Short passages for reading, drawn from history, legend, poetry and fiction.
© Jonathan Cardy, Wikimedia Commons. Licence: CC-BY-SA 3.0.
A mysterious knight and an equally mysterious outlaw agree to preserve one another’s incognito.
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© Astrid H, Geograph. Licence: CC BY-SA 2.0.
King Ecgfrith of Northumbria dismissed repeated warnings about his imperial ambitions.
© Mike Peel (www.mikepeel.net), Wikimedia Commons. Licence: CC BY-SA 4.0.
An Irish princess fled to Cumbria to escape the Vikings, clutching her precious silver bracelet.
© Pauline E, Geograph. Licence: CC BY-SA 2.0.
The long-lost monastery at Crayke in North Yorkshire was home to two saints with different but equally valuable gifts.
By James Gillray. From the National Portrait Gallery, via Wikimedia Commons.
The colourful Foreign Secretary humbly accepted a lesson in manners from a local tradesman.
© Aleem Yousaf, Wikimedia Commons. Licence: CC BY-SA 2.0.
The seventh-century Bishop of London helped kings and clergy to shine Christian light into the darkness of mere religion.