Britain & Ireland

The Tudors continue to fascinate and some of their story is told here along with the other dynasty of the period the Stuarts. Alongside those resources are the podcasts on the ideas that transformed British society during that period and created a United Kingdom for the first time. The industrial revolution is explored through poetry as well as technology. Religious collapse, change and diversity are all themes explored in this section. Read more

Sort by: Date (Newest first) | Title A-Z
  • Piecing together the life and times of Charles I

    Article

    In this article, Chris R. Langley discusses the sources we use to reconstruct the life and times of Charles I. He explains how historians can use a wide range of sources in creative ways to understand different aspects of political, cultural and religious change in the mid-seventeenth century...

    Click to view
  • Podcast Series: Diversity in Early Modern Britain

    Multipage Article

    This series of podcasts looks at Diversity in Early Modern Britain and features Onyeka, Dr Kathy Chater and Dr Sumita Mukherjee. Our first set of podcasts looks initially at African and Caribbean British History, South Asian British History and the Huguenouts.

    Click to view
  • Podcast Series: Early Modern Ireland

    Multipage Article

    This series of podcasts featuring Professor Sean Connolly and Professor David Hayton of Queen's University Belfast looks at Irish History from 1500-1800. Topics covered include Tudor Ireland, the Eleven Years War, Restoration Ireland, the significance of the reigns of James II and William III and politics in Ireland during the...

    Click to view
  • Podcast Series: The British Empire 1600-1800

    Multipage Article

    An HA Podcasted History of the early British Empire featuring Professor Trevor Burnard of the University of Warwick, Professor Stephen Conway of University College London, Dr Jon Wilson of King's College London, Professor Gad Heuman of the University of Warwick.

    Click to view
  • Podcast Series: The Early Georgians

    Multipage Article

    In this podcast Lucy Worsley of Historic Royal Palaces looks at the early Georgians, the changing relationship between Parliament and Monarchy and Court Politics under George I and George II.

    Click to view
  • Podcast Series: The History of Science

    Multipage Article

    In this series of podcasts we take a look at the history of the Royal Society and the influence it has had on the history and development of science. This series features: Keith Moore, Head of Libraries and Archives at the Royal Society, Dr Jordan Goodman, Dr Patricia Fara of...

    Click to view
  • Podcast Series: The Tudors

    Multipage Article

    An HA Podcasted History of the Tudors featuring Dr Sue Doran, Dr Steven Gunn, Dr Michael Everett & Dr Anna Whitelock.

    Click to view
  • Podcast Series: Thomas Paine

    Multipage Article

    In this set of podcasts Emeritus Professor W. A. Speck of the University of Leeds looks at the life and ideas of Thomas Paine.

    Click to view
  • Podcast: The doctor’s garden

    Article

    The late Georgian British garden was a place of botanic and agricultural enquiry as much as a place of pleasure and leisure. This talk will highlight this use of gardens by medical practitioners. As a group of men who had access to botanical training and, for those at the top...

    Click to view
  • Poetry of the Industrial Revolution in the West Midlands c.1730-1800

    Article

    There is a view that the poetry of the eighteenth century began with moralising neo-classical satire, that this was followed by insipid pastoral, and that the century closed with the advent of the Romantic. This view is simplistic. While at particular times particular types of poetry might have predominated (and...

    Click to view
  • Popular revolt and the rise of early modern states

    Article

    In the 1960s and 1970s, historians and sociologists who were not specialists in the Middle Ages constructed models of pre-industrial crowds and revolt to understand the distinctiveness of modern, post-French Revolutionary, Europe. Foremost among these scholars were George Rudé, a historian of eighteenth century England and France, and Charles Tilly,...

    Click to view
  • Presenting Naseby

    Article

    The summer of 2007 saw the completion of new visitor facilities on and near the battlefield of Naseby. The two locations are the first to be created since the Cromwell Monument was finished in 1936 and they stand more than 5km (3 miles) apart, one of them 2km south-east of...

    Click to view
  • Private Lives of the Tudors

    Article

    Tracy Borman explores the distinction between the public and private lives of the Tudor monarchs. The Tudors were renowned for their public magnificence. Perhaps more than any royal dynasty in British history, they appreciated the importance of impressing their subjects with the splendour of their dress, courts and pageantry in order to reinforce their authority. Wherever...

    Click to view
  • Queen Anne

    Podcast

    In this podcast Lady Anne Somerset looks at the life, reputation and legacy of Queen Anne – the last of the Stuart monarchs, and the first sovereign of Great Britain. Anne was born on 6 February 1665 in London, the second daughter of James, Duke of York, brother of Charles II. Like many...

    Click to view
  • Queen Anne

    Article

    In this pamphlet, James Anderson Winn, author of a recent biography of Queen Anne, recommends a new approach to historians writing about this successful and popular queen. Female, overweight, and reticent, Anne has long been underestimated. Her letters, however, show how well she understood the motives of her ministers, and...

    Click to view
  • Radicalism and its Results, 1760-1837

    Article

    Radicalism with a large "R", unlike Conservatism with a large "C" and Liberalism with a large "L", is not a historical term of even proximate precision. There was never a Radical Party with a national organization, local associations, or a treasury. But there were, and there are, "Radicals", generally qualified...

    Click to view
  • Real Lives: Alexander Stewart

    Article

    Our series ‘Real Lives’ seeks to put the story of the ordinary person into our great historical narrative. If you have any people that you think might also fit this category and would like to write about them, please do contact: martin.hoare@history.org.uk  Alexander Stewart’s life combined hardship, resilience and moral conviction....

    Click to view
  • Real Lives: Alice Daye: mother of the English book trade

    Article

    Our series ‘Real Lives’ seeks to put the story of the ordinary person into our great historical narrative. We are all part of the rich fabric of the communities in which we live and we are affected to greater and lesser degrees by the big events that happen on a daily...

    Click to view
  • Real Lives: the long life of Old Tom Parr

    Article

    Our series ‘Real Lives’ seeks to put the story of the ordinary person into our great historical narrative. If you have any people that you think might also fit this category and would like to write about them, please do contact: martin.hoare@history.org.uk  In this article, Dexter Plato tells us about the...

    Click to view
  • Recycling the Monastic building: The Dissolution in Southern England

    Article

    The dissolution of the monasteries was one of the most dramatic developments in English History. In 1536, the religious orders had owned about a fifth of the lands of England. Within four years the monasteries had been abolished and their possessions nationalised by Henry VIII. Within another ten years, most...

    Click to view