The History Thread

Dammit, I sometimes wish I'd put all my effort into a career in archaelogy / history. Its findings like this that make it seem one of the most fulfilling professions out there.

Incidentally, who was the last monarch to be found by way of archaeological dig? I know most of them are at Westminster
 
Great story.

If he did murder his nephews, he got what was coming to him. I wonder how many people who kill members of their own families are interred in English cathedrals?

Quite a few, I suspect.
 
Crustanoid said:
Incidentally, who was the last monarch to be found by way of archaeological dig? I know most of them are at Westminster
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I've read that Richard alone is (was) the only English monarch whose grave whereabouts were unknown. Incidentally, Henry VIII's last wife Catherine Parr's remains were found by ramblers in the 19th century...although she wasn't strictly a queen when she died.

Will Absolute said:
If he did murder his nephews, he got what was coming to him.
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Yeah, there's been quite a bit of revisionism in recent decades - nowadays we're told that Richard was a good king & administrator, passed just laws etc etc - but, Tudor-era propaganda aside, he really is most likely to have been the instigator of the Princes' murders.
 
Crustanoid said:
Dammit, I sometimes wish I'd put all my effort into a career in archaelogy / history. Its findings like this that make it seem one of the most fulfilling professions out there.

Incidentally, who was the last monarch to be found by way of archaeological dig? I know most of them are at Westminster
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I did put all my effort in archaeology, sadly you cant make a living out of it as jobs are non-existent.

Having said that getting the degree (at Leicester!) was awesome. We also excavated for two seasons at the Leicester Abbey and I've found a quite significant amount of medieval poo ;)
 
Next week on the Caf History Channel: iClaudius
 
It's never been 100% confirmed that Richard III killed his nephews the Princes in the Tower.

Although the vast majority of historians are pretty sure about it - and it's pretty damn likely.

Interesting story though. And the Shakespeare 'hunchback' thing was right as well!
 
Anyone else see that romanticised* documentary The Princes in the Tower a night or so ago?


*I'm being generous.
 
SteveJ said:
Yeah, there's been quite a bit of revisionism in recent decades - nowadays we're told that Richard was a good king & administrator, passed just laws etc etc - but, Tudor-era propaganda aside, he really is most likely to have been the instigator of the Princes' murders.
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I really don't think he should be buried in Leicester. York Minster would be a more fitting burial site for Richard, where he would be amongst friends.
 
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Facial reconstruction.
 
RIP Max Wall III
 
Richard III won't be the last bloke to have his face reconstructed after leaving a pub car park in Leicester.
 
Aparently, and MP asked Cameron at PMQT if it was true that ATOS had determined that Richard III was fit to work. Thought that was very funny.
 
They're going to look for Alfred the Great next apparently.


They 'believe' they are in an unmarked grave in Hampshire. Who reckons it will be under a TESCO instead.
 
Plechazunga said:
A paper came out recently claiming we are.

It's probably wrong, though.
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Too erudite for me. What's the idea? - that Old English was completely replaced by the Scandinavian language of the Danes and Norwegians?

It's interesting how quickly language seemed to change in those times by contrast with its slower evolution in the modern era. Shakespeare muddies the waters a bit, but the essays of a 16th century contemporary, Francis Bacon, are perfectly readable. While the language of Jane Austen, with the exception of altered meanings for odd words like 'nice' and 'candour', is indistinguisable from our own.

But English of the 'dark ages' is like a different language. I guess foreign invaders bringing their own languages - Danish, Norwegian, Norman French - caused rapid change. Latin being the written language of officialdom and scholarship probably didn't help either.
 
I'm trying to brush up on my history, what should be the most obvious topics I should be clued up on?
 
Nobby style said:
An essential part of European/world history that sorely doesn't get enough attention, and will probably get less and less.

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You know what they say about history, Nobby...it's written by the victors. It's fascinating stuff, though.

jake, I really enjoyed The Enlightenment period.
 
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