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Spartacus
Do you know why we love the story of Spartacus? And why it is told and retold over and over again in television, movies, and literature? I bet you do, but I'm going to say it anyway because I absolutely have to. Spartacus is the ultimate underdog. It's like a militant rags to riches fairytale where everyone dies in the end… or really, just a fairytale as written, y'know prior to the rigorous Disney sanitizing.What was that? Some people don't KNOW the Spartacus story? Well that is just pl [...]
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Lanoe George Hawker VC
Born in Hampshire on December 30th, 1890 into a well-know and respected military family, Lanoe George Hawker attended first Stubbington House School, and then from the age of eleven, Dartmouth’s Royal Navy College. Despite being an intelligent boy and a keen sportsman, his academic grades proved disappointing as a career in the Navy seemed unlikely. Instead Hawker enrolled at Woolwich Royal Military Academy before enlisting as an officer cadet in the Royal Engineers. After seeing a film about the Wright Flyer in 1910, Hawker, a keen inventor and dabbler in all thing engineering, developed an interest in aviation, and after gaining his flying certificate at his own expense in 1913,…
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Peter the Great: Reforms of a Future Empire
Peter Romanov was not born Great but earned the moniker by setting precedents previously unheard of for the kingdom of Russia. Born royal in 1672 to Tsar (or Czar) Alexis I and his second wife, Natalya, as he was the youngest son, no one gave much thought to him ever reigning the kingdom. When Peter was only 3 years old, his father passed away leaving his eldest son as the King Of Russia. Feodor III or more aptly named, Feodor the Most Quiet, had suffered from health issues as a result of falling off his horse when he was 12 years old. The injuries left him nearly an invalid as…
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Stephen of Blois
Following on from my recent post on the civil war known as The Anarchy ( http://www.historynaked.com/the-anarchy/ ), I thought I would delve a bit further into the major players in this period. Stephen was born in the County of Blois in central France in 1092 or 1096; there are conflicting reports of the date of his birth, probably due to the fact he was not an heir to the throne, nor a major member of the royal family, so there would not have been a lot of publicity surrounding his birth. He was however, a Grandson of William the Conqueror. His mother, Adela was the daughter of William the Conqueror…
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Geoffrey Chaucer
Chaucer was born sometime around 1340 or 1342, to a respected middle class family in the St Martin’s in the Vintry area of London. His grandfather John was involved in the wine trade, as was his father Robert. John had also been Deputy Butler to the King in 1348. Chaucer’s mother was Agnes de Copton who was a niece of an official at the Mint. It is generally believed that Chaucer received his early education at St Paul’s Almonry. When he was around 17 years of age Chaucer became a page in the household of the Elizabeth de Burgh, Countess of Ulster, the wife of Lionel of Antwerp, 3rd son…
