Ancient Celtic offshore Banking
It looks like Jersey may have been an offshore banking centre for far longer than anyone has suspected. In June 2012 two metal detectorists uncovered a hoard of a staggering 70,000 late Iron Age and Roman coins. Their incredible find has since turned out to be the largest hoard ever found in Jersey.
The Domino Effect – How Europe fell into World War I
The immediate trigger that led to the start of the Great War (or First World War as it was subsequently known) was, relatively, innocuous enough – another assassination in the volatile Balkans. However what followed quickly resolved itself into a direct causal sequence of mobilisations & declarations of war by all the major European countries in turn – like a line of toppling dominoes.
A Close Run Thing – England’s Lucky Escape from the Spanish Armada
We like to think of the Royal Navy, led by the likes of Drake & Raleigh, as plucky little fighters whittling down the Spanish leviathan as it chugged up the English Channel on its inexorable path of conquest. However the truth is a little different and if it weren’t for some key items of luck, 1066 wouldn’t be the date that British schoolchildren remember as the last time England was invaded but 1588 (and we’d all probably be speaking Spanish as well).
How did the Romans do the calculations necessary for construction and other purposes using Roman numerals?
The Romans were skilled architects and engineers the likes of which the world had not seen before. They built huge elaborate and perfectly balanced structures that are not only still standing but still in use 2,000 years later. However their number system, whilst useful, was anything but straight forward. So how did the Romans manage to do the calculations necessary for construction using this rather unwieldy number system ?
The most famous Romance of the Middle Ages : Abélard & Héloise
The cult of celebrity may be a modern phenomenon but the interest in the love lives and romances of others has always been a human curiosity. If the gossip magazines of today had existed 860 years ago they would have been full of the lurid details of one of the most famous romances in history; that of Abélard & Héloise.
Scandal & Heresy in the Priory of Notre Dame de Lihou ?
Archaeological excavations of the Priory on Lihou island have unearthed, quite literally, some intriguing details about who lived there and has raised some serious question questions about what they might have been up too !
Some D-Day Factoids
The 6th of June 1944 is one of those pivotal dates in History that will always be remembered as a turning point in human history. 2014 will be the 70th anniversary of this “day of days”. In this article we look at some D-Day Factoids.
The Bayeux Tapestry – The Missing Ending
The Bayeux Tapestry is a beautiful historical artefact that never fails to impress. However this thousand years old embroidery, has a secret. It’s ending is missing! That is until the residents of Alderney crafted a new ending for this iconic artefact.
April 28th 1943 – The Start of the most important WW2 battle you’ve probably never heard of: Atlantic convoy ONS 5
On April 28th 1943 one of the greatest Atlantic convoy battles of the Second World War tool place. It was a pivotal moment on the road to allied victory and one of the important WW2 battles that you’ve probably never heard of.
What have the Romans ever done for us?
For Monty Python fans the question “What have the Romans ever done for us ?” will recall the irreverent comedy of the film ‘The Life of Brian’ . There is a serious question behind this frivolous skit. The Roman Empire and the culture it exported was the most advanced the world had ever seen. Indeed after the fall of the Roman Empire it never got back up to the same level, in Western Europe, until many centuries later.
When ‘The Prince of Wales’ brought Slaughter and Mayhem to Guernsey
From the loss of Normandy by King John in 1204 until the Papal Bull of Pope Sixtus IV in 1480 granting the Channel Islands neutrality, Guernsey suffered frequent attacks, sieges and invasions at the hands of the French. One of the bloodiest and best recorded was an invasion which was immortalised in the Guernsey folk ballad La Déscente des Aragousais or The Ballad of Yvon de Galles.
Beware the Ides of March : The Great Caesar is Assasinated
“Beware the Ides of March!”, the augur Spurinna had warned a few days before the 15 March in 44 BC , but the great Julius Caesar had brushed him aside. Was he not, at 55, the most powerful man in the civilised world?
Great British Battles – Part I
There are some events in history upon which turn the fate of nations. A point at which history can go either way. Battles have always played a part in defining what Britain is. Here we look at The Battles of Hastings; Agincourt ; The Spanish Armada & Waterloo.
The Battle of Jersey
Guernsey and Jersey, along with the other Channel Islands lived, for hundreds of years right on the front line of conflict between Britain and France. Islanders had to train and be ready to fight to defend their homes at a moments notice. On 6th January 1781 this threat went from ‘potential’ to ‘actual’ when a French force landed undetected in Jersey. The ensuing conflict became known as “The Battle of Jersey”.
