The events leading up to the Spanish Armada?
The armada was the brainchild of Spain’s King Philip II. His reasons This meant that from Philip’s point of view, it was a no brainer, he had to invade England, solving all his problems in one stroke. His cunning plan He had a cunning plan, send an armada of fighting ships up the English Channel […]
Letter of marque – legal pirates
A letter of marque was given by governments in the 16,17 & 18th Centuries as a licence for a private person to attack and capture ships of a nation with which that government was at war. They legalised piracy. It is the only way to describe it, it was that, legalised piracy. Some governments did […]
The history of Glasses
The picture above shows the first depiction of someone wearing glasses. That was in 1352, however well before this the Romans were using a glass tube of water as a magnifier to read books. Then in the Middle Ages it is said that monks used a glass full of water to magnify what they were […]
Do you know the story of Ignatius Sancho?
Ignatius was born on slave ship crossing the Atlantic Ocean, his mother died not long after in the Spanish colony of New Granada, while his father took his own life rather than live as a slave. His father’s owner bought the two-year-old Ignatius to England, where he gave him to three unmarried sisters in Greenwich. Now he met […]
The build up to the Battle of Hastings
At the start of 1066, England was ruled by King Edward the Confessor, he is remembered as the King who built Westminster Abbey in London. Edward ruled over England with the help of the Witan. It was made up of the top clergy in the country and acted as his council on all matters concerning […]
Was the Hanseatic League the forerunner to the EU?
When did it start? Would you believe that it started as early as the 12th Century when a group of Northern European medieval towns decided to trade between themselves. So, isn’t it interesting that the European Union wasn’t the first time European countries decided that there could be a benefit to all of them […]
The Galileo Affair
Galileo Galilei was an unknown, north Italian professor of mathematics, a lover of good wines with a razor-sharp wit until 1609, when he got a telescope. It changed his and our lives for ever. He learnt the world went round the sun! It led to “The Galileo Affair” that began in 1610 and ended in […]
The Moscow Fire
It was started on 14th September 1812, curiously the Fire of Moscow started just before Napoleon’s troops reached the city. The 1812 Fire of Moscow broke out on 14 September 1812, when Russian troops and most of the remaining residents had abandoned the city of Moscow just ahead of the French Emperor Napoleon’s troops entering […]
The Great Seal of Office
The Power of Wax: The Story of the Great Seal of England Did you know that throughout English history, the power of monarchy has rarely rested in words alone, the real power is in Wax! In the days when they didn’t have digital signatures or even universal literacy, our rulers needed something more definite that […]
What was the worst storm in Britain?
When asked this question most people say that the storm in 1953 was the worst peacetime weather disaster. It was one that claimed 307 lives in England and devastated parts of East Anglia.. However, the 1703 storm, caused by an extratropical cyclone that spread across the country and wiped out 1/3rd of our Navy! The […]