English History - Caedmon, The First English Poet and Hymn Writer c. AD 680

Former herdsman who looked after animals at the monastery in Whitby. The shy cowherder was asked to sing a song about creation and out came the 'Hymn of Creation' sung today in churches around the world in various languages.

Prior to Caedmon hymns were sung in Latin. He became a monk and wrote more hymns.

English History - The Legendary King Arthur

The Legendary King Arthur

After the Romans and their invasion diarists left, Britain fell into what historians term as 'The Dark Ages.' With little detail and confirmed dates.

Hence they are many folklore stories of King Arthur and his deeds inspiring many books and movies - 'The Sword in the Stone', 'Mists of Avalon', 'The Holy Grail' to name a few. And did he really burn the cakes? An old story about him which may or may not be true.

King Arthur was a legendary British leader of the late 5th and early 6th centuries, who, according to Medieval histories and romances, led the defence of Romano-Celtic Britain against Saxon invaders in the early 6th century. His historical existence is debated and disputed by modern historians.

English History - The Roman Conquerers and Boadicea the Warrior Queen

Thanks to Julius Caesar and his vivid accounts of conquering Britain we have accurate dates and intricate details during that time. His Standard-Bearer of the 10th Legion were the first attempt in  55 BC.

Caesar returned to Rome after less then twenty days. The Roman Senate declared this a victory and had a twenty-day holiday of celebration.

However, it took a couple of attempts to conquer the Britons properly and in AD 43 a forty thousand strong Roman army marched into Britain. A Roman squadron featuring elephants plodded thorough the Kent countryside.

Emperor Claudius was triumphant. He honoured the local chieftains of Britain as 'kings' and acknowledged they had rights. In AD 54 Claudius died and his cruel and wilful stepson, Nero, became Emperor.

When Prasutagus leader of the Iceni people in Britain died in AD 60 he left in charge his widow, Boadicea (Boudicca). Their lands were confiscated by the Romans and Boadicea publicly beaten and her two daughters raped.

The Iceni rose to battle led by Boadicea. Joined by other Britons they attacked Colchester (the capital of Rome's new province) and then Londinium with fury, they slaughtered the Roman inhabitants. Their numbers swelled with their victories.

Boadicea famously rode in her chariot leading her troops. The men spurred on by her words 'Consider how many of you are fighting and why - then you will win this battle, or perish! That is what I, a woman, plan to do! Let the men live in slavery if they want to.'

At the crux of her last battle a wagon train of British women and children led to the Britons downfall. They had fanned out in a semi-circle to watch the battle, expecting victory, but the Britons were pushed back and hemmed in by the wagons leading to the terrible slaughter of eighty thousand Britons and only four hundred Roman deaths, according to one report. Boadicea along with her daughters, as legend has it, took poison to avert capture by the Romans.

According to Tacitus her forces prior to their downfall had massacred up to 70,000 Romans and pro-Roman Britons and destroyed the Roman 9th Legion.

Queen Bodicea's statue can be found near the Houses of Parliament at Westminster Bridge.

The Romans got busy with building roads, spas and temples and lauding themselves around. There was still warring in the north of the island from the Picts and the Caledonians and so in AD 122 Emperor Hadrian had a wall built from east to west, seventy three miles long, 3 meters thick and 5 metres high; to try and keep them back.

Hadrian's Wall

The Romans ruled until the barbaric Germanic Angles and Saxons came sailing in to Briton and started raiding villages. They even threatened Rome itself. Around AD 410 the Roman legions were brought back to Rome and the Britons were left to fend for themselves.

English History - Pytheas and the Painted People c.325 BC

 It was Pytheas, a Greek navigator, who after seeing the Celtic inhabitants - in war paint with their faces and bodies painted with greeny-blue dye extracted from the woad plant - named the island 'Pretannike'.

The word derived from the Celtic word Pretani which meant painted or tatooed folk. Over the years it became Pretannia, then Britannia and now Britain.

Prior to this it was known by the Celtic name 'Albion' meaning white; probably refering to the English white chalk cliffs seen from the sea.

English History - Cheddar Man

Cheddar Man is the oldest skeleton found in the British Isles. Radiocarbon tests show the man lived around 7150 BC.

At that time Britain was not an island but part of Europe accessable by low-lying marshlands.

Cheddar Man was probably a victim of battle or murder and the pattern of cuts on his bones show that he was most likely cannibalised.

Yes, seems our early ancestors were cannibals and hence not too many early whole skeletons to be found as the bones would have been cracked open to get at the marrow.


Adapted from Great Tales from English History by Robert Lacey.


LWDLIK- For Nora :O)