Innholdsfortegnelse for May 2018 i History Extra

The news in Britain this month is likely to be dominated by the latest royal wedding, as Meghan Markle and Prince Harry prepare to tie the knot. They are a very modern royal couple, and few today would be concerned by the fact that Meghan is a ‘commoner’ who has been married before, or that Harry is marrying for love rather than for diplomatic or dynastic purposes. Yet, back in the 15th century, things were very different for Edward IV and this month’s cover star, Elizabeth Woodville. The Yorkist king’s decision to marry a widowed English noblewoman rather than a virginal European princess was hugely contentious and played a part in the struggles of the Wars of the Roses. On page 26, Sarah Gristwood revisits this royal romance and shows…

“Almost 500 years ago, faced by frail medieval walls and aided by thick fog that concealed their attack, Charles V’s frenzied, starving army broke into Rome. So began an event that has been described as the 9/11 of the Renaissance. One of Europe’s greatest cultural centres became a place of horror as thousands were killed, tortured and raped while Pope Clement VII cowered in his citadel, Castel Sant’Angelo. After a nine-month occupation, the city was a war zone strewn with wrecked palaces and desecrated churches. The event sent shockwaves across the continent. Many believed that Rome’s long history had finally come to an end. They were wrong. Rome recovered, remaking itself as an even more beautiful city. Meanwhile, despite reputational damage following the atrocity, Charles V thrived, achieving his aim…

Shakespeare may have annotated Hamlet source Shakespeare expert John Casson believes notes made in a 16th-century book may have been written by William Shakespeare. The text, a 1576 copy of François de Belleforest’s Histoires Tragiques, is thought to have been the source for Shakespeare’s c1601 tragedy Hamlet. The faded ink symbols appear next to six passages that feature a Danish prince who avenges his father’s murder by his uncle. Egyptian mummies boast world’s oldest tattoos Infrared examination of smudges on the arm of an Egyptian mummy at the British Museum has shown them to be tattoos depicting two animals – a giant wild bull and a wild goat-like creature, created around 5,200 years ago. A second, female mummy, was found to have small S-shaped marks tattooed…

What is the origin of the garden gnome? Statues have been a feature of European gardens since at least the Renaissance. Saints, gods and mythical creatures were all depicted, and in the 17th century one particularly popular character was Gobbi, which is Italian for ‘dwarf’ or ‘hunchback’. The inspiration for the figures of today – small men with beards and pointed hats – can be found in European folklore, which told tales of gnomes, little folk who brought good luck and helped farmers, housewives and miners. In the mid-19th century, companies in Germany began to create porcelain representations of them, which they dubbed Gartenzwerge or ‘garden dwarfs’. Who introduced garden gnomes to Britain? Sir Charles Isham is the man we have to thank (or blame). The owner of Lamport Hall…

In your March My History Hero article, Barbara Taylor Bradford declared that 1940 was “the year Britain stood alone”. This is a statement that is universally repeated, without any qualification whatsoever, and is particularly topical because of the recently released Darkest Hour and Dunkirk movies. As a Canadian, I find this curious, as Canada, Australia, New Zealand and South Africa were all allies of Great Britain throughout 1940 and for the duration of the war. Why are these allies ignored? Is it because they are considered part of Britain or deemed insignificant? Neither is true. Firstly, all of the above countries were independent in 1939 when they declared war on Germany. Militarily insignificant? The German command didn’t think so when, after the battle at Amiens on 8 August 1918, they…

William Fairbairn 1885-1960 NICKNAMES: Shanghai-Buster, the Deacon, Delicate Dan, Mister Murder-Made-Easy. EXPERTISE: Knife-fighting, close-quarters combat and Asian martial arts including Chinese boxing and Sikh wrestling. Also an expert in Cornish collar-and-elbow wrestling and bare-handed killing. NOTABLE QUOTES: “You can’t afford the luxury of squeamishness. Either you kill or capture or you will be killed or captured.” INVENTIONS: The Fairbairn-Sykes fighting knife (with Eric Sykes), a double-edged dagger issued to, among others, the SAS. Fairbairn also invented the Smatchet, a heavy fighting sword. WHAT HAPPENED NEXT: Fairbairn was poached by the American Office of Strategic Services and trained saboteurs and guerrillas at Camp X on Lake Ontario. Eric Sykes 1883-1945 NICKNAME: Bill EXPERTISE: Sharp-shooting with pistols, high-stress point shooting (instinctive shooting without sights) and close physical combat. NOTABLE QUOTES: “And then…

When Young Henry rebelled against his father, he readily found allies, among them the kings of Scotland and France When, in October 1173, Richard de Lucy, the justiciar of England, rode through Northumberland, he must have been appalled by what he saw. William the Lion, the king of Scotland, had invaded the north, and he and his armies had cut a swathe across the country, burning crops and villages, taking plunder. They had attacked churches, stealing everything of value, and laid siege to castles in the region. De Lucy, the man who governed England while King Henry II was in his territories in France, was swift in seeking revenge. He had come north with Humphrey de Bohun, another of Henry II’s key administrators, and together they attacked Berwick in retaliation,…

The Birth of the RAF, 1918 by Richard Overy Penguin, 160 pages, £14.99 Richard Overy is to be congratulated on creating a concise exposition of the formation of the RAF – the justification and timing of which were contentious in some quarters. He opens with a canter through its precursors, the Royal Flying Corps and Royal Naval Air Service, showing how their roles expanded beyond simple reconnaissance. The RFC were the eyes of the Royal Artillery, probing over the lines to identify and eliminate targets. Ground strafing and bombing raids began to show results, while a start had also been made on bombing ‘strategic’ objectives with raids on the industrial Ruhr region. Sucking in attention were the scouts, buzzing around to protect their own army cooperation machines and attack their…

How to Behave Badly in Renaissance Britain by Ruth Goodman Michael O’Mara Books, 320 pages, £20 In her last book, Ruth Goodman told us how to behave as a Tudor. In this highly entertaining sequel, she gives us the opposite advice. This might seem an odd premise, but the reasoning is, as ever, impeccable. As the author points out, bad behaviour can be much more illuminating than good. It is thanks to those who rebelled against the norms imposed by ruling elites, the church and society, that we find out what these conventions reveal about the age. The narrative covers the period 1550–1660, which Goodman convincingly argues is when so much of our 21st-century way of life began: from democracy and language to religion and culture. Against this turbulent backdrop,…

This month marks 70 years since the state of Israel was established. It’s an anniversary marked in Israel: What Might Have Been (Radio 4, Saturday 12 May), which features Simon Schama’s personal reflection on the country’s conception, birth and troubled life. Also on Radio 4, for Present at the Creation (May) Guardian columnist and Long View presenter Jonathan Freedland speaks to the two people still alive who witnessed the moment when the Jewish People’s Council gathered at the Tel Aviv Museum and proclaimed the establishment of a Jewish state. The Almoravid Berber Muslim dynasty was centred on Morocco. It endured for little more than a century, from 1040–1147, but during that time its leaders controlled large swathes of territory in north Africa and Spain, and established Marrakesh as a major…

Brave new worlds EXHIBITION James Cook: The Voyages British Library, London 27 April–28 August - 01937 546546 (booking line) • bl.uk In1768, British navigator James Cook set sail from Plymouth in command of the Endeavour to explore new lands in the Pacific Ocean. This was the first of three epic voyages undertaken by Cook before his death in 1779, during which he claimed Australia’s eastern coast for Britain, and visited New Zealand and Tahiti. Now, 250 years after Cook set out on the first of these expeditions, the British Library will tell the stories of his three world-changing voyages with displays of original documents, many of which were produced by the artists, scientists and sailors on board the ships. The exhibition will also explore the scientific work of the voyages,…

1. BAMBURGH CASTLE A stunning coastal fortress at the heart of an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. Explore fourteen rooms, The Aviation Artefacts Museum, archaeology, cafeteria, grounds and battlements. Discover an amazing eclectic collection of 3500 items. bamburghcastle.com | 01668 214515 2. BENTLEY PRIORY MUSEUM Commemorate the 100th anniversary of the RAF with a visit to the former Fighter Command Headquarters. Visit our website to find out more about our upcoming programme of talks and events. bentleypriorymuseum.org.uk | 020 8950 5526 3. NATIONAL TRUST CALKE ABBEY Uncover more of Calke’s hidden secrets above and below ground. Discover stories of the Stableyards on a guided tour before exploring Calke’s series of tunnels under the house and gardens. nationaltrust.org.uk/calke-abbey 4. ANAESTHESIA HERITAGE CENTRE A unique medical science museum devoted to the history of anaesthesia…

1. Two major Roman settlements were destroyed by the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in AD79. One was Pompeii. What was the other? 2. What was the name of English artist William Hogarth’s pet pug dog (left) ? 3. Which castle links Monty Python and the Holy Grail, Game of Thrones and Outlander? 4. She was born in Brecon in July 1755 and described as “tragedy personified”. Who was she? 5. Two famous Scots have their final resting places at Dryburgh Abbey in Roxburghshire. Who are they? 6. Three kings of England were exiled in the building below. Where is it and who were they? QUIZ ANSWERS 1. Herculaneum. 2. Trump. 3. Doune Castle, near Stirling. It was a filming location for all three. 4. The actress Sarah Siddons. 5. Sir…

Fern Riddell Kitty Marion was an incredibly dangerous and violent soldier for the suffragettes. I couldn’t put her autobiography down – it was captivating. Historians can wait their whole lives to find a story like this. • Fern talks about her new book on a suffragette bomber on page 65 Andrew Dickson If you were asked to name the greatest Shakespeare actor of all time, who would you vote for? Laurence Olivier? Judi Dench? Chances are it’s someone you’ve barely heard of – meet Richard Burbage, the man who invented Hamlet. • Andrew profiles the actor who outshone Shakespeare on page 42 Sarah Gristwood The first thing you realise, studying the Wars of the Roses, is that spin, disinformation and fake news were all around in the 15th century. That’s…

Twenty-four photographs by American photojournalist Lewis Hine have recently been auctioned in New York. Many of the images depict the lives of America’s poor and disadvantaged, as well as the plight of families who had emigrated to the country in search of a new life. This image from 1905, which depicts an Italian family in a baggage room on Ellis Island, was part of a project to document the experience of immigrants who had just endured an exhausting transatlantic passage.…

“State-funded histories concur that the greatest threats to Russia always come from outside: Napoleon in 1812, Hitler in 1941 – or America today” PROFESSOR CYNTHIA HOOPER Vladimir Putin understands that history is a powerful political weapon. He uses it to build Russian patriotism. And he employs it to play on emotions, fuel popular fears, and above all emphasise a current policy line: that the western world has never sufficiently respected Russian achievement. Censorship is an important part of what one could call the Kremlin’s effort to ‘curate history’. This has meant significantly restricted access to Soviet-era archival documents, and led to the persecution of Russian organisations dedicated to researching past miscarriages of justice. But Putin is also a sophisticated communicator. He has, at times, been willing to acknowledge darker aspects…

“At the start of his novel Kim, Rudyard Kipling describes a scene in the old Lahore Museum. In the entrance hall the urchin boy Kim stands open-mouthed in front of “Greco-Buddhist sculptures done by forgotten workmen whose hands were feeling, not unskilfully, for the mysteriously transmitted Grecian touch”. That scene came to my mind recently in Oxford at an event for Gandhara Connections (carc.ox.ac.uk/GandharaConnections), a project about one of the most fascinating moments in the story of civilisation, which is finally attracting the international attention it deserves. Gandhara was an ancient region in north-west Pakistan and eastern Afghanistan. At the time of the Roman empire it was the crucible of an explosion of artistic and cultural ideas (a mix of Indian, Greek and Roman) that spread across half the globe.…

What was the greatest scientific breakthrough in history? Yasir Haniff Cochlear implants - giving profoundly deaf people a chance to hear again Sharon Gaulke Farming took mankind from a wandering, hunter-gatherer society to one that was able to grow its food and establish permanent residence Adam Jones The steam engine kick-started the industrial revolution forging the way for modern society as we know it Tammy Mathews Brown Printing press so the masses ceased to be dependent on clergy for knowledge Kate Hollis Polish Copernicus standing up to the church and telling the world that the globe is not flat @jonjonedinburgh The scientific method itself is the greatest scientific breakthrough in history. Everything prior was aimless groping in the dark @cowper_anne The discovery that fermented grapes turn into wine Whose reputation…

Henry’s holy nemesis Thomas Becket (1119/20-1170) Thomas Becket had been Henry II’s friend and ally as chancellor of England, a man who had risen through brilliant political talent. But when the king made him archbishop of Canterbury in 1162, their relationship soured. In disputes over the relative powers of church and state, the king and archbishop rapidly fell to irreconcilable conflict, and Becket fled into exile in France. When Henry II wanted his son to be crowned in 1170, Becket was not there to do it, and the king deprived the archbishop of Canterbury’s proper privileges in having a group of bishops perform the ceremony without him. When Becket agreed to return to Canterbury in 1170, he immediately reissued the commands and excommunications to which Henry had so objected; Henry…

Today, that daughter’s name is even better known than her father’s In Byron’s Wake: The Turbulent Lives of Lord Byron’s Wife and Daughter by Miranda Seymour Simon & Schuster, 560 pages, £25 In January 1815 the poet Lord Byron travelled to Seaham in County Durham for a wedding. He was the bridegroom; his bride was a brilliant young woman who he nicknamed ‘the princess of parallelograms’. She was known to everyone else as Annabella Milbanke, and she is one of the subjects of this dual biography. The other is the daughter Annabella bore Byron during that short and disastrous marriage. Today, in some circles, that daughter’s name is even better known than her father’s. She was Ada Lovelace, now widely recognised as the world’s first computer programmer. Annabella and Ada’s…

Our Uninvited Guests by Julie Summers Simon & Schuster, 464 pages, £20 Brideshead Revisited still colours our ideas of the country house at war – lorries arriving in darkness, Nissen huts in the park. “Not a bad camp,” the second-in-command reports to Charles Ryder. “Big private house with two or three lakes.” Julie Summers’ new book takes us beyond Brideshead to find out what really happened when the Second World War saw Britain’s country houses invaded by schools, secret training establishments and, in one case, a maternity hospital. Summers takes as case studies 12 country houses, ranging from stately homes like Brocket Hall – whose owner had hosted so many leading Nazis before the war that one of the bedrooms was christened the Ribbentrop Bedroom – to remote Scottish manors…

The Song of Achilles Madeline Miller (2011) Ten years in the making, this is a powerful recounting of one of the best-known stories in western literature. Patroclus, an ancient Greek princeling, meets golden boy Achilles and the two young men embark on a passionate relationship. They join the expedition to Troy where Achilles becomes the most famous and feared of the Greek warriors but a terrible fate awaits them both. Madeline Miller’s debut novel takes a familiar narrative and tells it with moving freshness. For the Most Beautiful Emily Hauser (2016) Two peripheral characters in Homer’s Iliad take centre stage in Emily Hauser’s colourful and entertaining tale of gods and mortals, war and love. Briseis is enslaved by the hero Achilles and coveted by Agamemnon, the leader of the Greek…

Pristine beaches, brutal rocks and craggy cliffs make the coast of Western Australia (WA) one of the world’s most beautiful and harsh landscapes. It’s also where Australia’s European history started, and it’s the easiest part of Australia to reach from the UK (especially since direct London–Perth flights launched in March), with only a seven or eight-hour time difference. I love this part of the world, and have visited many times. The history is fascinating and the landscape, which played so large a part in that history, is overwhelming. Fremantle, close to Perth, is a beautiful old port town with many Victorian buildings. Packed with restaurants and tearooms, it’s a delightful place to wander around. The town’s European history began in 1829, when Captain Charles Fremantle landed here in HMS Challenger.…

“She had a clear passion for liberty that inspired those around her. She was as strong as any man, and when she set her mind to a task she’d follow it to the end” Born in Poland, Krystyna Skarbek – also known as Christine Granville – was an agent for Britain’s Special Operations Executive (SOE), which conducted espionage, sabotage and reconnaissance operations in Nazi-occupied Europe. Celebrated for her daring wartime exploits, she was stabbed to death by a spurned admirer in London in 1952, aged just 44. How did you first hear about Krystyna Skarbek? Because of two extraordinary uncles of mine, Pieter and Francis Cammaerts, who had an English mother and a Belgian father. Pieter joined up at the start of the war and was killed in 1941. Francis…

On the morning of 6 May 1527 the people of Rome awoke with a sense of dread. The previous day, the Habsburg imperial army, commanded by Charles, Duke of Bourbon, had arrived at the walls of the old city. After years of fighting in the Italian peninsula, his army was short of funds and discipline. His adversary, Pope Clement VII, was the ideal target. And now, at his headquarters at the monastery of St Onofrio, the duke gave the order to attack. As luck would have it, Charles himself was killed early in the assault – but his death only enraged his men, most of whom were Spanish and German mercenaries. After breaking through the city’s defences, they rampaged through the streets, smashing their way into churches and monasteries, looting…

“Dr Ruxton Executed, last phrase of Moffat Ravine riddle – Crime of Frankenstein horror!” screamed the headline in the Midland Daily Telegraph on 12 May 1936. One of the most brutal murder cases of the 1930s was finally over. Dr Buck Ruxton, sentenced to death at the Manchester Assize Courts for the murder of his wife, Isabella, and his housemaid, Mary, was executed at Strangeways Gaol. Having murdered them both, Ruxton dismembered the bodies and dumped them in a Scottish ravine. But it was not the murders that so captivated the Telegraph on this. Instead, it was the battle over a debate that raged for decades – the death penalty. A vast crowd had gathered outside the prison an hour before the execution, and mounted and foot police were called…

Thomas Louch Thomas was born in Geraldton, Western Australia in 1894. He rose to the rank of platoon sergeant in the Australian Imperial Force before injury in the Gallipoli campaign. He fought at the third battle of Ypres and in the German Spring Offensives of 1918. Captain Thomas Louch was a staff officer with the headquarters of the 13th Australian Brigade. When the troops were out of the line there was concern about looting from abandoned French houses. “The inhabitants had departed, taking with them what they could, but leaving their houses more or less intact. There had been a lot of looting by other troops before our arrival. Corbie was a sizeable town, and the cellars of the houses were plentifully stocked with wine. This was discovered by the…

These were the years that witnessed Napoleon’s greatest victories, at the height of his imperial power Napoleon: The Spirit of the Age: 1805-1810 by Michael Broers Faber & Faber, 560 pages, £30 Covering the years from 1805 to 1810, the second volume of Michael Broers’ biography of Napoleon picks up where the first, Soldier of Destiny, left off. The division of the leader’s life into logical chunks presented the author with a real challenge, and his choice of this short period for an entire volume is both sensitive and pragmatic: sensitive in that it reflects a discernible period in Napoleon’s personal life, his marriages and his relationships with his brothers; pragmatic because these were the years that witnessed his greatest victories, when he was at the height of his imperial…

Lost world Holocaust Escape Tunnel TV Yesterday Scheduled for Wednesday 16 May The Lithuanian city of Vilnius was once known as the ‘Jerusalem of the North’. Then came the Second World War and, as Lithuania fell under German control, the Nazis targeted the Jewish population. Hundreds of thousands were murdered, while synagogues and other institutions were ravaged. This documentary follows archaeologists excavating the remains of Vilnius’s Great Synagogue, which was largely destroyed by the Soviets after the war. They also search for a tunnel dug by Jewish prisoners in a Nazi execution site. Training Days Churchill’s Secret Agents: The New Recruits TV BBC Two Airing now – also on BBC iPlayer The job of the Special Operations Executive (SOE) during the Second World War was deceptively straightforward: to undertake espionage,…

1 Latrigg Fell NEAR KESWICK, LAKE DISTRICT Where 2,000 people protested On 1 October 1887, 2,000 people climbed pathways up Latrigg, near Keswick in Cumbria, singing Rule Britannia as they went. Local man Henry Irwin Jenkinson led the protest after landowner Miss Spedding closed off paths that had been used for generations. A subsequent court case triggered the re-opening of numerous other footpaths in the district. The Manchester Guardian reported that “the Latrigg case will affect the right of ascent to almost every mountain in Britain”. 2 Winter Hill NEAR BOLTON Where rights-of-way were denied It was on Winter Hill (pictured below) near Bolton, on 6 September 1896, that a crowd of perhaps 1,000 Lancastrians stormed the gates erected by landowner Colonel RH Ainsworth to keep people off his grouse…

BEST TIME TO GO Western Australia is at its best in spring (September and October) and also in late summer (February and March), but can be prone to high temperatures and cyclones from January to May. GETTING THERE Daily flights serve Perth from the UK via the Middle East and far east. Qantas has introduced direct flights to Perth from London. Perth has great public transport, but a rental car is the best option for exploring further afield – perhaps to the Shipwrecks Gallery at the Museum of Geraldton, a day’s drive north of Perth, or south to Albany, with its superb National Anzac Centre. Ferries sail to Rottnest Island from Fremantle and Perth. WHAT TO PACK A hat, swimming kit and plenty of sunscreen. Also a copy of Batavia’s…