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The Queen and the Frog- The courtship of Elizabeth and the Duke of Anjou
Born with the birth name “Hercule”, Francis was the youngest son of Henry II of France and the notorious Catherine de Medici. He was an attractive child, but contracted smallpox at the age of eight, which left him with a scarred face and a deformed spine. As an adult, he would never reach five feet tall and didn’t have the ability or interest in the “manly art” of sports. These qualities alone left him open to derision from his peers. At his confirmation, he changed his name from the ironic “Hercule” to “Francois” to honor his recently deceased brother. He was proposed as a suitor for Elizabeth I as early…
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Mary, Queen of Scots Part III- Prisoner Queen
Mary, Queen of Scots was in a world of hurt. Her husband, Lord Darnley, had been murdered and she was being implicated in his death. It was well known the relationship was on the rocks. He was constantly drunk and kept company with whores. The last straw was his involvement in the death of her secretary, David Rizzio. His house in Kirk of the Field had exploded, but Darnley’s body had been found strangled in the garden. It could have caused nothing but relief for Mary. However, suspicion for his murder fell on several nobles, including James Hepburn, Earl of Bothwell. Mary had consulted Bothwell and a council of nobles…
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Surviving life in the Past- Eating utensils or why your fork is the gateway to Hell
Our first eating utensils were our fingers- utilitarian and simple. However, as manners and class distinctions developed eating with our hands became more complex. By the 1500’s, it was socially desirable to use only the first three fingers. Only the lower classes used their whole hand. This is one of the origins of “pinkie up” as being high brow. Hands were cleaned with a napkin or finger bowls. Erasmus, the Dutch humanist, wrote one of the first modern book of manners, and instructed diners to never lick their fingers. Use a napkin or if that was unavailable the tablecloth. It was also frowned upon to blow one’s nose in the…
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New Year’s Traditions
New Year’s Day in some form or another is humankind’s oldest holiday. It dates back to the Babylonians, where an eleven day festival at the vernal equinox was held to celebrate the new year. There was great feasting and drinking to honor the bounty of the god Marduk, and on the sixth day a mummers play dedicated to the goddess of fertility. Then a huge parade beginning at the temple and ending on the outskirts of Babylon in an appointed “New Year House”. Early European farmers beat drums and blew horns to drive away evil spirits. In China, on the New Year the forces of light beat back the forces…
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Hamilton and Burr- Clash of the Titans
In post-revolutionary America, the founders were all scrambling to find their place. As Joseph Ellis describes it in Founding Brothers, they were all classically educated and were comparing their Great Experiment to the glory days of the Republic of Rome. Everyone jostled for the title of Cincinnatus, Cato, Solon or Cicero. However, they all waited with baited breath to see who would be America’s Catiline. The name may not mean anything to our modern ears, but to those with familiarity with the history of the Roman Republic know that the Catiline conspiracy nearly brought it down. In the aftermath of the election of 1800, Alexander Hamilton thought he had found…
