Normans were and are inhabitants of Normandy, a picturesque western coastal part of France. They are of mixed descendence, much of their blood being of Scandinavian or Viking…
Category: Scottish history
Fortified Homes: the castle
“An Englishman’s home is his castle” as the old saying has it, and the phrase implies a multitude of meanings. Castles were defendable fortified buildings, increasingly strong as…
English monarchs from the Norman Line to the Windsors
Before a Norman Duke successfully invaded England, there had been in the Danish or Viking Line six kings including the last two, Edward the Confessor (started building Westminster…
The Empress Matilda a.k.a. Maud
Even the best examinees in the History papers can become mixed up because of Empress Matilda. She was the English princess, daughter of Henry I, his only legitimate…
The first Hanoverian King of Great Britain
The Hanoverian dynasty got its name from the city of Hanover, capital of Lower Saxony in Germany. In 1658 the grand-daughter of James I of England…
The ‘Glorious Revolution’ in England and Scotland
In most of the recorded history of the British Isles there have only been three ‘civil wars’: the first, known as the ‘Wars of the Roses’…
The Stuart Dynasty
Stuart, originally Stewart, is the family name of Scottish kings and queens from nearly the end of the fourteenth century until 1714 – English monarchs as well…
The Nine Years War
Of all the wars known by duration in years, the least well-known is the Nine Years War (1688 – 97). Nevertheless this conflict has its important side,…
The Percy family, marching with English history
This is more usually a first or Christian name, and sometimes encourages unfair laughter: “Come on Percy, show ‘em wot you got!” As a surname or family…