Tag: Medieval Paris

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The Lioness of Brittany

One of my favorite historical blog sites is written by my friend, Susan Abernethy (“The Freelance History Writer”). She primarily writes about medieval Europe and in particular, England. Her blogs are professionally written, interesting, and well researched. She recently wrote a blog entitled Swashbuckling Personalities in History.

Susan’s Blog Site

Her blog reminded me of a woman I highlighted in my recent book, Where Did They Burn the Last Grand Master of the Knights Templar?—A Walking Tour of Medieval Paris.

“The Lioness of Brittany” was Jeanne de Clisson (1300–1359).

Model pirate ship. Photo by Tony Hisgett (2010). PD-CCA 2.0 Generic. Wikimedia Commons.
Model pirate ship. Photo by Tony Hisgett (2010). PD-CCA 2.0 Generic. Wikimedia Commons.

The lords of Clisson came from Brittany dating to the 10th century. Olivier IV de Clisson (1264–1343) was married to Jeanne when he was beheaded on orders from King Philippe VI the Fortunate (I suppose Olivier wasn’t as fortunate as the king).

De Clisson had secretly sided with the English monarch, Edward III, after vowing his loyalty to Philippe. The French king discovered the treachery and invited Olivier to a jousting tournament whereupon Olivier was arrested and imprisoned in the Grand Châtelet in Paris. Read More The Lioness of Brittany

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London Immigration

The Last of England. Illustration by Ford Madox Brown (c. 19th century). PD+100; PD-US. Wikimedia Commons.
The Last of England. Illustration by Ford Madox Brown (c. 19th century). PD+100; PD-US. Wikimedia Commons.

I normally would not take up an issue that is a political hot potato. That’s not what this blog site is about. However, I saw a very interesting article in the BBC entitled DNA Study Finds London was Ethnically Diverse From Start.

If you’ve traveled to London and Paris and walked around a bit, you might have noticed the difference right away: London isn’t an English city any longer, it is an international one. Yet, Paris on the other hand, remains quite French. The BBC article begins by pointing out London was a cosmopolitan town even 2,000 years ago.

It seems there are more than 20,000 human remains (each in their own cardboard box) located at the Museum of London. These remains are former residents of London dating back almost 5,500 years. Scientists and researchers are using new DNA and chemical processes to analyze, among other things, the origins of these folks (why they don’t just go to Ancestry.com I’ll never know). Read More London Immigration