On the Heroes, Heroines and History blog, we're talking about the history of the Emerald, May's birthstone. Here's a preview of the article. May is my favorite month. The sights, sounds and smell of Spring as it finally arrives, the baby animals that can be seen all around, the fresh smell of rain on newly growing plant sprouts. It's just a lovely time of year! And it's my birthday month. But that doesn't make me biased at all. ;) I've always been fascinated with the birthstone of May, the emerald. It's a beautiful stone, and one with a rich history. So let's explore where this gem was first discovered, and how it has progressed through time. The first known emeralds were mined in Egypt around 1500 B.C. That's about the time that Moses was being called by God to return to Egypt and free the Israelites from slavery. So it is possible that Hebrew slaves were the ones to mine the very first diamonds from the earth. Read the full art...

We're talking about some interesting tidbits I stumbled across with gifts exchanged between Bloody Mary and Elizabeth Tudor on the HHHistory blog. Here's a preview of the article.    Mary and Elizabeth Tudor are a fascinating pair of sisters. Same father, but rival mothers and seventeen years apart, it is surprising how affectionate the two were throughout most of their lives. One of the main ways that the sisters expressed their affection was through gifts exchanged. We can learn a lot about their situation and relationship from each of these.  Mary, as the elder sister, often sent Elizabeth spending money and cloth for making clothes since King Henry often neglected attention to such details. She also gave Elizabeth many pieces of jewelry, some of these pieces can be found in museums today. Her gift giving became so much of a custom, that when the relationship between Mary and Elizabeth turned hostile, Mary’s councilors told her she should send Eliza...

Why Did Queen Elizabeth I Never Marry? Elizabeth I Darnley Portrait This a question has fascinated people since Elizabeth the Great was alive. Considered one of the greatest monarchs in English history, an intelligent and pleasing woman, deemed a beauty during her time with a knack for fascinating men, it is a true curiosity. She had at least half a dozen men fall in love with her and had many offers of marriage from English poets to monarchs from allied countries, so a lack of suitors was certainly not the culprit. Why then did this woman choose to rule alone during a time when that was unthinkable? Elizabeth intentionally left a lot of ambiguity on this subject, never admitting a hard answer, but there are three main theories.  Read the entire article on HHHistory.com here. 

Hello Friends! I'm sharing about Biblical plants and botany life on the HHHistory blog, and there's also a chance to win a copy of The Healer's Touch! So be sure to stop by and check it out. Here's a preview of the article.   During our trips to the Holy Land, one of my favorite experiences was visiting the Biblical Gardens outside of Jerusalem. The Biblical Garden is a special reserve that grows and studies all manner of botany and animal life mentioned in the Scriptures. I learned so much, not only about the plants themselves, but also about how the ancients used the plants, and what their every day life would have been like. It gives such a unique perspective on Biblical history. Won't you join me on a little 'virtual tour'? I'll show you a couple of things I enjoyed learning while visiting this Biblical Landscape Reserve.   Read the rest of the article by clicking here.

We're sharing the history and legend behind the beautiful Dogwood tree on the HHHistory blog! Since Easter is coming up, I thought I’d share a beautiful legend that always comes to my mind this time of year. The legend behind the dogwood trees. Some of ya’ll may have heard it, but perhaps you don’t know some of the other history behind the tree. Down South, the Dogwood Trees are a symbol of Spring. There are festivals every year that celebrate Spring and the blooming of the dogwood tree. In fact, three states have honored the tree with state plant status. The dogwood is the state tree of Missouri, the state flower of North Carolina, and Virginia loved it so much that it is actually their state flower AND state tree. In the mid 1500’s, the trees were known in Europe as the dagwood, because the small stems were used for dags, daggers, arrows or skewers. Later, around 1615, the name was changed to dogwood. No one knows for sure why the name changed from dagwood to dog...

Continuing our series of Sisters That Changed History, we're now brought to the antebellum era in the United States. Although thirteen years apart, Sarah and Angelina Grimke were very close and became legends during their own lifetimes. Sarah Grimke (Public Domain) Sarah was born into the home of a wealthy South Carolina family on November 26, 1792. Her father was a prominent Charleston judge and a slaveholder. He was a strict disciplinarian who believed his children should learn hard work. As a result, he would often send them out to work among the slaves in the cotton and corn fields. Although we don’t know the exact instances, it must have been here that Sarah, as well as her younger sister, Angelina, saw something at a young age that made a very deep impression on them. It caused them to fiercely oppose slavery despite the contrary opinions of the rest of their family. Read the rest of the article here. Now available for pre-order! I'm also pleased to annou...

Last month we began with the elder half-sister, Mary Tudor. If you missed that post you can find it here: http://www.hhhistory.com/2017/06/sisters-that-changed-history-mary.html Elizabeth I as Princess (Public Domain) Elizabeth Tudor was the first and only child of Henry VIII and his second wife, Anne Boleyn on September 7, 1533. The political uproar surrounding her birth and the marriage of her parents made her a celebrity before she was even born, especially when the physician and astrologer predictions failed and she was a daughter rather than the longed for son . This was especially a problem for Elizabeth’s mother since King Henry was willing to do almost anything to secure a male heir.   A comment by Venetian ambassador Giovanni Michiel intimates that Elizabeth looked much like her father, and for this reason, he favored her, despite her not being the anticipated prince. He claims this was the reason she was exalted above her half-sister and giv...