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…
While most people associate the Sealed Knot with massed battles, we also spend a lot of time looking into and reenacting the lives of ordinary people from the 17th Century. Our living history encampments are an ideal opportunity to practice traditional crafts such as sewing, weaving, leather-working, woodturning and many more, jobs that weren’t necessarily…
On the cold morning of 21st December 1643, a group of men marched into the ornate chapel of Peterhouse, the oldest university college in Cambridge. In the presence of the college’s president, fellows and other dignitaries, they began to smash, pull down, and deface religious imagery on the walls and pews. Statues of two…
The Treaty Against a King: The 1643 Solemn League and Covenant What was the document, signed on 25 September 1643, that brought two nations together in arms against their shared king? The Solemn League and Covenant was an agreement between Parliament and the Scots to unite in opposition to King Charles I during the First English Civil…
‘Where England’s sorrows began’: The Battle of Powick Bridge A daring raid on a convoy laden with treasure, a dashing young prince charging to the rescue, the opening salvo of a war between King and Parliament that would end on virtually the same ground – what was the Battle of Powick Bridge? While the Battle of…
Reenactment isn’t just about battling in fields and cosy camp fires, you can also get to take part in unusual and unexpected events that help bring Britain’s civil war alive. The Levellers are one of the most important and well-known groups from the English Civil War, a radical grass roots political movement that, in 1647,…
Sieging and besieged: who were the soldiers who fought to control Pontefract Castle? This weekend Pontefract Castle will once again echo with the sound of cannons and muskets as we take it back to the English Civil War for a fascinating weekend of reenactment – all free for visitors! On 1st and 2nd June, the castle…
Siege warfare in the English Civil Wars “If you lay siege to a town, you will exhaust your strength.” – Sun Tzu Contrary to popular notions of set piece clashes filled with dashing cavalry charges and tens of thousands of soldiers, sieges were “every bit as important as battle in the Civil Wars … holding…
Besieged: The Battle For Pontefract Castle 1644-5 The first great chronicler of the English Civil War, The Earl of Clarendon, described the location of Pontefract Castle in Yorkshire as “very strong, no part whereof was commanded by any other ground” and said “the house was very large, with all offices suitable to a Princely seat,…
‘The Key to the North’: Pontefract Castle’s place in the English Civil War “[Pontefract Castle is] well watered; situated on rock in every part of it; and therefore difficult to mine. The walls are very thick and high, with strong towers; and if battered, very difficult to access, by reason of the depth and…
In 1644, the ancient city of Lincoln was on the front line of the English Civil War. With its lofty castle and commanding views of the surrounding countryside, Lincoln sits the frontier between East Anglia, the North, and the Midlands. And during the first English Civil War, it was a point over which the tide…
On 14th June 1645, the fields between the Northamptonshire villages of Naseby and Sibbertoft saw one of the most significant battles in British history. Royalist troops loyal to King Charles I and the Parliamentarian ‘New Model Army’ led by Sir Thomas Fairfax met in the culmination of a three-year bloody civil war that had pitted…
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 know it from the much later song, but for people in Stuart England this period was a highlight of…
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 know it from the much later song, but for people in Stuart England this period was a highlight of…
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 know it from the much later song, but for people in Stuart England this period was a highlight of…
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 know it from the much later song, but for people in Stuart England this period was a highlight of…
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 know it from the much later song, but for people in Stuart England this period was a highlight of…
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 know it from the much later song, but for people in Stuart England this period was a highlight of…
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 know it from the much later song, but for people in Stuart England this period was a highlight of…
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 know it from the much later song, but for people in Stuart England this period was a highlight of…
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 know it from the much later song, but for people in Stuart England this period was a highlight of…
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 know it from the much later song, but for people in Stuart England this period was a highlight of…
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 know it from the much later song, but for people in Stuart England this period was a highlight of…
Over the next 48 hours, the inventiveness of the nation’s cooks will be being put sorely to the test as the remains of innumerable turkeys are whittled down into pies, curries, and soups for those not yet tired of this magnificent fowl.
How ‘gunpowder, treason and plot’ turned into ‘bonfires, fireworks and vandalism’… (Plus the surprising connection with the Earl of Manchester!) Guy Fawkes Night, Bonfire Night, Squib-Night, Plot Night, or simply ‘The Fifth’ are just some of the names that have been used to describe one of the most popular events of the traditional year for…
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…
While the siege continues in the teeth of a bitter winter, a Parliamentarian soldier is sent out to find firewood amidst the snow but must avoid enemy patrols and angry locals. During a winter siege, collecting ‘faggots’ of wood was an important task – but who knows what threats a soldier might stumble across? With…
The English Civil Wars, The British Civil Wars, The English Revolution, The Puritan Revolution, The Great Rebellion, The Wars of the Three Kingdoms… one thing pretty much all historians of the period agree on is that the term ‘The English Civil War’ isn’t accurate (the old joke goes that it’s incorrect in three ways – it wasn’t English, it…
The Battle of Boldon Hill was a skirmish fought in March 1644, between a Royalist army trying to bring the army of the Scottish Covenanters to battle. It was one of a number of skirmishes and inconclusive battles in the North East of England between the Royalist general William Cavandish, The Marquess of Newcastle (pictured left),…
