31 October, 2006

Dunkirk pt 2 - play golf in a fort


As a follow-up to yesterday's post, check out this Dunkirk golf course within what looks like a coastal fort - impressive.

30 October, 2006

Charles II sells Dunkirk to the French, 27th October, 1662.


For this week's post we go back to Charles II's sale of Dunkirk to France on 27th October, 1662. The price was a reasonable 2.5m livres, or around £400,000 (partly paid in installments).

The map on right "Plan de la Ville et Citadelle de Dunkerque" dates from the early 18thC, but the original drawing is believed to date from 1662. This is from the excellent University of Jerusalem Geography dept. historic cities website.
Samuel Pepys makes several mentions of the Dunkirk sale in his diary ("This day come the King's pleasure-boats from Calais, with the Dunkirk money, being 400,000 pistolles." 21-Nov-1662), and there are further contributions from readers of the Pepys diary retro-blog.

Link to previous posts:
Samuel Pepys learns his uncle has died
Indians sell Manhattan Island for $24 in cloth and buttons, 1626

07 October, 2006

A Man For All Seasons - Can Sir Thomas More outwit Master Cromwell?



Today's Saturday Play on BBC Radio 4 was an abridged version of A Man for All Seasons, with an a-list cast. If you missed the broadcast like me, for the next 7 days you can "listen again" on the Radio 4 Saturday Play web page. Enjoy!

Here is the BBC synopsis and cast list..
A Man For All Seasons. By Robert Bolt

"Sir Thomas More has managed to resist Henry VIII's pressure on him to sanction the forthcoming wedding to Anne Boleyn. All of Cromwell's plots to entrap Thomas fail as the wily Chancellor counters with his knowledge of the law and his right to silence. But can treachery from an unsuspected source spell doom for the brilliant statesman? "

Sir Thomas More ...... Charles Dance
Master Richard Rich ...... Julian Rhind Tutt
Master Thomas Cromwell ...... Ken Cranham
Cardinal Wolsey ...... Timothy Bateson
King Henry VIII ...... Brian Cox
Duke of Norfolk ...... Nicholas le Prevost
Master Will Roper ...... Martin Freeman
Lady Alice More ...... Kika Markham
Mistress Margaret (Meg) More ...... Romola Garai
Boatman/Steward (aka Matthew)/Jailer ...... Sam Dale
Archbishop Thomas Cranmer/Headsman ...... Peter Tate
Woman ...... Adjoa Andoh
portraits: Sir Thomas More (above left), Master Thomas Cromwell (above right).
related previous posts:

04 October, 2006

Cardinal Wolsey Quotes including his Death

If you are searching for quotes by or about Cardinal Wolsey, including his Death, these are perhaps the two best-known quotes from the man himself....

"Father Abbot, I am come to lay my bones amongst you"
George Cavendish, Negotiations of Thomas Wolsey (1641), referring to Wolsey's arrival, already ill, at Leicester Abbey, Nov 26th, 1530, on his way to probable execution at the Tower. He died at Leicester on November 28th or 29th, aged around 55.

"Had I but served God as diligently as I have served the king, he would not have given me over in my gray hairs."
ibid.

Click this link for Cardinal Wolsey quotes in Shakespeare's Henry VIII