The following piece was produced for the Bader College course HIST 402: Sex & Death in the Middle Ages. During the Middle Ages, an insidious aspect of communal identity reared its ugly head as a result of religious groupthink. Why is it that every historical epoch believes that it has reached the apex of development?…
Category: History
Making Moonshine! A Radio Play
Dr Claire Kennan, Bader College Research Coordinator. In March 2023, a group of students came together to record some scenes from the play Making Moonshine! written by local resident Verily Anderson in 1957-8. Now kept safely in our archive, the play is set in ‘Swirling Castle’, a clear fictionalisation of Herstmonceux Castle. The play features…
An Ode to Women in Medicine: Celebrating Trota of Salerno
Tecoya Warner The advancements of the medical field we know today seem a bit futuristic when we put ourselves in the shoes of our ancestors. From the creation of vaccines to the wonders of bioimaging and the overall expansion of scientific research, society has made great strides by building on some of the groundwork of…
Jubilation at the Jubilee?
What does jubilee mean? The Oxford Dictionary describes a jubilee as ‘a special anniversary of an event, especially one celebrating twenty-five or fifty years of a reign or activity’.[1] For the British monarchy specifically, the jubilee is an important celebration of the reign of the current monarch. This year, 2022, Queen Elizabeth II is celebrating…
Herstmonceux Castle in the 1921 Census
On 6th January 2022 the 1921 census, which has been closed for a century, was made available to the public for the first time. The census is a survey which, usually, is taken every ten years to provide a snapshot of all the people and households in England and Wales. The object of a census…
Herstmonceux in the Domesday Book
In 1085 King William I commissioned a huge survey of land and landholding which resulted in the iconic Domesday Book. Domesday is the most complete record of pre-industrial society to survive anywhere in the world, making it an exceptional document which offers us a unique window into the Middle Ages. For the majority of places recorded within…
Medieval Migrant Workers and the Building of Herstmonceux Castle
In 1441 Sir Roger Fiennes was granted a licence to ‘enclose, crenellate and furnish with towers and battlements his manor at Hurst Monceux’.[1] Along with wanting to show off his wealth and status, Sir Roger was following the wider consumer movement of investing a higher proportion of his income in his home. This trend was heavily…
The Fiennes Family, the Hundred Years War & Sir Roger’s Rise to Power
On 5th February 1441 King Henry VI granted Sir Roger Fiennes a licence which allowed him to ‘enclose, crenellate and furnish with towers and battlements his manor of Hurst Monceux co. Sussex’.1 Sir Roger was also given permission to ‘enclose 600 acres of his land’ adjoining the manor. This licence led directly to the castle and…