Europe

Thomas Cromwell

Thomas Cromwell

Thomas Cromwell, the black clad lawyer who rose to power after the decline and death of the red clad Cardinal Wolsey. King Henry’s advisor and who figaratively wielded the axe across the neck of many Tudor conservatives.

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Neville Chamberlain Prime Minister

Neville Chamberlain made an error of judgement it is offten argued in seeking a path of appeasement and in particular by seeking to sacrifice other smaller countries in negotiations with Hitler i order to seek to avoid entangling Britain in a further costly war both in human and economic terms that it was currently ill-equipped to fight whilst still recovering from WW1 and the difficult period between the wars that had been book-ended by the Treaty of Versailles in 1919 and the Depression of the early 1930s. In this series we ask questions of wider Britain and its easy criticism of Chamberlain, who was damned for a short period of a career that had largely bee dedicated to public service. But was he individually to blame or part of a wider political history of Britain which wrongly and rashly seeks to attribute blame to a single man, even the Prime Minister. The outcome of war with Hitler may not have changed irrespective of Chamberlain’s actions but would we have been better prepared and avoided some of the early errors in WW2 when Britain as a nation was so ill-prepared for war?

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Crossbones Graveyard

Crossbones graveyard
This entry is part 3 of 5 in the series Intriguing London

Crossbones graveyard in Southwark is adorned with colourful ribbons, a tribute to those Winchester Geese and others who exist on the margins of society. This burial ground has been in existence since Medieval times.

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Treaty of Troyes 1420

Treaties for peace, to resolve conflict, seal a marriage, create trade opportunities or simply to fuel naked ambition of a king? Treaty of Troyes a wedding and a truce for England or does it seal the fate of the House of Lancaster, see the sun set on York and an early dawn for a new dynasty the Tudors? Sounds far-fetched? Read-on since when did a Treaty actually create the conditions for lasting peace? Part 1 of a series of posts on Treaties and the Trouble that lies ahead.

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King John’s Will

King John's Will

King John’s will or testament is held in the Worcester Cathedral archive, it is the oldest original will of any English monarch and is concerned with securing succession.

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Elizabeth Woodville Queen of Edward IV

Elizabeth Woodville
This entry is part 2 of 12 in the series Intriguing Women

Elizabeth Woodville would marry a King but her sons would end their lives imprisoned by their uncle in the tower who would become the much maligned Richard III. He was this Queen who drove a King to marry in secret and fall out with his own family?

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