The Battle of Gravelines
in 1558
Have you ever heard of the Gravelines, and did you know it was the site of a decisive battle the Armada in 1558? First of all, where is it? Gravelines is at […]
Sweden hasn’t been in a war since 1818!
Would you believe that Sweden hasn’t been in a war since1818? This is an amazing story, which I think this is due to the Napoleonic wars. Background In February 1808, Russia occupied Finland, while at the same time the Swedish King, Gustav III, refused to block British trade in the Baltic. This led to a […]
The money problems of 17th Century monachies against Republics.
This all goes back to Dutch history, and 1672, the year that in Holland they refer to as The Rampjaar (The Year of Disaster). It was the year when the Dutch found themselves at war with all their surrounding countries even, with the one across the North Sea, England! They were fighting the French, in […]
The History of Lotteries
Would you believe that England’s first recorded lottery started on January 11th, 1569, 450 years ago. Where did they start? Originally lotteries started in China around 200 BC, to fund major projects, such as building the Great Wall of China. However, to Romans lotteries were a game played at dinner parties. Well, that was until […]
The siege of Candiasiege of CandiaThe siege of Candia
The Nights of Malta captured one of the Ottoman Sultan’s ships. He was the most powerful monarch in the Mediterranean, then they realised what they had captured. Oh, what a mistake to make! They had captured Ottoman Sultan’s harem! It was composed of his wives, servants, female relatives and as well his concubines. They panicked. […]
The Great Fire of London
Shortly after midnight on Saturday 1st September 1666, a fire went rogue in Thomas Farriner’s bakery in Pudding Lane in the City of London. Therefore, it means that the date recorded for its start was in fact September 2nd. It spread to nearby houses, nearby lanes, then due to the strong winds, it continued west […]
Was Cardinal Richelieu a baddie or was it just a good plot?
Everybody has heard of The Three Musketeers, we’ve either read the book, seen the film, or watched the television series. Now in all these the Cardinal is made out as the baddie, but was he? When you start looking into the history, I don’t think Cardinal Richelieu was that bad, in fact, he was an […]
The Viking Pirates
Pirates have a long history, even stretching back to ancient times, when the Greeks and Romans were harassed by sea raiders, the early day pirates. However, probably the most successful pirates of all time were the Vikings. These fierce pirates terrorized the seas around Europe for nearly 400 years from around 700 AD. They didn’t just […]
The Story of Sutton Hoo
One that links Mrs Edith Pretty, a Suffolk landowner, to an Anglo Saxon warrior King, thought to be Raedwald, a powerful Anglo Saxon King. It is about one of the most influential and important archaeological discoveries ever found in Britain. It links two periods of our country’s turbulent history. One ends mysteriously 1,400 years ago […]
William the Conqueror died in France not England!
On September 7th 1087 William the Conqueror died in Rouen, but why Rouen? Even though he had conquered England, he was also Duke of Normandy and he had to spend more time in France protecting his kingdom in Normandy than he did here. In fact, it’s reported that at one point he spent five years […]