English History – Page 13 – General History

Normandy, Normans and the Norman Conquest

Normandy was once the home of Celtic tribes in north-western France. It was the kingdom of Clovis, founder of the Frankish empire (466 – 511). It came under Meringovian rule and was invaded and occupied by the Vikings (q.v.) in the 9^th century. Rollo was the Viking leader who accepted Normandy as a fief from the King of France, which was gentlemanly of him as the French King was quite powerless to do anything else but accept the norsemen’s occupation. (more…)

By Dean Swift| 2012-11-08T12:22:41+00:00 November 8th, 2012|British History, English History, French History, Scottish history, Today, World History|0 Comments

New England and New France

Of course we have all heard of New England, though its composition may confuse us at times, but did we know that there was a New France?

America first: New England is a region in the north-east, comprising the six states of Connecticut, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, New Hampshire, Vermont and Maine. If such a thing exists still in America, it is the classiest region in the United States, but not necessarily the richest. If you descend from a Signer of the Declaration of Independence, your permanent residence is likely to be in New England. (more…)

By Dean Swift| 2012-11-07T13:02:51+00:00 November 7th, 2012|A History of North America, British History, English History, French History, Today, US History, World History|0 Comments

Titus Oates (1649 – 1705): a great scoundrel

Titus Oates / findagrave.com

Oates had an erratic career; he was certainly a pathological liar, and lived in a dream world of his own, people with conspirators whom he determined to stamp out, not recognising himself in them.

Has ordained as an Anglican clergyman, but he accused a schoolmaster of his acquaintance of maintaining sexual relations with his pupils. The court found Oates guilty of false accusation and sent him to prison to cool off. Released, he got into the Navy as a chaplain, but was quickly drummed out – prosecuted (perversely enough) for sodomy. (more…)

By Dean Swift| 2012-11-04T12:01:10+00:00 November 4th, 2012|British History, English History, French History, Spanish History, World History|0 Comments

Two proud Dukes of Buckingham (too proud perhaps?)

George Villiers (pronounced ‘Villers’) Duke of Buckingham / nowportsmouth.co.uk

Henry Stafford, 2^nd Duke of Buckingham was born around 1454 in Salisbury, Wiltshire. He was a member of the House of Lancaster, being a descendent of Edward III, and most of his forebears had lost their lives fighting the House of York in the interminable wars over royal succession (1455 – 85).

In 1460, only six years old, he succeeded his grandfather as Duke of Buckingham. At twelve he was dynastically married to Catherine Woodville, a sister-in-law of the Yorkist King Edward IV. Edward had married Elizabeth Woodville, a strong-minded woman of mean temper, probably as his second wife, though the first marriage was supposed to be a secret. (more…)

By Dean Swift| 2012-11-02T18:33:44+00:00 November 2nd, 2012|British History, Dutch History, English History, French History, History of the Low Countries, Scottish history, Spanish History, World History|0 Comments

Black Death & the Great Plague

‘Bring out your dead!’ / scienceclarified .com

The most atrocious epidemic of bubonic and pneumonic plague recorded, the Black Death started circa 1347 in Europe. The Tartar army, just arrived at the port of Caffa after campaigns in the Crimea, were shipped in boats swarming with rats carrying infectious fleas. In this way the plague was spread into Southern Europe. (more…)

By Dean Swift| 2012-10-20T11:45:30+00:00 October 20th, 2012|British History, English History, Today, World History|0 Comments

Switzerland: where Italians, Frenchmen & Germans don’t bother with nationalism

A half-dozen of the planet’s most important countries are now infected by the nationalist mosquito. Europe (after the Second War) invented a large country called Yugoslavia which has again been divided into different nations in order to provide more jobs for high-earning politicians as well as to keep Balkan nations from reaching for each other’s throat. Spain has its autonomous community Cataluña itching for total independence, and threatening the country’s elected government in everything from school curriculuae to the language to be spoken in the courtroom. Scotland already has its own Parliament in Edinburgh, where no seats are held by anyone English. The British Parliament in Westminster has a multitude of seats occupied by Scotsmen. (more…)

By Dean Swift| 2012-10-16T13:15:52+00:00 October 16th, 2012|A History of North America, Austrian history, British History, English History, EU History, French History, German History, History in The Balkans, History of the Low Countries, Italian History, Philosophy, Russian history, Scottish history, Today|0 Comments

Humour on Friday: what British public schoolboys think (and say) about each other

The public (i.e. private) schools of Great Britain are not so full of toffs these days. Britain’s democracy since the two world wars has led to a caste system that is never mentioned, but still exists. The great, historic, expensive public schools used to be represented at an archaic tribal gathering called ‘The Headmasters’ Conference’. Grave middle-aged gentlemen, some with a paunch, would debate grave issues such as school meals, the uselessness of the Classics , the need for more mathematics, how finance could be raised to build a bigger gym and the terrible cost of school blazers at Gorringes. (more…)

By Dean Swift| 2012-10-12T16:11:08+00:00 October 12th, 2012|British History, English History, English Language, Humour, Philosophy|0 Comments

Disasters waiting to happen: General Gordon

Gordon meets his end at Khartoum / dailymail.co.uk

Charles George Gordon was born in 1833. When his father discovered that the boy was wilful, obstinate, brave, selfish and over-fond of himself, he decided to send him to rough schools which would smooth things out a bit. They did not. His qualities seemed to indicate the Army, so to the Army he went.

When the Crimean War started in 1853 Gordon was already a junior field officer, and he distinguished himself at Sebastopol for being brave, wilful, obstinate etc. Later he took part in the second Opium War, and was present at the occupation of Pekin (we must learn to say Beijing) in 1860. As Gordon was annoyed with the ancient Empress of China, who had shown no interest in the murder of European missionaries, and less in the assassination of the German consul, and whose ministers had orchestrated the two opium wars anyway, Gordon decided to burn the Summer Palace to the ground, which he did. This act did not do either Gordon or Britain much good, and was to be remembered by the Chinese. (more…)

By Dean Swift| 2012-10-10T12:25:39+00:00 October 10th, 2012|British History, English History, History of China, History of Egypt, History of the Cinema, The Arab races, World History|0 Comments

What the English language owes to Shakespeare

One of the very authentic painting of Shakespeare / biografiasyvidas.com

English owes more than you know to William Shakespeare. Yes, that playwright from four hundred years ago now considered so unimportant by British educational authorities that not a single play by Shakespeare is included in ‘O’ or ‘A’ Level examinations. It would be difficult to understand the importance one single playwright has had on the English language as we know it. There are 357 instances where Shakespeare is the only recorded user of a word in one or other of its senses. There are more than a thousand instances where he is the first of several writers to use a word, though later examples occur some 25 years after Shakespeare; therefore it seems likely that he introduced or popularized the word. There are 642 instances where he is the first of several writers to use a word. More importantly, at least 800 of Shakespeare’s words are still used to this day. He brought meaning to existing stems by introducing prefixes such as Dis-, Un-, Im-, and In-, or by adding the suffix –less. Let us take a look at what English owes to the man from Stratford-upon-Avon. (more…)

By Dean Swift| 2012-10-09T12:20:54+00:00 October 9th, 2012|English History, English Language, Philosophy, Today, World History|0 Comments

Disasters waiting to happen: Nuffield

Morris, who became Lord Nuffield / bbc.co.uk

William Richard Morris Nuffield started off well, but ended as the man who almost singlehandedly destroyed the British car industry. I don’t suppose this was his intention, but he did, helped by his opposite number at the Rootes Group.

In the 1950s, Britain had a long line of prosperous carmakers, famous for the typical British design, safety, elegance and comfort. The names of these motor cars filled two columns on a double page spread in Motor Magazine. Now only Morgan, LandRover, Jaguar and Aston-Martin and perhaps Bristol remain British and independent. Rolls-Royce and Bentley are German. The Mini is German. Vauxhall is American, and designed by Opel. Nuffield is solely responsible for the loss of Austin, Morris, Wolseley, Riley, MG & Rover (he started the rot here). Jaguar survived, though it was briefly a Ford. Here is how the disaster happened. (more…)

By Dean Swift| 2012-10-09T10:04:28+00:00 October 9th, 2012|British History, English History, German History, History of the Cinema, Today, US History, World History|2 Comments