The 23rd of April is St. George’s Day, the feast day of one of the Fourteen Holy Helpers in Christian hagiography, a celebration of the saint who famously slew a dragon and rescued a princess in his youth. St George the Dragon-slayer has been one of the most venerated and renowned saints of Europe, especially adored in… Read more Saint George, the Oak, the Green Man, and Monotheism
Easter is (as most people reading this know) the Christian holiday celebrating the resurrection of Jesus on the third day after his crucifixion. It is the holiest day of the Christian liturgical calendar, and a day when most Christians, even those who normally eschew church-going, attend service. A lot of Americans are what we jokingly… Read more Have A Blessed Easter
Many people are aware that Queen Elizabeth II is a direct descendant of Henry VII via his eldest daughter, Margaret Tudor, who was the sister of King Henry VIII and the Queen of Scotland upon marrying King James IV of Scotland. Not as many people, however, are aware of the convoluted history that lies behind that genetic legacy.… Read more Gene of Thrones, and a Merlin’s Prophesy
Some people have argued that Henry VIII was clearly a psychopath, since psychopaths evince a “glib and superficial charm, grandiose (exaggeratedly high) estimation of self, need for stimulation, pathological lying, cunning and manipulativeness, lack of remorse or guilt, shallow affect (superficial emotional responsiveness), callousness and lack of empathy, parasitic lifestyle, poor behavioral controls, sexual promiscuity,… Read more Gee, WHY was Henry VIII so egotistical?
On 10 April 1815 the Indonesian volcano Tambora (literally) blew its top in the only confirmed VEI-7 eruption since the Lake Taupo’s eruption circa AD 180. The volcano’s initial blast could be heard as far away as Sumatra, which was more than 1200 miles distant from ground zero. Approximately 11,000 people were killed by the… Read more Mt. Tambora Makes an Earth-Shattering Kaboom
King Edward IV died on 9 April 1483, a man still in his prime, which came as a surprise to everyone except his astrologers. Lewis of Caerleon, the renown Welsh mathematician and astrologer who predicted the solar eclipses of 7 April and 3 September 1483, also served as a physician in King Edward IV’s… Read more Eclipse of the Sun in Splendor
Elizabeth Tilney, Countess of Surrey, was the wife of Thomas Howard, Earl of Surrey and the mother of Thomas Howard, 3rd Duke of Norfolk. She was also grandmother of two of King Henry VIII’s queens, Anne Boleyn and Catherine Howard, and two of his known mistresses, Elizabeth Carew and Mary Boleyn Carey. Moreover, through her… Read more Elizabeth Tilney, Countess of Surrey, Grandmother of Queens
Eleanor of Aquitaine was one of the most influential people of the medieval period, and one the most famous women in the history of Europe. She was the richest heiress in Europe at the age of 15, and arguably the greatest beauty as well. If her money didn’t hook a man, the fact she was… Read more The Death of Eleanor of Aquitaine