The Final Stand

A man named Arthur is said to have been called upon to lead the Britons against the Saxon invaders of the Isle sometime in the 5th century. This man, a combination of truth and legend, was referenced in multiple high medieval… Continue Reading →

Location: Poltava, Ukraine, 1709 AD Belligerents: Carolus Rex (King Charles XII of Sweden), 25,000 Swedish Regulars; Tsar Peter I the Great of Russia, 40,000 Russian Infantry and Cavalry The Swedish army had marched for days, low on supplies and in… Continue Reading →

The First True King of the North The historian Nennius refers to Aethelfrith with three spellings: Ethelfrid, Aethelfrid, and Eadfered. For what purpose is not stated, though perhaps he just wanted to cover all the possibilities. He also attributes him either… Continue Reading →

Since I happened to have written a piece of fiction in the vein of final stands, I thought I would use that for this week’s entry. This is War’s End, a piece based on a reddit writing prompt based upon North… Continue Reading →

Something a bit different this week… “The more the Saxons were vanquished, the more they sought for new supplies of Saxons from Germany; so that kings, commanders, and military bands were invited over from almost every province. And this practice… Continue Reading →

Location: Thermopylae, Greece Belligerents: Xerxes of Persia, 100,000-1,000,000 warriors; Leonidas of Sparta, 300 Spartan Hoplites and 1,000 Hoplites from other City States They had held the pass for two days, held back the flood of innumerable screaming Persian warriors without… Continue Reading →

Location: Rome, Papal States Belligerents: Papal Guard, Roman Militia; Habsburg Spain, the Holy Roman Empire Song: The Last Stand, Sabaton Since the crowning of Charlemagne, The Holy Roman Empire and the Papacy were at odds. On the day of his… Continue Reading →

Location: Stirling Castle, Scotland Belligerents: Robert the Bruce, King of Scotland; Edward II, King of England Movie: Depicted in the final scene of Mel Gibson’s Braveheart King Edward the Second was a weak man. Of the line of Alfred the Great… Continue Reading →

Location: Belgrade, Serbia Belligerents: 2nd Battalion, 10th Cadre Regiment, Commanded by Major Dragutin Gavrilovic, Serbian Army; Austro-Hungarian and German Armies Song: Last Dying Breath (Sabaton) “Soldiers, exactly at three o’clock, the enemy is to be crushed by your fierce charge, destroyed by your… Continue Reading →

Location: Catraeth, presumably modern day Catterick, North Yorkshire Belligerents: Various Christian Welsh Kingdoms; Germanic Pagan Angle Kingdoms of Berniccia and Deira Epic Poem: Y Gododdin The battle of Catraeth was an important battle fought in the north of Britain during the… Continue Reading →