England

Abbots Ascendant

William Chester Jordan’s study of one of medieval Europe’s great monastic rivalries suggests that social mobility may have been more common in the Middle Ages than historians previously thought.

A Few Bad Apples

Brutality, corruption and abuses of power in the Metropolitan Police at the turn of the 20th century led to an inquiry – but no reform.

The Air of Freedom

Before the British Empire and the Atlantic slave trade, Africans lived freely in Tudor England.

The Last Death of Catholic England

The grand funeral of Anne of Cleves, the neglected fourth queen of Henry VIII, took place during the reign of Mary Tudor, when English Catholicism was resurgent.

The Merry Dance of the Highwayman

Along with Robin Hood, the romantic highwayman is one of the great myths of English outlawry. But the model for this most gallant of rogues was a Frenchman name Claude Duval, who carried out audacious robberies with a touch of Parisian flair.

Miracles in the Middle Ages

The small city of Hereford became one of England’s most important pilgrim sites due to the many miracles attributed to a local saint.

No Island is an Island

The world does not influence Britain’s native culture, the world is its culture, as anyone with a grasp of the country’s history will understand, argues Suzannah Lipscomb.