On this day, 10th May 1403, one of medieval England's most well-known, or notorious (depending on your point of view) women passed away. Given how her life had caused such a scandal, it comes a bit of a surprise to know that her passing was barely noted by the chronicles of the time.

A Respectable Wife

Katherine de Roet was the daughter of a minor nobleman from Hainault, now in modern-day Belgium. He came to England in the service of Philippa of Hainault on her marriage to Edward III of England, and Katherine was raised in the royal nursery in the company of the princes and princesses of England. She was married to a rather impoverished English knight, Hugh Swynford, and Katherine Swynford became the name that history remembered her under. Her husband's manor was at Kettlethorpe in Lincolnshire, but the land was poor and the family often struggled for money. Katherine had several children by Hugh (the exact number is difficult to confirm) and raised them at Kettlethorpe.

Hugh's death around 1371 or 1372 left Katherine in dire financial straights. However here her Royal connections helped. Katherine had served in the household of John of Gaunt in the past, and as a widow she was taken back in to his household, where she was put in charge of the ducal nursery. At some point during this part of her life, she and John began their affair. Their first child was a son named John, who was born some time in 1373.

Infamous Mistress

But while Katherine was widowed, John wasn't. His first wife, Blanche of Lancaster, had died but he had married a second time to a Spainish princess, Constance of Castile. This marriage was not particularly happy, and John may have had several affairs before he and Katherine began their relationship. Katherine went on to have three sons and a daughter by John, who were given the surname "Beaufort".

Even though they were discreet, the news of their affair got out eventually, and Katherine was slandered as a whore in the chronicles. Public opinion had swung against John, and the news of his relationship didn't help. During the Peasant's Revolt John's beautiful Savoy Palace was looted and burned to the ground, and he seemed to take this as a sign of divine disapproval for his behaviour. He and Katherine ended their relationship, and John settled down to focus on his wife and her Castilian inheritance.

Scandalous Marriage

This separation would not last. Several years later their relationship was resumed, and when Constance died in 1394 John further scandalised the country by marrying Katherine. The poor noblewoman of no particular family was suddenly elevated to the position of Duchess of Lancaster, making her second in the land after the Queen of England. People couldn't complain too loudly though, as King Richard II, John's nephew, seemed to approve the match, and no one would argue too loudly with the king.

Katherine outlived her husband by four years, and spent her widowhood quietly. She was welcome at court by King Richard, and then later by her stepson King Henry IV, but she appears to have spent most of her time in Lincolnshire. On her death she was buried in Lincoln Cathedral, and in time her daughter Joan Beaufort would be buried next to her. Her Swynford children had distinguished enough careers, but it was her Beaufort descendants by John that would go far. In 1485 her great great grandson, Henry Tudor, would claim the throne of England, and make her an ancestress of the English royal family.

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On this day in 1451, Isabella of Castile was born. At the time of her birth she would have been seen as nothing more than a future wife for some foreign king, but she would go on to set up a new role for women in the medieval period; determined, forceful, and a ruler in her own right.

Childhood

Isabella's father, King John II of Castile, died when Isabella and her younger brother Alfonso were just three years old and less than a year old respectively. The children and their mother, Isabella of Portugal, lived in the castle at Arevalo. Isabella's older half brother, Henry, was now King, but he appears to have kept his step-mother and her children in relative poverty. The household was frequently short of money, but historians are unsure if this was deliberate policy on Henry's part, or simple incompetence.

At the age of ten Isabella and Alfonso were summoned back to the Spanish court. Henry's wife Joan was due to give birth, and the impending arrival of a new heir to the throne meant that the King wanted to keep a closer eye on his half-siblings, who were also in the line of succession. The legitimacy of Henry's daughter was questioned from the moment the pregnancy was announced. It had taken the couple seven years to conceive their first child, and there were rumours that Joan had taken a lover, to make up for her husband's lack of fertility.

It would have been in the middle of this politically turbulent time that Isabella would have begun to understand just how important a daughter or sister could be. Should Henry die without a legitimate male heir, then her younger brother Alfonso would be King, and she would be first in line after him. When Alfonso died in 1468, Isabella became the new focus of Henry's opposition.

Unwanted Husbands

As part of a political settlement between Henry and Isabella, the subject of her marriage fell to a mutual agreement. Isabella would not marry without her half-brother's permission, and Henry would not force her to marry against her will. Henry quickly betrayed his promise, putting immense pressure on Isabella to agree to marry King Alfonso V of Portugal. When this failed, he attempted to force her to marry Charles, Duke of Barry, a brother of Louis XI of France.

Instead Isabella went behind Henry's back, and arranged her own marriage. She had been betrothed to Ferdinand of Aragon as a child, and the Aragonese royal family were still keen for this match to go ahead. At a time when she should have obeyed her brother, as her nearest male relative, Isabella turned her back on generations of tradition. Announcing that she was visiting her brother Alfonso's tomb, Isabella left Henry's court, travelled to Valladolid, and married Ferdinand in October 1469. 

The Warrior Queen

Isabella's defining image in history, is as a woman who was not afraid to be near battles. After Henry's death, she had to spend several years of her life fighting for the Castilian throne. She was pregnant at least seven times, giving birth to five live babies, one boy and four girls. She was considered Queen of Castile in her own right, and had to balance reviving a kingdom that was worn down by years of war and neglect, with being a wife and mother, and facing opposition from those who didn't want a woman in charge.

At the same time, she and Ferdinand dedicated years to the work that would come to define their lives. With Castile and Aragon, two of the largest kingdoms in Spain, now unified by their marriage, they began to look at dominating the rest of Spain. The "Reconquista", as it became known, saw them conquer more and more cities in Spain, and drive out the Muslim population that had been ruling them for generations. Isabella was part of the discussions on the war, she travelled with her husband when he went out to battle, and she ensured that their troops were supplied with everything they needed on the way. She was seen wearing armour and riding out among her soldiers, encouraging them to the build-up to battle. Although she didn't fight herself, she was certainly for more active that many women in a similar position, who were expected to stay at home and wait for news.

There were more unpleasant sides to Isabella's character. She was raised in a strict, religious household, and once the Reconquista was complete she would allow on-going persecution of Spain's Jewish population, as well as expelling all Jews and Muslims who refused to convert to Catholicism. It was through Isabella and Ferdinand that the Spanish Inquisition gained it first foothold in the country, leading to decades of persecution, torture and murder of people who were considered to be not Catholic enough.

Despite this, there is no doubt that Isabella was an incredible woman for her time. No one would have expected it at the time, but the tiny baby born on 22 April 1451, would go on to show the world a different kind of Royal woman.

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On this day in 1199 King Richard I of England died in France. Although historically he has been seen a popular King, he virtually bankrupted the country, and his early death probably did more to save his reputation than expected.

Younger Son

Richard wasn't supposed to become King of England. When he was born in September 1157 he had a healthy older brother, Henry "the Young King", who was the designated heir to the English throne. Instead Richard was raised to be the future Duke of Aquitaine, helped by his mother Eleanor. Following his childhood in England he spent an increasing amount of time in Aquitaine, where his mother had him officially recognised as her heir, and even toured the region with him so the people would become used to their new ruler.

When Young Henry rebelled against their father, King Henry II, Richard joined in on his brother's side, encouraged by Eleanor. Although they were defeated, the boys were treated with a certain leniency. Richard was allowed to return to Aquitaine to punish the lords who had helped his rebellion. Eleanor, on the other hand, was imprisoned in England. Over the following months and years, Richard faced his own rebellion from within the territory, and then from his brothers Young Henry and Geoffrey. But Young Henry's death in 1183 catapulted Richard in to a previously unconsidered position; heir to the English throne.

King of England

In the six years that followed, Richard fought his own father several times. Henry was determined that now he was due to inherit England, Richard should give up Aquitaine to his youngest brother, John. But Richard had dedicated too much of his life to Aquitaine, and was adamant that he would rule a united empire. Richard even went so far as to form an alliance with King Philip of France. When Henry died in July 1189, it was with the knowledge that his own son had allied himself with his old enemy.

As King, one of Richard's first orders was for his mother to be released from captivity, and while he set about putting his affairs in order in Normandy, Eleanor began preparing for his return to England and the resulting coronation. Richard was crowned in September 1189 at Westminster Abbey, and quickly began preparations for a Crusade. He had already "taken the cross" two years earlier, but problems with his father had prevented him from leaving the continent. Now he was King there was no one who could talk him out of going, and he spent vast sums of money on weapons, supplies, armour and recruiting an army to accompany him. When he set off for the Middle East in 1190, he hadn't even been in England for a year.

While in Italy Richard once again met up with his mother Eleanor, who brought with her Berengaria of Navarre. Richard had been betrothed to Princess Alix of France for years, but had no intention of marrying her, and instead contracted a marriage to Berengaria. Alix's brother King Philip, Richard's old friend and supposed ally on the Crusade, was so angry at this repudiation of his sister that he took his army and left for the Middle East ahead of schedule. Richard followed a more leisurely pace, stopping at Cyprus to marry Berengaria.

Richard arrived in Acre in 1191, and after contracting dysentery, arguing with his allies, defeating Saladin and then discovering his brother John was leading a rebellion in England, he left in 1192, sending Berengaria on ahead of him. The journey home proved to be difficult. Berengaria made it back to Europe safely, but bad weather meant that Richard was forced to abandon his plan of travelling by sea, and had to go across land instead. He was captured near Vienna, and handed over to the Holy Roman Empire, who promptly held him for ransom. Richard's mother eventually gathered together the money that was needed by imposing heavy taxes on England and Normandy. Richard and his wife Berengaria were already estranged by this point, and it was up to Eleanor to negotiate the release of her son and payment of the ransom money.

Death

By the time Richard was released in February 1194, Philip and John between them had caused plenty of damage to his empire. Philip had attacked and captured parts of Normandy, and John had encouraged English nobles to rebel against his brother. After his release from captivity Richard spent a few months in England, shoring up support and gathering money, before he collected a new army and left for his territories in France. King Philip had done his best to capture as much of Normandy as possible in Richard's absence, and he was determined to get it back. As part of his reconquest, Richard besieged the castle of Chalus-Chabrol. One evening he walked out to view the work being carried out by sappers, who were trying to undermine the castle walls, when an arrow fired from the castle landed in his shoulder.

The wound was not instantly fatal, Richard managed to make it back to his tent without causing too much alarm. But the arrow proved difficult to remove from his shoulder, and the necessary "surgery" led to the wound becoming infected. As gangrene set in it became obvious to everyone that Richard was dying. His mother Eleanor was summoned from the convent, and raced to her son's bedside. Richard officially named his younger brother John as his heir, and died on 6th April.

Through his crusade, ransom and fighting in Normandy, Richard had financially ruined his empire. Although many people blame John entirely for the mess of his reign, the foundations of some of it were down to Richard.

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On 18th March 1496, Henry VII and Elizabeth of York became parents to a second daughter. The baby girl was named Mary, and like her older sister Margaret and her brother Henry, she would go on to have an interesting marital history.

Queen of France

Like many English princesses, and like her siblings Arthur and Margaret, Mary was required to play a key role in the political aspirations of her father. England's traditional enemies were Scotland in the north, and France in the south, while the old kingdom of Castile had been both ally and enemy, and the duchy of Burgundy had been a long-term friend and trading partner. It was natural then that Henry would want to bolster England's standing by contracting marriages that would neutralise it's enemies, while bringing it's old friends in to a closer relationship.

For Arthur it was the famous marriage to Catherine of Aragon, daughter of Queen Isabella of Castile and King Ferdinand of Aragon. Arthur and Catherine were distantly related, and their marriage was a way of reaffirming England's old ties to Spain. Margaret on the other hand had been earmarked for Scotland in her infancy, a potential marriage between her and King James IV had been discussed for the first time when she was just six years old, and their marriage was celebrated in 1503.

For Mary there was less certainty. Originally she was betrothed to Charles Habsburg, the future Holy Roman Emperor Charles V and the nephew of Catherine of Aragon. Mary was four years older than her intended husband, and had to wait until he was considered old enough to marry her. This meant that she was still unmarried at the age of seventeen, when the match was called off in favour of a peace treaty with France. In 1514 the eighteen year old princess married King Louis XII of France, who was fifty two years old and had already been married twice.

Mary became step-mother to two girls, Claude and Renee, but Louis had no living son at the time of his third marriage. She would no doubt had known that there was a lot of pressure on her, but luckily for Mary she didn't need to face the same worries as her sister-in-law Catherine, as Louis was dead nearly three months after their wedding in January 1501.

Duchess of Suffolk

Since Louis had died without a male heir, the French throne went to his cousin Francis. The new King of France was keen to arrange Mary's second marriage in a way that would benefit him, while in England Mary's brother was determined that it would be arranged to suit himself. However Mary took matters in to her own hands and married Charles Brandon, the Duke of Suffolk, in secret just months after Louis' death.

Charles was a close friend of Henry, but originally it looked as if even that wouldn't be enough to save his life. Henry was furious that his sister had been married without his permission, and the English court was horrified by the idea of Brandon marrying a woman with such a high social status. There was even talk of Brandon being executed for his behaviour, but in the end his old friendship with Henry and Mary's own close relationship with her brother won out. He and Mary had to pay an enormous fine, but they were allowed back in the country and were given a second wedding ceremony at Greenwich Palace, with Henry attending.

Mary settled back in to life in England, spending most of her time on her husband's estate in Suffolk. Through Charles she once again became a step-mother to two girls, and she had four children of her own. When at court she appears to have been a friend of Catherine of Aragon, in later years she would side with the Queen of England against Anne Boleyn. But she didn't live to see her brother's on-going marital dramas. She died in June 1533, and was buried at Bury St Edmunds. It was through her that Lady Jane Grey would eventually make her own claim to the English throne, as Mary's eldest daughter Frances was Jane's mother.

On this day in 1238, Queen Joan of Scotland died in Havering-atte-Bower. Her relatively short life had been frequently disrupted by the vagaries of English medieval politics, she had been passed from pillar to post as nothing more than a bargaining chip, and at the end of her life her marriage had been in ruins. She was yet another princess whose life was not what she may have hoped for.

Childhood

Joan was born on 22nd July 1210, the third child and first daughter of King John and his wife Isabella of Angouleme. Like the rest of her siblings her early life was influenced by King John's on-going war with the English Barons, as the court moved around the country trying to find alliances and support for John. Her life only really settled when, at the age of four, she was betrothed to Hugh X of Lusignan. As part of the betrothal agreement she was sent to Lusignan to be raised in her future husband's court. The betrothal was a peace offering on John's part, Hugh's father had originally been betrothed to Joan's mother Isabella of Angouleme. John had effectively betrayed the elder Hugh by tricking him in to leaving Lusignan and then marrying Isabella himself, leading to a series of battles and recriminations between both sides.

Hugh the younger was anywhere between 15 and 27 years older than his future wife, but marriage to a Princess was not a deal that could be given up lightly, especially as Joan could instead have been used as a diplomatic deal between England and France. By keeping Joan at the Lusignan court Hugh and his family could at least be certain that John would keep his side of any future bargain, they effectively had his daughter as a hostage should things turn sour. How Joan was treated at the court, as unwanted future bride or honourable guest, isn't known. But in 1216 things changed again when King John died and her brother Henry became King Henry III.

Up to this point Joan and Henry's mother Isabella had simply gone along with what her husband wanted. She had been 12 years old when she had married him, he hadn't been a brilliant husband to her, and it appears that she had no real love for England or the English. As soon as Henry was crowned and settled she decided to return to the continent, where she had inherited the county of Angouleme. Once she was home she soon became reacquainted with local power struggles and alliances, and in 1220 she usurped Joan's position by marrying Hugh X herself. With no father or brother to arrange her marriage for her, this was clearly a choice made by Isabella alone. It suddenly made Joan's position deeply awkward, with no groom waiting in the wings there was no point in her remaining in Lusignan. But Hugh and Isabella exploited the poor girl's position for everything it was worth.

Back in England Henry and his advisors were shocked by the turn of events. The union of the counties of Angouleme and Lusignan made a powerful bloc that could upset the delicate political balance on the continent. Hugh and Isabella knew this, and simultaneously refused to place Joan in her brother's custody and threatened to deal with the King of France if their demands weren't met. Isabella wanted the dower that she was due to receive as the widow of a King of England, and Hugh wanted the lands and money that had been promised to him as part of the agreement for marrying Joan.

The English court had no choice but to agree, they had already been arranging a new treaty with Scotland that was going to be cemented with a new marriage for Joan, this time to King Alexander II. Her sister Isabella was waiting a potential second best, but once again the age difference between bride and groom meant that an older bride was preferred, if only to reduce the amount of time until an heir could be produced. Henry agreed to his mother and Hugh's demands, and Joan was packed off back to England to face a new marriage.

Queen of Scotland

Ten year old Joan married the twenty three year old King of Scotland on 21 June 1221 at York. Henry paid for several days of celebrations, attended by nobles from both the English and Scottish courts, and Alexander then escorted his new bride back to his kingdom.

Joan maintained close contact with her brother for the rest of her life. Although Alexander had granted Joan a "dower" of various lands in Scotland, the money from which was supposed to support her and her household, it does not appear that she was actually given any control over this money. Although she was only a child when she married Alexander, she appears to have been continuously denied her rights once she became an adult. This was alleviated somewhat by Henry, who occasionally granted her lands in England, as well as rights to build property and claim other sources of income that helped her gain a little independence.

The real problems in the marriage seem to have stemmed from their childlessness. Like all Kings, Alexander was desperate to have a son and heir who would inherit his throne on his death. Even taking in to account the fact that Joan was only ten when they married, a decade later the couple still had an empty nursery. Although Joan had frequently proved her worth on the diplomatic front, frequently exchanging letters with her brother that also included things her husband had told her which helped smooth relations between both sides, to a medieval King her only value came from the sons she would give him.

In 1237 Alexander and Joan travelled south to York for a meeting between Alexander and Henry. Alexander had been demanding that Henry grant him the county of Northumbria, and a face-to-face meeting was considered to be the best way to resolve the argument. Once things came to a successful conclusion - Alexander dropped his claim in favour of other grants and acknowledgements from Henry - Joan left her husband and travelled down to Canterbury with her sister-in-law Eleanor of Provence. By this time Canterbury was a centre of pilgrimage, and both Queens may have been praying for help getting the sons that both their husbands wanted.

Joan then spent Christmas with her English family, with no apparent indication that she would return to Scotland any time soon. She was still in England when she fell ill, and she died on 4th March 1238, with her brothers King Henry and Richard Duke of Cornwall at her side. She was buried in Tarrant Crawford Abbey in Dorset, where Henry paid for masses to be sung and for a memorial set up over her tomb. Alexander married Marie de Coucy and by her had a son, the future King Alexander III. 

On this day 1516 Catherine of Aragon, Queen of England, gave birth to a baby girl at Greenwich. The girl was Catherine's fifth child by her husband King Henry VIII, but the four previous pregnancies had resulted in miscarriages, stillbirths, and one son who died after two weeks.

The Only Child

Catherine of Aragon married her brother-in-law, the new King Henry VIII, in June 1509. She fell pregnant quickly, but the baby girl was born prematurely in 1510 and was probably stillborn. In January 1511 she gave birth to a baby boy, who was promptly named Henry and was given the title "Duke of Cornwall", which was a traditional title for the heir to the English throne. The baby appears to have been healthy, he was christened four days after his birth but this wasn't unusual in a society that had a high infant mortality rate. Sadly though he died when he was nearly eight weeks old. No cause of death was ever recorded, but with the high number of illnesses and untreatable infections that were prevalent at the time, it's not unusual that a cause could not be found.

A third son, again called Henry, was born in November 1513. Unlike his brother this little boy didn't live longer than a few hours as he was premature. A third son was stillborn in early 1515, and does not appear to have been named. Mary's birth and survival in 1516, therefore, were seen as an important sign that it was indeed possible for Catherine and Henry to have a healthy child. Two years later Catherine gave birth to a third daughter, but this time the little girl lived no more than a week. This left Mary as Henry's only surviving child, and during her childhood she was an only child, doted on by her mother, who arranged her education.

A Little Sister

While Catherine may have reconciled herself to only have a daughter, Henry was less agreeable. He treated his daughter as a Princess of Wales, even sending her out to Wales to rule as his older brother Arthur had done, but he never formally gave her the title, which would have been an indication that she would be recognised as his heir. Mary had an illegitimate half-brother, Henry FitzRoy, whose presence suggested to her father that any problems with having children didn't stem from him. He was probably already thinking about divorcing Catherine when he met Anne Boleyn, but the fact that his new favourite refused to become his mistress probably prompted him to look closer in to the detail.

Mary and Catherine were devastated by Henry's actions, and both of them suffered. Mary was frequently ill, but was kept away from her mother by Henry, who refused to let the two women write to each other, let alone see one another. Mary was seventeen when Henry married Anne Boleyn, and the announcement of her pregnancy followed by her coronation were two further blows. Mary was declared illegitimate, and forbidden to use the title "Princess", although she could possibly derive some comfort from the fact that Anne Boleyn gave birth to a baby girl, not the son that was expected. At least this was a healthy child who thrived, showing Henry that healthy children were possible, it was unfortunate for Anne that all of her following pregnancies would end in miscarriages. None of it helped Mary though, who was not only devastated by the death of Catherine in 1536, but who was also estranged from her father as she consistently refused to acknowledge his belief that she was illegitimate.

A Little Brother

After Anne Boleyn's execution Henry married his third wife, Jane Seymour. The new Queen was seen as a pacifying influence, and she helped bring a reconciliation of sorts between Henry and Mary. Unfortunately it was at the cost of Mary's principles, she had to accept her father's declaration that she was illegitimate and that her parents had never been married. She was frequently ill, but she was more welcome at court than she had been. Jane argued behind the scenes for Mary to be reinstated in the line of succession, which was unsuccessful, but she did at least manage to have her step-daughter brought back to court. She was granted her own household, given several palaces to call her home, and Henry arranged for her to have her own income so she was free to buy her own clothes and pay for her own entertainments. Letters between her and Queen Jane show that she appreciated her step-mother's help, but they never grew particularly close as Jane died giving birth to a son, Edward, in 1537. Mary's return to court meant that she was now the principal woman in the kingdom, and as such she was both godmother to her little brother, and the chief mourner at Queen Jane's funeral.

Her life may have been promising at the start, but by the time she was in her early twenties, Mary's life had fallen apart. Her life would continue in a series of rollercoaster-like ups-and-downs. But five hundred years ago today, her parents would simply have been relieved that she was alive.

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On 27th January 1922 an incredible woman passed away in New York. Elizabeth Cochrane Seaman, who went by the pen name "Nellie Bly", was supposed to write about dresses and parties. Instead she had set a record, patented inventions, led mental health reform and annoyed the Mexican government.

Mexico

Nellie became a journalist almost by accident. On reading a misogynistic article in her local newspaper, she wrote a spirited defence to the editor. Her writing style impressed him, leading to first a trial offer and then a full time job as a writer for the Pittsburgh Dispatch. As a woman writer, she was expected to stick solely to the columns dedicated to "women's interest" - which primarily consisted of articles about fashion and beauty, and local celebrity gossip. None of this was of interest to her, so instead she moved to Mexico and began sending home a series of articles about life in the country and it's people. Afer a highly critical article about the Mexican government, Nellie was forced to flee back to America, where she not only published more criticisms on Mexico's politics, but collected her earlier articles and published a book.

Mental Health Reform

Back in Pittsburgh, Nellie was quickly reduced once again to the women's interest section. She soon got bored and quit her job to move to New York City, where she eventually managed to get a job interview with the New York World, the newspaper owned by Joseph Pullitzer. The paper had received reports of abuse being carried out at a mental asylum in the state, and Nellie was given the task of infiltrating the asylum to see what she could find. In order to be admitted she faked a bout of insanity, and after being brought before a judge and examined by several doctors, she was committed to the asylum. There she witnessed multiple acts of abuse, patients were beaten if they refused to be quiet, fed food that was either uncooked or had gone off, tied together with ropes and left on benches with no mental stimulation to keep them occupied, and occasionally deliberately drenched in freezing cold water.

Nellie spent ten days in the asylum, after which her colleagues at the New York World persuaded the judge that it had been an act and that she should be released. She promptly wrote a report detailing her experiences, which was later also published as a book titled "Ten Days in a Madhouse". One of the biggest scandals was that a woman who was completely sane had been deemed otherwise by medical professionals, leading to questions about how many other women had been mistakenly classed as seriously mentally ill. The abuse she witnessed led to a public scandal, which prompted reform in the mental health system of the state. Nellie frequently submitted her own suggestions for changes that should be made, many of which were implemented.

Eighty Days Around The World

In the book "Eighty Days Around the World", Phileas Fogg makes a grand attempt to circumnavigate the world in a hot air balloon. On 14th November 1889, Nellie started out on her own version of the journey, publically supported by the New York World. She left New York by steamboat, and proceeded to travel through England, France, Italy, Egypt, Sri Lanka, China and Japan, using boats and railways. She took minimal luggage, carrying just one bag with her, and travelled alone. She was also in direct competition, the New York paper "Cosmopolitan" sent their own woman journalist on the same trip, but in the opposite direction.

On 21st January 1890, Nellie's boat docked at San Francisco. Bad weather on the final leg of her journey meant that she was a few days behind schedule, but this was soon dealt with by Joseph Pullitzer, who paid for a private train to carry her back to New York from the west coast. She arrived home on 25th January, having travelled around the world in seventy two days, beating the Cosmopolitan's journalist by four days. Nellie only held the record for a few months, but she would always be the first person to travel around the world in less than eighty days, let alone the first woman to complete such a trip.

Inventor

On marrying in 1895, Nellie gave up writing to work with her husband (who was fourty years her senior) in his company, the Iron Clad Manufacturing Co. Nine years after they married, her husband died, leaving Nellie in charge of the company. She lodged two patents for products that the company made, but the business eventually collapsed as it was embezzled by employees. In the final decade of her life, Nellie returned to writing.

Her death in 1922 appears to have gone relatively unnoticed. She was buried in New York, but her grave was unmarked until 1978 when the New York Press Club paid for the erection of a headstone. However in recent years her accomplishments have been noted in numerous plays, tv shows and movies, which have frequently drawn on her work "Ten Days in a Mad-House", and she was the feature of a 2015 Google Doodle.

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On 18th January 1486, Elizabeth of York married the recently crowned King Henry VII of England. The wedding had been a long time coming, and multiple English nobles had pressured Henry to ensure that he went through with a promise he had made in 1483, and help end the Wars of the Roses.

Exiles

Henry Tudor, as he had been known before becoming King, had spent fourteen years in exile. First in Brittany, where he had fled with his paternal uncle Jasper Tudor, and then France when Brittany allied with King Richard III. He was the male heir to the House of Lancaster's claim to the English throne, and therefore a focal point for rebellion against the House of York and their kings; Edward IV and then Richard III.

Elizabeth on the other hand had had a mostly stable childhood. In her infancy her father had fled to the court of Burgundy and her mother had sought sanctuary with Elizabeth and her sisters. This "exile" from the English court had only lasted months before Edward had returned with a small force, gathered an army, and then defeated both the Earl of Warwick and Margaret of Anjou at the Battle of Barnet and Battle of Tewkesbury respectively. This was to be the last set of major battles for a good few years, and once Margaret of Anjou was in prison and her husband and son, King Henry VI and Edward of Wesminster, were dead there was no other Lancaster contender to the throne besides Henry Tudor.

Their lives therefore had been very different. Henry had been supported by his uncle, a long way away from his mother Margaret Beaufort. His childhood had been spent in England, and he had received a good education, but life as an exile was always dangerous. He could have been arrested and sent back to England for imprisonment, or killed if someone thought it might earn them favour with the King. If they struggled to find patrons in Brittany or France then both he and Jasper would have been forced to travel further afield for help, with no guarantee of a warm welcome. Meanwhile Elizabeth had grown up in the centre of a close family, with both her parents frequently spending time with their children. She was betrothed to the French dauphin when she was nine, if the match had gone ahead she would have become Queen of France, but it was called off by the French in 1482.

Her life had fallen apart in 1483 when her father Edward IV died. Her uncle Richard moved faster than anyone expected, taking her brother Edward in to his "protection", while the rest of the Royal family fled in to sanctuary in Westminster Abbey. Elizabeth's mother was eventually persuaded to give up her second son, Richard, and both he and young Edward became known as the "Princes in the Tower" after they disappeared.

A Promise

On 25th December 1483, Henry Tudor went to Rennes Cathedral and publically swore that he would marry Elizabeth. If the marriage went through it would unite the two opposing families and their rival claims for the throne, and hopefully create a lasting peace. It also showed any York supporters who disliked Richard III that there was an alternative, through Elizabeth the York family would still have a connection to the throne. Nowadays we would expect that Elizabeth herself could claim the throne, but at the time a reigning Queen was not something people wanted, not when there was a male alternative in the sidelines.

But after Henry won the Battle of Bosworth Field he didn't rush to marry Elizabeth. He was determined that his reign would be his alone, and that his enemies would have no reason to claim that Elizabeth was the rightful monarch. He had himself crowned in October 1485, claiming the throne by conquest rather than through his marriage. The potential wedding was delayed, probably to allow Henry time to be seen as King in his own right, but in December a petition was read out in Parliament requesting that he honour his original promise. A few weeks later, on 18th January, the wedding ceremony was performed in Westminster Abbey. They went on to have seven children, although only three outlived their parents and became King Henry VIII of England, Queen Mary of France, and Queen Margaret of Scotland.

(Don't forget to check out my shop, where I have badges for both Elizabeth and Henry!)

On this day, 5th January 1066, King Edward of England died in London. He was sixty two years old and had no son, a fact that had cause considerable debate in England in the years leading up to his death, and would lead to an invasion by William Duke of Normandy later that year.

The lack of any child from Edward's marriage has puzzled historians for years. Edward only married when he was in his early forties, three years after he became King of England. The delay may have been because it was difficult for him to find a suitably high-status wife. He spent most of his life in exile in Europe, probably in his mother's homeland of Normandy. His inheritance of the English throne was taken by Danish conquerors, and any man that married a daughter to him could not be certain whether he was marrying a future King of England or a man who would never be able to return home. It may also be that Edward had no intention of marrying at all, after his death his widow would claim that he had sworn himself to a chaste life. If this is true then it could have been a decision he made early on in his adult life.

The theory that has been put forward in recent years is that Edward's lack of an heir was a deliberate snub to both his wife and his family. The woman he had married was Edith of Wessex, the daughter of Earl Godwin. Her family were extremely powerful and influential, and without their support Edward would have struggled to hold on to his throne. Edith appears to have been the price he paid for their on-going agreement to not rebel against him, but it doesn't mean he had to follow their plans exactly. It has been pointed out that Edward could have consistently refused to consummate his marriage with Edith, which would have Godwin over a barrel. He couldn't rebel against his son-in-law without removing his daughter from the throne too, and there was no real alternative without claiming the throne himself, which would not have gone down well with the rest of the Anglo-Saxon nobility.

At one point Godwin's family overstepped the mark and were exiled from England by Edward, while Edith was banished to a convent. But they soon reappeared a year later, and Edith was reunited with her husband. From that point it was impossible for Edward to divorce her, whether their childlessness was caused by a medical condition or a deliberate decision, it was not something that was going to change in the future. As a result Edward began to look around at his extended family for a potential man to name as his heir.

One of the earlier probabe candidates was Edward Aetheling, who was a nephew through the King's  paternal half-brother Edmund Ironside. The Aetheling was recalled to England, but died shortly after arrival leaving his five year old son as another possible contender. Norman historians claimed that Edward offered the throne to William Duke of Normandy, who was distantly related to Edward but not through any Anglo-Saxon relations.

In the end Edward's death was witnessed by only had a handful of people, including his wife Edith and her brother Harold. They would go on to claim that Edward left his throne to Harold on his deathbed, and to emphasise the point Harold had himself crowned less than twenty four hours later at Westminster Abbey (the traditional coronation venue was Winchester Cathedral, which shows how quickly Harold had to move).

But as news of Edward's death spread across England and Europe in the following weeks, multiple claimants began to come out of the woodwork. By the end of 1066 England would have seen several bloody battles, the deaths of a large number of Anglo-Saxon nobles, and invasion forces from both Norway and Normandy. 

On the 25th November 1120, Henry I left Normandy and sailed across the Channel to England. He left behind his son and heir, William Adelin, along with several of his illegitimate children, various other nobles, his nephew Stephen of Blois, and their servants. No doubt he assumed that he would see his son a few days later when they were both in England, perhaps reunited in Winchester or London.

Back in the harbour of Barfleur, William was proving to be a generous host. The wine had been opened, the crew were joining in with what was proving to be a high-spirited afternoon, and more people slowly joined in the fun. Stephen of Blois left, reportedly due to illness, as did several others, but as evening fell there were three hundred people on board who were all determined to have a good time. The White Ship was reportedly acknowledged as being one of the best of it's kind, only the best would be used for the heir to the English throne of course. With this in mind some of the party began to encourage the crew to start a race. King Henry's ship had got a good head start on them, but the channel was relatively calm, there was a good wind, and they had the best ship. Surely they could surprise the King by overtaking his ship in the night and beating him to England. Instead of Henry waiting for his son, he would wake to find William waiting for him.

With their pride now at stake, the crew agreed. It was now dark, and everyone had drunk a bit too much. Barfleur harbour could be difficult to leave safely if you weren't used to it, and while the captain (a man named Thomas Fitzstephen) had plenty of experience, he'd also had plenty to drink as well. The White Ship never reached the Channel, as it left the harbour it hit a rock, and quickly began to sink.

In the dark night there was panic on board. A few forward-thinking people managed to launch a small boat from the side and get William Adelin in to it. As the heir to the English throne he was the most important person on board, his life could not be forfeit under any circumstances. The sound of his friends crying out for help as the water couldn't help but move the young Prince, especially when he recognised the screams of his half-sister, Matilda Countess of Perche. Ignoring the danger, William ordered his little crew of rowers to turn back around and help him rescue the Countess. But as the little boat moved towards her, others in the water clawed desperately at it, begging for help. The boat was capsized, throwing William and his rescuers in to the freezing cold November water.

When dawn rose on 26th November, it found one man left alive in Barfleur harbour; a butcher from Rouen. Everyone else, including William Adelin, had drowned. Not only would this prove devastating to King Henry I, but in the long-term it would also lead to the period of civil war known as The Anarchy.