Liberal Arts Blog — Surrey (pop 1.2 Million), Southwest of London, Hampton Court Palace, The Magna Carta, “Skyfall”
Liberal Arts Blog — Sunday is the Joy of Humor, Food, Travel, Practical Life Tips, and Miscellaneous Day
Today’s Topic: Surrey (pop 1.2 million), southwest of London, Hampton Court Palace, The Magna Carta, “Skyfall”
Famous for its charming towns and rolling hills, Surrey is one of the most popular filming locations in England — examples include “Four Weddings and a Funeral,” “The Holiday,” and “Skyfall.” From an historical perspective, Surrey has been called the “birthplace of modern democracy” as it was here that the Magna Carta was signed in on June 15, 1215, by King John at Runnymede, a meadow on the River Thames. Another pilgrimage destination is Hampton Court Palace one of Henry VIII’s favorite royal residences, given to him by Cardinal Wolsey in the hope that the gift would save his life, but he died of dysentery soon thereafter before Henry could have had him tried and beheaded. Literary associations are many — including Jane Austen’s “Emma,” E.M. Forster’s, “A Room with a View,” HG Wells’s “War of the Worlds,” and Charles Dickens’s “Pickwick Papers.”
Have you been to Surrey? Were you born there? Favorite memory? site? Today, a few more notes — geographical and historical.
Experts — please chime in. Correct, elaborate, elucidate.
GREATER LONDON TO THE NORTH, BERKSHIRE AND HAMPSHIRE TO THE WEST, KENT TO THE EAST, WEST SUSSEX TO THE SOUTH
1. “The defining geographical feature of the county is the North Downs, a chalk escarpment which runs from the south-west to north-east and divides the densely populated north from the more rural south.”
2. “It is pierced by the rivers Wey and Mole, both tributaries of the Thames.”
3. “The north of the county is a lowland, part of the Thames basin. The south-east is part of the Weald, and the south-west contains the Surrey Hills and Thursley, Hankley, and Frensham Commons, an extensive area of health.”
NB: “The county has the densest woodland cover in England, at 22.4 per cent.”
THE LARGEST TOWNS ARE WOKING (105,000) AND GUILDFORD (77,000), THE MOST CHARMING TOWN IS PERHAPS SHERE
1. “Much of the north of the county forms part of the Greater London Built-Up Area, which includes the suburbs within the M25 motorway, as well as Woking (103,900), Guildford (77,057), and Leatherhead (32,522).”
2. “The west of the county contains part of built-up area which includes Camberley, Farnham and Frimley which extends into Hampshire and Berkshire.”
3. “The south of the county is rural, and its largest settlements are Horley (22,693) and Godalming (22,689).”
A LITTLE BIT OF HISTORY — King John at Runnymede on June 15, 1215
1. “Although more a reactionary than a progressive document in its day, Magna Carta was seen as a cornerstone in the development of democratic England by later generations.”
2. ”It promised the protection of church rights, protection for the barons from illegal imprisonment, access to swift and impartial justice, and limitations on feudal payments to the Crown to be implemented through a council of 25 barons. Neither side stood by their commitments, and the charter was annulled by Pope Innocent III, leading to the First Baron’s War.”
3. “John was enthroned as king of England following the death of his brother, King Richard the Lion-Hearted, in 1199. King John’s reign was characterized by failure. He lost the duchy of Normandy to the French king and taxed the English nobility to pay for his foreign misadventures. He quarreled with Pope Innocent III and sold church offices to build up the depleted royal coffers. Following the defeat of a campaign to regain Normandy in 1214, Stephen Langton, the archbishop of Canterbury, called on the disgruntled barons to demand a charter of liberties from the king.”
CARDINAL WOLSEY BUILDS A PALACE AND THEN GIFTS IT TO HENRY VIII WHO RENOVATES IT AND BECOMES VERY ATTACHED TO IT
1. Cardinal Wolsey was Lord Chancellor of England from 1515–1529.
2. “In that position, he enjoyed great freedom and was often depicted as the alter rex ( “other king”).”
3. “After failing to negotiate an annulment of Henry’s marriage to Catherine of Aragon.
Wolsey fell out of favor and was stripped of his government titles. He retreated to York to fulfil his ecclesiastical duties as archbishop, a position he nominally held but had neglected during his years in government. He was recalled to London to answer to charges of treason — charges Henry commonly used against ministers who fell out of his favor — but died from natural causes on the way.”
NB: Ministers who were beheaded include Sir Thomas More (1535) and Thomas Cromwell (1540). And don’t forget the wives Anne Boleyn (1536) and Catherine Howard (1542). Below Cardinal Wolsey (1473–1530). It was nice while it lasted! Allegedly Wolsey’s last words were: “If I had served God as diligently as I have done the King, He would not have given me over in my gray hairs.”
Magna Carta: Runnymede, the meadow where history was made
Hampton Court Palace — Wikipedia
QUOTE OF THE MONTH
“Make your own Bible. Select and collect all the words and sentences that in all your readings have been to you like the blast of a trumpet.”
- Ralph Waldo Emerson
My spin — then periodically review, re-rank, and exchange your list with those you love. I call this the “Orion Exchange” because seven is about as many as any human can digest at a time. Game?
LAST FOUR YEARS OF POSTS ORGANIZED THEMATICALLY:
PDF with headlines — Google Drive
ATTACHMENTS BELOW:
#1 A graphic guide to justice (9 metaphors on one page).
#2 “39 Songs, Prayers, and Poems: the Keys to the Hearts of Seven Billion People” — Adams House Senior Common Room Presentation, (11/17/20)
NB: Palestine Orion (Decision) — let’s exchange Orions, let’s find Rumi’s field (“Beyond all ideas of right and wrong, there is a field. Meet me there” Rumi, 13 century Persian Sufi mystic)
YOUR TURN
Anything miscellaneous to share? Best trip you ever took in your life? Practical life tips? Random facts? Jokes?
Or, what is the best cartoon you have seen lately? or in the last 10 years? or the last 50?
Or what is your favorite holiday food? Main course? Dessert?
Fondest food memories? Favorite foods to eat or prepare?
This is your chance to make someone else’s day. Or to cement in your mind a memory that might otherwise disappear. Or to think more deeply about something dear to your heart. Continuity is key to depth of thought.
