Elizabethan

Most of Shakespeare’s working life was spent in or around the City of London. By the time he retired, Greater London—a residential as well as a commercial metropolis—was beginning to spring up beyond its ancient limits. By Martin Holmes.

J. Hurstfield analyses social conditions in the Elizabethan age.

S.M. Toyne draws upon Guy Fawkes’ background in an effort to better understand his single-minded motivation.

For all its faults C.E Hamshere’s account of Francis Drake’s 16th-century circumnavigation, published in History Today in 1967, applies a historical imagination lacking in more recent studies, argues Hugh Bicheno.

At Deptford, on April 4th, 1581, Francis Drake, who, during the previous autumn, had returned from his triumphant circumnavigation of the globe, knelt before Queen Elizabeth and received a knighthood

Cyrill Falls describes how a succession of rebellions challenged a sodden but sturdy English soldiery in late 16th century Ireland.

W. H. Chaloner considers how the Lombes “penetrated the secrets” of the closely guarded silk-throwing machines of Piedmont, and successfully introduced them into England

In an age of opportunity, G.E. Fussell describes how the Elizabethan farmer lived under pioneer conditions.

From Stubbes' angry Anatomie of Abuses, Sydney Carter unveils a revealing portrait of Elizabethan fashions and pastimes, from high-heeled shoes to football, and from ruffs to dicing and dancing.

Mathew Lyons finds stimulation in an allusive article on Sir Walter Ralegh, first published in History Today in 1998.

Judith Richards strips away the veils of illusion covering the last Tudor monarch.

The first performance of The Tempest on record was at court on All Hallows’ Day, on November 1st 1611.

Lauren Kassell reveals how the casebooks, diaries and diagrams of the late-16th-century astrologer Simon Forman provide a unique perspective on a period when the study of the stars began to embrace modern science.