The Mysterious Death Of Tsar Alexander I

By Ally Broadfield On Feb 21 2012, 6:54 am in Ally Broadfield, Emperor Alexander I, Feodor Kuzmich, Imperial Russia

While researching my current work in progress (which takes place in St. Petersburg in 1815), I came across some very curious information about the death of forty-eight year old Russian Emperor Alexander I. Alexander reportedly died on the morning of December 1, 1825, in the remote Crimean town of Taganrog, yet many claim he appeared eleven years later in Siberia as starets Feodor Kuzmich (A starets is a spiritual director or religious teacher in the Eastern Orthodox Church; specifically: a spiritual adviser who is not necessarily a priest, who is recognized for his piety, and who is turned to by

Music as a Research Tool

By Jody Allen On Feb 20 2012, 9:31 am

As authors when we research we often look to books, archival records and first hand reports on a particular subject and historical period to fill in the historical gaps. But one area we rarely look to for information is the music or songs of the period.  We know that music is for much more than just entertainment; historically songs/ballads often were a way an illiterate culture passed on the history of their culture from one generation to another. Songs developed for various reasons. In Scotland it was as a way to make work easier to endure, a way to address

American Marines Land on Iwo Jimo

By Anna Kathryn Lanier On Feb 19 2012, 12:39 pm in Anna Kathryn Lanier, Flag Raising, history, Iwo Jima, Marines, World War Two

  by Anna Kathryn Lanier One of the most famous photographs in the world is of the raising of the American flag on Iwo Jimo, four days after three divisions of U.S. Marines had landed on the island 700 miles south of Tokyo. But the action captured on film was not without a price.    Sixty-seven years ago today at 8:59 a.m., February 19, 1945, the first wave of Marines landed on Red Beach One for a decisive, bloody and month-long battle. Iwo Jimo is a speck on the map, a small dot in the Pacific Ocean.  It is five

Romance Through the Ages Contest – Now Open

By Anna Kathryn Lanier On Feb 17 2012, 2:10 am in Contest, Deadline, historical romance, Romance Through the Ages Contest

The love of story runs deep in our souls. From tales around the campfire to a great book that makes us stay up all night, we long for narrative that makes us laugh and cry, that makes us believe and hope,that makes us eager for the resolution and yet dread we never want to reach the end. A story is greater than the sum of its parts. A story that sweeps us along is what editors and agents look for; it’s what readers crave. Hearts through History, a Special Interest Chapter of Romance Writers of America (RWA) is focusing on

The Games Children Played

By Callie Hutton On Feb 16 2012, 1:00 am in black plague, Callie Hutton, children, games

Recently I read a blog about the Black Plague. Briefly, the author mentioned the nursery rhyme “Ring Around the Rosy.” I always knew it came from the Black Plague, but for some reason it hit me just then that it had been passed down child to child for over 600 years! A long time for a song to survive. What about “London Bridge is Falling Down?” which is from when the London Bridge was actually crumbling under Londoner’s feet. According to Walt Disney’s The Truth About Mother Goose (1957) the rhyme refers to the deterioration of the original London Bridge

I Am Already Sick of Love

By Angelyn Schmid On Feb 14 2012, 1:51 am in Agincourt, Bonne of Armagnac, Charles of Orleans, Christine de Pizan, Hundred Years War, Isabeau of Valois, Louis XII, Marie of Cleves, Mary Tudor, Valentina Visconti, Valentine, White Tower

The first Valentine written is credited to Charles, Duke of Orleans (1394 – 1465).  He was captured by the English at the Battle of Agincourt during the Hundred Years War between England and France.  During his twenty-four year captivity, he composed over five hundred poems, many of them he translated into English from French.  Charles first married Isabeau of Valois, Richard II of England’s young widow.  She died bearing him a daughter when he was only fifteen.  His second wife was Bonne of Armagnac, the daughter of a count.  They had been married five years when he was taken at

Teaching history with stories

By Terry Irene Blain On Feb 13 2012, 6:06 pm in film, history, teaching, westerns

Two things happened last week that prompted this blog.  There was a discussion on our loop about the lack of history knowledge in today’s students, and I watched one of my favorite movies.  The movie was Red River (1948), a western staring John Wayne and Montgomery Cliff.  As a history professor tried to make history real for my students, and one of the ways I did this was to show the first twenty minutes of this film for a discussion of the westward moment in America history. For those of you who haven’t seen the film, here’s a brief summary

An Unromantic in Paris

By McKenna Darby On Feb 12 2012, 2:15 pm in Louvre, McKenna Darby, Paris, romance

In honor of Valentine’s Day, a romantic true story . . .  Everything they say about the romance of Paris is true. The city’s magic even works on the decidedly unromantic, including my husband. Now, John is one of the best husbands a woman could ever hope to have. He’s intelligent, honest, ethical, fiercely protective, funny, sweet – my best friend for more than thirty years and counting. But romantic? Not so much. He doesn’t dance; can’t make him. The one time I received flowers with his name on the card I discovered later that his mother sent them. If

FDR’S TABLE

By J.K. Maze On Feb 9 2012, 7:07 am

According to the Food Timeline organization, while many of the people were “making do,” some not even that, the president and his wife had no such problem. FDR came from family wealth and tradition while Eleanor, who was social minded, did not have a problem breaking the rules. The Food Timeline Organization says, “Their dinner tables, both public and private, reflected the fact that opposites attract. Confusing, intriguing, well-intentioned, sacrificing, inspired. No one knew what they were going to eat for dinner. Hot dogs served to the Queen of England. Often criticized by period political and culinary experts, FDR’s tables

Falling In and Out of Love in the Wild West: Courting, Marriage and Divorce

By Anne Carole On Feb 7 2012, 3:00 am in 1890 U.S. Census, 19TH CENTURY, Anne Carrole, chivaree, Courting, old west, Re-ride at the Rodeo, Western marriage

 Being we are close to Valentine’s Day, I thought I’d do a post on falling in love western style.  Despite Victorian mores, marriage and courting in the Wild West was a good deal less formal than the overarching norms of the period. This had much to do with the scarcity of women in the West, at least in the early period before the Civil War. After the Civil War, the female population increased somewhat as more adventurous women rode west, mainly in search of men to marry since the War Between the States had decimated the population of young men