It is perhaps the fact that Washington was determined to limit his power as President that is responsible for his reputation today. I had the great pleasure of spending time at the George Washington Library at Mount Vernon, where I both researched for my new book on Benjamin Franklin – the subject of my Eccles[…]
Rivalries, conflict, and “bad blood” between presidents are part of the story of American history. Most of the time, the presidents involved have been direct rivals in the same election, but not always. Sometimes their conflicts and “bad blood” receded over time, but at other times, the presidents go to the grave with strong unresolved[…]
With the plague decimating the ranks of laborers, surviving workers rebelled against the crown’s higher taxes and restrictive labor laws. Introduction As a professor of medieval Europe, I’ve taught the bubonic plague, and how it contributed to the English Peasant Revolt of 1381. When a deadly disease started to spread, the most vulnerable and powerless[…]
Plotting John’s route for all 17 years of his reign to produce digital maps of his progress as he struggled to maintain his grip. John was the most peripatetic of all English monarchs. His 17 years on the throne are often described as a reign of crisis. In 1214 John lost his lands in France,[…]
Knights were generally paid for their services, but not if in service to the king in a war against another country or rebellious barons. Introduction In medieval society a knight enjoyed a position of high status and often wealth, they were feared on the battlefield and known for their chivalry off it, but it took[…]
Codes of law existed in almost every ancient civilization. Introduction The legal code was a common feature of the legal systems of the ancient Middle East. The Sumerian Code of Ur-Nammu (c. 2100–2050 BC), then the Babylonian Code of Hammurabi (c. 1760 BC), are amongst the earliest originating in the Fertile Crescent. In the Roman[…]