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The Warming Pan Incident
Practically everyone in England hated James II. He was wildly unpopular. He had fathered two grown daughters before he became king and they were duly raised as good Protestants. Then he had the temerity to convert to Catholicism. Everyone suspected it, but when he married Italian princess, Mary of Modena, it was pretty much confirmed. Solid Protestant England was beside itself. They were convinced James was trying to overthrow the Church of England and bring England back into the Roman fold. The only saving grace was James’ two daughters by his marriage to Anne Hyde were Protestant. His eldest daughter, Mary, was married to William of Orange, another good Protestant.…
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Sir John Harington
In my “historic towns” series, I discussed the village of Exton in Rutland, and one of its key historical figures, John Harington, 1st Baron of Exton, favourite of James I of England and guardian of Elizabeth of Bohemia. Just because of the link, I decided to expand and write about Harington’s contemporary and relative, the ‘other’ Sir John Harington. John Harington, writer, was born in Somerset at the family seat in Kelston, around 1560. Although the date is unconfirmed, he was baptised in London on August 4th that year. His parents were poet John Harington Sr and his second wife Isabella Markham who was one of the ladies of Elizabeth…
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The Last Days of Elizabeth I- End of an Era
Gloriana seemed to go on forever, but the woman underneath was growing tired. The uprising and execution of her favorite Robert Devereaux, Earl of Essex, had taken its toll on her. Elizabeth was watching all of her companions of youth passing away and being replaced by their children. She remembered the death watch over her sister, Mary, and how the courtiers rushed to Elizabeth’s camp even before she drew her last breath. She was determined not to let that happen, and kept her cards close to her chest as always and refused to name a successor. However, seeing her friends die and knowing she was at the end of a…
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William Shakespeare
It isn’t known exactly when William Shakespeare was born, however he was baptised on 26th April 1564, In Stratford-Upon-Avon. Historians have estimated it to be the 23rd, and so his birthday is generally attributed to that day. William was the third of eight children and the eldest surviving son born to John Shakespeare, an alderman and Mary Arden, a wealthy land-owning farmer’s daughter. Again details are sketchy about Shakespeare’s childhood; it is thought he received his education at Kings New School in the town. Shakespeare is not recorded as having attended any higher learning institutes; by aged eighteen he was married to Anne Hathaway, who was eight years his senior…
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James Francis Edward Stuart
James Francis Edward Stuart was born on 10 June 1688 to James II of England (James VII of Scotland) and his second wife Mary of Modena. He had eight half brothers and sisters, by his father’s first wife, Anne Hyde of whom only two survived infancy and reached adulthood, his older sisters Mary and Anne. He had six siblings from his parents, only one of whom survived to aged 20, his younger sister Louisa. His father also had two mistresses who between them supplied young James with seven further illegitimate half-siblings, two of whom died young, the rest surviving to adulthood. As James Edward, as he became known, was the…
