The Treaty of Cambrai, also called ‘Peace of the Ladies’ (French: ‘Paix Des Dames’), was signed on the 3rd of August because of the efforts of two powerful women – Louise de Savoy, the mother of King François I of France, and Archduchess Margaret of Austria, who was Emperor Charles...
Queen Elizabeth I’s Famous Tilbury Speech
On the 9th of August 1588 (old calendar), Queen Elizabeth I of England appeared before her troops gathered at Tilbury, in Essex in preparation to repel the possible invasion by the Spanish Armada. Nevertheless, by the time, the once powerful Armada had been driven from the Strait of Dover in...
Guillaume Dufay: a renowned Franco-Flemish composer
Guillaume Dufay was born on the 5th of August 1397 near Brussels, Burgundian Netherlands (modern Belgium). Becoming a renowned Franco-Flemish composer, he lived a long life and died on the 27th of November 1474 in Cambrai (modern France). Being probably the illegitimate son of a priest and Marie Dufay, Guillaume...
Lorenzo di Pierfrancesco de’ Medici: the cultural heir of Lorenzo de’ Medici Il Magnifico
Lorenzo di Pierfrancesco de’ Medici was born in Florence on the 4th of August 1463 to Pierfrancesco the Elder and his wife, Laudomia Acciaioli. Pierfrancesco the Elder belonged to the junior Medici branch, which descended from Lorenzo di Giovanni de’ Medici known as Lorenzo the Elder, son of Giovanni di...
Ferdinando I de’ Medici: a Cardinal who ascended to the ducal throne
Ferdinando I de’ Medici was born on the 30th of July 1549. He was the fifth son of Cosimo I de’ Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany, and his first wife, Eleanor of Toledo. Ferdinando’s older brothers were: Francesco, Giovanni (died of malaria at the age of 18), Pietro (passed away...
Ludovico Maria Sforza: a Duke of Milan and a Renaissance Prince
Ludovico Maria Sforza, also known as Ludovico Il Moro, or ‘the Moor’, was born on the 27th of July 1452 and died in 1508. He ruled as Duke of Milan from 1494, following the death of his nephew Gian Galeazzo Sforza (the son of Ludovico’s elder brother, Duke Galeazzo Maria Sforza)...
Marriage of Mary I of England and Philip II of Spain
On the 25th of July 1554, Queen Mary I of England married Philip II of Spain at Winchester Cathedral. Catherine of Aragon’s dream came true: at the age of 37, Mary Tudor became the first queen regnant in England and turned her attention to finding a husband. The match was...
Claude of France: a gentle queen whose life was too short
Queen Claude of France, the eldest daughter of King Louis XII of France from his marriage to Anne of Brittany and the first wife King François I of France, died on 20th of July 1524 after a brief illness (or on the 26th of June 1524 according to various sources),...
Mary Boleyn: a possible mistress of two kings, but not a whore
Mary Boleyn, Anne Boleyn’s elder sister, died on the 19th of July 1543 in her early forties. In her first marriage to William Carey, she had two children – Catherine and Henry Carey, who are considered by some historians King Henry VIII’s bastards, although it cannot be proved. After Mary’s...
Francesco Petrarca: death of ‘the Father of humanism’
Francesco Petrarca, commonly known anglicized as Petrarch, died on the 18 or 19th of 1374. He was a great and celebrated Italian scholar and poet during the early Italian Renaissance and one of the earliest humanists. Petrarch’s great legacy includes his philosophy of humanism that profoundly influenced intellectual accomplishments of...
Isabella de’ Medici: death at the hands of her husband for alleged adultery
Isabella Romola de’ Medici, daughter of Cosimo I de’ Medici and his first wife, Eleanor of Toledo, died on the 16th of July 1576. She was Duchess of Bracciano by marriage. Born in Florence, the girl was raised with her brothers and sisters in the Palazzo Vecchio and later in...
The Château de Saumur: ‘Château d’Amour’ of the Loire Valley
Château de Saumur, one of the French royal châteaux in the Loire Valley, is located in the town of Saumur, overlooking the confluence of the Loire River and the Thouet River. Standing at the edge of an abrupt cliff, the castle boasts gorgeous views of the town and the Loire...
Archduchess Elisabeth of Austria: a Queen of France who never remarried
Archduchess Elisabeth of Austria, one of the daughters of Maximilian II, Holy Roman Emperor, and his wife, Maria of Spain, was born on the 5th of July 1554. A member of the House of Habsburg, she seems to have been her father’s favorite child and resembled him not only in...
King François I’s Book of Hours!
King François I’s Book of Hours! It belonged to the art-loving Knight-King, the first Renaissance King of France! It appears in my novels from time to time as François uses it quite often for prayers. Purchased in the 1530s, François used it every day. It is a stunning masterpiece of...
The Château de Chenonceau: “Château des Dames” of the Loire Valley
The Château de Chenonceau is a magnificent castle spanning the River Cher. It is located close to the village of Chenonceaux in the Indre-et-Loire département of the Loire Valley in France. One of the most famous châteaux of the Loire valley, it is a unique Renaissance castle, a fairytale and...