The past has no shortage of disastrous kings, queens, and other rulers; such a list could easily have been filled with the worst Roman emperors alone. Some have been homicidal, like Nero or Genghis Khan; simply incompetent, like Edward II; completely untrustworthy, like Charles I; or amiable but inadequate, like Louis XVI of France.
Join Jonny Wilkes as he makes the case against 16 rulers from history…
40th Anniversary Celebration
The Western Australian Branch of the Richard III Society held its very first meeting at the Parmelia Hilton in 1986 – and we are still going strong!
Please join us to celebrate our 40th Anniversary
“The Nook” at Dome Cafe, 219-221 Railway Parade, Maylands!
Sunday 9th August 2026 from 2.15pm
Food and drinks can be purchased individually on the day.
For information please email richard3inwa@gmail.com
A manuscript once considered an unofficial copy of Magna Carta is now believed to be a genuine version and ”one of the world’s most valuable documents”, according to UK academics.
Harvard Law School paid $27.50 (then about £7) for it in 1946 and for years it has remained tucked away in its library, its true identity unknown.
But two medieval history professors have concluded it is an extraordinarily rare and lost original Magna Carta from 1300, in the reign of King Edward I, that could be worth millions.
Denmark’s ultra-modern library hides a treasury of rare, unique books.
Standing along Copenhagen’s waterfront is the Black Diamond, a Neomodernist complex completed in 1999 as part of the Royal Danish Library. It houses numerous public facilities in addition to the library, and one of its hidden gem is the Treasury. Read more ….
Many call the fifteenth-century codex, commonly known as the “Voynich Manuscript,” the world’s most mysterious book. Written in an unknown script by an unknown author, the manuscript has no clearer purpose now than when it was rediscovered in 1912 by rare books dealer Wilfrid Voynich. The manuscript appears and disappears throughout history, from the library of the Holy Roman Emperor Rudolf II to a secret sale of books in 1903 by the Society of Jesus in Rome. Beinecke.Library
In 1491, Ercole I d’Este, Duke of Ferrara in northern Italy, threw a feast for his son’s wedding. Among the highlights of this culinary extravaganza was a series of elaborately designed sugar sculptures. HistoryExtra.com
John Wyatt Greenlee, a medieval historian focusing on cartography, never intended to become the “Surprised Eel Historian,” as he dubs himself on Twitter. AtlasObscura.com
1. Pretend to run away… then attack
2. Play dead (and keep a rotting chicken handy)
3. Don a disguise before storming the battlefield
4. Strike when the enemy’s sleeping
5. Make agreements with your fingers crossed
A perilous medieval road leading right into the sea.
The Broomway is a centuries-old footpath which begins as a rickety causeway at Wakering Stairs and, at high tide, abruptly disappears into the sea. There is evidence the path has been around since 1419 and was the only access to Foulness Island before a road bridge was built in 1932. AtlasObscura.com
Sandwiched by typical Parisian townhouses, the remains of the late 12th-century city wall stands largely forgotten and little appreciated. It’s one of the few remnants of medieval Paris, built on the orders of Philip II Augustus to defend the city from the Plantagenet forces in his absence while he was away for the Third Crusade. AtlasObscura.com
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