August 1642, King Charles I ‘Raised his Standard’ at Nottingham, thus declaring war on the English Parliament. This act marked the beginning of the English Civil War.
Over this weekend, the Sealed Knot mounted various displays and re-enactments, to commemorate this event.
And a spectacle it was to. Canon and musket fire, pikes charging about, screams, and much pulling of faces ……..
More pictures on my Photoblog at:
Day 1 http://tashcamuk.fotopages.com/?entry=192991
Day 2 http://tashcamuk.fotopages.com/?entry=192998
And ….. you can see a full set of everything I’d taken over the weekend, on my webserver at:
http://tash.dns2go.com/xtra/SealedKnot2004/index.htm
Indymedia at: http://www.indymedia.org.uk/en/2004/08/296740.html
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Sealed Knot http://www.sealedknot.org
King’s Lifeguard of Foot, The Sealed Knot Society
http://myweb.tiscali.co.uk/kingslifeguard/index.htm
English Civil War Society – a history re-enactment group
Nottingham Events – Raising the Standard 2004 http://www.nottinghamevents.org/raising_standard/index.html
and, why I’m really interested, check out this lot ……
At the end of the English Civil War, (The 1640s), people began to realise that after their sacrifice in fighting that war, they had replaced one bunch of uncaring bastards with another lot…. well, that’s politics and war for you, nothing new there then!!!
I see paralells with today that are uncanny, even scary, at times. The people pitched against an unrepresentative state and aristocracy. The Church acting rather like the present day multinationals, and a lot of people who just wanted to be left alone, without interference from church or state, on land that they respected and loved. I have included a little background info, to give you an idea of what I mean.
350 years ago now, but a solid example of “DIY culture”, or what.
There has been an increasing interest recently, in the 17th century exploits of the group of radical squatter – communists know as `The Levellers’ and `The Diggers’. Partly, this is the result of the new wave of `DIY’ protest and resistance, which has prompted comparisons between today’s young (and not so young!) demonstators and the diggers. Self-empowerment, direct action. Also, it has come about because of a cultural shift which is leading people to look deep into the roots of English, as opposed to British history.
The Levellers [my site] http://tash.gn.apc.org/leveller.htm
The Diggers 350 yr anniversary 1649 – St Georges Hill [my site] http://tash.gn.apc.org/diggers_350.htm
Digger pamphlet by Gerrard Winstanley A declaration of the Poor oppressed People of England 1649 http://www.tlio.demon.co.uk/poor.htm
