Search results for ""Author Laura Brennan""

He was the illegitimate son of a king, a gallant and brave military hero, charming, handsome and well loved both within the court and with women; James Scott, Duke of Monmouth, had the life many would have envied in the seventeenth century. Monmouth lived in an age that was on the cusp of modernity. He lived through some of the biggest events and scandals of seventeenth century British history, including: the Restoration of his father, King Charles II; The Great Fire of London in 1666 and the last great plague to sweep through London killing thousands. James also experienced the political scandal of the Popish Plot; became embroiled in the foiled Rye House Plot, and was at the centre of the Exclusion Crisis, which was a major catalyst for the modern creation of our party political system. But what would turn the beloved darling of the Restoration court into a leading rebel?

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Elizabeth I is arguably one of the greatest monarchs and women of English history. Against an uncertain political and religious backdrop of post-reformation Europe she ruled at the conception of social modernisation, living in the shadow of the infamy of her parents reputations and striving to prove herself an equal to the monarchs who had gone before her. This book seeks to explore some of the key events of her life both before and after she ascended to the English throne in late 1558\. By looking at the history of these selected events, as well as investigating the influence of various people in her life, this book sets out to explain Elizabeth's decisions, both as a queen and as a woman. Amongst the events examined are the death of her mother, the role and fates of her subsequent step-mothers, the fate of Lady Jane Grey and the subsequent behaviour and reign of her half sister Mary Tudor, along with the death of Amy Dudley, the return of Mary Queen of Scots to Scotland, the Papal Bull and the Spanish Amanda.

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James II & VII was not born to be a king. As the Duke of York he grew up in a Britain divided by civil wars and witnessed big events in British history including the Battle of Edgehill (1642). After the execution of his father Charles I at the hands of the Parliamentarians, James soldiered in Europe until his brother, Charles II was restored to the crowns of Britain. Under his brother's reign, James converted to Catholicism and subsequently became the heart of several political storms until 1681. Upon inheriting the throne from his brother Charles II, in 1685, James struggled to balance his personal faith and the evolving politics of the time, upsetting courtiers, his parliament and his subjects eventually leading to the Glorious Revolution and him losing his throne in 1688. This book examines the politics and events of James' life, both before and during his reign, to explain why he was unable to maintain the thrones of Britain, as well as the last few years of his life in exile, how he tried to regain the throne and his sad death. Often overlooked as just a king who ruled for less than four years, James II & VII was an accidental but key historical figure in the shaping of British history. The events at the end of his reign were the first steps in creating a better constitution and democratic Britain.

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