The winter of 1353 has been appallingly wet, there is a fever outbreak amongst the poorer townspeople and the country is not yet fully recovered from the aftermath of the plague. The increasing reputa
The Cambridge college of Michaelhouse is in uproar in the November of 1353: Kenyngham the saintly but ageing Master has announced his retirement and with unseemly haste a Michaelhouse Fellow named
It's August, 1354, and physician-monk Matthew Bartholomew jumps at the chance to travel to Ely with his friend and colleague Brother Michael, as it will give him a unique opportunity to study in th
In February 1355, amid the worst snows in living memory, two well-born murderers return to Cambridge after receiving the King's pardon - but they show no remorse, and are in fact ready to confront tho
In medieval Cambridge, believers in the theory of nominalism have set some colleges at the throats of those who believe them to be heretics, and Brother Michael, the Senior Proctor, has his work cu
By January 1666, the plague has almost disappeared from London, leaving its surviving population diminished and in poverty. The resentment against those who had fled to the country turns to outrage as
In the year 1357, Cambridge University is in dire financial straits: the town's landlords are demanding an extortionate rent rise for the students' hostels and the plague years have left the colleges
Rumours of plague threaten Cambridge again, ten years after the Black Death had almost laid waste to the town. Neither the church nor its priests had defended people from the disease and now they turn
On a bitter winter evening in 1356, Matthew Bartholomew, Brother Michael and their book-bearer Cynric arrive in Lincoln. Michael is to accept an honour from the cathedral, and Bartholomew is looking f
The plague raging through London in 1665 has emptied the city. The only people left are those too poor to flee, or those who selflessly struggle to control the contagion and safeguard the capital's fu
In the sapping summer heat of 1665 there is little celebration in London of the naval victory at the Battle of Lowestoft. The King, his retinue and anyone with sufficient means has fled the plague-rid
On St Scholastica's Day in February 1355, Oxford explodes in one of the most serious riots of its turbulent history. Fearing for their lives, the scholars flee the city, and some choose the University
The plague raging through London in 1665 has emptied the city. The only people left are those too poor to flee, or those who selflessly struggle to control the contagion and safeguard the capital's fu
