So far this year we have had talks about:

THE HANSEATIC LEAGUE - One of the most successful trade alliances in medieval history, (a kind of early EU).  Lubeck was its capital, and at its height in the 14th century, it could count on the allegiance of about 200 seaport towns and cities across Northern Europe.  Ports of eastern England, King’s Lynn (formerly Bishop’s Lynn), York, and Norwich, were trading with, but never formally part of, The League.  The 30 Years War spelled the end of The League, as well as Global Exploration.

ANGELA BURDETT-COUTTS - A Victorian philanthropist.  She was born in 1814, and was the grand-daughter of banker Thomas Coutts.  At the age of 23 she inherited his fortune, becoming the richest woman in the country.  She used her money to mitigate the poverty she saw all around her.  With Charles Dickens she co-founded Urania Cottage a home for fallen women.  She was deeply religious.  A pioneer of social housing, she designed and built homes for 45 families.  On her estate in Highgate, she designed a garden village, Holly Lodge, which survives to this day.  She set up relief centres in Ireland, and her Christian works extended to Australia, South Africa and Canada.  At the age of 67, she married an American, 30 years her junior.  In 1906 aged 90, she died.  Over 25,000 people filed past her coffin as she lay in state.  She was buried in Westminster Abbey, under a simple floor plaque.  Above her, the Earl of Shaftesbury’s memorial - his epitaph could well have been her own.. “A long life spent in the cause of the helpless and suffering.  Love and serve”.

THE EARLY HISTORY OF MENORCA - it is surprising to learn that the island of Menorca has the highest density of registered pre-historic sites in the world - 6,000 in all - and as such it was declared a World Heritage site in 2023.  The oldest remains date back about 4,000 years and consist of stone buildings made without mortar - this technique is known as cyclopean.  They include pre-historic caves and settlements, tailed (tables) and talayots (towers), the latter giving their name to that period of history.  There are many burial places, including caves, but the most ancient are the navetas (buildings like upturned boats);  they are found nowhere else on earth and one of them may be the oldest remaining building in Europe.  At that time Menorca was quite isolated, having very few resources to attract traders, so its development was different from that of the Mediterranean mainland.  Later, Menorcan fighting men known as slingers were used as mercenaries by the Carthaginians and then by the Romans after they invaded the island in 123BC.  Christianity came to Menorca around that time, and after the fall of the Roman Empire the island came into the hands of the Vandals and then the Byzantines.