England

Beware the Lides of March

March is the loudest month. The late survival of a dialect name – Lide – for the month poses a medieval puzzle. 

The Golden Age of Medieval Nostalgia

The 14th century was a period of great upheaval. People yearned for the good old days, when everyone knew their place, prices were lower and kings were better.

The Lost Tudor Domesday Book

Once maligned as a record ‘of the dullest kind’, a 1535 audit of Church wealth – the Valor ecclesiasticus – offers a unique view of England’s religious, social and cultural life just months after the break with Rome.

How to Revive Wassailing

Ancient traditions such as wassailing can be an inspiration rather than a burden for the communities that embrace them.