TODAY IN HISTORY

13th May 1643 - the Battle of Grantham, in Lincolnshire, during the English Civil War. The Parliamentarians (Roundheads) defeat the Cavaliers.
------------------------------------------



Cavalier soldier (supporter of the King) on the left, and a Roundhead soldier (supporter of Cromwell) on the right.



In March 1643, a large force of Royalists (Cavaliers) from Newark commanded by Sir Charles Cavendish and Sir John Henderson marched into Lincolnshire and captured the town of Grantham in a surprise attack. The Royalists did not garrison Grantham but marched on towards Boston. Parliament's commander in Lincolnshire, Lord WIlloughby of Parham, attempted to block the Royalist advance with a force of 1,500 troops, but in a brief engagement at Ancaster Heath on 11 April, the Parliamentarians were easily routed by the larger Royalist force.

Alarmed that Cavendish's manoeuvres might herald a march south by the Earl of Newcastle's northern army, Parliament ordered Lord Willoughby to make another attack on Newark. Willoughby joined forces with Colonel Cromwell of the Eastern Association and Captain Hotham with a contingent from Nottingham at Sleaford on 9 May. They advanced to Grantham on 11 May but remained there for a further two days, which gave Cavendish and Henderson time to prepare a counterstrike. In the early hours of 13 May, Cavendish made a surprise attack on Lord Willoughby's troops quartered at the village of Belton, killing 70 and taking 40 prisoners. Later in the day, the Royalists made a second advance. After an exchange of musket fire, Cromwell, in his first independent action as a cavalry commander, led a charge that drove the Royalists from the field. Despite the Parliamentarian victory, however, the march on Newark was abandoned.

british-civil-wars.co.uk

14th May 1796 - British physician Edward Jenner carries out the world's first widely known vaccination. He innoculated an 8-year-old boy, James Phipps, against smallpox. However, a Dorset farmer, Benjamin Jesty, had successfully inoculated his wife and two children during a smallpox epidemic in 1774, but it was not until Jenner's work some twenty years later that the procedure became widely understood

Around this time smallpox was greatly feared, as one in three of those who contracted the disease died, and those who survived were commonly badly disfigured. Voltaire, a few years later, recorded that 60% of people caught smallpox, with 20% of the population dying of it. Jenner died of a 2nd stroke in 1823.
---------------------------------------------------------------------


Edward Jenner FRS (May 17, 1749 – January 26, 1823) was an English country doctor who studied nature and his natural surroundings from childhood and practiced medicine in Berkeley, Gloucestershire, England. He is famous as the first doctor to introduce and study the smallpox vaccine.

Jenner trained in Sodbury, Gloucestershire as an apprentice to Dr. Ludlow for 8 years from the age of 13, then went up to London in 1770 to study under the surgeon John Hunter (a noted experimentalist, and later a fellow of the Royal Society[1]) and others at St George's Hospital. William Osler records that Jenner was a student to whom Hunter repeated William Harvey's advice, very famous in medical circles, "Don't think, try". Jenner therefore was early noticed by men famous for advancing the practice and institutions of medicine, and Hunter remained in correspondence with him over natural history and proposed him for the Royal Society. Returning to his native countryside, by 1773 he became a successful general practitioner and surgeon, practicing in purpose-built premises at Berkeley.

Jenner and others formed a medical society in Rodborough, Gloucestershire, meeting to read papers on medical subjects and dine together. Jenner contributed papers on angina pectoris, ophthalmia and valvular disease of the heart and commented on cowpox. He also belonged to a similar society which met in Alveston, near Bristol.[1]

He was elected Fellow of the Royal Society in 1788, following a careful study combining observation, experiment and dissection into a description of the previously misunderstood life of the cuckoo in the nest.



Smallpox
Around this time smallpox was greatly feared, as one in three of those who contracted the disease died, and those who survived were commonly badly disfigured. Voltaire, a few years later, recorded that 60% of people caught smallpox, with 20% of the population dying of it. A Dorset farmer, Benjamin Jesty, had successfully inoculated his wife and two children during a smallpox epidemic in 1774, but it was not until Jenner's work some twenty years later that the procedure became widely understood. Indeed it is generally believed that Jenner was unaware of Jesty's success and arrived at his conclusions independently.

Jenner's Initial Theory
In fact he thought the initial source of infection was a disease of horses, called "the grease", and that this was transferred to cows by farmworkers, transformed, and then manifested as cowpox. From that point on he was correct, the complication probably arose from coincidence.

Noting the common observation that milkmaids did not generally get smallpox, Jenner theorized that the pus in the blisters which milkmaids received from cowpox (a disease similar to smallpox, but much less virulent) protected the milkmaids from smallpox. He may have had the advantage of hearing stories of Benjamin Jesty and perhaps others deliberately arranging cowpox infection of their families and of a reduced risk in those families.

In May 1796, Jenner tested his theory by inoculating James Phipps, a young boy, with material from the cowpox blisters of the hand of Sarah Nelmes, a milkmaid who had caught cowpox from a cow called Blossom. Phipps was the 17th case described in Jenners first paper on vaccination.

Jenner inoculated Phipps with cowpox pus in both arms on one day. This produced a fever and some uneasiness but no great illness. Later, he injected Phipps with variolous material, which would have been the routine attempt to produce immunity at that time. No disease followed. Jenner reported that later the boy was again challenged with variolacious material and again showed no sign of infection.

He continued his research and reported it to the Royal Society who did not publish the initial report. After improvement and further work he published a report of 23 cases. Some of his conclusions were correct, and some erroneous - modern microbiological and microscopic methods would make this easier to repeat. The medical establishment, then as now, considered his findings for some time before accepting them. Eventually vaccination was accepted and in 1840 the British government banned variolation and provided vaccination free of charge.

Jenner's continuing work on vaccination prevented his continuing his ordinary medical practice. He was supported by his colleagues and the King in petitioning Parliament and was granted £10,000 for his work on vaccination. In 1806 he was granted another £20 000 for his continuing work.

In 1803 in London he became involved with the Jennerian Institution, a society concerned with promoting vaccination to eradicate smallpox. In 1808, with government aid, this society became the National Vaccine Establishment.

Jenner became a member of the Medical and Chirurgical Society on its foundation in 1805, and subsequently presented to them a number of papers. This is now the Royal Society of Medicine.

Returning to London in 1811 he observed a significant number of cases of smallpox after vaccination occurring. He found that in these cases the severity of the illness was notably diminished by the previous vaccination.

In 1813 the University of Oxford awarded him the degree of MD.

In 1821 he was appointed Physician Extraordinary to King George IV, a considerable national honour, and was made Mayor of Berkeley and Justice of the Peace.

He continued his interests in natural history and 1823 he presented "Observations on the Migration of Birds" to the Royal Society.

He died of his second stroke on 26 January 1823, having fully recovered from the first, and was survived by one son and one daughter, the eldest son having died of tuberculosis aged 21.

In 1980, the World Health Organisation declared smallpox an eradicated disease. This was the result of coordinated public health efforts by many people, but vaccination was an essential component.


Statue of Jenner in Kensington Gardens, London.

wikipedia.org

Also on this day -

1847 - HMS Driver completes the first circumnavigation of the world by a steamship when it arrives at Spithead on the Hampshire coast.

1921 - In the United States, Florence Allen becomes the first woman judge to sentence a man to death. Frank Motto is found guilty of murder and executed on August 20th.

1940 - Most of Rotterdam, Holland is destroyed by German bombing – killing 1,000 and making more than 50,000 homeless.

STATE OF ISRAEL PROCLAIMED:
May 14, 1948


On May 14, 1948, in Tel Aviv, Jewish Agency Chairman David Ben-Gurion proclaims the State of Israel, establishing the first Jewish state in 2,000 years. In an afternoon ceremony at the Tel Aviv Art Museum, Ben-Gurion pronounced the words "We hereby proclaim the establishment of the Jewish state in Palestine, to be called Israel," prompting applause and tears from the crowd gathered at the museum. Ben-Gurion became Israel's first premier.

In the distance, the rumble of guns could be heard from fighting that broke out between Jews and Arabs immediately following the British army withdrawal earlier that day. Egypt launched an air assault against Israel that evening. Despite a blackout in Tel Aviv--and the expected Arab invasion--Jews joyously celebrated the birth of their new nation, especially after word was received that the United States had recognized the Jewish state. At midnight, the State of Israel officially came into being upon termination of the British mandate in Palestine.

Modern Israel has its origins in the Zionism movement, established in the late 19th century by Jews in the Russian Empire who called for the establishment of a territorial Jewish state after enduring persecution. In 1896, Jewish-Austrian journalist Theodor Herzl published an influential political pamphlet called The Jewish State, which argued that the establishment of a Jewish state was the only way of protecting Jews from anti-Semitism. Herzl became the leader of Zionism, convening the first Zionist Congress in Switzerland in 1897. Ottoman-controlled Palestine, the original home of the Jews, was chosen as the most desirable location for a Jewish state, and Herzl unsuccessfully petitioned the Ottoman government for a charter.

After the failed Russian Revolution of 1905, growing numbers of Eastern European and Russian Jews began to immigrate to Palestine, joining the few thousand Jews who had arrived earlier. The Jewish settlers insisted on the use of Hebrew as their spoken language. With the collapse of the Ottoman Empire during World War I, Britain took over Palestine. In 1917, Britain issued the "Balfour Declaration," which declared its intent to establish a Jewish homeland in Palestine. Although protested by the Arab states, the Balfour Declaration was included in the British mandate over Palestine, which was authorized by the League of Nations in 1922. Because of Arab opposition to the establishment of any Jewish state in Palestine, British rule continued throughout the 1920s and '30s.

Beginning in 1929, Arabs and Jews openly fought in Palestine, and Britain attempted to limit Jewish immigration as a means of appeasing the Arabs. As a result of the Holocaust in Europe, many Jews illegally entered Palestine during World War II. Radical Jewish groups employed terrorism against British forces in Palestine, which they thought had betrayed the Zionist cause. At the end of World War II, in 1945, the United States took up the Zionist cause. Britain, unable to find a practical solution, referred the problem to the United Nations, which in November 1947 voted to partition Palestine.

The Jews were to possess more than half of Palestine, although they made up less than half of Palestine's population. The Palestinian Arabs, aided by volunteers from other countries, fought the Zionist forces, but by May 14, 1948, the Jews had secured full control of their U.N.-allocated share of Palestine and also some Arab territory. On May 14, Britain withdrew with the expiration of its mandate, and the State of Israel was proclaimed. The next day, forces from Egypt, Transjordan, Syria, Lebanon, and Iraq invaded.

The Israelis, though less well equipped, managed to fight off the Arabs and then seize key territory, such as Galilee, the Palestinian coast, and a strip of territory connecting the coastal region to the western section of Jerusalem. In 1949, U.N.-brokered cease-fires left the State of Israel in permanent control of this conquered territory. The departure of hundreds of thousands of Palestinian Arabs from Israel during the war left the country with a substantial Jewish majority.

During the third Arab-Israeli conflict--the Six-Day War of 1967--Israel again greatly increased its borders, capturing from Jordan, Egypt, and Syria the Old City of Jerusalem, the Sinai Peninsula, the Gaza Strip, the West Bank, and the Golan Heights. In 1979, Israel and Egypt signed an historic peace agreement in which Israel returned the Sinai in exchange for Egyptian recognition and peace. Israel and the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) signed a major peace accord in 1993, which envisioned the gradual implementation of Palestinian self-government in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. The Israeli-Palestinian peace process moved slowly, however, and in 2000 major fighting between Israelis and Palestinians resumed in Israel and the occupied territories.

15th May 1718 - The first machine gun is patented by London lawyer James Puckle who, as a keen fisherman, intended to use it at sea! It became known as the Puckle Gun.


A Puckle Gun, the replaceable cylinder for square bullets is visible below.

In 1718 in London, England, lawyer James Puckle demonstrated his new invention, the Puckle Gun, a tripod-mounted, single-barreled flintlock weapon using a revolving cylinder. Using a standard flintlock weapon, a soldier could be expected to fire three times per minute; the Puckle gun could fire up to nine shots per minute. It was the first revolver cannon and one of the first guns to use some sort of rotary feed system.

Puckle developed two versions of the basic design. For Christian enemies, he felt that the standard round bullets would be the best ammunition. However, when facing Muslim Turks, he thought that square bullets (which would cause larger, more painful wounds, in his opinion) would be more suitable.

Mr. Puckle could not attract investors to his weapon, he never mass-produced it, nor did he manage to sell this weapon to the British military. The Puckle Gun did not seem to inspire any weapons, it would be nearly a century before multi-barrel handguns like Pepperbox pistols and Revolvers would become common. It shares little with the first manual machine guns (e.g. Gatling gun), whose chambers were mechanically reloaded from a hopper. It did forshadow the use of hand-cranks in manual machine guns, as well rotary chambers for ammo storage decades before they became common. It is also one of the few weapons to have been intended to fire square bullets, rather then rounds ones.

wikipedia.org


Also on this day -

1800 - King George III survives two assassination attempts ON THE SAME DAY. The second coming from James Hadfield who fired a shot at the King during a performance at the Drury Lane Theatre in London.

1860 - Giuseppe Garibaldi, along with around 1,000 volunteers, defeats the vastly superior Neapolitan Army under General Landi at the Battle of Calatafimi. A few years later, all the city states and nations on the boot-shaped peninsular unify together to form Italy.

16th May 1220 - King Henry III lays the foundation stone for the new Lady Chapel at Westminster Abbey.



A Lady chapel is a chapel inside a cathedral dedicated to the Blessed Virgin Mary.

Traditionally, a Lady chapel is the largest chapel of a cathedral. Generally the chapel was built eastward of the high altar and formed a projection from the main building, as in Winchester, Salisbury, Exeter, Wells, St Albans, Chichester, Peterborough and Norwich cathedrals, in the two latter cases now destroyed.

The earliest Lady chapel built was that in the Saxon cathedral of Canterbury; this was transferred in the rebuilding by Archbishop Lanfranc to the west end of the nave, and again shifted in 1450 to the chapel on the east side of the north transept. The Lady chapel at Ely Cathedral is a distinct building attached to the north transept; at Rochester the Lady-chapel is west of the south transept.

Probably the largest Lady-chapel was that built by Henry III in 1220 at Westminster Abbey, which was 30 feet wide, much in excess of any foreign example, and extended to the end of the site now occupied by Henry VII's chapel.

Among other notable English examples of Lady-chapels are those at Ottery-St-Mary, Thetford, Bury St Edmund's, Wimborne, Christ church, Hampshire; in Compton Church, Surrey, and Compton Martin, Somersetshire, and Darenth, Kent, it was built over the chancel. At Croyland Abbey there were two Lady-chapels.

Lady-chapels exist in most of the French cathedrals and churches where they form part of the chevet; in Belgium they were not introduced before the 14th century; in some cases they are of the same size as the other chapels of the chevet, but in others probably rebuilt at a later period, they became much more important features, and in Italy and Spain during the Renaissance period constitute some of its best examples.

wikipedia.org

Also on this day -

1902 - King Alfonso XIII is enthroned in Spain.

1943 - The Dambusters: the Mohne, Eder and Sorpe dams in Germany are attacked and destroyed by 19 Lancaster aircraft from the RAF's 617 Squadron led by Guy Gibson, using the specially designed bouncing bombs invented by Barnes Wallis.

1956 - England cricketer Jim Laker of Surrey takes all 10 Australian wickets for 88 in 46 overs at the Oval.

18th May 1152 - Eleanor, Duchess of Aquitaine, marries Henry Plantagenet (later Henry II of England). She had been divorced two months earlier from King Louis VII of France.
=======================================




Eleanor of Aquitaine (1122) – March 31, 1204) was one of the wealthiest and most powerful women in Europe during the High Middle Ages. She was Queen consort of both France and England in turn. She is well known for her involvement in the Second Crusade.


Early life
The oldest of three children, her father was William X, Duke of Aquitaine, and her mother was Aenor de Châtellerault, the daughter of Aimeric I, Vicomte of Chatellerault. William's and Aenor's marriage had been arranged by his father, William IX of Aquitaine the Troubador, and her mother, Dangereuse, William IX's long-time mistress. Eleanor was named after her mother and called Aliénor, which means other Aenor in the langue d'oc (Occitan language), but it became Eléanor in the northern Oil language.

She was raised in one of Europe's most cultured courts, the birthplace of courtly love. By all accounts, Eleanor was the apple of her father's eye, who made sure she had the best education possible: she could read, speak Latin, and was well-versed in music and literature. She also enjoyed riding, hawking, and hunting. Eleanor was very outgoing and stubborn. She was regarded as very beautiful during her time; most likely she was red-haired and brown-eyed as her father and grandfather were. She became heiress to Aquitaine (the largest and richest of the provinces in what would become modern France) and seven other countries. Her brother, William Aigret, died as a baby and she had only one other sibling, a younger sister named Petronilla.




Marriage to Henry II of England
The marriage of Eleanor of Aquitaine to Henry of Anjou and Henry's subsequent succession to the throne of England created an empire.Two lords tried to kidnap Eleanor to marry her and claim her lands on Eleanor's way to Poitiers. As soon as she arrived in Poitiers, Eleanor sent envoys to Henry, Count of Anjou and Duke of Normandy, asking him to come at once and marry her. On Whit Sunday, May 18, 1152, six weeks after her annulment, Eleanor married Henry 'without the pomp and ceremony that befitted their rank'[2]. She was about 11 years older than he, and related to him in the same degree as she had been to Louis. Eleanor and Henry were half, third cousins through their common ancestor Ermengarde of Anjou (wife to Robert I, Duke of Burgundy and Geoffrey, Count of Gâtinais). One of Eleanor's rumored lovers was Henry's own father, Geoffrey of Anjou, who advised him not to get involved with her. Over the next 13 years, she bore Henry five sons and three daughters: William, Henry, Richard, Geoffrey, John, Matilda, Eleanor, and Joan.

Despite her reputation in later historical accounts, Eleanor was incensed by Henry's philandering; their son, William, and Henry's illegitimate son, Geoffrey, were born months apart. Henry fathered other illegitimate children throughout most of their marriage.

Some time between 1168 and 1170, she instigated a separation, deciding to establish a new court in her own territory of Poitou. A small fragment of her codes and practices was written by Andreas Capellanus.

Henry concentrated on controlling his increasingly-large empire, badgering Eleanor's subjects in attempts to control her patrimony of Aquitaine and her court at Poitiers. Straining all bounds of civility, Henry had Archbishop Thomas Becket murdered at the altar of the church in 1170 (though there is considerable debate as to whether it was truly Henry's intent to be permanently rid of his archbishop). This aroused Eleanor's horror and contempt, along with most of Europe's.



Revolt and Capture
In March 1173, aggrieved at his lack of power and egged on by his father's enemies, the younger Henry launched the Revolt of 1173-1174. He fled to Paris. From there 'the younger Henry, devising evil against his father from every side by the advice of the French King, went secretly into Aquitaine where his two youthful brothers, Richard and Godfrey, were living with their mother, and with her connivance, so it is said, he incited them to join him'. [3] The Queen sent her younger sons to France 'to join with him against their father the King'[4]. Once her sons had left for Paris, Eleanor encouraged the lords of the south to rise up and support them.[5] Sometime between the end of March and the beginning of May, Eleanor left Poitiers to follow her sons to Paris but was arrested on the way and sent to the King in Rouen. The King did not announce the arrest publicly. For the next year, her whereabouts are unknown. On 8 July 1174, Henry took ship for England from Barfleur. He brought Eleanor on the ship. As soon as they disembarked at Southampton, Eleanor was taken away either to Winchester Castle or Sarum Castle and held there.

wikipedia.org
-----------------------------------------------------

Also on this day -

1830 - Brit Edwin Budding signs an agreement for his invention, the lawn mower, to go into mass production. His first customer is Regent's Park Zoo in London.

21st May 685 - the Battle of Dunnichen (also known as Battle of Nechtansmere) was fought between the Picts and Northumbrians in Angus, in what is now Scotland. The Northumbrians were a Germanic people whose kingdom was in what is now Northern England and part of Southern Scotland and the Picts were Celtic. The Pict commander was Bridei III and the Northumbrian commander was Ecgfrith. The Battle was a victory for the Picts and afterwards Northumbria's existence was virtually wiped out in the area that later became Southern Scotland and occupied just what is now Northern England. Northumbria (or Northumberland) is now the most northerly county in England after King Alfred (known to the English as "The Father of England") unified all the Germanic kingdoms together to form what is now England.
----------------------------------------------------------



It's now a county bordering Scotland.

The Battle of Dunnichen (Welsh: Linn garan) or Battle of Nechtansmere was fought between the Picts and Northumbrians on May 21st 685, near Forfar, Angus. It ended in a decisive Pictish victory and severely weakened Northumbria's power in northern Britain.

The Northumbrians had been gradually extending their territory to the north, their constituent kingdom of Bernicia having captured Edinburgh from the Gododdin around 638. For the next thirty years they established political dominance over the Kingdoms of Strathclyde (which was in the area that is now South West Scotland and North West England) and Dál Riata, as well as Pictish Fortriu.

King Ecgfrith of Northumbria invaded lands held by the Picts in 685, apparently to stop them from raiding to the south. They met in battle on May 21 near Dunnichen; the Picts pretended to retreat, drawing the Northumbrians into the swamp of Dunnichen. The Pictish King Bridei III killed Ecgfrith and destroyed his army and enslaved many of the survivors. After the battle, Northumbria's influence never again extended past the Firth of Forth.

Little is known about the actual battle; it was briefly described by the Venerable Bede in the 8th century.

wikipedia.org

Also on this day -

1662 - Charles II of England marries Catherine de Braganza, daughter of John IV of Portugal.

1840 - Captain William Hobson claims British sovereignty over the whole of New Zealand. Official recognition as a British colony comes in 1841.

22nd May 1455 - the First Battle of St Albans took place. This was the first battle of the Wars of the Roses. It was fought between the Lancastrians and Yorkists and was a victory for the Yorkists. The Yorkists were commanded by Richard, Duke of York and Richard, Earl of Warwick and the Lancastrians were commanded by Edmund, Duke of Somerset. Later on during the Wars of the Roses, a second battle took place in St Albans. The battle was strange in that instead of being fought in a wide open field, it was fought in the narrow streets and alleys of the town itself.
---------------------------------------------------
First Battle of St Albans



The First Battle of St Albans was the first battle of the Wars of the Roses and was fought on May 22, 1455 in the town of St Albans, Hertfordshire. Richard, Duke of York and his ally, Richard, Earl of Warwick defeated the Lancastrians under Edmund Beaufort, 2nd Duke of Somerset, who was killed. York captured Henry VI and had himself appointed Constable of England.

In an attempt to avoid becoming outflanked by the 3,000 strong Yorkist army, Henry's army of 2,000 troops pulled back into the town and built barricades in Holywell Hill and St Peter's Street to defend against a Yorkist attack from the fields to east. The bulk of Henry's forces were surprised and fully occupied by the speed of Richard's attack; most of the army was expecting a peaceful resolution like the one at Blackheath in 1452, and the leaders had been negotiating minutes before the attack. However, two frontal assaults down the narrow streets made no headway and resulted in heavy casualties for the Yorkists.

Warwick took his reserve troops through an unguarded part of the town's defences, following a path through back lanes and gardens. Suddenly the Earl appeared in the Market Square where the main body of Henry troops was sitting around talking and resting. There is evidence they were not yet expecting to be involved in the fighting, as many were not even wearing their helmets. Warwick charged instantly with his small force of reserves and smashed the Lancastrian line in two, making military history.

The Earl then ordered his archers to fire at the men around the King, killing some and injuring many nobles including the King and his commander the Duke of Buckingham. Warwick killed one of his own enemies, the Duke of Somerset outside the Castle Inn. The men manning the barricades realising the enemy was in the main square and fearing an attack from behind abandoned them to the Yorkists who soon climbed over and joined the rout.

The First Battle of St Albans was trivial in military terms, with perhaps 300 dead, but the battle was a complete victory for York in political terms: he had captured the King, returning himself to complete power; his rival Somerset was dead; and the Neville's arch enemies Henry Percy, 2nd Earl of Northumberland and Lord de Clifford both fell during the rout.

Wars of the Roses (in chronological order)

1st St Albans – Blore Heath – Ludford Bridge – Northampton – Wakefield – Mortimer's Cross – 2nd St Albans – Ferrybridge – Towton – Hedgeley Moor – Hexham – Edgecote Moor – Lose-coat Field – Barnet – Tewkesbury – Bosworth Field – Stoke Field

wikipedia.org

22nd May 1840 - Britain ends the practice of sending convicts to the penal colony of Australia.

TheHistoryNet
Home | Subscribe | Renew | Shop | Classifieds | Forums | Book Reviews
Search

May 22, 2006

Article from World War II Magazine
Field Marshall Erwin Rommel: The Desert Fox's Defense of Normandy
During World War II, Field Marshall Erwin Rommel's decision to stop the Allied invasion of France at the water's edge was contrary to the rule book and anathema to his more tradition-bound contemporaries.

By Williamson Murray

When World War II ended in Europe in May 1945, most Western military leaders and analysts regarded Erwin Rommel as the war's greatest German general. But that was not how most German military leaders felt. Instead, in their memoirs they argued that Rommel was at best an adequate tactician and not a bad leader of small units, that he had been an adequate division commander, but his command of corps, army and army groups was often flawed. Rommel, they asserted, had involved himself too much in the day-to-day details of the tactical fight and not enough in the operational and strategic issues that must concern those at the highest levels of command, and he paid too little attention to matters of intelligence and the enemy's order of battle. Thus, his German critics allege, as the commander of the Afrika Korps, "the Desert Fox" had won some spectacular victories but willfully ignored problems of logistics.

Of course, Rommel was no longer present to defend himself. His peripheral involvement in the July 1944 plot to assassinate Adolf Hitler had led the Gestapo to compel the field marshal to take his own life that October. The debate on Rommel's ability was, therefore, left to be fought out among his contemporaries and was picked up by historians who continue this debate to the present day. Much of the criticism of Rommel's suitability for high command is focused around his performance as the commander of Heeresgruppe (Army Group) B and its defense of northwestern Europe against the Anglo-American invasion in June and July 1944.


Sponsored Links


Canadian Ancestry
Search Canadian military records to find heroes in your ancestry.
--

Canada & WWII
Remember WWII through collections from Canadian Regimental Museums.
--

D-Day, the 6th of June
Photographs to commemorate the liberation of Europe from the Nazis
pictopia.com


Rommel's actions in that assignment can perhaps give the best indication of the validity of the charges that the field marshal was not up to positions of great responsibility. They can also provide insights into how German military leaders as a whole approached the strategic and operational problems of World War II and how well they understood the larger issues involved in the war.

Rommel's Glory Years
For Rommel, the first three years of the war were spectacular. He had risen from the obscurity of a mere division command (one among approximately 140) to an army command with the rank of field marshal. His leadership of the 7th Panzer Division during the blitzkrieg in France had contributed considerably to his rapid promotion through the command hierarchy. One recent German account of the invasion of France asserts that Rommel played an even more important role in the breakthrough on the Meuse -- which led to the Allied collapse -- than Heinz Guderian did.

Fresh from the victory in France, in early 1941 the Oberkommando des Heeres (OKH -- Army High Command) selected Rommel to command a small corps of German mobile and mechanized troops that was being sent to North Africa to prevent the collapse of the Italian position in Libya. Under strict orders to remain on the defensive once he arrived, Rommel instead hit the ground running and began attacking the British even before his entire force had reached the desert. In a series of spectacular advances, he consistently disobeyed the instructions of not only his titular bosses in Rome, the Italian Comando Supremo, but also his superiors in Berlin, the OKH. Unimpressed by the Afrika Korps' early victories, the chief of the German General Staff, the schoolmasterly Colonel-General Franz Halder, was instead soon moaning that Rommel had gone "mad" in North Africa.

Whatever the criticisms issuing from the OKH, Rommel's performance was brilliant. His mission was to keep the British out of Libya and to restore the Italian position in North Africa. He more than accomplished this. His masterstroke came in June 1942 when his outnumbered Afrika Korps wrecked the British Eighth Army on the Gazala Line immediately to the east of Benghazi. He then pursued his beaten foe all the way back to El Alamein, the Eighth Army's last defensive position in Egypt before the Nile.

Along the way, he also took the fortress port of Tobruk. Some historians have criticized Rommel for not halting after his victory at Gazala so that German and Italian airborne and amphibious forces could assault Malta. However, given the performance of Italian forces up to that point in the war, Rommel had reason to be dubious about the success of such an operation -- and he was probably correct. Certainly Hitler agreed with him. Rommel sensed that he had the enemy on the run, and that this was the moment of opportunity that could lead to the fall of Egypt. Impressed with what he had accomplished thus far, Hitler promoted Rommel -- who had been only a major general at the start of the war -- to field marshal on June 22, 1942. But things were about to change.

In August 1942 the British finally discovered a field commander, Lt. Gen. Bernard Law Montgomery, who would fight the Eighth Army in accordance with its actual abilities. More important for the men of this badly battered force, he would provide its units leadership with a capital "L." As he told the British and Commonwealth soldiers defending the Alma Halfa Ridge in September 1942, "they would stay there alive, or they would stay there dead." They stayed. The Afrika Korps was brought to a halt, and by the end of September, Rommel was suffering from exhaustion and a bout of jaundice that finally forced him to return to Germany for treatment.

Thus, Rommel was not even in North Africa when Montgomery's opening blows in the second Battle of El Alamein fell on Axis positions in October. Not yet fully recovered, the Afrika Korps commander rushed back to the front, but by the time he arrived those in charge had already lost the battle. For the first time in North Africa, the Germans were up against a commander willing and able to take advantage of the overwhelming ground and air superiority the British possessed.


--

23rd May 1701 - the execution of Scottish pirate William Kidd at Execution Dock in Wapping, London. He was found guilty of murdering his ship's gunner, a man named Moore. After the execution, his body was taken to Tilbury Point where it was left to hang in chains for two years. Kidd was drunk during the execution.
---------------------------------------

Kidd's body hanging in chains over the Tilbury Point. It hung there for 2 years as a deterrent to would-be pirates.


At the Old Bailey on May 8th and 9th 1701 Kidd was tried for Moore's murder and several counts of Piracy. The nine members of his crew were tried on the piracy charges. All were found guilty and sentenced to hang. Many felt that the trial was inadequate and there are arguments about it to this day. Certainly, some evidence which might have proven his innocence seems to have been mislaid during the trial.

On Sunday May 18th 1701, the chaplain at Newgate preached a sermon on the text "For we must all appear before the judgement seat of Christ". Perhaps Kidd did not fully appreciate the irony of it, as he was still confident of a reprieve. Although a reprieve did arrive for eight of his crewmen, he and the Irishman Darby Mullins had their sentences confirmed. The following Tuesday, May 23rd they were taken from Newgate, together with a pair of condemned Frenchmen, in two horse-drawn carts. They were guarded by marshals and led by the Admiralty marshal who carried the Admiralty's symbol, a silver oar. It was quite clear that Kidd was not sober - to the shocked disapproval of the Newgate Chaplain. The procession, accompanied by a large crowd, made its way through the City and past the Tower of London to Execution Dock, Wapping.


The old Newgate prison, before it was burnt down during the Gordon Riots of 1780.


At this place there was a permanent gallows for pirates and it was customary to chain the corpses of the hanged to a post on the foreshore and let them "drown" in three tides as an example. Kidd spoke from the gallows and warned all ship-masters to learn from his fate. As the cart was drawn away from the scaffold to hang him, the rope around Kidd's neck broke, leaving him floundering in the Thames mud as the other condemned men hung. Still drunk, and now covered in mud, he had to be helped to his feet and man-handled back on to the gallows for a second time - the praying Chaplain in attendance. A new rope was hastily thrown around his neck and he was eventually hung. After the symbolic triple "drowning" his body was taken to Tilbury Point where it was left to hang in chains for two years.

--

24th May 1487 - Lambert Simnel, aged 10 years, was crowned as "King Edward VI" of England, Wales, Scotland and Ireland. He was crowned in Ireland, as that was one of the places where he gained support from the Yorkists.

However, despite his young age, it turned out that he was an imposter. The person who should be King - who was about the same age - had been imprisoned in the Tower of London.

This all led to the Battle of Stoke Field - one of the Wars of the Roses - between the supporters of Simnel, who were mainly Irish and Flemish, and the supporters of King Henry VII. Simnel's supporters were defeated.
------------------------------------------------------


Lambert Simnel (circa 1477 – circa 1534) was a child pretender to the throne of England. Together with Perkin Warbeck, he was one of two impostors who threatened the rule of Henry VII of England (reigned 1485–1509) during the last decade of the 15th century.

Lambert Simnel was born around 1477. Different sources have different claims of his parentage from a baker and tradesman to organ builder. At the age of about ten, he was taken as a pupil by an Oxford-trained priest named Roger Simon (or Richard or Symonds) who apparently decided to become a kingmaker. He tutored the boy in courtly manners and contemporaries described the boy as handsome.

Originally Simon intended to present Simnel as Richard of York, son of Edward IV. However, when he heard rumours that Edward, Earl of Warwick had died during his imprisonment in the Tower of London, he changed his mind. The real Edward was a boy of about the same age who was a genuine claimant to the throne because he was the son of George, Duke of Clarence.

Simon spread a rumour that Edward had actually fled from the tower and was under his guardianship. He gained some support from the House of York. He took Simnel to Ireland where there was still support of Yorkists and presented him to the Earl of Kildare. The Earl was willing to support the story and invade England to overthrow King Henry. On May 24, 1487 Simnel was crowned in Christchurch Cathedral, Dublin as "King Edward VI". He was approximately ten years of age. The Earl of Kildare collected an army of Irish soldiers under the command of Thomas Geraldine.

When Henry Tudor heard about the matter, he also knew that he had the real Edward of Warwick still imprisoned in the Tower. On February 2, 1487 he presented the real Edward in public in an attempt to prove that the young pretender was an impostor. Henry also declared a general pardon of all offences, including treason against himself, on the condition that offenders submit to him.

John de la Pole, Earl of Lincoln and designated successor to late King Richard III of England, joined the conspiracy against the king and fled to Flanders. There he claimed that he had taken part in young Warwick's escape. There he also met Lord Lovell who had supported a failed Yorkist uprising in 1486. Margaret of Burgundy collected 2000 Flemish mercenaries and shipped them to Ireland under the command of Martin Schwarz. They arrived in Ireland on May 5. Henry was informed of this and began to gather troops.

Simnel's supporters — mainly composed of Flemish and Irish troops — landed on Piel Island in the Furness area of Lancashire on June 5, 1487 and were joined with some English supporters. However, most local nobles with the exception of Thomas Broughton did not join them. They clashed with Henry's army on June 16 at the Battle of Stoke Field and were defeated. The Earl of Kildare was captured, and the Earl of Lincoln and Sir Thomas Broughton were killed. Lord Lovell went missing and there were rumours that he had escaped and hidden to avoid retribution. Simon avoided execution due to his priestly status but was imprisoned for life.

Henry VII pardoned young Simnel (probably because he had mostly been a puppet in the hands of adults) and gave him a job in the royal kitchen. When he grew older, he became a royal falconer. He died around 1534.

wikipedia.org

Also on this day -

1689 - The English Parliament passes the Act of Toleration protecting Protestants (Roman Catholics are intentionally excluded). This granted freedom of worship to Nonconformists

25th May 1659 - Richard Cromwell (aka "Tumbledown Dick"), the son of Oliver Cromwell, resigns as Lord Protector of England. This led to the Restoration of the Monarchy in 1660.
--------------------------------------------------



Richard Cromwell (October 4, 1626 – July 12, 1712) was the third son of Oliver Cromwell, and the second Lord Protector of England, Scotland and Ireland, for little over eight months, from September 3, 1658 until May 25, 1659. Richard Cromwell's enemies called him Tumbledown Dick.

Richard was an unlikely successor, coming to prominence only because his two elder brothers both died before their father. Having previously sat in Parliament, but only having joined the Council of State a year before his appointment as Protector, he had neither the political experience nor the interest required to maintain his position. He gave it up with little hesitation, resigning or "abdicating" after a demand by the Rump Parliament.

This was the beginning of a short period of restoration of the Commonwealth of England but led to a state of anarchy that resulted in the return of the exiled King Charles II of England and the English Restoration. Unlike his father, Richard was not held accountable for the death of King Charles I. He retired to obscurity, going into exile in continental Europe under the soubriquet of "John Clarke", but returning in 1680 to live out the remainder of his life in Britain.


wikipedia.org

Boy Richard Cromwell was extremely unremarkable unlike his father. You think the english would have chosen a better way to find a new "Lord Protector" rather then the way which already proved to be a failure.

26th May 1798 - the Battle of Tara Hill, during the 1798 Rebellion, was fought between the British and a group of Irish rebels. It was a heavy defeat for the rebels and the end of the rebellion in County Meath. Despite the fact that there were around 4000 rebels but only 700 British soldiers, the rebels had 500 casualties but the British had a mere 30!
-----------------------------------------------------


Aerial view of Tara Hill, County Meath.


The Battle of Tara Hill was fought on 26 May 1798 between British forces and Irish rebels involved in the Irish Rebellion of 1798, resulting in a heavy defeat for the rebels and the end of the rebellion in County Meath.

Background

Following the outbreak of the rebellion in neighbouring county Kildare, United Irishmen rebels in Meath began to assemble at the ancient hill of Tara, chosen as much for its historic and cultural symbolism as for the panoramic view it afforded of the surrounding countryside. The initial mobilisations had gone well for the rebels, with a force of 4,000 rebels gathered at the camp by early morning. A successful attack on a party of Reay Fencibles, on their way to bolster the garrison at Dublin, netted the baggage of the entire regiment. This proved to be a pyrrhic victory as when news of this humiliating loss reached the main body of the fencibles, they diverted course and made straight for Tara to avenge this loss.

Battle of Tara

Picking up yeomanry reinforcements along the way, the combined British force of about 700 troops lost no time in forming up at the bottom of the hill to attack the rebels who had posted themselves behind defenses such as old walls and ditches. An attack up the hill was quickly launched and met strong resistance from the rebels but the superior firepower of the military combined with a well-executed bayonet charge drove the rebels from the hill, dispersing them with much slaughter.

The loss to the British was some 30 dead and more wounded, with about 500 rebel dead and many wounded. The battle was notable for participation of a number of women in the rebel forces with at least one, Molly Weston (who died fighting on horseback), in a leadership position. The defeat was a devastating blow to the momentum of the rebellion as it prevented the spread of the rebellion northwards from Kildare.

Battles of the 1798 Rebellion

Ballymore-Eustace – Naas – Prosperous – Kilcullen – Carlow – Tara Hill – Oulart Hill – Newtownmountkennedy – Gibbet Rath – Three Rocks – Bunclody – Tuberneering – New Ross – Antrim – Arklow - Saintfield – Ballynahinch – Ovidstown – Foulksmills – Vinegar Hill – Ballyellis – Castlebar – Collooney – Ballinamuck – Killala


wikipedia.org

Also on this day -

1868 - Irish terrorist Michael Barrett becomes the last man to be publicly executed in Britain. He was hanged at Newgate gaol. Public executions were moved from Tyburn to the more controlled environment of Newgate in 1783 as the crowds at Tyburn often got unruly and difficult to control - such as people grabbing an arm or a leg to keep as a souvenir whilst the body was being quartered.

We should have had an elected Lord Protector. It wouldn have been more popular and may have lasted longer.

Instead, Cromwell gave Richard the job on his deathbed.

27th May 1541 - The execution of Margaret Pole, 8th Countess of Salisbury and the niece of both Edward IV and Richard III, aged 67. She was accused of treason - but the execution didn't go smoothly. She was dragged to the block, to be beheaded, but refused to lay her head on it. Her head had to be forced onto the block, but she still struggled so much that when the axe (or, as she was of noble birth, maybe a sword) was brought down, it cut through her shoulder rather than her neck. She then managed to leap from the block and run away. The executioner pursued her and managed to strike her 11 times until she died.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------





Margaret PoleMargaret Pole (August 14, 1473 – May 27, 1541), Countess of Salisbury, was the daughter of George Plantagenet, 1st Duke of Clarence and Isabella Neville. Her father was a brother of both Edward IV and Richard III.

Born at Farleigh Castle in Wiltshire, England, on August 14, 1473, she was the daughter of George Plantagenet, Duke of Clarence and Isabel, elder daughter of the "kingmaker" Earl of Warwick and the sister of Edward, Earl of Warwick. As the last male representative of the Yorkist line, Edward was seen as a danger to the new Lancastrian dynasty and was executed on the orders of King Henry VII on November 28, 1499. Around 1491, Henry VII had given Margaret in marriage to Sir Richard Pole, whose mother was the half-sister of the king's mother, Margaret Beaufort. At her husband's death in 1505, Margaret was left with five children, of whom the fourth, Reginald Pole, was to become cardinal and Archbishop of Canterbury.

The family fortunes were various. On his accession, King Henry VIII reversed her brother's attainder; and, in 1513, made her Countess of Salisbury in her own right. An Act of Restitution was also passed by which she came into possession of her ancestral domains. Henry VIII considered her the saintliest woman in England; after the birth of Princess Mary, later Queen Mary I, Margaret became her godmother and sponsor in confirmation and was afterwards appointed governess of the princess and her household. As the years passed there was talk of a marriage between the princess and the countess's son Reginald, who was still a layman. However, when the matter of the king's divorce from Katharine of Aragon began to be talked of, Reginald Pole boldly spoke out his mind in the affair and shortly afterwards withdrew from England. The princess was still in the countess's charge when Henry married Anne Boleyn, but when he was opposed in his efforts to have his daughter treated as illegitimate, he removed the countess from her post, though she begged to be allowed to follow and serve Mary at her own charge. She returned to court after the fall of Anne, but in 1530 Reginald Pole sent Henry a copy of his published treatise Pro ecclesiasticae unitatis defensione, in answer to questions put to him on the king's behalf by Thomas Cromwell, Cuthbert Tunstall, Thomas Starkey, and others. Besides being a theological reply to the questions, the book was a denunciation of the king's policies. Henry was enraged, and though the Countess and her eldest son had written to Reginald in reproof of his attitude and action, determined that the family should pay for the insult.

In November, 1538, her eldest son, Henry Pole, Baron Montagu, another son and other relatives were arrested on a charge of treason, though Thomas Cromwell had previously written that they had "little offended save that he [the Cardinal] is of their kin", they were committed to the Tower, and in January, with the exception of Geoffrey Pole, they were executed. Ten days after the arrest of her sons, Margaret herself, despite her age, was arrested and examined by William FitzWilliam, Earl of Southampton, and Thomas Goodrich, Bishop of Ely, but these reported to Thomas Cromwell that although they had "travailed with her" for many hours she would "nothing utter", and they were forced to conclude that either her sons had not made her a sharer in their "treason", or else she was "the most arrant traitress that ever lived". In Southampton's custody she was committed to Cowdray Park, near Midhurst, and there subjected to all manner of indignity. In May Cromwell introduced against her a Bill of Attainder, the readings of which were hurriedly got over, and at the third reading Cromwell produced a white silk tunic found in one of her coffers, which was embroidered on the back with the Five Wounds, and for this, which was held to connect her with the Northern Uprising, she was "attainted to die by act of Parliament" and also lost her titles. The other charges against her, to which she was never permitted to reply, had to do with the escape from England of her chaplain and the conveying of messages abroad. After the passage of the Act, she was removed to the Tower and there, for nearly two years, she was "tormented by the severity of the weather and insufficient clothing". In April, 1541, there was another insurrection in Yorkshire, and it was then determined to enforce without any further procedure the Act of Attainder passed in 1539. In some sense her execution was the continuation by Henry VIII of his father's programme of eliminating possible contenders for the throne.



Execution
She refused to the end to acknowledge that she was a traitor. A popular ballad at the time reads:

For traitors on the block should die,
I am no traitor, no, not I!
My faithfulness stands fast and so,
Towards the block I shall not go!
Nor make on step, as you shall see,
Christ in Thy Mercy, save Thou me!

On the morning of May 27, 1541 Margaret was told she was to die within the hour. She answered that no crime had been imputed to her; nevertheless she was taken from her cell to the place within the precincts of the Tower of London, where a low wooden block had been prepared. As Margaret was of noble birth, she was not executed before the populace, though there were about 150 witnesses. According to some accounts, the countess, who was 67 years old, frail and ill, was dragged to the block, but refused to lay her head on it, having to be forced down. As she struggled, the executioner's first blow made a gash in her shoulder rather than her neck. She then leapt from the block and ran away pursued by the executioner, being struck eleven times before she died.


Legacy
Her son, Reginald Cardinal Pole said that he would "...never fear to call himself the son of a martyr". She was later regarded by Catholics as such and was beatified in 1886 by Pope Leo XIII.

wikipedia.org

Also on this day -

1679
Britain passes the Habeas Corpus Act which makes it illegal to hold anyone in prison without a trial.

1829
The rowing of the first University Boat Race between Oxford and Cambridge on the River Thames in London.

1937
The Golden gate Bridge is opened.

28th May 1644 - My home town of Bolton, Lancashire, a Puritan stronghold, was attacked by Royalist troops, led by Prince Rupert and the Earl of Derby, during the English Civil War. They slaughtered up to 1000 of the town's innocent citizens and Bolton was the only place in England in which a mass slaughter like this occured during the Civil War. One report describes citizens -- not soldiers -- lined up so that a Royalist officer could run them through with his sword one by one. In 1651, the Earl of Derby was hanged for these crimes outside "Ye Olde Man and Scythe" public house in the town centre, the third oldest pub in England. To this day, a column with a cross on top stands in the exact place outside Ye Olde Man and Scythe were he was hanged.
----------------------------


James Stanley, Earl of Derby


James Stanley, Earl of Derby, was hanged outside Ye Olde Man and Scythe in Bolton town centre for leading the Bolton Massacre which claimed over 1000 lives.



The cross and plaque which stand outside Ye Olde Man and Scythe mark the exact spot where he was hanged when the Royalists lost the Civil War.

In the 17th century, Bolton was a Puritan stronghold and sided with the Parliamentarian cause against the Royalists. It is said that the Civil War began in Preston, the first battle was in Manchester, but at Bolton the fight was bloodier and at its most intense. Bolton suffered three attacks during the Civil War, led by James Stanley, the Earl of Derby and Prince Rupert. Bolton finally fell to the Royalists in 1644 when their forces entered the town and carried out the only massacre of the Civil Wars. After the war, when the Royalist cause was lost, Derby was tried and sentenced for the massacre. Ye Olde Man & Scythe pub is the site of the execution of James, the seventh Earl of Derby in 1651. A cross outside the pub bears plaques which relate stories of Bolton through the ages.
----------------

Prince Rupert, accompanied by the Earl of Derby approached Bolton on their way to relieve York. The town was renowned for its Puritanism and was held for Parliament by about 5,000 foot (soldiers).

Rupert may have wanted to pass the town by, but many of the attackers of Lathom House, which had been vigorously defended by Derby's wife, had fled to Bolton.

An early attack was beaten off by the defenders. One of Rupert's men was captured and hanged from the town walls on the grounds that he was an Irish Papist. This angered Rupert and after a series of furious attacks, the Royalists captured the town.

It is believed that few of the defenders were spared and well over 1,000 soldiers and citizens were killed.

Rupert records in his diary 'a great slaughter of the enemy'.

Rupert accepted the surrender of only 700 men who had taken refuge in a church.

One report describes citizens -- not soldiers -- lined up so that a Royalist officer could run them through with his sword one by one.

Other stories say that Royalist troops would burst into a house or shop and kill everyone inside. The very lack of eye-witness reports itself points to a massacre of everyone present, rather than planned "executions" with bystanders to report on what they had seen.

After the war, the Earl of Derby, who had been taken prisoner at the battle of Worcester, was taken to Chester, tried and sentenced for the massacre, although his crime was recorded as 'Treason'.

He was found guilty and it was decided to execute him at the scene of the crime in Bolton where he was then taken.

On 15th October 1651 James Stanley, 7th Earl of Derby was led out to the scaffold in Bolton.

There he made a short speech saying that what he had done had been 'for his King, his country and his Protestant faith'.

wikpedia.org

Also on this day -

1503 - The Treaty of Everlasting Peace between Scotland and England is signed. However, it would actually last for only 10 years.

--

France
May 28, 1789
the Abbé Sieyès legislated the Third Estate into the national assembly inviting the first and second to join.

29th May 1660 - The English Restoration. The Monarchy is restored and Charles II becomes the King. Charles returned from exile on May 23rd. He entered London on May 29th, his birthday. To celebrate "his Majesty's Return to his Parliament" May 29 was made a public holiday, popularly known as Oak Apple Day. He was crowned in 1661 and his Parliament was known as the Cavalier Parliament. Oak Apple Day (today) is still a major public holiday in England.
-----------------------------------------

Charles II - the first monarch to reign after the Monarchy came back.


The English Restoration or simply Restoration was an episode in the history of England beginning in 1660 when the English monarchy was restored under King Charles II after the English Civil War. The name Restoration may apply both to the actual event by which the monarchy was restored, and to the period immediately following the accession of Charles II.




End of the Protectorate
The Protectorate, which had preceded the Restoration and followed the Commonwealth, might have continued a little longer if Oliver Cromwell's son, Richard Cromwell, who was made Lord Protector on his father's death, had been capable of carrying on his father's policies. Richard Cromwell's main weakness was that he did not have the confidence of the army. After seven months the Army removed him and on May 6, 1659 it reinstalled the Rump Parliament. Charles Fleetwood was appointed a member of the Committee of Safety and of the Council of State, and one of the seven commissioners for the army. On June 9, 1659 he was nominated lord-general (commander-in-chief) of the Army. However, his power was undermined in parliament, which chose to disregard the army's authority in a similar fashion to the pre Civil War parliament. The Commons on October 12, 1659, cashiered John Lambert and other officers, and installed Fleetwood as chief of a military council under the authority of the speaker. The next day Lambert ordered that the doors of the House be shut and the members kept out. On October 26, a "Committee of Safety" was appointed, of which Fleetwood and Lambert were members. Lambert was appointed major-general of all the forces in England and Scotland, Fleetwood being general. Lambert was now sent, by the Committee of Safety, with a large force to meet George Monck, who was in command of the English forces in Scotland, and either negotiate with him or force him to come to terms.

It was into this atmosphere that Monck, governor of Scotland under the Cromwells, marched south with his army from Scotland. Lambert's army began to melt away, and he returned to London almost alone. Monck marched to London unopposed. The Presbyterian members, excluded in Pride's Purge of 1648, were recalled and on December 24 the Army restored the Long Parliament. Fleetwood was deprived of his command and ordered to appear before parliament to answer for his conduct. Lambert was sent to the Tower on March 3, 1660, from which he escaped a month later. Lambert tried to rekindle the civil war in favour of the Commonwealth by issuing a proclamation calling on all supporters of the "Good Old Cause" to rally on the battlefield of Edgehill. But he was recaptured by Colonel Richard Ingoldsby, a regicide who hoped to win a pardon by handing Lambert over to the new regime.




Restoration of Charles II
On April 4, 1660 in the Declaration of Breda Charles II made known the conditions of his acceptance of the crown of England. Monck organised the Convention Parliament, which met for the first time on April 25. On May 8 it proclaimed that King Charles II had been the lawful monarch since the execution of Charles I in January 1649[1]. Charles returned from exile on May 23[2]. He entered London on May 29th, his birthday. To celebrate "his Majesty's Return to his Parliament" May 29 was made a public holiday, popularly known as Oak Apple Day[3]. He was crowned at Westminster Abbey on 23 April 1661[2].

The Cavalier Parliament convened for the first time on May 8, 1661, and it would endure for over 17 years until its dissolution on January 24, 1679. Like its predecessor parliament, it was overwhelmingly Royalist and is also known as the Pensionary Parliament for the many pensions it granted to adherents of the King.



Opposition to the Restoration
Reprisals against the establishment which had developed during the interregnum were constrained under the terms of the Indemnity and Oblivion Act which became law on 29 August 1660. Nonetheless there were prosecutions against those accused of regicide, the direct participation in the trial and execution of King Charles I. Thirty one of the fifty nine Commissioners who had signed the death warrant were living. Pardons were offered to those who came over to the monarchy. Those who did not were tried. Nine were found guilty and suffered the fate of being hanged, drawn and quartered. The leading prosecutor at the trial of King Charles I, John Cook, was executed in a similar manner. The bodies of the regicides Cromwell, Bradshaw and Ireton which had been buried in Westminster Abbey were disinterred, hanged, drawn and quartered.

On October 14, 1660 Major-General Thomas Harrison a leader of the Fifth Monarchists was the first person to be found guilty of the regicide of Charles I as the seventeenth of fifty nine commissioners (Judges) to sign the death warrant in 1649. He was the first regicide to be hanged, drawn and quartered because he was considered by the new government to still represent a real threat to the re-established order. This threat was realised when on January 6, 1661, 50 Fifth Monarchists, headed by a wine-cooper named Thomas Venner, made an effort to attain possession of London in the name of "King Jesus." Most of the fifty were either killed or taken prisoner, and on January 19 and 21, Venner and ten others were hanged, drawn and quartered for high treason.



Restoration Britain
In general, however, Charles gained a reputation as an easy-going, fun-loving king, and represented a complete contrast to the restrictive rule of Cromwell. He enjoyed horse-racing and was a great patron of the arts and sciences.

Theatres reopened after having been closed during the protectorship of Oliver Cromwell, Puritanism lost its momentum, and the bawdy 'Restoration comedy' became a recognisable genre.




The republican new nobility
The Commonwealth's written constitutions gave to the Lord Protector the King's power to grant titles of honour. Cromwell created over thirty new knights. These were all declared invalid at the Restoration of Charles II. Many were regranted by the restored King, but being non-hereditary, these titles have long since become extinct.

Of the twelve Cromwellian baronetcies, Charles II regranted half of them. Only two now continue: Sir George Howland Francis Beaumont, 12th baronet, and Sir Richard Thomas Williams-Bulkeley, 14th baronet, are the direct successors of Sir Thomas Beaumont and Sir Griffith Williams.

Edmund Dunch was created Baron Burnell of East Wittenham in April 1658, but it was not regranted. The male line failed in 1719, so no one can lay claim to the title.

The one hereditary viscountcy Cromwell created (making Charles Howard Viscount Howard of Morpeth and Baron Gilsland) continues to this day. In April 1661 Howard was created Earl of Carlisle, Viscount Howard of Morpeth, and Baron Dacre of Gillesland. The present Earl is a direct descendant of this Cromwellian creation and Restoration recreation.

wikipedia.org

30th May 1381 - Essex peasants chase tax collector Thomas Bampton out of the village of Fobbing, eventually leading to the Peasants' Revolt led by Wat Tyler. Peasants in Essex and other counties in South East England were protesting against taxes. Amongst many things, they marched into London crossing London Bridge and they stormed the Tower of London, killing the Lord Chancellor (Simon of Sudbury), the Archbishop of Canterbury and the Lord Treasurer (Robert de Hales).
Wat Tyler, John Ball and the other leaders were eventually killed.
-------------------------------------------------------
The Peasants' Revolt, Tyler’s Rebellion or Great Rising of 1381 was one of a number of popular revolts in late medieval Europe and is a major event in the history of England. The names of some of its leaders, John Ball, Wat Tyler and Jack Straw, are still familiar even though very little is actually known about these individuals.



The end of the revolt: Wat Tyler killed by Walworth while Richard II watches, and a second image of Richard addressing the crowd

Events leading to the Revolt
The revolt was precipitated by heavy-handed attempts to enforce the third poll tax, first levied in 1377 supposedly to finance military campaigns overseas — a continuation of the Hundred Years' War initiated by King Edward III of England. The third poll tax, unlike the two earlier, was not levied on a flat rate basis (as in 1377) nor according to schedule (as in 1379), but in a manner that appeared more arbitrary and hence unfair. Equally unfair, and a longer-term factor, was the way the Statute of Laborers of 1351 was enforced. The Black Death, that ravaged England in 1348 (killing millions) and 1349 had greatly reduced the labour force, and as a consequence, labourers were able to demand enhanced terms and conditions. The Statute attempted to curb this by pegging wages and restricting the mobility of labour, but the probable effect was that labourers employed by lords were effectively exempted, but labourers working for other employers, both artisans and more substantial peasants, were liable to be fined or held in the stocks.




First protests
In June 1381, two groups of common people from the southeastern counties of Kent and Essex marched on London. The most vociferous of their leaders, Walter, or "Wat" Tyler, was at the head of a contingent from Kent. When the rebels arrived in Blackheath on June 12, the renegade Lollard priest, John Ball, preached a sermon including the famous question that has echoed down the centuries: "When Adam delved and Eve span, who was then the gentleman?"[1]. The following day the rebels, encouraged by the sermon, crossed London Bridge into the heart of the city. Meanwhile the 'Men of Essex' had gathered with Jack Straw at Great Baddow and had marched on London, arriving at Stepney. Instead of what was expected from a riot however, there was only a systematic attack on certain properties, many of them associated with John of Gaunt and/or the Hospitaller Order. On June 14, they are reputed to have been met by the young king himself, and to have presented him with a series of demands, including the dismissal of some of his more unpopular ministers and the effective abolition of serfdom. One of the more intriguing demands of the peasants was "that there should be no law within the realm save the law of Winchester". This is often said to refer to the statutes of the Charter of Winchester (1251), though it is sometimes considered to be a reference to the more equitable days of king Alfred the Great, when Winchester was the capital of England.


Richard II meets with the rebels in a work from Jean Froissart's Chronicles



Storming the Tower of London
At the same time, a group of rebels stormed the Tower of London— after likely being let in— and summarily executed those hiding there, including the Lord Chancellor (Simon of Sudbury, the Archbishop of Canterbury, who was particularly associated with the poll tax), and the Lord Treasurer (Robert de Hales, the Grand Prior of the Knights Hospitallers of England). The Savoy Palace of the king's uncle John of Gaunt was one of the London buildings destroyed by the rioters. Richard II agreed to reforms such as fair rents, and the abolition of serfdom.



Smithfield
At Smithfield, on the following day, further negotiations with the king were arranged, but on this occasion the meeting did not go according to plan. Wat Tyler left his Army and rode forth to parlay with the King and his party. Tyler, it is alleged by his killers, behaved most belligerently and dismounted his horse and called for a drink most rudely. In the ensuing dispute Tyler drew his dagger and William Walworth, the Mayor of London drew his sword and attacked Tyler, mortally wounding him in the neck. Seeing him surrounded by the King's entourage the Rebel Army was in uproar, but King Richard, seizing the opportunity, rode forth and promised the Rebels all was well, that Tyler had been knighted, and their demands would be met - they were to March to St John's Field's, where Wat Tyler would meet them. This they duly did, but the King was lying, the Nobles re-established their control with the help of a hastily organised militia of 7000, and most of the other leaders were pursued, captured and executed, including John Ball. Jack Straw turned on his associates under torture and betrayed many of them to the executioner - though it did not save him. Following the collapse of the revolt, the king's concessions were quickly revoked, and the tax was levied.

Despite its name, participation in the Peasants' Revolt was not confined to serfs or even to the lower classes. Although the most significant events took place in the capital, there were violent encounters throughout eastern England -- but those involved hastened to dissociate themselves in the months that followed.

Also on this day -

1431 - The English burn French peasant girl Joan of Arc at the stake.

wikipedia.org

31st May 1678 - The Godiva Procession begins in Coventry. This event, held annually ever since, re-enacts the moment that Lady Godiva rode through the city of Coventry on horseback and completely naked. Legend has it that she told the people of Coventry to stay indoors and to close their windows so that they couldn't see her when she rode through the city naked. But one man, a tailor, disobeyed and decided to get a glimpse of her passing by - and is where the expression "Peeping Tom" comes from.
-------------------------------------------------
Godiva (sometimes Godgifu) (c. 980 – September 10, 1067) was an Anglo-Saxon lady, who, according to legend, rode naked through the streets of Coventry in England in order to gain a remission of the oppressive toll imposed by her husband on his tenants.


Lady Godiva by John Collier, ca 1898

Legend
According to the story, Lady Godiva was the beautiful wife of Leofric III (968 – 1057), Earl of Mercia and lord of Coventry. The people of that city were suffering grievously under the earl's oppressive taxation. Lady Godiva appealed again and again to her husband, who obstinately refused to remit the tolls. At last, weary of her entreaties, he said he would grant her request if she would ride naked through the streets of the town. Lady Godiva took him at his word, and after issuing a proclamation that all persons should keep within doors or shut their windows, she rode through, clothed only in her long hair. One person disobeyed her proclamation, a tailor, ever afterwards known as Peeping Tom. He bored a hole in his shutters that he might see Godiva pass and is said to have been struck blind. Her husband kept his word and abolished the onerous taxes.

The oldest form of the legend has Godiva passing through Coventry market from one end to the other while the people were assembled, attended only by two female (clothed) riders. This version is given in Flores Historiarum by Roger of Wendover (died 1236), a somewhat gullible collector of anecdotes, who quoted from an earlier writer. The still later story, with its episode of Peeping Tom, appeared first among 17th century chroniclers. Whether the Lady Godiva of this story is the Godiva or Godgifu ("gift of God") of history is undecided.

Roger of Wendover may not have understood the power and rights of women in preconquest England. Godiva belonged to the second-wealthiest family in Britain at the time—second only to the Godwins—and she ruled Coventry in her own right at the time of the Domesday Book. Though she may have inherited the land from her husband, she did own her land herself. Some scholars speculate that she was also the harsh landlady.

It was customary at that time for penitents to make a public procession in only their shift—a sleeveless white garment similar to a slip today, and one which was certainly considered "underwear". Godiva may have repented of her harshness, traveled through town as a penitent, her people witnessing their feared landlady humilated in her shift. Thus, scholars speculate, Godiva's story may have passed into folk history to be recorded in a rather, but not substantially, romanticized version.

The claim that Godiva's long hair effectively hid her from sight is generally believed, like the story of Peeping Tom, to have been a later addition, but compare Rapunzel. Certain other thematic elements are familiar in myth and fable: the resistant Lord (Esther and Ahasuerus), the exacted promise, the stringent condition, the test of chastity. Even if Peeping Tom is a late addition, his being struck blind demonstrates the closely knit themes of the violated Mystery and the punished intruder (compare Diana and Actaeon).

It is also thought that Lady Godiva's "nakedness" may well refer to her riding through the streets stripped of her jewelery & trademark of her upper class rank.


A statue of Lady Godiva in Coventry.


Historical corroboration
Nevertheless, the fact that a lady of this name existed in the early part of the 11th century is certain, as evidenced by several ancient documents, such as the Stow charter, the Spalding charter, and the Domesday survey, though the spelling of the name varies considerably. It would appear from the chronicles of Ely, Liber Eliensis (end of 12th century), that she was a widow when Leofric married her in 1040. In or about that year she aided in the founding of a monastery at Stow, Lincolnshire. In 1043 she persuaded her husband to build and endow a Benedictine monastery at Coventry. Her mark, "di Ego Godiva Comitissa diu istud desideravi", was found on the charter given by her brother, Thorold of Bucknall, sheriff of Lincolnshire, to the Benedictine monastery of Spalding; and she is commemorated as benefactress of other monasteries at Leominster, Chester, Wenlock, Worcester, and Evesham. She is mentioned in the Domesday survey of 1085, as one of the few Anglo-Saxons to retain land after the conquest, and the only woman mentioned as a landholder. She probably died a few years later and was buried in one of the porches of the abbey church. Dugdale (1656) says that a window, with representations of Leofric and Godiva, was placed in Trinity Church, Coventry, about the time of Richard II.

The Godiva procession—a commemoration of the legendary ride instituted on May 31, 1678, as part of Coventry fair—was celebrated at intervals until 1826. From 1848 to 1887 it was revived, and continued into the 21st century.

The wooden effigy of Peeping Tom which, since 1812, has looked out on the world from a house at the northwest corner of Hertford Street, Coventry, represents a man in armour, and was probably an image of Saint George. It was removed from another part of the town to its present position.

From the mid 1980s a Coventry resident, Pru Porretta, has adopted a Lady Godiva role to promote community events and good works in the city. In 1999 Coventry councillors considered eliminating Poretta's character from the city's public identity 1. As of 2005 Porretta retains the status of Coventry's unofficial ambassador.


The Godiva Procession (except, for decency, she is fully clothed during the event).

wikipedia.org

1st June 1794 - the battle of the Glorious First of June was fought between the Royal Navy and the navy of Revolutionary France. As in the vast majority of battles between the British and the French, it was a British victory.
-------------------------------------------------

Lord Howe's action, or the Glorious First of June by Philippe-Jacques de Loutherbourg, painted 1795, shows the two flagships engaged on 1 June 1794. Queen Charlotte is to the left and Montagne to the right.


Combatants

Great Britain VS France
----------------------------

Commanders

Great Britain - Richard Howe, 1st Earl Howe

France - Louis Thomas Villaret de Joyeuse
--------------------------
Strength

Great Britain - 25 ships of the line

France - 26 ships of the line
-----------------------------

Casualties
Great Britain - 0 ships lost, 8 ships damaged, 287 men killed, 811 wounded

France - 7 ships lost, 13 damaged, 1,500 men killed, 2,000 wounded, 3,000 captured

(One less ship, but an overwhelming victory)
--------------------------------


Glorious First of June (also known as the Third Battle of Ushant and in French as the Bataille du 13 prairial an 2) was a naval battle fought in the Atlantic Ocean on June 1, 1794 between the Royal Navy and the navy of Revolutionary France. It was the first major naval battle of the French Revolutionary Wars.



Origin
The French people were suffering much distress from the bad harvest of the previous year, and a great convoy of 117 merchant ships laden with corn was expected from America. Admiral Vanstabel of the French navy had been sent to escort it with two ships of the line in December of 1793. He sailed with his charge from the Chesapeake on the 11th of April 1794. On the previous day six French ships of the line left Brest to meet Vanstabel in mid ocean. The British force designed to intercept the convoy was under Admiral Lord Howe, then in command of the channel fleet. He sailed from Spithead on the 2nd of May with 34 sail of the line and 15 smaller vessels, having under his charge nearly a hundred merchant ships which were to be seen clear of the Channel. On the 4th, when off the Lizard, the convoy was sent on its way protected by 8 line of battle ships and 6 or 7 frigates. Two of the line of battle ships were to accompany them throughout the voyage. The other six under Rear-admiral Montagu were to go as far as Cape Finisterre, and were then to cruise on the look-out for the French convoy between Cape Ortegal and Belle Isle. These detachments reduced the force under Lord Howe's immediate command to 26 of the line and 7 frigates. On the 5th of May Howe was off Ushant, and sent frigates to reconnoitre the harbour of Brest. They reported to him that the main French fleet, which was under the command of Villaret-Joyeuse, and was of 25 sail of the line, was lying at anchor in the roads. Howe then sailed to the latitude on which the convoy was likely to be met with, knowing that if the French admiral came out it would be to meet the ships with the food and cover them from attack. To seek the convoy was therefore the most sure way of forcing Villaret-Joyeuse to action. On 19 May the French Brest fleet sailed to meet the convoy. The British fleet continued cruising in the Bay of Biscay until the 18th. On the 19th Lord Howe returned to Ushant and again reconnoitred Brest. It was then seen that Villaret-Joyeuse had gone to sea. He had sailed with his whole force on the 16th and had passed close to the British fleet on the 17th, unseen in a fog. On the 19th the French admiral was informed by the Patriote (74) that Nielly had fallen in with, and had captured, the British frigate Castor 32, under Captain Thomas Troubridge, together with a convoy from Newfoundland. On the same day Villaret-Joyeuse captured part of a Dutch convoy of 53 sail from Lisbon. On the 19th a frigate detached by Admiral Montagu joined Howe. It brought information that Montagu had recaptured part of the Newfoundland convoy, and had learnt that Nielly was to join Vanstabel at sea, and that their combined force would be 9 sail of the line. Montagu himself had steered to cruise on the route of the convoy between the 45th and 47th degrees of north latitude. Howe now steered to meet his subordinate who, he considered, would be in danger from the main French fleet. On the 21st he recaptured some of the Dutch ships taken by Villaret-Joyeuse. From them he learnt that on the 19th the French fleet had been in latitude 47 46 N. and in longitude 11 22 N. and was steering westward. Judging that Montagu was too far to the south to be in peril from Villaret-Joyeuse, and considering him strong enough to perform the duty of intercepting the convoy, Lord Howe decided to pursue the main French fleet. The wind was changeable and the weather hazy.

On the 1st of June (13 prairial An 2 in the French Revolutionary calendar) they were in the same relative positions, and at about a quarter past eight Howe bore down on the French, throwing his whole line on them at once from end to end, with orders to pass through from windward to leeward, and so to place the British ships on the French ships' line of retreat. It was a bold departure from the then established methods of fighting, and most honourable in a man of sixty-eight, who had been trained in the old school. Its essential merit was that it produced a close mêlée, in which the better average gunnery and seamanship of the British fleet would tell. Lord Howe's orders were not fully obeyed by all his captains, but a signal victory was won. The battle rapidly turned into a general mêlée which lasted all day. The French ships Sans-Pareil, Juste, America, Impétueux, Northumberland, and Achille were taken, and the Vengeur du Peuple sank after a four-hour duel with HMS Brunswick. When the French withdrew, many of the British ships were in no condition to pursue: Defence and Marlborough were completely dismasted and had to be towed back to port.

Aboard the Tremendous, Mrs Daniel Mackenzie gave birth to a boy, Daniel "Tremendous" Mackenzie, who was later awarded the Naval General Service medal in recognition of his presence at the action (with a rating of "baby").



Aftermath
The convoy escaped capture, having passed over the spot on which the action of the 28th May was fought, on the following day, and it anchored at Brest on the 3rd of June. Its safe arrival went far to console the French for their defeat. The failure to stop it was forgotten in England in the pleasure given by the victory.

The French had lost 7 ships, with a further 13 severely damaged, and had suffered perhaps 1,500 killed, 2,000 wounded and 3,000 captured, while the British had 8 seriously damaged ships, 287 killed and 811 wounded.

Both sides could claim a victory: the British in the tactical battle itself, but the French achieved the strategic object of their campaign, since the grain convoy reached Brest safely.

Strategically the battle was a victory for the British: the French navy never again tried to fight a convoy through the British blockade, resorting to blockade-running, privateering and trade through neutral countries.
----------------------------
Also on this day -

1542 - the approximate date of the start of the War of the Rough Wooing between England and Scotland which last to 1550. The Scots won a limited victory at the Battle of Ancrum Moor, but then the English won a more serious victory at the Battle of Pinkie.

wikipedia.org

2nd June 1953 - the Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II. This event also marked the dawn of the television age - the first mass TV audience of all time tuned in to watch her coronation. She was only 27 years old when she became Queen.
---------------------------------



Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II, 2nd June 1953. Her Coronation was a bright spot in a country suffering from rationing and the rebuilding of its bombed towns and cities.



Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary Windsor) (born 21 April 1926) is Queen of sixteen independent nations known as the Commonwealth Realms. These are Antigua and Barbuda, Australia, the Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Canada, Grenada, Jamaica, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, the Solomon Islands, Tuvalu, and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. By the Statute of Westminster 1931 she holds these positions equally; no one nation takes precedence over any other (so she is no more Britain's Queen than she is Canada's Queen). She is the world's only monarch who is simultaneously Head of State of more than one independent nation, with realms in Europe, North and Central America, the Caribbean, and Oceania. She is one of the most powerful heads of state in the world although she exercises little executive power personally (probably THE most powerful, more so than even America's George W Bush).

She became Queen of the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, Pakistan and Ceylon upon the death of her father, King George VI, on 6 February 1952. As other colonies of the British Commonwealth (now Commonwealth of Nations) attained independence from the UK during her reign she acceded to the newly created thrones as Queen of each respective realm so that throughout her 54 years on the throne she has been Monarch of 32 nations. Elizabeth II has seen a number of her former territories and realms leave this shared relationship and become kingdoms under a different dynasty, or republics.

Today about 128 million people live in the 16 countries of which she is head of state.

She also holds the positions of Head of the Commonwealth, Lord High Admiral (of the Royal Navy), Supreme Governor of the Church of England and Lord of Mann (the Head of State of the Isle of Man). Following tradition, she is also styled Duke of Lancaster and Duke of Normandy.

She is currently the second-longest-serving head of state in the world, after King Bhumibol of Thailand and the third-longest serving British monarch (after George III, and Queen Victoria). Her reign of over half a century has seen ten different Prime Ministers of the United Kingdom and numerous Prime Ministers in the other Commonwealth Realms of which she is or was Head of State.


Elizabeth was born at 17 Bruton Street in Mayfair, London on 21 April 1926. Her father was The Prince Albert, Duke of York (later King George VI), the second eldest son of King George V and Queen Mary. Her mother was The Duchess of York (née Lady Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon), the daughter of Claude George Bowes-Lyon, 14th Earl of Strathmore and Kinghorne and his wife, the Nina Cecilia Cavendish-Bentinck, the Countess of Strathmore and Kinghorne.

She was baptised in the Music Room of Buckingham Palace by Cosmo Lang, the then Archbishop of York and her godparents were King George and Queen Mary, the Princess Royal, the Duke of Connaught, the Earl of Strathmore and Lady Elphinstone.



"Princess Lilibet" (here spelled "Lilybet") made the cover of Time in 1929, at age three.

Elizabeth was named after her mother, while her two middle names are those of her paternal great-grandmother Queen Alexandra and grandmother Queen Mary respectively. As a child her close family knew her as ‘Lilibet’.

As a granddaughter of the British sovereign in the male line, she held the title of a British princess with the style Her Royal Highness. Her full style was Her Royal Highness Princess Elizabeth of York. At the time of her birth, she was third in the line of succession to the crown, behind her father and her uncle, the Prince of Wales (later King Edward VIII). Although her birth generated public interest, no one could have predicted that she would become Queen. It was widely assumed that her uncle, the Prince of Wales, would marry and have children in due course. Had Edward stayed on the throne and produced no heirs (which would have been likely due to his wife Wallis Simpson's reproductive issues), Elizabeth would still have become Queen



Succession
King George's health declined during 1951 and Elizabeth frequently stood in for him at public events. She visited Greece, Italy and Malta (where Philip was then stationed) during the year. In October she toured Canada and visited President Harry S. Truman in Washington, DC. In January 1952 Elizabeth and Philip set out for a tour of Australia and New Zealand. They had reached Kenya when word arrived of the death of her father, on 6 February 1952, from lung cancer.

At the moment she became aware she was now queen, she was in a treetop hotel; a unique circumstance for any such event. She was the first British monarch since the Act of Union in 1801 to be out of the country at the moment of succession, and also the first in modern times not to know the exact time of her accession (because George VI had died in his sleep at an unknown time). The Treetops Hotel, where she "went up a princess and came down a queen", is now a very popular tourist retreat in Kenya. The following year, the Queen's grandmother, Queen Mary, died of lung cancer on March 24, 1953. Reportedly, the Dowager Queen's dying wish was that the coronation not be postponed. Elizabeth's coronation took place in Westminster Abbey on 2 June 1953.



Life as Queen


Elizabeth II wearing the Imperial State Crown and fur cape and holding the Sceptre with the Cross and the Orb at her Coronation (2 June 1953).


After the Coronation, Elizabeth and Philip moved to Buckingham Palace in central London. It is believed, however, that like many of her predecessors she dislikes the Palace as a residence and considers Windsor Castle, west of London, to be her home. She also spends time at Balmoral Castle in Scotland and at Sandringham House in Norfolk.

Queen Elizabeth is the most widely travelled head of state in history. In 1953–54 she and Philip made a six-month round-the-world tour, becoming the first reigning monarch to circumnavigate the globe, and also the first to visit Australia, New Zealand and Fiji (which she visited again during the 1977 jubilee). In October 1957 she made a state visit to the United States and toured Canada, opening the first session of the 23rd parliament. In 1959 she made a tour of Canada, as well as undertaking a state visit to the United States as Queen of Canada, hosting the return dinner for then US President Dwight D. Eisenhower at the Canadian embassy in Washington. In February 1961 she visited Ankara as the guest of Turkish President Cemal Gürsel and later toured India and Pakistan for the first time. She has made state visits to most European countries and to many outside Europe. She regularly attends Commonwealth Heads of Government meetings.

At the time of Elizabeth's accession there was much talk of a "new Elizabethan age". Elizabeth's role has been to preside over the United Kingdom as it has shared world economic and military power with a growing host of independent nations and principalities. As nations have developed economically and in literacy, Queen Elizabeth has witnessed over the past 50 years a gradual transformation of the British Empire into its modern successor, the Commonwealth. She has worked hard to maintain links with former British possessions, and in some cases, such as South Africa, she has played an important role in retaining or restoring good relations.

Despite a series of controversies about the rest of the royal family, particularly the marital difficulties of her children throughout the 1980s and 1990s, Queen Elizabeth remains a remarkably uncontroversial figure and is generally well respected by the people of her Realms. However, her public persona remains formal, though more relaxed than it once was.

Elizabeth remains a highly respected head of state. However, she and her family have come under increasing pressure from UK based newspapers. In 2002 she celebrated her Golden Jubilee, marking the 50th anniversary of her accession to the Throne. The year saw an extensive tour of the Commonwealth Realms, including numerous parades and official concerts.

The Jubilee year coincided with the deaths, within a few months, of Elizabeth's mother and sister. Elizabeth's relations with her children, while still somewhat distant, have become much warmer since these deaths. She is particularly close to her daughter-in-law Sophie, The Countess of Wessex. She is known to have disapproved of Prince Charles's long-standing relationship with Camilla Parker-Bowles, but with their recent marriage, has come to accept it. On the other hand, she is very close to her grandchildren, noticeably Prince William and Zara Phillips.

In 2003 Elizabeth, who is often described as robustly healthy, underwent three operations. She had two operations by the end of the year concerning each of her knees, and also had several lesions removed from her face. This had prompted some debate in the media about whether the evolving monarchy should have monarchs abdicating as in some other nations, or even enforce a retirement age for reigning monarchs. In June 2005 she was forced to cancel several engagements after contracting what the Palace described as a bad cold. Nonetheless the Queen has been described as being in excellent health and is rarely ill.

On Friday April 21, 2006 the Queen turned 80, making her the third oldest reigning monarch in British and Commonwealth history. While she has begun to hand over some public duties to her children, as well as to other members of the royal family, the Palace has made it clear that she intends to do as much as she can until she is physically unable.

In early 2006, reports began to surface that the Queen planned to significantly reduce her official duties, though she has made it clear that she has no intention of abdicating. It is believed by both the press and palace insiders that Prince Charles will start to perform many of the day-to-day duties of the Monarch, while the Queen will effectively go into retirement (but will fall short of abdication). It was later confirmed by the Palace that Prince Charles will begin to hold the regular audiences with the Prime Minister and other Commonwealth leaders, but also that while the Queen would be increasing the length of her weekends by two days, she would continue with public duties well into the future. Buckingham Palace is also reported to be considering giving the Prince more access to government papers, and is to allow him to preside over more investitures, meet more foreign dignitaries and take the place of the Queen in welcoming ambassadors at the Court of St. James's.

It has been rumoured that her recent trip to Canada and Australia will be amongst her last visits to her Commonwealth Realms, though both the Canadian and Australian governments and the Palace have denied it.

Despite her good health and intention to stay on the throne, there are signs that it may be near the final years of the Queen's reign. Many saw the wedding of the Prince of Wales to Camilla as a message from the Queen to that effect – by allowing Charles to marry, she is attempting to ensure that Charles' succession to the throne will go as smoothly as possible. In 2004, a copy of the Queen's newly revised funeral plans were stolen, much to the Queen's anger. And for the first time in September 2005, a mock version of the Queen's funeral march was held in the middle of the night (this was also done once a year after the late Queen Mother turned 80).

If the Queen lives until 21 December 2007, she will become the oldest reigning monarch in both British and the Commonwealth Realms' history, surpassing King George III and Queen Victoria, both of whom died before the age of 82.

Should she still be reigning on September 9, 2015 at the age of 89, her reign will surpass that of Queen Victoria and she will become the longest reigning monarch in British history. If she lives that long, and the Prince of Wales does also, he would be the oldest to succeed to the throne, passing William IV, who was 64.

Shortly before her 80th birthday, polls were conducted that showed the majority of the British public wish for the Queen to remain on the throne until her death. But some are not keen on the idea as they feel the Queen has become an institution within herself.




wikipedia.org

3rd June 1647 - King Charles I is captured by Parliamentary (or Roundhead) forces during the English Civil War. He was put on trial and eventually beheaded in 1649, leading to the formation of an English Republic from 1649 - 1660.
----------------------------------------------------


King Charles I, 1600-1649
King of England, Scotland and Ireland whose refusal to compromise over complex religious and political situations led to civil war, his own execution and the abolition of the Monarchy.


Soldier of the New Model Army, the new army that was created by Parliament to fight the Royalists during the Civil War. A New Model Navy was also created. Parliament's new army was planned to comprise of 22,000 men: twelve regiments of foot of 1,200 men each in the proportion two-thirds musketeers, one-third pikemen; eleven regiments of horse of 600 men each, one regiment of 1,000 dragoons (mounted infantrymen) and an artillery train of 50 guns.



The second son of James VI of Scotland, I of England and Anne of Denmark, Charles was born at Fife in Scotland on 19 November 1600. His father succeeded Queen Elizabeth I and came to the throne of England as King James I in 1603. Charles was created Duke of Albany at his baptism (December 1600) and Duke of York in 1605. He was placed in the care of Lord and Lady Fyvie until the age of four, then moved to England where he was brought up in the household of Sir Robert and Lady Carey. As a child, Charles suffered from weak ankle joints (probably the result of rickets) which slowed his physical development. He was also slow in learning to speak. He outgrew these defects, except for a slight stammer which he never overcame. His education was overseen by Thomas Murray, a Scottish Presbyterian who later became Provost of Eton. Charles was a serious student who excelled at languages, rhetoric and divinity.

Charles was overshadowed by his brilliant elder brother Prince Henry, to whom he was devoted, but Henry died when Charles was 12 years old. Charles and his sister Elizabeth mourned Henry together, which created a bond between them that affected English foreign policy after Elizabeth married the Elector of the Palatinate. Henry's death made Charles heir to the throne of England, Scotland and Ireland. By strength of will, he overcame his physical weaknesses to become a good horseman and huntsman. He developed sophisticated tastes in the arts and earnestly applied himself to his religious devotions. Created Prince of Wales in 1616, he was instructed by King James in every aspect of ruling a kingdom. With a profound belief that Kings were appointed by God to rule by Divine Right, Charles succeeded as the second Stuart King of England in 1625.

Charles came to the throne amid pressure from English Protestants for intervention against Spain and the Catholic powers in the religious wars raging in Europe (the Thirty Years War, 1618-48 ). He allowed England's foreign policy to be directed by the unpopular Duke of Buckingham, who launched a series of disastrous military expeditions against Spain and France with the aim of indirectly assisting the Palatinate. Charles dissolved his first two Parliaments when they attempted to impeach Buckingham but he was forced to call a third because he needed funds to pursue his warlike policies. In 1628, Charles' opponents formulated the Petition of Right as a defence against the King's arbitrary use of his powers. Charles grudgingly accepted the Petition in the hope that Parliament would grant him subsidies, but in practice he ignored its provisions.


After the assassination of Buckingham in 1628, critics in Parliament turned their attention to Charles' religious policy. He angrily dismissed his third Parliament in 1629, imprisoned several of his leading opponents, and declared his intention of ruling alone. The eleven-year period of the King's Personal Rule was also described as the "Eleven Year Tyranny". It was initially successful — during the turmoil of the Civil Wars, many people looked back upon it as a golden age of peace and prosperity. Charles had made peace with Spain and France by 1630. Trade and commerce grew; the King's finances were stable by 1635. This enabled him to commission great works of art by Rubens and Van Dyck, and also to build up the Royal Navy for England's defence. But without Parliament to grant legal taxes, Charles was obliged to raise income by obscure and highly unpopular means including forced loans, the sale of commercial monopolies and, most notoriously of all, Ship Money. Along with Charles' controversial religious policies, these measures alienated many natural supporters of the Crown, including powerful noblemen like Lord Saye and Sele, and wealthy landowners like John Hampden.

In religion, Charles favoured the elaborate and ritualistic High Anglican form of worship. He appointed William Laud Archbishop of Canterbury in 1633. Laud insisted upon strict compliance to the established tenets of the Church and vigorously supported the King's Divine Right. Much of the Laudian liturgy was interpreted by Puritans as being dangerously close to Roman Catholic practices.

The King's marriage to the French Catholic princess Henrietta Maria in 1625 had also caused consternation amongst English Protestants, particularly as she was allowed to practise her religion openly and freely. In some quarters, Henrietta Maria's influence over the King and the royal children was regarded as part of an international Papist conspiracy against the Protestant faith.

Although Charles himself was high-minded and devout, his religious policies were deeply divisive and turned Puritans like Pym and Cromwell against him. In collaboration with Archbishop Laud, he insisted upon religious conformity across England, Scotland and Ireland. This went disastrously wrong when the Anglican liturgy and Laudian Prayer Book were forced upon the Scottish Kirk in 1637, resulting in the creation of the Scottish National Covenant against interference in religion, and the Bishops' Wars between the two nations. In order to finance war against the Scots, Charles was obliged to recall Parliament in 1640, bringing his eleven-year personal rule to an end.

The strength of feeling against the King's policies in Church and State resulted in vehement opposition from the Short Parliament of April 1640 and its successor the Long Parliament. Rather than attack the King himself, however, Parliament impeached and condemned to death his principal ministers Archbishop Laud and the Earl of Strafford, with Charles doing little to help them.

In November 1641, news of the Irish uprising reached London, provoking a crisis over whether King or Parliament should control the army that was needed to quell the rebellion. Against a background of riots and civil unrest, the King and Royal Family were driven from London in January 1642 following Charles' disastrous attempt to arrest the Five Members regarded as his leading opponents in Parliament. During the spring and summer of 1642, as King and Parliament appealed for the support of the nation and manoeuvred to gain control of the armed forces, a violent confrontation became inevitable. King Charles raised his standard at Nottingham Castle on 22 August 1642, which was his call-to-arms and the beginning of the First Civil War. Ironically, the navy that Charles had built on the proceeds of Ship Money declared for Parliament. Having lost London to the Parliamentarians, Charles set up his court and military headquarters at Oxford.

Although he lacked military experience, Charles was courageous and developed strategic skills as the war went on. He personally commanded the army that defeated Sir William Waller at Cropredy Bridge, then pursued and defeated the Earl of Essex at Lostwithiel in the summer of 1644. But the Royalist war effort was hampered by arguments and jealousies amongst its senior officers, with Charles himself frequently indecisive or capricious. He was easily swayed by his counsellors, notably Lord Digby, who was himself conducting a personal vendetta against Prince Rupert. When the King attempted to bring government troops over from Ireland, Parliament mounted a successful propaganda campaign, raising fears of a Catholic conspiracy which greatly damaged the Royalist cause. The combination of Parliament's alliance with the Scottish Covenanters and the formation of the professionally-run New Model Army brought about the defeat of the Royalists in 1645-6.

Charles fled from Oxford in April 1646 and surrendered to the Scottish army rather than to Parliament. He attempted to exploit divisions between the Parliamentarians and their allies, continually involving himself in plots and intrigues with the exiled Henrietta Maria in the vain hope of gaining military help from Ireland and France. Charles failed to recognise the damage done to his cause by his association with foreigners and Catholics. The Scots handed him over to Parliament for money in January 1647. The New Model Army — which was itself in disagreement with the Presbyterian faction in Parliament — secured the King in April 1647.

Charles was held at Hampton Court Palace, where he continued to play off the Army, Parliament and Scots against one another. He hoped that the Monarchy would be seen as a beacon of stability amongst the political turmoil, but his obstructiveness and duplicity in negotiations alienated Cromwell and others who had been anxious to reach a settlement. Believing that Army radicals were planning to murder him, Charles escaped from Hampton Court in November 1647. He went to the Isle of Wight where he sought the protection of the governor, Colonel Hammond, intending to take ship from there to France. Torn between loyalty to the King and his duty to Parliament, Hammond confined King Charles at Carisbrooke Castle.

Refusing to compromise over a settlement with the Army or with Parliament, Charles turned to the Scots. Under the terms of the Engagement signed in December 1647, Charles promised to impose the Covenant in England in exchange for a Scottish army to fight against Parliament. The Marquis of Argyll and other leading Scottish Presbyterians opposed the Engagement because Charles refused to take the Covenant personally, but Argyll's rival the Duke of Hamilton put himself at the head of the Engager army and prepared to invade England. The Scottish invasion and simultaneous Royalist uprisings in England and Wales resulted in the short but bitterly-fought Second Civil War, culminating in Cromwell's victory over the Scots at the battle of Preston in August 1648.

Army officers were furious that Charles could deliberately provoke a second war when his defeat in the first had been so clear an indication of God's favour to the Parliamentarian cause. Tired of his deceptions and intrigues, the Army denounced King Charles as the "Man of Blood". Parliament was purged of Presbyterian sympathisers and moderates in December 1648 and left with a small "Rump" of MPs that was totally dependent on the Army. The Rump appointed a High Court of Justice in January 1649 and Charles was charged with high treason against the people of England. The King's trial opened on 20 January. He refused to answer the charges, saying that he did not recognise the authority of the High Court, but he was found guilty and sentenced to death on 27 January 1649. The King was beheaded on a scaffold outside the Banqueting House at Whitehall on 30 January.


Charles I loses his head. 30th January 1649. One 17 year old watching the execution said the crowd made the most terrible groan he had ever heard when the King's head was chopped off.


The King's execution shocked the whole of Europe. He was buried on 9 February at Windsor rather than Westminster Abbey to avoid the possibility of public disorder. Charles' personal dignity during his trial and execution had won him much sympathy. His death created a cult of martyrdom around him, which was encouraged by the publication of a book of his supposed meditations during his final months, Eikon Basilike. The ideal of Charles the Martyr helped to sustain the Royalist cause throughout the Commonwealth and Protectorate years. After the Restoration of the Monarchy in 1660, it was sanctified in the Anglican Church. To this day, wreaths of remembrance are laid on the anniversary of King Charles' death at his statue, which faces down Whitehall to the site of his beheading.

--

4th June 1738 - King George III ("Farmer George"/"Mad King George") is born. He's the Monarch who lost the American colonies. He was King of Great Britain and King of Ireland, and then King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland when Ireland joined the Union in 1801. He was also, I suppose, the King of the 13 American colonies and other British territories. He's Britain's 2nd-longest reigning monarch ever - surpassed only by Queen Victoria (his granddaughter), although Queen Elizabeth II is not far behind. He ruled for 59 years and Elizabeth II has ruled for 54 years. He also ended up going completely insane and mad.
----------------------------------------------------


George III (George William Frederick) (4 June 1738 – 29 January 1820) was King of Great Britain and King of Ireland from 25 October 1760 until 1 January 1801, and thereafter King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland until his death. He was concurrently Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg, and thus Elector (and later King) of Hanover. The Electorate became the Kingdom of Hanover on 12 October 1814. George was the third British monarch of the House of Hanover, but the first to be born in Britain and use English as his first language. During George III's reign, Britain lost many of its colonies in North America, which became the United States. Also during his reign, the realms of Great Britain and Ireland were joined together to form the United Kingdom.


Later in his reign George III suffered from recurrent and eventually permanent mental illness. It is thought now that he suffered from mental and nervous disorders as a consequence of the blood disease porphyria, which struck several British monarchs. Recently, owing to studies showing high levels of the poison arsenic in King George's hair, arsenic is also thought to be a possible cause of King George's insanity and health problems. After a final relapse in 1811, George's eldest son, The Prince George, Prince of Wales ruled as Prince Regent. Upon George's death, the Prince of Wales succeeded his father as George IV.

George III has been nicknamed Farmer George, for "his plain, homely, thrifty manners and tastes" and because of his passionate interest in agriculture


Early life
His Royal Highness Prince George of Wales was born prematurely at Norfolk House in London at 7:45 A.M. on June 4, 1738. He was the son of Frederick, Prince of Wales, and the grandson of George II. Prince George's mother was Augusta of Saxe-Gotha.

Because Prince George was born prematurely, he was baptised that same day at Norfolk House by the Bishop of Oxford, Thomas Secker. He was publicly baptised again at Norfolk House by Secker, on 4 July 1738. His godparents were the King of Sweden (for whom Lord Baltimore stood proxy), the Duke of Saxe-Gotha (for whom the Duke of Chandos stood proxy) and the Queen of Prussia (for whom Lady Charlotte Edwin, a daughter of the Duke of Hamilton, stood proxy).

George II and the Prince of Wales had an extremely poor relationship. Prince George was consequently isolated from court in his early years. In 1751 the Prince of Wales died from a head injury, and Prince George became the Duke of Edinburgh. The new Duke of Edinburgh was Heir Apparent to the Throne, and was subsequently created Prince of Wales. His mother, now the Dowager Princess of Wales, mistrusted her father-in-law; thus, she kept the Prince of Wales separate from his grandfather. An important influence on the new Prince of Wales' childhood was John Stuart, 3rd Earl of Bute, who would later serve as Prime Minister.

---------------------
Several changes were made to the structure of the British government after the loss of the colonies. Since 1660, there had been two chief cabinet officials, the Secretary of State for the Southern Department and the Secretary of State for the Northern Department. The former was responsible for Southern England, Ireland, and relations with non-Protestant European nations, and the latter for Northern England, Scotland, and relations with Protestant European nations. The Secretary of State for the Southern Department was formerly responsible for the colonies, but this responsibility was transferred to the Secretary of State for the Colonies in 1768. All three positions were abolished after the British lost in North America. They were replaced with two new positions, the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs (Foreign Secretary) and Secretary of State for the Home Office (Home Secretary).

In 1782, after 12 years in office, the ministry of Lord North ended. The Whig Lord Rockingham became Prime Minister for the second time, but died within months. The King then chose William Petty, 2nd Earl of Shelburne to replace him. Charles James Fox, however, refused to serve under Lord Shelburne, and demanded the appointment of William Henry Cavendish-Bentinck, 3rd Duke of Portland. In 1783, the House of Commons forced Lord Shelburne from office and his government was replaced by the Fox-North Coalition. The Duke of Portland became Prime Minister; Fox and Lord North, Foreign Secretary and Home Secretary respectively, really held power, with the Duke of Portland acting as a figurehead.

George III was distressed by the attempts to force him to appoint ministers not of his liking. But the Portland ministry quickly built up a majority in the House of Commons, and could not be easily displaced. He was, however, extremely dissatisfied when the government introduced the India Bill. Immediately after the House of Commons passed it, George informed the House of Lords that he would regard any peer who voted for the bill as his enemy. On 17 December 1783, the bill was rejected by the Lords; on the next day, the Portland ministry was dismissed, and William Pitt the Younger was appointed Prime Minister. George III dissolved Parliament in March 1784; the subsequent election gave Pitt a firm mandate.




Later life

The Prince George, Prince of Wales, acted as Prince-Regent from 1811 to 1820.In 1810, George III became dangerously ill, the malady possibly having been triggered by the death of his youngest and favourite daughter, Princess Amelia, from erysipelas or porphyria. Arsenic poisoning is also a possible cause. By 1811, George III had become permanently insane and was locked away at Windsor Castle until his death. Sometimes speaking for many hours without pause, he claimed to talk to angels and once greeted an oak tree as King Frederick William III of Prussia. His doctors gave him James's Powder (calomel and tartar emetic) and bled him regularly. They also advised him to bathe in the sea (thus encouraging seaside holidays).

Parliament then passed the Regency Act 1811, to which the Royal Assent was granted by the Lords Commissioners, appointed under the same irregular procedure as was adopted in 1788. The Prince of Wales acted as Regent for the remainder of George III's life.

Spencer Perceval was assassinated in 1812 (the only British Prime Minister to have suffered such a fate) and was replaced by Robert Banks Jenkinson, 2nd Earl of Liverpool. Lord Liverpool oversaw British victory in the Napoleonic Wars. The subsequent Congress of Vienna led to significant territorial gains for Hanover, which was upgraded from an electorate to a kingdom.

Meanwhile, George's health deteriorated. Over the Christmas of 1819, he suffered a further bout of madness and spoke nonsense for 58 hours, then sank into a coma. On 29 January 1820, he died, blind, deaf and insane, at Windsor Castle. George lived for over 81 years and reigned for more than 59 years — in each case, more than any other English or British monarch until that point. This record has been surpassed only once, by George's granddaughter Queen Victoria. George III's reign was longer than the reigns of all three of his immediate predecessors (Queen Anne, King George I and King George II) combined. George III was buried on 16 February in St. George's Chapel, Windsor. His death came six days after that of his fourth son, Prince Edward Augustus, the father of Queen Victoria.

George was followed by his eldest son George IV. Next came another of George III's sons, who became William IV. William IV, too, died without legitimate children, leaving the throne to his niece, Victoria, the last monarch of the House of Hanover.

--------------------------------------------
Legacy
While tremendously popular in Britain, George was hated by the rebellious American colonists. The United States Declaration of Independence held him personally responsible for the political problems faced by the United States. The Declaration does not blame either Parliament or the ministers, and exposure to the views expressed in the Declaration has led the American public to perceive George as a tyrant. This view is a historical consequence of the political climate of the times, wherein the true state of the King's governing powers and mental health were practically unknown by the general public, and even less so by the distant North American colonies ruled under his crown. Another factor that exacerbated American resentment was the King's failure to intercede personally on the colonists' behalf after the Olive Branch Petition.

George was hated in Ireland for the atrocities carried out in his name during the suppression of the 1798 rebellion.

George's insanity is the subject of the film The Madness of King George (1994), based on the play The Madness of George III by Alan Bennett. The film concerns George's first bouts of insanity. He was portrayed by Nigel Hawthorne, who received the Laurence Olivier Award and was nominated for an Academy Award for his role.

George may have suffered from a disease now known as porphyria. It had struck at various times, and made him appear to be mentally ill, also making him incapable of logical acts. This may be part of why he was thought to be insane.

There are cities and towns in former British colonies which are named Georgetown. Some of these may be named after George III and some after his son George IV. Statues of George III can be seen today in (amongst other locations) the courtyard of Somerset House in London, and in Weymouth, Dorset, which he popularised as a seaside resort (one of the first in England). A statue of George III was pulled down in New York at the beginning of the War of Independence in 1776 and two engravings of its destruction still exist.

The British Agricultural Revolution reached its peak under George III, providing for an expanded population and freeing up much of the workforce to drive the Industrial Revolution, which also began under George III.

wikipedia.org


Also on this day -

1913
British suffragette Emily Wilding Davison is trampled to death at Tattenham Corner on the Epsom racecourse during the running of the 1913 Derby. She dies under the hooves of the King's horse, Anmer.


1805
In Britain, the first official Trooping The Colour takes place at Horse Guards Parade in London.

5th June 1798 - the Battle of New Ross took place during the Irish Rebellion. It was fought between Irish Republican insurgents and British Crown forces. It was a British victory which halted the spread of the rebellion into county Kilkenny and Munster.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------


Loyalist View of Battle of New Ross George Cruikshank (184


The Battle of New Ross took place in county Wexford in south-eastern Ireland, during the Irish Rebellion of 1798. It was fought between the Irish Republican insurgents called the United Irishmen and British Crown forces composed of regular soldiers, militia and yeomanry. The attack on the town of New Ross on the River Barrow, was an attempt by the recently victorious rebels to break out of county Wexford across the river Barrow and to spread the rebellion into county Kilkenny and the outlying province of Munster.

Preparations
The battle, the bloodiest of the 1798 rebellion, began at dawn on 5th June 1798 when the Crown garrison was attacked by a force of almost 10,000 rebels, massed in three columns outside the town. The attack had been expected since the fall of Wexford town to the rebels on 30th May and the British garrison of 2,000 had prepared defences both outside and inside the town. Trenches were dug manned by skirmishers on the approaches to the town while cannon were stationed facing all the rapidly falling approaches and narrow streets of the town to counter the expected mass charges by the rebels, who were mainly armed with pikes.


Attack
Bagenal Harvey, the United Irish Leader recently released from captivity following the rebel seizure of Wexford town, attempted to negotiate surrender of New Ross but the rebel emissary Matt Furlong was shot down by Crown outposts while bearing flag of truce. His murder provoked a furious charge by an advance guard of 500 insurgents led by John Kelly (of ballad fame) who had instructions to seize the Three Bullet Gate (the bearna bhaoil or "Gap of Danger" in the Irish national anthem) and wait for reinforcements before pushing into the town. Another rebel column attacked the Priory Gate but the third pulled back from the Market Gate intimidated by the strong defenses. Seizing the opportunity the garrison sent a force of cavalry out the Market Gate to attack and scatter the remaining two hostile columns from the flanks. However the rebel rump had not yet deployed and upon spotting the British manouvre, rallied the front ranks who stood and broke the cavalry charge with massed pikes.


Street Fighting
The encouraged rebel army then swept past the Crown outposts and seized the Three Bullet Gate causing the garrison and populace to flee in panic. Without pausing for reinforcement, the rebels broke into the town attacking simultaneously down the steeply sloping streets but met with strong resistance from well-prepared second lines of defence of the well armed soldiers. Despite horrific casualties the rebels managed to seize two-thirds of the town by using the cover of smoke from the blazing town and forced the near withdrawal of all Crown forces from the town. However the rebels limited supplies of gunpowder and ammunition forced them to rely on the pike and blunted their offensive. The military managed to hold on and following the arrival of reinforcements, launched a counterattack before noon which finally drove the exhausted rebels from the town.


Massacres
No effort to pursue the withdrawing rebels was made but when the town had been secured, a fearful massacre of prisoners, trapped rebels and civilians of both sympathies alike began which continued for days. Some hundreds were burned alive when rebel casualty stations were torched by victorious troops and more rebels are believed to have been killed in the aftermath of the battle than during the actual fighting. Reports of such atrocities brought by escaping rebels are believed to have influenced the retaliatory murder of over 100 loyalists in the flames of Scullabogue Barn.


Aftermath
Casualties in the Battle of New Ross are estimated at 2,500 rebels and 200 Garrison dead. The rebel army reorganised and formed a camp at Sliabh Coillte some five miles to the east but never attempted to attack the town again. They later attacked General John Moores invading column but were defeated at the battle of Foulksmills on 20 June 1798.

1798 Rebellion
Ballymore-Eustace – Naas – Prosperous – Kilcullen – Carlow – Tara Hill – Oulart Hill – Newtownmountkennedy – Gibbet Rath – Three Rocks – Bunclody – Tuberneering – New Ross – Antrim – Arklow - Saintfield – Ballynahinch – Ovidstown – Foulksmills – Vinegar Hill – Ballyellis – Castlebar – Collooney – Ballinamuck – Killala

wikipedia.org

6th June 1813 - the Battle of Stoney Creek took place between Britain and the United States. It was a British victory, despite the Americans having a force that was FIVE TIMES bigger than the British. But, of course, the British - notoriously dangerous and difficult to fight against - have a long history of winning battles and wars against armies that were larger than them.
----------------------------------------------------------------


The Battle of Stoney Creek was a battle fought on June 6, 1813 during the War of 1812 near Stoney Creek, Ontario. Withdrawing British forces encamped on Burlington Heights were informed of the American position at the Gage Farm by Billy Green, a farm hand. They marched through the night to attack the American encampment before dawn. In the battle, a British, Canadian and Mohawk force of 700 under John Vincent defeated an American force of 3500 under William Winder and John Chandler. Both American generals were taken prisoner, Chandler when he inadverently walked into the British line in the dark, thinking it was his own. This prompted an American withdrawal back to the Niagara River. Although a monument is raised in honour of the soldiers involved, to this day no Mohawk warriors are credited in it for doing battle. This battle is now re-enacted annually, by Canadians and Americans, in a public park (called Battlefield Park) located in Stoney Creek (now part of the City of Hamilton), Ontario.

Commanders

Britain - John Vincent

United States - John Chandler, William Winder
----------------------------------------------------------------
Strength

Britain - 700 regulars and militia

United States - 3,500
--------------------------------------------------------------
Casualties

Britain - 22 dead, 134 wounded

United States - 55 dead or wounded and 100 missing



Niagara campaigns

Queenston Heights – York – Fort George – Stoney Creek – Beaver Dams – 1st Fort Erie – Chippawa – Lundy's Lane – Cook's Mills – 2nd Fort Erie
-----------------------------------------

Also on this day -

1683 - The Ashmolean Museum in Oxford, England, opens as the world's first university museum.

1752 - A devastating fire destroys one-third of Moscow, including 18,000 homes.

wikipedia.org

7th June 1497 - the Battle of Deptford Bridge (aka Battle of Blackheath) took place during the Cornish Rebellion between forces of Henry VII and Cornish rebels led by Michael An Gof and Thomas Flamank. The rebels were protesting against the unfair taxation of Cornwall. After the battle, An Gof, Flamank and Lord Audley, leader of the forces who fought for the rebels, were hanged, drawn and quartered at the dreaded Tyburn and their heads were displayed on pike-staffs ("gibbeted") on London Bridge as a deterrent. Throughtout history, even today, some, but not all, Cornish people consider the English county of Cornwall to be not a part of England but a Celtic nation in its own right, like Scotland and Wales. It used to have its own Celtic language called Cornish but is now extinct.
--------------------------------------------------------

London Bridge in 1616. Up until 1750 it was the only bridge that spanned the Thames and had shops, inns and houses on it. At the entrance/exit to the bridge, the heads of traitors were displayed on spikes as a warning to others, as can be seen in the picture.
--------------------------



The Battle of Deptford Bridge (or Blackheath) was the culminating event of the Cornish Rebellion of 1497. It took place on 17 June 1497 on a site in present-day Deptford in south-east London, adjacent to the River Ravensbourne.

Rebels from Cornwall, led by Michael An Gof (also known as Michael Joseph; An Gof is Cornish for blacksmith) and Thomas Flamank (a Bodmin landowner's son), had marched to London to protest about the unfair taxation of Cornwall (the money was being raised in order to finance an invasion of Scotland). En route, they gathered support from the yeomen of Plymouth and forces led by James Touchet, Lord Audley in Somerset.

After fighting a minor battle near Guildford, Surrey, they were hopeful of gaining further support from people in Kent (the focus of Jack Cade's rebellion of 1450), but despite rallying at Cade's meeting place at nearby Blackheath were disappointed. Estimates vary, but it is said that at Blackheath some 15,000 Cornish faced 25,000 troops of the King. The Cornish lacked the horse and artillery possessed by the King's army, and the result was inevitable.

As a result, the Cornish rebels were soundly beaten by King Henry VII's forces led by Lord Daubeney. Much of the battle took place on the eastern side of the Ravensbourne, on the hillside up to the plateau of Blackheath - as a result, it is sometimes called the 'Battle of Blackheath'. Figures from the battle vary though they generally place the losses of Daubeney's forces within single figures next to perhaps 1000 Cornishmen.

Two of the leaders (An Gof and Flamank) were executed, on 24 June 1497. An Gof and Flamank suffered the traitor's fate of being hanged, drawn and quartered at Tyburn, while Audley was beheaded on the 25 June Tower Hill. Their heads were displayed on pike-staffs ("gibbeted") on London Bridge. An Gof before his execution is recorded to have said that he should have "a name perpetual and a fame permanent and immortal". Thomas Flamank was quoted as saying - "Speak the truth and only then can you be free of your chains"

1997 was the 500th anniversary of the An Gof uprising and a commemorative march (Keskerdh Kernow 500) was held, which retraced the route of the original march from St Keverne, Cornwall to London. A statue depicting An Gof and Flamank was unveiled at An Gof's home town of St. Keverne and a commemorative plaque was also unveiled on Blackheath common.

wikipedia.org

8th June 1492 - the death of Elizabeth Woodville (or Wydville) the Queen consort of King Edward IV, a Yorkist who fought against the Lancastrians during the Wars of the Roses. She was also the mother of King Edward V, who was King aged just 12, and who was one of the "Princes in the Tower" during the War.
-----------------------------------------------------


Elizabeth Woodville or Wydville (c. 1437 – 7/8 June 1492) was the Queen consort of King Edward IV of England from 1464 until his death in 1483.

Early life and first marriage
She was born circa 1437 at Grafton Regis, Northamptonshire, the daughter of Sir Richard Woodville (later made first Earl Rivers) and Jacquetta of Luxembourg. She was a maid of honour to Margaret of Anjou, Queen of Henry VI. In about 1452, she married Sir John Grey, 7th Baron Ferrers of Groby, who was killed at the Second Battle of St Albans in 1461, fighting for the Lancastrian cause. (This was ironic, as Edward IV was the Yorkist claimant to the throne.) Elizabeth had two sons from the marriage, Thomas (later Marquess of Dorset) and Richard.

[edit]
Queen consort
Edward IV had many mistresses, the most notorious being Jane Shore, but Elizabeth insisted on marriage, which took place secretly (with only the bride's mother and two ladies in attendance) on May 1, 1464, at her family home in Northamptonshire. At the time, Edward's adviser, Richard Neville, Earl of Warwick, was negotiating a marriage alliance with France. When the marriage to Elizabeth Woodville became common knowledge, it was the cause of considerable rancour on Warwick's part, and when Elizabeth's relatives, especially her brother, Earl Rivers, began to be favored over him, he changed sides.

Nor was Warwick the only one who resented the way the queen's relatives scooped up favours and lucrative opportunities; in 1480, for example, when Elizabeth's obscure brother-in-law Sir Anthony Grey died, he was interred in St Albans Cathedral with a brass marker to rival the one for that abbey's greatest archbishop. That was nothing compared to the marriages the queen arranged for her family, the most outrageous being when her 20-year-old brother John Woodville married Lady Katherine Neville, daughter of Ralph Neville, 1st Earl of Westmorland by Joan Beaufort, widow of John Mowbray, 2nd Duke of Norfolk and dowager Duchess of Norfolk. Katherine had been widowed three times and was nearly 80 years old but very wealthy. The queen also married her sister, Catherine Woodville, to her 11-year-old ward Henry Stafford, 2nd Duke of Buckingham. another sister, Mary Woodville, married William Herbert, 2nd Earl of Pembroke.

[edit]
Queen Dowager
Elizabeth and Edward's marriage had produced ten children, including two sons who were still living at the time of the king's sudden death in 1483. The elder, Edward, had been born in sanctuary at Westminster Abbey in 1470, during the period when Edward IV was out of power during the Wars of the Roses. Elizabeth now, briefly, became Queen Mother, but on June 25, 1483, her marriage was declared null and void by Parliament in the act Titulus Regius on the grounds that Edward had previously promised to marry Lady Eleanor Butler, which was considered a legally binding contract that rendered any other marriage contract invalid as bigamous. (It was said that Eleanor Butler had done the same thing Elizabeth Woodville did later: A widow who caught Edward's eye, she refused to give in to him until he promised to marry her.) This information came to the fore when a priest (believed to be Robert Stillington, Bishop of Bath and Wells), testified that he had carried out the ceremony.

On the basis of his evidence, all Elizabeth's children by Edward, including King Edward V, were declared illegitimate, and her brother-in-law, Richard III, accepted the crown and kept the two princes in the Tower of London, where they had already been lodged to await the coronation. The exact fate of the so-called Princes in the Tower is unknown but both were dead in this or the next reign. Elizabeth now lost the title of Queen Mother and was referred to as Dame Elizabeth Grey. She and her other children were in sanctuary again, fearing for their safety. This may have been to protect themselves against jealous courtiers who wanted their own back on the entire Woodville clan.

Elizabeth then conspired with Lancastrians, promising to marry her eldest daughter, Elizabeth of York, to the Lancastrian claimant to the throne, Henry Tudor (later King Henry VII), if he could supplant Richard. Following Henry's accession in 1485, Elizabeth Woodville's marriage to Edward IV was declared to have been valid, and thus their children were once again legitimised (because Henry wanted his wife to be the Yorkist heir to the throne, to cement his hold on it). At this point, Elizabeth was accorded the title of Queen Dowager. She died on June 8, at Bermondsey in London and was buried on June 12 in the same chantry as her husband King Edward in St George's Chapel in Windsor Castle.
--------------------------

Children of Elizabeth Woodville

By Sir John Grey

Thomas Grey, 1st Marquess of Dorset
Richard Grey


By King Edward IV

Elizabeth of York (1466-1503), Queen Consort of England
Mary of York (1467-1482), buried in St George's Chapel, Windsor Castle
Cecily of York (1469-1507), Viscountess Welles
Edward V of England (1470-1483/5), one of the Princes in the Tower
Margaret of York (Apr. 1472-Dec. 1472), buried in Westminster Abbey
Richard, Duke of York (1473-1483/5), one of the Princes in the Tower
Anne of York (1475-1511), Duchess of Norfolk
George Plantagenet, Duke of Bedford (1477-1479), buried in St George's Chapel, Windsor Castle
Catherine of York (1479-1527), Countess of Devon
Bridget of York (1480-1517), nun at Dartford Priory, Kent

wikipedia.org

Also on this day -

452 - Atilla the Hun invades what is now Italy.

632 - Muhammad dies.

1536
English Parliament agrees that the succession to the throne should go to the future children of King Henry VIII and his new wife Jane Seymour - declaring Princesses Mary and Elizabeth (by previous wives) to be illegitimate.

1982
Falklands War: Almost 50 British troops are killed at Bluff Cove when Argentinian aircraft bomb British troops ships.

9th June 1780 - The Gordon Riots ended, after raging for more than a week. A large mob marched to Parliament at the beginning of June carrying banners saying "No Popery!". They protested against the emancipation of Catholics. They delivered a petition to Parliament demanding the repeal of the Roman Catholic Relief Act. Anti-Catholicism was rife in Britain at the time. Outide Parliament, the situation got out of hand and, in the Great British tradittion, riots ensued. Duriong the riots, Newgate gaol was attacked - its cells were opened, its prisoners freed and then it was burnt to the ground. Another one had to be built. The army was called in and 285 rioters were killed. Of those arrested, 20-30 were executed.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Newgate Gaol, London, being attacked by the Gordon Rioters, 1780.


The Gordon Riots is a term used to refer to a number of events in a predominantly Protestant religious uprising in London in 1780, aimed against the Roman Catholic Relief Act, 1778, "relieving his Majesty's subjects, of the Catholic Religion, from certain penalties and disabilities imposed upon them during the reign of William III."

The ostensible intention of this piece of legislation was, as the Act's preamble states, to mitigate some of the more extreme manifestations of official discrimination against Roman Catholics in the United Kingdom at the time, particularly and notably absolving Catholics from taking the religious oath when joining the British military. There were very strong expedient reasons for this particular act of seeming benevolence, notably the fact that British military forces at the time were stretched very thin, with conflicts ongoing with France, Spain and America, and opening the door to recruitment of Catholics was a significant factor in the eventual resolution of this shortfall of manpower.

The Protestant Association was an organisation set up by Lord George Gordon in 1780 to force the repeal of this legislation. An articulate, albeit eccentric, propagandist, Gordon inflamed the mob with fears of papism and a return to absolute monarchical rule, intimating that Catholics within the military would, given a chance, join forces with their co-religionists on the Continent, and attack England.

The political climate deteriorated rapidly. Gordon called a meeting of the Protest Association on May 29, 1780 called for a march on the House of Commons to deliver a petition demanding the repeal of the Roman Catholic Relief Act the following week.

On June 2, 1780 a huge crowd, many carrying flags and banners proclaiming "No Popery", and estimated to be between 40,000 to 60,000 strong, assembled and marched on the Houses of Parliament. As they marched, their numbers gathered and swelled. They attempted to force their way in to the House of Commons but without success. Gordon, petition in hand, and wearing the blue cockade in his hat, the symbol of the Protestant Association, entered the Lower House and presented the petition. Outside, however, the situation quickly got out of hand and a riot erupted.

Newgate Prison was attacked, and largely destroyed. Severe destruction was inflicted on Catholic churches and homes, including the chapels on the grounds of several embassies, as well as the Bank of England, Fleet Prison, and the house of the Lord Chief Justice, William Murray, 1st Earl of Mansfield.

The army was called out on June 7 and 285 rioters were killed. Of those arrested, about 20 or 30 were executed. Gordon was arrested and charged with high treason, but was found not guilty.

The riots are described at second-hand by Charles Dickens in his historical novel Barnaby Rudge.

Also on this day -

1870 - Charles Dickens dies.