Shaken, not stirred

Battles, Beatles, Bond and an ancient Egyptian curse–there’s a lot to remember in 2022

- Annunciata Elwes

OUR anniversary story begins in 1322, when Thomas, Earl of Lancaster was defeated by the unpopular Edward II at the Battle of Boroughbridge in modern-day North Yorkshire. It was 700 to 4,000 in the royal favour and the rebels, hemmed in by the River Ure, didn’t stand a chance. Lancaster was beheaded and later venerated almost as a martyr; Edward was deposed five years later.

Before he had the chance to offend anybody, a nine-month-old baby became Henry VI, 600 years ago. A century later, 42 fully-grown men were the first to circumnavigate the globe aboard Victoria, a Spanish carrack, and when the Palace of Whitehall, built by a much larger Henry (VIII), burnt down in 1698, the only architectural survivor was Inigo Jones’s Banqueting House, which opened 400 years ago with a performance of Ben Jonson’s The Masque of Augurs. Hoare’s bank was founded by Sir Richard Hoare 350 years ago, now run by 11thgeneration descendants. Moll Flanders was published 300 years ago, not attributed to Defoe until after his death; he based the story on the life of a thief he met in Newgate Prison.