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In conversation with Lyndal Roper
Historian feature
This year is the 500th anniversary of the German Peasants’ War (1524–25), the largest popular uprising in Western Europe before the French Revolution. The Peasants’ War broke out a few years after Martin Luther published his Ninety-Five Theses (1517) that launched the Reformation and inspired the peasants’ demands, although Luther...
In conversation with Lyndal Roper
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The Great Revolt of 1381
Classic Pamphlet
The Great Revolt of 1381 began in South-West Essex sometime between late May and 2 June: contemporary narratives and record sources differ irreconcilably about the dates. It all started with the arrival of a royal tax commissioner, John Bampton, at Brentwood inBarnstable Hundred. He came to inquire into the evasion...
The Great Revolt of 1381
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1450: The Rebellion of Jack Cade
Classic Pamphlet
‘When Kings and chief officers suffer their under rulers to misuse their subjects and will not hear nor remedy their people's wrongs when they complain, then suffereth God the rebel to rage and to execute that part of His justice which the partial prince will not.'
Thus did the Tudor...
1450: The Rebellion of Jack Cade
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Out and About: exploring Lancaster’s ‘glocal’ history online and on foot
Historian feature
The city of Lancaster has many important historical landmarks from both the medieval period and the time of the Industrial Revolution. In this article Sunita Abraham and Christopher Donaldson describe the thinking behind a guided historical tour they have devised for the city. This involves engaging with modern technology, placing Lancaster within a...
Out and About: exploring Lancaster’s ‘glocal’ history online and on foot
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Recorded webinar: The People of 1381
Article
This lecture with Adrian Bell, Helen Lacey and Helen Killick introduces key findings of the AHRC-funded project The People of 1381. Which people and social groups were involved in England’s biggest pre-civil war revolt? How much can we find out about their lives: where did they come from, what actions...
Recorded webinar: The People of 1381
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Out and About: The castles of Castle Cary
Historian feature
In this article, Chris Culpin explores the surprising story behind Castle Cary’s long-vanished castles. Through conquest, rebellion, siege, and demolition, Castle Cary’s forgotten castles reveal a dramatic chapter of local and national history...
Out and About: The castles of Castle Cary
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Eleanor of Aquitaine’s journey
Historian article
Danielle E.A. Park takes us on a journey across the Pyrenees and Alps with a redoubtable woman.
Eleanor of Aquitaine has acquired a reputation as something of a femme fatale. Her considerable inheritance of Aquitaine, marriages to two kings, the allegations of an affair with her uncle Raymond of Poitiers,...
Eleanor of Aquitaine’s journey
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1066: The Limits of our Knowledge
Historian article
As the most pivotal and traumatic event in English history, the Norman Conquest continues to generate controversy and debate, especially among those who know little about it or enjoy passing judgement on the past. Who had the better claim to the English throne, William the Conqueror or Harold Godwineson? Was...
1066: The Limits of our Knowledge
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The Nation of the Scots and the Declaration of Arbroath
Classic Pamphlet
This pamphlet seeks to chart the progress of the Scottish struggle for independence after 1291 by considering the changing nature of the Scottish resistance. The primary sources are exiguous when compared to those bearing upon the English attempt at subjugation, and the interpretation offered is at best tentative: that initially...
The Nation of the Scots and the Declaration of Arbroath
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Exploring local sources
Historian article
Tim Lomas was correct when he said, in his article in the Summer 2019 edition of The Historian, that historians can see much more in medieval documents than the scribes intended.
Lay manors in Bedfordshire are a good example. Eggington manor, in the south-west, was part of a larger estate and held...
Exploring local sources
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1497, Cornwall and the Wars of the Roses
Article
Ian Arthurson reasseses the Cornish rising of 1497 on its 500th anniversary. On the 400th anniversary of this rebellion there was a good deal of agreement about the Wars of the Roses: ‘The slaughter of people was greater than in any former war on English soil ... The standard of...
1497, Cornwall and the Wars of the Roses
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Smithfield's Bartholomew Fair
Historian article
On the north-western side of the City of London, directly in front of St Bartholomew's Hospital near the ancient church of St Bartholomew the Great, there once lay a ‘smooth field', now known as Smithfield. This open space of around ten acres had a long and turbulent history. In medieval...
Smithfield's Bartholomew Fair
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The making of Magna Carta
Historian article
Magna Carta provided a commentary on the ills of the realm in the time of King John. Sophie Ambler looks at what grievances were addressed in the Charter, how the Charter was made, and what the Charter tells us about King John himself.
The world from which Magna Carta came...
The making of Magna Carta
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Podcast Series: William I to Henry VII
Multipage Article
An HA Podcasted History featuring Professor David Bates and Professor Nicholas Vincent of the University of East Anglia, Dr Philip Morgan of Keele University, Professor Mark Ormrod of the University of York, Dr James Davis of Queens University Belfast, Professor Michael Hicks of the University of Winchester, Dr Sean Cunningham of...
Podcast Series: William I to Henry VII
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From Norwich to Nara
Historian article
Simon Kaner explores the fascinating parallels revealed by the international research project From Nara to Norwich between life and religious belief at the ends of the Silk Roads.
Nara is the ancient capital region of Japan. The eighth century imperial treasury, the Shōsōin, with its treasures from China and central Asia, is...
From Norwich to Nara
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A (non-Western) history of versatility
Historian article
Waqās Ahmed broadens our perspective on where in history we might find polymaths, those who embody versatility of thought and action. While Western scholars might identify the likes of Leonardo da Vinci or Benjamin Franklin as the archetype of the polymath, they have in reality existed throughout history and across...
A (non-Western) history of versatility
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National distinctions entirely laid aside?
Historian article
Bethan M. Jenkins considers why it was important to Lewis Morris and others to have the distinctive Welsh contribution to British history and culture properly acknowledged.
National distinctions entirely laid aside?
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The Lady and the Unicorn
Historian article
As well as being admired for their aesthetic beauty, medieval and early modern tapestries often conveyed deeper symbolic meanings. Here Damien Dessane examines a famous sixteenth century tapestry and reveals the insights it provides into Anglo-French relations in that period and into the increasing agency of some important women...
The Lady and the Unicorn
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‘My sweet San Gimignano’: a Tuscan commune in the Middle Ages
Historian article
The northern Italian town of San Gimignano is famous for its high-rise medieval towers. The size of these fortified buildings might lead to the assumption that the town was a place of constant conflict and discord. Here John Law uses a wide variety of evidence to argue that San Gimignano...
‘My sweet San Gimignano’: a Tuscan commune in the Middle Ages
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Vikings in the East: from Vladimir the Great to Vladimir Putin
Historian article
Martyn Whittock explores the lesser-known world of the Vikings who travelled east, forging the early state of Kyivan Rus and leaving a legacy still debated in Russia and Ukraine today. From silver routes and sagas to modern political claims, this article explores how their story and origins remain as dramatic...
Vikings in the East: from Vladimir the Great to Vladimir Putin
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In conversation with Henrike Lähnemann
Historian feature
In The Life of Nuns: love, politics, and religion in medieval German convents (Open Book Publishers, 2024), Henrike Lähnemann and Eva Schlotheuber explore female religious communities from the late medieval and early Reformation-era in northern Germany, revealing them to be vibrant centres of learning, administration, devotion, friendship, and negotiation. The book challenges...
In conversation with Henrike Lähnemann
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Using financial records to gain insights into medieval society
Historian article
While conceding that medieval accounting and tax records can appear to be dull at first sight, Alisdair Dobie demonstrates here how they can provide fascinating insights into many aspects of life at the time. Not only do these records teach historians about economic and financial affairs: they also enhance our...
Using financial records to gain insights into medieval society
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Castle of Convergence: the Muslim settlement of Lucera
Historian article
The later medieval period can often be seen as a time of bitter ideological and military conflict between Christians and Muslims. In this article Paola Laviola tells the story of the southern Italian city of Lucera, where occasional religious division was interspersed with periods of toleration between faiths that allowed...
Castle of Convergence: the Muslim settlement of Lucera
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Doing history: Remembering the Wars of the Roses
Historian feature
This article examines how the Wars of the Roses have been remembered through memorials and presents the Battlefields Trust’s Wars of the Roses Memorial Database Project, launched in 2023. The open-access, crowd-sourced database maps monuments, plaques, battlefield markers and local commemorations linked to the conflicts. David Grummitt shows that remembrance...
Doing history: Remembering the Wars of the Roses
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In conversation with Ayoush Lazikani
Historian feature
Ayoush Lazikani’s The Medieval Moon follows the moon between roughly 700 and 1600, tracing how it became a meeting-place for prophecy, medicine, devotion, and art across a globally conceived Middle Ages. Carolin Gluchowski met with Ayoush Lazikani to explore the many moons of the Middle Ages...
In conversation with Ayoush Lazikani
