Jonathan Hughes

Alchemy: Base Matter into Gold

Jonathan Hughes discovers the humanity of Thomas Charnock, a forgotten Elizabethan alchemist in search of the philosopher’s stone.

Published July 20 2005

Imagining Robin Hood

Jonathan Hughes on a new publication which investigates the earliest surviving stories of Robin Hood.

Published December 15 2004

Edward IV and the Alchemists

Jonathan Hughes looks at the significance, in alchemical terms, of this reign, and what the King himself made of alchemical prophecy.

Published July 15 2002

Educating the Aristocracy in Late Medieval England

Jonathan Hughes describes how the new classical-inspired education given to young members of the aristocracy in the fifteenth century laid the foundations for future English ideas of education, empire and public service.

Published February 1 1999

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Lords of the Northern Forest

The Hudson's Bay Company was one of the central forces moulding the development of the vast tracts of land that today are Canada - but as Barry Gough explains here, the circumstances of its launch in 1670 also reveal much about the commercial forces, personalities and rivalries of Restoration England.