The only defence was to run away – if you could The ‘Black Death’ or ‘Great Pestilence’ swept through Europe between around 1346–1353, where it eventually killed between 30-60% of the population – maybe 25 million people, though some historians estimate twice that figure. The disease originated ‘somewhere in the east’ and arrived in southern […]
When death walked the land Read More »
Problems with close neighbours You may have noticed that France isn’t part of Britain. But at one time the Kings of England ruled enormous chunks of what is now France. The French Connection all began when Duke William of Normandy became King William I of England in 1066. Under his great-grandson, Henry II (1133-1189), the
Why France isn’t part of Britain Read More »
Wales is conquered and becomes an English colony Wales, like Scotland, was not a unified political entity in the early Middle Ages. It consisted of a number of kingdoms, the largest of which were Gwynedd in the north west, Deheubarth in the south west and Powys in between the two. It was ruled by kings
Whatever happened to Wales? Read More »
Scotland manages to create itself – with a little help from the King of England In the 9th century, Kenneth MacAlpin (Cionnaith mac Ailpin) merged Dalriada or Dál Riata, the Kingdom of the Scoti, with the Kingdom of the Picts. The new kingdom, known as Alba, would eventually become Scotland and Kenneth MacAlpin is traditionally
How Scotland was born Read More »
The medieval roots of modern British government Most people know that the ancient Greeks invented democracy (demos – ‘the people’ and kratia – ‘power’). But we Brits like to imagine it was us – Westminster is “the mother of parliaments”, and all that. In fact, Iceland’s Althing and Sweden’s Jamtamot date back to the 10th
Brits invent parliamentary democracy Read More »
The Normans crushed the Saxons and a hybrid culture evolved that became uniquely British Britain changed forever on 14 October 1066. In fact, the defeat of the English (Saxons) under King Harold, by the bastard Duke William of Normandy and his invaders at the Battle of Hastings is one of those events that came to
How the Normans shaped world history Read More »
People talk of a north-south divide in Britain, but it was once even more serious than it is now It’s all a matter of power and geography. The Danes had defeated the old Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of Northumbria, East Anglia and Mercia. If the Danes had beaten Alfred of Wessex too, maybe the capital of Britain
Why London is the capital of Britain Read More »
Terrible portents appeared over Northumbria and miserably frightened the inhabitants: there were exceptional flashes of lightning, and fiery dragons were seen flying in the air. A great famine followed these signs; and a little after that, in the same year on 8 June, the harrying of the heathen miserably destroyed God’s church in Lindisfarne by
Newsflash – Vikings murder defenceless monks Read More »
How Britain not only became Christian, but also specifically Roman Catholic Britain, like the rest of Western Europe, has a long Christian heritage. The Church came to wield enormous political and socio-economic power, and religion is such a part of Britain’s continuing story, so it is important to understand a bit about how Christianity arrived.
Christianity and the age of the saints Read More »
Romano-British culture is swept aside by foreign invaders. Some history books tell you that the Romans left Britain in 410 AD; full stop. But we must not think that the Romans packed their suitcases, hopped on the first convenient galley to Calais – and that was it, the next bunch of invaders, the Saxons, moved
What did the Romans ever do for Britain – apart from sanitation, medicine, education, wine, law, public order, irrigation, roads, a fresh water system, public health… It is sometimes hard to believe that Britain was once part of the Roman world. The Romans conquered all of what is now England (though the extent of Roman
What did the Romans do for Britain? Read More »
From nothing to the Roman occupation Once upon a very long time ago, but not necessarily at the same time, Britain was inhabited by extremely large lizards, woolly rhinos, mammoths, sabre-toothed tigers, giant cattle called aurochs, enormous bears, deer with antlers as long as a person – indeed, all manner of wild animals not often
Early British history Read More »
There’s a kind of benign magic about Avebury; it’s the sort of place where you can have fun communing with your ancestors. Like faded signposts painted in a language we do not understand, the remains they have left behind are scattered across the countryside in these parts. They point to unknown places and alien lives.
I wonder how many pints of ale have been supped here? Let me see: if just twenty people drank a modest 4 pints every night, that would be, er, 29,200 pints a year – 2,920,000 for every century. But the revenue generated by that amount of beer would not be enough to make the place
The George Inn at Borough Read More »
