Short passages for reading, drawn from history, legend, poetry and fiction.
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.
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© 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.
© Bob Tarr, Wikimedia Commons. Licence: CC BY-SA 4.0.
William Dampier describes the hand-to-mouth existence of the aborigines of northwest Australia, and reveals a people far advanced in charity.
© xalexx, Wikimedia Commons. Licence: CC BY-SA 3.0.
Ivan III, Grand Prince of Moscow, finally stood up to the Great Horde and their opportunistic Western allies.