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A selection of the stories hitting the history headlines
HISTORY IN THE NEWS
Measuring 1.5 centimetres long, weighing
just 5g and crafted from 22 or 24-carat gold,
this tiny artefact in the shape of a bible is
thought to date from the 15th century – and
was found by chance by a metal detectorist
near York.
Decorated with images of St Leonard and
St Margaret, both of whom are patron saints
of childbirth, the “bible” was discovered by
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property that once belonged to Plantagenet
king Richard III. It’s therefore been
suggested that the object may have beenowned by the king’s wife, Anne Neville, or
one of his female relatives, and used as a
form of divine protection during pregnancy.
Comparisons have also been drawn to the
Middleham Jewel, a gold pendant found
in 1985 near Middleham Castle, where
Richard III spent some of his childhood.
Both objects were created in the same
century and bear Christian iconography.
The value of the “bible” is being assessed
by experts at the Yorkshire Museum –
with any proceeds to be split between
Bailey and the owner of the farmland.The remains of 25 people have been
unearthed at the site of Chan Chan, which
was the largest South American city of the
pre-Columbian era. The skeletons were
found in a grave measuring just 10 square
metres, and all are of women aged under
30 when they died. Although the Chimú
empire, of which Chan Chan was the
capital, was known for making human
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these people were ritually killed. Instead,
it’s thought that the mass grave may have
been used for members of the social elite.A cottage in which poet William Blake wrote
the lines later set to music as the hymn
Jerusalem is at risk of being lost to ongoing
decay, according to Historic England. The
17th-century house (pictured above), in the
West Sussex village of Felpham, was placed
into trust for the nation in 2015; an appeal is
under way to raise funds to repair its thatch
and masonry. Other locations added to the
Heritage at Risk register include the wreck
of the Restoration, a warship that sank
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a 17th-century windmill in Cambridgeshire.London Alfred statue “partly
depicts Roman goddess”
A statue of Alfred the Great in Southwark,
often regarded as London’s oldest outdoor
statue, was constructed partly from an
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conservation work has revealed. The
entire statue was believed to date from
the medieval era, but new analysis shows
that the top half is more recent – and that
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material, possibly as early as the second
century. Studies also suggest the Minerva
statue’s leg would have been three metres
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Roman-era statues yet found in Britain.Slave rebellion history wins
prestigious book prize
An account of a little-known rebellion of
enslaved people in 18th-century South
America has been named the winner of
the Cundill History Prize, one of the
world’s leading awards for history writing.
Blood on the RiverD[/CTLQNGKPG-CTU
(pictured), published by the New Press,
chronicles the 1763 Berbice slave uprising,
a key moment in the history of
YJCVoUPQY)W[CPC-CTU
professor of history at
the University of
Maryland, Baltimore
County, drew on
hundreds of
accounts of enslaved
people and colonists
to produce a day-by-
day narrative of the
revolt. Judges of the
award, of which
HistoryExtra is a media
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“a model of historical scholarship”.Metal detectorist uncovers miniature golden “bible”#TEJCGQNQIKUVUPFOCUU
grave in ancient Peruvian cityBlake cottage among sites
added to “at risk” registerThe statue of Alfred the Great in the London
borough of Southwark has the legs of a goddessThe remains of Chan Chan, the capital of the Chimú
empire, which reached its peak in the 15th centuryThis tiny golden artefact
was found in farmland
near property once
owned by Richard III