““Damson plums were a favorite Elizabethan fruit and “eaten before dyner, be good to provoke a mans appetyde.” They were also popular dried into prunes. It is unclear why, perhaps because they allegedly inflamed men’s appetites, but stewed prunes were a favorite dish at Elizabethan brothels and also were a synonym for prostitutes. Shakespeare mentions prunes in that context in King Henry IV, The Merry Wives of Windsor, and Measure for Measure.””
![“...The underlying motive for the French wars [of 1562-1598] was not religious, but dynastic. By the mid-16th century, the Valois family of kings, who had ruled France since 1328, was losing its grasp on political power. Valois King Henry II died in 1559, leaving four sons, all too young or too…” quote by Fiona MacDonald](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/c92/fiona-macdonald-79385_church-service_the-underlying-motive-for-the-french-war_390803.jpg)
