History Girls

The Reign of Amenhotep III (C.1391 – C.1354 BC)

Auron Renius — Sat, 21 May 2011 20:56:42 +0000

During the reign of Amenhotep III (c.1391 – c.1354 BC), Egypt reached a peak in both political power and cultural achievement. He began his reign at the age of 12 with his mother, Mutemwia, acting as regent until he came of age. Tuthmosis IV, his father left him a considerable empire that stretched from the Euphrates to the Sudan.

From: http://ping.fm/isTSN

Lady Godiva

Auron Renius — Sun, 10 Apr 2011 21:23:59 +0000

The countess Lady Godiva pleaded with her husband to lower the heavy taxes he had imposed on the people of Coventry; Annoyed with her persistent appeals, he eventually agreed to accept her demands if she would ride naked through the streets of the town.

As a virtuous, respectable medieval lady, she was horrified at the suggestion but the fact that she did as her husband told her showed the level of compassion she had for the people. So the legend goes, she ordered everybody to stay in their houses and shut all their windows and doors. She then loosened her hair to cover her body and mounted her horse.

Out of respect, all but one of the citizens of eleventh century Coventry obeyed her command. A man by the name of Tom could not resist a peep at the Countess, (giving us the term peeping Tom) but as he looked at her, he was struck blind. After completing her journey, her husband lived up to his word and abolished all taxes in the town except for those on horses.

Read about the real history behind the legend of Lady Godiva

Testimony from Buchenwald Concentration Camp

Auron Renius — Fri, 08 Apr 2011 12:21:21 +0000

Avram Lewin was a Belgian rope maker who was taken prisoner and kept in Buchenwald Concentration Camp during World War Two. In April 1945, a few weeks after Buchenwald was liberated by US forces, Lewin was interviewed along with other survivors. According his interviewer (speaking almpost 50 years later), like all former prisoners of the camp he was extremely under weight, he spoke in monotone and he never smiled.

From: http://ping.fm/xMa1m

How The Great General Belisarius was Hoodwinked by his Wife

Auron Renius — Thu, 07 Apr 2011 21:14:52 +0000

Procopius of Caesarea (c.490/507- c.560) was a writer and a counsel to the great general, Belisarius, who he fought for on many military campaigns. He wrote several official histories from the time of Emperor Justinian and a â€˜Secret Historyâ€™, (which remained unpublished until after his death), in which he was critical of the Emperor, his wife Theodora and the nobility. He starts the work with a blistering attack on the wife of General Belisarius;

From: http://ping.fm/cveaY

Egyptian Queen Beauty had Wart?

Auron Renius — Thu, 07 Apr 2011 13:55:19 +0000

King Tut’s grandmother, the powerful and beautiful Queen Tiye, might have had an unattractive flat wart on her forehead, according to a mummy expert.

Located between the eyes, the small protuberance was found on the mummy of the so-called Elder Lady (KV35EL). Boasting long reddish hair falling across her shoulders, the mummy was identified in February 2010 by DNA testing as Queen Tiye, the daughter of Yuya and Thuya, wife of Amenhotep III, and mother of Akhenaten.

The skin growth had gone unnoticed until Mercedes González, director of the Instituto de Estudios Científicos en Momias in Madrid, spotted it looking at the mummy during a visit to the Cairo Museum…..

The wife of the 18th dynasty King Amenhotep III, the mother of the heretic pharaoh Akhenaten and grandmother of King Tut, Tiye (who lived from 1415 to 1340 B.C.), is one of the most intriguing women in Egyptian history.

Described by her husband as “the lady of grace, sweet in her love, who fills the palace with her beauty, the Regent of the North and South, the Great Wife of the King who loves her,” she was the most influential woman of Amenhotep III’s 38-year reign.

Tragic Love Story from the Ancient World

Auron Renius — Thu, 07 Apr 2011 12:15:30 +0000

This tragic love story was written around the first century CE and is often (probably mistakenly) attributed to the Greek historian Plutarch. It comes from a set of five tales that deal with some of the darker issues surrounding love such as, as in this story, jealousy, revenge and death.

“At Haliartus, in Boeotia, there was a girl of remarkable beauty, named Aristocleia, the daughter of Theophanes. She was wooed by Strato of Orchomenus and Callisthenes of Haliartus. Strato was the richer and was rather the more violently in love with the maiden; for he had seen her in Lebadeia bathing at the fountain called HercynÃª in preparation for carrying a basket in a sacred procession in honour of Zeus the King. But Callisthenes had the advantage, for he was a blood-relation of the girl.

From: http://ping.fm/souy7

Crime and Punishment at the Old Bailey, 1719

Auron Renius — Wed, 06 Apr 2011 18:21:01 +0000

This is an account of the trials at the Old Bailey heard on the 8 September, 1719 as reported in â€˜The British Gazetteerâ€™ four days later;

From: http://ping.fm/eNRQ2

Edutainment: History

Auron Renius — Wed, 06 Apr 2011 00:42:22 +0000

Anne was the last of the Stuart monarchs, and the first sovereign of Great Britain. Anne was born on 6 February 1665 in London, the second daughter of James, Duke of York, brother of Charles II.

She spent her early years in France living with her aunt and grandmother. Although Anne’s father was a Catholic, on the instruction of Charles II Anne and her sister Mary were raised as Protestants. In 1683, Anne married Prince George of Denmark. It was to be a happy marriage, although marred by Anne’s frequent miscarriages, still births and the death of children in infancy.

From: http://ping.fm/poAET

Anti-Slavery Treaty Between the USA and Great Britain Signed ~ April 7, 1862

Auron Renius — Tue, 05 Apr 2011 23:47:12 +0000

Slavery was abolished in Britain in 1833 and by the early 1860s had begun to be made illegal in an increasing number of states in America. However despite the legalities, the lucrative trade continued in both countries prompting the signing of a Treaty between United States and Great Britain for the Suppression of the Slave Trade. The agreement was signed in Washington on April 7, 1862 and proclaimed three months later by the President of the United States, Abraham Lincoln…

From: http://ping.fm/aS2fk

Unrequited Love in the Middle Ages ~ A Thirteenth Century Poem from the Heart

Auron Renius — Tue, 05 Apr 2011 11:54:44 +0000

I. I was living pleasantly, serenely and peacefully
the day that Love entered my heart,
for I neither loved nor was loved,
nor did I feel any ill or injury from love.
Now I do not know what love is or what it is all about,
for I am in love with a lady who does not love me at all,
and yet, all that I possess I have from her
and I would have the whole world from her if it were mine.

From: http://ping.fm/AgvNM