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Category Archives: profiles
The Brief Life and Tragic Death of an Old Master
My latest release, The Roman Candle, was inspired by my interest in the Baroque artist Caravaggio (his given name is actually Michelangelo–which isn’t confusing at all!) Born in 1571 in Milan, Caravaggio lost most of his family to the plague … Continue reading
Posted in Bone Guard Books, fiction, history, profiles, thrillers
Tagged books, Caravaggio, character, history
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Elisha Mancer Launch Day! With footnotes. . .
Elisha Mancer, Book 4 of The Dark Apostle, is now available in bookstores everywhere! And you can find sample chapters for this, and all of the books in the series, at TheDarkApostle.com When you love it, you can click through … Continue reading
A Queen for our time? Joanna of Naples, Great Characters of the Middle Ages
This is the latest installment in my Great Characters of the Middle Ages series. Some of these folks are people who are appearing my my work. Joanna, alas, I must set aside–though I am tempted to post some of the … Continue reading
The Two Emperors: part II, Charles IV
At the end of the first part of this blog, I noted that Charles IV could not have been more different from his rival, Louis the Bavarian. Charles, born 1316, was 34 years younger, handsome and affable. He was highly … Continue reading
The Two Emperors: part I, Louis the Bavarian, the Man who Named his own Pope
During the period when the Dark Apostle novels are set, much of central Europe was consolidated as the Holy Roman Empire (which the wags are fond of pointing out was neither holy, nor Roman, nor an Empire–all valid points, but … Continue reading
Review: Hereward the Wake, ‘Last of the English’
Hereward the Wake, ‘Last of the English’ by Charles Kingsley My rating: 5 of 5 stars A marvelous adventure story with a medieval setting about the legendary hero of England. I picked up the new Audible edition, read by the … Continue reading
Galen: the father of medieval medicine
I touched briefly on Galen in my article “Skinning your Own Apes,” because the title of that piece was inspired by an odd detail I noted in one of his works. But the man himself deserves greater length. The theories … Continue reading
Posted in historical medicine, history, medieval, medieval technology, profiles
Tagged Galen, historical medicine, medieval, medieval medicine
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Scandal, 14th Century Style
Scandals are all over the news these days, dominating the headlines and the op-ed pages, making some grumble that not enough is being done, others grumble that we’re getting distracted from more important issues. Let me tell you, as juicy … Continue reading
Posted in history, medieval, profiles, research
Tagged 14th century, King Edward II, medieval, Piers Gaveston, research, scandal
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Papal Resignation: 13th Century Style
So both of my papers carried stories today about the historic resignation of the Pope. Definitely big news. And both of them referred to the occasion by mentioning the last time a Pope resigned, in 1415–when Pope Gregory XII stepped … Continue reading
The Original Prince in the Tower: Arthur, Duke of Brittany
All the talk right now is of the last Plantagenet, Richard III, whose bones were identified after being excavated from beneath a car park in Leicester. You remember Richard III–the vile hunchback of Shakespearean fame who slew the princes in … Continue reading
Posted in history, medieval, profiles
Tagged Arthur Duke of Brittany, history, King John, King Richard, medieval, Plantagenet, research, Richard III, Richard the Lionheart, villain
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E. C. Ambrose 