Clay Lane

The Copy Book

A Library of History and Literature in English

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1495

The Alleluia Victory

How hard-pressed Christians on the Welsh border won a battle without bloodshed.

In the 5th century, the spread of Christianity was a growing threat to the pagans’ hold of fear and ignorance over ordinary people. The pagans’ answer was (as always) violence.

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Picture: © Colin Smith, Geograph. Licence: CC-BY-SA 2.0.. Source.

1496

Byron and Hercules

Lord Byron could not have hoped for a better omen in his support for the oppressed people of Greece.

George Gordon Byron, one of the greatest of all English romantic poets, died in 1824, aged just 36, in Missolonghi, Greece. Yet he played a key part in liberating Greece from almost four hundred years of oppression by the Ottoman Empire.

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Picture: © Fingalo, Wikimedia Commons. Licence: CC-BY-SA 2.0.. Source.

1497

Edith and Edward

A King and Queen gentler than the times in which they lived.

The powerful Earl Godwin, a rough Saxon and an ambitious man, gave his support to King Edward the Confessor on condition that he marry Godwin’s daughter Edith.

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Picture: © Andrew Hill, Geograph. Licence CC-BY-SA 2.0.. Source.

1498

The Gift Thrice Given

A story about William the Conqueror’s father, Robert the Magnificent.

Robert the Magnificent (1000-1035) was Duke of Normandy, and the father of King William I of England. His nickname referred in part to his legendary generosity.

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Picture: © Martpan, Wikimedia Commons. Licence CC-BY-SA 3.0.. Source.

1499

The Hermit of Handbridge

King Harold died at the Battle of Hastings in 1066. Or did he?

Harold Godwinson was killed at the Battle of Hastings on England’s south coast in 1066, pierced through the eye by an arrow. But that wasn’t the tale they told up north in the city of Chester...

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Picture: © Jeff Buck, Geograph. Licence CC-BY-SA 2.0.. Source.

1500

How Alfred Burnt the Cakes

A popular tale of scorched cakes and a scolded king.

King Alfred the Great ruled from 871 to 899. He did more than any other king to unite the English as a nation, but first he had to overcome an invasion of Danes from across the North Sea, and a very cross housewife.

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Picture: © Jon Thomson, Wikimedia Commons. Licence CC-BY-SA 2.0.. Source.