Free Republic

The man leading the search for King John's lost treasure says he has pinpointed a small area at the Sutton Bridge site which contains valuable targets.Raymond Kosschuk has been conducting tests at an undisclosed site in Sutton Bridge for over a year and says his equipment is picking up overwhelming evidence of the treasure, as we previously reported.Mr Kosschuk, from Keighleyin Yorkshire, believes that he has found scientific anomalies which are consistent with the high value items King John lost in 1216.King John lost the treasure to The Wash during an ill fated crossing from King's Lynn on October 12,...

‘The Unbearable Whiteness of Medieval Studies’ A growing concern among Medieval Studies scholars is that the field is too dominated by white, male scholars who appreciate its link to Christian values and the fact that it’s been somewhat resistant to identity politics changes seen in other humanities departments. The issue has been compounded by the concern among Medieval Studies scholars that white supremacists and the alt-right have co-opted crusade themes in memes to push for violence against Muslims and people of color. Currently some scholars are planning a “Crusades and Alt Right” symposium this October to discuss the issue, an...

England was invaded by “Dane” Vikings from Scandinavia who destroyed churches, libraries and defeated all opposition except for 23-year-old King Alfred. Forced into the swampy, tidal marshes of Somerset, Alfred, King of the Anglos and Saxons, began a resistance movement in 878 A.D. According to biographer Bishop Asser, “Alfred attacked the whole pagan army fighting ferociously in dense order, and by divine will eventually won the victory.” King Alfred’s Law is considered the basis for English Common Law as it contained concepts such as liberty of the individual family and church, a decentralized government and equal justice for all under...

An American tourist who tackled a knife-wielding thief trying to steal a £20million Magna Carta from Salisbury Cathedral has spoken about his heroics. Matt Delacambre managed to hold onto the hooded man until security were able to arrive and apprehend the suspect. The 56-year-old said: 'I couldn't let him get away with it. The Magna Carta is one of the most important documents in the world.'

The details surrounding the Magna Carta are often overlooked, but it remains a revered document. Author David Starkey explained the importance of the Magna Carta while promoting his latest book, Magna Carta: The Medieval Roots of Modern Politics, at the libertarian think tank Cato Institute. Starkey is also a BBC Radio and TV presenter. For openers, there is the reason why the Magna Carta was negotiated at Runnymede Fields. The English barons and King John selected that spot “because it was a bog,” said Starkey, “The place is moist, wet ground. It is a water meadow, so it is a...

It won’t be long before Americans all across the country are celebrating our great national birthday. And we won’t do so quietly. “It ought to be commemorated as the day of deliverance by solemn acts of devotion to God Almighty,” John Adams, our second president, wrote of July 4. “It ought to be solemnized with pomp and parade, with shows, games, sports, guns, bells, bonfires and illuminations from one end of this continent to the other, from this time forward forever more.” Indeed it should. I also frequently urge people to reread our founding charter, the Declaration of Independence, which...

England was invaded by "Dane" Vikings from Scandinavia who destroyed churches, libraries and defeated all opposition except for 23-year-old King Alfred. Forced into the swampy, tidal marshes of Somerset, Alfred, King of the Anglos and Saxons, began a resistance movement in 878 AD. According to biographer Bishop Asser: "Alfred attacked the whole pagan army fighting ferociously in dense order, and by divine will eventually won the victory." King Alfred's battle song was: "When the enemy comes in a'roarin' like a flood, Coveting the kingdom and hungering for blood,  The Lord will raise a standard up and lead His people...

The very latest laser technology combined with old fashioned pedal power is being used to provide a unique insight into the layout of Nottingham’s sandstone caves — where the city’s renowned medieval ale was brewed and, where legend has it, the country’s most famous outlaw Robin Hood was imprisoned. The Nottingham Caves Survey, being carried out by archaeologists from Trent & Peak Archaeology at The University of Nottingham, has already produced extraordinary, three dimensional, fly through, colour animation of caves that have been hidden from view for centuries. Below the grounds of Nottingham Castle and across the city there is...

LONDON - A British academic says he's found proof that Britain's legendary outlaw Robin Hood wasn't as popular with the poor as folklore suggests. Julian Luxford says a newly found note in the margins of an ancient history book contains rare criticism of the supposedly benevolent bandit. According to legend, Hood roamed 13th-century Britain from a base in central England's Sherwood Forest, plundering from the rich to give to the poor. But Luxford, an art history lecturer at the University of St. Andrews, in Fife, Scotland, says a 23-word inscription in a history book, written in Latin by a medieval...

Folklore holds that Robin Hood was a fearless outlaw loathed by the rich and loved by the poor. Fighting injustice and tyranny, his gallantry became the stuff of legend - and Hollywood movies. But according to a newly-discovered manuscript entry it appears that Robin and his Merry Men may not have been as popular as the stories would have us believe.Written in Latin and buried among the treasures of Eton's library, the 23 sparse words shed new light on the Sheriff of Nottingham's mortal foe. Translated, the 550-year-old note reads: 'Around this time, according to popular opinion, a certain outlaw...

A bottle-necked pit where hated outlaws including Robin Hood were imprisoned and starved or driven to insanity in the Middle Ages has been discovered by archaeologists in the underground caves of the Galleries of Justice Museum in Nottingham. Known as an oubliette (“to forget” in French), the hole was used as a holding cell for dissenters against the Sheriff of Nottingham, and the city’s favourite wealth-regulating son is believed to have been cast into it after being arrested by the Sheriff and his men at the nearby St Mary’s Church. “The opening was bricked over centuries ago, probably in the...

ROBIN HOOD'S PRISON? SHERIFF'S DUNGEON FOUND AT NOTTINGHAM GAOL By Caroline Lewis 17/10/2007 One of the above ground prison cells at the Galleries of Justice. © Galleries of Justice New evidence has been discovered that the medieval caves under Nottingham’s Galleries of Justice museum were once used by the Sheriff of Nottingham as a prison. The dark dungeon cells would have been in use when the Sheriff resided at the Shire Hall and County Gaol. “It is an exciting discovery,” said Tim Desmond, Chief Executive at the Galleries. “The cave has always been known as the ‘Sheriff’s Dungeon’, but until...

Robin Hood was really a Welsh freedom fighter who never even set foot in Nottingham let alone Sherwood Forest, a historian has claimed. The medieval outlaw - said to have robbed from the rich to give to the poor - never once met Maid Marian nor the Sheriff of Nottingham, according to Stephen Lawhead. The American blows apart the widely accepted version of the legend in his new book, Hood, arguing that Robin Hood was really a hardened Guerrilla based in the Valleys. But tourism chiefs in Nottingham have rubbished the theory, warning: "Hands off our Robin!" Lawhead, 56, believes...

A merry mess: Yorkshire claims Robin Hood Lizette Alvarez/NYT Tuesday, February 17, 2004 NOTTINGHAM, England Not since Mikhail Baryshnikov defected from the Soviet Union has there been such a fuss over a man in tights. For centuries, Robin Hood, the dashing, chivalrous hero to the oppressed, has been the property of Nottinghamshire in the midlands - land of Sherwood Forest, Nottingham Castle and one nefarious sheriff. But now, in a brazen grab for bragging rights, Yorkshire, an adjacent county, is laying claim to the 800-year-old legend and demanding, by way of a parliamentary motion, immediate redress. In a country where...

'Robin Hood's escape tunnel found' Experts believe they've found a tunnel that allowed Robin Hood to escape from the Sheriff of Nottingham. The secret passageway found under the Galleries of Justice museum in Nottingham is eight feet below street level. Archaeologists excavating 14th-century manmade caves beneath the museum stumbled upon it accidentally when they broke through a rotten wood floor. The museum's curator Louise Connell says the tunnel leads towards St Mary's Church, where ancient documents say Robin sought sanctuary from the Sheriff 's men. The Evening Post says it's believed he used the tunnel to escape from the church,...

A man has been arrested on suspicion of trying to steal a Magna Carta from Salisbury Cathedral. Wiltshire police said the 45-year-old was arrested on Thursday after alarms were triggered by an attempt to smash the glass box in which the artefact was displayed. A man matching witnesses’ descriptions was arrested on suspicion of attempted theft, possession of an offensive weapon and criminal damage. Police said he remained in custody. The document was not damaged in the incident. Magna Carta, one of the most significant documents in British history, is a peace treaty that was sealed by King John in...

The Magna Carta (the "Great Charter"), the basis of the thesis that leaders are not above the law, the beginning of the path from absolute monarchy to the rule of law, and an important foundation of our Anglo-Saxon liberties, was signed on June 15, 1215 by England's King John at Runnymede, south of London. John, the youngest son of Henry II, reigned from 1199 to 1216 and aroused fierce opposition in both the nobility and the church for his high-handed authoritarianism. The resulting bloodless rebellion ended when John - under compulsion - signed the Great Charter, drafted in Latin by...

Eight hundred years ago, one of the world's most important documents was born. Issued by King John of England in 1215, the Magna Carta ("Great Charter") acknowledged the rights of citizens and set restrictions on the power of the king. The Magna Carta has influenced the structures of modern democracies, including the writ of habeas corpus of the U.S. Constitution... According to Treharne, her research suggests the Salisbury Magna Carta was not just received and preserved at Salisbury, but that the Salisbury Magna Carta was written at Salisbury by one of the cathedral's own scribes. She recently co-published her findings...

Fascinating interview of Stephen Church by John Batchelor. Discussion of the political and military events which led to the Magna Carta and border divisions within the kingdoms of France.

Last week I was writing about Magna Carta and how the Catholic Church’s role has been written out, in particular the part of the Archbishop of Canterbury, Stephen Langton. But the same could also be said about much of English history from 600AD to 1600; from the very first law code written in English, which begins with a clause protecting Church property, to the intellectual flourishing of the 13th century, led by churchmen such as Roger Bacon, the Franciscan friar who foresaw air travel. However, the whitewashing of English Catholic history is mainly seen in three areas: political liberty, economic...