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 »
Today’s post is about an ailment, namely gout. Why? Because I discovered some months ago that Edward I, a larger-than-life presence in my upcoming rlease, apparently suffered from this disease. Now, In Sweden gout has pejoratively been known as “portvinstå” – portwinetoe – and was assumed to afflict only very sedentary, very rich, somewhat obese,