Artemisia Gentileschi, female Baroque painter, was born on the 8th of July, 1593, the daughter of Orazio Gentileschi (another masterful painter). Whenever people discuss Artemisia, her work is almost always associated with painful events that occurred during her teens, which I will get to a bit later on. But, first, here is a self-portrait from the lady herself: One of the… Read on
Ford, Lord Grey, was one of the Duke of Monmouth’s closest friends, and played a particularly important role both in the Rye-House Plot of 1683 and Monmouth’s Rebellion in 1685. During the course of researching His Last Mistress, I re-read The Confession of Ford, Lord Grey, which he wrote during his incarceration at the Tower of London in… Read on
Starring a very young Clive Owen, Polly Walker, Billie Whitelaw, and Sean Bean, this version was a lot starker (pun intended, Game of Thrones, fans) than the 2000 version, and the plot significantly altered. The Monmouth Rebellion, for example, which was extremely important to the plot in the original novel Lorna Doone by R.D. Blackmore does not feature in this adaptation.… Read on
I’m very pleased to welcome our first guest post ever here on The Seventeenth Century Lady, and this by historical fiction author Anita Seymour. Here she is in an interview with Elizabeth Murray, the star of Seymour’s biographical fiction novel, Royalist Rebel, which is set in our ever-interesting Seventeenth Century! Without further ado, take it away, Anita! Enjoy,… Read on
I am an unabashed romantic. That being said, I do not require the majority of the books I read to end happily ever after. In fact, all of my favourite romances from history and literature have been tragic. I grew up reading Arthurian legends, Thomas Hardy, Shakespeare’s tragedies, and more. I must be frank with you, I have… Read on
Naseby is a small village in rural, picturesque Northamptonshire, England. With curving country lanes, and rolling hills of farmland sprawling into the distance, it’s tranquil and quiet, only interrupted by the sounds of passing vehicles on the motorway nearby. But it wasn’t like that during the Battle of Naseby, during the English Civil War, which encompassed the surrounding… Read on
My good friend, Oscar, who lives in The Netherlands (and who is an ardent monarchist like I am) sent me a lovely present, which I received this morning. I thought it was too cute not to share with you all. It’s gorgeous, isn’t it? A silver desk standee of King William III, who was of course Stadtholder and… Read on
My article, “The Allure of the Royal Mistress” is now available on The Huffington Post. Below, I have images of the women I mention in the article: 1) Aspasia, mistress of Pericles: 2) Queen Cleopatra of Egypt: 3) Diane de Poitiers: 4) Anne Boleyn: 5) Nell Gwynn: 6) Barbara Palmer (Villiers): 7) Madame de Montespan: 8) Madame de… Read on