Society

How people group together, organise their rules and systems are all part of what create a society. In this section articles examine the nature of society how it interacts with other themes of culture, power, etc. and how societies have developed and changed over time. The structures of the ancient world are explored as are the complex feudal systems and the varied societies of Empire and modernity.

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  • British LGBTQ+ History: 1914-1960

    Podcast

    In this podcast Dr Matt Cook of Birkbeck, Univeristy of London examines British LGBTQ+ History from 1914-1960.

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  • Christianity and Medieval European Life

    Podcast

    In this podcast Professor Miri Rubin of Queen Mary University of London discusses the influence of Christianity on medieval European life.

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  • Class in 18th Century Britain

    Podcast

    In this podcast Professor Roey Sweet of the University of Leicester looks at the development of 'class' in 18th century Britain and Ireland.

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  • Domestic impact of World War I

    Podcast

    In this podcast Professor Richard Grayson of Goldsmiths, University of London, looks at the domestic impact of World War I on the U.K.

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  • Early Modern LGBTQ+ History

    Podcast

    In this podcast Professor Tim Hitchcock of the University of Sussex discusses LGBTQ+ history in Britain during the Early Modern period. Dr Hitchcock examines legal changes brought in by the Tudors, the development of Molly houses, subsequent persecution and hetero-sexism and the construction of some LGBTQ+ identities.

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  • Edward I: Law and State

    Podcast

    In this podcast Dr Philip Morgan discusses Edward I's impact on Law and State.

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  • End of the World Cults

    Podcast

    In this podcast Professor Penelope Corfield looks at the history of 'End of the World Cults'.

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  • England's Immigrants 1330-1550

    Podcast

    In this podcast Professor Ormrod explores the extensive archival evidence about the names, origins, occupations and households of a significant number of foreigners who chose to make their lives and livelihoods in England in the era of the Hundred Years War, the Black Death and the Wars of the Roses.

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  • Envoi: First World War Memories

    Podcast

    During the recent First World War centenary many HA branches held lectures and talks about a variety of aspects of the war. Some had outings and many looked at their local war memorials or Pals Battalions. The Glasgow and West of Scotland Branch decided that as many of their members...

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  • Film: A Jewish Divorce Case in Medieval England

    Article

    In 1242, the prominent thirteenth-century Jewish financier David of Oxford attempted to divorce his wife, Muriel. In the process, he met with a number of obstacles which seriously hampered his efforts and had far-reaching implications for the Jewish community as a whole. In the end, David had to appeal directly...

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  • Film: Building Anglo-Saxon England

    Article

    Building Anglo-Saxon England demonstrates how recent excavations enable us to grasp for the first time the diversity of the Anglo-Saxon built environment. The book explores how the natural landscape was modified for human activity, and how settlements were laid out with geometrical precision by specialist surveyors. It also shows how...

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  • Film: Death in Diaspora

    Article

    As British and Irish migrants sought new lives in the Caribbean, Asia, North America and Australasia, they left a trail of physical remains where settlement occurred. Between the 17th and 20th centuries, gravestones and elaborate epitaphs documented identity and attachment to both their old and new worlds. In this Virtual...

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  • Film: Meet the author: Marc Morris on The Anglo-Saxons

    Article

    In this Virtual Branch talk best-selling author and renowned historian Marc Morris joined us to discuss the process of researching for, structuring and writing his new book The Anglo-Saxons: a history of the beginnings of England.  Drawing on a vast range of original evidence - chronicles, letters, archaeology and artefacts - Morris's...

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  • Film: The Quest for the Lost of the First World War

    Article

    Historian Robert Sackville-West joined the HA Virtual Branch in November 2021 to talk about the topic of his book The Searchers: The Quest for the Lost of the First World War. By the end of the First World War, the whereabouts of more than half a million British soldiers were unknown. Most were presumed...

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  • Film: The Ruin of All Witches

    Article

    Professor Malcom Gaskill joined the HA Virtual Branch on Thursday 10 December 2022 to discuss the subject of his book, The Ruin of all Witches, Life and Death in the New World, which was shortlisted for the Wolfson History Prize in 2022. His research explores the attitudes, beliefs and treatment of people as...

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  • Film: What a strange place to be buried

    Article

    Anna Cusack joined the HA Virtual Branch to discuss unique burial locations in London c.1600-1800. Anna recently completed a PhD at Birkbeck, University of London on the marginal dead of seventeenth and eighteenth-century London, focusing specifically on suicides, executed criminals, Quakers, and Jews and the treatment of their bodily remains...

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  • Film: “The Talk Should Not Be Broadcast”: Homosexuality and the BBC before 1967

    Article

    In the centenary year of the BBC, this Virtual Branch talk from Marcus Collins relates the strange tale of how the BBC did and did not broadcast about homosexuality in the 1950s and 1960s and what it tells us about sexuality, broadcasting and the origins of permissiveness in mid-twentieth century Britain.  Marcus Collins...

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  • Filmed Lecture: Medlicott Lecture 2022 by David Olusoga

    Article

    Professor David Olusoga is a revered TV historian, a writer and a practising academic at Manchester University. In 2022 he was the recipient of the Historical Association's annual Medlicott medal, awarded for outstanding contributions to history. The recipient of the medal provides the closing lecture of the HA's annual awards evening. Professor...

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  • Filmed Lecture: Medlicott Lecture 2023 - Professor Diarmaid MacCulloch

    Article

    The Medlicott Medal is awarded annually for outstanding services and contributions to history. This year the Medal went to renowned historian and author Professor Diarmaid MacCulloch who is currently Professor of the Church at Oxford. His 2008 book History of Christianity: the first three thousand years is the leading authority on the history...

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  • Filmed Lecture: Medlicott Lecture 2024 - Professor Catherine Hall

    Article

    Addressing issues of the legacies of racism created by the transatlantic slave trade and the narratives of its abolition  The Medlicott Medal is awarded annually for outstanding services and contributions to history. This year the Medal went to Professor Catherine Hall, who is Emerita Professor of Modern British Social and Cultural History at...

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