Women

The role and input of women is undeniably central to human existence and to the story of human society. They are generally 50% of the population but rarely the centre of a story; women have often been pushed to the side lines for historical content. The role of women through history and the pressures and behaviours that have pushed their input aside are all explored within this theme. Powerful, influential and significant female characters are explored in detail across the time periods, including queens, and campaigners, while the stories of ordinary women are also explored through themes such as social change, war and religion.

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  • Recorded webinar: Revisiting the witch trials

    Article

    The East Anglian witch hunt under Matthew Hopkins, self-appointed Witchfinder General, has garnered a great deal of popular and historical interest over the years. An image has developed of a zealous, misogynistic young man serving crazed 'justice' against supposed witches, whipping up panic and turning neighbours against each other in...

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  • Witchcraft, Werewolves and Magic in European History: on-demand short course

    Multipage Article

    This self-guided short course provides an introduction to European witchcraft history from the fifteenth century to the present. Using a range of primary sources, the course explores important themes and questions relating to witchcraft history, examining how witchcraft has been imagined and understood at different times and in different places, and why...

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  • Recorded webinar: Indian Suffragettes: women's activism in South Asia and beyond

    Article

    Between 1917 and 1947, women in the Indian subcontinent were engaged in active debates and noteworthy demonstrations for the vote, building up a national suffrage movement. In this talk Professor Sumita Mukherjee discusses the activities of Indian suffragettes in this period, showing how they were connected with British and other...

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  • Virtual Branch Recording: Women and the Reformations

    Article

    The Reformations, both Protestant and Catholic, have long been told as stories of men. But women were central to the transformations that took place in Europe and beyond. What was life like for them in this turbulent period? How did their actions and ideas shape Christianity and influence societies around the world? ...

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  • Virtual Branch Recording: Poet, Mystic, Widow, Wife

    Article

    What was life really like for women in the medieval period? How did they think about sex, death and God? Could they live independent lives?  Few women had the luxury of writing down their thoughts and feelings during medieval times. But remarkably, there are at least four who did: Marie de France,...

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  • Virtual Branch Recording: The Women of the Anarchy

    Article

    In 1135 Stephen of Blois usurped the throne, stealing it from his cousin Empress Matilda and sparking a nineteen-year civil war that would become known as the Anarchy, one of the bloodiest periods in English history. On the one side is Empress Matilda. On the other side is her cousin,...

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  • Virtual Branch recording: The Women's World Committee against War & Fascism

    Article

    How did a group of women activists with varied ideological backgrounds construct several important campaigns against fascism in the interwar period? How did this Women's World Committee against War and Fascism (Comité Mondial des Femmes contre la Guerre et le Fascisme) undertake effective humanitarian and propaganda work and forge extensive...

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  • Recorded Webinar: Female slave-ownership in 18th- and 19th-century Britain

    Article

    There is a great deal of discussion at the moment about how we engage with and confront the history and legacies of slavery in twenty-first century Britain. A lot of attention has been placed on men like slave trader Edward Colston or merchant and slave-owner Robert Milligan, both of whom were memorialised...

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  • Film: The Ruin of All Witches

    Article

    Professor Malcom Gaskill joined the HA Virtual Branch on Thursday 10 December 2022 to discuss the subject of his book, The Ruin of all Witches, Life and Death in the New World, which was shortlisted for the Wolfson History Prize in 2022. His research explores the attitudes, beliefs and treatment of people as...

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  • Film: The ladies-in-waiting who served the six wives of Henry VIII

    Article

    Every queen had ladies-in-waiting. Her confidantes and chaperones, they are the forgotten agents of the Tudor court. Experts at survival, negotiating the competing demands of their families and their queen, the ladies-in-waiting of Henry VIII’s wives were far more than decorative ‘extras’: they were serious political players who changed the...

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  • Film: A Jewish Divorce Case in Medieval England

    Article

    In 1242, the prominent thirteenth-century Jewish financier David of Oxford attempted to divorce his wife, Muriel. In the process, he met with a number of obstacles which seriously hampered his efforts and had far-reaching implications for the Jewish community as a whole. In the end, David had to appeal directly...

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  • Votes for Women

    Podcast

    In this series of videos, produced by Royal Holloway, University of London, staff and students examine the campaign for women’s suffrage in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. This includes videos looking at why the suffrage campaign started in the 1860s; introductions to the main suffrage organisations, their leaders and...

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  • Women and Gender in the French Wars

    Podcast

    In this podcast Dr Louise Carter critically examines the role of women in Britain during the French Revolution. During these wars, women were typically called on for army cooking, laundry, nursing and spying, and as such were considered part of the war machine. While women in the French wars accounted for...

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  • The Suffragette Movement

    Podcast

    Professor June Hannam of the University of the West of England looks at the key forces that led to women acheiving the vote in the early 20th century.

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  • British Women 1500-1700

    Podcast

    In this podcast Professor Laura Gowing of King's College London looks at the how the role of women changed in Britain, both within the family and within society, between 1500-1700.

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  • The Origins of the Victorian Women's Movement

    Podcast

    In this podcast Professor June Hannam of the University of the West of England looks at the origins of the Victorian Women's Movement and how the movement developed in the 19th century

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  • UK Women's Movement: How did Women achieve the Vote?

    Podcast

    In this podcast Professor June Hannam of the University of the West of England looks at the key forces that led to women achiving the vote in the early 20th century.

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  • Second Wave Feminism in the UK

    Podcast

    In this podcast Ms Jean Spence looks at the origins, the development and the gains achieved by second wave feminism.

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  • Mary Tudor

    Podcast

    In this podcast Dr Anna Whitelock of Royal Holloway, University of London discusses perceptions of Mary Tudor, Mary Tudor's background, her submission to Henry VIII and the rise of a warrior princess, Mary as a courageous political pioneer, Mary and religion, negative critiques, Mary and policy making, Phillip as king...

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  • Second Wave Feminism as a personal journey

    Podcast

    In this podcast Ms Jean Spence discusses how she discovered feminism and how being part of the feminist movement changed both hers and many other womens lives.

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