At the time of his birth in 1365 little Edward of Angouleme was the prospective King Edward V of England. Son of Edward the Black Prince, grandson of King Edward III, the little boy would have been expected to follow in his forefather's military footsteps – batter the French and help reclaim the lands of the Plantagenets. 

On 27 November 1252 the Regent of the French throne died. Not an uncle or brother or other male relative of King Louis IX but his mother, Blanche of Castile. With her son on Crusade she had proved to be an able regent, but this surprised no one. It wasn't the first time Blanche had been required to take care of France for her son, and she came from a line of highly capable women. 

On 13 September 1944, four women were executed at Dachau Concentration Camp. All four of them; Yolande Beekman, Elaine Plewman, Madeleine Damerment, and Noor-un-nisa Inayat Khan, were agents from Special Operations Executive. A Dutch prisoner at the camp reported that Noor in particular had been singled out and beaten badly before being shot. It was a sorry end for a short life that had started out with wealth and privilege, whose course had been significantly changed by the outbreak of the second world war. 

When Philippa of Lancaster died on 19 July 1415, her adopted country of Portugal was plunged in to mourning. Philippa was a popular consort, known for her charity, benevolance, and for being a good influence on a court that had been viewed as being corrupt in the past. But her legacy would live on for multiple generations through her children, grandchildren, and even one particular great-granddaughter… 

On 10 January 1918, a nurse named Ada Woodley died at Littlebury in Essex. She's not a famous woman in history, but when me and my fiancé stumbled on her grave two years ago while visiting this beautiful old village, I decided to research her. It's rare to find a war memorial grave in a local cemetery, and I'd certainly never seen one dedicated to a woman before. But researching Ada's story reminded me that women who worked hard for their country during the war weren't really treated with the same amount of respect as their male counterparts. 

Happy New Year everyone! Thank you to everyone who supported The Creative Historian this past year, from purchasing from the shop to commenting on blog posts, retweeting on Twitter, sharing on Facebook and pinning on Pinterest!

You may have noticed that in December I ran a little advent calendar series of blog posts. The theme of the calendar was churches, namely churches that I've visited (either alone or with my other half) over the past few years. If you've missed some posts, then you can find the master list below. 

I'll admit, this may be a little short because I'm writing it on the evening of Christmas Eve, unlike a lot of my earlier posts, which were drafted in November. It's also a little short because today is Christmas Day, and I doubt there are many of you who are reading it (if you are then thank you!)

Today's church is St Paul Beyond the Walls in Rome. It was founded during the reign of Emperor Constantine I, who believed that the site was where St Paul had been buried after his martyrdom. It's outside of the city centre (we ended up having quite a long walk to get to it) and as a result, isn't a consideration for many tourists. But this church is really beautiful, and well worth a trip out from the usual Roman sites. 

Today's church is a little bit special. My fiancé and I recently purchased our first house, and this church is right in the heart of community we now live in - Wivenhoe in Essex. 

If I’m going to write about St Nicholas at Great Hormead then it seems only fair that I write about St Mary at Little Hormead as well, over the years the smaller church has suffered in attention compared to St Nicholas. 

If you’re walking around the glorious Edinburgh Castle, then you might be forgiven for walking past one of the smaller buildings, dismissing it as nothing important. However despite it’s size, you should still pay attention to it, as you’re looking the oldest surviving building in Edinburgh – St Margaret’s Chapel!