Images Dated 29th July 2005

Scotland for Ever'; the charge of the Scots Greys at Waterloo, 18 June 1815

Scotland for Ever'; the charge of the Scots Greys at Waterloo, 18 June 1815. The attack by the Royal Scots Greys cavalry regiment on the French 45th infantry was immortalised in this famous painting of 1881 by Lady Elizabeth Butler (1846-1933). The wife of a general as well as a popular Victorian painter, she persuaded the commander of the regiment to reconstruct the charge so she could make the painting. Some military historians doubt that the action actually took the form of the spectacular headlong charge depicted in the picture. What is known however is that the Scots Greys overpursued the French infantry, became split into disorganised small groups, and suffered heavy casualties at the hands of French cavalry formations before they were able to regain the British lines

© Ann Ronan Picture Library / Heritage-Images

Richard Neville and Ann, the wife of John Talbot, Earl of Shrewsbury. Richard

Richard Neville and Ann, the wife of John Talbot, Earl of Shrewsbury.
Richard Neville 16th Earl of Warwick (1428 April 14, 1471), was also known as "Warwick the Kingmaker." Neville was the richest man in England outside the royal family, and he used his wealth and power to help depose the "Lancastrian" Henry VI in favor of the "Yorkist" Edward IV, and then later to place Henry VI back on the throne.
Warwick was the eldest son of Richard Neville, 5th Earl of Salisbury and Alice Montagu, Countess of Salisbury. His younger brother was Sir John Neville, Marquess of Montagu and for a brief time Earl of Northumberland. He married Anne de Beauchamp, the sister of Henry de Beauchamp, 1st Duke of Warwick, 14th Earl of Warwick. When the Duke died, his Earldom was inherited by the infant Anne de Beauchamp, 15th Countess of Warwick. Lady Warwick died at age five, and Neville inherited the Earldom through his wife. Thus he controlled two great earldoms, with estates throughout the English Midlands and the Welsh March

© TopFoto.co.uk

Trial by the Spanish Inquisition in progress in Madrid, 1759

Trial by the Spanish Inquisition in progress in Madrid, 1759. 1: the King observing from his balcony; 2: the Grand Inquisitor and his Advisors; 3: the Announcer of Sentences; 4: condemned man hearing his fate; 5: others awaiting their judgements. From Histoire des Inquisitions (History of the Inquisitions). (Cologne, 1759)

© Ann Ronan Picture Library / Heritage-Images