Looking towards Christmas
In this newsletter
Hello
Latest blog post
British Library
History tid-bits
Hello
Hello once more to you all, and happy 1st December! I can’t believe the year has nearly come to an end, but the sudden frost and sprinklings of snow in the UK across the last few days has certainly made it feel very wintry. I hope you can forgive me mentioning the C-word in the title - it is officially December at last, after all, and when running a blog you have to think ahead! I have already planned out my social media for the lead-up to Christmas and I hope you all enjoy reading the history I have found for you. To those of you who read this on the website rather than via email, you may notice I have changed our background colour after some really helpful feedback from a reader that the previous colour was inaccessible and difficult to read. I quite like this lovely blue, so I hope you do too!
Latest Blog Post
Regular readers will have got a sneak peek of my latest blog post in the last newsletter, but for anyone new or who hasn’t had a chance to read it yet, I wrote all about the witch trials that took place in Trier at the end of the 16th century. The witch trials there are considered the biggest that happened in Europe, and whilst horrific it is a really interesting insight into how these trials spread like wildfire and what motivations were behind the persecution - and who benefited. Make sure you check it out by clicking here!
British Library
In another follow-on from my last newsletter, the situation at the British Library is sadly much the same, though with much more information out there. They have since confirmed that they were the victim of a targeted ransomware attack who gathered a load of data from their servers and essentially blew up all the technical infrastructure on their way out. The data is currently up for sale by the Rhysida ransomware group for around £600,000 and in the meantime the majority of the British Library’s services are still down. Some parts of their website, such as their blog, are back online, but their catalogue is still out of action which means it is still really difficult for readers to visit and access material. Although a smuttering of news articles have come out, notably after the ransom was announced, I have found it quite stark how little reporting this huge attack seems to have had in the British media.
History Tid-Bits
It may be cheating to start this section with something of my own, but my latest Facebook post has gone wild so I thought I’d share part of it here for anyone who doesn’t follow me over there. I recently shared a fab Tudor artefact, the Bristow Hat which is thought to have once belonged to Henry VIII, making it a rare surviving piece of clothing related to the Tudor monarchy. It is in remarkable condition due to being a family treasure for centuries, and is currently held by Historic Royal Palaces. You can read all about the hat here!
Sticking with a royal clothing theme, but jumping forwards in time, the blouse worn by Diana, Princess of Wales, in her engagement portrait is going up for auction between the 14th and 17th December. It is expected to fetch up to $100,000 considering her huge popularity as a figure. The blouse was spotted by Diana during a visit to Vogue, and the designers later went on to make her wedding dress. It will certainly be interesting to see exactly how much it fetches. You can read more here.
As always, thank you for reading, and until next time.
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