Browsing Category
1400-1750
Laskarina Bouboulina, Greek Rebel Admiral
Laskarina Bouboulina was born in chains, both figuratively and (in a way) literally. She was conceived during one of her mother’s conjugal visits to her father in a prison in Istanbul and was born nine months later in May of 1771. Her…
Benjamin Lay, Outspoken Quaker Abolitionist
The story of the abolition of slavery in America is a long and tortuous one. Like many such stories it has its heroes and its villains. One group that almost always fell on the right side of history was the Society of Friends, better known…
Benvenuto Cellini, Vicious Renaissance Sculptor
We don’t know as much about history as we like to think we do sometimes. For example, almost our entire knowledge of the druids of ancient Britain comes from the writings of the Romans who quite thoroughly suppressed them. How much of what…
Sayyida al-Hurra, Muslim Pirate Queen
Piracy has been used throughout history as a tool of state policy. Giving free reign to brigands to attack civilian merchants from an enemy kingdom is definitely one way to weaken your enemy and enrich yourself, though one that does seem…
Augustus Hervey, the English Casanova
The English have a somewhat undeserved reputation for being "cold fish" romantically. Their general stereotype is of reserve and aloofness, with none of the fire and passion that their Continental cousins like to display. But one man gave…
Elizabeth Stuart, the Winter Queen of Bohemia
The murky world of international diplomacy is often overlooked by historians, not least because of the lack of definitive information. It’s much easier to see what a country or person actually did, rather than to speculate on why they did…
Nell Gwyn, the People’s Harlot
When Charles II was restored to the throne of England in 1660, it was clear that things were not going to be the same as they had been before the revolution that had toppled his father from the throne and executed him. Fortunately for “the…
Holding the Water Hostage | The Drunken Rampages of Lord Santry
Water in Ireland has been a highly contentious issue over the past few years. Threats of court summonses and even jail time blighted those who refused to bow to water charges but, in Georgian Dublin water was used to get one person out of…
Mary Frith aka Moll Cutpurse, the Roaring Girl
Mary Frith was born sometime in the 1580s - 1584 is a reasonable guess, and is given as a fact by some sources. She came from a relatively respectable background - her father was a shoemaker, and she had an uncle who was a churchman of some…
Queen Isabella of Castile, Mother of Spain
The future queen Isabella was born on the 22nd of April 1451. She was the first child of King John II of Castile and was named after her mother, a Portuguese princess who was his second wife. Isabella was the second in line to the throne…