Short passages for reading, drawn from history, legend, poetry and fiction.
By the Euphiletos Painter, via the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, and Wikimedia Commons. Licence: Public domain.
In a sermon for the Feast of All Saints, eighth-century Northumbrian monk St Bede explains why it is worth going for the spiritual burn.
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By the Hattatt Painter, via Wikimedia Commons. Licence: Public domain.
Eighth-century Northumbrian monk St Bede urged Christians to think of heaven, and then fight our way there for all we are worth.
By Thomas Rowlandson (1756-1827), via the National Gallery of Art in Washington DC, and Wikimedia Commons. Licence: Public domain image.
‘Rain stopped play’ but it did not stop the ladies of Surrey and Hampshire from finishing their epic struggle at the Newington ground.
Jean-Baptiste van Loo (1684–1745), via the Heritage Museum (St Petersburg) and Wikimedia Commons. Licence: Public domain.
Sir Robert Walpole wasn’t impressed with kind of politician who pursues his own ambitions in the name of serving the country.
© sirpecangum, Wikimedia Commons. Licence: CC BY-SA 3.0.
French essayist Voltaire provoked the wrath of his government by explaining how England was superior to every European state including the Roman Empire.
By Peter Paul Rubens (1577-1640), via Wikimedia Commons. Licence: Public domain.
Sir John Eliot told the Commons that what worried him wasn’t the sabre-rattling of foreign leaders, it was incompetence and corruption at home.