had, at the age of fourteen assumed control over his realm. They were first cousins on both sides, which required papal dispensations. (As
In 1777, the Åhrman family welcomed yet another baby to the world. We don’t know much about the family, but given that this baby was sent out to serve as a maid before her teens, we can assume they were at most tenant farmers, probably farm servants. Anyway: the baby was baptised Anna Maria, and
Becoming Anders Magnus – the case of an 18th century crossdresser Read More »
The 16th century was a century of huge upheaval in Europe. Where before there had been ONE church, suddenly there were many variants of the Christian faith. Some of the consequences of the Reformation were good – literacy increased as a consequence of Protestants advocating a personal relation to God which assumed reading God’s word.
When Luther sort of approved of bigamy – of Philip of Hesse and his wives Read More »
I am more than happy to have Charlene Newcomb as my guest today. Not only is she, like me, something of a medieval history gal, she is also an author I admire and respect – even if at present I’m a bit peeved about the fact that she’s planning NOT to write another book. Hello!!!
Rogues and Kings – Char Newcomb’s take on King John’s last days Read More »
In one of my books about Adam de Guirande (Ah! Almost my favourite hero, this knight so torn between his allegiances to the lord who saved him and raised him, Roger Mortimer, and the young boy-king, Edward III . . . Your favourite? Matthew Graham growls. Aye, what about the rest of us? asks Robert
Dangerous ambitions – of a failed coup and its consequences Read More »
If I hear the word mantua, I think of a garment that originally was some sort of female version of a male banyan – i.e. relax robe – successively became more and more complex, developing into the imposing 18th century robe à la française before further developing into dresses like the one below, worn by
A posy of Eleonoras – or how a portrait led to a LOT of reading! Read More »