History Today

The Writing on the Wall

The Tower of London, writes E.A. Humphrey Fenn, contains on its walls an extensive collection of prisoners’ graffiti.

The Letters of Junius: Philip Francis

Romney Sedgwick describes how, under the pen-name of Junius, Sir Philip Francis ‘threw his firebrands’ at King and Government during the years 1769-72.

Bede of Jarrow

W.N. Bryant introduces Bede, the ‘Father of English History’, a Northumbrian Monk who devoted his life to study, teaching and church services.

The Armenian Dilemma

Anthony Bryer describes how, during the tenth and eleventh centuries, between Turks and Byzantines, Armenian kingdoms led a perilous life. 

Gerrard Winstanley and the Diggers

‘On the winning side, yet subject to all the former tyrannies,’ the radical Winstanley in 1649 protested against Cromwell’s rule. By A.A. Mitchell.

The Duchess and the Doctors

David Green describes how, during her long life, the Duchess of Marlborough ceaselessly sought for a panacea against illness and disease.

Life at Henry VII's Court

M.J. Tucker describes how, although he may have looked rather like a medieval miser, Henry VII attracted to his Court some of the best minds of the Renaissance