The legend that is Captain James Cook is well known to many. The 18th-century explorer and navigator led remarkable achievements in mapping of the Australia, New Zealand, and the Pacific. His mapping radically shaped western perceptions of the world and inspired many explorers in his wake. Cook’s fabled death in Hawaii continues to be told…
Tag: England
Magna Carta 800th Anniversary
Most have heard of the Magna Carta and its dominant role in placing the English king under the law, but also outlining a number of fundamental rights and liberties that still resonate 800 years after is signing by King John on June 15, 1215 in a meadow at Runnymede. The Magna Carta was a crucial…
What happened to England’s WWII POW camps
The extent and state of World War II prisoner of war camps in England has not received the due attention it deserves. While the National Archives in London is riddled with sources and documentary evidence of the almost 1,500 camps across the British Isles during the war, war camps is a memory most would rather…
Over 21 000 medieval items found in England and Wales in 2013
Over 21,000 medieval objects were discovered in England and Wales in 2013, according to the latest release of the The Portable Antiquities Scheme Annual Report. Since its inception in 1997, over one million historical objects have been recorded by the scheme. Some of the medieval objects highlighted in 2013 report include a lead Papal bulla of…
The most important battle you’ve probably never heard of
Exactly 800 years ago on Sunday, in a field next to what is now the airport of Lille, a battle was fought which determined the history of England. Today few people in the UK have heard of Bouvines. It has none of the ring of an Agincourt or a Crecy. Probably that is because England…
Mysteries of medieval graffiti in England’s churches
Medieval graffiti of straw kings, pentagrams, crosses, ships and “demon traps” have been offering a tantalizing glimpse into England’s past. What do the pictures reveal about life in the Middle Ages? A project to record the graffiti, which began in Norfolk, has now been rolled out to other areas and is gradually spreading across England….
The Childhood of William the Conqueror
The Childhood of William the Conqueror Young William was the illegitimate child of Duke Robert of Normandy. We know little of his life when he was a very young boy. Duke Robert died when William was seven leaving him to rely on other men to rule his duchy until he came of age. These years…
e-Storia 