Archives: Resources

    Swyncombe Parish

    For those of you with an interest in local and social history, I have put together a few images to support a series of Members’ Shedcasts about Victorian Rural EnglandRead More

    Review of Emergence of the English

    This review was written by Alex Woolf of St Andrews university, and published in the journal of ‘Early Medieval Europe’, 2020, Vol.28 (1), p.157-160 The Emergence of the English. ByRead More

    Transcript for Hawkwood 15

    Hawkwood went from Cesena to a small village in Lombardy, in the territory of the town of Cremona as it happens. The village of Gazzuolo lies on the banks ofRead More

    Transcript for Hawkwood 14

    Despite being embroiled in a war against a powerful coalition of major Italian cities, and being under the kosh of rebellion from the vast majority of towns in the PapalRead More

    Transcript for Hawkwood 13

    Now then, July 1375, and the war of Eight Saints, the defensive league put together by Florence, including the might of the Visconti, but also Siena, Lucca, Pisa, Arezzo, theRead More

    The Great Rebuilding

    The story of the transformation of England’s vernacular architecture in the 16th and 17th centuries

    Transcript for Hawkwood 12

    So, the story in the New York media in 1943 records an anecdote told by Johan Smuts of South Africa, relating a conversation between Winston Churchill and Joseph Stalin. WinstonRead More

    Transcript for Hawkwood 11

    Hawkwood made the best use he could of his well-earned patch of local military superiority, rampaging around burning and pillaging as you do, though he was rudely interrupted by theRead More

    Transcript for Hawkwood 10

    Now then, I mentioned that in May 1368 John Hawkwood had gone to a wedding which is nice – everyone loves a wedding do they not? All the opportunities forRead More

    The Times: Right to Roam

      Nick Hayes lives on a houseboat moored on the north bank of the Thames alongside Hardwick House in south Oxfordshire, the clues to his work and passion displayed onRead More

    Transcript for Hawkwood 9

    The period between 1365 and 1368 was a very confusing period for John Hawkwood, and it’s really not very clear for whom he was fighting. There are two candidates reallyRead More

    Transcript for Hawkwood 8

    The contract Pisa signed with the Great Company in 1364 was significant. Because it names as commander not Sterz, no no no, but Hawkwood – our hero. Sterz was nowRead More

    Transcript for Hawkwood 7

    It was the practice in Milan to walk outside the walls of the city after nightfall to socialise with other walkers, or maybe sit down and pay a leisurely gameRead More

    The Book of Sports 1633

    The King’s Majesty’s Declaration to His Subjects Concerning Lawful Sports to Be Used The ‘Book of Sports’ issued on October 18th 1633 by Charles I was a re-issue of hieRead More

    Transcript for Hawkwood 6

    We left Hawkwood and his band of merry men and women crossing the Maritime Alps as part of the company led by Albert Sterz, or Albert the German as heRead More

    Transcript for Hawkwood 5

    At which point I should pause to give you a bit of a thumbnail sketch on the world into which Hawkwood and his company marched in June 1361; the countryRead More

    Transcript for Hawkwood 4

    At the end of the last episode we’d talked about the Great Company – a mass of men accustomed to making a living by fighting, left a bit high andRead More

    Transcript for Hawkwood 3

    In the words of Samuel Taylor Coleridge   There passed a weary time. Each throat Was parched, and glazed each eye. A weary time! a weary time! How glazed eachRead More

    Transcript for Hawkwood 2

    Let me take you away, ladies and gentlemen to the powerhouse of trade and commerce in northern Europe – to the Marketplace in Ghent, Flanders. It is winter, the 26thRead More

    Transcript for Hawkwood 1

    Well, here we are at the start of another of my extended biographies, and since we are going boy girl boy girl, it’s the blokes turn – and I haveRead More

    Maps of Italy in the time of Hawkwood

    Four maps below, to help you navigate the life and times of John Hawkwood. Political Map of Renaissance Italy Detail Political map of northern Italy The Regions of Italy TheRead More

    Selborne

    A super quick video introduction the lovely Hampshire village of Selborne

    Transcript for 37b

    So we ended last time on the verge of another moral panic, one of those great social events of English history – the Gin craze. Because in England the ‘strongRead More

    Transcript for 37a

    I have been asked, over the years to talk about Beer. I don’t know what your memory is like, but I find that I remember some tiny irrelevant things thatRead More

    Transcript for Margaret 13

    Now in 1483, it is difficult to be sure about Margaret’s attitude to Richard, but as I have said despite early negotiations with Richard, and his desire to keep StanleyRead More

    Egleton Church, Rutland

    The Aged M and I took a minute to check out a local Rutland church at Egleton, noted for its birdwatching on Empingham reservoir these days. It’s a small churchRead More

    Transcript for Margaret 21

    Ok, last time we spoke of the political life of Margaret, I believe we celebrated the Betrothal by proxy of Prince Arthur to Katherine of Aragon, a particularly significant marriage;Read More

    Transcript for Margaret 20

    One of the things I suspect people associate with Margaret is a very deep and possibly rather austere piety. There are a couple of things which create this impression bothRead More

    Transcript for Margaret 19

    So, last time we gaily announced to safe arrival in port the Tudor ship of dynasty; I feel it incumbent on me to remind you once more that no oneRead More

    Transcript for Sh 36e

    Well, you and I have arrived at the very last episode of the Constitution and law series; it’s been something of a marathon, has it not, I hope you areRead More

    Transcript for Sh 36d

    Ok, now we have arrived at the moment when the Enlightenment lights the blue touch paper of Constitutionalism, and the arrival of some of the most famous of constitutions inRead More

    Transcript for Margaret 18

    Right, over the last couple of episodes we have slipped away from the chronology, so let us for a short while return to it. What have we talked about enRead More

    Transcript for Margaret 17

    On 18th January 1486, the equation of dynasty was completed – Lancaster + York = Tudor. Elizabeth of York and Henry Tudor were joined in holy matrimony, and therefore broughtRead More

    Transcript for Margaret 16

    Right, so it feels that we have reached a sort of watershed in the life of the our hero here. Just as my life can be divided into two distinctRead More

    Transcript for 36c

    Now before I start, I’ve been asked by Christine to make the point that when the Tudors introduced the rule of using only English in courts, it came at aRead More

    Transcript for Sh 36b

    Okally dokally then everyone. Last time, we reached Berkeley Castle in the depths of the night, echoing with the screams of Edward II. English history is such a catalogue ofRead More

    Transcript for Sh 36a

    Okally dokally then everyone. This shedcast owes its existence to a listener called Andrew, and appropriately through the operation of direct democracy, not a concept in which I have muchRead More

    Transcript for Margaret 15

    1483 wasn’t exactly a great year for Henry Tudor, any more than it was for his mother. He traipsed mournfully across Normandy and into Brittany to the fair town ofRead More

    Transcript for Margaret 14

    Buckingham was having doubts about supporting Richard, though it is not entirely clear why, given the gold and goodies with which he had been showered so far.  There are aRead More

    Transcript for MB 12

    For much of the 1470s therefore, Edward was very keen to get his hands on Henry Tudor, and we might assume that his intentions were not honourable – and hisRead More