Pen & Sword History – The Bell Bookshop

Emperor of Rome

Emma — Mon, 23 Feb 2026 00:00:00 +0000

When Theoderic the Great entered the city of Rome in 500, as an Ostrogothic king, the citizens in Rome could have been forgiven for thinking an Emperor had returned. Everything he did, from his journey, to his arrival, and actions in the city itself, were in imitation of Roman expressions of imperial power. The role of the Emperor, however, remains complex and multifaceted, and the very powers Theoderic was seeking to emulate had complex histories of their own. It was only when Augustus, Rome’s first Emperor, died in 14 AD that Rome at last admitted the truth that a Princeps now ruled, where the Senate had once held power.Anthony Smart provides a new study of the Roman Emperor, from Augustus through the late fifth century AD, with interwoven studies on later medieval imperial rulers. The book is divided into three. The first section looks at sources (e.g. coins, speeches, histories). The second looks at themes (such as war, peace, religious unity and emotional control). The final section looks at specific examples of imperial power, and how these figures altered or modified the very nature of imperial rule. Throughout the book the author returns to the following questions: what did it mean to be an Emperor in this world? How did they govern? Were they proactive, or reactive? Is it right to say that an Emperor is what an Emperor does, or is the reality rather more complex than that? And crucially, who creates the image of the Emperor? The court, the senate, or the people of Rome?

Cardinal Wolsey

Emma — Fri, 28 Feb 2025 00:00:00 +0000

The Wolseys of Suffolk date to Anglo-Saxon times. The earliest notice of a Wolsey as inhabitant of Ipswich is Thomas Wolsey’s father, Robert. He was a successful small businessman and married a Joan Daundy. Thomas was probably born in 1471 in an inn, and was almost certainly baptised in St Mary at the Elms church, Ipswich.Wolsey graduated from university and then his climb to power was extremely fast. He entered the royal household as the chaplain to King Henry VII. When Henry VIII ascended to the throne, Wolsey became his almoner, which gave him access to the king’s council. Henry was very impressed with Wolsey’s work, and Thomas gained many important clerical positions. In 1515, Wolsey became Lord Chancellor of England. Thomas Wolsey’s most famous peace treaty was signed between Henry VIII and Francis I of France at the glorious Field of Cloth of Gold in 1520.Henry had not produced a male heir. A woman called Anne Boleyn came on the scene. Henry began to think that she could mother him a son. The king asked Wolsey to seek a divorce from his first wife. He tried his outmost, as always, but the Pope kept delaying the matter. Wolsey failed and fell out of favour with Henry. He was charged with treason and escorted to the Tower of London. On his way, Thomas became very frail and sadly, on 29 November 1530 he died at Leicester Abbey.

The rise and fall of a medieval family

Emma — Fri, 31 Jan 2025 00:00:00 +0000

The Despensers were a baronial English family who rose to great prominence in the reign of Edward II (1307-27) when Hugh Despenser the Younger became the king’s chamberlain, favourite and perhaps lover. He and his father Hugh the Elder wielded great influence, and Hugh the Younger’s greed and tyranny brought down a king for the first time in English history and almost destroyed his own family. _Rise and Fall of a Medieval Family_ tells the story of the ups and downs of this fascinating family from the thirteenth to the fifteenth centuries, when three Despenser lords were beheaded and two fell in battle. We begin with Hugh the justiciar, who died rebelling against King Henry III and his son in 1265, and end with Thomas Despenser, summarily beheaded in 1400 after attempting to free a deposed Richard II, and Thomas’s posthumous daughter Isabella, a countess twice over and the grandmother of Richard III’s queen. From the medieval version of Prime Ministers to the (possible) lovers of monarchs, the aristocratic Despenser family wielded great power in medieval England. Drawing on the popular intrigue and infamy of the Despenser clan, Kathryn Warner’s book traces the lives of the most notorious, powerful and influential members of this patrician family over a 200-year span.

A guide to the Wars of the Roses

Emma — Sat, 30 Nov 2024 00:00:00 +0000

So much has been written, and is still being written, about the Wars of the Roses – both in print and on the internet – that the interested student of history is in grave danger of being utterly overwhelmed. The key players in the conflict are very interesting personalities but they have become so distorted by caricature that they now appear as a procession of heroes and villains rather than living, breathing people.The aim of A Guide to the Wars of the Roses is simple: to help the reader understand what happened and why during the great political upheaval of the fifteenth century. It describes the origins, nature and aftermath of the wars in short, accessible chapters and explains how the period can be divided into three separate, though related, political crises.In describing the rise of Richard, Duke of York, in the mid-fifteenth century, the Guide traces how his rivalry with Edmund Beaufort, Duke of Somerset, ultimately led to the deposition of the hard-pressed, and wholly unsuitable, King Henry VI. It also explains how the accession of a new king from the House of York failed to solve England’s political problems. The triumphant Yorkist faction is examined to chart how the fears and jealousies of its leading figures eventually led to a fatal instability at the heart of government.By putting the wars firmly in their medieval context, the Guide seeks to strip away the hype of half a millennium to examine objectively the roles and motives of those involved, without seeking either to exonerate, or demonise, any particular individual. While the Guide is intended to be comprehensive, it is also an easy-to-follow manual for a subject which has often been dismissed as ‘too complicated’.

The daughters of George III

Emma — Sun, 28 Feb 2021 00:00:00 +0000

In the dying years of the 18th century, the corridors of Windsor echoed to the footsteps of six princesses. They were Charlotte, Augusta, Elizabeth, Mary, Sophia, and Amelia, the daughters of King George III and Queen Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz. Though more than fifteen years divided the births of the eldest sister from the youngest, these princesses all shared a longing for escape. Faced with their father’s illness and their mother’s dominance, for all but one a life away from the seclusion of the royal household seemed like an unobtainable dream. The six daughters of George III were raised to be young ladies and each in her time was one of the most eligible women in the world. Tutored in the arts of royal womanhood, they were trained from infancy in the skills vial to a regal wife but as the king’s illness ravaged him, husbands and opportunities slipped away. Yet even in isolation, the lives of the princesses were filled with incident. From secret romances to dashing equerries, rumours of pregnancy, clandestine marriage and even a run-in with Napoleon, each princess was the leading lady in her own story, whether tragic or inspirational. In The Royal Nunnery: Daughters of George III, take a wander through the hallways of the royal palaces, where the king’s endless ravings echo deep into the night and his daughters strive to be recognised not just as princesses, but as women too.

D-Day to VE Day

Emma — Wed, 29 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000

On the evening of Monday, 5th June 1944, the people of Britain went to bed with a sense of great events impending. They knew that any day now would come news of the battle that would forever alter the course of their lives, and the lives of their children and their grandchildren.The following day’s morning newspapers and early radio news bulletins were full of the fall of Rome to the Allies, which had been announced the day before. But then, at 9.33 am on that Tuesday, came the brief announcement: Allied naval forces, supported by strong air forces, had begun landing Allied armies on the coast of France.’ D-Day had finally dawned._D-Day to VE Day_ tells the story of the last year of the Second World War in Europe, from the Normandy landings and on through the hard slog to that long-awaited day – 8th May 1945 – when Britain broke out the bunting, rolled out the barrel, and celebrated victory over Hitler. The air-raid sirens were silenced, the lights could be switched on again, and the boys would be coming home.In many homes, festivities were muted because the war in the Far East was still to be won, but for a few short hours at least, the nation could afford to let its hair down and dance in the streets.Using contemporary accounts – interviews, newspaper reports and official documents – of those final months, _D-Day to VE Day_ looks at life in Britain during those vital months, at the events that brought an end to war in Europe, and at the redrawing of national borders that would shape a new world order.

Behind Everest

Emma — Wed, 01 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000

Behind Everest embarks on a captivating exploration that intertwines the remarkable life of Ruth Mallory, wife of legendary Everest climber George Mallory, with a parallel journey a century later. Through examining Ruth’s attitude to danger a century ago, Kate Nicholson explores our evolving attitudes towards risk and responsibility.Kate’s quest to understand Ruth takes her to forgotten corners of archives in the UK and USA, to conversations with the few remaining people who knew both George and Ruth and into private recollections and precious, private collections. Using two decades of research, the author unveils the real story behind Ruth and George Mallory’s marriage, shedding light on George’s relationships with women such as Jelly d’Aranyi, Mary Ann O’Malley, and Stella Cobden-Sanderson. Stella, like Ruth, hailed from Arts and Crafts ‘royalty,’ both women were daughters of strong feminists but only Ruth chose to climb.Ruth was a natural and accomplished climber, a founder member of the first all female rock climbing club in the UK, the Pinnacle Club. As Kate experiences the challenges and triumphs of rock climbing with that still thriving club, she discovers not only the elusive ‘key’ to George Mallory but also an inspiring and resilient companion in Ruth.This book goes beyond expeditions to Everest, offering readers a profound glimpse into the ‘real’ story of the Mallorys. Through Ruth’s lens, the book explores the complexities of marriage, the indomitable spirit of early female climbers, and the enduring impact of the First World War, the League of Nations and the Empire on individual lives. This is a non-fiction masterpiece that intertwines personal and historical narratives, inviting readers to scale the heights of human experience.

The Roman emperors of Britain

Emma — Tue, 30 Jan 2024 00:00:00 +0000

In 55 BC, on a stretch of beach near Deal in East Kent, the Romans’ first invasion was in great danger of being pushed back into the sea by a host of Britons defending the beach. The eagle bearer of the Tenth Legion jumped into the surf and urged his comrades to follow him, a pivotal moment in Julius Caesar’s first invasion. It was to be another ninety years before Claudius finally subdued part of the island and paraded in triumph into the stronghold at Camulodunum. Roman authority quickly expanded, from Vespasian’s dramatic campaign against the hillforts of southern Britain to Hadrian’s famous Wall in the north.This book will cover not the reign of Emperors but what posts they held in Britain prior to their achieving the throne. Titus served as a tribune directly after the Boudiccan revolt. Pertinax served in three posts: equestrian tribune of the Sixth Legion; praefectus of an auxiliary unit; and finally as a governor of Britannia. It will cover the civil war between Clodius Albinus and Septimius Severus and the later campaigns into Scotland. The upheavals of the third century and the breakaway regimes of Postumus and Carauius, ‘the pirate king’.In the fourth century Britain continued to produce usurpers and tyrants but only one managed to unite the empire, Constantine I. His namesake, Constantine III, was to be the last emperor to lead troops from Britain to Gaul, leaving the province to fend for itself into the fifth century.

The royal women who made England

Emma — Wed, 31 Jan 2024 00:00:00 +0000

Throughout the tenth century, England, as it would be recognised today, formed. No longer many Saxon kingdoms, but rather, just England. Yet, this development masks much in the century in which the Viking raiders were seemingly driven from England’s shores by Alfred, his children and grandchildren, only to return during the reign of his great, great-grandson, the much-maligned Ãthelred II.Not one but two kings would be murdered, others would die at a young age, and a child would be named king on four occasions. Two kings would never marry, and a third would be forcefully divorced from his wife. Yet, the development towards ‘England’ did not stop. At no point did it truly fracture back into its constituent parts. Who then ensured this stability? To whom did the witan turn when kings died, and children were raised to the kingship?The royal woman of the House of Wessex came into prominence during the century, perhaps the most well-known being ÃthelflÃ¦d, daughter of King Alfred. Perhaps the most maligned being Ãlfthryth (Elfrida), accused of murdering her stepson to clear the path to the kingdom for her son, Ãthelred II, but there were many more women, rich and powerful in their own right, where their names and landholdings can be traced in the scant historical record.Using contemporary source material, The Royal Women Who Made England can be plucked from the obscurity that has seen their names and deeds lost, even within a generation of their own lives.