"How to Dance Through Time": Renaissance

From the series "Dance Through Time", a few videos highlighting some popular dances done during the 16th century:

Galliard

Saltarello

"The Uprising" trailer

A new film has been released about the peasant uprising of 1381 starring Andrew Garfield...looks worth seeing to me, but do share your thoughts in the comments should you decide to see it!

Trailer

History Tea Time

Noble Blood podcast ep. 301

Some Elizabeth Chadwick novels

If you are a fan of the Pillars of the Earth series, then do have a look at these books by best selling medieval author Elizabeth Chadwick set during the same periods if you haven't already:

From New York Times bestselling author Elizabeth Chadwick comes a gripping, never-before-told, medieval battle of the sexes that sheds light on one of medieval royalty's most fascinating women—Queen Matilda.
1135, England: Matilda, daughter of Henry I, knows that there are those who will not accept her as England's queen when her father dies. But the men who support her rival, and cousin, Stephen do not know the iron will that drives her. She will win her inheritance against all odds, and despite all men.
Adeliza, Henry's widowed queen and Matilda's stepmother, is now married to a warrior who is fighting to keep Matilda off the throne. But Adeliza knows that Britain's crown belongs to a woman this time.
Both women will stand and fight for what they know is right for England's royalty. But for Matilda, pride comes before a fall. And for Adeliza, even the deepest love is no proof against fate.
Written with great historical accuracy, Lady of the English is a captivating novel of Medieval England. Fans of Philippa Gregory, Susanna Kearsley, Hilary Mantel, and Diana Gabaldon will be spellbound by this vividly detailed look into medieval history.

The year is 1140 and England is torn by the strife of civil war. Oliver Pascal chances upon a village raided by mercenaries and rescues the survivors: an orphaned boy, who is the illegitimate son of the old king, and his mother's maid, a young widow named Catrin. After escorting them to Bristol Castle, they are accepted into the household of Robert of Gloucester and while Catrin finds herself falling in love with Oliver she suffers a deep boredom at the frivolity of court life. Thus when the old midwife Etheldreda offers to teach her the secrets of her ancient art, Catrin agrees.
But the midwife's life is fraught with dangers, not least Oliver's own personal fears which threaten their relationship, but also in the shape of two men, both killers and both of whom threaten the couple's lives. However, Catrin is determined to pursue her career and keep Oliver and while England fights a civil war, she battles for her love and for her vocation.

1338: England has declared war on France, and Jeanette of Kent, cousin to King Edward III, says goodbye to her family and travels overseas with the royal court for the first time. Once in Antwerp, she is captivated by talented household knight Thomas Holland, just as he in turn is powerfully drawn to her.
Although both know their romance is forbidden, their love for each other grows stronger than the danger they face, and they marry in secret. But before they can make their tryst known, Thomas has to leave for war, and in his absence, Jeanette is forced into a second marriage and locked away from the world.
Then Thomas returns, and the real fight begins. As hostile family members battle to keep Jeanette and Thomas apart, the defiant lovers vow to be reunited - whatever the cost...
From the award-winning and bestselling author Elizabeth Chadwick, comes an epic love story set against the tumultuous backdrop of high chivalry, deadly warfare, devastating plague and savage rivalry in the fourteenth century - the first of two parts telling the remarkable story of a woman who rose from royal rebel to crownless queen.

1360: Having left her days of rebellion behind, Jeanette of Kent has finally found contentment as a wife and mother. Then, she is delivered a new blow: her beloved husband, Thomas Holland, has died on duty overseas.
Though broken, Jeanette readies herself once more to fight to protect what is hers. And when Prince Edward, heir to the throne and her longtime friend, unexpectedly steps forward and offers marriage, she accepts for the sake of her family.
As their relationship deepens, love blossoms again for Jeanette, but it comes at a price. With great power comes great responsibility - not least bearing a future king - and, as the wheel of fortune climbs higher, it becomes harder and harder to hold on.
Jeanette has more to lose than ever before. But with the wolves gathering beneath her, can she survive the fall?
From the award-winning and bestselling author Elizabeth Chadwick comes the much-awaited second novel in the Jeanette of Kent duology, The Crownless Queen - bringing to a powerful conclusion the remarkable story of a woman who began life as a royal rebel and ended it behind the throne...

Dancing at the Ren Faire

Just realized I never posted the videos I took of the dancers at the Ren Faire from last year as well as 2024...enjoy!

Courtly dancing-2024

Country Garden Dancers-2025

Late Tudor Menswear

Another getting dressed video, this time focusing on what an Elizabethan man would've worn...

Making a Joan of Arc armor dress

One of my favorite YouTubers, Bernadette Banner, took on a rather ambitious project: make an armor dress saluting the one and only Joan of Arc...you fan follow the progress from beginning to end (with the finale released just today!) in the videos below...

Episode 1

Episode 2

Episode 3

Episode 4-the finale

Making medieval armor for Joan of Arc 

More on Tudor dress

A few more dissections on dress during the Elizabethan era:

How Did Tudors Dress?

Dressing A Tudor Maid

Dressing Anne Boleyn and Elizabeth 1

Dressing Anne

Dressing Elizabeth 

Dressing a Medieval queen

The Greensleeves Project

A cast of renowned historical fashion experts has done something truly remarkable: brought the legendary ballad "Greensleeves" to life...have a look at the wonderful video and behind the scenes below, and go to The Greensleeves Project for more information.

 

 

 

Dressing Greensleeves 

Who Was Greensleeves? Behind the scenes 

Shakespeare Bookzines and novel

This Wednesday marks the Bard's birthday, so in honor, more bookzines and a novel o check out if interested and you are able:

England, 1580: The Black Death creeps across the land, an ever-present threat, infecting the healthy, the sick, the old and the young alike. The end of days is near, but life always goes on.
A young Latin tutor—penniless and bullied by a violent father—falls in love with an extraordinary, eccentric young woman. Agnes is a wild creature who walks her family’s land with a falcon on her glove and is known throughout the countryside for her unusual gifts as a healer, understanding plants and potions better than she does people. Once she settles with her husband on Henley Street in Stratford-upon-Avon, she becomes a fiercely protective mother and a steadfast, centrifugal force in the life of her young husband, whose career on the London stage is just taking off when his beloved young son succumbs to sudden fever.

And it will soon be a film:

For more reading (other than the obvious works of the man himself), don't forget to check out my posts on other Shakespeare related novels found here, here, and here, as well as revisiting films like Shakespeare In Love and Anonymous or other classic film adaptations of his plays. There's also this video by History Tea Time:

Shakespeare's Wife and Children

Tudor bookzines

More bookzines for the interested, this time on the infamous Tudors:

(Reprint)

Medieval bookzines

Some good reading if you're interested...find them via magazinesdirect.com or digital resellers if you're able

Kings and queens

(Reprint)

General history 

Religion and war

Dressing Up: Tudor style

Another round of fashion excellence from Izabela aka Prior Attire, this time spotlighting the Tudor era...enjoy!

Early Tudor Lady

Tudor Lady

Tudor gown-updated edition

Hawking Party Circa 1520, Flemish style

Middle Class Woman

Middle Class Man

Elizabethan Lady 1570-80

Elizabethan Court circa 1590s

Dressing Up For A Ride

Dressing Up A Man For Court circa 1580-90

Getting Dressed Up: Medieval style

Costume maker Izabela, aka Prior Attire, has made a fantastic series of dress through the ages, starting with the Medieval era...I absolutely love it, it's entertaining, highly informative and her outfits are always fantastic...enjoy!

12th century Lady

14th century Lady

Second half of the 14th century

Houppelande in the 1430s

1460s-80s Lady

1460s middle class lass

1480s/90s Florentine Lady

Late Medieval Man

Empress Matilda

Another video from Lindsay Holiday, this time on Empress Matilda, the "queen who never was" and the inspiration for the character Rhaenyra Targarean in the book Blood and Fire by George R R Martin, and the show House of the Dragon:

Grace O'Malley

In honor of St. Patrick's Day, a spotlight on the "Pirate Queen" of Ireland

Irish Pirate Queen

Grace O’Malley is the story of one remarkable woman’s quest for survival and fulfilment, by land and by sea.

In 1979, Anne Chambers’ original biography of Ireland’s pirate queen, airbrushed from historical record over the centuries, put her on the map once again. The biography became a milestone in Irish publishing and the catalyst for the restoration of Grace O’Malley to political, social and maritime history, as well as establishing her as an inspirational female role model.

In the 40th anniversary edition of this international bestselling biography, drawn from rare contemporary manuscript records, the author presents Ireland’s great pirate queen not as a vague mythological figure but as one of the world’s most extraordinary female leaders. Political pragmatist and tactician, rebel, intrepid mariner and pirate, wife, lover, mother, grandmother and matriarch, the 'most notorious woman in all the coasts of Ireland', Grace O’Malley challenged and triumphed over the social and political barriers she encountered in the course of her long, pioneering life.

This updated edition brings one of the world’s first recorded feminist trailblazers to a new generation awakened to the global focus on gender equality as well as positive ageing.

A Pirate Queen and Chieftain, she became a legend. We meet Grace as a young girl on Ireland’s west coast. Her father is a strong chieftain and loves the sea. Despite her parents’ objections, Grace becomes a better sailor than any of her father’s crew and so the adventures of the Pirate Queen begin. We set sail on her galley to Spain where war with England affects Grace and Ireland. We meet her husbands, Donal of the Battles and Richard in Iron, and are on board ship for her son’s birth and pirate attacks. After many escapades we sail to London for her famous meeting with Queen Elizabeth I. And we stay with her in her castle at Rock Fleet where she dies in 1603. This non-fiction account is a must for children who love Irish history!

In a life stranger than any fiction, Grace O’Malley, daughter of a clan chief in the far west of Ireland, went from marriage at fifteen to piracy on the high seas. She soon had a fleet of galleys under her commander, but her three decades of plundering, kidnapping, murder and mayhem came to a close in 1586, when she was captured and sentenced to hang.
Saved from the scaffold by none other than Queen Elizabeth herself—another powerful woman in a man’s world—Grace’s life took another extraordinary turn, when it was rumoured she had become intelligencer for the queen’s spymaster, Sir Francis Walsingham. Was this the price of her freedom?
Judith Cook explores this and other questions about the life and times of this remarkable woman in a fascinating, thrilling and impeccably researched book.

A meticulously detailed, fictional portrait of the legendary Irish pirate describes how Grace O'Malley built a powerful empire that became the terror of the English on the high seas and chronicles her daring exploits in defiance of English rule during the Elizabethan era. By the author of Warrior Queen.

A true daughter of the fearsome O’Malley clan, Grace spent her life wishing to join the fight to keep Henry VIII’s armies from invading her homeland of Ireland — only to be told again and again that the battlefield is no place for a woman. But after English conspirators brutally murder her husband, Grace can no longer stand idly by. Leading men into battle on the high seas, Grace O’Malley quickly gains a formidable reputation as the Pirate Queen of Ireland with her prowess as a sailor and skill with a sword. But her newfound notoriety puts the lives of Grace and her entire family in danger and eventually leads to a confrontation with the most powerful woman in England: Queen Elizabeth I. With a gripping narrative and vivid, action-packed illustrations, the fourth entry in Tony Lee and Sam Hart’s Heroes and Heroines series captures the intensity and passion of one of history’s fiercest female warriors.

Two female titans -- perfectly matched in guts, guile, and political genius.

Elizabeth, queen of England, has taken on the mighty Spanish Armada and, in a stunning sea battle, vanquished it. But her troubles are far from over. Just across the western channel, her colony Ireland is embroiled in seething rebellion, with the island's fierce, untamed clan chieftains and their "wild Irish" followers refusing to bow to their English oppressors.

Grace O'Malley -- notorious pirate, gunrunner, and "Mother of the Irish Rebellion" -- is at the heart of the conflict. For years, she has fought against the English stranglehold on her beloved country. At the height of the uprising Grace takes an outrageous risk, sailing up the Thames to London for a face-to-face showdown with her nemesis, the queen of England.

In this "enthralling historical fiction" (Publishers Weekly), Robin Maxwell masterfully brings to life these strong and pugnacious women in order to tell the little-known but crucial saga of Elizabeth's Irish war.

"The Irish Princess" by Karen Harper

Born into a first family of Ireland, with royal ties on both sides, Elizabeth Fitzgerald—known as Gera—finds her world overturned when Henry VIII imprisons her father, the Earl of Kildare, and brutally destroys her family.
Torn from the home she loves, her remaining family scattered, Gera dares not deny the refuge offered her in England's glittering royal court. There she must navigate ever-shifting alliances even as she nurtures her secret desire for revenge.
From County Kildare's lush green fields to London's rough-and-tumble streets and the royal court's luxurious pageantry, The Irish Princess follows the journey of a daring woman whose will cannot be tamed, and who won't be satisfied until she restores her family to its rightful place in Ireland.

Historydame medieval episodes

Some videos from Historidame spotlighting the medieval era

The Black Death

The Bizzarre Life Of A Medieval Jester

What Was It Like To Attend A Medieval Banquet?

Medieval Hospitality: England's Taverns, Inns, and Alehouses

Isabella of France

Enjoy this episode on the infamous "She Wolf" of France