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Queen Anne
Anne was born on 6th February 1665, the second surviving daughter of Prince James, younger brother of Charles II, and his wife Anne Hyde, Anne was preceded by her older sister Mary. Five brothers and sisters all died in infancy. Three other pregnancies ended in miscarriage. Her Uncle, Charles II died on Anne’s 20th Birthday, with 12 illegitimate heirs but no legitimate children. As a result their father, now married for a second time, assumed his brother’s throne. His reign lasted three short years, before he was regally ditched in favour of his daughter Mary and her husband (and cousin) William of Orange in the ‘Glorious Revolution’ of 1688. James’…
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Act of Union between England and Scotland
On May 1st 1707 the last in a series of attempts at a union between the kingdoms of Scotland and England finally succeeded. Over a period of several centuries, many attempts to unite the crown under the rule of an English monarch had taken place, most notably including the Wars of Scottish Independence in the 13th and 14th Centuries, where the English tried to forcibly take control of Scotland. Later, when looking to take back the Scottish Throne in the 1560’s, Mary, Queen of Scots pledged to support peace between the two nations. Her son, James VI of Scotland after succeeding Elizabeth Tudor and being crowned as James I of…
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THE PENDLE WITCH TRIALS
James I believed in witches and the dark arts. In 1603 he wrote a book ‘Daemononlogie’ in it he instructs the reader to condemn, inform on and prosecute all supporters and practitioners of witchcraft. When James came to the throne, this fear became personified in the common people and a law was passed in 1612 that each Justice of the Peace in Lancashire should write up a list of all those who refused to attend church or take Holy Communion. That was a criminal offense. So when we look at the Pendle ‘witches’ we have to look at them at the point in time in which they were accused. Firstly…
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Frances Howard, the Queen of Hearts and her deadly tarts
The court of James I of England was a breathtaking place, but not built for a beautiful young woman. James I was a well documented lover of male beauty, and a stunning Howard girl was wasted on him. Luckily, young Frances Howard was not one to wait around to be noticed. Born to Thomas Howard, Earl of Suffolk, and granddaughter of Thomas Howard, 4th Duke of Norfolk, Frances had a noble pedigree. She was married off as a child bride to Robert Deveraux, 3rd Earl of Essex. His pedigree was nothing to sneeze at either as he was the son of the infamous Lord Essex, favorite of Queen Elizabeth, and…
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Francis Bacon
Born in January 1561, Bacon was the son of Sir Nicholas Bacon and his second wife Anne. During his time at Cambridge, Bacon began to question the accepted methods of scientific research, believing them to be flawed. His ideas led to the modern approach to scientific research. It is suggested that it was his experimentation of the effects of freezing on decomposition and preservation that led to him catching a chill and developing pneumonia, leading to his death. Bacon embarked on a career in Law and Politics, following his father’s sudden death which left him in financial difficulties. Despite the difficulties Bacon was served as a Member of Parliament from…
