I’ve known Peni Jo Renner for several years now (as the 17th-century was such a niche market for a while); so it is with pleasure that I welcome her to The Seventeenth Century Lady to discuss her latest 17th-century historical fiction book, Letters to Kezia! After reading my first novel, Puritan Witch; The Redemption of Rebecca Eames, most… Read on
Being that the Ashmolean Museum is one of the finest in the world and that it happens to have been created in the 17th-century, I was thrilled to have been able to finally visit last Wednesday. One can live in a country for years and sadly miss out on some of the gems. I met up with my… Read on
Good day to you all! Please welcome 17th-century historical fiction author Anita Davison (who writes as Anita Seymour) to The Seventeenth Century Lady! ______________________________________________________ I was born in Islington, and hail from a family of Londoners, and although I was brought up in the suburbs, I was fed a diet of family stories about wartime London and the… Read on
Yesterday evening, following a good old research session at the National Archives at Kew, I attended a lecture at the Royal College of Physicians in London. The lecture, entitled, ‘Losing sight of Glory’: Six centuries of battlefield surgery,’ and given by Michael Crumplin, was superb. Before the lecture began, however, we were all able to view the Prujean Chest,… Read on
Please welcome award-winning novelist Piers Alexander to The Seventeenth Century Lady! Dura lex sed lex: The law is harsh, but it is the law. For Huguenots in the 1600s, royal edicts were instruments of hope and despair, both in France and in England. Slaughtered for their faith in the sixteenth century (the St Bartholomew’s Day Massacre of 1572… Read on
A few months ago, I found out about this upcoming release from Charles Spencer. Naturally, given its subject matter, I was excited. I was jumping up and down when I received an advanced copy of “Killers of the King – the Men Who Dared to Execute Charles I”. I’ll be frank, this was the first history book I’ve read by… Read on
Dare Devils: Seventeenth Century Highwaymen by Deborah Swift Though legends of highwaymen are many, there is only one featuring a woman – Lady Katherine Fanshawe. Shadow on the Highway is the first instalment in her story, the real history which over the generations has become embroidered with myth, as have all the other highway stories. Lady Katherine was… Read on
It’s not often one is able to see one’s favourite actor in a play set in the 17th century, so when I saw the poster below on the Tube recently, I immediately scrambled to get seats for this production of Arthur Miller’s The Crucible. By the time I was looking for tickets, there were very few seats available,… Read on
Last Friday, the 1 August, we observed the 300th anniversary of the death of Queen Anne, the end of the Stuart dynasty and the beginning of the Georgian/Hanoverian period. 1714 was a major year in British and European history. In recent days, I have been pleasantly surprised at the number of people wanting to learn more about this… Read on
On Friday I had the great honour of visiting the gorgeous, great Jacobean house, Aston Hall. What is Aston Hall, and why is it important? Well, let’s start off with the introduction from the official guide book, shall we? Aston Hall is a magnificent Grade I Listed Jacobean mansion sitting in a Grade II Listed Park…Constructed between 1618… Read on
I had a glorious trip to the lovely Blakesley Hall yesterday and I had a truly spiffing time. The sun was out, it wasn’t raining or blowing a gale, so I was well pleased. I was, as some of you know from my tweets, quite disappointed to discover that most historic houses here in the Birmingham area are… Read on
One of my favourite essayists is Francis Bacon (1561–1626), & it irritates me to no end that people think I’m referring to the weird modern artist (1909–1992) when I’m talking about him. The artist is now, and I think lamentably, more popular than the first famous Francis Bacon; and so my aim with this article is to make you… Read on
I’m not being funny. Fleas had a notoriously important impact on life in the 17th-century (hello, Great Plague!) and many deaths stemmed from their parasitic habits. I remember at Paleis Het Loo in The Netherlands, the audio guide stated that fleas and lice were a problem for everyone, regardless of their place in society. I already knew this, but it… Read on
I’m always keen on a worthy historical cause, and this one came to my attention a few days ago in an email from the National Portrait Gallery. Van Dyck, as many readers of this website already know, was a very important Flemish painter during the early-to-middle part of the 17th Century and famously produced many portraits of the… Read on
My assignment for my online course, in case you were interested! The Seventeenth Century was a remarkable time in the history of the world. It was a time of growth in terms of economy and global trade, colonial expansionism, and at the same time, the roots of the modern world took hold. Both conquerors and conquered peoples had… Read on
From early notes on 17th-century slavery for THE MANOR: Three Centuries at a Slave Plantation on Long Island. I came to this book through the boxwoods that I saw behind the house when I rowed up Gardiner’s Creek on Shelter Island and reached the 1737 house that stands near the water. I soon came to realize they were… Read on
Today on The Seventeenth Century Lady, we welcome Rob Benbow who is campaigning to get a statue of major 17th-century Admiral Benbow. According to their official Facebook page: The aim of this campaign is to get an exhibition and statue to honor Shrewsbury’s famous son Admiral Benbow, a legend of his time who has been forgotten in his… Read on
Adrian Tinniswood is one of the best living 17th-century historians, and I’ve long admired his work. Not only is he a great historian, but he happens to be one of the friendliest chaps I’ve had the pleasure of communicating with since moving to the UK. I was very excited to learn that he agreed to contribute a guest… Read on
Today we welcome Dr. Sara Read, whose book, Menstruation and the Female Body in Seventeenth-Century England is out today. I, for one, already have it on my wish list! So, please give a warm welcome to Sara, and enjoy the fascinating topic she brings to The Seventeenth Century Lady! Menstruation & Female Bleeding in Seventeenth-Century England When chatting to my… Read on
Today, The Seventeenth Century Lady is pleased to have a guest post from Julian Kingston of the Build the Lenox Project. I hope you will be able to support the building of this beautiful, historical 17th-century warship. – Andrea _____________________________ Andrea has very graciously offered me a guest posting on her wonderful site to tell you about our project… Read on
I walked over to the local Abington Park Museum today and took a few photos to share with you. As it less than a 10 minute walk from my in-law’s house here in Northampton, I have visited it several times. There has been a house on this land since the late 1000s, but what I am very interested… Read on
Baroque art came before Rococo art, and for those who are not very well acquainted with these genres, hopefully, this will help differentiate between the two. Both are exquisite kinds of art, and both are well worth admiring. Of course, this is a very superficial look at these two movements, but there is a list of recommendations for… Read on