As a student in early 2000, I was sat in a modern history class. The syllabus covered Britain and Europe from 1919 to 1938, and 1946 to the present day. You may notice this neatly cuts out a couple of fairly large events. As a fourteen-year-old boy, like all teenage boys, I was an absolute… Continue reading Appeasment: What is is good for?
Author: Richard Darch
Introducting Midguard Musings
Thanks to the very generous contributions of my Ko-Fi donators I have been able to start dabbling in a new medium. Midguard Musings is (intended) to be a fortnightly podcast discussing much of the content you know and love from Midguard.org.uk. Check out our introductory episode and if you are keen, please subscribe. It may… Continue reading Introducting Midguard Musings
The White Ship: Lads on the Lash
The music throbbed in the air, as metal clad musicians, full of piercings and bling, struck power chords on their harps and lutes. They were set aboard a great ship with revellers drunkenly staggering around them. One group, just boarding, were your typical stag party lads. Wearing white t-shirts naming them “Baz”, and “Kev”, and… Continue reading The White Ship: Lads on the Lash
Sarah Huntingford: Things that go bump in the night
Portsea, 1818 By 1818 Portsea was improving in status since the formation of the Portsea Improvements Commission in 1747. Slowly transforming what was little more than a slum for dockworkers into a tidy, if not entirely respectable urban area. They had ensured many of the streets, including Orange Street were paved, and hired a man… Continue reading Sarah Huntingford: Things that go bump in the night
A Toxic Remedy: Abuse
For most of human history, in cultures all around the world, marriage was permanent. There were particular loopholes, if you accidentally married your sister for example. However, for the most part, once a lady entered into a marriage it could only be dissolved on the death of one party. Throughout history many women have taken… Continue reading A Toxic Remedy: Abuse
Edgar: A walk in the woods
The tenth century was a time of extreme disruption in Anglo Saxon England. Fuelled with power, hormones and alcohol the “boy kings” of Wessex excelled at poor decision making, with one apparent exception. Edgar the Peaceable. Eadwig Before we look at Edgars reign it’s important to obtain some context by looking at the reign of… Continue reading Edgar: A walk in the woods
Forgotten Figures: Kate Warne
armed men and then a voice “you’re under arrest”. There was something unusual about the voice, the pitch was high, he looked up at the Pinkerton Detective in front of him, A Woman!
Forgotten Figures: Kubaba, The First Queen.
The Sumerian Kings List catalogues the divinely appointed rulers of Sumeria. As you cast your eye down the list one name sticks out. Kubaba, the only Queen on the list of Kings. The divinely appointed sovereign who reigned for over a hundred years.
Forgotten Figures: Tomoe Gozen
As will prove to be thematic in this series on extremely cool women in history, Tomoe Gozen has never been convincingly proven to have existed. This doesn’t however diminish her impact and influence on world history. It is simply the direct result of history being written by men and about men.
Trans-Cultural Diffusion: Water, Water Everywhere
Since the emergence of early modern humans from Africa about 300,000 years ago shifting landmasses and oceans have separated groups. Events like the Storegga landslide, which resulted in a tsunami, permanently cutting Britain off from mainland Europe, happen far more than you would expect. Add to this continents and land masses drifting with geological indifference… Continue reading Trans-Cultural Diffusion: Water, Water Everywhere