Innholdsfortegnelse for April 2016 i History Extra

“It was 400 years ago this month that England’s best-known writer breathed his last. The anniversary of Shakespeare’s death will see a plethora of cultural events take place across the country, accompanied by a range of exciting new programmes on BBC television and radio. But though his works have been endlessly analysed over the centuries, there is always more to discover about a man who had a huge impact on popular history as well as literature. In this issue, historian Jerry Brotton offers a different perspective on Shakespeare’s plays, showing how the historical events and characters about which he wrote frequently mirrored those of his own lifetime. How much, for example, did Shakespeare’s Richard II hint at the decline of Queen Elizabeth I? Can we also see echoes of the…

At the beginning of April 1789, HMS Bounty left the South Pacific island of Tahiti, carrying plants to the West Indies. The ship had been in Tahiti since the previous autumn, and the crew had amused themselves in the sunshine with the local women. But as they ploughed through the Pacific, they chafed at the restoration of discipline under the captain, William Bligh. By the night of 27 April, his old friend Fletcher Christian had decided to act. In the early hours of the following morning, Christian and a few allies secured the upper deck and armed themselves with muskets. Some time after five o’clock, Christian led them into Bligh’s cabin. By his own account, the captain “called as loudly as I could in hopes of assistance”, but the mutineers…

“Worldwide perceptions of nuclear safety would never be the same again. A deadly radioactive cloud drifted across Europe, and many countries had to deal with contamination for decades. Areas within 20 miles of the reactor remain deserted. The immediate impact was devastating, with rates of thyroid cancer in children increasing in heavily contaminated areas. Regarding longer term effects, many studies claim the number of people affected stretches into the thousands. Animals and plant-life were harmed, causing complications relating to the human food chain. The clean-up is ongoing, which is extremely expensive for countries involved. A sarcophagus built around the reactor to contain contamination has failed; a new protective building should be completed in 2018. Historically, all governments that use nuclear technology for power generation put a positive spin on it:…

“Experts have found an altar that is illuminated by the sun on the vernal and autumnal equinox” For millennia, the pyramids of Egypt have inspired awe among those lucky enough to witness them. But, in at least one respect, it seems that a series of massive rock steps recently discovered deep in the mountains of Bulgaria may put the pharaohs’ celebrated resting places in the shade. This natural pyramid-shaped rock formation was, experts believe, fashioned into an important ritual centre at some point between 4,500 and 4,000 BC – meaning that it was used at least 1,350 years before pyramidic structures were built in Egypt, and 1,100 before those of the Mesopotamian civilisation. Located near the Bulgarian village of Kovil in the Rhodope mountains, the 15-metre-high edifice features five natural…

“Henry adored Catherine, who restored to him the youth and vitality he thought he’d lost. There was nothing he would not do for her” On the evening of Sunday 12 February 1542, Catherine Howard, queen of England, was told to prepare her soul, for she was to be put to death the following morning. She asked for the block to be brought to her room, saying that “she wanted to know how she was to place her head on it”. Then, having “tried and placed her head on it by way of experiment”, she made her confession. There was nothing to do now except wait as the last hours of her life passed away. It was still dark when Catherine arose the following morning. Her ladies helped her to dress…

“Oh! That feeling when one has done one’s first solo flight. One imagines oneself so frightfully important” James McCudden Born in 1895, James joined the Royal Flying Corps as an air mechanic in 1913. By December 1915, he had become a regular observer/gunner for several pilots with 3 Squadron, Royal Flying Corps. Flight Sergeant James McCudden had been sent back to England where he began his much-anticipated training as a pilot. He progressed well and was soon allowed to embark on his first solo flight, in a Maurice Farman Longhorn, on 16 April. “I got off the ground safely, but I do not remember quite what happened while I was in the air. I only have a vague recollection that I sat quite still, flying automatically until I landed. During…

Complements the BBC’s Shakespeare Festival on TV, radio and online HENRY VI, PART 1 England bleeds again The military reversals dramatised in Henry VI, Part 1 would have been all too familiar to Shakespeare’s audience In the early 1590s an exciting young playwright called William Shakespeare burst onto the Elizabethan theatre scene with three popular plays about the Lancastrian king Henry VI (1421–71) and the civil discord that eventually culminated in the accession of the Yorkist Richard III in 1483. The cycle catalogues the young king’s weakness and how, as Shakespeare wrote later in Henry V, “so many had the managing” of his state that “they lost France and made his England bleed”. The action in Henry VI, Part 1 is driven by the wars in France and the contrast…

Homintern: How Gay Culture Liberated the Modern World by Gregory Woods Yale, 440 pages, £25 The term ‘homintern’ is a lighthearted gesture towards the international communist movement the Comintern, and a play on words used by the likes of Cyril Connolly, WH Auden and their friends to refer to a network of homosexual writers, artists and other cultural figures. Hostile commentators, however, took it to mean something much more sinister: an international homosexual conspiracy that was having an excessive impact on society. Even Friedrich Engels fretted about the influence of homosexuals, complaining in an 1869 letter to Sigmund Freud that “the paederasts [sic] are beginning to count themselves and find that they make up a power in the state”. By the Cold War, such rhetoric reached near-hysterical levels: it was…

Menagerie: The History of Exotic Animals in England  by Caroline Grigson Oxford University Press, 368 pages, £20 In spring 1826, London was “elephant-struck”. The reason: the famous elephant Chunee had gone ‘mad’, and was threatening to break out of his den. A longterm resident of Edward Cross’s menagerie in the Strand, Chunee was a noted figure in the city and a staple of the tourist circuit. Now considered a dangerous beast, he was sentenced to death by his owner, perishing in a hail of bullets in the cage where he had spent the last 12 years of his life. It was a sorry end for a much-loved animal, and a scene that would imprint itself on the memory of Londoners for years to come. Chunee’s tragic demise is just one…

1916: A Letter from Ireland RADIO Radio 4, scheduled for Easter Sunday, 27 March The year of the Easter Rising helped to define modern Ireland. But how did the events of that momentous year seem to those living through them? In a bid to learn more, the 1916 Letters Project has gathered 3,000 letters, essays and other transcripts from private collections. This five-part series uses these documents to build up a picture of life in Ireland a century ago – a picture that looks beyond the perspective of nationalists agitating for change. Check listings for more BBC programmes about the rising.…

Bridge of Spies DVD (20th Century Fox, £9.99) On 1 May 1960, a surface-to-air missile downed a U-2 spy plane over the Soviet Union. The pilot, Gary Powers, parachuted to safety and was tried for espionage. The Cold War got a little frostier. By 1962, though, Powers was set to be freed as part of a prisoner swap that would see KGB agent Rudolf Abel, held by the US, returned to the Soviets. Key to this exchange was James B Donovan, Abel’s lawyer, who went to a divided Berlin and secretly spoke for the US in deniable talks in which both sides were hugely suspicious of each other. It was a task that demanded huge moral courage. Accordingly, in Steven Spielberg’s masterful thriller based on the incident, Tom Hanks plays…

EXHIBITION Fashioning a Reign: 90 Years of Style from the Queen’s Wardrobe Palace of Holyroodhouse, Edinburgh 21 April–16 October - 0303 123 7334 • royalcollection.org.uk This exhibition opens on 21 April, the day of the monarch’s 90th birthday, and it demonstrates her support for British couture and millinery throughout her reign, with costumes by renowned designers that she wore at high profile events around the world. On show will be day and evening wear by British couturiers including Sir Norman Hartnell, Ian Thomas and Stewart Parvin. Items range from a hat by milliner Philip Somerville, worn for a Holyrood garden party for 8,000 guests in 2009, to a sombre black silk-velvet and taffeta dress, worn with a veil for an audience with Pope John Paul II in 1980. Outfits worn…

Osterley Park and House A suburban palace caught between town and country, Osterley Park and House is one of the last surviving country estates in London. Explore the 18th-century house designed by architect Robert Adam, fashioned for show and entertaining, and the elegant pleasure gardens including cut flower borders, the Tudor walled garden and the Great Meadow. Hundreds of acres of parkland are perfect for whiling away a peaceful afternoon, with plenty of delicious homemade food available from the Stables Courtyard. Contact details web: www.nationaltrust.org.uk/osterley email: osterley@nationaltrust.org.uk National Civil War Centre It is 370 years since the fall of Newark during the British Civil Wars and to mark the anniversary two spectacular weekends are planned. Pikes and Plunder: Annual Civil War Festival on 1st and 2nd May 2016 will see…

Jerry Brotton Shakespeare’s relationship with his own history remains surprisingly little known. As well as examining his interest in high political history, I’m fascinated by how Shakespeare dramatised the lives of exiles, émigrés and outsiders in addition to those of royalty. • Jerry looks at the subtexts of eight plays on page 46 Alison Cooley I have long been interested in the way newly discovered inscriptions can o er unexpected insights into the lives of the ancient Romans, whether recording the last known words of the emperor Hadrian or revealing the impression made on contemporary viewers by Hadrian’s Wall. • Alison discusses Hadrian’s itchy feet on page 26 Clare Jackson Charles II was a polarising character in his own time. One of the things about charismatic individuals is their capacity…

This summer sees the return of our annual History Hot 100 list – and we want to know which historical figures are grabbing your attention at the moment. Whether they are featured in a book that you are reading, portrayed in a recent television or radio drama, or are simply a character that you find particularly fascinating, we want you to tell us about them. You can choose up to three people from any historical period, as long as they died more than 30 years ago (before 1 January 1986). You will have up to 100 words to tell us the reasons behind your nominations. We will also be disclosing the biggest winners and losers compared to last year’s inaugural list, which was topped by Plantagenet king Richard III. Which…

@HistoryExtra: What are your views on the new history curriculum? Matthew Lewis History teaches skills. The topic is almost irrelevant if it sparks interest and equips students to research and question Tom George Caddick Yes, teaching British history in British schools is important, but teaching histories of other countries and civilisations is also what teaching history at school should be about Jackie Dinsdale I don’t think it is a bad thing to teach history from around the world but British history shouldn’t suffer for it nor should it become a religious battle Lesley Sage It’s a huge mistake not to teach the history of our own country. It’s PC gone mad Anne White As an academic, I find this horrifying. Any culture that downplays its own historical development is a…

Catherine Howard’s death is made all the more tragic by the fact that she was younger than most historians have traditionally had us believe. Received opinion – inspired by the guesswork of the French ambassador Charles de Marillac – has it that she was born in 1521, and so was 21 when she went to the block. While it isn’t possible to pinpoint Catherine’s exact age, the wills of two of her relatives place her year of birth between 1523 and 1527, suggesting that she was significantly younger than 21. The Spanish Chronicle goes further, asserting that Catherine was born in 1525, which would have made her no more than 17 when she died. A birthdate of 1525 is consistent with Catherine’s career as a maiden of honour. She did…

“Roman tourists may have bought souvenirs of their visit to the northern outpost of the empire” Did Hadrian ever see his wall? He was one of the most widely travelled of all Roman emperors, but there’s every chance that Hadrian didn’t set eyes on the landmark with which his name will forever be associated. We know that the emperor visited Britain in AD 122 – coins issued in Rome some years later tell us so – but, as he left for Gaul the same year, he may not have found time to travel north and view the construction project. How impressive a piece of engineering was the wall? Very. It consisted not only of a stone wall, but of a defensive ditch, fortlets at every mile, and two turrets between…

“Huscroft’s approach, when it works, works very well indeed” Tales from the Long Twelfth Century by Richard Huscroft Yale, 336 pages, £20 How does one tell the story of the Angevin empire, that vast but ramshackle assemblage of provinces cobbled together by Henry II? Henry, and afterwards his sons, Richard and John, ruled not only England but all of western France, and claimed to be overlords of Wales, Ireland and Scotland. Their dominion stretched a thousand miles from north to south and half that distance from east to west. The traditional answer is to tell this story through those of its rulers, but this approach can have its limitations. Just as the kings themselves found it impossible to be everywhere at once, so historians who follow in their footsteps find…

Ned Kelly by Peter FitzSimons Bantam Press, 848 pages, £30 Peter FitzSimons writes Australian popular history – a lot of it. He concentrates on topics of mythic interest to mainstream Australian notions of national identity, and has written blockbusters on Gallipoli and several iconic Australian heroes. His latest title is a biography of the contradictory bushranger, Ned Kelly. Even today, the Kelly saga is controversial, the focus of an extensive industry endlessly recycling the tragic tale. In his introduction, the author explains his need to do it all again: because it is “a huge and quintessentially Australian story”. The tale of a bushman’s defiance of authority involves a deep-seated perception of injustice within the small farmer community of north-eastern Victoria. It is an epic of inept and oppressive policing, conflicts…

Every Man for Himself Beryl Bainbridge (1996) Bainbridge’s characteristically idiosyncratic novel about the Titanic’s maiden voyage is narrated by an (invented) nephew of the American financier JP Morgan, cocooned in the privilege of the ship’s first-class quarters as it steams towards catastrophe. Unknown to themselves, the narrator and his fellow wealthy passengers are dancing on the edge of the abyss – and reality, in the shape of the iceberg, is about to intrude into their cosseted lives. Crabwalk Gunter Grass (2002) The last major work of fiction by the Nobel Prize-winning German author, this complicated and deviously told story has at its heart the sinking in 1945 of the German ship the Wilhelm Gustloff, then packed to the gunwales with troops and civilians fleeing the Red Army. More than 9,000…

“Mozart’s time in London taught him a lot about success, resilience and composing” Lucy Worsley traces a musical genius’s visit to the British capital Mozart in London TV BBC Four, scheduled for late March The idea that the Austrian-born Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, who spent his adult life in such cities as Salzburg and Vienna, thought of himself as a “dyed-in-the-wool Englishman” seems fanciful. Yet, as a new documentary from Lucy Worsley reveals, Mozart’s career was profoundly shaped by a childhood visit to England. “His time in Georgian London taught him a lot about the elusive nature of commercial success, and about resilience, composing and silver linings,” Worsley tells BBC History Magazine. Mozart and his family arrived in London in 1764 on a tour of Europe organised by his musician…

“The Dissolution was an exertion of power, of royal supremacy” ADAM MORTON There are few more awesome sights in the depths of winter than the ruins of Fountains Abbey in North Yorkshire. Abandoned and ruined it may be, yet the abbey stands proud and majestic, its crumpled walls bearing the scars of Henry VIII’s campaign to dissolve the monasteries nearly 500 years ago. We’re visiting in February half-term, so the shrieks of children fill the chilly air while a procession of dog-walkers take to the paths of the 273-hectare (674-acre) National Trust estate in which the abbey sits. The only sign of conflict is when a cocker spaniel strains at his lead in an attempt to disturb a brace of pheasants lurking in the undergrowth. Things weren’t always so peaceful.…

“Malta is a stepping stone between worlds: Europe and north Africa, ancient and modern” For the lover of history, sunshine and sparkling turquoise sea, the tiny island of Malta is hard to beat. From prehistory to an epic siege during the Second World War, it is a place rich in incredible art and human drama, and which has seen astonishing sieges and battles in the skies above and on the sea all around. It is also a place where this incredibly rich seam of history can be seen on almost every corner. There are ancient tombs and stone circles, huge bastions, more churches per square mile than anywhere else in the world, masterpieces by Caravaggio, and underground bunker systems that helped save the island from an Axis invasion. Malta has…

1. Which German car brand derives its name from the daughter of the 19th-century motoring enthusiast Emil Jellineck? 2. What was invented in 1557 by the Welsh mathematician Robert Recorde? 3. England’s oldest example of what is believed to be in Stoke d’Abernon Church in Surrey? 4. Which organisation was joined in 1941 by fashion designer Hardy Amies (shown left)? 5. The Red Maids’ Hospital was founded in Bristol in 1634. What is its significance today? 6. Who was the first woman to be awarded one of these? QUIZ ANSWERS 1. Mercedes 2. The equals sign 3. A monumental brass – this one is of Sir John d’Abernon, who died in 1277 4. The Special Operations Executive 5. It’s the oldest surviving girls’ school in England 6. Florence Nightingale, who…

These delicious doughnut style treats, still popular at fairs and festivals in Jersey, are a time honoured recipe and well worth the calories! Traditionally, so the story goes, Jersey households would cook the wonders as the tide went out – because cooking them on an incoming tide would result in fat overflowing from the pan. I made sure I cooked these at low tide and was very pleased with the result. INGREDIENTS • 3 oz caster sugar • 7oz soft unsalted butter • 3 large eggs • pinch of ground nutmeg • 1lb plain flour • oil or lard for frying METHOD Beat the sugar and butter together until pale and creamy and then add the eggs and nutmeg and mix well. Add the flour gradually and then once the dough becomes stiff turn it out…

An ancient wheel is the oldest UK find of its kind A fully intact Bronze Age wheel found at Must Farm in Cambridgeshire is the earliest and largest example yet unearthed in the UK. The 3,000-year-old wheel, which measures a metre in diameter and still features its hub, was discovered at a site at which a series of finds have been made in recent months, including beads, pots and circular wooden houses. Can’t quit smoking? Blame the Neanderthals Some instances of modern medical phenomena – including a tendency towards tobacco addiction – may be influenced by DNA inherited from our Neanderthal ancestors, experts suggest. The research, published in Science , found the associations when searching for people with the same genetic variations as the ancient species. Scientists stress, however, that…

Independence doh! Chris Given-Wilson’s article on Henry IV (The Usurper King, February) was excellent and informative, but one minor aspect has upset me no end. I have long believed that Bolingbroke landed at Ravenspur on 4 July 1399, going on to depose Richard II. Over the years this has enabled me to tease and confuse my American friends about their extravagant celebrations for ‘Ravenspur Day’, an event largely forgotten in England. I am now told that the landing was on 30 June, and can find nothing in my various histories that disproves this or confirms my original view; several state ‘early July’. My annual joke has rather lost its edge. Can anyone help me? I feel bereft! Martin Sinnatt, Bordon Losers or heroic risk-takers? In February’s History Essay, Why the…

“Bede’s World has been saved. A few stops down the Tyne and Wear metro from Newcastle, the museum has been going since 1993, housing a Saxon village with farm animals as well as a display of the archaeological finds from the monastery founded in the last quarter of the seventh century. One of the foundational places of English, British and European history, it is a popular attraction for tourists and school visits, and was only recently the subject of a World Heritage bid. Out of the blue in February it was announced that the museum was closing for lack of funds. Then, just as we were going to press, the South Tyneside and Newcastle Groundwork charity stepped in to save the day. But not all museums have been so lucky.…

Accompanies the forthcoming BBC Two series Mary Beard’s Ultimate Rome: Empire Without Limit The Roman empire at its height, in the second century AD, stretched from the Sahara to Scotland, from Syria to Spain, and was home to well over 50 million inhabitants. We might now deplore it: think of the brutal suppression of rebels such as Boudica, the garrisons of occupation in the provinces, or the central imposition of taxes right across the western world. Or we might admire its achievements, from the roads and superhighways that still underlie the transport networks of Europe to the single currency or even the little luxuries of life (such as baths and plumbing) that Rome offered to some lucky residents even as far away as Britain. But, whether we deplore or admire…

Michael Dobson is director of the Shakespeare Institute at the University of Birmingham, and co-editor of The Oxford Companion to Shakespeare (OUP, 2015) Paul Edmondson is head of research and knowledge at the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust and author of Shakespeare: Ideas in Profile (Profile Books, 2015) Laurie Maguire is professor of English language and literature at Magdalen College, Oxford and co-author of 30 Great Myths About Shakespeare (Wiley –Blackwell, 2012) René Weis is a Shakespeare expert based at University College London. He is the author of Shakespeare Revealed: A Biography (John Murray, 2007)…

“The book’s vast sweep encompasses the story of the Indian army at war” India’s War: The Making of Modern South Asia, 1939-1945 Srinath Raghavan Allen Lane, 576 pages, £30 When the young officer cadet Srinath Raghavan was allocated to the Meiktila Company at the Indian Military Academy at Dehradun, he had no idea of the provenance of his company’s unusual title. He realised that there was something wrong about his lack of knowledge: why did this and other names, designed as battle honours – in this case, a 1945 Allied victory against Japanese forces – not resonate with him and other young men joining up as potential junior leaders in India’s modern army? It would have been inconceivable for an Australian officer cadet to fail to recognise the name of…

Stalin’s Curse: Battling for Communism in War and Cold War by Robert Gellately Oxford, 496 pages, £12.99 This is a survey of Soviet history and foreign policy under Stalin, between the signing of the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact between the USSR and Nazi Germany in August 1939 and his death in 1953. The long-term ‘curse’ (also referred to as an ‘abyss’) is the political-economic system imposed on the USSR and other countries. Robert Gellately is a distinguished historian, most of whose previous work has related to the Nazis and Germany. His latest book is an impressive piece of scholarship, using published material made available in Russia since the late 1980s, as well as recent western interpretations. This paperback edition is to be welcomed. The author maintains that he follows neither the traditional…

Costing the Earth RADIO Radio 4, scheduled for Tuesday 19 April In 1836, HMS Beagle visited volcanic Ascension Island, midway between South America and Africa. One of the passengers, Charles Darwin, found it a barren spot, yet today a lush cloud forest covers the peak of 859-metre-high Green Mountain. BBC weather presenter Peter Gibbs travels to the island to see how Darwin, botanist and explorer Joseph Hooker, Kew Gardens and the Royal Navy worked together to create a completely artificial but fully functioning ecosystem on Ascension, including Norfolk pines, first planted as replacement masts for sailing ships.…

1 Bath Abbey, SOMERSET Where a king’s work was undone Bath Priory was surrendered to the crown in 1539 during the Dissolution, after which it was stripped of its fabric and abandoned. In 1574, Elizabeth I sought to repair the damage caused by her father’s campaign, and ordered that funds be raised to restore the building to its former glory. bathabbey.org 2 Furness Abbey, CUMBRIA Where the ruins run red This 12th-century abbey at the northern edge of Barrow-in-Furness was England’s second-richest Cistercian monastery after Fountains Abbey. Built from red sandstone in a shallow valley, it’s the subject of the William Wordsworth poem At Furness Abbey, where because of “rash undoing / Man left this Structure to become Time’s prey”. english-heritage.org.uk 3 Glastonbury Abbey, SOMERSET Where an abbot met a…

BEST TIME TO GO Malta is blisteringly hot in August; May or September would be ideal months to explore the island. GETTING THERE Malta International Airport is on the old wartime airfield of Luqa. Air Malta, Ryanair and easyJet offer regular flights from the UK. Alternatively, Sicily is just 60 miles and a short ferry journey away. WHAT TO TAKE Lots of sunscreen, a hat, swimming trunks and a mask and snorkel. Prepare to cover up with respectful garb when visiting churches and palaces. WHAT TO BRING BACK Malta is known for hand-blown glass – watch it being made at Ta’ Qali craft village – while Gozo is renowned for hand-made lace. READERS’ VIEWS Explore the beautiful, historic streets of Valletta on foot and then indulge in a cocktail at…

“His galvanising of his peers in early 20th-century Paris – Picasso, Jarry, Chagall, Cocteau – was crucial to many of the movements we now recognise as modern, in both literary and visual arts” Guillaume Apollinaire was a poet and writer who played an important role in the avant-garde movements of the early 20th century. He spent most of his adult life in Paris, where he published a number of volumes of poetry while befriending and promoting several leading lights in the city’s art scene. After war broke out in 1914, Apollinaire served in the French infantry. In 1916 he was wounded and subsequently discharged, returning to Paris and his literary work for the last two years of his life. When did you first hear about Apollinaire? Though I studied French…