-
Madame de Brinvilliers’ Crimes: The story of a 17th century serial killer
“Sex. Intrigue. Poison. Sorcery. This is the life and trial of Madame de Brinvilliers. In the late summer of 1672, all of Paris is stunned when a servant of a French noblewoman is arrested and his mistress, Madame de Brinvilliers, and her lover accused to be the minds behind the poisoning of at least fifty innocent souls. What follows…
-
Adieu 2018…..
This has become a bit of a tradition, hasn’t it? I don’t know about you, but many say 2017 was quite a strange year. 2018 tops it for me by far and I’m not even thinking of all the political madness of this year when I say that. So, brace yourself, this will be quite personal. But let’s start with…
-
The Confessions of Monsieur E by Jules Harper
“From a tiny French village to the glittery debauchery of 17th century Paris… Take a romp through the wicked court of King Louis XIV… Nothing is censored. Everything is for sale.” Does that caption intrigue you? Then dive into the world of Monsieur E. It is the time of Louis XIV and while the young King enjoys women and…
-
In bed with the Sun King, mademoiselles, mistresses and wives of Louis XIV
New publication alarm. Hurray. A while ago, some of you asked me if I could do a bundle of my mistress articles and make it available as e-book. I did just that and you can now get it for your Kindle devices or on your Kindle apps. What is it about? Louis XIV had a lot of mistresses. Some of…
-
Must-watch Louis XIV movies…
With Versailles being over, do you wonder what Louis XIV related productions you could watch next? As it happens, Louis wasn’t just a great King, but also is a bit of a movie star. There is plenty of stuff featuring him and I will list some of them, the ones I like the best, for you. If you are here…
-
Website issues…
Rant incoming, bear with me: My website is hosted by one of the major companies. For some time now, random posts stop to work. As in, they work fine one day, but the next day they are displayed as a blank page. (Not even the admin panel shows on them then.) Doesn’t matter what browser and which post is affected…
-
Louis XIV, the real Sun King by Aurora von Goeth & Jules Harper
This is a lovely compact biography of Louis XIV of France. The great aspect and selling point of this book is that it provides a readable comprehensive foundation on the life of Louis XIV. If you like the period or want to know more about France and Europe at this time, this is the perfect place to start. This was…
-
Giveaway: Louis XIV, the real Sun King
As you might know, the lovely Jules Harper and I wrote a book and it happens to be about Louis XIV. It’s a small biography, not too long and too to. We talk about all sort of things, from Louis’ birth and youth, his education, coronation, love-life, fashion, daily routine, customs of Versailles and Versailles in general, we talk…
-
Philippe d’Orléans by Elisabetta Lurgo
Fabulous news! Elisabetta Lurgo has a new book out soon and it is all about Monsieur! Elisabetta is a doctor of history and did dive deep into the archives to bring us a new Monsieur biography in French, published by Perrin. “Peu de figures ont été autant maltraitées que celle de Monsieur, Philippe de France, duc d’Orléans et frère…
-
Louis XIV, the real Sun King, is ready to pre-order!
Bonjour, everyone. Oui, you read that right. You can now pre-order Louis XIV, the real Sun King, written by the amazing Jules Harper and myself. It is available to pre-order on your local Amazon (UK, US, DE, FR) as well as on Wordery Book Depository, Waterstones and on Barnes&Noble. Or directly from Pen and Swords, our publisher, via their website, where you can…
-
Adieu 2017…
What a year, hm? I’m surely not the only one who thinks that the world got a little bit more crazy in 2017, am I? But I shan’t rant about politics and such things… for I would never finish. So, let’s talk about the exciting not politic things that happened. The most important one is probably that Jules and I…
-
Mademoiselle’s favourite history movies…
Since some of you probably have a couple of days off after Christmas, I thought I share some of my fave history movies with you. Not all of them are 17th century or even Louis XIV related, but definitely worth a watch. Some of them can be watched via Amazon Prime, if you have it, or rented via Amazon Video,…
-
Two years of partying like 1660…
It’s two years already. Doesn’t feel like it, does it? It kind of feels like we only just started… but as I write this, we have October 18 and that means it is exactly two years since the first article was published here. I still remember very well how nervous I was to hit that publish button. And how anxious I…
-
Mademoiselle at Quedlinburg Abbey…
I have been told to scribble more about my trips, so here we go… Yesterday, which happened to be my day of birth, I spent the day in Quedlinburg. It’s not too far away from my place, thus we (meaning my mum and I) go there once in a while to admire the lovely Fachwerkhäuser – timber framed houses. The…
-
Maladies and Medicine: Exploring Health & Healing, 1540–1740
Sara Read and Jennifer Evans have teamed up to bring us Maladies and Medicine: Exploring Health & Healing, 1540–1740. If you are interested in how various illnesses were cured back in the days and what people thought caused them, this is just the thing for you. “Maladies and Medicine offers a lively exploration of health and medical cures in…
-
Mademoiselle in Plymouth or things to do in Britain’s Ocean City
Since I have pretty much just gotten back from Britain’s Ocean City that goes by the name of Plymouth and I know some of you enjoy my random babbling about such things, here’s what you might fancy to do if you should ever go there with a bit of city history on top. If you ask a Plymothian, or Janner…
-
Congratulations! It’s a book!
As Marie-Thérése gave birth to her first child, Louis XIV was so filled with joy that he apparently opened the windows wide and shouted at the crowd outside ‘The Queen gave birth to an heir!’. Some years later that heir kissed all ladies present in the room as his wife gave birth to an heir. I shall make a bit less…
-
Of Ink, Wit and Intrigue…
‘THE WILDEST AND MOST FANTASTICAL ODD MAN ALIVE.’ Susan Cooper-Bridgewater explores the life of John Wilmot, Second Earl of Rochester, in Of Ink, Wit and Intrigue, a gripping novel that weaves together fact and fiction. I surrender this testimony of my life and have laid bare some obscure events, the truth of which is for you to ponder upon.…
-
Versailles goes Down Under
You might have heard of the fabulous exhibition the National Gallery of Australia and the Chateau de Versailles have set up in Canberra. Treasures such as paintings, tapestries, furniture, and even Latona herself, the large centrepiece of the Latona fountain, travelled all the way to Australia for the first time ever. My partner-in-bonbon-devouring Jules Harper payed the exhibition a visit, brought…
-
Versailles Giveaway!
It is time for a giveaway again. Hurray! Enter the form below for a chance to win a Sun King notebook with matching pencil and a utterly cute Versailles memory card game featuring many historical people from the time of Louis XIV, everything coming straight from the boutique of Versailles. Like last time, we use the rafflecopter widget. To enter you…
