by David West | Mar 27, 2026 | News
On the 27th of March, 1309, Pope Clement V imposed excommunication and interdiction on Venice, and a general prohibition on all commercial transactions with the city, following the seizure of Ferrara which was a papal fiefdom by Venice. Both Venice and Ferrara feature...
by David West | Mar 26, 2026 | News
On the 26th of March, 1169, Saladin became the emir of Egypt. Ṣalāḥ al-Dīn Yūsuf ibn Ayyūb—known in the West as Saladin—was one of the most remarkable figures of the medieval world. A soldier, statesman, and devout Muslim, he became the great champion of Islam during...
by David West | Mar 25, 2026 | News
The Treaty of Amiens was signed on the 25th of March, 1802, ending hostilities between France and the United Kingdom. It can’t have been a great success because the Battle of Trafalgar was in 1805. Let’s look into it. The Treaty of Amiens was one of the most...
by David West | Mar 24, 2026 | News
On the 24th of March, 1944, seventy-six allied prisoners of war escaped from Stalag Luft III in what has become known as The Great Escape. I wrote recently about Dachau and that when we were in Krakow we had decided not to visit Auschwitz. I did want to visit the site...
by David West | Mar 23, 2026 | News
On the 23rd of March, 1540, Waltham Abbey was surrendered to King Henry VIII. It was the last religious community to be closed during the Dissolution of the Monasteries. The origins of Waltham Abbey lie in the early Anglo-Saxon period. Tradition holds that in the 7th...
by David West | Mar 22, 2026 | News
On the 22nd of March, 1933, Nazi Germany opened its first concentration camp at Dachau near Munich. It is the only concentration camp I have visited. When we visited Kraków last year, we decided against visiting Auschwitz. One concentration camp is enough. My father...
