Tag: Nicholas II

The Secret Diary of Edward VI (and other monarchs)

Yes, Edward VI and other monarchs wrote diaries. Here are some extracts : Edward VI, early 1547: “After the death of King Henry th’eight his son Edward prince of Wales was come to at Hartford by th’erle of Hartford and S[ir] Anthony Brown Master of t’horse for whom befor was made great preparation that he… Continue reading The Secret Diary of Edward VI (and other monarchs)

“Useful Charts” tries to answer the big question: the Roman Empire

The Roman Empire dates back to this day in 27BC, when Augustus assumed the title Princeps, to end (in the West) with Romulus Augustulus’ deposition in 476 and (in the East or Byzantine) with the defeat and death of Constantine XI by the Ottomans at Constintinople in 1453. So, who is the hypothetical Roman Emperor… Continue reading “Useful Charts” tries to answer the big question: the Roman Empire

Would YOU include some of these in a list of all-time best historical films…?

  Here’s an interesting list of the “best historical royalty” films. Interesting….and peculiar. As well as some excellent period-based movies we have the likes of The King and I, the animated Anastasia musical and the Taylor-Burton Cleopatra. Maybe the latter will be acceptable to many, but to me it was a circus because of what… Continue reading Would YOU include some of these in a list of all-time best historical films…?

Not Russian to judgement?

So, having examined the succession to the English monarchy according to Henry VIII’s will and the British monarchy if James VII/II had not been ousted, what do “Useful Charts” make of Russia? First, a few points to note:1) Russia had a monarch as late as 1917, more recently than France (1871).2) The Russian Revolution, with… Continue reading Not Russian to judgement?

Royal History’s Biggest Fibs

Lucy Worsley, having covered the Wars of the Roses, the “Glorious Revolution” and Britain in India, has returned with a further series. This time, the episodes earlier this year having been about the Reformation, the Armada and Queen Anne, she covers the eighteenth to twentieth centuries, reversing the contemporaneous “spin” on the French Revolution, the… Continue reading Royal History’s Biggest Fibs

Has mtDNA identified Jack the Ripper?

“Ripperology” is quite a confused subject and at least a dozen suspects have been conclusively “identified as the Whitechapel fiend. Nevertheless, this article and the book detailed within, if taken at face value, uses the scientific techniques that identified Richard III, Jesse James, Nicholas II and others to claim to solve the East London riddle… Continue reading Has mtDNA identified Jack the Ripper?

Richard III’s Prehistoric Foremother?

Recently I came across this fascinating blogpost by an archaeologist called Katharina, who was working on a Bronze Age burial site in Austria. The skeletons her team excavated have recently been DNA tested–and one of them carried the maternal haplogroup J1c2, which is part of the group to which Richard belonged. Richard’s Bronze Age foremother?… Continue reading Richard III’s Prehistoric Foremother?