The Celts: search for a civilization

History tells us a lot about the Greek and Roman empires. However they were not the only peoples living in Europe and western parts of Asia at that time. A general term for many of these, often different, groups of people is Celts but who were they and where did they come from?

Alice Roberts in The Celts: search for a civilization sets out to discover who the people we refer to as Celts really were and any cohesion that might exist between different groups of Celtic people. Existing knowledge about the Celts comes from references to them in Greek and Roman works. The Greeks and Romans each had a written language which provided their viewpoint on the world around them. However to the Greeks and Romans the Celts were inferior peoples, often considered invading savages.

In this book Alice Roberts sets out to explore what is known about the lives of the Celts through past and continuing archaeological excavations, historical information about these people, the ethnic and biological studies as well as linguistic investigations. Although similarities are often found there are also differences between Celtic peoples in parts of Europe.

In later chapters the author investigates recent theories that some of the earliest Celtic settlements may have been in Portugal and not eastern Europe. The settlements near the Mediterranean coast and the Atlantic Ocean were centres for trade throughout Europe, including Britain and Ireland, from earliest times. Peoples from these regions could have merged with people in countries they visited for trade. It is also believed that Celtic peoples crossed over into Britain via Scandinavian counties.

We will probably never know the full history of the various Celtic groups but study can still be done investigating archaeological finds, bones, art, and other clues to the lives of these people in our history and in the ancestors of Celtic groups today.

The Two Hundred Years War: the bloody crowns of England and France 1292-1492

The One Hundred Years War between England and France actually covered 116 years from 1337-1453. In this study of European history during the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, the author argues that the conflicts need to be examined over a longer time period so he has extended his study from 1292-1492. He also looks at events occurring in other nearby countries affected by the conflict between France and England. Burgundy, Brittany, Flanders, Navarre, the Low Countries, Castile, Portugal and Aragon were some of the countries / territories impacted by the conflicts in this period. Scotland and Wales were also areas impacted during this time as they pursued their own differences with the English.

The Two Hundred Years War: the bloody crowns of England and France 1292 to 1492 by Michael Livingston also provides information about wars between these two countries that occurred immediately before and after his designated time period. This study includes maps, a series of coloured images, detailed notes, a bibliography and index. The book has also been published under the title Bloody Crowns: a new history of The Hundred Years War.

Sceptred Isle: a new history of the fourteenth century

In Sceptred Isle, historian Helen Carr has written an overview of fourteenth century English history. The book covers the reigns of Edward II, Edward III and Richard II with the many challenges that occurred including wars with Scotland, France and Spain, plagues, unrest between the king and his advisors, disputes with the church and peasants' rebellions.

The fourteenth century was therefore a time of unrest and change. Each king also discovered the difficulties of working with others who often saw opportunities for gaining power and riches for themselves. The king also had to contend with the power held by the church though, during the fourteenth century, the teachings and control of the congregations by church leaders were beginning to be challenged by people such as John Wycliffe.

Since the Norman invasion, England had been ruled as a feudal entity, however with so many of the population dying due to waves of the plague as well as soldiers being killed in battles, the peasants began to assert their power to gain more control over their lives and certainly better pay and conditions.  

The fourteenth century saw the beginning of the Hundred Years War and accounts are provided of some of the many battles occurring at this time. Battles with Scotland also continued for many years.

Helen Carr, in Sceptred Isle, has provided a readable introduction to the end of the rule of the Plantagenets in England.

The Red Prince: the life of John of Gaunt, the Duke of Lancaster

John of Gaunt, a son of King Edward III, was never a king, however he played an important role supporting the kingship of his nephew, Richard II, as Richard struggled to be a leader. John was known as a good mediator in disputes at home and overseas. However he had many enemies who plotted against him. Despite these challenges his family was influential in the leadership of England for many years.

Historian, Helen Carr has written  the book, The Red Prince, to provide an account of England during the life of John of Gaunt and also clarify some of the misconceptions about his life as well as his achievements and failures. 

This is an excellent book providing an introduction to a dramatic period of English history. As the author writes there are huge gaps in the available information about these historic times. Much of the information that is available is written by individuals promoting a viewpoint that would receive approval from those currently close to the king. It is therefore a challenge for historians to sift through the information that is available and attempt to discover what really was happening in the second part of the fourteenth century.

John of Gaunt: father of England's Medieval Monarchy and self styled Spanish king - History Extra 

Uproar!: Satire, scandal and printmakers in Georgian England

Alice Loxton has the knack of choosing an aspect of life to describe a particular time frame in British history. In Uproar! the author investigates the lives and works of artists and satirists, particularly Thomas Rowlandson (1757-1827), James Gillray (1756-1815), and Issac Cruikshank (1764-1811), who recorded aspects of British history in satirical caricatures. 

During the long reign of George III (1760-1820) artists created caricatures of people and events which were displayed in print shops to view and purchase. Some were compiled into books. Artists such as Rowlandson, Gillray and Cruikshank had the ability to quickly sketch a likeness of a person who was then portrayed in a satirical image. The images were then engraved on plates to be quickly printed, displayed and sold. 

This was the time of the American Revolution, the French Revolution, Napoleonic Wars, William Pitt the younger as prime minister dealing with a raucous opposition led by James Fox, the Gordon riots, industrial revolution, British abolition of the slave trade and the Regency period when the king was unable to rule. Plenty of material for the satirists to work with. However, by the Victorian period, attitudes had changed and the demand for the work of caricaturists had diminished. Eventually cartoons appeared in newspapers and magazines such as Punch and feature in daily newspapers today.

Uproar! provides a detailed account of the lives of the three main caricaturists in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth century. Copies of many of their caricatures appear throughout the book. Through telling the story of the lives of the artists, the author also provides an overview of life in Britain at the time including events in other parts of the world impacting on life in Britain. Detailed notes, a bibliography and index are at the back of the book. 

Eighteen: A history of Britain in 18 young lives

Eighteen stories about the lives of a selection of eighteen young people which compare their lives at eighteen with their later achievements. The chronologically arranged stories also provide an overview of the history of Britain from the seventh century until modern times.

Some of the individuals from history who appear in this book include The Venerable Bede, Empress Matilda, Geoffrey Chaucer, Jacques Francis, Queen Elizabeth I, Fionnghal (Flora MacDonald) Nic Dhomhnaill, Horatio Nelson, Mary Anning, Isambard Kingdom Brunel, Vita Sackville-West, C S Lewis, Rosalind Franklin, Richard Burton and Vivienne Westwood.

For many of the young people in this book life held many challenges, particularly in their younger years, and for some it took many years to decide the path they wanted to follow. Some, of course, knew from an early age, what they hoped to do. 

In Eighteen by Alice Loxton, the author stresses that in order to achieve individuals need a mentor, someone who can offer encouragement and point the young person in the right direction to eventually find what they really want from life. This is a readable book encompassing both history and stories of how individuals achieved success. Another excellent book of history by Alice Loxton.

Eleanor: A 200 mile walk in search of England's lost queen

In December 2024 Alice Loxton walked from Lincoln to London to follow the path taken to carry the body of Queen Eleanora from Lincoln to Westminster Abbey in December 1290. 

Queen Eleanor had died in the village of Harby near Lincoln on 28 November. Eleanor's body remained at Harby for three days before being taken to Lincoln. From there the funeral procession continued to London where Eleanor's body was buried at Westminster Abbey on 17 December. The procession stopped at twelve locations on the almost two hundred mile journey. 

King Edward I later ordered that a series of memorial crosses should be erected indicating the places the procession stopped when carrying Eleanor's body back to London. Twelve monuments known as Eleanor Crosses were erected. Three of the Eleanor Crosses remain almost intact today at Geddington, Hardingstone and Waltham Cross. 

 In writing Eleanor, Alice Loxton not only describes the challenges of making such a journey today, she also reflects on what the journey would have been like 700 years ago. Throughout the book the author reflects on the life of Eleanor and how she has been almost forgotten through the intervening years. However, if people look carefully, there are glimpses of her past to be found in the three Eleanor Crosses that survived the destruction of the Reformation and the English Civil War, plaques showing where other crosses once stood plus more recent memorials to remember the queen.

Alice Loxton, during the walk, also observes other indications relating to history and in doing so has provided a readable, entertaining account of past events and their significance. This is a book written for members of the general public to read and enjoy. If they wish, readers can then explore some of the topics further in other sources. At the end of the book the author provides a list of books and other sources to explore for further information plus a list of places and organisations that people might want to visit.

I thoroughly enjoyed reading Eleanor and now plan to read other books by Alice Loxton. 

Heroines of the Medieval World

Heroines of the Medieval World by Sharon Bennett Connolly is a study of some of the women who became part of history, for a variety of reasons, in a male driven world. History of the time was usually written by men for men so not a great deal is known about the lives of women during this period. However some do stand out and the parts of their stories that are known are included in this book.

Sections of the book include The medieval ideal, Heroines in religion, The medieval mistress, Scandalous heroines, The disinherited heroines, The pawns, Captive heroines, Warrior heroines, Women who ruled, True Love, Literary heroines and The survivors.

The reader can choose which section they want to read and in which order. A number of the stories in the book are of women in our family tree including Katherine Swynford, Joan Beaufort, Queen of Scotland, and the family of Robert I of Scotland who were imprisoned by Edward I of England. The book contains detailed notes, bibliography and index.

Katherine Swynford: the story of John of Gaunt and his scandalous duchess

Katherine de Roet (1350-1403) became the third wife of John of Gaunt (1340-1399), a son of King Edward III and Philippa of Hainault. Initially Katherine had married Sir Hugh Swynford who died in 1371. She became the mistress of John of Gaunt and they had four children. When John of Gaunt's second wife died he married Katherine and insisted that their children should be recognised as part of his family. Alison Weir has proved us with a dramatic account of this period of English history.

 

In her historical study, Katherine Swynford, Alison Weir sets out to provide an account of Katherine's life from the scant records available. The interest in the life of Katherine and John of Gaunt has increased over the years especially since the publication of the novel, Katherine, by Anna Seton which was published in 1954. Detailed notes plus a select bibliography, notes, index and family trees are provided.

 

NB: This book was published in the United States with the title Mistress of the Monarchy: The Life of Katherine Swynford, Duchess of Lancaster by Alison Weir

 

Katherine Swynford - Alison Weir  

She-Wolves: the women who ruled England before Elizabeth

In 2010 historian, Helen Castor, had published the book, She-Wolves: the women who ruled England before Elizabeth. In 2012 a three part television series with the same name was made. A She-wolf was a derogatory term suggesting that a female leader, by nature, would have to have serious character defects. During the medieval period there were many women who held positions of power but were not allowed to be queens in their own right in England.

The women who are the focus in Helen Castor's study are Empress Matilda, Eleanor of Aquitaine, Isabella of France and Margaret of Anjou. These women lived during a period in history when only men had the official power to govern a country or territory but women were used as a means of increasing that power or gaining more land or riches. In reality these women made an impact on life in England during often difficult times and often were regents when the official ruler was fighting in France or on crusade. This did not necessarily make them popular with some of the barons and church hierarchy who wanted to increase their power.

She-wolves - Historical Association 

Medieval she-wolves (part one) - History - the interesting bits

 Medieval she-wolves (part two) - History - the interesting bits

King John and the road to the Magna Carta

John (1166-1216), the youngest son of King Henry II and Eleanor of Aquitaine, was not expected to become king. When King Henry II divided his lands in Britain and France among his sons, John was very young and not included. This caused him to be given the nickname, Lackland, by family members. For much of his life John lived in the shadow of other family members, especially his brother, Richard the Lionheart.

Shortly after John's brother, Richard became king, King Richard I took part in the Third Crusade (1190-1192). John eventually ruled England, especially when money was needed to pay the ransom after Richard was captured on the way home from the Crusade. Richard returned to England for a few months before spending the rest of his life in Normandy until his death in 1199. John then officially became King John of England and his family's lands in France.

John faced many challenges during his reign especially the opposition he faced from many of the barons, from the Church hierarchy, including the Pope, and from the people who objected to the increased taxes imposed to fund his attempts to win back his French lands lost in France. The French king was also threatening to invade England and there were problems in other territories, especially, Ireland, Wales and with the Scots.

Unfortunately John strongly believed in the tradition of sovereign power which he found impossible to sustain in a time of unrest and demands for change. After losing the French possessions, the subsequent First Barons' War (1215-1217) divided the country and several months later Prince Louis of France arrived on the southern coast of England and with the assistance of some of the barons took over London. Eventually King John and the barons met to create a document that became known as the Magna Carta.  

In  King John and the Road to the Magna Carta, Stephen Church provides a detailed study of the events that led to a change in the power of the monarchy plus the prelude to the eventual creation of a parliament. Detailed notes and bibliography can be found at the end of the book.

Normal Women: 900 years of making history

Looking at the historical record over the years, history has generally been told via the lives of men. In Normal Women, Philippa Gregory has used a variety of sources to look at the role of women in Britain during 900 years.

The book is divided into historical time-frames - 1066-1348 Doomsday; 1348-1455 Women Rising; 1455-1485 Women at War; 1485-1660 Becoming a Weaker Vessel; 1660-1764 Locked Out and Locked In; 1765-1857 Making a Lady; 1857-1928 Separate Spheres; 1928-1945 Into the World; 1945-1994 A Woman Today.

In each section the author looks at the way women have been treated by family and society including the power held by some women during some time frames. Sexual attitudes to women and their perceived role in the society in which they lived is also provided.

This is an informative, well referenced examination of the role of women in daily life and the life of the nation.

Detailed notes and a select bibliography appear at the end of the book along with the index.

The women of the cousins' war

This non-fiction book contains sections by Philippa Gregory, David Baldwin and Michael Jones about three of the women prominent in the Wars of the Roses - the Duchess (Jacquetta of Luxembourg), the Queen ( Elizabeth Woodville) and the King's Mother ( Margaret Beaufort).

In the introduction Phillipa Gregory writes about her love of history plus the writing of historical fiction. She then relies on original documents, plus some site visits and archaeology, to write a short biography of Jacquetta of Luxembourg. David Baldwin then writes about Elizabeth Woodville, the wife of Edward IV while Michael Jones writes about the mother of Henry VII, Margaret Beaufort. The Woodville and Beaufort families figure prominently in the story of the Wars of the Roses.This book provides interesting background to attempting for understand events in English history from 1455-1485.

The last days of Richard III and the fate of his DNA

This is the second edition of the book written by John Ashdown-Hill, originally published by History Press in 2010. After the publication of the first edition of the book, excavation of a carpark in Leicester resulted in the discovery and identification of the body of Richard III. This edition was published in 2013 as was the e-book which is the copy I read.

The first section of the book outlines the known details about the last five months of the life of Richard III covering the period from Friday 25 March 1485 until Monday 22 August 1485 when Richard died. Obviously there are gaps in the material available but the author contends that an examination of the known facts dispels many of the myths that surround later accounts of the personality and supposed deeds of the king. The stories about the treatment of Richard's body after his death plus the burial of Richard's body in Leicester are also examined.

The second part of the book deals with the DNA search to prove that the bones found belonged to Richard III. Males do not pass on the mitochondrial DNA but as a mother passes the same mitochondrial DNA to all her children the challenge was to follow a direct female line from the females in the family of Richard III to the present day so that the two sets of DNA could be tested. The author describes how a direct female line was discovered from Catherine (Katherine) de Roet, Duchess of Lancaster (1348-1403), via her daughter, Joan Beaufort, then her grand-daughter, Cecily Neville, the mother of Richard III, to Anne of York (Richards's sister) until finally, sixteen generations later, to Joy Ibsen (1926-2008).

During the writing of the book the author provides many details and explanations which at times do not make easy reading but generally this is an interesting study of an era in British history as well as an account of how new scientific approaches can help verify historical data.

The University of Leicester website - The search for Richard III - contains further information about the discovery of the body of Richard III.

Katherine

Anya Seton wrote this novel in 1954 and it has been republished many times - the version I read was republished in 2006. It is a classic love story based on the long term relationship between Katherine de Roet (Swynford) and John of Gaunt (son of Edwad III and his wife, Philippa). Some records of the relationship, which resulted in their marriage in January 1396, remain but these are few. Seton therefore has used her imagination to write a romantic novel portraying what might have happened by weaving a story of the relationship with events occurring in the fourteenth century such as the Black Death, conflicts with the French and the Scots, riots in London along with political intrigue at Court and within the Church. Once I adjusted to Seton's style of writing I had to finish reading the 574 pages of this novel. 

Alison Weir in her biography of Katherine, Katherine Swynford: the story of John of Gaunt and his scandalous duchess  includes a section at the end where she discusses the novel and concludes that 'as Anya Seton herself stated - it is based on history, it is a work of fiction'. (p286)

Remembering therefore that Katherine is a work of fiction it is still a good read and possibly has introduced many readers to the world of fourteenth century England.

An article by Tamarra Mazzei To Katherine on her 50th anniversary discusses the impact of Anya Seton's book, Katherine.