Coronation Portrait of Elizabeth I by Unknown artist, oil on panel, late 16th early 17th century around 1559. National Portrait Gallery London.
Monday 24 December 2012
Elizabeth I.
Coronation Portrait of Elizabeth I by Unknown artist, oil on panel, late 16th early 17th century around 1559. National Portrait Gallery London.
Monday 15 October 2012
13th Century Mediaeval Cottage.
Mediaeval Cottage 13th Century at Weald & Downland Museum, Singleton, West Sussex. Originally from Hangleton, East Sussex.
Tuesday 25 September 2012
Servus.
The un-free peasants of Western Europe, the serfs, were the descendents of the dependent peasantry of Carolingian times. Their name was a bequest from the slaves of antiquity
( serf for servus ); never the less they possessed certain rights in law. In addition to the property they held from their lords they might also have a free property of their own, an allod. Their lord owed them protection and patronage, they owed him obedience and aid in the form of personal services and payments. An annual payment small sums known as ‘head-money’ set a symbolical seal on the bonds of their personal attachment. Tallage an extraordinary tax, might be demanded from serfs, and also from those who were nominally free whenever a lord was in difficulties. Special payments had to be made by a serf marrying outside his lord’s dependents and by a serfs direct heirs when he died: this ‘death duty’ entailed the surrender of the best head of cattle, or in some districts a share of the chattels. In the twelfth century there were no longer any completely free peasants. The peasants described as ‘free’ were never the less bound to a lord in a protective relationship of some kind, just like the rest, but the greater the lord ( for example if he were the king or a great vassal, with a hundred or more estates ), and the more remote the court, the freer was the peasant. Bound to the service of one or more lords, the rural population of Europe lived in varying degrees of dependence, un-freedom or serfdom and the distinctions of grade were in practice as great as that between highly born vassals of the crown and ‘knights and noble squires’ who had virtually nothing to call their own, or between highly educated wealthy prelates and village priests bound to the soil. Our vocabulary does not possess the words necessary to distinguish clearly between the different groups, classes, and ranks of ‘free’ ‘half-free’ ‘un-free’ and ‘dependent’ peasants. The actual situation was more confusing still, for in many places a ‘free’ peasant might be more oppressed and much poorer than an ‘un-free’ peasant living only a few miles away. Some classes of peasant, and some individuals were working themselves higher up the social scale. By the twelfth and thirteenth centuries the peasantry had become a factor kings and nobles had to reckon with, even to the point of calling on their help. Those peasants who had won there freedom by invitation were known as hospites, they received a charter which promised them protection against unjust oppression, excessive dues, and arbitrary actions on the part of the landlord. Numerous new settlements originated in this way. To attract more settlers , the recruiting offices read the charters aloud at markets in other districts, like the north American railroad companies in the nineteenth century when they needed pioneers to colonize the empty lands of the west. The English nobility were among the first to turn agriculture into an industry. Peasants were bought out or expropriated to make room for sheep.
( serf for servus ); never the less they possessed certain rights in law. In addition to the property they held from their lords they might also have a free property of their own, an allod. Their lord owed them protection and patronage, they owed him obedience and aid in the form of personal services and payments. An annual payment small sums known as ‘head-money’ set a symbolical seal on the bonds of their personal attachment. Tallage an extraordinary tax, might be demanded from serfs, and also from those who were nominally free whenever a lord was in difficulties. Special payments had to be made by a serf marrying outside his lord’s dependents and by a serfs direct heirs when he died: this ‘death duty’ entailed the surrender of the best head of cattle, or in some districts a share of the chattels. In the twelfth century there were no longer any completely free peasants. The peasants described as ‘free’ were never the less bound to a lord in a protective relationship of some kind, just like the rest, but the greater the lord ( for example if he were the king or a great vassal, with a hundred or more estates ), and the more remote the court, the freer was the peasant. Bound to the service of one or more lords, the rural population of Europe lived in varying degrees of dependence, un-freedom or serfdom and the distinctions of grade were in practice as great as that between highly born vassals of the crown and ‘knights and noble squires’ who had virtually nothing to call their own, or between highly educated wealthy prelates and village priests bound to the soil. Our vocabulary does not possess the words necessary to distinguish clearly between the different groups, classes, and ranks of ‘free’ ‘half-free’ ‘un-free’ and ‘dependent’ peasants. The actual situation was more confusing still, for in many places a ‘free’ peasant might be more oppressed and much poorer than an ‘un-free’ peasant living only a few miles away. Some classes of peasant, and some individuals were working themselves higher up the social scale. By the twelfth and thirteenth centuries the peasantry had become a factor kings and nobles had to reckon with, even to the point of calling on their help. Those peasants who had won there freedom by invitation were known as hospites, they received a charter which promised them protection against unjust oppression, excessive dues, and arbitrary actions on the part of the landlord. Numerous new settlements originated in this way. To attract more settlers , the recruiting offices read the charters aloud at markets in other districts, like the north American railroad companies in the nineteenth century when they needed pioneers to colonize the empty lands of the west. The English nobility were among the first to turn agriculture into an industry. Peasants were bought out or expropriated to make room for sheep.
Wednesday 19 September 2012
The Stately homes of England,
How beautiful they stand!
Amidst their tall ancestral trees,
O'er all the pleasant land!
The deer across the greenwood bound,
Through shade and sunny gleam;
And the swan glides past them with the sound
Of some rejoicing stream.
The Cottage homes of England!
by thousands, on her plains,
They are smiling o'er her silvery brooks,
And round the hamlet fanes.
Through glowing orchards forth they peep.
Each from its mote of leaves,
And fearless there they lowly sleep,
As the birds beneath their eaves.
Homes of England ~ Felicia Dorothea Hemans.
How beautiful they stand!
Amidst their tall ancestral trees,
O'er all the pleasant land!
The deer across the greenwood bound,
Through shade and sunny gleam;
And the swan glides past them with the sound
Of some rejoicing stream.
The Cottage homes of England!
by thousands, on her plains,
They are smiling o'er her silvery brooks,
And round the hamlet fanes.
Through glowing orchards forth they peep.
Each from its mote of leaves,
And fearless there they lowly sleep,
As the birds beneath their eaves.
Homes of England ~ Felicia Dorothea Hemans.
Friday 27 July 2012
The London Olympic Games 2012.
The London Olympic Games starts today with the opening ceremony at 9 o'clock this evening.
Saturday 9 June 2012
The Shard.
The Shard is the thousand foot high pyramid of glass near London Bridge it is the tallest building in Europe it was designed by Renzo Piano and started with a sketch at dinner. In the photograph above the Shard is on the left with the top disappearing into a cloud as rain made a very good attempt to stop play at the Diamond Jubilee. I don't know who will occupy the penthouse here or indeed what the use of the upper stories will be but I am sure whoever finds themselves at the top of London society will get a very good view of the clouds from there a heady prospect.
Wednesday 6 June 2012
Saturday 19 May 2012
Thursday 17 May 2012
Genealogy.
A fascinating aspect of genetics is that there’s overwhelming evidence that we are all closely related, making non-sense of political and racial divisions. To be exact the average kinship between people in Britain is sixth cousin, but there are hundreds and thousands of sixth cousins. Which means that most of us can claim to be related to the Queen.
Studies of DNA from the haemoglobin genes suggest that the entire population of the world outside Africa may have descended from a group of fewer than 100 people who emigrated hundreds of thousands of years ago.
It could be what the saints and mystics, like Francis of Assisi, always believed, that all living creatures are kin.
Steve Jones say’s “If you really want to find a connection, there’s a fascinating research paper which proves that there are human genes in yeast. This simple fact is fundamentally astonishing, because it means there is a close relationship between me and a bottle of Chardonnay. Which” He explains “is something I have always known.”
Ha! Ha! lol I like that. Fragment from an interview with Steve Jones. (archive).
Have A Good Day Cousins. X
Studies of DNA from the haemoglobin genes suggest that the entire population of the world outside Africa may have descended from a group of fewer than 100 people who emigrated hundreds of thousands of years ago.
It could be what the saints and mystics, like Francis of Assisi, always believed, that all living creatures are kin.
Steve Jones say’s “If you really want to find a connection, there’s a fascinating research paper which proves that there are human genes in yeast. This simple fact is fundamentally astonishing, because it means there is a close relationship between me and a bottle of Chardonnay. Which” He explains “is something I have always known.”
Ha! Ha! lol I like that. Fragment from an interview with Steve Jones. (archive).
Have A Good Day Cousins. X
Saturday 12 May 2012
1066 - 1381 Feudalism [Enslaved by the Normans].
The end of Feudalism in Britain was 1349 after the plague halved the population. At this time workers finally realized their worth. In 1381 the labouring class revolt after the ruling class try to subjugate the working class. The English were enslaved by the Normans from 1066 to c.1381 for 315 years but eventually were able to free themselves of oppression and continue to protect their rights as equal to all to this day.
Tuesday 1 May 2012
Thursday 26 April 2012
Monday 23 April 2012
Monday 9 April 2012
Eostre.
There were many parallel stories about resurrected gods and heroes in the ancient world dating back at least to the Sumerians. Christianity found many easy converts in pagan religions that featured resurrected god myths so that it accommodated a pagan Spring festival for pragmatic reasons.
The Venerable Bede, a Northumbrian monk and the first English historian, wrote that Easter derives its name from Eostre who was the Anglo-Saxon goddess of spring and the month corresponding to April was called "Eostremonat" or Eostre's month.
In the month of February, Bede claims that the pagans offered cakes to their deities.
The rabbit is a symbol for the goddess Eostre and represents fertility.
In ancient times, the Egyptians, Persians, Romans, Gauls and Chinese all regarded the egg as a symbol of the renewing universe and new life. Easter baskets grew from the pagan representation of birds weaving their nests as they mated.
The Venerable Bede, a Northumbrian monk and the first English historian, wrote that Easter derives its name from Eostre who was the Anglo-Saxon goddess of spring and the month corresponding to April was called "Eostremonat" or Eostre's month.
In the month of February, Bede claims that the pagans offered cakes to their deities.
The rabbit is a symbol for the goddess Eostre and represents fertility.
In ancient times, the Egyptians, Persians, Romans, Gauls and Chinese all regarded the egg as a symbol of the renewing universe and new life. Easter baskets grew from the pagan representation of birds weaving their nests as they mated.
Anglo Saxon.
Anglo Saxon dress between the years 500 to 1000.
Word Origins:
Kin from Kin, Family, Tribe.
Monday from Monandaeg meaning Day of The Moon.
Tuesday from Tiwesdaeg meaning Day of Tiw or Tew, The God Of Darkness and Sky.
Wednesday from Wednesdaeg meaning Day of Woden or Odin. The God Of Battle.
Thursday from Þunresdæg meaning Day of Thor or Tor, Son Of Odin And God Of Air And Thunder.
Friday from Frigedaeg, meaning Day of Frigg, Frea, Freya or Frija, Wife Of Odin And Goddess Of Love, Motherhood, Fertility And Wisdom.
Saturday from Saturnesdaeg meaning Day Of Saturn.
Sunday from Sunnandaeg meaning Day Of Sun.
Easter from Eostre, The Goddess Of Dawn Or Sunrise.
Freya by J. Doyle Penrose.
Thursday 5 April 2012
Rural Society.
Far from the Madding Crowd.
Far from the Madding Crowd is a 1967 British drama film directed by John Schlesinger, adapted from the book of the same name by Thomas Hardy.
A rural life was the reality for most of the English until the Industrial Revolution which brought people to the cities.
The Industrial Revolution is the period encompassing the vast social and economic changes that resulted from the development of steam-powered machinery and mass-production methods, beginning in about 1760 in Great Britain and extending through the first half of the nineteenth century. The lives of large sections of the population of Great Britain underwent massive changes during the industrial revolution. Work became more regimented and disciplined, and began to take place outside the home.
Perhaps the first sign of the revolution was in the enclosure movement, which started in the 16th century and peaked from about 1760 to 1832. This movement often enclosed lands held in common and assigned ownership to large landowners, who were motivated to improve them by draining wetland, ditching, introducing new crops and better cultivation techniques and so on. These measures improved farm productivity, and at the same time drove some farm workers into the cities.
A movement of the population to the cities from the countryside produced dramatic changes in lifestyle.
A rural life was the reality for most of the English until the Industrial Revolution which brought people to the cities.
The Industrial Revolution is the period encompassing the vast social and economic changes that resulted from the development of steam-powered machinery and mass-production methods, beginning in about 1760 in Great Britain and extending through the first half of the nineteenth century. The lives of large sections of the population of Great Britain underwent massive changes during the industrial revolution. Work became more regimented and disciplined, and began to take place outside the home.
Perhaps the first sign of the revolution was in the enclosure movement, which started in the 16th century and peaked from about 1760 to 1832. This movement often enclosed lands held in common and assigned ownership to large landowners, who were motivated to improve them by draining wetland, ditching, introducing new crops and better cultivation techniques and so on. These measures improved farm productivity, and at the same time drove some farm workers into the cities.
A movement of the population to the cities from the countryside produced dramatic changes in lifestyle.
Wednesday 4 April 2012
Friday 30 March 2012
Alfred Edward Housman.
Loveliest of trees, the cherry now
Is hung with bloom along the bough,
And stands about the woodland ride
Wearing white for Eastertide.
Is hung with bloom along the bough,
And stands about the woodland ride
Wearing white for Eastertide.
Wednesday 21 March 2012
Walter Crane.
Walter Crane 1845-1915 was an English artist and book illustrator he was born in Liverpool, England on 15 August 1845. He studied the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood, and was also a student of the artist and critic John Ruskin. He was part of the Arts and Crafts movement. Here is a map of The British Empire beautifully illustrated by him.
Saturday 10 March 2012
Lyme Park.
Lyme Park the setting for Pemberley in the BBC 1995 series of Jane Austen's Pride And Predjudice.
Darcy (Colin Firth).
Jane Austen.
Saturday 25 February 2012
Friday 24 February 2012
Anne Hathaway's Cottage.
Anne Hathaway's Cottage at Shottery, near Stratford-upon-Avon was once the home of Shakespeare's wife's family.
Shakespeare's Birthplace.
Shakespeare's Birthplace, Henley Street, Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire, England.
Thursday 23 February 2012
Tuesday 7 February 2012
Charles Dickens.
Charles Dickens born on 7th February 200 years ago today.
Charles Dickens with female companion and his two daughters riding in a basket phaeton.
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