Giulio Romolo Caccini, also known as Giulio Romano, was born on the 8th of October 1551 to the carpenter Michelangelo Caccini and his wife, whose name is not known. His elder brother was the Florentine sculptor Giovanni Caccini. What was important about this man? Thanks to his outstanding musical talent,...
Fulke Greville: a somber poet of the Golden Elizabethan era
Fulke Greville, 1st Baron Brooke, was born into a rich noble family on the 3rd of October 1554 at Beauchamp Court, Warwickshire, England. He was the only son of Sir Fulke Greville and Anne Neville, the daughter of Ralph Neville, Earl of Westmorland. Fulke was de jure 13th Baron Latimer...
Anne von Cleves: a victim of Henry VIII’s health issues on the wedding night
Anne von Cleves (Anna von Kleve) was born in Schloss Burg, near Düsseldorf, on the 22nd of September 1515. Her parents were John III, Duke of Cleves and Count of Mark, known as the Peaceful (der Friedfertige), and his wife, Maria of Jülich-Berg. Anne had 3 siblings: Sibylle, William, and...
King François I of France: the Battle of Marignano of 1515
King François I of France ascended to the throne of his kingdom on the 1st of January 1515 after the death of Louis XII of France, his 1st cousin once removed. At the age of only 20, François was young, strong, handsome, cultured, courageous, vainglorious, and somewhat arrogant. He had...
Clément Marot: a talented French Renaissance poet who influenced Reformation
A great Renaissance French poet, Clément Marot was born at Cahors, the capital of the province of Quercy, on the 23rd of November 1496. His father, Jean Marot, was also a poet and served as escripvain (a poet-historian) to Anne de Bretagne, Queen of France. Although in his youth Clément...
King François I of France: a godfather of the French Renaissance
King François I of France was born on the 12th of September at Cognac, Aquitaine, France. The only son of Charles d’Orléans, Count d’Angoulême, and his wife, Louise de Savoy, François was a great-great-grandson of King Charles V of France called the Wise (le Sage). A son of the man with...
Birth of the English Gloriana and Her Mother’s Miscarriages
On the 7th of September 1533, Anne Boleyn birthed a daughter – the future Queen Elizabeth I of England. It happened at Greenwich Palace, where Queen Elizabeth of York had given birth to King Henry VIII. At first, Anne’s pregnancy had been without any complications, and the proud mother coped...
The death of Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester, and his last letter to Queen Elizabeth I
Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester, passed away on the 4th of September 1588 at Cornbury Park in Oxfordshire while on his way to Buxton. Mere weeks ago, Leicester had ridden with Queen Elizabeth I of England, the legendary Gloriana, through the streets of London in the rays of glory after...
Tiziano Vecelli, or simply Titian: ‘The Sun Amidst Small Stars’
Titian, one of the most prominent Renaissance artists, was born as Tiziano Vecelli or Vecellio in Cadore, in the Republic of Venice sometime around 1488 to 1490. Regarded as the most important Renaissance member of the 16th-century Venetian school of art, he was called ‘The Sun Amidst Small Stars’, echoing...
Intricacies of the St. Bartholomew’s Day Massacre
On the night of the 23 and 24th of August 1572, the sanguineous St. Bartholomew’s Day Massacre was carried out in Paris. It was the cold-blooded murder of thousands of French Protestants called ‘Huguenots’, which appears to have been orchestrated by the formidable mother of King Charles IX of France...
Jacopo Peri known as Il Zazzerino: the inventor of opera
The Italian artist Jacopo Peri, who was known under the pseudonym Il Zazzerino, was born on the 20th of August 1561 (died on the 12th of August 1633). Born in Rome, he was a composer and singer of the transitional period between the Renaissance and Baroque styles. Il Zazzerino is...
The religious catastrophe in France preceding the marriage of Henri III of Navarre and Marguerite de Valois
On the 18th of August 1572, a fateful wedding took place in Paris, France. King Henri III of Navarre, a Huguenot monarch and the future Henri IV of France, married Princess Marguerite de Valois. Henri was the only surviving son of Jeanne d’Albret, or Queen Jeanne III of Navarre, and...
The establishment of the famous Italian House of Gonzaga in Mantua
On the 16th of 1328, the famous Italian House of Gonzaga seized power in the Duchy of Mantua, and ruled until 1708. Starting from the 12th century, the family was growing their wealth, becoming a dominant one in Mantua. Allied with the Bonacolsi, they together defeated their common enemy –...
Madeleine, Summer Queen of Scotland – a fragile flower destined to wither
Madeleine de Valois was born on the 10th of August 1520 to King François I of France and his first wife Queen Claude, Duchess of Brittany, at Château de Saint-Germain-en-Laye, near Paris. The couple’s 5th child and 3rd daughter, Madeleine was a sickly girl since her early childhood. Despite all...
Dauphin François of France: poisoned or died of natural causes?
Duke François III of Brittany, who was also Dauphin of France and an heir apparent, was the eldest son of King François I of France and his first wife, Queen Claude of France, who also was his cousin as daughter of King Louise XII and his second spouse, Anne de...