As the C15th dawned, the Renaissance was on the brink of transforming Europe forever. It was a revolution in art, culture, and learning. The old Medieval world was slowly disappearing. In its place, a new,… Read More »The Medici and the Italian Renaissance – Part 1
Modern British democracy was born in the medieval parliament. However, in their nascent form, early parliaments were very far from democratic. Indeed, originally, they weren’t even called ‘Parliament’. Instead, they began life as the… Read More »Parliament and the Birth of Democracy
It was 22nd July 1403. Henry IV had just won the battle of Shrewsbury. He had been in power for less than four years and already endured considerable dissent and rebellion. Nevertheless, in defeating Hotspur… Read More »Henry IV Part 2 – The Founding of a Dynasty
Henry IV became king in the autumn of 1399 after the violent overthrow of Richard II. At the time he assumed the throne with huge popular support. However, much of this support was born… Read More »Henry IV Part 1 – The Elected King
In April 1396 a crusade set out from Dijon in France, bound for the Balkans. Its aim was to free the Balkans from the threat of the Turks and relieve the besieged city of Constantinople. … Read More »Crusade of Last Hopes
In the late 1398, Henry Bolingbroke fell out of favour with King Richard II and was exiled. Within a year he returned and seized the throne to become King Henry IV. The story of… Read More »The Adventures of Young Henry of Bolingbroke
It was the morning of Friday 13th October 1307. Without warning, the baillis and sénéchaux of the King of France stormed the properties of the Order of the Knights Templar. Within the space of a… Read More »The Trial of the Templars
On 11 November 1215, in the Lateran Palace in Rome, the largest council of church leaders the world had yet witnessed convened. 400 bishops, 800 abbots along with observers from the Eastern Patriarchs were all… Read More »The Rise of the Medieval Church
In Dan Jones’ book on the Plantagenets, he describes Richard II as the worst of the Plantagenet kings. Certainly, Richard II’s reign ended in disaster and civil war. It was also the case that Richard… Read More »The Legacy of Richard II – Monster or Misunderstood?
In this last article in my series on the legend of Robin Hood, I’ll try to answer the question I set out to investigate – was Robin an historic figure, or just a myth? In… Read More »Robin Hood Part 4 – The Real Robin Hood