1411
After escaping from six years as a slave in Ireland, Patrick wanted only one thing: to go back.
Patrick was born into a well-to-do family in a town somewhere in Roman Britain, perhaps about 410. But however obscure his origins may have been, he was destined to be known everywhere as the man who brought Christianity to Ireland, and in that cause he accepted anything and everything that God asked of him.
Picture: © Albert Bridge, Geograph. Licence: CC-BY-SA 2.0.. Source.
Posted March 17 2016
1412
John of Gaunt watches in despair as his country is milked for its wealth and shared out among the king’s favourites.
It is 1399, and for two years King Richard II has (in addition to legalised murder) been levying extortionate rents on the property of his opponents, and handing out grace-and-favour homes to his cronies. As John of Gaunt lies dying, he charges his nephew with being ‘landlord of England, not king’.
Picture: © Karl and Ali, Geograph. Licence: CC-BY-SA 2.0.. Source.
Posted March 16 2016
1413
Lord Armstrong’s home was an Aladdin’s cave of Victorian technology.
Modern ‘green’ policies cost money and jobs, and blight the environment. Victorian industrialist Lord Armstrong managed to conserve the environment and yet also trial a range of emerging technologies that now bring comfort and prosperity to hundreds of millions of people.
Picture: © racklever, Wikimedia Commons. Licence: CC-BY-SA 3.0.. Source.
Posted March 14 2016
1414
Adam and Eve are set in a Garden of carefree delight, but the Snake swears they are victims of a cruel deception.
Early in the 6th century BC, the leaders of Jerusalem were forced out of their land and scattered across the Near East, as a punishment for ignoring God’s laws. It was then that they wrote the story of Adam and Eve, drawing on ancient traditions to fashion a profound reflection on the ongoing story of mankind’s troubled yet hopeful relationship with his Maker.
Picture: © Paul Buckingham, Geograph. Licence: CC BY-SA 2.0.. Source.
Posted March 13 2016
1415
Even as a child, King Alfred couldn’t resist a challenge.
Alfred the Great was King of Wessex in southern England, from 871 to 899. By reclaiming the Midlands and East Anglia from pagan Danish invaders, he took a giant step towards the formation of a Kingdom of England, and ensured it would be a civilised, enlightened, Christian land.
Picture: From Wikimedia Commons. Licence: Public domain.. Source.
Posted March 12 2016
1416
Forced from his throne and threatened with murder, Edwin makes a curious bargain for his deliverance.
Deprived of his throne in about 604, King Edwin of Deira and Bernicia — later known as Northumbria — fled York and went south to Mercia, only to find his usurper, brother-in-law and mortal enemy, Æthelfrith, still pursuing him to the death. But a night-time visitor gave him a new hope, and a curious sign to remember it by.
Picture: © Paul Buckingham, Geograph. Licence: CC BY-SA 2.0.. Source.
Posted March 8 2016