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.


Monday, 19 June 2023

The Seventeenth century in contemporary context


Dominic Sandbrook - best known for writing and broadcasting about twentieth century history - has an interesting article on the UnHerd website about the seventeenth century.

In it he examines parallels between the era of the Stuarts and our own, partly through the eyes and diaries of Samuel Pepys, but also from a range of literature. Along the way we encounter erratic political leadership, political and social upheaval - and its redress - and dramatic climate change on a global scale.

The article deals with a wide range of history and historiography in a short and insightful compass and can be seen at Welcome to the 17th Century


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