Chalke Hist Fest – Monday
Driving through Fovant and past the Badges, we were all set for a sunny if gusty day. The roads seemed unusually busy for mid-afternoon in the Wiltshire villages. Quickly setting up tent on the flat top of the chalk down, the immaculate PVC of the marquees peeked up at us. Descending to the ticket office, the snaking queue was already awash with grey heads and hues of appropriately red trousers. Here it is then – the much-anticipated opening day (and my first!) at the Chalke History Festival, the ‘thinking’ man’s riposte to the Eavis bonanza in the next-door county!
A Butcombe helped to soak in the scenery before we headed into the Moot tent, where Paul Lay, Alice Hunt and Jonathan Healey kicked off proceedings with a lively discussion of revolution and republic focused on the English Civil Wars. The packed-out marquee was brimming with punters, proof of the apparent ‘moment’ that the 17th century is currently enjoying. The trio succeeded in their efforts to enter the headspace of the principle characters and the populace, spelling out the literary and censorial backdrop against which the conflict, both political and military, took place.
Miranda Rutter and Rob Harbron’s delicate, skylark-infused fiddle and accordion duo during the break resonated with the pastoral idyll of this quiet corner of the South-West. Next up was a panel discussion of Hilary Mantel and the legacy of her trilogy featuring Tracy Borman (noted biographer of Cromwell) and Owen Emmerson (who worked as a consultant on the latest television adaptation) led by actor and festival guru Peter Florence. Having dipped a toe into the Wolf Hall waters without ever fully immersing, the discussion was a necessary prod. This is a far cry from the staid Tudor topics endured at school. The speaker’s enthusiasm, insight and close links to the late author shone through, though the intrepid audience question of whether Thomas Cromwell was actually the ‘sex god’ that Mantel’s portrayal would have readers believe could have been tackled head-on!
Adam Zamoyski presented his account of Izabela Czartoryska, or The Valiant, and brought the audience up to speed on the Polish Enlightenment, weaving in his philanthropic princess’ passion for Rousseau and on-foot travel across Europe amid political strife and her nations’ perennial change of hands. Zamoyski totalled the number of separate citizenships held by his eponymous subject to be sixteen between 1745 and 1835…
After a tasty chicken madras, Gareth Russell and Lucy Hughes-Hallett entertained with their thoughtful discussion of King James and his homosexuality, each giving due context to what appears a more lenient backdrop than perhaps anticipated, with only fourteen recorded instances of execution for sodomy spanning nearly 150 years. So much so, Russel quipped, that 16th-century legal scholars were told that the charge of buggery was unlikely to come up in their exams.
Richard Dannatt and Robert Lyman brought the evening to a close with a discussion of the Korean War, striking an unexpectedly optimistic note as the sun set. It is an understatement to say that the pair are more than equipped to articulate what it takes to ready a country for war. The current geopolitical scenario, and Britain’s status and place within that, could not but loom over discussions of strategic aims, mobilising troops and what defines success and failure on the battlefield. However, as the light dimmed and the stunning views opened up on the plod back up to the campsite, thoughts such as those could be put to one side for the moment.
Zebedee Baker-Smith is Books Editor at Aspects of History. Head to the CHF site here.
