historicall.y

The Battle of Hastings was triggered when Edward the Confessor died on 5th January 1066, with no heir to the throne. There were many men for the job, but Harold Godwinson had himself crowned as soon as possible because he was the only one of those men in England at that time!  This made some certain people very angry and so in April of that same year William of Normandy prepared to invade England from France. One reason why William won was because he was very prepared and he invested a lot of money into the battle.  For example William brought a mixture of foot-soldiers, archers and cavalry.  William was also a great commander of his troops.  This means that he was much stronger and had a better chance of winning. The timing of William's arrival was pure luck for him.  William arrived in England when Harold was busy fighting off Harald  Hardrada (Viking leader and also one of the men who yearned for the throne of England) for the crown. Th...

By Polly Thompson Funeral rites of Passage:   The burial of a Viking Noble. Vikings invaded Britain in their impressive dragon prowed ships, to rape, pillage and burn.  They looted monastries and killed the monks. (including Lindisfarne). This is the reputation vikings warriors left behind, as claimed in sgraffito runes on the walls of the Orkney Stone Age burial mound Maeshowe. The sensational accounts of their marauding ignore the fact that Vikings were skilled craftsmen, famed sailors, farmers and great traders  Narrow viking boats could be sailed up shallow river waters and manoevered over land. They established the Volga trade running across Russia to the Black sea and reaching as far as Baghdad. As they lived so they died. Their funeral rites of passage honoured the status of nobles and were testament to the fine skills of craftsmen.  Burials  would be on their Viking ship accompanied by fine grave goods, provisions,  birds animals ...

Ingredients: 150g of peas (fresh or frozen) 500g boned ham joint 1/2 tbsp of horse radish sauce (optional) 1 dessert spoon of linseeds (optional) a knob of butter Equipment: scales 2 clean cloths  large pan dish string fork sharp knife spoon WASH YOUR HANDS FOR HYGIENE PURPOSES!!! Method: Boil a large pan of water. If needed shell the peas. Put the peas in a dish with the butter, linseeds and horse radish sauce. Carefully tip the peas into a cloth and making sure that their are no gaps tie the top up with some string. Put the ham in the second cloth and tie up the top. Boil the peas and ham in the cloths in the pan for about one and half hours.  Using tongs, remove the cloth and drain all the water out. Lift the ham out and slice it. Arrange the ham into the centre of a dish and pour the peas around the ham. Serve hot.