by David West | Jul 14, 2025 | News
The 14th of July is Bastille Day, celebrating the storming of the Bastille in 1789, and marking the outbreak of the French Revolution. The Bastille was a formidable fortress-prison located in Paris, originally constructed in the 14th century to defend the eastern...
by David West | Jul 13, 2025 | News
It’s the 13th of July and I am spoilt for choice for my daily post. I could have written about the Siege of Haarlem, a key battle of 1573 during the Eighty Years War, a war in which my ancestor, the Elizabethan spy Sir Anthony Standen, played his part. I could have...
by David West | Jul 12, 2025 | News
On the 12th of July, 1543, King Henry VIII married his sixth and last wife Catherine Parr. Catherine was born in 1512. She was the daughter of Sir Thomas Parr of Kendal and Maud Green, coming from a noble family with strong connections at court. Known for her...
by David West | Jul 11, 2025 | News
On the 11th of July, 1804, Alexander Hamilton was mortally wounded in a duel. Alexander Hamilton was born on the 11th of January in either 1755 or 1757 in Charlestown. He was born out of wedlock, and his father abandoned the family, leaving his mother to care for him...
by David West | Jul 10, 2025 | News
On the 10th of July, 1584, William I of Orange was assassinated by Balthasar Gérard in Delft. William is a character in The Spy who Sank the Armada, the first book in the Sir Anthony Standen Adventures. William I of Orange, also known as William the Silent, was a...
by David West | Jul 9, 2025 | News
On the 9th of July, 1762, Catherine the Great became Empress of Russia following a coup against her husband, Peter III. I mentioned Catherine in a post about Elizabeth of Russia. Catherine the Great, also known as Catherine II, was one of Russia’s most prominent...
