Context and Background for the Warrior Women Ballads

  


This compilation of conflicts and wars that England was involved in during the 17th and 18th centuries is meant to allow users a general understanding not only of the conflicts that are alluded to in the ballads, but also to understand the mindset of the ballads’ intended audience. Life during these centuries revolved around uncertainty, the subjugation of foreigners for the purposes of imperialization, and a rise in the need for soldiers and sailors to fight these increasingly violent and disparate conflicts. 


The following tables and information are a selective and condensed version of the Wikipedia site “List of Wars Involving England” that contains a full list of the wars and conflicts that England has been involved in.  


This compilation is divided into two sections: the 17th Century and the 18th Century (the centuries of the Warrior Women Ballads). Each section of this resource has a link to the respective century on the Wikipedia site “List of Wars Involving England” from which the information provided is drawn from. All dates listed and information provided comes from the Wikipedia site, but for each section, the information has been condensed and focused to only those conflicts, and other information, that is directly applicable to the Warrior Women Battles. 


As such, this resource can be used while reading the ballads to quickly find information from these centuries that is applicable to the ballads. Each table shows the major conflicts for England and the important Allies and Enemies for England during that conflict. This table also includes an Outcomes section that is meant to show the important results of the battle and possible connections to themes seen in the ballads. After the tables, there is a section that briefly synthesizes the importance of these battles to an understanding of the Warrior Women Ballads produced during this time period. This section is drawn in part from the Wikipedia site, while also containing an analysis of the information on the Wikipedia site and how it relates to the context of the Warrior Women Ballads.


Both centuries continue to show the hostility between England and France and Spain. Conflicts between these nations occurred since before the middle ages as each country attempted to establish dominance over the other. Going into the 17th Century, Spain had the upper hand in its efforts to create an empire (“Spanish Empire“), but depending on the goal for any given conflict, these nations would become allies or enemies accordingly as can be seen in the following tables. The ultimate goal for each country was expansion through whatever means necessary.

Thanks for reading...





Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The History of Tyres

Image
According to Wikipedia, the word tyre has been derived from the French word tirer meaning 'to pull'. Prior to the invention of pneumatic or air filled tyres, tyres were made up of bands of leather or iron placed on wooden wheels. This would protect the wheels of the carts and wagons from rapid wear and tear.Evolution of Rubber Tyres In the 1800's, Charles Macintosh experimented with sap from trees in Amazon area to create rubber. But, it could not withstand the weather extremities.        Charles Goodyear discovered vulcanised rubber in 1839, by adding sulphur, making it elastic and strong enough to be used as cushion tyres for cycles. It was in 1845 that pneumatic or air filled tyres were invented and patented by Robert William Thomson, a Scottish inventor. His design had multiple thin tubes inside a leather cover, so that the tyre could absorb shocks (see illustration) . But, it never really went into production due to its severe limitations.However, in 1888, John ...
Read more

Briton Ben Hooper begins world-record attempt to swim across Atlantic Ocean

Image
After a delayed start, a former British policeman aiming to swim across the Atlantic finally set off Sunday from Senegal, bound for Brazil more than 1,900 miles (3,000km) away. “Here we go,” said 38-year-old Ben Hooper, as he tugged on his goggles and said goodbye to loved ones and supporters on the beach of a hotel in Hann Bay, in the east of Dakar. “To the whole world thank you very much for your support,” he said, before striding into the waves at the start of the record-breaking attempt, expected to take nearly five months.The father and former police officer from Gloucestershire was supposed to leave Africa’s western coast from Dakar, Senegal at the start of November but delayed his departure due to a problem with the support vessel. He postponed it again several times, until actually setting off on Sunday. He has been preparing for over three years for the immense journey that will see him swim up to 10 hours a day across the Atlantic. “It has been a long time coming,” he said.Ho...
Read more

Russia-Ukraine war at a glance: what we know on day 401 of the invasion

Image
Ukraine will never forgive the Russian troops responsible for alleged atrocities in Bucha, Volodymyr Zelenskiy has said, as the town near Kyiv marked the anniversary of its recapture after 33 days of occupation in 2022. The leaders of Croatia, Slovakia and Slovenia travelled to Ukraine on Friday to take part in commemorative events, the Croatian government said. Turkey’s parliament has approved a bill to allow Finland to join Nato, clearing the way for Helsinki to join the western defence alliance. The Turkish parliament was the last among the 30 members of the alliance to ratify Finland’s membership, after Hungary’s legislature approved a similar bill this week. Sweden’s Nato bid faces objections from Ankara over claims it is harbouring what it considers members of terrorist groups. Alexander Lukashenko, the Belarusian president, has said he has intensified talks with Russia about deploying tactical nuclear weapons in his country, alleging there were plans to invade Belarus from neigh...
Read more