aka The John Dee Chronicles
J.A. Downes 
Very excited to announce the publication of the third book in my Predestination series of novellas (chronologically preceding the Resurrection novel, which was a prequel for Predestination – yes, confusing, sorry!) Now available as a Paperback and ebook from Amazon and soon at other ebook sellers. I’ll post an excerpt soon… watch this blog!
Introduction Imagine walking through London’s narrow streets in 1600, where buildings loom so precariously overhead that you can barely glimpse the sky above. The upper floors of houses jut out so dramatically that neighbours across the street could practically shake hands from their windows. This was the reality of Tudor London, a city transformed by … Read more
Introduction In 1564, when England’s future greatest playwright drew his first breath in Stratford-upon-Avon, the entire town could have gathered in a single field. With a mere 1,500 residents, this Warwickshire market town was the sort of place where everyone knew precisely which families were thriving, which were struggling, and which had secrets they’d rather … Read more
Introduction Imagine strolling through a medieval shopping centre where merchants conducted business on two separate levels, connected by covered walkways that protected both goods and customers from England’s unpredictable weather. This isn’t a modern retail innovation, but rather a 13th-century architectural marvel that thrived throughout the Tudor period in the border city of Chester. Known … Read more
Introduction In the shadowy corridors of Essex House on 29th January 1601, one of the most audacious plots in English history was taking shape. Robert Devereux, 2nd Earl of Essex, once the golden boy of Elizabeth I’s court and her rumoured favourite, was orchestrating what would become known as the Essex Rebellion. This desperate gamble … Read more
Introduction Hidden beneath layers of sixteenth-century plaster at Hampton Court Palace lie the ghostly remains of Anne Boleyn’s falcon badge, carefully concealed rather than destroyed in the frantic efforts to erase the executed queen from history. These carved emblems, entombed within the palace walls, represent one of Tudor England’s most dramatic attempts at historical revisionism … Read more
From Proclamation: Poetry will be the death of me: “The Duke of Northumberland’s eyes drooped half-closed in the stultifying heat. The clinking of the harness and the rattle of the weaponry were a familiar lullaby to this old soldier, who, following the well known army maxim, was taking his ease while the opportunity presented. Suddenly, … Read more
Introduction When examining the surviving suits of armour belonging to Henry VIII, one feature immediately commands attention: the dramatically pronounced codpiece that projects boldly from the king’s metal attire. Far from being merely a curious quirk of Tudor fashion, these exaggerated additions to royal armour served as carefully calculated symbols of monarchical power, designed to … Read more
The Hidden Language of Faith: How the Pomegranate Became a Secret Catholic Symbol in Tudor England In the shadowy world of Tudor religious persecution, where the wrong word could mean death and the wrong symbol could spell disaster, English Catholics developed an extraordinary system of hidden communication. Among the most intriguing of these secret signals … Read more
The Day a Favourite Fell: Essex’s Desperate Gamble That Shook Elizabeth I’s Throne On a grey February morning in 1601, the streets of London witnessed one of the most dramatic political catastrophes of Elizabeth I’s reign. Robert Devereux, 2nd Earl of Essex, once the queen’s most cherished favourite, led an armed band of supporters through … Read more