24/03/2015
Helen Castor asks why Robert Bruce was writing humble letters to Edward II at the height of a guerrilla war in Scotland, and Tom Holland reveals Europe's first Enigma machine.
Helen Castor is joined by Professor Michael Brown from University of St Andrews and John Gallagher from the University of Cambridge, to discuss the stories that are making history this week.
Fiona Watson meets with Professor Daviut Broun from the University of Glasgow to hear how he discovered a new version of a letter from Robert the Bruce to Edward II. Written at the height of the guerrilla war fought by the Scots to rid their country of the English, the tone is conciliatory and very humble. So what was Bruce's game and does it mark a turning point in the years before Bannockburn?
In Dresden, Tom Holland meets with Michael Korey from the Zwinger Museum to see a 16th century version of Germany's infamous Enigma machine.
Finally, Professor Mark Stoyle from the University of Southampton discusses why Rosemary Sutcliff's book about the Civil War, Simon, helped shape his career.
Producer: Nick Patrick
A Pier production for Â鶹Éç Radio 4.
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Helen Castor takes the chair as historians and archaeologists come together to discuss issues and share the latest historical research.
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In this edition: the discovery of a letter from Robert the Bruce to Edward II; a sixteenth century Enigma machine; and the inheritance books of one of our leading Civil War historians.
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Joining Helen in the Making History studio are John Gallagher from the University of Cambridge and Professor Michael Brown from the University of St Andrews.
A letter from Robert the Bruce
, Professor of Scottish History at the University of Glasgow has discovered a which was sent from Robert the Bruce to Edward II in the autumn of 1310 - four years before the Battle of Bannockburn.
Faced with an English army based in the Borders, Bruce is eloquent, humble even in his appeal for peace. However, at the same time he is laying down a marker to wider diplomatic circles about the conflict between the English and the Scots and how the English were tackling it; furthermore he is writing as a fellow king - even though there are still several English garrisons in Scotland. All of this would have annoyed Edward!
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Sixteenth Century Enigma Machine
Making History listener Geoff Brown came across a device in the Ìýin Dresden, Germany which he thinks is the : sixteenth century tech-nology that ultimately led to the development of the Nazi Enigma machines.Ìý Tom Holland met up with curator Michael Korey who explained the rich history of scientific equipment - including en-cryption devices - in Saxony.
Inheritance Books
Helen Castor talks to Professor Mark Stoyle from the University of Southampton about the book that encouraged him to become an historian and the one he would leave to encourage others.
Mark's books - Simon by and The Voices of more bath by
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Broadcast
- Tue 24 Mar 2015 15:00Â鶹Éç Radio 4
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Making History
Popular history series where the past connects with the present.
