Short passages for reading, drawn from history, legend, poetry and fiction.
© Katie Thebeau, Wikimedia Commons. CC BY-SA 2.0 generic.
Jacques Cartier made history and made friends along the St Lawrence, but then threw all that goodwill away.
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© Tapas Kumar Halder, Wikimedia Commons. CC BY-SA 4.0.
Francis Bain’s alternative Adam and Eve story left its own question unanswered.
© Dunstan, Wikimedia Commons. CC BY-SA 4.0.
Bede died as he had lived, freely sharing all he had, and singing praises to God.
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.
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.