Snow on kunanyi / Mount Wellington In less than one hundred years of British settlement in Australia, settlers had developed certain expectations of Christmas – the weather would be warm, dinner could be taken al fresco, the afternoon would be spent in outdoor activities. But 1878 was a year when the ‘clerk of the weather’ decided … Continue reading An Unseasonal Christmas – Rain, Wind and Snow in 1878
History
Christmas in Australia
For many people Christmas brings to mind images of snow covered trees, robins hopping on branches, holly and ivy. Here at ‘the top of the world (or the bottom according to your point of view)’* Christmas occurs in summer. While weather can be variable (it has been known to rain at Christmas), the perfect Christmas … Continue reading Christmas in Australia
‘It is an action like a stratagem in war where man can err but once’ – Choosing a spouse in 16th century England
During the 16th century, as in the centuries both before and after, marriage was a state that most aspired to - it gave both men and women status not only as full adults but, in the case of men, that of householder. Without marriage, women had few opportunities to independently support themselves. Except for those … Continue reading ‘It is an action like a stratagem in war where man can err but once’ – Choosing a spouse in 16th century England
Early Modern Children
We are fortunate that a number of portraits survive of children from the upper levels of society in the late Elizabethan and early Jacobean period. These give us a glimpse of childhood in that period and hint at the ways childhood, the raising of children, and even life itself differ from today. Infants were swaddled … Continue reading Early Modern Children
A Glimpse of Elizabethan Norwich
My novel, The Bridled Tongue, is set partly in Norwich. Although Norwich suffered extensive bombing during World War II, there are numerous areas where Norwich's history is still plain. In 2016 I visited Norwich and so was able to glimpse the streets and sights that would have been familiar to my 16th century characters. While … Continue reading A Glimpse of Elizabethan Norwich
One Minute Book Review – Girolamo Savonarola: The Renaissance Preacher by Samantha Morris
Girolamo Savonarola was a 15th century Dominican friar. For most people today, he is known either for his striking portrait by Baccio della Porta (Fra Bartolomeo) or for his association with the Bonfires of the Vanities in Florence where Savonarola’s supporters publicly burnt thousands of objects considered to be distractions from religious duties and possible … Continue reading One Minute Book Review – Girolamo Savonarola: The Renaissance Preacher by Samantha Morris
‘The great daunger of childbyrth’
While not an absolute rarity, portraits of pregnant women were not common in the Renaissance period. Surprisingly, there are a number of late Elizabethan and early Jacobean portraits of women at an advanced stage of pregnancy, sometimes surrounded by their children, sometimes alone. Many of these were painted by Marcus Gheeraerts the Younger. When I … Continue reading ‘The great daunger of childbyrth’
One Minute Book Review – Shakespeare’s Restless World by Neil MacGregor
In 2012 Neil MacGregor, then Director of the British Museum, gave a series of fifteen-minute talks on Radio 4 called Shakespeare's Restless World which took twenty objects from the late Elizabethan/early Jacobean period and examined them in detail, setting them not only in their historical setting, but also in that of Shakespeare’s plays. This book, … Continue reading One Minute Book Review – Shakespeare’s Restless World by Neil MacGregor
One Minute Book Review – The Lodger Shakespeare: His Life on Silver Street by Charles Nicholl
In 1612 William Shakespeare gave evidence in a case at the Court of Requests brought by Stephen Belott against the tire-maker, Christopher Mountjoy who was his father-in-law and with whom he had served an apprenticeship. Belott was suing Mountjoy for failure to pay in full the dowry promised when Belott had married Mountjoy's daughter Mary … Continue reading One Minute Book Review – The Lodger Shakespeare: His Life on Silver Street by Charles Nicholl
Sir Philip Sidney – The Death and Burial of a Most Noble and Valorous Knight
Sir Philip Sidney (1554-1586) Even in his own lifetime, Sir Philip Sidney was seen a peerless knight. Born in 1554, he was the eldest son of Sir Henry Sidney and Lady Mary Dudley, sister of Elizabeth's favourite Robert, 1st Earl of Leicester. In 1571 Philip Sidney began a tour of the Continent with the aim … Continue reading Sir Philip Sidney – The Death and Burial of a Most Noble and Valorous Knight
Catherine Meyrick 