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History, Page 4

Wolvesey Castle and diplomacy with France

Central to Henry V’s pretext for war in 1415 was his claim of pursuing a just war against the French in support of his rights in France.  In the parliament of November 1414, Henry had been advised to send an embassy to France.  This was duly sent and arrived in Paris in February 1415, but although the French were prepared to make territorial concessions, the English delegates felt that they lacked the authority to accept the terms offered. Continue reading →

The financial contributions of the city of Salisbury for the expedition

The king’s expedition to France was a costly undertaking as can be seen by the financial contributions made by the city of Salisbury.  In the fifteenth century Salisbury was a wealthy and populous city due to its manufacture of cloth.  This meant, however, that it had to provide large sums of money to fund the king’s war with France. Continue reading →

Horatio Nelson to Simon Taylor, 10 June 1805

Horatio Nelson first met Simon Taylor during the American Revolutionary War, while stationed in Jamaica. The two remained in touch. As Nelson remarks towards the end of this letter, by 1805, they had been acquainted for about three decades. The letter was written while Nelson pursued the French fleet in the Caribbean, during the months before the Battle of Trafalgar, and in it Nelson expressed his opposition to William Wilberforce and the abolitionists. Continue reading →

Royal Navy and the Caribbean

At a conference in Portsmouth next week, Christer Petley will discuss connections between the Royal Navy and slavery in the Caribbean, focusing on the relationship between Horatio Nelson and Simon Taylor. See this part of the S&R site to view the letter that Nelson sent to Taylor and which William Cobbett posted in his Political Register in February 1807, as part of a last ditch effort to stall the Abolition Bill as it passed through parliament. Continue reading →