Anne Boleyn
The actual wedding date of Henry
and Anne is in some dispute due to HEADLESS HALL
the hasty and secretive nature of it
OF FAME
George Boleyn
CRIME: INCEST, TREASON
DATE OF EXECUTION: 17 MAY 1536
Anne’s brother George was charged with
incest with the queen and plotting to kill
the king. It is likely this was a plot devised by
Thomas Cromwell to rid Henry of Anne. Despite
no evidence against him he was found guilty and
beheaded with the four other men.
Henry Norris
CRIME: TREASON, ADULTERY
DATE OF EXECUTION: 17 MAY 1536
Norris served as groom of the stool to Henry
VIII and was close to both the king and
queen. The dates he was charged with adultery
would be nigh-on impossible, as Anne was not in
Westminster at the time. Norris was found guilty and
said very little on the scaffold as he met his death.
Francis Weston
CRIME: TREASON, ADULTERY
DATE OF EXECUTION: 17 MAY 1536
Weston served as a gentleman of the Privy
Chamber to Henry VIII, and became a friend
of the king. Aged 25, Weston was arrested
for adultery with Anne and plotting to kill the
king, despite no evidence supporting this. Weston
protested his innocence to the end but was executed.
John Fisher
Catherine’s inability to produce more children
and Henry’s desire to annul the marriage CRIME: TREASON
became known as ‘The Great Matter’ DATE OF EXECUTION: 22 JUNE 1535
Born in Yorkshire, John Fisher was a Roman-
Catholic bishop who supported Catherine
of Aragon when Henry VIII attempted to
divorce her. Fisher refused to accept the king
as head of the church and was beheaded as a
result. Today Fisher is considered a saint.
Thomas Darcy
CRIME: HIGH TREASON
DATE OF EXECUTION: 30 JUNE 1537
An English nobleman, Darcy was opposed
to Henry’s dissolution of the monasteries
and helped lead the popular uprising the
Pilgrimage of Grace. “The most serious of
all Tudor rebellions” saw 30,000 people in
Yorkshire rise up against the religious reforms.
Anne is crowned
queen consort, after
yearsoffightingforan
annulment of the marriage of
Henry and Catherine. Anne is
already pregnant with Elizabeth
and in September of that year
she is born, much to Henry’s The relationship
Henry VIII loses interest disappointment. between Anne and Henry
in Anne’s sister, Mary, and becomes strained as Anne
begins to court Anne. He suffers a miscarriage. By the
sendsheraseriesoflovele 1533 imeshefallspregnantagainin Various men are
butAnnerefusestobeh 535, Henry is already courting arrested on charges
mistress. Within a year He Jane Seymour. Anne also of adultery with Anne and
asks Anne to marry him a miscarries this child, who treason against the king in a
she accepts. appears to be male. Anne
plot masterminded by Thoma
Cromwell. Anne is taken to th is executed on
1534 Tower of London, tried and a scaffold by a French
1526 swordsman brought in
foundguiltyofadultery,
incest and high treason. especially for the beheading.
Before her death she praises
Henry, perhaps to save Elizabeth
1536 and her family from any further
implications, but refuses to
admit her guilt.
1536
51
Anne Boleyn
WIFE HEAD-TO-HEADLESS
Catherine Anne Boleyn Jane Seymour Anne of Cleves Catherine Catherine Parr
of Aragon Howard
DATES OF MARRIAGE: DATES OF MARRIAGE: DATES OF MARRIAGE: DATES OF MARRIAGE:
1543-1547
1533-1536 1536-1537 6 JANUARY 1540 - 9 JULY 1540
DATES OF MARRIAGE:
DATES OF MARRIAGE:
WHAT HAPPENED TO HER? WHAT HAPPENED TO HER? WHAT HAPPENED TO HER? WHAT HAPPENED TO HER?
1540-1541
1509-1533
SURVIVED
BEHEADED DIED AFTER GIVING BIRTH DIVORCED
WHAT HAPPENED TO HER?
WHAT HAPPENED TO HER?
Clever, pretty and witty, It is highly likely that Jane A German princess, Anne Having had four husbands
BEHEADED
DIVORCED of which Henry was the
Catherine was first married Anne soon attracted Seymour was the mistress was selected by Henry Referred to by Henry as his
to Arthur, Henry’s older Henry’s attention as the who disposed of Anne, from nothing more than “rose without a thorn”, the third, Catherine Parr was
brother, but was betrothed handmaiden of Catherine and Seymour married a portrait. Henry asked young and pretty woman the most married queen
to Henry after his death. of Aragon. She refused to Henry shortly after Anne’s the artist to paint Anne quickly caught the king’s in English history. Her
Catherine had a string of become a mistress and execution. Although she realistically, and not to eye and the two were friendship with Henry’s
failed pregnancies and demanded he wed her. This was the lowest in birth of flatter her. However, when soon married. However, in daughter Mary caused her
finally gave birth to a led Henry to seek a divorce Henry’s wives, her giving Henry met her he was early-1941 Howard allegedly to catch the king’s attention.
healthy daughter in 1516 and start the English Henry his much-desired greatly disappointed and embarked upon an affair As queen, Catherine worked
– Mary. Although Henry Reformation. Although male heir, Edward, secured was not enthusiastic about with Henry’s male courtier, to restore Henry’s court as
seemed to adore Catherine, Anne produced the would- his everlasting love. She the marriage. The marriage Thomas Culpepper. Howard a family home, and helped
the marriage was annulled be heir, Elizabeth, her died from post-natal provided a vital alliance was charged with treason strengthen the Tudor line,
on the basis that she had failure to produce a son had complications and Henry with the Germans, but was and adultery, found guilty thereby ensuring Elizabeth’s
been his brother’s wife. Henry plot her downfall. was later buried next to her. later annulled. and executed. eventual succession.
Anne made her debut playing
Perseverance at the Chateau Vert
pageant where she danced with
Henry’s sister Mary
52
Anne Boleyn
Anne Boleyn being
taken to the Tower
of London
Although she was banished from court,
Catherine of Aragon referred to herself
as ‘the queen’ until her death
of the monasteries should go, and he had seen againstAnneoranyofthemenaccused,butthe
where Anne had sent her other enemies, such king had made his will known. When the verdict
as Thomas More – to the chopping block. Under wasannounced,Annecollapsedandhadtobe
Henry’s instructions, Cromwell began to investigate carriedoutofthecourtroom.Guilty.Shehadbeen
a variety of adulterous accusations against Anne condemned to death.
andarrestedMarkSmeaton,acourtmusician.Mark On17May,thefivecondemnedmenwere
confessedtothecharges,verylikelyundertorture, executed, including Anne’s beloved younger
andgavethenamesofaselectionofothermen brother, and on 19 May Anne herself was led to
under the same charges, including Anne’s own thescaffold.Hermarriagetothekinghadalready
brother – George. been deemed invalid, and he was not present to
SPOUSE WARS she was very aware of what these investigations witnessthefinalmomentsofthewomanwhohad
Annewasfarfromblindtowhatwasgoingon;
captivated him for so many years. Anne’s body
meant for herself. In April 1536, just before Smeaton wasburiedinanunmarkedgraveintheChapel
Henry VIII’s six wives is a lot was arrested, Anne came to Henry carrying ofStPeter,whichadjoinedtheTowerGreen.
for British leaders, but it pales theyoungElizabethinherarmsand ForthesurvivingBoleyns,thefallwas
in a worldwide context appealed to him directly. However, it so great they could not hope to
seemed that her power over him recover from it. Anne’s mother,
had finally been extinguished. Elizabeth,diedayearlaterand
Fat′h Ali Shah Qajar PERSIAN, 1772-1834 On1MayHenryleftthe Thelegendthat she was soon followed by her
Mayday jousts without husband. Mary died in 1542,
saying goodbye to Anne, Annehadasixth leaving behind only a young
NUMBER OF MARRIAGES: 158 and the following day she finger on her hand daughter and the son that
wasarrested–itwouldbe may have been Henry’s.
the final time she would was likely a vicious Less than eight years after
ever see her husband. rumour Anne’s coronation every
Sobhuza II SWAZI, 1899-1982
In a cruel twist of irony, immediate member of the
Anne’sprisoncellwasthe Boleynfamilywasdead.Their
NUMBER OF MARRIAGES: 70 verysameplaceintheTowerof rise had been magnificent, their
London that she had resided on her fall akin to a Greek tragedy.
coronationnight.ForAnne,awomanfor The future for Henry was almost as
Mswati III SWAZI, 1968-PRESENTDAY
whom control had always been of vital importance, stormy.11yearsandfourwiveslater,Henry’sgreed
thehopelessnessofhersituationhadaprofound and debauched lifestyle finally got the better of
effect.Withinadayofimprisonmentherstateof himandhediedaged55.Thehandsome,athletic
NUMBER OF MARRIAGES: 15 mind differed from optimism and giddiness, to and charismatic young man that he had wished
bouts of hysteria and extreme depression. The to portray himself as had faded long ago, and the
queen would sob uncontrollably one moment, then portrait of a lustful, violent and egotistical king
Amenhotep III EGYPTIAN, ???-1353BCE
burstintoshockinglaughterthenext.Herenemies remained. Although he had finally produced the
were very cunning with the methods in which son he was so obsessed with obtaining, the young
they condemned Anne; four of the men were tried Edward VI died aged just 15.
NUMBER OF MARRIAGES: 317
and found guilty of adultery and treason before her But unbeknownst to him, he had already
own trial took place, making it nigh-on impossible produced the strong, long-lasting heir he desired.
for her to prove her innocence. Elizabeth,thedaughterAnnehadbornewhohe
Abdul Hamid II OTTOMAN, 1876-1909
Annewasforcedtostandbeforeacouncilof hadbeensodisappointedwith,wentontorule
peers including her once-love Henry Percy and her Englandfor45years.Shebecameoneofthemost © Look & Learn; Alamy
NUMBER OF MARRIAGES: 13 ownuncleintheverysameroomshehadenjoyed famed and celebrated rulers in the nation’s history,
hercoronationfeast.Therewasverylittleevidence and Henry and Anne’s most enduring legacy.
53
Secrets of the Terracotta Army
A giant
tomb-mound and
an army of clay soldiers
protect the body of China’s
First Emperor. Scholars have
solved many mysteries –
butmanymore remain
Written by John Man
TERRACOTTA
A
TER R A C O T T
54
Secrets of the Terracotta Army
arch, 1974. Orchards and fields
near Xian, north-central China. In
the background is a conical hill.
We’re in an orchard, but the trees
M are bare and the grass is dusty.
There’s a drought. Five peasants, the Yang
brothers, are digging a well. They are two
metres (six feet) down, taking turns to dig
while the others haul out soil in baskets.
Suddenly the one in the pit, Yang Zhefa,
shouts: ‘An earth-god!’ Sticking out of the
soil is a head made of clay: two eyes, long
hair tied in a bun, a moustache. This is bad
luck, because it is underground, where the
dead live. The men toss the head aside and
keep digging. But some local kids see it
and throw stones at it. A few adults arrive.
An old woman takes the head home and
puts it on her table. Meanwhile, the Yang
brothers make other finds: bricks, bits of
bronze and some arrowheads.
A month later, a 24-year-old archaeologist
named Zhao working in a local museum
hears about the finds. He gets on his bike,
rides to the orchard and finds the Yangs,
still busy on their well. By now there are
more clay bits on their heap of rubbish: legs,
arms, two more heads. He takes charge of
JOHNMAN
matters and has the finds brought to his
John Man specialises
in the history of museum in nearby Lintong. He guesses
Author Mongolia and north they are important, because he knows the
Bio China, with a dozen
books in print. They historical background.
include The Terracotta Army, The Over two thousand years ago, this
Great Wall and Genghis Khan: was the heartland of the state known as
Life, Death And Resurrection,
which has become a best-seller Qin (pronounced Chin). That hill in the
in 21 languages. His latest book background, a giant pyramid of earth,
is The Mongol Empire. was the tomb of the emperor who united
China’s warring states into a single nation.
Zhao, like most educated people, knew
all about the First Emperor, because the
story of his rise was told in dramatic terms
by Sima Qian, one of China’s greatest
historians, writing a century after the
events he describes.
Qin had been one of seven warring
states, all with their own armies and
systems of government, all rivalling each
55
Secrets of the Terracotta Army
“He had artisans make thousands scholars and books: “Those who use the past to
criticise the present should be put to death!” So the
of full-size warriors out of clay” royal archives “were all destroyed. How regrettable!”
– burned, said Sima Qian. This episode, known as
the Burning of the Books, is generally accepted
other.ButQinhadmadeitselfthemostpowerful the central and northern bits, but ever since then, as true, as is another claiming that “over 460”
by becoming a military dictatorship, a police state the idea of unity has been at the heart of Chinese scholars were buried alive. But Sima Qian, writing
in which the ruler had total control. For example, history. Zheng gave himself a suitably grand title: during the next dynasty, was keen to discredit
as one chronicler recorded, “Anyone who failed to Qin Shi Huang Di, meaning Qin (or China) First his predecessors, and experts
report criminal activity would be chopped in two August Emperor. Non-Chinese usually call him the question the true meaning of
at the waist.” The system worked. By 238 BCE, First Emperor. the words widely translated
Qin was a rich, self-confident kingdom under the Now he needed to weld his conquests together, as “burned” and “buried”.
control of a new 22-year-old ruler, King Zheng. with a revolution in government and vast building Anyway, countless Qin
Zheng was fanatical about security. He thought projects that would control his people and keep books survived. These
he could make Qin even safer by using his tough, enemies out. First, he ordered a revolution in record cruel punishments,
mobile army to extend his control over the other administration, setting up a government of 36 including being torn apart
six states. To ensure victory, he turned his nation regions, each divided into counties, and each with by carriages and being
into a war machine fuelled by good food supplies, both civil and military governors, overseeing tax boiled to death. But there are
ruthless tax gatherers, military service for almost collectors and judges. All the different systems no records of the execution
all men, and highly trained soldiers. of law, money, weights, measures, even styles of of scholars. It seems the
We have no details of his conquests, which clothing were standardised. emperor’s new legal system
started in 230 BCE, but in nine years he defeated all And dissent of any kind was crushed. According actually prevented gross
the other six kingdoms. In 221 BCE, he was master to Sima Qian, when a scholar dared criticise the abuses of power.
of a unified China, which gets its name from his emperor for breaking with tradition, Prime Minister Peace had one startling
kingdom. This was not China as it is today, just Li Si pointed out that the roots of rebellion lay with result: the king’s vast army
56
Secrets of the Terracotta Army
Many of the
damaged terracotta
warriors have been
meticulously pieced
back together
The Emperor’s
Greatest
Achievements
Unification
The First Emperor is referred to as China’s First
Unifier. There have been many others since, the
latest being Mao Zedong, who created Communist
China from the ruins of war and revolution in
1949. There have been many periods of division
and China has changed shape often. Today’s China
is 3.4 times the size of Qin. But for 2,000 years,
China has looked back to the First Emperor as a
symbol of the ultimate ideal – unity.
The level of detail in
the terracotta statues’ Standardisation of coins, axles,
design is astounding colours & weights
The Qin Empire was held together by a series of
measures that made Qin standards universal. Black
Every terracotta
warrior discovered so was the colour of flags and uniforms. Every state
far has a unique feature abandoned its own coins for round copper ones
with a square hole in the middle. Cartwheels were
given a single gauge, so that they all ran in the
same ruts. Weights and measures became uniform.
Laws and order was harsh but equal.
Standardisation of writing
China had had a script for 1,500 years. It changed
with the centuries and each state had its own
variant. Under the First Emperor, all regional
variations gave way to a single ‘seal script’. Perhaps
this was his most significant reform, because all
officials could understand his orders and each
other, whatever their dialects. Today, China’s script
still binds the nation together. Mandarin speakers
may not understand spoken Cantonese, but both
understand the same written characters.
Roads
Fast travel was vital for messengers, troops and
royal retinues, so the emperor put his labourers to
work building roads, almost 7,000km (3,730mi) in
all. All the nation’s 270 palaces were connected. In
part, this was for security. He travelled between
them in secret and executed anyone who revealed
where he was. One of the roads ran 800km
(497mi) northward across the Ordos semi-desert
so that troops and workers could get to the border
– and the Great Wall – as quickly as possible.
Great Wall of China
This was nothing like today’s Great Wall, which
dates from 1,500 years later. At the time, there
were many walls. After unification, there was
only one enemy; the nomadic ‘barbarians’ of the
northern grasslands. Fearsome mounted archers,
they often galloped south on raids. The emperor’s
huge workforce joined up many small walls along
the northern borders of Zhao and Yan, creating a
single barrier stretching across northern China for
2,500km (1,500mi).
57
Secrets of the Terracotta Army
The Painted Warriors
The warriors today are clay-coloured, as are the
reproductions bought by tourists. That’s what seems
‘authentic’. But it’s wrong. They were originally painted
in vivid colours, which were stripped away by their
earthy blanket. In the First Emperor’s day, the rich
loved colours, because they were expensive
to make and thus symbols of luxury.
Surviving flecks of paint reveal what
the statues were like, with pink (for
faces), red, green, brown and purple
– especially so-called ‘Chinese
purple’, made from a complex
mixture of barium, copper, quartz
and lead.
– millions of soldiers from all seven nations – was
no longer needed. Something had to be done with
them, or risk rebellion. So the soldiers were set remake the emperor’s life on Earth – government,
to work on huge projects: over 6,000 kilometres banquets, entertainments, hunting, fighting.
(3,730 miles) of paved roads, half a dozen royal The tomb itself was perhaps devoted to his death, of some unspecified cause at the age of
palaces, military bases, and – most famously – the government. Sima Qian says it contains a model 50 in 210 BCE. For his burial, tens of thousands of
first Great Wall. of the empire, with the rivers picked out in workers rushed to finish the tomb and its many
One the First Emperor’s grandest projects was flowing mercury, the night sky portrayed in the outlying graves. The terracotta warriors were placed
his tomb, built near the ancient capital, Xian, at the ceiling, and all defended by crossbows ready to in three pits 1.5 kilometres (0.93 miles) to the east
foot of a sacred mountain, Mount Li. Records claim fire on intruders. It sounds unlikely, but in 1982 of the tomb. Well armed with spears, lances, swords
that 700,000 worked on it, but 40,000 is a more archaeologists probed the tomb with 560 drillings and crossbows, they were lined up on a tiled floor
accurate figure, working for a year to dig as if on a parade-ground, ready to help
death, the tomb would be covered with “To ensure victory, he their lord fight off spirit armies coming to
out a pit for the tomb itself. Later, after his
take over his empire. The pits, nine metres
the hill that is still there today – 50 metres turned his nation into (30 feet) deep, were roofed with wooden
(164 feet) high, 350 metres (1,148 feet) beams, twice as thick as telegraph poles,
per side; the size of the Great Pyramid, a war machine” weighing 500 kilograms (1,100 pounds)
though made of earth, not stone. each, over 6,000 in all. The beams were
What was it all for? The answer is: to covered with matting, on top of which
live forever in the spirit world. The emperor, like his that revealed the outlines of a building and slight workers piled three metres (ten feet) of earth.
whole society, was obsessed with life after death. traces of mercury vapour. The truth will only be Then they vanished. There were no records. Sima
He believed the next world mirrored this one, and known if and when the tomb is opened. Qian makes no mention of them. After a generation
that a dead person needed familiar objects in the But the emperor would also need an army. So or two, they were forgotten, the memory of them
grave to recreate life. The rich and powerful needed he commissioned something totally original and erased by the chaos and civil war that destroyed
big tombs, filled with ‘grave goods’, like chariots, unique. He had his artisans, hundreds of them, the Qin Empire.
weapons, animals and servants, both real ones, make thousands of full-size warriors out of clay, all So when the warriors were found in 1974, they
killed and buried with their lord, and models, for a painted in vivid colours and carrying real bronze were a total surprise. And when archaeologists got
life-like image could in some magical way become weapons (which was why they had to be full size). to work there was another surprise: not a single
‘real’ in the spirit world. Everything was designed to Much of this work must have been done before soldier was found intact. All had been shattered.
58
Secrets of the Terracotta Army
Weapons
The mock-soldiers carried real bronze-
and-wood weapons, by the thousands.
Swords (17 have been found) were for
high-ranking officers. Specialists used bows
and crossbows. Rank-and-file soldiers had
halberds and spears.
Today’s display is the result of painstaking
reconstruction. So far, 1,000 have been restored,
though all their bright colours vanished into the
earth that buried them. The rest are still buried,
awaiting techniques that can ensure better
preservation. No one knows exactly how many
there are: the 7,000-8,000 is an estimate, as is the
number of 670 horses. But this is not enough for
an army. The emperor’s real army numbered in the Unique
tens of thousands. Perhaps there are more to be designs
discovered. After all, there have been many other Of the 7,000-
finds over the years, including horse skeletons, 8,000 buried and
tombs of officials, other types of terracotta statues, broken figures,
about 1,000 have
bronze birds, and two astonishing half-sized been restored.
chariots, complete with horses and drivers. Each one is
But the star turn is the army, now partly restored different. They are
not portraits, but
from jigsaw puzzles of bits and pieces. Not a single
ideals – handsome,
one in the main pit has been found complete. well built, serene.
All were shattered – but how? Fire was somehow The artists just
varied the details,
responsible, for the earth above them was baked
like eyebrows,
solid. But how did the fire start, and how could it beards and
break every single statue? moustaches.
59
Secrets of the Terracotta Army
The Elixir of Life
Some people taught that the body could be made
incorruptible by death, and so become a xian, an immortal.
For centuries, Daoists experimented with elixirs – mixtures
including gold, mercury, arsenic and lead – undeterred by the
often-fatal results. The First Emperor believed in the elixir, and
took seriously a charlatan named Xu Fu, who told him it could
be found in islands off the east coast. Xu promised to find
it, but did nothing. In 210 BCE, the emperor, when touring
the east, found and questioned Xu, who claimed he had
been prevented from sea-travel by a large fish. The emperor,
deranged by paranoia, believed him and fired arrows into the
sea to kill the non-existent monster. Soon afterward, he died.
Many terracotta horses Restoration of the
were also made for the terracotta warriors is
emperor’s tomb currently in progress
A depiction of what is believed to be buried
under the mound – the transparent pyramid in
the picture representing the earth on top of it
To answer, we must become detectives. It must In Lintong, rebels knew about the Terracotta
have had something to do with the rebels who rose Army from the hastily recruited labourers. So in
against the Qin dynasty after the First Emperor’s early 206 BCE, with the Qin palaces ablaze, rebels
death in 210 BCE, opening eight years of civil war arrived at the tomb-site, eager for more booty. The
before the Han Dynasty took over in 202 BCE. In vast tomb itself was too much of a challenge. But
a film shown to tourists in the Terracotta Army they knew of the buried army, knew also that it
museum, rebel soldiers break through doors and contained real weapons.
torch the place. But there were no doors, no mass There was no time to dig up the earth and
break-in. There is no evidence of the roof being dug beams. The best way in was to dig straight down.
up. So there was no oxygen to sustain a fire. That’s The evidence is there. In Pit No 2, a hole like a
the mystery: a fire, but no means to keep it burning. small mineshaft bypasses the roof and enters the
This might have happened: As the empire fell pit. It’s a metre (three feet) or so wide, big enough
apart, a rebel army approached the tomb, with no for one person at a time to enter, big enough to
army to stop them. Historian Ban Gu, writing 200 hand weapons to the surface.
years later, says the Qin generals advised: “There Imagine the first rebel soldier breaking through,
are forced labourers at the Mt Li grave complex. seeing nothing, calling for a blazing torch. Its
Grant them amnesty and supply them with arms.” flickering light reveals the front lines of clay
This was done, which temporarily blocked the rebel soldiers in their original painted finery, with pink
army, and also stopped work on the First Emperor’s faces and brightly coloured coats. In cavernous
tomb. This explains why there are three pits full corridors, the soldiers range backward into darkness
of soldiers – but a fourth pit is completely empty, and – most importantly – all armed. For fighting
awaiting more warriors, which never arrived. me, it’s a treasure-trove.
60
Secrets of the Terracotta Army
The Burial Site 1. The tomb 6. Side Hall
The burial mound is some
In these above-ground
50-75m (164-246ft) high. buildings, family members
Soundings suggest that would prepare themselves
beneath it is a stepped half- for the frequent rituals of
pyramid up to 150m (492ft) mourning and worship.
wide with two entrances.
TERRACOTTA ARMY
Inside, presumably, is the 7. Pit of the
1.5KM (0.9MI)
emperor’s coffin. ‘Acrobats’
3 12 figures, dressed in skirts.
2. Pit of the 11 of them are perhaps
6 Bronze Chariots acrobats. One is heavily
Two half-size chariots were built, possibly a wrestler.
found in 1980. One (the
so-called High Chariot) 8. Stone-armour
was open, the other (the Pit
‘Comfortable Chariot’) was Discovered in 1998, this pit
enclosed, for the emperor’s contains about 120 suits
spirit. Both were crushed, of limestone armour, all
but are now restored. broken. Limestone does
not make real armour. It is
3. Servants’ too heavy and too fragile.
5 quarters It was probably a symbolic
4 The worship of the emperor defence against evil spirits.
needed a staff of hundreds.
Here they lived, with offices 9. Menagerie Pits
and washing facilities. Several pits that each
2 1 contain the skeleton of a
4. Banqueting bird or animal. Possibly
Room they symbolize the First
9 It was probably used to Emperor’s hunting-ground
provide meals for all the or zoo.
10 8 functionaries and to make 10. Pit of the
the food offered every day
to the emperor’s spirit. Officials
Discovered in 2000,
5. Resting Hall it contained 20 h orse
7 This 57 x 62m (187 x 203ft) skeletons and 12 terracotta
complex was above ground; figures. Long sleeves and
the centre for the cult writing gear make clear that
devoted to the emperor. they are officials.
Others slither down the hole, holding more more warriors and horses. They have only a few thousands of them around the world, burning very
torches. The intruders begin to weave and shove precious minutes to escape, and there is only room slowly, for a very long time. One under the town of
their way through, grabbing weapons, passing for one at a time up the exit shaft. They all made it Centralia, Pennsylvania, has been smouldering for
them back to the tunnel. “There is no evidence because no charred skeletons were found with the half a century and may go on doing so for another
of organised destruction,” says the Army’s senior smashed soldiers. 250 years.
archaeologist, Yuan Zhongyi. “We found remains There is something odd about this fire. It takes Imagine the scene: In the main pit, the flames
of warriors which seem to have fallen in a zig-zag apowerfulhold,butitneedsaflowofoxygen are dead, the pit dark again, smoke drifting along
pattern, which suggests they were thecorridors.Butthefirehasfound
pushed over as people forced their “A rebel army approached a home in the ceiling, where the
way through.” earthkeepsalidonthefire.Traces
Then, in the chaos, something cut the tomb, with no army of oxygen seep in, just enough to
the break-in short. keep the ceiling smouldering. Slowly,
Fire. A torch smouldering beside a to stop them” theslowfireeatsawayatthebeams.
wooden pillar or one of the wooden At some point, charred timbers fall,
chariots. For what happened next, we breakingapieceoffawarriorortwo.
must rely on modern fire-protection engineers, like to keep it going. There’s not enough coming in Asectionofearthfollows.
Joe Lally, an archaeologist with the US Department through the small entrance. Andsoitgoes,foryears,thewarriors,chariots © Thinkstock; Adrian Mann; John Man;Terracotta Army Museum
of the Interior’s Bureau of Land Management in Sotheflamesgoout. and crossbow-men crushed by the falling beams,
Albuquerque, New Mexico. In his computerised Yetweknowfiredestroyedthepit.How?This the surface subsiding bit by bit, filled again by
scenario, there was no exit for the smoke. The wasaspecialsortoffire,likethosethatspread water-borne mud, until not a trace remains of what
corridors filled with smoke in about four minutes, underground along seams of coal. Coal-seam fires lies beneath, until the five Yang brothers find an
forcing the thieves to crawl to the exit, toppling arestartedbybushfiresorlightning.Thereare earth-god while digging a well.
61
RAIDER
Portrayed as bloodthirsty pirates, pillaging
innocent villagers, Vikings also ruled the
waves with a lucrative trade network
Written by Frances White
he great white sail cracked as the vicious rapists and pillagers is so prevailing that it’s often
Atlantic wind lashed against it, but still the forgotten that the word Viking itself means to go on
ship sailed on. Long and sleek, the warship, an expedition. It is easy to fall into the assumption
crafted from mighty oak, crashed through that these people were nothing more than pirates –
T the waves, sending a sharp spray of water taking from those too weak to defend themselves.
across the deck. The men inside rowed as one, their And it is undeniable that this happened: the
mighty muscles straining as they plunged the oars Viking invaders sailed from Scandinavia to coasts
deep into the water and drove the ship of the British Isles and beyond, invading
forward through the turbulent w and monasteries, killing the
Their strength alone brought the bitants and stealing their
ship to land and they poured hes. It’s spoken about in first-
out onto the beach. Dressed Vikings hand accounts and it’s still
in thick woollen tunics, the had excellent being evidenced today in
warriors were armed with an the reams of Viking hoards
array of weapons, from long hygiene, bathing discovered from anxious
sharpened spears to hefty townsfolk who hurried to
battle-axes. With a booming at least once a hide their riches from the
voice one man yelled to the week merciless invaders.
others, thrusting his sword into However, this only tells half
the air, and the rest bellowed story. Two things powered the
in response. Then onward he ran g civilisation: the vicious raids
as the united force thundered up y mous for, and something else –
against the billowing wind. Their destination? trade. Not only did Vikings set up new colonies
A coastal monastery bursting full of gold, gems and in the lands they invaded, but they also created
hefty food supplies ripe for the taking, and only a powerful trade routes that helped their nation to
collection of quiet, unassuming monks to protect it. become one of the most prosperous in the world.
This image of monstrous invaders laying siege For the majority of the year, the same Vikings
to innocent monasteries and pillaging them of who had pillaged the towns worked the land,
their precious items is the first one that leaps to tirelessly toiling in the field, or creating intricate
mind when many are confronted with the word and valuable ornaments and jewellery to fund their
‘Viking’. The portrayal of the Norse tribesmen as blossoming civilisation.
62
Viking Raiders
VICIOUS
VIKINGS
Meet Scandinavia’s
most terrifying
plunderers
ERIK THE RED 951 – 1003
Infamous for:
Being exiled
from Iceland for
murder. He went
on to colonise
Greenland
GUTHRUM UNKNOWN – 890
Infamous for:
Waging war
against the king
of the West
Saxons – Alfred
the Great
INGVAR THE FAR-TRAVELLED
UNKNOWN
Infamous for:
Pillaging the
shores of the
Caspian Sea
RODULF HARALDSSON
UNKNOWN – 873
Infamous for:
Leading raids in
Britain, France
and Germany
IVAR THE BONELESS UNKNOWN
Infamous for:
Invading Anglo-
Saxon kingdoms
of England
using the Great
Heathen Army
63
Viking Raiders
VIKING VOYAGES
As expert ship builders, the Vikings were able to voyage further
and wider than any civilisation before…
Centuries before Christopher Columbus would Atlantic Ocean. When Erik the Red travelled to Woollen sail
stumble upon the land now known as America, Greenland, only 14 of his original 25 ships managed Longships featured
the Vikings had claimed the Atlantic Ocean as to arrive safely. onelargesquaresail
approximately ten
their own backyard. They had mastered Russia’s However, it was the determination and hardiness
metres wide. These
river system and reached the Middle East; of the voyagers willing to take these risks were most likely made
their impressive voyages helped the Vikings to valuable and from wool, though no
to become leaders of a rapidly ic treasures and trade lying sails have survived to
confirm this. To keep
developing world and this new Some ong the coastlines of the thesail’sshapewhen
Viking civilisation thrived on Vikings were world. Toward the end of the itgotwet,thewool
the power of a single creation: 8th century, Viking voyagers wascoveredwithcriss-
crossing leather strips.
the ship. buried in boats began an invasion of England
The entire Viking society surrounded by that would forever determine
was built around their ships, weapons, valuable the fate of the island nation.
which were bigger, lighter and By 860 this pioneering spirit
faster than any before. These property and ed them to the assault of
vessels had been perfected slaves onstantinople, then some 20
over many years, with the power rs later, in 885, Viking ships
to brave the vicious storms of ed the mighty city of Paris.
the Atlantic Ocean, but also the s y the quest for trade, territory,
construction to skim through shallow rivers. plunder and a thirst for adventure, the impact
These powerful and efficient ships enabled their of these historic voyages can still be felt around the
mighty passengers to create colonies all over the world today.
world, and the building and maintaining of these
vessels became the basis of Viking society.
Vikings were using their mighty sea power Wooden hull
to trade around the coast of Europe while the AllVikingshipsweremadeinthesameway,using
planksofoakorpineoverlappedandnailedtogether.
British Empire was merely a collection of scattered Theshipswerethenreinforcedandmadewatertightby
kingdoms unable to defend their shores. The using tarred wool or other animal furs to fill in the gaps
Viking sailors were aware that it was often easier between the planks.
to take the same journey by water rather than
land, with some journeys taking five days
by sea, compared to a month on land,
and they used this to their advantage. Frightening figurehead
Longer voyages were carried out by The front of the ship was often
decoratedwithacarvingofan
those settling in strange and exciting animal head, usually a mix between
foreign lands, and the Viking civilisation adragonandasnake.These
spread to Iceland, Greenland, and even to figureheads were removable and
wouldonlybeputupwhenthe
Canada and North America.
shipwasapproachingland,asthey
The image of a Viking longboat crashing risked heavy damage while out
through the waves with its fierce dragon at sea.
figurehead and its long, sleek curves is certainly
an inspiring one, but for those onboard, life was
not quite so glamorous. With no shelter, at night
the sailors used the sail as a makeshift tent that
they would sleep under, shivering beneath blankets
or animal skin sleeping bags. The only sustenance
would be dried or salted meat with water, beer or
sour milk to drink. The sinking of vessels was no
great tragedy, but rather expected on long journeys.
There would be no rescue sent as usually nobody
knew about sunken ships for weeks, months or
even years. It was not unusual for any number of
ships to go missing on voyages across the brutal
64
Viking Raiders
Viking women
were free to own
property and
request a divorce
Steering oar
This rudder-like oar, also
knownasa‘steerboard’,
wasattachedtothebackof
theshiponthestarboard
side.Itwasusedtosteer
theshipandwouldrequire
a large amount of physical
exertion compared to
modern alternatives. The
position of the ‘steerboard’
Oars for speed is where the term
Oarsdifferedinlength ‘starboard’ originated from.
depending on where
theywouldbeused.
Therewerenoseats
on Viking ships, so the
oarsmen sat on storage
chests.Oarswere
usuallyusedtogain Keel for strength
speed quickly when near Thekeeloftheshipwouldbemadefirstand
acoastorinariver,then providedtheshipwithstrengthbeneath
stored out of place when the waterline, while also allowing navigation
outatsea. in shallow waters. Sometimes ships would
featureafalseouterkeel,whichwouldtake
thebruntofthewearwhenshipswere
dragged onto beaches.
Small hold
Thelongshipwasdesignedforwar,soitwasvitalforittobefast.
Because of this, they had a small loading capacity, with room for
onlyhighvaluegoodsandbooty.Themerchantshipswouldbeable
to carry far more cargo, with room for livestock.
Navigation
Before some of the greatest explorers in they were to land. Once a journey was
history were born, Vikings had already complete, sailors would recount their
Oarports navigated their way around the world. But voyage to others who wished to make the
Thesewereholesfortheoars with no compasses, satellites or radios, same journey. This ancient wisdom would
that ran along the entire length how did this tribe of Scandinavians manage be passed through generations.
of the ship on both sides. The to map the globe so impressively? The The only tools Viking sailors needed
holes would also be used to answer is simpler than you might expect – were related to the Sun. For example, a
tie shields in place, but only experience. Rather than relying on devices, sun-shadow board would be used at noon
when the ships were in port Viking travellers trusted nature to guide to check whether the ship was on course.
astheriskoflosingtheirvital them. They would study the position of A sun-stone could also be used on foggy
protection while the ship was in the stars and Sun, and even the colour days when the Sun was not visible. This
motion was too great. of the sea and movement of the waves stone would change colour to indicate the
would give them indication of how close position of the Sun behind the clouds.
65
Viking Raiders
A dramatic Viking raid
on the English coast
DEADLIEST
WEAPONS
Sword
With blades up to 90cm
long, swords were
designed to be held in
one hand and the shield
intheother.Onlyhigh-
status Vikings would
carryswordswith
elaborately designed
hilts. Swords were
often given names
like Leg-biter,
and were
passed down Bow and
through arrow
generations. Made from
yew,ashorelm
trees, Viking No monastery was safe from the
were pulled RAIDS
bows had a
draw weight
of around 100 fiery scourge that swept over the
pounds and
back to the land from beyond the sea
chest rather
than the chin. Theyhadarrivedinthedeadofnight;thedarkness in his hands numbly, the only thing he had been
Arrows were had been so thick that the monks had not seen able to rescue before fleeing. The invaders had the
created in their ship until it landed on the shore. It was too rest of it, all the precious items loaded into sacks
various shapes late, they all knew it, to call for help. A brother on their large ships. And almost as quickly as they
and would be
made from had run into the halls, waking the monks from had arrived, they slipped away from the shore and
combinations their beds with shrill cries of “The demons are returned to the darkness.
of iron, eagle here! They’re coming! They’re coming!” Some In 793, a Viking crew sailing near northeast
feathers and
bronze. of the brothers began to scream for help, while England raided a Christian monastery at
others leapt into action, grabbing precious items Lindisfarne. For the Vikings the strange, exposed
and concealing them in the folds of their cloaks. building packed full of valuable treasures was an
But already the doors were down and opportunity too good to miss, but for
already the invaders were here. T n England this shocking and
Knives were huge – bigger than any man rovoked attack marked the
Vikings had two different types
of knives – plain, single-edged the humble brethren had ever Blond was eginning of the scourge of
knives and the seax – similar to a seen – with their wild blond Viking raids. These sporadic
modern-day machete. The seax hair and mighty weapons a popular hair but violent assaults continued
were heavier than normal knives
and were fashioned in a ‘broken- grasped in hand. They leapt colour and Viking across the coasts of England,
back’ style. upon the monks immediately, men would bleach and by 855 a force known
hacking at their bodies with as the Great Heathen Army
a frenzied ferocity. Some their hair and had arrived in East Anglia.
pleaded for mercy, some did beards The army made their way
not have time to plead. There ross the country, capturing
was no time for negotiations; es as they went, overrunning
Spear how can one negotiate with pure verpowering the land. The
The main weapon of the peasant class,
Viking spears had metal heads mounted unbridled violence? There was only Scandinavian warriors also launched
on wooden shafts of two to three metres. death, destruction and blood as they swung their invasions across the coasts of Ireland and all
Spears were designed according to their axes and jabbed their swords. One brother alone over mainland Europe. These raids even stretched
purpose, used for both thrusting and had managed to escape the massacre. He speedily to the Baltic Sea and Persia. The initial reasons for
throwing. The weapon of Odin, king of the
Norse Gods, it had great cultural meaning. weaved through the figures and threw himself such rapid expansion are hotly contested between
down into the tall grass outside. He watched as historians, with some believing the raids were a
body after body was thrown from the doors of his brutal response to the spread of Christianity, or
Axe
One of the most common Viking weapons, home; he watched as men still alive were cast off that the Scandinavian population grew too large for
battle-axes had larger heads and longer the high cliff into the sea; and he watched as the their land or perhaps they were the actions of men
shafts than the ones used as tools. Some heathens set the holy walls alight with flame. The simply drawn by the thrill of adventure. Whatever
axes were as long as a man and were
wielded with both hands. There were also hot wind lashed against his face and robes in the the reasons, the invasions left a lasting scar on
smaller throwing axes. flickering darkness. He grasped a golden chalice those who lived to see them.
66
king Raiders
How the TOMY
Vikings raided F A
Preparation
Vikings did not strike haphazardly;
1instead their raids were planned down To see more of © Stian Dahlslett ‘s work visit www.dahlslett.com KING
tothefinestdetail.Theywouldfirst
identify a weak target to attack along
thecoastswhichtheyknewperfectly.
Becausetheyhadthefastestshipsin RRIOR
the world they would launch their attack
withoutanypriorwarning,ensuring
that no help could reach their targets in
time. Towards the mid-9th century these
attacks had escalated to great fleets of
threetofourhundredships.
Gather horses
Vikingshipsweredesignedtorow
2upriver,butifthetargetwassome
distance away they would leave their
ships and travel by horse. With no horses
on the ships, they would raid nearby
villages for available mounts. These
wouldbeusedtotransportthemselves
andtheirbootyacrosstheland.
Surprise attack
Thepiousandhumblemonksdid
3notstandachancefacedwiththeir
fierce opponents armed with superior
weapons.Thewell-trainedVikingswould
launch a sudden furious, vicious attack
on the monastery, slaying the holy men.
Somewouldbestrippednaked,andcast
outside, some taken prisoner, and others
thrown into the sea.
Loot and burn
Once the monks were dealt with,
4Vikings ravaged and pillaged
everything they could. They plundered
anyvaluablestheycouldgettheirhands
on, including storages of food, but
especially precious relics. However, they Helmet Hair Armour Shoes Shield
often ignored the incredibly valuable Vikings did not, in Long hair was Mail shirts or metal Shoes were most Round shields
bibles.Oncetheyhadlootedthe fact, have horned favoured by both armour would have often made from were common and
buildingstheysetfiretothemonasteries helmets. Instead, men and women. been very expensive one long piece were made from
and the villages surrounding them. they were round It would also be for the average of leather sewn light wood, such
with a guard around acceptable to shave raider, as would to the shape of as fir or poplar and
Escape the eyes and nose. one’s hair or to leather, so these the wearer’s foot. were reinforced
Laden down with their prisoners and There is only one wear it rolled in a were reserved only Leather straps with leather or iron
5booty, the Vikings would ride back complete Viking tight bun near the for those of high would be used to around the edge.
totheirships,loadthemandsailaway. helmet in existence nape of their neck. status. Ordinary secure the boot Round shields could
Theywouldlatersellthegold,jewelsand – others may have Men would also Vikings likely fought to the foot, and get as large as
sacred emblems, and the monks would been passed down carefully groom wearing their thick woollen socks 120cm in diameter,
alsofetchahighpriceintheEuropean through families their moustaches everyday clothes, were worn to keep but most were
slave market. then sold for scrap. and beards. made from wool. heat in. around 75 to 90cm.
Theattackon
Lindisfarne
Lindisfarne is a holy island off the northeast coast o
England,andduringtheMiddleAgeswasthebaseo
Christian evangelising in the north of the country. H
in 793 a Viking raid on the monastery of Lindisfarne
awaveofdismaytowashoverChristiansworldwide
June,Vikingraidersinvadedthemonasteryand“d
God’schurchonLindisfarne,withplunderandslaug
Although the attack was not the first in the country
unusualinthatitattackedtheheartoftheChristian
in the north. A contemporary scholar wrote of the a
“NeverbeforehassuchterrorappearedinBritaina
havenowsufferedfromapaganrace[…]Theheath
Lindisfarne priory
remains a place of pouredoutthebloodofsaintsaroundthealtar,and
pilgrimage to this day trampledonthebodiesofsaintsinthetempleofG
dung in the streets.”
67
Viking Raiders
What were the goods worth?
1 FEMALE SLAVE
= 1 COW AND 1 OX
1 SUIT OF CHAIN MAIL
= 2 HORSES OR
4 MALE SLAVES
1 HORSE = 3 COWS
1 STIRRUP = 1 SWORD
OR 125G OF SILVER
WALRUS IVORY, WHALEBONE, FINLAND
ANIMAL FUR, ANIMAL SKIN
NORWAY
ANIMAL SKIN
SWEDEN
SOAPSTONE
SCOTLAND
RUSSIA
DENMARK
WHEAT, WOOL, HONEY,
TIN POLAND
ENGLAND
GERMANY
SLAVES
UKRAINE
FRANCE
SALT, WINE SILVER, WINE
TURKEY
WINE, SPICES
68
Viking Raiders
Raiders or traders?
Stuart Perry, or Fastulf
Geraltssonasheisknown
to the public, is the Jorvik
Group’s Interactive Team
Leader. He manages a team of
Viking interactives at Jorvik
Viking Centre and archaeology
and history interpreters across
the group’s five attractions
What was the motivation
behind the Viking invasions? Were they simply
bloodthirsty raiders, or did they have more
civilised aims?
The motivation behind the Viking invasions was
simple; farmland. The Vikings, or Norsemen – which
is a more accurate name since a ‘Viking’ was a sea-
borne raider that specialised in hit-and-run attacks
– were searching for land.
Scandinavia is not rich in arable land – there is
simply too much water and too many mountainous
regions to support a population over a certain size.
The Vikings had been raiding the coast of England Evidence shows that
since 793 – the famous attack on Lindisfarne – and TRADE Vikings were expert
would have had plenty of opportunity to see the traders of many goods
abundance of good farmland, healthy crops and
fat cattle all over the country. Combine this with
the riches presented in the monasteries and towns Vikings were not powered by brutality, but instead a
they were so fond of raiding and England became a
perfect area for expansion. complex and prosperous trade network
As for being ‘bloodthirsty raiders’, there is that
element to the culture, yes, but it was not simply
for violence that the Vikings went raiding. It was for Although raiding and pillaging provided a quick journey inland, bringing their goods to Jerusalem
profit. Rarely would the Vikings destroy an entire intake of wealth, it was not a stable way to live or to and Baghdad. The lure of the Silk Road and the
settlement, and the reason is simple; they wanted build a civilisation. Instead, the Vikings dedicated exotic riches of the East were too good to resist,
to come back and do it again! Raiding was a job for
young impetuous men – but it was not the main far more of their time to building up a prosperous and Vikings met with traders from the Far East
focus of life in early medieval Scandinavia. It is this and powerful trading network. Because of their in their trading centres in Russia, trading fur and
message that we convey at every opportunity here at superior ship-building skills they were able to slaves for silk and spices.
Jorvik Viking Centre.
travel to trade in faraway lands, obtaining a host of Silver coins were the most common form of
exotic and valuable goods. Their specially designed payment, but this was unlike today’s currency
trading ships were able to carry up to 35 tonnes of where different coins are worth a particular value.
cargo, including silver and even livestock. The coins were weighed in scales to determine
Trading markets began to emerge along theirvalue;thisisbecause a lot of coins were
the west Baltic Sea in the mid-8t own and crafted into intricate
century where people came from eautiful jewellery to trade on.
far and wide to trade an array e great extent of the Viking
of goods. As these markets Viking rade network can be seen
flourished, traders decided to wedding today in the hoards of silver
settle permanently along the coins, created in England,
SILVER celebrations were
routes and they transformed which have been found in
into trading towns. Birka in huge occasions Sweden, not to mention the
Sweden, Kaupang in Norway and could last for 40,000 Arabic coins and the
and Hedeby in Denmark all 38,000 German coins also
grew to be prosperous and over a week ncovered there. Nordic bowls,
bustling trading settlements, editerranean silk and Baltic axe
with the inhabitants all working s have even been discovered
craftsmen and merchants. Prospe nder English soil.
trading routes also emerged along the This vast and illustrious trade network
British Isles, with York and Dublin developing into attractedawealthofeager and talented artists
major trading centres. and craftsmen. Viking bead-makers would import
As the trade boom increased the Vikings glass from Western Europe to create an array of
SILK, SILVER, SPICES
travelled further afield, across the Baltic Sea and simple and decorative beads for the wealthy to
along the Russian rivers. They founded more adorn themselves with, while the ample supply
trading towns in Kiev and Novgorod. The Viking of amber from the Baltic lands was fashioned
tradersevenwentasfarasIstanbul,thecapitalof into pendants and playing pieces. Skilled Viking
the mighty Byzantine Empire across the Black Sea. craftsmentransformedtheirimportedbronzeto © Sol 90 Images; Abigail Daker; Alamy
This perilous journey was one only the Vikings fine ornaments and mass-produced brooches, and
dared attempt, through vicious rapids and battling deer antlers could even be used to make delicate
hostilenatives.TheVikingscontinuedtheirtrading and beautiful combs.
69
72
73
74
75
76
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C CHILL
AD
S NTIST
Writer, soldier, Nobel Prize
winner: few leaders have
Winston Churchill’s chequered
background, nor can lay
claim to inventions that led
Britain to victory at war
Written by Ben Biggs
78
Churchill: Britain’s Mad Scientist
re we fighting this war with weapons or slide
rules?” asked head of Bomber Command, Sir
WINSTON
ArthurHarris,oftheBritishprimeminister.
CHURCHILL
British, 1874-1965 Time has muddied the exact point this
AhappenedbutperhapsitwasinBritain’s
Churchill was born darkest hours of 1941, when the indomitable island
Brief in Blenheim Palace wasthelastbastionofhopeagainsttherelentless
into the blue-blooded
Bio dynasty of the Dukes Nazi advance. Winston Churchill’s reply was
of Marlborough. He
wasanenthusiasticsoldier, characteristicallyglib:“That’sagoodidea–let’strythe
fighting in several wars before slide rule for a change.”
entering politics. Churchill was Churchillwasneitherscientistnorinventor.He
made prime minister of Britain
in May 1940. He survived wasamilitarymanwhofoughtonthefringesof
several strokes in later life, and the British Empire in the late-19th and early-20th
on his death, he had one of the centuries.Thiswasatimewhenworkingclassboys
largeststatefuneralsinhistory.
could earn a name for themselves with active service,
whilethoseofaristocraticstockforgedatalentfor
command in the forces that would serve them as they
moved through the upper levels of society in later life.
Althoughthecostoftheelaborateuniform,his
horseandofficer’smessbillsfaroutweighedhis
income as second lieutenant of the 4th Hussars,
for the highborn son of the Duke of Marlborough,
military service was less a means of social
advancement and more way to seek out the thrill
ofbattle.Herevelledintraditionyetdespised
convention: even while fighting dervishes in Sudan
orthePathanwarriorsinIndia,hewasaprolific
writer, going on to become a world-famous war
correspondent. Outside of war journalism, he stressed
theimportanceoftechnologyandthepivotaleffect
itcanhaveonthecourseofhistory.Heevenwonthe
NobelPrizeforliterature.Inhis1931essay Fifty Years
Hence he predicted wireless telephones, materials
manytimesstrongerthansteel,theatomicbomband
lab-grown meat – a technological oddity that is still
yet to become an everyday item over 80 years later.
Itwaswiththistenacity,foresightandkeeneye
for opportunity that he went on to become the
unconventional proponent of science and technology
thatBritainneededtosurvivetheearlywaryears.
Churchilllikedtokeepabreastofthelatesttoys
that could turn the slightest advantage in the war
andimmersedhimselfintheday-to-dayofBritain’s
wartime scientists and engineers. He created the
PM’sStatisticalBranch,comprisedofeconomists
andascientisttoactasathink-tankforChurchill.
It acted alongside Churchill’s personal scientific
advisor to streamline the administration of science
and invention. With this powerful commission in
place, Churchill was able to improve the effectiveness
of depth charges, revolutionise radar and provide
thefoundationforthesciencethatwouldgoonto
harnessthepoweroftheatomintheManhattan
Project. Without Churchill’s vision, Alan Turing
and his colleagues would have been blocked by a
bureaucratic system that couldn’t see the value in
spendingresourcesonexpandingBletchleyPark.The
‘unbreakable’GermanEnigmacodemightneverhave
been cracked.
FromtankstoprotectionfromtheGerman
Churchill with a Blitzkrieg, to radar and the atomic bomb, Churchill
team of scientists at
Harwell, where nuclear had a personal hand in every British World-War-II
experiments took place inventionofanyimportance,leavingalegacythathas
outlivedthewarandhisdeathin1965.
79
Churchill: Britain’s Mad Scientist
CHURCHILL Inside the Mark I
1916 BritishTank
AND THE TANK Mechanical monster
The battlefield debut of the British tank
must have been a terrifying affair for
the defending Germans – nothing of its
Shunned by military men for nearly a like had been seen before. The early
use of these unstoppable machines
century, it took the foresight of a man was as much a weapon of fear as a
tactical advantage.
who was yet to lead Britain to bring the
modern tank onto the battlefield
Although no single person can solely be credited available to the Admiralty. They
with the tank, World War I and the then-first were built by the Navy under the
lord of the Admiralty, Winston Churchill, were name of ‘water tanks for Russia’,
instrumental in bringing it to the battlefield. which is where the name is derived
The early evolution of the tank begins in the from. The Army reluctantly took the
late-18th century, when a crude version of the programme over and at the Battle of the
caterpillar track was dreamed up by politician, Somme in 1916, tanks made their debut. Early
writer and inventor Richard Lovell Edgeworth. versions were notoriously unreliable; they couldn’t
Conflict, of course, saw this invention more readily cross trenches and they often broke down or got
used. In the mid-19th-century Crimean War, the stuck. It wasn’t until the Battle of Cambrai in 1917,
UK military employed a small number of steam- when 474 tanks of the British Tank Corps claimed
powered tractors with caterpillar tracks to get 19 kilometres (12 miles) of the German Front
around the muddy battlefield more easily. It was as and 10,000 prisoners, that the tank
close to the modern tank as it would get for nearly considered a success.
70 years, but like so many inventions, it took a little After World War I, many countries
creativity and lateral thinking to give these vehicles tactical value of the tank and began
armour and house guns inside them; to turn them develop their own, alongside the fro
from logistical tools to military weapons. tactics that allowed them to quickly
Various forms of motorised weapons platforms overwhelm the enemy with this new
were invented and offered to the British war effort technology. By World War II there w
over the following decades, but they were seen about it: the tank had arrived and w
as novelties and weren’t taken seriously until your country had already lost the w
Churchill pressed for their development in 1915. He many have claimed to have invente
understood that these ‘land ships’ would be able royal commission credited Churchil Weapons platform
toadvancethroughthebarbedwireofthe enemy the “receptivity, courage and driving WWI tanks were divided into ‘females’, with just
a machine gun, and ‘males’, which also had an
defences and gain ground, so committed funding the concept into a viable instrument artillery turret. Both types were very effective.
RT’S FUNNIES The major general’s modified tanks may have looked odd,
buttheirbattlefieldadvantagewasnolaughingmatter
a more-or-less standard design for tanks had Crab Tank
d for maximum battlefield effectiveness, but
ome common situations this conventional Modification: Mine flail Weight: 25 tons
ecouldnotovercome:cueBritishmilitary Range: N/A Max speed: 26km/h (16mph)
MajorGeneralPercyHobart.In1943hewas
d with training the crew and finishing the
lopment of the ‘funnies’ – tanks with unusual
dificationsthatprovidedasolutionforaswift
etration of the French mainland, via the heavily
ended French coast. Once the Allied landing had
ted, the terrain would favour the Nazi counter-
ack, so both obstacles and German defenders
dtobeclearedfast.Tothatend,severaltypesof
nnies’weredeveloped,includingamineclearer,
lame-thrower,abridge-layerandanamphibious
nk. Although the US forces made more limited
eofthemthantheBrits,theysavedmanylives
n the Allied side and the concept for some are
ll in use for modern combat today.
80
Churchill: Britain’s Mad Scientist
Rear-wheel drive “Nearly all battles
The Renault FT light tank pioneered
the position of the engine at the rear regarded as masterpieces
of the vehicle and the turret at the
front for protection and maximum
effectiveness. It’s the standard of the military art…
design for most tanks today.
have been battles of
manoeuvre in which very
often the enemy
has found himself
defeated by some
novel expedient
or device.”
All-terrain vehicle
Caterpillar tracks spread the weight
of this heavy war machine, allowing
it to travel across almost any terrain
– including the thick mud of the
Western Front.
Bulletproof
Caterpillar tracks spread the
weight of this heavy war machine,
allowing it to travel across almost
any terrain – including the thick Winston Churchill trying out the turret of a Churchill I tank
mud of the Western Front.
Duplex Drive (DD) Crocodile
Modification: Amphibious Weight: 30.3 tons Modification: Flame-thrower Weight: 38.5 tons
Range: 2,103m (6,899ft) Max speed: 6km/h (16mph) Range: 110m (360ft) Max speed: 24km/h (15mph)
81
Churchill:Britain’sMadScientist
Panjandrum
Whatwasthistop-
secret British weapons The Atlantic Wall was a series of robust
fortifications built after 1942 by the Nazis to
laboratory that not even
defend against an anticipated Allied invasion.
the highest-ranking It posed a significant obstacle for Allies, and
generals could access? so a solution to create a breach large enough
to allow a vehicle through was dreamed up
by one of Churchill’s military think-tanks. The
Churchill realised there were too many levels of Panjandrum was a strange-looking weapon,
government between his senior position as first made up of two large wooden cartwheels with
lord of the Admiralty in 1939, and the ‘boffins’ who a ton of explosives sandwiched between them
invented the toys he believed were crucial to inside the axle. Cordite rockets were to
Britain’s war effort. Churchill wanted complete propel it at up to 97km/h (60mph), which
transparency between himself and a team even without the deadly force of the
of inventors who would report directly to explosives it carried, was terrifying
the soon-to-be prime minister, outside the considering it weighed around
normal channels of government. Thus, 1,800kg (4,000lb).
Ministry of Defence 1 (MD1) was created,
headed by Royal Engineers’ Lieutenant-
Colonel Joe Holland. He brought in
Major Millis Jeffries, a sapper in the
Royal Engineers, to take care of new
technological solutions for guerilla
warfare against the enemy, in a sub- Limpet mine
department called MD1(c). The idea of using a
Jeffries himself also went about human torpedo to attach
recruiting – from a more unlikely explosive charges had
source. In July 1939, two months been around since the end
before Britain declared war on Germany, of World War I. Churchill’s
he approached the editor of Armchair version was attached by
Science magazine, Stuart Macrae, looking frogmen who used the
for information on magnets. Macrae most powerful magnet
was contracted to advise Jeffries, but in the world at the time
the partnership between the two men to attach around two
proved so fruitful that Macrae was kilograms (4.5 pounds)
deputised, given an honorary rank and of explosive to an enemy
a uniform. ship, capable of punching
Their first product was a resounding a large hole in the hull.
success. Following his experiments with
powerful magnets in a bathtub in his
garage, Macrae helped create the limpet
mine, which was used in numerous
covert operations to sink enemy ships Project Habbakuk
and still sees some use today. Trigger
mechanisms for explosives were next, Steel and al
including tripwires, pressure switches, at a premium during the war,
altitude switches and all manner of so when inventor Geoffrey Pyke,
ways to set off an explosive charge. who worked at Combined Operation
MD1(c) eventually moved out of the Headquarters (COHQ), was considering
single room it occupied in the War a way of protecting Atlantic convoys
Office in London, into a workshop and beyond the reach of aircraft cover, he
then into a country mansion to avoid realised the answer was ice: huge flotillas
air raids. carved out of icebergs that could house aircraft
Jeffries and Macrae’s department and provide a runway. The problem was that
steadily grew with support from the icebergs tend to roll over, so Pyke’s answer was
prime minister, who appreciated a combination of wood pulp and ice, which he
the value of their work. Because called ‘pykrete’. This wouldn’t sink, was much
they reported direct to Churchill, stronger than ice and wouldn’t shatter, so it
officers outside these lines of could easily be carved into shape.
communications referred to
MD1(c) as ‘Churchill’s Toyshop.’
82
Churchill: Britain’s Mad Scientist
INVENTIONS THAT
PIAT HELPED WIN THE
By the middle of World War II enemy WARS
tanks had become increasingly well
armoured, to the point that they were It’s said that war is the mother
impenetrable to the outdated infantry of invention, so here are a
grenade launchers. The Projector, handful of technologies that
Infantry, Anti-Tank (PIAT) was a portable owe their existence to WWII
mortar system that used a powerful
spring to arm and launch a 1.1kg (2.5lb) Radar
bomb with a shaped charge up to 110m One of the most famous
(360ft) away. examples of a British WWII
inventionisradar.The
Sticky failed original concept was
to concentrate radio waves
bomb “To adopt a defeatist intoa‘death-ray’,butthe
This was a kind of attitude in the face early detection system that resulted from this
grenade consisting of such a threat is project proved far more valuable.
of a glass sphere
filled with over inexcusable until it Penicillin
half a kilogram Although the mould,
(around 1.5 pounds) has definitely been Penicillium motatum, was
of nitroglycerine, shown that all discovered to be a powerful
covered with an anti-bacterial agent nearly a
extremely sticky the resources century before, it wasn’t until
adhesive and encased in metal. Its handle 1939 that penicillin as we
contained a five-second fuse and a safety pin of science and know it was developed, saving countless lives
that, upon being pulled, released the metal invention have on the battlefield.
casing and exposed the adhesive. In theory, the
sticky bomb could be attached to a passing tank. been exhausted Jet engine
The Germans saw the
value in the jet engine
and put the might of
Artificial harbours their military R&D
department behind it, resulting in one of
the most advanced fighter planes of WWII,
Mulberries, or artificial
the Messerschmitt Me 262. Ironically, British
arbours as they were
scientist Frank Whittle made a prototype of
herwise known, were
the engine years before, but received little
orary harbours designed
funding from the government.
orld War II to help the
avy cargoes associated
Computer
on. In the years leading up
Charles Babbage’s computer
become apparent that any
was dreamed up in 1812 but
lantic coastline of Western
deemed practically useless.
e French harbours. And to
But a similar machine,
pend on penetrating the
the Colossus, was used to
Panjandrum’), which could
emulate a German Enigma
were to be transported
machine to crack the Lorenz cipher many
providing mobile port
timesfasterthanhumanscould.
piers.
Sonar
p
A system for detecting
Otherwise known as ‘pencil detonators’ or would begin to dissolve a metal wire. Once the underwater sound, called
officially as ‘Switch, Number 10, Delay’, these wire snapped, it released a spring that propelled ASDIC, had been in
were pencil-shaped timed fuses with a vial of a striker down the hollow tube to the percussion development by Britain
corrosive copper chloride at one end. To activate cap, to detonate the explosives it had been as far back as 1916, but
it, the vial was crushed so the copper chloride inserted into.
upon entering WWII, the
technology was handed over to the US, which
developed the more effective Sonar.
83
Churchill:Britain’sMadScientist
BUILDING THE “Might a bomb no
ATOMIC BOMB be found to
bigger than an orange
An unlikely nuclear visionary, Churchill didn’t possess a secret
lethisfearoftheatomicbomb’sawesomepower power to… blast
standinthewayoftechnologicalprogress
a township at
Perhapsinspiredbythe1914HGWellsnovel The ChemicalIndustry)playingabigrole.This a stroke?”
World Set Free,Churchillwasfascinatedwiththe was a resource-intensive process, with
concept of a nuclear weapon long before scientists thefullweightofBritain’sindustry
hadlearnedhowtomakeone.Alreadyaprolific and economy behind the rest
writer and respected journalist, Churchill wrote ofthewareffort,andaviation
severalarticlesonthepotentialofatomicenergy taking up 40 per cent of its
both as an energy source and a weapon, in the output. Many believed the
decadesbeforehebecameleader.Hisscientific projectwastooambitious
advisor, Frederick Lindemann, had even drafted to be achieved in
an essay by Churchill called Fifty Years Hence,on Britain alone. Thus the
theworld’snucleardawn.Sobythetimehewas birthoftheatomic
a prominent voice in Parliament, Britain’s nuclear bomb would take
program was high up on his agenda. placeontheother
Following the successful splitting of the atom side of the Atlantic.
in Germany, 1938, Britain was playing catch-up. It The British nuclear programme was
fell to two scientists, refugees from Nazi Germany, firstexportedtoCanadawhere,following
Otto Frisch and Rudolf Peierls, to finally crack the aproposalbyPresidentRooseveltof
problemofmakinganatomicbombforBritain a joint Anglo-American programme,
in 1940. Churchill was concerned about the Britainhandedoveritsnuclear
scaleofthebomb’sdestructivepowerbutwasn’t research and some of its scientists in
goingto“standinthewayofprogress.”Thusthe 1943. The Manhattan Project was born,
Britishnuclearprogramwaslaunchedunderthe goingontocreatetheinfamous‘Fat
codename‘TubeAlloys’.Productionoftheuranium Man’ and ‘Little Boy’ atomic bombs that
isotope necessary for the bomb started in North weredroppedonJapan,endingthewar
Wales with the now-defunct company ICI (Imperial in 1945.
FOR MORE OF CHURCHILL’S
WARTIME INNOVATIONS SEE
World’s biggest
explosions
Fat Man
Yield:
21 kilotons
Ivy King The atomic bomb ‘Fat
Yield: Man’ being assembled
500 kilotons
B53
Yield:
9megatons
Castle Bravo
Yield:
15 megatons
Tsar Bomba
Yield:
0megatons
8
DID CHURCHILL
START THE
NUCLEAR
REVOLUTION?
Expert opinion
Andrew Nahum, lead
curator on the Churchill’s
Scientists exhibition at the
London Science Museum,
shares his view.
How much of a hand in the wartime
inventions did Churchill have?
Enormous. Some might say he encouraged
too much as he wanted to pursue anything
that might give an edge, including giant
icebergs converted into aircraft carriers!
He was interested in the whole sweep of
‘technoscience’ and he always was, from
his early days as a cavalry officer in India.
How much influence did he have on
Britain’s atomic efforts?
In Britain two refugee scientists, Rudolf
Peiers and Otto Frisch, worked out a
theoretical model for a fission bomb of
enormous power resulting in a paper called
The MAUD Report. When Churchill read
that an atomic bomb might be possible
he wrote in the margin: “Good.” He said
“Although I’m quite content with current
explosives, I would not want to stand in
the way of progress.”
Churchill sounds like he was as
frightened by the nuclear age as he was
excited by it.
That’s quite fair. He was quite conflicted
and in 1951, when he realised how far the
British atomic program had gone, he had
talked about whether we “should have the
art, but not the article.” When the H-bomb
The first British came along, Churchill was profoundly
atomic test took disturbed by the prospect of world
place in 1952 on the
Montebello Islands annihilation. His last great speech to the
House of Commons was about the dangers
of the H-bomb. That speech was partly
intended to get agreement to proceed
with that next step of development.
However, although he was profoundly
disturbed, he was not prepared to say that
by standing back, Britain could make the
world better, given his experience of two © Adrian Mann; DK Images; Thinkstock; Science & Society Picture Library
world wars. His challenge was whether
the international community might learn
wisdom or whether “the Almighty might
tire of humanity.”
85
BOOK REVIEWS
All About History’s pick of the newest and
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UNEXPECTED BRITAIN:
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Take a trip off the beaten path of British history
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86
Book Reviews
HOLY SPY To thine own self be true
Author Rory Clements Publisher Hodder & Stoughton
Price £14.99 Released 26 February 2015
he seventh full novel of the comparatively one-dimensional, which
enthralling John Shakespeare series, of a shame considering how fleshed-ou
this latest instalment sees the varied their male counterparts are. It’s
intelligencer attempt to infiltrate jarring, considering the thrilling climax
T the Pope’s White Sons, who plot to plot builds to, and how gripping the sto
restore Mary Stuart to the throne. Despite its turns out to be.
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without a keen interest in the Elizabethan the speed at which the number of playe
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Holy Spy is slightly disappointing in regards however, this matters very little. All in
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era, the female characters in particular are Rebecca Richards
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Book Reviews
THE POLITICS OF PIRACY
The real pirates of the Caribbean
Author Douglas R Burgess Jr Publisher Oxbow Books Price £25 Released Out now
t is well known that piracy wasn’t all gain. The government would hire them, rebrand Don’t come to The Politics Of Piracy
Blackbeard and Captain Jack Sparrow, but as ‘privateers’, and use them to carry out their looking to be entertained by a stereotypical
there is still a lot more to your average objectives in return for a fee. What Burgess gets Disney tale of love and treachery on the high
buccaneer than you might think. In across well is the use of piracy as a political seas. Do come for a true story of scheming
IThe Politics Of Piracy: Crime And Civil weapon and how dastardly yet successful the empires and a rare insight into the real world
Disobedience In Colonial America, Douglas R authorities’ plan was. His description of the of piracy Th t it lf i t t i i d
Burgess Jr assesses the true history of piracy. sinking of Jamaica’s Port Royal is a highlight, as engagin
The book begins with well-meaning customs are case studies of pirate havens across America. Jack Gr
officer Robert Snead on the trail of infamous
pirate Henry Every. Snead gets close to
capturing the pirate only for his superiors to
intervene in Every’s arrest. This introduction
provides the allegory for the remainder of the
book: Was the relationship between pirates and
the imperial powers all that it seemed? The
author declares it as “a story that has never
been fully told, until now.”
Piracy in colonial America was born as
a rebellion against the British and Spanish
crowns’ injustice to colonists. The vague
and contradictory laws only fuelled the
growth of pirates so they came up with a
new approach: use the pirates for their own
THE HARLE
Members of the
369th Infantry HELLFIGHTE
on parade in World War Hell
New York
Author Max Brooks Publisher Duckworth Overlook
Price £12.99 Released Out now
ax Brooks knows how to the first American to receive the French Croix
write about war, be it about de Guerre medal, and achieving the rare feat of
a fictionalised, apocalyptic never losing a trench to the enemy.
zombie war or the very tangible However, Brooks’ novel succeeds not only
MbrutalityofWorldWarI,ashe in recounting these victories, but also – and
hows with TheHarlemHellfighters.Thisgraphic even more viscerally – the dramatic struggle
novel, illustrated in stark black and white by they faced, even before ever going into battle; a
Caanan White, tells the – mostly – true story of struggle for humanity as much as for democracy.
he 369th Infantry Regiment in the trenches of There are fictionalised elements within the
heWesternFront.Theregiment,madeupof story, such as added characters and incidents, but
African-Americans and African Puerto Ricans, instead of subverting the truth of history, these
facedincredibleadversity,notjustagainstthe serve to underline the story’s message and distil
Germansonthebattlefield,butalsotheracism the violently harsh reality of the regiment’s life.
oftheirownsuperiorsandfellowcountrymen. Even in black and white, the brutality of
Only getting to serve in battle as part of French war shines through each frame, made more
forces, who showed them more tolerance blunt because of its lack of sensationalist blood
than their own, the German-dubbed Harlem splatters or balls of explosions.
Hellfighters ended up serving 191 days in the Brooks’ Harlem Hellfighters is a 300-page fast-
field, longer than any US unit. They set many paced page-turner and mostly rooted in historical
moremilestonesinthewar,suchasbeingthe fact. It’s an extremely quick read, but the story
first Allied troops to reach the Rhine at the will stay with us for a long time.
end of the war, Sergeant Henry Johnson being Erlingur Einarsson
88
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Book Reviews
LINCOLN’S BODY Abe’s
Author Richard Wightman Fox Publisher Norton Price £18.99 Rel
ne of the drawbacks of the The lingering – and often unnece
straightforward biography format elaborate – reflections on Lincoln’s
is that the time spent reflecting on occasionally threaten to distract fro
the cultural legacy of the subject more interesting aspects of the subj
Ois often minimal in comparison to in the book’s first half, but by the ti
the space devoted to the events that preceded book reaches the events of the 20th
it. Lincoln’s Body: A Cultural History bucks this and the emergence of figures like K
trend, with an insight into just how far reaching JFK, it undoubtedly finds its stride.
an impact the Great Emancipator had. predominantly on the public discou
Taking various physical descriptions of to Lincoln, Wightman Fox is able to
Abraham Lincoln’s physical form as his starting circumvent any questions regarding
point, author Richard Wightman Fox succinctly Lincoln was as great as the world re
covers a wide canvas, from citizens’ reactions him, although his critics are still giv
to his dead body as it was transported around service and leg room. With that he
the States and the subsequent memorial in his the well-known quandary of becom
honour, to his influence on figures like Martin enamoured with his subject matter
Luther King and Barack Obama, as well as Occasional meandering monolog
depictions in popular culture from the likes Lincoln’s physical form aside, there
of Henry Fonda in Young Mr Lincoln (1939) find fault with this treatise on the i
and Daniel Day-Lewis in Lincoln (2012). Few footprints of one of the USA’s most
stones are left unturned in Wightman Fox’s statesman. Besides, it’s hard to be to
attempts to craft a complete overlook of the of a book that finds room to discus
epilogue to Lincoln’s life, and even fewer areas Emancipation Proclamation and Ab
of society into which his influence stretched are Lincoln: Vampire Hunter on the sam
overlooked in the book. Steve Wright
MERCHANT ADVENTURERS:
THE VOYAGE OF DISCOVERY THAT TRANSFORMED TUDOR ENGLAND
The story of how a few brave men made waves in British history
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reat Britain is well known around It is occasionally embellished with a bit of artistic
The Secrets Of the world for its fine naval tradition. license, but that adds to the drama without losing
Q Central Names such as Nelson, Drake and the sense of authority Evans builds up Although
Author: Paul Brown and Edwin Herbert Wellington litter the history books early passages c
Price: £15 Publisher: Spellmount
G that describe just how Britannia rules the main voyag
Intelligence the waves. Though this was not always the case, delivers a maste
has long
been one the moment that changed can be traced to a single creating an ente
of the most voyage and a handful of visionary men detailed accessible and
fascinating in James Evans’ excellent book. Before the Tudor interesting book
realities of dynasty, Britain had little or no interest in exploring potentially dry
warfare.
What began the world, but the discovery of the Far East and The heroic sailo
as a project its wealth of jewels, spices and silks prompted a the temperame
of local change of tack. monarchs and t
interest
has turned We are taken through explorer John Cabot’s stormy seas are
into a story failed bid to find Asia before getting onto the brought to life i
of huge main meat of the book – the accidental discovery account of a ser
national of Russia as British sailors attempted to forge a journeys that k
significance
– and this book does it justice, pulling northeastern passage to Asia. Evans has researched Britain’s growth
apart all facets of Q Central’s operation. this book meticulously and adds colour with naval force and
It’s interesting to think that, had that accounts from diaries and logbooks. Descriptions nation to take t
research not been done, this story may
have remained largely untold – a rarity of the terrible conditions faced by sailors, the biting seas and explor
for World War II. cold of the Russian winter and the splendour of the world.
their meeting with Ivan the Terrible are highlights. Jamie Frier
90
History like you’ve
never seen it before
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HISTORY ANSWERS
Sendyourquestionsto [email protected]
How many times
has Rome been
sacked?
Helen Jenkins, Blackburn
The walls of the Eternal City have been
breached at least six times in history. The
most famous, and the one that had the
most significance, was the 410 CE sack
by the Visigoths. Led by Alaric I, this was
the first time Rome had been invaded in
800 years and shook the empire to its
very foundations. Although Rome was no
longer the capital – it had been replaced by
Ravenna – it was still an important centre,
and many historians believe that the great
civilisation never fully recovered from this
setback. A letter from the time written by
Jerome poignantly states: “The city which
had taken the whole world, was itself taken.”
Other famous sacks include the Vandal sack
of 455, the Holy Roman Empire invasion of
1527 and the 1870 capture of Rome by King
Victor Emmanuel II, which completed the
‘Risorgimento’, the unification of Italy.
Why was Alcatraz so 36 prisoners attempted
to escape Alcatraz but
were either captured,
shot or drowned
difficult to escape from?
Jason Phillips, York ‘The Rock’ was locked down with contain intense currents that make
Alcatraz joined the Federal Bureau maximum security and run with a swim back to the mainland
of Prisons in 1933 and quickly military order and precision. If almost impossible. The forbidding
became one of the most terrifying you were lucky enough to escape island’s most famous resident was
prisons in the world. Lying just its fortified walls, there was still undoubtedly gangster Al Capone
Hordes of Visigoths ransacked the
over two kilometres (1.2 miles) an expanse of sea to conquer. The who spent four-and-a-half years Eternal City as the Roman Empire
off the San Francisco shoreline, waters surrounding the island under lock and key there. was powerless to resist the growing
Barbarian threat
Thisdayinhistory 8February
1238 1250 1587 1904
O Mongols burn Vladimir O Battle of Al Mansurah O Mary, Queen of Scots executed O TheBattleofPortArthur
TheMongolEmpire,thelargest The Battle of Al Mansurah deals a TheformerCatholicqueenof Wanting to expand its empire, Japan
contiguous empire in history, razes terrible blow for the crusaders in Scotland, Mary has been imprisoned draws first blood in the Russo-Japanese
the Russian city of Vladimir to the the Seventh Crusade. The entire for19yearsbyhercousinElizabeth WaratPortArthur.Catchingthe
ground.Thiseventcontinuesthe army of 15,000 is massacred by the I. By 1587, she is seen as too big of RussianNavybysurprise,150sailors
Mongolian expansion into Russia, Ayyubid Dynasty and the French athreattothethroneandisswiftly arekilled,withwarformallydeclared
Poland and Hungary. king, Louis IX, is taken prisoner. disposed of. thenextday.
92
History Answers
The Normans are credited with introducing motte-and-bailey
castles and the nationwide census, the Domesday Book What happened to
the Normans? YOUR
Steve Lewis, Southampton
In 1066, Saxon England was rocked by the death of
TWEETS
Harold II and his army by the invading Norman forces Follow us at…
at the Battle of Hastings. Descendants from both Norse @AboutHistoryMag
Vikings and Frankish tribes, the Normans got their name @AboutHistoryMag just got
from their home territory in Normandy in Northern the special edition about Kings
France. Their peak of expansion was in and around 1130 andQueens,this+myoneyear
suscriptionofthemag=Happy
when their lands spread over England, Southern Italy, new YEAR! ;)
Northern Africa and many Mediterranean outposts. @BastiNeCePa
Despite being experts in trade and spreading their culture,
@AboutHistoryMag Love my
the Normans always considered their lands in Normandy firstsubscriptionissuehada
as their true home, but by the late-12th century, they quick glance in lunch break but
looking forward to getting home
had become too widespread and had begun to lose a
WILLIAM THE CONQUEROR tonighttoreadit
1028-1087, Norman sense of identity. By the time of the French campaigns @Sezzy0367
in Normandy in 1202, the kingdoms of England and
Also known as William France had become completely different entities. The @AboutHistoryMag My mum
Brief the Bastard, this Anglo-French War (1202-1214) watered down the Norman and dad very kindly got me
a years subscription for my
Norman king ended
Bio Saxon rule in Britain. A influence as English Normans became English and birthday last week! Amazing
ruthless and efficient pressie!!
leader, William was crowned French Normans became French. Now, no one was just @heatherbanks83
on Christmas Day 1066 and ‘Norman’. As its people and settlements were as
quashed all English rebellions. into these two larger kingdoms, the idea of a No
The nobility was forced to speak
French, which gave the English civilisation disappeared. Although no longer a k
language a wealth of new words itself, the culture and language of the Normans
such as ‘money’ and ‘parliament’
among others. be seen in Northern France to this day.
What was Despite the war’s
short duration,
the shortest around500ofthe
palace’s defenders
war ever? died in the shelling
Clive Johnson, Milton
Keynes
The shortest war of all time is
generally considered to be the
1896 Anglo-Zanzibar War, which
lasted for all of 40 minutes. The
British were involved in a power
struggle in Zanzibar, Africa, as
they demanded that Sultan
Khalid bin Bargash abdicate in
favour of the preferred Hamud
bin Muhammed. After Bargash
refused, the Royal Navy shelled Which country has been
the palace for 40 minutes until invaded the most? Find out at…
the sultan’s flag was pulled down
and surrender was negotiated. historyanswers.co.uk
A classic – and very literal –
example of gunboat diplomacy.
1924 1952 1974 2005
O First state execution O Elizabeth II becomes queen O Space marathon O Middle-Eastern truce
ChinesegangmemberGeeJon The 25-year-old Princess Elizabeth Three NASA astronauts return to In a region no stranger to conflict,
becomesthefirstpersontobe is officially announced queen Earth after spending 85 days in the leaders of Palestine and Israel
executed in a gas chamber after and head of the Commonwealth. the space station Skylab. The trio sign a peace agreement after
being convicted of murdering a The proclamation comes after experiment with new diets and four years of continuous war. The
rivalmobster.Thesentenceis the sudden death of her father, exercise routines to see how they truce is designed to begin “new
carried out in Carson City, Nevada. George VI, from lung cancer. affect life in space. era of peace and hope.”
93
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T
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Photos
Scansofsnapsthat
offerinsighttothepast
Marion Hughes née Appleyard mathematics and linguistics. Academics and
Antiques and (submitted by her daughter scholars from universities were also brought in,
objects Meriel Gainsbury) especially from Cambridge.
Show off your family heirlooms, TheSeventiessawthelifting These diverse people had one thing in common
mementos and retro curios ofathirtyyearembargoon – total commitment to their work, and to silence.
Letters from the past information about a war-time The whole operation was central to the war effort
operation that was both secret and and was one of its best-kept secrets. It consisted of
Oldcorrespondencecanholdawealthof
vital.Atthetime,severalbooks breakingtheGermancode.
historical info and fascinating stories
on the subject appeared and the story was told on In those days the Enigma machine was a
News clippings television. I was intrigued by this publicity because masterpieceofingenuity,butnow,of course, it has
Articles reporting on iconic events Ihadtakenpartinthework,althoughinamost been overtaken by electronic sophistication. There
Amazing stories humble capacity. were many different types of the machine which
Itwasinlate1943when,asan18-year-oldWren theexigenciesofwarmadenecessary, each more
Interestingorinsightfultalespassed
(Women’s Royal Naval Service), I was posted complicatedthanthelast.Theconstantly changing
down from your ancestors
to Gayhurst Manor in North Buckinghamshire. numbers and complexities of the permutations it
Eyewitness accounts Gayhurstwasoneofseveraloldhouses could produce are beyond human comprehension.
Didyouwitnessahistoriceventin requisitioned by the Admiralty at the time. All Oneoftheseniorstaffhasestimated that the
person? Share it today werecentredonBletchleyPark,orBPasitwas number of its permutations was not far short of
known, the headquarters of British intelligence. 6,000 million million million.
Family trees Manythousandsofservicemenofallbranches The intelligence work was divided into three
Achancetoboastaboutfamousor were engaged in the work, together with civilians stages.Thefirstwascarriedoutina network
significant ancestors with diverse skills and talents, particularly in of wireless telegraphy stations in this and other
Send your memories to: [email protected]
94
All About
YOUR HISTORY
The Enigma machine
was created at the end of
WWI by German engineer The ‘bombe’ machine
Arthur Scherbius
would be used by
cryptologists to decipher
the Enigma messages
The Wrens fulfilled a wide
variety of roles ranging
from cooks to weapons
analysts to air mechanics
countries, where the coded messages were Here we worked around the clock. It was an eerie enough were produced by the machines to give us
intercepted and recorded in Morse. These cyphers place; you could stand close by the wood and still a sense of excitement and achievement.
were then transmitted to Bletchley Park for the be unaware that anything was there. We never Of course at the time we knew nothing of the
second stage, where cryptographers worked walked to and from our hut unaccompanied. processes which had gone on before our machines
unceasingly to decipher them. The German There were some 20 machines and each was were called in, nor anything beyond the completion
operator set his machine differently each day, that called after a famous inventor in the field, such of our work. This was to be expected and the
is to say, the initial key, consisting of three or more as Volta, Faraday, Joule, Ampere. They were quite whole organisation was fragmented in such a way
rotating wheels, was set at random. large, and tall Wrens had a distinct advantage! that no one, except a few at the highest level, held
The cryptographers produced some sort of About forty of us formed a shift, or watch, and more than a tiny piece of the completed puzzle. We
workable hypothesis which might produce the we each had a partner from that particular watch. continued working around the clock month after
key to the code. It was at this stage that the Wrens Now and again the machine would stop, showing month through the momentous D-Day landings
at Gayhurst and other outstations played their on a dial four letters which, together with the and until the war effort reached its climax.
part. Our work came in the shape of a plan, called wheel order, was passed on to our partner in an In May of 1945 the war came to an end and our
a menu, which formed the framework for our adjoining room and tested on a small machine. work collapsed like a house of cards. Also collapsed
operation. Within this, every possible combination This tiny scrap of information, called a stop, might was our sense of discipline, and this was replaced
was scanned by machines known as bombes provide the key to the whole code. If it met certain by high spirits of the custard pie variety. But with
which we operated. They housed some five miles criteria, it was phoned immediately to Bletchley it too was a strange sense of anti-climax. The work
of wire and contained thousands and thousands Park to await developments. If this was indeed the had taken up our energies over a long period of
of electrical contacts. The permutations they could hidden key, word came back quickly and a joyful time, and our sudden release from the tension was
produce were beyond the range of human thought. cry of “Job up” would be heard from the office. The something that was not readily comprehended
At Gayhurst we worked in two large adjoining number of successful stops was of course limited; or assimilated. We were all volunteers and so for
huts set in a nearby wood at the back of the house. some did not provide the key being sought, but many of us the future held more imponderables.
Doyouhaveanyfamilystoriestoshare? /AllAboutHistory @AboutHistoryMag
95
THE STORIES, STRATEGIES, HEROES & MACHINES
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Book reviews Battle of Shiroyama What if the Roman Empire had never fallen?
97
HISTORY HOLLYWOOD
VS
Fact versus fi ction on the silver screen
THE OTHER BOLEYN GIRL
Director: Justin Chadwick Starring: Natalie Portman, Scarlett Johansson, Eric Bana Country: UK/USA Released: 2008
ICT A good effort at capturing
How well executed is this depiction of the lives of the Boleyn sisters? the drama of the Tudor court
WHATTHEYGOTWRONG… WHATTHEYGOTRIGHT…
The ages of the Boleyn The idea Mary could Upon being convicted of Mary’s first child is The portrayal of the Boleyns’ uncle, the Duke
01 siblings are very different 02 steal her niece from the 03 treason, George Boleyn, 04 shown to be a boy – of Norfolk, is very accurate. He did indeed
from historical records. Mary is palace and raise her alone in Anne’s brother, is portrayed as Henry – when in fact her first announce the judgement in court and seal
referenced repeatedly as being the country is absurd. Elizabeth being dragged to his execution child was a girl – Catherine. the death sentences of George and Anne. His
the youngest ‘naïve’ sibling in had her own household and sobbing and pleading while Henry was born several years scheming also continued after their executions,
the film, but historians agree was raised by a selection of lady a crowd berates him. This later. Henry was also placed pushing his teenage niece Catherine Howard
that Mary was born around 1500 governesses. Also, Elizabeth was is incorrect – George died a under the guardianship of his toward the ageing king.
and Anne around 1501 – making almost three years old at the dignified death and delivered a aunt, Anne; a fact completely
Anne the younger of the two. time of her mother’s execution. long speech to a silent crowd. overlooked in the film.
©Alamy
98
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