UK
Henry III Plantagenet King 1207-1272
His father King John was not much of a role model, so how would his son inheriting at just 9 years of age cope? He started with guidance of great statesmen but would he be governed by their wise council? What would Henry III contribute to the development of a nation…
Read MoreThe Luddites
What made the Luddites riot? Was it worth the loss of 17 lives? Have our attitudes to technology changed or does the fear of the new pervade in our social response to innovation and invention generally or only specifically when it impacts on our ability to earn a fair living? In the early 19th century we see a rebellious element emerge and a collective consciousness of the working class begins to emerge, what other lessons can we learn from what makes the British riot throughout our history? The first in a series of posts and explorations…
Read MoreKing Offa’s Gold Coin
A unique gold coin lies in the British Museum, with Islamic script engraved on it and the name of a King of England, Offa. Minted over twelve hundred years ago its origin and purpose continues to raise questions
Read MoreTreaty of Amiens 1802
Good intentions by the British but no change of ambitions of the french, the treaty of Amiens set the course for outright war which would become known as the Napoleonic Wars, find out what lit the tinder box..with the first in our series on the human, social and economic impact of this 23 year war…
Read MoreJohn Speed Genealogy and King James Bible
John Speed mapmaker was also an historian who wrote a postdeluvian genealogy to be inserted in the King James Bible
Read MoreKing Offa 757 – 796
The life of King Offa is riddled with surprises. Just who was this man who became the first acknowledged overlord of all the Kingdoms of England, who built great structures across the landscape and yet whose intellect took him to the courts of Charlemagne?
Read MoreEthelbert Anglo Saxon King of Kent 552-616
The King that welcomed Augustine and helped sowed the seed of Christianity as the monarchs Religion, encouraging his subjects to conversion, and the reason for the centre of the Church of England being in Cantebury.
Read MoreEgbert Anglo Saxon King of Wessex 802-839
King Egbert of Wessex, a brief claim to fame achieving a fleeting Overlordship over much of Southern England and the Mercians. His victory at the Battle of Ellandune would pave the way for the unification of England under Alfred the Great…
Read MoreEleanor of Aquitaine Mother of English Kings
Wealthy educated and powerful and that was just at 15, married to the Kings of France and England, forging the most powerful alliance in Northern Europe with the Angevin Empire created with the marriage to Henry II, through their complex family relationships, two sons would be King of England and many of her grandchildren would form the basis of the bloodlines of the important European Kingdoms for centuries to come, this was a woman on which history pivots…
Read MoreKing John Plantagenet of England 1199-1216
John a jealous child, conspiring against kith and kin, was that so unusual, Magna Carter and the loss of the Anjevin Empire, what were the outcomes of John’s reign as heir to his brother the Lionheart…Plantagenet by birth what family traits had he inherited?
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