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Building St James's spire: Louth's guilds and popular piety in the later middle ages
Virtual Branch Lecture Recording
Medieval historian Dr Claire Kennan continued our Virtual Branch series with a local history talk on the building of St James's spire, Louth.
In her talk Kennan traces the important role that Louth's major guilds of the Blessed Virgin Mary and Holy Trinity played in the building of the St James’s spire. Throughout the...
Building St James's spire: Louth's guilds and popular piety in the later middle ages
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Out and About: Tynemouth Priory
Historian feature
Approximately 10 miles east of Newcastle-upon-Tyne and just over 10 minutes walk from my home, the imposing ruins of Tynemouth Priory command sea, river, and land from the promontory between King Edward’s Bay and Prior’s Haven. While the Priory dates back to the eleventh century, the headland on which it sits,...
Out and About: Tynemouth Priory
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My Favourite History Place - Barnard Castle
Historian article
Paula Kitching invites us to look at Barnard Castle with new eyes.
Over the summer there was a lot of talk about Barnard Castle – I won’t go into the politics, but it did make me reflect on the actual town of Barnard Castle. Growing up, it was one of...
My Favourite History Place - Barnard Castle
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Black Death to global pandemic: London then and now
Historian article
Christine Merie Fox compares the impact of the Black Death on fourteenth-century London with our present-day experience.
In 1347, a terrifying disease was carving a path from the East into Northern Africa and Europe. Its entry point into Europe was the south of Italy, via merchant ships from the Black Sea. The...
Black Death to global pandemic: London then and now
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Gaming the medieval past
Historian article
Matthew Bennett and Ryan Lavelle explore how the devising, playing and discussion of war games can contribute to historical understanding.
Games as tools for learning are engaging for teachers and students alike. Whether computer-driven, board games, miniatures, role-play or re-enactment, they all provide scenarios within which learners can use a...
Gaming the medieval past
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History Abridged: Publishing
Historian feature
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
For centuries the only way the written word could be communicated was by it being...
History Abridged: Publishing
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Linking Law: Viking and medieval Scandinavian law in literature and history
Historian article
Ongoing interdisciplinary developments have cast light on the surprisingly sophisticated world of Viking-age and medieval Scandinavian law and its wide-ranging influence in these societies.
In many ways, the Viking Age and its inhabitants are more familiar than ever before. From video games to television and films, new narrative frontiers and bigger...
Linking Law: Viking and medieval Scandinavian law in literature and history
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Woodland in the East Staffordshire landscape
Historian article
Richard Stone explains that the natural landscape can be a resource for anyone exploring local topography.
The idea for researching this topic came while reading Oliver Rackham’s excellent Trees and Woodland in the British Landscape. Calculations based on woodland recorded in Domesday Book revealed my home county of Staffordshire, with...
Woodland in the East Staffordshire landscape
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St Peter’s-ad-murum, Bradwell-juxta-Mare
Historian article
Marie Paterson discovered this historical and spiritual structure many years ago and it continues to affect her.
In Essex, on the northern shore of the Dengie Hundred, overlooking the mouth of the Blackwater estuary, proudly stands the lonely Saxon chapel of St Peter’s-on-the-Wall. Erected on the site of the Roman...
St Peter’s-ad-murum, Bradwell-juxta-Mare
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Welsh archers at Agincourt: myth and reality
Historian article
Adam Chapman debates the evidence for a Welsh presence among Henry V’s highly-successful force of archers at Agincourt in 1415.
Michael Drayton, in his poem of 1627, The Bataille of Agincourt, described the Welsh presence in Henry V's army: ‘who no lesse honour ow'd To their own king, nor yet...
Welsh archers at Agincourt: myth and reality
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Agincourt 1415-2015
Historian 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...
Agincourt 1415-2015
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Myth and Reality: A Necessary Marriage at Twelfth Century Glastonbury
Article
It is the habitation of strangers and the domination of foreigners. There is today no Englishman who is either earl, bishop or abbot. The newcomers devour the riches and entrails of England, and there is no hope of the misery coming to an end…the fatal day for England, the mournful...
Myth and Reality: A Necessary Marriage at Twelfth Century Glastonbury
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William the First and the Sussex Rapes
Classic Pamphlet
During his reign, and in particular in the five years after the battle of Hastings, William I carried out the most thorough reallocation of land in England ever to take place in so short a period of time; the results were summarized in Domesday Book in 1086.That great record shows...
William the First and the Sussex Rapes
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The First Crusade, 1095–99
Historian feature
As Christianity had spread across Europe, Islam had spread across the Middle East. At the end of the eleventh century the relationship between the Muslim leader of Jerusalem and the Christian communities and travellers to the city fractured. Along with other key relationships across Europe, the Middle East and around...
The First Crusade, 1095–99
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My Favourite History Place: Berwick-upon-Tweed railway station
Historian feature
Glimpsed from the window of a speeding train, as it hurtles north across the Royal Border Bridge and towards Edinburgh, the modest station at Berwick-upon-Tweed would seem an unlikely spot for one of the most momentous episodes in British history; but step off the train, walk up the stairs, and allow...
My Favourite History Place: Berwick-upon-Tweed railway station
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A woman’s place is in the castle
Historian article
This article looks at the role of two fourteenth century Scottish noblewomen, on opposing sides in the strife between Bruce and Balliol, who were left to defend their properties during their husbands’ absences.
The Scottish Wars of Independence were fought over several decades of the late thirteenth and fourteenth centuries as...
A woman’s place is in the castle
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My Favourite History Place: Sawley Abbey
Historian feature
Steve Illingworth highlights the importance of a remote Lancashire ruin which might have changed the course of history.
Sawley Abbey in east Lancashire can appear to be an unassuming and insignificant place at first sight. Its main attraction appears to be aesthetic, with the Cistercian abbey being surrounded by fields and hills...
My Favourite History Place: Sawley Abbey
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Podcasted Lecture: Why Medieval History Matters?
Medieval History
Why Medieval History Matters, Professor Anne Curry, President of the HA ‘I don't mind there being some medievalists around for ornamental purposes, but there is no reason for the state to pay for them'. So, allegedly, said Charles Clarke when Education Secretary in 2003. In fact, medieval history has never...
Podcasted Lecture: Why Medieval History Matters?
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My Favourite History Place: Castle Hill, Huddersfield
Historian feature
Alison Hramiak tempts us to visit Castle Hill, south of Huddersfield, to look for traces of our long dead ancestors, to contemplate the passing of the centuries on that site and to enjoy the lovely views.
It’s often the way that we ignore what’s geographically close to us when we visit...
My Favourite History Place: Castle Hill, Huddersfield
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Richard III and the Princes in the Tower: update
Historian article
Richard III is one of the most famous kings of England, as much for his Shakespearean mythology as for the reality of his reign. Here, the different accounts of him are explored to shed light on some of his actions and legacy.
The fascination evoked by Richard III and the...
Richard III and the Princes in the Tower: update
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Exploring local sources
Historian article
Tim Lomas was correct when he said, in his article in the Summer 2019 edition of The Historian, that historians can see much more in medieval documents than the scribes intended.
Lay manors in Bedfordshire are a good example. Eggington manor, in the south-west, was part of a larger estate and held...
Exploring local sources
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Hidden histories: landscape spotting – a brief guide
Historian article
The art of landscape spotting – identifying and interpreting visible archaeological features in the countryside – is an accessible, enlightening and fun way to explore our past. By finding these clues in the fields, roads, hedges and hills around us, we can start to piece together the biography of a...
Hidden histories: landscape spotting – a brief guide
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Robert Grosseteste (c. 1170-1253)
Historian article
Jack Cunningham considers a medieval philosopher, the significance of whose ideas has grown in importance through the centuries.
An appreciation of Grosseteste the thinker has not always been at its appropriate level during the almost 800 years since his death. If historians have paid attention to the great man this ...
Robert Grosseteste (c. 1170-1253)
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The Great Charter
Classic Pamphlet
The following introduction to and translation of Magna Carta was made for the use of my pupils and is here published in response to a suggestion that it may be of use to others. The Charter bristles with technical legal terms and its Latin is often ambiguous since the language...
The Great Charter
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MOOCs and the Middle Ages
Historian article
Deirdre O’Sullivan explains how history courses such as England in the Time of Richard III are now freely available to people anywhere in the world who have online access. She reports that in the past two years 40,000 learners have followed this course.
MOOCs (Massive Open Access Online Courses) are...
MOOCs and the Middle Ages
