It does tick by doesn't it … I was giving a talk on King John 1167 – 1216 … and I seem to have totally got myself absorbed into that era …
King John on a stag hunt
Eight hundred years ago is such a mixed up era – before the English were English … and owned more land in France than on this little isle …
Lots of Isabellas, Henrys, Margarets, two Popes, Matildas, Joans … just trying to work out who was who has been 'quite interesting' …
Nine years ago I went to an exhibition celebrating the 800 years since Magna Carta was signed (1215) at the British Library and had found some booklets on that period … perfect for my history talk … the filing cabinet enlightened me!
Not the Library's exhibition
guide - I've sent for one
Thankfully I didn't need to muddy the waters by just listing dates, battles, castles, people – but through the guide I was able to distil the parts needed to bring the treacherous, obnoxious King John to life …
I enjoyed the cruel look in
his eyes ... well I didn't, but you
know what I mean!
Then I researched deeper … and am now totally captivated by the 1200s – hook line and sinker - totally engrossed … it's sad really!
The Plantagenet era has me spellbound … books, guides, novels are sprouting down here in Eastbourne …
Lots of interesting snippets
in here
Then disaster struck my printer gave up the ghost – no it was not eight hundred years old! … its owner at times might feel like that … but I needed a print-out of my talk.
Oh … ok … I could email it to myself onto my ipad … duly done – except the 'old girl' got faffed while doing it – something very stupid … and I put the right extension onto the list of slides, but did not do that for the 23 page talk (largish type) …
We had the headmaster to talk to us
about changes in our taxation system and
its effect on fee paying schools ...
I didn't realise until I was at the church, where we hold our history meetings – remember the blue moon was attempting to rise in July …
Now panic set in … but, thankfully on Monday's, the church office is manned by men … so they were enlisted to help – including their techie chap – bless them all! They blessed me!
Isobella of Angouleme
(2nd wife of John)
By fair means or foul he rescued me, definitely on the fair means side, and I had my talk, with the slide listings for Enid (our history buff) to refer to as she occasionally adds in to our talks, to clarify some aspects …
I'm still totally immersed in this period … so much so that I've been reading a novel … but another post to follow – it's an interesting one … I could see the characters of that period.
English lands in 1180 (red) ... but most lost
by 1223 after Magna Carta.
(French in blue; Yellow the Church; Green -
other fiefs held on behalf of the French crown)
From the discombobulated world of .......
Hilary Melton-Butcher at
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