The deck of cards was probably introduced to England in the late 14th century, immediately rivalling the popularity of old games of chance like dice. Whilst playing cards were absolutely nothing new – the ancient Egyptians used to play them – the standardised ‘suits’ of hearts, diamonds, spades and clubs that we’d recognise today was adopted […]
Every time I check my website’s dashboard stats, I’m more and more surprised by the number of The White Queen/Elizabeth Woodville searches that have directed web-users to this website, specifically my constantly trafficked (and in some cases, plagiarised, naughty naughty…) post on the real White Queen. In the interests of being helpful, I thought I would […]
Eleanor Cobham, Duchess of Gloucester (c.1400 – 7 July 1452), was the mistress and then second wife of Humphrey, Duke of Gloucester, the youngest son of King Henry IV. Eleanor was convicted and imprisoned for ‘sorcery’ and ‘treasonable necromancy’ in 1441 and forced to make a public penance in the streets of London – all […]
As originally hosted here, at The Tudor Cafe. Eltham Palace, in Greenwich, South East London, was the childhood home of Henry VIII, his sisters and younger brother. Sadly, the original medieval house is all but gone, the current building dating from the 1930s. The impressive, timber-roofed Great Hall – built by Edward IV in the […]
Today in History: 9th April 1413 Right now, in the UK, the weather is all that anyone seems able to talk about. “It’s snowing!” people keep telling me, like I don’t have eyes, shaking their heads incredulously. “In April. It’s April!” My Facebook newsfeed is populated with pictures of limp, grey snowmen and effusions of […]
I can’t quite delude myself that Elizabeth Woodville is a “Hidden Historical Heroine” – plenty of people will have heard about her – a number set to increase this spring when the BBC debuts its television adaptation of Philippa Gregory’s novel The White Queen, a fictionalised account of Elizabeth’s life. But before Philippa’s unnecessarily sexed-up […]
Penelope Rich, aka Penelope Blount, Countess of Devonshire (January 1563 – 7 July 1607) was a prominent English noblewoman during the reigns of Elizabeth I and James I. She was the sister of Elizabeth’s “toyboy favourite”, Robert Devereux, Earl of Essex and scandalised her contemporaries with her extra-marital activities. Penelope Devereux was born in 1563, […]
Our first Margaret Drummond (c.1340 – c.1375) was the second wife and queen of David II of Scotland. A member of the Scottish gentry, the young Margaret caught the eye of her king whilst he was married to Joan of the Tower, an English Princess – daughter of Edward II and Isabella of France. David […]
Galway is a river-bounded city in the west of Ireland, founded by the Anglo-Normans in the 12th century. The modern name comes from the anglecisation of the original name of the river, Gaillimh, which legend holds to have been named for the daughter of an ancient chieftain who drowned in its waters. Her distraught […]
ErinLawless.co.uk 