CuppaTea

So, the semester has finished! I feel like I have learned so much, and yet there is still so much more to learn! Hopefully I never stop learning, and I hope you won't either, so to facilitate the learning, let's see what happened in 1578... Edinburgh Castle was rebuilt (David's Tower had been destroyed during a seige of the castle by English forces attempting to capture Mary Queen of Scots). The British defeat the Spanish Armada, signalling the beginning of the decline of Spain and the rise of Britain as world powers. (See this quiz site .) Elizabeth I apparently gave Johan Casimir £20,000 to aid Dutch rebellion, who then occupied Ghent with 500 horsemen. Sir Humphrey Gilbert received a patent from England to explore and colonise North America. (See here .) Back to Wikipedia for a few final tidbits of information. Martin Frobisher and the rest of his expedition were apparently the first Europeans to celebrate Thanksgiving in North America, in Newfoundland. The Eng

So much has been going on over the last few weeks, but considering this is the last week of the semester I thought I should post something about what I've been learning before I am distracted by all the wonderful things involved in a four week break!

I am pretty excited today about some things which may sound a bit odd, but that I thought I might share with those of you who are kind enough to read this blog. I have had page views from three new countries this week - two today! So if you have visited for the first time in the last few days, or have visited while in a different country, thank you! I enjoy seeing new countries coloured in on my audience statistics.

Oh, the anticipation has been exquisite! So, do you know what happened in 1492? Isabella of Castille and Ferdinand of Aragon (Spain) finally defeated the Moors, with the long war ended by the surrender of Granada. (This war is known as the Reconquista , and was endorsed by the popes as a crusade.) The Jews were ordered out of Spain (unless they converted to Christianity), so over 100,000 left for Portugal or the Ottoman Empire. And Columbus, financed by Isabella and Ferdinand of Spain, sailed for India and discovered the New World instead. ( See here .) Travelling to this site reveals some of the other events of the year: Jan 16th - The first grammar of a modern language, in the Spanish language, presented to Queen Isabella . Mar 4th - King James IV of Scotland concluded an alliance with France against England. Aug 11th - Rodrigo de Borja became Pope Alexander VI. (And yes, that means a Spanish pope.) Oct 2nd - King Henry VII of England invaded France. Oct 12th - Fle

The weather has turned truly wintery here over the last week or so. Days seem to end in sudden darkness by 5:30pm, but are often so overcast that the outside lights automatically turn on before 4pm. It gets harder and harder to get out of bed in the morning, to get ready and make it to class on time - or at least not very late! Only two weeks of classes to go, and I think lecturers and students alike are ready for a change in pace. Unfortunately for them, the lecturers will need to mark all the assignments which we have to submit in the next two weeks before they get to relax. And then some of them will need to begin getting ready for next semester! But not all has been dark and dreary and difficult. With another birthday comes another opportunity to do some baking! And today we had a baby shower - another opportunity for sharing fun food! And tea!

I recently read an article, 'Halt! Who goes there?' by Mem Fox for the subject I'm doing on Literacy. Which has made me reflect on my writing and reading habits, and why I think other people might read. I always want to write (usually fiction) when I'm supposed to be working on an assignment or preparing for an exam or other form of test. This has been true since I was in Year 11 studying for the semester 1 English exam! Which, thanks to my awesome English teacher, actually had a creative writing section as part of the exam. There are few other times when I am as creative in developing characters and plots! Anyway, back to the article. Mem Fox brings up four things in this article (written as a dialogue): Relationships, Reality in Writing, Rejoicing in choices, and the Return of the affective. She uses anecdotes in presenting these to the other participant in the dialogue, who gives some feedback. I really enjoyed her writing style - I generally have loved her childre

It's been a while since I posted anything, and today I'm busy with an assignment, but I wanted to briefly move on with my history post, so that I can reach my next cool goal! So, what happened in 1458? I'm resorting to Wikipedia again to try to keep this brief in writing time, but it is looking like a fairly busy year! Of popes and royals: Matthias I Corvinus became king of Hungary. George of Podebrady became king of Bohemia. Pope Pius II became the 210th pope! After the death of Pope Callixtus III. Of significant (or interesting) deaths: Alfonso V, king of Aragon (June 27). Succeeded by his brother, John II (Juan II - why are some names of foreign monarchs anglicised unnecessarily?) Lazar Brankovic, Despot of Serbia (February 20). (Interesting title!) Íñigo López de Mendoza, marqu és de Santillana, a Spanish poet (March 25). Arthur III, Duke of Brittany (December 26). Isabelle Rom ée, mother of Joan of Arc. She had succeeded in having her daughter'

One hundred and six years to go! Getting excited! But what was happening near the end of the fourteenth century? Apparently this was the year that the 'barbaric Lithuanians' finally caved in and accepted Christianity (a thousand years after it was first accepted in Europe). I want to read the book, The Conversion of Europe (if I haven't already during the year I studied European history at university). And now, having spent at least the last half hour looking at that book on Amazon, I'll resort to Wikipedia for the rest of the information I share with you! Royal drama this time! Elizabeth Kotromanic, mother of the overthrown Queen Mary of Hungary and Croatia, arranged the assasination of the ruler of Hungary, Naples, Achaea and Croatia! Mary regains her rule over Hungary and Croatia, the son of the assassinated man becomes the King of Naples, but Achaea, though sought by many pretenders, apparently had no ruler for the next ten years! The kings of Portugal an