All Saints’ Church of Tudeley

All Saints’ Church of Tudeley

The village of Tudeley in Kent, England, contains a small church that dates back to the 13th and 14th centuries. It’s even believed that parts of the structure may date back to the pre-Norman Conquest of 1066. Once inside, visitors are not greeted by medieval or even Victorian stained glass, but the unmistakable stylings of 20th-century master Marc Chagall…

Marc Chagall stained-glass window

Source: All Saints’ Church of Tudeley

Revealing NEW information about Dido Elizabeth Belle’s siblings – All Things Georgian

Portrait of Dido Elizabeth Belle Lindsay and her cousin Lady Elizabeth Murray, c.1778. Formerly attributed to Johann Zoffany.

We’re very excited to be able to bring you some new information about Dido Elizabeth Belle.

Dido was the natural daughter of a former African slave woman and Sir John Lindsay; she was brought up alongside her cousin, Lady Elizabeth Murray at their great-uncle William Murray, 1st Earl of Mansfield’s estate, Kenwood House in Hampstead, London. You may have seen…

via Revealing NEW information about Dido Elizabeth Belle’s siblings – All Things Georgian

The Crusader Conquest of Constantinople | toritto

It is the Year of Our Lord 1075 and a great disaster has befallen Christendom.

The Islāmic armies of the Seljuk Turks have taken Jerusalem.

In Western Europe, the Roman Empire is gone some 600 years.  In the East the empire still lives at Constantinople, its Emperor ruling portions of the eastern shore of the Adriatic through the Balkans and Greece into Asia Minor and Syria.  It is in constant conflict with the…

via The Crusader Conquest of Constantinople | toritto

The face of history – A visit to Haddon Hall III | Sue Vincent’s Daily Echo

Kathleen Manners, 9th Duchess of Rutland. Sketch for an oil painting by Laura Knight.

Although there are the grand tapestries, Great Hall and Long Gallery, as well as all the trappings of magnificence, there are corners of Haddon Hall that do not feel like a grand and glorious Country House. They simply feel like home. Being midwinter, I think we may have seen the interior, at least, at its best… though I would love to see the gardens in summer. Roaring fires, the scent of pine and woodsmoke hanging, heavy as incense, in the air of low-ceilinged rooms, all make the place…

via The face of history – A visit to Haddon Hall III | Sue Vincent’s Daily Echo

All in the details – A visit to Haddon Hall II

Other than the Elizabethan connection, we really had, at that point, no idea why we had felt the need to visit Haddon Hall. We knew little about the place, apart from the legend of the romantic elopement of Dorothy Vernon and the fact that ‘ye harmytt’ of Cratcliffe Crags had supplemented his hermit’s income by supplying rabbits to…

via All in the details – A visit to Haddon Hall II | Sue Vincent’s Daily Echo

All in the details – A visit to Haddon Hall II | Sue Vincent’s Daily Echo

Other than the Elizabethan connection, we really had, at that point, no idea why we had felt the need to visit Haddon Hall. We knew little about the place, apart from the legend of the romantic elopement of Dorothy Vernon…

via All in the details – A visit to Haddon Hall II | Sue Vincent’s Daily Echo

A visit to Haddon Hall | Sue Vincent’s Daily Echo

The Vernons mentioned are my forbears!

Every time we had driven past Haddon Hall, I had the feeling we needed to go there. The feeling bugged me a bit, as stately homes have not really been part of our research. We tend to be drawn to the landscape and sites things five thousand years old, rather than five hundred, so I could not see why…

via A visit to Haddon Hall | Sue Vincent’s Daily Echo

Ely Place: a street in central London that used to be part of Cambridgeshire | Flickering Lamps

The heart of London is full of strange old places with unusual names and odd stories, but there is one place that for a very long time was not a true part of London at all.  Ely Place, just to the …

Source: Ely Place: a street in central London that used to be part of Cambridgeshire | Flickering Lamps

Was Henry III Autistic? | Matt’s History Blog

Embarking on a biography of Henry III was an exciting but daunting task. He is a king many might struggle to place in English history. Men like William Marshal and Simon de Montfort have made more …

Source: Was Henry III Autistic? | Matt’s History Blog

Trip to Colditz Castle – W.U Hstry

Colditz Castle [Wikimedia]

In late July I was fortunate enough to travel Germany, taking in many of its cultural and historical sites. It is fair to say Germany did have plenty to offer in the famous cities and towns of Berl…

Source: Trip to Colditz Castle – W.U Hstry

The Children’s Crusade | Crusader History

The Children’s Crusade

In the year 1212, tens of thousands children, put down their ploughs, carts, the flocks they tended, claiming it be God’s will, and joined the Children’s Crusade to the Holy Land. In May of 1212, a…

Source: The Children’s Crusade | Crusader History

The last ruins of Dunwich, Suffolk’s lost medieval town | Flickering Lamps

The tiny village of Dunwich clings to the edge of the Suffolk coast and is in many ways a pretty but unremarkable place, a sleepy settlement a long way from any large towns.  There’s a beach,…

Source: The last ruins of Dunwich, Suffolk’s lost medieval town | Flickering Lamps

Flyting Was Medieval England’s Version of an Insult-Trading Rap Battle | Atlas Obscura

Flyting from Norse folklore and Old England should be incorporated into American politics. (Photo: Public Domain/WikiCommons)

Imagine a world that had swapped its guns for puns and its IEDs for repartees. Such a planet is possible if only those in power would manage their conflicts with flyting, the time-honored sport of verbal jousting.

Flyting is a stylized battle of insults and wits that was practiced most actively between the fifth and 16th centuries in England and Scotland. Participants employed the timeless tools of provocation and perversion as well as satire, rhetoric, and early bathroom humor to publicly trounce opponents. The term “flyting” comes from Old English and Old Norse words for “quarrel” and “provocation.” ‘Tis a form of highly poetic abuse, or highly abusive poetry—a very early precursor to MTV’s Yo Mama and Eminem’s 8 Mile.

“Court flyting” sometimes served as entertainment for royals such as Scottish kings James IV and James V. The most famous surviving exchange is The Flyting of Dunbar and Kennedie, which was performed in the early 16th century by…

Source: Flyting Was Medieval England’s Version of an Insult-Trading Rap Battle | Atlas Obscura

Muslims in Latvia

The refugee crisis in Europe has also affected Latvian society. Latvia as EU country is taking part in handling the crisis and has agreed to accept to host at least 776 refugees from Syria, Libya and other countries. Meanwhile the country is already holding a large number of refugees who managed to cross the Latvian border. They are from various Muslim countries including Afghanistan. In following years Latvia might experience an influx of Muslim immigrants in form of refugees or work seekers. Although by no means Latvia is one of the most desired places for Middle Eastern refugees, on the contrary Latvia with its economic issues and rough climate is one of the lest desired. Also the knowledge and contact between Latvia and Middle Eastern Muslim countries have been limited. But, that does not mean that this will be first time in Latvian history when a new ethno-religious community will emerge. Muslims in small numbers have lived in Latvia since 19th century and their presence has…

Source: Muslims in Latvia

Wood Street Police Station

London Historians' Blog

A guest post by LH Member Hannah Renier.

Near the Barbican, where the road splits around St Alban’s Church tower, you’ll find Wood Street Police Station. It’s large, historic, and about to undergo a partial rebuild. About twenty of us took the tour on the Saturday of Open House Weekend.

We heard about the origins of the City Police as a citizen force from 1285, the struggle to maintain its independence as a City institution, the years when every applicant for the job had to be six feet one in stockinged feet, and the unbroken tradition of separation from royal influence. To this day, there’s no crown on the cap badge. However there have been abundant crises and changes in 730 years, and at Wood Street a small museum holds a fascinating collection of uniforms, old photographs, weapons, records made long before Data Protection, and memorabilia from famous crimes like…

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