In the days of Queen Mary

The fields were ripening unto harvest, the rustics went forth to their daily toil whistling merrily beside their horses, and at eventide the maidens went to see to the kine with...

Of all the religious edifices in the city the cathedral alone remained unconsumed by the devouring element. Philip had himself superintended the efforts made for its preservatio...

Few guests were present, conspicuous among them being the Queen's half- sister, the Lady Elizabeth, lately restored to Court favour; next to her sat De Noailles, the French Amba...

The horsemen needed but little time wherein to refresh themselves and their horses. The aubergiste, at Geoffrey's command, brought forth his best wine for the gentlemen, and his...

For though the Queen entered with all her heart and soul into his projects, as became the daughter of Catharine of Aragon, English people felt that this was no quarrel of theirs...

Its peculiar name did not find its origin in any distinctive feature of the building, but rather from the fact that, by order of King Richard I, the "Starra," or Jewish Covenant...

It was a noble room with a splendid vaulted roof. All around were bookshelves laden with heavy volumes; above the shelves were portraits of famous lawyers, and some few statesme...

It was a dull gloomy day, the first day of "chill October." The envoys stood on the deck of the fly-ship as she cleared out of Calais harbour, and they watched the fast-receding...

The bells of the church have been ringing at intervals all this lovely spring day, and the villagers are assembling in such numbers that the sacred building cannot contain them.

Calais was a petty fishing village in the tenth century, and its first appearance in the annals of history was when Baldwin the Fourth, Count of Flanders, took it under his fost...

Of De Montmorency's fine army of twenty-two thousand men all were slain or captured, save five thousand. Among the slain were some of the noblest of the sons of France, notably...

The headsman's axe had oft-times been in use on Tower Hill: Northumberland had gone to his doom with no man to pity him; his son Lord Guildford Dudley had followed him to the bl...

It was an hour after sunset, and a rich red glow still lingered in the western horizon, tinging the waters of the Thames as they swirled past the water-gate of Surrey House with...

"Come, children, come with me to the dining-room," cried Sir John with cheerful voice, as he entered the library. "Do you not know that the body has its needs as well as the min...

The cawing of the rooks, as they winged their leisurely flight into the great rookery, alone broke the silence which sweetly brooded over the broad terrace on which two Sussex b...

It was past mid-day when Sir John and William reached Gray's Inn, and, as their footsteps reached the ears of the watchful and anxious Susan, she flew down-stairs to meet them.

For an hour before the sitting of the Court an unwonted excitement pervaded its precincts—for the news of the tragic events of the preceding day had gone abroad till London was...

It was the last day of the year 1557, and it closed amid storm and tempest. The old town of Calais was enshrouded in gloom, the lanterns which dimly lit the streets had one by o...

On November 17, 1558, Queen Mary died. Philip came not to England; by the hand of the Count de Feria he sent a message and a ring to his dying wife.