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Bronze sword given to an American-born ship’s captain for his heroics at the 1805 Battle of Trafalgar goes on the market for £200,000

Wolsey was much inspired by Pietro Torrigiano's gilt tomb for Henry VII at Westminster Abbey, and the Cardinal commissioned Benedetto Da Rovezzano to work on lavish tomb in the Renaissance style, of which the Wolsey Angels were to stand proudly at the four corners. As we know, the tomb was not completed during Wolsey's life time and following his fall from grace and subsequent death King Henry VIII reappropriated the elements of the tomb that Benedetto had thus far completed, discarding the effigy of Wolsey and other items which specifically pertained to the Cardinal.Henry went on to commission Benedetto to...

When Spanish civil servants got wind that someone was sweeping up the priceless treasure of a 200-year-old frigate from the ocean floor, it triggered a real-life escapade full of naval pursuits and secret airlifts - like something from a comic book adventure. And that is what it has now become, after one of those suit-and-tie sleuths convinced Spain's best-known graphic novelist that together they should tell the tale of the modern-day treasure hunt. In 1804, a British fleet opened fire on the Spanish ship Nuestra Señora de las Mercedes, causing the death of 250 people of the 300 on board...

October 21 is Trafalgar Day, the anniversary of the Battle of Trafalgar and the death of England's greatest naval hero, Admiral Horatio Nelson, on 21 October 1805. Fought off the southwest coast of Spain, Trafalgar was the greatest naval victory of the Napoleonic wars and essentially destroyed the sea power of France in a single engagement. Nelson and the British fleet had been blockading the French and Spanish fleet under Villeneuve in Cadiz after pursuing it to the Caribbean and back. When Villeneuve finally emerged to give battle, Nelson, depending on the superior seamanship and fighting skill of his "band...

With the sun setting over this faded port city, Queen Elizabeth II lit a beacon Friday to commemorate the 200th anniversary of the Battle of Trafalgar, in which Britain's Royal Navy defeated the French and Spanish fleets and cemented its naval supremacy for the next century. Bells tolled aboard British vessels around the world and wreaths were laid at the site of the decisive battle just off Cape Trafalgar in southwestern Spain. In the nearby port of Cadiz, descendants of sailors who fought in the battle joined military leaders to pay homage to the 7,000 who died in the fighting....