Once I was a clever boy learning the arts of Oxford... is a quotation from the verses written by Bishop Richard Fleming (c.1385-1431) for his tomb in Lincoln Cathedral. Fleming, the founder of Lincoln College in Oxford, is the subject of my research for a D. Phil., and, like me, a son of the West Riding. I have remarked in the past that I have a deeply meaningful on-going relationship with a dead fifteenth century bishop... it was Fleming who, in effect, enabled me to come to Oxford and to learn its arts, and for that I am immensely grateful.


Saturday 6 August 2016

The luck of the English in 1588


The Daily Telegraph has the following link to an interesting article with some interesting vignettes about the events with which it deals in "The Spanish Armada: England's lucky escape" in the BBC Magazine History Extra:

In it Robert Hutchinson, author of The Spanish Armada, reveals how poorly Tudor England was prepared for foreign invaders in 1588. This article was first published in the April 2013 issue of BBC History Magazine. The failure of the Spanish Armada campaign of 1588 changed the course of European history. If the Duke of Parma’s 27,000-strong invasion force had safely crossed the narrow seas from Flanders, the survival of Elizabeth I’s government and Protestant England would have looked doubtful indeed. Read the full story


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