History of Festivals/ Events

By

Where did Valentine's Day Originate From?

The History of Mothering Sunday

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Murder of Edward VI's Dog...

By
Image
In 1547, Henry VIII died and his nine year old son became King Edward VI of England. As he was not yet an adult, Edward's uncle Edward Seymour, 1st Duke of Somerset (brother of the king's dead mother-  Jane Seymour ) became Lord Protector, ruling the country on behalf of Edward VI. He was Lord Protector between 1547 and 1549. Thomas Seymour (young Edward's 'favourite' uncle) had been promoted to Lord High Admiral, this gave him the power to control the royal navy. Seymour took advantage of this power and tried to lead a rebellion on the throne. Now, the officials had there eye on the scheming uncle... Jealous of his brother's high position in the country, Thomas Seymour  snuck into the palace one night in an attempt to kidnap his nephew. Whilst breaking into the palace, one of Edward's favourite pets, a spaniel began barking. Afraid that the dog would alert the guards, Seymour shot it. On 28th March 1549, Thomas Seymour was beheaded for high treason. ...
Read more

Elizabeth Woodville: The White Queen

By
Image
Elizabeth Woodville Elizabeth Woodville In 1464, in the heat of one of the bloodiest wars in the history of England- The Wars of the Roses (aka: The Cousin's Wars), a Lancastrian noble woman married a Yorkist king. Elizabeth Woodville was the daughter of Jacquetta of Luxembourg and Richard Woodville, 1st earl of Rivers. Elizabeth was born in 1436 on the 3rd January in Grafton Regis, one of thirteen siblings! At the time of Elizabeth's birth, the Rivers were a mid- ranking noble family; her marriage to King Edward IV caused such a scandal because the king was expected to marry for politics rather than love and Elizabeth was not high- ranking.  The Wars of the Roses was an extremely brutal war. The first battle was fought on 22nd May 1455. The leader of the Yorks was Richard, Duke of York (father of Edward IV, George Duke of Clarence and Richard Duke of Gloucester) and the leader of the Lancastrians was Henry VI. Both the Yorks and the Lancastrians were descendants ...
Read more

The Legend of Melusine

By
Image
Melusine bathing Melusine (also known as Melusina) is a faerie of European Folklore. Traditionally, the faerie is represented with a woman's body on land and when in water, a woman's torso and a fish and occasionally a serpent's tail. This is one of the many versions of the myth that was based around the story by Jean d' Arras.  One day a noble knight- Count Siegfried was riding around the Luxembourg valleys when he heard a woman's beautiful singing. As he rode towards the enchanting voice, he saw a beautiful woman who turned out to be the water nixie Melusine. Count Siegfried fell in love with this mythical being and asked for her hand in marriage. She accepted, as he was a handsome man, on the condition that each Saturday, she was allowed to retire to her chambers and he was not to pry on her. He agreed. The count and the nixie married and she provided her husband with seven healthy children. However rumours arose around the count's friends abou...
Read more