Siege of Florence
On 12th August in the year 1530, the anti-Medici rebels surrendered the Italian city of Florence to the Imperial army of Emperor Charles...
Renaissance Frenemies
On the 7th of June, 1520 in a green valley called the Val Dore not far from English Calais, two great kings galloped across a grassy...
League of Cognac, May 22nd 1526
On this day in 1526 King Francois I of France formed the ‘Holy’ League of Cognac with Pope Clement VII, and the Italian powers Milan,...
Making a Right Royal Entry - French Style
We’ve all seen a cavalcade of black SVU’s escorted by police riding steeds of steel through our streets and known that tucked inside is a...
Tennis - A Renaissance Craze
Jeu de Paume was the precursor to tennis and was such a craze in the 16th century that every royal palace had at least one court and...
Keeping up the with the King - Travelling with the Royal Court in the French Renaissance
Some 24 hours after taking off in Melbourne on a Qantas jet I have touched down across the other side of the world in New York for the...
Christmas Mayhem in the French Renaissance Court
As Christmas carols blast at shoppers in swarming shopping centres and every conceivable surface is draped in tinsel and baubles I...
Let the Music Begin
The festive season is upon us – lots of feasting, music (albeit tinny Christmas carols) and celebration. All that’s missing is the odd...
Wine in the Renaissance
By the heated glow of a bonfire, serenaded by a triangulation of owls and a chorus of frogs, my husband poured me a glass of a wine he...
Renaissance Museum
It's charming - a walk through the forest from the train station, through the iron gates of the walls that surround the grounds and you...
