For my last post of this year (2024) I’m going to discuss my plans for 2025.
First of all my goals are set for both the year and the first quarter. They largely revolve around my health and finances. If you’re interested my years goals are below,
I will be breaking these into chunks and plan on completing a few a quarter.
My main career goals for the year aren’t really listed here, as I have kept them separate until I’ve 100% decided on them, but they include learning about digital marketing and website creation, a process I have found fascinating in starting my own business.
My health goals are pretty self explanatory. I want to be healthier, and to do that I need to lose weight. I’ll do that by eating healthier and getting into the gym more.
As for the religious stuff in the goals, that’s going to be focused on towards the end of the year. I will be spending this time researching various religious communities and finding out which ones beliefs most closely match mine.
2024 has been a tough year in many aspects. Its almost felt like a ‘stand still year’, where I’ve stood mostly still, but I’ve done a lot of preparing in order to move forward in 2025 and hopefully I can move forward in leaps and bounds!
Hope you all have a merry Christmas and a happy new year!
Well my business has launched! That’s So Fandom officially went live on the fourth November 2024. If you want to check it out please go to https://thatssofandom.com/ for all your geeky needs.
But what does this mean for me for the future? I don’t know. For those of you who don’t know I am diagnosed autistic since the age of ten. Part of autism is I go through Hyper-focuses. I recently went through one for history and am now going through one for tech. Both of these are recurring and difficult to balance with each other at times.
So if you was to ask my career goals six months ago it would have been something to do with history, probably going back to uni, doing my degree, and then going onto a PhD and trying to get a lecturing job. As my hyper-focus has changed so have my goals. Now I want to finish my Computer Science degree and get a job in tech, preferably cyber security. As you can imagine, this changing hyper-focus is difficult to deal with.
So for now I’m going to sit tight and focus on That’s So Fandom while I establish what I REALLY want, rather than what my hyper-focused autistic brain wants. It may take a while but I’m sure I’ll get there sooner rather than later.
Gainsborough Old Hall is situated in Gainsborough, Lincolnshire. It is over five hundred years old and is the one of the best preserved manor houses of the medieval period in England. It is also my nearest major historical site, since I live in Gainsborough.
In 1460 the hall was build by Sir Thomas Burgh. Incidentally Sir Thomas was one of the people who rescued King Edward IV from the Earl of Warwick, who was being kept prisoner in his castle in Middleham. In 1471 Sir Thomas was the first to rally to Edward IV side when he came to reclaim the throne. Sir Thomas also fought Battles of Barnet and Tewkesbury, as well as later fighting in the Battle of Bosworth.
The first monarch to stay at the hall was Richard III, in 1484. However despite hosting Richard III , it is thought that Thomas Burgh fought on the side of Henry VII at the Battle of Bosworth. The son of Thomas Burgh, Edward, was imprisoned in the Old Hall after being declared a Lunatic. In 1528 Edward died, and was succeeded by his eldest son, another Thomas. Thomas Burgh II had an eldest son, also called Edward who married Catherine Parr who readers may recognise as one of the wives of Henry VIII. Edward and Catherine stayed at the Old Hall until they were granted their own manor in the nearby Kirton-in-Lindsey.
Henry VIII would visit Gainsborough twice, in 1509 and 1541. Catherine Howard, with whom Henry visited in 1541 was accused of affairs in both Gainsborough and nearby Lincoln and would go on to be executed. Catherine Parr had by this time been widowed twice, with Edward Burgh dying in 1533 and would go on to become Henry VIII sixth wife.
Thomas, the fifth Lord Burgh would die without an heir, and in 1596 Gainsborough Old Hall would be sold to William Hickman, a merchant from London. He would make many improvements to the Hall, especially in the East Wing. The Hickman family would play a prominent role in developing Gainsborough, with a prominent hill in Gainsborough going on to be named ‘Hickman Hill’.
In 1720, on the edge of town at Thonock, a new manor was built and the Old Hall became unoccupied with it being used for a variety of purposes, but staying in the family.
The Old Hall has changed little over the years, being principally Timber framed giving it a black and white stripped appearance. The on the north-east is a brick tower and a great view of the town can be found at the top, if you’re willing to climb the steps as I did as a teenager. The tower is said to be haunted by the Grey Lady, but I never found any spooky goings on. The kitchen is considered possibly the most complete medieval kitchen in England.
From 1949 the house was looked after by a volunteer group, the Friends of the Old Hall. They saved the building from demolition and first opened it to the public. The then owner, Sir Edmund Bacon gave it to the nation in 1970. After being run by Lincolnshire County Council, it is now owned by English Heritage and is open to the public as a museum. It is listed as a Grade I building and the Friends of the Old Hall provides volunteer guides and other expertise.
Welcome to Peter’s History Corner! “What is Peter’s History Corner?” I hear you ask. Well this will be the posts where I talk about history, and the bits of history that interest me. You may have seen I’ve already done a bit of this with my posts on some of the Popes in the Middles Ages. Well this will be formalised into (hopefully) regular posts.
What areas of history will I be discussing? Well various areas that interest me! I have wide ranging interests, mainly focused on political, religious and military history. Below is a list of topics that will be covered, and I have already started researching some of these areas.
The Norman Conquest
The Angevin Empire
The Holy Wars, from the First Crusade to Third Crusade
Warfare and Strategy of England and Western Europe from 1066 to 1485
Rise and fall of the Knights Templar
Politics and Warfare of the Papal States and Wider City States in Italian Renaissance
Early Ottoman Empire, from the taking of Constantinople to death of Suleiman the Magnificent
British Cavalry from the Napoloeonic Wars to end of the First World War
Fight against the Ottomans, 1914-1918
Britain in the Western Front 1914-1918
Britain and United States after D-Day 1944-1945
The Italian Campaign, 1943-1945
The RAF from the Second World War to Afghanistan 1945-2012
British Intelligence and Special Forces 1939-Modern Day
I hope you enjoy these topics. The biographies of the Popes will still go ahead, but might take a back seat to some of the topics mentioned above.
The last few months have been tough. Mentally I have not been in a good place, and physically I have been an even worse place. While I was accepted into University to study Military History, I have not been successful in my application for funding. As such I will not be attending university again.
So whats next? Thats a good question. I don’t know is the answer to that, but I do have a few options. In the background I’ve been working on a business idea to sell collectables to geeks. That is definitely going to go ahead, though I can’t say when yet. I could go back and finish my Computer Science degree in 2025, if Lincoln College would have me. But my programming is very rusty and would need to be brought back up to scratch before then.
I’ve long had an interest in WordPress development and .NET development. Thats also an option. My old goal of cyber security will likely remain a passion, but not a career option right now. Maybe in the future, but not right now.
On a personal level theres a lot going on I need to sort. And I have started sorting it. The first step in un-messing up my life has been a healthy morning routine. You can see the morning routine below
Making the bed helps me feel like I’m organised first thing in the morning.
A walk helps me clear my head and organise my thoughts for the day.
A shower to keep clean obviously.
Taking blood sugars and meds are important to keep healthy.
Breakfast and brushing my teeth to finish the morning routine.
Then I give myself an hour or so of free time to relax before I crack on with what needs doing in the day. Hopefully this morning routine will set me up for success in the future, with whatever path I go down!
Not as much is known about all the Popes of the Middle Ages as was known about Sylvester II, nor did they all lead such interesting lives as Sylvester II. Thus, this post will cover the lives of the next five Popes.
Following the death of Pope Sylvester II on the 12th May 1003, John Sicco was elected as Pope John XVII. He lasted only seven months, dying on 6th November 1003. As much there is little to write about him. He was married and had three sons before entering the priesthood (this was before clerical celibacy was mandatory, though the last man to be married as Pope was Pope Adrian II who reigned from 867-872). Nominated by John Crescentius, a noble who opposed Otto III, he succeeded Sylvester II on 16th May 1003. One of his few actions was approving a mission led by Bruno of Querfurt to Eastern Europe to evangelise the local population.
In January 1004 John XVII was succeeded by John XVIII. John XVIII power was mainly limited to ecclesiastical matters, having little temporal power. This was due to a power a struggle between the aforementioned noble John Crescentius and Henry II, Holy Roman Emperor. John XVIII father had been a priest before him and he was apparently born in Rome. His election was owed largely to Crescentii clan, to whom he was allegedly subordinate to during his pontificate. His problems were not limited to conflict between Henry II and Roman nobles, but also to conflicts between Henry II and Arduin of Ivrea. Plague also wracked the streets of Rome in this period and Saracens operating from modern day Sicily raided the local coastlines.
As Pope, John XVIII mainly focused on ecclesiastical matters. He authorised a new Diocese in Bamberg to help the missionary activity in Eastern Europe, something Henry II was much concerned with. His main ecclesiastical role focused on adjudicating on the over reaching power of the Bishops of Sens and Orleans, regarding the privileges of the abbot of Fleury. His biggest achievement however may have been temporarily creating a rapprochement between the Eastern and Western Churches. In July 1009 he abdicated, retiring to a monastery where he died shortly after.
Born in Rome at an unknown date, the next Pope was born Pietro Martino, given the nickname Buccaporci (pigs snout) due to unknown personal habits. On his election as Pope he changed his name from Pietro (Italian for Peter) to Sergius (the fourth to be Pope), in deference to the first Pope, Saint Peter of the apostles, a tradition that has been carried to the modern day. Again, John Crescentius eclipsed his temporal power, however he did much to help the poor and various monasteries, such as acting to relieve famine in Rome. Before becoming Pope he had resisted attempts by Otto III to return to Rome. A Papal Bull that was issued calling for Muslims to be driven from the Holy Land has been attributed to him, but its authenticity has long been a matter of debate. He died on 12th May 1012. Though not officially a saint he was sometimes venerated as one among Benedictines. There is some suspicion he may have been murdered, as he died within a week of his patron in the Crescenitus family.
Born as Theophylact around 980 Pope Benedict VIII ascended to the throne of Saint Peter on 18th May 1012. Unusually for a medieval Pope, Benedict had strong authority both locally and abroad, though he was not without opposition. The Antipope, Gregory VI compelled him to temporarily flee Rome. Benedict VIII restored Henry II to the throne as Holy Roman Emperor, and the two remained on good terms. During his pontificate, the Saracens renewed their attacks on Southern Italy, and Normans also began to settle Italy. Benedict allied himself with the Normans, and orchestrated the Saracen defeat in Sardinia. He also held a synod on Simony and Incontinence amongst the clergy, as well as consecrating the cathedral at Bamberg while meeting Henry II about the rising threat of Byzantine Empire to the east of Italy in 1020. In 1022 he also received the Archbishop of Canterbury, Æthelnoth of Canterbury who obtained the pallium (an ecclesiastical vestment). He encouraged the Truce of God and convinced the Holy Roman Emperor to lead an expedition in Southern Italy against nobles who had defected to Byzantium. He died in 1024.
Benedict VIII’s brother, Romanus, succeed Benedict as Pope. John XIX was a layperson, not a priest, when he was elected Pope, so had to be ordained and consecrated as a Bishop upon his election. Despite dying in 1032, he played a role in the Schism on 1054 by rejecting a proposal of the Patriarch of Constantinople to recognise the Patriarchs sphere of interest in the east. He was later allegedly paid a large bribe, and then recognised the Patriarchs claim to the title of ecumenical bishop. However the indignation throughout the church was such he was immediately forced to pull out of the deal. On the death of the Holy Roman Emperor Henry II he gave support to Conrad II. King Rudolph III of Burgundy and Cnut the Great of Denmark and England both took part in a pilgrimage to Rome to see John XIX. In 1025 John would go onto send a crown to Poland and bless the coronation of the Polish King Boleslaw the Brave. In 1027 John XIX would go on to give the Patriarch of Aquileia great power and gave him precedence over all the Italian bishops, before revoking his decision in 1029. In 1032 he would die, allegedly killed by a mob of peasants angry at his conflict against Odilo of Cluny. However there is no direct evidence to support the fact he was killed by peasants.
I hope you have enjoyed this post of five Popes and return to see the next post.
This is my first entry on blog on a topic of great interest. I will be covering biographies of Popes in the High Middle Ages (1000-1300ish), Popes of the Italian Renaissance (which I’m taking from 1300 to 1550ish) and then Popes of the twentieth century. This will start with the person who was Pope when the calendar entered a new millennium in 1000, Pope Sylvester II.
Pope Sylvester II was born as Gerbert. His exact date, or even year of birth is unknown, but he was believed to be born in 946AD. Again, his place of birth is unknown, but is believed to have been born un the Duchy of Aquitaine in France, perhaps in the province of Auvergne.
His early life had a great focus on education, with his parents taking him to a Benedictine Abbey for education. He became a pupil of a monk called Raimund, and in 963 he entered the Monastery of St Gerald of Aurillac, where he would meet someone of great importance in his early adulthood.
In 967, Count Borrell II of Barcelona was visiting the Monastery of St Gerald. At the urging to abbot (perhaps persuaded by Gerbert, we don’t know) Count Borrell added Gerbert to his retinue. It is believed upon his return to Catalonia, Count Borrell sent Gerbert to the Monastery of Satna Maria de Ripoll, north of Barcelona. While there he likely studied under Bishop Atto of Vich. He is known to have studied Mathematics and astronomy, and likely studied theology as well. He also received Arabic instruction from Seville and Cordoba.
Like all Catalan monasteries at the time, Santa Maria de Ripoll contained manuscripts from Moslem Spain, which Gerbert would soon visit. Borrell II had been at war the Andalusian powers, such as the leader of Cordoba, al-Hakam. Borrell II sent a peace delegation to Cordoba to request a truce with the Andalusian powers, which Bishop Atto was a member of, who chose to take Gerbert with him.
While in Cordoba Gerbert was fascinated by the stories of Mozarab Christian Bishops. They were dressed and talked like Moors, and like the Arab teachers, were well versed in mathematics and natural sciences. It is here Gerbert learned of Hindu-Arabic digits (which we still use today) and applied it to a device he had seen, the Abacus, though probably without the number 0.
It was Gerbert who reintroduced the abacus to Latin Europe. According to the 12th Century Historian, William of Malmsebury, Gerbert got the idea of his abacus from a Moorish scholar at the University of Al-Qarawiyyin. The abacus Gerbert introduced into Europe again has its length divided into 27 parts, with 9 numbers and 1000 characters overall. According to one of his pupils, Richer, Gerbert was able to perform calculations on his abacus with great speed, including calculations his contemporaries struggled to do in their head using roman numerals. Due to this reintroduction the abacus spread around, and became widely used across 11th century Europe.
Gerbert also reintroduced a device that had been lost to Europe since the end of the Greco-Roman period. The Armillary Sphere. Preserved by the Islamic Civilisations, Armillary Spheres are models of objects in the sky consisting of spherical framework of rings centred around either the Earth of Sun. For an idea of what they look like, see below.
In 969 Borrell II made a pilgrimage to Rome, taking Gerbert with him. While in Rome, Gerbert met Pope John XIII and Otto I, Holy Roman Emperor. At the persuasion of the Pope, Otto I hired Gerbert as a tutor to his son, Otto II. This tutelage lasted approximately four years, until he as given leave to study in the Cathedral School of Rheims.
In 973 Archbishop Adalberon appointed him as a teacher at Rheims. Apart from a period of two years (981-983) where he was head of the Monastery of Bobbio, he remained in Rheims until 989. However at the death of Otto II, he became involved with the politics of his time.
In 985 King Lothair of France tried to take the land of Lorraine from Holy Roman Emporer Otto III. Gerbert would support Hugh Capet, in defiance of the King at the time. In this he was supported by Archbishop Adalberon and Hugh Capet would go on to win the conflict, becoming King of France, ending the Carolingian line of Kings.
When Archbishop Adalberon died in 989, Gerbert was his obvious successor. However he was overlooked by King Hugh Capet, perhaps for political reasons, as he appointed Arnulf, an illegitimate son of his former rival Lothair instead. However, Hugh Capet would go on to appoint Gerbert as Archbishop in 991, after Arnulf was accused of treason.
There was plenty of opposition to Gerberts elevation. Pope John XV would send e legate who temporarily suspended Gerbert from all episcopal office. This was supported by a Synod in 995 that declared Arnulf’s deposition as being invalid. This would matter little to Gerbert, who went back to being a teacher for Otto III. It would matter even less when Pope John XV died in 996, and Pope Gregory V ascended to the papacy. In 998, Gerbert would be appointed Archbishop of Ravenna.
In 999 Pope Gregory V would die. Supported by the Holy Roman Emperor, Otto III Gerbert would be elected to the papacy. He took the name Sylvester II, after Sylvester I who had been pope 314-335. Perhaps in a move to reconcile and let bygones be bygones, he would confirm the position of his rival Arnulf as Archbishop of Rheims.
Sylvester II papacy could be marked by two events. An effort to clean up the church, and an exile from Rome. As Pope, Sylvester II took measures against the selling of church offices and artefacts. He also took measures against the use of concubines among the clergy, especially Bishops. He said only capable men of spotless lives should become Bishops.
However, Sylvester II and Otto III were forced to flee Rome in 1001 from the Roman populace. Taking refuge in Ravenna, Sylvester would continue his papacy while Otto III would attempt to regain control of Rome. He would make three attempts in total, dying the in the third attempt in 1002 at the age of twenty-one from a sudden fever.
Sylvester II would return to Rome, though the Roman nobility would remain in charge. Approximately a year later on the 12th May, 1003 Pope Sylvester II would die in Rome at approximately 57 years old. He would go on to be burred in St John Lateran. The 139th Pope noted scientist of his day, and the first Frenchman to become Pope, Pope Sylvester II was an extremely intelligent man, who helped bring along advancements in Latin Europe.
As alluded to recently in my last post I am coming back to history! Soon I will be starting to post biographies on several people. The early Kings of England and the early Bishops of Rome (Popes) will be my first topics.
Also I have applied to study Military History at Bishop Grosseteste University. I have a two pronged application for this. One is the application to the university itself which is a straightforward through UCAS application. However my application to Student Finance England is more complicated as I’ve had previous funding. I hope that because I left the courses due to illness they’;; accept me under the Compelling Personal Reasons scheme. Here’s hoping to a start in September 2024!
Have you ever received news that rocked your world? I did on Thursday 7th March. It was not good news and has really made me revaluate what I want from life. So from now on, this website will mainly be focused on my passion for history!
You’ll see plenty of changes to the site coming up (though not immediately) and many areas of History will be covered. “What are those areas?” I hear in the distance. Well find them below! Expect no great historical insights as I am an enthusiastic amateur, but expect plenty of passion.
Posts will focus on;
Monarchy of England from Alfred the Great to Elizabeth I History of Bishops of Rome (The Pope), from Saint Peter to Francis I (though there will be more emphasis on Popes in the Italian Renaissance) The Norman Conquest 1066-1072 The Angevin Empire 1154-1259 The Crusades 1095-1192 Warfare and Strategy of England and Western Europe 1066-1485 The Knights Templar 1119-1312 Politics and Warfare of the Papal States and Wider Italy 1450-1600 Early Ottoman Empire 1453-1566 The Western and Ottoman fronts of the First World War 1914-1918 The Western Front 1944-1945 The Italian Campaign 1943-1945 The RAF since the Second World War 1945-2012
This is not an exhaustive list of what I will post about but covers most of it. I have a passing interest in the American War of Independence and the Napoleonic Wars. I also have a more detailed interest in espionage and Special Forces, but those topics are obviously harder to research. But these are the main topics I will be writing about.
Hi everybody! This is just a quick post on my current plans.
I’m currently taking several courses. One course is on WordPress development, with the hope of improving this website and building more. I’m also doing a course on Search Engine Optimisation to benefit, again, both this site and others I build. The final course I’m doing is one on HTML, CSS and JavaScript. Although I’ve had experience with these languages, that was several years ago and I feel a refresher is needed.
You may be forgiven for thinking with this I’m aiming for a front end developer job sooner or later. Indeed that is amongst my thoughts. But I’m also thinking of going down the route of my own e-commerce business selling collectables from various fandoms (I am a huge geek). Indeed I’m not sure which path I will go down yet, but I feel it will be one of those two.
Health wise things are up and down right now. My physical health is improving with medication, but my mental health is still variable. Indeed I’ve come to the conclusion that my mental health will be variable for a long time, perhaps forever. It seems its all about controlling those variations rather than getting rid of them.
I hope you’re all well and hope to write another post soon!
