Quotes from Peter Ackroyd

Well,' said Hawksmoor. 'It's a theory and a theory can do no harm.

The quickness of his hand was determined by the quickness of his eye.

Many of the roads loosely known as 'Roman roads' are much more ancient; the Romans simply made use of the prehistoric paths. Modern roads have been built along the routes of these ancient lines, so that we still move in the footsteps of our ancestors.

a melodious melancholy manner of mirth.

Those who pursue the process of living are those who create the history

One Irishman, Melaghin McCabb, boasted that he had dispatched eighty Spaniards with his gallowglass axe.

He could not bear to part with his paintings because they were an aspect of his being.

What infuriated many observers was that everything had changed and nothing had changed. That in fact seems to be the nature of English life. It was a revolution which had not changed the nature of governance.

The French king had three times as many subjects, and also triple the resources; the Spanish king possessed six times as many subjects, and five times the revenue.

The paintings were a history of his inward life, and he did not particularly care how they fared in the exterior world of change and decay.

This was a serious matter. No one was permitted to engage in business with Hunne. He would be without company, because no one would wish to be seen with an excommunicate. He would also of course be assigned to the fires of damnation for eternity.

It may be noted, in parenthesis, that in this period the coach was introduced to England

The rector of Manchester invited a local couple, with their daughter, to dinner. The rector's servants seized the daughter, broke two of her ribs, and then deposited her in the rector's bed; he had sex with her that night, but the unfortunate girl died from her injuries a month later.

at the beginning of September, parliament declared that those who opposed its intentions were 'delinquents' or 'malignant and disaffected persons' whose property could be confiscated.

Parliamentary prisoners were often sent to Coventry under armed guard; hence the familiar expression.

and conferred on Henry the title of Fidei Defensor, 'Defender of the Faith'. It was not supposed to be inherited, but the royal family have used it ever since.

The English language is filled with Scandinavian words such as 'sky' and 'die', 'anger' and 'skin' and 'wing', 'law' and 'birth', 'bread' and 'eggs'.

Norwegian was still being spoken in the Shetlands at the end of the eighteenth century; the island accent is still much closer to Norwegian than to Scots or English.

the financial reserves of the Crown were severely depleted; the sum of £61,921 left by Edward in 1326 had been reduced by 1330 to £41.

but, for most, the practice of religion was determined by custom and regulated by authority.

Only in the nineteenth century did the English throne renounce its claim to the French crown.

The king's lavish architectural patronage was part of the chivalric programme. He had been born in Windsor Castle, but he proceeded to demolish the existing castle and build an even grander edifice in its place.

In previous times no flesh had ever been eaten on fish days; now the people of London scorned fish as a relic of papistry.

The shires of England were unique, their boundaries lasting for more than a thousand years until the administrative reorganization of 1974.