#English history

[wonder-worker]

"Scholars have offered a number of explanations for why Matilda chose to style herself as domina Anglorum [Lady of the English]. It has been suggested that she might have balked at usage of the term regina, which, translated into the Anglo-Saxon English cwen, implied the wife of a king. The title queen, then, carried with it representational difficulties, as it was the office of king, not queen, that Matilda was seeking. In contrast, the term domina, or hlaefdige in Anglo-Saxon (lady in modern usage), was used to describe a woman exercising political and military power, such as the ninth-century Mercian queen Aethelflaed. As some scholars have suggested, Matilda’s use of the term domina may be related to a wider European usage, as dominus, or lord, described any number of public roles and offices men such as kings performed. Yet another explanation is the convention of kings elected but not yet crowned using the title dominus during the interregnum before their coronation. The title domina Anglorum undoubtedly drew from a number of meanings present in twelfth-century Anglo-Norman society, but all described a woman exercising power. As the Lady of the English, Matilda advertised herself as an individual woman capable of possessing and wielding regal power."

-Charles Beem, "Empress Matilda and Female Lordship", The Lioness Roared: The Problems of Female Rule in English History"

[you-belong-among-wildflowers]

House of the Dragon’s Historical Inspiration

╰─▸ The Anarchy (1138 - 1153) was a civil war that broke out in England when Stephen of Blois seized the throne after his uncle Henry I’s death. Henry I’s heir apparent, his daughter Empress Matilda, traveled to England and waged war against her cousin with the help of her uncle, King David of Scotland. Though Matilda’s army captured Stephen, she was never officially crowned and the war entered a stalemate. Stephen was released on the agreement that after his reign, Matilda’s sons and not his own would gain the throne, thus ending the feud.

[knighthelm]

The Boleyn sisters, side by side

[cesareeborgia]

↳ house woodville & house boleyn + parallels (requested by anonymous)

[amanufacturedheaven]

Rare Language Learning: Polari

If you have ever used the words:

- Naff

- Butch

- Camp

You have unknowingly been speaking the sociolect known as Polari, the language of queer people primarily used in the 30s to the 70s. Polari is now an endangered language, as labelled by the University of Cambridge

Something of note: Many resources out there imply (or state) that Polari was a language invented and used solely by white cis gay men, which is decidedly untrue. Many words of Polari come from drag culture, lesbians, and the Romani people and their language. The use of ‘the language of British gay men’ may be a more palatable title to the general public, but it is not to me. I did my best to curate a variety of resources, but unfortunately much of queer history has been lost many more decades than I’ve been alive, if you have any other resources for studying Polari I would love to read them, message me or leave a link in the replies.

Articles

Learn Polari, the Secret Language of the Gays ⚢ Out Magazine

Polari: The code language gay men used to survive ⚢ BBC

Polari and the Hidden History of Gay Seafarers ⚢ National Museums Liverpool

The Story of Polari, Britain’s Secret Gay Language ⚢ Fabulosa!

Polari People ⚢ Fabulosa!

Polari: a language born from prejudice ⚢ Englishpanish

The secretive gay language that gave LGBTQ people a voice ⚢ GAYTIMES

A brief history of Polari: the curious after-life of the dead language for gay men ⚢ The Conversation

Study Material

The Polari Bible ⚢ Internet Archive

Fantabulosa: A Dictionary of Polari and Gay Slang ⚢ Internet Archive

Sociolinguistics / Polari ⚢ StudySmarter

FlashCards ⚢ Quizlet

New Polari Translator ⚢ LingoJam

Polari: A sociohistorical study of the life and decline of a secret language. ⚢ Dissertation, University of Manchester

Polari: a language born from prejudice ⚢ Englishpanish

Simon Bowkett: a short blog in Polari for LGBT+ History Month ⚢ Civil Service LGBT+ Network

[city-of-ladies]

"Burginda’s letter is instructing the young man in his spiritual endeavours, and the contents of the (albeit short) letter reveal that she was highly educated and well-read. Written in a period that many still refer to erroneously as an intellectual ‘Dark Ages’, Burginda’s letter uses Greek words, utilises biblical exegesis, imitates Christian poetry like the fifth-century Psychomachia of Prudentius, and references both the sixth-century Italian poet Arator and the classical Roman poet Virgil. It also contains a reworking of a description of heaven found in a Latin poem from Africa that dates to c. 500. Burginda was clearly a very well-read intellectual.

This letter can be used as an example to refute many popular misconceptions about the early middle ages. The first misconception is that antique texts were neglected or unknown in this period. The second misconception is that medieval women were uneducated and unintellectual. The third misconception is that there was little or no intellectual transmission between Africa and Europe in this period. Burginda’s letter proves all these assumptions false. Not bad for two paragraphs of Latin."

[queer-geordie-nerd]

Paid a visit to Clifford's Tower, just a 5 minute walk from our hotel. Like rather a lot of historic buildings in England, it sadly has a tragic and horrific history as the site of one of the worst antisemitic massacres of the Middle Ages, in 1190, in which around 150 Jews (which constituted almost the entire Jewish population of York at that time) took refuge in the tower to escape a mob. Most chose to die by their own hands rather than be killed by the mob and some, who had been promised safe passage if they converted to Christianity, were promptly murdered as soon as they left the building.

[thomascromwelll]

Happy Birthday, King!!! SLAAAAAAAAAAY!!!!

Richard Plantagenet — Richard III Born in 2 October, 1452.

[maryqos]

Comparison of what Anne Boleyn wore at her execution to how it's depicted in art over the centuries.

Description is from John Guy & Julia Fox's Hunting the Falcon: Henry VIII, Anne Boleyn, and the Marriage That Shook Europe, 2023. The art is from an anonymous German artist (1695), Jan Luyken (1699), Pierre-Nolasque Bergeret (1800-25), Édouard Cibot (1835), and Gustav Wapper (1838), respectively.

[thesixthduke]

Crown of Margaret of York, 1468.

[burningvelvet]

Some of the surviving clothes and personal belongings of Lord Byron (1788 - 1824)

1) a favorite white waistcoat originally belonging to King George II (1683 - 1760) bearing their shared initials; Byron wore this on his wedding day

2) a red embroidered jacket from Albania

3) a green fur-lined jacket given to him by Edward Trelawny

4) a linen undershirt of his which Lady Byron kept after their separation

5) a gold embroidered vest from Albania

6) a ring, thought to be his engagement ring

7) a pocket-watch bearing the Byron family crest

8) pair of boxing gloves; pugilism was big in 1800s london & like many male aristocrats at the time, Byron took lessons at the academy of famous boxing champion John Jackson

9) a small infant’s orthopedic boot; one of the many unsuccessful attempts to treat the congenital deformity of his leg & lifelong limp

10) a 32in/83cm belt with the head of Nike/Victory worn in his last months in Greece during the Revolution; a popular symbol during the war.

[vox-anglosphere]

One of the oldest Saxon churches in England - Escomb, Co. Durham

[cesareeborgia]

↳ catherine parr in ‘firebrand’ trailer (2024)

[norman-couple]

Female IRA fighter during the height of the troubles.

[city-of-ladies]

"Dr Sarah Stark, a human skeletal biologist at Historic England, said the findings provided “evidence of a leading role for a woman in warfare on iron age Scilly.”

“Although we can never know completely about the symbolism of objects found in graves, the combination of a sword and a mirror suggests this woman had high status within her community and may have played a commanding role in local warfare, organising or leading raids on rival groups.”

Stark added: “This could suggest that female involvement in raiding and other types of violence was more common in iron age society than we’ve previously thought, and it could have laid the foundations from which leaders like Boudicca would later emerge.”"

[knighthelm]

A little celebratory painting in honor of Anne of Cleves' Hans Holbein portrait being cleaned

People often were not completely static sitters for their artists. They were also often played music, read to, and spoken with to help pass the time. Anne of Cleves, like many women of the era, was a fine sewist, but she may have also whiled the hours away practicing English for her prospective new husband or being taught court etiquette.

William Kay Blacklock's "The Lesson" was somewhat referenced for proper hand anatomy, as the main reference for this was the Hans Holbein portrait itself. Blacklock actually had two very similar paintings, which would have been even more useful to me had I discovered it earlier. The Second is "The Window."

Edit: Better photo