The Prophecies of Merlin
As told by one medieval chronicler, Britain’s past and future had been prophesied by Merlin, who foresaw its rise, fall and conquest. Did the magician have warnings for the present?
England
Life and Land in Anglo-Saxon England
The Anglo-Saxons knew that life – and land – is precarious, which makes its gifts precious.
‘Shakespeare’s Sisters’ by Ramie Targoff review
Shakespeare’s Sisters: Four Women Who Wrote the Renaissance by Ramie Targoff refutes the claim by Virginia Woolf, that the women of Tudor England left only empty bookshelves.
The Value of Wills to Historians
Wills in early modern England tell us much more than simply who left what to whom, and should not be discarded lightly.
Challenging the ‘Ugliness’ of Anne of Cleves
Anne of Cleves became known to posterity as the ‘Flanders Mare’ and Henry VIII’s ‘ugly wife’, thanks to disparaging descriptions by ambassadors and diplomats. What motivated them?
Reforming England’s Divorce Law
Reforms to divorce law inevitably prompt moral panic as they did in Victorian England. It has not yet proven to be justified.
‘The World at War’ and the Holocaust at 50
‘Genocide’, the Holocaust episode of The World at War, was pioneering when it first aired. Does it stand the test of time?
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.