History Today

Nicaea, Byzantine City

Anthony Bryer takes a visit to Nicaea; The seat of early Church Councils and, for a while, of the Byzantine Emperors, it has a history stretching from the reign of Alexander the Great to the present day.

The White Elephant

Helen Bruce describes how, in Buddhist countries, for the last six hundred years, the albino elephant has always received special veneration.

Henry VIII at Tournai

C.G. Cruickshank describes how, having captured Tournai, the twenty-two-year-old king indulged his taste for sport and pageantry.

Wycliffe and the Lollards

Peter Heidtmann introduces the charismatic leader of a reforming heretical sect at the end of the fourteenth century.

The Battle of Surbiton, 1648

One of the last battles of the English Civil Wars – the Battle of Surbiton – took place in the county of Surrey, a few miles south of London in 1648.

The Sack of Rome, 410

David Jones describes how romanized Gothic and Vandal leaders overran the capital of a declining Empire in the fifth century.

Sir John Seymour: Protector of the Realm

William Seymour introduces Sir John Seymour; an uncle of the King, and a favourite of the late Henry VIII, Somerset had an amiable character not strong enough for perilous mid-Tudor times.

Human Robots and Computer Art

Since the myths of creation were composed, writes John Cohen, men have tried to emulate the gods. Is the twentieth-century computer capable of the daemonic urge?