On 12th August in the year 1530, the anti-Medici rebels surrendered the Italian city of Florence to the Imperial army of Emperor Charles V and to the Medici pope, Clement VII.  Little Catherine de Medici, who would later become Queen of France, was finally free.

The ong...

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 meadow and embraced as brothers.

Vast and elaborate tented camps had been set up close by outside Ardres in France and Guines which was...

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, Florence, Genoa and Venice.  While the stated purpose of the League was as a Christian bastion against the might of the Turkish Ottoman...

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 political leader or more likely a celebrity or sports star. They shield themselves from the crazy realities of fandom and protestor...

Jeu de Paume was the precursor to tennis and was such a craze in the 16^th century that every royal palace had at least one court and sometimes both an indoor and outdoor court.  A few examples remain to this day at Fontainebleau Palace and across the channel at Hampton...

The festive season is upon us – lots of feasting, music (albeit tinny Christmas carols) and celebration.  All that’s missing is the odd grand ball or two.  In the court of Renaissance France very little excuse was required to throw an elaborate ball – and who wouldn’t...

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 have arrived at Chateau Ecouen, France's National Museum of the Renaissance.