14th Century… Poetry: The Rebellion of Wat Tyler and Jack Straw (c.1612) 17 May 2020 Unlike that other medieval hero and man of the people, Robin Hood, Wat Tyler does not enjoy an extensive ballad "afterlife." This song, first published in The Garland of Delight…
1715… Poking Fun at Rebels 1 May 20201 May 2020 By Stephen Basdeo In 1715 the newly-united Kingdom of Great Britain had a new monarch: George I of Hanover. He had inherited the throne the year before because Queen Anne’s…
19th Century… How Victorians Fell in Love with American Rebels 17 Apr 202017 Apr 2020 By Stephen Basdeo The much vaunted ‘special relationship’ between the USA and the UK is a fairly recent invention. For much of the Victorian period, relations between the two nations…
18th century… Robin Hood the Angry Letter Writer 9 Jun 2019 By Stephen Basdeo Many people have adopted the name of Robin Hood over the years. The most obvious ones which spring to mind are the men who appear in medieval…
14th Century… The Flemish Revolt: Pierce Egan’s “Quintin Matsys” (1838) 28 Dec 2018 By Stephen Basdeo Pierce Egan the Younger (1814–80) is one of my most favourite Victorian authors. The son of the more famous Regency journalist and writer, Pierce Egan (1772–1849), he…
19th Century… Sedition 23 Nov 201823 Nov 2018 By Stephen Basdeo Since the Victorian era, even though they lack a formal written constitution, the English people have always enjoyed a high degree of freedom of speech and political…
