Short passages for reading, drawn from history, legend, poetry and fiction.
In April 1653, Oliver Cromwell learnt that Parliament was planning to prevent him from packing the Commons with yes-men.
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From the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. Licence: Public domain.
Shortly before Easter, an ivory box went missing from the gifts presented at the shrine of St Cuthbert.
From ‘Les Vigiles de Charles VII’ (?1484), via Wikimedia Commons. Licence: Public domain.
As the Duke of Bedford and other English captains were besieging Orleans, they received a startling letter from a seventeen-year-old girl.
© Gary Ullah, Wikimedia Commons. Licence: CC BY-SA 2.0.
Edmund Burke begged the clergy of England to give us all a break from the twenty-four-hour news cycle.
© Jim Barton, Geograph. Licence: CC BY-SA 2.0.
Mole is enjoying the most wonderful Spring morning, skipping his chores and going for a row with Rat.
© Mónica J. Mora, Wikimedia Commons. Licence: CC BY-SA 3.0.
In 1573, Sir Francis Drake had two ambitions: to revenge himself on the Spanish, and to see with his own eyes the Pacific Ocean.