We were at Coughton Court over the weekend, a place heavily involved in the Gunpowder Plot. The feeling that we got from the people there was that the plotters were heroic who were nearly successful, yet my view is that they were terrorists who got caught trying to kill hundreds of people.

Similarly, I watched a thing on the iPlayer about the Normans and was quite alarmed at what a nasty b’stard William The Conqueror was.

Who else has polarized history… Robin Hood? William Wallace?

Winston Churchill? It does amuse me the simplistic portrayal of him as the hero wartime leader when other aspects of his career were more than a little unsavoury.

I see tj got in before me.

It’s well known that the Normans were utter bastards. Anglo-Saxon society, whilst brutal, was reasonably progressive compared to what the Normans imposed. They seemed to be of the opinion that having conquered the country William owned everything and everyone in it to do with as he pleased. This still has implications today. Fortunately, one of the Plantagenets (forget which one) decided he admired the Anglo Saxons 200 years later and rekindled the sense of Englishness and pride in the old ways, which also has implications today.

@SaxonRider to the thread please.

Who else has polarized history…

Just about everyone. There are two reasons for this:

1) One man’s hero is another man’s villain, for obvious reasons.

2) Most significant people are just people with flaws like anyone else, and they become important by being single-minded which clearly comes with drawbacks. Cromwell is a good example. In the 17th century replacing a monarchy with parliament in Europe was a hugely radical step and it encouraged all sorts of progressive thinkers, however he was also an utter bastard, obsessive and lost it a bit. It is possible to be a hero for some things and a villain for others – Churchill is another example as mentioned.

Just to be clear – thats not to denigrate Churchills very real leadership during the war.

Martin McGuinness? Obviously complicit in the killings of british soldiers and others but without his ability to grasp the chance of peace there would still be a civil war in NI. Same with Paisley

People are complex and historical events is brutal. No one person or nation is squeaky clean. Some people love to demonise the British Empire, but spending lots of time in India talking to Indian people, and similarly in the ‘ex-colonies’ in the Far East and though they recognise there were atrocities that occurred, things were not exactly harmonious before we rocked up and we did leave a legacy for which they are very thankful of and on balance hold the UK in high regard.

Its modern times innit? trying to distil complex issues and people into one soundbite – it’s the same with Brexit and the climate debate. Cambridge university is going through it with slavery.

Also taking today’s morals and ethics, which have moved on and developed over time, and applying them to historical events means historical events are never going to come out well. Winston Churchill was a flawed character and some people Mother Teresa was one of the most evil people to have walked the earth. Depends which point of view you’re coming from.

Most significant people are just people with flaws like anyone else, and they become important by being single-minded which clearly comes with drawbacks.

This. Except that I would say it is still possible to identify those whose actions were negative enough to warrant vilification. Cromwell is one such. He and his followers really were the Taliban of the time. Whereas Charles I and his archbishop (William Laud) were flawed, they were nothing like the religious totalitarians that the Puritans were.

Stalin is another such figure. He is looked upon with sympathy in limited quarters because, frankly, the Bolsheviks and their successors get off lightly. As representatives of the ‘left wing’, and because their programme was not racially-based (except when it came to Ukrainians), and finally, because they eventually contributed to the defeat of the Third Reich, they are not seen in the same league with the Nazis. If one looks at his pre-1939 record for total numbers of deaths, however, Stalin makes Hitler look like a pussy cat.

As for the Normans, they were not unlike the Romans of the 11th century. Brutal? Yes. Incredibly efficient in military and administrative terms? Unsurpassed.

Oliver Cromwell. It’s very easy for modern Britons to laud him as a parliamentarian and a reformer, but he was a nasty, nasty bastard who massacred Irish civilians during the Irish Campaign of 1649-50.

Even three hundred and fifty odd years later, Cromwell is a controversial subject for Anglo-Irish relations (source – Wikipedia) In 1965 the Irish minister for lands stated that his policies were necessary to “undo the work of Cromwell”; circa 1997, Taoiseach Bertie Ahern demanded that a portrait of Cromwell be removed from a room in the Foreign Office before he began a meeting with Robin Cook

History is written by the victors.

Thatcher – She was very supportive of the need to address climate change.

Richard the Lionheart. Portrayed as that great English king when he seems to have hated the place and only wanted it as a bank account.

Incredibly efficient in military and administrative terms? Unsurpassed.

Bit of a myth this. Good on the fighting side but a major part of why England was such a good target was administratively it was fairly advanced which was reflected in the wealth.

Cromwell is always a fascinating subject.
The comparison to Taliban is frankly nuts. Under his government there was actually more religious freedom than before and many years after. So long as the faith didnt put the country at risk then he was more tolerant than, say, Charles by a long, long way.
Overall his rule is far more complex than often portrayed. For exampel the multiple attempts to try and set up anything other than a dicatorship and his attempts to save Charles from his own religious stupidity/ego.

Luke Skywalker.

Killed hundreds of thousands of civilian workers on the Death Star, including Mr Stevens, Head of Catering.

Even got a medal for it, the heartless bastard.

Thatcher – She was very supportive of the need to address climate change.

Mostly by stopping the emissions from heavy industry. ☹️

So that’s the reason Thatcher closed all those coal mines. I did wonder.

D G Rossetti, couldn’t paint and behaved like a complete King Canute

History is what one age finds worthy of note in another. Each age writes it own history.

He and his followers really were the Taliban of the time. Whereas Charles I and his archbishop (William Laud) were flawed, they were nothing like the religious totalitarians that the Puritans were.

This interesting example of over-simplification.

It’s trying to explain the past in terms of the present (totalitarian, Taliban), which never works well. Its also trying to impose a simple logical framework on a chaotic situations. (There were never just two sides in the Civil Wars). And if you reversed it, it could be equally true.

Cromwell in Ireland is another interesting one. His reputation is based on one siege where he over stepped the bounds of 17th century warfare. He WAS a bastard to the Irish in the 1650s but possibly no more so than the Earl of Strafford in the 1630s. So why is he remembered as the evil one, not the Earl of Strafford?

But that’s enough about 17th century religious wars.

Eggwina Currie

Margaret Thatcher v 1.0 ‘school milk-robber’
Margaret Thatcher v 1.1 ‘stealth vegan activist’

It’s trying to explain the past in terms of the present (totalitarian, Taliban), which never works well. Its also trying to impose a simple logical framework on a chaotic situations. (There were never just two sides in the Civil Wars). And if you reversed it, it could be equally true.

Except that the overwhelming character of the conflict between Puritans under Cromwell and Royalists was religious-theological, and from a theological perspective Puritanism was fundamentally and inherently intolerant.

Behold one of the finest libraries of medieval Britain, post-Cromwell:

/mischievous mode

Thatcher is a good example. Although I’m staunchly anti-Thatcherite and I fundamentally disagree with her policies, her strategic vision for her party and her controversial personal relationships with genocidal dictators, apartheid apologists and some of the very worst people in modern history, there were some policies that in retrospect were better than others.

Everything is nuanced. Who knew?

It’s well known that the Normans were utter bastards.

Everybody was a bastard back in the day.
re. Thatcher there was one of those women of color on the radio the other day saying that in her part of Africa women were considered pretty much good for nothing until Thatcher hit the news internationally. Suddenly there was a woman that tyrants at all levels could respect, which opened the doors to women generally.

and from a theological perspective Puritanism was fundamentally and inherently intolerant.

Apart from the minor detail that Cromwell clearly wasnt intolerant.If your faith didnt interfere with others then you were generally okay. Not up to modern standards but way beyond what was the norm then.

So that’s the reason Thatcher closed all those coal mines. I did wonder.

No. She closed them for many reasons but no for the environment.

She closed them for many reasons

Mostly a hatred of the poor.

Mostly a hatred of the poor.

Well she was a Tory that’s second nature for them.

The butcher Cumberland. Seen differently by different sections of Scots society at the time of his genocides.

The butcher Cumberland. Seen differently by different sections of Scots society at the time of his genocides.

Big fan of his sausages.

Folklore paints Dick Turin as a hero

On Hounslow Heath as I rode o’er
I spied a lawyer riding before
Kind Sir you afraid of Turpin
That mischievous blade?
Oh rare Turpin hero
Oh rare Turpin oh
Said Turpin he’d never find me here
I hid my money in my boot
The lawyer says no one can find
I hid my gold in my cape behind
Oh rare Turpin hero
Oh rare Turpin oh
As they were riding past the mill
Turpin commands him to stand still
He says your cloak I must cut off
My mare she needs a saddle cloth
Oh rare Turpin hero
Oh rare Turpin oh
As turpin rode in search of prey
He spied a man on taxiway
And boldly then bid him stand
Your gold he said I do demand
Oh rare Turpin hero
Oh rare Turpin oh
And Turpin even without remorse
Soon knocked him quite from off his horse
And left him on the ground to spall
While he rode off with his gold and all
Oh rare Turpin hero
Oh rare Turpin oh
Now Turpin is condemned to die
To hang upon the gallows high
His legacy is a strong rope
For the shooting of a dung-hill cock
Oh rare Turpin hero
Oh rare Turpin oh
Oh rare Turpin hero
Oh rare Turpin oh
Oh rare Turpin hero
Oh rare Turpin oh

When he was a murderous thief.

Folklore paints Dick Turin as a hero

Shrouded in mystery?

Oooh!

The Krays – They looked after their own they were kind hearted the East End was much safer.

No they murders, brutal thugs and known to rape.

Henry 8th was a mass murderer of not just wives. As above you’d be pushed to find many Irishmen called Oliver.

As above you’d be pushed to find many Irishmen called Oliver.

I had to explain to my kids last night why it was unlikely that the new royal baby would be named Oliver.

My lad is an Oliver. Told him that he is unlikely to marry a Princess.

Can even be recent modern times also.

At the start of my career, I was employed by a boss – then 31 – who was energetic, funny, evangelical sand very talented.  He employed me with no experience on the basis he see the good in me, related to the job.  I worked hard, did well and was often promoted as one of the companies great successes.  I looked up to him a lot.

Unfortunately I believed the hype, and it took about 18-20 years for me to calm down and realise I’m a pretty ill informed and uneducated working class man of average ability in most things.  I became a parody of “a bit of an arse” IMHO, something I’ve only recently “fixed”.  I have the ability to absorb, follow rules and work hard as my only traits.

Anyway, last year I joined a re-union thread on Facebook for my old/original place of work.  I found it egotistical, distasteful, old fashioned and littered with an expectation and interest only of the past, not of the current.  Clearly I’d moved on, and I exited the group very quickly after I released how much of an arse my former mentor and advocate now was.    Such a shame – he was a technological evangelist for what is now a global business which he’s no longer part of.  I’m glad to leave him and my former colleague behind.

On balance, Mao did more good than harm.

Mandela.

Portrayed as a hero and probably with justification, but not beyond blowing up infrastructure and if i recall one documentary properly was open to full on terrorist warfare if it had proven necessary.

Others saw him as too quick to compromise, and to negotiate with the oppressors.

Possibly indicates he got the balance right if both sides feared him for different reasons, but it’s certainly not a black and white issue.

To me, a terrorist is only a terrorist if he/she chooses violence when peaceful, democratic means of change are available.
Mandela did not have that choice. Ergo, he was no terrorist.

but it’s certainly not a black and white issue.

The Krays – to mix similes, my father lit up like a christmas tree and laughed like a drain when one of their henchmen he knew in the docks got shot by a cuckolded husband. They were psychopathic scum.

neil the wheel
terrorist.

Should probably be another thread about dirty words that people like to throw at one another, while quite often missing the exactly same actions their “side” engage in.

It’s all a bit more complex than goodies and baddies, imo.

Anyhow, I think ultimately, people read the bits of history that help them identify with their own particular world view, they’ll place more positivity on the bits that confirm their view points, and will deride the other bits that play against it.

Which is only natural tbh, I think very few look at history in an unbiased manner, and certainly struggle to look at it from viewpoints that are different or alien to their own perspective.

Martin McGuinness?

I reckon history won’t look kindly on Paddy McGuinness either, tbh.

On balance, Mao did more good than harm.

How about Stalin?