Free Republic

'Worst' historical Britons named Historians have put together a list of the 10 "worst" Britons of the last 1,000 years. They chose one rogue from each century of the last millennium to compile the list for the BBC History Magazine.Jack the Ripper, King John and Oswald Mosley - founder of the British Union of Fascists - are among the selection. Magazine editor Dave Musgrove said the different "definitions of wickedness" of the 10 historians questioned had led to a diverse list.... The "greedy" Thomas Becket, Archbishop of Canterbury, was nominated by Professor John Hudson, of St Andrews University, as the...

"Unfortunately," Dr John Jenkins, historical researcher on the reconstruction team, says, "there are no contemporary comparators for it; the closest are the shrine bases of St Edward the Confessor at Westminster and St Etheldreda at Ely, both of mid- to late-13th-century date. "So, therefore, our CGI reconstruction uses all currently available evidence including eye-witness accounts; theories from past historians for potential usage of the shrine; date of construction; materials used; specific features; accessibility and location with the church; similar examples elsewhere; as well as those who created it; to reconstruct how the shrine could have looked." Crucially, the team's design...

Lead and silver are often mined together and in this period, mines in the Peak District and in Cumbria were among the most productive in Europe. The researchers were able to match the physical records from the ice with the written tax records of lead and silver production in England. Lead had many uses in this time, from water pipes to church roofs to stained glass windows. But production of the metal was clearly linked to political events according to the authors of this latest research. "In the 1169-70 period, there was a major disagreement between Henry II and Thomas...

<p>Peter O’Toole died in London yesterday. He was one of the few actors I was happy to watch in any role. He improved almost anything he was in, although I wish there had been more late-career stuff after his charming turn in My Favorite Year.</p>

During the despotic eras of Norman and Plantagenet England, the Crown declared one third of the land area of Southern England to be the royal forest, the exclusive preserve of the monarch, his forestry officials and his favored aristocrats. The people of Britain were forbidden access to and enjoyment of these forests under harsh penalties. This exclusionary system became so despised by the people that in 1215, five clauses of the Magna Carta were devoted to redress of grievances that are hauntingly similar to those that are now flooding my office. The Royal Forests House Chamber, Washington, D.C. January...