There is nothing worse than realising that your body strength is abandoning you, even if your brain is still working perfectly fine. Although to be fair, if that happened to me, I would also lock myself from the world and leave everyone else to deal with the aftermath of my doings, ala Luke Skywalker. Continue reading
Families. They are the one thing in the world you cannot choose. You know those Christmas dinners when everybody gets very drunk and starts saying out loud what they think of each other? That is what happened with the Habsburg family by the end of the 1540s. But to be fair, do you also know those occasions when your favourite character on a TV show dies and you don’t care about anything anymore? Because that’s what happened to me. Continue reading
Being a teenager is, with perspective, the worst time in anyone’s life. You are going through changes, you get all ‘rebel’ and make your parents’ lives impossible, and then they force you at age 15 to become the regent of an entire country and marry your first cousin and stop the affair you are having with your sister’s lady-in-waiting. Teens, am I right? Continue reading
Being a woman is not always easy, but I can safely say that there is only one thing worse than giving birth nowadays: giving birth in the 16th century. No epidural, no advanced medicine, high mortality rate… It’s not just that half the people born didn’t make it to age 16, it’s that more times than you would want, giving birth meant you could die. Hell, it was basically a nine-month wait on death row! I get the shivers just by writing this. Continue reading
I found out some unexpected news about Carlos, Rey Emperador earlier this week, so I thought it would be advisable to share them with all of you, non Spanish-speaking fans of the historical drama: this upcoming Monday, TVE will broadcast episodes 12 and 13 back-to-back, and then the remaining four episodes will air after the Christmas break. Continue reading
Has it ever happened to you that, suddenly, one year, you have a different wedding every weekend? Everyone decides to get married at once and you have to juggle with presents, different outfits to wear and which of your friends are going to be there. Well, luckily, I have never experienced it, but on this week’s episode of Carlos, Rey Emperador, the same thing happened, but with death! Honestly, it was death season. Not one, not two, but four! Five, if we include that Isabel almost died of heartbreak at one point. The early 1530s were definitely a bad time to live at court. Continue reading
Whenever there’s a conflict, whether it is a war or the smallest of problems, common sense eventually takes over and, seeing that there is no other way to solve it, the only solution is to leave it to the ladies. If it weren’t for women, the Italian wars would still be ongoing nowadays. Men… Continue reading
What would you do if you were taken prisoner and wanted desperately to get your captor to speak to you? I’ll tell you what I wouldn’t do: I wouldn’t poison myself! Effective as it is, it seems like a risky bet that could get you killed. Isn’t it easier to just ask nicely? Continue reading
When I was 16, I got very sick because I drank from someone else’s cup and it developed into a liver infection. It sucked, basically, but then again, it was my own fault for not being careful enough. Ever since then, I take extremely care with the glasses I drink from, and if I do it from someone else’s, I make sure that it is someone I know well. My point is: drink only from cups and glasses that you have checked beforehand, otherwise you will end up getting poisoned and dying in the most painful way. So many people who died in this episode would have survived if they had checked the work history of their cup-bearers. Continue reading
Imagine having to travel up and down Europe in the 16th century. It doesn’t sound very enticing, don’t you think? Carlos goes all the way up to Germany (which takes months) and then all the way again west to England. And with letters that get lost in France. All I’m saying is, let’s be thankful for the inventions of the telephone and motorized transport. Continue reading
