Epping forest is most likely and at that time would be no more than an hour or so's ride from Westminster - the forest stretched all the way down through what is now NE London. and is what remains of the old forest's southern reaches (now without the trees).
I seriously doubt that you can see the Northern Lights that far south. I never have, in more than 30 years of living in London. Even only the Scots who live in the north of the country would be familiar with them. Most Scots don't see them unless they travel up Shetland or the Orkneys.
The reaction is likely to be panic if they're seeing it for the first time. Those were superstitious times. The viewer would think something like the Devil had set the sky on fire, or the end of the world was coming.
Epping. Of course. *headdesk* It would be a lot closer to Westminster than it is now. Thank-you!
As for the Northern Lights - they were visible on the South Coast once, about 20 years ago. I knew someone who was in Poole at the time, and she came back to Nottingham with a very full report... I was seriously annoyed with her!
That has to be an incredibly rare occurrence, to see the lights so far south. So rare that most readers probably wouldn't believe it, I'm sorry to say! I do understand that it *can* happen, just it would be so unusual that you might have difficulty persuading your readers of it. I'd certainly raise an eyebrow if I read it and it would be one of those little things that would throw me out of the narrative.
If it isn't a critical part of your story, you may want to rethink it.
1460-1550 was a period of reduced solar activity (meaning no, or hardly any aurora borealis). In fact, looking at the data I have, there looks to be, at most, 2 per decade between 1460-1550. Solar activity actually dropped off at around 1200, so pretty much any year between 1200-1550, the chances of seeing aurorae were, eh, not good. The data I have indicates less than 10 aurorae per decade between 1200-1550.
During periods of low solar activity, aurora borealis would have only been viewable really close to the magnetic north pole, so whilst somebody in Svalbard might have seen aurora borealis, there's basically no chance at all of aurora borealis being visible in England during that time frame.
Not Epping Forest: that's twenty-odd miles from Westminster and to get there you'd have to go right through London. That's much, much too far to ride for a day's hunting, which is why Queen Elizabeth had a hunting lodge there - if she wanted to hunt, she stayed overnight. If your king is only going out for the day, my money would be on some part of the quondam Royal Forest of Middlesex. Technically this had been disafforested in 1218 but fragments of it, such as Highgate Wood and Queen's Wood in Haringey (which are only 6-7 miles from Westminster) survive to this day, and there would have been a whole lot more of it then.
Or he could have dropped in on someone else's hunting park, e.g. Marylebone Park (where Regent's Park now is) which belonged to Barking Abbey. Kings readily invite themselves!
Even educated people who knew the Northern Lights were a natural phenomenon would still take for granted that their appearance so far south was a portent of some kind. Same with eclipses; literate medieval people knew perfectly well what
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Bear in mind that a lot of the areas named here weren't enclosed as deer parks until the sixteenth century (mostly by Henry VIII): Hyde Park, Marylebone, St. James', and Green Park. I'd recommend Hainault Forest, attached to the abbey at Barking; you'll want to double-check this, but I believe it closest edge to Westminster was Leytonstone, which is only about ten miles from Westminster (skirting north-east of the City).
I like Hainault Forest simply because of the name! And squinting at the map of that area, I've found a suburb called Forest Gate. I think that might be the answer.
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I seriously doubt that you can see the Northern Lights that far south. I never have, in more than 30 years of living in London. Even only the Scots who live in the north of the country would be familiar with them. Most Scots don't see them unless they travel up Shetland or the Orkneys.
The reaction is likely to be panic if they're seeing it for the first time. Those were superstitious times. The viewer would think something like the Devil had set the sky on fire, or the end of the world was coming.
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As for the Northern Lights - they were visible on the South Coast once, about 20 years ago. I knew someone who was in Poole at the time, and she came back to Nottingham with a very full report... I was seriously annoyed with her!
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If it isn't a critical part of your story, you may want to rethink it.
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For your second question there is some stuff on royal parks here: http://www.royalparks.org.uk/
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During periods of low solar activity, aurora borealis would have only been viewable really close to the magnetic north pole, so whilst somebody in Svalbard might have seen aurora borealis, there's basically no chance at all of aurora borealis being visible in England during that time frame.
source.
eta: I am not a physicist, I just did a project on aurora borealis for school a while ago, so I may not be totally accurate on a lot of this stuff.
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ETA: And I'm also in country Australia - my broadband isn't fast, but I love it so much! May it come to your area soon!
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Or he could have dropped in on someone else's hunting park, e.g. Marylebone Park (where Regent's Park now is) which belonged to Barking Abbey. Kings readily invite themselves!
Even educated people who knew the Northern Lights were a natural phenomenon would still take for granted that their appearance so far south was a portent of some kind. Same with eclipses; literate medieval people knew perfectly well what ( ... )
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