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Film: Finance in Britain and Ireland: 1714 to 1785
Film Series: Power and freedom in Britain and Ireland: 1714-2010
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...
Film: Finance in Britain and Ireland: 1714 to 1785
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Film: Power and freedom: Introduction – 1714 to 1785
Film Series: Power and freedom in Britain and Ireland: 1714-2010
In Episode 1, Dr Robin Eagles (History of Parliament), discusses the development of power and freedom in Britain and Ireland from the reign of Queen Anne to the beginning of the Georgian Age.
This was a period of strict hierarchy where the monarchy and aristocracy retained significant control over both...
Film: Power and freedom: Introduction – 1714 to 1785
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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? ...
Virtual Branch Recording: Women and the Reformations
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Virtual Branch Recording: 'Hidden Histories of the Viking Age'
Embers of the Hands
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...
Virtual Branch Recording: 'Hidden Histories of the Viking Age'
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Films: Brezhnev – Interpretations
Film Series: Power and authority in Russia and the Soviet Union
(Student and corporate secondary members can view these films in our Student Zone)
Leonid Brezhnev was the second longest serving leader of the Soviet Union after Stalin, overseeing some of the most difficult relations between East and West, yet he does not have the popular cultural legacy of some of the...
Films: Brezhnev – Interpretations
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Virtual Branch Recording: The First King of England
Article
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...
Virtual Branch Recording: The First King of England
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Recorded webinar series: Jane Austen and Georgian England
Multipage Article
Join us for a journey through Georgian history, literature and society – all from the comfort of your own home. Celebrating the 250th anniversary of Jane Austen's birth, this rich, interdisciplinary webinar series from the Historical Association delves into the vibrant world of the Georgians through the lens of one of...
Recorded webinar series: Jane Austen and Georgian England
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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...
Recorded webinar: Revisiting the witch trials
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Recorded webinar: The Cult of the Duce: Mussolini and the Italians at the time of Fascism
Article
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...
Recorded webinar: The Cult of the Duce: Mussolini and the Italians at the time of Fascism
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Virtual Branch Recording: The Lines we Draw
Article
In this Virtual Branch Tim Franks, acclaimed BBC Journalist, talks about his personal history and identity drawing on his new biography The Lines we Draw: The Journalist, The Jew and an argument about identity.
We will delve into Tim's experiences as a journalist in some of the world's major conflict zones,...
Virtual Branch Recording: The Lines we Draw
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Virtual Branch Recording: Rebellion and Resistance of the Enslaved in the Atlantic World
Article
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...
Virtual Branch Recording: Rebellion and Resistance of the Enslaved in the Atlantic World
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Virtual Branch Recording: Assassins and Templars
Article
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...
Virtual Branch Recording: Assassins and Templars
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Virtual Branch Recording: Food and drink in the medieval monastery
Article
In his recent book The Monastic World, Andrew Jotischky looks at how from the late Roman Empire onwards, monasteries and convents were a common sight throughout Europe. The history of monasticism is defined by the fierce and passionate abandonment of the ordinary comforts of life, the most striking being food and drink....
Virtual Branch Recording: Food and drink in the medieval monastery
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Virtual Branch Recording: Magna Carta
Article
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...
Virtual Branch Recording: Magna Carta
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Film: Lenin's early thought
Film Series: Power and authority in Russia and the Soviet Union
As Lenin’s own political outlook and beliefs developed so did the European movements of Socialism and Communism. Groups emerged that wanted to radically change society and social structures. Lenin positioned himself as one of the leaders and crucially one of the thinkers behind these new ideas and movements.
Dr Lara...
Film: Lenin's early thought
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Recorded webinar: Natural disasters in medieval Britain
Article
Natural disasters frequently affected medieval populations. This webinar explores some examples of what happened when meteorological hazards struck medieval communities, how they reacted and what steps they took to protect themselves against future risks. Through archaeological and historical sources of evidence, Peter Brown explores the diverse impacts unleashed by disasters...
Recorded webinar: Natural disasters in medieval Britain
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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...
Recorded webinar: Indian Suffragettes: women's activism in South Asia and beyond
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Recorded webinar: The post-emancipation Caribbean and the meanings of freedom
Article
This webinar examines the era of ‘post-emancipation’ in the Caribbean from around the mid-nineteenth to the mid-twentieth centuries. It interrogates the notion of ‘emancipation’ and asks what kind of ‘freedom’ did abolition bring to the formerly enslaved? How did colonial states and other authorities seek to regulate the lives of...
Recorded webinar: The post-emancipation Caribbean and the meanings of freedom
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Filmed Lecture: Medlicott Lecture 2025 - Dr Christine Counsell
Dr Christine Counsell
The Historical Association's Medlicott Medal 2025 was awarded to Dr Christine Counsell. The award seeks to recognise individuals from a diversity of backgrounds in their service to history. Read more about Christine, her work and her award here.
As is the custom, Dr Christine Counsell received her award and presented her...
Filmed Lecture: Medlicott Lecture 2025 - Dr Christine Counsell
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Virtual Branch: Birds and British History
Article
In his recent book The Cuckoo's Lea Michael J Warren provides a exploration of how birds are entwined with British history, particularly in our place names.
Join us for an exclusive Q&A with the author to weave together literature, history and ornithology and discover a fascinating heritage that matters deeply now when so...
Virtual Branch: Birds and British History
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Film: Lenin and the 1917 Revolutions
Film Series: Power and authority in Russia and the Soviet Union
You wait a lifetime for a revolution and then two come along at once! Such was 1917 in Russia. As the world seemed in chaos and Russia and the Russian people began to collapse, Lenin and the Bolsheviks saw their opportunity and overthrew the government to create the first communist...
Film: Lenin and the 1917 Revolutions
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Recorded webinar: Researching the history of migration and refugees in Europe
When the present informs the past
Research on the history of migration continues to flourish and grow, but scholarship is also becoming increasingly splintered, often focusing on particular settings or population groups. Migration is often used as a way to discuss questions of national identity or diverse religious, ethnic, religious and local identities in the UK,...
Recorded webinar: Researching the history of migration and refugees in Europe
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Recorded webinar: Ottoman trade with Europe in the early modern era
Article
For European states in the early modern era the Ottoman empire represented a huge trading bloc, stretching at its height from Hungary in the west to Iran in the east, from Ukraine in the north to Egypt in the south, and along the southern shores of the Mediterranean to the...
Recorded webinar: Ottoman trade with Europe in the early modern era
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Film: Lenin and the birth of Soviet Russia
Film Series: Power and authority in Russia and the Soviet Union
Having changed the course of Russian society Lenin now needed to secure his Bolshevik survival. Unlike his predecessor he saw no need to continue with the Imperialist policies of a war in Europe. Territory could be sacrificed for control, but would promises and rhetoric be enough to govern among people...
Film: Lenin and the birth of Soviet Russia
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Virtual Branch Recording: Locating and Mapping the Jews of Medieval Lincoln
Article
As part of a project to identify and write biographies of all of the Jews of the medieval Lincoln Jewry, Natasha Jenman, Luka Liu, and Josh Outhwaite have been working on records of Jewish property ownership in the city across the thirteenth century. This allows them to identify those individuals who will be...
Virtual Branch Recording: Locating and Mapping the Jews of Medieval Lincoln
