There are princesses and princesses. In a previous post, we have touched upon the frail, ethereal princesses that develop bruises from sleeping on a pea. I’m not so sure there are all that many of those… Neither, I can confidently state, are there all that many princesses like Cecilia, Swedish princess, apple of her father’s
From sinful princess to pirate – meet Cecilia Vasa Read More »
When I was a child, we had an eighteen tome encyclopedia in the bookshelf. On days when I had nothing else to read, I’d pull out one of the tomes, open it randomly and read about something I had (probably) never heard of before. Encyclopedias invite that kind of behaviour, the un-organised browsing that has
Saving lives with papers – a man who made a difference Read More »
… is not a recommended approach to career building. But it has proven itself quite effective through history, and in societies where talented and intelligent women were restricted by their gender from pursuing a career under their own steam, what was a young girl to do? After all, if you can’t be the power on
In the 1930’s, several hundreds of Swedish people left their homes in the far north of their country and set off for the Promised Land. Not, as one could think, some sort of belated Zionist movement making for Palestine. No, these people were making for Karelia – in the Soviet Union. In retrospect, it is
Some weeks ago, I wrote a post about Gustav II Adolf, our Swedish hero king. Today I thought we’d spend some time with his mother, a most capable lady – so capable she was as a matter of course included in the council when important matters were to be discussed. Whatever other faults her husband,
Today, I’m spot-lighting a book by fellow author Tony Riches. Set in the 15th century, we have here a tale of sorcery and intrigue, of ambition and its consequences. A woman who wanted too much paid a very high price – but was she really a witch? Tony allows Eleanor Cobham – wife of Humphrey,
They found him in the aftermath of the Battle of Lützen, 382 years ago today. His looted body was naked except for the three knee length linen shirts he had worn as protection against the cold. What little hair he had left was stuck to his skull, covered in blood and gore. There, in the
In 1310, a little old lady was tied into place at the stake and the faggots at her feet were lit. Did she pray? Lock her eyes on the infinite blue of the June sky above? Whatever the case, Marguerite Porete went up in flames, as silent and obdurate in her moment of death as
When they Begin the Beguine – of radical religion in the 13th century Read More »
I am a boring person. Hang on! What sort of self-depreciating nonsense is that? I am not boring, not at all. What I mean to say is that my life has certain tendencies towards the boring, conventional and predictable as it is. Not for me fast-paced adventures saving the Western civilisation from one or other
Electricity has always been around. Lightning is a form of electricity – but our ancestors called it magic, and cowered in fear in their recently decorated caves as the skies burst apart with bolts of light. Or they blamed it on God. “Let there be light,” He thundered, and the sky lit up from within.