Daisy Coleman, a survivor of rape who became an advocate for sexual assault victims, has committed suicide at the age of 23. Daisy was only 14 when she was raped. She was a new girl in school, and made the mistake of sneaking out of her home Maryville, MO with her thirteen year old friend… Read more The Social Murder of Daisy Coleman
Long before John Knox first blasted his trumpet about the ‘monstrous regiment of women’ rulers, the fear of a female head of state was considered just and natural in Medieval Europe. Several kingdoms had codified Salic Law from 500 AD onward to prevent a woman from inheriting a throne. In the 12th century, England had… Read more The Medieval Fear of Women Rulers
Catherine the Great, Empress of Russia, died on 17 November 1796, less than 24 hours after suffering a massive stroke. She was not anywhere near a horse. She was one of the strongest and most capable rulers that Russia, and the world, has ever known. She dragged Russia into its place as a modern European… Read more The Non-Equestrian Death of Catherine the Great
Maria Antonia Josepha Johanna came into the world on November 2, 1755 – the fifteenth born and the last daughter of the sixteen children of the Holy Roman Emperor Francis I and his empress Maria Theresa. Her life was taken from her, courtesy of Madame Guillotine, at 12:15 p.m. on 16 October 1793. Most people know… Read more Marie Antoinette’s Death
The theory that Henry VIII had McLeod’s syndrome rests largely on the king’s drastic change in personality after his 40th birthday. Henry was not the same man in 1530 that he was in 1535, and it was such a drastic change it almost requires a medical reason to explain it. Prior to the 1530s, the… Read more Why Didn’t the King Kill William Peto?
Henry VII’s fifth wife, Katheryn Howard, was beheaded in the Tower’s icy courtyard on 13 February 1542. In spite of her youth, she was said to have made a “most Godly and Christian end”. The former queen had even asked that the headsman’s block be brought to her in her rooms, so that she… Read more Katheryn Howard’s Death
On 23 June 1794 Empress Catherine II of Russia, known historically as Catherine the Great, formally granted permission for Jews to move into Kyiv, which is now the Ukrainian city of Kiev. This was an unpopular move on Catherine’s part, since the Orthodox Christians of Kiev insisted that their community was “profaned” by Jewish residency.… Read more Catherine the Great Allows Jewish Settlement in Kyiv
Anne Boleyn was crowned queen on 1 June 1533. It was a day of many mixed blessings for the new queen. She was publically acknowledged as Henry VIII’s wife, adored by her husband, and she was heavily pregnant with the baby she felt sure would be a boy. On the other hand, supporters of the Henry’s… Read more Anne Boleyn Crowned Queen of England
Henry VIII became engaged to Jane Seymour on 20 May 1536, one day after beheading his second wife, Anne Boleyn. On the morning of Anne’s death, he had a barge waiting for him in order to whisk him downriver to Jane as soon as the former queen’s head was off, and while Anne’s body cooled… Read more Funeral Food and Wedding Feasts
Historians and history-buffs alike have strong opinions about facts and persons and those opinions aren’t universal. Nevertheless, there tends to be enough commonality that two “camps” will spring up regarding an event. For those interested in the Tudor era, there is often a spilt into (let’s overly-simplify it for the sake of argument) people who… Read more What Anne Boleyn Did That Jane Seymour Didn’t