Okay! Back to Henry VIII and his six wives. Let’s begin at the beginning with wife #1: Katherine of Aragon (sometimes spelled “Catherine”). Katherine of Aragon in her later years, via NPG London via TudorHistory.org Katherine was the youngest daughter of Isabella and Ferdinand of Spain, and sister to Juana la Loca. She married England’s…
book club
Thursday Book Club: Kristin Lavransdatter
I had intended to continue with the wives of Henry VIII today, but I wanted to re-read a book about Catherine of Aragon. So, instead, I present to you Kristin Lavrandatter by Nobel prize-winning Norwegian author Sigrid Undset, a master of historical fiction. I visited Norway in July. I’d been pining for the fjords for…
Thursday Book Club: The Six Wives of Henry VIII
I’ve been wondering whether I should start working on the six wives of Henry VIII. There are scores of books about the ladies in question and Henry himself. Then there are Henry’s children too. This could take months! But I’ve decided it’s not going to get easier if I wait, so here we go. Before…
Thursday Book Club: Pope Joan
It wasn’t my intention to recommend books that I haven’t read myself but in honor of one of my newest jewelry designs, I’ll do it. As I said in this post, according to legend, Pope Joan disguised herself as a man and led the Church for a brief time in the 850s. I did read…
Thursday Book Club: Heloise and Abelard
Just to throw you off, I’ll start the book posts not with queens, but with two “star-cross’d lovers,” as Shakespeare would later write about Romeo and Juliet. In the 12th century, Peter Abelard was considered one of the greatest philosophers in all of Europe. Heloise was his star student. He was supposed to be celibate…
Wendy’s Book Club: Introduction
Ralph Waldo Emerson said, “There is no history, only biography.” I agree. Most of the books I read are either biographies or historical fiction about queens and other intriguing women. My main jewelry collection is called Vivat Regina (Latin for “God Save the Queen.”) Each Vivat Regina piece is named for a different queen, and…