Nancy Wake was a New Zealand born Australian journalist working in France when Germany invaded her beloved adopted country. Unwilling to watch as France became overrun with foreign soldiers, she joined up with the secret band of guerrilla fighters known as the French Resistance. Embedded with a group of fighters in the mountains of Central France, Nancy played an invaluable role in obtaining weapons and money for the Resistance as well as laying explosives and leading a charge on a machine gun station.

Sources/Further Reading

Fitzsimmons, Peter: Nancy Wake - A Biography of Our Greatest War Heroine

Wake, Nancy: The White Mouse

Braddon, Russell: Nancy Wake - SOE’s greatest Heroine

The Story of Nancy Wake https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/explore-the-collection/stories/nancy-wake/

Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nancy_Wake

Australian War Memorial https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/P332

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Nancy Wake was a New Zealand born Australian journalist working in France when Germany invaded her beloved adopted country. Unwilling to watch as France became overrun with foreign soldiers, she joined up with the secret band of guerrilla fighters known as the French Resistance. Embedded with a group of fighters in the mountains of Central France, Nancy played an invaluable role in obtaining weapons and money for the Resistance as well as laying explosives and leading a charge on a machine gun station.

Sources/Further Reading

Fitzsimmons, Peter: Nancy Wake - A Biography of Our Greatest War Heroine

Wake, Nancy: The White Mouse

Braddon, Russell: Nancy Wake - SOE’s greatest Heroine

The Story of Nancy Wake https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/explore-the-collection/stories/nancy-wake/

Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nancy_Wake

Australian War Memorial https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/P332

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Lady Caroline Lamb is famous - or infamous - for her affair with the poet Lord Byron and for being the wife of Queen Victoria’s favourite Prime Minister Lord Melbourne. But she was also a novelist in her own right, helping to create a new genre of fiction called the silver fork novel which allowed ordinary people a glimpse into the lives of the rich aristocracy. Throughout her life she suffered from mental illness, possibly bi-polar disorder, which in a time with limited understanding of mental illness and limited treatment made life difficult for herself and those around her. Her mother referred to Caroline as the ‘joy and torment of my life’ and many others probably felt the same.

Sources/Further Reading

https://scispace.com/pdf/the-madness-of-writing-lady-caroline-lamb-s-byronic-identity-28d17t2bmv.pdf

https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2015/jun/17/duke-wellington-mud-streaked-waterloo-cloak-up-for-auction

Douglass, Paul: Lady Caroline Lamb

Fraser, Antonia: Lady Caroline Lamb, A Free Spirit

Caro: The Lady Caroline Lamb Website https://sites.google.com/sjsu.edu/caro/biography

Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lady_Caroline_Lamb

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Lady Caroline Lamb is famous - or infamous - for her affair with the poet Lord Byron and for being the wife of Queen Victoria’s favourite Prime Minister Lord Melbourne. But she was also a novelist in her own right, helping to create a new genre of fiction called the silver fork novel which allowed ordinary people a glimpse into the lives of the rich aristocracy. Throughout her life she suffered from mental illness, possibly bi-polar disorder, which in a time with limited understanding of mental illness and limited treatment made life difficult for herself and those around her. Her mother referred to Caroline as the ‘joy and torment of my life’ and many others probably felt the same.

Sources/Further Reading

https://scispace.com/pdf/the-madness-of-writing-lady-caroline-lamb-s-byronic-identity-28d17t2bmv.pdf

https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2015/jun/17/duke-wellington-mud-streaked-waterloo-cloak-up-for-auction

Douglass, Paul: Lady Caroline Lamb

Fraser, Antonia: Lady Caroline Lamb, A Free Spirit

Caro: The Lady Caroline Lamb Website https://sites.google.com/sjsu.edu/caro/biography

Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lady_Caroline_Lamb

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Jadwiga of Poland was a woman, but she ruled with the title of King. Although short lived, her reign is seen as a pivotal one in the history of Poland as it ushered in an age of increasing wealth and military might. Known for her diplomatic skills and ability to negotiate, Jadwiga was beloved by her people and venerated by her church.

Sources/Further Reading

Halecki, Oskar: A History of Poland

Zamoyski, Adam: Poland, A History

Kellogg, Charlotte: Jadwiga, Polands Great Queen

Wikipedia: Jadwiga of Poland https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jadwiga_of_Poland#Holiness

Ogrodnik-Fujcik, Katarzyna: The Four Great-Grandaughters of King Ladislaus the Elbow High https://historytheinterestingbits.com/tag/jadwiga-of-poland/

Encyclopedia.com: Jadwiga https://www.encyclopedia.com/women/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/jadwiga-1374-1399

A Young Girl And A Mighty Queen: The Exceptional Jadwiga of Anjou - An interview With Prof Tomasz Graf

https://polishhistory.pl/a-young-girl-and-a-mighty-queen-the-exceptional-jadwiga-of-anjou/

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Jadwiga of Poland was a woman, but she ruled with the title of King. Although short lived, her reign is seen as a pivotal one in the history of Poland as it ushered in an age of increasing wealth and military might. Known for her diplomatic skills and ability to negotiate, Jadwiga was beloved by her people and venerated by her church.

Sources/Further Reading

Halecki, Oskar: A History of Poland

Zamoyski, Adam: Poland, A History

Kellogg, Charlotte: Jadwiga, Polands Great Queen

Wikipedia: Jadwiga of Poland https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jadwiga_of_Poland#Holiness

Ogrodnik-Fujcik, Katarzyna: The Four Great-Grandaughters of King Ladislaus the Elbow High https://historytheinterestingbits.com/tag/jadwiga-of-poland/

Encyclopedia.com: Jadwiga https://www.encyclopedia.com/women/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/jadwiga-1374-1399

A Young Girl And A Mighty Queen: The Exceptional Jadwiga of Anjou - An interview With Prof Tomasz Graf

https://polishhistory.pl/a-young-girl-and-a-mighty-queen-the-exceptional-jadwiga-of-anjou/

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In 1582 a small corner of Essex in England turned in on itself, and 14 people - 13 women and 1 man - were arrested, interrogated and imprisoned for bewitching to death people and/or animals. This is a story of how grief, fear and suspicion can kill innocent people. Please note there is some discussion of infant death in this episode.

Brennen, Lewis: Parliaments, Politics and People Seminar: The Political and Religious Origins of the 1563 Witchcraft Act https://historyofparliament.com/2019/11/05/origins-of-1563-witchcraft-act/  

Duff, Charles: The History of Hanging https://www.historic-uk.com/HistoryUK/HistoryofBritain/The-Art-of-Hanging/

A true and iust recorde, of the information, examination and confession of all the witches, taken at S. Ofes in the countie of Essex

https://quod.lib.umich.edu/e/eebo/A14611.0001.001?rgn=main;view=fulltext

Gibson, Marion: The Witches of St Osyth - Persecution, Murder and Betrayal in Elizabethan England

Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St_Osyth_Witches

St Osyth Museum: https://www.stosythmuseum.co.uk/village-tales/1579-st-osyth-witches-and-witch-trials

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In 1582 a small corner of Essex in England turned in on itself, and 14 people - 13 women and 1 man - were arrested, interrogated and imprisoned for bewitching to death people and/or animals. This is a story of how grief, fear and suspicion can kill innocent people. Please note there is some discussion of infant death in this episode.

Brennen, Lewis: Parliaments, Politics and People Seminar: The Political and Religious Origins of the 1563 Witchcraft Act https://historyofparliament.com/2019/11/05/origins-of-1563-witchcraft-act/  

Duff, Charles: The History of Hanging https://www.historic-uk.com/HistoryUK/HistoryofBritain/The-Art-of-Hanging/

A true and iust recorde, of the information, examination and confession of all the witches, taken at S. Ofes in the countie of Essex

https://quod.lib.umich.edu/e/eebo/A14611.0001.001?rgn=main;view=fulltext

Gibson, Marion: The Witches of St Osyth - Persecution, Murder and Betrayal in Elizabethan England

Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St_Osyth_Witches

St Osyth Museum: https://www.stosythmuseum.co.uk/village-tales/1579-st-osyth-witches-and-witch-trials

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Caroline of Ansbach, wife and queen of George 2nd, is one of the lesser known British Queens. Which is a shame, as she was one of the cleverest and most influential. Born in a small German state, she went on to wield enormous influence over her husband and his kingdom. The British First Minister would approach Caroline before her husband, and the public loved her for her style and loathed her for her influence.

Sources/Further Reading

Dennison, Matthew: The First Iron Lady

Dennison, Matthew: Caroline of Ansbach: why George II's remarkable queen was the first iron lady of British politics 

https://www.historyextra.com/period/georgian/caroline-of-ansbach-queen-britain-george-ii-first-iron-lady-politics-sex-symbol/

Hadlow, Janice: The strangest family - the private lives of George 3rd, Queen Charlotte and the Hanoverians

Worsley, Lucy: Courtiers, the Secret History of Kensington Palace

Finch, Barbara Clay: Lives of the Princesses of Wales https://archive.org/details/livesofprincesse02finc/page/284/mode/2up

Williams-McIntosh, Leah: Queen Caroline of Brandenburg-Ansbach https://www.historic-uk.com/HistoryUK/HistoryofEngland/Queen-Caroline-Brandenburg-Ansbach/

Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charlotte_of_Mecklenburg-Strelitz

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Caroline of Ansbach, wife and queen of George 2nd, is one of the lesser known British Queens. Which is a shame, as she was one of the cleverest and most influential. Born in a small German state, she went on to wield enormous influence over her husband and his kingdom. The British First Minister would approach Caroline before her husband, and the public loved her for her style and loathed her for her influence.

Sources/Further Reading

Dennison, Matthew: The First Iron Lady

Dennison, Matthew: Caroline of Ansbach: why George II's remarkable queen was the first iron lady of British politics 

https://www.historyextra.com/period/georgian/caroline-of-ansbach-queen-britain-george-ii-first-iron-lady-politics-sex-symbol/

Hadlow, Janice: The strangest family - the private lives of George 3rd, Queen Charlotte and the Hanoverians

Worsley, Lucy: Courtiers, the Secret History of Kensington Palace

Finch, Barbara Clay: Lives of the Princesses of Wales https://archive.org/details/livesofprincesse02finc/page/284/mode/2up

Williams-McIntosh, Leah: Queen Caroline of Brandenburg-Ansbach https://www.historic-uk.com/HistoryUK/HistoryofEngland/Queen-Caroline-Brandenburg-Ansbach/

Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charlotte_of_Mecklenburg-Strelitz

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.