The Devil's Band

CORNELIUS AGRIPPA - THE MAGICIAN WHO RENOUNCED MAGIC

In April 1510 Cornelius Agrippa, a 24 year old student at the University of Wurzburg, presented his three volume thesis on ritual magic to his tutor Johannes Trithemius. However, the learned professor advised his pupil to keep his work secret lest they both fall victim to the dreaded Holy Inquisition... read more

RICHARD DE LA POLE & HIS BROTHERS - THE LAST WHITE ROSES  

When his only legitimate son died in 1484, Richard III, thelast king of the House of York,  chose his nephew John de la Pole 1st Earl of Lincoln and his three brothers, Edmund, William and Richard, to be his heirs... read more

JOHN STEWART - THE TUDORS' SCOTTISH NEMESIS

For most of his life John Stewart Duke of Albany was heir to the Scottish throne but though he boasted one of the most noble pedigrees in Scotland he never became king. Albany's father, Alexander Stewart, was the younger son of James II King of Scots however the rash and impetuous Alexander had conspired with the English to depose his elder brother (James III) and had died in exile when his son was still a boy... read more

CHARLES DUKE OF BOURBON - RELUCTANT REBEL

On the 6th of May 1527 a  mutinous army of German, Spanish and Italian lndsknecht mercenaries, led by the maverick French nobleman Charles Duke of Bourbon, appeared before the gates of Rome... read more

PETRUS ALAMIRE - MUSICIAN & MASTER SPY

The Tudors were expert in the dark arts of espionage and employed extensive networks of spies to keep them informed of plots against them but perhaps the most unusual of their secret agents was the musician Petrus Alamire... read more

GEORG VON FRUNDSBERG - FATHER OF LANDSKNECHTS

Georg Von Frundsberg was the archetypal imperial knight and renaissance mercenary captain. Born into a noble family of Tyrolean knights, Frundsberg's father Ulrich had served in the armies of The Holy Roman Emperor's Swabian League and his son had been trained in the military arts since he was a boy.... read more