Although family history is based on provable facts it does not mean you should ignore individual memories or family stories which have been handed down orally over generations. A senior member of a family, a grandparent born in the 1930s or 40s could give you a direct link to someone alive during the reign ofContinue reading “Great Aunt Fanny could tell you a tale or two about the olden days”
Category Archives: history
Nothing like a goode booke as long as it all makes complete sense
By now you must know how much I like (like? LOVE) books and hopefully understand why my Christmas and birthday lists always have at least one (most times many more) request for a book. It could be a classic, a thriller, poetry, or more. For Christmas I listed a book I have been meaning toContinue reading “Nothing like a goode booke as long as it all makes complete sense”
Harold goes for the double but falls foul of a right royal bastard
I rather cruelly left Harold Godwinson, aka King Harold of England, on the top of a hill near Hastings on a cold, dark October night as he prepared to clinch the crown with a double victory. He had already seen off an attack by King Harald of Norway, aided by Harold’s own brother Tostig Godwinson,Continue reading “Harold goes for the double but falls foul of a right royal bastard”
Harold and his Saxons see off the Norsemen at major battle
Following the death of Edward the Confessor in 1066 the English crown was claimed by the dead king’s right-hand man, who had charge of the royal bodyguard. His claim that Edward named him as successor was approved by the Witan (a sort of Privy Council as it was called in latter days) who unanimously votedContinue reading “Harold and his Saxons see off the Norsemen at major battle”
Sacred relics and broken oaths with three claimants to English throne
It took 600 years to really establish the Saxons as lords and masters of the land now called England. They had driven the original inhabitants into the West and then pushed back the various Nordic invaders into small enclaves. Edward the Confessor had ruled for a good time but in 1066 he popped his clogsContinue reading “Sacred relics and broken oaths with three claimants to English throne”
The French Revolution
by Washington Allston 1779-1843 Earth has had her visitation. Like to this She hath not known, save when the mounting waters Made of her orb one universal ocean. For now the Tree that grew in Paradise, The deadly Tree that first gave Evil motion, And sent its poison through Earth’s sons and daughters, Had struckContinue reading “The French Revolution”
Sons and brothers battle it out in the Anglo-Saxon Game of Thrones
Over 450 years after the Romans left Britons to fend for themselves the people they left behind had gone West (no, I don’t mean they were all dead, they had literally gone into the West) and the Jutes, Angles, Saxons, Danes and other assorted “visitors” had taken over most of the area that is nowContinue reading “Sons and brothers battle it out in the Anglo-Saxon Game of Thrones”
Britons retire into the west as the mercenaries fight each other
Britain was no longer British after Anglo Saxon mercenaries mutinied against their Romano British paymasters. They wanted the land to expand into as their homelands in Europe were not enough for a growing population. The Celts/Romano Britons, had withdrawn to the west (what is now Wales, Devon and Cornwall and a large portion of whatContinue reading “Britons retire into the west as the mercenaries fight each other”
Where was Britain when Rome blew out the candle – in the Dark Ages
We know the Romans occupied parts of Britain – what is now Wales, the West Country and as far north as the border with the lands of the Picts – for almost 500 years. We also know that in 1066 a Norman duke brought an army from across the Channel and defeated the English kingContinue reading “Where was Britain when Rome blew out the candle – in the Dark Ages”
Robin's Nest 