by Helen Kain | Jun 25, 2026 | Fascinating People
History is often kinder to victors than to survivors. Margaret of Anjou was neither. For centuries she has appeared in English history as a controversial figure: ambitious, combative, and unwilling to accept defeat. To some contemporaries she was a dangerous woman who...
by Helen Kain | Jun 25, 2026 | Fascinating People
Most periods of history are remembered through the actions of kings, generals, and rebels. Geoffrey Chaucer reminds us that civilizations are also shaped by storytellers. Living during one of the most turbulent periods in English history, Chaucer witnessed the...
by Helen Kain | Jun 25, 2026 | Fascinating People
Few rulers have benefited more from success than Henry V. To later generations he became the warrior king of Agincourt, the hero of Shakespeare’s plays, and the embodiment of English courage. His reputation grew so large that it sometimes obscures the man...
by Helen Kain | Jun 25, 2026 | Fascinating People
Not all kings inherit a crown; some have to take one. Henry IV spent much of his life as Henry Bolingbroke, the son of John of Gaunt and grandson of Edward III. Few would have expected him to become king; indeed, the crown belonged to his cousin Richard II, whose...
by Helen Kain | Jun 21, 2026 | Fascinating People
Most revolutions begin long before anyone realizes one has started. John Wycliffe never led an army or overthrew a king. He never saw the Reformation that would transform Europe more than a century after his death. Yet many of the questions he asked would eventually...
