Yesterday marked the anniversary of the Dunblane School Massacre, when a monster named Thomas Hamilton entered Dunblane primary school in Scotland and used four handguns to murder 16 children, 1 adult teacher, and injure dozens before killing himself and (hopefully) heading to hell where he belonged. The teacher and half the class pictured below died… Read more Dunblane and Gun Control
Charles Grey, future Prime Minister, 2nd Earl Grey, and progressive hero, was born on 13 March 1764 to General Charles Grey, who was created 1st Earl Grey and Viscount Howick in 1806. A genius, Charles Grey wowed his way through Trinity College, Cambridge and was only 22 years old when he was elected to Parliament for… Read more Happy Birthday Charles Grey, 2nd Earl Grey!
Christian VII, King of Denmark-Norway and Duke of Schleswig and Holstein, shuffled off his mortal coil on 13 March 1808, leaving his son – who had already been ruling as Prince Regent of Denmark-Norway since 1784 – to become monarch Frederick VI in name as well as in fact. Christian was born on 29 January… Read more The Madness of King George’s Cousin
Thomas Boleyn, 1st Earl of Wiltshire and 1st Viscount Rochford, passed away on 12 March 1539 at his family home of family home, Hever Castle, Kent, where he had been born some 61 years before. The only members of his family to survive him were his eldest daughter, Mary Boleyn, and his three grandchildren, Catherine… Read more Thomas Boleyn, Villain or Victim?
The sheela-na-gig, once seen, are hard to forget. These carvings can be found on medieval churches and buildings across Northern Europe, but more frequently in the British Isles and in the greatest numbers in Ireland. A popular hypothesis is that sheela na gigs represent a pagan goddess, but academics believe the situation was more complex,… Read more Sheela-na-gig and Cultural Function
Jousting was a dangerous sport, and on 10 March 1524 King Henry VIII was very nearly maimed — or killed — during a tournament. Edward Hall’s Chronicle recounts: “Then [Charles Brandon, the Duke of Suffolk] set forward and charged with his spear, and the king likewise unadvisedly set off towards the duke. The people, seeing… Read more Justly Jousting in 1524
Ferdinand II of Aragon, husband and co-ruler with Isabella I of Castile, was born on 10 March 1452 and I don’t like him very much. For one thing, he and his wife were rabid Catholics who expressed the their religion less through Christ’s tenants of mercy and kindness and more along the lines of slaughtering… Read more Happy Birthday to Ferdinand II of Aragon and His Grandson, Ferdinand I of Bohemia and Hungary
The beloved Georgina era author, poet, and editor Anna Laetitia Aikin Barbauld passed away on 9 March 1825, and she was largely forgotten until feminists dragged her work back out into the spotlight and made the literati admit that the woman was immensely talented. Her most controversial work was her epic poem Eighteen-Hundred and Eleven.… Read more Remembering Regency Poet Anna Barbauld
Richard de la Pole, fifth son of John de la Pole, 2nd Duke of Suffolk and Elizabeth of York, was a Yorkist claimant to the English throne and a definite thorn in the side of Henry VIII. De la Pole, known by his moniker ‘The White Rose’, had a claim to the crown that was arguably more valid than… Read more An Heir’s Breath Away
David Rizzo, or to use his birth name — David Riccio di Pancalieri in Piemonte – was a personal musician for Mary, Queen of Scots. The queen favoured the witty violinist, and often chose him to sit with her and her ladies-in-waiting. Mary was very musically inclined and had been raised in the refinement of the… Read more The Murder of David Rizzo