19th Century… A Victorian “Commonplace Book” 11 Jul 2020 By Stephen Basdeo I recently got hold of a “Commonplace Book” which dates from 1859. Commonplace books have been a feature of home life since at least the 1600s. Most…
14th Century… John Ball’s Letter to the Essex Men 24 Aug 2019 By Stephen Basdeo In the summer of 1381, the people of England had had enough: disease, war, and low harvests had caused great discontent throughout the land. The Statute of…
1381… The History of Thomas Walsingham’s Historia Anglicana traced through Reappearances of Jack Straw’s Last Dying Speech 5 Jul 2019 A paper delivered at the International Medieval Congress, University of Leeds, 1–5 July 2019 by Stephen Basdeo The so-called Peasants’ Revolt of 1381 was widely reported in various chronicles. The…