Innholdsfortegnelse for August 2016 i History Extra

“So often in this magazine we tell the stories of the kings who dominate the history of medieval Europe. In what was a patriarchal society, few women had the opportunity to wield power in the same way as their male counterparts. One of the most remarkable exceptions was Eleanor of Aquitaine. A wife to two kings and a mother to two – arguably three – more, she was also a redoubtable figure in her own right: joining a crusade, rebelling against her husband, and fighting to secure the crown for her sons Richard the Lionheart and King John. In this month’s cover feature (page 28), historian Lindy Grant charts Eleanor’s eventful life. Not long before we went to press came the momentous news of Britain’s vote in favour of leaving…

On the afternoon of 24 August 79, the commander of the Roman fleet, Pliny the Elder, was at home in Misenum at the northern end of the Bay of Naples. He was working on some papers after a leisurely lunch when his sister noticed “a cloud of unusual size and appearance”, rising above the peak of Vesuvius. Pliny immediately called for a boat but, even before he had set out, a message arrived from the town at the foot of the mountain where residents were terrified of the looming cloud. By the time Pliny had crossed the bay to the town of Stabiae, it was obvious that something terrible was afoot. Vesuvius now seemed ablaze, wrote Pliny’s nephew, known as Pliny the Younger, while “ashes were already falling, hotter and…

“We know nothing about Virginia Dare, other than the names of her parents and the date and place of her birth. Like every other member of the colony on Roanoke, she vanishes both from the record and, it seems, from the face of the Earth. Virginia’s parents were, as far as we can judge, unremarkable people; it is the circumstances of her birth that make her remarkable, the blank canvas of her life offering scope for the promotion of political and social causes, for romantic novelists, playwrights and conspiracy theorists. Virginia was not the first white child to be born on the eastern seaboard of North America – even discounting possible Viking settlement in present-day Canada centuries earlier. The Spanish had planted a colony in Florida some 20 years before…

In his interview about Operation Barbarossa (Hitler’s Greatest Mistake, June), Antony Beevor rightly sees Germany’s invasion of the Soviet Union as “Hitler’s greatest mistake”. My great uncle August Wilhelm would have agreed. He was a reserve officer in the Wehrmacht. A family tale has it that news of Hitler’s invasion plans caused downright anger. August Wilhelm would nervously walk up and down the living room, uttering that “now Hitler has gone one step too far”, and that this would lead to Germany’s downfall. Yet August Wilhelm’s ill-guided sense of honour made him obey his military oath. He was called up and killed in the campaign. Even for contemporaries, no superior intelligence was necessary to see that Operation Barbarossa was doomed to failure. Antony Beevor admirably dissects its faults and follies.…

Matilda of Scotland (c1080 1118) Matilda was deeply trusted by her husband, Henry I, who usually left her to govern England while he dealt with Normandy. Of Scottish and Anglo-Saxon stock, she was a sophisticated patron of literature and the visual arts, and renowned for her piety, and her generous religious benefactions. Empress Matilda (1102 67) On the death of her brother in 1120, Matilda became the sole heir of her father – Henry I of England – who tried to ensure that she would succeed him. Her cousin Stephen of Blois seized the English throne on Henry’s death, and Matilda spent many years fighting for it, then – successfully – pursuing the claim of her son Henry to the crown. Henry II had great respect for his mother’s advice,…

Thomas Venner, 1608-61 The leader of the two abortive Fifth Monarchist insurrections was the barrel-maker Thomas Venner, born in Littleham, Devon. By 1633, he had moved to London, and was associated with ‘Praise-God Barebones’, a charismatic Fifth Monarchist preacher. Venner emigrated to Salem, Massachusetts, where he was a constable in 1642. He then moved to Boston, serving in the city’s artillery militia, before returning to England in October 1651, with his wife Alice and three children under 10. Venner was employed until 1655 as a cooper at the Tower of London when he was sacked after being suspected of plotting to blow up the fortress. Venner became chief preacher of a Fifth Monarchist congregation in Swan Alley in the City of London. After the failure of the rebellion against Cromwell,…

Soldiers participated willingly in acts of barbaric savagery Hitler’s Soldiers: The German Army in the Third Reich by Ben H Shepherd Yale University Press, 639 pages, £25 In the 1990s, a travelling exhibition illustrating the war crimes of the Wehrmacht – Nazi armed forces – caused outrage in Germany. The army, its critics averred, was stainless, and any atrocities had been committed by others: the Gestapo, the SS, Nazi thugs or foreign mercenaries. Ben Shepherd’s highly readable history gives the lie to that and many other legends. The Wehrmacht, he shows with unimpeachable detail, was steeped up to its collective neck in blood. Its soldiers participated willingly, and often enthusiastically, in acts of barbaric savagery against civilians, prisoners of war, communists, Jews and many other innocents unlucky enough to inhabit…

The Extraordinary Life and Momentous Times of JMW Turner by Franny Moyle Viking, 528 pages, £25 The 20th-century eagerness to see Joseph Mallord William Turner’s work afresh led to the hanging of unfinished works and rough sketches that he never wanted to exhibit, as if they were as important as the finished works he cherished. In her fresh and lively new biography, Franny Moyle blames this for creating a distracting myth of a man out of step with his time and argues that he was, in fact, “profoundly the product of it”. Born in 1775, Turner was lucky to grow up at a time when a new thirst for contemporary art – particularly British art – was spreading, with the encouragement of the Society of Arts and the Royal Academy,…

Wolf Winter Cecilia Ekbäck (2015) This suspenseful, well-written thriller is set in Swedish Lapland in the early 18th century. Teenage Frederika, newly arrived in a small, remote community, stumbles across a man’s mutilated body. Her mother, Maija, is puzzled by claims that he was attacked by a wolf when it is clear that he was murdered. Maija’s persistent pursuit of the truth brings to light dark events from the past that her neighbours have long striven to hide. The Strawberry Girl Lisa Stromme (2016) In the summer of 1893, the Norwegian fishing village of Åsgårdstrand becomes home to visitors from the city. Among them is the tormented and bohemian painter Edvard Munch. Local teenager Johanne Lien, who models for the artist and is known as ‘The Strawberry Girl’, finds herself…

1 Greenham Common NEWBURY, BERKSHIRE Where women held a peace camp Greenham Common was in the news throughout the 1980s as the RAF airbase – and its Cruise missiles – became the focus of nuclear disarmament protests, spearheaded by the Greenham Common Women’s Peace Camp. Today the site is common land incorporating rare lowland heathland – with full public access. greenham-common-trust.co.uk 2 Hack Green Nuclear Bunker CHESHIRE Where you can see nuclear weapons This 35,000 square foot underground facility would have been the centre of regional government had nuclear war broke out. Today this visitor attraction is home to decontamination facilities, operations rooms and the largest display of nuclear weaponry in Europe. hackgreen.co.uk 3 Drakelow Tunnels KIDDERMINSTER Where a secret bunker was sited This massive underground tunnel network began life…

BEST TIME TO GO Vézelay is vibrant and crowded in summer, while in winter it’s quiet and contemplative, although some of its restaurants and museums will be closed. GETTING THERE From Paris (fly or take Eurostar from UK), take the TER train from Paris’ Gare de Bercy to Sermizelles, about six miles north of Vézelay. Then catch a bus or taxi. WHAT TO PACK A pair of binoculars – really useful for picking out the detail in the beautiful Romanesque carvings of the abbey church. WHAT TO BRING BACK It’s Burgundy – of course it has to be wine! The local Bourgogne Vézelay is a Chardonnay. READERS’ VIEWS It is a magical place – full of spirituality and mysticism, and the abbaye is stunning! Soo Hooper Both the basilica and…

Sir Douglas Bader was the best-known RAF flying ace of the Second World War. Both of his legs were amputated following a crash in 1931, yet after the outbreak of war he talked his way back into the RAF and was promoted to squadron leader, then group captain. He was credited with 22 solo aerial victories, a further four shared victories and several ‘probables’. Taken prisoner after bailing out over France in 1941, he made several escape attempts before being transferred to Colditz, where he spent the rest of the war. His story was told in Paul Brickhill’s book Reach for the Sky (1954), made into a hit film. When did you first hear about Douglas Bader? As a boy. I grew up reading his biography Reach for the Sky…

Michael Scott History is so often studied in isolated chunks, but that is not how it was experienced. Instead I want to offer an ancient global history, one that helps us understand how much we have always owed to interaction with one another. • Michael reveals how ancient cultures interacted on page 43 Lindy Grant I have had to think about Eleanor of Aquitaine while writing my book on her granddaughter, Blanche of Castile. Both were such formidably powerful women, even in the ‘man’s world’ of the Middle Ages. • Lindy traces Eleanor of Aquitaine’s remarkable life on page 28 Roger Moorhouse The story of the Wilhelm Gustlo is usually told as a straight disaster tale. However, its wider history tells us much about how the Third Reich functioned; about…

Richard Overy is a professor of history at the University of Exeter who specialises in 20th-century international history, especially the Second World War. Dominic Sandbrook is a historian, writer and broadcaster who has presented a number of BBC TV series on postwar Britain, including a forthcoming history of the 1980s. David Abulafia is professor of Mediterranean history at Cambridge University. He is the leader of Historians for Britain, which argued for changes to Britain’s EU membership. Helen McCarthy is a senior lecturer at Queen Mary University of London who works on modern Britain. She edits the journal Twentieth Century British History. Kathleen Burk is emeritus professor of modern and contemporary history at University College London. Her interests lie in British and Anglo-American history.…

@HistoryExtra: Should Game of Thrones be used as a way into medieval history? Kelly-Jo Carter I don’t think anyone seriously sees GoT as anything but fantasy. No one is watching for a history lesson. But I can see the interest in making comparisons with historical figures or events. And if this type of ‘dumbing down’ leads to a genuine interest in history, where’s the harm in that? Intellectual snobbery is never a good thing @RuthInHeritage Yes. We have to make history relevant to the audience – why not use every ‘in’ we have? @sararosedavis No. While GoT is entertaining, there is no historical backing to the series, period. It cannot be used in lieu of medieval history Josh Baker-Cox I don’t think there’s any harm in…

When Richard the Lionheart inherited his father’s realms in 1189, one of his first acts as king was to release his mother, Eleanor of Aquitaine, from imprisonment. But Richard did a lot more than just free Eleanor from the house arrest under which she had languished for 15 years: he entrusted her with the governance of England while he secured his continental realms. And so the newly liberated queen-mother was soon progressing around the kingdom with a ‘regal’ court, judging cases and organising the release of prisoners – a traditional demonstration of magnanimity by a new ruler. The contrast between Richard and his immediate predecessor as king couldn’t have been more stark. For it was Henry II, Richard’s father, who had imprisoned Eleanor, as a punishment for supporting their sons’…

  1 Republicans on a political recce Romans in Athens 454 BC Just over half a century after the Roman Republic was established, the Roman body politic was in trouble. The political system had been blocked for almost a decade; the Tribunes of the Plebs (officers representing the interests of the everyday people) demanded reform of the system and a rebalancing of power between patrician (aristocratic) and plebian (everyone else) groups. So in 454 BC a three man commission was appointed to travel to Athens – where the democratic revolution had occurred at about the same time as the birth of the Roman Republic – to research how the politics of that city-state worked, and to bring back possible solutions for the crisis in Rome. By 454 BC Athens was…

1921 The Chinese Communist party is established in Shanghai, its founding members having been encouraged by foreign agents of the Communist International (Comintern). 1949 Chiang Kai-shek’s nationalist government retreats to Taiwan. On 1 October Mao Zedong proclaims the establishment of the People’s Republic of China. 1958 Mao launches the Great Leap Forward with the aim of overtaking the economic output of the UK and matching that of the US. 1959–62 Famine results in at least 30 million deaths. As a result, Mao is sidelined by Liu Shaoqi, and some policies of the Great Leap Forward era are abandoned. 1966 The Cultural Revolution is proclaimed in May. Red Guards form and, after mass rallies in Beijing, begin attacks on the ‘four olds’ and ‘class enemies’, ‘counterrevolutionaries’ and ‘bad elements’. 1967 Red…

The United Kingdom, Simms argues, is the last European great power Britain’s Europe: A Thousand Years of Con ict and Cooperation by Brendan Simms Allen Lane, 340 pages, £20 One of the dichotomies presented to the public in recent debates about the United Kingdom’s place in Europe (and in the European Union) is that between the European and the global stage. Should the UK’s commercial, influential and moral ambitions be European or global? Brendan Simms’ latest book shows again and again that this is a false dichotomy and that the UK’s global status and influence have always operated within the context of a European system. The UK has always had a distinctive role in Europe, and Europe in turn has always had a critical role in the global balance of…

Dynasty: the Rise and Fall of the House of Caesar by Tom Holland Abacus, 512 pages, £9.99 The story of the Julio-Claudians, two households (both alike in dignity) who oversaw the transition of Rome from republic to empire, is familiar thanks to the writings of Roman court gossip Suetonius and the semi-fictionalised world of I Claudius. From these one can simply characterise the first five emperors as, in order: benevolent dictator (Augustus), diseased pervert (Tiberius), paranoid sadist (Caligula), lame dullard (Claudius) and egomaniacal monster (Nero). The choice for any modern historian is whether to accept these popular stereotypes or attempt to re-evaluate and reassess. Luckily for us, Tom Holland does the latter. Holland is a skilful and engaging writer who expertly weaves his narrative between history, art, culture and mythology…

“If you think you might be blown up tomorrow then you’re going to live the way you want to, aren’t you?” Arena: 1966 – The Year the Decade Exploded TV BBC Four scheduled for Sunday 24 July There are years that represent a time when the world changed. As a new Arena documentary written by cultural historian Jon Savage shows, 1966 was one such year. Here was a world waiting to burst into psychedelic colour, but where news reports and TV shows were still recorded in black and white. “I like the fact that it’s stark,” says Savage of the archive footage that makes up the documentary, shown as part of BBC Music’s My Generation season. In part that’s because Savage is suspicious of “warm bath” nostalgia and instead, both…

EXHIBITION / FREE ENTRY COLOUR: The Art and Science of Illuminated Manuscripts Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge Opens 30 July 01223 332900 • fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk Celebrating the Fitzwilliam’s bicentenary is a display of 150 magnificent illuminated manuscripts. They range from European prayer books to the Macclesfield Psalter, and from eighth-century Northumbria to 17th-century Nepal via Paris and Jerusalem. Highlights of Byzantine, Armenian, Persian and Sanskrit manuscripts are also included. Part of the Viscount Fitzwilliam’s collection with which the museum was established in 1816, a clause in the bequest prevents them from ever leaving the building and many are on display for the first time. Manuscripts are rich resources for European painting of the 6th to 16th centuries and, sheltered in books throughout their lives, they can survive the ravages of time better than…

Spinach fritters As in kitchens today, in many Tudor homes the frying pan was in daily use. From the late 16th century, as coal became more common than peat or wood as the main cooking fuel, metal frying pans started to replace earthenware pans that were prone to shatter on high heat. Lard or dripping was used to fry sausages and bacon, but clarified butter was more commonly used to cook fish, omelettes or pancakes. Fritters were made by mixing eggs and a cereal – flour or breadcrumbs – with apples or spinach. This version is gently spiced with ginger and cinnamon, and I’ve added a pinch of salt to cater for modern palates. INGREDIENTS 250g spinach 50g fresh white breadcrumbs 2 eggs, beaten 1/4 tsp ground cinnamon 1/4 tsp…

Tutankhamun’s tomb held a meteorite dagger A dagger included in the tomb of Egyptian pharaoh Tutankhamun was made with iron from a meteorite, analysis suggests. Researchers studied the blade’s chemical makeup and found that its cobalt and nickel content “strongly suggests an extraterrestrial origin”. Comparison with known meteorites around the Red Sea coast of Egypt point to a possible match with one found 150 miles west of the city of Alexandria. A huge monument has been revealed in Petra A combination of drone technology, satellite imagery and ground surveys has uncovered a massive monument beneath the sand at Petra in Jordan. The structure includes an enormous platform, measuring 184 by 161 feet, as well as a smaller platform lined with columns and featuring a huge staircase. According to experts, pottery…

Hitler’s memory lapse Surely Hitler only made one mistake in the whole of his life: he believed the idiot who said “The British are cowards and will not fight”. If he had remembered his experience in the trenches in the First World War he would not have believed them and would not have invaded Poland. Anthony Loxton, Norwich Salute to self-publishing I have just finished reading your 200th issue from cover to cover and I’m pleased to say it is as controversial and informative as ever. To add to the controversy, I wish to take issue with your Books Interview and Andrew Roberts’ comments about self-published books. Without the aid of famous or affluent parents, I have written a book about my passion: 17th-century history and, specifically, women’s history. After…

“The Islam of Rumi was red by humanity and compassion” “So Hollywood is to make a film on the life of the 13th-century Muslim mystic and poet Rumi, a man still commemorated every December with fabulous energy and colour by the ‘whirling dervishes’ at his tomb at Konya in Turkey. The film will be scripted by Gladiator screenwriter David Franzoni, and already there has been talk of Leonardo di Caprio as Rumi and Robert Downey Jr as Shams al Tabriz, the mysterious holy man who inspired Rumi’s gospel of love which is now so popular with new agers in the west. One goal, Franzoni says, is to break the stereotypical portrayal of Muslims in the movies. It will be intriguing, to say the least. Rumi’s life opens up vistas of…

1122/1124 Eleanor is born, the daughter of Duke William X of Aquitaine and his wife Aliénor of Châtellerault, in either 1122 or 1124 1137 Eleanor becomes Duchess of Aquitaine on her father’s death, and is married to the heir to the French throne, who immediately becomes king of France as Louis VII 1141 44 Louis and Eleanor support the bigamous marriage of Eleanor’s sister Petronilla to Count Ralph of Vermandois – despite opposition from the church and the Count of Champagne 1147 49 Louis and Eleanor go on the Second Crusade, where her relationship with her uncle, Raymond of Antioch, threatens to destroy their marriage 1152 Louis divorces Eleanor on the grounds of consanguinity. Eleanor marries Henry of Anjou, a claimant to the English throne 1154 Henry succeeds to the…

“If he could improve his behaviour, he could be a good example to our youth” said one official after Zátopek won his second gold medal The crowds at Helsinki’s new airport were overwhelming. On 10 July 1952 – nine days before the opening of the XV Olympic Games – some 10,000 people had turned out to welcome the world’s most famous athlete to Finland. But there was a problem: when the Czechoslovak team disembarked their plane, Captain Emil Zátopek was not among them. Zátopek, a 29-year-old army officer, was a runner of mesmerising ability and international celebrity. He had burst on to the world stage at the London Olympics four years earlier with a crushing victory at 10,000 metres and a dramatic half-stride defeat at 5,000 metres; since then, he…

Keeping the Jewel in the Crown: The British Betrayal of India by Walter Reid Birlinn, 224 pages, £20 The British imperial involvement with India was the longest, and arguably the most significant chapter, in the empire’s history. In the process, the English, then the British, saw their role change from that of semi-piratical interlopers begging for trading concessions to that of the lords and masters of a whole subcontinent that they ruled with lavish ceremony and awe-inspiring self-confidence. India provided Britain with a largely docile and extremely profitable trading partner, an almost limitless reservoir of fighting men, a military base from which to supervise other regional imperial interests and, perhaps above all, the international prestige that went with such a huge and grandiose undertaking. The trouble was: how would Britain…

The Fall of the House of Wilde by Emer O’Sullivan Bloomsbury, 495 pages, £25 When the 27-year-old Oscar Wilde landed in New York in 1882 to begin a lecture tour that launched his celebrity, he stated “I have nothing to declare but my genius” to the customs officer. “He spoke the truth,” writes his latest biographer, Emer O’Sullivan, halfway through The Fall of the House of Wilde. This seems a surprising claim for, as O’Sullivan herself compellingly demonstrates, Wilde’s éclat owed much to his brilliant parents, talented family and tumultuous upbringing – more than is recognised by biographers or the public. Stephen Fry’s jacket comment is perceptive: “This is a book that reminds us how very unlikely it is that a genius will be born in a vacuum: Oscar was,…

“Its streets retain their medieval character, and the superb Romanesque architecture of its church remains largely unaltered” When medieval pilgrims caught sight of Vézelay, they are said to have shouted “Mountjoy!” When you first glimpse this hilltop village, with its huge abbey church, it’s easy to understand their excitement. It’s harder, however, to imagine just how important this place once was. Today it’s home to around 500 people, but in the early Middle Ages its population outstripped that of places such as Canterbury or York. Why? Because in the ninth century Vézelay’s abbey had acquired what were believed to be relics of Mary Magdalene. A list of Vézelay’s visitors reads like a Who’s Who of early medieval Europe. Bernard of Clairvaux preached the Second Crusade here, Thomas Becket condemned Henry…

1. What links the armada, the rainbow and the ermine? 2. Aphra Behn was one of the first women in England to earn a living through her writing but how did she serve Charles II in 1666/67? 3. On 17 September 1908 Lieutenant Thomas Selfridge became the first person to do what? 4. Which five Mercian towns comprised the Five Boroughs of the Danelaw? 5. Who were the Queen’s Maries? 6. This Wars of the Roses warrior is buried in Salisbury Cathedral. Who is he and what happened to him on 22 August 1485? QUIZ ANSWERS 1. They’re all names given to portraits of Elizabeth I 2. As a spy in Antwerp 3. Die in a plane crash 4. Derby, Leicester, Lincoln, Nottingham, Stamford 5. Four small girls chosen as…

The Great Viking Army Julian D Richards shows how new research is transforming our understanding of the Norse warriors who battled the Anglo-Saxons The Great Fire of London Alexander Larman on how the 1666 inferno stirred up religious tensions in England The other Henry V The medieval king was far more than just a warrior, writes Malcolm Vale The Suez crisis Alex von Tunzelmann reflects on the events of 1956 that came to symbolise Britain’s decline as a global power…