Best known for having 6 wives in his desperate attempt to have a male heir and for executing a fair amount of people, wives, friends as well as rivals. Another claim to fame was that he possessed the largest collection of tapestries depicting historic, religious and mythical figures, all of whom he identified with; and […]
Codpieces – Renaissance vanity or necessity – Part 1
Codpieces briefly reared their head during the renaissance period and reached their peak in 1550’s. Every man who donned a pair of leggings wore a codpiece, regardless of age, sexual orientation or religion persuasion. For some reason, fashionistas of the 1500’s thought that a man running around in a pair of leggings with a short […]
Jane Boleyn – Condemner of Queens – Part 3
After the tragic beheading of Anne and George, Jane moved to the countryside but was soon recalled back to the Kings court and made Lady of the Bedchamber to Jane Seymour who had become the third wife of King Henry. Unfortunately, Jane Seymour died a couple of days after giving birth to a son, named […]
Jane Boleyn – Condemner of Queens – Part 2
But where was Jane Boleyn during all this? Stuck in a loveless, childless marriage to the intelligent, good looking George, who was a palace courtier during the early reign of King Henry VIII and a firm favourite of the King due to his quick wit and intelligence. George Boleyn was regularly mentioned in the palace […]
Jane Boleyn – Condemner of Queens – Part 1
Jane Parker, who was a distant cousin of King Henry VIII, came from a wealthy, well-connected, politically active and respected family and through an arranged marriage, became the wife of George Boleyn. George was best friends with the sexually insatiable King Henry who would one day actively pursue a pretty young girl called Anne, who […]
Sin Eaters & other macabre events – Part 2
So with the multitude of people dying, Sin Eaters could pick and choose whose funeral feast they wish to partake in and understandably they probably selected the more affluent for a better quality bread and grog However, with all the imbibing going on at the cemetery and unless the grieving family wanted an inebriated Sin […]
Sin Eaters – Part 1
A leading cause of death in the 18th century was a myriad of infectious diseases which kept cropping up, such as cholera, smallpox, scarlet fever, tuberculosis, measles and typhus and along with it, a non-existent knowledge of germs, bacteria and antibiotics Hygiene was not commonplace and people still believed that bathing in hot water allowed […]
