Ann Radcliffe was an English novelist and a pioneer of Gothic fiction. Her technique of explaining apparently supernatural elements in her novels has been credited with gaining respectability for Gothic fiction in the 1790s. Radcliffe was the most popular writer of her day and almost universally admired; contemporary critics called her the mighty enchantress and the Shakespeare of romance-writers, and her popularity continued through the 19th century. Interest in Radcliffe and her work has revived in the early 21st century, with the publication of three biographies.
The Monk: A Romance is a Gothic novel by Matthew Gregory Lewis, published in 1796 across three volumes. Written early in Lewis's career, it was published before he turned twenty, and he withheld his name from the first edition. It tells the story of a virtuous monk who gives into his lustful urges, setting off a chain of events that leave him damned. It is a prime example of the type of Gothic that specializes in horror.
George Howard, 6th Earl of Carlisle of Castle Howard,, styled Viscount Morpeth until 1825, was a British statesman. He served as Lord Privy Seal between 1827 and 1828 and in 1834 and was a member of Lord Grey's Whig government as Minister without Portfolio between 1830 and 1834.
David of Scotland was a Scottish prince and Earl of Huntingdon. He was the grandson of David I and the younger brother of two Scottish kings, Malcolm the Maiden and William the Lion.
The Castle of Otranto is a novel by Horace Walpole. First published in 1764, it is generally regarded as the first gothic novel. In the second edition, Walpole applied the word 'Gothic' to the novel in the subtitle – A Gothic Story. Set in a haunted castle, the novel merged medievalism and terror in a style that has endured ever since. The aesthetic of the book has shaped modern-day gothic books, films, art, music, and the goth subculture.
Matilda was Countess of Boulogne in her own right from 1125 and Queen of England from the accession of her husband, Stephen, in 1135 until her death in 1152. She supported Stephen in his struggle for the English throne against their mutual cousin Empress Matilda. She played an unusually active role for a woman of the period when her husband was captured, and proved herself an effective general who managed to force the Empress to release Stephen. Under the agreement that settled the civil war, the Queen's children did not inherit the English throne; however, her three surviving children ruled Boulogne in turn as Eustace IV, William I, and Marie I.
Ranulf II, 4th Earl of Chester (1099–1153), was an Anglo-Norman baron who inherited the honour of the palatine county of Chester upon the death of his father Ranulf Meschin, 3rd Earl of Chester. He was descended from the Counts of Bessin in Normandy.
Ranulf de Blondeville, 6th Earl of Chester and 1st Earl of Lincoln, known in some references as the 4th Earl of Chester, was one of the "old school" of Anglo-Norman barons whose loyalty to the Angevin dynasty was consistent but contingent on the receipt of lucrative favours. He has been described as "almost the last relic of the great feudal aristocracy of the Conquest".
Dorothy Vernon of Haddon Hall is a 1902 historical novel written by Charles Major. Following the life and romances of Dorothy Vernon in Elizabethan England, the novel became the year's third most successful novel according to The Bookman annual list of bestselling novels. The novel was Charles Major's third, and his second bestseller, following When Knighthood Was in Flower.
Robert de Mowbray, a Norman, was Earl of Northumbria from 1086 until 1095. Robert joined the 1088 rebellion against King William II on behalf of Robert Curthose, but was pardoned and later led the army that killed Malcolm III of Scotland at Alnwick. In 1095, he conspired to put Stephen of Aumale on the throne, was besieged by the king, and captured. As punishment, his marriage was dissolved and his lands confiscated, given to the new husband of his former wife, while Mowbray was imprisoned for life and later became a monk.
Thomas Wharton, 2nd Baron Wharton (1520–1572), of Wharton and Nateby, Westmoreland, Beaulieu alias New Hall, Essex and Westminster, Middlesex, was an English peer.
The Clan Hamilton, or House of Hamilton, is a Scottish clan of the Scottish Lowlands.
Sir George Reresby Sitwell, 4th Baronet was a British antiquarian writer and Conservative politician who sat in the House of Commons between 1885 and 1895.
Becket is a 1964 British historical drama film about the historic, tumultuous relationship between Henry II of England and his friend-turned-bishop Thomas Becket. It is a dramatic film adaptation of the 1959 play Becket or the Honour of God by Jean Anouilh made by Hal Wallis Productions and released by Paramount Pictures. It was directed by Peter Glenville and produced by Hal B. Wallis with Joseph H. Hazen as executive producer. The screenplay was written by Edward Anhalt based on Anouilh's play. The music score was by Laurence Rosenthal, the cinematography by Geoffrey Unsworth and the editing by Anne V. Coates.
James Radclyffe, 3rd Earl of Derwentwater was an English peer who participated in the Jacobite rising of 1715 and was executed for treason.
A Sicilian Romance is a gothic novel by Ann Radcliffe. It was her second published work, and was first published anonymously in 1790.
Maud de Braose, Lady of Bramber was an English noble, the spouse of William de Braose, 4th Lord of Bramber, a powerful marcher baron and court favourite of King John of England. She would later incur the wrath and enmity of the king, who had her starved to death in the dungeon of Corfe Castle along with her eldest son. In contemporary records, she was described as beautiful, very wise, doughty, and vigorous. She kept up the war against the Welsh and conquered much from them.
Otto of the Silver Hand is a children's historical novel set in the Middle Ages written and illustrated by Howard Pyle. It was published in 1888 by Charles Scribner's Sons. The novel is set in 13th-century Germany, partly during the Great Interregnum and partly during the reign of Rudolph of Habsburg. It was one of the first historical novels written for children by an American, making it a "milestone" that influenced later historical novels for children.
Sir John Radcliffe, was the son of Robert Radcliffe, 1st Earl of Sussex, and his third wife, Mary Arundell.
Edgar; Or, Caledonian Feuds is an 1806 historical tragedy by the British writer George Manners. I was inspired by Ann Radcliffe's novel The Castles of Athlin and Dunbayne. It premiered at the Theatre Royal, Covent Garden in London on 9 May 1806. The original cast included Sarah Smith as Edgar, Henry Erskine Johnston as Osbert, Alexander Pope as Baron, William Chapman as Malcolm, William Claremont as Count Zulmio, Charles Klanert as Officer, Nannette Johnston as Matilda and Louisa Brunton as Emma. The Irish premiere took place at the Crow Street Theatre in Dublin on 30 April 1808.
