The true beginning of troubles? The Parliament of Bats, 1426

Dr Hannes Kleineke explores the acrimonious ‘Parliament of Bats’, which first met in Leicester on this day 600 years ago, amidst tensions between two of Henry VI’s closest political advisors. At the end of 1425, just three years into the reign of the infant Henry VI, the English polity, such as it was, was in turmoil. Although arrangements for the conduct of government during the … Continue reading The true beginning of troubles? The Parliament of Bats, 1426

Bats and Devils: Henry VI’s ‘seasonally-named’ parliaments

Rather appropriately for our Halloween blog offering, we hear from Dr Hannes Kleineke, editor of our House of Commons 1461-1504 project, on the fifteenth century Parliaments of Bats and Devils as part of our Named Parliaments series… The long reign of Henry VI was not short of high political drama, and so it is perhaps not surprising that is has also given us two of … Continue reading Bats and Devils: Henry VI’s ‘seasonally-named’ parliaments

Towards a sonic history of Chartism: Music, sound and politics in mid-nineteenth-century Britain

Ahead of tonight’s Parliaments, Politics and People seminar at the Institute of Historical Research, we hear from Dr David Kennerley, a Leverhulme Early Career Fellow at Queen Mary, University of London. He spoke at our previous session on 19 February about his research into the sound of Chartism… For many decades, historians haven’t really thought about sound. It’s easy to see why, since unlike text, visual images … Continue reading Towards a sonic history of Chartism: Music, sound and politics in mid-nineteenth-century Britain