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Theodore of Tarsus, Archbishop of Canterbury (602–690)
Historian article
The remarkable career of Theodore of Tarsus, Archbishop of Canterbury, shows how the political and religious turmoil in the seventh-century eastern Mediterranean had a direct impact upon the English kingdoms.
Asked to name the most significant archbishops of Canterbury, it is likely that few would name the seventh-century monk, Theodore of...
Theodore of Tarsus, Archbishop of Canterbury (602–690)
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Iron Age Scandinavia and the Silk Roads: a new frontier
Historian article
Both public and scholarly perceptions of the Viking Age (c.AD 750–1050) have long been dominated by a western outlook, emphasising raiding and trading in Europe and the North Atlantic, with only limited attention paid to Scandinavian contacts to the east. In recent years, this viewpoint has shifted dramatically, not only acknowledging the borderless...
Iron Age Scandinavia and the Silk Roads: a new frontier
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A probable silk heirloom from Central Asia...
Historian article
This article explores precious fragments of silk, manufactured in the Byzantine Empire and Central Asia, discovered in archaeological excavations in Dublin.
Dublin, situated on the east coast of Ireland, grew out of a fortified riverside camp (longphort) for overwintering marauding Vikings or ‘northmen’, who were plundering wealthy ecclesiastical establishments from the late eighth...
A probable silk heirloom from Central Asia...
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Barikot’s apsidal temple
Historian article
The presence of an apse was a common architectural feature in early Buddhism. An apsidal temple associated with an Indian-style Buddhist stupa was recently discovered at Barikot in Pakistan’s Swat Valley, dating to the time of the great promoter of Buddhism, the Mauryan Emperor Aśoka (r. 268–232 BC). The monument...
Barikot’s apsidal temple
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Reconciling historical accounts and archaeological remains
Historian article
Paul Wordsworth traces the route ways across the Karakum Desert, Turkmenistan, going in search of the wells and watering places essential to desert travel.
There are many risks when arriving at a well in the middle of the Karakum (black sand) desert in the modern Republic of Turkmenistan, not least...
Reconciling historical accounts and archaeological remains
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Living on the Silk Roads: Voices from Dunhuang
Historian article
In Autumn 2024, the British Library will mount an exhibition exploring the stories of the people who inhabited or passed through the oasis town of Dunhuang during the first millennium. Located in modern-day Gansu province, in northwest China, Dunhuang was originally established as a garrison town and became an important commercial...
Living on the Silk Roads: Voices from Dunhuang
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Out and About in Chelsea’s hidden gardens
Historian feature
Chelsea has an unusually large number of veteran mulberry trees for a London borough (around 25 at the last count). And, while they are not all as old as they look, many have direct links to Chelsea’s history, including the Tudor estates of Thomas More and Henry VIII, a short-lived...
Out and About in Chelsea’s hidden gardens
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Real Lives: Miss F.M.G. Lorimer (1883–1967)
Historian feature
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...
Real Lives: Miss F.M.G. Lorimer (1883–1967)
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My Favourite History Place: Bulguksa Temple, Korea
Historian feature
Set among the forested Toham mountains in southeast Korea, Bulguksa (Bulguk Temple, the Temple of the Buddha Land), was founded during the Silla Dynasty (57 BC–AD 935). The history of this 1,300 year old sacred site reflects the long and sometimes turbulent history of Buddhism and its heritage in Korea, up to its...
My Favourite History Place: Bulguksa Temple, Korea
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The Historian 161: Out now
The magazine of the Historical Association
Read The Historian 161: The Silk Roads
Although the term ‘the Silk Roads’ was coined over 150 years ago, it has found new resonance with historians interested in a broader, international history, part of the ‘global turn’ in the discipline. The contributions to this issue arise from a research collaboration...
The Historian 161: Out now
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The Historian 161: The Silk Roads
The magazine of the Historical Association
4 Letters – Ask The Historian
5 Editorial (Read article)
6 The ‘Silk Roads’: the use and abuse of a historical concept – Susan Whitfield (Read article)
14 From Norwich to Nara: reflections on Silk Road connections – Simon Kaner (Read article)
20 Sutton Hoo and long-distance contacts – Andy...
The Historian 161: The Silk Roads
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History and the climate crisis
Teaching History article
Kate Hawkey has long been an advocate for teaching about the history of climate change. This article, co-authored with Paula Worth, David Rawlings and Dan Warner-Meanwell, first outlines key arguments from her pioneering book History and the Climate Crisis, before illustrating the range of ways in which a group of...
History and the climate crisis
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When did humans take over the world?
Teaching History article
How can we bring climate change into our classrooms without making it ‘small’? Peter Langdon tackled this question by drawing on a ‘big history’ approach to design an enquiry that allowed his students to think about the relationship between humans and climate throughout the whole history of our species. Langdon’s...
When did humans take over the world?
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Learning history outside the classroom in an age of climate crisis
Teaching History article
Helen Snelson has long been an enthusiastic advocate for learning history outside the classroom. In recent years, as the extent of the climate crisis has become ever more apparent, she has been rethinking her approach to teaching within and about the historic environment. In this article, written in consultation with Adrian Gonzalez, she focuses...
Learning history outside the classroom in an age of climate crisis
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What Have Historians Been Arguing About… climate history
Teaching History feature
Although some historians object to ‘presentism’ – studies of the past that are explicitly driven by present-day concerns – climate history as a field would probably not exist otherwise. Expensive technology is required to gather the raw data for research into past climates. Interdisciplinary collaboration is needed to develop robust...
What Have Historians Been Arguing About… climate history
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Bringing environmental history into the classroom
Teaching History article
Curious about the absence of the physical environment in her school’s schemes of work, and fascinated by the changing relationships between humans and landscapes in the past, history teacher and PhD researcher Verity Morgan decided to design new lessons that brought environmental history into her classroom. Rather than ‘bolting on’ new enquiries...
Bringing environmental history into the classroom
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Cunning Plan... for teaching about climate change through the history curriculum
Teaching History feature
Is this climate change lesson geography or history, Miss?
When thinking about teaching climate change in schools we often associate it with subjects like geography or even science, but we hardly think about history. And yet, history has as much claim on this topic as other subjects do, especially when...
Cunning Plan... for teaching about climate change through the history curriculum
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How including histories of trees can connect the past with the present and the future
Teaching History article
Barbara Trapani’s article sprung from, and is written in, hope. Through introducing the history of, specifically, Europeans’ relationships with trees in Madeira, the Banda Islands and Britain, Trapani enabled her Year 8 pupils to appreciate the ways in which exploitative nations have used irreplaceable resources and profoundly altered ecosystems and landscapes...
How including histories of trees can connect the past with the present and the future
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The potential of secondary history to respond to the current ecological and climate crisis
Teaching History article
In this article Michael Riley and Alison Kitson seek to unlock the potential of the secondary history curriculum to educate young people about the current ecological and climate crisis in ways that might also inform their thinking about how to create a more sustainable future. The article (which mirrors a parallel...
The potential of secondary history to respond to the current ecological and climate crisis
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Teaching History 194: Climate and Environment
The HA's journal for secondary history teachers
This edition of HA's Teaching History journal is free to download via the link at the bottom of the page (individual articles are also free to access).
For a subscription to Teaching History (published quarterly), plus access to our library of high-quality secondary history materials along with free or discounted CPD and...
Teaching History 194: Climate and Environment
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The potential of primary history
Primary History article
In this article Alison Kitson and Michael Riley consider the potential of the primary history curriculum to educate children about climate change and sustainability. They suggest some important principles, and a range of strategies, that could be used to develop a stronger emphasis on environmental history in primary history.
The potential of primary history
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How much has the weather mattered in British history?
Primary History article
Tim Lomas has considered the effect that weather has had on shaping Britain. He explores how weather conditions and human actions have affected these islands and the communities living here. He suggests three potential areas of investigation. First, he looks at how weather changes might affect crop failure and so...
How much has the weather mattered in British history?
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A Significant Local Event: Carlisle floods
Primary History article
Sue Temple has used her personal experience of flooding around Carlisle as a basis for exploring local history. She suggests strategies for how we can explore events that have occurred in our own environments by making use of photos and oral history to link to the personal and immediate. As extreme...
A Significant Local Event: Carlisle floods
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Earth heroes: Etta Lemon, ‘The Mother of Birds’
Primary History article
In this article Ailsa Fidler considers Etta Lemon and her role in halting the plume boom, which saw many bird species driven to the edge of extinction, all in the name of fashion. Linking a study of Etta to the government’s policy on Climate Education, the article shows how Etta’s...
Earth heroes: Etta Lemon, ‘The Mother of Birds’
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Dig for sustainability!
Primary History article
Paul Spear uses World War II government advertising strategies such as ‘Make do and Mend’ to consider how to promote modern campaigns related to sustainability. He investigates what the wartime government did to engage with the population as a whole and generate national action. By analysing how images were used...
Dig for sustainability!
