History

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The Feast of Blessed Philotheos Zervakos

May 8 os

© Leandro Neumann Ciuffo, Wikimedia Commons. Licence: CC-BY-SA 2.0.

The Spy by Clay Lane

In 1910, Constantine Zervakos, a young monk from the Greek island of Paros, found himself charged with espionage.

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The Feast of St John the Evangelist

May 8 os

© Vitum, Wikimedia Commons. Licence: Public domain.

The Miracle of St John of the Caves by Clay Lane

The story of an unexpected escape through the heart of a hill.

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The Battle of Vitoria

May 21

© Zarateman, Wikimedia Commons. Licence: CC BY-SA 1.0 Universal public domain dedication.

The Peninsular War by Clay Lane

Napoleon’s six-year-long campaign (1808-1814) to bring Spain and Portugal into his united Europe was frustrated by Arthur Wellesley.

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© Aleksandr Zykov, Wikimedia Commons. Licence: CC-BY-SA 2.0.

The Grandest of All Sepulchres by Thucydides

On the annual Remembrance Day of ancient Athens, Pericles rose to remind the people of the City that grief alone was not the best way to honour the fallen.

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1

By Edward Altham (1629–1694), via Wikimedia Commons. Public domain.

The Prophecy of Peter of Pomfret by George McKinnon Wrong

Peter foretold that King John would cease to be England’s sovereign, and he was right, though John still wore his crown.

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2

From the Bayeux Tapestry, via Wikimedia Commons. Public domain.

The Oath of Harold Godwinson by Henrietta Elizabeth Marshall

William the Conqueror’s chaplain used to tell this story to those who doubted his master’s claim to the English crown.

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3

By Jean Froissart (1337-1410), Wikimedia Commons. Public domain.

The Peasants’ Revolt by H. W. Dulcken

In 1381, young King Richard II was faced with a popular uprising against tax rises.

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4

© Peter Jeffery, Geograph. CC BY-SA 2.0.

Jack Cade’s Revolt by Charles Dickens

Jack Cade brought a protest to London with right on his side, but then threw it all away.

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5

© FieldsportsChannel.tv, Wikimedia Commons. CC BY-SA 2.0.

The Black Rood of Scotland from The Rites of Durham

When the Reformers sold off the treasures of Durham Cathedral, they sold a priceless piece of Scottish history into oblivion.

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6

From the Tyne and Wear Archives. Public domain.

As I Came Through Sandgate by John Telford

... I heard John Wesley sing. A visitor on the quayside on Sunday May 30th, 1742, would have stumbled into a crowd agape and a determined clergyman singing psalms.

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© Nicholas Armitage / Clay Lane, 2025

May 21 NS

May 8 OS

The Spy : In 1910, Constantine Zervakos, a young monk from the Greek island of Paros, found himself charged with espionage.
The Miracle of St John of the Caves : The story of an unexpected escape through the heart of a hill.
The Peninsular War : Napoleon’s six-year-long campaign (1808-1814) to bring Spain and Portugal into his united Europe was frustrated by Arthur Wellesley.
Thick and Thin : Express each of these ideas as a single word.
Break : Explain what each of these common expressions means, and give examples.
Blind Guide : William Wirt recalls an overpowering sermon from a blind man in a little wooden chapel.
It’s All in the Delivery : Aeschines paid tribute to the oratory of his greatest rival — whether he meant to or not.
The Road to Ruin : George Berkeley warned that industry, not financial speculation, was the guarantee of a nation’s wealth.
Signs of Command : Suggest publicly-displayed commands, and say how many of them are sentences.
My Native Notes : Scotsman James Boswell always spoke good English when in England, but he was careful to leave a little Scots in.
Hidden Message : Reveal the hidden message in a letter, and write a coded letter of your own.
The Great and the Good : Daniel Defoe wondered whether goodness was not preferable to greatness.
Statements, Questions and Commands : Choose a word from our list, and then use it in any one of the three basic types of sentence — if possible.
Sentegrams : These sentences, taken from English literature, have been jumbled up like an anagram; see if you can piece them back together.
Good Sense : Rewrite these sentences so that the word ‘unless’ is not used.
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