St. George's Day Kebab and The Bard's Birthday

April 23 is not only St.George's Day (complete with themed websites and merchandising), but also the date that Shakespeare's birthday in 1564 is celebrated.

We don't actually know his exact birth date, but he did expire on 23rd April 1616, so there is a neat symmetry.

Listen to two excellent new poems commissioned for St.George's Day on BBC Radio 4 site.

Finally, the Daily Telegraph tries to stir up patriotic feeling with a cheeky map showing an alleged EU plot to merge the south coast of England with northern France into a new "Manche" region. About time Calais was back in English hands if you ask me.

Carnivalesque XXXVIII is up...

Carnivalesque XXXVIII is up at Walking the Berkshires. Lots of interesting Early-Modern posts from last 2 months or so.

Oh yes, and today is the day that Henry VIII became King of England in 1509, aged 17. The painting by an unknown artist shows Henry in his coronation year (courtesy Wikipedia Commons/Denver Art Museum).

Do not be fooled by his pale and sensitive countenance. Two days after his coronation in June 1509, Henry had Empson and Dudley arrested. These two former ministers under his father Henry VII were tried for treason and executed in 1510. A sign of things to come...

Purple Haze: Medieval Mix

The trailer for BBC4's current Medieval Season features a nifty folk remix of Hendrix's Purple Haze, with accompanying psychedelic graphics. "Take a trip into the medieval mind" with the emphasis on trip, man.