Inspiring Excitement and Passion about History and the Humanities
It’s been just over 20 years since I first became hooked on early English choral music through singing Byrd’s Ave Verum Corpus in my high school chamber choir. I talk about that piece a lot – it sums up for me this struggle of humanity; how much do you conform vs being true to yourself. Byrd…
I’ve been on a bit of a Boat Craze over on the Renaissance English History Podcast for the past few months. I did an episode on the Rise of the Tudor Navy, the Iron Industry of the Weald (which helped propel the navy forward with the blast iron furnace that made artillery so much cheaper),…
One of the things I love about history is how the past keeps coming back to us. Hildegard of Bingen was a medieval German abbess who lived about 900 years ago. She was given to the church as a young girl, and rose to become a woman who ran a convent and negotiated with the Pope….
If you were looking for the hippest place to be in 11th century Europe, you wouldn’t go to Paris. Or London, which was an outpost badgered by centuries of Viking invasions, and was about to be conquered by the Normans. You wouldn’t go to Berlin, or Florence, or even Rome. Or Athens. Nope, if you…
I have said it before, and I’ll say it again – I find the best music via the Millennium of Music show, which is on both Sirius and NPR. I have a membership and can listen to old episodes (it’s the best $2.99/month I spend) and I was perusing episodes from a year ago, and…
This week I’ve been re-reading Alison Weir’s The Lost Tudor Princess, Alison Weir’s book about Margaret Douglas, Henry VIII’s niece via his sister Margaret, who married the King of Scotland. When her husband died, she married again for love, and had Margaret, who, because she was born on English soil became a legitimate heir of the perpetually…
I’m ashamed of how much I love Francis Drake. His daring badassery appeals to the baser sense of myself. The same part that watches Donald Trump’s campaign just because I keep wondering if he’s serious. Francis Drake is famous for being on the second man to captain a ship that circumnavigated the globe, but he…
I’ve been spending much of December immersed in the holiday traditions of Renaissance England. That’s because I’ve been posting new bits of holiday goodness to the digital advent calendar I sent to all the mailing list subscribers at the beginning of the month. (Still want in? Sign up for the mailing list and I’ll send…
I know I’ve been lax in writing lately – there’s a lot going on though! If you haven’t signed up for this yet, do so right away! Your chances of winning are really good: http://www.englandcast.com/giveaways/kings-college-choir-cd-dvd-giveaway/ It’s my giveaway of a CD and DVD from the Choir of King’s College, Cambridge. There’s a new #englandcast out…
Ok you guys, I’m going to try to Win the Internets today with this post, chock full of history! cats! and babies! How can I connect all three? Oh ye of little faith. Walk with me a minute, and see… So according to the Museum of the Moving Image in a new exhibition that opened…