I had a glorious trip to the lovely Blakesley Hall yesterday and I had a truly spiffing time. The sun was out, it wasn’t raining or blowing a gale, so I was well pleased. I was, as some of you know from my tweets, quite disappointed to discover that most historic houses here in the Birmingham area are… Read on
One of my favourite essayists is Francis Bacon (1561–1626), & it irritates me to no end that people think I’m referring to the weird modern artist (1909–1992) when I’m talking about him. The artist is now, and I think lamentably, more popular than the first famous Francis Bacon; and so my aim with this article is to make you… Read on
Born in the beautiful city of Rome around 1550, Emilio de’ Cavalieri became a relatively popular composer of the Late Renaissance/Early Baroque genre. Cavalieri died on the 11th of March, 1602. I don’t have much more information about him, so…on to the music! Music Recommendations: I have the following album, which I enjoy listening to regularly: [amazon asin=B00005J7UX&template=image&chan=default][amazon asin=B0006FNF3I&template=image&chan=default]
Hever Castle, another beautiful castle in Kent, was home to the Boleyn family. After the Boleyns fell from grace following Anne Boleyn’s spectacularly gruesome demise, the house eventually became the home of King Henry VIII’s cast-off fourth wife, Anne of Cleves. According to the timeline on the Hever Castle site, the house went to the Waldegrave family, which… Read on
In the half of Hampton Court that remains from the Tudor period, there are the world-famous kitchens. Built around 1530, these kitchens were a hub of food preparation activity for over 230 years. Today, food historians and re-enactors sometimes cook historical Tudor fare in front of interested visitors, and it’s wonderful. We all know that Henry VIII had… Read on
John Dowland, popular composer of the Late Renaissance, was buried on this day 20th of February, 1620, at St Ann’s, Blackfriars, London (which was destroyed in the Great Fire of London, 1666, and never rebuilt). He was probably born in 1563, and historians are not very certain of his place of birth nor where his kin came from… Read on
Did my heart love ’til now? Forswear it, sight for I ne’er saw true beauty ’til this night! Quite possibly William Shakespeare’s most popular play, Romeo and Juliet was written between 1591-1595 and was first published in 1597: There are so many very memorable parts in the play – it’s all so endlessly quotable. At Rockledge High School, I… Read on
Isabella is the wife of Hieronimo, the Marshal of Spain and is the mother of Horatio. This play, written by Thomas Kyd in the late 16th century, is above all a revenge play similar to Shakespeare’s tragedies in various ways due to the possibility that Shakespeare borrowed a good deal from Kyd. The play begins with the death of Andrea;… Read on