Lucrezia Borgia is one of those figures in history that we are taught to believe was a really evil person. The name of Borgia alone conjures up a images of poison, ruthless ambition, incest, cruelty, among other unsavoury traits. More than likely, what we’ve learned about her is from anti-Borgia propaganda, and therefore, not to be taken as… Read on
Willem Hendrik, Prince of Orange-Nassau, Stadtholder of the Dutch Republic, and King of England, was born on this day the 14th of November, 1650. It had been a dark week for the House of Orange. William II, aged only twenty-four, had died of smallpox on the sixth of November. His widow, the nineteen-year-old Mary Stuart, Princess of Orange,… Read on
Quite a number of people are finding this blog by searching for “portraits of handsome 17th century men,” and since I don’t wish to disappoint by not having an entry about this, here we are! 1. Arnold Joost von Keppel, Earl of Albemarle: I find Arnold the most aesthetically pleasing of all the portraits I’ve ever seen from… Read on
Mary of Modena, second wife of James, Duke of York, and his Queen consort upon his becoming King James II, was born on this day the 5th of October, 1658, in the Ducal Palace in Modena. She was a beautiful woman, with black hair and dark eyes – what we’d call an Italian beauty now. As you can… Read on
The Glorious Revolution of 1688 marked a profound change in the history of England, and therefore, the United Kingdom. Most of the people who are reading this now – if not all- know of this revolution and its ramifications upon the history of this nation, but what I find quite disheartening is the fact that most people one encounters do… Read on