background preloader

British History

Facebook Twitter

Great Conspiracy. The Great Conspiracy is a term given to a year-long war that occurred in Roman Britain near the end of the Roman occupation of the island.

Great Conspiracy

The historian Ammianus Marcellinus described it as a barbarica conspiratio that capitalized on a depleted military force in the province brought about by Magnentius' losses of the Battle of Mursa Major after his unsuccessful bid to become emperor. It is difficult to ascertain the exact chronology of what happened during the conspiracy because the main source - Ammanianus - appears to have been in Antioch when it happened, meaning his information is second hand and thus was confused. Also other sources of conspiracy are inconsistent with Ammianus. Therefore there are several different views of what happened.[1] The conspiracy[edit] In the winter of 367, the Roman garrison on Hadrian's Wall rebelled, and allowed Picts from Caledonia to enter Britannia.

These warbands managed to overwhelm nearly all of the loyal Roman outposts and settlements. Conquest - Part I. October 14, 1066...

Conquest - Part I

From morn to dusk the Normans attacked, thundering into the fray on their horses, arrows flying. The weary Saxons, lacking cavalry and archers, nevertheless fought on with fury, inflicting horrendous damage with their two-handed axes. But it was not to be. Come the end of the long battle it was William who would stand victorious and the Normans who would win the day, and the kingdom. But this was not the end. Part I: Oft-Invaded England The British Isles had long been a favored target for conquest. In the fifth century A.D. more invaders arrived, and the Roman Britons, on their own since the western Roman empire had begun to dissolve, were ill-equipped to repel them. There is scant evidence available concerning the Anglo-Saxon invasion or life in England during this unsettled time. In the late eighth century the Viking raids began.

The peace that followed this unification did not last long: once again Scandinavian invaders set their sights on Britain. Cileidhs. The baronetage of England: or The ... A History Of Scotland - Episode 3 - Bishop Makes King (1/6) Picts, Tattoos and Woad. Children's literature of the English ... ‘Iron Age’ Picts and their spoken language « A Corner of Tenth-Century Europe. Okay, here’s another thing I wanted to write up before I went to Kalamazoo.

‘Iron Age’ Picts and their spoken language « A Corner of Tenth-Century Europe

You may have seen, if you are following Archaeology in Europe as you all should be, that there was a recent paper in Proceedings of the Royal Society A that apparently decodes the Pictish language or something similar. I confess to initial scepticism, not least because they inexplicably persist in using the term `Iron Age’ for a people only attested under the name ‘Picts’ from the Roman period onwards, and whose glory days are most definitely early medieval, but I am interested in the Picts, I am in favour of Science! In history and so I thought I’d better have a look. After all, I am developing a blog-tradition of critiquing scientific papers on matters historical, and I’d hate to pass up another opportunity. Now, if those instances have taught me anything, it is these things: The Pictish symbols display signs of a spoken language To have heard of the Picts is almost to have heard of their symbol stones. 1. 2.

Childermass « The World of the Blue Bells Trilogy. December 28 was Childermass Day in the medieval calendar, known today as the Feast of the Holy Innocents.

Childermass « The World of the Blue Bells Trilogy

It is the day Herod slaughtered all the baby boys two and under, in his hunt for the newborn king he believed to be a threat to himself. One source reports that children were beaten on this day in memory of Herod’s cruelty. As a rule, the day was considered ill-luck: not a day to marry, or take on a new project. Edward IV would not be crowned on Childermass Day. And throughout the following year, on whatever day of the week Childermass fell, no new clothes would be bought, and no new undertakings begun, on that day. But by far the most interesting part of Childermass day is the issue of the boy bishops. Prior to the advent– no pun intended– of Protestantism, the ‘boy bishops’ were elected on the Feast of St. Warren Wood discusses these sermons in his book Children’s Literature of the Early Renaissance. That from St.