Browsing Category
1400-1750
Caravaggio, The Man Without Hope Or Fear
Michelangelo Amerighi, who would achieve greatness under the name of Caravaggio, was born in 1571 in Milan. His father, Fermo Amerighi was household administrator for a minor noble, the Marchese of Caravaggio, who lived in the city. When…
Christopher Columbus, Explorer and Governor
Cristoforo Colombo, known to us as Christopher Columbus, was born in the city-state of Genoa in 1451. Genoa had been part of the Kingdom of Italy when the Holy Roman Empire held dominion over the territory, and had gained its…
Grainne O’Malley, the Sea Queen of Connacht
It’s one of those odd ironies of history that we know far more about Grainne O’Malley, the notorious Irish pirate, from her enemies than we do from the countrymen she fought to support. On the one hand, this is because she made a…
Dmitry Ivanovich, the Shadow Prince
The first life of Dmitry Ivanovich, future Tsar of all Russia, began on the 19th October 1582 and ended on the 15th May 1591. He was the son of Ivan the Terrible, the greatest of all Russia’s Tsars and the first to take onto himself…
Cesare Borgia, the Merciless Prince
The title of “history’s most infamous family” is a hotly contested one. The cannibalistic Beane clan, who lived in a cave in Scotland and killed and ate passing travellers,would be strong contenders. Except they have the slight disadvantage…
Elizabeth Báthory, the Bloody Countess
The truth is a strange beast, and often the best that history can do is simply tell you what is likely to be true rather than give a definitive answer. Elizabeth Báthory is a good example of this. She is painted by some historians as…
Artemisia Gentileschi, Renaissance Painter
There were few women who had the chance to make their mark on the Italian art world, but Artemisia Gentileschi was definitely one of them. During her lifetime she was the first woman admitted to the Accademia delle Arti del Disegno in…
Colonel Francis Charteris, gambler and rake
The “class system” in British society grew out of the feudal system that Britain never officially abandoned (unlike most other European countries afflicted with that particular social disease). The transition was largely gradual - the…
Edward Teach, AKA Blackbeard
History is rarely as clear-cut as it appears on the surface. Everybody knows that the druids were the educated priestly classes of the Celts, for example, but our sole source for that knowledge is the writings of non-Celts looking in from…
Jonathan Wild, the Thief Taker General
There’s a story in The Newgate Calendar about Jonathan Wild. A merchant came to him with one of his porters and told him of how the man had been set upon by a gang of thieves. At the time, London had no professional police force but…