Don't go down into the basement!

I am taking a brief Dragon break; I don’t smell smoke, so I assume they are taking their mid-afternoon naps. We still haven’t talked much here about the Game of Thrones finale, but I admit that if they’d killed off another dragon, I’d never have forgiven them. Same for Ghost. Sadly, human beings are more expendable—except for Tyrion, of course! Now, here is my historical post for today.
You know how in those horror films you want to scream out to the teenagers, “For God’s sake, do not go down into the basement!” Well, something happened on July 29th, 1565 that elicits the same response. On this date, Mary Stuart married Lord Darnley. I am not even a fan of Mary’s and yet I want so much to have stopped her! I always thought this disastrous marriage was the handiwork of the fiendishly clever Elizabeth; I really believe she deliberately sent the handsome but vacuous Darnley to Mary’s court after first insulting Mary by offering her Robert Dudley as a husband, knowing Mary would take the bait. Her plan succeeded beyond her wildest expectations, for less than two years later, Darnley had been murdered and Mary was in free fall, taking her first steps along the road that would eventually lead to Fotheringhay Castle.
On a more cheerful note, July 28, 1166 was the birthdate of one of my favorite characters in Lionheart, Richard’s nephew Henri, Count of Champagne. I loved writing about Henri in Lionheart and had hopes of doing more with his time in the Holy Land, but it has not worked out so far. Maybe I should consider writing a few short stories about certain dramatic events in a particular historical figure’s life. I’ve noticed that quite a few writers are doing that now, especially those who write a series that revolves around one character. Readers, what do you think? A good idea or a bad one?