There was an explosion of design: British style was lavish, theatrical, outrageous and brilliant. And at the heart of it all was George. ibid.
The Pavilion captures the craziness of Regency style; its clashing of cultures, its boldness. ibid.
It was the scene of a huge party: the [Waterloo] bridge was opened on 18th June 1817 ... It was described as one of the wonders of the age. ibid.
Sloan liked to talk about the poetry of architecture. ibid.
As well as Brighton Pavilion, Nash worked on the Regent’s official home in the heart of London – Carlton House. ibid.
The Times called the Waltz an indecent foreign dance. ibid.
Nash was always better at the big picture than the detail. ibid.
Buckingham Palace: Nash’s new obsession. ibid.
The surviving buildings of the Regency had proved to be the greatest legacy of the age. ibid.
When the nineteenth century dawned Britain was a land of two nations. A small wealthy class ruling a large and growing population. Lucy Worsley, Elegance and Decadence: The Age of the Regency 3/3
The power of the word would now take over from the power of the sword. ibid.
Britain entered the modern machine age. ibid.
Steam power is one of history’s great leaps forward. ibid.
Byron thought this was outrageously repressive and he travelled south to London by coach to plead the cause of the weavers in his maiden speech in the House of Lords. ibid.
His [George] selfish and extravagant lifestyle had become a national disgrace. ibid.
A story beginning here in Hanover in northern Germany ... Under George I and George II Britain became the world’s most liberal and cosmopolitan society. Lucy Worsley, The First Georgians: The Germans Who Made Britain I
Parliament took drastic action: they had the idea of importing a ready-made royal family from overseas. ibid.
Now between father [George I] and son [George II] there was all out war. ibid.
Voltaire wrote that the English were the only people on Earth enabled to limit the power of kings by establishing wise government. ibid.
The corruption of the South Sea scandal went right to the heart of the government ... Insider trading was rife. ibid.
A new force in Georgian society – satire. ibid.
George II’s reign would be long and turbulent. German born, he found himself ruling a Britain that was heading into the future at lightning speed. Lucy Worsley, The First Georgians: The German Kings Who Made Britain II
This was the most dysfunctional royal family since the Tudors. ibid.
George became the king who wasn’t there. ibid.
Caroline worked hard to strengthen the Georgian dynasty. ibid.
This emerging middling sort differentiated Britain from its continental neighbours where the aristocracy still held sway. And with this new social class came new spending power. ibid.
Georgian coffee-houses were called the Penny Universities. ibid.
A new blight sweeping London – the craze for gin ... There were riots about the gin tax. ibid.
German George II was a warrior king. Lucy Worsley, The First Georgians: The Germans Who Made Britain III
The original Euro-sceptics – the Patriots believed Britain should go it alone. ibid.
Many Scots particularly in the Highlands rallied to Charles Stuart’s cause. ibid.
The race was on to colonise the New World. ibid.
We were never to have King Frederick I. ibid.
The British monarchy was made in Germany. ibid.
January 1591 Edinburgh: A woman is about to be executed. Her crime: she is a witch. She’s been interrogated and tortured. And now she’ll be strangled and burnt at the stake. The Witch Hunts: Lucy Worsley Investigates, BBC 2022
A century of with hunts across Britain and the state-sanctioned killing of thousands more. ibid.
Just how much witchcraft and sex seem to be mixed up together. ibid.
It makes me angry. It seems like a terrible tragic miscarriage of justice. ibid.
In 1348 the Black Death struck the British Isles and spread like wildfire. It’s believed to be the most deadly pandemic in history. Before the Black Death the population of mainland Britain was around six million; two years later, only an estimated three million were left alive. The Black Death: Lucy Worsley Investigates, BBC 2022
Emerging global trade routes in the 14th century exposed Britain to a deadly new disease: it had raged through Asia and Europe wiping out millions before emerging on these shores. ibid.
In the early hours of 5th November 1605 King James I of England came face to face with a young man who had tried to kill him. That man had been discovered just hours from blowing up the Houses of Parliament and with it King James himself. His name was Guy Fawkes. The Last Days of Guy Fawkes I, Channel 5 2015
Guy listened as Catesby revealed a breathtaking plan. ibid.
The plotters had been betrayed. ibid.
The plot had finally been busted only hours from success. ibid.
Guy Fawkes is taken to the Tower of London. ibid.
Westminster: the heart of London. For a thousand years it’s been the centre of power. It was here on a November morning four-hundred years ago that a group of Catholic rebels planned to blow up parliament and change the country for ever. It would become one of the most famous events in British history, for ever known as the Gunpowder Plot. The Gunpowder Plot: Countdown to Treason aka Gunpowder, Treason & Plot, Tracy Borman & Xand van Tulleken, Channel 5 2023
4th November 1605: King James is now on the throne. While London sleeps, one man lies in wait in a cellar beneath parliament surrounded by barrels of gunpowder. His name is Guy Fawkes. If all goes to plan, in nine hours he will ignite thirty-six barrels of explosive and blow up the House of Lords, killing hundreds of people including the King and the entire government. It is the culmination of eighteen months of meticulous planning. And the success of it all lies in Guy Fawkes’ hands. ibid.
Catesby and his fellow plotters were convinced that it was the only way to stop the persecution of Catholics. ibid.
They needed the time. Digging the tunnel would take months. ibid.
Thousands of people would have been killed or injured. ibid.
With ten days to go someone tipped off the authorities. ibid.
Fear and paranoia were spreading through the gang. ibid.
Fawkes had been caught redhanded. ibid.
The interrogation was carried out by two of the king’s most senior ministers. ibid.
Seven of the plotters including Thomas Percy and mastermind Robert Catesby were also fearing for their lives. Holed up in a Staffordshire manor house they knew they were being hunted. ibid.
By 10th November the entire plot had been exposed. ibid.