HistoryArt

Context: Easter Monday, April 24, 1916, began quietly in Dublin, with British troops on routine guard duty as the First World War raged elsewhere. Few expected unrest, and places like the General Post Office seemed destined for another uneventful day.

Context: Great Zimbabwe served as the political, economic, and ceremonial center of the Kingdom of Zimbabwe between the 11th and 15th centuries. The site was home to rulers and elites who controlled regional trade in gold, ivory, and cattle. Its structures were used for governance, ritual activities, and residence of the ruling class. The city played a key role in trade networks linking inland southern Africa to the Indian Ocean coast.

This page of the book displays some Landsknecht clothing.

An incident from the battle of Roundway Down, fought on 13th July 1643, and illustrating how thick and heavy armour had become at this time. Captain Richard Atkyns found himself facing a Parliamentarian dressed in full cuirassier armour, whom he believed to be Sir Arthur Haslerigge. Atkyns reported “..I then immediately struck into him, and touched him before I discharged mine (his pistol); and I’m sure he staggered, and presently wheeled off from his party and ran….. Follow him I did, and in six score yards I came up to him, and discharged the other pistol at him, and I’m sure I hit his head, for I touched it before I gave fire….