Category Archives: Regency Life

Don’t serve your coffee from a chocolate pot!

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What makes a chocolate pot different from a teapot or coffee pot? Because anything induced by chocolate MUST be a good idea, its time for another chocolate-induced dive down the research rabbit hole! Just to refresh your memory a bit, during the regency era, there were three particular luxury drinks: tea, coffee and chocolate. (I talked about tea recently, you can find that HERE. The first chocolate article is HERE.) They were in high demand, but expensive … Continue reading →

Camp followers in the long Georgian era

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I’d like to welcome Jude Knight today as she shares a fascinating article on the role of camp followers during the the Georgian and regency era. To our modern minds, it seems strange to think of civilians, including women and children, travelling into combat zones. Yet until the second half of the nineteenth century, civilians were an essential part of how armies worked. Collectively, anyone who followed the army that was not a soldier was called a … Continue reading →

Napoleon, Invasion, and Jane Austen

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I’d like to welcome Abigail Reynolds today. We’ll be discussing just how likely was a Napoleonic invasion of England during the regency era.  “[France] must destroy the English monarchy, or expect itself to be destroyed by these intriguing and enterprising islanders…Let us concentrate all our efforts on the navy and annihilate England. That done, Europe is at our feet.” – Napoleon Bonaparte, 1797 What if Napoleon really had conquered England as he had planned? When … Continue reading →

Wedding Cakes in Jane Austen’s World

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Though nearly all of Jane Austen’s works end with a wedding, she does not spend much time detailing the weddings or the festivities surrounding them. What did regency wedding cakes look like? Wedding Cakes Since weddings were held in the morning (except of course, those by special license which could be held any time at all) the meal eaten afterwards was considered breakfast. “The breakfast was such as best breakfasts then were: some variety of bread, … Continue reading →

Chocolate cups and trembleuse saucers

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What makes chocolate cups different from teacups or coffee cups? It’s been a rough month around here. My father’s had a major health crisis that resulted in three hospitalizations in as many weeks. He had surgery, then had complications and his complications had complications, literally.  How does one cope with such things? Chocolate. In frequent, therapeutic doses. It can’t possibly surprise you that somehow chocolate lead me on a trip down the research rabbit hole … Continue reading →