Mark Cottle’s Exploring History breathes life into the past through captivating lectures that illuminate pivotal moments, extraordinary figures, and remarkable achievements throughout human history. Drawing on three decades of expertise, Mark offers a diverse array of topics—spanning from the enigmatic Sutton Hoo burial and medieval manuscripts to Gothic cathedrals, the artistic splendour of the Tudor court, and Shackleton’s daring 20th-century expeditions. His presentations are carefully crafted to ignite curiosity, making history both accessible and enthralling for audiences of all backgrounds.
In the early seventh century a great ship was dragged ashore from the River Deben in Suffolk. It became the burial place of a powerful Anglo-Saxon warlord, buried with a mound of treasures from all over the known world.
Fine weaponry, gold coins and exquisitely crafted jewellery revealed levels of sophistication which were a revelation. The aim of the lecture is to examine the finds in turn, partly to appreciate them in their own right and partly to explore what insights they offer and what questions they pose about their world.
The Bayeux Tapestry, “one of the most enchanting pieces of narrative art in existence” (Talbot Rice), is a unique and magnificent survival from a time when wall-hangings of all kinds were common among the wealthy and powerful.
Like a Viking Saga, it narrates the heroic tale of William’s invasion and battle at Hastings in graphic detail, real energy and on a grand scale. The aim of the lecture is twofold: firstly, to demonstrate the artistic achievement of a magnificent work of art and secondly, to place it in the context of its time – who created it? How and where was it created? Who commissioned it and why?
Illuminated manuscripts are one of the great expressions of medieval English art. Following a brief look at Anglo-Saxon illumination (e.g. Lindisfarne Gospels) the lecture will concentrate on Romanesque art with reference to the York Psalter and the Great Bibles of Bury, Dover, Lambeth and Winchester. It will then move on to the Golden Age of gothic illumination with reference to the Sherborne Missal,
Luttrell Psalter, Bedford Hours, among others. The aim of this lecture is to place this art form in context and give an indication of the nature and scale of an astonishing artistic achievement.
Over a five hundred years the great medieval cathedrals of England were built. In terms of resources called upon, space covered, design and craftsmanship employed, this period marks the greatest single architectural achievement in English history. From Durham to Gloucester the lecture follows the evolution of cathedral building with reference to structural and aesthetic details together with some of the fascinating figures and events behind them.
Cathedral builders, manuscript illuminations and musicians of both sacred and secular music define this remarkable period. The aim of the lecture is to capture something of the essence of its religious and secular music, its Romanesque and Gothic cathedrals and its equally rich span of manuscript illumination, both sacred and profane. Essentially inspirational and aspirational, these are forms of artistic endeavour which can touch the sublime. They can still resonate powerfully, if sometimes surprisingly, with us today.
Elizabeth I was the most remarkable woman of a remarkable age. Her reign was one of the great creative periods of English history – literature, music, art, architecture and overseas exploration all reached unprecedented heights. With passing reference to literature and architecture, this lecture will focus chiefly on the portraits, miniatures and music of Elizabeth’s court. The aim is to demonstrate great levels of artistic achievement and to recreate something of the energy, spirit, and confidence of this Golden Age.
The Tudor court and its world are captured unforgettably by Hans Holbein under Henry VIII and Nicholas Hilliard under Elizabeth 1. Between them, these two artists transformed English art : Holbein set radically new standards in portraiture, in his hauntingly evocative drawings and his exquisite miniatures.
Hilliard, in turn, effectively established the miniature – “England’s greatest contribution to the art of the Renaissance” (Sir Roy Strong – as the art form, personal and public, which would last unchallenged until the arrival of photography in the 1840’s.
From Holbein to the arrival of photography, the English have always kept a special place in their affections for the miniature. No other country has supported such an unbroken succession of miniature painting for so long.
More closely bound up with people’s lives than any other art form, these portraits provide, in Sir Roy Strong’s happy image, a keyhole into the lives of
The aim of this lecture is to provide a tour through three centuries of wonderful portraiture and the changing ages they represent: a tapestry of English history seen through the eyes of its miniaturists.
With reference to the evocative photographs of Herbert Ponting and some of Edward Wilson’s watercolours, this lecture focuses on the Heroic Age of Antarctic exploration – in particular the epic journeys by Scott and Amundsen to be first at the South Pole.
On Ernest Shackleton’s third Antarctic expedition in 1914, his ship, the Endurance, was trapped and eventually crushed in the pack ice. After camping for five months on the ice, Shackleton’s men rowed to the remote Elephant Island. From there, Shackleton sailed for help to South Georgia over 800 miles away. Over three months later he returned to rescue the crew of the Endurance.
Frank Hurley, one of the great photographers of the 20th century, was the expedition’s official photographer. His photographs are a visual narrative of an epic journey which capture with great artistry new and amazing landscapes within which a remarkable human drama is played out. The aim of the lecture is to capture Hurley’s achievements as a photographer of the Antarctic in the first flush of human contact when it was still essentially terra incognita.
From the 1890’s to the 1960’s, Winston Churchill’s life was captured in countless photographs. He was a prolific writer and speechmaker – the definitive edition of his speeches alone runs to four volumes. He was a successful and enthusiastic artist, producing some 500 paintings in a span of over fifty years.
The aim of this talk is to try to capture the richness and diversity of this great man’s life and character which can still inspire us today.