Henry I wasn’t supposed to be king. As the youngest son of William the Conqueror, he was expected to pursue a life of learning—not power. But when opportunity knocked in 1100 after his brother’s sudden death, Henry seized the crown with remarkable speed. Known for his sharp mind and political skill, he issued reforms, defeated rivals, and ruled longer than any king since the Conquest.

Dido Elizabeth Belle, born in 1761 to an enslaved African woman and a British naval officer, was raised in aristocratic England by her great-uncle, Lord Mansfield. Her life challenged 18th-century norms of race and class, and she may have influenced key legal decisions against slavery. Despite the barriers she faced, Dido lived as a free, educated woman—her story a rare and powerful testament to resilience in Georgian Britain.