On 2 December 1546 Thomas Howard, 3rd Duke of Norfolk and his son, Henry Howard, Earl of Surrey, were both thrown into the Tower for the shadiest of reasons and for the weakest of excuses. Only the duke would survive. Henry Howard, one of the great poets of the Tudor age, would be executed for trumped up… Read more Henry Howard, the Earl of Surrey
The Dutch Republic ended on 18 January 1795 with the founding of the Batavian Republic. The authoritarian regime of the stadtholder, William V, Prince of Orange was overthrow by the Dutch Patriots demanding a democratic government, after which William fled to England, taking refuge in the “Dutch House” at Kew Palace. During the last quarter… Read more Revolutions Everywhere
In my opinion, Whig politician William Wyndham Grenville, 1st Baron Grenville, is an incredibly underrated Prime Minister of Great Britain. He was in power only a year (11 February 1806 – 31 March 1807) but he used that brief time to drag the UK kicking and screaming onto the moral high ground by leading the… Read more Honor Isn’t Profitable, But it IS Good
In case you were unaware of it, I have book coming out soon that is a retelling of Mansfield Park from the anti-heroine Mary Crawford’s point of view. Inasmuch as the story is set in Regency England, the characters therein have an ABUNDANCE of scandal to communicate, considering the naughty nature of the “glittering throng”… Read more So Much Regency Gossip, So little Time
The situation of Lady Hamilton makes a brief appearance in my forthcoming novel, Mansfield Parsonage! The day after Sir Thomas’s homecoming dawn clear and mild, an ideal situation for a long walk, of which Mary and Henry took advantage. Soon after breakfast the siblings departed on their ramble, this time heading away from the River… Read more A Little More About Lady Hamilton
The state funeral of Admiral Horatio Nelson was held on 9 January, 1806 and frankly there were Roman Emperors who were mourned with less gravitas and pomp than the Hero of Trafalgar was lamented by the English. The funeral was lavish to say the least. Nelson’s body, inside of a lead coffin that was in… Read more Lady Hamilton’s Lover in Cardinal Wolsey’s Sarcophagus
I have often thought it was regrettable that the modern push for sales has moved all the emphasis of the Season to before the actual day rather than leaving that time for proper Advent and making the real Christmastide – the Twelve Days of Christmas – the time of celebrations and fun. By the time… Read more Regency Twelfth Night
People tend to associate steam-powered machinery and railroads with the Victorian era (hence the science-fiction subgenre Steampunk), but the it was the Regency that actually gave birth to the new steam engines. One of the first successful steamboat launchings happened in Glasgow, Scotland on 4 January 1803. The ship’s name was the Charlotte Dundas, and… Read more Full Steam Ahead!
When a the Jordan Lead Codices hit the news in March of 2011 there was a flurry of hyperbole, hysteria, and then dismissal. First it was claimed that the codices dated from the “1st century AD … and that they might predate the writings of St. Paul and that “leading academics” believed they might be… Read more The Jordan Lead Codices
New Year’s Day actually began at sundown on 31 December for people in Medieval times because days were counted as starting then rather than at midnight back in then. That’s also why we do our primary partying (at least when we are younger and stronger than my middle-aged butt is now) on New Year’s Eve… Read more Happy New Year’s!