Short passages for reading, drawn from history, legend, poetry and fiction.
By Heinrich Friedrich Füger (1751-1818), via Wikimedia Commons. Licence: Public domain.
Roman statesman Gnaeus Marcius Coriolanus was thrust out the City for his hardline politics, but he did not stay away for long.
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From the Bayeux Tapestry Museum, via Wikimedia Commons. Licence: Public domain.
Charles Dickens laments William the Conqueror’s brutal rampage through rebellious Durham and Yorkshire.
Eugène Delacroix (1798–1863), via Wikimedia Commons. Licence: Public domain.
At first, John Milton struggled to come to terms with the loss of his eyesight.
© A. N. Mironov, Wikimedia Commons. Licence: CC BY-SA 4.0.
Three servants are engaged to invest their master’s money in the markets.
© Ethan Doyle White, Wikimedia Commons. Licence: CC BY-SA 4.0.
Embarrassed by the behaviour of his Norman bishops and abbots, King William I asked monk Guitmond to come over and set an example.
Charles Dickens tells the story of Hereward the Wake, the last Englishman to stand up to William the Conqueror.