Europe

Nobody expects the Spanish Inquisition – but you might on a website that covers mediaeval history. You won’t be disappointed as we have an article exploring that subject here. Religious activity and influence on international affairs, culture and politics is also explored in French history and across Europe. The exploits of the Vikings are addressed along with their legacy and influence on early medieval Europe and the establishment of the new European societies. Read more

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  • (Un)exceptional women: queenship and power in medieval Europe

    Article

    How was the power of a Queen described and how far did It extend? In this article some of the most important queens of the Medieval period are examined for the authority they were able to wield. When we think of queens, the idea that they are extraordinary women, elevated to the highest status...

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  • A medieval credit crunch

    Article

    The project: A three-year research project started in December 2007 with the aim of investigating the credit arrangements of a succession of English monarchs with a number of Italian merchant societies. The study, based at the ICMA Centre, University of Reading, is funded by the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC)....

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  • A precious jewel: English Calais, 1347–1558

    Article

    For 200 years the English Crown held the town and fortress of Calais, thereby providing a gateway into France for English exports and influence. The conquest of Calais On 26 August 1346 an English army led in person by King Edward III was confronted by a French army commanded by...

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  • Agincourt 1415-2015

    Article

    Agincourt has become one of a small number of iconic events in our collective memory. Anne Curry explores how succeeding generations have exploited its significance. In his budget statement of 18 March 2015 the Chancellor of the Exchequer, George Osborne, announced £1m had been awarded to commemorate the 600th anniversary...

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  • Bayeux

    Article

    Bayeux, 23 kilometres west of Caen, was the first French town to be liberated in 1944 - on 7 June in fact, the day after the landings. Yet its origins go much further back than that: its first bishop was consecrated in the fourth century. It became part of Normandy...

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  • Cathars and Castles in Medieval France

    Article

    Almost exactly 800 years ago, in September 1213, a decisive battle was fought at Muret, about ten miles south-west of Toulouse. King Peter II of Aragon, fighting with southern allies from Toulouse and elsewhere, faced an army largely made up of northern French crusaders who had invaded the region at the...

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  • Diagrams in History

    Article

    One of the gifts of the social sciences to history is the use of expository diagrams; but attention is rarely given to the history of diagrams. Maps - schematized representations of locations in spatial relation to one another - can be dated back to Babylonia in the late third millennium...

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  • Excluded by men? Joanna the Mad, patriarchy and a charge of insanity

    Article

    Glyn Redworth re-appraises the life of an unfortunate queen. Joanna of Castile was a pretty child. She had an oval face and a long delicate nose. Her skin was felt to be attractively light in colour as was her hair. Fiercely intelligent, the basics of Latin came easily to her....

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  • Film: Berengaria of Navarre

    Article

    In this talk Dr Gabrielle Storey discusses the life and times of Berengaria of Navarre, queen of England, lord of Le Mans, and wife of Richard I. Berengaria of Navarre has been inaccurately labelled as the only queen never to have stepped foot in England. This talk will present new analysis...

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  • French chivalry in twelfth-century Britain?

    Article

    The year 1066 - the one universally remembered date in English history, so well-known that banks advise customers not to choose it as their PIN number - opened the country up to French influence in spectacular fashion. During the ‘long twelfth century' (up to King John's death in 1216) that...

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  • Government and Society in Late Medieval Spain

    Article

    Government and Society in Late Medieval Spain: From the accession of the House of Trastámara to Ferdinand and IsabellaThe history of late medieval Spain is usually seen as a tiresome introduction to the reigns of the Catholic Monarchs, Ferdinand and Isabella. Modern historians tend to portray them as ‘new monarchs',...

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  • Henry V in the cinema

    Article

    Public attitudes to Henry V are very much influenced by WilliamShakespeare's interpretation. Richard Inverne discusses howShakespeare's version has been translated into cinematic form byLaurence Olivier and Kenneth Branagh. Shakespeare indulges himself considerably with his own relatively recent history - Richards II and III, Henrys IV, V and VI, for example....

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  • History Abridged: Salt mines in Eastern Europe

    Article

    History Abridged: This feature seeks to take a person, event or period and abridge, or focus on, an important event or detail that can get lost in the big picture. See all History Abridged articles Towards the end of the Bronze Age, the climate across Europe began to warm. This...

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  • History Abridged: The City of Alexandria

    Article

    History Abridged: This feature seeks to take a person, event or period and abridge, or focus on, an important event or detail that can get lost in the big picture. Think Horrible Histories for grownups (without the songs and music). See all History Abridged articles One of the oldest cities...

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  • Ideas on the Shape, Size and Movements of the Earth - Pamphlet

    Article

    This classic pamphlet takes you through some of the key ideas on the shape, size and movements of the Earth as they changed over time from classical cosmology to the work of Galileo and Isaac Newton.

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  • Joan of Arc: Woman Warrior, Witch

    Multipage Article

    In 2011 Professor Anne Curry, President of the Historical Association, gave a lecture on Joan of Arc to the Swansea Branch. This is a podcast of that lecture.

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  • Medieval 'Signs and Marvels'

    Article

    Medieval ‘Signs and Marvels': insights into medieval ideas about nature and the cosmic order. Many aspects of life in the Middle Ages puzzle the modern reader but some are stranger than others. What can possibly explain an event reported from Orford Castle, in Suffolk? This is an amazing tale and...

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  • Medieval Medicine Podcast

    Multipage Article

    In this HA Podcast Ian Dawson looks at medicine during the medieval period.

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  • Medieval Trade Routes

    Article

    The subject of Medieval Trade Routes presents certain difficulties at the outset. There is no clear definition of the word ‘medieval' and, whatever period is chosen, it is obvious that trade routes within that period would be unlikely always to follow the same direction or to be of the same...

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  • On the campaign trail: walking the Hundred Years War

    Article

    In the tradition of landscape historians, Peter Hoskins has explored some of the route marches taken by English armies during the Hundred Years War. After the battle of Crécy in 1346 and the capture of Calais by Edward III in the following year the Hundred Years War settled into an...

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