I hemmed and hawed over Eleanor Herman's "Sex with Kings", mainly because I really couldn't say much about historical accuracy without doing a ton of research. Or so I thought. Simply googling one of the queens featured in "Sex with the Queen" proved my suspicions of Herman's shoddy research an...
I could not finish this book; I read up to page 120 and then skipped to the last chapter (p. 237-255). The organization of the book did not work for me; my main issue were the author's point of view, founding assumptions, and 'values', which I found distasteful.I thought the organization of this ...
– Leviticus 20:10 For years, Sixtus had looked on the moral failings of his fellow Romans with revulsion. Now, as pope, he was in a position to do something about it. Astrology, gambling, and taking the Lord’s name in vain would be punished with fines, whipping, exposure in the stocks, and for mu...
—LORD BYRON PADDING SILENTLY THROUGH GILDED CORRIDORS, SOMETIMES Death slipped past the king’s chamber and glided on to another, where he visited a mistress. The dead royal mistress was scooped up still warm, thrown in a grave, and promptly forgotten by courtiers, who focused immediately on her r...
She moans, wondering if she has been in an accident. Her face feels raw, her clothes smell singed. A fire. There was a fire... Then she remembers. The Bennu. Riel took control of the Bennu and made it attack Brehan. She opens her eyes and looks up a...
It wouldn’t be hard to untangle them, but Zo would rather have her fingers go numb than risk falling off the horse. The scarf drawn tight over her eyes has not only taken away her sight, but also some of her balance. Ever since she sent the message to Cosmas, Ochus has bli...
Immediately a faint musty smell, mingled with spices, tickles her nose. She holds her lamp high, but its tiny flame casts only a small golden halo. She can just make out the bulky shapes around her, blacker than the blackness of the air. Her thick long hair sticks to her b...
wrote the Spanish ambassador.18 After her first miscarriage in 1534, Anne knew she was in trouble. Two pregnancies and no son. Henry became impatient; his small eyes narrowed when he looked at her. She tried to re-vert back to the role of mistress which she had played so well—sexual, scintillatin...
If he did that, he would have to look into the ill-gotten gains of other papal families—the Ludovisis, Borgheses, Al-dobrandinis, Perettis, and Buoncompagnis, just to mention a few. He could hardly prosecute all papal families for corruption and confiscate their wealth. If he did so, given the in...