21 Aug High Middle Ages, Medieval History, Uncategorised The Story of King Henry II of England 16 August 2023 By Charles J Lockett King Henry II came to power after the Anarchy, a sixteen-year long civil war which had shaken the foundations of ... Continue reading
14 Aug Anglo-Saxons, High Middle Ages, Medieval History, Uncategorised The Anarchy, Part 3: King Stephen and Empress Matilda 16 August 2023 By Charles J Lockett It is the year 1138 CE. The clouds have burst. Open hostilities between Empress Matilda, the daughter of King Hen... Continue reading
07 Aug Anglo-Saxons, High Middle Ages, Medieval History, Uncategorised The Anarchy: Civil War in England, Part 2: A Crumbling Kingdom 16 August 2023 By Charles J Lockett The board is set. The pieces are moving. The Anarchy is going to descend upon England. In our first part, we imme... Continue reading
31 Jul Anglo-Saxons, High Middle Ages, Medieval History, Uncategorised The Anarchy: Civil War In England, Part 1: The Wreck Of The White Ship 16 August 2023 By Charles J Lockett High Medieval England was a particularly violent and unsettled place, in a violent and unsettled time. The seizur... Continue reading
24 Jul Bladesmith How Long is a Longsword? 16 August 2023 By Charles J Lockett It sounds like a rhetorical question, like ‘How long is a piece of string?’ or ‘How many angels can dance on the ... Continue reading
17 Jul Bladesmith How To Make a Medieval Sword: The Craft of Medieval Blademaking 16 August 2023 By Charles J Lockett The blademaker’s boy wiped the sweat from his eyes with a fire-blackened rag, leaving a grey smear across his fac... Continue reading
10 Jul LARPing What I Learned From My First LARP 16 August 2023 By Charles J Lockett Last weekend, I had probably the most fun it’s possible to have with 4,000 other people in a field. I went to Pro... Continue reading
03 Jul Medieval History The Mystery of Greek Fire: The Byzantine Medieval Flamethrower 16 August 2023 By Charles J Lockett You almost stumble on the last step. The dekarchos hisses, ‘You there – watch your feet. One false move and we’re... Continue reading
27 Jun LARPing How to make a LARP sword 16 August 2023 By Charles J Lockett How to make a LARP sword might seem like a daunting task. Professionally-made LARP swords are more affordable tha... Continue reading
19 Jun High Middle Ages, Medieval History Guelphs and Ghibellines: The Birth of Italian Republicanism 16 August 2023 By Charles J Lockett The Investiture Controversy had set the Holy Roman Emperors and the Papacy at loggerheads for almost 50 years. At... Continue reading