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 »
It has been quite some time since I indulged in my fascination with the Hapsburgs, this once so powerful family that controlled most of Catholic Europe and preferred to marry very close kin—which, eventually, led to disaster, at least for the Spanish Hapsburgs. But the Hapsburgs weren’t always an inbred dynasty on the brink of
Anna and Maria – Holy Roman Empresses that took their procreating duty seriously! Read More »
Early in March of 1526, Isabel of Portugal finally got her dream prince. At last! The groom, Holy Roman Emperor Carlos I (or Charles V, depending on who you’re asking) had originally been less than interested in the match with his first cousin, and for years Isabel had waited for the man to come to
His empress, his love – of Isabel, matriarch to the Spanish Hapsburgs Read More »
During the past summer, I did something I’ve been planning to do for years: I visited Kalmar Castle, which is one of the older castles in Sweden. Initially built in the 13th century, it reached its full glory as a Renaissance Palace in the 16th century, but nothing really lasts for ever does it? The
Evil deeds and their grisly consequences – of crime and punishment Read More »
In Sweden, Kristian II of Denmark has the not-so-flattering epithet ”the tyrant”. After all, it was because of his duplicity that the streets of Stockholm ran red with blood one cold November night in 1520 as one after another of the Swedish nobles who’d fought against Danish dominion were summarily executed. In Denmark, obviously, he
When Isabella of Austria became Elisabeth of Denmark – the story of a young queen Read More »
In one of my recent posts, I wrote about Hans II of Denmark and his wife, Kristina. Not a marital union that ended all that happily—not after Hans became so infatuated with the fair Edle he forgot that key word discretion, thereby humiliating his loyal wife before the entire court. Well, so thought the queen
From royal prince to mendicant friar – the story of Jakob of Dacia Read More »
Sometimes, I start out by researching one person and end up fascinated by another. In this particular case, I wanted to know more about Hans II, King of Denmark and Norway (“And Sweden!” he adds, but as he was only king here for like three years, I see that as more of a parenthesis) This
Ms Ironbeard, King Hans and the failure of a royal marriage Read More »
I wrote this post several years ago, but it remains a favourite of mine, mainly because the idea of mary Queen of Scots and John Knox working together as marriage counsellors is so…wow? Impossible? So, I give you Mary and John and their efforts to save a failing marriage! These days, we tend to have
The matter of an infected Scottish marriage and its consequences Read More »
Today, I am hosting a stop on the book tour for State of Treason by Paul Walker. It is a somewhat unusual book tour in that the promoted format is the audio version. Audio books is a relatively new thing for me–but I realise I am WAY behind the times here. I am also rather
State of Treason – welcoming Paul Walker and his spying protagonist Read More »
I am presently taking part in the Historical Writer’s Forum Blog Hop. This year’s theme is “Momentuous events”, and as history is choc-full of momentuous events, it wasn’t exactly easy to whittle things down. But when restricting myself to momentuous events in July, today’s subject leapt out and grabbed me by the throat. Well, figuratively
Rise, wash, convert – 25 of July 1593 was an unusual day in the life of Henri IV Read More »