The Norsemen and William the Conqueror (part IV).

Battle Abbey. Built by William I in 1070, near the place of the Battle of Hastings.
Photo: Anthony McCallum, 2012. Att.: WyrdLight.com
Lic. Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0

Senlac Hill.


On that morning of October 14th of the year 1066, there was something in the air. Was easy to feel great and serious events approaching. King Harold II of England came right on time for his appointment with history. With his army he was blocking the road to London. So he was showing his decision to stop the Norman invasion there, no matter the cost. It was about to ocur a medieval joust, to determine not only who would be king, but also the future course of the nation.

Roman Britain and the Rebellion of Boudica (part 2)

An old map from Britain
Watling Street marked in red

Flying with our imagination, we can see quite a scene. A decisive battle was going to happen: at the dawn, in the proximity of an old country road, the romans were waiting for Boudica. On a slightly sloped field, with a ravine by the side and a dense forest behind. Gaius Suetonius, the roman governor, chose those positions, to protect his flank and rearguard. Thus he arranged his ten thousand men with all the skill of a great strategist.

Roman Britain and the Rebellion of Boudica (part 1).

Queen Boudica, by John Ospie

On the present is not easy to imagine the British Isles with a mainly Latino cultural heritage. But it could have happened like this. There was a time when most of those lands known as Britain, were part of the Roman Empire... When Rome began to extend to the north, by the hand of Julius Caesar, they conquered and anexed Gaul (France), in 58 BC. The celts from the northern islands had good trade relations with the gallics, so they tried to help them. But it caused frictions with the romans, starting the military pressure over Britain.