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Claire | February 18, 2012
On this day in history, the merchant and conspirator Roberto di Ridolfi died at the grand old age of eighty at his hometown of Florence in Italy. The name “Ridolfi” may sound familiar to you and this is because of the Ridolfi Plot, a plot to assassinate Elizabeth I and to replace her with Mary
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Claire | January 15, 2012
On the 15th January 1559, a day chosen by her astrologer Dr John Dee, a triumphant Elizabeth Tudor, daughter of Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn, processed from Westminster Hall into Westminster Abbey to be crowned queen. She was just 25 years old and was the third child of Henry VIII to become monarch and was
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Claire | January 6, 2012
On this day in history, 6th January 1562, Shane O’Neill (Irish name Seán Ó Néill), King of the Ulster O’Neill clan in Ireland, was received in the English court by Queen Elizabeth I:- “John Onell the Frenshman who had don much myschief the sommer past in Ireland cometh by save condytt into England and was
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Claire | January 3, 2012
Thank you so much to Evangelia Palios on Twitter for telling me about Lisa Jardine’s radio programme “Glamour in Austerity” which follows on from the article I mentioned in my last post Elizabeth I’s Use of Dress as a Political Tool. You can listen to the programme via BBC iPlayer at http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b018h188#synopsis and the blurb
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Claire | December 13, 2011
On this day in history, 13th December 1577, Sir Francis Drake finally left Plymouth with his fleet of five ships on a journey which would see him circumnavigating the Globe. Storm damage to two of his ships had scuppered earlier plans. The purpose of this journey was to sail into the Pacific and raid the
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Claire | December 1, 2011
Apologies for not posting about Elizabeth I’s famous Golden Speech yesterday on its 410th anniversary, yesterday was just one of those days! You can find diarist Hayward Townshend’s version of the speech in our Speeches section under Resources – click here and it is an amazing speech. Elizabeth delivered it to the House of Commons
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Claire | November 10, 2011
Happy Birthday, Robert Devereux! Yes, on this day in history, 10th November 1565, Robert Devereux, 2nd Earl of Essex, was born at Netherwood, Herefordshire. Devereux was the eldest son of Walter Deverux, 1st Earl of Essex, and Lettice Knollys, granddaughter of Mary Boleyn, and was a favourite of Elizabeth I. Devereux came to a rather
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Claire | September 7, 2011
On this day in history, 7th September 1533, Elizabeth Tudor, the future Queen Elizabeth I, was born at Greenwich Palace. She was the daughter of Henry VIII and his second wife, Anne Boleyn, and even though today people from all over the world, from all walks of life, recognise her from her iconic portraits and
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Claire | August 24, 2011
Today is the anniversary of a rather bloody day in history, the 1572 St Bartholomew’s Day Massacre which saw an estimated 3,000 Huguenots (French Protestants) massacred in Paris and a further 7,000 outside of the city in the provinces. Interesting fact: Sir Francis Walsingham was in Paris at the time of the massacre, serving as
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Claire | April 23, 2011
Enjoy this video of bloggers from around the world commemorating and celebrating the work of the Bard, William Shakespeare as part of the http://www.happybirthdayshakespeare.com/ project:- I was lucky enough to grow up near Stratford-upon-Avon and to be able to see performances of some of Shakespeare’s plays at The Royal Shakespeare Theatre. My favourite was Macbeth
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