Crown and Country

Crown and Country PDF Author: David Starkey
Publisher: HarperCollins UK
ISBN: 0007307713
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 546

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Book Description
From one of our finest historians comes an outstanding exploration of the British monarchy from the retreat of the Romans up until the modern day. This compendium volume of two earlier books is fully revised and updated.

Crown and Country

Crown and Country PDF Author: David Starkey
Publisher: HarperCollins UK
ISBN: 0007307713
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 546

Get Book Here

Book Description
From one of our finest historians comes an outstanding exploration of the British monarchy from the retreat of the Romans up until the modern day. This compendium volume of two earlier books is fully revised and updated.

Crown & Sceptre

Crown & Sceptre PDF Author: Tracy Borman
Publisher: Grove Atlantic
ISBN: 0802159117
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 399

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Book Description
An in-depth look at the British monarchy that’s “a superb synthesis of historical analysis, politics, and top-notch royal gossip” (Kirkus Reviews). Since William the Conqueror, duke of Normandy, crossed the English Channel in 1066 to defeat King Harold II and unite England’s various kingdoms, forty-one kings and queens have sat on Britain’s throne. “Shining examples of royal power and majesty alongside a rogue’s gallery of weak, lazy, or evil monarchs,” as Tracy Borman describes them in her sparkling chronicle, Crown & Sceptre. Ironically, during very few of these 955 years has the throne’s occupant been unambiguously English—whether Norman French, the Welsh-born Tudors, the Scottish Stuarts, and the Hanoverians and their German successors to the present day. Acknowledging the intrinsic fascination with British royalty, Borman lifts the veil to reveal the remarkable characters and personalities who have ruled and, since the Restoration of the monarchy in 1660, more ceremonially reigned. It is a crucial distinction explaining the staying power of the monarchy as the royal family has evolved and adapted to the needs and opinions of its people, avoiding the storms of rebellion that brought many of Europe’s royals to an abrupt end. Richard II; Henry VIII; Elizabeth I; George III; Victoria; Elizabeth II: their names evoke eras and the dramatic events Borman recounts. She is equally attuned to the fabric of monarchy: royal palaces; the way monarchs have been portrayed in art, on coins, in the media; the ceremony and pageantry surrounding the crown. Elizabeth II is already one of the longest reigning monarchs in history. Crown & Sceptre is a fitting tribute to her remarkable longevity and that of the magnificent institution she represents. “Crown & Sceptre brings us in short, vivid chapters from William the Conqueror to Elizabeth herself, much of it constituting a dark record of bumping off adversaries, rivals and spouses, confiscating vast estates and military invasions…. [A] lucid, character-rich book.” —Minneapolis Star-Tribune “Borman’s deep understanding of English royalty shines.” —Chris Schluep, Amazon Editors’ Picks, The Best History Books of February 2022

Coronation: A History of the British Monarchy

Coronation: A History of the British Monarchy PDF Author: Roy Strong
Publisher: HarperCollins UK
ISBN: 0008612986
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 531

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Book Description
The definitive history of coronations and the Royal Family, from acclaimed writer Roy Strong.

De Gestis Britonum

De Gestis Britonum PDF Author: Geoffrey (of Monmouth, Bishop of St. Asaph)
Publisher: Boydell & Brewer
ISBN: 1843832062
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 389

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Book Description
Written in the 1130s, Geoffrey's imaginative history of the Britons from Brutus to Cadwallader, and the first to recount the woes of Lear and the glittering career of Arthur, rapidly became a bestseller. An ideal text for scholars, this is a reprint of the Latin text with a facing English translation.

The Kings & Queens of Britain

The Kings & Queens of Britain PDF Author: Cath Senker
Publisher: Arcturus Publishing
ISBN: 1838576983
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 443

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Book Description
Who was the first king of England? Did Henry I assassinate his brother? How did 'Bloody Mary' reinstate Roman Catholicism? For more than 1,000 years the British monarchy has dramatically shaped national and international history. Kings and queens have conquered territory, imposed religious change and extracted taxation, each with their own motivations and ambitions. In this beautifully illustrated book, Cath Senker delves into the extraordinary history of the British monarchy and its host of kings, queens and pretenders. There have been benevolent rulers, violent ones, religious fanatics, brilliant economists, masters of diplomacy and the power hungry. But whether they have abused their power or used it for good, each monarch has played a part in the rich tapestry of British history, coping with both international and civil wars, rebellions and criticism. The Kings & Queens of Britain introduces this fascinating thousand-year history, providing rich biographical detail of Britain's remarkable monarchs.

William of Orange and the Fight for the Crown of England

William of Orange and the Fight for the Crown of England PDF Author: Brian Best
Publisher: Frontline Books
ISBN: 152679523X
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 287

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Book Description
“Essential reading for anyone who wanted to know the real story of how William of Orange became King of England” (Books Monthly). In 1688, a vast fleet of 463 ships, twice the size of the Spanish Armada, put to sea from Holland. On board was William of Orange with 40,000 soldiers—their objective, England. The Protestant William had been encouraged by a group of Church of England bishops to risk everything and oust the Catholic King James. He landed at Tor Bay in Devon and soon gathered enough support, including that of John Churchill, the future Duke of Marlborough, to cause King James to flee to France. It had been seen, in the eyes of most in England and Scotland as a “Glorious” Revolution. William ascended the throne along with his wife Mary, the daughter of England’s Charles II, who had preceded James. Though the revolution had been virtually bloodless, William had to fight to keep his crown. Most Irish were Catholics and King William’s armies met stiff opposition there. In this, James saw a chance to regain his crown. Sailing to Ireland, he led his Jacobite troops against William at the Battle of the Boyne on 1 July 1690. James was defeated, ending his hopes of ousting William. There were also large numbers of Catholics in Scotland, but they too were defeated by William’s army at the Battle of Killiecrankie. This, in turn, led to the infamous Massacre of Glencoe. The accession of William and Mary to the throne was a landmark moment in British history, one which saw Parliament emerge into the modern state. In January 1689, two months after the Glorious Revolution, Parliament met and in February a Declaration of Rights was incorporated into the Bill of Rights. This included the measure that the crown could not tax without Parliament’s consent or interfere in elections. William, therefore, is not only known both for being one of England’s most revolutionary kings, but also one of the least remembered.

The Mammoth Book of British Kings & Queens

The Mammoth Book of British Kings & Queens PDF Author: Mike Ashley
Publisher: Running PressBook Pub
ISBN: 9780786706921
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 808

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Book Description
Covers more than 1000 rulers and two millennia of history

The Coronation Chair and Stone of Scone

The Coronation Chair and Stone of Scone PDF Author: Warwick Rodwell
Publisher: Oxbow Books
ISBN: 178297153X
Category : Antiques & Collectibles
Languages : en
Pages : 659

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Book Description
Constructed in 1297−1300 for King Edward I, the Coronation Chair ranks amongst the most remarkable and precious treasures to have survived from the Middle Ages. It incorporated in its seat a block of sandstone, which the king seized at Scone, following his victory over the Scots in 1296. For centuries, Scottish kings had been inaugurated on this symbolic ‘Stone of Scone’, to which a copious mythology had also become attached. Edward I presented the Chair, as a holy relic, to the Shrine of St Edward the Confessor in Westminster Abbey, and most English monarchs since the fourteenth century have been crowned in it, the last being HM Queen Elizabeth II, in 1953. The Chair and the Stone have had eventful histories: in addition to physical alterations, they suffered abuse in the eighteenth century, suffragettes attached a bomb to them in 1914, they were hidden underground during the Second World War, and both were damaged by the gang that sacrilegiously broke into Westminster Abbey and stole the Stone in 1950. It was recovered and restored to the Chair, but since 1996 the Stone has been exhibited on loan in Edinburgh Castle. Now somewhat battered through age, the Chair was once highly ornate, being embellished with gilding, painting and colored glass. Yet, despite its profound historical significance, until now it has never been the subject of detailed archaeological recording. Moreover, the remaining fragile decoration was in need of urgent conservation, which was carried out in 2010−12, accompanied by the first holistic study of the Chair and Stone. In 2013 the Chair was redisplayed to celebrate the Diamond Jubilee of the Coronation of HM The Queen. The latest investigations have revealed and documented the complex history of the Chair: it has been modified on several occasions, and the Stone has been reshaped and much altered since it left Scone. This volume assembles, for the first time, the complementary evidence derived from history, archaeology and conservation, and presents a factual account of the Coronation Chair and the Stone of Scone, not as separate artifacts, but as the entity that they have been for seven centuries. Their combined significance to the British Monarchy and State – and to the history and archaeology of the English and Scottish nations – is greater than the sum of their parts. Also published here for the first time is the second Coronation Chair, made for Queen Mary II in 1689. Finally, accounts are given of the various full-size replica chairs in Britain and Canada, along with a selection of the many models in metal and ceramic which have been made during the last two centuries.

The Coronation Ceremony of the Kings and Queens of England and the Crown Jewels

The Coronation Ceremony of the Kings and Queens of England and the Crown Jewels PDF Author: Tessa Rose
Publisher: Bernan Press(PA)
ISBN:
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 144

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Book Description
A short guide, aimed at the general reader and based on The History of the Crown Jewels: a catalogue of the Treasures of the Jewel House, edited by Claude Blair and to be published by HMSO in early 1993. This guide focuses on regalia used in the coronation ceremony and includes illustrations from the Jewel House and other sources.

Middle English Literature

Middle English Literature PDF Author: Christopher Cannon
Publisher: Polity
ISBN: 0745624413
Category : Language Arts & Disciplines
Languages : en
Pages : 269

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Book Description
This book provides a boldly original account of Middle English literature from the Norman Conquest to the beginning of the sixteenth century. It argues that these centuries are, in fundamental ways, the momentous period in our literary history, for they are the long moment in which the category of literature itself emerged as English writing began to insist, for the first time, that it floated free of any social reality or function. This book also charts the complex mechanisms by which English writing acquired this power in a series of linked close readings of both canonical and more obscure texts. It encloses those readings in five compelling accounts of much broader cultural areas, describing, in particular, the productive relationship of Middle English writing to medieval technology, insurgency, statecraft and cultural place, concluding with an in depth account of the particular arguments, emphases and techniques English writers used to claim a wholly new jurisdiction for their work. Both this history and its readings are everywhere informed by the most exciting developments in recent Middle English scholarship as well as literary and cultural theory. It serves as an introduction to all these areas as well as a contribution, in its own right, to each of them.