Battle of Trafalgar by Brian Hudson

 

Anglo Saxon Chronicles

 by Jeremy Cranmer
Bede also known as Saint Bede, Bede of Jarrow, the Venerable Bede, and Bede the Venerable was an English monk, author and scholar.
He was one of the most known writers during the Early Middle Ages, and his most famous work, Ecclesiastical History of the English People, gained him the title "The Father of English History".
He served at the monastery of St Peter and its companion monastery of St Paul in the Kingdom of Northumbria of the Angles.  gained him the title "The Father of English History".

William Marshall. England’s greatest Knight

 

by Jenny Meader

“Fight,  to defend our name, for ourselves and for our loved ones, our wives and children, to defend our land and win for ourselves the highest honour. The French have come to take for themselves the lands of our men. They seek our total destruction. Let us make sure there is no coward amongst us, for it is God’s wish that we defend ourselves. The road that lies ahead must be freed with blades of iron and steel. Seize this chance to free our land and feel no fear because any that fall would soon find themselves in paradise. God knows who are his loyal servants. He will reward the faithful, while sending the French down to Hell”.

These are the words of William Marshal, before the battle of Lincoln in 1217, when he led the English forces to defeat the French invasion of Prince Louis. He was about 70 at the time and was assisted by the stout defence of Lincoln castle by its chatelaine, Nicola de la Haye, aged 65.

THE WEIMAR REPUBLIC

 by Lester Cowling

The Weimar Republic - we’re talking about that period of German history between the end of the First World War in 1918 and the rise of Hitler almost 15 years later. So fairly recent history, but intriguing.

How did it come about that the German people, for most part decent, hardworking moderate people come to choose Hitler.

The Weimar Republic was a venture in democracy more or less doomed from the start.

Norman Kings and Queens of England

 by Sheila Alderman

William 1 1066-87 (William the Conqueror).

William was the illegitimate son of The Duke of Normandy and Herleva the daughter of a wealthy citizen of Falaise. He was born in 1028 at about the time his father Robert became Duke of Normandy. Soon after his birth Herleva married a follower of Robert and had two sons, Robert who became Duke of Mortain and Odo who became Bishop of Bayeux in 1049.William was known as William the Bastard but was his father’s only son. When Robert Duke of Normandy went on pilgrimage to Jerusalem in 1034 he persuaded the Norman Barons to recognise William as his heir.

Robert of Normandy died in Asia Minor on his way home in 1034. Thus, William became Duke of Normandy.

Queen Emma

by Caroline Nairn

I had never heard of Queen Emma before I visited a museum in Falmouth some years ago where there was a section about her and her more well-known husband King Canute, who reigned from  1017-1035 in England and was also king of Denmark.

 Emma is depicted on the Bayeux tapestry and was known for being a power seeking and formidable operator who became wife of two kings and mother of two kings.

She was born around 980 AD, one of seven children of duke Richard 1 and the great granddaughter of the Viking Rollo who was the founder of Normandy.  Norman comes from Northman, from the Vikings who settled in Normandy.

 

Virginia Hall

by Jenny Meader 

Virginia Hall Goillot DSC, Croix de Guerre, MBE (April 6, 1906 – July 8, 1982), code named Marie and Diane, was an American who worked with the United Kingdom's Special Operations Executive (SOE) and the American Office of Strategic Services (OSS) in France during World War II. After World War II, Hall worked for the Special Activities Division of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA).