On Friday 26th October, we are taking the Ashmolean Museum back to a dark period of English history as we conduct a 1600s witch trial as part of the critically-acclaimed Spellbound exhibition. Our players will be staging performances throughout the museum as part of the fantastic Live Friday event, as we use authentic accounts from witch trials of…
Every Hallowe’en, the internet is awash with stories of the ‘witches’ and witch-finders of the 17th Century. But although Matthew Hopkins, the notorious ‘Witchfinder General’ is undoubtedly the most famous witch-hunter, he was by no means alone. The practice of ‘witch-finding’ was relatively rare in England and most accusations of witchcraft would have been dealt…
History has made Matthew Hopkins something of a boogeyman. Helped in no small part by folktales, books, TV shows and films, including the 1968 Witchfinder General starring Vincent Price, he has become a symbol of the archaic past, of the madness of religious zealotry and of superstition. But who was Matthew Hopkins, more commonly known…
The church of All Saints in Middle Claydon, nestled in the Buckinghamshire countryside, is filled with tributes to the Verney family who were intimately involved in and affected by the Civil War. It was the perfect setting for two of the Sealed Knot’s preachers to bring the words of two contemporary 17th Century preachers back to…
With its formidable walls looking down on the former county town of Lancashire, what part did Lancaster Castle play in the English Civil War? The 17th Century poet and biographer Lucy Hutchinson once said “every county has a civil war, more or less, within itself” – and that is certainly true in Lancashire. Like many…
Storming the walls of Bolton! Well we couldn’t stop Bolton being overrun by the Royalists, but under the blazing heat we put up a damn good fight – and hundreds of people stood there and watched us! The Storming of Bolton took place last weekend at Bolton School and proved to be a huge success!…
Meet a face of Manchester’s: Pikeman Ian We spend our summers battling as a team and spending time as a family – but who are the people who make up the Earl of Manchester’s Regiment of Foote? We’re delighted to introduce you to a face of our regiment using some of their favourite photos, as…
Meet a face of Manchester’s: Drummer Amber We spend our summers battling as a team and spending time as a family – but who are the people who make up the Earl of Manchester’s Regiment of Foote? We’re delighted to introduce you to a face of our regiment using some of their favourite photos, as…
Over on Twitter we asked if there were any questions people would like answered about history, politics, and society during the English Civil Wars. Cassandra Clark asked whether anyone who signed Charles I’s death warrant in 1649 escaped the vengeance of his son after the Restoration in 1660? Thanks for the great question, Cassandra! On…
Today marks 369 years since the execution of Charles Stuart, king of England, Scotland and Ireland, on a scaffold built next to the Banqueting Hall at Whitehall in London. He was, to all intents and purposes, to be executed in the street. He was surrounded by large numbers of soldiers, who faced the crowd rather…