In Episode 12, Professor Michael Brown of the University of Aberdeen discusses who held power in Ireland in 1714 and how the protestant ascendancy developed following the fall of James II and the rise of the Hanoverian dynasty. This is a period increasingly defined by the exclusion of Ireland’s Catholic and...

Jane Rogoyska tells the story of the Hôtel Lutetia, the only ‘grand’ hotel on the city’s bohemian Left Bank, serving as a meeting place for artists, musicians and politicians. André Gide took his lunch here, James Joyce lived in one of its rooms, Picasso and Matisse were regular guests. But...

Eleanor Barraclough tells a richly detailed history of the Viking Age through the everyday objects and traces left by ordinary people, revealing the complex, lived realities behind the familiar saga‑era myths. Dr Eleanor Barraclough is a historian, author and broadcaster. Her most recent book, Embers of the Hands: Hidden Histories...

In Episode 11, Dr Mary Jo MacDonald of the University of Jyväskylä explores how the end of the Licensing Act, sweeping political change, and a revolution in intellectual culture opened unprecedented opportunities for women to shape political, social, and intellectual life in Britain and Ireland. The film highlights major proto‑feminist thinkers...

Æthelstan was the early medieval king whose territorial conquests and shrewd statesmanship united the peoples, languages, and cultures that would come to be known as the 'Kingdom of the English.' In this panoramic talk, David Woodman draws on his research and recent book to create a portrait of this immensely...

This recorded webinar explores methods that the Education & Outreach department at The National Archives is using to teach and engage audiences by allowing them to explore original documents using touch, hearing, and smell. This includes projects for school-age blind and visually impaired students, Early Years audiences, intergenerational audiences with...

Webinar series: AI in primary history Session 1: AI in primary history: a practical introductionPresenter: Glenn Carter AI is steadily becoming more and more prevalent in schools and this session will look at some practical ideas that can be utilised within your classrooms for primary history — no prior experience required!...

Ym Mhennod 9, mae Dr Eryn White (Prifysgol Aberystwyth) yn trafod pwy oedd mewn grym yng Nghymru ym 1714, y berthynas newidiol rhwng Cymru a'r Deyrnas Unedig ehangach a'r datblygiadau allweddol a ddigwyddodd yng Nghymru rhwng 1714-1785. Mae Dr White yn myfyrio ar ehangu cyflym print a llythrennedd yng Nghymru...

In episode 10, Dr Declan Kavanagh (University of Kent), reflects on Queer British history 1714-1785. Dr Kavanagh looks at the history of the language of LGBTQ+, in particular the term ‘queer’ in its very recent usage and how the language of descriptors for these communities has been influenced. Dr Kavanagh draws...

Historians use maps a lot – or at least they should. They help us to understand global relations, environmental and social change and they help to reveal how the world was understood and explored in the past. This webinar series is an opportunity to hear three world class academics explore different aspects...

In this talk, Steve Tibble discusses the Assassins and Templars, two of history's most legendary groups. One was a Shi’ite religious sect, the other a Christian military order created to defend the Holy Land. Steve Tibble traces the history of these two groups from their origins to their ultimate destruction showing how they survived...

The Italian Fascist leader Benito Mussolini understood more than other leaders of his generation the power of images and used them to great effect in building his personality cult which was central to Italian Fascism. In this illustrated webinar, Professor Giuliana Pieri will explore the evolution of the iconography of...

This talk explored the struggle for liberation from the perspective of the enslaved, wherever possible in their own words. Dr Sudhir Hazareesingh shines a light on the lives of revolutionaries like Toussaint Louverture, José Antonio Aponte, Nat Turner, and the pregnant rebel Solitude; touching on the stories of the freed...

From royal courts to radical protests, from industrial revolutions to global empires – this compelling new film series traces the dramatic evolution of power, rights, and freedom across three centuries of British and Irish history. We will trace Britain and Ireland’s transformation from 1714 to 2010, unpacking power struggles, social revolutions, and...

In Episode 5, Professor Anne Murphy (University of Portsmouth) examines the development of finance in Britain and Ireland, from the emergence of the Bank of England during the Nine Years’ War into a system that would facilitate the growth of the British Empire and Britain’s Industrial Revolution. During this period...

In Episode 7, Professor Carl Griffin (University of Sussex) discusses the changing landscape of England as enclosure accelerates, transforming the social dynamics of the countryside as peasants become wage labourers and their rights to use the ‘common land’ is diminished. Professor Griffin reflects on this period of protest over enclosure,...

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...

Multi Academy Trust History Leads Network The HA has teamed up with a group of history leads across different Multi Academy Trusts to re-ignite a network group dedicated to those leading history across a trust. The network will meet 3 times per year, twice online and once in-person, and meetings will focus...

This month at the Virtual Branch, renowned medieval historian David Carpenter will delve into the enduring legacy of Magna Carta. Drawing on his recent work uncovering and authenticating a Magna Carta document in the United States, Carpenter will explore why both the dating and the content of this foundational charter...

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...