aka The John Dee Chronicles
J.A. Downes 
The Virgin Queen: How Elizabeth I Used Marriage as a Political Weapon Imagine holding the most powerful bargaining chip in sixteenth-century European diplomacy, yet never spending it. That, in essence, is what Elizabeth I of England achieved throughout her remarkable forty-five-year reign. The question of whom she would marry captivated courts from London to Madrid, … Read more
Anne Boleyn: The Queen Who Changed England Forever Of all the stories that emerged from the turbulent court of Henry VIII, none is more dramatic, more debated, or more devastating than that of Anne Boleyn. A woman of fierce intelligence and political ambition, Anne rose from courtier to queen in a manner that shook the … Read more
The Burial That Changed England Forever: Prince Arthur at Worcester Cathedral, 28 April 1502 Imagine the scene: a grey April morning in 1502, a solemn procession winding through the streets of Worcester, and the body of a fifteen-year-old prince being carried to his final resting place. The mourners who followed Prince Arthur Tudor to his … Read more
I have completed plotting out a 4-book mini-series to continue the Predestination series after Insurrection. The first book of the mini-series will be called Benediction (ie. it is book 4 of the Predestination series – Star Wars episode numbering springs to mind, I know – my apologies). The book opens with Rook in the Temple … Read more
The Day Elizabeth I Became Supreme Governor: How the 1559 Act of Supremacy Reshaped England Forever Imagine inheriting a kingdom torn apart by decades of religious upheaval, where your father had broken from Rome, your brother had pushed Protestantism to radical extremes, and your half-sister had burned nearly three hundred people at the stake in … Read more
The Sword That Fell on Tower Green: Anne Boleyn’s Execution and the Mercy Henry VIII Never Truly Showed On the morning of 19th May 1536, a young French swordsman raised his blade at Tower Green within the walls of the Tower of London, and in a single swift stroke, brought the reign of England’s most … Read more
From Resurrection: The Heresy of a Jesuit: “They plunged across the stream, man and horse in perfect harmony, galloping for their lives. His tattered and mud-splattered cape streamed behind him, and his breeches bore the scratches and rips that headlong flight through dense woodland had inflicted. And yet, his mind sang with exhilaration that approached … Read more
Hampton Court Palace and Henry VIII: The Royal Residence That Rewrote Tudor History Imagine standing in the great hall of the most magnificent palace in Tudor England, knowing that the building beneath your feet was not built by a king, but seized from one of the most powerful men in the realm. Hampton Court Palace … Read more
From Speculation: Undercurrents of Treachery: “Meanwhile, common folk suffered. Labourers found their earnings almost worthless overnight. Craftsmen watched lifetimes of savings melt away. Widows with fixed incomes slid from modest comfort into grinding poverty. Throughout England, whispers of discontent grew into murmurs, then shouts, as the realm trembled on the precipice of rebellion. This was … Read more
Introduction Imagine walking through the narrow streets of Tudor London, where the cheerful sounds of merchants hawking their wares could be silenced overnight by a terror that no amount of wealth or prayer could fully ward off. In 1563, the bubonic plague swept through the capital with devastating efficiency, claiming approximately 15,000 lives—roughly one-quarter of … Read more