Tracking the movements of a single body of soldiers, never mind individuals, through the chaos and carnage of the British Civil Wars can be a challenge to even the most dedicated of historians. While we might know the names and accomplishments of their officers, the common soldier often remains nameless, faceless, and voiceless, which leaves…
In the 17th Century, Christmas Day was more than just a religious date – it marked the beginning of the traditional Twelve Days of Christmas between Christmas and Epiphany Eve, commonly called ‘Twelfth Night’. We may know it from the much later song, but for people in Stuart England it was a highlight of the…
Manchester's after winning the Rosebowl for 'Best Regiment' at Nantwich in January 2024 While we reenact a regiment from the English Civil Wars, the modern incarnation of The Earl of Manchester’s Regiment of Foote has its own history and identity. Manchester’s is a Parliamentarian regiment within The Sealed Knot reenactment society, representing the personal regiment…
With musket on her shoulder, her part she acted then, And everyone supposed that she had been a man; Her bandeliers about her neck and sword hang’d by her side, In many brave adventures her valour has been tried The Gallant She-Soldier (1655) In the past the role of women in the English Civil…
Today – November 20th – is ‘Equal Pay Day’ in the UK. This is the day when, because of the gap between the average man’s salary, and the average woman’s salary, overall women stop being paid in comparison to men. To put it a different way: thanks to the gender pay gap, women effectively work…
Bonfires, fireworks, music, celebrations – these are the hallmarks of a fun Bonfire Night, held every fifth of November (or, more conveniently, the nearest Saturday) to mark the foiling of the infamous Gunpowder Plot to blow up Parliament in 1605. And, with them, comes the traditional rhyme: Remember, remember, the 5th of November, Gunpowder, treason…
Chastleton House is a delight for anyone interested in history, let alone 17th Century history. The Jacobean country house near Moreton-in-Marsh in Oxfordshire was built between 1607 and 1612 for Walter Jones (born 1550), whose family’s success in the wool business allowed him to make his fortune from the law – he rose from being the town clerk…
Download free English Civil War teaching packs With schools closed as part of the coronavirus lockdown, many parents will be home-schooling for the first time. To support those families looking for educational lockdown activities, the first two of four FREE teaching packs are available to download from the Manchester’s website now. The packs will support…
“Fit for trading” Susan Hill, the first wife of Edward Montagu How the marriage of an inn-keeper’s daughter and a future earl reveals the rich trade in wives and titles in the last days of the court of James VI/I In 1623, a satirical poem called “Heaven Blesse King James Our Joy” launched a…
The Thirty Years War was one of the most destructive wars in European history – a vicious struggle between 1618 and 1648 which devastated large parts of the Continent. Part of the European Wars of Religion, it began when the Holy Roman Emperor Ferdinand II of Bohemia attempted to curtail the religious activities of his subjects, sparking…