by David West | May 23, 2025 | News
On the 23rd of May, 1498, Girolamo Savonarola was hung and burnt in Florence. I’m sure that my ancestor, Sir Anthony Standen, an Elizabethan Spy, would have heard of him as he spent the years 1580 to 1587 in Florence working for the Duke of Florence. It would have...
by David West | May 22, 2025 | News
Whilst visiting the Beer Museum in the old Bourse in Brussels I discovered an interesting connection between Snow White and Sir Anthony Standen. In Germany, researcher Eckhardt Sander has discovered some remarkable similarities between the life of Margaretha Gräfin...
by David West | May 22, 2025 | News
On the 22nd of May, 1377, Pope Gregory VI issued five papal bulls to denounce the doctrines of John Wycliffe. Early Life and Career Born around 1320 in Yorkshire, England, John Wycliffe was a man of humble beginnings. He attended Balliol College, Oxford, where he...
by David West | May 21, 2025 | News
Albrecht Dürer was born on the 21st of May, 1471, in Nuremberg, Germany. His name is synonymous with innovation and mastery in the realms of art and printmaking. He was a towering figure in the Northern Renaissance. His life and work bridged the gap between the...
by David West | May 20, 2025 | News
I have posted about my own aviation journey. The 20th of May is an outstanding day for aviators. It was on the 20th of May, 1927, that Charles Lindbergh took off from Roosevelt Field, Long Island, New York, bound for Paris. It was also on the 20th of May, but in 1932,...
by David West | May 19, 2025 | News
On the 19th of May, 1499, Catherine of Aragon was married by proxy to Arthur, Prince of Wales. Catherine was 13 and Arthur was 12. In my work in progress, the fifth book of the Sir Anthony Standen Adventures, King Louis XIII of France is married by proxy to Anne of...
