April 15, 2021
Many fathers of boys in the eighteenth century considered it vital to remove their sons from his mother’s exclusive influence at a relatively young age, as it was believed that otherwise he would become effeminate and […]
March 21, 2021
In the 17th century, children were considered to lack self-discipline and self-control, and it was generally believed that they needed to be severely disciplined to drive the original sin out of them. Parents stood in place […]
February 15, 2021
In The Ladies’ Tale I mention this Act, with Edwin’s father setting him as a child to learn the crimes it covered. This was a formidable piece of homework, as the initial Act covered over fifty criminal […]
January 15, 2021
In a time when many natural occurences that might have seemed strange and magical can be explained by science, and when most people think of witches as fantasy, comical creatures who cackle and ride around […]
December 15, 2020
Anyone who thinks corruption in politics is a modern phenomenon needs only to research for a few minutes into the political systems of the past to realise that it has always been the case. Where […]
November 15, 2020
Throughout the ages, those in power have sought to raise revenue by various means. Broadly speaking, following the Civil War and Restoration, Parliament would determine the personal income of the monarch. If the ruler then […]
September 15, 2020
I found out about the Pascaline purely by chance, when writing my latest novel, The Ladies’ Tale: Caroline and Philippa, due to be published this month (September 2020). I was looking for an interesting but expensive […]
February 11, 2019
So far in my posts on this subject I’ve talked a little about the high-class prostitutes or courtesans, and about those who operated from private premises, either their own, or from a brothel run […]
January 28, 2019
In my last post I wrote about courtesans, but of course the vast majority of girls who entered prostitution as a way to make a living would not even dream of ever being a […]