Short passages for reading, drawn from history, legend, poetry and fiction.
By William Home Lizars (1788–1859), via Wikimedia Commons. Public domain.
Cracking down on benefit claimants and migrant workers didn’t make Godfrey Bertram as popular as he expected.
Read
By an anonymous artist, via Wikimedia Commons. Public domain.
One of China’s greatest poets reflects on silence, on speech, and on a song in the heart of a friend.
From the Bayeux Tapestry, via Wikimedia Commons. Public domain.
William the Conqueror’s chaplain used to tell this story to those who doubted his master’s claim to the English crown.
By an anonymous artist, 16th century. Wikimedia Commons. Public domain.
The honours that come from God and those that come from men need to be put in the right order.
By Jean Froissart (1337-1410), Wikimedia Commons. Public domain.
In 1381, young King Richard II was faced with a popular uprising against tax rises.
© Udit Kapoor, Wikimedia Commons. CC BY-SA 4.0.
The Peasants’ Revolt was a turning point in the relationship between the people and their elected representatives.