Somewhere in the mid 16th century, an informal little club was formed. The members of this club were all male, all men of the world and of high status – and none of them really wanted to be a member, all of them hoping to have reaped success where the others had failed. Prominent members […]
In my recent post about St Birgitta, I mentioned in passing the Swedish queen, Blanka. According to Birgitta, this French sissy had none of the spiritual backbone required of a queen, and besides, she was French… As for Blanka, I suspect St Birgitta was not on her Top Ten most favourite people list – especially
Sweden only has a handful of saints. Given that we’ve been Protestant since the 16th century, and given that Sweden was a most remote country in the Middle Ages, on the fringes of the European world (well, to some extent we still are, stuck up here in the north with a total of nine million
Behold this fragile, angelic child. A girl? A boy? Difficult to tell at first glance, isn’t it? One imagines a child rushing through sunlit meadows, arms outstretched to touch the high grasses that surround it. A high, pealing laugh, those golden curls bouncing as the child increases it speed, making for the welcoming arms of
Back in the 18th century, there lived an upright young man called Ored Nilsson. According to the existing records, Ored was “of goodly strength” and worked as a farm hand. His father was a former saltpetre boiler, an attractive position with the government whereby the boiler would wander round the nearby farms, collect the soil
We’ve spent Christmas out in the country – our first ever Christmas with just us and the surrounding forest. With the exception of the faint lights from the house on the opposite side of the lake, we have been utterly alone – well, as alone as one can be in a family of six plus
Yes, yes; we all have different preferences. The title above may conjure up champagne for some, whisky for others and maybe just a glass of cold water for the purist. To me, it’s all about tea. I start my day with tea. I end it with tea. This is actually not a good idea, as
I am very proud to be hosting Judith Arnopp on my blog today. A prolific writer, Judith has a fondness for depicting strong women throughout the ages. For more information about Judith and her books, please visit her website. Anyway, today’s post is about that most fascinating of English kings, Henry VIII. Somehow, after reading
Recently, I have come to suspect that many people up here in the cold grey north are overdosing on “Vikings”. For those of you that don’t know, this is a TV series (deliciously full of historical errors) starring Travis Fimmel as Ragnar Lodbroke (Ragnar Hairy-Breeches – wonderful name). Now, it is as obvious as the
I am very proud to be hosting Lori Crane on my blog today. For those of you who have as yet not made acquaintance with Lori’s books, I must say you are in for a major treat. This lady knows how to write – and even more, she writes about her own ancestors in various
Welcoming Elly Hays – five generations down the line Read More »