William Sterling

An introduction to the history section

The Royal Cup of France and England. This was one of the few surviving masterpieces associated with the greatest of all Mediaeval art patrons, Jean duc de Berry. He commissioned it in 1380 as a gift for his brother, King Charles V of France. The lid and main body of the cup show scenes from the Life of St Agnes on whose feast day Charles was born. The cup is solid gold decorated with enamel, probably the best surviving example of Mediaeval Champlevé enameling. St Agnes was an early Christian martyr who refused to marry a pagan and was burned at the stake for her refusal to worship the Roman Emperor. The flames did not hurt her and she was killed by a spear being driven through her throat. The base shows the four evangelist symbols – St John’s eagle in the picture. Image © Trustees of the British Museum
My main area of academic study has been History. My first degree at Keele University (1976-1980) was a Joint Honours in History and Geography. The areas I specialised in for History were The Greeks, The Enlightenment, Tenth Century England, Thirteenth Century France, Renaissance England and The Hundred Years War. Read more »

SPOTLIGHT: History

Charles II

Life and Times of Charles II Known to History as the Merry Monarch, Charles II is perhaps better remembered for his love of life than his politics. However, his reign saw momentous events ranging from the Plague and Great Fire of London to the founding of the Royal Society and the Royal Greenwich Observatory. His… Read more »

William and Mary

Life and Times of King William III and Queen Mary II A survey of the Life & Times of Britain’s only Joint Monarchs. They came to power in what was called the Glorious Revolution and although they only reigned a short while they laid the foundations for Modern Britain. It was also the period of… Read more »

Queen Anne

The Life and Times of Queen Anne This was a one day course at the City Lit on Saturday 21st February 2015.  It was described thus Queen Anne was the last of the Stuarts and suffered much personal tragedy but she ruled over an increasingly prosperous nation that had unprecedented military success in Europe under… Read more »

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